Death... and me

It went without saying that once another Star Body appeared, the experts throughout the Realm of Gods with the same thing immediately noticed it. Unfortunately, they had no way of finding out who got it and where it happened. 

Back in Salt Canyon City, the weeks of travel in the Mental Sea of Stars had paid off. Luan finally found the barrier and passed through it. After that, it wasn't hard to feel where his star was located. Seeing that Luan succeeded, Roan nodded in satisfaction. "Very good. Now, you can feel the Starlight Energy, right?"

Luan nodded, saying, "Yes, dad."

"From now on, you will cultivate with Starlight Energy as well. Once you reach the door of the First Grade Star Body, you will need those items we bought back when we arrived. Now pay attention to the schedule you will follow." Roan then shared the training that he and Rean followed. After all, they also cultivated the Starlight Body Cultivation Technique. It's just that the twins cultivated the Yin Yang Starlight Body Cultivation Technique, which was even better.

Luan couldn't help but feel somewhat confused at everything that Roan said. He was still a kid, after all. "Seems complicated..."

Roan didn't deny that. "It is, but this is for your future. Now, let's go back and cultivate. Understood?"

"Yes, dad." Luan then got a few Rank One Divine Stones after that and sat down to cultivate as well.

Time began to pass in a flash as everyone cultivated. Every now and then, the twins' group would exchange a few words just to make sure none of them were being affected by the white powder. The same happened between Rean and Kentucky.

In the end, it seemed like it was the best thing to simply not let water get close. The salt statue transformation that happened to Rafatia didn't affect anyone in their group anymore.

Rean and Roan did consider using the white powder to cultivate as well. However, they decided it wasn't worth the risk in the end, so they only used the Rank Two Divine Stones.

One year and a half was the time necessary for the Salt Sweep to start reducing in intensity. However, the twins had agreed to only go out two to three months after that. Because of that, their group cultivated nonstop for an entire year and nine months.

Rean and Roan's cultivation didn't change this time. After all, Celis had told them they would need around three years of cultivation to reach the door of the Transition Realm. However, the same wasn't the case for Falangia, Rafatia, and especially Luan.

Before they started cultivating in Salt Canyon City, Falangia was in the Late Stage of the Core Formation Realm. With that said, Falangia had no issues entering the Core and Soul Fusion Realm after following Roan's training. Let alone the fact Roan prepared a cultivation technique for everyone. With all the Divine Stones available, Falangia was able to reach the Late Stage of the Core and Soul Fusion Realm. However, Roan was quite disappointed. He thought she would at least enter the Nascent Soul Realm. In the end, aptitude made too much of a difference.

Rafatia was already eight and some months old when they arrived. After one year and nine months, she had already become ten years old. Little by little, she was growing to become a lady. She was at the Peak Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm when they started to cultivate. Now, she was able to reach the Initial Stage of the Core and Soul Fusion Realm. Her talent was similar to Falangia, so it made sense that their cultivation speed was similar.

Talking about aptitude, one must remember that Luan was a Red Color Talent. That meant he was far above Falangia and Rafatia in terms of cultivation speed. Thanks to the cultivation technique that Roan gave him, his dantian had become a lot bigger than normal cultivators would have. Then again, that meant he needed more Divine Energy to make a breakthrough. Of course, as a result, Luan became much stronger than those at his level. Of course, his dantian still didn't reach a size as big as the twins when they were at his level. So, that meant he still cultivated faster than the twins if the twins were at his level. After that much time had passed, Luan had reached the Peak Stage of the Core and Soul Fusion Realm!

One must remember that Luan was only eight years old at the moment, and he had barely gotten to this age. In fact, if not for the fact that Roan told him to focus part of his cultivation time on his Star Body, Luan would probably have reached the Nascent Soul Realm already.

Rean and Roan constantly fought those three, and Roan had them fight each other as well. After all, that was the best way to get used to combat at the moment. As one could imagine, Luan could now defeat Falangia without problem as he got more experienced. It wasn't just in terms of his advantage in cultivation. In fact, he would even win if his cultivation was lower at his current state. 

Another good thing for Luan was the fact that he had accumulated enough Starlight Energy to get his First Grade Star Body. As mentioned before, Luan could have entered the Nascent Soul Realm if he didn't focus on absorbing Starlight Energy. However, the First Grade Star Body more than made up for the delay in cultivation. He was much stronger with that.

On the other hand, Rean, Roan, Kentucky, and Celis didn't accumulate enough Divine Energy to enter the Transition Realm. However, the twins were not as bad in terms of their Star Bodies. Thanks to the fragment's remaining Starlight Energy, the twins were left quite close to the Third Grade Star Body back when they got the Second Grade Star Body. It's just that the fragment had run out of Starlight Energy before the twins had enough Starlight to attempt to get the Third Grade. Now that they had one year and nine months to train, they finally accumulated the rest of the Starlight Energy necessary.

'Alright, we'll upgrade to the Third Grade Star Body. After that, we'll leave the city and try to find the source of the white powder!'