Death… And Me

Chapter 4434: No One Asks For It

Rean couldn’t help but ask, ”But... would we really be a match for Godly Predators as we are now? Even Zone Gods have trouble fighting them. Most of the time, they only engage Predators outside the Sacred Relic’s influence to buy time for others to flee or for reinforcements to arrive. After all, they are constantly hindered by the Godly Pressure Weakening effect.”

He paused for a moment before continuing, recalling everything they had witnessed since arriving in the Celestial Plane.

”Every time we’ve seen a Zone God fight a Predator, they always looked extremely cautious. None of them treated those creatures as opponents they could defeat casually. If even they have to be so careful, isn’t it too reckless for us to challenge them already?”

”Rean is right,” Celis joined in. ”We are also weakened by Godly Pressure, even if we can continuously convert part of it into Godly Energy. Sure, we would perform much better than any ordinary Aura God. Not only are we much stronger, but we can also recover Godly Energy naturally while fighting. Nonetheless, Godly Predators are an entirely different matter. Their physical strength alone already places them well above ordinary Godly Beasts, and once you add the Godly Pressure on top of that, the difference becomes even greater.”

”Besides, unlike Godly Spawn and Beasts, Predators don’t simply rely on brute force. Their instincts are much sharper, and they are considerably more dangerous opponents. A single mistake against one of them could easily become fatal.”

Roan wasn’t nearly as worried. ”As we are now, there isn’t a single Godly Beast capable of threatening us unless they overwhelm us with numbers. You all saw the Zone Gods fighting before. It should already be obvious that our current strength is roughly comparable to theirs.”

Sister Orb immediately interrupted.

[After observing every Zone God you’ve encountered so far, I’d estimate the four of you are roughly comparable to an Initial Stage Zone God in pure combat strength.]

[That means you’re already capable of jumping three cultivation stages to fight stronger opponents. However, Initial Stage Zone Gods don’t go hunting Godly Predators outside the Sacred Relic’s influence. Not unless they absolutely have to, and they would only do so with a lot of help. Even then, they usually fight only long enough to escape. Isn’t this too dangerous? Personally, I’d much rather wait until all of you reach at least the Late Stage of the Aura God Realm.]

She paused briefly before continuing.

[Don’t forget that your ability to fight above your cultivation level doesn’t make you invincible. There is still a limit to how much of a difference your advantages can make. If something unexpected happens, retreating may not be as easy as you think.]

Rean, Celis, and Kentucky all nodded in agreement. It simply felt like an unnecessary gamble. Even Celis, who usually pursued the most efficient path toward cultivation, felt they would be pushing their luck if they challenged Godly Predators now. Besides, it wasn’t as if they were falling behind anyone else. They were already cultivating at a speed no one in Besgol could even imagine.

Roan, however, remained completely unmoved.

”We can do it, and we will. We have far more advantages than everyone else. More importantly, we also have far more ways to escape if something goes wrong.” He then countered Sister Orb. ”Besides, your evaluation isn’t completely accurate.”

[Hm?]

”You’re only comparing our individual combat strength. We’re obviously not stupid enough to fight Godly Predators alone. At least, not at this stage. We fight together, just like we’ve always done.”

He calmly looked at each member of the group before continuing.

”If Rean and I join forces, we can display strength comparable to a Middle Stage Zone God. Once Kentucky and Celis provide support, even a Late Stage Zone God would have a difficult time dealing with us. We also have the Yin Yang Sanctuary, Instant Movement, our communication through the soul connection, and several ways to cover each other’s weaknesses. None of those advantages exist when you compare us to ordinary cultivators.”

Sister Orb remained silent for a moment before finally answering.

[Well... that’s true. I still think it’s dangerous, though.]

”No point worrying about it,” Roan replied. ”If we don’t hunt Godly Predators, then we’ll have to rely entirely on Godly Beast Crystals. Just how many would we need to equal the purity and concentration contained inside a single Predator Crystal?”

Celis didn’t even need time to think.

”As a rough average... around two hundred and ten Godly Beast Crystals. That alone should tell you just how enormous the gap is between Godly Beasts and Godly Predators.”

”Exactly,” Roan nodded. ”You spent two entire weeks hunting inside the Crystal Farm, yet you didn’t even come close to collecting that amount.”

”Ahem...” Celis awkwardly raised a hand. ”Actually... I probably could have collected enough to equal one Predator Crystal. The problem wasn’t the Godly Beasts themselves. The farm is crowded. There are cultivators everywhere. Finding a Godly Beast that no one else was already fighting wasn’t easy. Even competing over ordinary Godly Spawn Creatures was troublesome.”

He helplessly shrugged.

”There were also many situations where several groups reached the same Godly Beast almost simultaneously. Even if I was stronger than most of them, I couldn’t simply chase everyone away. Since the supporting teams judged the rewards according to participation, quite a few crystals had to be shared.”

He then sighed before continuing.

”Besides, don’t forget that fifty percent of everything I earned was collected as taxes. Elite Exploration Groups only receive full tax exemptions while performing official Elite Exploration Missions. The Crystal Farm obviously doesn’t qualify.”

”That doesn’t matter,” Roan answered. ”We aren’t going back to the farm. As you said, there are simply too many cultivators there. It’s a safe place that allows ordinary cultivators to earn more Godly Crystals than they normally could outside Besgol.”

He then shook his head.

”However, we aren’t ordinary cultivators.”

Everyone naturally understood what he meant before he even finished.

”We don’t need to waste Godly Crystals recovering our Godly Energy. As long as there’s Godly Pressure around us, we can recover naturally after the fights. Godly Crystals would only be used if we were in a hurry. That alone gives us a huge advantage over everyone else.”

Roan continued explaining.

”Think about how ordinary cultivators fight. Every bit of Godly Energy they consume is one step closer to retreating. They constantly have to balance offense, defense, movement, and the energy they’ll need to return safely. They have to use Celestial Energy most of the time because they can only recover Godly Energy through Crystals. It is expensive and not worth as much as the farm.”

He smiled faintly.

”For us, the longer we stay out of Besgol, the more apparent our advantages become.”

”Instead of wasting time competing with hundreds of cultivators over Crystal Farm resources, we can hunt uninterrupted in the Godly Creatures’ Territories. In the end, we’ll probably obtain far more crystals than we ever could inside the farm. The Crystal Farm should be left to the cultivators who truly need its protection.”

Roan then stood up.

”Anyway, we’re leaving tomorrow, so you’d all better get ready.”

Rean rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ”If we simply go hunting on our own, we’ll still have to pay thirty percent taxes.”

”So?” Roan looked at him.

A grin slowly spread across Rean’s face. ”If we’re already going that far, we might as well go all out. We should request an official Elite Exploration Mission. As long as we complete the mapping or resources collecting objectives required by the mission, it’ll count as an official exploration, and official Elite Exploration Teams don’t pay taxes.”

Roan considered the proposal for a few seconds before nodding. ”Very well. Although... if we simply asked Tobao and Arcis to exempt us from the taxes, I’m pretty sure they’d agree.”

Rean immediately shook his head. ”I don’t want that. That would mean asking them to bend the rules that keep the Besgol Region functioning. That’s not fair to everyone else, and I’m not going to ask for special treatment.”

He smiled before adding, ”If we start accepting favors every time things become slightly inconvenient, we’ll eventually become dependent on them. I’d rather complete everything through the proper channels. That way, no one can complain that we only succeed because the Law Gods keep giving us preferential treatment.”

Roan gave a slight nod. ”So be it. Doing things officially also avoids unnecessary problems. We already attract enough attention as it is.”

There was, however, one small problem.

Official Elite Exploration Missions were assigned by the Godly Subjugation Guild, and it was almost unheard of for an Elite Exploration Group to personally request one. Normally, the guild itself selected the missions after evaluating the danger involved. After all, those missions ventured much deeper into the Godly Creatures’ Territories than ordinary assignments.

When Rean walked into Conco’s office and explained why he had come, the branch leader honestly thought he had misheard him.

”...Wait,” Conco slowly looked up from his desk. ”Did you just say that the four of you want to take an Elite Exploration Mission?”

Rean nodded without hesitation. ”That’s the idea.”

Conco’s mouth twitched. ”Four Middle Stage Aura Gods want to head deep into the Godly Creatures’ Territories by yourselves? Do you people have a death wish? I’d already be surprised if the four of you managed to reach the unexplored areas alive. Forget exploring deeper into them! You’ll probably die long before getting there!”

Rean merely shrugged. ”It’s fine. If something happens, that’s our responsibility. We just want an official exploration mission so we can avoid paying taxes legally.”

Conco almost coughed blood. ”Listen to me carefully. Even if you have to surrender thirty percent of your harvest, that’s still infinitely better than throwing your lives away. Are you really willing to gamble your lives over thirty percent? Besides, why don’t you simply wait for your next official Elite Exploration assignment? Harksha and the others should have finished their cultivation by now. Wouldn’t it be much safer to have a Zone God leading your group in case of emergencies?”

”Meh...” Rean looked completely unconcerned. ”We’ll earn more if we don’t have to split everything with them. Besides, Harksha is the leader. As a Zone God, she’ll naturally receive the largest share. We’d rather keep everything for ourselves.”

He then looked directly at Conco with a faint smile. ”Besides, it’s not really your problem, is it? If we die, we die.”

Conco suddenly felt like bursting into tears.

Not my problem?

If he actually approved this request and the twins’ group ended up dying, the Godly Subjugation Guild Master would probably skin him alive! He knew plenty well the importance the guild put on those four, and that’s not considering Tobao and Arcis on top of that. He still remembered the day Headquarters personally contacted him, making it abundantly clear that those four were to be treated well and that any unusual developments involving them had to be reported immediately.

Now they wanted to march into the most dangerous areas of the Godly Creatures’ Territories on their own.

’Why does it always have to be these four...?’ he lamented inwardly.

Forcing an awkward smile onto his face, he finally said, ”Ahem... I’ll need to consult Headquarters first.”