Death… And Me

Chapter 4460: No Meeting

”What is that thing?” Kentucky asked.

Rean smiled as he jumped down from the airplane before approaching the two-tailed white fox, gently scratching behind her ears. The little fox narrowed her mismatched eyes comfortably, clearly enjoying the attention.

”Isn’t she great?” Rean said happily. ”She’s been hanging around here for the past two days. Well, I’m partially to blame since I kept feeding her. Anyway, she is definitely a lot cuter than you, Kentucky.”

Kentucky’s mouth twitched. ”Hmph! As if I would care whether a man finds me cute. In fact, stay away from me. Shoo! Shoo! The Great Kentucky belongs to all women, not men!”

No one noticed anything unusual about the little creature. Just like Rean, all they could sense from her was a tiny amount of Celestial Energy, something completely normal in the Celestial Plane. Only Celis seemed to pay her a little more attention.

”It probably isn’t too far from becoming a Godly Creature,” he commented while observing the fox more carefully. ”You guys probably can’t feel it, but there’s also a trace of Godly Pressure circulating inside her. It simply hasn’t fused together with her Celestial Energy to create Godly Energy yet. If this race evolves the same way Demon Beasts do in our Great Void, she should eventually reach that stage.”

Roan barely spared the fox another glance before looking at the airplane instead. ”So, how’s the repair?”

Rean picked the fox up and placed her on his shoulder before walking toward the airplane. ”Pretty good. Most of the important runes have already been repaired or replaced. I just need another hour or so to finish the remaining details before closing the fuselage.”

Roan nodded. ”Then I’m going to rest.” He climbed inside the airplane, took his usual seat, and immediately closed his eyes. Lukay and Celis followed right behind, neither of them having much else to do outside anyway.

Kentucky, however, spread his wings once more. ”I’ll go play with the Godly Creatures nearby so they don’t come bother you. Let me know when you’re done.”

Rean didn’t object. ”Sure. Do you want to bring Kentucka with you?”

Kentucky almost lost control in midair. ”Ken-Kentucka? Are you fucking kidding me?”

”Hahaha! I am!” Rean laughed. ”She doesn’t really have a name.”

Roan’s voice came from inside the airplane. ”You aren’t actually planning to keep her, are you? It would already be a miracle if she doesn’t die of disgust once you select a name.”

”First, fuck you! Second, of course not.” Rean shook his head. ”I already think I’ve interfered with her life more than I should have. She belongs here. If she loses her wild instincts because of me, she’d probably die sooner or later. Once the airplane is repaired, I’m leaving her behind.”

”Then that’s fine,” Roan replied before closing his eyes once again.

*Growl!*

The white fox suddenly jumped off Rean’s shoulder, landing lightly on the ground before glaring at him with her fur standing up.

”What is it?” Rean asked.

*Rawr!*

The fox growled once more before deliberately turning her head away. Rean could only shrug. ”Well... suit yourself.”

He jumped back onto the airplane and resumed repairing the damaged thruster. The little fox remained where she was for several more seconds, silently watching him work before eventually turning around and trotting back into the forest, disappearing among the trees.

Rean smiled faintly as he watched her leave. ”I hope you have a nice life.” After that, he completely focused on the airplane again.

—

The next hour passed without anything worth mentioning. Rean finished replacing the damaged runes before reinstalling every panel he had removed. Kentucky hunted a few Godly Spawns around the area, collecting several additional Godly Spawn Crystals, but other than that, nothing unusual happened.

’Kentucky, come back. I’m finished here,’ Rean called through their Soul Connection.

Barely a minute later, Kentucky returned, changing back into his humanoid form before entering the airplane. ”Here.” He tossed a Spatial Ring toward Rean. ”A few extra Godly Spawn Crystals. No use for cultivation, but we might be able to buy something useful with them once we’re back in Besgol.”

As the group’s financial manager, Rean accepted them without hesitation. ”Every little bit helps.”

Not long afterward, everyone boarded the airplane, which slowly lifted into the air before beginning the long journey back toward Besgol.

On the way back...

”Do you think we should’ve stayed a little longer to collect more Godly Predator Crystals?” Celis asked while looking through the crystals stored inside his Spatial Storage.

Lukay immediately disagreed. ”Absolutely not. We’ve already been away for almost half a year. Honestly, everyone in Besgol probably thinks we’re dead by now.” He paused for a moment before correcting himself. ”Actually, that’s not entirely true. My Soul Flame is still there, so they at least know I’m alive. Even so, they must believe something terrible happened to us. No Elite Exploration Mission has ever lasted anywhere near this long.”

”It’ll definitely be over half a year by the time we get back,” Rean agreed. ”We’re extremely far from the Besgol Region. Still, we can gather more Godly Crystals from whatever creatures happen to cross our path.”

Roan nodded. ”The Predator Crystals should be enough for us to reach the Late Stage of the Aura God Realm.”

Lukay suddenly froze. ”...Wait.”

Everyone looked at him.

”What did you just say?”

Rean blinked. ”I said we’ll collect more crystals on the way back.”

”Not that!” Lukay almost shouted. ”What is this nonsense about only reaching the Late Stage of the Aura God Realm?”

Celis immediately frowned. ”What nonsense? We worked very hard to gather enough crystals to reach the Late Stage! Show some respect!”

Rean, Roan, and Kentucky all nodded vigorously.

Lukay felt like crying. Too bad he was a Lightning Spirit and had no tears. ”That’s not the point, you idiots! Counting the Godly Pearls, you’ve gathered more than one hundred and sixty Godly Predator Crystals! That’s enough to reach the Zone God Realm! What are you planning to do? Burn most of them as fuel for something else?”

”Oh!” Rean finally understood. ”Senior, didn’t you read our report? We don’t have any cultivation talent.”

”Fuck you!” Lukay immediately cursed. ”You already admitted those aptitude tests don’t work on you! You even said your Echo probably puts your cultivation talent above most, if not all, aptitudes in Besgol! Do you really think I’m stupid enough to fall for that excuse?”

”Tch...” Rean clicked his tongue. ”I forgot we already told him.”

Roan remained as calm as ever. ”Our Godly Energy pools are several times larger than those of cultivators at the same level. Because of that, we need several times more Godly Energy for every breakthrough. In exchange, we’re also much stronger than anyone else in our realm. That’s all there is to it.”

There was no point hiding it anymore after everything Lukay had witnessed.

”So that’s how it is...” Lukay finally calmed down, slowly nodding to himself. ”It makes sense. I’ve never seen Aura Gods as strong as the four of you. As the old saying goes, everything has a price. Now I finally understand yours.”

The conversation continued throughout the journey as the airplane steadily crossed the vast wilderness separating them from Besgol. Even with Rean’s airplane, the trip still took nearly three weeks before the familiar influence of the Sacred Relic finally spread over them once again.

However, the very moment they entered its range, everything changed.

Alarms rang throughout Besgol.

Tobao and the other Law Gods immediately shot into the teleport array’s direction, followed by dozens of Zone Gods in many other places. They weren’t coming to welcome the twins’ group, though...

They were preparing to intercept them!