1627-1629

Chapter 1627: No Meddling

A few days later, Roan finally left the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm and made his way to the continental barrier between Hiwer and Lebgram. There were only three and a half months remaining for Destiny Avoidance Mode. He wanted to use these last few months to pass through Lebgram without attracting any issues. 

Once again, Fluki seemed to become slightly bigger as his cultivation improved. "Hey, hey, hey! Can't you let me be for a little longer? These last few days, Luan's virtues have been very tasty."

Luan shrugged his shoulders, saying, "Of course, they have been. After all, I was able to meet with my father and everyone else after a year apart. If you don't want to lose this opportunity, take us through the continental barrier and come back to my forehead as fast as possible."

"Hmm… that's true." The enormous fishbird-like spirit then swallowed Roan and Luan once again before diving straight into the Continental Barrier. Roan allowed the people from inside the Dimensional Realm to watch it from inside as always. Well, by now, they had begun to get used to it.

"Another continent left behind…"

"I've never thought I would have traveled so far."

"Hehe! The Sect Masters weren't kidding when they said we might never come back to our homes."

"What home? This is now my home! I had nothing back in Xinfia."

"Same goes for me."

"Even if I had, I wouldn't go back. Only an idiot would give up being part of their sect."

On the outside, Roan and Luan were finally on Lebgram soil. "Thank you, Fluki. You can go back now."

Fluki nodded and quickly disappeared back into Luan's forehead.

Following that, Kentucky was brought outside so that they could fly and look for the nearest city. Roan was even able to buy a map of Lebgram's southwest side when he was in the center of Hiwer Continent, so he knew exactly where they had to go. 

"Lebgram is smaller than Pol Continent but bigger than all the others we passed by. Fortunately, because it's a continent bordering Jhiod, it's superpopulated by both demon beasts and humanoid races. There are also quite a few different spirit races," Roan explained. "With that being said, the number of humanoid race cities in this continent is quite high, so we'll be able to take teleport formations between one city to another."

Luan nodded in response. "I just hope the teleport formations here aren't expensive. I still remember Uncle Rean's painful expression when we were using Rank Two Divine Stones back in Xinfia. If not because of the time we would save, he would never have relied on teleportation methods."

Kentucky couldn't help but ask, "Is there anything we should pay attention to here in Lebgram?"

Roan shook his head in response. "Not really. Lebgram is the type of continent that doesn't have a single power controlling it. Because of that, a lot of power struggles happen in the shadows. As long as we stay away from any power conflicts, we won't be stopped by anyone."

Luan couldn't help but comment, "This is a good thing for Jhiod if you think about it."

Roan nodded, satisfied. "Smart. It is indeed a good thing for Jhiod. We already knew that Jhiod is kind of a powerhouse here in this remote area of the Realm of Gods. They even have contact with some of the powers in the center of the Realm of Gods. However, there's no lack of other continental powers that wish to take their place. The more chaotic the continents around it are, the easier their lives would be."

"I wouldn't be surprised if the chaotic state of Lebgram is fuelled by Jhiod's powers," Luan could not help but say. "Then again, if things are like this, why doesn't Jhiod Continent take control of the continents around it?"

Roan shook his head, telling him, "There's no need. As you mentioned just a moment ago, they might be the ones fuelling the power struggles here in Lebgram and the other continents around them. In a certain way, they already have control over these places. Sending an army to take control of this continent would only be a waste of resources. Instead, leave them like this, and they might even serve as shields in case someone decides to attack Jhiod."

Kentucky and Luan had to admit Roan's words made sense.

Suddenly, Kentucky's vision caught the walls of the city in the distance. "Hey, we're almost there already. Was this city supposed to be this close?"

Roan nodded, saying, "I selected a part of the continental barrier that would bring us close to this city. It's called Gublac City, and according to the information I got, it's populated by both humanoid races and demon beasts. Of course, demon beasts are a minority since they can only achieve intelligence at the Transition Realm."

Roan intended to fly over the wall, just like he did with all the cities before. However, Gublac City was protected by a formation. He had to descend and use the gate if he wanted to pass through. 

Now that Roan and Kentucky were in the Transition Realm, a lot of things became much easier. For example, they had no need to wait in queues outside the cities as no one would try to make Transition Realm beings wait behind low-level ones. 

At the gate, the guard respectfully asked, "May I inquire about sirs' visit to this city?"

Roan nodded, replying, "I'm here to use the Formation Guild's teleport formation."

The guard quickly nodded in response. "Very well. Please show me the identification badge."

Roan's group narrowed their eyes, asking, "What identification badge?"

"You don't know?" The guard was taken aback. However, he quickly understood right after. "I see… could it be that sirs came from Hiwer Continent?"

Seeing that there was not much use in lying, Roan simply nodded. "What about it?"

The guard then took a piece of crystal before passing it to Roan. "It's not a problem, but you will need identification. Also, you will need to sign a Soul Binding Contract that you will not meddle with any of the power struggles in Lebgram Continent while you're here. Only then will you be able to use the teleport formations." 

Roan couldn't care less. He had no intention to meddle in anything to start with. Not to mention that those contracts didn't work on them. "Very well."

Chapter 1628: Understanding More

The reason that a Soul Binding Contract was offered was obviously because Roan wasn't in the Void Tempering Realm yet. That meant the contracts still 'worked' on him. He still had three stages to go, which wouldn't be surprising if he took hundreds of years to achieve.

Of course, the same couldn't be said for Luan. He had no way to avoid Soul Binding Contracts. With that said, Roan sent him straight into the Dimensional Realm and would be able to travel with the guy. Roan had no intention to meddle with anyone's struggles. It's just that he couldn't predict the future, so he took Luan out of the equation and didn't let the youngster sign the contract.

Kentucky, on the other hand, was affected by the immunity against Soul Binding Contracts thanks to the connection with the twins. Roan had him sign the contract in case he needed Kentucky for some flight in places where identifications were necessary. "In any case, I could swear you would be some fat guy, Kentucky."

Kentucky had been in the Transition Realm for the same duration as the twins. However, this was the first time he took a human form since he needed to enter the office, which didn't fit his real form's size. Kentucky was just a few years younger than the twins, so his cultivation made him look like he was in his early twenties. Not only that, he was quite handsome even though he had a few Minokawa traits over his body and his demonic aura.

The few women he passed by couldn't help but take a second or third look at him, much to his satisfaction. "Of course, this grandfather would never be fat. I have always taken care of my weight."

That sounded like the greatest lie of all time in Roan's ears. He was sure that it was his bloodline that allowed him to stay slim even though he ate like a whale. "Whatever, just stop trying to catch all the women's attention."

"Hey, you can't blame this god for being this handsome in any of his forms, okay? I'm not saying or calling any of them to look at me. They're doing it just because they can't ignore my existence." Kentucky didn't seem to care at all.

Roan shook his head and entered the office with Kentucky. He also wanted to find out another thing since he was there. Naturally, Kentucky and Roan's cultivation were taken seriously, so they didn't take any queues and were attended to straight away. For cities at the borders of continents, Transition Realm experts were some of the strongest existences, after all. "Hello, sirs. I'm the manager of the Gublac City's Office, Chekos. How can I help you today?"

Roan didn't waste time, saying, "We are from outside Lebgram Continent and have just arrived here. I found out we need some identification to use the Formation Guild's teleport formations."

Chekos quickly nodded but also had a concerned expression. "That is correct, sirs. However…" He took a deep breath before saying, "We will need you to sign Soul Binding Contracts." He was afraid that Roan and Kentucky would get angry and cause trouble in the office. Once again, their cultivation was just too terrifying in a corner city like Gublac.

"No problem, bring the contracts," Roan immediately agreed. "The guard at the city gate already told us that we need to sign them to guarantee we won't intervene in any of the power struggles of this continent. Anyone can tell that this is something Jhiod Continent demanded, so I won't meddle with it."

Chekos couldn't help but sigh in relief after that. "Thank you for understanding, sir. I'll prepare the Soul Binding Contract straight away." Chekos then took the contract in front of Roan and Kentucky and began to write the clauses for the two to see.

"While you do that, explain something to me," Roan called the guy's attention. Well, in fact, it wasn't a question from Roan but from Rean, who was in the Dimensional Realm. "How are you sharing the information about the identification badges throughout the continent?"

Chekos didn't mind explaining since it wasn't any secret. "It's quite simple. Every now and then, someone from the main office in our Lebgram Continent comes by and takes all the information back to the headquarters in jade slips. At the same time, they also bring all the information in jade slips from new identification badges for us to add to our banks."

Rean found it strange, so he had Roan continue to ask. "Isn't that way too much work? How many trillions of people, demon beasts, and spirits exist in Lebgram Continent? Maybe even over a quadrillion. Is it even possible to manage all of that with just jade slips?"

Chekos laughed in response. "Hahaha! Of course not! The only people that need identification badges are the Transition Realm and above. Those below this level would hardly be able to cause any trouble in the power struggles of the continent except for small locations. Our continent just has to keep tags on these experts and whether they're from Lebgram or not. As you can imagine, experts of this level are extremely scarce. I would be surprised if they made up for 0.00001% of our continent's forces."

Rean had to admit it was true. If that's the case, then the main office only had to keep a few hundreds of thousands or maybe a million or so experts. 0.00001% would already mean ten million if a quadrillion lives existed here, and Rean found it extremely hard to be the case. 'It seems like you sent Luan into the Dimensional Realm for nothing. He wouldn't need to sign any contract, nor did he need to make an identification badge at all.'

Roan didn't think the same. 'Better safe than sorry.'

'True,' Rean agreed with that much at least.

Eventually, Chekos finished the contract. It really only stated the things he mentioned. "Here you go, sirs."

Without wasting time, Roan and Kentucky signed it, just for the Soul Gem Dummy to take them.

Chapter 1629: Can't Enter

Roan and Kentucky received their badges after that, which they bound with a drop of their blood. It basically was the same as Rean's badges for the System Sect, but a much worse version since it had no Circuitry Formations. Nevertheless, it worked for the purpose of only Roan and Kentucky being able to use it from now on.

Roan didn't want to waste time, so he found a corner and sent Kentucky into the Dimensional Realm. It was better than paying for more people. He always did it with Luan when necessary. Eventually, he arrived at the Formation Guild and inquired about the prices. Sure enough, due to the high number of cities and smaller distances between them, the prices here were all in Rank One Divine Stones and even lower than normal.

Roan got to the teleport formation and immediately disappeared with a flash of silver light, together with a few more cultivators heading to the same destination.

Three months and a half before the end of the Destiny Avoidance Mode… due to the much bigger size of Lebgram, losing only to Pol Continent, Roan believed that teleporting from one city to another would take him roughly that time. And that was already including the stops for extra recruitment since the twins intended to recruit people from different places and races. 'In any case, as long as I get most of the path covered, that will be enough.'

And so Roan proceeded. He would teleport from city to city and only stop if there were materials to be bought, supplies to be restocked, or recruitments to be made. He didn't stop by small cities on those cases, though. It was easier and faster to simply do all of that in the capitals of the countries he passed by.

Since Lebgram was much bigger but still highly packed, it went without saying that the twins' recruitment got much more new disciples for the sect than on the other continents. The sect had around 5400 disciples at first, but it had already increased to over 8000. Many of those recruits were the same type of people without any attachments, but the twins also recruited experts for the side occupation guilds with Divine Stones.

However, just as they were about to continue recruiting, the twins received a message from Celis about this exact same issue. "That's enough. No more recruiting."

Puzzled, Rean asked, "Why's that? We have 300 kilometers of territory, the same as Dalamu Sect back in Sunkan Planet."

Celis shook his head, though. "Although the Dalamu Sect's territory reached 300 kilometers, the disciples there were definitely not doing missions only inside this range. I'm sure your fellow disciples from that time would go to many different locations to have their missions and training, right?"

Rean nodded, saying, "Well, that's true."

Celis then continued, "That's the problem. We don't have these extra places where we can send people. All the missions occur inside the sect or in the demon beast forest. Although we filled it up with demon beasts, the number of cultivators from our sect entering it to fight for materials and training is already very high. Simply put, the extension of 250 kilometers reserved for the demon beats forest has reached its limit of demon beasts and disciples that can enter to train."

Rean and Roan understood after that. "More than that, and we won't have enough demon beasts for them. We made sure everyone understood that no one would save them in the sect's demon beast forest. After all, that was what it meant to be in life and death situations. It also helped decrease the number of disciples who entered it since some had really died there. However, even this is not enough to keep the numbers in check anymore."

Celis confirmed. "That's exactly it. Demon beasts are very territorial living beings when they don't have intelligence. The fact we have enough demon beasts to be used to train the disciples in a small range of 250 kilometers is far from enough. Usually, demon beasts of a single race would have tens if not hundreds of kilometers for their own territory. Here they don't have even two or three. The only reason they don't kill each other for more territory is that they're inhibited by mine and Kentucky's Divine Bloodlines. But even so, they're always in a tense state. We definitely can't increase their numbers anymore."

The twins nodded after hearing that. "That means we should keep Destiny Points for another upgrade of the Dimensional Realm."

Sister Orb didn't have good news about that, though. [After you spent your last batch of Destiny Points, your numbers haven't increased much. In the last three years or so, you went from 20357 Destiny Points to 31453. You have changed the destiny of the people in the sect, but they have very little effect on the outside world. That's why the accumulation is very slow. Not to mention that Destiny Perception Range can only check the changes in destiny up to a million kilometers. You have been traveling nonstop, so any changes you caused in destiny back in other places can't be detected anymore.]

The twins narrowed their eyes in response. That's because the next level of the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm Upgrade was the most expensive item on the reward list. It cost a whopping 500000 Destiny Points! They didn't have even 10% of that at the moment. 

"Well, we have to start from somewhere," Rean said as he sighed.

Roan could only agree with that. "Let's do as Celis mentioned. We will stop recruiting for the time being and focus on training the disciples we have. In any case, 8000 or so disciples can become a very good army in the future."

Celis was happy to hear that. "That's good. There's no point in rushing things anyway. Besides, you can move the sect outside of the Dimensional Realm. Once you settle things down, put the sect somewhere and let it generate Destiny Points. We're almost at Jhiod too."

The twins agreed with Celis.

With that done, Roan went outside and traveled the rest of the distance until he reached the continental barrier between Lebgram and Jhiod. Unfortunately… Fluki couldn't enter it…