Death... and me

Things seemed to calm down after the last event. No one tried anything against Droman and Rean anymore. Roan also passed his days in the Sect practicing alchemy or winning and losing a few battles in the Inner Sect ranking fights. Of course, there was that single day in the week where he would appear in the Blue Orchid District to bea- train the girls and Julio.

After a few times, the girls and Julio noticed that Roan seemed to be picking on Calina. However, they only thought that it was because Calina was the only one who could force his hands more than any other. Calina, of course, began to be afraid of that special day in the week. It wasn't as if she never landed any hit on Roan. But what she achieved so far seemed so lackluster in comparison that she couldn't even tell if she was advancing or not.

It was only after Roan ordered Calina to fight four of her sisters in the Blue Orchid District that she finally felt the difference. Although it was by a hair, she was still able to achieve victory. All the girls knew that Calina was more talented than them, but she was improving way too fast!

Roan nodded after seeing that, satisfied.

"That's more or less it for you in the Blue Orchid District. From now on, you will do two things. First, take missions. The harder, the better. You needed to go through life and death experiences, or you will get stuck at some point. Second, go enter the Inner Sect. The people there are a much better fit for your current level."

Roan then looked at Amanda.

"In fact, you should try the Inner Sect as well. You are definitely stronger than the last 100. I don't know why you are still here."

Amanda was a little surprised that Roan thought that about her.

"I didn't expect that you thought that about me."

Roan didn't mind her response, replying.

"Other than this Illia girl, you are definitely the strongest here. However, you should know this already. Is there any specific reason for you to stay? It's not like Inner Sect disciples can't choose to live in the Outer Sect. If you just don't wish to leave, you can simply stay here."

Amanda shook her head.

"I will enter the Inner Sect, but I decided to do that once I enter the Core Formation Realm. At least, I'll be able to go much further through the ranks instead of staying at the bottom."

Roan didn't think that it was necessary. Still, since she decided to do that, then so be it.

"Anyway, I'm finished here today. Illia, don't forget to revise what I passed on to you."

Roan didn't even wait for an answer before disappearing.

On Rean's side, he and Droman finished installing Version 1.2 of the Router Formation. Now, Droman changed his focus to expanding the Communication System so they could hold a real stress test. After all, there wasn't enough information passing through it to test the limits of their creation.

At some point, Droman went to the other Sects and the Jialin Royal Family, asking to connect their already made networks with the Dalamu Sect. In exchange, he would pass them their actual Router Formation blueprints for them to build it. The Sects and the Royal Family gladly accepted it.

Just like that, time continued to pass. Rean and Roan were finally able to stabilize their foundations and returned to cultivating at full speed. The good thing was the extra Rank Three Spirit Stones they got from the Profound Abyss event, which helped them even more.

However, they were not the first ones to reach the limit of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Instead, it was Calina who got there first. At some point, she went to the cultivator tower and started her breakthrough. Roan decided to be there as well. Since her cultivation technique also relied on Yin Energy, he could help her with it.

The next day, Calina returned to the Inner Sect, which she had already entered as Roan solicited. When she appeared there, she immediately started to issue challenges to higher level cultivators. The reason was obvious, with her finally entering the Core Formation Realm. With the boost in power, she could finally go up in the ranks again.

However, what she really wanted to try was to challenge Roan. She was already stronger than Core Formation Realm cultivators at her level. She wanted to see if she could finally teach the corpse a lesson.

Roan, of course, saw no reason to decline. Calina's progress was directly linked to his life. He was more than willing to see how much she changed after the breakthrough.

"Alright, let's start."

Calina and Roan's battle caught a lot of attention that day. After all, Roan was used to trashing those at the Initial Stage of the Core Formation Realm. However, Calina really gave him a run for his money. Although Roan won in the end, it wasn't as easy as it always was for him.

Others might be impressed that Calina forced Roan that much, but unfortunately, she wasn't the least bit happy.

"So annoying! I'm already at the Core Formation Realm. How come I still can't win?"

Roan snorted in response.

"Simple. I'm stronger. Still, you did much better than the other Initial Stage Core Formation Realm cultivators of the Inner Sect. It seems like all the training I gave you was not for naught. You've begun to think ahead, always expect a counter-attack, not freeze up when something goes wrong, and son. Even I had some difficulty in taking you down. You should be proud of yourself. If you were in the Middle Stage of the Core Formation Realm, it would be a draw, or I would have lost."

"Don't worry. You certainly improved a lot, but there is a lot of room for growing. I told you, didn't I? I will make you the Empress. For that, you have to show a talent higher than your brothers. That's the only way of being recognized by the actual Emperor."

Calina couldn't help but feel a little flustered by that. Every time he talked about her becoming an Empress, the scene where she fell into his embrace would surface in her mind.

"That's enough for now. I came to ask you something."

Calina's interest was immediately piqued.

"It's not every day you ask for something. Say it, I'll do what I can."

Roan nodded and then explained.

"I would like to ask for you to reconsider passing your cultivation technique to Malaka. In the end, this enormous quantity of Yin Energy that you get from it is better than her actual technique. I know that it is one of the Imperial Family's techniques, but there should be something I can do in exchange for it."

Calina sighed as she shook her head.

"Forget it. I'll give it to Malaka."

Roan was a little surprised by that.

"You were quite adamant about not doing it in the past. What changed now?"

Calina then explained.

"To be honest, I couldn't bring myself to totally believe you guys before. Because of that, I always had some reservations. But it is clear to me now that you really want to help me. Malaka had always tried to do what she could to cheer me up. Rean also healed my injuries every time things went bad. He only doesn't do more because he can't help me with training as much as you do. Since you have all done so much for me already, I might as well go all in."

Roan's expression didn't change at all.

"Wasn't that obvious? We asked you to trust us, but you did that out of pure necessity. There was nothing wrong with keeping your guard up. In fact, if you really did, then you would hardly be fit for the position of Empress. Seems like you aren't completely helpless after all."

For some reason, Calina didn't feel bad about Roan's last words. It was more like if he didn't throw stones at you, that wouldn't really be him. 

"Just remember. No one can know that I passed that technique to Malaka."

Roan narrowed his eyes as he pondered. Mia would definitely notice if Malaka changed her cultivation all of a sudden. The hard part was to convince Calina, which was done, but keeping Mia in the dark wouldn't be easy either.

It was then that he had an idea.

'Seems like it is time to go check that thing. It will serve as the perfect excuse.'