"So, which force is in charge of the entrance to the secret realm now?" Lu Li asked.
"Of course, it's the Alliance," Yao Yifei said matter-of-factly.
Lu Li, feeling a little worried about unexpected situations, asked, "Then, there shouldn't be any surprises when we enter the secret realm, right?"
Yao Yifei confidently assured him, "Of course, I'm a Gym Leader of the Alliance, a Gym-level trainer. Anyone with a brain wouldn't refuse me entry to a secret realm."
Under Yao Yifei's guidance, Lu Li arrived at the entrance of the Pewter Secret Realm, which was no different from the Azurecloud Secret Realm's entrance.
The only real difference was the local military unit.
Garrisoning this secret realm's entrance was the Excadrill Legion, which, in terms of value, was definitely stronger than the Pidgeot Legion.
However, the Excadrill Legion's flaw was also obvious: insufficient mobility.
After Yao Yifei presented her Gym Leader certificate, and as she was about to lead Lu Li into the secret realm, a voice suddenly stopped them.
"Wait!"
A young man with gray hair walked over.
The young man smiled, thinking he was handsome, and said, "You must be Gym Leader Yao Yifei, right?"
Yao Yifei looked at the young man in confusion.
In terms of appearance, this gray-haired young man did have something going for him.
"You are?" Yao Yifei politely asked.
The young man walked up to Yao Yifei, a smile he thought charming on his lips, and introduced himself, "I am, Young Master Shen."
Yao Yifei calmly sized up Young Master Shen. "Is there something you need, Young Master Shen?"
"I'm very familiar with the Pewter Secret Realm. Do you need a guide?" Young Master Shen deliberately struck a graceful pose.
"No," Yao Yifei responded blandly, then turned to lead Lu Li into the secret realm.
"Wait, Miss Yao, I think you should need a guide. Although the Pewter Secret Realm is under the Alliance's jurisdiction, there are still many places the Alliance hasn't mapped."
Young Master Shen began to talk endlessly about various tidbits of information about the Pewter Secret Realm, occasionally adding exaggerated gestures, trying to attract Yao Yifei's attention.
Yao Yifei just looked at Young Master Shen helplessly.
They weren't going in to capture精灵 anyway, and they had a clear destination, so they didn't need anyone to guide them at all.
Moreover, Yao Yifei could see what this young man wanted.
Yao Yifei was all too familiar with this peacock-like pursuit; eight out of ten of her pursuers liked to use this kind of routine.
"Look at this Fairy Gem I have. I found it in the secret realm. I'm the only one in the entire Pewter City who has found a精灵秘宝 in the secret realm," he said, raising his wrist to show off.
Yao Yifei frowned slightly, not because she envied the Fairy Gem in his hand, but because she simply thought he was wasting resources.
Using a Fairy Gem as jewelry… It was lucky for him that she hadn't encountered him in the wild; otherwise, she would have robbed him.
Lu Li, standing beside her, had the same thought. Wearing a精灵秘宝 so ostentatiously on his wrist, this Young Master Shen probably hadn't left Pewter City in his life.
If Young Master Shen went traveling, he probably wouldn't survive three days.
Young Master Shen added, "Oh, right, I'm also a Late-stage Elite-level trainer. I believe I'll break through to the Gym level soon."
Lu Li, not wanting to watch him show off any longer, interrupted, "May I ask how old you are?"
"I'll be 30 in a year!" Young Master Shen said, lifting his chin.
If Young Master Shen could break through to the Gym level within a year, then his talent would be undeniable, at least in the Southern Kyushu region, he would be in the top hundred.
Of course, that was on the premise that he could break through to the Gym level within a year, but through his Spirit Vision, Lu Li thought that was unlikely.
Young Master Shen's Late-stage Elite meant that only one of his精灵 had broken through to the Late-stage Elite, and it seemed like it hadn't been long.
Under the power of Spirit Vision, Lu Li had a clear view of the精灵 inside the精灵 Balls hanging on Young Master Shen's waist.
If Tropius had come with him and had his spiritual power to assist, Lu Li was 100% sure he could crush the opponent.
"We have our own destination and don't need a guide. Thank you for your kindness, but we have things to do, so we'll take our leave," Yao Yifei said, winking at Lu Li beside her, then turned and left.
Watching the two leave, Young Master Shen didn't become irritated or maliciously curse their lack of appreciation.
The corners of his mouth slightly upturned in an evil smile, and after the two had walked away, Young Master Shen picked up his phone and made a call.
"Old man, you'll never guess who I met today!" Young Master Shen said in a tone of wanting to be praised.
"Spit it out!"
An impatient voice came from the phone.
Young Master Shen: "I met Yao Yifei at the entrance of the Pewter Secret Realm."
The old man asked in disbelief, "Yao Yifei? Are you talking about that world-class star trainer? Yao Yifei, the Gym Leader of Linmu City?"
"Of course, the name Yao Yifei isn't that common," Young Master Shen replied smugly.
Hearing his grandson's confirmation, a bad feeling flashed in the old man's heart.
"So, what do you want to do?"
"I feel like I can win Yao Yifei over," Young Master Shen said confidently.
Hearing this expected answer, the old man's face changed, and he hurriedly shouted, "No! That's an illusion! You get back here now!"
What kind of person are you? Don't you have any self-awareness? What kind of existence is Yao Yifei?
Putting aside the star aura around her, she is a 26-year-old Gym-level peak trainer. If she hadn't been too playful when she was younger, she might have already been a Elite Four.
You, a toad, want to eat such a heavenly swan? To put it bluntly, his grandson didn't even have the qualifications to be her simp.
Afraid that his grandson's antics would anger Yao Yifei, the old man could only try his best to stop him.
"Grandpa, do you also look down on me? I am the pride of Pewter City!" Young Master Shen retorted unhappily.
"You're just the pride of Pewter City. There are hundreds of thousands of small cities like Pewter City in the world," the old man sighed.
Young Master Shen: "…"
The old man didn't blame his grandson. Young Master Shen had never left Pewter City in his life; his horizons were limited.
"Come back. You can't afford to offend someone like Yao Yifei. It might even bring trouble to the family," the old man weakly advised.
With a face full of unwillingness, Young Master Shen gritted his teeth and said firmly, "No! I still want to try."
That graceful figure, like a goddess from the Nine Heavens, was still playing in his mind.
How could there be such a perfect person in the world?
Just give up like that? How could he be willing?
After Young Master Shen finished speaking, he hung up the phone directly.
Listening to the beeping sound on the phone, the old man's face instantly turned gloomy.
The Shen family could be said to be getting worse with each generation in recent years. Young Master Shen was the most talented trainer in their Shen family in recent decades.
It was precisely because Young Master Shen's talent was too good that the Shen family had never dared to let him go out and explore. They didn't even dare to let him go to those famous universities, but instead, let him study at an ordinary university locally.
There was no way around it. The Shen family had finally produced such a genius. If he really died halfway, then the Shen family might really be finished.
"I hope this kid can recognize himself," the old man sighed softly.
............
After entering the secret realm, Lu Li jokingly said, "As expected of a big star, you have pursuers everywhere you go."
"That's because you don't know how annoying I find this kind of thing," Yao Yifei rolled her eyes at Lu Li.
"Someone like Young Master Shen is fine, because my strength is stronger than his. Sometimes, it's the Elite Four-level pursuers who are troublesome. I have to reject them without offending them too much. It's just a pain in the ass," Yao Yifei said with a hint of flex.
Lu Li: "…"
Not wanting to talk more about this topic, Yao Yifei urged, "Alright, let's not talk about this. According to the map, the volcano is in this area. Let's hurry up and set off."
Lu Li nodded.
"Come with me. An Elite-level Pidgeot is easily attacked in the secret realm," Yao Yifei said.
Lu Li nodded, then obediently climbed onto Togekiss's back.
Togekiss was nearly two meters long, so although it was a bit crowded to sit two people on its back, it wouldn't affect anything.
Feeling the warmth near his ear, Yao Yifei, her face slightly red, pretended to be calm and asked, "Are you ready?"
"Yes! I'm sitting tight."
"Togekiss, I'm counting on you," Yao Yifei gently patted Togekiss's back.
Upon receiving the command, Togekiss took to the skies, its wings as ethereal as white clouds, but its size made it look a bit clumsy.
As Togekiss flew, the two drew brilliant trajectories in the air, shuttling through the sea of clouds.
"Who is that boy?"
Young Master Shen, who had just entered the secret realm, looked dejectedly at Lu Li, who was riding on the same精灵 as Yao Yifei.
Could it be Yao Yifei's younger brother?
Young Master Shen didn't think in other directions. After all, Lu Li looked only 16 years old, and Yao Yifei was already 26 this year.
With a full ten-year age gap, how could a girl like Yao Yifei be attracted to a green少年 like Lu Li?
"Impossible, this is absolutely impossible!" Young Master Shen shook his head vigorously, trying to throw the guess out of his mind.
The two quickly arrived at the volcanic area.
Along the way, Lu Li had roughly figured out the general structure of the Pewter Secret Realm.
The Pewter Secret Realm mainly consisted of forests, volcanoes, wastelands, and mines.
The精灵 living here were mainly of the Steel, Fire, Ground, and Bug types.
After the two landed, Yao Yifei looked at Lu Li curiously.
"What should we do next?" Yao Yifei asked.
"Next, we need to enter the volcano's interior to find the lava pool," Lu Li said, then released the Onix from the精灵 Ball.
With the help of pills, Onix's strength had reached the Mid-stage Ordinary, and was even about to break through to the Late-stage Ordinary.
Compared to Charmander, Onix was only one small level lower.
In terms of aptitude, Onix was slightly stronger than Charmander in all aspects except for comprehension.
Lu Li said, "Onix, I'll trouble you to dig a tunnel leading to the volcano's interior."
"Onyy~"
Onix nodded honestly.
Don't look at Onix's bulky size, but it was not slow at all when digging holes.
In the high-temperature area, Onix took less than ten minutes to dig a tunnel nearly a thousand meters long.
This speed could only be described as outrageous.
Lu Li then turned to Yao Yifei and said, "I'll trouble you to use your psychic powers to take us to the end of the tunnel."
Yao Yifei nodded, and two flashes of white light flashed from the精灵 Balls on her waist.
A fiery red精灵 jumped into Yao Yifei's arms, while a purple精灵 stood beside Yao Yifei's legs.
"Is it Flareon?" Lu Li looked curiously at the Flareon in Yao Yifei's arms.
Early-stage Gym-level Flareon…
It seemed that Yao Yifei's previous complaints weren't bragging. If there was an Eevee attribute, then Yao Yifei could indeed be said to be a trainer with the Eevee attribute.
"My Xiaoliu has the Flash Fire ability. The temperature here is too high. Having it here can help me absorb some of the heat, which will make me cooler," Yao Yifei explained, holding the Flareon.
Hearing this, Lu Li's eyes lit up.
Although he was a cultivator and not afraid of this high temperature at all, who would be willing to endure this heat if they could be cooler?
You should know that Charmander also had the Flash Fire ability.
Thinking of this, Lu Li immediately released Charmander.
"Come, Charmander, let me hug you," Lu Li invited amiably and gently.
Charmander: "???"
Has this trainer changed again? Or is he planning to trick me again?
Charmander looked at Lu Li suspiciously.
Since passing the newborn period, he hadn't taken the initiative to hug it for a long time, let alone invite it in such a considerate tone.
But… who isn't a little prince?
Charmander happily jumped onto Lu Li's body. No精灵 would refuse to be intimate with its trainer.
After hugging Charmander, Lu Li quickly noticed something was wrong.
Why was it even hotter?
If the temperature in the volcanic area was about 45 degrees Celsius just now, it might have soared to 50 degrees Celsius now, or even higher.
Lu Li looked at Yao Yifei in confusion.
Everyone has the Flash Fire ability, why is it hotter on my side?
Yao Yifei explained amusingly, "The Flash Fire ability can absorb flames, but if you're not proficient, it will become gathering and absorbing flames. Only when you reach a very deep level can you perfectly absorb the surrounding heat or flames."
"Your Charmander hasn't developed its ability. Now it can only passively absorb the surrounding Fire-type energy, which leads to the Fire-type energy around it becoming more active, and then the temperature around it becomes higher."
Lu Li: "…"
"Charmander, do you see it?" Lu Li put down Charmander, then pointed at Flareon and asked.
Charmander nodded full of energy, then looked at Lu Li with a wary gaze.
You're not going to let me fight it, are you?
Me, a Late-stage Ordinary Charmander, fighting an Early-stage Gym-level Flareon? Really?
Lu Li explained with a dark face, "No, that's not what I meant. I mean, this is the new teacher I found for you. Go and ask it how to develop your own special abilities."
"Fire~"
(Is it okay?)
Charmander's eyes lit up, and it looked at Lu Li excitedly.
Charmander, who was focused on competing, craved every opportunity to become stronger, just like now.
