Death... and me
chapter-295

Roan looked at the Jade Slip's information on the way and compared it to their location.

"Let's enter through the Southwest direction. That's the shortest path to the Core Region."

Rean nodded as he transmitted his intention to Kentucky. Back then, they only needed a few days to arrive at the forest's borders by foot. Not to mention that they were in the Energy Gathering Realm. But with Kentucky flying over the land, it only took them a few hours.

Finally, they spotted the forest in the distance. From above, it was possible to see one or more cultivators, most from nearby tribes like their own. There were also a few demon beasts here and there as they flew by. With Kentucky's Stage Three Cultivation, even the flying demon beasts of the border didn't get close to them.

The twins then entered the forest from above and continue on their way. Stage One or Two Demon Beasts at the outer region of the forest had no meaning for the twins. Kentucky also didn't feel any urger of eating these levels of Demon Cores anymore.

Jiran Forest was massive. Flying over the Outer Region alone took Kentucky more than two days. Not to mention that they selected the closest path to go. On the third day, the twins and Kentucky entered the Inner Region. That being said, Stage Two Demon beasts became a common sight while Stage Three ones would appear occasionally.

The Twins only had to deal with them when Kentucky landed to rest. Still, Stage Three Demon beasts were no threat anymore. If anything, the ones that appeared just had their Cores fed to the Minokawa. Of course, there were Flying Demon beasts at Stage Three as well. Sometimes, those Demon Beasts would come with an entire group to take Rean's group down.

Too bad that the twins were not the only ones that experienced an increase in their combat power after a breakthrough. Kentucky was also not something that Initial, Middle, or even Late Stage Three Demon Beasts could deal with. Unless, of course, they were some rare race like Kentucky himself. It's just that you can't find Minokawas and similar legendary beasts at every corner.

That was also something that always puzzled Rean. How did a Minokawa's egg end in the hands of an ordinary merchant? It seemed unlikely that Kentucky's parents would let his egg be taken that easily.

Other than demon beasts, Rean's group would find one or another Foundation Establishment or above cultivator's group. There was even one that overestimated themselves and tried to assault them while Kentucky was resting. After all, anyone capable of reaching this place was bound to have a few good things. Maybe they even had a lot of Demon Cores. In the middle of the wilderness, stealing and killing were nothing rare.

Between flights, rests, and quick battles, the twins took three more days to pass by the Inner Region. Only when they arrived close to the Core Region's border did Rean and Roan ask for Kentucky to go back to the ground.

The Core Region was known for its Stage Four Demon Beasts. However, the fact was that it had a lot more Stage One and Two, with a fair amount of Stage Three Beasts. Real Stage Four ones were the minority by far.

"Okay, we should take around two days to arrive in the region shown in the Jade Slip. We need to look for a mountain with four peaks. However, I can't tell how long it has been since this Jade Slip was made, so we don't know if that still exists."

Rean shrugged his shoulders.

"It's a mountain. Can it disappear that easily? Chances are that we might find it very fast. After all, it's a mountain. Anyway, now that we are here, you should be able to compare the Jade Slip information with the terrain, right? How big is the search area?"

Roan narrowed as he looked at it.

"From what I can see, it's a radius of 3000 kilometers."

Rean's mouth twitched.

"Are you kidding? Just how many mountains might we find with Four Peaks in a place that big? Is there no other clue?"

Roan shook his head.

"At least, I can't see any. Anyway, it wouldn't take more than a week or two to cover the entire area with our actual cultivation. Well, that is considering that nothing will happen in the meantime. Besides, it might be a good thing to find the target as well. Although there is no guarantee, the more we see this part of the core region, the bigger our chances."

*Chick!*

Suddenly, Kentucky looked in another direction with a serious expression. That was more than enough for Rean and Roan to know that Kentucky felt something was off.

*Roar!*

*Tremble!*

The ground shook as the roar got closer. Rean then used his Light Element to detect Life Force in the surroundings. It was then that he looked down at the ground. The enemy was there!

"Move!"

Rean, Roan, and Kentucky immediately jumped away. Right after, the ground they had been just a moment ago caved in. The Twins then sent their Spiritual Sense inside the hole and were finally able to see what's inside.

"Oh... It's a Tusk Earth Lizard. To think this one was able to progress to Stage Four, that's quite rare."

Roan nodded.

"Indeed. Usually, Stage Three is their limit. This guy probably ate something that allowed it to cross that threshold. Anyway, it will be quite annoying if it decides to stay underground."

"Jump!"

Roan then disappeared from his position, just in time to see the ground under him caving again.

"Fuck it. I don't have the patience to wait for it to come out."

As soon as the Lizard finished creating that hole and was about to move again, Roan jumped right inside. Rean sighed but followed right behind as well. As for Kentucky. Well, the chick didn't want to go, so it simply stayed outside, waiting.

The Tusk Earth Lizard noticed the prey entering its hole by themselves. Without wasting time, it immediately gave up the plan to move again and immediately attacked. After all, the underground was its field.

*Roar!*

Earth Element gathered around the Lizard as the earth around moved according to its wishes. It decided to trap Rean and Roan there to prevent them from fleeing.

Roan snorted in response after seeing that.

"Hmph! It's quite confident."

Rean laughed as he nodded. As they fell, their hair changed into white and black color.

'Life Style, First Form, Enhancement.'

Light Element got locked inside their bodies as their overall strength skyrocketed. They didn't try to stop the fall. Instead, they used the falling rocks as steps to increase their speed of descent even more.

'This guy is quite big, just like those Decaying Golems from the Profound Abyss. It will be quite hard to break its defense.'

Roan nodded.

'Its thick skin is present even on its head. Our swords are just too small to cause any significant damage in the short term.'

That's a problem Roan understood after their cultivation increased. Demon beasts grew in size as their Stage increased. In some cases, like the Decaying Golem and this Earth Lizard, the twins' weapons were just not big enough to reach the vital organs. As for parts of their bodies that were more vulnerable, the beasts would usually keep them protected.

The only attack with some effect would be the Stellar Piercer. After all, it would shoot a sharp ray of Spiritual Energy mixed with Dark and Light Elements. If used at close range, the Spiritual Energy attack will pierce further than the swords' total length.

However, that was far from optimal since Stellar Piecer was supposed to be more like a long-range attack. As for the other forms, they were more suited for smaller targets like humans. Because of that, Roan worked on something new other than the First Movement Form, Shadow Steps, during the past six months in the Sect. On the way, Roan used the time Kentucky rested to help Rean practice it as well. It was easy in their case since Roan could directly transmit all the memories necessary at once through their Soul Connection. The same thing went for the new movement form.

Suddenly, the Tusk Earth Lizard's scales got up and was shot in the Twins' direction.

'Death Style, First Movement Form, Shadow Steps.'

The twins became two shadows, merging with the surrounding darkness and dodging the Scales that came in their direction. The Lizard thought that the twins wouldn't be able to avoid all scales with the tunnel-like descent, but it was obviously wrong.

*Roar!*

Seeing that its initial attack didn't work, it immediately shot forward, intending to take the twins' head-on.

Rean and Roan didn't stop and accelerated even more.

'Death Style, First Defensive Form, Reversive Arcs!'

The Arcs of Light and Dark Threads created a giant bubble-like protection field, which retracted as they consumed the Lizard's attack energy. The twins didn't let that chance slip and immediately switched their stances.

Light and Dark Element gathered around the twins with the help of Spiritual Energy. However, instead of a smooth flow like the initial five forms, this one made those two elements grow chaotic. Light and Dark were not supposed to mix together as easy as Rean and Roan could make. They were supposed to be opposite elements, after all. Roan's new skill basically used this natural rejection between them to create a powerful and destructive attack.

'Death Style, Sixth Form, Destroyer!'