Chapter 82 - Secret Dimension

When the white light enveloped them, all Hei and the others could see was a blinding white horizon. The light was so intense that they had to close their eyes, and the only thing they could feel was their body moving forward.

That feeling lasted for a while until the movement ended. At that point, Hei opened his eyes, and what appeared to him was something completely crazy.

They were in a forest, but it was different from any other forest he had visited. The trees were 100 meters high with a trunk that exceeded a diameter of 7-8 meters. Their grandeur was suffocating. Moreover, there wasn’t a single type of tree, but they were all different trees. Usually, a forest had a prevalence of a particular species, or in any case of few species, they didn’t present such a diversification. The vegetation on the ground, in turn, was also very thick, and some flowers even reached 10 meters in height.

But it wasn’t the flower or tree dimensions that amazed him. No, what struck him was the fact that each of the specimens featured here was a rare specimen on the Rainbow Island. Many of those species had become extinct on the Rainbow Island or didn’t exist in any alchemical catalogs. Furthermore, even without spirit power, one could notice the purity of energy contained in these flowers and the fruits of the gigantic trees.

Beside him, Lian, Zan, Mei, Li, Cao Su, and Ying Yue were having the same reaction. They didn’t expect such a sight at all. Their eyes were slowly getting used to that scenario, darting everywhere. They were utterly amazed by the plants' rarity.

"The density of spirit power here is greater than in the Rainbow Island," Mei said at one point as she breathed deeply.

It was true. The density of spirit power was higher here, so if they cultivated here, they could advance much faster than they could do to the sect. The density problem was also one of the reasons why the islands were unable to produce martial artists worthy of the standards of the Continent.

"Well, how do we want to proceed then?" Cao Su asked dubiously. He was torn between exploring or starting to collect some of those amazing flowers.

To his question, Zan answered after a careful evaluation.

"If we start collecting without even making sure how this place is structured, we'll have a bad end. First, we need to understand the conformation of the terrain and make sure we aren’t close to our opponents. Did you notice all those looks they threw at us?"

"Yes, as my grandfather said, they will certainly aim at us. It is good that the Artifact Spirit has scattered us in separate groups, or otherwise, we would have been in a difficult situation. Furthermore, because the vegetation is so thick, we can use it to our advantage to take time," analyzed Yang Yue.

While they were talking, Hei walked over to one of the tallest trees and took off his boots. Then after stretching his arms and legs a little, he stuck his nails into the trunk. Given the thickness of the trunk, it wouldn’t leave too deep marks, not to mention that he couldn’t do otherwise. The tree was too big to climb following the usual methods.

In a short time, he arrived at the top of the tree, and the view he saw there was breathtaking. The forest stretched infinitely for miles and miles until it disappeared along the horizon line. Even from up there, it was impossible to see the boundaries that delimited the perimeter of the forest. That alone meant that the forest was enormous and would have taken who knows how much to explore it.

The strange thing, however, was that there were only plants, there was no trace of spirit beasts. Even if it was difficult to see spirit beasts on the ground, due to the dense vegetation, from up there, he should still have been able to see some birds in the sky. Yet there was no trace. Even when he was moving around examining the various trees and flowers, he hadn’t noticed the presence of insects.

'Is it possible? If so, then how did plant species survive here? How does this forest manage to be so lush?’

Unable to find an answer, Hei looked up into the sky. There were no quirks in it, and the coloring was the usual celestial shade. The sun also shone high up, illuminating the entire forest. Yet there was something wrong.

He hadn't noticed it before, but from the sun, he didn't feel the classic warmth that one felt in contact with the sun's rays. Not even now that he was on the top of that giant tree. What did this mean?

‘Secret Dimension, a place separated from space... since it was initially part of the Continent I don't think it could be able to generate a sky and a sun on its own. Instead, it must be more a reflection in the distance of the sky from the other side. After all, even if separated, this Secret Dimension remains linked to its place of origin.’

Putting his observations aside, Hei came down from the tree to rejoin his companions.

"Then? Did you discover anything?" Asked Zan, a little annoyed. Even though he had the command, he knew it was only thanks to Hei. As a result, he didn't feel like giving orders to him as to others.

"The forest is too big. Even from up there, I couldn't see the contours. These giant trees continue for miles. There is no way to construct a precise conformation. If the enemies are close enough, my spirit beasts can perceive them, but there is no way of knowing it until they are within our detection range. Besides, we are, apparently, the only living things here besides plants. There are no traces of spirit beasts."

"No sign? All right, I understand." Zan said.

Although it was a disadvantage not to know the conformation of the terrain, their limitations were also valid for their enemies. The only thing they could hope that others took as much time as possible to regroup and begin their retaliation on the Flower Sect.

"Zan, Mei, Li, Cao Su, Yang Yue. Lian and I will go. As I told you before, we prefer to move on our own. In this way, I should also divert some of our opponents from you. If necessary, I will find you myself."

"All right, go ahead." Zan gave his consent.

Mei, Li, Cao Su, and Yang Yue nodded at Hei and Lian. They weren’t so intimate as to greet them with hugs or words of encouragement. But despite this, there was a message hidden in that nod - don't die.

Hei and Lian responded with a nod and then disappeared into the thick vegetation. Regardless of who got in their way, they would defeat all their opponents.

*

After separating from the others, Hei decided that the first day in the Secret Dimension would be spent exploring the surrounding areas. Although the scenario always appeared identical, there were some changes in reality. As they walked, the species of flowers and trees around them changed.

"Ye, Xing, stay alert and warn us of any dangers," Hei said as he released his little sisters from the spirit beast bags attached to his belt.

The little spider and the little snake moved their bodies a little as they were a bit stiff from being left inside the bags and nodded their heads to the command of their big brother.

Thus, the group of two humans and two spirit beasts continued to make their way through the vegetation.

On their way, they didn’t meet a living soul and thus spent the first day without conflict, which was a little disconcerting. He had expected an arduous battle from the beginning, but who knew that this place was so big? Even with 100 participants, until now, they had found no trace of other people.

But it wasn't bad since Hei and Lian could concentrate on getting what they wanted. They couldn’t obviously take everything but had to choose wisely since the space available to them was limited.

The sect leader had made sure that each seven of them was provided with a total of three space rings. She even went so far as to give them her the elders' rings — all for reaching that number.

Even if three space rings were a luxury that very few on Rainbow Island could afford, their storage space wasn’t so ample. Not to mention, their supplies were occupying part of their available space.

As a result, most flowers were excluded beforehand due to their abnormal size. Instead, they focused on the fruits hanging from the trees that were rich in spirit power, and some even contained traces of elemental spirit power.

They mainly took fruits containing traces of the Poison, Darkness, Water, Metal, and Wood elements. The first four because they were the laws they were proficient in, the Wood one instead, because it was the original element of the Flower Sect.

In addition to the fruits, they found many third-level spirit stones as if they were an object of no value left on the ground. If the sects on the other side knew about this, they would have blood in their eyes from anger. After all, their supply of spirit stones wasn’t infinite and had to be thrifty with them.

Hei and Lian took all they could find and deposited them in their rings, leaving some of them to be used for themselves. Given the high intensity of spirit power, it would have been a pity not to take advantage of the possibility of cultivating here. Furthermore, they had Ye and Xing. Therefore they could leave them the task of keeping watch while they were cultivating.

Thus the first day within the Secret Dimension came to an end without significant incidents. Or so they thought it would go.

During the night, in fact, Ye and Xing perceived movements and went to report it to Hei and Lian.

‘Big brother, people are approaching.’ (Ye)

"How many?"

‘They are only two people. Before long they will be visible, what do you want to do?’ (Xing)

"Only two? Are you sure there are no others around, don’t you?"

‘Yes!’ The two little spirit beasts answered together.

"Well, then. Ye, Xing, go around and attack them from behind. Immobilize them only; there is no need to kill them. Lian and I will act as bait. Remember that there isn’t mother with us, so we cannot communicate telepathically for long distances. At the moment, I can only send you spirit messages within a maximum of two meters."

Ye and Xing nodded and disappeared into the thick vegetation, carrying out the order of their big brother. Hei instead rose from the ground with Lian and prepared to receive the two new arrivals.

As Xing had said, after a short time, they became visible and were able to see Hei and Lian, stopping a few meters away.

"I know you. You are part of the Flower Sect.” One of the two said, trying to run away.

However, they hadn’t reckoned with Ye and Xing. The two little spirit beasts were formidable hunters, and no prey would escape from them. Xing used his spiderwebs to immediately immobilize the two strangers while Ye bit them quickly, injecting them with a paralyzing poison.

The two foe martial artists tried to break free but without success. Meanwhile, Hei and Lian had arrived, and when they realized that there was no way out, they stopped fighting. If the two of the Flower Sect had wanted to kill them, they would have used more violent methods than paralyzing them.

"What do you want?" Said the man who had tried to escape first.

When he was close to them, Hei could see that they were two men with age similar to that of Zan and the others and were in the sixth stage. They probably had to belong to one of the upper-middle sects.

"Who are you? Which seven do you belong to?" Hei asked calmly.

"Rock Sect, Mountain Kingdom." Replied the second of the two who had remained silent before.

"I see. I have nothing against you, but you must understand that we are adversaries, and there are no restrictions if I want to kill you." Hei threatened

"Obviously. But don't think that just because you have immobilized us, you have the victory in your hand. The only reason we stopped struggling is to avoid a fight where we will probably come out defeated. Without considering that you aren’t going to kill us or otherwise, you would have imposed more restrictions on us."

It was true. Although Ye had injected them with poison, it wasn’t so powerful as to cause instant paralysis. Furthermore, they were using their spirit power to isolate the toxin in their body so that it wouldn’t spread.

"Yes, you are right. I'm not going to kill you, at least for now. I want to offer you a proposal. Your freedom in exchange for information. Of course, we won't even take any of what you've found so far."

Despite being curious about what they had found, if he had insisted on stealing their possessions, he could have generated an adverse reaction in them. Despite not being afraid of confrontation and knowing that they would win, he did not want to consume precious energy fighting these two.

"Information? What kind of information?"

"Information on the Tremor Sect. You must know them well since you come from the same kingdom, no?"

When they heard the name of the Tremor Sect, they frowned. As the only big sect existing in their kingdom and as the sect in the first place, the Tremor Sect was hugely revered by the people. However, for the other middle sects, it was nothing more than an insurmountable obstacle that prevented them from moving to a higher status. So they didn't mind getting themselves in the Tremor Sect’s way. It was just, as the number one sect, the Tremor Sect, had repaid every offense with violent actions that made all the sects of the Mountain Kingdom exhaust the desire to hinder them.

Noticing their doubt, Hei urged them more.

"I imagine that the Tremor Sect has suggested working together to remove the Flower Sect from the games. Yet why do you have to do the dirty work and consume your energy while they keep their battle potential? This Secret Dimension is larger than expected. So there are resources for everyone. In any case, the most precious resources will be disputed by the big sects. Instead of wasting energy in the early stages, why don't you middle sects keep your strength to get a chance to get the most coveted loot?"

When he finished his speech, Hei's words entered the ears of the two men like rocks thrown into a well. They generated ripples in their mind as various thoughts began to form.

Although the interruption of the hunt for the Flower Sect martial artists was a favorable situation for Hei and his companions, it was also true that what had been said wasn’t a lie. If they now consumed their energies, they would obtain nothing but offer most of the booty to the big sect on a silver platter. The Secret Dimension was an opportunity to bridge and even overcome the gap that separated them from the big sects.

"All right. We accept." They finally said.

To show goodwill, Hei made Xing cut her spiderwebs and then sat on the ground to listen to all they had to say.