After everyone left the main hall, Zero took Shi LanHua into a secluded corner and the two siblings smiled at each other, as if understanding everything just from their expressions.

Just as he was about to reach out and pull the latter into a hug, Zero flinched and looked at Shi LanHua with a grim expression of disbelief.

"Are the injuries still plaguing you?", he asked.

As if the other party already knew he was going to say that, she merely nodded and gave him a sad smile.

Zero clenched his fists together under his robe and revealed an expression of pain and heartache. Suddenly, and idea came to him and his eyes regained some light while he said, "The secret realm! We might be able to find the Heaven's Heart Fruit in the secret realm!"

As if struck by a sudden realization, Shi LanHua's breathing also became more agitated and if not for her tremendous self-control, she would have started dancing around happily on the spot.

That's right, she was injured. During the great war between the dragons and phoenixes, although Zero did everything he could in order to protect Shi LanHua from the attacks, there were still a few that hit her. If it was just that, then with the recovery rate of the legendary beasts, she would have healed a long time ago, but there was this one attack which caused her to become poisoned. Everyone knows that phoenixes are the bearers of fire and that it's their main element of control, and they also know that the greatest enemy of fire is water. One of the princes of the dragon lineage was a water wielder, and a strong one to boot, so when he realized that he couldn't defeat Zero, like the other god level dragon which caused Zero to be severely injured, he self-exploded. Unfortunately, at that time, Zero was about to win, so he let down his guard a little and since most of the attack was directed at Shi LanHua, who was on his back, she took a severe amount of damage. Though it wasn't fatal, she never recovered from it and has to undergo an unimaginable amount of pain every time she attempts to utilize a high leveled fire spell, it's as if thousands of swords were stabbed deep into her, inflicting endless amounts of torture upon her... Not only that, but Shi LanHua's cultivation level fell back to the peak of Foundation Building, and it was only due to Zero finding countless of treasures that she could recover her earlier state. If it didn't drop, with her talent, she would have been at the peak of Spirit Division by now.

And since she has to blend in with the humans of the Celestial Sect, she has to frequently show off her prowess by demonstrating fire spells. Zero's heart felt like it was crumbling every time he saw her back drenched in sweat from holding in her screams of pain and agony. One has to know, with the level of injury she received, Shi LanHua is already considered lucky to be alive, but seeing the pain she needs to go through to live, most would rather be dead.

Now, the Heaven's Heart Fruit is an extremely rare fruit that is said to have only existed in legends, so no matter how hard Zero looked, he could never find it. He almost went into a Qi Deviation due to all the stress, after all, to a sis-con like him, Shi LanHua is the most important person in his life.

Normally, one would have to use many rare, or even legendary ingredients that are equally as hard to find as the Heaven's Heart Fruit in order to cure Shi LanHua of her condition, but Zero had reached complete mastery of pill concocting in the system's learning space before he entered this world, so he is able to create a pill that's strong and suitable for her. However, even with all that, everything is useless if they can't even find the ingredient needed!

"FengFeng, even if you don't find it, I'll be fine. I won't die from such measly pain, so just focus on being happy, okay? Remember, we swore that as long as we're together, everything will be alright.", she smiled.

"Second Sister... Please forgive this unfilial child for rejecting your request! I will find and obtain the fruit no matter what happens. Second Sister is telling me to be happy, but if it's at the cost of your suffering, there's no way I can be happy. Instead I would fall into further despair, so please, let me at least try to find the fruit."

"You..! Haaaahhh... Okay, fine. But if I see you getting hurt trying to get it, I'll never let you do anything dangerous ever again. And you'll have to stay where I can see you for the rest of our lives, or else I wouldn't be able to calm down!"

"Thank you Second Sister!", Zero said while flashing an innocent smile, unlike all of those mocking, arrogant, fake ones he had to make for the sake of completing his mission. This one was reserved excursively for those whom carry an immeasurable position in his heart. You gotta know, when Zero smiles like this, it makes him look extremely attractive... and a bit cute. Shi LanHua's motherly instincts totally kicked in and she started to pet his head.

"Mmm, you should go and cultivate. Try to reach god realm within the next 6 months just in case, okay? If you're unable to, then don't even think of getting that fruit for me. I wouldn't be able to stop worrying. Even if we're going to go in together, I can't look after you 24/7.", she said after she hyped down a little.

"Don't worry! I'll use every means to break through, plus I have a feeling it'll be really soon."

"Alright, then I won't be bothering you any longer."

"ByeBye!"

After the duo parted, Zero didn't return to his hut, but instead went headed towards the forbidden forest. As for the reason? First, it's because that damnable system issued a "exclusive" mission and he needed to make a breakthrough as soon as possible. So who better to ask as to be a guard-keeper than the beasties in there?

[Triggered Mission:
 Collect the 9th-grade herb, Heaven's Heart Fruit from the Secret Realm
 Mission Reward Points: 50]

Since this aligned with what Zero was planning for, he accepted it. This also gave him a sliver of hope since the release of the mission was basically saying that the secret realm had the fruit. In case you didn't know, herbs also have ranks, where 1 is the lowest and most common and 10 is the highest and rarest.

As for the second reason he was heading into the forbidden forest? It was because he wanted to ask the little beasties that reside in there what the heck the Heaven's Heart Fruit even looked like...

I mean, it isn't really his fault since the books only describe what effects it had and honestly, when Zero was looking for the fruit, he only casually mentioned the name to people, but never bothered to ask about its appearance...

His sister is important, but you can't blame him for the fact that out of the millions of books in the sect library, there was only one truly dedicated to this herb. In the first place, herbology wasn't as popular as many of the other occupations and most people only studied it as a side job. And our "smart" MC stuck to the mindset of "The Celestial Sect is the best because it's where Nan XiSheng grew up, so if it doesn't have books about the fruit, then others wouldn't either". Wherever the protagonist goes must be a blessed area, or so says novel logic... so Zero kind of incorporated that into his understanding of the sect... and that resulted in this situation. 

If Shi LanHua knew of Zero's current condition.. she would probably spurt out a whole barrel of blood while thinking 'My dear FengFeng... as much as I love you, may I ask what the heck are you doing with your life...? Where did your 300 points of IQ go? Was your logic eaten by a dog?'

What can we say? Our MC is pretty dumb mos-- sometimes!

- - - - - - - - - -

6 months later

*KABOOOOOM*

A strange phenomenon started to happen. Spirits of the supposedly "dead" legendary beasts started to gather around an area in the forest near the Celestial Sect. The ground shook and even the sky looked as if it was about to be ripped apart. The sun only shone it's light upon a sing spot, and all the spiritual beasts started to howl, as if giving their congratulations.

Many people were dispatched to find out what happened, but the culprit had long fled the scene, leaving an abundance of people stuck in a dilemma about the strange event. Many decades later, this incident would go down as one of the unsolved mysteries of this world.

Yep, you got it. Who else could've caused this other than our dear MC? Zero finally made a breakthrough to the god realm! As for why it's so exaggerated... How would I know? I'm just a poor storyteller for everything that's supposed to be written in 3rd person. And for the reason why the story isn't even written in the same perspective the entire way through, go ask the damnable author.

Suddenly, the figure that had been the cause of all this ruckus slowly opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings.

'Weird... why are all the trees around me toppled over.. and what are my beastie guards doing on the floor? You're supposed to guard me while I'm making a breakthrough! How are you supposed to do so when your faces are planted into the ground like that?! With your asses?', Zero thought as he shot them a resentful look. He was immersed in the relaxation and joy of a breakthrough earlier, so he had absolutely no idea about all the destruction he's caused.

'Master.. we did guard you! But the backlashing force of your breakthrough was too strong and we were nearly killed by it!', cried the beasties in indignation. However, their instincts told them to swallow up their grief and bear with it because he is the lord, so they could only do as such.

'Today's the day', Zero thought as he leisurely flew towards the meeting point without sparing the wronged creatures on the ground another glance.

When the representatives from each sect finally gathered at the meeting point, the leaders of the four great sects walked onto the platform as they looked down on all 100 participants.

Just with one glance, an immense amount of pressure could be felt, while some of the weaker ones already fell to their knees, and were on the verge of fainting. However, this was nothing to Zero who was already a god realm cultivator, in fact, the "pressure" was so weak, that he didn't even feel it. His only thought was that this year's secret realm scouting groups sure had low standards, even fans who would kneel at their idol's presence and lunatics that had foam coming out of their mouths with a single glance from them were invited.

If the "weaker cultivators" could hear his inner thoughts, they would feel immensely wronged and cry, "Brother ah, it's not that we're not up to par, it's that you completely overwhelmed the system... So please, just stay still with your OPness and don't crush what little confidence we have left, okay?"

"Firstly, we would like to congratulate all of those who had been selected to participate in this year's secret realm. It wasn't easy standing out from the rest of your peers and being able to get selected for the privilege of even standing here.", the leader of the Nanhua Sect said in her melodic, yet mesmerizing voice. She is a beautiful lady who looked to be in her 30's, and many men in the audience were oogling over her ravishing body, especially the place around the chest area. Although there were some who tried to keep up a nonchalant image, seeming as if they weren't interested, their lustful eyes completely betrayed their inner thoughts.

"Now, let me explain a little bit about the place you're going to", said the leader of the Xunshou Sect, "The Secret Realm was created and left behind by an extremely formidable master who even we, the leaders of the four great sects, cannot ever think of matching up to. Their identity remains unknown, but we do know that everything in there is extremely precious. Even what seems like a normal blade of grass could turn out to actually be a 5th-grade herb."

Gasps of surprise could be heard from the crowd as every trembled in excitement at the thought of all the precious things they could obtain. Instead of calling it a dangerous secret realm, they might as well call it a treasure trove! Each and every one of them has greed flashing in their eyes, except Zero, Nan XiSheng, and Shi LanHua, of course.

"You youngsters shouldn't be so impatient!", roared the Jingang Sect leader, "Sure, there are tons of treasures, but with great reward comes greater risk! Do you think that the things inside are so easy to obtain? If so, then we wouldn't have had so many casualties every time the secret realm opened, and we would've also emptied out the place decades ago! Although that blade of grass might turn out to be a 5th-grade herb, there could also be a Nascent Soul realm beast guarding it! I will warn you all to NEVER provoke beasts that are stronger than you to salivate your greed. It's not worth it, and who knows how many idiots died doing so!"

"Mhm", nodded the Celestial Sect master, Zhang Yong, "Now, we will establish a few rules that must be followed to ensure your safety inside the realm, as we will not be following you in due to the age restriction spell (1000+ may not enter). Number one, anyone caught stealing another person's hard earned rewards will be severely punished! Number two, avoid fighting each other if possible, as you never know if the beasts inside will take advantage of you dispute. If you have something to fight over, do it after you come back to safety OUT of the secret realm! Number three, do not venture into places that are extremely dangerous, and if you do try to go and seek death, don't drag your teammates down with you! Number four, 25% of what you collected goes to help develop your sect! Any questions?"

Everyone shook their heads, because after hearing about the contents of this secret realm, they were either all too agitated or excited to bother wasting any more time.

"Good! I wish you all a safe trip, and don't forget to use the protective talisman provided by the sect if you come across a crisis!"

After the lecture, everyone gathered around the place where the secret realm is supposedly going to open, and they all stared intently at it.

*Tssszzzzzzz*

Suddenly, a massive space portal appeared in front of everyone, and one would feel as if they could perceive all of the world's secrets just by staring at it. Some were captivated by it, wanting to stare at the portal for the rest of their lives. Luckily, they managed to snap out of it, only to find their backs drenched in cold sweat.

One by one, the groups were led in, until it finally came to Zero's.

"Alright, Nie Yuan, Chu Qiu, and Disciple A. We're going to enter the secret realm. Are you all ready?", said Zero sternly.

"Yes, senior brother!", reported the three disciples.

"Alright, let's go!"

And so, Zero's group stepped into the secret realm that would change the rest of his life.

- - - - - - - - - -

Everyone finally arrived inside the secret realm. The scenery was unimaginably beautiful and breathtaking, as if they got sent to a mythical fairy realm instead of one filled with numerous dangers. However, no one had the leisure to admire this amazing view at the moment.

The pressure inside the portal was so harsh that everyone was throwing up the moment they came out. Some even collapsed on the ground and directly fainted. Zero used his Qi to make sure he had a deathly pale complexion, but had a demeanor that told others he was unwilling to lower himself as doing such a lowly things like barfing. Honestly though, all he felt was a bit of pressure and then poof, he came here. Nothing else.

There were others like Zero who were unwilling to back down, for example the protagonist and Yang Zhelan. The only difference is that they felt so dreadful that thoughts of suicide even crossed their minds, and sheer willpower was their only hope in not giving up.

Thankfully, after only about an hour, everyone managed to recover to their peak condition, since they're all of the top geniuses of the younger generation in their respective sects after all.

"Liu Feng you bastard, if I manage to collect more goods in this secret realm, I want to ask you to allow me to court Shi LanHua!", declared Yang Zhelan before running into the distance with his team.

...

'What about my will? At least give me a few seconds to reply! Who the heck agreed to this?! Don't go making decisions all on your own!', cried Zero in indignation.

"You-- Haaaiiizzz... Alright you three! We're going to explore this secret realm as well. We can only rely on our luck so let's go... left! If you find anything useful, give them to me!"

"Yes Senior Brother Liu!", the three replied.

That's how Zero and his group officially started to venture forth into the "secret realm" that held many secrets, most of which unknowingly intertwine with his fate.

Disciple A took out a compass and it started to spin in circles. After a moment, the needle started to slow down and eventually stopped at the north-west direction, indicating that there was treasure hidden there.

The group of four started to travel in that direction and they came to a halt when a cave slowly came into their views. 

Inside the small cave lay a glowing flower and the powerful waves it was emitting indicated that it is a 6th-grade herb. Judging from it's appearance, it's most likely to be a Moonlight Flower, which is used to tend internal injuries. 6th-grade herbs are very rare as only the four great sects are qualified to own batches of it. If it's any other sect, they'd be lucky to get their hands on a single one, let alone a few. That's how precious they are, and even the great sects only use them to nurture geniuses or treat the wounds of important figures.

However, the pile right in front of them contained at least 3 batches of Moonlight Flowers. 'Greed' flashed in the eyes of Zero as he pretended to make a face that said "these all belong to this young master".

The only reason he didn't make a move is because of the humongous beast laying at the entrance. From it's lion head, goat body, and snake tail, they could tell that this is a chimera, and judging from the green gem embedded into its forehead, everyone knew that the creature in from of them was a Nascent Soul stage spiritual beast.

"Be on guard, this chimera had already reached Nascent Soul realm, just like me, however I can't tell if it's in the initial, middle, late, or peak stages because I, myself, am only in the initial stages of Nascent Soul. But if the three of us work together, I'm sure we can take down that beast. Nie Yuan, Chu Qiu, you two are in the middle stages of Nascent Soul, and you're much older than me, so you are probably the ones with the most experience here, so Senior Brother Nie will be the vanguard while Senior Brother Chu will be the bait who lures it out. Disciple A, you're a whole realm under us, so you go and launch long range attacks from outside the attack range of this Chimera. I'll go and be the one who seizes the herb. Once I tell everyone to retreat, do it, understood?", commanded Zero.

"No problem, but how will we distribute them?", asked Disciple A.

"We will give one to the sect as tribute. I am putting myself in the most dangerous position, because if I get trapped in that cave it'll be the end for me, while you guys are outside, so you can still run, therefore I will get the second one. Finally you three can divide the third batch between yourselves.", replied Zero.

"That...", said Disciple A with a bit of hesitation in his voice.

"What, do you have any problem with my arrangements?", said Zero with a bit of a chill in his voice.

"N-no, of course not!". Naturally, Disciple A had heard of the notorious deeds that his Senior Brother Liu had done in the sect, so he dared not ask for more, despite it being very unfair.

On the other hand, Nie Yuan and Chu Qiu were more than happy with this arrangement. Actually, if they had a choice, they would give their shares to Zero as well, and while they're at it... maybe "accidentally" kill that noisy human named Disciple A so that their lord would get the last 2 batches as well.

As long as he's happy, they're happy.

Zero looked at Disciple A for a few seconds before turning around and commanding, "Good, let the plan... commence!"