Inside the hidden realm.

After passing through the entrance of the hidden realm, Yao Jun felt the space around him violently warp and twist, as if it was trying to tear him apart. The feeling only persisted for a short moment, but it still filled him with the fear of death.

A white light filled his eyes, completely blinding him. The moment the white light vanished, a terrible heat suddenly struck him. Yao Jun slowly opened his eyes and inspected his surroundings.

The best way for him to describe his surroundings would be to call it an almost hellish wasteland. The earth beneath him was a reddish brown in color, the air was scorching hot and stunk of sulfur and burnt wood. There were several large volcanoes in the surrounding, some spewing black smoke while some laid dormant.

Vegetation was almost nonexistent, probably thanks to the high heat as well as what seemed to be small geysers that periodically spewed out molten rock or hot gases. Boulders both large and small dotted the landscape, providing ample shade and cover.

The sky above Yao Jun was deep blue in color, pure white clouds slowly drifting around. There was even a sun that was gently sending down its light. It made for a stark contrast with the hellish wasteland around him.

"You fucking retard. How many times will you have to let her get hurt before you learn?"

After checking the surroundings, Yao Jun couldn't help but use his knuckles to knock on his own head, cursing at himself. Ever since he had started traveling with Guo Luo, he had done nothing but put her in danger wherever they went.

"Alright. Calm down, let's think about the situation carefully."

Yao Jun took a deep breath to calm himself down, now was not the time to be angry at himself. He first had to figure out his situation, then he could figure out how to best proceed.

"No one else around as far as I can see, which means that besides Sirius and the others, I am alone. Can I contact others?"

Yao Jun once more swept the surroundings, pushing his eyes to the limit to see as far as possible. Yet all he saw was the same hellish wasteland, no matter how far he looked. It seemed like it went on for quite a while.

After checking the surroundings and making sure that he was alone, he swiped his interspatial ring and took out the Message Jade that Wan Yi had given them. As long as there was enough Qi, this Message Jade could deliver the message across any distance.

"Luo'er? Can you hear me? Where are you?"

The first one Yao Jun tried to contact was Guo Luo, the others were currently working on creating and expanding Titan's Gate, so there was no real need to worry about them.

Despite waiting for several minutes, there was no response from the Message Jade, meaning that Guo Luo had either not received the message, or that she was unable to respond.

"Yantian, can you hear me? Little Yi, can you hear me?"

To make sure which one was the more likely option, Yao Jun tried contacting Yun Yantian and Wan Yi. He once more waited for a few minutes, but there was still no response from the Message Jade.

"Shitty hidden realm, why do you have to cut off contact?"

Yao Jun could not resist cursing once more. Since he was unable to even contact Yun Yantian and the others, it was clear that all contact was cut off after entering the hidden realm.

"Alright. Im all alone, and I can't contact anyone. Since it is like this, it is fair to assume that everyone was sent to a random location, meaning that Luo'er might also be all alone right now."

Yao Jun took another deep breath and organized his thoughts. He didn't have to say his thoughts out loud, but he felt that it helped him calm down and organize his thoughts.

Since he had ended up here all alone, it would be reasonable to assume that everyone else had also been sent to a random location. With Guo Luo possibly being alone, the odds of her getting attacked by other people were low, but there was no telling what sort of dangers lurked in this hidden realm.

"Let's gain some ground and see if we can spot anything."

Yao Jun's first plan was to reach a higher place to get a better view of the surroundings, which would allow him to know which direction he should head in. He touched upon the Demon God's Gate and was about to bring out Little Gray, when he suddenly felt the Qi of the surrounding area surge and flow into his chest, surrounding and blocking his Demon God's Gate.

He tried again and again to make contact with his Demon God's Gate, but the Qi from the surroundings had completely sealed it up. He was not even able to summon the gate or enter it, he was almost completely cut off from it.

"...Fuck me. Can I at least use their powers?"

After a short moment of silence, Yao Jun let out a low curse. First it cut off his contact, and now it even blocked his Demon God's Gate. What sort of shitty hidden realm was this? Was it intent on killing him?

His Demon God's Gate was blocked, so he could not summon Little Thunder and the others, this was a fact he had to come to terms with. He quickly checked whether or not he could still use the powers granted to him by his Demonic beasts. Only when lightning, wind, and darkness coiled around his arm like serpents did he manage to sigh a breathe of relief.

"Good, at least this shitty hidden realm didn't block everything."

Had the hidden realm also blocked his ability to use the abilities of his Demonic beasts, he would have to rely on only his strong body to survive, which would make the journey much harder.

"Seems like I will have to use my feet and find a mountain to climb."

Since he could not summon Little Gray to fly up, he would have to wander until he found a mountain that was safe to climb. His Demon God's Gate had been trembling in joy ever since he entered the hidden realm, even beckoning him to head in a certain direction.

But Yao Jun chose to temporarily ignore this beckoning, putting all his focus on first finding Guo Luo. He checked the surroundings once more and decided to travel towards a seemingly dormant volcano in the distance. It was shaped like a cone and slightly taller than the other volcanoes, so it seemed like the best vantage point. After choosing which mountain to head to, he did not waste any more time and started heading towards the cone shaped volcano.

–

When the white light vanished from hr vision Guo Luo could not help but be confused and look around. One moment she had been a short distance away from Yao Jun, but in the next moment she felt something grab onto her and pull her away at high speed, pushing her into the entrance of the hidden realm.

"This is the inside of the hidden realm?"

Guo Luo turned her head and looked at her surroundings, muttering to herself. The place she had arrived was at the bottom of a valley, strong winds rushing through the valley and producing a howling sound.

Guo Luo could also see some large rocks rolling down the side of the hill in the distance. But there seemed to be a strange force that kept the stones in perpetual motion, pushing them up the other side of the valley, where they once more started rolling down.

Because of the strong winds that were rushing through the valley, there were barely any plants or living beings in the valley. The ground was an earthen yellow in color, cracks spreading all around the ground and the side of the valley. A low thumping sound came from deep within the cracks on the ground, blast of wind occasionally shooting out from some of the cracks.

"The Message Jade!"

Guo Luo calmed her mind and organized her thoughts. Her first idea was to contact Yao Jun and let him know that she was fine. She hurriedly swiped her interspatial ring and pulled out the Message Jade, inserting her Qi into it.

"Jun'er, I am fine, so there is no need to worry about me. I am currently located in a deep valley, where did you end up?"

Guo Luo did not doubt that Yao Jun entered the hidden realm right after her. After all, he once promised her that anywhere she went, he would follow. Despite sending the message and waiting several minutes, there was no response from the Message Jade.

"Jun'er? Can you hear me? Brother Yantian, Sister Yuhuan, can you hear me?"

Guo Luo sent another message into the Message Jade, sending a message to Yun Yantian and Yang Yuhuan as well. Despite waiting for several more minutes, there were no responses to any of her messages.

"All contact is cut off?"

Guo Luo's face twisted slightly, and she couldn't help but be slightly scared. After all, against her will she had been transported to a place she did not know, without any way of contacting anyone. It was completely normal to be scared.

"I have caused trouble for him again."

Guo Luo couldn't help but mutter weakly. Yao Jun felt that he had constantly put Guo Luo in danger, but she felt that she had done nothing but be a burden to him. After all, it was always her getting hurt and forcing Yao Jun to save her.

"Calm down, calm down. The first thing I should do is find a way out of this valley and check out my surroundings."

Guo Luo took several deep breaths to calm herself and checked her surroundings again. She could not see a proper path that lead out of the valley, so it seemed that the only proper exit was to either follow the valley or to find a place to climb out.

"I won't keep being a burden to him."

Guo Luo's eyes landed on a large crack that extended all the way up to the top of the valley. Her eyes hardened with resolve and she started making her way towards the crack. She did not want to be a burden to Yao Jun, she wanted to be someone who could stand next to him and support him. With those thoughts in mind, she had decided to climb out of the valley and do everything she could to increase her strength.

–

A few hours after Yao Jun and Guo Luo entered the hidden realm, there was more movement in the castle located at the bottom of the sea. The black robed man once more entered the large hall that contained only the old man covered in white hair.

"Sir. This report has just come in. From our side, the Human God's Gate as well as the Element God's Gate have both managed to enter the broken gate safely. But the problem is that both the Demon God's Gate and the Illusion God's Gate have also entered the broken gate."

They had a large information network, but it still took the black robed man a few hours to receive the information. They had still not managed to figure out which God Gate the broken gate was, so he figured it was best to report to the old man as soon as he could.

"I see, so both of ours managed to enter safely. The holders of the Demon God's Gate and the Illusion God's Gate have yet to grow up, so they should not be able to hinder our people."

The old man's voice was calm and indifferent. The people on his side who held God Gates had already held them for a long time, the youngest was already 40 years old. To a cultivator, 40 years was nothing, but it was over twice the age of Yao Jun.

"Since they have entered the broken gate, there is no way for us to contact them. We will have to wait for them to come out and deliver the report. Go about business as usual until then, try to infiltrate the Guo clan with more people. If possible, I would like a few of our people to enter the Demon Race before the year ends."

The old man could not leave this castle, nor could most of his men. When he first set his plan into motion, he only had a handful of people that could move in the outside world. They had slowly started infiltrating the various large clans and organizations, recruiting more people, but there was after all a limit to what they could do in the time they had. There were a few places where even they did not have any men.

"As you wish, sir."

The black robed man nodded his head and turned around, leaving the hall and preparing to follow his orders. Since they could not contact those inside the broken gate, there was no point on worrying about it. It was better to focus on the things they could do.