Death... and me

"Stop, Kentucky!" Roan exclaimed, immediately forcing Kentucky into a halt.

"What? What happened?" Kentucky was obviously confused to hear Roan shout all of a sudden.

Roan didn't explain and simply told him what to do. "Don't go above the lake. Retreat slowly. Understood?"

Kentucky nodded and flapped his wings back, leaving from the side he came. He soon left the lake area, which gradually made the killing intent disappear. Only then did Kentucky see that all the demon beasts around the lake were looking at him. "This..."

Once Kentucky got far enough from the lake, the demon beasts finally turned their attention back to the water, ignoring his existence.

"From the looks of it, the demon beasts don't want anyone to enter the lake. Even though you were going to fly above it, they thought you wanted to enter instead," Roan explained why the demon beasts acted like that.

"I see..." Kentucky then looked at the caravan on the other side of the lake. " Alright, I'll go around it then."

This time, none of the demon beasts cared about Kentucky flying above them. Surprisingly, Rean and Roan's Divine Sense felt the presence of an Initial Stage Five Demon Beast that looked like a lizard. Nevertheless, it also ignored their existence.

Eventually, Kentucky landed close to the caravan, where Rean's group could now see a few more humans. That wasn't all, though. Other than humans, there seemed to be other humanoid races in that group, with one looking very much like Lakures! 'To think we would find Lakures in this place...'

Of course, due to Kentucky's size, the group also noticed their presence. Rean then approached the caravan before the guards barred his path. One of them asked coldly, "What do you want?"

Rean smiled in response, saying, "Hello, my friends. We don't want to create any problems. It's just that my friends and I are lost and would like a little bit of information. Would you mind telling us about this place and if there's a city nearby?"

The guards looked at each other for a moment and were just about to drive Rean out when suddenly, a female voice came from inside one of the caravans. "Let him and his human friend pass. Just tell your demon beast and tree to stay outside."

The guards were taken aback by those words, muttering, "But, Lady Cyntia..."

"Enough." The voice stopped them from continuing. "You can't feel their cultivation with your Divine Senses because the difference is too big. These two men are both in the Late Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm. Do you think you can stop them if they want to force their way in?"

The guards let out cold sweat as they looked at Rean and Roan. Sure, it was easier to cultivate in the Realm of Gods. However, it didn't mean every single person could reach the Nascent Soul Realm. Well, this was obviously a desolate place, and two simple guards were already in the Late and Peak Stage of the Core Formation Realm, respectively. If it was on the planet with the Zasfins or even Sunkan, Core Formation Realm experts wouldn't do such common jobs.

Rean immediately bowed in the caravan's direction. "Thank you for receiving us. Know that we have no intention of doing anything against your group. We really are just lost."

"I know." Suddenly, an old woman came out of the caravan as she looked at Rean and Roan. "I already noticed when your demon beast tried to fly above the Divine Stream Lake. Only an idiot or someone who doesn't know what's happening would try to do that when the lake is about to transform. You were lucky to have noticed the issue fast enough and retreat. Otherwise, all the demon beasts here would have attacked you without mercy."

"Divine Stream Lake? Transformation What is that?" Naturally, Rean and Roan were curious.

"Didn't you say you only wanted to know how to reach the nearest city?" the woman asked in response to Rean's question.

Rean scratched the back of his head and nodded. "Well, that's true." Noticing that the other humans of the caravan weren't looking at him and Roan with good eyes, Rean gave up the idea of asking more about the lake. It was then that the woman finally got close enough to the twins for them to see her cultivation.

'Late Stage Soul Transformation!'

Rean and Roan couldn't help but remember Sister Orb's words about this place having a better cultivation environment. It was the first time talking with humans in the Realm of Gods, and on top of that, they were in the middle of nowhere. Nevertheless, a Soul Transformation Stage already appeared in front of them. 'No wonder she knew our cultivation beforehand. With her cultivation, her Divine Sense could obviously go further than ours.'

The woman then looked at the lake and sighed, saying, "Oh well, whatever. It's not like this is any secret to start with. Instead, it would be a lot harder to find someone who doesn't know about the Divine Stream Lake like your group."

Rean immediately bowed to the old woman and replied, "Thank you, Lady Cyntia. By the way, my name is Rean, and the dead body on my side is my brother, Roan."

Cyntia nodded before explaining, "The Divine Stream Lake appears randomly in our Yukirrom Region. Every time one is spotted, it will attract all the demon beasts around it. Although it looks like it, the lake isn't really made of water. Instead, it's concentrated Divine Energy, or liquid Divine Energy, as some would like to say. However, one can't use it for cultivation in that state. It's also impossible to store it. One has to wait until the lake transforms and use that moment to cultivate."

"What do you mean by transformation?" Roan asked.

"As I said, it appears randomly, but it disappears eventually. When that happens, the lake will turn back into normal Divine Energy. It's just that there will be a lot of it at once. All the demon beasts here are waiting for it. Obviously, we are the same. We were just lucky to have bumped onto it."

Celis, who was currently far away, had his eyes lit up after that. Even though he wasn't close, he could hear their words. 'Interesting.'