After Yasenia spoke, the one who suggested going forward hesitated for a second.
One of his friends commented. "Hey, how about we wait for a bit and go with the Sect Master?"
The man pondered, but a woman at his side snorted and said with disdain. "How can you say something so cowardly? Learn from senior brother, and let's go together! Senior brother, I'm following you!"
The man gave Yasenia one last look and saw that she was looking forward with an emotionless expression as if she didn't hear them.
He nodded and spoke. "Then, follow me."
About six people rushed from her group, blending with the tens of thousands running forward.
Laurina's green dragon wings flapped with dissatisfaction. "Yasenia, you should have killed them."
The rest looked at Yasenia, curious, and saw a cold smile appearing on her lips. "Why bother with dead people?"
The senior brother saw how much distance they had covered and smiled. "After all, this was the correct option. If we enter first, we might find a powerful treasure that changes our Fate!"
One of the girls commented with a sour tone. "Hmph, Sect Master is not that experienced or strong, yet she acts so arrogantly. It's clear that she is too young and cowardly to guide us in expeditions like these."
A man frowned. "Hey, don't disrespect the Sect Master like that."
The woman sneered. "Do you have a crush on her? As if she will ever look at you. Stop licking her feet and act normal! Heard that she has allied with Matriarch Tengliu with underhanded methods like giving up her body. Or, well, my parents told me. She is a profit seeker covered in a grand robe."
The other five frowned but didn't argue with her. After all, it was clear that this girl was extremely jealous of the Sect Master. Some even looked at her with disdain.
There were many who admired Yasenia, but the other side of the spectrum also existed. Be it jealousy toward Yasenia's strength at such a young age, her achievements, her beauty, her wealth, her love life, her political power, or her treasures. It was normal for some envious people to appear.
When the first cultivator that shot forward from the millions of people to take the lead reached the entry of the Secret Realm, the disciples from the Astral Sky Sect felt a wave of pressure that nailed their feet to the ground.
It wasn't only them; all the people who rushed forward had stopped in their tracks when the pressure from numerous high-level Epoch Core cultivators swallowed them like a tsunami.
Their eyes widened, and they looked up, seeing extremely powerful attacks raining on them.
They wanted to defend themselves, but how could they protect against the attacks from the leaders of the top clans?
BOOOM!
The people who went first were engulfed by the violent energies and died, leaving no one.
The rogue cultivators that were about to rush forward stopped in their tracks and looked at the few leaders who released the attack with lingering fear. 'Thankfully, I waited for a while.'
While those who almost took a step forward rejoiced that they took their time, a handsome middle-aged man with four green wings crackling with fearsome lightning floated in front of the Secret Realm gate and spoke with a deep and oppressive tone. "I'm delighted to see everyone so eager to enter, but please allow us to be first. After all, the fact that you all know about this is because we, the top powers of the continent, allowed the information to leak."
The people who wanted to protest couldn't, and those who wanted to curse at his shamelessness also didn't have the guts to do so. The reason? The beast human who was speaking was actually the Patriarch of the strongest clan on the continent!
The Jade Thunderbird Patriarch!
One of the strongest beast humans of the continent!
The man who had led the Thirty-Three clans for a few thousand years!
Yasenia's face became serious, and she asked silently. 'Alaia, how confident are you?'
Alaia pondered and didn't dare underestimate him. 'I know little about him, but after overestimating him moderately, my first impressions tell me it's a fifty-fifty. No matter how backward, someone who stands at the top of the World can't be weak.'
Yasenia nodded and got thoughtful. 'I'll have to ask Tengliu, Luscia, and Coraline for more detailed information about the leaders so that my maids are more prepared. For this, I need to give up a few advantages I have on them, but it is worth it. The last thing I want is for my dear maids to die here because I was not careful enough.'
The Jade Thunderbird Patriarch nodded when he saw that nobody else moved forward and spoke with an awe-inspiring tone. "Very good. Thank you for your generosity. Now, let's move as we've planned. First, all the juniors of the first-rated sects will move forward."
Yasenia was waiting for this and smiled. This was one of the reasons she was so high-profile on the first day. To get recognized as a first-ranked power so that she could have priority of entry.
She stepped forward and said aloud. "Now, we can go."
Meanwhile, the disciples who almost got carried away were sweating coldly and looking at Yasenia's indifferent back.
One of them stuttered. "S-Sect Master, senior brother."
Yasenia cut him off and said with a flat tone. "They are dead. Either way, with that personality, I doubt they would've survived for long inside the secret realm. Being killed painlessly is a sort of a blessing."
The disciples gulped, feeling the deep coldness from her.
Laurina at the side laughed. "They deserve it for going against little Yasenia's words! Hahaha."
Gorena, the gentle Island Turtle woman, sighed. "Such a shame. A few were good seedlings."
Sarah also felt lingering fear. The attack that swiped the entry of the Secret Realm was so powerful that it made her legs feel a bit weak.
Of all the people, Yasenia's girls were the calmest. The attack was powerful, but compared to the things they had previously witnessed, it was not that much.
While walking inside, Andrea walked beside Gorena, and she appeared unusually slim and normal in comparison. After all, Gorena was half a head taller than Andrea, and she was much bulkier.
They both had a close friendship.
Andrea smiled and asked with her deep and attractive voice. "Gorena, what do you want to get this time?"
Gorena pondered. "Finding a strong body cultivation technique like yours would be nice. However, if that's impossible, I would like to find something to increase my bloodline level. I feel that I'll reach a bottleneck at the peak-level Divine Realm, and finding something to break through that limit would be nice."
Razar, the tiger man, smiled ferociously and joined the conversation. "I hope I can find a technique that helps me to kill faster."
Frisk, the lightning Quilin, snorted. "Can you stop thinking about offense for a second? How about finding a nice defensive treasure or technique? You will eventually be killed if you don't have one."
Razar looked at Frisk with a sneer. "What can my enemies do if they are dead?"
Gorena chuckled. "Listen to us, Razar."
He clicked his tongue and muttered. "I'll try to find something; don't be so naggy. Frisk, Sirae, Laurina, what about you?"
Laurina pondered. "I think that my main aim is Body cultivation."
Sirae agreed.
The short blonde man pondered. "Something to purify my lightning would be nice. Or a Natural Treasure like Evelyn's."
Evelyn chuckled. "Are you jealous? Hahaha. They are not that easy to find!"
Sierra was walking in her human form, looking like a wild Queen, and commented. "If there is a Thunder Soul, I should be able to detect it."
Frisk blinked. "Really?"
Sierra smirked. "But why should I tell you?"
Frisk's lips twitched. "What do you want?"
Sierra laughed. "It's good that you are quick to speak with. I want a drop of your blood essence." Her cold blue eyes shone with a predatory light. "I have felt since the day I saw you that if I devoured your beast core, I would become much stronger."
Frisk felt a chill going up his spine. "L-Let me think about it."
Angel asked while their group entered through the massive portal. "Yasenia, what kind of natural treasures were there?"
Yasenia blinked. "You don't remember, love?"
Angel tilted her head. "I think I only heard about the basic ones but never about all of them."
Yasenia looked behind her and explained. "Well, all of you, listen. In our world, naturally formed treasures exist—the spiritual plants, ores, and similar enter that category. However, not all of them are the same. Accumulations of a single element during a very long time in a single place can create a thing called Natural Treasures. Depending on the element, they have different names."
Yasenia explained the names of the Natural Treasures for non-mutated elements. "We can start with the basic elements: Heaven-Born Flame representing Fire, Heaven-Born Spring for Water, Heaven Born Earth-core denoting Earth, Heaven-born Alloy for Metal, and Heaven-Born Heartwood symbolizing Wood."
"Then, for the uncommon elements, Gale Soul represents Wind, Thunder Soul for Lightning, Lava Soul for Magma, Forest Soul representing Nature, Glacial Soul for Ice, Night Soul embodying Darkness, Luminous Soul for Light, and Crystal Soul representing Glass."
"Finally, for the rarest elements, we have Stella Essence representing the Star attribute, Solaris Essence for the Sun, Luna Essence for the Moon, Fatum Essence for Fate, Anima Essence for Life, and Letum Essence for the Death attribute."
A disciple titled her head and asked. "So, basic Natural Treasures are considered Heaven Born, uncommon are Souls, and rare ones are Essences?"
Yasenia nodded. "That's right. While Heaven-born Natural Treasures usually have a physical body, Souls are more ethereal, while the Essence can't even be perceived normally. Bonding with a Natural Essence Treasure is enough to change a normal person into an unrivaled genius that can soar to the sky and beyond."
The dragoness looked at Andrea and Evelyn and asked them to showcase them.
Andrea summoned her brilliant red [Star Born Searing Flame] and Evelyn her black-colored [Storm Roaring Thunder].
Kali had the [Whether Controlling Primal Stone], but its kind was different since it was a shattered Natural Treasure that did not classify in the list Yasenia just explained. Of course, Kali had already bonded with it deeply, so if there were any shards nearby, she would feel them.
What would form after she found all the shards was something that not even the seniors were sure about. Yet, they at least knew it would only benefit Kali.
Ebirah also walked in her adorable human form and grabbed Andrea's hand, completely changing the subject. "Will there be bad beasts that want to eat me here as well, Andrea? If so, you have to tell me so that we can fight together! I've grown a lot and am very strong!"
Andrea unsummoned the Heaven Born flame and patted Ebirah's long pink hair with a smile. "There will be many. But even if they come, you can beat them up!"
Ebirah's purple-pink eyes glowed, and she smiled proudly, her crystal-like lobster tail flopping up and down.
Ebirah ran and grabbed Angel's arm. "Right! Right! Angel, we should go hunt and beat a few of those rude beasts!"
Both women were of similar height and looked like sisters from different mothers because they were both quite adorable.
Angel smiled and nodded. "Okay, Ebirah! But remember that we must target those stupid enough to attack Yasenia first."
Ebirah chuckled. "Of course! I'll crush their skulls like Mommy taught me!"
While the two cute girls had quite a chilling conversation with adorable tones and expressions, Yasenia looked around and saw an enormous forest appearing before her vision, expanding toward the horizon with a few mountains here and there.
It looked endless.
They were finally inside the Secret Realm. Unlike the Secret realm Yasenia entered previously, there weren't any teleportation gimmicks, and everyone just stepped inside through the large passage that appeared at first.
After taking in the landscape, Yasenia turned toward the disciples and smiled. "From now on, all of you are free to explore as you like. Remember to check the communication device every day at midnight. If any of you don't answer the calls for two weeks straight, you'll be considered dead unless you reconnect with us. Even then, when the secret realm is closing, someone from our sect will be waiting for five days at the Secret Realm's entrance in case you lost the communication device."
"Yes, Sect Master!"
Yasenia nodded at the energetic shouts. Then, she declared. "Remember what you've learned, and have a lucky and bountiful Treasure Hunting!"
Everyone got excited and quickly formed groups to start investigating the secret realm.
******************************************************************
Author: We are inside!
Evelyn: Hohoho, so excited~.
Angel: Those pitiful people had quite a sad ending.
Yasenia: If you don't respect the powers of the World, you are just asking to be killed by them.
Author: That's right. I summon you!
WPOmega: Hello, it has been a while!
Andrea: Welcome back.
WPOmega: Tatyana and Evelyn, I have a question for you two.
Evelyn: Oh? Quite a strange combination.
Tatyana: I can somewhat imagine what you are going to ask, but go ahead.
WPOmega: I wonder, can images of Yasenia be purchased with Astral Points from the sect similar to how they were through her Fanclub?
Evelyn: Hahaha, so this was it?
Tatyana: As expected, hahaha.
Evelyn: Well, we are not doing that. And the reason is quite simple. While the fan club is just that, a group of people who admire Yasenia from the bottom of their hearts, the sect is not.
Evelyn: The sect is an organization with serious training and systems implemented. Yasenia needs to maintain an image, and selling pictures of her would make her look very bad.
WPOmega: That bad?
Tatyana: Imagine the CEO of the company selling their photos for a part of your monthly salary.
WPOmega: Yikes.
Author: Yup, that's why it doesn't happen.
WPOmega: Thanks for answering!
Author: No problem!