Jiang Kai and the other three immediately saw a sphere flashing with a cyan light bouncing inside the cave.
The cyan sphere seemed to possess a will of its own. Upon hearing Jiang Kai's intent to catch it, its speed suddenly surged and it madly charged toward the rock wall.
Hu Yan was the closest to the light sphere, but it was too fast, he could only watch as it darted past him.
BANG!
A loud crash sounded behind Hu Yan, followed by a chunk of rubble hurtling toward him.
He quickly bent down, narrowly dodging the falling stone.
The other three immediately lunged toward the light sphere.
However, the cyan sphere only became faster, darting wildly through the cave. Each time it collided with the cave walls, it smashed the hard rock into fragments.
In an instant, stone debris was flying everywhere inside the cave.
BANG!
Ruan Yu was struck on the head by a piece of rubble. Blood gushed instantly.
Just as he clutched his head, he was hit by several more chunks of stone.
After being hit continuously, Ruan Yu violently coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Jiang Kai had expected the light sphere to be fast, otherwise it would have been caught long ago, but he hadn't imagined it would be this fast.
In the current situation, it was basically impossible to catch it.
Even the flying rubble was so forceful. After Ruan Yu got hit, he probably broke several ribs at the very least.
Suddenly, a piece of rubble flew toward the back of Ruan Yu's head. Jiang Kai reacted quickly, firing a Nine Tribulations dart that shattered the stone mid-air.
Ruan Yu got a moment to breathe and immediately pulled out the Frost Shield, shouting, "BEHIND ME!"
Hu Yan wasn't doing much better, his right shoulder was drooping, and after taking another heavy hit to his injured leg, he fell to his knees.
Shen Yi quickly grabbed Hu Yan and helped him take cover behind Ruan Yu.
A barrage of rubble slammed into the Frost Shield, creating a rapid series of bangs. The force was so great even Ruan Yu struggled to hold on.
"Damn it, Shen Yi, why didn't you say the rubble would be this intense?"
"Brother Ruan, it wasn't this bad before. Seems like it knows there are more people now, its attacks are several times stronger than last time," Shen Yi explained while helping Ruan Yu support the Frost Shield.
Among the four, the only one who hadn't been hit was Jiang Kai.
That was thanks to his extremely high agility attribute.
Even so, he was now also hiding behind the Frost Shield. The flying rubble was too dense, he couldn't guarantee he'd dodge everything.
All four of them huddled behind the shield, crouching in a corner, finally getting a brief moment to breathe.
"Captain Kai, what is that thing?", Hu Yan and Ruan Yu both knew Jiang Kai had sharp perception when it came to moving targets. They had already lost track of the light sphere, only Jiang Kai might be able to keep an eye on it.
"I think it's a living being," Shen Yi said.
"I can't see clearly, the center light is too bright," Jiang Kai frowned deeply.
Ruan Yu said, "No matter what it is, Captain Kai, is there any way to catch it?"
Jiang Kai's mind raced, "You definitely can't catch it with bare hands, it's too fast. Unless I can shoot it down with Nine Tribulations!"
"Captain Kai, we'll cover you, give it a try!"
Jiang Kai nodded and gripped another Nine Tribulations dart, waited for the right moment, and suddenly let it fly.
However, halfway through, the dart was struck by flying debris, knocked off course, and embedded itself in the stone wall.
Jiang Kai tried several more times, all with the same result.
"No good. That thing seems to know how to block flying weapons," Jiang Kai said gravely, "Even with my high agility, it still managed to deflect… or maybe my dart's speed isn't fast enough!"
Thinking of this, Jiang Kai launched another throwing knife.
"Gambler's Time!"
This time, Jiang Kai's firing speed doubled. The knife's speed surged, dodging four or five chunks of stone, and hit the light sphere directly.
But the next second, Jiang Kai was completely stunned.
The Nine Tribulations knife sank straight into the light sphere, there was no reaction from the sphere at all. But Jiang Kai could no longer sense the knife's presence.
"Damn! My Nine Tribulations! It got eaten?", Jiang Kai exclaimed in shock.
The more Jiang Kai thought about it, the angrier he got. He shouted, "You cocky thing! Let's see if you can swallow this one!"
"God of Hell's Decree, Time Has Not Come Yet!"
This time Jiang Kai was going all in. The Gambler's Time effect was still active, and the power of the God of Hell's Decree had already been proven in clashes with the Soul-Devourer Blade. Plus, he could control it with his mind, he didn't believe this light sphere could devour this divine weapon.
God of Hell's Decree was intercepted by several flying stones, but the debris was ultimately a bit too slow. The blade shot straight toward the light sphere.
Upon hitting the light sphere, the blade suddenly vanished into it without triggering Time Has Not Come Yet...
"This…", Jiang Kai's eyes widened.
'Could it be… that thing could even swallow God of Hell's Decree?'
If that were true, he was about to suffer a colossal loss.
Just then, the light sphere rebounded off the rock wall several dozen times, then suddenly rushed deeper into the cave.
"No good, it's trying to run," Jiang Kai called out softly, "It's too narrow inside, you guys wait here!"
With that, Jiang Kai chased it into the cave depths.
"Captain Kai! Take the shield!", Ruan Yu threw over the Frost Shield. Jiang Kai caught it in one hand and dashed in pursuit of the light sphere.
Once the light sphere left, the rubble inside the cave finally ceased.
The three, Hu Yan, Ruan Yu, and Shen Yi, let out a sigh of relief and approached the entrance to the inner cave.
"Let's check it out too," Hu Yan said.
Ruan Yu nodded, and the three entered together.
Jiang Kai had already explored the inner cave previously and was now sprinting at full speed, chasing the light sphere.
After being hit by God of Hell's Decree, the light sphere stopped crashing into walls, but its speed was still incredible, the gap between it and Jiang Kai only widened.
Jiang Kai tried sensing God of Hell's Decree. At first, he felt almost nothing, but gradually, a faint trace of presence emerged.
"It's still there," Jiang Kai's eyes flared as he ran harder than ever, chasing the sphere.
The inner cave was only thirty to forty meters deep. Soon, the light sphere reached the end.
At that moment, Jiang Kai's sense of God of Hell's Decree was growing stronger.
Ahead was a rock wall, the sphere plunged straight into it.
Seeing this, Jiang Kai nearly lost his mind. If the sphere disappeared, so would his blade.
"God of Hell's Decree, come back to me," Jiang Kai roared.
Perhaps due to Jiang Kai's intense will resonating with the blade, the sphere seemed to be held by a powerful force, half of it was already embedded in the stone, while the other half was stuck outside.
Jiang Kai's eyes bulged, he guessed the blade was trying to break free, stopping the sphere from escaping.
He had to concentrate fully now and guide God of Hell's Decree back.
They were locked in a stalemate for a moment. Jiang Kai began to feel exhausted, the light sphere was slowly pushing further into the wall.
Hu Yan and the others finally caught up.
"Grab it now!", Jiang Kai's face was twisted with strain as he growled, "I'm about to lose it!"
Hu Yan, Ruan Yu, and Shen Yi glanced at the light sphere stuck in the wall and rushed toward it.
As soon as they touched it, their entire bodies vanished.
Three living people, gone the instant they touched the light sphere.
Jiang Kai's eyes nearly burst from their sockets. While holding the sphere back with his mind, he slowly approached it step by step.
"What the hell is this thing…", Jiang Kai gritted his teeth, inching closer.
Just as the light sphere was about to fully sink into the wall, Jiang Kai reached out and made contact.
Suddenly, a powerful pulling force yanked his entire body into a realm of blinding light.
———
In a daze, Jiang Kai heard the system's voice.
[Divine Realm was intercepted unexpectedly… downgraded to Hidden Secret Realm level. Extraordinary and above rewards removed… Interruption failed, Exclusive Class Artifact reward not removed…]
[Since the realm was intercepted by a Gambler-class, ultimate reward, Exclusive Class Artifact, set to Gambler class.]
When Jiang Kai opened his eyes, he vaguely saw three figures and a small black mist suspended in front of him.
He heard the system voice again, now clearly.
[Congratulations on entering the Hidden Secret Realm: "Domain of Light." The demon army will attack the Domain of Light in 3 minutes.]
[You and your teammates must protect the Light Divine Card for 300 seconds. After completing the mission, your team will receive a Secret Realm Chest. Each player will also receive a reward based on their total damage dealt, item qualities ranked as: Class One, Excellent, Supreme, Unique, and Class Exclusive. Class Exclusive Artifacts are the highest tier.]
[In this realm, items above Class One quality cannot be used.]
[Demon Army Attack Countdown: 167 seconds.]
Jiang Kai's vision finally cleared. Standing before him were Hu Yan, Ruan Yu, and Shen Yi. Judging from their shocked expressions, they had also received the system message.
"Holy crap, the light sphere… is a secret realm?", Ruan Yu said in disbelief.
Secret realms on Ghost Star were extremely well-hidden. Some people had never even entered one, especially for non-combat professions like them.
It was Jiang Kai's second time entering a secret realm, so he was relatively calmer. He composed himself and looked around.
Nearby, God of Hell's Decree floated in midair, surrounded by a glowing ring that prevented him from retrieving it.
It seemed this was due to the rule that divine artifacts couldn't be used in this secret realm.
Behind them stood a massive card, rotating slowly from one corner as a pivot. It emitted a white light, the exact opposite of God of Hell's Decree.
"So this is the Light Divine Card? Could it be one of the Main God Cards too…", Jiang Kai narrowed his eyes.
He vaguely remembered hearing something about a Gambler's class-exclusive artifact. If so, this was likely one of the Main God Cards.
Thinking this, Jiang Kai couldn't help but breathe a little faster.
The second Main God Card, Light Divine Card.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y