Perhaps his tension had eased, for Sol Rim began chattering about all manner of things. His account of the cultivation powers that dominated the Archipelago was particularly interesting. Apparently, the Crimson Demon Sect, a demonic-path sect, had dispatched no fewer than three hundred Qi Refining Cultivators. Unlike the relatively peaceful Eastern Continent, he added, the Archipelago was a land where the great powers constantly slaughtered one another, where might truly made right.

They were classified as Foundation Establishment sects, Core Formation sects, and so on, according to the highest realm attained within the family. Foundation Establishment sects were frequently wiped out altogether. Fearing the emergence of rivals at their own level, they constantly kept Qi Refining families in check. Core Formation sects likewise continually obstructed the growth of Foundation Establishment sects. In a region populated by Qi Refining sects, the day one rose to become a Foundation Establishment family marked the beginning of a bloody purge.

The stories were so brutal and fascinating that Yise found himself wanting to experience another continent if he ever had the chance.

As they talked, the two ventured quite far in. Then an enormous presence caught Yise's spirit sight, and he stopped the now visibly tense Sol Rim.

"You sensed it too, Senior?"

"It doesn't feel like the flow of a spiritual vein. I think it's a spirit beast."

An injured spirit beast lay curled up in a recess walled in on three sides by enormous rocks. Two Cultivators' corpses lay nearby. The beast resembled a silver tiger and was at late-stage Qi Refining. More than three times the size of an ordinary tiger, it had an additional, vertically slit eye in its forehead. With its two injured eyes shut, it watched them through that third eye alone.

Every twitch of its shoulder muscles sent spiritual energy seeping through its silver fur. Its battles with the Cultivators had already left it badly wounded. The tiger bared its fangs as though resigned to its fate. It had no strength left to fight, but looked determined to keep biting until the end.

"A Three-Eyed Tiger. Its spirituality is far greater and purer than those in the Archipelago, though." Beside Yise, Sol Rim's eyes gleamed.

"How lucky. We've found a spirit beast someone else has practically finished off for us."

"Leave it alone."

"What?" Sol Rim raised his voice as though Yise had said something utterly absurd.

"My sect doesn't hunt spirit beasts."

Not only Sol Rim but even the Three-Eyed Tiger looked startled.

"You're joking, aren't you? What did you come here for, then?"

Rather than answer, Yise took out a Healing Pill and approached the Three-Eyed Tiger. A sharp bolt of spiritual energy flew at his back. But as though he had expected it, his Needle-Firing Armor had already activated, spraying needles in every direction. In an instant, Sol Rim was bristling like a hedgehog, dead with his eyes still open.

"I had my doubts, but I didn't think you'd actually stab the man who saved your life in the back."

He had anticipated it to some extent. He simply regretted that it had actually happened. In Sol Rim's place, he would never have attacked a Cultivator of a higher realm without so much as a ritual implement.

"A poor fellow died because of you. Eat this and get out of here."

Yise tossed the Healing Pill to the Three-Eyed Tiger, which opened its mouth and deftly caught it.

"A sect that protects spirit beasts. What an odd lot."

"I think so too."

The Three-Eyed Tiger gave a rumbling laugh. After briefly tending its wounds with its internal reserves, it rose and stretched its forelegs out before it.

Something seemed to occur to Yise. He took the flute ritual implement said to have something to do with beast taming out of his storage pouch and tried playing it. A performance painfully difficult to listen to went on for quite some time.

"What are you doing?"

"... Is this thing defective?"

"You truly are an odd one. In any case, since you've already helped me, I have a favor to ask."

"What a shameless tiger."

The tiger burst out laughing at Yise's incredulous remark.

"It will benefit you as well. Let me tell you a secret: the far western and eastern edges are where the kings of Dark Heaven dwell."

"The kings of Dark Heaven?"

"The king who rules the spirit beasts here and the kings who rule the demonic beasts dwell at those respective ends."

"With the spiritual pressure here, they can only be at the tenth star of Qi Refining at best. Isn't 'king' a bit grandiose?"

"Heh heh. You might think so. But you'll change your mind if you meet one. Aren't you curious?"

"But why out here instead of farther in? Why not live where the spiritual energy is plentiful?"

"The intruders always head inward from the outside. This way, we avoid the nuisance of fighting them every time."

Yise realized something he had overlooked. For an intelligent creature, staying at the outermost edge would indeed be safer.

"Escort me there safely, and I'll give you a chance to meet the king. What do you say? I've heard humans are a species willing to risk their lives in pursuit of knowledge. Give me a chance to repay my debt."

"Why not repay it right now, if you can? Pull out a tooth for me or something."

"That isn't funny."

The tiger turned away.

"Follow me, practitioner of the Dao."

Its silver fur slipped leisurely into the darkness.

"I wasn't joking."

Muttering to himself, Yise followed the tiger.

The inner depths were still far away, yet he had already been through more incidents than he cared to count.

'... At this rate, it'll take forever to get there.'

Still, the time allotted to him in the secret realm was hardly short. He would find enough fortuitous encounters before it ran out, Yise assured himself.

* * *

The westernmost edge of the secret realm was a dense forest perfectly suited to the word "rainforest" he had read in books.

"Here we are."

"The air is refreshing," Yise replied, taking a deep breath.

Though the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was somewhat scarcer than farther in, the clean air released by the lush vegetation filled his chest with a refreshing coolness.

"I've arrived safely thanks to you. You have my gratitude."

"It was nothing. We didn't even fight."

They had encountered Cultivators along the way, but Yise's realm and the silver tiger's menacing presence had discouraged anyone from approaching. Besides, the farther outward they traveled, the more the Cultivators they saw were ones he could handle alone.

Yise followed the spirit beast. At the heart of the forest, an enormous tiger sat beneath the shade of a tall, straight tree.

'A tiger's den.'

It was not alone. All around, feline predators watched Yise from the darkness, three pairs of brilliant yellow eyes gleaming.

"Your Majesty, I have returned safely."

Yise studied the great tiger addressed as king. Its realm was unmistakably Great Attainment of Qi Refining, but the presence it exuded felt truly overwhelming. Dozens of silver orbs floated around it, each carrying the same energy as the Demon core of a demonic beast at Great Attainment of Qi Refining.

"This human saved me from the brink of death. He is a Daoist of a sect that does not harm spirit beasts. It has been a long time since I encountered a practitioner of the Dao, so I offered him an audience with Your Majesty."

"I'm Yise of Daemudo. He said he'd repay me if I protected him, so I came along."

Since the other party did not appear to be of a particularly higher Rank than himself, Yise spoke informally. Growls rose around him.

"Silence."

The moment the tiger king spoke, everything fell quiet.

"I thank you for your kindness. It is pleasing to see such candor, free of falsehood or pretense. Before I bestow your reward, I shall permit you three questions."

Three questions. Yise considered for a moment before asking his first.

"Were you spirit beasts born here?"

"All but our first ancestors were. I have no way of knowing what happened thousands of years ago, but I understand that the progenitors of the Great Silver Three-Eyed Tigers and the Great Black Serpents were raised by a mighty being."

"What's the most precious thing in this land?"

"The 'Stele of Records' left by those who once ruled this land. Only those who qualify may view it. Beyond that, I neither know nor can tell you anything. Aside from that, the intruders consider a flower called the 'Ten-Thousand-Year High-Spirit Blossom' an exceedingly precious spiritual herb."

It was all rather vague. For someone who had so grandly offered to answer questions, the tiger had not been much help. Still, it meant there were precious things here.

Yise chose his final question carefully. The trouble was, one had to know something to know what to ask. He was at a loss as to what that should be.

"You can't tell me what you mean by 'qualify,' can you?"

"Correct."

"What should I watch out for in the inner depths? I'd appreciate your advice."

"Do not enter. That is all I have to say."

"That's not an option."

"Then find the 'path of life' and follow it alone."

The path of life. The path of life, was it? Yise nodded, thinking what a pedantic tiger this was.

Then one of the orbs floating around the great tiger approached Yise. He opened his hand, and it settled onto his palm.

"One of my inner cores. It is my gift to you for saving one of my kin."

An inner core. That meant the great tiger before him was a spirit beast with dozens of inner cores. Unable to advance beyond Qi Refining, it increased the number of its cores and stored them outside its body. So that was how it survived and grew stronger in this world. If his guess was correct, the tiger before him was very likely far beyond Qi Refining.

Yise studied the inner core for a moment before asking, "Can I eat it?"

"An amusing joke."

"Why do you keep calling it a joke when I'm serious? You tigers are strange."

The tiger burst into laughter and waved a forepaw.

"Keep it with you. It may prove useful. It is time we parted. Good fortune to you, Cultivator."

"Thanks."

Yise put the Great Silver Three-Eyed Tiger's inner core into his storage pouch.

* * *

The enormous black rock wall barring his path stretched endlessly, not only upward and downward but to either side as well. This natural barrier was more than majestic—it was awe-inspiring. An exclamation escaped Yise before he knew it.

It felt as though he had been running for two full days. That was how vast this secret realm was.

'So these True Immortals can slice off a space this large?'

The more he thought about it, the more all he could do was laugh. He almost wished he could dismiss it as an unfunny joke.

Yise enlarged his hand axe with the Weapon Enlargement Art and struck the wall with all his might. Not only did it fail to break, not even a chip came off.

'Even master weaponsmiths couldn't work this.'

He did not know what kind of rock it was, but its strength was incredible.

'Could I run up it?'

Rather than ponder the question, he leaped onto the rock face and began running straight up the cliff. Before long, however, the mounting spiritual pressure forced him to abandon the attempt and descend. He felt as though going even a little higher would make his spiritual meridians burst under the pressure.

'There's no way in or out except through the entrance.'

Before this place had been severed and broken off, the wall must have protected something. Whether the secret realm had been deliberately designed or formed naturally, he could not tell, but entering the inner depths clearly required passing through a designated entrance.

Standing before the rock wall, Yise chose a direction. Left or right. He did not know where the entrance lay, so he set off toward whichever side had even slightly denser spiritual energy.