Chapter 692 - Demon Village
"I did," Leon nodded before he pondered for a moment and said, "Let's just say that I memorized everything but did not get time to review them. Thus, I am not certain if what I need is among them."
The One-Eyed Venerable Shaman opened his mouth, but he did not know how to respond to that.
How was it possible to memorize everything in such a short time? But say that it was the case, how can someone not know what they memorized if it was memorized?
It did not make any sense!
After waiting a moment without a response, Leon changed the topic, "Never mind. There's something I would like to ask, senior."
"Ask away, Young Master Leonhardt," the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman said wryly, evidently not over the last topic.
Nevertheless, Leon was unconcerned with the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman's doubts.
"How do we enter the secret realm exactly? What does the secret realm's opening look like? Is it a type of spatial portal?" Leon inquired.
"To be honest, I have no idea myself as I have never participated in the secret realm before, Young Master Leonhardt," the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman spoke.
"But I have heard it was a type of spatial portal that opens in the ground like a bottomless abyss. But once entered, we would drop out of the sky."
"I see..." Leon uttered with a frown as the information provided did not tell him much.
"If Young Master Leonhardt wants to learn more about the specifics, you can try asking the B
attle God Palace. They have access to more reliable sources of history and special events," the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman suggested.
At that moment, the Battle God Palace group was at the hem of the Battle Masters.
As such, Leon shook his head and said wryly, "It seems I will have to find another time to inquire about it."
"I suppose so, Young Master Leonhardt."
Sometime later, the garrisons quickly opened the black gates for the Battle Masters to enter the other half of the gorge leading to the demon's territory.
Leon studied the black wall briefly, but he quickly discovered the black color was not part of the material but dried bloodstains.
Whether it was the ground or on the sidewalls of the gorge outside the black wall, everything was also stained with dried black blood.
The amount adds up to a staggering volume.
Only the Crimsonfog Tribe was most clear on how much they had to sacrifice to hold the Death Passage and keep the demons at bay in the demon's territory.
Silently, the Crimsonfog Tribe earned some of his respect.
Sometime later, the large group reached the end of the Death Passage before the other side of the Darkness Mountain was revealed.
Without any surprises, it was primarily dark and lightless as one would expect of the place with the highest concentration of Darkness Profound Energy.
However, the warriors of the Infertile Plains were trained to see in the dark. As such, they were able to see much of the vast barren land ahead of them, devoid of life.
The soil was hard and cracked like severe drought while most vegetation had long withered into dust, turning much of what could have been a lush green plain into a barren wasteland with terrible dust storms.
The environment destroyed all hopes for the growth of ordinary plants, but it was the perfect breeding ground for darkness-attribute plants.
In the distance, a few patches of umbrella flowers grew with a soft yet eerie purple glow, slightly illuminating a small area around them, revealing a few shadowy movements nearby.
"Kree?" a horned demon quickly detected the group with a surprised look.
Once the Battle Masters were discovered, Young Zion immediately cautioned, "Uncle Jizo!"
"Yes, Young Master!" Jizo answered.
Within a split second, the Extremity-rank Battle Master flashed into the distance and killed the curious horned demon with a clean decapitating strike before it could put up a shred of resistance.
Shortly after Jizo returned, a Battle Master questioned with a frown, "Why did you kill it? We could have interrogated it and extract some vital information."
"You can speak the demon language?" Jizo responded coolly before stating, "We are inside demon territory now. Unless we want to be quickly swarmed by demons, it will be in our best interest to kill them on-sight."
"The Battle God Palace is right," Chief Valencia agreed with a nod and said, "Letting the demons summon their fellow brethren is the last thing we want to happen."
"Not only will it put us under unnecessary danger, but it will also delay us from reaching the location of the secret realm opening."
Once these words were spoken, the voices of disagreements quickly died down before the large group continued to trek forward in the direction of the enormous swirling dark clouds.
The deeper they ventured into the demon's territory, demon stragglers appeared more frequently, but they were all killed quickly without exception.
Leon took the chance to collect the rare and exotic plains that were able to grow in the demon's territory for later study.
At the same time, the wind grew stronger and stronger.
With the billowing clouds of dust getting caught in people's eyes, many Battle Masters found it difficult to keep their eyes open and were forced to cover them.
Aria and Darlene were among the first to fall victim before utilizing their abilities to ward off the dust from themselves.
Sometime later, the group suddenly paused their advance and scrutinized the distance ahead with narrowed gazes.
"Is that…?"
"A demon village, yes."
After encountering the first demon village, the group's vigilance immediately shot through the roof before a Battle Master suggested, "We should make a detour around it."
"We don't know how many demons are inside, nor their strengths. It's best to avoid this sort of confrontation if possible."
"Agreed."
As many Battle Masters voiced their agreement, another raised his eyebrow and asked, "I thought we were meant to kill all demons on sight?"
"This is an exception. We don't have time to waste," Jizo stated.
However, the Battle Master had another opinion and mentioned, "If we can't even overcome a small hurdle like this demon village here, what chances do we hope to have inside the secret realm?"
Once the question was raised, the group immediately paused in thought.