Death... and me

Eventually, the twins' group decided to leave Valantior and head to the Under Desert Sea. Roan returned to the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm while Rean teleported away with Falangia, Rafatia, and Luan. It would take years to fly there, after all. It was much better to teleport to the closest city first, Ertos.

Rean's group weren't the only ones who thought about passing through the Under Desert Sea, though. Almost everyone who had reached the Elemental Transformation Realm at the very least knew that the concentration of Divine Energy in Treavin was terrible. Those who arrived at the Transition Realm would seriously consider whether it was worth using the Under Desert Sea to pass through the Pol Continent or not.

Of course, the numbers of cultivators who wanted to do it and the number who really tried were heavens apart. Everyone knew the dangers of the Under Sea Desert, after all.

However, even though only an extremely small fraction of such cultivators tried to pass through the Under Desert Sea, they could still be counted in the hundreds of thousands every year when considering the size and number of people in the continent.

Because of that, the city of Ertos was one of the biggest ones since only high-level cultivators stopped by. Let's not forget the common knowledge that only Transition Realm cultivators should try such a thing. No, to be more specific, not even they should do it due to the danger. In any case, that contributed to this city reaching this size.

Even if one wasn't a Transition Realm cultivator, one could do some business here. So cultivators of lower levels also came to this place. Not to mention that it was used as a hub to acquire items from the Pol Continent that ended up in its markets all the time. This was perhaps the only really big city that wasn't located at the center of the Treavin Continent.

In the Formation Guild, a teleport formation was activated before a flash of silver light came out. Following that, a group of twenty or so cultivators and demon beasts in human form appeared. Transition Realm was the level necessary to venture into the Under Desert Sea, so demon beasts at this level would also come since they acquired intelligence and sentience at that level.

In the middle of the group, a woman and a man came out with a little girl and a little boy. Naturally, they were Rean and the others. Even though they used teleports, some cities didn't activate the teleport formation for just a few people. Sometimes, Rean's group had to wait until enough people and demon beasts gathered to make it worth starting the formations. With that said, their journey here took a lot longer than it initially took to reach the center of the continent.

The workers in the Formation Guild quickly stepped forward to receive the cultivators. After all, those who used the teleport formations were people and demon beasts who could pay for it. They were almost always at a high level, so the guild was a lot more thoughtful of their actions. One of them, a cultivator at the Soul Transformation Realm called Juan, was the one to attend Rean's group. "Welcome to Ertos City. Are you here to acquire items from the Pol Continent for your family? Our city receives a lot of cultivation-related items as well as other types of merchandise. I'm sure your wife and kids will like it here."

Falangia's face went red when she heard that. The guy totally mistook her for Rean's wife. He couldn't be blamed since Rean also seemed to be in his early twenties due to his cultivation. On the other hand, Falangia herself was nineteen. Then again, Rean didn't help either, saying, "Oh, is that so?! Honey, it seems like you were right. We can get that Profound Sea Collar you wanted so much."

Falangia's heart almost exploded when she heard that. 'Why the hell are you saying that?'

Rean shrugged his shoulders, telling her, 'Isn't that okay? We don't need to think of some random excuse for our visit. Let them think we're a family as it can serve as a good disguise. Wait! Could it be that you despise the idea of being paired with me? Alright, let me fix it. This guy should understand if I tell him I was just joking.'

However, before Rean said anything, Falangia pulled his sleeve and mustered her courage, telling him, 'I-i don't mind. We can pretend to be a fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-family.'

Rean was happy to hear that. 'Then go ahead and do your part. The guy is looking at you.'

"Ah!" Only then did Falangia notice the worker's confused expression since he did talk to her as well but got no answer. "Ahem... sorry, I was thinking about that Profound Sea Collar and completely forgot the world around me."

Falangia then looked at Rean, although she couldn't control the redness of her face. "Hu-hubby... can we go already? I want that collar very much since it will help with my cultivation."

Rean then looked at the worker, waiting for his directions. "Profound Sea Collar, you say? Was there an item with that name? Oh! I believe you're talking about The Pristine Jewel of the Sea, known for helping those with Water Element Affinity in their cultivations. Water Affinity cultivators aren't common in our continent, but they do exist. If your wife has Water Element Affinity, that would indeed be a marvelous gift. Here, take this token and head to the Traverse Pol Store. With this token, you will be attended a lot faster than usual. However, just a warning. The jewel is quite expensive, so think twice whether you want to buy it or not."

Rean was surprised that the Formation Guild had even made a few agreements with the local merchants. 'It seems like they do this for every cultivator who they think is wealthy.'

"Thank you. I'll be sure to put a good word about you," said Rean with a smile.

With that, the worker guided them out of the guild and bade them farewell.