Death... and me

[Ahem... Kentucky should be fine... probably.] Sure enough, even Sister Orb couldn't tell how Kentucky fared, although it was obvious that she knew that he passed through the same issue.

Rean sighed after hearing that. "I guess there's nothing we can do about it since he's too far away." After that, he asked Roan, "Should we buy anything else?"

Roan pondered over it for a bit before accessing the system to check the price of the next Spiritual Energy Absorption upgrade.

[Spiritual Energy Absorption Upgrade Level 4 - 20000 Destiny Points]

"Hmm..." Roan then looked at their Destiny Points before saying, "We still have 24402 Destiny Points, so we could buy it. We would get a 10% improvement in a single go, which isn't a bad thing."

"Would there be anything else better for us to buy?" Rean was also pondering on what he should get or not. "The Soul Gem Dimensional Realm Upgrade is out of the question since it costs 50000 Destiny Points. I can only imagine what kind of ability the Dimensional Realm would get after buying it."

Roan shook his head after that, saying, "No point in guessing since we won't know anyway. Instead, we could also opt for the Soul Connection Range upgrade. It would allow us to use its abilities within 10000 kilometers of distance from each other."

"I don't think we have a great need for that at the moment. We rarely move too far away from each other, after all," Rean mentioned. "Between that and the Spiritual Energy Absorption upgrade, I would take the latter."

[You also have the Side Occupation Workshops and Repository. It might be a good idea to increase their level.] Sister Orb also gave her opinion.

Rean then looked at Roan to ask, "Do you need an upgrade for your alchemy workshop at the moment?"

"Not really." Roan shook his head. "I already can concoct Heaven Middle-level pills, so I have no need for other equipment. Of course, I still don't know what Level 4 of the Alchemist Workshop would give me, so it might turn out to be the wrong choice."

Rean agreed with Roan. "Same thing here. I would be happy if I got some new smithing equipment, especially one similar to the ones I had on Earth. However, it's far from a priority at the moment since I can do very well with what I have already."

In the end, there was only one choice. "Let's upgrade Spiritual Energy Absorption again."

Rean quickly exited the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm and warned Celis that he would pass through the same process again. Celis didn't understand how Rean and Roan were doing that but agreed with it. After all, the improvement was obvious. It's just that he still didn't like the sensation of something happening to his body. Little did he know that he was having it easy since the twins and Kentucky would go through a lot of pain in the process.

After returning to the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm, the twins immediately accessed the Skill List.

[Spiritual Energy Absorption Upgrade Level 4 - 20000 Destiny Points] (it will go to 20% total.)

[Confirm Purchase?]

"Yes!"

[Destiny Points: 24402]

[Initializing Upgrade...]

Rean and Roan once again braced themselves for the pain as a certain Demon Bird fell from the skies once more. Poor Kentucky thought the worst was over, so he continued on his way to deliver the jade slips, but that obviously wasn't the case. It wouldn't be before several hours later that he would risk taking flight again, afraid that the same pain would assault him.

Sure enough, Rean and Roan felt the difference in the Spiritual Energy coming into them from Celis after the upgrade. Everything went as planned, so they could cultivate even more. From now on, they would save one-fifth of the normal time used for breakthroughs.

"I guess we're done." With the upgrades now done, Roan didn't waste time and left straight away. For him, any time was working time. That's why he went straight back to cultivation.

It was still nighttime, so Rean did the same thing. When he arrived in his room, he noticed that Qia was cultivating on the bed, so he joined her. Rean took that opportunity to use his Spiritual Sense and tell Celis about what happened. Since Celis couldn't betray them because of the pact with Kentucky, he didn't mind telling everything. And just like that, the night went on quietly.

Rean, Roan, and everyone else continued to do their work during the next few days. Since Wringan Continent couldn't be attacked, there were no risks for anyone on Freedom Island or the continent as a whole. Of course, that was only the case for those with a high enough cultivation. The continent and the island still had many demon beasts at Stage Four and below. Then again, that was a good thing for the humans' future training and experiences.

Ten days after the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm event, Kentucky finally returned to the sect. His jade slip bags were now gone since he delivered them to the humans. He even helped a few groups clean the way for them to reach some of the closer cities. He was also very happy. Other than the initial fright that his appearance would cause, the humans, especially the females, would understand that he didn't mean harm. He had been treated well in most of the places he visited.

"By the way, you didn't tell me that I would also have to endure the pain of the meridian upgrade process. Wasn't it supposed to be only the two of you?" Kentucky asked with an angry expression.

"Stop complaining. Aren't you fine? Besides, that will save you a lot of time during cultivation, so you should be thanking us. Also, don't forget that we suffered the same pain as you." Rean didn't have any of that, though.

Kentucky and Rean then talked for a while longer until the Minokawa decided to go back to his nest on Celis.

Rean quickly put those thoughts behind him and returned to the Communication System's building. On the roof, one could see a new type of equipment that looked like an antenna. Rean couldn't help but smile at it, muttering, "It's almost done."