Lu Ming smiled and shook his head. "Children and grandchildren had their own blessings to find. Don't worry so much. Maybe after going through a few setbacks, he'll finally grow up."
Carlos sighed. "Let's hope so. Forget it, forget it. No point dwelling on this headache. We have more important things to deal with! Everything's normal at the secret realm entrance. Let's get ready and go in as soon as possible, before anything unexpected happens."
Everyone's attention returned to exploring the secret realm.
"Come on, let's go!"
The five ships, each a different shape, formed a small fleet. Guided by Carlos, they silently threaded their way through a dense asteroid belt.
After flying for about half a day, the scenery ahead began to change.
At the center of a relatively open stretch of space, space itself was warped. A massive whirlpool, about a hundred meters in diameter, hung motionless.
The whirlpool was a deep blue, speckled with points of starlight.
It rotated slowly, radiating a gentle yet immense suction that silently swallowed the tiny asteroid fragments that occasionally drifted by, without stirring the slightest ripple.
"This is the place."
Carlos's voice came through the comm channel.
"I'm removing the temporary concealment device."
As he worked the controls, space around the whirlpool rippled faintly. The powerful energy aura that had been hidden now spread through the area, imbued with a primitive, chaotic quality.
The ships came to a stop several kilometers from the whirlpool, one after another.
The five of them flew out of their ships and hovered in the air, gazing at the mysterious entrance.
"What a stable spatial passage."
He Ya sensed the energy fluctuations around the entrance and marveled.
"Looks like a naturally formed low-level secret realm."
Carlos nodded. "I've already risked going in once to make a preliminary survey. It's an extremely vast continental world, not a planet. So far, I haven't found any signs of highly intelligent life. It seems more like a primitive world of giant beasts."
His tone turned more serious.
"However, the native creatures inside are very powerful. Even in the outer regions, I sensed quite a few ferocious beasts with Universe Level auras. There may even be Domain Lord Level beings deeper in."
"Since we've finished scouting, let's not waste any more time."
Lu Ming spoke up.
"Same as always: keep formation, and don't split up once we're inside."
Anyone who had reached Universe Level Nine or become a Domain Lord had survived their share of life-and-death trials.
They had explored more than one secret realm like this and were already well versed in the process.
"Okay!"
"No problem!"
Everyone agreed.
Then the five of them turned into streaks of light and flew toward the deep-blue cosmic whirlpool. Carlos led the way, He Ya and Lu Ming held the middle, Man Ji brought up the rear, and Shadow Shuttle slipped along the flank like a ghost.
The moment they passed through the entrance, they felt their bodies grow heavy, as if an invisible mountain had suddenly pressed down on them. The scene around them shifted in an instant!
A vast, ancient, boundless aura surged toward them!
They appeared high in the sky, with an endless continent stretching out below.
Mountain ranges loomed like giant dragons lying in wait, rivers surged like the Galaxy hanging upside down, and towering ancient trees crowded the land. The vegetation was astonishingly dense, and many plants dwarfed their counterparts in the outside world.
The most striking sensation was the terrifying gravity everywhere!
It was ten thousand times stronger than outside!
But ten thousand times the gravity was no burden at all to them, the weakest of whom was at the peak of Universe Level Nine.
"Roar!!"
They'd barely arrived, and something had already come to greet them!
A deafening roar ripped through the sky. Accompanied by a foul wind, a colossal beast resembling a lizard, with a grotesque head, burst out of the forest below!
It was over seven hundred meters long, its body covered in thick bone armor. Every scale gleamed like metal, and it radiated a ferocious aura comparable to Universe Level One or Two.
The giant beast opened its gaping jaws and lunged straight at the five who had just entered the secret realm and were still hovering in the air!
It was astonishingly fast!
Faced with the sudden attack, Lu Ming, He Ya, Carlos, and Man Ji didn't so much as bat an eye. They remained calmly suspended in the air.
Just as the beast's stinking maw was about to snap shut—
Buzz!
A faint yet piercing sound of tearing suddenly rang out.
Time seemed to freeze for an instant.
The three-headed giant beast, which had been charging so ferociously, suddenly stiffened in midair. Its forward momentum came to an abrupt halt.
Splurt! Crack...
A string of dense, quiet sounds came from inside the beast, like fabric tearing mixed with bones shattering.
The next moment—
Boom!!!
The beast's enormous body burst apart from the inside out, as though countless bombs had been planted within it!
Its flesh, bones, and organs instantly became countless fragments. The terrifying gravity dragged them down, and they fell over the ancient forest below like a rain of blood.
Only six black discs, thin as cicada wings and edged with a flowing, ghostly glow, remained in the air, spinning rapidly with a faint hum.
They silently flew back to Shadow Shuttle, who had remained hidden along the flank, and vanished into the shadow behind him.
From beginning to end, Shadow Shuttle's ordinary face showed no expression.
"A Universe Level Two Dragon Lizard. It's a tyrant in the outer reaches of this secret realm, but it should've watched where it was going," Carlos remarked mildly, without a trace of emotion.
"Let's keep moving and find a suitable place to land," Lu Ming said calmly.
The five of them turned into streaks of light and flew toward the heart of the secret realm, ignoring the forest below, which was stirring at the scent of blood.
Along the way, they encountered quite a few ferocious beasts, all reasonably powerful.
There were no shortage of Stellar Level and Universe Level beasts.
But they had almost no intelligence. Nearly every one of them was dumb as a rock.
That was only natural. A regular Universe Level being might appear only once in an entire galaxy outside, but Universe Level beasts were everywhere here.
The Primal Universe was fair, after all.
The price these beasts paid for their strength was their intelligence.
After flying for a while, the five chose a solitary peak that pierced the clouds like a sword as their temporary base.
Its summit was broad and flat, with an excellent view that overlooked a vast area.
After they landed, He Ya tossed down several concealment devices to keep them from being detected by overly powerful native creatures.
"Everyone, let's hear your thoughts. How should we explore?"
As the one who had discovered the secret realm, Carlos spoke first.
His gaze swept across the group.
"This secret realm is enormous. If we wander around like headless flies, we'll make little progress and could easily miss the real treasures."
Man Ji folded his arms and spoke in a voice like a bell. "What's there to discuss? We should head straight for the place with the densest energy! The best stuff is bound to be deepest inside!"
Hidden in the shadows, Shadow Shuttle added in an even tone:
"Places with dense energy are usually the most dangerous as well. According to what we know, Domain Lord Level beasts may be lurking in the depths of the secret realm."
Lu Ming gave a slight nod. "Shadow Shuttle is right. But the five of us should be able to handle ordinary Domain Lord Level beasts, even in numbers, and leave without trouble—as long as we don't run into a World Lord Level being or get trapped in some kind of dead end."
He paused, then continued his analysis.
"According to the general pattern of Universe Secret Realms, the core region produces the highest-quality treasures, followed by the inner region. The outermost reaches are worth the least. We have limited time, so we must prioritize exploring the core region."