Death... and me

"Quite surprising. We've been traveling for over 1000 kilometers, and it's still a hilly region as far as the eyes can see," Kentucky mentioned as he flew with Rean.

Rean couldn't help but laugh in response, saying, "Hahaha! Just so you know, we're still in the outer region of Fruzei Hills."

"What?!" Kentucky was taken aback after hearing that. "Are you serious?"

Rean nodded straight away, replying, "Yep. You just need to look at the cultivation of the demon beasts below us. There's almost no Stage Four ones, let alone those at Stage Five. Stage Five Demon Beasts wouldn't be living in the outer region, after all."

Kentucky had to admit that Rean was right. "I see...well, that's a good thing. This makes this territory the perfect place for Malo, Burio, and everyone else to train."

"Exactly!" Rean obviously thought of the same thing. "In any case, I've already marked three points in the jade slip map that are quite good prospects to create a settlement. We have less than 4000 members in our group, so we don't need anything too large. Besides, it'll just be some kind of temporary placement."

"Why temporary?" Kentucky asked straight away.

Rean then smiled in response. "Did you forget the reward for helping the demon beasts win the war? It's a small continent for humans. Naturally, I would prefer to move over there if that happens."

Kentucky had to admit that it was true.

Suddenly, Rean's Spiritual Sense noticed something different. "Oh! Look at that, another valley!"

Kentucky saw the same thing and decided to fly down to take a look. "Hmm...this one is quite small compared to the one we had before, don't you think? Celis is pretty big. He alone would probably occupy half of the space here."

Rean agreed with Kentucky, saying, "Yeah...too bad..."

Following that, they took flight once again to look for more places. Rean and Kentucky stayed out for an entire day before returning to the airship at the entrance of Fruzei Hills.

Roan, of course, noticed when they've arrived. "I've seen the areas you found. Which one do you want to occupy?" Naturally, since Rean and Roan hadn't separated for more than 3000 kilometers, they could share their senses as long as they wished the other to see.

"I think the best place is between the Inner and Core Region. There you can find lots of Stage Three Demon Beasts and quite a few Stage Four. In case it becomes necessary, Malo and the others can enter the Core Region as well if they wish to truly challenge themselves," Rean explained.

He then continued, "As for the Outer Region, there are almost no Stage Four Demon beasts there. The majority are Stage Three or Stage Two. That place is very good for our kids and young teenagers. Instead of moving in the direction of the Core Region, they just need to move to the opposite to find them."

Roan nodded, already understanding where the place Rean was talking about. "So you chose those five peaks for the base, right?"

Rean nodded in response. On their search for a good place to live, Rean passed by an area surrounded by five peaks. It couldn't be considered a valley at all, but it still gave a similar feeling of protection by the peaks. There was no river this time, though. "The core of the Anti-Spiritual Sense Formation I created could be used there."

However, Roan shook his head, saying, "No more Anti-Spiritual Sense formations. I don't want any protection formations at all." Roan then looked at Celis in the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm before saying, "Also, I want you to play the common tree role. Unless a Stage Five Demon Beast appears, I don't want you to intervene."

Rean couldn't help but ask, "Are you trying to give off the feeling of a common tribe, having the people there defend themselves for any danger that appears?"

Roan nodded, replying, "Exactly. That's how a tribe usually is in this continent. I want everyone there to deal with their problems themselves without the need for our intervention."

Kentucky found it strange, saying, "But what about Celis? He'll be in full view, won't he? I believe that both the demon beasts and the Soul Rulers are looking for any information about him." Sure enough, that would be the main concern while using Roan's plan.

However, Celis immediately answered them through the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm. Well, it was Sister Orb who allowed him to talk, though. "There's no need to worry. Have you not noticed it yet? I'm only a Stage Five Demon Plant. After all my old bark fell together with my cultivation, I look completely different from what I was before. What everyone is looking for is a Stage Nine Demon Tree, not a Stage Five Demon Tree."

Demon plants were very rare, but that did not mean they didn't exist. If one compared them to the number of human experts in the Zasfin world, they're pretty matched. It's just that they didn't have a Stage Eight Demon Plant like how the humans have someone at the Elemental Transformation Realm. There are a few demon plants at Stage Seven and a lot more of them below, though. Well, there was Celis at Stage Nine, but that was in the past. Rean's group hadn't seen many Demon Plants because they weren't fond of moving, just like Celis. They were much better at protecting themselves instead.

Rean then took a look into the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm and had to admit that Celis was right. "Indeed, compared to you back then at the Soul Rulers' headquarters, it's like two different trees altogether. Even your white color has disappeared completely. Nevertheless, can't they at least see that you're a World Swallowing Cedar, even if you have lower cultivation?"

Celis denied that notion, answering, "Not possible. Demon plants have basically similar offensive and defensive abilities. Whatever I can do at Stage Five, other Stage Five Demon Trees can do it as well. If there's anything, it's the fact that I still look like a much younger Demon Cedar. But that's easy to fix."

Suddenly, Celis's branches began to change. New ones protruded out of his large trunk as it enlarged itself. The trunk that went all the way to the top suddenly split into two, then three, then four... After Celis was done with his transformation, he looked a lot more like an oak tree. No, anyone would definitely tell that he was an oak tree, not a cedar tree.

"This..." Rean's group was surprised to see that. "Is it fine for you to do that to your body?"

Celis didn't seem to mind at all, responding, "What are you talking about? Do you think I've hurt myself? If anything, I believe only my pride is hurt. To think that a World Swallowing Cedar like me would have to take such an ugly form." Celis couldn't help but feel a little dejected.

"Well, you don't need to worry about injuries or anything like that. As long as my core isn't damaged, I can change my form to a certain extent. It's just that I can't reduce my mass, so I'm still as heavy as I was a moment ago."

Kentucky was more concerned about something else, asking, "What about my nest? You didn't destroy it, right?"

"Of course not! I'm not an idiot!" Celis's branches then opened, revealing a cozy nest lying in the middle. It's just that it was covered by the bushes.  "To be honest, it's a lot easier to hold your nest in this form."

Kentucky was more than satisfied with that. "Then that's good."

Rean's mouth twitched, though. "Why didn't you say that earlier? We had to take a lot of precautions to not disclose your location."

Celis found Rean's question quite idiotic. "What are you talking about? Even if you didn't have to hide me, you still had to hide the humans you captured, didn't you? In the end, I would still be kept inside that Anti-Spiritual Sense Formation of yours." Sure enough, Celis was right. After all, they were living in the Zasfins' territories. "Besides, I already told you that I don't like to change my form. I'm very proud of being a World Swallowing Cedar, okay? My majestic appearance is best."

Rean scratched the back of his head in response, letting out a sigh as he said, "Sigh...fine. However, from now on, you'll have another name. After all, if someone investigates, it'll be too obvious once they find that your name is still Celis."

Roan and Kentucky nodded in agreement. That made a lot of sense.

Celis then pondered a bit, saying, "Alright. For the three of you, I'm still Celis. As for the rest of them, I'll just say that I'm called Gola. Fortunately, I have never spent much time with them due to Roan's training schedules, so almost none of them know of my real name. Well, I've never cared about answering them when they asked me either."

"Why Gola?" Naturally, Kentucky had to ask.

"That's the name of someone I knew a long time ago when I first reached Stage Five and gained sentience. Anyway, that should be more than enough," Celis replied.

Rean and Roan didn't mind Celis's choice. "Alright. Gola, it will be then."

Last but not least, Celis asked something else. "By the way, although it isn't in the Core Region, that place is bound to be some Stage Five Demon Beast's territory. Have you challenged it for the area already?"

Rean and Kentucky shook their heads, with Rean replying, "We haven't found it. We'll need to wait for whoever it is to appear."