Death... and me

*Bang!*

Eventually, Rean couldn't hold back anymore and was embedded into the wall.

"Cough, cough... Do you really need to go this far?"

Roan snorted as he replied.

"When it's you, there is no such thing as too far."

Frandin couldn't help but sweat a little as he kept whispering.

'You two, you're making too much noise! What if we're found out?'

Roan didn't seem to care, though.

"Fuck that! That guy will probably take forever until he finishes his trial anyway. Unlike you, the humans there will undoubtedly hate him. There's more than enough time to give this guy a beating."

Rean then got up once again as his Light Element hastily healed his injuries.

"Hmph! It's not like I didn't hit you a few times either. Just you wait, Roan. There will come a day that I'll be the winner."

Roan snorted in response, saying.

"I'll be waiting, then."

One must remember that the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm was showing the things happening outside as well. 

[Those two idiots never learn.]

Malaka laughed, not minding it at all.

"What are you talking about? If it wasn't like this, then something would definitely be wrong."

Calina then looked at Malaka before asking.

"How long had they been like this?"

Malaka shrugged her shoulders as she responded.

"We're at the same age. Still, as far as my memories go back, they have always been at each other's throats. Now that we know that they're reincarnations, it most likely has something to do with what happened before that."

Qia and Agis nodded after that. Only that would make some sense.

"Such is fate. They were born as each other's brothers even though they hate one another. It's quite funny in a certain way."

Calina couldn't help but comment.

"Who knows? Perhaps that's how they show each other their love."

"Love your ass!"

Rean and Roan, as owners of the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm, obviously heard that comment. Naturally, they replied straight away.

Malaka and the others laughed at that. Nevertheless, they somewhat agreed with Calina's final words. Roan was definitely cold to the point of giving others a slight chill. Still, he definitely had his gentle side... although it was rarely seen.

Frandin, who was still outside, scratched the back of his head.

"Ahem... By the way, what did you give me? That was definitely not poison."

Rean patted Frandin's shoulder as if nothing had happened so far.

"Oh, don't worry. That was just a test the ice block gave you. Roan wanted to see if you were staying true to your words or not. You obviously passed that, so your reward was the breakthrough and the cleansing of the meridians."

Rean then looked at Roan before asking.

"Oh, right! You might as well give him the Cauldron Medicinal Paste Bath later."

Everyone's eyes inside the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm lit up. The Medicinal Paste Bath was definitely good for the body. However, they could totally tell that Rean wasn't being kind at all. He just wanted Frandin to suffer as they all did before.

Well, there was an exception, though.

"Medicinal Paste Bath? What is that?"

Sure enough, Agis wasn't there when Roan prepared the hell bath for them.

Calina and Qia patted his shoulder as they brightly smiled at him.

"It's great! It's called Body Enhancement Paste. However, Roan uses a special method."

Qia nodded.

"My body became much stronger after that. After that session, I can even fight ordinary cultivators two stages higher than my realm. Before, I could do only a single stage. You'll love it!"

However, Agis noticed Kentucky running towards a corner and rolling himself in a ball. Not to mention the fact that the ball of feathers was trembling in fear. From the looks of it, the word 'Medicinal Paste Bath' scared the hell out of it.

'This bird has the highest defense between all of us, but even it is trembling in fear...'

Agis then looked at the two smiling women with a not very willing expression.

"Ahem... I'm- I'm fine. There is no need to worry about me."

However, Roan seemed to agree with the idea outside the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm.

"That's true. We should take this chance now that we're close to the city to buy the necessary materials. I'll put you and Agis into it since the stronger you are, the safer we'll be."

Agis felt like crying. He knew that Roan definitely heard his refusal, but he was completely ignored.

Frandin, on the other hand, didn't see the scenes inside the Soul Gem Realm, so he became quite excited with Rean's description.

"It's that good? Great! I'll help with anything I can!"

Rean's smile grew even wider after hearing that.

"Hahaha! That's what I like to hear. A man should never run away from hardships, even if it's something straight from hell like this one."

Frandin got puzzled. 

"Hardships? Isn't it supposed to be a good thing?"

Rean patted his shoulder even more as he replied.

"It's fine, it's fine! It's definitely a good thing... after you're done with it. Don't worry, don't worry at all! Hahaha!"

Roan ignored the happy faces of Rean, Calina, and Qia before sitting behind a boulder. They wanted to see what was behind the next altar. If it was just an exit, they would leave this place through the Circuitry Teleport Formation. If there was something else to this trial, they would enter it to check. However, they wanted to leave it for the guy who was still in the middle of the test to do it. After all, there was a chance that there might be Zasfins on the other side if it was an exit.

Time passed, and the hours went by in a flash. During this time, the twins and Frandin just cultivated while keeping their auras and Spiritual Energy in check. Eventually, they began to hear someone's voice coming from one of the passages. They immediately stopped cultivating and focused on hiding with Rean's skills.

At first, it was hard to make out what the guy was saying since he was too far away. However, the closer he got, the easier it became. 

"Those... trash... they..."

It didn't take long for them to understand what he was saying. Basically, he was cursing without end.

"Why are those trash making it so difficult? I'm a Zasfin, your Master! You should just accept becoming my Bloodline Soul Mark! Again! 27 pieces of trash died because they didn't want to become my Bloodline Soul Mark! Why can't they understand that it's their honor to become our Soul Marks?!"

Rean narrowed his eyes as he heard that. Regardless if a Bloodline Trial worked or not, the sacrifice would die. From what they were hearing, this guy tried it twenty-seven times and failed all of them. 

One must remember that just lying won't work. The humans can also see the other side's recent memories up to a few years in the past. Naturally, you can't hide your behavior up to that point. That's why most Zasfins can only try to force the humans to submit to them. There was no helping it since only humans with strong wills would have strong souls.

The Zasfins tried to use humans who were completely submissive to them to make the Bloodline Soul Marks. However, it turned out that their Souls became too weak. It was the will to fight that increased their qualities. Otherwise, a submissive human system would have been set long ago. That's also why places like the Decadence Region existed. They were the perfect breeding grounds for strong human souls.

Rean began to take out his Black Star, thinking about cutting that guy's head here and now. However, Roan held his arm before shaking his head.

'Leave it. He isn't the first and definitely won't be the last. No one should know that we're here.'

Rean sighed but nodded in the end.

The guy then arrived at the next altar. However, he had a dejected expression, typical of those who failed their bloodline tests. Finally, he touched it and sent his Soul Power inside.

*Creek!*

The giant door behind the altar began to open straight away as Rean's group watched it from another path far away back. Sure enough, Rean's group was right. That was just the exit. Not only that, but they really did see other Zasfins already waiting for the guy outside. They kept quiet as they listened to the conversation on the other side.

"Maluco, why did you do that?"

Obviously, that was the name of the guy who activated the altar.

"Do... what?"

Maluco was puzzled. What were they talking about?

"You dare take us for fools? I'm asking you why you destroyed the Bloodline Altar at the entrance. Do you have any idea how hard it is to make them? Just because you're part of the Jure Clan, that doesn't give you the right to destroy the Imperial Family's Property!"

"What?! Destroy the Bloodline Altar? I didn't even do such a thing."

However, the elders on the other side seemed pretty convinced that Maluco was the culprit. After all, the Bloodline Trial Grounds was protected by a tremendous force. Only a single Zasfin could enter it at each time. They only found out about the destruction of the altar because of how it was connected to the Bloodline Trial's Formation.

"Hmph! Have you finished your trial?"

Maluco nodded as he replied.

"Ye-Yes... I failed it."

"Then, let's enter and check it by ourselves. Let's see if you really didn't do anything."

Maluco felt helpless. He really didn't do anything at all!

Rean, on the other hand, was quite satisfied with that.

'That should serve as punishment for him. Let's leave.'

Since that was only the exit, the twins' group had no intention of using it. They entered the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm after sending Frandin inside before using the Soul Gem Circuitry Teleport Formation to get away from there.