835 The Second Realm III
Kyle watched as the duo disappeared into the gate and closed his eyes. It was a bit painful, but his senses entered the vortex. They spread out to encompass the entire Second Realm. It wasn't large, but it wasn't small either—about the size of a small planet. Everything inside was engulfed in blood, volcanoes, and dark energy.
His sense of smell, which had become sensitive because of his scent perception skill, would have been overwhelmed by the intense scent of blood in the realm if he were weak. But he wasn't. Now, this much was insignificant to him.
Kyle sensed only three living beings in the realm—that was it. All three were at peak supreme rank, seated in three separate locations, cross-legged with their eyes closed, deep in concentration.
"Hmmm, just three?"
He muttered, and suddenly one of the three individuals sensed his presence. It was an old man with white hair and a beard.
"Who is it? Such a strong presence..."
The old man muttered, disbelief lacing his voice, but Kyle quickly retracted his senses, leaving him disoriented as if he had made a mistake. He stood up from his spot and folded his hands behind his back.
"Two young individuals have entered this place. They are not oozing any dark energy. So, not from the dark side. Then who are they? How did they get in?"
He was speaking about Regius and Alec when, all of a sudden, his eyes widened as he detected an opening in the sealed gate that led outside this wretched place.
"Ah... it's open. The exit is open. Finally."
His old eyes trembled, but he didn't move from his spot. Even with freedom so close, he couldn't bring himself to reach out.
The fear of death was etched deep in his bones. After all, he had watched hundreds of his brothers and sisters die at the hands of Azazeal. They had actually found a way to leave this realm a few hundred years ago, but this place was engraved with an array, and the moment anyone tried to leave, their soul would shatter, never to exist again.
"Old Ma, can you sense them?"
An aged voice echoed behind him, and he turned to see two of his last companions who stood against Azazeal.
The three of them were the only survivors left among the many who had risen to fight against that man as the first forces wanting to protect the universe.
The old man, known as Old Ma, chuckled. His eyes glimmered with a deep red hue of sadness as he muttered.
"Some people have entered this place, only to become trapped alongside us."
So many years had gone by—so many that they couldn't even count—and finally, after so long, someone had come to save them, but even that was futile.
The three old men waited for Alec and Regius, ready to deliver the grim news that now they, too, were trapped and could no longer escape this wretched place.
What they didn't realize was that Alec and Regius had already learned of this through Kyle, whose senses were snooping around the realm in search of valuable treasures.
Alec cursed upon hearing him.
"So, can you break the array?"
He shouted, uncertain if Kyle could hear them properly now that they were both in another realm. Fortunately, he could.
'I can. But the moment I did, the realm will crumble. So first, gather all the treasures buried within this place. It would be a pity for them to vanish into thin air. There are many supreme-rank treasures here.'
Alec and Regius exchanged bewildered glances. They both quickly expanded their senses to investigate but sensed nothing. So, how did Kyle detect the treasures?
Regius clicked his tongue with a smile.
"Damn, don't tell me you have a skill that tracks treasures? All I can sense here is blood and heavy dark energy. Knowing you can detect them even from a distance, I can tell it's very strong. So, with all that luck, you also have such a cheat skill?"
Kyle remained silent. Naturally, after he stepped into the Celestial rank, his scent perception skill had grown strong enough to detect treasures buried even on the other side of the universe. However, those weak treasures were no longer useful to him. So, if he ever took anything, he only took the supreme rank ones or those that were useful for operating arrays.
Regius and Alec rolled their eyes at his silence but were always eager to search for treasures since it was their favorite task. Alec rubbed his nose with a grin.
"Okay, just tell us the locations of the treasures, and leave the rest to us."
However, his smile faded when he heard Kyle's next words.
'As the one revealing the locations of the treasures, I expect 50% of whatever you two collect in this place. The rest you two can divide among yourselves.'
Regius shook his head.
"He's a Celestial, yet he's still greedy."
Alec patted his shoulder with a sigh.
"We all are. Bro, we all are."
The duo separated and disappeared in different directions. Under Kyle's guidance, they began to dig up all the treasures in the Second Realm—leaving behind not even the divine rank ones. They found storage rings, ancient weapons, and even herbs and fruits growing in blood, surrounded by an immense aura of dark natural laws.
They were hesitant to take the items that radiated dark energy, but Kyle told them to collect everything. They couldn't use them, but they could hand the items over to him.
Every treasure was valuable because even those born from dark energy could serve as excellent fuel for his arrays.
Also, he could use these treasures to gain a deeper understanding of the natural laws related to darkness and grow stronger.
The three old men waiting for Alec and Regius frowned when the two young men didn't show up even after a long hour. Old Ma spread his senses.
"But the treasures here are not useful. Everything here consists of remnants from those who died. As for natural treasures, I believe we have already taken all of them."
Old Ma nodded, and the three vanished to closely observe what the two younger men were doing. They wanted to deliver the bad news about how they would be trapped with them from now on, but staying in this place for so long had made the old men excited to see some new faces. If possible, they would take these two youngsters as their students and pass the time together.
That's why no one could describe their shock when they saw the two digging out natural treasures from places they never thought treasures would grow. After a few more hours, Old Garrick's pupils trembled—not from sadness, but from disbelief.
"They... they are skilled treasure hunters."
He muttered, barely stopping himself from going to ask Alec and Regius how on earth they were tracking these treasures.
From their movements, it was clear they knew exactly where to look for them!
Beside him, Old Ma was filled with regret. His eyes widened as he saw Regius pluck out a whole tree made of spiritual energy, with tiny branches filled with round fruits containing the essence of the natural law of fire from inside one of the volcanoes.
"Wasn't that the place where I lived for more than fifty years? Why did I never sense this powerful supreme treasure that contains the elements of natural law? Why?"
Old Fedric was the most composed among the three. But even his composure began to crack the more he watched the duo.
"I can't watch anymore. Let me know when they're done. We'll welcome them together."
He turned and hurriedly vanished to check on the supreme rank treasures he had been growing in this realm for the past thousand years, eager to safeguard them before the two young men could pluck them.
The other two, sensing his thoughts, also disappeared, deeply concerned about the treasures they had been nurturing in this realm during their free time.
Old Ma was the first to experience a panic attack when Alec arrived outside his hidden valley of life, where the grayish-silver grass glistened even in the dark environment. He stepped out of the garden and stopped the man who tried to breach the barrier.
"Young man, don't break the barrier. You may take whatever you find in this realm, but refrain from touching the items within the barriers. These will be the only edible food available to you in the future... even though, as beings of supreme rank, we no longer need to eat. Yet there are times when we might still desire to, right?"
Alec was startled to hear the voice, as he hadn't sensed anyone nearby. He lifted his gaze to see an old man clad in tattered dark robes that looked worn out, as if they had been used countless times.
"Old senior!"
He shouted and greeted the man with a respectful bow, a smile lighting up his face. Kyle had already informed him and Regius that there were three survivors in this realm, so he was certain they would take all of them out of this horrible place!
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