Death... and me

After a lot of suffering, both physically and mentally, the upgrade in their bones had finally ended. They looked at Sister Orb, wanting nothing more than to beat it up. Unfortunately, the same way their power had increased, so did Sister Orb's. As one could imagine, they tried it before, but it didn't end well.

"Whatever. Just thinking about it makes me feel even worse. Let's just take a look at what remained."

Roan nodded before they accessed the Reward System again. Immediately, they noticed that there was no more bone-related upgrade available after the last one.

"Could it be that we need a higher authority to get a new bone-related upgrade?"

"Most likely. There was a time where we went without seeing another bone upgrade, so it might be the case."

[I don't have access to the lists coming later, so I can't guarantee it either. In any case, that's what you have for now. So, will you buy anything else, or will you save the remaining points for Spiritual Energy Absorption Level 3?]

Roan and Roan pondered as they looked at the Rewards List.

[Dragon Bones - 5000 Destiny Points] (Bought)

[Spiritual Energy Absorption Upgrade Level 3 - 10000 Destiny Points] (15%)

[Soul Gem Dimensional Realm Upgrade Level 3 - 8000 Destiny Points] (New) 

[Yin Yang Bathhouse - Reward from Destiny Strugglers Title]

[Soul Connection Range Upgrade level 3 – 20000 Destiny Points] (10000km) (New)

[Soul Gem Blacksmith Workshop Upgrade Level 2 - 1000 Destiny Points] (New)

[Soul Gem Alchemy Workshop Upgrade Level 3- 3000 Destiny Points] (New)

[Soul Gem Electrical Formations Repository Upgrade Level 3 - 3000 Destiny Points] (New)

"We have 6781 Destiny Points still. It wouldn't be too hard to wait for it to reach 10000."

Rean nodded and then added.

"Indeed. However, we also have enough points to increase the Electrical Formations Repository and Alchemist Workshop's Level by one too. The Electrical Formations specifically might help with extra Destiny Points in the future. Perhaps we should buy those?"

Rean knew that the next level of the Repository Formations would unlock the manuals necessary for him to make wireless circuitry formations. According to what was written in the actual ones, the Spiritual Signal's direction could be controlled mid-air through Spiritual Energy. That would be an entirely new type of communication system. 

The Circuitry Formations he was working on with Havek, Droman, and Qia were not considered the same as the communication system that had been built so far. Because of that, the Destiny Points coming from it will be considered a separate issue. Naturally, they would have a different cap of total Destiny Points available to obtain from them. The same thing could be said for the Wireless Circuitry Formations and the Spiritual Energy Signals. They would also be a different type of Circuitry Formation that would give them even more points.

"There's also the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm Upgrade. The first two upgrades were already great. The first one allowed us to bring things and living beings inside other than ourselves. The second level opened the Circuitry Teleport Formation, which has been of paramount importance during several occasions, as you know. The third one might be something even better."

Roan then looked at Sister Orb and asked.

"Can't you really tell us what we will get in the third level of the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm upgrade?"

[I can't. This time, I can't even give you any clue like last time. However, you should know that the Soul Gem System doesn't have bad rewards.]

Rean and Roan's mouth twitched in response.

"Can you be any more shameless? What about the Level 1 Alchemist Workshop and Electrical Formations Repository? They were pretty much useless!"

[How can you say that? They were the basis for the next levels! They're super important!]

"And super useless too."

[...]

[Fine... They might not have that much use at Level 1, but they were important.]

Rean and Roan then ignored Sister Orb's reasoning and focused back on the task at hand.

"So, do you want to wait or go for the next upgrades?"

Roan pondered for a bit before asking Rean.

"How long until you finish the Circuitry Formations of the second level?"

Rean pondered for a bit about their progress before saying.

"I would say we would need at least another year or two to make the first practical versions capable of being shipped out. As for the Spiritual Energy Signal Circuitry Formations, I have no idea how long it would take to create them."

"What about your Alchemist Repository? Do you think you need the upgrade the way you are at the moment?"

Roan also pondered over it.

"I'm already doing as well as I can with what I have. My neutral pills, at least, are of very high quality. The new equipment I might get from the upgrade will most likely improve them, but I doubt it would be something incredible."

Rean nodded.

"Then, I guess we have our answer. It will take a few years until the Circuitry Formation I'm working on to go out and make a difference. It would be useless to work on a Wireless Circuitry Formation since we don't even have a wired practical one ready. The same thing goes for you and your alchemy. In that case, we might as well keep those points for the other upgrades and leave the rest for later."

Roan agreed with that plan.

"The only doubt is whether we will take the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm Upgrade or the Spiritual Energy Absorption one."

"A possibly good upgrade or a consistent one... The Dimensional Realm Upgrade will come earlier, though."

Rean shrugged his shoulders in the end.

"You know the saying, right? No pain, no gain. Let's just take the Dimensional Realm upgrade. We can always save Destiny Points for the other things later."

Roan pondered over it for a bit and said.

"Very well. I'm also curious to see what the Dimensional Realm will give us. Besides, we are only a little over 1200 Destiny Points away."

[Alright. In that case, you won't buy any other upgrade anymore. Let me bring Sana back inside.]

Suddenly, Malaka and Calina appeared in the Dimensional Realm. Malaka was the one holding Sana at the moment.

Calina and Malaka then looked at Rean and Roan and couldn't help but ask.

"Why are you two all sweaty?"

"You guys stink! Go take a bath!"

It was then that Rean remembered.

"Oh! Talking about baths, it's been a few months since the Yin Yang bathhouse has been accumulating the Yin Yang Energies. We might as well go absorb it before we forget Kentucky inside the Dimensional Realm, and he absorbs all of it instead of us."

Roan nodded. That thing was supposed to be a reward for them from the Destiny Strugglers Title. However, the bird would jump inside it every now and then, taking all the energy for itself.

Rean and Roan disappeared in the bathhouse for some time. As always, absorbing the Yin Yang Energy was quite hard. Roan felt like he was being turned into an icicle, while Rean felt like he was being burned alive. Neverthelesstheless, they knew it was a good thing for their bodies. Besides, they really didn't want Kentucky taking it all away again.

Sometime later, everyone came out of the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm except for Sana, who stayed with Sister Orb. They all went back to do their own things like cultivating or practicing whatever they thought was necessary. Just like that, a few more days went by before their group gathered once again.

Roan, Rean, Malaka, Calina, and Wano were ready to depart once again. Just like before, they would try to take another red crystal and use the Lakure Race members as training targets. Rean was at the front once more while using his Hidden Radar skill.

A few hours later, they once again arrived in the place where they could see multiple rays of light coming from the ground. Rean kept his skill active all the time. However, he didn't feel the presence of any Spiritual Sense at the Nascent Soul Level or above.

Of course, that was a good thing, so they once again found another target before initiating an attack. Things were not so desperate for Calina and Malaka like last time, but there were more opponents this time. That said, even Rean and Roan got injured during their battle... just to heal themselves while at it, making their opponents feel like crying. At this point, even Wano was starting to feel jealous of the twins.

'Weren't rare elements supposed to be very hard to cultivate or something along those lines? How come they're this heaven-defying?'

Once again, they took the crystal and left. Two more weeks went by, and Rean's group returned. Once again, Rean couldn't feel the presence of any Nascent Soul Realm's Spiritual Sense. Taking advantage of their luck, they attacked the Lakure Race Members. This time, however, Wano had a very hard time. There was one Core and Soul Fusion Realm hidden in the middle that even he didn't notice.

Because of that, he was ambushed and almost lost a leg. Rean and Roan had to divert their attention to help Wano. At the same time, Malaka, Kentucky, and Calina held off the rest in a battle of attrition. In the end, both sides didn't obtain the results they expected. Rean's group didn't kill anyone from the Lakure Race. Calina and Wano were badly injured. As for their enemies, they had to retreat in the end while the Core and Soul Fusion Realm leaders covered the retreat.

Well, even though neither side could kill anyone from the other group, it didn't change the fact that this definitely worked as a real Life and Death fight, which was great for training. They even got the red crystal once again since the enemies didn't bother bringing it back with them.

Things followed similar patterns during the next five assaults. To be safe, they waited at least a month or two between their attacks. That being said, they had already been in the natural formation for over an entire year.

However, Rean's group understood a long time ago that something definitely wasn't right. The more they attacked, the more they became sure about it.

Rean's group was heading back from their last assault when Rean suddenly commented.

"That's not right. We already attacked those guys six times in total. There were easier and harder times. However, how come I haven't felt the presence of a single Nascent Soul Realm enemy so far? Will they really just leave the red crystals unprotected after we've robbed six? They should have understood that Core and Soul Fusion Realm cultivators can at most force us to flee, but that's all."

Roan and the others agreed with Rean. If it was them, they would definitely have increased the defense on the red crystals and even put a few Nascent Soul experts patrolling it. How come it's always more or less the same?