Chapter 892: Um... mhm? She is Little Han?!
Inside the Ice Throne Secret Realm.
Snow filled the sky mixed with ice crystals, clattering against the protective shields raised by travelers under the force of the gale.
The blizzard here showed no sign of stopping; the snow continuously deposited upon the earth, leaving only a vista of despairing white for the eye to see.
At this moment, Tan Han and her group were walking here with difficulty.
The footprints they left behind stretched into the distance, covered by snowflakes even before they could escape the limit of vision.
The Witch's Secret Realm Club preliminarily estimated that the size of this secret realm far exceeded the size of the Witch Academy; in other words, it was even larger than the entirety of Modu!
It wasn't that they didn't want to ride brooms or use alchemical items to travel, but rather that traveling at the speed of a flying broom made it easy to fall behind or get lost.
Visibility within the secret realm was extremely low.
Initially, they had only heard rumors, but after experiencing it personally, they understood the hardships involved.
Furthermore... there was a mysterious power within the secret realm suppressing their spells.
Different from the Great Weakening Spell of the Core Realm, which suppressed power directly from the source of the spell, the suppression within the secret realm was more akin to a suppression in the form of an attack.
Specifically, as long as one was within the blizzard, they would be subject to power suppression.
Casting spells during this process meant being constantly interrupted by the power every second and every minute.
If even a single error occurred, one would suffer spell backlash, so casting required extreme caution.
Moreover, if an alchemical item like a broom remained within the blizzard for a long time, the rune formations within the alchemy would receive the same treatment as spellcasting.
If they couldn't hold out, the alchemical item would develop defects at the rune level, leading to the failure of the internal energy circulation.
Therefore, high-mobility equipment like flying brooms was actually meant for use at critical moments.
As for when a critical moment was... it was naturally the time to flee for one's life.
After all... this was a battlefield for true life-and-death struggle!
Once the crowd adapted to this environment, the hunt was about to begin.
As for the research base and related materials concerning the Grand Spellbook within this secret realm?
In fact, up until now, they had found nothing.
Preliminarily, it was judged that those research bases and laboratories had long since been buried beneath the ice and snow.
Indeed, the heavy snow continuously covered, pressed, and settled... everything from the past had long since vanished without a trace.
Searching for such a place within such a vast area was like looking for a needle in a haystack!
Therefore, those materials were ultimately just a gimmick; at least until that place was found, this would only be a battlefield riddled with crises.
Because... one faced not only the greed of other explorers here, but also the extremely special monsters within this secret realm!
"Quick, dodge!"
Tan Han, who was instinctively very sensitive to danger, spoke up.
BOOM—!
Accompanying a roar akin to a massive avalanche, the earth formed from deposited snow shattered in response.
Raised blocks of snow splattered onto the ground, stirring up a massive cloud of ice mist.
"It's those Ice Crystal Monsters!"
Accompanying such voices, the snow mist and ice dust dissipated, and the massive creature appeared before the crowd.
This "Ice Crystal Monster" was ice-blue overall, its body shaped from dense ice crystals.
The faceted surfaces of the ice crystals, looking as if cut by a knife, were exceptionally dazzling under the simulated light of the secret realm.
The height of this one's frame reached at least the height of two or three stories, and its somewhat clumsy body seemed to have a portion still buried beneath the ice and snow.
In other words, their size was a good deal taller than they appeared.
After the crowd reacted, they immediately counterattacked, with dense spells flying toward the giant monster.
Although they were extremely massive, they possessed only basic mobility, and their attacks relied on their clumsy bodies for physical strikes.
Even so, the destruction caused by such a big fellow was still not to be scoffed at.
If one were to take a direct hit from this guy, their body would likely be smashed to pulp.
After only a few rounds of fire-type spell coverage, the monster collapsed under the burden, yet the crowd did not relax because of this.
Because... these Ice Crystal Monsters appeared in groups, not as individuals!
Hardly anyone knew exactly how high the distribution density of these monsters was.
The intelligence described that wherever there was ice and snow, it was possible for such monsters to crawl out.
Furthermore, before these monsters became active, ordinary life-detection spells could not even detect life activity beneath the ice and snow!
Sure enough, after this monster fell, eerie cracks appeared on the knife-cut-like glaciers not far from them.
Immediately following, such monsters emerged directly from the glaciers...
The blizzard obstructed their vision, preventing them from seeing very far, but they could still identify those as Ice Crystal Monsters by their massive silhouettes.
It wasn't just those glaciers, but also the earth beneath their feet.
It was as if the monster killed just now acted as a fuse, completely igniting the rage of these fellows!
"Why was this kind of thing not mentioned in your intelligence?"
If they had known in advance that killing a monster would trigger a chain reaction, they should have chosen to run directly just now!
"Do you expect those intelligence collectors to kill these guys? It's already a blessing that they could return from the secret realm with their observations."
No matter how the dispute went now, it could not change the current status quo.
It wasn't that this group of people couldn't resolve so many monsters, but rather that wasting so much physical strength here was truly unwise.
Even though Tan Han and her group had Self-generating Magic Power and didn't need to worry about magic power issues, their physical strength and mental energy absolutely could not withstand such consumption.
Lest it be forgotten, even if their physical quality far exceeded that of ordinary people, simply facing the harsh environment required an expenditure of strength and energy that had already reached a balance.
Any sudden battle would break this recovery balance and plunge them into a persistent state of decline.
Therefore, facing the scene that was on the verge of erupting, they all tacitly chose to withdraw from the battlefield at high speed.
These monsters were very clumsy; the sky was not a region they could set foot in.
But Tan Han looked at the dense blizzard clouds in the sky, instinctively feeling that something bad was going to happen.
Because she had seen flying Ice Crystal Monsters in the intelligence.
Although the intelligence mentioned the number was very small—out of so many exploration teams, only one had been encountered—if they were encountered in the current situation... Once their coordination in the air was scattered, it would very likely lead to them becoming lost within the blizzard relative to each other.
In fact, even alchemical items for mutual positioning might not necessarily be able to help them regroup into a single team.
But Tan Han still chose to do so; at least they needed to leave this place of trouble first to preserve their strength.
As for getting lost?
Tan Han knew very well that their temporary alliance wished for nothing more than to separate at this point.
The moment Tan Han rode her broom directly into the low clouds, she heard bursts of clattering sounds from ice crystals colliding with each other within the cloud layer.
These sounds gradually became very rhythmic.
Ice crystals transformed into transparent wings, folding into a sharp Wind Falcon within the dark clouds.
Whoosh—!
Accompanying that ice crystal bringing gale-force winds and dense ice needles, Tan Han finally realized that the low clouds were similarly the "nest" of these Ice Crystal Monsters.
These were not normal dark clouds at all!
How could normal dark clouds manage to scatter snowflakes endlessly?
Only a Grand Spellbook could create such a miracle!
This was the first lesson this secret realm taught Tan Han and her group not long after they entered.
Their greatest enemy was not those fellow explorers who entered with them, but the endless calamities within the secret realm!
***
The Ice Throne Secret Realm had only been open for two days, and not even all the explorers had entered yet, before someone had already left this secret realm—which could be called a calamity—in a wretched state through special means.
"Buzz Gray... the second son of the Gray family, a Wizard apprentice. The fragment held was a Heart of Cold Tide."
Watching the youth covered in wounds come out, Ming Xueming, outside the secret realm, had this person's information flicker before her eyes.
Subsequently, a smile flashed at the corner of her mouth.
At the very least, this youth before her had fulfilled his mission; he had left the fragment... within the Ice Throne Secret Realm.
"I... my bead... the bead is gone! Let me down! I want to go back in!"
The youth fumbled through his pockets in panic, having completely ignored the wounds still glinting with ice shards, as he cried out such dire news in terror.
Ming Xueming smiled without speaking.
The people from other Transcendent academies merely felt this youth had lost that fragment.
Only she knew that fragments taken into the secret realm could not be brought back out.
You could survive by lingering on and forcibly leaving the secret realm through spatial means, but... you could not take the fragment with you.
Only by leaving through the formal teleportation channel would it work.
And the only one who could hold a fragment and still take that channel was the final victor.
Those holding fragments were all "outlaws" within the secret realm; how could they have the habit of stopping while they were ahead?
They would only snatch, or be snatched from.
There was no third possibility.
Just as these people were discussing the great risk of the secret realm, three witches arrived over at the experimental area.
After my clone left the Academy Head's office a few days ago, the experimental flow regarding the Dream Domain was also arranged on the schedule.
Today, after accepting the permissions for the experimental area, these three Body Cultivation witches arrived at the laboratory under the leadership of the Academy Head.
After all, Mei Linde truly placed great importance on this experiment.
Coming this time was primarily to take these three to familiarize them with the environment and the process.
There was still some time before the formal experiment.
"Is this the place? It seems the experimental area your academy reserved is truly large."
"That's natural. After all, no matter what is said, our Witch Academy is an academy dominated by Academic Witches... attention, we are about to enter the dream overlap area."
"Dream overlap area? Will there be any impact?"
"A dream overlap area is relatively dangerous for those with very weak willpower. The body will instinctively be affected by the dream, and consciousness will enter the dream. But for Transcendent Witches, it can be said there is basically no impact."
"True, I can feel it."
Long felt it carefully after entering the secret realm overlap area.
As Body Cultivators, their perception of the body was very keen.
But no matter how the dream overlapped with reality, it actually wouldn't affect reality's matter in the slightest.
The abnormalities they felt were mostly the dream's interference with their own consciousness.
Furthermore, they felt that the closer they got to that laboratory, the more severe this dream interference with their consciousness became.
"After entering the laboratory, I need to make a declaration in advance, as this concerns your safety."
"Is the equipment in the lab too expensive, and you're afraid we can't afford to pay if we break it? I was warned like that last time."
Long spoke up very bluntly.
"That is indeed a part of it; the equipment within the laboratory is truly expensive."
At the thought of this, Mei remembered Little Han's technique for hand-crafting equipment and that primitive research style.
She even instinctively felt there was no need to fear such things.
The most expensive thing in Little Han's lab... felt like Little Han herself.
Nothing had a higher value than her.
"But the primary concern is safety. While coming here just now, I told you of the horror of the Primal Dream State. The central area within this laboratory is a piece of man-made controlled Primal Dream State. Unless coordinating with an experiment, do not touch it or even approach that area when there's nothing going on."
"Is that the only precaution?"
"Um... don't look for trouble or break experimental materials. I trust your self-control, and I also hope you can rein in your curiosity. If you don't understand something, you can ask, but do not take things with your hands..."
Mei Linde recited a long string of precautions.
Facing witches who were curious about everything, witches who didn't understand experimental norms within a lab were comparable to a level ten typhoon passing through.
"There seem to be quite a few precautions; are there that many rules in the lab?"
"Actually, most rules are to restrict the overflowing curiosity of witches who understand nothing. Forgive me for being so blunt; I trust you can feel my seriousness. This is no joke."
"I feel like you've equated us Body Cultivation witches with barbarian witches, Academy Head. There's really no need to have such a stereotype toward us."
Muli spoke up from the side.
"Do you know what this is?"
At this moment, Academy Head Mei suddenly took out an object.
It was a streak of something like a feather.
"What is this?"
Long, who was closest to Mei, instinctively reached out, but the moment her finger touched the tip of the feather, the feather instantly transformed into fire and burned between Mei's fingers.
Until nothing remained.
"This is Unstable Feather Elemental Fire. It is a product of solidified fire encapsulation, a universal material used in the field of alchemy. Contact with it requires using a special spell to form a protective layer on the hand, otherwise it will instantly disrupt the elemental balance and cause a flare-up."
Mei clapped her hands and looked at Muli, saying: "It's not that I insist on having a stereotype. Curiosity often exists within the inadvertent moments of every witch. I hope this can serve as a reminder to you."
"......I understand."
Muli was silent for an instant, then glanced at this Dragon Witch beside her.
She knew who all these things Mei had been saying along the way were meant for.
Subsequently, Mei Linde brought them into the laboratory.
After she relied on her permissions to open the door, the pressure radiated by the Primal Dream State within the laboratory exerted an increasingly strong oppression on consciousness.
"Little Han, I sent you a message in advance. Not busy, are you?"
"Hmm? Big Sis Mei, arrived so soon?"
I came to the front of the lab with some surprise, and subsequently saw those three Body Cultivation witches once more.
"Um... mhm? She is Little Han?! How is she a Lesser Witch?"