Death... and me

Rean then changed the topic, saying, "Anyway, this should be enough for me to take a look at the Soul Stone Formations, right? I really want to see how it works. Besides, it's not like I can flee and tell this secret outside." Rean then smiled at Ophele, who felt the urge to blow his head as he continued, "Or could it be that a Soul Ruler like Miss Ophele is afraid that a human like me would be able to escape from your grasp?"

Ophele wasn't an idiot. She knew that Rean was doing that to provoke her and get what he wanted. Nevertheless, she couldn't help but follow his wishes. After all, the other way around would be akin to her proving that the Soul Rulers would really allow Rean to escape if he wanted to. "Hmph! As if such a thing could ever happen. There are so many eyes on you that you can't even breathe without us knowing."

Ophele turned around and made her way to the exit as she responded, "Come, I'll take you to check it out."

Palaris, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes as he warned him, "Rean, are you sure you want to see the formations that transform human souls into Soul Stones?" He was afraid that Rean might give up helping him with formations after seeing that.

Rean laughed in response as he replied, "Senior Palaris, you're thinking too deeply into it. Does it look like I can worry about others? What's preventing me from becoming a Soul Stone is my talent in formations. That's why I want to check it. As for the other humans, there's nothing I can do for them. Simple as that."

"Hmph! It's good that you understand that," Ophele said as she also heard Rean's words.

As Rean followed Ophele, he also communicated with Sister Orb, telling her, 'Sister Orb, make sure to not forget where the formation's located since I probably won't be able to stay there for long.' Rean didn't want Sister Orb to lose track of it after coming back.

[Don't worry. As long as I know the exact location and we're in the same area, I can do the analysis. I only need one chance to check it out. After that, you don't need to stay in the area anymore. Of course, try to stay there for a while longer so the Zasfins won't suspect you. It would be weird if you just glance at the formation and leave straight away,] Sister Orb warned Rean.

Rean nodded after hearing that. "Very well."

Rean's group then passed by a few different buildings and finally reached the same one Roan was brought into. However, instead of going to the tunnel where Roan was located, they took a different tunnel. Eventually, they arrived at a big hall where Rean could see many formations set up. Each of them was linked to each other, forming a web of connections.

"This is the formation...or formations. To create the Soul Stones, you need several types of Soul Formations working in unison," Ophele explained as she pointed at them.

At the same time, a guard came out to Ophele and Palaris and asked, "Is this another human that's ready for extraction?" Naturally, he had never seen a human come into this place if not for creating Soul Stones, so he thought Rean was just another one of them.

Palaris shook his head as he responded, "No, he's here to attend us. Don't worry, we already obtained permission to be here. If there are any issues, you can report to Sevinia's estate."

The guard found it strange that someone would come here just to look at the formation, though he didn't intervene. Since they had permission, it was not in his place to say anything. "Then, have a good stay. Please be aware that the formations are delicate, so be careful."

Ophele and Palaris nodded in response as they began to walk with Rean between the formations. After that, Palaris started to use Spiritual Sense to talk with Rean about the Soul Runes of each formation. 'This Soul Rune here is a Splitting Soul Energy Rune. It's present in most of the formations that make up the whole system. The material we use to...'

For the next few hours, Ophele and Palaris explained everything, hoping that Rean would come up with new ideas for the formation research they were doing.

However, while Rean was going through the various formations, the hall's doors opened once again. A group of Zasfins soon came inside with a small group of five humans no older than 10 or 11 years old. That guard from before already understood why they were there and came forward to receive them.

"A new batch?"

"Yes. Their Souls have become too chaotic to operate the Bloodline Trial Control Formations. We can only use them for Soul Stones now."

The kids, who seemed to be impressed with the place, didn't understand what was going to happen. With that, one of them asked, "Uncles, is this where we will be sent to Soul Paradise?"

The Zasfin leading that group laughed as he patted the kid's head, saying, "Hahaha! But of course. Once you enter the formation, you will be transported to where all the other kids before you went. You worked very hard so far, so it's only proper that you get the honor to be with them."

"Great!" The kids all became excited.

However, Rean's expression turned as cold as ice after that. If his hair was completely black, one wouldn't be able to tell him apart from Roan at all. 'Sister Orb, is there a way to stop them?'

[No. I've just started to analyze the formations making up the system. It'll take a lot of time before I can do anything about it.] She then warned him, saying, [Rean, don't do anything stupid. If you use the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm to suddenly transport those kids away, all the Zasfins here will know about your abilities. You'll be basically sacrificing everyone else to save these five.]

Rean clenched his fists but nodded in the end. 'I know... don't worry.'

The kids were soon sent inside the center of the plethora of formations as Rean, Palaris, and Ophele watched. At this moment, Ophele looked at Rean's expression and could see that he didn't look as playful as before. 'Hmph! You better look at the process very well. That's how you'll turn out if you disappoint us.'

Rean glanced at Ophele for a moment, his expression changing into a bright smile as he replied, 'Sure enough, Miss Ophele is the one who cares about me the most.'

A vein popped out of Ophele's head as she did her best to not beat Rean to a pulp. She was clearly provoking him, but how come she was always the one fuming while he was smiling? 'Let's see how long you can keep your smug smile. Hmph!'

The formations soon activated, and the kids at the center, who looked excited a moment ago, suddenly fell to the ground. Not long after, the same faint blue light came out of the formations and entered their heads. However, unlike the Bloodline Trial Control Formations, Rean could see that something was coming out of the kids' heads through the stream of blue light.

Those streams of blue light then passed through the various formations in the area before gathering at the front. There, several Spirit Stones began to melt. Rean could tell that each of those Spirit Stones was at least a Rank Six one.

The melted material then began to mix with the Spirit Stones, fusing together. Rean looked at that as the process took over an hour to complete. Eventually, three clear stones finished forming in the air before the formations came to an abrupt halt.

The clear stones then began to fall until the Zasfin, who was controlling the formation, used his Spiritual Energy to catch them. He looked at the stones with his Spiritual Sense and Soul Power for a quick moment before putting them away. "Sigh...it's really hard to obtain high-level Soul Stones. These humans were quite useless to the very end. Anyways, someone clear the trash left behind."

The Zasfin that had patted the kids' head before the formation activated came forward after hearing that and lifted the kids' corpses into the air. Following that, he used his Spiritual Energy to burn them down. With his cultivation, it wasn't anything hard to burn those kids' corpses to the point that even ashes weren't left behind. "For fuck's sake. I hate pretending to be nice in front of these humans."

A friend on his side shrugged his shoulders as he consoled, "Well, at the very least, you can vent your anger by wiping them out. Don't tell me that you don't feel satisfied burning them down."

"Hahaha!" The guy nodded with a light chuckle. "That's true. It's definitely satisfying." He then turned around and made his way out of the room while saying, "Let's go. We might get a few more today."

He and the Zasfins who brought the kids before left the room, leaving only the Zasfins responsible for taking care of the formation behind. Of course, Rean, Ophele, and Palaris were also there.

Rean then made sure to burn the guys' face in his head as he thought to himself, trying his best to control his emotions, 'There will come a day when you'll pay for that.'

Palaris then looked at him and sighed before using Spiritual Sense to tell him, 'That's why I didn't want you to come here. Although I'm not in favor of it, that's how things work in the Soul Rulers' territory. However, believe it or not, it's a lot better now than before.'

Rean took a deep breath before asking, 'Better? How can it be better than anything else?'

Such words were hard to believe after what Rean saw. However, he would find out that things were a lot more complicated than that.