Death... and me

Dalanbi took the chance to ask. "How about the Azure Lilibel race then? Did you send people to watch them?"

Fran snorted in response. "He would need to be incredibly stupid to head to the Azure Lilibel race now. But yeah. Just in case, I sent a few of my people to watch over it, contacting them. I think it's still pointless, though." Fran was lying. He didn't send a single living soul, but he wouldn't say that.

Fran also decided to use that opportunity to ask. "How can they move their Dimensional Realm without being outside? If you had told us they could do such a thing, we could have prepared for it."

Dalanbi shook his head, saying, "We weren't sure if they had actually done such a thing or not. And, well, you know how powers from each side work when it comes to keeping secrets."

"That's also one of the reasons we still suffer just to keep the devils at bay," Fran added. "Well, I did what I had to do, but we won't move too many resources to look for them since they're your problem. You're free to look for them in the spirit races' territory, though. Of course, as long as you don't try to enter any area that's out-of-limits."

Back on Rean's side, Roan contacted them as they flew in the direction of the demon beasts' territory. 'Change sides with me. If they decide that they want to come after us, it'll be better if they don't see you. You can change your appearance better than me, but just slightly. It'll be better to show them that I'm a 'Water Element Affinity' cultivator.'

Rean didn't mind it. 'Sure. I wanted to take a look at the System Sect, so you can take my place.'

Without saying anything else, Roan came out of the Dimensional Realm while Rean entered it. He also used Rean's appearance-changing skills to create a completely new look. "Kentucky, you can go faster than that, no? Just increase the speed already."

"You sure?" Kentucky asked back. "Others might feel me and become suspicious about my speed due to my cultivation."

"No problem," Roan didn't mind. "We're just flying until we find a Spirit City connected to the Spirit Stream."

Kentucky nodded in response and immediately increased his speed, just enough to recover his energy and keep that pace.

It took them around one more week to find a city connected to the Spirit Stream. Obviously, that wasn't the city located close to the Azure Lilibels, not that they wanted it to be anyway. After sending Kentucky into the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm, Roan entered the city and used Rean's badge to get access to the Stream. Only then did their travel hasten a lot as Roan continued the journey for everyone.

Inside the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm, Rean was taking a look at how everyone had progressed since they left the Free Continent. To be more specific, he paid attention to those who awakened weapon intents.

Ophilia had already become a grown woman a long time ago, and as the first one to awaken her sword intent, she was the one with the furthest progression. "You have consolidated the second level of sword intent very well, Ophilia. Your cultivation at the Initial Stage of the Saint Realm is also progressing smoothly."

Ophilia shook her head, telling Rean, "Compared to the guys who awakened their weapon intents, I was the one who took the longest to find my path. Fosxin and Leonardo are both years ahead of me in that regard."

"Sure." Rean agreed with her. "However, you're the only one among them who has achieved perfect Stable Ethereality. Leonardo's also at the second level, but he'll still take a long time to stabilize it. As for Fosxin, he's still trying to bring his Spear Intent Seed into the second level. That will definitely give you the advantage as time passes."

Leonardo, who was also there, had to admit Rean was right. "You have always been Sect Master's favored disciple, and it's due to your own merit."

"Favored disciple?" Rean looked back at Leonardo. "Hmm... I gave her more attention because she had the same sword intent as me. I wasn't trying to give her any unfair advantage. That's why I also tasked her with taking care of Furin and Nissovis. They've awakened their sword intents these past few years, so she has to entertain them."

Leonardo shrugged his shoulders in response. "Well, if you say so." Everyone knew Rean was an easy-going guy. Thanks to that, no one really talked to him like he was someone that important. It was totally different from when they talked to Roan. After all, Roan was just too scary.

"Tatiana also has sword intent, Sect Master," Ophilia suddenly mentioned. Tatiana was also one of the first members of the sect.

Rean shrugged his shoulders when he heard that. "She does have it, but she doesn't seem to care too much. Her Sword Intent Essence is different from yours and only advances slowly."

"Anyways." Rean changed the topic. "How is your Iron Affinity going? We taught you about the effect you have on iron inside a body. Are you able to use it?"

Leonardo immediately became excited when he heard that. Before he joined the System Sect, his Affinity was considered terrible as there were no cultivation techniques for it. However, after Roan worked on one for him, Leonardo advanced nonstop. Among the weapon intent owners, he had the highest cultivation after Luan, being at the Peak of the Saint Realm. However, above all, it also affected how much of the enemies' iron in their blood could be controlled. "It's great! When I fight demon beasts at the same level as me in the Demon Beast Forest of the sect, I can reduce their speed by around 30% or so. It's especially good during the first strike when the enemy doesn't expect me to be able to do it."

Rean smiled in response. "Remember, we only taught you about this because we believe you'll use it wisely. Don't forget that such an ability is terrifying for those unprepared. If you spread the news around while you're outside, don't blame me if a kill bounty is put on your head."