Similar, Yet Distinct
In that a Secret Realm was an independent world, it shared certain similarities with a Grotto-heaven. However, unlike a Grotto-heaven—which always possessed a master and could move alongside them—a Secret Realm could exist masterless and was anchored to a fixed location, rendering it entirely immobile. This was the defining distinction. Jekyeong had known this in theory for a long time, but seeing a Secret Realm with his own eyes made him appreciate the difference on a much deeper level.
"Even though I'm looking right at it, I still can't wrap my head around it. How can such a place exist? Just the spiritual energy leaking out is this intense. If so, how dense must the Qi be inside?" While Jekyeong was lost in thought, U-jam paced around the entrance of the Secret Realm, murmuring in constant admiration.
"No wonder they never left this unremarkable mountain despite growing their influence for hundreds of years. It was all because of this Secret Realm."
Yeongpyeong Mountain was a massive peak comparable in scale to any true spiritual mountain, but it lacked the genuine spiritual veins to be classified as one. A clan of the Yuk family's stature could easily have relocated to a more auspicious site to establish their foundation. Yet, they had remained anchored to Yeongpyeong Mountain for centuries, eventually earning the moniker of the Yeongpyeong Yuk family. Some outsiders had speculated that the clan stayed because their ancestral graves lay within the mountain, while others guessed that some hidden treasure was concealed there. Looking at it now, the latter was undoubtedly true, whatever the validity of the former.
"There aren't any traps inside, are there?" U-jam, who had been acting as if he would leap into the Secret Realm at any moment, suddenly hesitated. He turned his gaze toward Ju-hyeong. "You go in first."
"Me?" Ju-hyeong's face fell, caught in a miserable dilemma. He cast an imploring look toward Jekyeong, begging for salvation, but Jekyeong refused to even make eye contact with the fellow.
"Ugh..." Realizing he had no choice, Ju-hyeong took a deep breath and trudged toward the entrance of the Secret Realm. He paused at the threshold, exhaled a long, shaky breath, and took one more step forward. In an instant, he vanished. Even though Jekyeong and U-jam had been staring intently at him, they couldn't fathom how he had disappeared.
"A Secret Realm indeed," U-jam muttered, clicking his tongue as he glanced at Jekyeong. Jekyeong nodded silently. Though Ju-hyeong had vanished from sight, the resonance of the blood covenant remained unbroken. This meant that the subordinate who had crossed over was still alive. While Jekyeong couldn't be certain if there were traps inside, the fact that a human who had only recently reached the mid-stage of Qi Condensation was still breathing suggested that even if traps existed, they were not immediately fatal.
"When I first found out you kept a human pet, I thought you had a bizarre hobby," U-jam said with a sly grin. "But looking at it now, it seems rather practical. That restriction technique of yours... any interest in selling it?"
"Selling it isn't the issue. However, my restriction technique is fundamentally based on a blood covenant. Tell me, do you even have blood?"
"Ah, damn it." U-jam's face crumpled in frustration. As a ghostly demon, there was no way he possessed anything resembling blood. Jekyeong briefly wondered if the blood of the host body U-jam possessed could be utilized for the covenant, but judging by the demon's reaction, that was clearly out of the question.
Leaving the disappointed U-jam behind, Jekyeong glided toward the entrance of the Secret Realm. The air hummed with a low vibration. The moment he took that final step forward, just as Ju-hyeong had, he felt himself slip away from the Changram Realm and cross into a new world.
No, that's not quite right, Jekyeong realized intuitively. It was indeed a distinct space, but he had not truly departed from the Changram Realm.
In a way, it's only natural. A Secret Realm is ultimately nothing more than a small room attached to the grand mansion that is the Changram Realm. That was the nature of a sub-world. If a sub-world were entirely severed from the Changram Realm, it would no longer be classified as such; it would be deemed an entirely different dimension.
The spiritual energy here... is three, no, at least four times denser than the outside. Having assessed his surroundings, Jekyeong looked around, basking in the rich, heavy concentration of Qi filling the Secret Realm.
"Ah! I knew it!" U-jam, who had crossed over right behind him, spread his arms wide and grinned.
"My Lord," Ju-hyeong, who had been waiting, hurried over to Jekyeong. "I took a quick look around, and this place doesn't seem very large. This small grove and the pond in the center appear to be all there is."
"I see." Jekyeong didn't need Ju-hyeong to tell him. The moment he had stepped through the threshold, his Divine Sense had already swept across the entire pocket dimension. The Secret Realm was indeed exceptionally small—far smaller even than the Yuk family's residential estate.
This place must have served as a secluded cultivation chamber reserved exclusively for the Yuk family's patriarch or high-ranking elders. As far as Jekyeong knew, the spiritual energy within Secret Realms and Grotto-heavens was finite. Being finite meant that they could not generate Qi on their own...