Death… and me

Chapter 728: Black Star

To make things safer for the two of them, Rean and Kentucky flew as high as possible while keeping the Light and Spiritual Sense bending techniques active. With that, even if someone with higher cultivation than them checked the area, they would probably be too far away for their Spiritual Senses to break through Rean’s skills. 

However, there wasn’t much reason to worry. That’s because the demon beasts who kept observing Rean’s workshop back in the Demon Beast City refrained from entering it. They understood that there was a formation blocking their Spiritual Senses. Hence, they simply thought Rean was working on something he didn’t want others to see. 

With that being said, it wasn’t before an entire week went by before the demon beasts waiting to ask Rean to forge equipment for them to enter the room. Naturally, Rean and Kentucky had long since gone and even exited the Demon Beast Continent by now. Those who had their equipment made by Rean sighed in relief that they reached Rean in time. As for the others, they could only shed tears. Of course, there were also those waiting for Rean to leave the city to rob him. Those beings felt even more dejected.

Two weeks after Rean’s group left the city, they had finally returned to the valley. Considering the time to head to the continent, stay, and come back, their group had stayed out for two months already. Fortunately, the valley was still covered by the mist in the distance, which probably meant that no one tried to enter it. 

“The Blue Luan really told the others to not bother us, it seems,” Roan said. 

Rean and Kentucky nodded in response.

Once they arrived at the protection formation, it quickly opened, letting Rean’s group enter. After some time, they were able to see how things changed inside the protection formation.

Celis was still at the center of the valley, absorbing Spiritual Energy from the surroundings. However, the surroundings changed a lot during this time. The houses looked a lot more comfortable. Some farms were planted and were growing well thanks to the rich Spiritual Energy. After all, they couldn’t rely on Celis to feed all the children forever.

A lot more arenas appeared, and Roan could see most of the kids training according to his instructions, much to his satisfaction. 

Rean noticed that a larger wooden building appeared, and it seemed like many injured kids were there as well. ‘Oh, right! Without me here to heal their injuries, they have no choice but to recover naturally.’ Roan’s training routine was anything but safe, so it was normal to see so many there.

However, Rean decided that he would only work on the kids with severe injuries. As for the rest, he left them to recover by themselves. That was something they needed to get used to since he or Roan couldn’t be in the valley all the time either. That also helped the kids pay more attention to their own safety.

As for cultivation, Roan had left strict orders that no one was allowed to rush through the ranks. He didn’t want them to have broken foundations, impacting their future. At the moment, those with Purple Color Aptitudes were all in the Middle or Late Stages of the Energy Gathering Realm. Unsurprisingly, the group of twelve-year-olds, Malo included, were the ones at the Late Stage. 

Roan then checked their foundation for a moment and had to admit that Purple Color Talents were truly freaks. Even though they reached this level in just two months, he couldn’t sense any problems whatsoever. Their foundations were as stable as they could ever be. “Very good. I can see that all of you have been following my order to the boot. I’ll revise your training routines so that they can be more compatible with your current level.”

As for Kentucky, he went to see Celis before the two soon continued to work on Kentucky’s nest. After all, Kentucky had very little time to work on it since they arrived in this place. “Look, Celis! I brought quite a few nice items for the nest from the Demon Beast City. They’re all Yin and Yang Energy-related, perfect for the balance of my affinities.” It wasn’t because Rean was looking after Heaven-level materials that they had to ignore the others. Kentucky made sure to grab anything that would be of use for himself with his own rewards from his battles.

“Those are great stuff! Well, at least they’re great for my current level. If I was still at Stage Ten, they would be quite lacking.” Nevertheless, Celis was happy as he and Kentucky kept building the nest. Rean and Roan decided not to bother those two for the next few days since they have wanted to work on that thing for a long time already.

After Rean finished healing the most severe injuries among the kids, he left the building, leaving the rest for the adults to take care of. Rean then went to check on the formations of the valley, making sure that they were working fine. Roan was the one taking care of any training and cultivation issues, so Rean didn’t even bother with those. 

With everything running as expected, Rean finally decided to work on his and Roan’s new swords. He headed straight into the Dimensional Realm and entered the workshop, which was already equipped. Since he didn’t need to work in front of others, there was no need to work in a workshop outside.

“So many materials. However, most of them are Yin-related Materials. Well, that’s to be expected since this planet was covered in ice for a long time. Nonetheless, there are enough Yang materials as well.” Rean couldn’t help but feel excited since he didn’t have to work with a single material alone. Instead, he could try to make an alloy with different Heaven-level materials.

“Alright, let’s start with a combination of Lavio Absall Ore, Blue Star Ore, and Deep Purple Sea Lime.” Rean then looked at Sister Orb outside and said, “Sister Orb, I’ll need your help during this time.”

[Oh! That’s right, you can’t have anyone else inside anymore other than Roan, Kentucky, and Celis. However, they’re busy outside. Alright, your Sister Orb will help you.] Rean always had people giving him a hand during the process, so it was normal that he asked Sister Orb.

Following that, Rean took a bit of each material and started to work on it. The furnace turned on, the tempering liquids were prepared, and the hammer began to strike. For the next two weeks, Rean didn’t step out of the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm at all.

Out of nowhere, Roan received a message from Rean through their Soul Connection, telling him, ‘Hey, come inside. I’m forging my sword now, and I need your Dark Element.’ Just like the previous Black and White Stars, Rean would use the one with Dark Element, while Roan would use the one with Light Element. With that being said, he needed Roan to infuse the Dark Element during the forging process. He could use Dark Element as well, but Roan was specialized at it, so the result would be better if he was the one to infuse it.

Roan didn’t waste time and entered the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm. There, he saw a very tired Rean. His eyes were red, and his face pale. From the looks of it, he hadn’t stopped working on the new swords for even a second. “Shouldn’t you rest first before we forge the sword?”

Rean shook his head in response, replying, “No can do. It took me a long time to find the perfect balance between the ores and the material to temper the metal. I can repeat the process, but I’ll lose this material I’m using right now. I would rather not waste any Heaven-level materials if possible.”

[Don’t worry, I’m supplying Rean with the outside world’s Spiritual Energy. He won’t run out of it for the time being.] Sister Orb also confirmed that they could go ahead. 

[Besides, I’m bored already.] It’s just that her real reasons weren’t as honorable.

Roan ignored Sister Orb’s last words and focused his Dark Element on the alloy that Rean was forging. Rean was very careful, not caring about how long it would take to finish at all. That being said, he, Roan, and Sister Orb spent the next two days on his Black Star alone. Eventually, the sword was ready…as Rean collapsed on the ground.

Well, Roan completely ignored the guy and left the Dimensional Realm. The Black Star was Rean’s weapon, so he would need to wait for Rean to forge the White Star. 

Inside the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm, Sister Orb used the Spiritual Energy to grab Rean and put him on a bed in there. [Well, at least he’s doing all he can.] She then left since there was nothing else to do now.

Rean then slept for another day, which was quite impressive considering his cultivation. It showed just how much effort he put in the forging of his Black Star. “Holy shit! I don’t even remember how I passed out.” Rean quickly assessed his body’s condition before muttering to himself, “Well, it seems that I’m fine anyways.” 

Following that, he quickly got up and headed back to the Soul Gem Blacksmith Workshop. There, he found his Black Star lying on the ground. ‘Those two could have at least picked it up and put it on the rack, no?’ Rean thought for a moment. However, he knew the quality of his sword, so he wasn’t afraid of anything damaging it. 

At the very next moment, Rean appeared outside the Dimensional Realm while holding his new Black Star as a grin appeared on his face. ‘Hehehe! My first Heaven Middle-level sword. If everything has gone accordingly, it should be as strong as a Heaven High-level one.’

Rean couldn’t wait to go out and test it.