Shattered Gates and Hidden Realms
He instinctively squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his body flat against the shaking ground. What in the world is this...? An endless wave of powerful spiritual energy, unlike anything he had ever felt in his entire life, washed over him. Had he not witnessed it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that all of this was triggered by a mere flick of a finger.
"Ugh...!" It felt as though his entire body were on fire, and his mind was on the verge of slipping into oblivion. Had it not been for the agonizing pain of burning flesh constantly jolting his senses, Ju-hyeong would have lost consciousness long ago.
"Pant, pant!" How much time had passed? The trembling of the earth finally ceased, and the storm of heat gradually subsided. Even after realizing the commotion had ended, Ju-hyeong did not raise his head for a long time. He needed time to dull the pain and calm his racing heart.
"..." When he finally lifted his head with caution a moment later, Ju-hyeong saw that the barrier of light that had enveloped the Yuk family's estate had vanished without a trace.
The moment the formation shattered, Jekyeong sensed hundreds of auras inside the Yuk family estate. Most of them were mediocre. Only a handful were at the Foundation Establishment stage, and even those felt weaker than those of typical Foundation Establishment cultivators.
"Who goes there?!" A thunderous shout rang out, and a middle-aged cultivator appeared before Jekyeong in the blink of an eye.
The moment Jekyeong saw him, he gauged his cultivation realm. Early Foundation Establishment. He could barely feel any Dharma Power from the man. Whether he had concealed it so perfectly that it couldn't be detected from the outside, or if he was simply so depleted that there was nothing left to leak out... it didn't matter either way.
"You bastard!" As Jekyeong took a single step forward, his figure vanished.
The middle-aged cultivator realized he had lost track of Jekyeong's movements and immediately whipped out a talisman. But before his Dharma Power could even infuse the paper, a crimson line flashed across his wrist.
"Huh?" The hand clutching the talisman severed from his arm and fell. No blood splattered; only the faint scent of burning flesh brushed past his nose.
The middle-aged cultivator was momentarily bewildered, delaying his judgment. In that brief instant of hesitation, another crimson line sliced through the air.
A hand blade? Only then did he realize the true nature of the crimson line. It was the edge of his opponent's hand. An arm swung casually, almost carelessly, with nothing but an open palm.
Yet, at this moment, that hand blade reflected in his eyes looked sharper than any legendary sword he had ever seen in his life.
I can't dodge it. He could see the space warping along the trajectory of the hand blade. It was the effect of the flames enveloping not just the hand, but the entire arm.
A Fire Demon! A circular shield, with a diameter smaller than a forearm, intercepted the descending hand blade. Upon impact, the tiny shield expanded over tenfold, shielding his entire body.
Crash! The shield shattered into pieces upon colliding with the hand blade. A defensive Dharma Treasure capable of blocking attacks from even a Mid Foundation Establishment cultivator had been obliterated in a single strike.
"Third Brother!" Just as the hand blade smashed through the shield and the snake-like flames were about to reach him, a flying sword descended like lightning, severing the path of the fire.
"Brother! Be careful! There is something different about this Fire Demon!"
"I know!" Another of the Yuk family's Foundation Establishment cultivators revealed himself. The aura radiating from him was at a similar level to the one who had just lost his wrist.
A sword cultivator? A strange gleam flickered in Jekyeong's eyes as he looked at the flying sword, which remained completely undamaged despite being scorched by his flames. He had seen quite a few flying swords in his time, but this one possessed a unique quality unlike any he had encountered before.
Let's see. Jekyeong lightly tapped his foot and lunged toward the Yuk family's Foundation Establishment cultivators. His speed was even faster than the flying sword that had just descended.
By the time the two cultivators could react, Jekyeong was already right in front of them.
Boom! Fist and flying sword collided. The fist was not cut, and the flying sword did not break, but the disparity in strength was clear. While the fist stopped dead in its tracks after the impact, the flying sword was violently deflected.
Whoosh! Though his fist had been blocked, Jekyeong's attack did not end there. The Yokai Fire imbued within his fist surged forward like a tidal wave.
"Stop!" The cultivator with the severed wrist roared and stepped forward. The glowing talisman he threw turned into a wall, blocking the flames.
Right then, Jekyeong, staring at his Yokai Fire blocked by the wall, blew a gentle breath.
"Phew." It was a breath so light it seemed barely capable of snuffing out a candle. However, it contained a wisp of his Origin Earth Fire. The moment the small breath leaving Jekyeong's mouth touched the Yokai Fire, the blocked flames instantly erupted with explosive force.
"Ah!" The wall melted away. Then, as if venting its anger for being temporarily obstructed, the fire violently swept over the two Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Yuk family.
"..." Jekyeong admired the sea of fire he had created as he retrieved the wisp of Origin Earth Fire. He then scanned the Yuk family cultivators who were only now belatedly rushing out.
None. Confirming that there were no Foundation Establishment cultivators among the oncoming crowd, Jekyeong waved his hand without reservation. The Yokai Fire, which seemed unsatisfied even after incinerating two Foundation Establishment cultivators, changed direction at his gesture.
"It's a Fire Demon!" Along with horrified screams, a demonic tempest of fire swallowed the six-hundred-year history of the Yuk family.
Jekyeong strolled through the burning grand estate of the Yuk family. He had thought it was large when looking at it from the outside, but wandering through the interior made him realize its true scale.
It was no exaggeration to call it a fortress rather than a mere estate. There were certainly small fortresses in Yangseo Lake that were smaller than this mansion.
"Is this the place?" At Jekyeong's question, a Yuk family cultivator, who was being dragged along by his collar by Ju-hyeong, nodded weakly.
Thud! Another secret treasury door was forced open with a casual flick of Jekyeong's hand.
"Ohh." Seeing the vast amount of resources piled inside the treasury, Ju-hyeong let out an involuntary gasp of admiration. He quickly clamped a hand over his mouth, but his eyes were already darting busily from side to side.
Is this the might of a cultivator clan? The items inside the treasury were more than enough to open the eyes of a country bumpkin from Gwangyang City. There were several jade boxes that looked extraordinary at a glance, and various items—whether spiritual tools or Dharma Treasures—were laid out with ample space between them.
There were countless jade slips, and various medicinal herbs caught his eye, emitting a fragrant aroma despite being tightly sealed.
Not bad. Unlike the wide-eyed country bumpkin from Gwangyang City, Jekyeong remained calm as he scanned the contents of the treasury. Compared to the shabby storehouses he had seen before, this place was luxurious enough to be called a treasure vault, yet it failed to evoke any special excitement in him.
"Is that all?" It was an interrogation rather than a simple question. His tone carried the absolute certainty that there must be another treasury hiding the real treasures, not just this superficially impressive one.
"There... there should be more, but only the Patriarch and the Elders would know of such places. I..."
Jekyeong grabbed the head of the making-excuses cultivator. Then, he ruthlessly tore through his soul with a crude Soul Search.
Within seconds, the terror-stricken eyes went completely blank, and a mixture of saliva and blood began to dribble from his agape mouth.
"Ugh... ahhh..." Through the rough and brutal Soul Search, Jekyeong managed to extract some of the information he wanted.
The plain ring that the Patriarch of the Yuk family always wore. And the Elders who often accompanied him whenever he went out. This cultivator had suspected that whenever the family's high-ranking members went somewhere together, they were visiting the clan's secret location, and the key to it was likely the Patriarch's plain ring.
Plausible. This cultivator was no ordinary member. He was the only son of an Elder. To be precise, a former Elder, but even so, as the son of an Elder, he possessed a wealth of knowledge.
The Patriarch's ring, is it? Originally, there were seven Elders in the Yuk family. However, after the Demonic Disaster blanketed Jimagwon, four had either died in battle or perished from Qi Deviation, leaving only three.
Even of those three, one was severely injured while trying to stop clan members who had suddenly transformed into Fire Demons, leaving him barely able to move.
As a result, there were only two active Elders, and those two were the very Foundation Establishment cultivators Jekyeong had slain first.
This guy hasn't seen the Patriarch in over half a year. Has he entered secluded cultivation? But if he hasn't emerged even after such a massive commotion...
No matter how deep his secluded cultivation was, there was no way he would remain silent while his clan was being annihilated.
The Patriarch's secluded cultivation site is... Even this cultivator didn't know that much. However, no matter how vast the Yuk family's territory was, there were only a few places suitable for the Patriarch's secluded cultivation.
A place hidden by a formation. Or deep underground. Or perhaps... After a brief moment of deliberation, Jekyeong's gaze drifted outside the estate, toward Yeongpyeong Mountain.
After two full days of thorough searching, Jekyeong's group finally located the secluded cultivation site of the Yuk family Patriarch. It was a small Secret Realm hidden deep within Yeongpyeong Mountain.
Hummm! Upon shattering the formation concealing the entrance, the gateway to the Secret Realm was revealed. Situated on the surface of a massive cliff, the entrance resembled a night sky filled with stars.
Within the irregularly undulating darkness, clusters of brilliant light squirmed as if they were alive. The sight was so surreal that, had it not been for the dense spiritual energy leaking from the entrance, one would have mistaken it for an illusion formation.
"A Secret Realm. This is my first time seeing one," U-jam murmured, his eyes gleaming as he stared at the entrance. He was a Great Demon who had lived for a very long time, but even he had only heard rumors of Secret Realms and had never seen one in person.
It was not surprising. Secret Realms were just that rare.
So this is a Secret Realm. It's different from a Grotto-heaven. Jekyeong was also seeing a Secret Realm for the first time, but he was not as astonished as U-jam. Since he frequently entered his pocket dimension whenever he had the chance and had already seen a Grotto-heaven before, there was no reason for him to be amazed by a mere Secret Realm.
He fell into thought as he gazed at the stable-looking entrance. Beholding the mystical gateway to the Secret Realm, the Grotto-heavens he had seen in Bul-mang-won naturally came to mind.