CHAPTER 521: ENTERING THE REALM.

Hao Ren and Deepu reached back to the settlement after a couple of hours. They did come across some beasts on the way who tried to rob their prey. However, this time Deepu handled them under Hao Ren’s guidance and though it consumed some time. Deepu gained a lot, and Hao Ren didn’t mind this at all because the young man had been calling him teacher all day long.

A middle-aged man was standing outside the village, he was on a guard duty, when he saw the two figures coming over with huge things hoisted on their shoulders. He frowned for a moment and when he was about to call the people out, he heard a few painful beast mows. All the northerners could recognize this sound.

He opened his eyes wide and before he could comprehend what was going on, Hao Ren and Deepu had reached close to him. Deepu saw the man and laughed as he said, "Uncle Kumal, we caught a flock of Thunder Rams, hahaha! We have done what none could."

Kumal rushed forward and came to stand close to the people and he gulped in a mouthful of saliva, and then he looked at the calm Hao Ren who was carrying the leader of the flock. The beast was glaring at Kumal and also struggling to breakway but Hao Ren seemed to have immobilized the beast with his spiritual pressure.

...

Inside the village the entire clan was gathered and they were shocked to see that Hao Ren had come back with Thunder Rams, and they were celebrating. The Chief of the clan came to Hao Ren and said, "Your Excellency, I didn’t expect you to go out and come back with Thunder Rams. This is very prestigious thing, you can probably enter the Gurkha Realm without sacrificing the prey."

Hao Ren replied calmly, "I will leave that for you to handle."

The chief nodded and replied, "It would be my pleasure. Thank you for bringing the honor to our clan. These Thunder Rams would be put through training, and tamed to be the guardian beasts of the clan."

After saying that, the chief went on to quickly handle the situation. Hao Ren and Han Lingshi sat down inside the straw house and the young man asked, "What do you think? Out of the sixteen clans, how many would use internal trade to invite or sent their own experts?"

Han Lingshi looked at him and questioned with a smile, "Would it matter to you?"

Her words caused Hao Ren to smile as he shrugged his shoulders. Han Lingshi said, "Also, hold back on the killing. Don’t leave a huge bloodshed behind."

Hao Ren sighed and replied, "Fine, okay."

*Fucker, you have been flying off the handle a bit too much in the past few years. Time to put a leash on you. Task: Handle the entire exploration and resource gathering situation without shedding a single drop of blood. Reward: Next level of Titan Physique.*

Hao Ren was surprised and asked, ’What the fuck, do we have a next level of this physique?’

*Yes, we do, but did you think I will give it to you for free? Didn’t I tell you the first day itself, fucking work for it like a bitch.*

The young man sensed a twitch on his lip and after a few minutes, he took a deep breath and turned to look at Han Lingshi as he asked, "Did you master your sword technique?"

Han Lingshi nodded and replied, "I did master it a long time ago, why are you asking?"

Hao Ren waved his hand and said, "Come let us spar."

Han Lingshi was slightly surprised and asked, "What is going on with you? Didn’t we spar when you left for the Star Iron Island?"

Hao Ren nodded and said, "Let us spar with a new method. Come along with me."

After a few minutes, they stood in a clearing inside the village, where some snow had accumulated into a pile. Han Lingshi asked, "What do we do here?"

The young man took out his sword and replied, "We would use the swords to carve out the pile of snow into a sculpture with a continuous slash. The best sculpture will win."

Han Lingshi raised her brow and asked, "How valiant of you, discussing a bet without setting the stakes."

Hao Ren chuckled and replied, "Fine, what stakes do you want?"

Han Lingshi thought of something and beckoned him over. Then she whispered something in his ear, which caused Hao Ren to open his eyes wide and then the young man remarked, "You have gotten so naughty, but I like it."

Han Lingshi blushed and smacked on his shoulder. The young man chuckled and then backed off to wield his sword. Han Lingshi didn’t hesitate because Hao Ren was a sword saint, but she calmly moved ahead, and they began to dance.

The two people were on it for a dozen minutes and the results were beautiful. Han Lingshi had carved out a human sculpture that looked like Hao Ren but the facial features were blurred, however, Hao Ren had sculpted statue of Han Lingshi, who seemed to be dancing under the falling snow flakes.

Hao Ren looked at her and said, "It looks like I win."

Han Lingshi sighed and asked, "When did we decide upon a time limit?"

Hao Ren shook his head and said, "No time limit, but your slash has been disturbed. Continuation would mean following the same direction, but you deviated."

Han Lingshi sighed, she knew that she couldn’t outdo this man. So, she could only accept the reality.

...

After a couple of days, the chief of the village came over and said, "Your Excellency, it is time."

Hao Ren and Han Lingshi came out of their straw house and then they followed the village chief. The trio walked on the ground and they traversed the snowy plains for several hours before they reached the base of a glacier.

Hao Ren raised his head to look up and the Village Chief said, "Your Excellency, this is the gathering point, and all the fellow chiefs would gather here to enter the Gurkha Realm."

The two of them nodded, and soon enough, Han Lingshi said, "They are coming."

She found several people approaching the gathering point and they were all as strong as themselves. Soon they found eleven men fashioned in a similar style as Village Chief Kuman, followed by twenty-four more people. While some were dressed like the villagers, and some were dressed like outsiders.

They all stood in a circle looking at each other while the people who were supposed to enter the secret realm were standing behind them. One of the people said, "Kuman, it seems to me that your clan has finally decided to trade the slots."

Kuman shook his head and said, "You ought to worry about yourself, Gurung. Also, since everyone is here, let us get on with the sacrificial ceremony and enter the small world."

Gurung snorted and said, "I wonder what you have gathered as a sacrificial ceremony?"

Kuman smirked and said, "I have a decent catch, but it would depend on the council to decide if they want to use these beasts for sacrifice or not."

Gurung raised his brow and the next moment, Kuman opened the small bag on his waist and a couple of Thunder Rams appeared in front of the crowd. The chiefs opened their eyes wide and they were shocked. Gurung asked, "Did you really catch them?"

Kuman smiled and replied, "These were captured by Senior Hao. So, it does qualify as a legit tribute, but should you slaughter them or not, that’s up to you guys."

One of the other chiefs said, "These two would be sent inside the Gurkha Realm without needing a sacrifice. I would follow the way of the old."

One after the other all the chiefs agreed to letting Hao Ren and Han Lingshi go inside the realm without needing to sacrifice the rams. The other people who were to enter the small world, they were wondering what happened here.

After the votes, the chiefs of various tribes bowed to Hao Ren and Han Lingshi, and then they got on with the sacrificial ceremony. After they slayed ten beasts caught by the entrants, they all drew a cut on their palms and let the blood flow down to drip on the ground.

The blood from the palms of the men and the blood from the slaughtered beasts began to flow on the ground and then it all concentrated into a circular window in the void. The chiefs mumbled somethings under their breaths and then the glacier vanished from the sight, replaced by an opaque film of spiritual energy.

Kuman said, "Senior, you can proceed to go inside, please hold your hands so that you are not seperated upon entry."

Hao Ren nodded but Han Lingshi said, "Won’t it increase our chance to locate the object sooner?"

Hao Ren shook his head and replied, "It would also multiply the risks. Let us go together."