A Stage Custom-Built
"Indeed."
"So... I think you should do something about that appearance first. It is, after all, far too conspicuous."
"Hmm? Ah."
Blinking in realization, Jekyeong finally noticed that Myeong-ha, standing far below him, looked as tiny as an insect. In an instant, he shifted back into his human form.
"Your Transformation Art is as flawless as ever. Even the Demon Kings who have undergone their Transformation Tribulation could probably learn a thing or two from you, Fellow Daoist."
"Cut the nonsense. Do you know where we need to go?"
"Of course. Haven't you noticed it as well, Fellow Daoist?"
"I only have a guess."
At Jekyeong's gesture, a thin stream of fire traced a faint, blurry shape in the air—resembling either a mountain or a tower. Seeing this, Myeong-ha nodded.
"That is exactly what I saw. You call it a guess, but since we have no other leads, we have no choice but to head there first."
Taking advantage of the commotion caused by the two late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, they quietly slipped away.
After their departure, the flesh that had been torn into hundreds of writhing pieces began to coalesce, molding itself into the shape of a massive mouth.
"Grrr..."
The giant maw snapped repeatedly in the direction Jekyeong and Myeong-ha had gone. Its hideous teeth bit at the empty air, and even when its long, lolling tongue was severed and fell to the ground, the snapping did not cease. In that mindless yet chilling display, one could feel a lingering attachment so deep it was almost suffocating.
Jekyeong and Myeong-ha moved with extreme caution. Dealing with the monsters lurking in the darkness was taxing enough, but now uninvited guests had been added to the mix. Though they had only seen two so far, there was no telling how many others might be wandering around.
"Word might have spread already, or perhaps the aftermath of us tampering with the seal was greater than expected. At any rate, quite some time seems to have passed since we entered this place, so nothing would surprise me now."
"Which means we need to hurry."
"Indeed." Myeong-ha nodded. "But it's not entirely a bad thing. They might draw the monsters' attention away from us."
"True." Jekyeong recalled the two late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators who had "generously" faced the monster in their stead. If they hadn't cooled their heads halfway through, the battle would have been decided by now. And in all likelihood...
"What do you think that monster really was?"
"Probably... the lingering malice of either Sang-yo or Jegu. Or perhaps a fusion of both." Myeong-ha shared Jekyeong's assessment.
"That monster was spouting nonsense the entire time. It kept saying it would offer me as a sacrifice to Taotie."
"...Taotie?" Myeong-ha's expression stiffened instantly.
"Do you know that name?"
"Of course I do. But did it really say Taotie?"
"Yes. I heard it so many times my ears practically bled. There's no way I misheard."
Myeong-ha let out a long sigh, running his tongue over his dry lips. Never before had Jekyeong seen Myeong-ha look this anxious and agitated.
"What is Taotie?"
"Taotie is..." Myeong-ha hesitated, his lips parting and closing several times. Only when Jekyeong pressed him again did he finally speak in a low, hushed voice. "It is a god worshipped by the Beast Race—a Yao God, in other words. However, not many know of its existence. As you well know, Fellow Daoist, most of the Beast Race value faith less than a single scrap of meat right in front of them."
The unspoken words hanging in the air clearly implied, And aren't you the same?
"Indeed." Jekyeong didn't take offense. He had never given much thought to religion or the so-called gods of this world. In a realm teeming with all kinds of transcendent beings, the weight of the word "god" felt vastly different from what it had in his past life.
"There are quite a few Yao Gods. I have heard of many names myself. But Taotie is special. Though it is a Yao God, those in the know refer to it as a Malevolent God."
"A Malevolent God?"
"Because nothing good ever comes from crossing paths with it. Unless they are driven to an absolute dead end, or consumed by utter malice, no member of the Beast Race would ever dare pray to it."
According to Myeong-ha, while Yao Gods were relatively common, Malevolent Gods were exceedingly rare. Since the Beast Race possessed an inherently savage nature, deities that other races would readily brand as evil gods were viewed by them as quite ordinary. Yet, Malevolent Gods were taboo even to the Beast Race, which made it easy to guess just how ominous and terrifying these entities truly were.
"I do not know much. At most, I know its name and its defining characteristics. Even that is just hearsay, so I cannot guarantee its accuracy." Myeong-ha continued in a hesitant tone. "They say Taotie is unimaginably greedy. Just as the Beast Race is naturally avaricious, most Yao Gods are greedy too, but Taotie's greed is on an entirely different level. To be precise, its greed is an insatiable gluttony. It seeks to devour everything it perceives. Not just living souls, but entire worlds, both large and small. They say the number of realms that have vanished into its maw is beyond count..."
Myeong-ha trailed off and shook his head.
"Well, believe it or not. In any case, the important thing is that Taotie is extremely dangerous. It is perpetually starving, and it will stop at nothing to appease that hunger. Praying to it is practically suicide. If you fail to satisfy its hunger, you will be devoured instantly—and it won't stop with just you."
As they conversed, their destination, which had seemed so distant, drew much closer. The blurry silhouette was now quite distinct in their field of vision.
As they forged ahead, Myeong-ha spoke up. "Let us find a spot around here and wait."
"Wait?"
Jekyeong looked up at the tower—or rather, something resembling a tower—that towered high like a pillar supporting the heavens. He couldn't tell if it was a natural formation or a man-made structure. However, the rotating halo of light in the sky above and the faint shapes drifting around it were enough to convince him that this was no ordinary place.
"If anyone approaches that place, we will be the first to know anyway. So, rather than moving in directly, why not wait until others draw the monsters' attention?"
Myeong-ha's intention was clear. Now that their destination was fully in sight, he wanted to minimize any potential risks as much as possible. It wasn't a bad proposal. In fact, it was a proposal only Myeong-ha could make.
Because both Divine Sense and Spiritual Awareness were suppressed here, other cultivators were essentially blind, forced to keep their nerves constantly on edge. But Myeong-ha was different. He possessed an ability that could substitute for Divine Sense. Though he claimed it was merely a minor trick involving formation arrays, Jekyeong didn't buy it. He simply let it slide, knowing better than to pry into another's secrets.
Maintaining that ability seemed to drain Myeong-ha's mental energy significantly, but it was far better than staying constantly tense over monsters that could leap out from anywhere at any moment. Thanks to Myeong-ha, Jekyeong was able to rest easy, even if only for a brief moment, for the first time since entering this place. It had only been two days, and they were only taking short breathers, but he was deeply grateful even for that.
With Myeong-ha's ability, the plan seemed foolproof. Of course, it was still unknown how many others had entered the realm or how much of the monsters' attention they could draw... but in a situation like this, one couldn't account for every variable. They simply had to bet on the higher probability.
Just as he was about to agree, a sudden sense of incongruity struck Jekyeong.
How convenient.
Myeong-ha's "minor trick" was proving to be more potent in this place than any Divine Ability. While everyone else was deaf and blind, he alone remained unimpeded. Furthermore, regarding the method he used to manipulate the two late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, Myeong-ha claimed he had merely relied on the unique properties of this environment... but wasn't that also incredibly convenient? The very nature of this place made his "minor trick" shine like a grand divine ability.
As his thoughts reached this point, Jekyeong couldn't help but feel as though this entire Secret Realm was a stage custom-built for Myeong-ha. It might be a delusion or a leap in logic, but at this moment, the term Qi-destined Child surfaced in his mind and refused to leave.
"Dammit!"
A youth clad in a crimson robe desperately threw himself forward.
"Young Master! Do not run too far ahead! We have already shaken them off!"
"Pant... pant...!"
At the voice of his subordinate from behind, the youth stopped and gasped for breath. The six eyes scattered haphazardly across his face scanned his surroundings with deep anxiety.
"Did they get drawn away by the others?"
"It seems so."
"Whew."
Letting out a sigh of relief, the youth's face quickly flushed red with embarrassment. "Dammit! Dammit! What kind of cursed secret realm is this? This is a demonic realm!"
Shame, anger, and fear flushed across the youth's reddened face all at once.
"Do not be too disheartened, Young Master. Do they not say that great wealth is found within great danger?"
"Hmph! You believe that? It's nothing but self-consolation for those who have fallen into a cesspool."
The youth sneered coldly, but this time, he had no choice but to console himself in the exact same manner. They had already come too far to turn back, and even if they abandoned everything, there was no guarantee that the path backward would be any safer than the path ahead.
'Great wealth is found within great danger.'
Seeing how the short phrase was packed with sheer bravado, it was undoubtedly something the human bastards babbled about. Those wretched humans would never shut their mouths, even on their deathbeds.
"Bang Yeom."
"Yes, Young Master."
"Can I really do this?"
For a moment, Bang Yeom found himself uncharacteristically at a loss for words. Normally, he disapproved of the Young Master, who possessed far more arrogance than actual ability. But right now, he actually missed that obnoxious attitude. The Young Master wasn't asking this because he had suddenly grown humble. He was simply consumed by fear and self-doubt.
This was the worst-case scenario. A cultivator who had lost their confidence could no longer be considered a cultivator. After all, a cultivator was a being who defied the heavens and went against the natural order.
"Young Master. Was your previous declaration to challenge the Eldest Young Master merely a drunken boast?"
"..."
The youth's shadowed face stiffened. The expression that had been stained with all kinds of negative emotions underwent a sudden shift.
"...Of course not."
Grit-toothed, the youth held his head high. A chilling, venomous energy rode on his ragged breath, instantly turning the surrounding area into a toxic wasteland.
"Bang Yeom. Well said. Thanks to you, I've snapped out of it. If I ever show such a pathetic display again, make sure to reprimand me just like that."
"Since you are wise, Young Master, you will not repeat the same mistake."
"No, that's not it." The youth shook his head, casting his gaze into the pitch-black darkness. "This place is too bizarre. If I hadn't seen with my own eyes that a massive number of human bastards had entered as well, I would have thought this was a trap laid by them."
Of course, his discovery of this secret realm had been a complete accident, but since the despicableness of humans was known to everyone in the Changram Realm, one could never be too sure. Perhaps some underhanded bastards had calculated his moves without his knowledge. Thus, after entering the secret realm and experiencing its bizarre nature, the youth had suspected that it might be a trap targeting him.
However, that suspicion did not last long. Right after witnessing dozens of humans being devoured by that monster, he realized that this was not a trap or a conspiracy aimed at anyone, but an unforeseen disaster.
Such occurrences were not entirely uncommon in the cultivation world. Incidents like a city being completely wiped out because grave robbers accidentally awakened a corpse demon, or a region turning into a barren wasteland the moment someone claimed a spiritual treasure from a hidden cave—only to realize too late that the treasure was the core of the local spiritual veins—were not everyday events, but they weren't unheard of either.
However, few cultivators ever experienced such disasters firsthand. Most only heard of them through rumors, and the youth was no exception. Even now, he found it hard to believe that he was standing right in the middle of a disaster he had only ever heard of in stories.
Let's stay calm. This is a crisis, but it's also an opportunity. As long as I keep my wits about me...
Just as the youth was steeling his resolve, Bang Yeom, who had been relieved to see his master regain his composure, perked up his ears.
"Young Master, someone is coming."
