Tang San had no way to deal with him and could only think of finding Wu Qi first to ask about the situation.
Unfortunately, Wu Qi and the others had already left for their training journey. Finding their whereabouts would not be easy.
After searching without success, Yu Xiaogang became convinced that Wu Qi had deliberately left to avoid him, simply because he did not want Yu Xiaogang to break through Level 30.
To Yu Xiaogang, destroying someone's future was no different from killing their parents. As a result, his hatred for Wu Qi only grew stronger.
He constantly spoke ill of Wu Qi, and since Wu Qi was not present to defend himself, Tang San gradually began to waver as well.
As Seven Treasure Academy officially opened and began recruiting students, its admission requirements were made identical to those of Shrek Academy (formerly Blue Tyrant Academy).
The members of the former academy team who had lost their competition spots were deeply dissatisfied with Shrek Academy. One after another, they brought their friends and transferred to Seven Treasure Academy.
After all, the academy's backer was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
Although Blue Tyrant Academy had been supported by the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, even ten Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clans combined could not match the wealth of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
People naturally sought better opportunities.
Since they already met Seven Treasure Academy's admission requirements, why wouldn't they choose the superior academy?
In recent years, Blue Tyrant Academy's enrollment had already been declining. The entire academy had only around one hundred and fifty students.
After Seven Treasure Academy appeared, more than fifty students transferred away in one go.
Compared to established Spirit Master academies, a place like Shrek Academy had far less ability to retain students. Furthermore, the two academies were located close to one another, meaning Shrek's future recruitment would undoubtedly be affected.
Even Ning Fengzhi had not expected so many applicants.
As a result, he immediately revised the academy's construction plans and expanded its enrollment capacity.
The two academies quickly became direct competitors.
Since Shrek Academy was at a disadvantage, Tang San and the others naturally developed a dislike for Seven Treasure Academy.
That resentment soon extended to the entire Seven Treasure Team as well.
After many days of travel, the Seven Treasure Team's carriage finally entered the territory of the Kingdom of Hagen-Dazs.
Before departure, Sun Buyu had already created a training plan for everyone.
The northern regions valued martial prowess highly. Every year, major cities held martial tournaments. Sun Buyu proposed that everyone participate in these events to sharpen their individual combat abilities.
Dugu Bo looked at them with a strange expression.
"With your talent, why are you putting so much effort into finding partners? If word got out in Heaven Dou City, plenty of noble families would send people to you willingly."
Wu Qi looked puzzled.
"Old man, what are you talking about?"
"We're discussing martial competitions. How did this suddenly become about that?"
Seeing their confusion, Dugu Bo finally understood.
"So none of you know the true meaning of these tournaments?"
Rubbing his forehead, he explained,
"In the north, not only do men value strength, but women do as well."
"Every year, the city lord's office selects eligible young women to participate as part of the tournament rewards."
"These martial tournaments are actually matchmaking events."
"The champion can choose from among the strongest and most beautiful women."
"And participation is mandatory. The winner must make a choice."
"Of course, both parties still have to agree."
Throughout the journey, Wu Qi had noticed that the north was sparsely populated.
Villages were separated by great distances.
To encourage population growth, events like these matchmaking tournaments had been established.
At the same time, they also helped reduce private conflicts among Spirit Masters.
Sun Buyu's face turned red as he lowered his head.
Years ago, during his travels, he had seen a martial tournament but had not stayed long enough to learn that it was also a matchmaking event.
Fortunately, he had never actually participated. Otherwise, it would have been a truly embarrassing misunderstanding.
Wu Qi did not blame him.
Instead, he took out a map and pointed to a location.
"Then we'll head straight to Litton Forest without delay."
"At the same time, we can check whether that secret realm has opened."
Forests of this size were heavily affected by human activity.
Once overdeveloped, they would eventually disappear.
Fortunately, there was more than one Spirit Beast forest nearby.
Even if Litton Forest vanished, they could simply move on to another.
Two days later, their carriage arrived at the entrance of Litton Forest.
The eastern section of the forest showed clear signs of human development.
The forest itself had shrunk by nearly one-fifth.
Despite that, the Spirit Beasts seemed largely unaffected, and the forest remained full of life.
According to the ancient records, the secret realm was located beneath a cliff on the eastern outskirts of the forest.
Judging by the extent of human activity, the location was technically no longer considered part of the forest.
It was worth noting that wherever there was a Spirit Beast forest, there would always be hunting teams.
Although Litton Forest was not much larger than the hunting forests established by Spirit Hall, the Spirit Beasts within were considerably stronger.
Occasionally, even ten-thousand-year Spirit Beasts could be found there.
As a result, the hunting teams operating here were mostly composed of Spirit Elders and Spirit Ancestors, making them far stronger than the teams commonly seen near ordinary hunting forests.
Since the terrain ahead was unsuitable for carriages, Wu Qi and the others temporarily left their carriage in a nearby Spirit Beast town and continued on foot toward the secret realm.
Dugu Bo explained,
"Strictly speaking, what you call secret realms are usually just ruins left behind by powerful experts who died thousands or even tens of thousands of years ago."
"A true secret realm is an independent miniature world."
"Those places contain the greatest opportunities."
Since ancient ruins often contained valuable treasures, they had gradually been grouped together under the broader category of secret realms.
Dugu Bo was simply making a technical distinction.
Everyone understood what he meant and did not dwell on the matter.
Three hours later, following the route on Wu Qi's map, the group arrived beneath a cliff.
However, the scene before them looked nothing like the site of an ancient ruin.
Instead, an entire village stood there.
Changkong hesitated before speaking.
"Brother Wu, are you sure the ancient records weren't mistaken?"
The ancient book was currently in Wu Qi's possession, so there was no way he had misread it.
The only reason he had not taken it out was because its binding made it obvious that it came from Spirit Hall.
He shook his head.
"This book is classified as Grade A. Its authenticity was definitely verified."
Within Spirit Hall, books were categorized into Grades A, B, C, and D.
Grade A records were considered complete and capable of withstanding careful scrutiny.
Dugu Bo said,"The records are very old. After so many years, it's only natural that the landscape may have changed."
At that moment, Wu Qi's concern was something else.
The records were not merely a thousand years old.
They were far older than that.
He worried that the ruins had already been discovered and explored by others.
Although ancient ruins were not particularly rare across the continent, locating them was extremely difficult.
Whenever someone found one, they would naturally search it thoroughly for treasures.
After a moment of silence, Feng Xiaotian suggested,
"Let's enter the village first and see what's going on."
"Besides, this trip is supposed to be a journey of exploration anyway. Even if there are no ruins, we can just treat it as sightseeing. We won't lose anything."
At the moment, that was their only option.
The village consisted entirely of low wooden houses.
Around it stood countless rotted tree stumps, evidence that large numbers of trees had been cut down in the past.
Clearly, the village had not existed for very long, probably no more than ten years.
To be safe, Dugu Bo did not stay with the group.
Instead, he concealed himself nearby and secretly watched from the shadows.
As soon as the young man standing guard at the village entrance spotted outsiders approaching, he immediately rang an alarm bell.
Within moments, villagers armed with spears rushed over and surrounded Wu Qi's group.
Changkong frowned.
"Could this be some kind of primitive tribe?"
Wu Qi raised a hand to calm everyone and stepped forward.
"The weather is too cold. We're travelers passing through and would like to buy some food."
As soon as he finished speaking, a middle-aged man wearing a coat made from Spirit Beast hide stepped out from the crowd and carefully examined the group.
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