Chapter 39: Secret Realm of the Divine Mist (02)

There were still a few hours left before the Secret Realm of the Divine Mist began, but many of the young talents who would be participating had already entered.

Before it started, they could stay in an isolated cultivation room, calming their minds and stabilizing their cultivation away from any distractions.

Generally speaking, young disciples were advised to enter at least an hour early to begin preparing.

Most, however, chose to enter as soon as the rooms opened, about five hours before the Secret Realm began.

Because of this, Kael was one of the last to arrive.

Many eyes turned toward him, Selene, and Seraphine the moment they stepped through the courtyard gate.

Some glances carried envy, others pride. And some—especially those from the Purewind Family—carried pure hatred.

Of course, no one dared to show it openly. It was enough for Kael’s gaze to drift nearby for eyes to drop and faces to resume their feigned indifference.

Kael looked around calmly, hands clasped behind his back.

He stood in a secluded courtyard of the sect, tucked behind the leader’s palace.

Just over a thousand disciples crowded around the center of the courtyard, eager to see how the Secret Realm would unfold.

Although it lasted fourteen days for those inside, the Secret Realm would last only seven hours for those outside—a forty-eight-fold difference in time.

For this reason, it was common for these disciples to wait out the entire seven hours, placing bets among themselves and anxiously awaiting the outcome.

"The sect has about ten thousand disciples, right? There must be at least ten percent of them here," Kael sighed beside his stepmother, scanning the crowd.

"Yes... usually more disciples arrive toward the end. Last time, you were only ten, so you probably don’t remember it well. More than four thousand came to welcome the victors," Selene replied with a gentle smile, the light breeze tugging a few loose strands of hair across her cheek.

Her beautiful emerald eyes, the same as Kael’s, settled on the portal leading to the Secret Realm.

Honestly, it looked more like a small hut.

The roof was red, shaped like the tip of a spear and made of elegant bricks that glowed softly in the afternoon sun.

It had three sides, each with a door, and all three stood open at that moment.

Beyond each door lay nothing but an endless golden sea, like clouds hovering right at the threshold, turning slowly in place without ever spilling outward.

"Hurry up, Kael. You should make the most of the cultivation room while you can. Once you’re inside the Secret Realm, just focus on your well-being, okay? Nothing is worth more than your health," Selene said, straightening the collar of his tunic with a quick, practiced tug.

"When the Secret Realm is about to begin, an elder will go over the rules with you."

"Yes, stepmother," Kael nodded, his eyes sweeping over the crowd once more.

He didn’t see his father there.

Well, he didn’t want to see that coward anyway.

He’d heard that his father had left on a personal mission and said he wouldn’t return to the sect for a hundred years—or until he’d completed it.

Kael knew he could steal that son of a bitch’s talent from any distance, so he didn’t worry too much.

He waited while his stepmother exchanged a few words with Seraphine as well. The two spoke in hushed tones, Selene holding the girl’s hands in hers. Soon after, Kael and Seraphine headed for the Secret Realm.

Up to two disciples could enter at the same time. If they crossed side by side, they would land in the same room and could form a pair—which was the most common outcome.

Gripping Seraphine’s hand firmly, Kael stopped in front of the door, watching the golden clouds swirl inside with a look of open wonder on his face.

"You look like a country bumpkin," Seraphine murmured, squeezing his fingers back.

Her voice was sweet and soft, slightly muffled, and it drew a laugh out of Kael.

"Let’s get going; stepmother’s already getting anxious," he smiled.

He could already feel the murderous glares of the Purewind Family burning into his back, sharper still now that they’d seen Seraphine speaking so sweetly to him.

Kael had become far more possessive of his women than he’d ever been on Earth, despite his system.

Otherwise, he would have slapped her butt right there, just to watch them seethe.

Now, all he allowed himself was a lingering, loving look at Seraphine’s face before they both took a step forward.

Their bodies vanished and the space around them warped, dragging them into the golden clouds as if the entire world had been folded in half.

Before they knew it, they were inside a small, secluded cultivation chamber, completely dark and silent.

Beyond it, even stretching their Qi to the limit, they could sense nothing but an endless void.

"Ah... this is incredible... who could have built something like this?" Kael said, trying to adjust to the strange sensation of floating in nothingness—no floor, no walls, nothing for his senses to latch onto.

"I’m not surprised you don’t know, country bumpkin..." Now that Selene was no longer at her side, Seraphine allowed herself to be a little harsher with him.

"You know... if I weren’t sure there’s an elder watching all the rooms, I’d have to give your butt a little spanking," Kael said, his hand settling on Seraphine’s waist and slowly tracing the curve of her back, feeling the warmth of her skin through the thin fabric.

"Should I ignore that elder?" He turned his face toward her, his voice low, almost a whisper against her ear.

"N-no, d-daddy... I was just kidding!" Seraphine shuddered, her shoulders drawing up as she pressed herself against him without even realizing it.

The elders who served as judges had no way of hearing what happened in those rooms, but they could sense every movement inside them.

She would die of shame before letting him spank her bottom with an elder feeling every single thing.

"Hehehe... good girl." Kael stroked her hair, letting his fingers glide through the soft pink strands down to the nape of her neck, where her skin was warm and slightly damp with nerves.

He wouldn’t actually do it, but her reaction was more than enough to satisfy him.

"He was one of the sect’s founders," Seraphine said, her voice still a little shaky, her cheeks burning in the darkness, lit only by the faint blue glow of the Qi crystals.

"He was a cultivator of the Venerable Realm of the Nascent Soul—the only one in our sect’s history. Many say his treasure is still hidden somewhere in this Secret Realm..."