593 Little Exploration

Alex and his group proceeded in their exploration. This might be the first time for Sherry and Kyle walked around in an unknown place like this out of his body. Kyle didn't have such an excited expression, but Sherry looked around while walking, admiring everything she could find. Of course, it wasn't like she lowered her guard down because she still maintained her distance to not pass Artur. 

The first problem would be whether to choose left and right to proceed from the nest. Rather than having too many thoughts to something that didn't have any clue, Alex just asked Sherry who enjoyed such a thing. "Sherry, where do you want to go?"

"Hmm… It's better for Master to choose. I can't think about complicated stuff, so Master's decision is the best." Sherry declined his offer to choose a direction, afraid she would choose the wrong way.

"You don't need to worry about it. We don't have a clue or whatsoever, so it's a fifty-fifty chance. No need to think it hard; just choose whichever way you feel comfortable." Alex smiled, thankful for her consideration.

"Is that so?" Sherry blinked her eyes a few times before turning around and staring at the two dark tunnels. "Hmm, Master is always right, so I will choose the right passage." 

"I am not always right… I have made many mistakes." Alex chuckled as he patted her head. Artur began walking toward the right passage, followed by the others. 

Sherry was smiling and humming the entire time. She had turned back to her half-human half-beast form after fighting the lizards. "Master, there is something that bothers me."

"Uhm? What is it?" Alex looked at her in confusion. 

"We are going to the realm called Underworld after beating the Black Devil Sect, right?"

"Yes. Do you have some problem with the Underworld or Black Devil Sect? Don't tell me you are like Kyle, who suddenly has a husband in your previous life?" Alex teased. 

"Master!" Kyle couldn't help but shout.

"No. Even if I have a previous life, I will still choose Master, no matter what. And no, I don't have a problem with the Black Devil Sect and Underworld. It's just I am wondering if you can enter a realm like this when you reach Martial Monarch by sealing your cultivation like in the past." Sherry asked.

A trace of surprise flashed on his eyes as he opened his mouth slightly. Alex never expected such a question from Sherry. He thought for a moment and said, "Yes, I can enter without any problem. Though I will have the problem of killing these many lizards… In fact, I might not be able to kill them by myself in this small space."

Listening to Alex's honest response, Sherry simply shook her head. "I am not talking about that." 

"So, what is exactly the question?" Alex tilted his head in confusion. 

"Oh." Alex finally realized her question, but there wasn't a surprise on his face. He calmly explained, "There are actually two types of restriction in the array for a special realm: With or without a restriction.

"The special realm I made on the Northern Continent was one without a restriction. One of the reasons was Rose. I might visit her again after entering the Heavenly Continent for a few years to check her progress. That's why it's better to have no restrictions in that place.

"The other reason was because I didn't have enough strength to place a restriction. First of all, the barrier itself was only constructed by a rank 6 array. I could only bind those who were weaker than me, which meant Martial King or above… It could bar the entry of Martial Emperors, but it would need some time until the place matured because of the Spirit Stone Mine beneath it.

"I will use this place as an example. This place has a restriction that allows only Martial Emperors to enter because it's reinforced with a rank 8 Array. If it's only a rank 6 array, the people outside can just break this array, especially those Martial Monarchs. 

"Now let's talk about the restriction. There are two places where you can implement the restriction. First would be the entrance and all explanations above are about this. This place implements the second type, which is to implement the restriction inside the barrier.

"If a Martial Monarch somehow sneaks inside the barrier without a special sealing technique like mine, he or she will be teleported by a teleportation array from the barrier. Even if they could sneak inside again, the process will only be repeated. Now, do you understand?" Alex finished his explanation.

"Somehow. I can understand the basic concept." Sherry nodded before falling into deep thought. "How about the Underworld, Master? The realm was inside the world within space, right? Can you still place a restriction?"

"Ah. Now I understand your endpoint. You want to ask whether there are restrictions in the Underworld, right? Then if only I can enter because I'm the only one who is a Martial Emperor, can I find some way to bypass the system?" Alex smiled.

"Yes. That's what I want to ask." She nodded furiously, worrying about Alex.

Alex patted her head again and said, "Don't worry. Although it's only a glimpse, I have scanned the entire array. As far as I remember, there is no restriction in the Underworld. Even if you reach Martial Monarch right now, you can still enter the realm."

"That's good then." Sherry let out a relieved breath, purely worried about Alex. After hearing Alex's answer, the burden in her heart vanished.

"I am still a 6-Star Martial Emperor right now. I should be able to enter 8-Star Martial Emperor after this place and practice to make some arrays and pills before entering the Underworld. In other words, I need around two months before entering that place. I'm sure I don't need to say anything more, right?" Alex smiled at Sherry.

"In the meantime, Kyle and I will need to advance to Martial Monarch. As for Stina, she should finish her deep sleep before us. And big brother and sister spirits, they should be able to enter Martial Monarch by using EXP Cards. Then we will protect Master." She smiled brightly.

"Yeah. You are right." 

"Hmm." Sherry's bright smile suddenly turned into a serious face as she narrowed her eyes. She crossed her arms while placing her hand on her chin like she was thinking hard.

"Do you want to add something?"

"No. I just think if Master doesn't learn Alchemy and Array, you should reach the Martial Monarch a long time ago." Sherry answered honestly.

"That might not be the case. First of all, I will need to search for a way to earn money. Pills and Array Plates are the best choices for me. Besides, I wouldn't meet you in the lower world if I didn't learn Alchemy. After all, I came to that place because I wanted to use that medicinal herb for my pill." Alex smiled.

"That won't be good…" Sherry regretted asking about it. Just the thought alone was enough to make her shudder. There wasn't a single good future if she didn't meet Alex because she might already die in that place, killed by another monster.

Alex chuckled while looking at her. He didn't mind answering her question because they couldn't move too fast to avoid missing a single trap, so talking like this was perfect to pass the time. Luckily, they had yet to encounter a single trap in this passage. 

The exploration continued. Sherry asked a few more questions to him before they met a dead end. After turning away, she seemed to be down because her choice was the wrong one. 

Alex changed the topic for her and the two continued talking. Anna and the others only smiled while watching these two. In the depth of their hearts, they wished Sherry to grow up a bit more because, after a few years, she had no sign of growing up like Kyle.

Alex didn't know their thinking and continued to the second passage.

It was only after an hour of walking, he suddenly found something.

"Hmm… there is a huge amount of energy in front of us. Judging from their texture, it wasn't a monster or something… It looked like a box(?) Not quite right. Anyway, we will encounter it in a moment, so be careful." Alex warned everyone after finding a chunk of energy. 

He looked behind the chunk but saw nothing.

Upon hearing his words, all of them took out their weapons and raised their guard. Their pace became even slower, so they can be prepared if something that held this energy attacked them. Sherry also turned into her beast form. 

It took them around fifteen minutes to cover the distance because the passage was meandering. They could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Taking the last turn, Artur was the first to see whatever it was since he was in the front. He gasped upon finding a big chunk of energy in front of him. 

"Artur, what happened?" Alex shouted as he observed Artur with his Spirit Eyes, thinking an illusion bewitched him. However, there was no sign of it happening. His action also affected the rest as they clenched their weapons tightly.

A few seconds later, Artur woke up and broke their tension. "Ah. I'm sorry for scaring you. There is actually a gate in front of us, and I am just mesmerizing it because it's beautiful."

Alex and the others quickly took their turn and closed their eyes for a split second. "Argh. My eyes."

Anna was the first one to scream while the others came back to the dark passage. "Such an intense brightness…" Anya exclaimed.

Alex covered a part of his eyes, so not all the light came into his eyes. They had been in the passage with a minimal light because the light only came from Kyle's fire. On the other hand, this gate had a full brightness in its setting. Just like when their eyes had grown accustomed to a dark mode and suddenly it changed into a light mode, it was normal for Anna to scream.

"It's a curse." Anna bit her lips and complained.

"What curse? There is no such curse. Just look at the light, you can know that this is a nice place to live in…" Artur shrugged.

"Shut up. I will beat you up later, Artur…" Anna snorted before she slowly entered and slowly got accustomed to the light.

"Oi oi. This is not my fault. It's the gate fault." Artur looked at her with confusion.

Alex let out a hollow laugh, watching them fight. Then, he observed the gate with his Spirit Eyes and noticed an array inside the gate. The gate was also reinforced by a concealment array to prevent any Spiritual Energy from leaking. Alex couldn't see past this array, so he was wondering whether to proceed or not. 

In the end, he decided to check the gate first. The gate itself was a normal white door without any patterns or anything. Tho pillars were connected to this gate, making it look a bit cooler. Other than these two features, Alex could only find the full glowing brightness that torched one's eyes. 

"Check around the gate first to see if my eyes miss anything," Alex ordered before walking to the gate itself. He felt the gate couldn't be opened without some tweaking from his side as it would require a special token to open it. 

Alex waited for the others to check their surroundings first just to be careful. After around ten minutes and nothing was found, Alex said, "I am going to open this gate right now. I will need around five minutes, so you guys can prepare for something from inside since I can't see anything past this gate."

"Understood." They nodded and raised their weapons.