Chapter 261 – Florida Man Denied the Allegation of Smuggling AV Superstars from Brazil to Ohio to Film Bestiary Movie.
After a quick tournament, Leo finalized the expedition team's members. Aside from him, there would be nine people joining.
Cat, Ricardo, Taxi, Tiger Swordsman, Hua Jiashan, Dongfang Mei, Han Meng, and Han Hao qualified for the final 8 of the tournament, so they were eligible to join. As for the last member, it was up to Leo to decide. However, everybody knew which one he was going to pick.
The morning of the next day, the qualified participants gathered on the mystic realm platform. Their friends and spectators also showed up there to send them off.
Wu Buyi, Xu Nuan, Yao Qiqi, and their disciples joined the spectators, watching their colleagues and seniors from afar. They wished them the best.
While watching the people, Xu Nuan asked Wu Buyi.
"Doesn't the Life Sword Sect have one of the mystic realm portals? Why is everybody eager to use Lord Florida Man's portal?"
Wu Buyi shrugged, "They're probably thinking if they are with the lord, they would be safe. Something like that."
"That makes sense. Indeed, if the lord is with them, there shouldn't be any casualty. But why does everybody avoid using the free portals? I think the Death Sword Sect and the Fatui Cult also have theirs."
"Using a random portal? Pfft. Nobody is that stupid anymore. It's true that the portals are ownerless. But if you use that, only gods know where they will send you to. It's a gamble."
"It's not a gamble if you tag along with the lord, that's why you're trying to say?"
"Yes. That's correct."
Xu Nuan understood Wu Buyi's reasoning. She also agreed with him.
Indeed, as previous dominant clans and sects no longer existed, nobody protected the portal platforms of the destroyed organizations anymore. Any rogue cultivator could easily seize this opportunity to use the ownerless portals and gamble for a fortuitous encounter or treasures.
Still, this method came with a great risk. As no powerhouse or strong cultivators were there to protect them, the chance of dying in an unknown world was high. Therefore, sane cultivators chose not to use the old portals.
"By the way, isn't it a pity that Lord Florida Man only permits 10 people to enter? The Jianghu Alliance no longer exists. What's stopping him from sending more people?" Xu Nuan inquired.
"Who knows? He might have foreseen danger, or he might have chosen this method to limit the potential casualty. The less people, the easier it is to protect them."
"Right. There's this reason. But really, do we need to take part in that realm anymore? The facilities here are more than enough for us to cultivate and progress to the deity stage with ease. What's the point of going there?"
"Sightseeing, perhaps."
Xu Nuan and Wu Buyi let out a long sigh. One of the shopping mall's facilities alone was enough to make any major sect a top-tier sect that could dominate Jianghu or the Yan Empire. However, Leo had built so many.
This didn't include the unique business scheme that Leo had been using. Many young employees usually sat near the pylon tower and cultivated whenever they had free time. When they accumulated enough cash or lifespan, they always spent everything to purchase cultivation resources and technique manuals from the shopping mall.
Alternate ways of cultivation enabled the local employees and visitors to grow stronger without participating in the mystic realm expeditions. Thus, this journey was unnecessary. It was only there for risk-takers to play.
"Yeah, sightseeing."
Both prayed for the participants to return unharmed.
.
Leo arrived at the mystic realm at 9 in the morning. Esen and her subordinates also followed after them. Everybody expected Esen to be chosen. After all, she was his spouse.
But then, Leo betrayed everybody's expectations. He announced the last member who would join them in this expedition.
"As you know, aside from me and the final 8 of the tournament, I'll pick one of the employees to go along. So… Lucky. You'll come along!"
"!!!"
Leo pointed at the giant wolf statue. He wiggled his finger and called him over.
The statue transformed into a humanoid werewolf golem. His 2.5 meters tall and refined muscles made him intimidating. However, the waggling tail and smiling face gave off another impression.
"Woof!"
He was a good boy.
Surprised by the unlikely decision, everybody observed Esen's reaction. The latter snorted and waved her hand.
"I'm planning to enter the time chamber. I don't have time for some treasure-hunting trips."
Everybody was relieved as the lord and his wife were in harmony. Still, some of the people had never seen the guardian statues in action yet. Their curious gaze fixated on the guardian.
After the roster was full, Leo activated the portal and instructed them.
"For those who aren't chosen, you can enter Agriculture Realm to train your physique. The gravity there is helpful to your foundation. Also, if you want something to fight, you can try the Orlando Realm. Be warned, though. Orlando is full of 9th-stage monster beasts. Anyone under the quasi-immortal realm shouldn't enter there."
Hearing about the Agriculture Realm, the young spectators were excited. They checked their storage rings and began planning their luggage and food supplies.
The local elders were also interested in the two new gates. But when they saw the warning signboard in front of the Cow Level's gate, they got curious.
"What about that portal, senior?" Asked Wu Buyi.
Leo glared at the troublemaker, "Only deities and sages can enter there! If any moron sneaks in and gets themselves killed, I won't bother bringing their corpses out!"
"I-Is that so?"
"Be warned. There are a hundred thousand deity-stage monsters in there. If you recklessly jump into the gate like Gao Yan and Jin Yong, you will end up in a worse state than them. Those guys are in a coma, and they won't be up for a few months!"
"…"
The people who had planned to enter one of the three gates earlier gulped. They took a mental note not to enter the cow level without Leo's permission.
Everything was settled. Leo stopped talking and gestured for the participants to follow him.
"Let's go. I'll go clear the path. You guys follow me. Immediately retreat if a deity or someone of a higher cultivation base shows up, okay?"
The expedition team nodded, except Cat who tilted her head in confusion. She smiled at Leo and mumbled.
"Nom-Nom Meow?" (Are deities edible?)
Leo rolled his eyes and ignored the obnoxious monster daughter. He vanished into the portal while the people behind him delayed their entry, letting Leo clean the mess first.
.
Among the crowd, Bao Xun smacked his lips. He wished he could peek into that world and snatch something. Because of the danger, he canceled his plans.
'Fine. I'll stick with that O-Lan-Do Realm. I just need to ascend and become an immortal before they return. Then, I might get Lord Florida Man's attention.'
Bao Xun secretly left the platform and made his way to the time chamber.
'Nobody should be there at the moment. This is a golden opportunity to train. I'll take whatever I need to get stronger!'
He rushed into the shopping mall and flew toward the fourth floor. He arrived in front of the time chamber.
Hua Taixu stood calmly in front of the time chamber, waiting for a new batch of volunteers to join his training sessions. When Hua Taixu noticed Bao Xun, he sized up the alchemist elder and snorted.
"Weak! Corrupted! Dumb! You. Me. Train! Me. You. REFINE!"
Hua Taixu stomped toward Bao Xun and slapped his left cheek.
PA!
The sound was crisp. The force behind the strike was also immense that Bao Xun's lower jaw was dislocated.
"!!?"
Bao Xun was confused. He couldn't comprehend why he was slapped for no reason.
It was too late for Bao Xun to react. Hua Taixu exhibited a finger technique, pressing Bao Xun's acupuncture points and demobilizing him. Then, he slapped Bao Xun's right cheek.
PA!
"?!?"
Bao Xun was frustrated, but he couldn't move his body or utter a word. His eyes glared at Hua Taixu in anger.
Hua Taixu sneered. He bonked Bao Xun with the sheath of his sword.
"You. Discipline! Me. Refine. Character!"
"???"
The clone of the sword saint laughed and dragged the paralyzed man into the time chamber. He also didn't forget to let the cashier mannequin on the fourth floor deduct Bao Xun's lifespan for an entrance fee.
As Bao Xun had wished, he managed to infiltrate the time chamber. Whether it was according to his plan or not, nobody could tell.
.
.
WHOOSH
Leo crossed the gate and emerged on the other side. When he looked up, he frowned.
The gate directly brought him to the middle of a forest city. A dozen oak trees around him were at least 50 meters in diameter, and their height exceeded 200 meters. However, wooden walkways and tree houses on the branches were so complex that they weaved like multiple layers of spider webs.
In addition, Leo sensed a hundred life signatures of immortals. He briefly saw a group of five children with green hair running across a wooden bridge above him.
'Is this really a mystic realm? Or rather, did my stupid building directly send me to an alien planet?'
Leo doubted this planet was a simple deserted planet full of monsters.
While Leo looked around, an arrow flew toward his face. By reflex, Leo caught it with his fingers.
Glancing at the arrow, Leo noticed a dripping purple arrowhead. It also smelled like acid.
"Poison arrow as a greeting? How civilized."
Leo pulled out the arrowhead and tossed it in his mouth. He chewed it and crushed the purple metal like candies.
CRUNCH
CRUNCH
His teeth easily broke the arrowhead while his saliva melted its fragments into liquid. He then swallowed everything.
DING
<Your lifespan has increased by one year…>
Although Leo was rich, he never forgot his old power – Everything in the universe was edible, and anything he ate always was converted into his lifespan.
While biting and chewing the wooden arrow shaft like a chewing a bamboo tree, Leo looked up and found the assailant. He waved his finger and called the guy over.
"HEY! YOU GREEN MAN OVER THERE! GET DOWN HERE!"
There was a man with long green hair and green robes. He also wore a green hoodie cloak and a face mask. His long and thick green eyebrows and sharp eyes exuded green smoke as if they were on fire.
The man shouted back.
"STATE YOUR NAME, YOUR RACE, AND YOUR BUSINESS!! WHO ARE YOU!? HOW DID YOU ENTER THE NEUTRAL FOREST OF DEZNUTS!?"
"… Deez nuts?"
Leo was taken aback by the weird name. He pondered hard and tried to recall some weird acronyms that he had learned from clones' memory.
"Ah!"
Leo vaguely remembered something. As Leo had fought Marc, Beatrice, and Ivy in his dantian universe during his sleep, he copied their daos, skills, and memory. Among the pieces of memory, there was information related to the DEZNUTS organization.
DEZNUTS stood for 'Divine Elven Zenith of Neo United Terraforming Solars'. They consisted of Divine Elves, Molgs, Werewolves, and a few races who surrendered to the Divine Elf Matriarch Eleanor.
In short, DEZNUTS was a puppet organization, that existed to serve Eleanor and her Divine Elf Empire.
Leo snickered as he found the name cute. He pointed at the guy.
"Go tell your friends that a FRIENDLY FLORIDA MAN has come to visit! If you attack us one more time, that FRIENDLY FLORIDA MAN will turn into ANGRY FLORIDA MAN! Do not take chances, boy!"
"…"
The green man frowned, but he cooperated. He disappeared into the distance while other town militias appeared and surrounded Leo.
"Sky celestials, heaven celestials, a mediocre realm, I guess," Leo commented.
Hearing Leo's remark, every militia's eyes were bloodshot. They nocked their great bows and aimed at Leo's head. Their killing intent emanated in the air.
Leo let out a long sigh. He contemplated if he should erase everybody here.
Fortunately, a family of a mother holding her infant in her arms passed by. A blond elf and her child were walking on a bridge above Leo. They peeked down to see the commotion.
Leo instinctively looked up. His eyes met with the elf woman's eyes.
"Huh?"
Strangely, the woman's face resembled Esen. Moreover, their life signature and aura were uncannily similar.
.
Meanwhile, Ester sized up Leo. She frowned as she couldn't see through Leo's cultivation base.
"Who is he?"
