Death… And Me

Rean and Roan touched the Soul Gem Orb and sent their Spiritual Senses inside. Soon after, they selected the rewards list.

[Panther Bones - 50 Destiny Points] - bought

[Spiritual Sense Absorption Upgrade Level 2 - 1000 Destiny Points] – (New)

[Soul Gem Dimensional Realm Upgrade - 40 Destiny Points] - bought

[Soul Connection Range Upgrade level 1 - 300 Destiny Points] (New)

Right after, they selected the Soul Connection Range.

[Confirm?]

"Yes!"

Rean and Roan's 341 Destiny Points immediately plummeted. Following that, they felt a horrible headache. It was like their heads were being split in two. They fell on the ground and, just as always, began to contort in pain. 

The process continued for thirty minutes, and so did the pain. Finally, the pain disappeared as if it had never been there. However, both the twins' bodies were drenched in sweat.

"Fuck! Why everything in the Soul Gem System is this painful?!"

[Don't ask me, I'm not to one who created it. Anyway, now you can go as far as 30 kilometers away from each other without having your connection split. It should be very convenient in the future.]

Rean and Roan slowly got up and touched the Soul Gem Orb once more.

[Soul Connection Range Upgrade level 2 - 1500 Destiny Points] (new)

"As we thought, the next upgrade appeared right after. The price also went up to a ridiculous number."

"Sister Orb, how far is the range of the Soul Connection level 2?"

[300 kilometers. In a certain way, it is quite good. There will come a time where the changes you make to the world will be much bigger. naturally, it will give you more Destiny Points.]

Rean and Roan nodded.

Suddenly...

[Warning! Universal Restraint Detected!]

[Time: 1 Year.] 

[Destiny Points Necessary To Resist: 1000.] 

[Cultivation Necessary: Peak Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.]

Rean and Roan were taken aback. That was not Sister Orb talking, but the system itself.

"Sister Orb, what is it?"

[Already? It's too fast! Why is it here so soon? Could it be... oh, I see...]

"What are you talking about?"

[Well, as you know, the plan was for only Rean to come to this side of the Universe. However, the two of you got involved in this situation together. That has accelerated the Universal Restraint Count Down.]

"But what is this Universal Restraint?"

[It's a way for this side of the Universe to get rid of any foreign interventions. You were supposed to belong to the other side, but now you are here, so the Universe is trying to destroy you. The same thing would happen if someone from here were to go to the other side.]

[However, the Soul Gem System is hiding your roots, so this half of the Universe can't detect you. Unfortunately, the system isn't perfect, so it can't hide you completely. Sooner or later, the two of you would be found. Since the World Restraint is coming, that means this half of the Universe has found you.]

[It wasn't supposed to be this fast. I was expecting another two to three years before it detected you two. Unfortunately, the system is having to hide two bodies and souls instead of one. Obviously, it got even harder to conceal your presence. That's why it came so fast.]

[On the other hand, as long as you resist this Universal Restraint, the system will be able to cover your presence again. Of course, it will be only a temporary fix. Also, the next time the Universal Restraint appears, it will be stronger! It will need more Destiny Points and cultivation to be resisted.]

[I guess we will need to speed up your cultivation schedule.]

Rean couldn't help but ask.

"Why didn't you tell us in advance?"

[Teehee!]

Rean's mouth twitched.

"Since when did you become a dumb character of an anime? Are you messing with me?"

Roan shook his head, though.

"That doesn't matter. What we need to think is how to get 959 Destiny Points and increase our cultivation to the Peak Stage."

[Cough, cough... Roan is right. However, I think I should at least give you a reason. I didn't tell you simply because I thought it would get in the way of your cultivation. If you got too worried about increasing your cultivation, it might have had the opposite effect.]

The reason seemed quite noble. However, Rean still felt somewhat suspicious after that 'TeeHee' thing. He was pretty sure she simply forgot. Nonetheless, he decided to leave this matter aside and focus on the actual problem.

"Whatever, what should we do? We intended to stay in the Middle Stage for a year and probably another year and a half in the Late Stage. Only then would we try to make a breakthrough into the Peak Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Let's not even talk about how to get 900+ Destiny Points."

Roan nodded.

"We will need to increase our speed of cultivation by at least two and a half times. After all, we just had a breakthrough around a month and a half ago. However, I'm afraid that it will destabilize our foundations. Even if we reach the Peak Stage in one year, we will probably damage our foundation doing it."

Rean pondered a bit and suggested.

"What about alchemy pills? For example, those cultivation stabilizing pills should help in saving time. If we use it while going into combat, the effect should be even better. After all, Spirit Stones aren't exactly a problem for us at the moment."

[That wouldn't work. The pills made in this world take the five elements as the base. However, your cultivation is based on Light and Dark Elements. Do you think you can find pills made for those elements? I doubt so. However, the story would be different if you create the pills yourselves. After all, as Light and Dark Element Users, you have the elements necessary to concoct such pills. What do you think?]

Rean shook his head helplessly.

"Don't look at me. I'm good with metals, but I'm an absolute disaster when the chemicals are not related to them. Roan should be even worse since he is more like a battle maniac."

Roan completely ignored Rean's last comment and asked Sister Orb another thing.

"Does alchemy have a connection with poison making?"

Sister Orb was taken aback by such a question.

[Well, in a certain way, poison making and alchemy are two branches of the same tree. Any good alchemist would be able to make poisons and vise versa. It's just that their specializations are different.]

Roan nodded after hearing that.

"Then I guess I can give it a try. I'm Death, I've seen countless living beings dying. Obviously, I watched an enormous variety of poisons being made. If the principles are the same, I guess I should have no problem concocting pills."

Rean was taken aback.

"Let's leave the Destiny Points aside. Will you have enough time to learn alchemy from scratch and cultivate at the same time?"

Roan shrugged his shoulders.

"It's not like I have another choice, right?"

*Pin!*

[New mission available.]

[Alchemists are one of the pillars of the cultivation world. There are almost no experts that have not used their pills before. It's not wrong to say that Alchemists and Cultivators walk side by side.]

[Mission Objective: Become an Earth Low-Level Alchemist in three months.]

[Mission Rewards 01: Authority Level will increase by two.]

[Mission Rewards 02: 300 Destiny Points.]

[Title Reward: Fate Strugglers.]

Roan couldn't help but show a faint smile.

"Well, I guess it's pretty much decided."