CHAPTER 678: INVESTIGATING SECRETS

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The Profound Heaven Realm was beautiful despite being an ancient battlefield.

It’s littered with abandoned weapons, haphazardly made graves, craters produced from clashes, and filled with all sorts of battle scars. Yet despite the grim reminders of what happened here, everything created a fascinating sight that attracted all sorts of people, which is why it was turned into a tourist spot.

Cedric’s entourage led him deeper into the realm. Despite his request, he didn’t hear any complaints from them. They obeyed his request without any questions, though he did notice that some of them had varying reactions to this.

He could already see what’s in there despite the distance; however, it wasn’t as clear as he’d like it to be. There was a strange force that was interfering with his vision, but only a little bit. He could still see the general state of the area but not as crystal clear as he could see the rest outside of it; that’s why he wanted to go there. It piqued his curiosity, after all.

Along the way, Cedric could sense many people eyeing his carriage. Most were common folk; others were mysterious but strong people trying to guess his background.

There were some bold ones who tried approaching his entourage. Probably hoping to hitch a ride or something. But his entourage weren’t some bunch of ordinary people. Each one came from a respected background. They could sense intentions right away and could respond accordingly to the situation, preventing any further escalations if possible. If someone were to push a little too much, Cedric has no doubt that they will be dealt with shortly after.

Killing was prohibited here. The council has long discontinued any possibility of combat happening in the Profound Heaven Realm because they didn’t want to risk destabilizing the situation of the world.

But this rule only applies to a certain group of people, ones that are far beneath Cedric’s actual status. As a Scarlet VIP of the Golden Bangle Bank, he could get away from many things, so much so that even now he’s still surprised by it.

He did remember to not let this get to his head moving forward, though.

But yes, it would be a bad idea for anybody to force his or his entourage’s hand. That only results in a certain doom for the other party.

Fortunately, the remainder of the tour was peaceful. No escalations happened whatsoever. Although some did try their luck, they were chased away by the fierce aura of his entourage.

By the end of the day, they arrived near the core area of the Profound Heaven Realm. It was faster than he expected but not at all surprising, especially since this thing was a treasure in itself and he didn’t bother stopping at other places.

The core area of the Profound Heaven Realm is where the changes in the entire realm began. It’s where he felt that strange mysterious force that’s altering the environment. It’s also this same force that’s interfering with his vision.

Cedric’s interest was piqued enough for him to actually step out of the carriage, deciding to continue forward on foot.

"Sir?" The driver of the carriage was stunned when he saw him coming out.

The rest of his entourage was also surprised. To this, Cedric just shook his hand and said,

"You’re all good, don’t worry." He dispersed their worries with these words. "I just want to see the core area personally instead of looking at it from a screen."

The whole entourage looked visibly relieved when he said this. They probably thought that they didn’t do a good job with this whole tour, but that couldn’t be any further from the truth. What Cedric said was the truth; he did want to see what makes this place so unique personally rather than searching for it from a screen.

Cedric ignored them as they kept the carriage away and prepared to follow him on foot. Instead, he opened his eyes slightly wider this time to figure out what’s really going on around these parts.

Through this, the world looked different for him compared to what others see. Cedric was now looking at the very bare bones of this world’s structure. His vision was submerged into a sea of complex lines and shapes that made up this realm.

’Oh.’ He blinked and was a little surprised.

Cedric saw something faint, leading deeper into the core area of the Profound Heaven Realm. It was different, and he was confident that this was the tail end of the thing that caused this place to mutate into this special state, but he doesn’t know what exactly it is just yet.

Not even needing to glance behind him, Cedric told his entourage that they’re moving on. He already knew that they were just waiting for his orders even without looking back since he could see them with his wide-ranged and encompassing visual prowess.

The tension and killing intent in the air became thicker the deeper they went. The amount of intelligent echoes also rose the closer they were.

Initially, Cedric’s entourage was preparing for some confrontation. After all, these lingering dead spirits had nothing else to lose, so they tend to be mischievous. It’s not uncommon for them to provoke or even directly drag people into a dream, forcing them into a life-and-death duel.

But miraculously, even after hours of walking, they’ve yet to find any spirits wanting to mess with them, even though they could see other groups struggling with the same spirits.

Moreover, this wasn’t their first time here. This same entourage has led other VIPs to these depths, also going on foot on some rare occasions. Yet none of them had ever been this calm and easy. They even discussed a plan for this to, hopefully, make this tour smoother for their client. Yet it seems that their preparations were unnecessary.

This evidently puzzled them, and they couldn’t help but look at their Big Boss, which is Cedric, because he’s the only one who looked relatively calm and normal about this; therefore, they all thought that he was the one making this happen.

And they’re not wrong. Cedric was, indeed, the one making this possible.

It wasn’t really that hard. Ghosts, no matter how intelligent they remain even without their bodies, are just that, ghosts. In their senses, Cedric was a walking sun, radiating blinding and scorching light and heat that they must avoid at all costs lest they provoke his ire and he decides to completely get rid of them, because he could and he absolutely would if they dared to disturb him.

This is why even the craziest of the lingering spirits here didn’t dare to approach them. The whole entourage was a huge no-trespassing zone for them.

Cedric just didn’t feel the need to explain himself. His entourage also didn’t ask anything, so he stayed silent.

Besides, his focus wasn’t really there; it’s on the environment instead.

The deeper they went, the clearer the area became to him. His assumptions were proven correct; there was indeed something here that’s causing all this mutation. It wasn’t just a mere coincidence; it was on purpose.

What purpose exactly? That remains to be seen. But it helps to know that this wasn’t all just happenstance.

Cedric ordered for the entourage to stop for a bit for rest. They’ve been walking for about 12 hours straight now, so it’s about time, anyway. It wasn’t really necessary because none of them were ordinary people, but he did it anyway.

He returned to the carriage to take shelter while the rest tended to their own needs. He told them that they’d resume after eight hours and also informed them not to go beyond 10 miles away from him, or else the lingering spirits might start attacking them.

This practically confirmed their initial guess; it was indeed him that was keeping the entire entourage safe. They’d worry about him, but it doesn’t look like he’s tired or exerted from doing any of this, so they just kept their mouths shut.

Instead, they just enjoyed how calm and easy this tour turned out because of this. No need to overcomplicate things when it’s not needed.

Within the safe confines of his carriage, Cedric continued analyzing the environment. He looked dumb staring at the ceiling for absolutely nothing, but that couldn’t be helped; nobody else could see what he could see.

The complex lines and shapes he usually sees when he analyzes concept laws during training became different here.

At some point, it started making no sense, going completely out of their usual way, the one he’s used to seeing. It’s these changes that truly piqued his curiosity because things like this usually don’t happen.

To top it off, Cedric learned that these changes were artificial. Something was causing all of this to happen, and now, he’s gotten curious enough to decide that he’s not leaving this place unless he discovers what’s causing this or until the very last day of the cruise’s stay in this realm.

’Whatever it is, it’s strong enough to cause the very structure of concept laws to adjust to it. That alone is worth my attention. I just hope that it wouldn’t turn out to be a disappointment.’