Chapter One Hundred Ten: The Demon King Appears! 1024? The Villagers Give Thanks!

However, right behind Lin Yi, a vast swarm of demons, ghosts, and zombies controlled by Zhao Qilin launched a concerted attack, pursuing him relentlessly. Consequently, as Lin Yi fled, he had to turn back from time to time to deal with these creatures.

"Sealed and archived low-level demon zombie, rewarded with ten days of internal energy."
"Sealed and archived low-level zombified ghost, rewarded with three days of internal energy."
...
Fighting his way through, Lin Yi estimated that the time was nearly up and suddenly accelerated!

These filthy things, the strongest of which were merely A-rank demons or ghosts, were no match for Lin Yi’s speed. This time, unburdened by extra weight, he unleashed the full velocity of the "Word-Step Secret." In the blink of an eye, Lin Yi had vanished without a trace.

Inside the blood-red pillar of light, Zhao Qilin’s eyes, glowing with a sanguine glare, showed extreme displeasure.

"A bunch of trash! You couldn't even take down one person in a group fight. As expected, I must refine this young talent named Lin Yi. Those with poor strength and potential are useless—they are nothing but waste. No matter how many there are, they cannot replace the advantage of quality... Tsk, tsk, tsk... Young man, wait until I break free, and I will come looking for you... As long as this secret realm doesn't collapse, do you think you can escape? You cannot break the space barrier... I am not in a hurry, I am not in a hurry..."

"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!"

As he spoke, countless streaks of blood-red light emanated from Zhao Qilin, multiplying instantly. Outside, more demons and ghosts were being transformed into controlled zombies, causing the dim consciousness of the fragmented barrier space to come under immense pressure.

In the end, seeing that all the demons and ghosts had been routed and were unable to offer any resistance, Zhao Qilin swept everything away with overwhelming superiority. With no other choice, the dim consciousness within the small barrier space roared, emitting sounds like bubbling water.

In an instant, the ominous energy permeating the space swirled together like vast sheets of snowflakes, rushing toward the blood-red pillar of light and causing the ominous energy to surge in intensity. Unfortunately for the space, the blood-red light emanating from Zhao Qilin also intensified. Conversely, the entire small barrier space became increasingly precarious... tiny cracks appeared across many of the spatial walls!

It was truly on the verge of shattering! Approaching the limit!

"Just a few more seconds... and I will... usurp the consciousness of your secret realm... No... wait... you... you... Demon King... how are you... still not dead... Ahhh... Demon King’s blood essence, didn't I refine you already..."

"No... it’s the damned Demon King Pearl... there was another drop of Demon King’s blood essence hidden inside... A trick, it was all a trick... Twelve Demon King Pearls, twenty-four drops of Demon King’s blood... Ahhh... I am not resigned to this... Melt, melt, melt for me..."

Suddenly, the situation took a drastic turn! Zhao Qilin let out a terrified scream, his tone filled with absolute horror!

With a bang, a sky-covering aura began to ripple violently within the fragmented space, and the blood-red pillar of light erupted with an intense crimson glare! Layer upon layer of demonic energy permeated the area! The aura felt similar to the ominous energy, but with an additional, sinister quality.

...

Lin Yi, utilizing his speed, quickly caught up with the exhausted and injured Brother Bai Ke and the others. If not for the struggling villagers from the Tenth Group of Shanghe Village, they might have traveled much further. But because of these people, their pace had been significantly slowed. Moreover, Bai Ke and the others had been wounded by the evil spirits earlier, so they could not move very fast, even while carrying others.

"Damn it... I feel like the 'Slaying Nerve' should reward me with a pet mount or a cloning technique like Lady Huang Jiuniang’s. If that were the case, I wouldn't have wasted so much time..."

Seeing the situation, Lin Yi knew that catching up to help would likely slow them down significantly, but he could not simply ignore them. He hoped that the next time the "Slaying Nerve" issued a reward, it would be a pet mount or a cloning technique.

"A cloning technique would be best. That way, I'd have a spare, a trump card. I wouldn't have to fear death—if there were danger, I'd just send the clone in..."

While daydreaming, Lin Yi caught up to them. Seeing that Lin Yi was unhurt, Bai Ke and the others breathed a sigh of relief. Of course, deep down, they were certain that Lin Yi would not be returning. The words he had spoken earlier—about going back to bully Zhao Qilin after dropping them off—must have been intended to provoke the monster.

"I have to say, Brother Lin, you are ruthless. You scared us to death when you said you were going back to bully Zhao Qilin. If it were me, I wouldn't have been able to say such a thing. I truly admire your courage; you have such a grand outlook. No wonder you are a young talent and I am not."

Bai Ke managed a rare joke, though his voice was weak; his injuries were simply too severe. Lin Yi didn't dwell on it, instead saying, "Brother Bai Ke, you should focus on healing. Don't worry about anything else. Let's keep moving; trust me, we will definitely make it out this time."

Zhang Xu and the others completely overlooked one thing. They assumed that as soon as they reached the edge of the secret realm, a gap would appear, and they would be able to leave. They had no idea...

Twenty minutes passed, and no demons or ghosts pursued them from behind. When they finally reached the edge, they looked ahead and were struck with despair. In the sky, clusters of ominous energy were rapidly flying toward the center of the secret realm. Directly in front of them, rising from the ground, was a wall of light formed by the intertwining of endless silver-white and black radiance.

Clearly, this was the spatial barrier of the secret realm. According to official terminology, these were the walls of the small barrier space. The reason for the black and silver-white light was the constant intersection of spatial and temporal rules, which formed these textured rays. To exist as a separate space, it first had to have different temporal and spatial rules than the outside world. This is the logic behind one space-time being adjacent to another.

Bai Ke took an energy detector out of his pocket—one of the few things he still possessed. Everything else had been lost when he was possessed by the ghost. The detector began to beep, and as Bai Ke glanced at it, his mouth fell open. Zhang Xu and the others gathered around, and their hearts, already heavy with despair, sank even further.

The ominous energy value displayed on the detector had already exceeded ten thousand.

10,240.

Seeing this number, everyone was stunned. Lin Yi stepped forward to take a look, then wondered, "What kind of junk is this? If you divide that by ten, isn't that 1,024? Are you kidding me?"

"It’s over, completely over. We can't get out. I fear that before our bodies even touch this light, we will be turned to dust. Only a Grandmaster has an energy value of over ten thousand. Even with my strength, I only have nine thousand something. Even Brother Lin, since he hasn't reached the Grandmaster level, probably only has nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine at most..."

Bai Ke sighed, "With an energy value like this... it's over, completely over... And this is just the energy value transmitted from certain areas. For this spatial wall alone, if you were to accumulate one square meter of it, the energy value would probably be in the hundreds of thousands or millions!"

"So, this really is a secret realm. Otherwise, it wouldn't have such surging, violent ominous energy combined with the other energies forming the space... I have never encountered such dense energy before..."

Zhang Xu, the most timid of them, listened to Bai Ke and collapsed onto the ground in despair. Soon, however, one of the older men patted him on the shoulder. "Don't be so disheartened. We can look around and see if we can find an exit in another direction. Look, the secret realm seems to be on the verge of exploding; there are large cracks everywhere. Maybe we can squeeze through one of them."

Zhang Xu looked up at the exit in the sky. He and Lin Yi had fallen through that hole to enter this secret realm. Aside from that, could there be others? Regardless, it was a direction to head in; they couldn't just wait here to die.

So, the group gathered their things and began to search. As for the villagers, they stayed where they were, resting. Their eyes, which had brightened slightly, lost all vitality again upon hearing the desperate news. Although they didn't understand "energy values," they understood the implication: they couldn't escape. The spatial barrier blocked everything; they couldn't return to their own world and were trapped in this so-called secret realm.

Two young girls, constantly being eroded by the ominous energy, began to cry as the men guarding them could no longer protect them fully. The old man, Zhang Laohan, stood up. He knelt and thanked the investigators from the Supernatural Investigation Bureau, especially Lin Yi, to whom he kowtowed three times. Following his lead, the villagers of Shanghe Village collectively kowtowed to the investigators. Even the agents who were staying behind to channel their internal energy to protect the villagers could not stop them.

Lin Yi had turned away, intending to take out the "Slaying Nerve" to see if he could shatter the spatial barrier. He hadn't brought out the Tiger Ghost-Head Saber or the relics in front of everyone because he didn't want to expose his storage space. Similarly, he only took out his badge occasionally for the same reason. Seeing their anxiety, he wanted to act quickly, but decided to wait a moment longer. He hadn't expected this fragmented barrier space to be a high-tier item; the ominous energy and the other energies on the wall were simply too high. Aside from the "Slaying Nerve," he couldn't think of anything else in his possession that could breach the spatial barrier.

Hearing the thudding of their foreheads against the ground, Lin Yi looked back. He was deeply moved. The villagers, already half-dead from exhaustion and frail of body, were kowtowing with such force on the hard, ominous-energy-infused ground—which was filled with sand, soil, and sharp rocks—that their foreheads were bleeding.

After standing up, Zhang Laohan said, "Thank you, noble ones, for saving our lives. We are but common folk. If you can leave, please go, and don't worry about us."

"By the way, Dayu and my god-granddaughter Li Feng—if you can get out, please take them with you. As for us, it doesn't matter if we die here... we aren't as important as you. If you can get out, you can save other common people in the future. We don't matter. Noble ones, you don't need to use your own—is it energy?—to protect us anymore. Save your strength."