Chapter Eight: The Hidden Realm
As Long Yu lifted his foot and stepped forward, ripples of energy shimmered through the space. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from the cave.
A moment of disorientation overwhelmed him. When the dizziness faded, Long Yu realized he had arrived somewhere else entirely.
He scanned his surroundings. It resembled an arena, covering several hundred square meters, with towering white walls that rose over ten meters high, radiating a gentle glow.
“Where am I?” Long Yu wondered aloud, curiosity gleaming in his eyes.
“Greetings, Challenger. You are now in Secret Realm 252,” a mechanical, emotionless voice responded.
“Secret realm? What is a secret realm?” Long Yu pressed, intrigued.
“You may think of a secret realm as a kind of treasure. If you complete the trial within, you will receive rich rewards—perhaps the stone crystals you consumed before, or combat techniques for using supernatural abilities, or even martial skills...” The mechanical voice explained in measured tones.
Long Yu’s excitement soared at the mention of techniques to wield supernatural powers. “You can teach me how to use supernatural abilities?”
“Yes. Supernatural abilities are powers that only the most gifted beings possess—an ability to commune with the fundamental forces of nature. These abilities are classified as water, fire, wind, lightning, and so forth... The techniques teach you how to utilize these abilities effectively.”
“For example, if you have the fire ability, certain secret realms can teach you how to wield your fire power for attack, how to make your strikes more devastating...” Secret Realm 252 elaborated.
“Certain secret realms?” Doubt flickered in Long Yu’s mind.
“So not every secret realm offers instruction for all supernatural abilities?” he asked.
“Correct. The resources within each secret realm differ. For instance, if you complete my trial, you will only gain stone crystals like those before and martial skills.”
So, the resources of each secret realm varied greatly. This one could not teach him how to use his supernatural power, and that left Long Yu slightly disappointed.
Secret Realm 252 was in no hurry to begin the trial. It answered all Long Yu’s questions quietly, as if that were its purpose.
“Why did this evolution occur?”
“Insufficient authority to answer.”
“What about the crystal cores inside those animals?”
“Crystal cores, like stone crystals, enhance physical attributes. However, a crystal core can only be used if the gap in physical strength between the owner and the user is less than 100 points.”
Upon using it, one could gain half of the original owner’s physical prowess. However, there was a daily limit to how many crystal cores a person could absorb. Unlimited absorption was impossible.
Generally, an ordinary person could only increase their physical attributes by one point at a time, and would need to wait some days or even dozens of days before absorbing another. The interval varied for each individual. Also, not only animals possessed crystal cores—humans had them, too, and human cores could also be absorbed,” the mechanical voice continued without a trace of emotion.
Long Yu, still basking in the joy of being able to absorb so many physical enhancements, was startled by the secret realm’s last statement.
“Humans have crystal cores, too, and they can be absorbed?” Long Yu suddenly shuddered to imagine the madness that might follow if this fact became widely known.
“Why do humans have crystal cores? Do you realize how many people will die because of this?” Long Yu felt a surge of anger and fear. Only now did he grasp how cold and terrifying these secret realms truly were.
“This evolution encompasses all life on Earth. It is an equal evolution. As members of Earth’s living beings, humans naturally possess crystal cores, just like any other animal. Strive to become stronger, or the weak will be eliminated.”
Listening to the secret realm’s answer, Long Yu felt a wave of helplessness crash over him.
Indeed, if this was a global evolution and all creatures now had crystal cores, how could humans be an exception? Yet as a human himself, Long Yu struggled to accept it emotionally.
But what could he possibly change? Whatever force had triggered this global evolution—if it could reshape the world in such a way, it was not something he could hope to oppose.
After a moment of silence, Long Yu steeled himself. “If I can’t save all of humanity, then I’ll do everything in my power to protect my family—my parents, and my sister.”
“By the way, what about the trial you mentioned?” Since he could do nothing else, Long Yu decided he might as well complete the trial quickly and claim whatever reward awaited him.
“Very well. The trial is about to begin. Prepare yourself. The trial carries some danger, so please be mentally prepared.”
“Ten.”
“Nine.”
...
“What? There’s danger? Why didn’t you tell me? Can I withdraw?” Panic sparked in Long Yu at the mention of danger.
“No. Once the trial commences, it cannot be halted except by completion or death.”
“Why didn’t you tell me it would be dangerous?” Long Yu shouted.
“You insisted on starting before I had finished the introduction. Your impatience is not my fault. Good luck, Challenger.”
Long Yu was left speechless, a tide of emotion roiling within him. He had truly led himself into a trap.
“Two.”
“One.”
...
Before Long Yu could say more, the competition began to unfold.
“This trial consists of three rounds. Defeat all opponents to complete the trial,” the mechanical voice of Secret Realm 252 intoned once more.
“Enough! Will you ever stop talking?” Long Yu snapped, exasperated.
On the other side of the arena, a flash of white light heralded the sudden appearance of a mutated ant.
The sight of this familiar mutated creature brought Long Yu a sense of reassurance. Had he faced a mutated ant before, it would surely have spelled his death. But things were different now—his physical strength had reached thirty. The outcome was far from certain.
The ant fixed its gaze on its prey, as if deliberating how best to strike.
Long Yu maintained his fighting stance, body lowered, fists clenched, ready to respond to any attack. He had no idea how strong the ant really was, so he could only stay vigilant, probing its strength before making his move.
Five minutes crawled by before the ant could restrain itself no longer. It lunged at Long Yu, front legs like sharp spears thrusting toward him.
Yet in Long Yu’s eyes, the ant’s movements were painfully slow.
Why is the ant moving so sluggishly? Long Yu wondered, though it didn’t stop him from dodging the attack. With a slight twist of his body, he easily avoided the ant’s full-force strike.
The ant, having missed, stumbled several meters forward before barely regaining its footing. Just as it was about to turn and launch another assault, Long Yu’s counterattack struck.
Dodging the ant, and taking advantage of the moment before it could turn, Long Yu planted a kick squarely on its body. The ant was sent flying several meters, crashing to the ground with a heavy thud.
Its hard shell was dented deeply, and a slow trickle of fluid began to seep from within.
Was that the ant’s blood? Watching the creature struggle to rise, Long Yu was amazed—was he really this strong now? A single kick had left this formidable-looking mutated ant battered and broken.