The Myriad School's great assembly bell didn't ring; it hummed, a low-frequency vibration that rattled the teeth of every student from the lowest stable hand to the highest Inner Court prodigy. In the center of the Jade Plaza, Elder Karl stood before a massive archway carved from dragon-bone and obsidian—the Gate of the Obsidian Secret Realm.
"Listen well," Karl's voice boomed, cutting through the murmurs of the crowd. "The Secret Realm is not a playground. It is a 'pocket' of the Ancient Era, a fragment of a world that died ten thousand years ago, stitched into our reality by the founding masters of Douff. Inside, physics is a suggestion, and the Qi is ten times as dense—and ten times as volatile."
Elder Karl unfurled a scroll that glowed with a hazardous red light. The rules were simple, yet brutal:
The Anchor Rule: Each student is given a Void Token. If it breaks, you have ten seconds to reach an exit portal or be permanently unstitched from existence.
The Harvest Tax: 30% of all medicinal herbs and spirit stones found must be turned over to the Sect. Hiding resources is punishable by immediate expulsion—or "accidental" abandonment in the realm.
The Sovereignty Clause: Inside the realm, Sect laws are suspended. "Accidents" happen. Conflict is expected. The Sect only cares about who comes out with the most treasure.
Usually, the Secret Realm was reserved for those who had reached the Fifth Stage of Body Refining. But as the Elder's eyes scanned the crowd, they lingered on Vincy, who was currently trying to untangle his Void Token from his frayed sleeve.
"By decree of the High Chancellor and Lord Vane," Karl announced, a hint of reluctance in his voice, "the 'Sparrow' of the Outer Sect is granted emergency eligibility. His 'unique' constitution requires a high-density environment for... stabilization."
A roar of protest went up from the Ancestral Clan disciples. Cyrus, Baron's older brother, stepped forward, his fists smoking with Crimson Forge Qi. "A peasant in the Secret Realm? He'll be dead in an hour! You're sending a lamb into a den of tigers!"
"Then the tigers should have no problem proving their superiority," Karl replied coldly.
"A lamb, he says," Piet cackled in Vincy's mind. "If only they knew they were sending a spark into a powder keg. Vincy, the Obsidian Realm isn't just a fragment of the past. It's a graveyard of my people—the Star-Scripture mages. Deep within the 'Valley of Whispers' inside that realm, there is a Lunar Refraction Mirror. If we get it, I can project a physical decoy of you. You could be scrubbing stables and fighting in the Secret Realm at the same time."
"Piet, I'm more worried about the part where the laws are suspended," Vincy whispered, clutching his Void Token. "Cyrus looked like he wanted to turn me into charcoal."
"Oh, Cyrus is the least of your worries," Piet said, his tone shifting to a chilling seriousness. "Look at the rooftops."
Vincy glanced up. Hidden in the crenellations of the library, the Shadow-Stalkers of Solis were watching, their dark cloaks absorbing the sunlight. Near the gate, a group of "Merchant Guards" were checking their crossbows—weapons tipped with Qi-negating poison.
"They aren't going in after you," Piet noted. "The Realm's portal is too sensitive to high-level auras. They are going to wait. They're going to let you do the hard work of harvesting the treasures, let the students exhaust themselves fighting you, and then... when you step out of that portal, tired and wounded..."
"The ambush," Vincy swallowed hard.
"Exactly. The exit portal is a bottleneck. It's a kill-zone. Every faction in the kingdom—and a few from outside it—is currently setting up a reception committee for the moment you return."
Vincy looked at the swirling vortex of the Secret Realm. It looked like a hungry mouth. "So, stay in and die, or come out and be captured?"
"Or," Piet's voice took on a regal, predatory edge, "we find a third way. We go into that realm as a sparrow, and we come out as a hurricane. Now, move! The portal is stabilizing!"
With a final, terrified glance at the hidden assassins on the roof, Vincy Sparrow stepped into the void.