Death... and me

As Roan had mentioned, their group had traveled on foot for quite some time, which allowed them to battle a lot against demon beasts. The last battle against two Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, though, put them even more on edge. A single mistake, and any of them might have been killed by a single strike of their enemies.

In exchange, these situations were the type that helped one's foundation out the most. Even Calina's recent breakthrough benefited a lot from that last battle. That being said, they didn't need to go out there to battle more demon beasts or other Zasfin groups anytime soon. All they needed was to consolidate what they learned and cultivate calmly.

With that said, Rean and Roan stayed on top of Kentucky's body with Frandin while the others were in the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm. All of them were cultivating.

From what Frandin told them, the tracking ability used on them also had a maximum range. Once surpassed, it wouldn't work anymore. Besides, it was only temporary. Sooner than later, the energy used to track them down would dissipate. By now, Frandin was pretty sure that they wouldn't be able to be tracked anymore.

Just like that, another three weeks and a half passed in a more or less relaxed fashion. Every now and then, Rean would come down to let Kentucky rest while Roan would send Frandin out to fight. From their entire group, only Frandin didn't participate in that battle. Well, that was simply Roan's way of getting back at Frandin for warning them about the Soul Eater skill in the last second.

There was a good thing, though. Roan wasn't giving him unreasonable tasks. His cultivation, especially with the Spirit Stones he obtained, was still going up faster than ever. One of the reasons was that Roan wanted to test how his training would fare for someone who used Soul Power. Roan made it very clear for Frandin as well.

'Simply put, I'm being treated as a guinea pig in case Roan really manages to awaken Soul Power.'

Frandin sighed in response, but there was nothing he could do. In any case, this was turning out very well for him. By now, he was pretty sure that he would be considered the top 1 genius in Danve City.

One good point in traveling with Kentucky was that it was simply several times faster. Their next stop was Vanesi City, located close to the border of the Palif and Oclon Empires. It should have taken them at least three months to arrive there on foot. But even though they weren't flying at top speed with the Minokawa, they still made it there in less than a month.

"Wow! That's quite a big city. Even from this distance, I can still see it."

Frandin had never been there, but he could tell why that is.

"That's to be expected. Fhanzen has a Rank Four Bloodline Trial and is already that big. It is only normal that a city with a Rank Five Bloodline Trial, the only one on the west side of the Empire, to be even bigger."

Rean couldn't help but ask.

"Now that you say that, the higher the rank of the bloodline trial, the lesser their numbers, right? In that case, how many Rank Six Bloodline Trials and above are in Palif Empire?"

Frandin nodded as he said.

"Indeed. As far as I know, Palif has two Rank Six Bloodline Trial Grounds, one in the north and another in the south. As for Rank Seven and above, you can only find them close to the Palif Empire's Capital. After all, those are the Bloodline Marks used by the Imperial Family and a scant few who can achieve the necessary Soul Power Points to try it."

Roan then added.

"I guess we can consider the situation to be similar in the other Empires. After all, their Bloodline Trial Grounds are part of their Empire's might against others. They can't afford to have their High-Level Trial Grounds destroyed."

Rean then thought about something else as he asked.

"Wouldn't it be easier to make more of those Trial Grounds, then? Even if one gets destroyed, they would have others to use."

Frandin shook his head as he replied.

"I agree with you, but I don't know how it works. No one knows how you can set a Trial Ground, even the most basic Rank One Bloodline Trials. It's a secret sealed by the powers of each Empire and the Celestial Lands."

Roan agreed with Frandin as he speculated.

"Most likely, there's some kind of mutual agreement between each of these powers regarding the Trial Grounds. In any case, that matters little for us at the moment. If we have the chance, we can check in the future, but let's leave it aside for now."

Frandin and Rean nodded before Rean patted Kentucky on his back. The Minokawa then dived down and landed in a remote area where no one could see it.

"Great job, Kentucky. Here, this is your prize."

Rean then took out a huge chunk of Transten Ore, the Heaven High-Level one. Even though they didn't have that much remaining to feed the Minokawa, Rean thought that Kentucky deserved this much. Kentucky's eyes immediately lit up before he took it from Rean and swallowed it whole. Right after, it sat down and closed its eyes to sleep while digesting the delicacy.

Rean smiled as he patted Kentucky's feathers for a moment. Following that, he used his control over the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm to send Kentucky inside.

"Isn't it too much to use two weeks' worth of Transten Ore in a single go?"

Rean shrugged his shoulders as he replied.

"Don't be so strict. Kentucky did bring us all the way here, only stopping to rest. You must understand when to criticize and when to reward. In any case, we don't have many Heaven Level ores remaining anymore. That said, it won't make a big difference if we run out of them a few weeks earlier."

Frandin felt like someone had smashed his head with a hammer as he thought.

'They are feeding the demon beast with HEAVEN LEVEL materials!'

That was quite hard for him to process. Well, that was the normal reaction, right?