As Lin Chen marched with his massive army deep into Dragonspine Mountain, ready to raid the Hidden Realm…
In a certain region of N Country, within the Lord Hall of Eden Territory, more than twenty players from N Country had gathered.
All of them were military representatives.
A large map was spread out before them.
One of the players pointed to a spot on the map and said,
"Gentlemen, after three hours of scouting, I've confirmed the details of this Hidden Realm. Based on Era of Lords' classification, this is a White-Level Hidden Realm, the lowest difficulty."
"Conquering a Hidden Realm yields many rewards, and may even trigger bonus achievement rewards."
"Most importantly, if we're the first to take this realm down, we can finally suppress the growing momentum of Xia Country. Those guys have gotten far too arrogant…"
The players around the table stirred with indignation.
They desperately needed an achievement—an opportunity to make their name known.
This Hidden Realm was the perfect chance.
Adam slammed the desk and said,
"Alright, ready the army. We move out now. Tom, draft the battle plan."
Before Tom could respond, a player suddenly interjected,
"Most of our troops are only Tier 2. Colonel Carter is the only one with Tier 3. Can we really conquer this place?"
Adam shot him a glare.
"Shuke, fortune favors the brave! This is our shot to prove ourselves. Are you going to back down?"
Shuke shook his head. Of course he didn't want to, but still…
"This is an order! No matter what, I want our territory to be the first to conquer a Hidden Realm. Tom—start planning!"
Tom nodded and pointed to the map.
"It's a 3-hour march to the Hidden Realm. We'll have to pass Blackwater Valley and Bone Reef Ridge—likely combat zones…"
Meanwhile, in Dragonspine Mountain,
Lin Chen's army was steadily advancing.
With over 100,000 Tier-6 troops, their strength was overwhelming.
They easily breached the outer regions and reached the central zone.
Here, enemy monsters were clearly stronger—no more Tier 3 or 4, but rather Tier 5 and Tier 6 threats.
The pressure was mounting.
But Lin Chen's army wasn't exactly weak either.
His first batch of Griffin Knights and Furious Blood Orcs, trained days ago, had now all reached max level after days of grinding.
And max-level troops versus Level 1 troops?
Completely different beasts—multiple times stronger in stats, experience, and battle prowess.
"Push hard, everyone. Let's get our troops leveled up before we enter the Hidden Realm," Lin Chen ordered.
The heroes all nodded in unison.
After three full days of leveling—
Lin Chen: Level 23 (unlocked his third skill)
Ina: Level 21
Jia Lou: Level 22
Lilith: Level 15
Mankun (just joined today): Level 6
Lin Chen's third skill was a group damage spell:
[Lava Hell]
Unleash a field of searing magma in a 50-meter radius, dealing Fire Magic Damage and causing a burning DOT effect to all enemies in range.
A highly effective damage-dealing AoE—great for clearing mobs.
Ina and Jia Lou also unlocked new skills, further boosting their power.
With these four SSS-ranked heroes at the helm, the push forward accelerated.
After another five hours of relentless advance, Lin Chen—guided by his memories from his previous life—finally located the entrance to the Hidden Realm.
It was classified as a Green-Level Hidden Realm.
(Note: Hidden Realms are ranked by difficulty from low to high as follows: White, Green, Blue, Purple, Orange, Red.)
From a distance, it appeared as a green, elliptical energy veil floating in mid-air.
This was the entrance.
In Era of Lords, Hidden Realms came in many types:
Normal Hidden Realm: Multiple entry attempts allowed. First-clear rewards are more generous. After that, rewards decrease sharply.
Large-Scale Hidden Realm: Open to all players once unlocked. Offers the highest number of rewards.
Unique Hidden Realm: Can only be opened once. Whether you clear it or not, it closes after a time limit. Extremely rare but potentially offers the most valuable rewards—if you can survive it.
The Hidden Realm Lin Chen found now was only a normal one—
But it had a hidden reward.
And that was exactly why Lin Chen had come.
"This is it. One hour rest. Feed the troops, recover stamina. We move out in sixty minutes," Lin Chen commanded.
The heroes acknowledged and got to work.
The troops set up camp and began feeding routines.
During rest, stamina gradually recovered, and feeding troops accelerated this process.
An hour passed swiftly.
At Lin Chen's signal, the army assembled.
He walked to the green portal and reached out.
"You have discovered the Green-Level Hidden Realm: [Vicious Insectoids]. Would you like to enter?"
"Enter," Lin Chen replied.
The green portal instantly expanded several times in size.
Lin Chen stepped through first.
Ina, Jia Lou, and Mankun followed, leading the remaining troops.
"You have entered the Green-Level Hidden Realm: [Vicious Insectoids]. Please complete the challenge within 3 hours. Timeout or early exit will result in automatic failure."
"Victory Conditions: Eliminate all corrupted insectoids and destroy the three Corrupted Hives scattered throughout the realm."
The system clearly laid out the mission objectives.
In Hidden Realms, there are always one or more objectives.
Only by completing all of them within the time limit is the challenge considered a success.
Fail to meet the goals—and not only do you lose, but you also forfeit all loot gained inside.
In Lin Chen's past life, many Lords paid a steep price for trying to clear a Hidden Realm.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。