Following Jang Bung's instructions, Hyeon-o entered the 8-Star region.
The first creature it encountered was a centipede demon as large as a house.
'That thing looks strong......'
FREEZE—
The centipede demon's body went rigid the moment it saw Hyeon-o.
It was a reaction born of fear.
"Caw!"
(Yes!)
Hyeon-o was delighted by the centipede's reaction.
It immediately dove toward the ground.
WHOOSH—
Startled by the crow demon's attack, the centipede spewed poison mist.
"Caw!"
(This is nothing!)
Hyeon-o had faced powerful poisonous creatures while traveling with Jang Bung.
It possessed considerable Poison Resistance.
Poison mist of this level did not frighten it.
It easily evaded the centipede's poison mist.
Then it drove its claws into the creature's head.
RIP— RIP—
Hyeon-o tore away the carapace covering the centipede's head with its claws.
Once the carapace came off, the soft flesh beneath was exposed.
Hyeon-o tore into that flesh with its beak and ate it.
SCREECH—
The centipede went berserk from the pain of having its flesh torn away.
It opened its jaws to bite Hyeon-o.
"Caw!"
(How dare you!)
Hyeon-o easily dodged the centipede's jaws.
At the same time, it began ripping off another section of carapace with its claws and beak.
Soon afterward.
The centipede demon had been torn to pieces by Hyeon-o.
"Caw! Caw!"
(This is fun! This is the life!)
Hyeon-o had been starved of this feeling for far too long.
It had always been the weak one.
It had constantly fled from powerful enemies.
Of course, Jang Bung had dealt with the creatures it lured back, but......
That was not truly living.
It had consoled itself by thinking it had won in the end, but......
An unfulfilled frustration had remained in its heart.
It had never experienced the pleasure of a strong creature trampling the weak.
"Caw! Caw!"
(Here! There's a spirit herb too!)
A spirit herb grew near the centipede demon.
The creature had been saving it to eat later.
In the past, Hyeon-o would never have dared covet it, but......
Now it could simply eat the herb itself.
Hyeon-o ate the spirit herb along with the centipede.
It was killing two birds with one stone.
"Caw... Caw."
(Hmm... it doesn't taste as good as I expected.)
Hyeon-o had grown accustomed to the flavor of Jang Bung's spirit herbs and spirit fruits.
This was like growing accustomed to luxury confections from an elite company......
Then switching to cheap street snacks.
It was not tasty.
"Caw. Caw?"
(Did he say the centipede's poison fangs and poison sac were useful materials?)
The poison fangs could be used as materials for magical artifacts.
The poison sac could be used as an ingredient for medicinal pills.
Hyeon-o recalled what Jang Bung had told it.
"Caw. Caw."
(Then should I put them in the storage pouch?)
It placed the centipede demon's useful remains inside the storage pouch.
"Caw!"
(That's a Flame Snake!)
It was a fire snake.
In the past, Hyeon-o would have fled, but......
"Caw!"
(I should kill it!)
After dealing with the centipede demon so easily, its confidence had returned.
WHOOSH—
Taken by surprise, the Flame Snake spat out a fireball.
"Caw!"
(As if I'd let you!)
Hyeon-o dodged the incoming fireball and immediately pecked the creature's head.
Hyeon-o's sharp beak pulled out the fire snake's brain matter.
With its brain torn out, the Flame Snake thrashed for a while before collapsing.
"Caw!"
(That was too easy!)
"Caw!"
(There's a spirit fruit here too!)
Many spirit herbs and spirit fruits grew throughout the secret realm.
In the past, they had been completely beyond Hyeon-o's reach.
Spirit creatures always have owners guarding them.
Hyeon-o had been too afraid of those creatures to even approach.
Now it could kill the owners and eat as much as it wanted.
"Caw."
(It doesn't taste very good.)
The spirit fruit it ate this time was not satisfying either.
Anything untouched by Jang Bung somehow tasted lacking.
"Caw. Caw."
(I think the Flame Snake's gallbladder and flame sac are useful.)
It placed them inside the storage pouch.
Hyeon-o roamed the 8-Star region defeating demons.
Afterward, it placed useful remains, spirit herbs, spirit fruits, and various spirit creatures inside the storage pouch.
"Caw. Caw."
(Should I move on to another place now?)
Leaving the 8-Star region, it headed toward the 7-Star region.
From 7-Star downward, every creature that saw Hyeon-o was busy fleeing.
"Caw!"
(I am Hyeon-o!)
Hyeon-o chased the demons, pecking them with its beak and raking them with its claws.
The demons could not endure even those simple attacks.
The difference in realm tore their defenses apart.
"Caw!"
(This is the life!)
Hyeon-o became the king of the demons in the secret realm.
Every creature trembled when it appeared.
"Caw! Caw!"
(Ha ha ha! Now this is truly living!)
***
Even while hunting demons and demon beasts, Hyeon-o did not forget to gather items in the storage pouch.
"Caw. Caw."
(They don't taste like much anyway. I'll give them to Jang Bung and ask him to grow them.)
Just as Jang Bung had said, Hyeon-o would have a use for them one day.
That would be far more profitable.
Then a thought suddenly occurred to Hyeon-o.
"Caw. Caw."
(Just how intelligent is Jang Bung?)
He knew many secrets and facts that Hyeon-o did not.
Hyeon-o had never once considered going to the outskirts.
It had simply believed that going inward was the natural law.
Hyeon-o had never considered gathering cultivation resources.
The secret realm was littered with them.
There had been no need to gather any.
But Jang Bung had told Hyeon-o that another world existed outside the secret realm.
Cultivation resources were scarce there.
He knew that they needed to gather cultivation resources before going to the outside world.
Jang Bung's intelligence far surpassed Hyeon-o's.
Hyeon-o marveled at his knowledge.
"Caw. Caw."
(Just how strong is Jang Bung?)
Here, Hyeon-o was like the king of the demons.
That was because its realm was the highest.
Jang Bung transcended differences in realm to kill his opponents.
He was a monster beyond common sense.
Hyeon-o's feathers suddenly stood on end.
Goosebumps had risen across its body.
"Caw."
(I was lucky.)
It was fortunate that Jang Bung was its companion rather than its enemy.
If he wished, he could kill Hyeon-o at any time.
"Caw."
(I should gather resources even more diligently.)
The way for Hyeon-o to survive was to remain useful.
It was an intelligent crow.
It flew around the secret realm, diligently gathering resources.
***
"How were the outskirts?"
In response to Jang Bung's question......
"They were so much fun."
Hyeon-o shouted excitedly after returning from the outskirts.
Nothing was more entertaining than hunting demons of lower realms.
Hyeon-o had quickly developed a taste for it.
"Did you bring back anything?"
"A lot!"
Hyeon-o showed him the inside of the storage pouch.
"You worked hard."
"I did well, right?!"
"Yes. Good work."
Despite its love of leisure, Hyeon-o worked hard when given a task.
The storage pouch it had taken was full.
A storage pouch is a magical artifact capable of holding many objects.
It had gathered plenty of spirit herbs, spirit trees, spirit creatures, demon-beast remains, and other things from the secret realm.
"Now go to the mudfield and eat some spirit herbs and spirit fruits."
Work deserved compensation.
"Ah! That's the flavor!"
The spirit herbs and spirit fruits it had eaten elsewhere in the secret realm had lacked this depth of flavor.
Jang Bung was like a skilled farmer.
Anything that passed through his hands grew larger and more delicious.
It was as though he had selectively bred the plants and animals.
Wild bananas and watermelons were not as sweet as most people imagined.
The ones humans eat have undergone selective breeding.
"Now that you've eaten, it's time to work."
TOSS—
Jang Bung took out another storage pouch and tossed it to Hyeon-o.
"Fill this one too!"
***
The center of the secret realm was not very large, but......
The outskirts were vast.
The area of a circle is A = π(radius)².
The farther outward one went, the more sharply the area increased.
"There are still many demons and demon beasts here."
Their remains could be used as materials for various magical artifacts and medicinal pills.
"And bring back any small creatures we can raise."
Just as spirit herbs and spirit trees could be placed inside a storage pouch, so could demon beasts and demons.
Their size was the only problem.
Some demon beasts and demons were enormous.
If they filled a storage pouch with such creatures, even one with a large storage space would quickly become full.
But there was plenty of room for small creatures.
Among demon beasts and demons, some were small in the lower realms but grew enormous as they advanced.
Such creatures were a kind of seed stock.
Jang Bung could store them in a storage pouch and raise them in the outside world.
"All right."
Killing them and harvesting their useful remains would be good, but......
Bringing them back alive would be even better.
Then they could keep raising them like livestock.
"Some of them might become your subordinates later."
Jang Bung did not intend to use the demon beasts and demons merely as livestock.
Once their realms rose, they too would acquire spiritual intelligence.
They would be capable of understanding speech.
Some might be as intelligent as Hyeon-o.
"I'm going to establish a sect one day."
Jang Bung revealed part of his plan to Hyeon-o.
"But... what's a sect?"
Hyeon-o did not know what a sect was.
Jang Bung decided to explain it in a way the creature could understand.
"A gang. It means creating a group."
"Ah... a group. I want a group too!"
Crows naturally formed flocks.
They used their flocks to compensate for their weaknesses.
Without one, Hyeon-o had struggled to grow.
"If I find any useful creatures, I'll add them to your group."
A sect consisted of many cultivators.
It had a pyramidal structure with a narrow peak, requiring many cultivators in the lower realms.
Jang Bung did not intend to fill all those positions with humans.
He planned to fill some of them with cultivators from the demon race.
'That will keep the humans from getting any funny ideas.'
Jang Bung belonged to the demon race.
The demon race and human race were hostile to each other.
Humans also tended to band together.
If things went wrong, human cultivators might unite.
Then they could attempt a rebellion against Jang Bung.
He needed a certain portion of his sect to consist of members of the demon race like himself.
'I'll include some of my own subordinates in the sect too.'
At present, the only subordinates he raised were mud slimes.
But Jang Bung's Reproduction ability could also create Horned Mud Demon Beasts.
However......
[Would you like to create a Horned Mud Demon Beast? Consuming spiritual power and spiritual energy may cause your realm to decline.]
Unlike mud slimes, reproducing Horned Mud Demon Beasts consumed spiritual power and spiritual energy.
'Horned Mud Demon Beasts still aren't especially useful.'
He saw no need to create one at a loss.
But that would change at the next stage.
Starting with demons, the creatures possessed spiritual intelligence and were useful.
Starting with Great Demons, they could proudly be called cultivators of the demon race.
It would not be bad to command such creatures as subordinate followers.
He can exert even stronger control over subordinates than over other creatures.
That would give Jang Bung even greater power within the sect.
"You're saying I'll have subordinates and a group of my own?"
Hyeon-o was overjoyed at the idea of gaining subordinates and a group.
"Caw! Caw!"
(That sounds wonderful!)
It was so delighted that it cried out like a crow instead of speaking through Heart-Speech.
"Yes. Don't you want that?"
"I do!"
"Then work."
The secret realm was vast.
It was large enough to contain an entire small nation.
Many demon beasts and demons lived within it.
Among them might be promising young demon cultivators who could become the foundation of the sect.
'The stupid ones can be raised as livestock.'
Those incapable of growing into Great Demons.
Or those too stupid to understand speech would be raised as livestock.
"Don't forget to gather everything else along the way!"
Jang Bung reminded Hyeon-o as it flew away excitedly.
"I'll sweep up all the spirit herbs, spirit creatures, and spirit stones. Leave it to me!"
The creature understood exactly what Jang Bung wanted.
Many resources lay hidden throughout the secret realm.
That was why human cultivators flocked here whenever the gate opened.
Being able to begin here was a major advantage for the demon race.
Hyeon-o flew swiftly throughout the secret realm......
Filling storage pouches with vast quantities of cultivation resources.
"I'll make another trip!"
"Eat first, then work."
"I'll enjoy it."
After eating spirit herbs and spirit fruits, Hyeon-o took flight once more.
There were many cultivation resources for it to bring back.
They also had plenty of storage pouches.
Jang Bung possessed more than seventy storage pouches obtained through trades and battles with human cultivators.
Soon, they would all be packed with cultivation resources.
Amid all this, the time for humans to enter the secret realm came again.