Death... and me

On their way out, Rean couldn't help but ask Kentucky, "Isn't it bad for Celis to have his seeds spread outside the valley? What if someone identifies it?"

Kentucky shook his head as he assured Rean, "It's fine. His seeds only grow up to become small trees that don't look any different from other plants. Well, that's because Celis can control their appearance as he sees fit. In the end, even if someone analyzes it closely, they wouldn't find anything. Of course, that's only if Celis doesn't order them to turn into Spiritual Energy Beacons like what he did for the other powers of the world until now."

Rean nodded in satisfaction after hearing that. "That's good, then. Anyways, let's speed up. It's only 1600 kilometers away, so we should be able to arrive there in less than one hour with your current speed, Kentucky."

Kentucky nodded after hearing that. Spiritual Energy soon gathered around his body as white and black flames spread on his wings. He then flapped once, creating a shockwave behind as his body shot forward with Rean and Roan on his back. Soon, they disappeared in the distance. Also, thanks to Rean's Light and Spiritual Sense Bending Skills, no one could see anything.

The territory that Rean and Roan were planning to visit was controlled by a pair of Ice Salamanders. They were real siblings and helped each other keep their territory protected while sharing the local Spirit Vein, both at the Middle of the Stage Five Level.

At this moment, their heads were down in front of another demon beast. It had enormous blue wings, even slightly bigger than Kentucky's. Each feather exuded a crystalline chill that surrounded the entire Demon Bird's body. If not because of its size, many women would love to have one as their pet due to how beautiful it looked.

"So, have you found the deposit already?" the Demon Bird asked while it looked at the Salamanders as if they were food. It really used words, not Spiritual Sense, proving that it had already surpassed the Stage Five level.

'N-no. We've been excavating the entire area for over a year. However, we still have had no luck finding it,' one of the brothers answered, using Spiritual Sense instead.

'Sorry, Gulan. Our territory is over 500 kilometers in radius. Without knowing the specific location of the deposit, we can't possibly find it anytime soon.' The other brother also felt helpless from the question.

As one could imagine, the demon bird called Gulan was none other than the strongest demon beast of the Koran Forest, the Blue Luan. It had received the report about Kentucky's arrival. However, it hadn't gone there to see him since it was busy with something else, which was the mineral deposit under the Ice Salamanders' territory.

The salamanders didn't know how, but it seemed like the Blue Luan had a way to tell that such a deposit really existed in their territory. Unfortunately, there's just so much they could cover together. Also, demon beasts at Stage Four and below were of no help since they didn't have any intelligence. Even if they found something, they wouldn't know better to report or not.

The Blue Luan was afraid of some other power finding it, so it hadn't left the place ever since. At the very least, with its Stage Six cultivation, it would make others think twice before pissing it off. It wasn't as if the biggest tribes didn't have anyone capable of fighting it, but they would definitely need more than a single Soul Transformation Realm cultivator to contend against it.

In the end, Heaven-level materials were just too rare. The planet had lacked Spiritual Energy for thousands of years. That being said, such precious ore deposits were hard to find, let alone form. If one was found, it would definitely attract many other powers to fight for it. That's what the Blue Luan didn't want to happen.

"Keep looking. I want to find it in at most one more year. If you fail, I can make do with your Demon Cores instead." The Blue Luan's threat weren't empty words. It truly had to power to smash the brothers alone.

'Yes, Gulan.' The two Ice Salamanders immediately took flight before leaving the scene.

The Blue Luan then focused its Spiritual Sense in their territory once again. It tried to use it to find the deposit many times, but it understood that it was too far below for its Spiritual Sense to reach. The more barriers along the way, the weaker a Spiritual Sense became. Spiritual Senses heading underground was obviously one of the best natural barriers.

However, it was then that it felt something else flying inside its Spiritual Sense. The sense was very faint, almost imperceptible, but it was still there. The Blue Luan's expression turned dark as it shot forward in the direction of that feeling.

Rean, of course, noticed the moment another Spiritual Sense touched his Spiritual Sense bending skill. However, when it appeared in his senses, it was already too close for him to order Kentucky to turn back. "Shit! Someone just found our location."

Roan nodded as he also had the same skill active. Although not as strong as Rean's, it still had the ability to feel when another Spiritual Sense touched it. "It's a very strong Spiritual Sense, not something a Nascent Soul or Stage Five Demon Beast can have."

Kentucky then looked at Rean and Roan before asking, "What should we do then? Should we enter the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm and wait for whatever it is to leave?"

As always, they didn't have their Spiritual Sense active since they couldn't hide it from others. That being said, they didn't know who was heading towards them. Well, it wasn't like they didn't have an idea, though.

Roan thought it was a good opportunity to test out the Soul Gem System's rules and decided to try. "Let's go into the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm."

Rean and Kentucky nodded as the twins tried to enter and push Kentucky inside together. However, nothing happened to them other than a robotic message popping into their mind.

[Danger detected, access denied.]

Sure enough, the system wasn't kidding when it made the new set of rules active. If there was any danger and this danger was aware of the twins' presence, they wouldn't be able to enter the Dimensional Realm anymore.

"As expected, we can't enter." Roan didn't seem that worried, though.

Rean and Kentucky nodded, with Rean saying soon after, "In that case, we might as well spread our Spiritual Sense and take a look. After all, we have already been found."

The three agreed on that as their Spiritual Sense spread outwards as the bending skill disappeared, revealing their group. Soon after, their Spiritual Sense detected the other side.

"So that's the Blue Luan, huh?" Rean muttered as he looked at the blue Demon Bird coming in their direction. "It's even slightly bigger than Kentucky."

Kentucky nodded as he replied, "Indeed. Also, his size isn't just for show. I can tell that he isn't strong only because of his cultivation. He can definitely fight those at the same level and easily win."

Following that, the twins and Kentucky received a Spiritual Sense Message as the Blue Luan made its way to their location. 'Who are you? What are you doing in this territory?'

Rean and Roan then looked at Kentucky, who understood what they meant. Right after, he answered with another Spiritual Sense Message, saying, 'My name is Kentucky. I'm the new demon beast who claimed the Mountain Bull's territory.'

Around a minute later, the Blue Luan finally appeared in their vision, not taking long before it stopped in front of them. "So you're the new guy, huh? Are these two your slaves?" the Blue Luan asked as it looked at Rean and Roan's slave collars. From the looks of it, those collars were of very high level.

Kentucky nodded as he noticed the Blue Luan's thoughts, using his real voice as he answered, "They are. If you want, I can present you with a similar slave collar for you to use in other humans. However, it will only work on humans. Zasfins can use their Soul Power to deactivate it, so it's useless against them."

The Blue Luan was taken aback by Kentucky's answer, responding back in shock, "Wait! You can talk?!"

Kentucky smiled in response as he replied, "The same way you could back when you were at the Stage Five level. Am I wrong?"

Rean and Roan were the ones to be surprised this time as they asked Kentucky through a Spiritual Sense. 'Kentucky, is this Blue Luan the real deal? Only a Divine Demon Beast would be able to talk with words at Stage Five, after all.'

Kentucky slightly nodded as he responded through Spiritual Sense. 'He is. My bloodline is screaming at the moment, unwilling to submit to this guy's aura. He's the first demon beast I've seen in my life that makes me feel like that. Also, I'm pretty sure he can feel the same thing from me.'

Sure enough, the Blue Luan quickly understood what was happening. "I failed to recognize you because of this weird crown. After all, I've only heard about your race. So you're a Minokawa, right? Or perhaps a half-breed? No, your bloodline aura is too strong for you to be a half-breed. It's a mutation, huh?"

Kentucky didn't try to hide it as he answered, "Indeed. I have mutated, so you could now say that I'm slightly stronger than I should have been because of that." Kentucky then changed the topic as he asked, "Anyway, you are the first Divine Demon Beast I've ever seen other than me. How come you can live in this place without those Zasfins trying to capture you?"

The Blue Luan couldn't help but laugh out loud, saying, "Hahaha! Because those idiots wouldn't dare to go against the Demon Beast Alliance of this planet."

"Demon Beast Alliance?" This was the first time the twins and Kentucky heard of such a thing.