Death... and me

Rean looked deeply at the collar before saying.

"Oh, well. Whatever. Let's just destroy it."

However, Guan immediately exclaimed.

"Don't! I need it!"

Rean was taken aback as he looked at Guan.

"Need it? This thing is keeping you as a prisoner, you know? Why would you need it?"

Guan was also taken aback by Rean's words.

"Why? Do you really not know?"

Rean shook his head as he replied.

"I just arrived in this city, so I'm unaware of the customs here."

"What? Did you come from somewhere else? No, that doesn't matter right now. I need this collar if I want to survive, so give it back and send me down."

Rean narrowed his eyes before he thought up of a possibility.

"When you say that you need it to survive, does that mean that any human without this collar will be killed?"

Guan immediately nodded as he replied.

"Yes. If a human is seen without a collar, they are to be executed straight away. At the very least, they'll be banished out in the cold. We humans are weak, so we can't live on our own outside. It's too cold for any of us."

Rean had to admit that it was true. Even now, he was using his Spiritual Sense to block the cold, while Kentucky used his own to block the cold for Guan.

"Please, send me back before anyone notices. I also have a family, and they will definitely suffer if I don't appear again. My owner will definitely punish them for my behavior."

Sure enough, it was a world where slavery was rampant.

Rean sighed in response and nodded in the end. He quickly put the collar back on Guan's neck and asked Kentucky to dive down once more. Before Guan could realize it, he was already in front of the pound once again. As for Kentucky and Rean, they disappeared in mid-air. It was as if everything was an illusion.

Guan then looked around and quickly did what he was supposed to do. As for Rean, he kept observing from far away. Once Guan came back, his owner shouted at him for the delay. Guan was even hit by the guy but didn't do anything other than apologize. However, he didn't say anything about Rean. It was not that he wanted to protect him, but because he felt that it would bring him even more problems if he talked about it.

Rean steeled his heart and didn't move. Maybe it was because he had been with Roan for so long, but he didn't act so much on impulse as before. Besides, Guan was far from being the only one being mistreated. There were a lot more humans around who were in the same situation or even worse.

'These humans don't seem to have any courage to do anything. Most likely, this situation has continued for many years already. It won't do to capture one of them anymore since they will probably act like Guan. That being said, I might as well take one of these other race people. Now that I think about it, I forgot to ask Guan about them...'

'Oh well, whatever. They're all in the Body Transformation and Energy Gathering Realm at most. This will be easy.'

Rean then looked from above while keeping his concealment skills active. Since there wasn't anyone even close to his cultivation realm there, Rean decided to take someone who seemed to have higher authority this time.

Just as he was about to do so, he noticed a flying demon beast coming from another direction. It looked like a blue kite but was big enough to carry someone on its back.

'A Stage Two Demon Beast and... an Initial Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator!'

That was the very first Foundation Establishment cultivator Rean had seen since he arrived in this place.

"Kentucky, let's take that guy."

*Chick!*

Kentucky immediately dived down.

The guy then landed in front of the gate as the gate guards came to receive him. Even the leader of those guards bowed to the man, who didn't seem to care about them at all. However, just as he got down from his demon bird, he suddenly disappeared right in front of everyone.

Naturally, Kentucky was the one who snatched him. He flew up in the skies once more and moved away. As for what the guards would do after that, Rean didn't care. He didn't need to worry about the struggling Foundation Establishment guy that Kentucky was holding either. He was just too weak to do anything.

Rean thought that everything went as he had predicted. But it was then that all the other members of that race looked in his direction. It wasn't just the guards, though. Even the common members around them did the same thing. It was as if they could see Rean without any issues.

Rean, of course, was shocked to see that. His Light and Spiritual Sense bending skills were still active. No one should have noticed his location while it was active. If the Spiritual Sense was too strong, Rean would have detected it even easier. However, there they were, looking in his direction with dark expressions. 

'No, they aren't looking at me, to be exact. They're looking at this guy.'

Suddenly, Rean heard a bellow from inside the city.

"Who dares to cause trouble in Danve City?!"

It was then that a man came flying from inside. His Spiritual Sense immediately passed through Rean's position, allowing Rean to tell the guy's cultivation.

'Middle Core and Soul Fusion Realm.'

Well, he definitely was at that realm at the very least. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to fly.

Rean wasn't the only one shocked, though. The man knew where his race member was located. However, his Spiritual Sense couldn't detect anything at that point in the air at all. Naturally, his guard went up, afraid that the enemy might be too strong.

Rean noticed that and understood.

'He isn't acting hastily. He can't tell who's there, just that his race member is calling for everyone's help somehow.'

Rean then looked at the man Kentucky was holding and noticed a faint blue light coming from his forehead. There, he could see a small diagram taking form.

'From the looks of it, his race members can feel his location as long as this thing is active. Does that mean that all of them have it?'

Rean then looked at the man in front of him. After pondering for a bit, he used his Light Element to change his and Kentucky's appearance. So far, even the man Kentucky was carrying couldn't see what was holding him in mid-air, just a pair of feet tightly pressing on his arms.

Eventually, Rean stopped using Light Element to conceal his image, showing his and Kentucky's figures in the air. Only then was everyone able to see Rean with their naked eyes.

"A human?!"

"Hehe. So it's just a human."

"Where's his collar? Why doesn't he have one?"

"Who's his owner? He must be punished!"

It was obvious for Rean how much disdain appeared in everyone's eyes once they saw him. However, the Core and Soul Fusion Realm man in front of them didn't act harshly at all. That's because even though Rean released his camouflage skill, his Spiritual Sense bending skill was still activated. Rean looked like an old man with silver-white hair, while Kentucky's feathers and scales all turned snow-white as well. Not to mention that Kentucky became much slimmer.

There was one thing one must remember. Suppose a cultivator can't feel the other cultivator's level. In that case, that meant that the other side's cultivation was much higher than his own. Rean was right in front of him, but he couldn't feel Rean's cultivation, so he obviously thought about that possibility. Not to mention that Rean was looking at him with a smile as if he couldn't care less about his Core and Soul Fusion Realm level. Turns out that Rean's Spiritual Sense bending skill was also useful in this case.

Eventually, the man took a deep breath before saying.

"Release our young master. Do so, and we won't press charges on your owner."

Rean's mouth twitched as he replied.

"My... owner? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I've never had an owner even once in my life."

Those words immediately caused an uproar.

"No owner?"

"That's impossible!"

"Humans can't live in this world without having an owner."

"Don't trust him. He obviously has an owner. He's just being ordered to say so. He definitely has some other Slave Binding Equipment somewhere in his body."

"That's true."

The man in front of Rean and even the guy he had captured also thought the same thing. They didn't believe even for a second that Rean didn't have an owner.

"If you don't want to reveal who your owner is, that's fine. However, you must release young master Frandin."

Rean looked at the guy under Kentucky before asking.

"Are you Frandin?"

The man nodded.

"I am. If your owner wishes for a reward, we can definitely negotiate."

Rean sighed before saying.

"Maybe I can do that, but I don't need a reward. All I want is information."

"Information?"

Rean nodded.

"What is this place? I just arrived here, so I have no idea where I am at the moment. I captured you because you look like someone with the highest rank in the middle of this pack. Naturally, you would have more information than others."

Frandin was taken aback. Someone who got here by mistake? Still, he took a deep breath before saying.

"Laime, explain things to him."

The Core and Soul Fusion Realm man immediately nodded.

"Yes, young master."