Death... and me

Rean and Roan quickly left the cultivation tower and headed to the Beast Taming Faction. But it was also at this moment that they noticed the difference now that they were in the Core Formation Realm. Without the Life Style First Form's help, they were already as fast as when they used it in the past in the previous realm.

In the Beast Taming Faction, Reliance was watching Kentucky's Core reach the new level. Reliance had been curious about something as of late. Kentucky had reached Stage Two as a Demon Beast extremely fast. Considering that speed, he was supposed to have entered Stage Three way before now. However, he seemed to have gotten stuck there. Reliance knew that Kentucky had accumulated more than enough Spiritual Energy for a breakthrough a long time ago. But only today, out of nowhere, he suddenly started his breakthrough.

Kentucky was almost done with his own breakthrough when suddenly, the twins arrived inside the building Kentucky was staying. Reliance wasn't an idiot. The moment he saw the twins, he immediately understood what was going on.

"So you two just entered the Core Formation Realm, huh? I found it weird that Kentucky hadn't had its breakthrough until now. It seems like he is bound by your cultivation levels. If you didn't enter the Core Formation Realm, Kentucky wouldn't be able to become a Stage Three Demon Beast. I just don't know how that happened."

Rean nodded. He had also discussed this issue with Reliance quite a few times. 

"I think so as well. I told you before that Roan and I have some connection with Kentucky. Where we could feel his presence even from far distances. It's not as good as the connection between Roan and me, where we can feel each other's general location regardless of distance, but it is similar. It seems like this connection also limits Kentucky's cultivation, though."

Reliance agreed with Rean.

*Chick!*

Kentucky finally came back to himself and noticed Rean at the entrance. He was obviously happy to see him and came running to Rean's embrace. It's just that there was a small problem, he was a little too fast and... too big! All Rean saw was a flash of Dark and White Lights coming in his direction.

"Wait, wait, wait!"

*Bang!*

Kentucky's head smashed against Rean's chest, sending him flying like a cannonball!

*Crash!*

Rean's body crashed against the building's wall before slowly sliding down. Rean felt helpless at that. He wasn't expecting Kentucky to be that fast, so he didn't react in time. The problem was that Kentucky's breakthrough had increased the guy's size a lot. As a Peak Stage Two demon beast, Kentucky was already as tall as Reliance. Now, he had suddenly expanded to twice his original size. Although Kentucky lost some of his fatness in the process, becoming a lot slimmer, he still got a lot heavier just with the overall size increase.

"Cough, cough..."

"Kentucky, you should be careful when you approach others from now on, okay?"

*Chick!*

Kentucky nodded as if he had understood Rean's intention. This time, he walked instead of flying. Rean couldn't help but laugh as he used the Second Form of the Life Style to heal that clash's injuries. He then patted Kentucky's head, much to the Minokawa's delight.

"You are already this big, but you still like a kid. Oh well, if age is regarded, then you are still a kid anyway."

Roan saw that everything seemed fine, so he didn't have much interest in the rest. Rean was the one responsible for the oversized chicken anyway.

"I'm going back. Don't forget to take my Cultivation Stabilizing Pills once per day. Once we finish putting our cultivation under control, we will go to Jiran Forest."

Rean nodded as Roan left.

Reliance then shook his head as he looked at Rean.

"Oh well, leaving Roan aside, there is another thing I noticed. The reason Kentucky reached Peak Stage Two so fast was probably related to this connection between you three. However, this is more like a submissive connection in this Minokawa's case. Kentucky's level doesn't affect the two of you, but your level affects his own. Because you were already at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage when Kentucky was born, it increased his cultivation speed."

"By the time you and Roan reached the Peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm, Kentucky was already right behind. Finally, he reached the Peak and got stuck there with the two of you. Now you also know why Kentucky needed so many cores and Spiritual Energy. He was using it to catch up to the two of you. It's just that even he didn't notice it most likely."

Rean didn't mind.

"It's okay. If Kentucky really cultivated that fast and surpassed us, it might be hard to control in the future. I'm happy that he will have time to get used to each step he takes."

Reliance nodded once again.

"Indeed. That was also a concern of mine, but now I don't need to be worried anymore. My only concern now is that the two of you would become too slow and hinder his progress."

Sure enough, Reliance never minded making it clear that he only cared about the Minokawa and not the twins themselves. Helping the twins was only a way to get what he wanted from Kentucky.

"By the way, what's this Jiran Forest about?"

Rean didn't mind telling the truth since they would report their leave to Hulian anyway.

"And that's how we got this Jade Slip with a map inside. Oh, right! Elder Reliance, do you know if the core of the Jiran Forest really has Stage Five Demon Beasts?"

Reliance wasn't against the twins going out since it would also help develop Kentucky in the wild. 

"Hmmm... considering the location you told me, I would say there shouldn't be any. Of course, I can't rule out the chance of being wrong. In any case, even if there are Stage Five Demon Beasts, there shouldn't be more than one or two of them. However, there should be a considerable number of Stage Four ones.

Rean nodded.

"As long as I know this, that's enough."

Reliance then added.

"If you want to find Stage Five and above Demon Beasts, your best choice would be Canatol's Mountain Range and Forest. This information might be of some use for you in the future."

*Chick, Chick!*

Rean understood what Kentucky meant and reached for his bag. From there, another piece of Luminous Heavenly Ore came out. Rean threw it at Kentucky, who immediately swallowed it whole.

*Burp*

Satisfied, Kentucky then returned to the nest prepared for him and began to sleep to digest the ore.

"This guy really only knows how to sleep and eat."

"Well, he is incredibly powerful in battle, though."

Rean then turned around and prepared to leave.

"I'll let you know when we decide to go to Jiran Forest, Elder Reliance."

Reliance nodded. He knew everything, so he wouldn't tell about the twins' destination to anyone to prevent unnecessary issues.

On his way back to the Inner Sect, Rean took out one of the Cultivation Stabilizing Pills and swallowed it. Immediately, the soothing effect of the pill began to act upon the chaotic energy of his Dantian.

After that, Rean went to Elder Hulian's house, which was located in the Inner Sect. It was better if no one knew when he and Roan went out for missions, so the twins always asked Hulian to fetch the missions available for them. It would also be useful since they always reported to Hulian when they were going out. That way, they could use one of the hidden teleport formations leading outside of the Sect.

"Oh, so you two entered the Core Formation Realm, huh?"

Rean nodded with a smile.

"Fortunately, everything worked fine. Elder Hulian, do you have the list of missions available?"

Hulian nodded, not finding it surprising. Anyone who reached a new realm or stage would usually go out to test their newly acquired strength. In fact, it would be weird if they didn't.

"Here's the list. Is there any specific one you want?"

Rean shook his head. 

"We haven't decided yet. I will just take a look at the ones available at the moment."

Rean began to peruse through the records. The missions on the list were separated by region, so it wasn't hard to find the ones related to the Jiran Forest's surroundings. As mentioned before, it was known that Jiran Forest had quite a few Stage Four Demon beasts. So it was often used as a training ground and the Demon Beasts' material acquiring place not only for the Sect, but also for other powers in the Dalamu Sect's Territory.

"Oh! This one seems interesting."