Long Huan took Hannah into the Harmonious Balance Haven, carefully making sure not to have any of her appendages touch the wall of the secret realm which would be unusually sharp.
Alex followed behind them, and then the two elders followed behind him. Zhan Luoyang, however, didn't enter.
Alex stopped and looked back at her. "What are you doing?" he asked. "Come in."
"I can't," she said, a conflicted look on her face. "This is as far as I go, unfortunately."
"You're not coming any further?" Alex asked.
"I can't," she said. "Or I won't have a way to leave. I would be stuck inside the secret realm."
"Stuck inside?" Alex asked in surprise. "I had assumed you would be going all the way. Were you not planning to go to the Southern Continent?"
"I…" She really hadn't been planning that at all.
"Come on, sister Luoyang," Long Huan said. "You've helped us this long. You can't stop now. Besides, your absence can help make Alex's absence look not as severe too."
The woman looked to be in a dilemma for a while, but in the end, she sighed. "I suppose," she said and walked into the secret realm. Her troubled look was still there, but a slight hint of determination peeked through now.
The walls of the secret realm closed back in miraculously after the woman walked in. Miraculous to everyone but one.
Alex turned around and took a proper look at the secret realm that lay in front of his eyes.
The land was uneven, with mountains and cliffs jutting out in every direction. Forests grew atop those mountains and cliffs, with grassland growing on the plains.
Alex and the rest stood atop a large settlement of massive rocks, thrown at the side of a river that seemed to be running dry for now. He settled his footing and looked back at the rest.
"Where to now?" Alex asked Long Huan.
The young man took the lead and looked around. He closed his eyes, spreading his spiritual sense to find the location.
Alex looked at him with curiosity. He had only met this new relative of his just yesterday, but that should've been enough for him to figure out how strong he was. However, no matter how he sensed it, he couldn't tell Long Huan's strength.
He knew for a fact he wasn't very strong. At least, not as strong as his brother. But that would still put him high up in terms of cultivation base. Alex wondered what cultivation base he was in, and more importantly, how exactly he was hiding it so well. The impression Alex got was vague, just like others would through the passive use of his Immortal Concealment technique.
"There!" He pointed toward the south.
Alex's spiritual sense moved in that direction and found a grassland, beyond which was a cave, inside which was the Void. There really was a Voidgate here.
"A Voidgate, huh?" Godslayer's voice flowed in Alex's head. "Interesting."
He made no more comment.
"Let's move," Long Huan took command and carried Hannah in his aura, flying into the sky. The rest followed.
"I don't suppose any of you have been through a Voidgate before, so I realize I should maybe explain it a bit," Long Huan said. "In short, it connects two points in space, creating a tunnel between the two that you can pass through to come out on the other side."
"The travel takes an hour at most and in that time, you will have to let the gate do its thing and take you wherever it wants to. In this case, it will take you to the southwest of the Southern Continent."
"More importantly, however, you will have to make sure that you don't end up using any Qi while you are inside. You might end up causing trouble for our travel and we could get lost in there forever."
Alex heard the things that the prince said, and while he wasn't incorrect in saying what he did, it seemed he didn't know much either. Alex himself didn't think he knew much, but he definitely knew more than him.
Still, all he said was correct, so it was better not to cause confusion by saying things that weren't necessary. As long as they jumped into the Voidgate, they would come out on the other side easily.
"Ah, I see it now," Yao Ning spoke. "I didn't expect it to be hidden from my senses so well."
"It's a crack in space, elder Yao," Long Huan said. "You can't see it easily with your senses. But you can see it pretty well with your eyes once you are close enough. The vibrant colors of purple and sil—"
Suppression filled the atmosphere around everyone in the sky and all of a sudden they plummeted from the sky, unable to keep flying. They were pushed down so badly that they couldn't even maintain a graceful downfall. They tumbled through the sky and would land on the ground if they didn't do something.
Alex felt pain flare up in his mind as he tried to use his Dao. For some reason, he had to fight back the suppression to use his Dao at all. He couldn't use his Dao of Teleportation efficiently from up here at all.
He had to quickly think of what to do, and at that time he saw the ground grow closer and his shadow become denser.
'Shadow!' Alex thought. And he teleported. He arrived on top of his shadow using the Flickering Shadow technique, a teleportation technique that he hadn't used for such a long time after gaining the Dao of Teleportation. It allowed him to teleport between shadows, and he could always teleport to his own shadow using the technique, regardless of the distance. Since it was also a technique and not a Dao, the headache that he assumed would come didn't come as quickly as it should have.
Still, he hit the ground with the same momentum as when he was falling, but to a Saint Soul 4th realm Body Cultivator, that didn't matter at all. He got back up immediately, bringing out Pearl to help him.
Once Pearl was out, the two of them used their Qi to slow down the fall of everyone, especially Hannah who was simply a mortal at the moment. Her body was still much stronger than a regular mortal, but she was a mortal nonetheless.
Everyone landed with grace thanks to the two and Elder Yao immediately grunted in frustration. "What was that?" she asked. "Why did we fall?"
"It's the secret realm's suppression field," Zhan Luoyang said, flexing her palm to feel something. "Our cultivation base is suppressed to Saint Condensation 1st realm, I believe."
Alex frowned and checked his Qi. He tried to pour more strength out, but something was blocking that. It was even blocking regular Qi in the atmosphere from becoming too strong. As such, Dao didn't work either.
"Flight is blocked too?" Liang Shufen asked with a frown.
"I'm afraid so," Zhan Luoyang said. "That's how the formation here goes. Still, this doesn't make sense. Why are we being suppressed here?"
As soon as she asked that, someone's spiritual sense passed through the entire secret realm, immediately locking onto them.
Alex sent his spiritual sense back and felt his heart grow cold in fear. He slowly spoke to let them know what was happening.
"The Dragon Emperor is here."
