Death... and me

Sanstin Continent was indeed a barren continent. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to simply call it a huge desert. Very few living beings called this place home. The weird thing about this continent was its proximity to the Center of the Realm of Gods.

As mentioned before, it is located near the continents at the center, so the amount of Divine Energy available is quite high. That said, it didn't make much sense for this place to be a desert like this. If anything, it should be thriving with countless plants, demon beasts, and even some spirits or the unusual humanoid traveling. 

Unfortunately, no one had an answer to that question. For some reason, life just didn't work in this place. The few Demon Beast experts that live here did try to create a more lush environment, bringing seeds and soil from other continents in huge quantities. Yet, not only did all the soil eventually become more sand, but only the toughest plant lives had any chance of survival, and they usually didn't live long either before everything just went back to being a desert once again.

In a Region called Tutuqou, you could find Lemanu City. This city was one of the only three cities in the entire continent with Long-Distance Teleport Formations. You might think that it is a good number since most continents didn't even have one. Yet, considering its proximity with the continents at the Center of the Realm of Gods, that was truly nothing. The continents around it would have at least a few tens of them.

It was in this city that the Long-Distance Teleport Formation shined with a silver light. Following that, a man walked out while using his Divine Sense to check the surroundings. He looked quite old, although his cultivation was by far the highest in that city. Naturally, that old man was Rean, who had once again changed his appearance.

'It's just like I saw in the information. There is sand everywhere, and as far as my Divine Sense can reach underground,' Rean quickly analyzed. 'So weird... why would a World Swallowing Cedar live in a place like this? Could it be this continent turned out like this because of the World Swallowing Cedar? After all, Celis did throw the Zasfin's Planet into an ice age...'

Rean then approached one of the Formations Masters taking care of that formation. The guy could tell that Rean had a high status since it wasn't just anyone who could pay to use a Long-Distance Teleport Formation all by himself. "H-How can I help you, sir?"

Rean smiled before asking. "Sorry to bother you, friend. I tried to acquire information about this continent while I was outside, but there is pretty much nothing out there. Do you perhaps have any Jade Slip Maps I can use? It would be even better if it showed me the path to Hogam Region."

"Hogam Region?!" The man was taken aback, and fear appeared in his eyes. Not only he but the other Formations Masters and workers also felt the same. "Sir, I don't want to meddle in your business. However, you should truly refrain from getting close to that place."

Rean obviously had to ask why. "What is wrong there?"

The guy quickly explained. "Anyone who approaches that place will have their lives sucked out of them. If you spend more than a few hours inside, all your Divine Energy and even life force will be gone. You will eventually fall dead on the ground, and even that isn't the end. Your body will lose all its flesh and blood in the next few minutes, leaving only the bones behind. It's a truly cursed place."

Rean quickly contacts Celis inside the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm. 'Hey, Celis, look, I found your soul mate.'

Celis didn't quite like the joke. 'Mate, your ass! Just because I can do the same thing, it doesn't mean I will discriminately suck anyone's life. Have you ever seen me doing that other than against our enemies?'

'Hahaha!' Rean laughed. 'I know, I know. Even back in the Zasfins' Planet, I've never seen anyone dying with this ability of yours... although the ice age you called on that planet probably killed quite a few.'

'Hmph!' Celis snorted, 'That you have to thank the Zasfin Race for, not me.'

Rean's attention went back to the Formations Master in front of him. "That's exactly the place I need to go. I can pay for a Jade Slip Map if you want."

The Formations Master then took a Jade Slip from his Spatial Ring and passed it to Rean. "There is no need, senior. You can have this one. I just hope you can return alive."

If that guy knew Rean was in the Space-Time Realm, he probably wouldn't think Rean was really in danger by going there. Yet, Rean didn't explain and simply left Tutuqou City.

Now that he was truly a Space-Time Realm cultivator, he didn't need to go far away where no one could see him. After all, there was nothing wrong with a Space-Time Realm cultivator being able to open a Spatial Gate. A crack in space appeared, and Rean jumped inside, disappearing from the region.

Since it was all on the same continent, Rean arrived at the Hogam Region quite fast, especially with his newly acquired power. However, as soon as he exited the Spatial Gate, he felt like some kind of force was sucking his Divine Energy and even trying to suck his life force. 'So that's how others feel when they end up as Celis's prey, uh?'

*Crack!*

Suddenly, another Spatial Gate Appeared, and Kentucky came from inside. "I say... isn't this training method a little too taring? Was there really a need to make me use Spatial Gates from the neighbor continent all the way here?"

"Hahaha!" Rean laughed in response. "You wanted to get used to it, didn't you? I even purposely slowed down so that you could catch up to me. Anyway, with our connection, it's not like you would get lost on the way."

Kentucky sighed and nodded. At least he truly did get the gist of how to use Spatial Gates. "Hum?" Right after, he also felt his Divine Energy being absorbed. "Seems like Celis's brother is very close."

'Who the hell is my brother?' Celis complained from inside the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm, and Rean and Kentucky just laughed it out.

The duo didn't need to do much to stop the absorption as it couldn't win against their strength. Right after, Rean jumped on Kentucky's back, and they flew into the distance. They felt the direction their energy moved before blocking that power, so they just needed to follow it to find Futuxei.

They kept flying for over an hour, seeing just more and more desert around them. Yet, things chanced in the second hour. For the first time in this desert, they saw some plant life, and that was only the start.