Death... and me

"It's about the Universe Foundation Fragment," Roan answered.

Rean didn't need to hear it twice to understand the issue. "I see... the Universe Foundation Fragment contains a balance of Dark and Light, Yin and Yang. The Minokawas have both Light and Dark Elements as affinities. Naturally, the fragment helps them with their cultivation."

Kentucky nodded in agreement. "I also thought the same thing. Jeskli-go said it was because of the ancestral land, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was due to the fragment itself."

Roan also wondered. "The problem here is whether they know of it or not. There's a good chance that the fragment is known or not by the Minokawa Race. After all, it wasn't like the Minokawas never thought or tried to understand why their cultivations got much better there."

Rean pondered over it for a bit. "That's weird. If the demon beasts knew about this fragment, they would have taken it away already. It's pretty obvious by now that the experts of the devils, angels, and the Realm of Gods' races know about the fragments. Haven't they thought that the Floating Islands of Time might have one? I mean, it helps with both Light and Dark Element cultivations. Could it be they don't know about this specific trait of the Universe Foundation Fragments?"

[It's a possibility. All of them know about the fragments. However, how many of them have seen one? But then again, those islands and their special properties should have caught the attention of the experts who know about the fragments. ]

"Correct." Roan agreed with Sister Orb. "There are some theories we can speculate. First, they know it's there and can't retrieve it. Second, they thought it might be there but haven't found it in the end. We just don't know if they gave up or if they're still searching for it. Since the Minokawas live there, perhaps the ones who know about the Fragments aren't looking there anymore."

Rean found it weird. "The one who told us about the Floating Islands of Time was the devil's soul on the altar. Could it be that he was the only one who knew about it?"

"Very unlikely," Roan didn't believe that. "Chances were he received the information from someone else. How long have those islands been there? How many times did they search? We'll only know after going there by ourselves. What we can possibly conclude is that the fragment there hasn't been recovered yet. Or... it has been recovered, and the effects in the Minokawas is just a remnant of its power."

"Sister Orb, are the fragments capable of affecting time?" Rean then asked another question that was bothering him.

[They're part of the foundation of the universe. It'd be strange if they didn't have anything to do with time and space, don't you think? Of course, the time imbalance there might be because of some formation, just like back in Sunkan.]

"Well, that's true." Rean could only accept that.

"Forget it for now." Eventually, Roan decided. "The only way to find out is to go to the Minokawa Race's territory and use Sister Orb to check it. However, there's no way we can leave this place for now. Instead, let's mark it as our first destination once we decide to leave this place. Obviously, you better not mention it to anyone, including the people in the sect."

Rean, Celis, and Kentucky agreed with him. "It's good that we don't need to be in a hurry."

Rean then looked at Kentucky. "The guy said that you can ask the Dragon Race about the Floating Islands of Time. You might as well go to them and learn what you can."

"Wouldn't it raise any suspicion?" Kentucky asked back. "If one day we leave, they might think we're going there. The best thing would be for them to not know about it at all."

"No need to worry," Roan intervened. "They know we have a Minokawa and that you want to know more about the Minokawa Race. For them, you would just be curious about whether you should leave or not. Did you forget? All Minokawas can cultivate much faster there, so it would be weird if you didn't show any interest instead."

Kentucky decided to do it in the end. "Alright, I'll ask them. So, are we done now?"

Everyone nodded, and the twins immediately connected to the outside world. Right after, Rean, Roan, and Kentucky reappeared in the Realm of Gods while Celis continued to cultivate as always.

"Hey, Rean." Suddenly, Rawor called Rean's attention. "Why did you leave all of a sudden? We're in the middle of discussing the route of our communication formation."

Rean shrugged his shoulders in response. "Didn't you hear? The Minokawa that we asked Placake to come here finally arrived. Well, he left already. Kentucky is also a Minokawa, so he wanted to talk about it. I wanted to know if he wanted to go away with the Minokawas or if he would stay. We have been friends for a very long time, after all."

Rawor didn't find it strange. "I see... any Minokawa would be tempted to live in the Floating Islands of Time. Truly, I envy such a perfect place. They're so lazy but get to cultivate so easily because of that. Worst of all, it's useless for other races unless they have both Dark and Light Element Affinities."

"Is that so? It's quite unfortunate that you need both for it to be useful," Rean added.

Rawor didn't deny that. "Indeed. Some spirits who had only Dark or Light Affinity tried to use the place. However, the opposite element only caused trouble. The fairies were a good example. Some even died because they couldn't separate the Dark Element from Light. You better not think about living there as it will only hinder your cultivation."

"Thanks for the warning."

'Hey, how long will you make us wait? Come back!' It was then that another Formation Master called them through Divine Sense.

Nevertheless, Rean thought on his way there, 'It seems like the Minokawa Race's territory is quite well known between the Divine Demon Beasts.'