Fan Wenxin led Oliver and Mu Xue to a Secret Realm located in the outskirts, not far from Luo City.
Mad Sand Secret Realm.
Scale: Medium
Danger Level: D-rank
This was an old, well-known Secret Realm. Fan Wenxin had frequently explored it when he was younger.
The overall environment of the realm was a desert, completely different from the Secret Realms Oliver had entered before.
So far, Oliver had only been to two Secret Realms:
Qinglin Secret Realm near Rongcheng
Ferocious Forest Secret Realm outside Chang'an
The Ferocious Forest Secret Realm had been deliberately named so by the League. When it first appeared, all the Pokémon inside were extremely violent and aggressive.
Although no one knew what had happened later—and the Pokémon there eventually returned to normal—the realm's danger rating remained at C-rank, so the name was kept.
Both of those Secret Realms were forest-type environments.
This was Oliver's first time facing a desert-type Secret Realm.
Because of this, before entering the realm, the group purchased a large number of desert-appropriate supplies at the Secret Realm market: maps, directional instruments, sand-proof goggles, water canteens, and more.
Fan Wenxin marked a spot on the map and said,
"There's a place here that looks like a ruin. That stone—I found it there."
"A ruin?" Oliver asked.
"If ruins appear inside a Secret Realm, shouldn't they have been explored countless times already? How did you manage to find that stone?"
Among Trainers, one rule was common sense:
Where there are ruins, there are treasures.
Any Secret Realm ruins would be searched again and again by countless Trainers—sometimes even digging up the ground inch by inch.
For Fan Wenxin to randomly pick up a strange-looking stone there should have been nearly impossible.
"It was probably just luck," Fan Wenxin explained.
"At the time, I was planning to gather some ordinary resources, but a sandstorm suddenly hit the realm. I had my Pokémon use Dig to make a temporary underground shelter."
"When the sandstorm passed and I came out… I found that a ruin had appeared right in front of me."
"You mean the ruin appeared later?" Oliver asked.
"Yes," Fan Wenxin nodded.
"Otherwise, I wouldn't have believed that stone could be worth anything. But it's already been several days—I'm not sure whether someone else has discovered the ruin by now."
After changing into their gear and paying the entry fee, the three finally stepped into the Secret Realm.
When Oliver opened his eyes, he was greeted by an endless sea of yellow sand.
The sand beneath his feet wasn't loose at all—on the contrary, it felt firm and compact.
After walking a few steps, Oliver suddenly felt something hard underfoot—completely different from the feeling of sand.
Looking down, he saw a Trapinch buried beneath the surface. Startled, it immediately burst out of the sand and scurried away.
In the distance, several Hippopotas and Gligar wandered through the desert.
Oliver chuckled.
"I didn't expect my first real experience of a desert to be inside a Secret Realm."
Mu Xue, meanwhile, released one of her main Pokémon the moment they entered—the Sealeo, maximizing safety in the surrounding area.
"The environments inside Secret Realms are extremely diverse," she said calmly.
"Caves, oceans, islands, volcanoes—anything can appear."
"Then I'm looking forward to it more and more," Oliver replied with interest.
Mu Xue shot him a glance.
"Plenty of Secret Realms are extremely dangerous. Do you think the League approves anyone entering just anywhere? There are some realms where even I couldn't reliably protect you."
Fan Wenxin, listening from the side, couldn't help but grow curious about Oliver's identity.
From their conversation, it sounded like the young woman was almost acting as his bodyguard—and both of them seemed to be affiliated with the League.
Still, Fan Wenxin didn't dare ask.
Once they finished talking, he pointed ahead and said,
"The ruins are to the northwest. About half an hour away."
Fan Wenxin clearly knew the Mad Sand Secret Realm extremely well.
Even in the vast, featureless desert, he confidently led them in the right direction.
Along the way, Oliver spotted many Pokémon:
Vibrava, Rhyhorn, Lairon, and others—most of them around mid to high levels.
They even passed by an oasis, surrounded by numerous Pokémon.
These Pokémon were clearly accustomed to humans entering the area. When they saw Oliver's group, they didn't panic at all—those drinking water continued drinking, those resting kept resting.
Despite the Sealeo constantly emitting cold air, Oliver still felt the heat pressing in.
It was obvious how harsh this environment was for humans.
Oliver took a sip from his canteen and asked,
"How much farther?"
Fan Wenxin checked the map.
"Not far now. Once we pass that rocky plateau ahead, we should be able to see it. The ruins are hidden within that area—very well concealed."
"Alright. Let's pick up the pace, then."
At that moment, the Sealeo beside them suddenly let out a low warning growl.
Mu Xue listened for a second, then said,
"There are quite a few people ahead—in the rocky area."
Oliver froze.
"The ruins have already been discovered?"
Fan Wenxin frowned in confusion.
"If they had been discovered, there should've been news by now. There hasn't been any information about this place at all."
"Let's go take a look first," Oliver said.
The three of them, along with Sealeo, entered the rocky plateau.
Before long, voices drifted over from ahead.
"So there's actually a ruin in this Secret Realm. And it looks like no one's explored it yet."
"Sixth, you've really done well this time. If what's inside is valuable, your reward won't be small."
"Thank you, Boss! Thank you! I just got lucky—I didn't expect an old Secret Realm that's been around for over ten years to still have untouched ruins."
"Alright. Tell me—if we strip this place clean, will it be worth as much as a few of our usual jobs?"
"At least the value of three pseudo-legendaries. We've really hit the jackpot this time!"
Hearing this conversation from behind the rocks, Oliver and the others immediately frowned.
From the sound of it, a group of Pokémon hunters had discovered the ruins and were planning to secretly monopolize all the resources inside.
The League had always enforced strict rules regarding poaching.
Some extremely rare Pokémon were forbidden from being privately captured—
much like protected animals in the real world.
These Pokémon were designated as protected species to ensure their populations could continue to thrive, and also to keep certain powerful Pokémon under League control.
Secret Realms that housed such Pokémon were heavily regulated, and ordinary people weren't allowed to enter at all.
However, precisely because these Pokémon sold for astronomical prices on the black market, an illegal profession had emerged—
Pokémon Hunters, also known as Poachers.
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