Chapter 698: Tomb World

"Nethergrass?" 

Leon shortly found a name for the colored black grasses on the plain after a quick mental search in the Archive. 

According to what he found out, Nethergrass only exists in environments with a heavy density of Darkness Profound Energy. 

Back in his past life, the only place with such Darkness Profound Energy could only be found in the Divine Demon Region, the north region of the Divine Realm, a place forbidden by most races beside demons.

It was no surprise that all herbs local to such a place were foreign to him.

Leon shortly crouched down and harvested a few stalks of Nethergrass with tints of red glows on its tips, causing Aria and Darlene to pause beside him and glance over curiously. 

"Is there something special about these black grasses, Leon?" Aria asked. 

"Un," Leon nodded before he said, "But rather than special, I'd say it is simply interesting. Have you heard about the Law of Devouring?" 

"The Law of Devouring?" Aria muttered, taken aback before she furrowed her brows and asked, "The Law of Devouring is a Higher-order Law of Darkness, right? But what does it have to do these black grasses?" 

"These stalks of Nethergrass contain the power of devouring, allowing them to devour other elements and absorb them. Nevertheless, the power of devouring is so minuscule, these stalks of Nethergrass can only devour a single type of element each," Leon explained. 

"For example, this stalk of Nethergrass with red tips contains some fire attributes after devouring fire elements, while these blue tips contain water attributes after devouring water elements."

That being said, Leon had yet to find a usage for the Nethergrass.

Their ability to devour specific types of energy seemed helpful in cultivation somehow, but he had yet to figure out if they can be used for pill concoction in alchemy.

"I see…" Aria uttered while gazing at the stalks of Nethergrass in Leon's hands. 

After a moment, she furrowed her brows and said with a frown, "From what I can see so far, this Eternal Night Secret Realm seems to benefit demons more than it does humans."

"Well, we've only seen one part of it so far. Perhaps there will be something useful to us in other areas," Leon said before adding, "Although I doubt it will be much different if it's called the Eternal Night Secret Realm." 

"Still, the Battle Masters all utilize Darkness Profound Energy to cultivate their bodies, so this sort of environment is also perfect for their cultivation."

That being said, none of the three practices the Dark Continent's body forging methods, which is why Aria could not see the benefit in them.

A few minutes, Aria knitted her brows and muttered, "I wonder how far this field of Nethergrass is going to extend." 

"We can only find out once we reach the end of it—whenever that is," Leon replied. 

"More importantly, looking at the alignment of stars in the skies, it doesn't seem we are still on Gaia, but at the same time, I don't think we left Gaia either… How strange…"

"There seems to be something up ahead!" Darlene suddenly tugged Leon's sleeve and pointed into the distance ahead.

"Hm? Let's check it out." 

A few moments later, the trio arrived in front of a large slab of stone embedded in the ground with intricated carvings on its surface, seemingly in a language foreign to both Gaia and the Divine Realm. 

"What is this? A gravestone?" Aria wondered with surprise before asking, "Can you tell what is written on it, Leon?"

Leon shook his head. 

"These aren't runic symbols, and they don't look like your average demon characters either…" Leon shortly stated with a hard gaze while studying the intricate engravings before saying, "They feel more ancient… a more primal language of the demons, perhaps?"

Shortly after, Leon noticed Darlene's contemplative expression before asking, "Do you know something, Darlene?" 

"I don't understand what is written, but if I am not wrong, this should be a tombstone," Darlene stated. 

"Yeah… We kind of established that already," Leon smiled wryly before saying, "But you seem to know something else about it?"

"Eh?" Darlene gazed back at Leon with surprise before she asked, "The chief and Venerable Shamans haven't told hubby about what a tombstone in the Eternal Night Secret Realm signifies?" 

"No," Leon replied with a frown before saying, "I didn't have time to ask them about everything related to the Eternal Night Secret Realm." 

"Oh…" Darlene nodded with understanding.

"Each tombstone in the Eternal Night Secret Realm signifies that there's a hidden space with a trial in the area, containing rich rewards if we can clear them— or at least, that is what I heard," Darlene added unconfidently. 

It was just bits and pieces of information that she had gathered from the rumors and records she had read when she was still working in the palace.

"I see…" Leon's eyes quickly flickered thoughtfully as he repeated softly, "Each tombstone signifies a trial with rewards in the area, huh?"

"That is to say that the Eternal Night Secret Realm is full of these tombstones?" Leon seemingly questioned himself with a deep pondering look before muttering, "Tombstones would usually mean there's a tomb…" 

"And if there's a tomb, then there is bound to be someone buried inside along with their treasures… So this means the so-called trial is just overcoming the traps laid by the tomb owner to rob their treasures…?" 

In other words, the Eternal Night Secret Realm was one Tomb World.

At the same time, Aria also seemed to have understood something from Leon's words before she uttered, "Full of tombs… This would make this place seem like a…" 

"A Tomb World? Exactly that," Leon nodded. 

Being unfamiliar with the term, Darlene was quick to ask, "What's a Tomb World?"

"Exactly as it sounds, it's a world full of tombs. However, these tombs are purposely constructed by their tomb owners when they know they are about to die or going to die for the purpose of entering eternal rest along with their treasures."

"A Tomb World only exists when a mighty powerhouse with many loyal followers and subordinates pass away… As such, all tombs in a Tomb World are usually affiliated to a single power or big faction," Leon explained. 

"Nevertheless, the real question is whose tombs are these?"