Rain was unaware of the conspiracy brewing against him. After emerging from his retreat, he sent messages to Siobhan and Lily to share his news and invite them for a meal. However, they declined as they were out of the city, solving a case in a nearby town.
Left to his own devices, Rain treated himself to a large meal, his first in over seven days, having sustained himself solely on energy pills during that time.
On the way to his home, he found that the city had granted him three additional days of holiday along with 1,000 merits and 50,000 credits as a reward. He knew that the city rewarded individuals based on their talent upon advancing to the True Body Realm or C-rank Genetic Warrior, but he was surprised to learn that his reward was the highest ever recorded. This recognition reaffirmed his exceptional talent.
With such abundant merits and credits, Rain briefly considered shopping for advanced True Body techniques but decided against it for now. Instead, he wanted to delve into the memories of his first clone's exploration of the secret realm. He was curious to compare the Weird Domain of his current world with the secret realms of the Star Immortal World.
Upon returning home, Rain freshened up and settled into bed, ready to absorb the memories of his two clones.
He chose to observe the second clone's memories first, deciding to save the first clone's experiences for later, allowing himself more time to analyze them thoroughly. To his surprise, he discovered that his second clone in the Alchemist World had advanced to the Peak Phantom Crown Realm.
Initially, Rain assumed this breakthrough was connected to the creation of his True Body practice method and the vitality rules embedded within it. However, he soon realized that this was not the case. The advancement was instead attributed to the mastery of the Energy Bomb spell.
After the life seed merged with the body's cells, the clone gained the ability to control outer vitality energy. Although the Energy Bomb did not possess profound vitality rules like the Vitality Body, it demonstrated how to manipulate vitality energy effectively. Rain knew that mastering a technique to its fullest extent often leads to an understanding of the underlying rule behind it.
While Rain had been wholly absorbed in creating the True Body practice method and advancing through two realms consecutively, his second clone had unexpectedly mastered the Energy Bomb technique.
This mastery was the result of a combination of factors: the first clone's practical combat experience using the Energy Bomb spell during the first day inside the secret realm, and the second clone's focused and diligent training.
However, Rain realized that such a method might not work as effectively for other techniques unless one already had control over the energy underlying the rules.
Every living being possesses vital energy within their body, but the true question lies in whether they can consciously control it.
Thanks to the Life Seed, Rain was able to manipulate outer vital energy—a feat his main body and the first clone could achieve using radiation energy or true energy.
In contrast, the second clone had no access to such external energy sources and was forced to rely solely on outer vital energy to practice the spell.
The Energy Bomb technique, which emphasizes the application of energy—or vital energy in this case—proved instrumental in helping the second clone advance to the peak Phantom Crown Realm.
With this progress, the second clone began practicing the Thunder Sword Technique, a quasi-mortal realm skill. According to the classification in the Alchemist World, this technique aligns with a quasi-virtual Crown Realm—or quasi-third realm—level. Once fully mastered, even if the clone did not immediately advance to the Virtual Crown Realm, it would at least reach the quasi-Virtual Crown Realm.
However, time was of the essence. The clone needed to advance to the Virtual Crown Realm within a month, as the conditions outside the mountain were becoming increasingly perilous. Fire elements were surging, and there was a marked increase in activity among fire elemental beasts.
The region, home to thousands of volcanoes, was notorious for its violent eruptions every decade, during which most volcanoes erupted simultaneously. When this occurred, the entire area became inhospitable to all but fire elemental beasts.
Trapped within a hollow mountain surrounded by active volcanoes, the clone faced a dire predicament: if they did not leave in time and the volcanoes erupted, they would be baked alive within the mountain's confines.
They could also not use the underground waterway they had traveled through earlier. The underground river had heated to boiling, and increased monster activity made it impassable.
Their only viable escape route before the volcanic eruption was trailing the surface. However, the surface was teeming with monsters as strong as those in the 4th Realm.
If the second clone could advance to the Virtual Crown Realm, its illusions would become so realistic that most monsters would be unable to detect them.
This would allow the group to escape the volcanic region safely and reach the Southern Human Kingdom Realm, as indicated by the position of the stars in the sky, which placed them south inside the volcanic zone.
Returning to the Spirit World was another option, but it would require taking a longer and more perilous route through the City of Freedom, where arrangements would need to be made for someone to retrieve the princess.
The central and western human kingdoms were far too dangerous for an alchemist, given the overwhelming influence of the Church in those regions. In contrast, the Southern Human Kingdoms, closer to the City of Freedom, had been significantly influenced by alchemists, weakening the Church's power there.
Rain resolved to assist the clone if it appeared that mastering the Thunder Sword Technique—more accurately described as the Bio-Electricity Sword Technique—was beyond its reach. However, the terminology of the Star Immortal World lacked the precision to describe such advanced concepts.
The memory of the second clone ended with him practicing the Thunder Sword Technique. Rain then began absorbing the memory of the first clone. It started with the clone taking a short rest after a week-long retreat, and about an hour before the scheduled gathering time, the clone left his room.
Initially, Rain thought the memories were trivial, so he fast-forwarded through them until the moment the clone, aboard a flying boat, arrived at the center of White Moon Lake. Opposite them was another boat, crafted entirely from bones, carrying members of the Earth Devil Palace. These two groups were to enter the secret realm together.
As the boats approached, elders from both sides performed a ritual to open the gateway to the secret domain, which hovered above the lake. When the two boats neared the entrance, 30 individuals from each side leaped into the portal, including the first clone.
When the light appeared in the first clone's vision, Rain observed the first clone landing inside the secret realm. Surveying his surroundings, Rain noticed tall grass stretching all around the clone, reaching up to his head. Before the first clone could locate his teammates, the sound of wolves howling echoed through the area.
With the long grass obstructing visibility, the first clone was unable to spot the wolves but could tell their howls were drawing closer. He commanded the soul chip to pinpoint the direction of each howl. Meanwhile, he raised his right hand in a handgun gesture, standing perfectly still as the howls grew louder.
The soul chip swiftly displayed the direction of each approaching howl. The clone aimed his "handgun" in one of the directions, where an energy bullet began forming at his pointed finger. He fired toward the source of the howl, and a second later, a wolf's cry confirmed a direct hit.
With precision, the clone turned and fired energy bullets in rapid succession toward the remaining howls, hearing the whimpers of wolves either dying or gravely injured.
Only three wolves managed to escape unscathed from his attacks and emerged to confront him. However, their strength was insufficient. Rain's clone dealt with them effortlessly, as all three wolves were only at the 1st Rank Initial Realm.
To maximize the use of the corpses, the first clone summoned the vitality flame and cast it on one of the wolf corpses. The body burned completely, leaving no ashes, while the vitality flame grew larger and stronger.
The clone repeated the process with the rest of the wolves' corpses, and when he absorbed the vitality flame back into his body, he felt the influx of energy within it. Rain planned to use this newly acquired energy to refine his heart further.
As the vitality flame began refining his heart, the first clone tapped on the bracelet he had been given before entering the secret realm. A map appeared, displaying the locations of all his teammates. The clone started walking in the direction of the nearest teammate.
While moving, he noticed a marker on the map stop moving. It began blinking red—a signal for help. Closing the map, the clone immediately broke into a run toward the distressed teammate.
He was willing to assist, understanding why the super sects were so intent on participating in this secret realm. The creator of the realm had left behind their inheritance in the core area, and losing even one teammate could weaken their group, especially against the Earth Devil Palace team.
Rain watched the memory of the first clone struggling to run through the tall grasses. After some time, the clone emerged from the dense vegetation onto an open field that stretched endlessly toward the horizon. In the distance, he spotted one of his teammates locked in battle with three opponents, while a fourth stood a short distance away, observing the fight.
The first clone quickly scanned his surroundings, noting two teammates bursting out of the tall grasses on either side of him. However, his attention was drawn to another figure emerging—not an ally, but a member of the Earth Devil Palace. Two of his teammates immediately diverted their focus, charging toward the newly arrived enemy.
Without hesitation, the first clone, alongside another teammate, sprinted toward the ongoing battle to assist their beleaguered comrade.
As the first clone approached, he realized that Jin Ku, his teammate, wasn't being besieged by three members of the Earth Devil Palace as initially thought, but by three corpse monsters.
Their appearance was eerily identical to the corpse monsters that had attacked the first clone back in Wutan City. Without delay, the first clone joined Jin Ku in battling the undead creatures. Meanwhile, another teammate, Wu Meina, charged directly toward the figure standing at a distance, whom they deduced to be controlling the corpse monsters.
Rain sped through the memory, observing as the battle dragged on for over an hour. During this time, additional teammates arrived, but so did reinforcements from the Earth Devil Palace.
To their dismay, every member of the Earth Devil Palace appeared to control at least three corpse monsters. Despite the first clone managing to surprise and kill one of the Earth Devil Palace members before she could release the corpse monsters stored in her spatial bag, the team was still outnumbered.
Ten of the first clone's allies, all weaker than the first clone, were pitted against seven members of the Earth Devil Palace, each commanding their undead troops—totaling 26 corpse monsters.
Though the first clone's team fought valiantly, it was a losing battle. They were significantly outnumbered, and while their average strength surpassed that of the Earth Devil Palace members, the tide of the battle turned heavily against them.
Luck, however, was on their side. As the sun began to set, it became evident that they needed to find shelter before nightfall. Staying exposed in the open after dark would mean certain death.
Both teams instinctively separated and ran toward the depth of the secret realm, with the first clone taking the lead and his teammates following closely behind as they ran deeper into the secret realm. Beyond the open field lay a mountainous region, known for its caves—potential sanctuaries against the deadly rain infused with death energy that would soon fall, obliterating anything alive.
Rain sped through the memory, watching as the mountains' outlines gradually came into view. Just as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, the group managed to enter a cave.
From their vantage point, they observed a dramatic transformation of the environment outside. Moments earlier, the sky had been clear, but now it was shrouded in dark clouds. Grey rain began to pour, disintegrating grass, trees, and any creatures unable to find shelter. Within ten minutes, the once-thriving field had been reduced to a barren wasteland.
At night, nothing significant could occur within the secret realm, forcing the first clone to remain inside the cave. Rain skipped through the memory to dawn, when a light green rain began falling. Remarkably, the barren wasteland seemed to reverse time, transforming back into a thriving field.
Exiting the cave with his team, the first clone and his companions were immediately attacked by a pride of mountain lions.
Among them was a powerful 9th Rank demon lion. Knowing that engaging the mountain lion in close combat would result in severe injuries even if he managed to kill it, the first clone kept his distance, attacking the beast with Energy Bombs. However, the lion retaliated with a Stone Spear spell, forcing the first clone to conserve his energy and switch to his sword for combat.
The battle against the pride was evenly matched, with each teammate occupied by a lion. Meanwhile, their teammates who had remained outside the group were marked on the map, showing 11 individuals standing in a specific location.
Three of them soon arrived to assess the situation. With their reinforcements, the team swiftly overwhelmed the pride. Among the new arrivals was Yu Lie, who assisted the first clone in defeating the strongest lion.
After slaying the lion, the first clone claimed its demon crystal, while Yu Lie took the carcass. Seizing an opportunity when no one was paying attention, the clone consumed the demon crystal. Without the vitality flame, such an act would have been unthinkable.
As the vitality flame burned the demon crystal inside his stomach, earth energy escaped, which the first clone directed toward his stomach's cells, beginning its refinement with earth energy.
Without delay, the team regrouped and resumed their journey, heading toward the location of their other teammates.