Death… And Me

Chapter 4471: However You Like

Time passed, and almost a full year went by. During that time, Rean regularly brought the little fox outside the Besgol Region to hunt whenever the twins’ group took short breaks from cultivation. Those outings gradually became part of their routine. While the others used the breaks to relax or deal with other matters, Rean would accompany the little girl to train, letting her slowly accumulate experience while strengthening herself.

To make sure she wouldn’t suffer another terrible backlash, the twins’ group completely forbade her from eating another Godly Predator Crystal. Well... to be more precise, Celis forbade it. If anyone wanted to feed her one of those crystals, they would first have to kill Celis. Needless to say, that wasn’t happening.

That didn’t mean the fox stopped growing stronger, though. She continued eating more and more Godly Spawn Crystals, and her cultivation steadily advanced over the months. Every single hunt always ended the same way. After consuming her hard-earned crystals, she would immediately curl into a ball and fall asleep. It almost looked as if sleeping had become part of her cultivation method.

No one found that strange. Various Demon Beast races followed similar patterns while assimilating the energy they obtained from natural treasures or prey. During sleep, their bodies gradually transformed the absorbed energy into their own strength. The fox simply seemed to possess an especially efficient version of that process.

As for the twins’ group, their own cultivation progressed without interruption. They first exhausted every Godly Beast Crystal in their possession before moving on to the much more valuable Godly Predator Crystals. One crystal disappeared after another as the months passed.

Of the more than one hundred and sixty Godly Predator Crystals they had gathered—including the Godly Pearls—only nine remained by now.

—

*Boom!*

On this particular day, they finally reached the limit of the Middle Stage. A powerful surge of Godly Energy burst out from their residence once again, spreading throughout the Godly Subjugation Guild Branch in Jufafner Country.

The Guild Branch Master barely reacted anymore.

He simply sighed, took out his Ring Communicator, and contacted Clasou as usual.

”Another breakthrough,” he reported calmly.

At this point, everyone had become accustomed to the twins’ group’s absurd cultivation speed.

—

Inside their residence, Roan slowly circulated his newly strengthened Godly Energy before opening his eyes. A faint nod of satisfaction escaped him.

”We are growing according to plan.”

Celis checked his own condition and smiled.

”A large part of that is thanks to your pills. They increased both our cultivation speed and the efficiency of our energy refinement by a considerable margin. I already included those improvements when calculating how many Godly Crystals we would need, and I’m happy to say the actual results matched my estimates almost perfectly.”

Kentucky stretched his wings before letting out a long sigh. ”Well, nine Godly Predator Crystals are nowhere near enough for us to reach the Peak Stage.” He looked around hopefully before continuing, ”Which means we’re taking a break from cultivation now... right?”

Everyone immediately understood what he truly meant.

Kentucky simply didn’t want to cultivate anymore.

Still, he wasn’t wrong. With only nine Godly Predator Crystals left, there wasn’t much progress they could make anyway.

”If you want to go out and enjoy yourself, go ahead,” Roan replied calmly. ”Just don’t forget to keep taking the stabilization pills I prepared for you.”

Kentucky instantly brightened. ”Now that’s the kind of cultivation plan I like!”

Rean chuckled before asking the question everyone had been thinking about. ”So... what are our next steps now?”

”What else?” Celis immediately answered before anyone else could speak. His eyes were practically glowing with anticipation. ”We’re heading back outside to collect more Godly Predator Crystals! Hahaha! This time, let’s not return until we’ve gathered at least three times what we brought back during the last expedition!”

Silence filled the room.

The others slowly looked toward him.

Triple...

That meant well over five hundred Godly Predator Crystals.

In other words...

Around five hundred Godly Predators.

Even for them, that number was ridiculous.

”...That might take a while,” Rean commented.

”Celis,” Roan interrupted, ”are you able to estimate how many crystals we’ll actually need to reach the Peak Stage?”

”Hm?” Celis immediately grabbed one of the remaining Godly Predator Crystals. ”Give me a few minutes.”

”I know we shouldn’t cultivate immediately after breaking through, but refining just a tiny amount won’t affect our foundations. I only need enough to update my calculations.”

As Celis slowly absorbed a trace of Godly Energy from the crystal, Rean suddenly remembered something. ”By the way...”

Everyone turned toward him. ”What about the Godly Horror Crystal? It’s several times better than a Godly Predator Crystal. Maybe we’ve been overlooking it.”

Celis immediately stopped cultivating and looked toward Rean.

”...You’re right.”

He took a thoughtful look at the Godly Horror Crystal stored inside Rean’s Spatial Ring. ”We still don’t know exactly how much usable Godly Energy it contains. More importantly, we don’t know how much purer its energy is compared to a Godly Predator Crystal.”

*Zush!*

Without hesitation, Rean tossed the crystal toward him. ”Then test it. Since you’re already calculating everything anyway, absorb just a tiny amount from the Godly Horror Crystal as well. Who knows? Maybe we won’t even need another expedition immediately.”

Celis nodded. ”Very well. Give me a moment.”

The room became quiet again as everyone patiently waited.

Several minutes later, Celis finally spoke. ”I have to admit...” he said with genuine surprise. ”It’s much better than I expected.”

”So?” Roan immediately asked.

”We’d still need to cultivate with it properly before obtaining an exact measurement,” Celis replied, carefully examining the crystal again. ”However, based on this attempt, I believe this single Godly Horror Crystal should contain enough usable energy to push each of us roughly halfway through the Late Stage of the Aura God Realm.”

Rean blinked. ”Wait... seriously?” He looked at the crystal again. ”Half an entire stage from just one crystal? Does it really contain that much energy?”

”It isn’t only about the amount of energy,” Celis explained. ”Purity is the biggest factor.”

He pointed toward the crystal. ”Almost fifty percent of the Godly Energy inside can be directly refined for cultivation. That’s an absurd efficiency. Sure, a Godly Horror Crystal naturally contains several times more energy than a Godly Predator Crystal, but its extraordinary purity is what truly makes it valuable.”

”Half a stage...” Roan quietly pondered the information before arriving at a decision. ”In that case, we’ll use it.”

Rean tilted his head. ”Would it really make that much of a difference?”

”It’s not the amount of cultivation that matters,” Roan explained. ”It’s the amount of time we’ll save.”

His idea was straightforward.

He intended to begin another Elite Exploration soon, venturing deep into the Godly Creatures’ Territories to hunt more Godly Predators. Under normal circumstances, they would return to Besgol once they gathered enough crystals, spend months cultivating, and only then head out again.

This time, however, things could be different. ”If we first use the Godly Horror Crystal to halfway the Peak Stage,” Roan continued, ”then we can complete the remaining half while we’re already outside hunting. Instead of wasting time traveling back and forth, we’ll simply break through to the Peak Stage during the expedition itself.”

The more everyone thought about it, the more sense the plan made.

Once they reached the Peak Stage, their combat strength would increase once again, allowing them to hunt even more efficiently. The Aura God Realm revolved around removing the restrictions placed on controlling energy outside one’s body. At the Late Stage, they could already utilize around seventy-five percent of their energy outside.

After reaching the Peak Stage... That limitation would disappear entirely. Their control would reach one hundred percent.

Celis immediately grinned. ”Perfect! I like this plan.”

”Tch...” Kentucky, on the other hand, looked rather depressed. ”So much for my vacation...”

Roan completely ignored the complaint. ”Spend the next three weeks taking your stabilization pills so our cultivation remains solid after the breakthrough. Once our foundations are fully stabilized...”

”...we resume cultivation.”

Rean smiled as he stood up. ”In that case, I’ll spend these three weeks taking the fox outside to hunt.”

He looked back at the others before adding with a grin, ”You guys can spend your free time however you want.”