Chapter 99: Ice World
The Forest Ranger nodded, then explained, “The bracelet in your hand is a special bracelet for Secret Realm Forest Rangers. Normally, only Forest Rangers are equipped with such bracelets. You must be Gym Leader Yu’s prized disciple, right?”
Lu Li nodded, not refuting the Forest Ranger’s words. After all, such a misunderstanding could make things easier for him.
Lu Li asked again, “Do rookie trainers usually come here to do a Secret Realm too?”
“Yes, Qingyun University and Qingfeng City First High School organize a Secret Realm training camp activity every year. Some noble family young masters can also obtain spots to enter the Secret Realm.
However, they can’t enter certain specific areas, like the area where the Secret Realm Overlord lives, or this Snow Mountain.” The Forest Ranger explained.
“Alright, since it’s a misunderstanding, I won’t chat more. I still need to continue patrolling.” After saying that, the Forest Ranger rode off on the Bidoof.
Lu Li watched the Bidoof’s receding figure thoughtfully.
Qingfeng First High School’s trainers can form a group to enter the Secret Realm once a year. What a great benefit.
Lu Li sighed leisurely.
Even though he hadn’t been to school for a month, it was because school could no longer provide him with improvement, and Qingfeng First High School didn’t offer much support to trainers.
Sometimes the gap between rich and poor is opened just like this. Don’t think rookie trainers get no benefit from entering the Secret Realm. Apart from other things, that high attribute energy environment alone would make many people envious to death.
Some trainer clubs have special high-energy environment training fields where training for an hour costs over a hundred bucks.
But those high-energy training fields are actually manufactured using instruments and equipment to create a high-energy environment.
Lu Li was now even more curious about this Snow Mountain.
Back at the tent, Lu Li eagerly entered the cultivation state.
Training in this environment was too comfortable. He had to seize every minute.
Cultivation disregards the passage of days. Early the next morning, Lu Li exited the cultivation state with a joyful expression.
Cultivating one night in the Secret Realm was equivalent to cultivating five days outside. This acceleration cheat was simply too addictive.
However, Lu Li knew not to lose the big for the small. Compared to cultivation acceleration, finding Pokémon Secret Treasures was the way to go.
Krookodile continued leading the way ahead.
Under Krookodile’s lead, Lu Li soon arrived in front of a valley.
From a great distance away, Lu Li heard the mechanical roar and people’s shouts there.
In a vast valley, sunlight pierced through the morning mist, illuminating the busy quarry.
The valley was bustling with noise, completely unlike being in a Secret Realm. The roar of machinery intertwined with the workers’ shouts. Huge excavators extended their sturdy arms, flexibly digging up rock and the evolution stones hidden within.
Workers and Pokémon wore safety helmets and heavy cold-proof clothing. They either operated mechanical equipment or used tools for meticulous manual work.
Looking at this fervent scene, Lu Li’s eyes were full of shock.
This was the first time in the real world that he had witnessed the power of human technology again.
“This is a quarry? Mining Ice Stones?” Sensing the rich Ice Attribute energy around him, Lu Li suddenly realized.
No wonder outsiders weren’t allowed to enter this Snow Mountain. It turned out there was an Ice Stone vein here.
Ice Stone is an export mine. In the Jiuzhou Region, few trainers generally need Ice Stones, so Ice Stone sales in the Jiuzhou Region have always been lackluster.
But the North American Alliance and South American Alliance are big consumers of Ice Stones.
The main reason is that most Pokémon that need Ice Stones to evolve are in the North American Alliance, like the special form Sandshrew and special form Vulpix.
As a transmigrator, Lu Li preferred calling them Alolan Sandshrew and Alolan Vulpix.
Here, he had to emphasize the Dragon Type big daddy Alolan Ninetales. He had always wanted to raise an Alolan Ninetales.
“Croc~”
Seeing Lu Li suddenly stop, Krookodile impatiently urged him.
Lu Li naturally knew this quarry wasn’t the destination. After all, what he wanted before was an undiscovered special field, not an artificially created one.
“Got it, coming right now.” Helpless, Lu Li hurriedly followed Krookodile’s footsteps.
Krookodile’s destination might be the Snow Mountain’s peak, as it kept climbing upward. Thus, he got closer and closer to the peak, and the surrounding temperature grew lower and lower.
Lu Li took out his phone and glanced at the temperature display.
Minus 6 degrees Celsius.
If he weren’t a cultivator, he might have died from temperature imbalance by now.
For a moment, Lu Li suspected if Krookodile had deliberately led him to this place to freeze him to death.
After searching for nearly an hour more, Krookodile finally stopped.
The shivering Krookodile growled.
“Croc~”
（There’s a cave on this glacier cliff. Go down from here, find that cave, enter it, and keep going inside to see that special place.）
“Croc~”
（Old Man can only bring you this far. Old Man is freezing to death. Old Man has to go first, or he won’t be able to leave.）
If he hadn’t activated Telepathy, Lu Li really wouldn’t have understood Krookodile’s directions.
“Alright, thanks for bringing me here. You’re free now.” Lu Li took out a can of Energy Cubes and handed it to Krookodile.
After tremblingly taking the Energy Cubes with both hands, Krookodile turned and left hugging them, afraid of staying longer and losing its life.
After Krookodile left, Lu Li released Tropius.
Tropius shuddered as soon as it came out.
“Trop!!”
（So cold! What the hell is this place! Freezing Tropius to death.）
Lu Li glanced at the temperature on his phone.
Minus 12 degrees Celsius.
Good grief!
Lu Li inwardly exclaimed good grief. This temperature wasn’t something ordinary humans and Pokémon could endure.
“Tropius, tough it out. Take me down first to find a cave.” Lu Li hurriedly said.
Tropius nodded.
Though the environment was harsh, the trainer’s command was absolute. It was cold, but at least not deadly.
Riding on Tropius’s back, Lu Li fully unleashed his Spiritual Sense and began searching for the cave Krookodile mentioned.
There was one thing Lu Li was quite curious about: how did Krookodile discover this place? After all, it was so cold here, Krookodile shouldn’t come to a place like this.
Krookodile: As a slacker, isn’t it normal to chat about gossip here with other Pokémon?
Due to the extremely cold weather, Tropius’s flight speed was severely affected. Six minutes later, Lu Li finally found the cave Krookodile mentioned.
“Go there.” Lu Li patted Tropius’s neck and transmitted with Spiritual Sense.
Tropius nodded, then flew Lu Li into the cave that was fully three meters wide.
After entering the cave, Tropius eagerly returned to its Poké Ball.
No choice, this damned place was too cold, and the temperature seemed to drop even more after entering the cave.
Lu Li looked down at his phone.
Minus 20 degrees Celsius.
Seeing this outrageous low temperature, Lu Li drew in a cold breath.
This temperature was getting more and more ridiculous.
Complaining inwardly nonstop, Lu Li put away his phone and carefully advanced in the cave.
For some reason, Lu Li found the cave quite bright. Clearly no sunlight reached it, and it was inside a cave, yet the environment inside was well-lit.
Even the ice surface underfoot was incredibly smooth, like gold.
“It’s indeed quite special, but there aren’t even any Ice Type Pokémon here.” Lu Li curiously observed the surroundings.
As he went deeper, the space inside the cave grew wider and wider. In the end, the entire cave turned into a huge ice world, one that stretched as far as the eye could see.
“Bao~”
“Bao~”
“Rock!”
A burst of quarreling voices suddenly echoed in the silent cave. A group of Aggron seemed to be arguing about something.
Lu Li just swept it with Spiritual Sense and silently withdrew it.
Gym Level Aggron. Couldn’t afford to provoke it, really couldn’t.
Lu Li chose to bypass the Aggron tribe’s gathering place.
This place was completely a new underwater ice world, and one undiscovered by humans.
What did that mean?
It meant if his luck was good enough, he would be the first to eat the crab.
After bypassing the Aggron, the ice surface became less flat, and occasionally huge rocks could be spotted.
Lu Li’s eyes lit up looking at those rocks.
These rocks themselves weren’t valuable, but what was truly valuable was the Icy Rock wrapped inside them.
Icy Rock is a kind of special ore, and also a natural Pokémon Secret Treasure. Its effect is similar to Tiny Coconut, considered the same grade of Pokémon Secret Treasure, and their effects are also similar.
Except the former affects the field, the latter affects the weather.
Strongly suppressing the urge to smash the rocks and take the Icy Rock, Lu Li silently bypassed this area.
Because he heard Pokémon cries again.
This time it was a Mini Ice tribe, led by a Gym Level Beartic.
Lu Li gained a new understanding of the dangers in the Secret Realm.
Any Pokémon with a tribe had at least a Gym Level leader.
Forget him, a mere Elite Trainer. Even if Heavenly King Yu Zhonggang came, he probably wouldn’t dare act recklessly here.
After all, if an outsider caused a commotion, the Pokémon here might swarm and attack.
Smashing rocks to take Icy Rock would make too much noise, so it was better to play it safe.
Lu Li continued carefully sliding on the ice surface, while constantly using Spiritual Sense to stay vigilant of the surroundings. Getting rich was important, but getting rich steadily was the long-term way.
Soon Lu Li encountered another new Pokémon tribe, a group composed of Snow Children, led by a Gym Level Froslass.
“Are the Pokémon in a small Secret Realm this abundant?” Lu Li was starting to doubt life.
Qingyun Secret Realm wasn’t an Ice Attribute Secret Realm, but a proper natural Secret Realm, with most Pokémon being Water, Fire, Ground, Grass Types, and such.
