Death... and me

Rean then took out several Rank One Divine Stones from his spatial ring. "All we need is for them to be able to keep the water away from their bodies. That way, the white powder won't be able to reach them, right? I'll make a formation that will create a space devoid of water. That way, we can leave them here while we check the source of white powder."

Roan nodded, saying, "That should work."

However, Falangia couldn't help but ask, "What if something happens while you two are out? Or what if something happens to the two of you and you don't come back?"

Rean shrugged his shoulders, telling her, "Then there's nothing we can do about it. You can't really expect to rely on us forever, right? We can't simply throw away all our ideas just because you're here."

Falangia couldn't help but sigh after that. "Sorry... I guess I've become too used to it. You two just go ahead and leave us here. We'll be fine on our own."

Rean and Roan were satisfied to hear that. "Good. Well, we'll do everything to stay alive, so we should more or less come back. In any case, I'll leave the inn paid so that you two don't need to go out."

"You two?" Falangia was taken aback. "You're bringing Luan with you?"

Roan nodded, saying, "We might need his eyes. Besides, he will need to get used to these situations."

Rean then shrugged his shoulders as he said, "Well, it won't happen before a year and a half from now, so I guess we can only focus on cultivation during this time. Take this time to increase your level. With our Divine Stones, I believe you should have no issues achieving the Core and Soul Fusion Realm, perhaps Nascent Soul even."

As Rean talked, he built the formation that kept water away in the center of the room. It wasn't anything complicated, so it was done in just an hour.

*Shua!*

Suddenly, a big empty space opened in the middle of the room, making it impossible for water to enter. Due to how simple the formation was, just a few Rank One Divine Stones was enough to keep it running for several days, which was definitely beneficial for them.

"Alright, this should be enough. We can stay inside and not actively bother keeping the water away from us on our own," Rean said once he was done.

Falangia then brought Rafatia inside, and so did Roan with Luan. A few minutes later, Rafatia finally woke up, not understanding what had happened. However, when she looked at Rean, she felt fear fill her entire body. "No! Stay away! Don't hurt me, big brother Rean!"

Rean looked at Rafatia with a confused expression as he told her, "Hurt you? Why would I do that? I've never hurt you before." Sure enough, he decided to pretend that Rafatia only had a bad dream.

Falangia also thought it was for the better. "Little girl, did you have a nightmare? You were just sleeping, you know?"

"S-Sleeping?" Rafatia then looked at her body and couldn't see anything wrong with it. All the parts Rean cut were all there. "It was all a bad dream?"

Rean couldn't help but pretend he was sad once he heard that. "I can't believe it. My little Rafatia was dreaming bad things about me. I guess she doesn't like me anymore."

"N-No. Tha-that's not it. I..." The poor girl was completely lost there. However, seeing that Rean looked sad, she quickly put those thoughts behind. "Big brother Rean, I was joking. Yes, joking! Big brother Rean would never do such a thing."

"You mean it?" Rean asked with a surprised expression.

Rafatia quickly nodded. "Yes! I mean it."

"Great! I knew my Rafatia would never think something bad about me." Rean then patted the girl's head, who still seemed somewhat hesitant. However, Falangia and Rean convinced her in the end that she just had a bad dream, that's all. A few minutes later, she had already forgotten about it. "So we're going to stay here for over a year?"

"That's correct," Falangia confirmed Rafatia's words. "We decided that this is a very good place to cultivate, so you should focus on your training as well. Understood?"

In the meantime, Luan finally opened his eyes. He had been in the Mental Sea of Stars all this time, traveling further and further away. Just like how it was for Roan, the barrier separating the star was really far away. "How is it?"

Luan then told him, "Dad, I came out because I don't know if I can reach that barrier you talked about. I keep going and going, but I never get there." 

Roan shook his head in response, saying, "That's normal. It took weeks for me to arrive at the barrier. Did you really expect to get there in less than a day? Just head back into the Mental Sea of Stars and keep traveling. If you find the barrier and get past it, I will reward you with more pudding."

Luan's eyes lit up after hearing that. "Alright! I will definitely get there."

After Rean finished dealing with Rafatia, he decided to head out of the inn to talk with Kentucky. After all, the Minokawa was still in the middle of the street. It wouldn't be a good idea to keep him there during this entire year. "Kentucky, let's head to the Beast Taming Guild. Their guild is very small in this city since this is a demon beast town. However, they should have a place for you to stay until we can access the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm again."

Kentucky was obviously happy to hear that. "Great!" However, he also remembered something else. "Wait! What if I'm the one who starts to transform?"

Rean shook his head, assuring Kentucky, "Don't worry. The guild is just three kilometers away. I can still see you with my Divine Sense, plus you can check on us. If you truly start to transform into a salt statue, I'll come running. Well, I believe that with your defense, you're probably a lot more resistant to the white powder than us."

Kentucky sighed in relief after that.. "Well, that's good then."