June 1st, no holiday, but plenty of joy.
Northern snow plains.
Under the ice, two bumbling thieves were digging through ice.
"Big Brother, do we really have to keep digging? Weren't you supposed to take ho to sell beef skewers?"
"Shut up, opportunities co with risks, only those who fight will win! What's the future in selling beef?" the elder brother snapped at the younger brother.
"But last ti you took to seek risks, we ended up right in the Beast Taming Sect's jail," the younger brother complained while digging the ice.
"Just tell if we got what we sought or not. Without that six months in that prison camp, could we have reached Qi Cultivation Peak at First-Layer Great Perfection?" The elder brother swung his pickaxe with loud clangs as he chiseled away.
Younger brother, "Your Great Perfection is useless here, this is the Northern Territory, even a kid from the Demon Race kindergarten who can stand to pee could thrash you."
"Why do you have so much nonsense to say? Hurry up and dig!"
"Big Brother..."
"What?"
"I'm hungry..."
"Sigh." The elder brother sighed, "If you're hungry, just take a Grain Avoidance Pill, here, eat this one, it tastes like candy."
He said as he stuffed a Grain Avoidance Pill into the younger brother's mouth.
"I want to eat beef..."
"Be good, once we're done here, I'll take you back and you can have beef every day."
The younger brother chewed the Grain Avoidance Pill, and a warm flow spread through his abdon, warming up his slightly frozen hands and feet again.
These two, relying on sheer stubbornness and the foolish strength of their Qi Cultivation Peak at First-Layer Great Perfection, had been digging under this ice for who knows how long.
All for the Northern Territory's Demon Race Secret Treasure.
As for where the intel ca from, the younger brother didn't dare ask, because the elder brother's intelligence network was an absolute secret.
Though the network didn't always work, to be honest.
Chewing on the Grain Avoidance Pill, the younger brother prayed that this ti it would work.
"Big Brother, sothing else just ca to mind." The younger brother tugged at the elder brother's sleeve after pondering for a while.
Elder brother, "Don't pull too hard, it's made of snow leopard skin. Speak up, what's up?"
"I read in a book that such Secret Realms are protected by arrays. Are we capable? I an, I can't even draw a Fire-igniting Talisman, let alone breaking an array."
Elder brother, "Ha, you don't understand. As the saying goes, arrays defend against experts but not against weaklings, old folks, and children."
"I'm the kid, so are you the old folk or the weakling?" the younger brother asked, oblivious.
"Why so many questions? Don't just blurt out things, leave things implied, understand?"
The elder brother gave the younger brother a firm slap.
"Listen to what I have to say, no interrupting."
"Okay."
"Rember how it's written in books? The protagonist who knows nothing stumbles into a cliff and there's always a Secret Realm below, with a certain old guy in the Secret Realm.
"Think about how the prison warden taught you in the labor camp; we are the protagonists of our own lives!
"So you see, this Secret Realm is left for us!
"Moreover, even if there really is an array, isn't that why you're here? Why else would I bring you along?"
"Hmm?" The naive younger brother took a long ti to realize sothing was off.
"Big Brother, what do you an?"
"I an, if I step on a trap in front, you'll have to pull out! That's what I an," the elder brother quickly added.
"Really?"
"Really!"
"Hehe, you treat so well, Big Brother."
"Of course!"
After resting enough, the two brothers picked up the outdoor folding iron spade they bought from the Thousand chanism Pavilion and began to dig vigorously again.
After half a two-hour period, the ice layer in front of them was smashed open, and a tal door appeared before the two brothers.
"Big Brother! Is this it?"
The younger brother eagerly rushed up, his hand clawing at the iron door.
The elder brother stepped back a pace, breathing a sigh of relief only after confirming the younger brother was not suddenly dead, then approached to study the iron door himself.
This was his first treasure hunt, he didn't know what a true Secret Realm looked like.
The iron door had no chanisms, and after fiddling a bit, the two of them pushed the iron door open.
The younger brother imdiately squeezed through without a word.
The elder brother thought for a mont and followed through.
As they moved forward, the corridor grew narrower, forcing the two of them to crawl by the ti they reached the end.
"Big Brother, how about we go back? I'm scared," the younger brother hesitated again.
"Don't be afraid, as the saying goes, 'At first, it's so narrow only a person can pass, but after a few more steps, it opens up spaciously,'" the elder brother said, patting the younger brother's butt to urge him on faster.
"Big Brother..."
"What now?"
"I need to fart... ah, there it goes."
"&@#%"
After this little digression, the two crawled for a while, and as the elder brother predicted, the path widened gradually.
Once they could straighten their backs, they saw another iron door.
"Is this it?"
"It should be, let's open it together."
"One, two, three!"
The iron door was pushed open, and the two of them fell out due to inertia. Warmth and noise surged towards them, and looking at the scenery of this so-called 'secret realm' in front of them, the younger brother was a bit dumbfounded.
"Big bro, why are there so many people in this secret realm?"
"I have no idea..." Big Brother looked up at the display sign above, staring blankly.
[Demon Race History Exhibition Area, Hall One]
The hall was full of people, so taking pictures with small walnuts, so live streaming, couples holding hands and kissing, Understand Brother standing in front of the exhibit bragging, so dragging children to the corner to scold them.
It was quite lively.
Holding grand aspirations, the two found themselves stuck in a dilemma, unable to advance or retreat.
Fortunately, soone quickly pointed out the direction for them to move forward.
"Hey, you two, why are you standing there? Show your entry tickets." A cultivator with a red armband walked up to them,
Before Big Brother could argue, the younger brother spoke up, "What entry tickets? Who needs entry tickets to enter a secret realm? Isn't this secret realm open for kids, the elderly, and noobs for free?"
Listening to the younger brother's words, the staff mber of the Demon Race Museum imdiately understood. With a flick of his hand, an iron chain appeared in it.
"Elderly over 800 and children under 8 indeed enter for free, but noobs and fools can't. You guys are fare dodging; co with !"
The chain clattered, fastening these two ticket-dodging thieves.
With a click of the silver handcuffs, their cultivation at the peak of Qi cultivation was imdiately suppressed.
The two were led away from the bustling museum.
Big Brother looked back and saw a sign hanging on the dragon-engraved door behind them.
[White Emperor City Demon Race Museum]
"This... where is this place?" Big Brother asked.
"This is the new White Emperor City, the underground part. The above-ground part is still under construction. If you really want to make money, go sign up there. Once you've earned money, rember to buy tickets when you co here." The cultivator pointed to a crystal stone screen by the roadside.
On the crystal stone screen, plans for the future of the new White Emperor City were being played on a loop.
The once System House had been completely relocated, leaving behind an empty shell city that beca a new ho for the demon race, while the above-ground part of the new White Emperor City was also under construction.
This ti, the White Emperor City has no restrictions, and anyone can co.
Big Brother was a bit confused. How did it change just by digging ice underground for a while? How did the world change so much?
"Then... what's going on with this?" Realizing he had been deceived, Big Brother quickly searched his pocket and took out a map.
"Fake map, drawn by the sect leader of Dragon Tiger Mountain, as a souvenir for children. You can buy as many as you want over there." The cultivator pointed to a souvenir shop on the other side of the road.
Things in the Northern Territory were too big to be kept secret.
So secrets, rather than keeping them, it's better to sell tickets to make money.
Moreover, the demon race in the Northern Territory indeed needed sothing to do to alleviate the anxiety caused by too much information.
Moving and building houses, as well as live streaming, were pretty good.
In the ti those two dumb thieves were digging ice, Yuqing and her good niece Bai Tao beca superstars and held several live streams.
Instead of dancing, they used pseudo-exploration thods to reveal so half-true, half-false little secrets about the demon race to the public.
Of course, nothing about Zhang Ze was ntioned, as he didn't want to beco famous right now.
And there was quite a lot going on at ho currently.
...
Thousand chanism Pavilion.
Finally back ho, Zhang Ze was coaxing Li.
Li sat on the ground, unmoving no matter how he nudged, sulking.
The issue with the square pig couldn't be concealed, and Li felt it was a great humiliation, so he hadn't spoken to Zhang Ze.
"Alright, I'll co to see you later. If you're hungry, help yourself to so food; there's so on the shelf."
Leaving the room, Zhang Ze headed towards the banks of the Qinghe River.
The earth veins of the East Continent had been connected by the Hundred Demons Sect, and the plain by the Qinghe River was the center.
System House had been relocated there, and with it as the core, a new Thousand chanism City was under construction.
Bypassing the outer construction site, Zhang Ze reached the well-constructed core and saw his master Li moonlighting as a security guard.
After greeting each other, Zhang Ze asked, "Where's the junior sister?"
"Inside," replied old Li, who was sipping tea. He glanced slyly at his disciple and advised, "Don't learn from that old fat Wang Buyu; be more well-behaved. You... forget it, no point in saying more. Just go inside quickly."
With ease, after bidding farewell to his master, Zhang Ze entered the relocated System House, passed through the corridors, and arrived at the presently functioning archive room.
Upon opening the door, Zhang Ze felt his ears buzzing.
It was too noisy...
On the left, a cluster of golden-lit Lily and Dan Dan, the old ones, and all those Star Gods stood together, chattering incessantly.
On the right, in projection form, Xiangxiang and the stone-like Xiaoxuan stood together, quarreling non-stop with the sa face. Around them, Big Head Taoist was split into two groups, also embroiled in argunts.
The group in the back was Tang, arguing with soone holding a small walnut; surrounding him were a circle of Sword Spirits and many magical artifacts.
And a lot of Fuji.
The noisiest people or things in the entire Thousand chanism Pavilion were gathered here.
Zhang Ze blocked his hearing, searched inside, and quickly found his junior sister ditating cross-legged, displaying a dignified appearance in a corner, also shutting out the noise.
Zhang Ze approached and tapped Chen Qin, signaling for her to co out with him.
After closing the archive room door, they both released the restriction on their ears and simultaneously sighed.
"Co with ."
"Mm."
Zhang Ze led the way to a deeper part of System House with partitioned halls.
It was quiet there.
When they reached the entrance of that hall, both Zhang Ze and the junior sister spoke simultaneously.
"I want to talk to you about sothing."
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