The Beastwilds Mystic Realm

Yun Ye and Yu Hao nodded and walked deeper into the cavern.

The cavern was much deeper than they initially realized and they hadn't seen any branching pathways or open spaces even after a few hundred meters.

"Let's go back." Yu Hao said while staring deeper into the cave.

He looked at Yun Ye and shrugged. "The cave's much deeper than expected but there's no ambush close by. If anything comes up from the depths, they'll have to go through hundreds of meters of caves first, anyways."

"You're right, that more than enough time to notice any Demonsbeasts.", Yun Ye nodded, not bothered by Yu Hao's carefree manner of speech.

As the son of the Outer Sect's Head Instructor and the Outer Sect's first ranked disciple, the two of them were naturally familiar with each other.

The two of them turned around and strolled back towards the meeting place. Yun Ye glanced at Yu Hao and spoke in a quiet voice. "You're on good terms with Zhang Baichi?"

Yu Hao looked surprised but answered, nonetheless, "Yeah, somewhat. We're not on bad terms, if that's what you're worried about."

"I just noticed that you were hanging around with him yesterday and today as well.", Yun Ye said placidly. "What's he like?"

"The best way to put it would be 'unreasonable'. He doesn't care about people's status and seems arrogant at times, but he just spaces out or curses people at other times. It's hard to make sense of someone like him.", Yu Hao sighed.

"Do you think we can trust him to lead us here? The Mystic Realm is filled with dangers, after all." Yun Ye slowed down a bit more to delay their return.

Yu Hao followed suit and the two of them walked at a crawling speed. "He's done well so far, I guess? Letting the others rest and scouting the cave was a good call. Moreover, he's strong. Ridiculously so."

"Just because he defeated Ji Jian?" Yun Ye frowned. "I could have defeated that pansy as well. As could've Lu Zheng. He had nothing but his arrogance and the backing of the Ji family."

"Not because he defeated Ji Jian, but because of how he did it. He could've killed Ji Jian with a single strike if he wanted to.", Yu Hao said. He glanced at Yun Ye and spoke seriously. "Just don't provoke him and you're good."

"I never intended too, sheesh." Yun Ye averted his eyes and coughed.

The two stayed silent then but didn't increase their speed. Yu Hao spoke up after a while. "Actually, I heard a rumour from the Law Enforcement Division."

"Oh? It's rare for you to be interested in gossip." Yun Ye smiled, now all ears.

"Zhang Baichi is supposedly a descendant of the Martial Emperor from two hundred years ago." Yu Hao's voice got serious.

"What?!", Yun Ye gaped, rooted in place by his shock.

The Martial Emperor was not a simple title and there had only ever been a few who had been hailed as such.

Even the royal family of the Grand Mo Kingdom, the Mo family, had no such cultivator among their midst. In all of the kingdom's history, there had only ever been three people who were called Martial Emperors:

The first Martial Emperor, Martial Emperor Zhou, who lived over 2000 years ago and vanished into the annals of history.

The second Martial Emperor, Martial Emperor Huang, who lived over a 1000 years ago and is said to be the ancestor of the ancient Huang Clan, who protect the Kingdom's eastern border.

And the youngest Martial Emperor, Martial Emperor Zhang, who lived 200 years ago and vanished to an unknown place.

A lot more stories about Martial Emperor Zhang were known today compared to the other two Emperors; Not only had Martial Emperor Zhang made a name for himself in the Grand Mo Kingdom, but also in all of the Southern Edge Continent and he even ventured to other continents.

Many people believe that he might still be alive today and that he has long since broken though, past even the rumoured Nascent Soul Realm and into an even higher realm.

Martial Emperor Zhang was a figure that most cultivators of the Grand Mo Kingdom have heard about and revered for his strength.

As such, it was understandable for Yun Ye to be so shocked.

Yu Hao nodded his head gravely. "The guy who spread those rumours said he had heard it personally from Elder Jian Fu's mouth when he was guarding the underground prison."

"That's insane. How could the clan of Martial Emperor Zhang be unknown? How could only Zhang Baichi make an appearance now?", Yun Ye questioned, not believing the rumours.

"No idea.", Yu Hao shrugged. "Moreover, what does it matter? I don't care about anyone's background. If they're powerful, they're powerful; If they're trash, they're trash."

"Right", Yun Ye rolled his eyes. Why did he even listen to Yu Hao, who never cared about rumours? "And Zhang Baichi is someone powerful, who's earned your respect, huh? Fine, I'll just watch and see."

"That's for the better.", Yu Hao nodded. "Anyways, let's hurry up."

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.

.

"What's taking them so long?", Zhang Baichi frowned. He had specifically told Yu Hao and Yun Ye not to go too far and to only scout the nearby tunnels, but they've been gone for over 20 minutes.

By now, everyone had already rested more than enough, and they were all eager to start exploring this Mystic Realm.

"Maybe they encountered some trouble. Or found some treasure?", Lu Zheng spoke with a carefree smile. It was once again impossible to deduce his intentions.

Zhang Baichi only glanced at him, but refused to play along, and thus kept silent.

From behind them, someone walked up to Zhang Baichi and nodded lightly. "Leader, everyone's back to peak condition. How much longer should we wait?"

"Just a bit more. I've they've not returned in five minutes, we'll all go together and search for them.", Zhang Baichi replied after thinking about it for a second.

'I've sent Yu Hao because he's the only one I really know. Don't that me something happened to that idiot and the Yun guy.' Zhang Baichi was frowning and getting more displeased by the minute.

A short while later, Yu Hao and Yun Ye returned without any injuries and apologized for the delay. "Haha, sorry you had to worry, Brother Zhang. Yu Hao and I went down the tunnel for hundreds of meters, but there was nothing at all. It was always one path leading ever deeper into the cave."

"Only a path? No branches or open spaces?", Zhang Baichi muttered. For a cave to be just one tunnel was definitely strange. 'Is it man-made after all?'

"Let's first all go to the surface. Once we're out, I should be able to roughly tell where we are. There's a lot of strange places in this mystic Realm and many are not fully explored.", Lu Zheng intervened.

"Let's do that.", Zhang Baichi agreed. They first had to figure out where they were before making hasty decisions.

Zhang Baichi turned around and clapped. "Everyone, let's get out of this cave first. We might return here later, so keep the way in mind. Once we're outside, memorize the terrain as well."

Their group walked upwards along the path where Zhang Baichi felt a slight breeze before and they eventually found an exit after following the zig zagging tunnel for a few hundred meters.

There were not branching paths again, causing Zhang Baichi to believe that this cave must have been dug by someone for an unknown purpose.

On their way up, the breeze became stronger and stronger, and outside the cave, they found themselves faced with strong winds rushing through the trees and along the shore.

"We're at the coast?", Zhang Baichi was surprised. The air was wet and salty, and the wind was quite strong. "Lu Zheng? Any idea where we are?"

"Probably.", Lu Zheng answered absentmindedly while looking around in the sky. He pointed at the horizon where the faint outline of a mountain could be seen.

"That mountain sits dead center in this Mystic Realm. We've always called it Dragon Peak because there's old murals of dragons and writing carved into the foot of the mountain.", Lu Zheng explained.

He pointed further to the left at the sun and continued speaking. "The sun in here is not real but made by the mysterious means of an unfathomable expert. Day and night change from one second to another in this Mystic Realm because of that."

"Moreover, the sun is always in the far north, never anywhere else.", Lu Zheng concluded his analysis.

"That means we're in the west. Or north-west, rather. Do you know anything about this area?", Zhang Baichi nodded and questioned further.

Lu Zheng smiled wryly and shook his head. "We've always been in the south the last time I was here. But the whole Mystic Realm is like an island, completely surrounded by water."

"An island…?" Zhang Baichi looked at the distant, barely discernible Dragon Peak in the centre of the Mystic Realm.

With the strong, improved eyesight of cultivators, they could easily see for tens of kilometres, so for the Dragon Peak to be barely visible, it had to be over 100 kilometres away.

"Can we cross the water surrounding this island?", Zhang Baichi asked, wondering whether this Mystic Realm was like a small planet or something different.

"Some people have tried, but no one ever returned." Lu Zheng spoke with certainty. "My best guess is that there's terrifying Demonbeasts out at sea."