Chapter 52: Lost Realm 1

Moon Astra, the novice 7- immortal cultivator, stood against the morning sun with a broad smile on his face.

His hand held 3 pills.

Radiant green.

Pills have three colors according to their grade.

The one Moon was holding was emerald green, a low grade. The red one is middle grade, and the golden one is high grade.

But if anyone managed to make a pill with an inscription engraved on a golden pill, that one is called top grade.

Moon ran toward the brothers and spread his palm.

"Take a look, I am now a real alchemist." His voice held the pride of a teenage boy who just won his first battle in the academy.

Ugo looked at the pill in his palm and smiled.

"You worked hard." He ruffled Moon’s hair.

"Don’t just laugh like a fool; hurry up and eat it. We need to leave and find the secret realm entrance again. If we can’t, we have to go back and jump inside the sea again since the first time the entrance was there."

He held up the pills to the two brothers.

They each took one pill and rested for a few moments.

The uneasy dark corroded energy that was left by the black sea slowly erased from their bodies. And finally, their blood pressure settled down.

Moon looked at Ugo’s wounded area and sighed, "There may still be some residue on your flesh. But for now, just bear it. We will meet Axe first."

And so, in the next few moments, they started to walk toward the mountain range Nox had found earlier.

Moon took a last glance at the Stardust Lily Sanctuary and hoped he could find his way back again.

They walked for the entire day, yet there was no end.

When dusk fell in the west, they saw that through the high mountain wall lay a subterranean ridge.

They took a rest there.

Moon refined another batch of pills, this time managing to make 5 after a few failures.

There were even 2 middle-grade ones. He gave one to Ugo, kept another for future urgency.

He was happy yet not happy.

The increasing tension of not finding the way out was pressing on him.

’Goddess, how should I go back to that secret realm?’

[...]

"Why are you silent at a critical moment?" Moon was upset.

[This is also part of that realm.]

’What? Why didn’t you say so earlier?’

[I thought you were smart enough to know.]

Moon didn’t know what to say for a moment. But he was now less worried.

He took out the communication stone and tried to connect.

But he failed again.

They started their journey again when the first ray of light was up.

Walking through the subterranean ridge, they finally reached a lake similar to the one they saw in the secret realm.

They sped up their pace along the lake’s edge. After a long run, suddenly Moon stopped.

He felt a faint connection somewhere inside him—like a little throb in his heart, extreme depression, and a fiery burn.

The contradiction was making him uncomfortable.

Ugo stopped behind him. "What’s the matter?"

Moon shook his head. "Nothing, I just felt there was something around here..."

Nox picked up some dirt from the ground and furrowed his brows. "Hey, do you think this thing looks familiar?"

He lifted his hand to look clearly.

Moon came closer.

Ugo stepped ahead.

"Hmm... isn’t it Rio’s fur?" Ugo said.

"Whoa! Right. It’s Rio’s white, frosty fur." Nox snapped his head toward Ugo.

"Damn. They came here before," he said.

"Look for them; I think they are here somewhere, hiding." Moon started to move and look around.

"What is Axe doing? How come they could come this far? Didn’t we agree to wait?" Nox was grumbling.

"Let’s divide from here," Ugo suggested.

"What if we get separated again?" Nox retorted.

Moon thought for a moment, then took out three jades from his inventory.

He channeled his Qi inside and gave them to Ugo and Nox.

"Take this; I will be able to track you as long as you don’t leave this place."

Nox took the jade and muttered, "Let’s give this place a name first. How about the Lost World?"

Ugo looked at Nox with contempt for asking such a question in an urgent moment.

Nox was ashamed. "Forget it."

Moon nodded, "Okay, Lost World then. Remember, this lake is our meeting point. Don’t go too far."

And so, the three of them parted in three directions, searching around.

Ugo went to the nearest forest and started to search the bushes. He could smell some herbs’ scent here, but not any ice or burning smell that usually belonged to his brothers.

Nox was not so lucky.

He went ahead and faced a narrow trail that was entirely filled with insects.

He was even chased for half an hour by a bee swarm because he tried to poke a big honeycomb to see if Leo or Rio left a trace there.

As for why they would leave a trace in a honeycomb—well, Nox thought they might want some honey, just like him.

The bees chased him almost all the way to the end of the narrow path.

He got a lot of cuts from the thick bushes and blackthorns.

The witch hazel, bramble, and sweetbriar were not friendly to him either.

He didn’t know how all these devilish branches grew so densely here.

But his suffering paid off.

At the end of the path, he suddenly threw himself into a wide clearing, where he finally found his eldest brother, Leo.

He was bruised and battered with thorns, sap, and colorful patches on his red fur that he got from who knows where.

Leo was sleeping on the ground like a dead cat.

But as soon as Nox approached, Leo jolted up, his fur standing up in alert, and his eyes were blood-red.

"Damn, Leo... don’t scare me!" Nox took two steps back.

Leo shrieked and bared his canines toward Nox.

"Ah! I am your little, sweet third brother. Come hug me," Nox coaxed.

In return, Leo jumped on him, leaving three deep nail scratches on his cheek. Nox cried out in pain, but he securely held the little wolf in his arms.

"Damn that Axe. What was he doing here, leaving you alone?"

He rubbed the fur and tried to coax the wolf to calm down.

Looking back at the thick bushes and narrow path, his stomach dropped.

He really hated the thought of going back through that path. His left eye was still stinging and was swollen like a red ball from a bee sting.

He dilly-dallied for a moment around the area. And suddenly, his eyes fell on something interesting.

A little farther away from him, it looked like a sea of fire on the ground.

As far as the eye could see, it was entirely filled with Flame Azaleas. They were a bit more vibrant in color. Like a sea of fire, they were swaying in the breeze.

No wonder Leo was sleeping here.

This Flame Azalea was always Leo’s attraction. And also his enemy.

"Leo! Oh, my brother Leo! Did you eat them? You are doomed," Nox muttered, looking at Leo, who was now deadweight in his arms.