Death... and me

There were two doubts in their minds once they started cultivating. The first one was the duration as to how long the Divine Origin Energy area would last. As mentioned before, these areas rarely appeared, and when they did, they only lasted for a few hours. How long has it been since it converged at this point?

The second doubt was in relation to the ancient beast. Would it wake up while they were cultivating? If so, would it attack them? They couldn't be sure. First of all, just because its eyes were closed, there was no guarantee that it was really sleeping. Perhaps it knew that Rean's group was there from the start but considered them as mere ants, so it didn't bother with them.

Besides, it was obviously badly injured after its battle with the snake, so there was a chance it didn't want to make unnecessary movements at the moment. Regardless of which option it was, their group still kept an eye on the beast for any changes in its behavior.

In any case, they still couldn't help but feel ecstatic. After fifteen minutes of cultivation, Rean and Roan felt like at least 10% of the energy necessary to break through into the Peak Stage of the Saint Realm was filled. And that was considering they had their shared cultivation with Celis and Kentucky. As amazing as Celis might be at absorbing Divine Energy, it still had to make up for the twins' dantians, which were thrice as large as normal cultivators.

As for Hurio, it was even better. He was definitely much stronger than normal cultivators of his level. Roan hadn't seen it yet, but he believed Hurio was definitely not any weaker than any genius from the Huring Sacred Land. With that being said, he was sure to have an amazing cultivation technique and a dantian that also needed more energy to reach higher realms. It's just that it wouldn't compare to the twins' size. In any case, Hurio had already filled around 15% of the energy he needed for the breakthrough.

However, another thing happened as they cultivated. Nothing that put them in danger, though. The more Divine Origin Energy they consumed, the slower their cultivation became. That's because the Divine Origin Energy areas had a limited amount of Divine Origin Energy in them. Not to mention that the ancient beast was absorbing so much that it made even Celis look like he wasn't doing anything at all.

By the time two hours had passed, 50% of the twins and 70% of Hurio's necessary energy for the next breakthrough was filled. That showed just how fast the Divine Origin Energy in the area was disappearing. Then again, they just saved a huge amount of time. How long would it have taken if they cultivated normally? Even the twins, with their Rank Three Divine Stones, would have needed at least six months to accumulate that much energy.

Another hour passed, and finally, the twins and Hurio felt like the Divine Origin Energy in the surroundings was so thin that they would need several days just to accumulate a substantial amount. Sometime later, Roan looked at the sleeping ancient beast before saying, 'That's enough. This big guy might wake up as soon as the Divine Origin Energy completely disappears. That's not far from happening right now, so we should leave.'

Naturally, Rean and Hurio had no complaints about that. In that last hour, Hurio got another 10%, filling his dantian to 80% of the energy he needed for the breakthrough. As for the twins, they stopped at around 55%. While Rean kept his Light and Divine Sense bending skill active, the group jumped on Kentucky's back as the Minokawa slowly took flight once more. It wasn't before they were several tens of kilometers away, and the ancient beast could barely be seen, that they sighed in relief.

Right after, Rean burst into laughter, saying, "Hahaha! See? See?! I told you that there was Divine Origin Energy there. No wonder even those ancient beasts attacked each other while they usually stayed away from one another. There's no doubt that Divine Origin Energy is also extremely important for them."

Hurio smiled in response. "I can only thank you two for bringing me together. I'm very close to a breakthrough now. Even if we don't find the Fallen Light Star Fragments, this trip was already well worth it."

Seeing that the ancient beast completely disappeared from his vision, Kentucky finally increased his speed back to normal. Rean and Roan, obviously, sat down on his back and started to cultivate again. After all, that didn't change the fact that they were several months away from the border to the depths of the Lost Star Realm.

Nevertheless, Roan had to ask, "Hurio, do you have any idea why there are so many ancient beasts outside the depths of the Lost Star Realm? It seems like such a thing shouldn't have happened, right?"

Hurio shook his head, responding, "I have no idea, but it's obvious that something changed. Unless we're the most unlucky... no, perhaps I should say the luckiest group of all times. Thanks to these ancient beasts, we ended up in a Divine Origin Energy area."

"Could it be those ancient beasts came out because of the Divine Origin Energy areas?" Rean could not help but ask in response.

Hurio shook his head, though. "I won't say it's impossible, but that shouldn't be the case. After all, although extremely rare, the Divine Origin Energy areas are more common in the depths of the Lost Star Realm. Of course, you might spend decades there and never find one regardless. I feel like them coming to the outskirts of the Lost Star Realm has some other reason."

Roan agreed with Hurio, nodding. "True. However, it might not be a bad thing. More ancient beasts in the outskirts mean fewer ancient beasts in the depths. These ridiculously powerful beings can't simply appear all the time."

Rean shrugged in response. "On the other hand, whatever forced these beasts out might be even more dangerous."

In the end, they couldn't tell which one it was. "Forget it. We'll eventually find that out when we get there."