Inside the forest.

"Have any of you managed to get in contact with Yao Jun or Guo Luo?"

In the headquarters of Titan's Gate, Wan Yi and the others were seated around a large wooden table, solemn expressions on their faces. Up until recently, they had been able to contact Yao Jun and Guo Luo like normal, but a few days ago, they suddenly lost all contact with them.

"No. My last contact with brother Jun was just as the hidden realm opened. If I were to guess, I would have to say that they entered the hidden realm, and that the hidden realm cuts off contact with the outside."

Yun Yantian shook his head and responded. The last time they had gotten in contact with Yao Jun was around a week ago, when he sent them a message telling them that the hidden realm was opening.

"Would they not tell us before they entered the hidden realm?"

Yang Long slightly furrowed his eyebrows as he spoke. There was indeed a chance that Yao Jun had entered the hidden realm, but why would he not tell them before he entered?

The only solace they could find in this situation was that they knew that Yao Jun and Guo Luo were not dead. Before they split up, everyone placed a piece of their soul into something called a Soul Jade. The moment the Soul Jade broke, it would mean that the person who placed a part of their soul in the jade had died. Since neither of their Soul Jade's had broken, it meant that they were still alive.

"Maybe something happened that prevented them from contacting us?"

Yun Yantian shrugged his shoulders as he spoke. Since they had no way of knowing what had actually happened, they could only throw out whatever guesses they had.

"Whatever the reason is, we have lost contact with the two of them. We also cannot rule out that the Guo clan might have a hand in this."

Yang Yuhuan felt that the Guo clan might have a hand in them losing contact with Yao Jun. After all, he had sent them a message telling them that the Guo clan was present on the Grand Quan continent.

The Guo clan had been strangely quiet lately, not making any moves on the Yun clan, nor moving out in full force to crush the remnants of the Yang clan. It seemed like they were quietly waiting for something.

"Ha~ah. How bad can our luck be, for us to lose contact with them right at this time."

Lin Ren let out a long sigh as he spoke. Not long after they lost contact with Yao Jun, a sect located in the neighboring city placed their gaze on Titan's Gate, hoping to absorb it.

Over the months that Yao Jun had spent on the Grand Quan continent, Titan's Gate managed to slowly but surely grow. They were only located in Violet Sky Town, but thanks to how versatile Yun Yantian and the others were, they managed to accomplish a wide variety of tasks, allowing their reputation to spread.

Of course, everyone only believed that Titan's Gate was an organization focused on mercantile efforts. Only upon the return of their spy master and battle leader, Guo Luo and Yao Jun, would they truly start showing their fangs.

"Since we have no way of contacting them, we will just act how we see fit. Since the Broken Boulder Sect wants to swallow our Titan's Gate, we will just have to show them that we are not a soft persimmon for them to eat up."

Wan Yi shook her head in response to Lin Ren's words. She had discovered that Broken Boulder Sect belonged to the Yao clan, so she wanted to discuss with Yao Jun how they should act against them. But since they could not contact Yao Jun now, they could only do as they saw fit. Since the Broken Boulder Sect wanted to swallow them, they could only show that they were not something that could be swallowed as they wished.

–

While Wan Yi and the others were working on expanding and defending Titan's Gate, Yao Jun was slowly making his way through a massive forest. He had arrived close to the edge of the burning wasteland, meaning that it only took him a short time to escape it. But he had to cross through the massive forest to follow the resonating feeling from his Demon God's Gate. It was a much longer trip.

The forest looked lush and vibrant when he saw it from the outside, but once Yao Jun entered the forest, he discovered that the crowns of the trees blocked out almost all sunlight. The air was damp and moist, causing the earth to turn muddy over time. Rotting grass, rotting trees, as well as fallen leaves covered most of the ground in the forest.

As he traveled through the forest, Yao Jun took full advantage of the environment. The darkness was perfectly suited to Ba-Shei's control over darkness, while Little Thunder's lightning was perfectly conducted through the damp air and moist surroundings.

A large Demonic beast was currently lumbering through the forest, but it was not like the Demonic beasts Yao Jun was used to. It was covered in a thick, green carapace, it had six long and thin legs, two large feelers sticking out of its head constantly surveyed the surroundings. Its large head ended in two large pincers that could easily crush rock, 12 strange eyes covered most of its head. Its upper body was slightly raised, three large scythe-like limbs sticking out from its chest. It was an insect type Demonic beast that resembled a massive mutated praying mantis.

"Huh?!"

The praying mantis was currently holding a severed torso between its three scythe-like limbs, slowly eating the meat. It was suddenly filled with a horrid sense of unease, throwing the torso away and jumping backwards.

As the praying mantis jumped backwards, the darkness in the area where it had just stood started congealing, turning into thick spears that shot towards it. The praying mantis swung out with its three scythe-like limbs, blades of wind shooting forward and slicing apart the black spears.

The praying mantis did not get a chance to let out a breath, the darkness above it quickly gathering and forming a small hole. Out from the hole, a purple bolt of lightning flashed and struck down on the praying mantis. It might be fast, but there was no way for it to be faster than lightning.

The lightning hit the praying mantis, but it only resulted in a crack appearing in its thick carapace. When the praying mantis wanted to escape, the shadows around its legs congealed and formed shackles that pulled at its legs. Each shackle pulled in a different direction, resulting in the praying mantis to lose its balance and fall to the ground.

With the praying mantis falling to the ground, more and more bolts of lightning flashed out from the black hole, striking down upon the crack in its carapace, slowly whittling away at it, until finally, a small hole was created.

The moment the small hole appeared, the lightning that was raining down upon the praying mantis stopped. Yao Jun quickly emerged out from the black hole above the praying mantis, landing on its back, sword in hand. He stabbed the sword into the hole in its carapace and used it as a conductor, sending as much lightning as he could into the body of the praying mantis.

Yao Jun's upper body was completely bare, revealing all the scars on his torso. After spending a week inside this forest, Yao Jun no longer bothered wearing the clothing Guo Luo had bought for him. It would only get ripped and torn as he fought, so he decided to store it away and only wear a set of sturdy pants instead.

Not even its strong carapace could protect the praying mantis from the lightning coursing through its body. The praying mantis let out several high pitched screams, even shouting at Yao Jun, begging for him to stop. But Yao Jun did not stop, he continued pouring lightning into the praying mantis, only stopping when there was no longer any life in the praying mantis.

"Sorry. But I cannot afford to spare you. I need strength."

Yao Jun put his hands together and said a short prayer for the mantis, before using his sword to carve open the roasted carapace. The flesh of the praying mantis was light green in color, giving off a disgusting burnt smell. Yao Jun continued carving it open until he found its Demon Crystal, grabbing the crystal and stuffing it into his mouth.

After swallowing the crystal, he also started eating some of the light green meat, even drinking what little blood it contained. It had the consistency of a dried sponge, and tasted like moldy and rotten meat, but Yao Jun still made sure that he ate as much as possible. Since he could not use his Demon God's Gate to absorb the Demonic beasts, he had to use the traditional way of eating their meat to increase his strength.

"Go and find some more for me, but make sure that none of them require too large of a detour."

While Yao Jun was eating the praying mantis meat, a large amount of small insects started flying around him, landing on his shoulder and head and waiting silently. Yao Jun stopped eating and spoke to the insects, which responded by letting out a loud buzzing sound and scattering away.

This forest contained many Demonic beasts, but nearly all of them were of the insect type. To make it easier to find them, Yao Jun decided to use his mental energy to control a large amount of the normal insects that made this forest their home. With the insects under his control, he could easily find Demonic beasts that he could kill, as well as use them to scout out the path through the massive forest.

"I miss normal meat."

After Yao Jun finished as much of the praying mantis meat as he could, storing away the rest for later, he could not help but let out a wistful mutter. Ever since he had entered this forest, all he had gotten to eat was the meat from insect type Demonic beasts.

"I hope Luo'er is fine."

Yao Jun left the area where he fought with the praying mantis, moving deeper into the forest. In the one week he had spent in this hidden realm, it had been nothing but constant battle, he could not help but be worried about Guo Luo. But he also knew that even if he worried, there was nothing he could do right now, he did not even know where she was. So he kept wandering through the forest, following the resonating feeling from his Demon God's Gate, hoping that he might encounter Guo Luo as he moved.