On the Ice Crystal Continent, blanketed by endless layers of ice.
Nearly ten thousand kilometers beneath the surface lay a space over a thousand meters in length, width, and height.
Within it stood a humanoid lifeform over four hundred meters tall, dark-red magma-like liquid flowing across its body. It silently watched the tiny figure sleeping before it.
"Hmm~~~!"
Suddenly, a long groan rang through the underground space. Li Ze, who had been unconscious, abruptly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing within them.
Then, with a swish, he rose to his feet, rolling his neck and moving his shoulders.
"Master." A booming voice rumbled through the underground space as the High Priest, who had been waiting nearby, immediately bowed.
Li Ze looked at the High Priest before him and noticed the affection in his eyes, as well as his delight at seeing Li Ze awake.
"High Priest? Do you have another name?" Li Ze frowned slightly. "Also, I remember you can shrink your body, right? Make yourself smaller."
"Yes!"
At Li Ze's command, Mystic Patterns flickered across the High Priest's body. His frame began to shrink until he was just over four meters tall.
"Master, my name is Rong Huo," the High Priest said after shrinking.
"Mm." Li Ze nodded. "Then from now on, I'll call you Rong Huo.
"First, let me tell you this: I'm not a lifeform from this world. No—more precisely, I'm not a lifeform from this secret realm."
Li Ze then told Rong Huo about how he came from the universe, how this place was known outside as the Nine Revolutions Secret Realm, why he had come to the Nine Revolutions Secret Realm, and the rest of the circumstances.
*I never imagined there was such a vast universe beyond the world I lived in! The Master