Death... and me



Somewhere near the back of the Ruins of the Star, a Black and White Bird was flying while carrying a woman on its back. Just like the other participants of this exploration, they had also been roaming around, trying to find a way into the Spaceship. Not that they knew it was a Spaceship, though.

The woman couldn't help but look disappointed as she gazed at the Minokawa beneath her. "Sigh... Werin, your senses for rare materials have activated so many times, but we simply couldn't break the ground where you felt them at all." She was Pulanli, a member of the Ream of Gods' exploration group. Also, a Late-Stage Space-Time Realm cultivator.

Werin, the Minokawa, simply shook his head. "What do you expect me to do? Even you couldn't outmatch this ground's recovery ability, let alone a Late Stage Elemental Space Minokawa like me. You are an entire Realm above, you know?" Werin wasn't at the Space-Time Realm. However, he was one of the few Minokawas that could achieve a high enough harmonization of Dark and Light Elements to use in the Ring Entrance. Just like the twins, he was able to bring one extra companion with him through the Ring, which was Pulanli on his back. These two, in fact, had known each other for a long time.

Pulanli reclined on Werin, who was still flying while gazing at the Dark and Light Elements Barrier high in the skies. "I'm starting to think it was a bad idea to enter this place. Everywhere we go is flat metallic land or strange weapons that shoot rays at us, and those things are extremely dangerous. I could barely withstand one of those attacks when I tried to test it. We would be dead if I didn't use my Time Power to escape fast enough. It also completely depleted my Divine Origin Energy for the next hour."

"As long as we avoid those peculiar structures, those weapons won't target us," said Werin. "Nevertheless, we need to think of something. If we take too long, the Divinity Realm experts outside will lose their patience and force their way in. That would be very detrimental for us, as you are well aware."

Pulanli didn't believe that. "Don't worry. They won't get inside anytime soon. They will definitely wait several months, probably more than a year or two, before attempting something like that. After all, the Space in these Ruins of the Stars can't withstand the presence of experts at that level. If they force their way in, this entire structure will collapse. There will be nothing to gain in the end." That's the same thing Spiegel told the twins back in the Heaven Realm.

"Still, it's quite peculiar, don't you think?" Werin asked, pondering over this issue.

Pulanli nodded, understanding what he meant. "Indeed. These Ruins are obviously not a Dimensional Realm. They exist in the same plane as the outside. How come the Space here can't accommodate the existence of Divinity Realm Experts?" In the end, she simply shook her head again. "Forget it. There is no point in thinking about it if we have no clues to follow."

"Hum?" Suddenly, Werin's eyes caught sight of something different in the distance. "We have company."

Pulanli's eyes immediately turned serious as she stood on Werin's back, ready to fight. However, as they approached the figure in the distance, they quickly realized it wasn't one of the experts in this exploration. "Is that a Puppet?"

Werin stepped back as Pulanli cautiously approached the puppet. She then used her Divine Energy to catch the Bird Puppet, ready to retreat if anything happened. To her surprise, the Bird Puppet was extremely weak and was easily pulled to her side. Once it entered her Divine Sense Range of three meters, she confirmed that it was truly just a puppet with no dangerous features. She quickly looked around, trying to spot if it was some kind of trap, but couldn't find anyone.

Werin approached her and noticed something on the Bird Puppet's legs. "Look, it is holding two jade Slips in its talons."

This was clearly one of Rean's Bird Puppets. The fact that it still had two Jade Slips showed that it would fly for another day or two with the remaining energy inside until it dropped the Jade Slips. Nonetheless, it had already flown for a few days, only avoiding the weapon buildings that Rean marked in its controlling core.

Werin and Pulanli looked at each other and took the Jade Slips before examining their contents. Immediately, the map of the ruins... well, the parts that Rean had explored at least... appeared in their minds. Naturally, it also contained information about the entrance the twins found, as well as an explanation, stating that this was only one Jade Slip of thousands spread by the Puppet's Owner.

It goes without saying that Pulanli and Werin suspected it to be a trap. Even if it wasn't a trap set by the Puppet's Owner, if the information about thousands of Jade Slips was true, someone else might have set up an ambush at the Entrance after Rean spread the birds. The only problem was that Werin and Pulanli couldn't ignore this information.

"We are going there," Pulanli immediately jumped on Werin's back while stating that.

Werin began to fly in the direction indicated on the map. "We need to be careful, though. This is the only clue we have found so far, but that's probably the same for everyone who found these Jade Slips."

Pulanli agreed with him and prepared to fight. "Leave everything to me."

Several more participants eventually stumbled upon Rean's Bird Puppets or the dropped Jade Slips on the ground. Some of them had their own methods of communicating with their allies, which further spread the information. In the end, at least half of the Space-Time Experts of the Ruins headed to the Air Ventilation Entrance that Rean mentioned, all arriving at different moments in time in the following days.