"There are 420 humans in the western region, Master. It's just that the westernmost part of this region had attracted all of them over," Tak-si informed after materializing his spiritual form.
"Attracted to the westernmost part of this region?" Leon furrowed his brows and asked, "What's going on over there? Some peerless inheritance?"
"Nothing like that, Master," Tak-si shook his head.
"As Master can see, the western region is the most flourishing among the four regions in this secret realm. Not only is there lush green grass on the plains and trees in the forests, but there are also rivers running through this land."
"Wait, rivers? That means…" Leon immediately realized.
"That's right, Master," Tak-si nodded.
"The seawater in the Bone Sea comes from these rivers, which lead outside the Radiant Heaven Realmship. The sea monsters in the Bone Sea all entered the Radiant Heaven Realmship through these river channels."
"But even if there's an opening at the edge of the western region, why would it attract all the humans in the region towards it?" Aria frowned with doubts.
"They are fighting the sea monsters that are trying to come in from the Boundless Sea," Tak-si answered.
"Although I don't know much about a sea monster's taste, the humans seem to find their flesh to be a rare delicacy. Also, the sea monsters possess red monster cores, which contain a special type of energy that could be used for cultivation."
"Oh?" Leon was intrigued by the information.
Being cut off by the Extreme Misty Forest, the Crawford Empire had no access to the Boundless that exists beyond it.
As such, they always had little to no information on the sea monsters.
"Ah, right! I've almost forgotten, Master!" Tak-si suddenly exclaimed before mentioning, "Speaking of sea monsters, there's another factor that affects the demons' decision to close the secret realm."
"The sea monsters?" Leon guessed, thinking it was pretty apparent from the realm spirit, but the specifics remain unclear.
"Yes, Master," Tak-si admitted before saying, "Every year, a large sea monster tide would occur; countless sea monsters would enter Bone Sea."
"And this forces the demons to close the secret realm?" Darlene raised an eyebrow at that point.
"Yes, that's right," Tak-si affirmed.
"You don't understand how fearsome a sea monster tide can be, Miss. Even Arch Demons would have to flee in the face over such overwhelming numbers. Demons are nothing compared to the sea monsters of the Boundless Sea."
"But the danger of a sea monster tide is only related to any body of water, no? Can't the demons just get out of the Bone Sea? So why do they need to close the secret realm?"
Darlene furrowed her brows with confusion at these doubts she had.
"The best inheritances lie in the Bone Sea; the demons would not leave unless they are forced to at the last moment, and such moment is usually when the sea monsters reach the Bone Sea," Tak-si explained.
"But wouldn't it be too late for the demons to flee by then?" Aria wondered.
"Not at all," Tak-si shook his head.
"The high-tier Teleportation Array is capable of imprinting everyone's locations when they use it to enter the secret realm. Once it is activated again, everyone will be teleported out of the secret realm, no matter their locations."
When the dark faes heard such a thing from the great realm spirit, they immediately began searching their own bodies for whatever might appear to be the so-called imprint.
"Don't bother. You won't find such a thing on your physical bodies," Leon calmly stated before speculating, "It's more likely to be imprinted on your souls."
Nyfarella and the other dark faes gasped with surprise after hearing that.
"Do you understand how the Teleportation Array work, my Lord?" Saresha asked curiously.
"How can I understand the intricacy of a possible Tier-7 or above Teleportation Array? Not to mention it's one that I have yet to see," Leon replied while shaking his head.
While his runic understanding is gradually improving by the day, and without a doubt, improve even quicker with so many source materials to study from, he was still very far from understanding Tier-7 runes.
"But then… How can you be so sure that the imprint isn't on our physical bodies?" Nyfarella was taken aback by surprise.
"Through my inference, but of course, I can also be wrong," Leon replied.
"However, think about it; there are so many bones floating in the Bone Sea. There's no need to doubt that a portion of these bones came from demons and humans who have entered the previously secret realm openings."
"If the imprints were on their bodies, why weren't their remains teleported out of the secret realm during its closing? Well, you can argue that the imprint was on their flesh, but they were eaten by the sea monsters in the Bone Sea."
"If that was the case, why hasn't there been any records of raining sea monsters after the secret realm's closing? Furthermore, people could remove the imprints and stay in the secret realm indefinitely if it was so easy to locate and destroy."
"However, it's a completely different story if the imprint was on their soul. Once a person dies, their soul will naturally no longer remain in their corpse and leave, and so too will the imprint—"
As Leon explained his thought process, he suddenly paused and baffled everyone.
"Why did you stop, Leon?" Aria asked.
However, Leon didn't hear her, or he chose not to hear her; his mind was preoccupied with a sudden thought.
'If a person soul-imprinted by the Teleportation Array dies after entering the secret realm, the imprint wouldn't just disappear from the soul either…' Leon silently mused.
'Their bodies will be left behind, but their souls will still be anchored by the imprint and kicked out of the secret realm… Wouldn't that stop the soul from entering the cycle of reincarnation?'
'Even worse, the souls will be bound by the Teleportation Array… Is this how the Teleportation Array produces a Shaman King's Successor?! By infusing the countless souls of the deceased into a new person?!'
Leon was appalled by his speculation.
It would be strange if the Shaman King's Successors could live for long after such a forceful method of improving their soul!