Death... and me

Of the four remaining cultivators, three were killed in a flash, leaving just one alive. The guy knew that he wouldn't be able to survive in that situation, so he immediately surrendered. 

Roan's Dark Star then pressed on his throat as he nodded.

"Good boy. You are quite smart."

Only when everything was over did the Lopin Clan guys finally process what just happened. Obviously, they were shocked by the display of strength that the twins just showed. They even started to think about how ridiculous their idea of saving them and bringing them back to their Sect was. Who the hell needed their protection with that much combat power?

Rovan's son quickly came back to himself.

"Father!"

His body flashed as he went to help Roan.

*Cough, cough*

Rovan vomited blood as he did his best to got up. Ervan then held him as he poured his Spiritual Energy inside the old man.

"Father, don't force yourself. Here, take this healing pill."

Rovan bitterly smiled as he looked at his son. 

"Ervan, leave it. There is too much Umbral Energy in my body. No pill will be able to save me now."

Ervan gritted his teeth and kept trying to heal him. Unfortunately, it was far from enough. There was too much Umbral Energy inside.

Rean then approached the man as he laughed.

"Old man, you did quite an excellent job just now. Instead of using that chance to retreat, you released even more power to catch their attention. I was even more impressed when you pounced forward to take their much stronger attacks head-on. Although I and the iceblock were still more or less confident about our chances of winning that fight, that made things a lot easier."

Rean then patted his shoulder while praising the old man.

Seeing how Rean didn't seem to care about his father's injures made Ervan angry, though.

"Shut up! It was because of you that we got involved in this shit!"

Rovan raised his hand to stop his son.

"Wrong. That was not the twins' fault. It was evident that they didn't want us to follow them, but we did nonetheless. Blaming them for our own actions will not make things easier."

Rean laughed again before saying.

"Why are you acting like a dying old man? Get up already."

Rovan didn't know what to say. Can't he see with his Spiritual Sense how bad his condition is? However, just as he was about to talk, Rean held Rovan's shoulder with his hands as he smiled.

'Life Style, Second Form, Instant Recover!'

'Life Style, Third Form, Purification!'

Right in front of everyone, Rovan's injuries began to disappear at high speeds. Rean's Light Element healed his body and protected his organs as Dark Element ran through his body and destroyed the Umbral Energy.

Rovan grunted in pain because of the Dark Element, but everyone ignored that. After all, they could all see with their Spiritual Senses how the Umbral Energy in Rovan's body quickly disappeared.

Rovan's grave injuries didn't take more than two minutes to disappear. Well, it was already a long time, though. That's because Rovan's cultivation was an entire realm above Rean. Rean's Healing abilities' effectiveness was deeply linked to the difference in cultivation, as mentioned in the past. Besides, it always took a lot more time to heal others than heal himself. If it was only Rean, it would have taken at most a few seconds.

The Umbral Energy took longer, though. The Purification Ability wasn't as fast as Instant Recovery, so Rovan had to hold the pain of having Dark Element running through his body for another 15 minutes or so. Well, if others could tell how fast he was recovering, then let alone himself. Just a moment ago, he thought he was done for. Who cares about pain when you can avoid death?

Finally, Rean's Light and Dark Element stopped coming out as he got up. As for Rovan, other than his worn clothes, he looked as well as he had ever been. In fact, the remaining Light Element in his body made him feel quite vigorous.

"Phew... Alright, old man. You can get up now. Thanks for the help a moment ago. We got to capture one of the guys of the Umbral Sect because of that."

Rean's abilities reminded Rovan of something he heard a few months ago.

"I know who you are! You are the boy from the Dalamu Sect that can heal Umbral Energy that everyone was talking about. The Umbral Sect had even put a bounty on your head for some time."

Rean laughed as he nodded his head.

"Hahaha! Well, now you know why these guys appeared in this place."

Suddenly, everyone began to hear screams coming from behind. Rean didn't even need to turn around to know that Roan already began to question the last survivor of this group.

Rovan and the others felt a chill on their back as they looked at Roan's evil smile. It was really a good thing that they didn't try to piss off these twins.

Around a minute later, Roan slashed his sword as the guy's head flew in the air. Rean didn't say anything this time. They already knew that the Umbral Sect was after them. Since they want them dead, they should be prepared to die too.

"Hey, ice block, what did you find?"

Roan glanced at Rean before saying.

"It seems like the marvelous Tamadol City's Mayor had some relationship with the Umbral Sect. He did indeed recognize me back then, so he warned these guys about our trip to the Jiran Forest."

Rean narrowed his eyes. That was quite a big risk to take when you live in the Dalamu Sect territory.

"I see. Anyway, we can deal with the guy later. What about the Umbral Sect? Are these guys all of them? Did they send Nascent Soul Realm cultivators after us?"

Roan shook his head.

"No. It seems like the Umbral Sect's Nascent Soul cultivators are under watch. Most likely, it is because of the communication system. The other sects don't want the Umbral Sect to find problems with Dalamu before they are done with their own communication system networks. This guy said that them leaving from the Sect was already very secretive."

Rean nodded.

"So, what can we expect?"

"There are three more groups. All of them have Core and Soul Fusion Realm cultivators in their midst. We were lucky that these guys acted as bait this time, but I can't tell if it will work with the others. Besides, they even have a Peak Core and Soul Fusion Realm cultivator between them. That's not something we would be able to deal with."

Rean agreed with him.

"Indeed. In fact, this battle would last a very long time if that Rovan guy didn't use his own life to force the Middle Stage Core and Soul Fusion Realm guy's hand. Humans are much harder to deal with than similar strength demon beasts, after all. What do you think? Should we cancel our search and return?"

Roan shook his head.

"Since there are no Nascent Soul Cultivators, there is no need for us to flee either. In fact, I'm looking forward to battle those guys."

"What about the Peak Stage cultivator?"

Roan shrugged his shoulders before saying.

"We aren't his match, sure. But I still believe we can pose some resistance. Anyway, we can't simply run away every time something goes wrong. That won't work in our condition. Besides, it's not like I think we could avoid the Umbral Sect forever."

Rean nodded once more.

"Alright, then."

*Chick!*

Kentucky then came forward as well. It seemed like he wanted to be praised for his actions too.

"Hahaha! Alright, alright. You did well just then."

When Rean and Roan finally revealed themselves, they also released Kentucky from the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm. He was responsible for helping the other guys and for preventing the Core Formation Realm enemies from escape.

"Alright, we are done here."

"What about the Flags' Protection Formation?"

"Don't worry, I already asked how to remove it."

Roan then extended his hands as Spiritual Energy came out from them. It quickly touched the barrier created from the Flags, which deactivated immediately. Roan then collected those flags before putting them into his bag. Or better, into the Dimensional Realm.

"Let's go!"

However, just as they were about to leave, Rovan stopped them.

"Wait! I have something to ask. Did you come here because of the missing people?"

Sure enough, Rean and Roan's attention was piqued.