Quan City, the square outside the Underground Cave Secret Realm.

As Lu Wu turned his head, he and long legs bumped into each other for the second time.

Their gazes met, and a cold snort accompanied the unnatural expression on long legs' face, an impulse to dodge and avoid Lu Wu's gaze flashed in a moment.

Why such an unusual reaction? Was it because of love?

Of course not!

The unnaturalness on long legs' face was due to Lu Wu's current identity.

Just a few days before, she had treated Lu Wu as an interesting Summoned Beast with ordinary power.

But in a blink of an eye, he had become a Genius Cultivator.

This abrupt shift in identity made long legs remember her own condescending attitude and words towards Lu Wu, and she couldn't help but feel a rush of shame.

That feeling was like an elementary student, with a perfect test score in hand, and an inexplicable sense of superiority, lecturing a high school student about studying hard.

It already showed great restraint on long legs' part not to turn and run away.

Not only did she not run, but when her eyes met his, she even retorted, "Hmph, don't think you're something special just because you're a Cultivation Master. Having Talent in cultivation doesn't mean you have Talent in summoning. What I said before stands!

The quota for advancing to the provincial competition from Quan City belongs to our elite class!

If you don't want to stop at the city competition, you better consider participating in another city!"

With that said, without giving Lu Wu a chance to respond, she turned and left haughtily, her ponytail swinging with each step.

Lu Wu was somewhat baffled, but didn't take it to heart—perhaps she was just having a rough day.

Afterward, under Li Kai's guidance, Lu Wu arrived at the administration office of this very Secret Realm.

They were currently in the square outside the Secret Realm. To truly enter the Secret Realm, one needed to go through the administration office to complete the necessary procedures, pay the requisite fees, and wait for the staff to arrange the entrance time to the Secret Realm.

After all, the Underground Cave was a trial-type Secret Realm.

Due to its small size and limited capacity, it required the staff to make arrangements.

Normally, one would have to wait at least half a day in queue, and it was possible to wait for several days if luck was not on your side.

Fortunately, Lu Wu had brought a Secret Realm Card with him.

A Secret Realm Card issued by the Summoner Center grants priority access within all Secret Realms under the center's control.

After presenting his card, not only did the administration office quickly process Lu Wu's paperwork, but they also arranged accommodations for him.

When the staff member asked Lu Wu how many rooms they needed to arrange, Lu Wu hesitated for a while before settling on two rooms (Li Kai would not stay in the Secret Realm; he would return after seeing them to the administration office).

Having sorted out their lodging, the organizers then ushered Lu Wu into a VIP room to wait for half an hour.

During their wait, a staff member explained to Lu Wu and company the important points to note upon entering the Underground Cave.

"The Underground Cave Secret Realm has been modified by the Cultivation Center, ensuring high levels of safety. Before you enter, we will provide you with a Secret Realm Bracelet.

Should you encounter danger within the Secret Realm, or have a special circumstance that requires you to leave, simply click the exit button on the bracelet.

The exit button is set to a fingerprint lock, requiring one second of pressing to activate, minimizing the embarrassment of accidental touches.

Additionally, the bracelet has tracking and recording functions.

It will accurately record your performance within the Secret Realm and assign you a corresponding score.

If your score reaches a certain standard within the Secret Realm, or you break a record, you will receive a reward from us, and your name will stay on the Secret Realm scoreboards until someone surpasses you..."

The staff member spent nearly half an hour explaining the details about the Secret Realm to Lu Wu and company.

The more Lu Wu listened, the more he felt like he was playing an online game.

Especially the scoring feature, Lu Wu realized how much effort had been put into it.

There were many channels to acquire points, including time spent in the Secret Realm, the number and power of defeated Summoned Beasts, and the number of levels cleared within the Secret Realm.

All of these factors influenced point acquisition!

Additionally, Lu Wu noticed that after entering the Secret Realm, the Summoned Beasts that summoners encounter matched the level of their own Summoned Beasts.

And the points earned for defeating those Summoned Beasts were the same.

This meant that ordinary One Star summoners earned points at a rate not far off from Elite Level summoners.

This made all entrants to the Secret Realm stand on an even playing field and resulted in the possibility of ordinary Summoner's scores exceeding those of Elites on the leaderboard.

Furthermore, the top one hundred on the leaderboard were rewarded, with higher ranks receiving better prizes!

The one who ranked first even got to choose a Summoning Stone as a prize.

This greatly drove the players' desire to compete on the leaderboard, a tactic reminiscent of online gaming marketing.

Speaking of the leaderboard, as soon as Lu Wu heard about it, he specifically went to take a look.

He discovered that it featured many faces from the elite classes, with Lin Jianying ranked at 86, while the long legs girl ranked ninth.

Well, Lu Wu managed to recognize her despite not knowing her name because of the photos on the leaderboard.

Seeing long legs' photo, Lu Wu also chanced upon her name—Ye Ruhuo!

"So cocky, I thought you would be more impressive. Making a fuss and ending up only ninth? Well, I'll set a small goal then—claim the first place!"

Looking at the leaderboard, Lu Wu couldn't help but boast a little.

Right after he said that, a familiar snort rang out again. Lu Wu turned his head but didn't see long legs; just a swishing ponytail.

Clearly, he'd been caught in the act.

Now things were awkward—if he didn't take first place, where would he put his face when they next met?

Just then, a notification sound came from the Secret Realm Bracelet on Lu Wu's wrist, signaling the start of the Secret Realm.

"Let's go, I haven't been to a so-called Secret Realm before!"

Lu Wu grabbed Dudu's hand, and the two hurried towards the entrance of the Secret Realm.

At the gate, Lu Wu encountered long legs again, clearly she was among those entering the Secret Realm in this batch.

Lu Wu didn't pay much mind, but the girl seemed very displeased to see Lu Wu holding Dudu's hand.

Another cold snort, another turn, leaving Lu Wu with the view of a solitary ponytail.

Lu Wu couldn't care less about the girl and approached the staff.

"Please choose your mode: solo, duo, or team?"

"Duo mode!"

"Duo mode selected successfully, have an enjoyable trial!"

After going through the simple process, Lu Wu and Dudu were led through a gate, and with one step, they were inside the Secret Realm...