A pair of old friends drank heartily, and it wasn't until 9 p.m. that the banquet ended.

At the banquet, Rong Shangping spoke highly of Shen Han.

Su Zhensheng, emboldened by the alcohol, also pounded his chest and promised.

He promised not to bully Shen Han, and that the matter of the betrothal was over and wouldn't be brought up again.

Hearing Su Zhensheng say this, Rong Shangping finally felt a bit relieved.

But in reality, Su Zhensheng never had any intention of bullying Shen Han.

After all, he was a General, and his vision was not that narrow.

Moreover, the conversation with Shen Han a few days earlier made him quite optimistic about Shen Han.

After leaving Rong Shangping's courtyard, Su Zhensheng walked all the way, his brow furrowed the entire time.

The Su Family had always wanted to get rid of someone, and now unexpectedly, they wanted to win him over...

Recalling the information he had previously gathered, Su Zhensheng felt a surge of anger in his heart.

The Su Family had been a military family for generations.

Soldiers need to know themselves as well as their enemies, and understand both heaven and earth.

However, the information he received was almost entirely wrong.

Perhaps the only correct part was that the Shen Family did not welcome Shen Han.

If this had been on the battlefield, what kind of outcome would that have led to!

The more Su Zhensheng thought about it, the angrier he became.

Besides anger, he also felt somewhat troubled.

If the Su Family had no relation to Shen Han, it would be fine, but now, between Shen Han and Jinyu, there was the past of the broken engagement.

Is it still possible to win him over...

Since the engagement between Shen Han and Su Jinyu was broken off, Su Zhensheng had been pondering the relationship between the Su Family and the Shen Family.

Su Zhensheng always thought the Shen Family would take the Su Family's interests into account as much as possible.

However, with the broken engagement, the Su Family ultimately had to bear the consequential costs.

After the old master of the Su Family left the military camp, the Su Family's strength in the Northern Garrison had already weakened considerably.

Currently, he himself was assigned to Tianyi Academy as a Tutor for two years.

Yet the Shen Family remained completely undamaged.

Su Zhensheng no longer trusted the Shen Family as much as before.

Shen Han's discord with the Shen Family was, at this moment, an advantage for Su Zhensheng.

If he could be won over, it would ensure his inclination towards the Su Family instead of the Shen Family.

...

Following the annotations on the hand-drawn map, Shen Han headed east for about thirty miles.

This place was surrounded by mountains on three sides, with a small stream formed by mountain streams on one side.

After the arrival of spring, the ice and snow on the mountains began to melt.

The originally dry stream now had a gentle flow of water.

The hand-drawn map given by Zhong Nan was, honestly, quite clearly marked.

Using the head of the stream as a landmark, the southwest side illuminated by sunlight at 3:00 PM was the entrance to the Secret Realm.

Currently, it was already 5:00 PM, and Shen Han had no interest in waiting another day.

His gaze searched the southwest side, and after a moment, a small blue inscription appeared before him.

[Exquisite Mechanism]

As expected, this was the entrance to the Secret Realm.

On the hand-drawn map, the method to unlock the entrance mechanism was also clearly marked by Zhong Nan.

Shen Han didn't spend much time before twisting the mechanism.

With a creaking sound, an entrance large enough for a person appeared.

In unfamiliar places like this, one should generally be extremely cautious.

Some Secret Realms were left by predecessors to pass on their legacies.

If unlocked, one could gain many benefits left by those predecessors.

These types of Secret Realms might be difficult to unlock their hidden secrets, but they came with no inherent danger.

Other Secret Realms, however, were not so safe.

Some were treasure troves, their origins unclear, and thus they dare not be revealed to outsiders.

The treasures were hidden within the Secret Realm, hoping to retrieve them after the situation settled.

Such Secret Realms were fraught with danger at every turn.

There were also some Secret Realms that served as burial sites for ancestors.

The quantity of treasures buried with them, and their potential dangers, were difficult to predict.

Other explorers tread carefully with each step in the Secret Realm.

But for Shen Han, it wasn't that complicated.

As soon as he stepped into the Secret Realm, the surrounding area became slightly cooler.

On the road ahead, Shen Han already saw a [Defunct Trap].

Perhaps Mr. Zhong Nan had once disarmed it.

Walking in for less than half a quarter of an hour, a stone wall blocked the path, making it impossible to proceed.

With three walls surrounding him, no traces could be seen on the walls.

If there was a mechanism to unlock, it couldn't be seen at all...

Zhong Nan must have reached this point and found no way to proceed further.

His eyes focusing, Shen Han's gaze constantly probed his surroundings.

Finally, in a corner, a small blue inscription appeared again.

[Exquisite Mechanism]

Shen Han had no intention of unlocking it; his consciousness concentrated.

Soon, the [Exquisite] entry fell into his mindscape, and an entry labeled [Broken] was placed over that mechanism.

Once the [Broken] entry was applied, instead of the stone wall collapsing, a hole opened in the right-side stone wall five steps behind him.

Crawling into the hole, the scene in front was no longer narrow but a very spacious room.

In the room, there were three chests.

A gold chest, a silver chest, and a bronze chest.

The implication seemed to be to let someone choose, perhaps with a hidden risk if the wrong choice was made.

Unfortunately, Shen Han had no intention of choosing.

Above the three chests, purple inscriptions appeared, all labeled as [Potent Traps].

Clearly, these three chests were deliberately set as a trap.

Shen Han didn't waste much time and directly extracted the entries.

Then he threw in another [Broken] entry.

The real treasure was actually hidden beneath the floor tiles, having nothing to do with the three chests.

After prying up the floor tiles, only a small iron box was in a small compartment.

Opening the iron box, the contents appeared to be the root of some plant.

It looked like a medicinal herb similar to ginseng or codonopsis.

Upon a closer look, a small orange inscription floated above it, labeled [Meridian-Clearing Herb].

At the moment he saw the orange inscription, he knew the trip was worthwhile.

Picking up the herb, he placed it into his Storage Ring.

Originally, there were traps within the Secret Realm, and if the herb was picked incorrectly, the traps would be triggered.

But when Shen Han entered the room, he had already destroyed all the traps.

The entire process of exploring the Secret Realm turned out to be somewhat easy and leisurely.

Upon leaving the Secret Realm, the sky outside was already turning dark, with a faint dusk, not completely black.

This was his second time encountering an orange entry.

The last time, it was on the fruits of the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, the Heart-Breaking Vine.

He didn't know what effect this root would have.

Meridian-clearing...

It seemed more like the medicinal effect for treating certain ailments.

Without lingering around the Secret Realm, under the moonlight, Shen Han leaped towards the direction of the Capital City.

This time, Shen Han initially intended to explore what was behind the [Sturdy Stone Door].

But now, with a precious herb in hand, Shen Han hesitated for a moment, postponing the exploration.

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