Death... and me

As the kids occupied themselves in the pond, Roan headed to an open area at the bottom of the valley, looking for a good place. Thankfully, it wasn't hard to find since, until some time ago, the entire place was also covered by ice and snow, so once it all melted, only clear terrain remained.

"This will do." Roan then focused on his control over the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm before sending Celis out. Celis then fell on the ground as his roots immediately pierced through the surface. They couldn't go that deep anymore because of his cultivation, but it was still deep enough for his own cultivation.

"Very good. Let me check the surroundings," Celis said before using his Spiritual Sense, which had an easier time passing through the ground to analyze the field. "Alright, I've spread my roots around the valley up to the mountains. I stopped just a few meters away from the Spiritual Sense Protection Formation."

Without anyone noticing, most of the Spiritual Energy hundreds of kilometers around the valley and the mountains surrounding it began to be pulled in the valley's direction. "With this, I should be able to raise the concentration of Spiritual Energy of the valley to around the density of Rank Three Spirit Stones."

Roan nodded and then asked, "That's good. However, wouldn't it attract the attention of the other Stage Five Demon Beasts?"

Celis disagreed, saying, "No. I'm not sucking almost everything as I did back then in the Soul Rulers' territory. First of all, my roots aren't strong enough to reach that level anyway. At the moment, I can only bring around 20% of it to the valley. That shouldn't be enough for anyone to feel that much difference. All the Stage Five Demon Beasts would most likely think that this is just a side effect of the sudden change of the environment. Not to mention that this is our territory, so they wouldn't care."

Roan was satisfied with that answer. "What about the Spirit Vein in that cave? Does it have any use for you?"

"Not really. Considering my own ability as a World Swallowing Cedar, you could say that I'm a Spirit Vein myself. The Spirit Vein in this mountain has a similar power to the Spiritual Energy I'm providing to the valley." Celis then thought about something else as he said, "Oh, right! Instead of having Sister Orb absorb the outside world's Spiritual Energy, why don't you move that Spirit Vein into the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm? At the moment, the Dimensional Realm's own ability to generate Spiritual Energy isn't even at the density of a Rank One Spirit Stone. That should alleviate the burden on the System itself."

Roan had to admit it was a good idea, though he soon asked, "Indeed. But wouldn't the Spirit Vein be damaged if we move it away?"

"In normal circumstances, it would. However, did you forget that I'm a Demon Tree? Spirit Veins are very similar to me and even have a chance of gaining sentience one day. Of course, such a thing is extremely rare, and it's highly likely that we wouldn't even be able to see one," Celis answered as he explained. "Anyways, I can use my roots to separate the vein from the mountain without damaging it. You just need to prepare a good place in the Dimensional Realm for it."

Roan didn't even think twice as he replied, "Leave it to me, then. With your saplings and the Spirit Vein, I'm sure the herb garden in the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm would turn out perfect."

Celis laughed in response, saying soon after, "That's not all. The Spirit Vein will nurture the land, just like my saplings. That means the development of the Dimensional Realm as an individual atmosphere will definitely speed up."

With that said, Roan and Celis immediately began to work.

Back on Rean's side, he was left alone to command all the kids. "Sigh...this isn't working out. We're lacking in helping hands."

Sister Orb then gave him an idea. [In that case, why don't you head to one of those tribes outside and take a few of their adult human slaves? I'm pretty sure they'll love to know that they can live an easier life here.]

"Hmm..." Rean pondered over Sister Orb's words. "That might really work. We did pass through some small and big tribes on our way here. If I bring Kentucky together with me, perhaps we can be back in just a few hours."

Roan, who heard the conversation through the Soul Connection, decided to intervene, saying, "It's fine if you want to go out and bring a few adult humans. However, don't bring Kentucky with you. Just head out alone. Kentucky's watching over the valley to prevent any Stage Five Demon Beast or higher from approaching."

Rean didn't mind as he shrugged his shoulders in response. "Sure. That just means I'll take a few more hours to go there and come back. Will you be fine if I leave the rest in your hands?"

Roan nodded, responding, "Obviously. I can also use Light Element to heal the kids in case something happens to them. In any case, the older kids can still do some simple work like taking care of the younger ones."

Rean didn't continue the conversation as he took flight right after, asking sometime later, "Alright, how many adults would we need?"

Roan pondered over the question for a bit as he felt Rean flying away through their connection. "I don't want to take any risks, so bring around ten or so. Also, focus on those without any attachments so that they won't think about running away later."

"Very well." Rean's Light and Spiritual Sense bending skill then activated around his body as he headed high up in the skies. In the very next moment, he selected a direction before zooming at breakneck speeds.

Roan then spread his Spiritual Sense to watch over the kids as he and Celis worked on the Spirit Vein. On Sister Orb's side, Roan asked her to select the best place to put the Spirit Vein once they finished extracting it from the ground.

Everything went well for the next hour or so when out of nowhere, Kentucky entered the Spiritual Sense Concealing Formation for a moment to warn Roan, 'We have company." After that, he left again.

Roan, of course, immediately stopped everything and headed out of the protection formation as well.

In the end, the Demon Bull was right. The news about a new Stage Five Demon Beast taking his territory spread quickly, and the others who were in nearby territories came to check.