Chapter 501: Chapter 490: War in the Depths of the Secret Realm
The two of them have now become well-adapted to the perilous environment within the Secret Realm.
Xiaoya no longer needs to remind them, she just points the way for them...
The crises encountered along the way can be easily resolved by the two of them.
Reaching this place, their absolute strength no longer gives them much of an advantage over the Demon Beasts...
But what humans have over the Demon Beasts is naturally their ability to coordinate.
Moreover, they rely not solely on combat abilities.
An hour later...
The two stood in front of a skeleton.
The skeleton was still dressed in clothes, though they had been torn to shreds, but the remnants suggested these were the clothes Liu Yuanlang wore before.
The skeleton in front of them was undoubtedly Liu Yuanlang.
Han Yun City sighed softly and said, "It seems Grandmaster Liu reached this position and finally succumbed to those hidden demon beasts, ambushed and killed."
He looked at Xu Lingjun and said, "Old Xu, could you help? You have quite a few Transformation Capsules, let’s gather up Grandmaster Liu. He died for our Great Xia Empire; we cannot leave his body exposed in the wilderness."
"Don’t worry."
Xu Lingjun bent down to collect the skeleton, but as soon as he did, he paused.
Fixing his gaze on the skeleton in front of him for a while, he asked, "Old City, what do you think about the physique of the demon beasts we’ve encountered along the way?!"
Han Yun City said, "Their strength is certainly formidable. In fact, if it weren’t for the unique Cultivation Techniques we practice, we wouldn’t have been able to explore this area on our strength alone."
"I’m asking about their size, not strength."
"Of course, they are all quite large..."
Han Yun City also stopped speaking.
He looked at Xu Lingjun in shock, already grasping his meaning.
If Grandmaster Liu indeed met his end at the maw of a Demon Beast, yet here, all the beasts are enormous, Liu Yuanlang is taller than the average person.
But if he was consumed...
When humans eat shrimp, they discard the shells, but do they discard tiny shrimps?
"And look here."
Xu Lingjun gestured for Han Yun City to come closer, pointing at a spot on the skeleton.
Han Yun City’s gaze landed and suddenly focused sharply... he exclaimed, "This... is a handprint?"
Indeed...
Though the flesh had been thoroughly eaten away, the bones remained intact.
And at the position of the chest, three ribs were broken, with bone spurs turned inward... if the flesh wasn’t eaten, the spot likely pierced would have been the heart.
The size of the fracture marks on the ribs was evidently the size of a normal human handprint.
Han Yun City exclaimed, "Are you saying Grandmaster Liu wasn’t killed by a Demon Beast, but by a human?!"
"There are traces on his bones that show they’ve been gnawed by Bone Eating Worms!"
Xiaoya said.
Xu Lingjun said, "He must have been badly injured by someone, then fled in a panic to this place, dying from his injuries... those large Demon Beasts had no interest in dead prey, so they left him be, but underground might exist small worms that devour flesh, so his corpse was eaten clean."
"So his primary cause of death was human-induced, not Demon Beast?"
Han Yun City said, "But within the Secret Realm, everywhere is filled with Demon Beasts, where could there be living humans?"
Xu Lingjun said, "If a Demon Beast truly had eaten him, not just the skeleton, but even the clothes wouldn’t be left behind."
Han Yun City’s expression was grave as he exclaimed, "There are people in the Secret Realm?! Could it be the original Blue Star didn’t only have Demon Beasts, but also living humans, and now these people are hiding in the world of the Secret Realm? But how could they hide, even though the Secret Realm is vast, the number of Demon Beasts is far greater inside..."
"Could it be that these Demon Beasts are actually being driven by someone?!"
Xu Lingjun speculated.
He gathered up the skeleton.
Remarked, "As it stands, there’s too little evidence, but as long as we continue forward, we’ll soon discover the truth."
"I suddenly feel a bit excited; in the deepest part of the Secret Realm, there are actually living humans."
Han Yun City sneered, "And Grandmaster Liu actually fell into their hands, it seems they have intense malice toward us."
"Perhaps it’s because we intruded into their home... Let’s go... I can’t wait to learn the truth."
"Me too."
The two moved on deeper.
And with this new anticipation, their movements quickened substantially.
For half a day, encountering numerous demon beast attacks again during the journey... but by now, they’ve become adept from previous experiences.
They used a peculiar juice from a Cannibal Flower.
Such a flower, even the most powerful Demon Beasts dare not rashly provoke... fearing they might become entangled by mistake.
Ultimately it was Xiaoya who donned her Nanometer Armor to enter and collect two flowers, applying the juice on them, and then activating Iron Blood Technology’s Invisibility Device.
Thus...
Even the most keen-sensed Demon Beasts, upon catching the scent of the Cannibal Flower juice, were unwilling to cause extra trouble, even knowing that beings had passed through.
This made their journey considerably smoother.
For a full two days, excluding two hours for rest, the remaining time was spent continually moving forward, forward, forward.
Even the two of them couldn’t foresee that they could delve this deeply... and under Xiaoya’s guidance, Xu Lingjun and Han Yun City could always trace human remnants.
Or rather the remnants left by Liu Yunlang.
Meaning he wasn’t killed at where he died, but deeper inside, was seriously injured by adversaries... then... seemingly attempted to flee back, but was targeted by Bone Eating Worms halfway, by which point he was already too exhausted and weak to resist, only to be consumed clean.
Now where the two have advanced to.
No longer a sign of human life remains, like a primal forest.
And reaching there...
Formidable Level 9 Demon Beasts were now appearing in abundance.
This level of power exceeds that of a human Grandmaster.
And at this location, Han Yun City and Xu Lingjun finally found where Liu Yunlang had previously clashed with adversaries.
Though some time had passed, in less than a year, not enough time to erase all the tracks.
In the vast forest, scorched trees and broken wood...
The ground still bore traces of destruction left by great beasts, now only massive skeletons remained, evidently also devoured by other demon beasts.
Both of their faces revealed stunned and dumbfounded expressions.
"It’s the smell of gunpowder, even after all this time, I can still catch that pungent aroma; someone fought here, and Grandmaster Liu must have been inadvertently caught in the midst, fatally ambushed by enemies."
Xu Lingjun also nodded in agreement.
Solemnly said, "Now it can be confirmed, they are not the original Blue Star’s natives; they are humans... humans exactly like us."
The two exchanged glances, seeing the shock mirrored in each other’s eyes.
In the deepest parts of the Secret Realm.
There are... humans!
And there is war.
