Death... and me

Surprisingly, Rean's group still found another Core Formation Realm cultivator during their time in the mountain. However, this one was even weaker than Okrin. To prevent him from fleeing, Rean and Roan joined forces from the very start, not giving him a chance to do so.

Of course, he also had a few Foundation Establishment Subordinates that tried to help. Unfortunately for them, the twins used the Fifth Form of the Death Style straight away. With Lana and Westren's help, they were able to prevent anyone from escaping too.

They also made sure to hide the bodies this time so that it would take longer for someone to find about their deaths.

Lana guided them around the Sun Streak Mountain Range for an entire day, allowing Roan to collect quite a lot of Midday Ginsengs. Roan believed that he got enough for several tests, and even if he failed many times, there would still be some for the pills themselves.

That being said, they decided to leave the mountain once more. Also, with that Core Formation Realm elder disappearance, the Mountain Range was bound to have even more scouts soon.

Rean and Roan followed the siblings back to their territory entrance, and from there, they made their way back to where they left Nana. The siblings' presence made things a lot easier while passing by the Sky Piercing Sect territory. Due to the escalation of the war, there were a lot more disciples of their sect around. That being said, their group couldn't avoid all of them. Thankfully, Lana and Westren's identities made things a lot easier.

Finally, they moved far enough from both sides.

The twins then stopped in their tracks and looked back.

"Alright, this far is enough already."

Lana and Westren were taken aback.

"Are you sure? We are far from the war zone, but there is still a chance that you will find a few scouts of our sect here."

Rean smiled before shaking his head.

"It doesn't matter anymore."

Seeing the puzzled expressions on Lana and Westren's faces, Rean turned around and looked at the skies. He then took a deep breath and gave a shout.

"Nana!"

A few moments later...

*Creeeeee!*

Suddenly, a loud cry came from the distance, alarming the siblings. It was then that they saw a white shadow falling from the skies. Obviously, that was none other than Nana, the Peak Stage Four Snow Crane!

Nana then gently landed beside the twins. It was so soft that it was hard to believe that Nana was really that big.

"As expected of a Snow Crane, you hate making things messy."

*Cree!*

Nana quickly lowered her head and rubbed it against Rean's body, much for his delight.

"Hahaha! I'm happy to see you too."

Seeing that, the siblings felt a chill on their backs. They could not tell how strong the Crane was at all! Their Spiritual Senses gave them no answer either. Obviously, the Crane far surpassed Stage Two and Three Demon Beasts.

Suddenly, Nana's expression changed as she looked in a particular direction in the forest.

*Cree, Cree!*

Rean smiled after seeing that, though.

"It's okay. It is just an elder of the Sky Piercing Sect that followed us here. He is only a Middle Stage Core Formation Realm cultivator, nothing for you to worry about."

Roan didn't seem surprised by what Rean said, but Lana and Westren were completely different.

"What?!"

They quickly looked back, just in time to see a man coming from behind a boulder while scratching the back of his head. Obviously, his expression wasn't very good.

"How did you know I was here?"

Rean smiled as he kept rubbing Nana's head. With Nana here, only a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator could possibly pose any threat to them.

Lana and Westren, on the other hand, quickly bowed to the man. Still, the shock on their faces didn't disappear. They didn't know they were being followed at all!

"P-Paying Respects to Elder Lyo."

Rean then explained.

"Oh, nothing much. Just make sure you are dead next time you follow us."

Lyo was taken aback.

'Dead your head! If I'm dead, how can I follow you?!'

Of course, with Nana there, he didn't dare to say those words.

"Errr... I didn't understand what you mean by that."

Rean shook his head.

"It's okay if elder doesn't."

Roan would always be in front to check the perimeters, but Rean didn't just follow him either. Every few kilometers, he would stop for a moment and gather the Light Element to scan the surroundings for strong life forces. Sure enough, he noticed Lyo at some point.

"By the way, why did elder Lyo decide to follow us?"

Lyo sighed before explaining.

"After I captured some of the disciples of the Heaven's Might Sect, I heard from them that they were looking for some twins. From the looks of it, they were used as bait to have some of their Core Formation Realm elders killed. However, I didn't know about any twins in our sect that fit the description. After investigating a little longer, I found out that Lana and Westren were seen with you two. Through them, I finally caught your tail and came as fast as I could."

Rean nodded.

"But you didn't do anything else other than following us, right?"

Roan then continued from there.

"That is simple. Since Lyo knew that we were 'used as a bait' to kill the Core Formation Realm elders of the Heaven's Might Sect, he was afraid that someone stronger than him was also following us around. Most likely, he is waiting for reinforcements before making a preventive strike."

Roan didn't say much, but hearing that was enough to make Lyo's expression change. Indeed, he was really waiting for another two elders he contacted to arrive. However, with that Snow Crane here, those two elders would be useless. Not only that, they might even die to it.

Rean then laughed when he saw Lyo's nervousness.

"Elder Lyo doesn't need to be worried. We are not going to attack you. After all, that would put Sister Lana and Brother Westren in a difficult position. We went to the Sun Streak Mountain Range to collect a few herbs. On the way, we bumped into them. Due to a few circumstances, we ended saving their lives. To repay the favor, they offered to guide us there."

Lyo then narrowed his eyes.

"Then why did you go through the Heaven's Might Sect territory? It would have been much better if you used our territory to arrive at the feet of the mountain first."

Rean shrugged his shoulders.

"If we did that, no one would attack us. The reason we selected this war zone was so that we could have some combat experience too. Besides, with Lana and Westren's yellow robes, we became like beacons of light in the night. They were very useful on the way. We even found a Late Stage Core Formation Realm. How good was that?"

Lyo was taken aback by those words.

"Wait! Wasn't it this Snow Crane that killed Heaven's Might Sect's Elder Buran?"

"Of course, not. Do you think we could bring a bird this big into the war zone without anyone noticing? Well, whether you believe it or not, that's not our problem. The fact is that we got rid of three Core Formation Realm elders for your Sky Piercing Sect. There is no need to thank us."

Lyo narrowed his eyes.

"Because of that, the Heaven's Might Sect began to send their Core Formation Realm to attack us ahead of time, you know?"

Roan, who had been listening to the conversation thus far, snorted.

"You talk as if a peaceful ending was possible between you two."

Lyo was surprised by that answer.

"Still..."

Rean raised his hand, stopping Lyo's next words.

"What is done is done. As for Lana and Westren, they were only dragged into this because of us. However, I won't have you stay silent about their actions for nothing."

Rean then began to make his way to Lyo's position. Lyo, of course, felt nervous. That's because the Snow Crane followed by Rean's side while showing him a threatening gaze. He didn't dare to try to flee since he knew he wouldn't be the Crane's match in speed.

Rean quickly arrived at Lyo's side and put his hand on his shoulder. Right after, his hair changed into a mix of white and black colors.

'Life Style, Third Form, Purification!'

"Arrrgh!"

Suddenly, Elder Lyo began to contort in pain!

That was the last skill Rean created. Rean came up with this skill during the time he healed the disciples at the doctor's building. However, the idea appeared in his mind when he healed Elder Tiria, who suffered from Umbral Energy contamination. Rean used the same principle as he used with Tiria. Dark Element to destroy whatever was attacking the body while the Light Element protected all the organs. The pain caused by the Dark Element was impossible to eliminate, though.

Of course, back then, it was nothing more than a gross use of Light and Dark Element. Not to mention that the process took several hours. But now, Rean could lock most of the Light Element inside, preventing the wastage. Not to mention that his cultivation has also advanced since then. That's why he was able to change it into another skill of the Life Style.

The process only lasted for a single minute! Rean then took his hand off Elder Lyo's shoulder and jumped on Nana's back where Roan was already waiting.

"I hope this is enough to trade for your silence."

Elder Lyo looked at his body with a shocked expression. That was right, he had been afflicted by a poison a long time ago. However, the pill necessary to heal this kind of poison was far more expensive than he could hope to pay. His only comfort was that he was fast enough to stop the poison's spread with his Spiritual Energy.

Unfortunately, that also halted his cultivation completely. It has been over twenty years since his cultivation last progressed. He put his entire effort into saving enough Spirit Stones to buy the pill he needed. Still, he was quite far from it. That's because he also needed Spirit Stones to recover his energy and keep the poison at bay.

However, Rean got rid of it in just a minute! Other than the pain during the process, no other side effect could be felt at all! If anything, he felt quite reinvigorated.

"H-How did you know?"

Rean then pointed at his finger.

"The extremities of your fingers were dark. That was clearly a sign of poison contamination. From the way it looked, it seemed like you had been carrying it for a long time too."

Lyo couldn't help but nod his head.

"Twenty years... for twenty years, I've been bearing with the pain..."

Lyo then bowed his head.

"Thank you."

Rean smiled and patted Nana on the side.

*Creee!*

Nana then opened her wings and immediately took flight. Just like before, she used her Spiritual Energy to shield the twins as they disappeared into the distance.

Sometime later, the reinforcements that Lyo asked finally arrived. However, they were quite puzzled by what they saw. Lyo was known for always having a bad temper. But for some reason, he was happily chatting with Lana and Westren as if they were his lost children.

"Errr... Lyo, didn't call us to help capture someone?"

Lyo then looked at them with a beaming smile before saying.

"Oh! That's right. Don't worry, it was just a mistake on my part. By the way, let's quickly return. We have a war to win."

The other two elders then looked at Lana and Westren.

"What about these two?"

Lyo then looked at the siblings.

"Oh, them? Their talents caught my attention, so I made them my disciples."

The two elders felt like they heard something even more inconceivable. Everyone knows that Lyo, this grumpy fellow, hated interacting with others, let alone teaching. How come he took a disciple? Not to mention that it was even two at once!

Of course, the ones really shocked were none other than Lana and Westren themselves.

As for what happens next, that's a story for another time.