章 48: Then I Shall Trust Them

Everyone looked at Krune as if they had seen a ghost!

A secret realm entrance? Below us? What? How? Am I dreaming?

Yusa was the first one to recover and immediately asked, "Are you sure? How is it possible that there's a secret realm here, and no one noticed?"

Krune looked at Yusa as if he was looking at an idiot, telling her, "How do you expect me to know? It was by coincidence that I was using my Divine Sense during our fight. Because of that, I was able to see that there really is a thing like what Shinja described around two kilometers underground!"

Everyone took a deep breath after hearing that. If there really was a secret realm just below them, they might have just struck gold! It was then that Krune threw a bucket of ice-cold water over their heads, reminding them, "Before we even think about entering, let's think about the risks. First, is the master of this realm dead?"

"Second, even if he's dead, would he simply leave it open like that for us? As far as I know, he might be a remnant soul waiting for a vessel to eat the bait."

"Third, if this really is a gate to another closed space, why would it be open right now? Coincidentally, there's a certain realm that's also open at the moment. Chances are that this is just another entrance that no one has found yet. Didn't we just refuse to enter around that place a month and some days ago?"

"Fourth, let's pretend that it isn't any of the previous options. As far as I know, secret realms usually are full of demon beasts, traps, formations, guardians, and so on. With that in mind, what are the levels of those things? As far as I can see, it could very well be infested with demon beasts and other beings at the Divine Soul Realm, perhaps even higher."

"Fifth, if this gate has been opened for a very long time, why haven't any of the living beings inside used it to leave? I can see with my Divine Sense that the area around the gate is completely sealed, and no one stepped out in years. Chances are that it will trap us as soon as we enter."

Krune then put on a solemn expression on his face and asked once more, "I could keep on talking for an entire day about it. However, let me ask you once more. Do any of you want to enter this gate right now?"

Shinja finally came to understand why Krune was the leader. Even with this finding, he hadn't lost his cool mind even for a second. They would eventually reach the same conclusion as Krune. Still, Krune was the only one that wasn't affected by the fortunes that might exist inside. If this wasn't a leader's quality, then she doesn't know what it could be. Or at least, that was what she thought for a second before Krune continued.

"That's why we're going to sell this information to the guild first. We are going to be rich! RICH! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Krune's leader image in Shinja's head crumbled as fast as it was formed, thinking to herself, 'I better not expect anything in the future.'

Hearing Krune's words, Yusa hugged Krune straight away, shouting with glee, "Money, money!!!" Both of them jumped around celebrating.

Seeing that, Shinja started to consider if she should leave as soon as possible before she became affected by the same virus. Of course, Ao ignored the two idiot's happiness and brought them back to reality.

"Are you sure you want to sell this information? Let me tell you something that you probably don't know yet, then. If we sell this location to the guild, the only ones with authority enough to deal with it are the elders or the guild head himself. Of course, they're all the way back at the headquarters, but that's not the main issue. The problem is that blood contracts are useless."

Krune was taken aback to hear that. He then asked Ao, "What do you mean by blood contracts being useless?"

Ao explained, "Blood contracts put a restraint on the soul, but Divine Soul experts can ignore and wipe out such restraints. Unless you know someone between the higher-ups of the guild that you trust, I think it'll be easier for us to be killed after giving them the information instead of getting any payment whatsoever."

Yusa immediately intervened. "Would they really kill Krune or Shinja? The two of us is one thing, but Krune and Shinja are super-geniuses of the guild, you know?"

Shinja was the one to talk this time, telling them, "I agree with Ao. If the gains overcome the losses by a great margin, they would probably prefer to play it safe. It doesn't matter how much of a genius we are. In the end, we're just Foundation Establishment cultivators. Nothing hard to replace. Remember, a dead genius isn't a genius anymore."

Ao nodded. "Exactly. The thing is, this could very well become a personal secret realm for the guild where they could only send their most trusted members. In front of such an opportunity, the life of two geniuses isn't worth that much."

Pondering over it for a bit, Yusa asked, "Then what if we auction it? That way, several powers would know about it, and that would give us safety."

Shinja shook her head in response. "It won't work. To protect the Furiu Realm from being invaded by the powers of other continents, all the top clans, guilds, and sects had gathered their experts together to protect it. Even if we put it for auction, no one will buy it. That's because it wouldn't be a secret anymore. In the end, they know that the information will leak one way or another, and all powers would have to defend the place again. The buyer will then lose any rights over it."

Krune felt gloomy after all of that. "I didn't expect that blood contracts are useless against Divine Soul cultivators. That's totally unexpected. In that case, I want to hear everyone's opinions about this. But remember that what I said earlier is still valid. Entering without preparations is absolutely out of the question."

Shinja then gave them an idea. "We can use a puppet to test if it can at least come back from the gate. If it can, we can check the video to see what it saw on the other side. We can make our decision after that."

Krune and the others immediately accepted the idea. Fortunately, Yusa just so happened to have a puppet herself. It was a very weak one, though. Its power was only between the 2nd and 3rd Stages of Qi Condensation. Krune couldn't help but ask why she had a puppet.

"Isn't that obvious? With this thing, I don't need to do any chores like wash clothes or prepare my meals. It's really convenient, and it can also record and share videos. It's a must-have item for every lady cultivator who travels a lot."

Shinja nodded in agreement. She, too, has one of those in her spatial ring. As for Ao and Krune, they just looked at each other. They had never thought about buying one before, but they might the next time they headed back. Just the 'no need to care about chores' part was enough to attract their attention.

Yusa went forward and set up a concealing formation so that no one would find them in this place. This time, it was a good one. Early-stage Core Formation Realm demon beasts and cultivators would have a hard time seeing through it without paying attention to the specific place.

"Well, let's dig."

Even though they were cultivators, digging two kilometers underground wasn't simple. They had to share the job among them, and even then, it took them almost four hours to reach the sealed cave. Fortunately, although cultivators would specialize in one element, that didn't mean they couldn't use the others. With that, they all used Earth Element until they got all the way down.

They were all surprised when they saw the gate for the first time. The elements were really spinning around the gate, and it was quite beautiful. They looked around, and just as Krune said, it didn't seem like someone stepped inside this sealed cave in a very long time. Krune tried to probe inside the gate, but his Divine Sense couldn't pass through, so he could only look at Yusa and say, "Alright, it's up to your maid puppet now."

Yusa nodded and gave some orders to the puppet. After injecting enough spiritual energy, the puppet came to life and started moving in the direction of the gate. After it entered, Yusa lost her link with the puppet. However, it was okay. Yusa had ordered the puppet to record its surroundings while waiting for ten minutes before coming back. That was to test if the puppet would be trapped inside or not.

"What if it doesn't come back?"

Krune shook his head, replying, "I don't know, but let's hope it will. If not, we better not enter it before we reach the Core Formation Realm at the very least."

Time passed, and when it was finally ten minutes, a ripple appeared on the gate. The puppet then walked out of it as if nothing had happened. But for some reason, everyone looked at it as if it was made of gold!

"Quick! Transfer the recordings to our communicators."

Yusa nodded and sent the recording of everything it saw to everyone's devices. It turns out that the place the domestic robot appeared was also a sealed cave. Although it looked different from the one they were in, it didn't change the fact that it also had no exit. With that, one of their first questions was answered. Why haven't the living beings of the secret realm used this exit to leave? Because they probably didn't even know it existed at all!

But that was also good. At least they would be safe after entering. Of course, that was considering the entrance would not close before they came back. The only bad thing was that Krune's group couldn't say if the atmosphere outside that cave was hostile or not.

The group pondered over it for a bit until Krune decided to talk first. "Alright, the good thing is that there's no danger after entering. As far as we can see, there are no formations or traps either. If I'm not wrong, the gates have been prepared like that on purpose for its owner to use it when the time comes. That time would probably be when it would need to escape straight away, so the expert who built it might even be alive. Of course, this is just a conjecture."

"The problem is, without entering, we won't be able to find anything else. Sending puppets inside to excavate their way up is out of the question as well. If that cave is as deep as this one, there's no way a puppet that we can afford can finish going up in a short amount of time. Not to mention that it'll keep running out of spiritual energy as well. In the end, if we want to know what's inside, we will need to enter. What do you think?"

Yusa raised her hand and suggested, "I say we enter! We decided to not go into the Furiu Realm mainly because of the risks of getting in a fight with other cultivators. However, there are no cultivators or demon beasts from other powers entering with us. If we still don't take any risks with conditions such as this, then we might as well stop cultivating. To cultivate is to go against the heavens in the first place, so we should take this opportunity."

Ao Sulian agreed with her statement. Their group had already given up the Furiu Realm after all.

"Good, now we just need to decide on who will enter. Because in case the entrance closes, the ones who stay can simply spread the news to all powers at the same time. No guild will try to kill that person anymore since it won't become a secret that can be kept in the end," Krune said soon after.

Ao was the one to talk this time. "I say we should enter together."

Krune looked at Ao in surprise. Could it be that he didn't hear what he just said? However, he waited for Ao to explain anyway. "I might not know if it's too dangerous or not, but I know that I wouldn't be able to sit still while waiting for you guys to come back. If the portal closes and the group that entered doesn't come back, those who stay will only feel guilty about that. At least, I would think that if I was there, I might have helped more than if I was here guarding a portal that closed. Fortunes and risks walk hand in hand. Since we believe in each other, we should confront everything that comes at us together. Besides, even if the portal closes, that doesn't mean there are no other exits. Not to mention that whatever we find will be ours. In my opinion, the gains overcome the risks."

Yusa also agreed with Ao. She was a money-grubber, but she still placed the blockhead and mister cool guy as her main priority. Hearing Ao's words, Krune sighed and didn't say anything more. If Yusa and Ao entered, he obviously would stay behind, waiting to see what would happen with them.

At that moment, Krune, Yusa, and Ao looked at Shinja, with Krune saying, "That being said, the decision lies on Shinja's shoulders. If she says we go, then we go. If she says we stay, then we stay. We trust your decision."

Shinja was taken aback. Why would they leave the final decision for her? She was feeling a little sad at first. She heard those three talking but felt like she wasn't supposed to be there. That they might not even care about her opinion in the first place. But it turns out that they decided to trust her as the decision-maker. It might not be appearing on her face, but she felt really moved at the moment. This just went to show how much they considered her own will.

She looked at the gate, and determination appeared on her face, thinking to herself, 'If they can trust me like that, then I shall trust them as well!'

She looked back at her new friends and smiled, something that she wasn't used to normally doing. "I say we confront risks together, share the fortunes together, and if fate dictates so, we die together. We shall enter!"

Yusa immediately jumped over and hugged her, she was really happy. As for Krune and Ao, they just smiled after seeing that. Ao then sent a message through Divine Sense to Krune, telling him, "It seems like our group got a new member."

Krune could only nod in response with glee.