Death... and me

Sister Orb analyzed the piece of stone in the Dimensional Realm as the twins moved deeper into the ruins, following the resonance with their own fragment. [This is definitely the right place. The ruins were made with Clenhest Stone, not something you two can hope to damage at the moment. It's very difficult to work with, but it's definitely a great material to use when the goal is to defend a facility.]

Rean took another one of the stones on the ground and muttered, "I wonder if I could use it to make equipment."

[Not a very good idea.] Sister Orb replied. [By the time you get the necessary skill and strength to manipulate it, there will be much better materials to work with in terms of forging equipment. Besides, it affects one's ability to fly when you get close.]

"I see..." Rean understood. He then looked at a small wall that fell near him for a moment. "Too bad..."

Roan was more interested in the mission, though. "How deep is the fragment?"

[From what I can feel, a few hundred kilometers. Also, it's a few dozen kilometers underground.]

"Let's hurry up."

The twins immediately began to run once again, trying to get close to the fragment. However, it didn't take long before an obstacle appeared.

*Vuonnn...*

Suddenly, the twins felt their bodies being pushed in the opposite direction, making their journey a lot more difficult. "What is it, Sister Orb?"

[No idea. It's not a formation either.] Sister Orb immediately replied.

"Just force your way thro-"

*Clang!*

Roan didn't have the time to finish his words as his White Scythe appeared right in front of his face, deflecting a piece of sharp stone.

*Clang, clang, clang, clang...*

Many of those stones, the same ones that the walls were made of, began to shoot in their direction. No, it was better to say that they were being shot by the same force that was pushing the twins out. The twins weren't exactly a target.

"They're too fast to the point that they can even injure our Star Bodies. The force pushing us out is still not strong enough for them to achieve this speed, though," Rean could not help but say.

"It's because the pushing force is many times stronger deeper inside, which is the place from where these stones are coming from," Roan explained. "If the force is so big further inside, then there's no way we can force our way through it. The deeper we get, the harder it'll become, and the faster these stones will shoot in our direction."

*clang, clang, clang...*

As they defended, Roan suggested another solution. "For now, let's try to continue from another path."

With that, the twins retreated. In response, the force pushing them back was reduced. Naturally, the stones lost a lot of their power as well. Just like that, the twins tried to move alongside the force field. They wanted to see if the result was the same everywhere... which it was. After running for more than 300 kilometers, they finally stopped. "Forget it. This force field is absolutely surrounding the entire region. I don't think continuing to walk along its perimeter will make any difference."

"Sister Orb, do you know some way to pass through it?" Roan asked.

[Not really. I can't even figure out what's generating this force field as it's not a formation. Try to use your Spatial Powers and see if you can force your way through.]

Rean shook his head, saying, "We could do that, but we're still at the Peak Stage of the Transition Realm. Our Spatial Powers are only more or less equivalent to an Initial Stage Void Tempering Realm cultivator. Even if we could force our way like that, the stone flying from deeper inside would eventually be too dangerous."

Roan narrowed his eyes in response. "I guess it's safe to say that this pushing force only started after we got closer to the center."

Rean nodded, replying, "I think so too. There were no clues of this thing happening before we appeared. At least not in the last who knows how many years." Rean then looked at Roan and asked, "Should we try that?"

Roan pondered over it for a bit as he knew what Rean was talking about. "The issue is what could happen once we appear on the other side. If the force field is even stronger in the deeper regions, we might be crushed as soon as we step out."

[Are you talking about the Circuitry Teleport Formation?]

Rean nodded, answering, "Yes. If this force field is only at the borders, then the center might be free of it. We could just ignore all the trouble and teleport straight there, based on the distance that you felt from the fragment. The teleport wouldn't be that precise, but it would allow us to bypass this force field at least."

[I wouldn't do that.] Sister Orb warned them. [It's obviously some kind of protection system. Do you think there would be nothing to protect against spatial invasions? Don't forget that Spatial Powers are the main method of transport the higher one's cultivation gets.]

Roan had to admit Sister Orb was right. Chances were that the space over there was scrambled, which could possibly kill them or make them appear somewhere nowhere near the Realm of Gods. "Forget about the Circuitry Teleport Formation, then."

It was then that Rean had an idea. He quickly connected to the Dimensional Realm, focusing on the Foundation Fragment inside. Well, to be more specific, Rean connected with the power of the fragment. It wasn't something the twins could use, but Rean could definitely redirect it outside.

It was then that something impressive happened. The force field completely disappeared as soon as that power came out of the Dimensional Realm. To be more specific, the force field disappeared only in the path ahead of the twins. The force was still rampant, yet it was nullified in a straight line in front of the twins. "As I thought. A lot of powers that we can't understand are involved, so it has to be something derived from the fragment deeper inside."