Death... and me

Unsurprisingly, the twins preferred to trust their own strength instead of risking pairing with a bunch of high-level cultivators that might betray them later. Outside, Rean told Falangia about what happened and that they got the tokens. Nevertheless, Falangia was confused. "Why do we get a free pass with your token just because our cultivation is low?"

Rean shrugged his shoulders, telling her, "Because, unlike the high-level cultivators, you won't be able to help with anything. But above all, it's the fact that losing a Core Formation and two Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators won't cause any impact to the city."

Falangia bitterly smiled, being made aware once again just how useless she was. "I see... well, forget it. When can we go?"

Roan looked at her before saying, "Now. Our guides will encounter us outside the city at a point we previously decided on."

The twins' group then left the City Management Office and went to the city's gate once again. This time, with the tokens, the guards didn't take much of their time and allowed Rean's group to pass through.

The couple only appeared around an hour later. That's because they didn't want to be seen as the ones who got the twins' help after all that confusion, so they stayed there longer.

153 kilometers away, on top of a hill covered with fine sand, the twins finally got to meet their guides. Both the man and the woman came flying on a demon beast, showing that they were indeed below the Transition Realm. Rean obviously did the talking, as always. The man was at the Late Stage of the Elemental Transformation Realm, while the woman was at the Initial Stage of the same realm. "Hello, friends. I can see we finally have some time to talk."

The fact that they got the tokens even though they weren't in the Transition Realm also showed they could fight stages above their own cultivation. Otherwise, they wouldn't have destroyed the dummy.

The man nodded, saying, "Indeed. Thanks for selecting us as your group. My name is Carion, and this is my sister, Briget. We are also in the Elemental Transformation Realm, just like you."

Briget quickly nodded to the twins' group. "Nice to meet you."

Rean did the same. "I'm Rean, and this guy who looks like me is my brother, Roan. This teenager here is called Falangia. The kids are Rafatia and Luan."

"Hey, don't forget about me," said Kentucky, quickly coming down from the skies. "I'm Kentucky. I'll be the one carrying Rean's group this time around."

"He can talk?!" Briget and Carion were shocked to see that. After all, they could tell with their Divine Senses that Kentucky was still a Peak Stage Eight Demon Beast.

Rean sighed and explained, "He's just an anomaly. Don't focus too much on it. All you need to know is that we will use him to fly." Rean then looked at the purple Demon Bird below Briget and Carion before asking, "A Late Stage Seven Purple Lightning Eagle, huh? Are you going to bring him with us?"

Carion nodded, saying, "Yes. He's quite fast, even for his level. Besides, if we succeed in traversing the Under Desert Sea, we need a ride to go away instead of swimming in the water, don't you think? Pol Continent is mostly a huge sea, after all."

Rean had to admit he was right. "That's good. Then you need to do the same as we'll do. You don't need to worry about Falangia's group as they're our responsibility. As for this Stage Seven Demon Bird, it's up to you to keep it safe. Are we fine with that?"

Briget and Carion nodded. "That's a given."

Rea was happy to hear that. "Now, about our cooperation. Will there be a need for a Soul Binding Contract?"

Briget and Carion'sexpressions immediately turned terrible as one of them replied, "We don't have good experiences with Soul Binding Contracts, so we won't sign anything. If you think it's a must, then we can end our partnership right now."

Rean shook his head in response. "No need. It's just that some people would definitely want one in place, so we usually do sign them." Rean and Roan could tell that there was some story behind their refusal, but they didn't ask.

The siblings sighed in relief after hearing that. "That's good. Shall we go?"

The twins' group agreed. "Sure, let's go." They quickly jumped on Kentucky's back and departed from that location.

Along the way, Carion and Briget noticed that something wasn't right with their Purple Lightning Eagle. They wanted to fly side by side with Rean's group, and their Demon Bird definitely had the speed to do that. However, it simply didn't want to get too close to Kentucky. It was as if it feared Kentucky very much.

Kentucky, obviously, easily noticed that as he knew the pressure that his Divine Demon Bird bloodline put on another Demon Bird without it. "Don't worry, little one. You can come closer. It's not every day I have the chance to fly with other Demon Birds."

The Purple Lightning Eagle seemed to understand Kentucky somehow and happily got close to Kentucky. Well, that made things quite obvious to Carion and Briget. "Kentucky... right? Do you perhaps have some traces of Divine Demon Bird bloodline?"

Kentucky laughed out loud when he heard that. "Hahaha! Traces? No, I don't have some traces."

The siblings became confused. "Then... why is our Demon Eagle so obedient to you? It usually doesn't care about other demon beasts, even if they're at a higher cultivation level."

Rean didn't intervene and simply let Kentucky talk as he wished.

Kentucky, of course, loved to show off, so... "I don't have traces of Divine Demon bird Bloodline. I am a Divine Demon Bird. My entire bloodline is divine. Hey, now that I say that, it really sounded quite nice. I. Am. Divine! Sounds cool, right?"

Everyone's mouths twitched a little in response. Isn't that a little too much?

"Ahem..." Carion then recovered his thoughts. "So you're a Divine Demon Bird. No wonder, no wonder."

Roan didn't seem to care, though. "Enough of that. Tell us, which direction should we head to?"