Early in the morning, after assigning all of Tianyun City's major and minor affairs to the Territory Minister and his assistants, fully entrusting them with management responsibilities, Ryan Storm brought his chief hero, Ignis, through the Territory Gate and arrived at Miracle City.
The amount of goods and personnel that could be transported through the Territory Gate each day was limited, especially for a Tier 1 territory. Every teleportation opportunity was precious. However, since the two territories had not yet begun formal trade exchanges, there was no need to worry about insufficient slots.
"So this is Miracle City?"
Ignis carefully observed the Dungeon that had recently become famous.
Although some of the infrastructure was still unfinished, this newly rising territory already possessed impressive scale and facilities. At the very least, it was not inferior to a veteran Tier 2 territory.
Such rapid development was extremely rare.
There was clearly a reason why Lord Ryan Storm valued this place so highly.
The city was scheduled to open in about twenty minutes, yet Miracle City was already bustling with activity. The Flower Fairies danced and sang, the Dwarves and Kobolds continued drinking through the night, and the Adventurers had only recently finished celebrating.
"Mr. Storm."
"Welcome!"
A freckled Halfling girl stepped forward to greet them.
Mutual visits between territories required advance notice, so Ethan Quinn already knew Ryan Storm and his subordinate were coming. He had specifically sent Evelyn to receive them.
Overnight, Miracle City had changed again.
Ryan was certain he wasn't mistaken.
He could clearly sense that the concentration of world essence had increased. The territory's power level had officially reached Tier 2.
Ethan's territory had advanced.
And the changes did not stop there.
Through Evelyn's introduction, Ryan learned that the territory's second main city, Gloomy City, would officially open today. Ethan had already completed the initial stage of construction there.
Gloomy City had now established a connection with an Adventurer town called Greenhill City.
With its current scale, Gloomy City could accommodate one thousand Adventurers from Greenhill City. It had also constructed a Tier 2 Secret Realm Lobby, becoming Ethan Territory's second Secret Realm Lobby.
"Congratulations!"
Ryan sincerely offered his praise.
He had never heard of Greenhill City before, but he had to admit that the town was incredibly fortunate to connect with a God-tier Dungeon like Ethan's territory.
The Adventurers there were truly blessed.
Greenhill City was likely far larger than Blackstone Town and probably contained many Adventurer organizations and Lord factions. Once they logged into Ethan's territory, they would appear directly in Gloomy City.
Although Gloomy City was one of Ethan Territory's main cities, its future importance and development potential still could not compare to the core main city.
Why?
Because of the Secret Realms.
Miracle City, as the core main city, could connect to every Secret Realm throughout the entire territory.
Whether it was the main Secret Realms, secondary Secret Realms, or future special Secret Realms, all were accessible from Miracle City.
That was the unique advantage of a core main city.
At the beginning, Gloomy City could only access two Secret Realms: one inherited from the core main city and one belonging to Gloomy City itself.
In other words, Adventurers there could only enter Doomsday Frenzy and Foreign Lands Chronicle.
The secondary Secret Realm of Green Swamp City, Doomsday Arena, and the upcoming Secret Realm of Thunder City could not yet be accessed directly from Gloomy City.
Similarly, in the future, players would not be able to directly enter Chronicles of the Ten Kingdoms from Thunder City either.
Although certain facilities could later connect Secret Realms together, the status and convenience of ordinary main cities could never compare to the core main city.
This also guaranteed that the core main city would always remain the most prosperous.
Greenhill City could enter Ethan's territory through Gloomy City, but the benefits they gained would never match those enjoyed by Blackstone Town, which connected directly to Miracle City itself.
Although Blackstone Town was currently small, with Miracle City supporting it, surpassing Greenhill City in the future would not be difficult.
Ryan congratulated Ethan on successfully advancing the territory, but he was not surprised.
After all, Miracle City had already constructed its second Secret Realm, so advancing to Tier 2 was only natural.
However—
The next piece of news completely shocked him.
"What?! Miracle City has already captured its third main city?!"
When Ryan learned that Ethan's territory had conquered the Tier 2 Dark Dungeon, Thunder City, both he and Ignis were stunned.
Did this territory really need to expand so quickly?
The second main city had only just opened, and yet they had already taken down a third.
This meant that even if Ethan delayed activation and development, the territory would automatically advance to Tier 3 within a month at most.
Such speed was unprecedented.
A territory advancing to Tier 3 in less than three months had never been heard of before.
No wonder the Adventurers had celebrated so wildly.
This was not only a breakthrough for the territory itself, but also meant the imminent development of a third major Secret Realm.
Even Ryan felt excited.
He could not help wondering what Miracle City's third Secret Realm would look like.
Unfortunately, Thunder City had been captured too late the previous day, so the third main Secret Realm had not yet been completed.
The third Secret Realm, codenamed Star Sea, was expected to open tomorrow.
The Adventurers were already impatient.
Ryan, however, believed a slight delay was acceptable. After all, slow and careful work produced the best results. Quality mattered more than speed.
Besides, he had only been in Miracle City for less than two days and still had not fully experienced all the existing Secret Realms.
Evelyn asked politely,
"Mr. Storm, do you have any planned itinerary today? If so, please let me know so I can inform the Lord."
"Since Brother Ethan is busy working on the new Secret Realm, I won't disturb him today."
Ryan smiled.
"I'll simply wander around on my own. No special arrangements are necessary."
Evelyn nodded.
"In that case, please enjoy yourself freely. If you need anything, feel free to ask me or any member of the territory management staff."
At that moment, the city officially opened.
Adventurers from Blackstone Town flooded into Miracle City.
Today, the total number of Adventurers had reached 3,300.
"Hahaha!"
"The city finally opened again!"
"There are getting way too many people now. The crystals are getting crowded!"
"I heard Gloomy City opened today. Why don't we spend some contribution points and farm Secret Realms there instead?"
"Good idea! Since Gloomy City is new, there should be plenty of free crystals available. We can play without constantly fighting for spots!"
Soon afterward, three to four hundred Adventurers headed to Gloomy City.
Most of them were enthusiasts of the competitive modes in the Tidal Secret Realms. Since Gloomy City offered more open space and less crowding, the experience there would naturally be smoother.
The remaining Adventurers still entered Miracle City's Secret Realm Lobby.
For many players, the lively atmosphere itself was part of the experience.
Ryan and Ignis disguised themselves and followed the flow of Adventurers into the lobby.
They watched as the Secret Realm crystals activated one after another.
"What do you think of this place?" Ryan asked.
Ignis replied thoughtfully,
"As expected, Lord, your judgment was correct. I've never seen such a vibrant Dungeon, nor one that develops this quickly. And… that Evelyn is not simple."
Ryan blinked.
"You mean the Halfling girl beside Ethan?"
"She's not actually a Halfling," Ignis said calmly. "It's merely a disguise. Her strength is not weak, and her identity is certainly extraordinary."
As Tianyun City's strongest hero, Ignis possessed genuine Tier 5 strength, cultivated through traditional methods.
A warrior at his level could easily dominate most regions of the Chaos World.
If even Ignis considered her dangerous, then Evelyn was likely at least Tier 4.
Miracle City had already constructed a Hero Hall.
Evelyn was probably one of Miracle City's hidden heroes.
The more they observed, the deeper and more mysterious Miracle City seemed.
"Ignis, what you've seen so far is only the tip of the iceberg."
Ryan smiled faintly.
"Soon, you'll understand what a true God-tier Dungeon really is—and what kind of Lord deserves to be called legendary."
Ignis was already over two hundred years old and had traveled through dozens of territories.
Before this, Tianyun City had been the finest Dungeon he had ever seen.
That was why he chose to become Ryan's contracted hero.
For over twenty years, Ignis had served Ryan loyally and understood him well.
Although Ryan appeared refined and gentle on the surface, he was actually extremely proud and ambitious.
Yet now, he gave such astonishing praise to a territory far younger and weaker than his own.
That alone spoke volumes.
"Whoa!"
"The Sui and Tang Chronicles got updated!"
Ryan's eyes lit up instantly.
Without wasting another word, he left Ignis to explore on his own while he hurried toward the Chronicles of the Ten Kingdoms section.
The update method for the Sui and Tang arc differed greatly from the Blacklight chapter.
Instead of dividing content into chapters, the updates were separated by regions of the map.
The newest content was:
Main Story Map: Moon River Village, Thundermist Marsh.
Although the new content wasn't extensive, it still excited the Adventurers tremendously.
Currently, only a small number of players were capable of challenging Chronicles of the Ten Kingdoms.
Ryan found the Secret Realm crystal currently operated by Sophia.
Many Adventurers had already gathered nearby, impatiently urging her to start.
"Stop rushing!"
"It's starting already!"
Yesterday, Sophia had experienced the prologue of the Sui and Tang storyline.
She had been deeply impressed by it.
The basic story went like this:
The Adventurer played as Adrian Chen, the final descendant of the Chen Dynasty.
His master, Victor Chen, brought him to Demon Suppression Mountain in search of the Kunlun Mirror, one of the Ten Divine Artifacts.
Victor believed that by gathering the "Qin, Cauldron, Seal, Mirror, and Stone," they could restore the Chen Dynasty and reclaim the world.
However, while retrieving the mirror, they accidentally released the primordial spirit of the ancient demon god Taotie.
To save Adrian and stop Taotie from fully manifesting, Victor exhausted all his cultivation and sealed himself together with the demon inside an icy prison.
Before losing consciousness, he told Adrian that he could only survive one year in this condition.
Their only hope lay in finding Master Gongshan, one of the world's strongest cultivators.
Finally, Victor instructed Adrian that rescuing him was secondary.
The true priority was gathering the remaining four Divine Artifacts and restoring the Chen Dynasty.
Thus, the adventure began.
"Interesting…"
Sophia quickly noticed that the stamina system in the Sui and Tang Chronicles differed from other Secret Realms.
Death would immediately end the challenge.
In addition, stamina was continuously consumed over time, at a fixed rate of one point per hour.
Each exploration session lasted roughly three hours.
Fortunately, the stamina consumption itself was negligible.
After confirming the challenge, Sophia entered the Secret Realm.
A massive ancient scroll appeared before her eyes.
When it opened—
It revealed a breathtaking ink-wash painting of mountains and rivers.
The style was unmistakably traditional Chinese landscape art.
Displayed before her were the rivers, mountains, and cities of the Central Plains.
The entire map was richly detailed and vividly alive.
Clouds drifted dynamically.
Weather changed naturally.
Rivers flowed visibly across the land.
Hundreds of cities and place names appeared across the map.
[Current Time: Mid-August, Year 10 of the Daye Era, Sui Dynasty]
[You have opened the Sui and Tang Exploration Map]
[Please select the area you wish to explore]
[Hint: Main story quests and certain side quests are time-sensitive. Manage your exploration carefully to avoid falling behind the storyline]
Sophia explained to the others:
"This is a unique mechanic in the Sui and Tang Chronicles. Every update unlocks a new region of the map, allowing Adventurers to freely explore that area until the main quest is completed."
Everyone immediately found the system fascinating.
Arthur Reed commented,
"We've always wondered how the Lord would recreate such an enormous Central Plains. This map-style update system is definitely the best solution."
"Exactly!"
"This is completely different from the Ashina chapter."
"Ashina wasn't that large—you could cross the whole area in half a day."
"But the world of the Sui and Tang Chronicles is enormous. Crossing the Central Plains from east to west would realistically take over ten days."
"We Adventurers can't spend all our time traveling."
Ryan nodded in agreement.
Creating the entire Central Plains all at once would have been impossible.
Even Tianyun City combined lacked enough processing power to fully simulate a world of that scale simultaneously.
Balancing pacing and resource usage was critical.
"Brother Ethan truly is a genius…"
"To think he'd present the world this way."
The landscape map before the Adventurers functioned like an advanced game world map.
It marked famous mountains, rivers, and major cities throughout the Central Plains.
The content was astonishingly rich.
The update system was relatively simple.
Ethan would continuously release new regions tied to the main story.
Adventurers could only enter areas relevant to the current storyline.
To unlock new regions, players first had to complete the main quests of the current area.
Some side areas could also be unlocked through hidden quests or exploration.
Others would only become available during special events.
In theory, given enough time, Adventurers could gradually unlock a massive portion of the world.
Most importantly, this design prevented the Secret Realm core from being overloaded.
Unvisited areas could remain completely unloaded, greatly reducing computational strain.
Ryan immediately realized how brilliant this design was.
Not only did it preserve the vast scale of the Central Plains, but it also maintained pacing, immersion, and efficiency while giving Ethan plenty of time for future development.
Sophia zoomed in on the map and located her position.
"I'm currently at Demon Suppression Mountain."
"Master Gongshan is located in Thundermist Marsh, northeast of here."
"Our objective is to reach Thundermist Marsh, but we'll first pass through a place called Moon River Village."
"We can't enter Thundermist Marsh yet because the prerequisite story hasn't been completed."
"At the moment, the only accessible areas are Thundermist Marsh and Moon River Village."
"That means the story must begin in Moon River Village."
The Adventurers watched as a tiny figure moved across the painted map.
The character departed from Demon Suppression Mountain and eventually arrived at Moon River Village.
The giant scroll slowly rolled up.
Sophia officially entered the in-game world.
When she opened her eyes again, she stood at the entrance of a small ancient village as Adrian Chen.
"How incredible…"
Sophia dusted leaves and dirt from her clothes.
"I can actually feel that I traveled for three days and nights from Demon Suppression Mountain to reach this place."
The other Adventurers nodded in agreement.
This design skipped slow and unimportant travel sections while preserving realism and immersion.
Because only story-related maps were unlocked, everyone knew that Moon River Village must contain important characters and events.
But what those events were—and how they would unfold—remained for the Adventurers to discover themselves.
And if they discovered side quests while exploring story areas—
They might unlock entirely new regions of the map.
Which made the entire experience even more exciting.
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