Death... and me

It made sense that they had accumulated enough since they hadn't made a breakthrough in quite a few years. During this time, Celis never stopped cultivating. With that, they could now enter the Peak Stage of the Void Tempering Realm, which was only one step away from Space Bending.

Hearing that, Luan couldn't help but ask, "Are you going to make the breakthrough here?"

"Not here, but in the Dimensional Realm," Rean answered.

Fortunately, Sister Orb understood what Luan meant. [All creatures in this place are at the Void Tempering Realm or higher. If you two enter the Dimensional Realm and one of them is close by, it will attack the entrance to the Dimensional Realm you left behind.]

Rean knew they were right. "I see... then again, it shouldn't take long. We're just breaking through a stage, not a realm."

Roan agreed with him. "Indeed. Kentucky, Rean, and I can stay outside while Celis goes through the breakthrough inside the Dimensional Realm. If a creature appears, we can stop it midway. Also, Luan can keep on the lookout with his eyes."

"Leave it to me, Father!" Luan had no problem with it at all.

Kentucky continued to fly for a while until they found a place with a better view of the surroundings. Following that, Rean, Roan, Kentucky, and Celis immediately started their breakthrough. Naturally, Luan jumped to a higher point and surveyed the surroundings for anything unusual.

Not long after, Divine Stones appeared outside, and soon, the four guys started their breakthroughs. The density of Divine Energy in the area increased several times as the stones turned to dust one after another. Although such a commotion had a higher chance of catching a swamp beast's attention, it was better than leaving the Dimensional Realm entrance vulnerable to attacks.

*Boom!*

After just a few minutes, a blast of Divine Energy spread out. At the same time, their cultivation began to increase nonstop. Eventually, it stabilized at the Peak Stage of the Void Tempering Realm.

The twins' group quickly got up to their feet and looked around. If there were any swamp beasts nearby, they would definitely feel the commotion. Yet, nothing appeared even after waiting for a moment. "Well... seems like we were lucky."

Kentucky quickly changed back into his Minokawa form. "I'm not in the mood to check if that's the case. Let's take this chance that nothing happened and leave this place for now."

Of course, no one was against Kentucky's words. They all jumped on Kentucky's back, who left the area in a flash.

Little did they know, but the commotion of their breakthrough did catch someone's attention. A few hundred kilometers away, there was a stone building that seemed to have been abandoned for who knows how long. It was suspended under several of the old swamp trees, making it look like it was about to fall at any moment into the swamp. Yet, it stayed affixed in place.

Inside, there were three dark wood coffins, all of which looked to be even older than the buildings, maybe even rotting. There were no signs of any of them being opened in several years, perhaps even decades. However, that changed today.

*Crack, crack, crack...*

The coffin lid on the left side began to move slowly, causing all the dust on the lid's surface to spread out. Surprisingly though, what it contained wasn't a corpse. If anything, the young man inside seemed very lively. Decaying Dark Element from the surroundings entered his body continuously, but the young man seemed to enjoy that.

He looked in the direction where he felt the commotion of Divine Energy a moment ago and began to think whether he should check it out or not.

'You shouldn't have broken your meditative state.' Suddenly, a Divine Sense Message spoke. It was coming from the coffin in the middle, and it didn't seem very pleased that the young man had opened his coffin.

'She's right. You're at a juncture in your breakthrough. You need more time to accumulate enough Dark Element.' Another Divine Sense, this time from the coffin on the right, added.

The young man looked at the two coffins and smiled in response. 'Mother, Sister, you sensed that as well, didn't you? That wasn't a breakthrough from the Demon Beasts in this place. It was a living being breaking through. Not only that, it was definitely from someone from outside the underworld. Most likely the Realm of Gods.'

The two coffins went silent for a moment, seeming to understand the meaning in the young man's words.

The young man continued from there. 'I can't let this chance escape. If I can get a living being's soul, my breakthrough will occur even faster. Not only that, it will have no flaws. It has been many years since all the living beings in Mother's Dimensional Realm died. Sister is fine since she's already surpassed that juncture.

But what about me? I need it!'

Eventually, the coffin in the middle gave its approval. 'Very well. From what I could feel from here, the breakthrough was just at the Void Tempering Realm. That's nothing for someone at your level. Go there quickly and return as soon as possible. Also, that wasn't just a single living being's soul, but three.

All at the same realm.'

The young man's eyes glistened in response. 'Great! A single living being's soul would have been hard. However, three souls will definitely give me a great chance of breaking through. Thank you, Mother!'

The mother in the coffin in the middle then turned her attention to the sister in the coffin on the right. 'Abelha, you go with your brother.'

'Ehhhh?' The sister didn't seem that pleased. 'They're just some ants.'

The mother was adamant, though. 'Shut up and just go. I couldn't feel the power of any high-level expert, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Don't try to steal the souls for yourself. Your brother needs it.'

'Fine...' Abelha could only acquiesce.

'Also, don't go too far away. Otherwise, you won't be able to find your way back here.' In the end, this coffin family was another victim of the swamp that couldn't leave. 'Now go.'