The Natives of This World Are Fierce

Su Su’s authority over the Secret Realm had been fully unlocked. She could now feel the realm’s immense power swirling around her.

Deep within the Secret Place, the hidden Technique Array pulsed with a faint light. Countless Magic Energy Crystals, arranged like constellations, orbited one another and unleashed a torrent of boundless energy.

Sister Su felt an illusion of omnipotence, as if her Magic Power had been amplified ten millionfold. She felt like a single gesture could summon mountains and tsunamis.

She knew it was just the mental feedback from suddenly wielding such immense power.

’So this is the power of the Association Secret Realm? Just how powerful are my Mentor and Sister Hong to have created something like this?’

Seeing that Su Su had acclimated to the Secret Realm’s power, a black Wrist Rope on Qin Xiaoxia’s arm automatically detached itself, transforming into a long, black whip before him.

This was the first time the members of the French Branch and Sun Monkey had ever seen Master Sage’s weapon. Sun Monkey momentarily cast aside his gloom, unable to contain his overwhelming excitement.

The scene was so much like the Ruyi Golden Cudgel he yearned for in his heart.

’I have to get stronger! I have to get stronger!’

He felt that if he could just become strong enough—strong enough to live up to his name—his Mentor might just, no, *would definitely* give him his very own "Ruyi Stick."

Qin Xiaoxia had no time to worry about the others’ inner turmoil.

He tightened his grip on the long whip as the Magic Power in his body ignited in a frenzy, erupting into scorching purple flames that blazed along the whip’s dark length.

With a flick of his wrist, the black whip snaked through the air, carrying the flames as it stabbed straight toward the center of the Magic Mirror. Its afterimage seemed to stretch on infinitely, and the immense Magic Power it carried made the very space around it tremble.

With a soft PFFT, the whip pierced the mirror’s surface. The flames upon it instantly erupted, widening the breach.

Miraculously, the entire Magic Mirror began to expand along with the opening.

"Su Su, don’t space out!"

"Ah! Right!"

Sister Su immediately activated the Secret Realm Power. All the magical symbols shone like mirrors embedded in the Secret Realm Wall. From the void, innumerable powerful chains shot out, wrapping themselves around the breach in the Magic Mirror.

They coiled around the opening like countless iron chains around a ring, locking it firmly in place.

...

Within the mirror’s world of mountains, Brown and Luna endured the piercing screech of the Demon Eye. Brown didn’t dare make another sound, for fear of provoking the massive, unknown Demon.

The Eye of Void vented its inner fear and unease in a frenzied outburst, then its enormous, multicolored pupil suddenly locked onto Brown.

It desperately wanted to understand the source of this unknown danger, but this fierce little monster seemed to have no intention of answering its questions.

’In that case, I’ll just devour it. Maybe I’ll get lucky and absorb some of their fragmented soul memories. If I’m really lucky, I might even stumble across a useful clue.’

Brown and Luna suddenly realized the piercing pain in their ears was gone. The sharp sound had vanished, and the Demon’s eye had silently closed the distance, now just as near as it was before.

This was bad. This was very, very bad.

Not only did a bone-chilling cold envelop him, but Brown also felt his blood and Magic Power freeze over. His body had returned to the state it was in just moments before, outside the mirror.

He was completely paralyzed.

Before the massive eye, in the space above and below them, a pitch-black cloud of Magic Power gradually formed, looking like a pair of closing jaws.

All around the mountain peak where Brown and Luna stood, countless wails and tormented screams arose with the appearance of this dark cloud of Magic Power. Pairs of vicious eyes stared fixedly at them.

The warmth drained from their bodies and souls.

Two transparent, blurry shadows flickered into existence on the surface of their bodies as wisps of white vapor began to drift off them. The intense pain nearly made Brown and Luna collapse, but they couldn’t even scream.

"You will become part of my power. Abandon all resistance!"

The surrounding wails and cries worked in tandem with the Demon Eye to assault their willpower. The more a soul gave up, the higher the chance it could be stripped of its essence and have its memories extracted.

"Give up, and the pain will cease!"

Brown could still barely endure the pain; the Magic Power and blood in his body gave him a sliver of support. But he was terrified for Luna. The little girl’s body was paralyzed, yet it was constantly twitching and trembling.

But suddenly, the Eye of Void’s voice faltered. It sensed that the Magic Mirror had been breached, and the Demon Spirits’ efforts to contain the mirror’s surface now seemed utterly fragile and weak.

Before it could process this...

KRA-KOOM!

A thunderous roar ripped through the sky, but faster than the sound was a massive whip, wreathed in violet flames.

Qin Xiaoxia hadn’t even entered the Magic Mirror’s portal yet, but his whip had already followed Brown’s aura to the critical location.

BOOM! ... CRACK!

The whip was a full six or seven meters in diameter, stretching from the distant horizon with no end in sight.

The violet flames burning on its surface, charged with potent Magic Power and a wrathful energy, incinerated the black cloud of Magic Power surrounding Brown and Luna.

Qin Xiaoxia himself was surprised. He had drawn power from the outer Secret Realm to send his whip piercing through the mirror, and while the part he held remained its normal size, the part inside the mirror had taken on a colossal, "Heaven and Earth"-like scale.

Yet to Brown and Luna, the whip’s flames felt warm and comforting.

For Brown, this familiar power was so thrilling he felt like he could scream like a schoolgirl with a crush.

’It’s Master Sage’s power!’

But Brown’s excitement was nothing compared to the reaction of another.

It wasn’t Luna, but the Eye of Void. Where Brown felt thrilled excitement, the Demon Eye felt nothing but chilling dread.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP...

Around the Eye of Void’s massive form, space itself trembled with every contraction of its pupil. The intense psychological pressure generated crushing spatial forces and violent air currents, causing several nearby mountains to begin to crumble.

"That’s... the... End... less... Abyss!"

The Eye of Void was completely overcome with terror.

The flames on the Endless Abyss were unfamiliar; clearly, its original owner from the creature’s memory was no longer the one wielding it.

’That means Niril Savannah—who was nothing special on his own but acted so arrogantly because he had the Endless Abyss—must be dead...’

’Am I next?’

’Who is this person? What kind of being are they? How long have they been scheming against me?’

Its internal acknowledgment of the being from the Otherworld shifted from "it" to "he."

...

Back in the Secret Realm, Qin Xiaoxia could sense an absurdly powerful Magic Power, but its state seemed unstable. He could also tell Brown was nearby.

He had also heard the exclamation, which was thick with terror and, interestingly enough, spoken in French.

But without actually going inside, it was like trying to see flowers through a thick fog.

He exchanged a look with the Red Demoness, and his solemn expression suddenly relaxed into a smile.

"Let’s go."

One, with silver-streaked black hair, wore a black, hooded robe. The other, with long, flowing fiery-red hair, wore a sea-blue dress.

Together, they stepped through the breach in the Magic Mirror.

The instant his foot crossed the threshold, Qin Xiaoxia grabbed the Red Demoness’s hand. He activated his Magic Power, letting his Perception follow the path forged by the tip of his whip.

FWOOSH!

A figure in black and another in blue materialized in front of Brown and Luna.

Though their forms were much smaller than Brown’s current size, they gave both him and Luna the feeling that they were a barrier against the raging storm before them.

The Endless Abyss shrank back into a whip of appropriate size, coiling flexibly at Qin Xiaoxia’s feet.

Qin Xiaoxia remained impassive, a mysterious smile on his face as he looked up at the giant eye—the same eye that had made his own heart lurch the moment he arrived.

"So you *do* recognize the Endless Abyss."

"Hehehe... But do you recognize *her*?"

Letting go of the Red Demoness’s hand, Qin Xiaoxia gestured with a smile toward the graceful figure beside him.

The Red Demoness’s smile never wavered. She glanced at Qin Xiaoxia, seeming to understand something from the depths of his gaze.

The unique Order Magic Power around her began to circulate slowly, and she dissipated the mist of Magic Power that had been obscuring her from view.

The Eye of Void had yet to recover from the paranoid terror induced by the sight of the Endless Abyss. Hearing Qin Xiaoxia’s voice, it instinctively turned its gaze toward the Red Demoness, who had previously been impossible to see clearly.

Qin Xiaoxia swore that if an official could somehow get here, he’d help them apply for a Guinness World Record.

The Demon Eye was as large as a passenger jet, yet in that instant, its pupil contracted until it was almost invisible.

"Th-this is impossible!!!"

"You... you’re Comir!!!"

What is the pinnacle of fear? What does it take to reach that absolute extreme?

The Eye of Void had never considered such questions, but its current state was undoubtedly the perfect answer.