Death... and me

Roan then looked at Rean before asking.

'What the hell did you do to her?'

Rean shrugged his shoulders in response as he replied.

'Me? Nothing. I just paid our debt. She's probably so grateful that she wants to befriend us now.'

'Befriend your ass!'

Roan then ignored Rean before looking at Latalia.

"Whatever. I might as well let you know that the Umbral Sect came to this place because of your nephew. He recognized me when I went to take the mission to find you. That's why there are Umbral Sect cultivators in this place at the moment."

Latalia's expression darkened once more.

"Fuck that little piece of shit! So it was also his fault again."

Latalia then looked at Roan before saying.

"You don't need to worry over it. Even if you don't do anything, I definitely won't let him get away with it that easily."

Latalia then asked something else.

"Leaving that idiot aside, how did you appear in front of me when the maze finished changing? You were supposed to be waiting for me somewhere else after I passed the information about this place to Ervan."

Roan snorted.

"Why should I? You're not the only one who understands how this place works, you know? All I had to do was pair the information that I received from Ervan with what I knew to understand where you would come from. It wasn't anything hard to do, really."

Latalia was surprised to hear that. She already spent several weeks in this place and already had some knowledge about this place's history. However, she took much longer to finally get a grasp of how the mazes worked. In contrast, Roan already grasped it.

"Sigh... whatever. After what you showed me during that battle, I might as well believe what you said. Anyway, where are you planning to go? Did you enter this place to run away from the Umbral Sect?"

Roan shook his head.

"No. We entered this place because of a certain jade slip."

Roan then explained about the Jade Slip that he and Rean found in the past. There was no point in hiding it now since the Jade Slip was used already. It disappeared when the entrance to this maze closed. Besides, other than showing this area's general location, there was no additional information inside of that thing.

Latalia nodded after she heard everything.

"So that's what happened. Does that mean that you are after treasures in this place?"

Roan and Rean looked at each other before they nodded at Latalia. It wasn't wrong to say that they were after treasures. It's just that the treasures they want were information. All they knew was that this place had something to do with 'Vruve Remnants' and that Sister Orb or the system didn't give them permission to look into this information. That's the reason why they entered. Of course, if there were other treasures with some value, that would be good too.

"You could say that. Well, that's why most of the groups entered this place, too, right?"

Latalia nodded. After she heard how the Four Peaks Mountain changed, shooting light rays into the skies, she understood why so many cultivators entered this place at once.

It was then that Rovan remembered something.

"Oh, right! Why was the maze pulling cultivators who passed nearby inside by force? Also, this was a recent event, so why didn't it happen in the past?"

Everyone nodded as they looked at Latalia. That was something which really puzzled them.

Latalia then sighed as she answered that question with another one.

"Many cultivators disappeared because of the maze these last few years. However, have you found any trace of them? Bones, old battle marks, anything?"

Everyone shook their heads. Rean's group was the first to enter after the mountain revealed the maze entrance. Still, they didn't find anything whatsoever.

"Where have they gone?"

Latalia then explained.

"To be honest, I think that the demon beasts we have been encountering so far are exactly those cultivators."

"What?!"

Everyone was shocked by that revelation. However, Roan immediately understood why Latalia thought like that.

"I see... Latalia is most likely correct. Have you noticed? We haven't found a single Demon Beast at Stage Five or above so far, right? We only found Stage Three and Stage Four ones. Besides, the Stage Three ones were usually Late or Peak Stage Three. Almost not a single one at Middle Stage Three or below can be found."

Roan continued.

"The Jiran Forest is a training ground for Core Formation Realm and Core and Soul Fusion Realm cultivators. But in the Core Formation Realm cultivators' case, they are usually at least at the Late or Peak Stage Core Formation Realm. After all, this is a place with Stage Four Demon Beasts ruling. Coming to this place with a Middle Stage or below cultivation is quite an idiotic idea if you don't have the power to keep yourself alive."

Latalia was happy that she didn't have to explain everything herself.

"It's good that you understand. It's too much of a coincidence that the Demon Beasts in this maze have the same average level as the cultivators that roam outside. Besides, it's as you said, they are all fake demon beasts. Not real ones."

Rean then asked something else.

"Wait! Then how did they transform into that? Also, senior Latalia has been here for a long time already. How come you didn't change into one of them?"

Latalia shrugged her shoulders.

"How would I know? If I were to guess, it's because I'm very good at running. I believe that the primary condition is for you to get captured or killed by the demon beasts."

Roan pondered for a bit before saying.

"There are a few cultivators that can use skills or cultivation techniques to gain some temporary or permanent demon beast traits. They are quite rare, but they do exist. It's not hard to think that these guys were forcefully transformed. Most likely, the key is their dantian. Once they die, they can be transformed by using the power inside. The strong ones will then receive those 'tokens' or whatever they are in their bodies."

Latalia nodded.

"Exactly. That also explains why the maze would try to drag a few cultivators inside every now and then."

Rovan then asked.

"Okay, I can understand most of it, but I still can't understand why it just began to happen recently. We all know that the missing cultivators' issue only started a few years ago. Before that, it would always be simple deaths and things like that. Also, why drag cultivators inside? Wouldn't it be better to simply pull a few demon beasts to do the job? Why go through the pain in the ass process of changing a cultivator's form to create those fake demon beasts?"

Latalia didn't find those questions surprising.

"I can't answer your first question. I also don't know why the maze started acting up just now. However, I can answer the second one. Well, at least I think I can. Keep in mind that I might be wrong here."

Rovan and the other nodded as they waited for her answer.

However, just as she was about to continue talking, Rean finished healing Rovan's injuries and Umbral Energy as well.

"Alright, I'm done."

Roan then looked at everyone before saying.

"Good, let's leave this place first. Don't forget that the Umbral Sect still has another group with a Peak Core and Soul Fusion Realm cultivator in their ranks. Not to mention that that group has other Core and Soul Fusion Realm members too. I don't want that escapee to lead them to us. Rean and I can't use the pretense of being weak to take them by surprise anymore, either."

Everyone immediately got up and departed.

"Where to?"

Roan pondered for a bit. However, Latalia answered before he could say anything.

"I know where the city entrance is located. Come with me."

Rean's group showed puzzled expressions.

"City entrance? What city?"

Latalia then replied.

"First, follow me. I'll talk about Rovan's question first on the way."

Everyone nodded and did as she said.

"Rovan asked why the maze would pull cultivators inside instead of demon beasts. The key for that should be intelligence. I believe that there is a gigantic formation under the maze that controls the Demon Beasts."

Roan and Rean nodded.

"Yes, we also reached the same conclusion. Only that could explain the super-fast recovery of the defeated Demon Beasts."

Latalia nodded and continued.

"Correct. However, Demon Beasts below Stage Five still haven't acquired sentience, let alone intelligence. That should be an issue if you want to give them orders. However, a transformed cultivator is still an intelligent one. He or she can understand commands and act accordingly. Once again, this is just my own theory. I can't guarantee that I'm right since I don't have access to the formation. Even if I had, I don't think I would understand how it works anyway."

Roan wasn't surprised by that.

"You are probably right. I can't think of any other reason to take cultivators in instead of real demon beasts. Besides, real demon beasts are savage. The problem wouldn't be just the fact that they can't receive orders, but that they would act aggressively against anything else too."

For now, everyone decided to accept that theory. Rean then asked about the next topic.

"Alright. Can senior Latalia explain more about this city entrance? You said you found a door in this maze. How do you know there is a city behind it?"

Latalia went silent for a bit before saying.

"That's because my family members are descendants of one of its citizens from thousands of years ago."