Death... and me

"This is different," Rean couldn't help but say as he looked at the continental barrier in front of him.

The continental barriers so far were always made up of chaotic energies and elements. It was something that could definitely kill anyone too weak or anyone that hadn't adapted to it. However, the continental barrier Rean was currently looking at couldn't be any calmer.

Rean then looked at Fluki by his side, asking him, "Is this really a continental barrier?"

Fluki immediately nodded with his fish head. "No doubt about it. I heard about these kinds of continental barriers from my father. Well, it's my first time seeing one, of course. According to him, the continental barriers that divide the four sides of the Realm of Gods are different from the normal ones."

Fluki continued, "Simply put, the four regions are divided that way exactly because of this kind of continental barrier. It doesn't stop in the center of the Realm of Gods. Instead, it keeps going until the very end. This is obviously the Realm of Gods' South Continental Barrier. Well, it's also the same barrier heading north, east, and west. My father called it the Gods' Dividing Barrier. I have no idea whether that's the real name or not, though. Perhaps different races use different names for it."

Rean looked at the continental barrier and the rainbow-like colors in it. The colors appearing and disappearing moved slowly, making it easy to make them out. Rean then got closer and noticed that the usual pressure continental barriers had was nowhere to be found. If anything, he felt like it was quite relaxing to be there. "Is the Gods' Dividing Barrier dangerous?"

Fluki shook his fish head, replying, "Not really. Of course, that's the case for you, who's already at the Peak Stage of the Transition Realm. The sheer amount of Divine Energy in this place is obviously not something someone with low cultivation can resist."

Rean nodded in response. He knew that if he was still in the Nascent Soul Realm or below, the Divine Energy in front of him, as calm as it may seem, would still cause damage to his body. "It's quite unfortunate that we can't use all this Divine Energy for cultivation."

Fluki agreed with Rean. "The continental barrier's Divine Energy had always been incompatible with most races. This one is no different. It's just that it won't kill you even if you enter it... or so my father told me."

Rean touched the barrier and felt like he was handling the surface of some body of water. He could almost hold the elements contained inside it with his own hands. "I didn't think I would ever be able to touch the elements in such a way. Even the elements we gather don't feel like this."

"Can the elements be used then?" Luan couldn't help but ask.

Fluki shook his head, saying, "Only a few races would be able to. It shouldn't be surprising that most of them are Continental Barrier Spirits. Even I can benefit quite a little from this barrier's elements. However, you would still have to face the same problem at the end, which is incompatibility."

Rean narrowed his eyes in response as an idea appeared in his mind. "The reason why higher level experts don't use their Divine Energy to raise others' cultivation is due to the incompatibility. Once they absorb that Divine Energy, it becomes theirs. Trying to use it on others might raise the target's cultivation easier, but the damage to one's foundation is permanent as well."

Luan looked at Rean with a puzzled expression, asking him, "What are you trying to say, Uncle Rean?"

Rean then explained, "Can't you see? The reason the elements and energies are incompatible is that they aren't ours. The other continental barriers also have Divine Energy and elements, although they're extremely chaotic and dangerous. Nevertheless, the other barriers' energies and elements are all the same, incompatible."

"I might be wrong, but doesn't that mean the continental barrier's Divine Energy and elements have an owner? At the very least, I don't know any other location where you can find incompatible elements and Divine Energy other than the living beings themselves."

Luan and Fluki looked at the Continental Barrier in front of them with fear in their eyes after that. If all the continental barriers were the fruit of some living being, then just how ridiculously powerful was this being? "B-but... as far as I know, the continental barriers had been in the Realm of Gods since forever."

"Forever?" Rean asked back. "Were you there when the continental barriers first appeared?"

Fluki obviously shook his head in response. "As if! I don't think anyone from such a time is still alive to start with."

Rean nodded after hearing that. "Exactly. Now then, everyone knows that the continental barriers separate the countless continents of the Realm of Gods. However, think of it this way. What if the continental barriers aren't here to separate the continents? What if the continental barriers are nothing more than channels through which this living being is letting its own energy escape? It just so happened that they divided the continents as a result."

Fluki shook his head, saying, "I refuse to believe that. Let's not even talk about the power such an existence would need to have. Instead, just how big would it need to be? The Realm of Gods is just ridiculously gigantic! Do you think such a creature would be big enough to release the continental barriers' Energy and Elements all throughout the realm?"

"Hahaha!" Rean couldn't help but laugh in response. "I truly would want to see such a creature moving. Just how interesting would that be?"

Luan bitterly smiled in response. "If this creature really tried to move, the entire Realm of Gods would experience a calamity."

Rean agreed with Luan, saying, "That's for sure. But don't you think it's funny? It's like the story of Turtle Island in Canada. We might very well be living on the back of this supposed creature."

"Canada?" Luan and Fluki were puzzled. "Who's that?"

Only then did Rean remember that Canada was a country from Earth. Those two obviously knew nothing about it. "You two know that I'm not from this side of the universe, right? Canada just so happened to be a country on the planet where I first lived. Anyway, it's not like the entire Realm of Gods will start moving."

[Well...] Sister Orb suddenly intervened. [That might really happen someday.]