Death... and me

"Gone? How are they gone?" Hurio and Lilia were obviously shocked to hear that. "First of all, where's the explosion that should have happened?"

Kentucky shook his head as he replied, "How would I know that? After that flash of bright light, everything disappeared. And by everything, I mean the meteorite and your sister's group."

Rean shrugged his shoulders after that. "Well, now we know what they wanted to do, although we don't know what purpose it serves." Rean then looked at Lilia and Hurio and said, "We only have another day or so before arriving at the altar. We don't have much time left. Do you guys want to go check what your sister was doing in that building, or do you want to go ahead?"

"This..." Hurio had the full Dragon Mark now, and Lilia would be safe with Sally on her side. If they went there, they might become involved in whatever Mira and Lamanto were trying to do in the Lost Star Realm.

Rean also added, "To be honest, I already got enough Fallen Light Star Fragments around three days ago. I'm only collecting more in case I need them for something else in the future. I'm a blacksmith, after all. If you want to go and see what your sister was trying to do, Roan and I will take our leave here."

Hurio couldn't help but say in response, "If you do that, then Sally will leave with you. She's only here because of your Light Element Affinity. Once that happens, Lilia and I will become helpless if the cultivators from the top ten powers find us. Let's not even mention the Light Element Wave that will come sometime later."

"Well, that's true." Rean didn't deny Hurio's words, nodding.

Roan then glanced at Hurio and Lilia and asked them, "Do you really want us to follow you, though? I believe you haven't forgotten that you still haven't told us what you needed the Fallen Light Star Fragments for. If Roan and I go there, wouldn't we find out? At the moment, we don't have an interest in whatever your sister's group is doing. But if it turns out that we can get something out of it, we won't mind using Sally to acquire it."

Sure enough, those words made Hurio and Lilia shut up. Sally was protecting their group, sure. However, she was protecting Rean above all. There was nothing Hurio and Lilia could do about that. "Sigh... fine. Let's head to the altar."

Roan narrowed his eyes, though. If they had said that they didn't care anymore, it would be fine. They could simply fly to that building with Kentucky and see what they could find. However, even now, Hurio would rather not risk Rean, Roan, and Kentucky from finding out what they were using the Fallen Light Star Fragments for compared to what Mira and Lamanto were trying to do. Just what could be that important?

Rean nodded with a smile after that, saying, "If that's the case, let's get on Kentucky and head to the altar. Who knows? Perhaps your sister's group found a way to enter that Divine Plane that no one knows, and we'll actually meet them there. Hahaha!"

Hurio and Lilia looked at each other after that. At the very least, Mira and Lamanto didn't seem to know much about the Light Barrier, the Light Element Waves, and the so-called Divine Plane. They looked very surprised when they saw that Light Element Wave for the first time as well. Could it be that they knew about it and pretended they didn't? Then again, why would they know about some secret entrance that even the top ten powers were unaware of? That didn't seem plausible.

Nevertheless, Hurio couldn't help but think about that boy they met in the park. He still remembered how that boy seemed to look in his direction just before he disappeared. 'Why do I feel like the boy and my sister's group are connected?' It's just that he didn't tell anyone about that.

Of course, Rean could try one last thing. "Sally, do you know what the people on that building were trying to do?" Sure enough, there was still Sally there. She seemed to be acquainted with the Guardian Beasts in the pools, so she might have an idea.

However, Sally just shook her head in response. "No..." It was hard to tell whether she was telling the truth or not. In any case, Rean didn't insist on it.

"Well then. Let's go." After that, Rean immediately jumped on Kentucky's back, followed by the others right after. Eventually, Kentucky took flight and resumed their journey.

Along the way, Rean took the chance to ask Hurio, "By the way. Are you okay with not looking for more Fallen Light Star Fragments? If so, I'll tell Kentucky to bring us straight to the altar."

Hurio and Lilia looked at each other after that as they seemed to be discussing something through Divine Sense messages. A moment later, Hurio finally nodded as he replied, "I already got more than I expected, so we're fine. Of course, if we can get more, then that would be even better."

Rean shook his head after hearing that. "Since you don't need any extra ones, we won't stop anymore." Rean then turned to Kentucky and told him, "You heard the guy."

"Yep. I won't stop." Kentucky then flapped his wings with a lot more strength and zoomed into the distance with Rean's group on his back.

It took around a day and a half, but Rean's group arrived at the altar that Opacli talked about. Not only that, but they soon found out that quite a few cultivators had gathered there as well. The majority of them had the clothes and badges of the top ten powers, with just a few other cultivators that didn't really understand what was happening there.

Rean wasn't sure how many of the top ten powers' disciples died in the fights for the marks. However, it was obvious that not even half of the amount that first entered the Light Barrier was present. Perhaps some of them haven't arrived yet, but there was no doubt that many had passed away by now, losing their marks for the sake of the selection.

"Zack! Zeck! Over here!" As they arrived at the altar, Rean immediately recognized a voice calling for them. Sure enough, Opacli was there. As for the disciples he was in charge of, only two of them seemed to be alive with complete beast marks on their foreheads. The other three disciples Opacli was in charge of were nowhere to be seen.

Moving closer to him, Rean smiled in response and said, "It's good to see you again, Sir Opacli."