Chapter 51: Seraphine’s Breakthrough

Seraphine and Kael landed in the central courtyard of the Palace of Eternal Truth, their boots scraping against the dark stone the moment they touched the ground.

"It’s not that big," Seraphine remarked, glancing at the walls surrounding the courtyard.

Of course, it was an impressive structure, but compared to the palace of the sect’s current leader, it was quite small.

What really caught one’s attention was where it had been built, and the way it had been constructed.

The entire structure rose above a sea of magma. An orange glow ran along the palace walls themselves, winding through narrow cracks like living veins and radiating a dry heat that stung the skin.

For Kael in particular, this was a blessed place, since his current cultivation technique was tied to flames.

"Let’s head straight to the main hall," Kael said beside Seraphine, who nodded.

In silence, the two walked past the gigantic statue blocking the main entrance. The stone figure loomed above them like a sleeping guardian, its features worn smooth by time and heat.

Fortunately, there was a secondary entrance—narrow and half-hidden in the shadows—through which they managed to squeeze past.

The first thing they felt upon crossing the threshold was the surrounding Qi exploding in density. The temperature was also much lower—so much so that they no longer needed to protect their bodies with Qi.

"Do you think we can get what we want and get out of here in two days?" Seraphine asked, keeping her voice low as she glanced back over her shoulder. "That’s how long it’ll take those two cultivators from the Golden Core Realm to get here. And they won’t hesitate to kill us."

The fact that Kael had a master worked well within the sect.

But here, in a secret realm, things were very different.

Secret realms, no matter how hard one tried to impose laws upon them, remained wild lands.

There was essentially a code of honor among the great experts: unless they knew with absolute certainty that a death in a secret realm had been a murder, no one would take any action.

And since spirit beasts were common in such places, those two, blinded by greed, would likely try to kill them and throw their bodies to the beasts to devour.

What was in a beast’s stomach wasn’t evidence of anything, was it?

On average, every time the Secret Realm of the Divine Mist opened, about thirty to forty disciples died.

Of those, a good portion were murdered in disputes over resources, and in the end, everything was recorded as deaths caused by spirit beasts.

Seraphine had no intention whatsoever of becoming just another name on that list.

"There’s no need to rush," Kael replied, walking deeper into the palace while taking in his surroundings.

The central hall was spacious but practically empty. Their footsteps echoed too loudly, bouncing off the walls in a hollow, drawn-out rhythm.

The columns were black, like the entire interior, but the ceiling, strangely, was snow-white—so pristine it seemed never to have been touched by the smoke from the magma below.

Kael knew it would be difficult to defeat a Golden Core cultivator, let alone those two, who would surely be working together and backed by a horde of followers.

Fortunately, he still had that ace up his sleeve: the Golden Core Realm Beast he’d gotten from the mystery boxes.

In the worst-case scenario, all he had to do was summon it and use the time it spent ignoring him to escape with Seraphine.

Many disciples would die if he chose that path. But in the end, those same disciples would show him no mercy if the situation were reversed.

The world of cultivation was cold and cruel.

Kael’s eyes finally settled on a small door, hidden between two columns.

"This path leads to the cultivation chambers. Let’s go." He motioned for Seraphine to follow.

The beauty’s pink eyes filled with puzzlement for a moment.

"Why the cultivation chambers?" she asked, furrowing her brows. "We should go down to the dungeons, or try to find the treasure chamber. That’s where we might have a chance of finding one of the Golden Alliance Sect’s recruitment tokens."

"You’ll understand soon enough." Kael’s lips curved into a smile that explained nothing.

Soon the two of them were walking down a narrow corridor, the heat growing thicker with every step.

There were many damaged cultivation rooms along the way, their doors cracked or hanging loose, but after about two minutes they found one in perfect condition.

"Do you think you’re ready to advance to the Golden Core Realm?" Kael asked, turning to face her.

His eyes were already fixed on a system notification, ready to release her share of everything he’d stolen from that celestial and from Lucian.

"N-now? No, not safely, at least. I need a barrier-breaking pill and—"

Seraphine’s words died in her throat.

Kael had released everything to her.

She didn’t understand what was happening to her body, but she soon realized something.

Something was entering her Dantian.

The density of Qi inside her exploded in a single second, her meridians burning as if they’d been flooded with molten metal.

Heat surged up her spine and spread to her fingertips, making her knees tremble and her breath catch.

Unlike Kael, she couldn’t steal experience and training as well, but the theft of cultivation and talent alone was immense.

A long groan escaped Seraphine’s lips, her entire body growing hotter, a flush creeping up her neck and into her cheeks.

She shot Kael a strange look—half confused, half embarrassed—before running to the cultivation room and locking herself inside.

Kael just smiled, his eyes following the sway of her luscious behind as she hurried off, each step sending a soft, heavy bounce through the round flesh beneath her robes.

It was a shame that Seraphine had to advance straight to the Golden Core Realm, without the chance to strengthen her own foundation as he had done.

But still, with her talent and origin, her current foundation shouldn’t be a problem.