CHAPTER 325: CHAPTER325-THE SECRET OF THE EXILE PLANE

Hardman hesitated. His mind was nearly shattered from countless years of despair, yet that did not mean he had lost all reason.

On one side was the god he had devoted his soul to, the deity he revered with unwavering faith.

On the other was the burning desire for freedom, a longing so intense it gnawed at the remnants of his sanity. Which path was he supposed to choose?

His heart was wracked with turmoil.

He knew all too clearly that if he wanted to leave this damned Exile Plane, he would need to reveal something—something tied to the Goddess of Gold and Silver, Aurelia.

Preferably, a weakness, some kind of flaw. But how could he betray his goddess?

The thought alone was intolerable. To turn his back on the goddess he worshiped was unthinkable.

And yet...

A thought slipped into his fractured mind.

What he did not realize was that every one of these thoughts, each desperate calculation, was already exposed before Daniel’s psychic perception.

Hardman’s internal monologue flickered within Daniel’s awareness:

[Perhaps I can use the secrets of the Divine Realm as a bargaining chip for my freedom. Even a being this powerful surely cannot enter the Divine Realm. If I can offer him this information in exchange for leaving this cursed place, it might be worth it.]

[O great Aurelia, please forgive me. Please show mercy. I cannot endure this prison any longer. Surely with your divine wisdom, you anticipated the plight I now face. Perhaps you entrusted me with this secret precisely so I could use it in a moment like this to escape.]

Having convinced himself, Hardman finally made his decision. He sent out a wave of mind power, his message trembling as it reached Daniel.

"Esteemed one, I no longer place my faith in Goddess Aurelia. I carry within me a secret of the Divine Realm. If I share it with you, would you grant me freedom from this place?"

But his message received no reply.

His plea sank into silence, as though cast into an endless sea with no echo.

For someone nearly drowned in despair, hope was an intoxicating drug.

To glimpse even a shred of it was enough to ignite a fire in the heart.

But to have that glimmer torn away in the very next instant was torture worse than death.

Hardman’s trembling form quivered in fear.

"Esteemed one, my lord! Are you still there? Please, I beg of you, take me away from here!"

He did not know that every thought he harbored was laid bare before Daniel.

And for Daniel, extracting the so-called "secret" of the Divine Realm from Hardman was laughably simple.

There was no need for negotiations, no reason for an exchange.

All it required was a touch of psychic suggestion, a whisper that would pry open the deepest recesses of memory.

And so Daniel began to gently layer hints into the minds of these wandering souls.

One by one, he tugged at the threads of their thoughts, unraveling their secrets.

Secrets buried for eons spilled forth like water from a cracked vessel.

And when he uncovered the truth hidden within—Daniel’s lips curved slightly.

So that was where it was. He chuckled to himself in satisfaction.

After summoning the Tree of Faith, Daniel left it anchored in the Exile Plane.

He ignored the desperate cries of the souls that swarmed toward it.

Their pleas went unanswered.

The reality was that even if he had wished to save them, there was nothing he could do.

The divine skill Flashback was bound solely to himself.

It could not carry others away.

And his earlier imprisonment techniques, the ones that had allowed him to capture lower-ranked beings, were useless here.

Every creature in this forsaken realm was at least above level 300.

None of them could be forced into his storage.

Rescue was not an option.

And so, when he activated Flashback, his body blurred and vanished from the Exile Plane, reappearing in the region of the Storm Sea.

This time, his objective was clear. Without hesitation, he plunged headlong into the depths of the ocean.

He had only just entered the deep waters when something in the shadows fixed upon him—a Mimic Hunter.

The creature resembled a grotesque octopus, its form shifting seamlessly with its surroundings.

Its camouflage was near perfect, and its presence could barely be distinguished from the seafloor.

It was a predator, patient and deadly.

Its power had reached the bronze rank, and it stood at level 300.

On the Continent of Ten Thousand Races, such a monster would be a nightmare.

Even seasoned awakeners might fall prey to it.

A careless step, a moment of complacency, and the Mimic Hunter’s ambush could inflict irreparable damage.

But here, in the depths of the Storm Sea, the Mimic Hunter lived a life of fear.

Surrounded by mightier and more terrifying creatures, it dared not reveal itself unless it was absolutely certain.

A single mistake, and it would be torn to shreds by predators far beyond its strength.

Still, this one had taken the gamble.

It lashed out at Daniel in the shadows, lunging for its prey.

Daniel did not even spare it a glance.

The moment the creature moved, he invoked the Divine Thunder Shield.

A brilliant surge of elemental power burst forth, a storm of divine lightning.

In an instant, the Mimic Hunter was reduced to fragments, its body utterly destroyed.

Here in the Storm Sea, Daniel could feel it clearly—the element of thunder surged with far greater force.

The resonance was stronger, the power amplified. The Mimic Hunter never stood a chance.

Its ambush ended in less than a heartbeat, its body shattered by lightning into nothingness.

Daniel did not slow his pace. Without even looking back, he pressed onward, swimming deeper into the abyss.

After traveling for a time, a massive structure emerged in the gloom ahead. It was an ancient gate, a portal carved into the seafloor itself.

[Ancient Deep Sea Portal]

This was it. According to the murmured thoughts he had plucked earlier from the Exile Plane’s lost souls, this was the gateway leading to the home of the deep-sea murloc tribes.

And somewhere within this domain, hidden away in the fathomless waters, lay the treasure he sought.

While his true body explored the ocean depths, his avatars scattered across distant realms.

One ventured to a crystalline island, discovering a cave hidden beneath jagged cliffs.

At the deepest point of the cavern, guided by the Eye of Insight, Daniel finally uncovered rare materials hidden away by careful hands.

Another avatar pressed into the Divine Realm itself, yet another set forth across the Lava Island.

One by one, his fragments explored, searching, gathering, weaving knowledge into his design.

Elsewhere, across a sea of dunes and ancient stone, Daniel’s presence appeared once more beside Milla.

She turned at the sudden arrival, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Lord Daniel—you returned from the Exile Plane so soon?" she exclaimed. "I never imagined you would return even faster than you did from the Mental Plane! How did you do it?"

Daniel did not bother to answer her question. Instead, he spoke calmly, his gaze steady.

"There are several places I wish to visit. Can you guide me to them?"

He listed them one by one, his voice smooth and unhurried.

"The Forest of the Nether Sea, the Caverns of Hell, the Continent of Shadows, and..."

The names rolled on and on, dozens of them, each stranger and more distant than the last.

Milla’s jaw nearly dropped.

She stared in astonishment, unable to understand.

Why would he wish to travel to so many places immediately after returning from exile?

Each location he named was perilous.

Some were so remote that even she, with her knowledge as a demigod, had never heard of them.

Others were steeped in dangers so dire that even she dared not enter.

She gathered herself, suppressing her confusion, and gave a helpless laugh.

"Lord Daniel, the places you speak of are far too distant, and many are filled with unimaginable dangers. Take the Forest of the Nether Sea, for example. Even I, at the level of a demigod, cannot directly enter. And the distance—there are too many barriers, too many planes. Even if I used teleportation gates without pause, it would be impossible to reach them in a short span of time."

But Daniel only smiled faintly.

His expression remained calm, untroubled, as though the dangers and distances were meaningless.

His gaze swept over her, steady and unwavering, and he spoke with quiet assurance.

"That doesn’t matter. We’ll go as far as we can. Think of it as a casual excursion, nothing more. What do you say?"

His words were simple, yet beneath them lay a confidence that unsettled her.

He did not merely intend to wander.

He had purpose. He had design. And though Milla could not see it, Daniel’s path was already set.