Chapter 475: The Upper Realm (II)

Gray lasted approximately twenty minutes before abandoning the preparations entirely.

By the time Scarlett and Elira finished discussing their initial hunting routes, he had already found a quiet patch of ground beside the stream, settled beneath a large tree, and begun cultivating.

The pure Mana surrounding him gathered slowly, forming a faint current that flowed toward his body.

His breathing settled into a steady rhythm, and the subtle pressure of his aura gradually disappeared as he focused entirely on refining his foundation.

He had even placed a small sign beside him.

DO NOT DISTURB.

CULTIVATING.

Scarlett stared at it, and then turned to look at Elira.

Elira stared at it too.

"Did he seriously make a sign?" Scarlett asked, her voice carrying a hint of disbelief.

Elira covered her mouth, trying to suppress her laughter.

"He’s made himself comfortable, hasn’t he? I thought he was eager to begin hunting the Upper World’s students. Instead, he’s found a tree and decided to spend the first day cultivating."

"He’s been talking about pure mana since we arrived. I should have expected this."

"You sound disappointed... though, how does he cultivate with mana?"

"I’m disappointed in myself for expecting anything different... as for that question, even I don’t know."

Elira laughed before glancing toward Gray again.

He was already surrounded by a faint layer of Mana, and his attention seemed so completely focused on cultivation that he had not noticed their conversation.

"Well, at least he’s consistent. He promised we’d receive our favors if we helped him win, and we have no reason to believe he intends to go back on his word. Besides, if he wants to spend his time cultivating, we might as well take care of the work that needs to be done."

Scarlett crossed her arms.

"That’s precisely what concerns me. He’s relying on us to handle the preparations while he sits there collecting Mana."

"And yet you’re going to do it."

Scarlett turned toward her.

Elira smiled.

"Because you want to win too, don’t you?"

Scarlett remained silent for a moment before looking back at the cultivation formation Gray had created around himself.

"...I hate that you’re right."

With that, the two princesses returned to their tent.

Gray did not notice them leaving.

He had already begun his first proper cultivation session in the Upper Plane.

And for the next several days, he would remain beneath that tree, absorbing pure Mana while the two princesses did everything else.

...

The first important discovery came from Elira.

Her family’s connections extended beyond the Underworld, and although the Upper Plane’s royal families were not necessarily friendly toward demon nobles, trade and information had crossed the boundary between the two worlds for generations. Elira had spent much of the previous evening using the communication devices her attendants had brought, contacting several people who owed her family favors.

By midday, she had gathered enough information to fill several pages.

She laid the reports across the table inside their tent, then summoned Scarlett to take a look.

"All right, I’ve found something worth discussing."

Scarlett entered with a cup of tea in her hand.

"Something about the opposing academies?"

"Several things, actually. The most important is that the students from the Upper World aren’t approaching this competition as casually as we expected."

Elira pointed toward the first report.

The document contained a list of the participating academies, their known rankings, and the names of several prominent students expected to take part in the competition.

Scarlett leaned closer.

"Celestial Crown Academy, White Sun Academy, Astral Sanctum Academy..." She stopped at one of the entries and narrowed her eyes.

"These are some of the stronger institutions in the region. Why are they participating in a competition against the Demon Academy? I thought the academy chose this region because the participating students were supposed to be relatively balanced."

"They are balanced according to the rules, not necessarily according to reputation. The Upper World has far more academies than most people realize, and their standards differ considerably. Some accept students at the early stages of cultivation, while others recruit only those who have already reached the Ruler Realm. The strongest academies even have students who stand at the Great Ruler Realm."

Elira tapped another section of the report.

"But these three institutions have sent some of their better students. Look at the names marked here."

Scarlett examined the list.

Several students had been marked with red symbols.

Beside each name were their known cultivation ranks, combat specialties, and records of previous academy competitions.

One student from Celestial Crown Academy was listed as an Early Ruler, with a record of defeating opponents above his cultivation.

Another was a sword cultivator who had reportedly defeated several Ruler Realm instructors during a supervised examination.

A third had a rare spiritual constitution that allowed him to sense disturbances in the surrounding Mana.

Scarlett frowned.

"These aren’t ordinary students."

"No, they aren’t. And there’s another detail." Elira turned to the next page.

"According to the people I contacted, the Upper World academies have been preparing for this event for months. Some of their students have already studied the Demon Academy’s known techniques and combat styles."

Scarlett’s expression grew cold.

"So they’ve been preparing specifically to fight us."

"At least some of them have. I don’t think we should assume every student is our enemy, but we would be foolish to believe they haven’t studied us."

Scarlett set her teacup down.

This was no longer simply a competition in which the two sides would encounter one another by chance.

The Upper World academies had gathered information, selected their stronger participants, and prepared for the possibility of fighting demons with unfamiliar techniques and abilities.

The Demon Academy had warned its students about encountering opponents who specialized in countering Demonic Energy, but the information Elira had gathered suggested the danger extended beyond that.

Some of their opponents had spent years preparing for precisely this kind of battle.

Scarlett tapped the report with one finger.

"We need to change our route."

Elira nodded.

"I was thinking the same thing. If we enter the central hunting grounds immediately, we’ll likely encounter several of the strongest groups before we’ve had a chance to understand their abilities. I’d rather collect information about them first, then choose where to fight."

"Agreed. We should also avoid allowing our group to be surrounded. If they have students who specialize in detecting Demonic Energy, we might be tracked before we even realize they’ve found us."

Elira smiled.

"Good. You’re thinking along the same lines I am."

"Don’t sound so pleased. I’m not agreeing with you because I like your ideas."

"Of course not. You’re agreeing because they’re good."

Scarlett gave her an irritated look, but she returned her attention to the reports.

For the next hour, they examined the information together, comparing the opposing students’ known strengths against the abilities available to their own group.

They identified several individuals worth avoiding during the early stages of the competition, as well as a handful whose defeat would grant a substantial number of hunting marks.

Then Elira found a detail that made her expression change.

"Scarlett, look at this."

She placed a separate sheet on the table.

It contained a brief report about a piece of equipment expected to be carried by a team from White Sun Academy.

Scarlett read the description twice before looking up.

"A detection artifact?"

"Yes. According to the report, it’s capable of sensing traces of foreign energy within a certain radius. The exact range is unknown, but the artifact has been used in previous expeditions to locate hidden opponents."

Scarlett’s eyes narrowed.

"That could be troublesome."

"Especially if we run into the students carrying it. They might detect our group long before we see them."

Scarlett considered the problem.

The two princesses possessed enough cultivation to conceal their presence from most ordinary students, and their bloodlines offered additional ways to disguise their auras.

However, a specialized artifact developed to identify foreign energy was a different matter entirely.

They could not assume it would work exactly as described, but neither could they afford to ignore the possibility.

"We should avoid fighting them until we understand how the artifact works," Scarlett said.

"If we encounter them, we’ll withdraw far enough to observe their movements. Once we know the range and limitations of their detection method, we can decide how to deal with it."

Elira nodded, visibly satisfied.

"That’s why I’m glad we’re doing this together. I can gather information through my family’s connections, and you can work out how to turn it into something useful."

Scarlett gave her a small, reluctant nod.

For once, Elira was being genuinely helpful.

It was almost irritating how well they worked together when they stopped arguing.

Their second discovery came several hours later, when one of Elira’s attendants returned from the outpost carrying a sealed message.

The messenger had been sent to exchange information with a group of senior academy students who had arrived before them.

He had expected to return with a few additional details about the hunting grounds, but the report he brought back contained something neither princess had anticipated.

Several of the Upper World students had already begun moving toward the same remote region.

Scarlett unfolded the map again.

"Where exactly?"

Elira placed a finger on a section near the northern edge of the designated hunting grounds.

"The Ashen Vale."

Scarlett looked at the location.

The region was separated from the main hunting grounds by a chain of steep hills and a dense forest.

According to the academy’s map, the area had once been inhabited, but the settlement had been abandoned long ago.

There were no registered camps nearby, and the terrain made it difficult to travel through in large groups.

"Why would they head there?" Scarlett asked.

"That’s what I wanted to know. The group from Celestial Crown Academy appears to be moving in that direction, and several students from White Sun Academy have been seen following a similar route. They aren’t moving together, but their destinations seem to overlap."

"Do we know what they’re looking for?"

Elira shook her head.

"Not yet. The official map lists the Ashen Vale as a low-priority hunting region, and there are very few students expected to pass through it. There shouldn’t be enough targets there to justify sending groups of their strongest participants."

Scarlett studied the map.

If those students were only interested in collecting hunting marks, the Ashen Vale made little sense.

The central hunting grounds had far more academies, more students, and several locations where groups were likely to cross paths.

Anyone looking to maximize their score would be better off remaining near those regions, and yet multiple groups were moving toward a place that offered fewer obvious opportunities.

Either they had information the Demon Academy did not possess, or the competition was not their only concern.

Scarlett tapped the map.

"Have your people found any reports about the area itself?"

"Very little. The Ashen Vale was abandoned long before the current borders were established. There are old ruins there, but nobody has listed them as a valuable resource site. Some records even suggest the region has unusually low concentrations of Mana."

Scarlett frowned.

"Then why go there?"

"I don’t know. But I don’t think we should ignore it."

Elira leaned back in her chair, her expression more serious than before.

"If the strongest students are willing to leave the main hunting grounds, they must have a reason. Even if we don’t intend to follow them immediately, we should find out what they’re doing."

Scarlett nodded.

She had the same feeling.

There was something wrong with the situation, and she disliked entering a competition without understanding the movements of the strongest opponents.

The two princesses spent the next several minutes discussing possible explanations.

Perhaps the Upper World academies had arranged their own secret competition.

Or maybe the Ashen Vale contained a hidden resource site, or perhaps the region offered an advantage against demon cultivators.

None of their theories explained why the participants were so determined to reach the same place.

Eventually, Scarlett stood up.

"We need to investigate."

Elira smiled.

"I was hoping you’d say that."

Gray was still cultivating beneath the tree when the two princesses found him.

The sun had begun its slow descent, casting long shadows across the grass.

A faint current of pure Mana surrounded Gray, flowing into his body before dispersing in a gentle spiral.

His breathing was steady, and the atmosphere around him was quiet enough that the sound of the stream carried clearly through the surrounding trees.

Scarlett stopped several steps away and watched him for a moment.

He had not moved much since she had last seen him.

Elira leaned toward her and whispered, "Do you think he would notice if we left without telling him?"

Scarlett looked at her.

"He would notice eventually."

"Would he care?"

"...That’s a good question."

They exchanged glances.

Then Scarlett approached Gray and stopped just outside the faint boundary of his cultivation formation.

"Gray."

There was no response.

She waited several seconds before calling him again.

"Gray, we found something important."

His eyes opened.

The mana surrounding him gradually settled, and he looked at the two princesses with the calm expression of someone who had only been interrupted for a moment.

"What is it?"

Scarlett quickly explained what they had discovered about the Ashen Vale, and the lack of any obvious reason for the groups to head toward such an isolated region.

Gray listened without interrupting.

When she finished, he glanced toward the map Elira had brought.

"The Ashen Vale, you say?"

"Yes," Elira replied.

"We don’t know what they’re looking for, but several of the strongest groups seem determined to reach it. We thought we should investigate before they get too far ahead."

Gray studied the location for a moment.

His interest had been piqued, although he did not show it openly.

An isolated region that attracted the attention of several powerful academy teams was worth examining. It might contain rare resources, useful information, or nothing more than a convenient location for an ambush.

Regardless, it was better to understand the situation before deciding how to proceed.

"Good work."

Scarlett blinked.

She had expected him to ask more questions, suggest a route, or immediately begin planning an expedition.

Instead, he simply nodded.

"Keep gathering information. Don’t approach the area until we know more about the students moving toward it. Once we have a clearer picture of their numbers and intentions, we’ll decide whether it’s worth investigating."

Elira’s expression brightened.

"Then you’ll come with us?"

Gray glanced at the stream.

He could feel the pure Mana flowing through his body, and his cultivation was progressing more smoothly than it had in the Underworld.

But the Ashen Vale might contain something worth investigating.

He considered it briefly before answering.

"Eventually. For now, I want to finish this cultivation session. You two have done excellent work, and I trust your judgment. Just don’t take unnecessary risks while investigating."

Scarlett stared at him.

"You want us to investigate a suspicious region where several of the strongest Upper World students are gathering while you remain here cultivating?"

Gray smiled.

"When you put it that way, it sounds rather unreasonable."

"Because it is!"

"Then don’t approach the region directly. Gather information from a distance, observe the movements of the other groups, and return if anything seems unusual. There’s no need to engage them before we understand what they’re doing."

Scarlett opened her mouth, then stopped.

Annoyingly, his advice was sensible.

It did not make her any happier about being the one expected to carry out the work, but she could not deny that keeping their distance was the safest approach.

Elira, however, seemed amused.

"Well, at least he’s not telling us to fight them all and bring back their hunting marks."

"Would you prefer that?" Gray tilted his head.

"No!"

"Then we’re in agreement."

Scarlett rubbed her forehead.

"I’m going to regret making this arrangement."

Gray closed his eyes again, allowing the pure Mana to gather around him.

"Probably, Princess. But I’m sure you’ll find a way to forgive me."

A faint sigh escaped Scarlett’s lips.

Elira laughed as she pulled her companion toward the camp, already discussing how they would investigate the Ashen Vale without drawing attention.

Behind them, Gray returned to his cultivation.