Death... and me

Even though Roan was quite far, he was still well within the twins' Soul Connection Range. 'Well, that's fast. I didn't expect the Sacred Undersea Kingdom to get there already.'

Rean couldn't help but ask, 'Do you think we should leave the city? I tried to ask Senior Tuvaru to let me talk to this aquatic demon beast, but it seems quite hard.'

Roan shook his head, telling him, 'There's no need to leave. Did you forget what others said? Although it's not that common, the city does receive people from Treavin every now and then. Even if we aren't exactly from Treavin, no one will be able to connect us to the event regarding the Under Desert Sea. Even if they do know that we were there when it happened, so what? With our cultivation, those guys won't believe we were related to it at all.'

Rean agreed with Roan after that. 'As I thought. That's why I tried to get in contact with that aquatic demon beast. I'll check with Senior Tuvaru later.'

'I'll be back in Utari half a day later,' Roan said. 'Just do whatever you want until then. It seems like the Mercenary Guild in the Salt Canyon Undersea City also has some ways of using the teleport formation. If things don't work on your side, we can try the Mercenary Guild. Worst case scenario, we'll have to fly all the way to the division between Pol Continent and Xifia Continent.'

'Very well.' Rean didn't mind it. 'I'm heading to the Blacksmith Guild now so I can also upgrade my badge there. Though, Roan, there's one thing that caught my attention. Although there aren't as many high-level cultivators as we initially thought, there's still much more than what one would expect for a city at the borders of the continent.' One must remember that the first guy the twins met in Utari Island was the Mercenary Guild's Guild Master, and that guy was at the Space Bending Realm. That's why they thought it was too high. Later, they found out the guy was the Guild Master, so it made some sense that his cultivation was high.

However, back in Huring and Lanqueas Continent, one would never see people at the Void Tempering Realm in such places, let alone Space Bending. For example, the first city the twins visited was Cosec. There, only a few cultivators had reached the Transition Realm. Obviously, Void Tempering wasn't present at all. In Utari, on the other hand, there were many Transition Realm cultivators and quite a few at Void Tempering.

Roan understood where Rean was coming from. 'You mean that Utari City is more than just one city close to the Treavin Continent, right?'

Rean nodded, saying, 'Yes. There must be a reason for it to have that many experts.'

However, Roan didn't think so. 'You're probably wrong there. Although I don't have access to a higher level of information in the Mercenary Guild, I should have enough to notice this difference. However, there's nothing wrong with Utari other than the fact it's located close to the Under Desert Sea. I believe the reason so many cultivators got such high cultivations is because of the environment.'

'Environment?' Rean was confused. 'What do you mean? The Divine Energy concentration here isn't much different from Lanqueas and Huring.'

'That's not it.' Roan shook his head as he clarified, 'It's the Divine Stones.'

Rean was taken aback to hear that. 'The Divine Stones?'

Roan then explained, 'When we checked the city with our Divine Senses, you looked at how 'safe' it was for Rafatia and Falangia. I, on the other hand, looked at the cultivation side. Everywhere I looked, there were transactions involving Rank One Divine Stones. Did you forget? Even Rank One Divine Stones should be considered quite rare, but that's not the case here.'

As soon as Rean heard that, he spread his Divine Sense in Utari City. Sure enough, he could really see quite a few transactions happening with Divine Stones. Even a few Core Formation Realm youngsters had them. Rean also noticed a few people not caring about the eyes around them, cultivating with their own Divine Stones. 'So... Pol Continent is richer...'

'Exactly.' Roan confirmed Rean's words. 'I've also noticed something different. I'm collecting a few Stage Six Demon Beast materials at the moment to upgrade my rank at the Mercenary Guild. While doing so, I noticed that the deeper I go into the ocean, the higher the concentration of Divine Energy is. It isn't anything impressive, of course. The difference between the bottom and the surface wasn't anything more than five or so percent. However, you do know what that means, right?'

Rean immediately nodded in response. 'A much, much higher chance of Divine Stone mines naturally forming. Besides, it's a rule that the closer you are to the center of a continent, the higher the concentration of Divine Energy. It goes without saying that at the bottom of the seas, Divine Stone mines will become even more common if this trend continues.'

Roan was satisfied that Rean understood. 'That explains why so many Divine Stones are present here. Too bad that Pol Continent's size is also its weak point. Its territory is way too big to be defended. The Sacred Undersea Kingdom has to keep its experts spread out to maintain order. Well, that has nothing to do with us anyway. All you need to know is that the average level of both cultivators and demon beasts will be much higher. Well, to be more specific, the humanoid races get most of the advantage, although the aquatic demon beasts also benefit from it.'

'How come?' Rean asked in response.

'Because we know how to use Divine Stones from the very start when we're five years old, the age when we begin to cultivate. Sea Demon Beasts, on the other hand, don't have intelligence. They don't know how to make use of it before they reach the Transition Realm,' Roan explained. 'Of course, they more than make up for it with sheer numbers.'

'I see...' Rean nodded after hearing that. 'Well, that's good for us.'