Everyone looked at Krune as if they had seen a ghost!
A secret realm entrance? Below us? What? How? Who am I?
Yusa was the first one to recover and immediately asked.
"Are you sure? How is it possible that there is a secret realm here, and no one noticed?"
Krune looked at Yusa as if he was looking at an idiot.
"How do you expect me to know? It was by coincidence that I was using my Divine Sense during our fight. Because of that, I was able to see that there is really a thing like what Shinja described around two kilometers under the ground!"
Everyone took a deep breath. If there is really a secret realm just below them, they might have struck gold! It was then that Krune threw a bucket of ice-cold water over their heads.
"Before we even think about entering, let's think about the risks."
"First, is the master of this realm dead?"
"Second, even if he is dead, would he simply leave it open like that for us? As far as I know, he might be a remnant soul waiting for a vessel to eat the bait."
"Third, if this is really a gate to another closed space, why would it be open now? Coincidentally, there is a certain realm that is also open at the moment. Chances are that this is just another entrance that no one found yet. Didn't we just refuse to enter around that place a month and some days ago?"
"Forth, let's pretend that it isn't any of the previous options. As far as I know, secret realms usually are full of demon beasts, traps, formations, guardians, etc. So, what are the levels of those things? As far as I can see, it could very well be infested with Divine Soul or higher realm demon beasts, etc."
"Fifth, if this gate has been opened for a very long time, why haven't any of the living beings inside used it to leave? I can see with my divine sense that the arena around the gate is completely sealed, and no one stepped out in years. Chances are that it will trap us as soon as we enter."
Krune put an even more serious expression on his face and said.
"I could keep on talking for an entire day about it, do any of you want to enter this gate now?"
Shinja finally came to understand why Krune was the leader. Even with this finding, he hasn't lost his cool mind for even a second. They would eventually reach the same conclusion as Krune. Still, Krune was the only one to not be affected by the fortunes that might exist inside. If this isn't a leader's quality, then she doesn't know what it is.
Or at least, that was what she thought for a second before Krune continued.
"That's why we are going to sell this information to the guild first, we are going to be rich, RICH! HAHAHAHAHA!"
Krune's leader image in Shinja's head crumbled as fast as it was formed.
'I better not expect anything in the future.'
Yusa hugged Krune straight away.
"Money, Money!!!"
Both of them jumped around celebrating.
Seeing that, Shinja started to consider if she should leave as soon as possible before she gets affected by the same virus.
Ao ignored the two idiot's happiness and brought them back to reality.
"Are you sure you want to sell this information? Let me tell you something that you probably don't know yet then. If we sell this place location to the guild, the only ones with authority enough to deal with it are the elders or the guild head himself. Of course, they are all the way back at the Headquarters, but that's not the main issue. The problem is that blood contracts are useless."
Krune was taken aback.
"What do you mean with blood contracts being useless?"
Ao explained.
"Blood contracts put a restraint on the soul, but Divine Soul experts can ignore and wipe out such restraints. Unless you know someone between the higher-ups of the guild that you trust, I think it will be easier for us to be killed after giving them the information instead of getting any payment what so ever."
Yusa immediately intervened.
"Would they really kill Krune or Shinja? The two of us is one thing, but Krune and Shinja are super-geniuses of the guild, you know?"
Shinja was the one to talk this time.
"I agree with Ao. If the gains overcome the losses by a great margin, they probably would prefer to play it safe. It doesn't matter how much of a genius we are, in the end, we are just Foundation Establishment cultivators. Nothing hard to replace. Remember, a dead genius isn't a genius anymore."
Ao nodded.
"Correct! The thing is, this could very well become a personal secret realm for the guild to send only it's most trusted members. In front of such an opportunity, the life of two geniuses isn't worth much."
Yusa asked again.
"Then what if we auction it? That way, several powers would know about it, and that would give us safety."
Shinja shook her head.
"It won't work. To protect the Furiu realm from being invaded by the powers of other continents, all the top clans, guilds, and sects gathered together their experts to protect it. Even if we put it for auction, no one will buy it. That's because it wouldn't be a secret anymore. In the end, they know that the information will leak one way or another, and all powers will have to defend the place again. The buyer will then lose any rights over it."
Krune was feeling gloomy.
"I didn't expect that blood contracts are useless against Divine Soul cultivators, that's totally unexpected. In that case, I want to hear everyone's opinions about this. But remember that what I said earlier is still valid, entering without preparations is absolutely out of the question."
Shinja then gave an idea.
"We can use a puppet to test if it can at least come back from the gate. If it can, we can check the video to see what it saw on the other side. We can make our decision after that."
Krune and the others immediately accepted the idea. Fortunately, Yusa just so happened to have a puppet herself. It was a very weak one, though. Its power was only between the 2nd and 3rd stages of Qi Condensation. Krune couldn't help but ask why she had a puppet.
"Isn't that obvious? With this thing, I don't need to do any chores like wash clothes or prepare my meals. It's really convenient, and it can also record and share videos. It's a must-have item for every lady cultivator who travels a lot."
Shinja nodded. She, too, has one of those in her spatial ring.
Ao and Krune just looked at each other. They had never thought about buying one before, but they might the next time they go back. Just the 'no need to care about chores' was enough to pick their attention.
Yusa went forward and set up a concealing formation so that no one would find them in this place. This time it was a good one. Early stages core formation demon beasts and cultivators would have a hard time to see through without paying attention to that place specific.
"Well, let's dig."
Even though they are cultivators, to dig two kilometers underground wasn't simple. They had to share the job with each other, and even so, it took them almost four hours to reach the sealed cave. Fortunately, although cultivators would specialize in one element, it didn't mean that they couldn't use the others. So they all used Earth Element until they got all the way down.
They were all surprised when they saw the gate for the first time. The elements were really spinning around the gate, and it was quite beautiful. They looked around, and just as Krune said, it didn't seem like someone stepped inside this sealed cave in a very long time. Krune tried to probe inside the gate, but his Divine Sense couldn't pass through, so he could only look at Yusa.
"Alright, it's up to your maid puppet now."
Yusa nodded and some orders to the puppet, after injecting enough spiritual energy, the puppet came to life and started moving in the direction of the gate. After it entered, Yusa lost her link with the puppet. Still, it was okay, Yusa had ordered the puppet to record its surroundings while waiting for ten minutes before coming back. That was to test if the puppet would be trapped inside or not.
"What if it doesn't come back?"
Krune shook his head.
"I don't know, but let's hope it will. If not, we better not enter it before we reach core formation at the very least."
Time passed, and when it was finally ten minutes, a ripple appeared on the gate. The puppet then walked out of it as if nothing had happened. But for some reason, everyone looked at it as if it was made of gold!
"Quick! Transfer the recordings to our communicators."
Yusa nodded and sent the recording of everything it saw to everyone's devices.
It turns out that the place the domestic robot appeared was also a sealed cave. Although it looked different from the one they are in, it doesn't change the fact that it also had no exit. With that, one of their first questions had been answered. Why haven't the living beings of the secret realm used this exit to leave? Because they probably didn't even know it existed at all!
But it was also good, at least they would be safe after entering. Of course, that is considering the entrance would not close before they came back. The bad thing is that Krune's group can't say if the ambient outside of that cave is hostile or not.
The group pondered a bit until Krune decided to talk first.
"Alright, the good thing is that there is no danger after entering. As far as we could see, there were no formations or traps either. If I'm not wrong, the gates had been prepared like that on purpose for its owner to use it when the time comes. That time would probably be when it had to escape straight away, so the expert who built it might even be alive still. Of course, this is just a conjecture."
"The problem is, without entering, we won't be able to find anything else. Sending puppets inside to excavate their way up is out of question too. If that cave is as deep as this one, there is no way a puppet that we can afford can finish going up in a short amount of time. Not to mention that it will keep running out of spiritual energy too. In the end, if we want to know what is inside, we will need to enter. What do you think?"
Yusa raised her hand.
"I say we enter! We decided to not go into the Furiu Realm mainly because of the risks of getting in a fight with other cultivators. However, now there are no cultivators or demon beasts from other powers entering with us. If even in this condition, we can't take the risk, then we might as well stop cultivating. To cultivate is to go against the heavens in the first place, so we should take this opportunity."
Ao Sulian agreed with her statement, their group had already given up the Furiu Realm after all.
"Good, now we just need to decide who will enter. Because in case the entrance closes, the ones who stayed can simply spread the news to all powers at the same time. No guild will try to kill that person anymore since it will not be a secret that can be held in the end."
Ao was the one to talk this time.
"I say we should enter together."
Krune looked surprised at him, could it be he didn't hear what he just said? But he waited for Ao to explain anyway.
"I might not know if it's too dangerous or not, but I know that I wouldn't be able to sit still while waiting for you guys to come back. If the portal closes and the group that entered doesn't come back, those who stay will only feel guilty about that. At least, I would think that if I was there, I might have helped more than if I was here guarding a portal that closed. Fortunes and risks walk hand in hand. Since we believe each other, we should confront everything that comes at us together. Besides, even if the portal closes, it doesn't mean that there are no other exits. Not to mention that whatever we find will be ours. In my opinion, the gains overcome the risks."
Yusa also agreed with Ao. She is a money-grubber, but she still puts the blockhead and mister cool guy as the most important for her.
Krune sighed and didn't say anything more. If Yusa and Ao entered, he obviously would stay behind, waiting to see what will happen with them.
At that moment, Krune, Yusa, and Ao looked at Shinja.
"That being said, the decision lies on Shinja's shoulders. If she says we go, then we go, if she says we stay, then we stay. We trust your decision."
Shinja was taken aback, why would they leave the final decision for her? She was feeling a little sad at first. She heard those three talking but felt like she wasn't supposed to be there. That they might not even care her opinion in the first place. But it turns out that they decided to trust her as the decision-maker. It might not be appearing on her face, but she felt really moved at the moment, this goes to show how much they consider her own will.
She looked at the gate, and determination appeared on her face.
'If they can trust me like that, then I shall trust them as well!'
She looked back at her new friends and smiled, something that she wasn't used to normally doing.
"I say we confront risks together, share the fortunes together, and if fate dictates so, we die together. We shall enter!"
Yusa immediately jumped over and hugged her, she was really happy.
Krune and Ao just smiled after seeing that, Ao then sent a message through Divine Sense to Krune.
"It seems like our group got a new member."
Krune nodded.
