Dragon Boat Secret Realm 31: Breaking the Game

Hearing the voice, Su Qing snapped out of her daze, bolting upright. “Yue Ling!”

Tang Yue Ling, arms crossed, raised an eyebrow. “Right here.”

After nearly a year, she’d matured, grown taller. The childish curves of her face had sharpened into refined lines, exuding a fierce elegance. Her phoenix eyes, upturned at the corners, sparkled with pride and spirit.

As always, she wore red, but Su Qing noticed her attire was more elaborate—layers of ornate robes, her hair adorned with glittering hairpins and rings. Though beautiful in any style, this wasn’t Tang Yue Ling’s usual flair.

Su Qing’s shout woke Tian Ning, who sat up stiffly, eyes dazed, hand resting on her abdomen. She recalled everything from the illusion.

Her first act was to touch the anxiously humming Xue Jin Sword, reassuring it: the illusion’s sword was fake, but their bond was real.

Frowning, she noticed something off—her body felt heavy.

Looking down, she saw layers of magical robes, draped in iridescent dragon gauze, limbs adorned with clinking artifacts.

Her newly cleared mind clouded again.

Since when was she this rich?

Simultaneously, Su Qing registered their strange surroundings.

They were inside a soft, scarlet space—not surprising, as she recalled being drawn into the illusion from within the giant fish beneath Dragon Scale Island.

Tang Yue Ling, guided by a bloodline technique, was here too.

But meeting her right after entering the mines was odd.

“Am I still in the illusion?” Su Qing asked warily. “How do I know you’re real?”

“How do I prove I’m real?” Tang Yue Ling repeated, incredulous. Blinking, she scoffed, “Look at yourself—”

Su Qing glanced down, stunned. She was layered in robes—inner and outer, so light she hadn’t noticed in her groggy state.

Her shock rendered her speechless: countless costly artifacts adorned her. On her left wrist, a fourth-tier defense bracelet; on her right, a fifth-tier one. Six robes etched with defensive arrays. Eighteen jade pendants hung from her waist, alongside beads, incense cages, flower knots, and hooks.

Su Qing gasped, uncharacteristically awestruck: she’d never been this wealthy.

This had to be the real Tang Yue Ling.

Even in her wildest dreams, Su Qing couldn’t imagine such opulence!

“Alright, you’re real,” she conceded.

Tang Yue Ling snorted, satisfied.

“How long were we out?” Su Qing asked.

“Ten whole days,” Tang Yue Ling grumbled. “Unconscious since you arrived. I thought something was wrong—tried every elixir and treasure, but you wouldn’t wake.”

Ten days—a month and a half, matching their time in the Falling Spring Island illusion.

They must have entered the Dragon Boat trial upon arrival, released only after finding the illusion’s core.

Speaking of the trial, Su Qing remembered. “That ‘lousy boat’—the Dragon Boat—where is it?”

“There.” Tang Yue Ling pointed.

Su Qing followed her gesture, spotting a dilapidated boat embedded in the scarlet wall.

Wrapped in soft red flesh like a cocoon, only a fragment of the hull was visible, riddled with cracks and acid-etched scars. Weathered and pockmarked with hollowed-out holes, it looked eerie, like it had been gnawed by insects.

This… was a wreck.

Su Qing faltered, doubting Xiao’e’s craftsmanship. “Is this really the Dragon Boat?”

“Absolutely,” Tang Yue Ling affirmed, pointing to a white jade bone on the hull.

Su Qing and Tian Ning leaned in, puzzled.

“It’s dragon bone,” Tang Yue Ling explained. Her family’s vault held such treasures, but a whole dragon spine was rare—only someone as extravagant as Qiu Yange could craft with it. “This is half a vertebra. The boat’s likely millions of times larger than what’s visible.”

Su Qing frowned. “So it’s the Dragon Boat, a genuine seventh-tier artifact. How did it end up like this?”

Tian Ning’s fingers grazed the bone. “It’s moving.”

Tang Yue Ling nodded, her cheeks puffing slightly, annoyed. “It’s related to you. It went wild when you were unconscious!”

When she and Tian Ning touched it, the bone trembled, emitting a resonant hum.

That ancient roar pierced through time, reaching them.

As it sounded, the world seemed to hold its breath. Su Qing’s vision blurred, her mind reeling.

The boat thrashed, its components buzzing, as if awakening, straining to break free from the fleshy cocoon.

As it moved, the soft ground writhed, lunging at the boat, shaking the space violently.

They could barely stand.

Suddenly, viscous liquid surged from above like a flood!

Tang Yue Ling’s face paled. “Don’t move—get close!”

Su Qing and Tian Ning complied, huddling together. The sticky flood engulfed them mercilessly.

The liquid tore at Su Qing’s body like invisible blades, draining her spiritual energy.

Her heart raced: *What is this?*

Following Tang Yue Ling’s command, she didn’t resist.

Bubbles rose from her skin, as if she were dissolving. Her vibrant robes faded visibly, the first layer crumbling to dust, followed by the second, third, fourth, and fifth. The sixth turned pale white before the liquid receded into the fleshy walls.

Tang Yue Ling gasped, cursing. “This fish’s digestion is getting stronger—each time takes longer. Two months ago, three robes sufficed; now six barely hold! If spatial artifacts worked here, I wouldn’t be standing here getting eaten!”

Su Qing touched her head—her artifacts were gone, likely consumed resisting the acid.

Her dantian’s energy was half-depleted, proof that even artifacts weren’t foolproof.

She realized the corrosive liquid was stomach acid—they were in the fish’s gut.

As for meeting Tang Yue Ling so soon, the fish likely sensed their spiritual beads, teleporting them to its stomach for digestion.

Su Qing knew one beast adept at spatial techniques: the one that escaped Autumn Bright Island’s execution grounds.

Having studied with spirit beasts, she knew their obsession with dragon transformation.

The Dragon Boat’s intact dragon bone was a perfect lure.

The boat’s centuries-long absence from the secret realm likely stemmed from this beast swallowing it, trapping it in its stomach for slow digestion. Even with the Five Spirit Beads’ call, it couldn’t appear in past trials.

Its decayed state was the result of centuries of acid erosion.

Why was Tang Yue Ling here?

“Do you have any dragon-related artifacts?” Su Qing asked.

“Which one?” Tang Yue Ling shot back confidently.

More than one…

Su Qing was speechless.

Tian Ning’s lips dipped slightly, relieved Tang Yue Ling’s predicament wasn’t what she’d feared.

In the urgency, no one noticed her subtle reaction.

Tang Yue Ling rummaged through her storage bag, handing out more robes and artifacts. “Change quickly—the acid comes faster each time. We need to be ready.”

She offered high-tier elixirs to restore their energy.

Tian Ning frowned. “No offensive methods?”

Su Qing added, “This consumption isn’t sustainable. If your resources run out, we’re stuck.”

“They won’t run out soon,” Tang Yue Ling said. “At this rate, I’ve got two hundred years.”

She’d tried attacking, unleashing every method to break free, but her energy drained with little effect. “It’s too big. My attacks are nothing to it.”

She gritted her teeth, ashamed. Her cultivation was too weak to wield her high-tier artifacts’ full power.

Trapped, she relied on artifacts to survive, hoping her family would rescue her in the next trial. But reckless attacks could deplete her energy, dooming her to die in the fish’s gut—an ugly fate she refused.

Even the seventh-tier Dragon Boat was trapped. Her body was far less durable.

So, the usually defiant Tang Yue Ling played it safe, biding her time.

Then her two “roommates” dropped in, comatose, forcing her to protect them.

Realizing their predicament, she stood, her proud face showing defeat. “With you here, we can’t wait. My artifacts can sustain me for two centuries, but three of us? Maybe fifty years.”

“We need to escape now.”

Su Qing believed the key was the Dragon Boat.

Examining it, she saw that despite its decay, its structure was intact.

It responded to them with a dragon’s hum, acknowledging their trial’s success.

Why not try piloting it?

She’d trained a week under Xiao’e. Though rushed, she’d mastered the basics.

The challenge: freeing the boat from the fleshy cocoon.

Su Qing had an idea.

When she realized the mine’s spiritual liquid was beast blood, she’d had a thought.

Her first true trophy was the Ten Rakshasa Blood Blossom Array—a third-tier array in its damaged state, thriving on endless beast blood.

Xu Wenqing’s defeat came from underestimating her, short on blood.

Here, blood was limitless.

She shared the plan with Tang Yue Ling and Tian Ning. After discussion, they deemed it feasible.

The fish, capable of swallowing the Dragon Boat, was high-tier. A third-tier array might not faze it, but being inside its stomach was their advantage—a direct strike at its weakness.

Each acid wave drained their gear and energy, strengthening the fish.

They had to act fast.

Decisive, they didn’t hesitate.

Tang Yue Ling inventoried her high-damage arrays and artifacts. Tian Ning gripped her Xue Jin Sword. Su Qing summoned her Man Qing Sword.

Before the next acid wave, they launched their strongest attacks on the cocoon.

Ice crystals fell as Tian Ning’s sword struck, unstoppable. Su Qing’s twin purple energies exploded. Tang Yue Ling activated hundreds of top-grade spirit stones, igniting her artifacts in a blaze.

All targeted the same spot.

Tian Ning’s sword breached the cocoon, drawing blue-green blood. Su Qing’s blast widened the wound to dozens of meters. Tang Yue Ling’s intricate strikes deepened it.

The wound made the fish flinch, the scarlet space contracting, as if its stomach spasmed in pain.

Blood gushed like a waterfall, splashing meters away, pooling at Su Qing’s legs.

The Ten Rakshasa Blood Blossom Array ignited in the blood.

The blood awakened it, forming a twenty-meter rust-red spear, radiating ancient battlefield ferocity, freezing the air.

Larger and faster than Xu Wenqing’s, it reflected Su Qing’s superior cultivation and the blood’s higher grade.

Once aimed at her, now she wielded it.

Her eyes flashed ruthlessly. Pointing at the cocoon, she commanded, “Divine Might, First Form!”

The spear hummed, piercing the wound instantly, leaving only its shaft quivering.

The thick cocoon was torn open, blood pouring, absorbed by the spear, which glowed fiercely.

It had upgraded again.

Tang Yue Ling, wide-eyed, gasped, “This isn’t an ordinary third-tier array. Its damage dropped it to third-tier!”

If restored, it could rival a Rakshasa’s might.

The strike drained Su Qing’s energy, but the array operated independently. No wonder array masters felt superior—this strategic thrill was addictive.

Absorbing spirit stone energy, Su Qing directed the spear’s continued assault.

The Dragon Boat, sensing the breach, struggled fiercely, roaring like a trapped beast. But the gap was too small for its massive frame.

Tian Ning joined Su Qing, channeling her ice energy from high-tier Ice Jade Fruit. Frost spread from the spear’s tail to its tip.

The blood-forged spear turned into a translucent red ice spear.

Tang Yue Ling unleashed her fire energy at the spear’s base. Red flames surged through the icy spear, cold and heat colliding, exploding the now fifty-meter spear, blasting a path outward!

Light spilled through.

They’d broken through.

Amid falling ice and blood rain, the cocoon tore open. The long-trapped Dragon Boat rose, dragging its heavy frame skyward.

Su Qing, Tang Yue Ling, and Tian Ning leapt aboard.

The blood spear led the way.

Sensing daylight, the boat erupted in golden light, carrying them as a streak of brilliance outward!

—

Students on nearby islands heard the earth-shaking roar, rushing out.

They stared, awestruck.

A ship soared into the sky.

In the Dragon Boat Secret Realm, it could only be one thing.

“Heavens, is that… the Dragon Boat?!”

“Look!” a sharp-eyed student cried. “Are those three figures on the deck?!”