Death... and me

Rean then explained what he found at the bottom together with Sister Orb to Roan. After that, Roan told them, 'I see. That's good enough. However, if that's the case, there may be another use for these lakes.'

'Other uses?' Rean and Sister Orb was confused.

Roan nodded and continued, 'Since you can connect a teleport formation to the coordinates of that thing, can't you do the same with the other lakes? The Salt Sweep, or whatever it's called in other places, all send their transformed people here. We can use the other lakes to connect to the other side of the Pol Continent. Since we can't use teleport formations in Pol Continent itself, it'll save us many years of travel. Especially since Pol Continent is much bigger than the other continents that we have been to so far.'

Rean found a problem with that, though. 'If we do that and head somewhere else, we won't be able to see what happened to Rafatia and Falangia. Also, we'll lose out on our chance to meet Havek. Don't forget he's a potential clue to find mom and dad.'

Roan, of course, didn't forget that. 'I know. However, who said we can't come back here after and use the other lakes?'

'This...' Rean had to admit Roan had a point. 'That's indeed a very good idea. Perhaps there is a way to return without having to turn into Salt Statues.'

With that, Rean looked at Xuve and smiled, telling him, "Alright, we will give you our help. However, there isn't really a need for anyone else in the Core and Soul Fusion Realm. Roan and I are more than enough."

Roan agreed with Rean, saying, "Indeed. Unless there's some test where ten people are absolutely necessary, just let Rean and I take the challenge. We don't know how things will go with the other cultivation levels, but we should easily win any battle at the Core and Soul Fusion Realm." Roan didn't want to waste much time, so he also believed it was better for him and Rean to do it themselves.

Xuve was shocked to hear that. "Aren't you two a little way too overconfident? That's ten Peak Stage Core and Soul Fusion Realm opponents! Can you fight five each?"

Roan snorted in response, replying, "Even if it was ten Peak Stage Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, only one of us would be more than enough to deal with them, let alone the Core and Soul Fusion Realm."

Rean laughed after hearing that. "Hahaha! Don't worry, don't worry. Just leave it for Roan and me to take care of."

The twins weren't lying. Even if one didn't consider their Third Grade Star Body, the twins were definitely much stronger than average Peak Stage Nascent Soul Realm cultivators. With their Third Grade Star Bodies, they were pretty confident they could even take on Peak Stage Soul Transformation Realm cultivators as long as they weren't geniuses of big powers.

Celis, who was also there, patted Xuve's shoulder, saying, "These two aren't lying. I'm a Peak Stage Eight Demon Tree. Trust me, they're just as strong as they're saying."

"This..." Xuve, of course, had his doubts. "I'll have to talk with Sect Master about it. Do you mind coming with me?"

The twins nodded and followed Xuve, who took the opportunity to ask them. "By the way, are you okay with leaving your two friends in the sect? I thought you would stay by their side all the time."

Because of the concealing formation that Rean left in the room, no one saw that Luan and Kentucky were now gone. At the moment, they were both in the Dimensional Realm. "It's fine. We don't think anyone will try anything against them. That's how much we trust you guys."

Xuve was happy to hear that, although he didn't know it was a lie. "Well, that's good. You can indeed trust us on that issue."

Not too long after, Xuve returned with the twins. However, they were brought straight to a giant field where several kids seemed to be cultivating together. It's just that half of them had the Tranquio Sect's white clothes while the others used a set of blue ones.

"Is the challenge already ongoing?" Rean asked.

Xuve scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "That's how things work in the Upside Down World. Once a challenge is issued, the challenged power has to assemble its people and be ready for it in three hours at most. That's a way of showing that the sect, clan, or whatever is capable of assembling their forces on short notice. The last time when we issued the challenge ourselves, the others also gathered very quickly."

The Sect Master, Ormo, was obviously there. His sect had been challenged for control over an area of three kilometers located north from there. Since this was a tube-like world, it only had its north and south areas. Not that they really knew which side was north. It's just that everyone had long since decided which side should be considered to be one or another. Behind him, there were a lot more cultivators as well. They were all in groups of ten, with cultivations varying between Foundation Establishment and the Peak Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm.

Ormo, naturally, noticed when Xuve brought the twins. He nodded at them, thankful that they decided to hear their call. Nevertheless, the twins were just a small part of the forces that would fight, so he didn't put too much importance on them at first. However, when Xuve told him what the twins asked through a Divine Sense Message, he was just as shocked as Xuve was when he heard it. 'Ridiculous! Do you think we can risk losing one of the challenges like that? They will join the test together with others.'

Xuve already expected as much before looking back at the twins. 'That's what he said.'

Rean shrugged his shoulder before he approached Ormo. Naturally, Ormo could guess what he wanted to talk about. However, that wasn't the case. Instead, Rean simply held his arm a bit before releasing it, returning to Xuve's side after that.

Little did others know, but Ormo seemed to let out cold sweat when he suddenly contacted the other Core and Soul Fusion Realm cultivators of his side. 'You are all dismissed.'