Chapter 696: The Eternal Night Secret Realm Opens

After studying the dark clouds for a moment, Leon slowly shifted his attention to the bottom of the abyss. 

He was not sure what it was, but his gut instincts were telling him that whatever was sealed down there was extremely dangerous. 

However, this danger was only concerning if he chose to foolishly venture down there without understanding what he is up against. 

More importantly, the thousands of demons gathered on the floating landmasses poses a more significant threat presently.

"Lord Yomu, shall we head down and slaughter all these pesky humans to avenge our brethren?" a Single-horned Lesser Demon suggested on the unconnected floating landmass.

"As much as I would like to, no," the Double-horned Greater Demon, Lord Yomu, rejected the suggestion with a shake of his head. 

"The secret realm is about to be opened after the staircase to heaven is constructed. It won't be too late to deal with the humans once we are inside."

"Understood, Lord Yomu," the Single-horned Lesser Demon slightly bowed.

"Glad that you understand the bigger picture, Yomu," the Four-armed Greater Demon shortly said to the Double-horned Greater Demon. 

"Alright, our landmass is about to connect with the rest. Brace yourself for impact, and don't foolishly fall off to feed the abyss."

Rumble!

The floating landmass shortly connected with the colossal staircase-in-the-making, causing the entire landmass to shake terribly like an earthquake. 

"Ahhh—!"

Several Lesser Demons fell off, nonetheless, despite the prior warnings of the Greater Demons. 

However, a few winged Lesser Demons quickly broke their fall with a flap of their wings while the rest continued to plunge their doom, disappearing into the abyss beyond redemption.

"Hahaha, stupid demons. Look at them fall!" a Low-rank Battle Masters pointed with a hearty laugh as if he was looking at a bunch of clowns making a fool of themselves. 

The other Battle Masters shortly joined in with short peals of laughter while making their own ridiculing remarks at the demons.

Leon squeezed his way to the front and met up with the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman and the others he was familiar with.

"Ahh, Young Master Leonhardt. You've made it," the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman greeted before he chuckled softly, "You had me worried that you weren't going to make it. It would have been impossible for you to get in once the secret realm is fully opened." 

"You mean inside of this wall of dark clouds?" Leon glanced back at the revolving dark clouds before he said, "I feel the power of space infused into these dark clouds of darkness. Is there any difference between being outside the dark clouds and being in the wall of dark clouds?" 

Leon understood that they were meant to be inside the space within the wall and not inside the wall of dark clouds itself. 

As such, he felt like there would be a problem. 

"Difference? Of course, there's one!" the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman stated before explaining further, "Being outside the dark clouds means not being able to enter the Eternal Night Secret Realm at all." 

"On the other hand, if we stay inside this wall of dark clouds, we will be transported into the Eternal Night Secret Realm, albeit randomly, meaning we will all be separated. Still, it's a better situation than facing all those Lesser Demons and Greater Demons over there directly."

"I see…" Leon knitted his brows together before he said, "That makes sense… We are, after all, severely outnumbered. If we had the entire elites of the Infertile Plains, then we might have been able to stand our ground." 

"However, with only 700-odd number of us, it is impossible to take on the elites of the demon land. Otherwise, the demon's territory would have been conquered long ago if that was possible, right? Senior?"

"Precisely so," the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman nodded.

"Still," Leon added with a deep frown before shifting his gaze to the side, "If we were going to be transported randomly and become separated, there's also a chance that we will land right in the middle of the demons or traps in the secret realm if we are unlucky."

"Yes, Young Master Leonhardt. That possibility certainly exists," the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman did not deny the chances before saying, "However, there is no such thing as an opportunity without danger when seeking fortune in the Eternal Night Secret Realm." 

"The Eternal Night Secret Realm is no ordinary place. On the contrary, it is extraordinarily full of danger—some of which are even greater than what the demons pose. That is why I have suggested not to bring your lovers along, Young Master Leonhardt."

The One-Eyed Venerable Shaman smiled wryly as he spoke. 

Despite his advice, the Divine Doctor still decided to bring his lovers, especially the native one. There was a high chance that she was going to die on this trip—at least, that is what he believed. 

Nevertheless, the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman did not rule out the possibility that Young Master Leonhardt had some unique life-saving means to keep them all alive. 

Leon frowned in deep ponder for a moment.

After flashing the unconscious Chief Baskara being held by a Crimsonfog Tribe's Battle Master beside the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman, Leon mentioned, "If I'm not wrong, there's a less likely chance of being separated if we keep contact with one another."

"You're right, Young Master Leonhardt. That method certainly works," the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman admitted before adding, "However, the power of transportation will be strong and unstable, potentially forcing us out of contact. As such, it is not exactly a fool-proof solution and still possesses a certain level of risks."

Even so, if the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman did not even have some level of confidence, he would not be bringing the unconscious Chief Baskara either. Otherwise, he was practically sending the person to his doom. 

Nevertheless, it should not be long before Chief Baskara awakens from his slumber. 

Rumble…!

The skies suddenly shook from a surge of energy bursting out of the obelisk and shooting straight into the spiraling dark clouds above, causing everyone to pause and glance over. 

"The staircase has completed construction," the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman narrowed his eyed before grabbing hold of Chief Baskara's arm tightly and said, "Seems like the secret realm is about to be opened, Young Master Leonhardt." 

"It's my first time experience it, but it does seem to be the case," Leon nodded before he quickly called, "Aria! Darlene! Duna! To me, now!"

"We're right here. No need to shout," Duna picked her ears nonchalantly as if her hearing had been affected before she said, "Just focus on your two little birds. I'm the least of your worries."

"Duna!"

"Fine…!" 

After Leon shot her a stern look, Duna complied, albeit unwillingly and reluctantly, as they joined hands after Leon grabbed hold of Aria and Darlene's hands.

"Everyone, if you don't plan on going solo in the Eternal Night Secret Realm, now is the time to grab onto your teammates!" the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman hollered.

"Young Master, pardon our offense!" a Battle God Palace's Battle Master said. 

After Young Zion gave the nod, the twenty Extremity-rank Battle Masters bundled together with him like one big sausage fest. 

At the same time, the other Battle Masters quickly formed small parties of their own, grabbing hold of their chosen teammates, who were mainly just members of the same tribe.

"What are you doing?" a Low-rank Battle Master questioned with a slight frown after one of his teammate's grubby claws latched onto his sword.

The teammate, who was also a Low-rank Battle Master, glanced back calmly and said, "No homo, bro."

"…"

Shortly after all teams were settled down, Leon transfixed his gaze on the talent point of the colossal staircase, where the obelisk was located, standing tall and pointing into the heavenly spiral of dark clouds that continued to feed on its string of red and black light.

"The Shaman King's Successor must be up there…" 

"Right, but that demon shouldn't be of any concern since it is fated to die after the opening, Young Master Leonhardt," Chief Valencia spoke after reaching Leon's side, intent on joining his party. 

However, seeing that the young master's party was already occupied with just his lovers, she decided to drop the idea and go solo in the Eternal Night Secret Realm.

"How do you know for sure that the Shaman King's Successor will die after the secret realm is fully opened?" Leon casually asked. 

"This is because the Shaman King's Successor will be fully drained of all their strength, body and mind, after opening the secret realm and become braindead with multiple organ failures, eventually leading to death. It has always been the case—at least, according to what had been recorded in history," Chief Valencia explained.

"Oh?" Leon raised an eyebrow and before asking further, "And does this history includes the past two secret realm openings that the humans missed out on?"

"Well… no," Chief Valencia paused with a frown. 

Shortly after, Chief Valencia's expression changed abruptly before she asked, "Young Master Leonhardt is suspecting that the Shaman King's Successor will survive the opening drainage?"

"Well, I wouldn't rule out the possibility. If the past Shaman King's Successors' deaths were a result of lacking strength, wouldn't the problem be solved if they were stronger?" Leon mentioned. 

Chief Valencia's frown deepened. 

But before she could think further, another surge of energy shot into the spiral of dark clouds and finally opened up an enormous and gloomy-red portal.

In that instance, space quickly destabilized, sucking Leon and everyone else standing inside the wall of dark clouds into the heavens like numerous red vein-like streaks of lightning flashing through the cumulonimbus clouds of darkness, disappearing therein.