Death... and me

[It is what I said it is, Universe Essence. Consider it a type of energy, just like Spiritual Energy or Yin Yang. However, this is very useful. Check your bodies. You should be able to feel this essence circulating through your meridians.]

Rean and Roan nodded as they used their Spiritual Senses to check their own bodies. Sure enough, they could feel some kind of different power present there.

'What can this thing be used for?'

[Keep it. You will want to use it when your Spiritual Pools change into Yin Yang Cores. Although it won't increase your combat powers, your Yin Yang Cores will become a lot more resistant to impacts. It should improve your cultivation speed a little bit as well.]

Rean and Roan nodded.

'That's quite good. If someone aims to cripple our cultivation, it might just become our silver lining. We already got a free upgrade in the Reward System anyway, so this is a bonus.'

Sister Orb agreed with them.

[Indeed. Besides, this is not the only Universal Restraint you will have to pass through, so you will get more of it.]

'Wait! There will be more of that thing?!'

[Of course! Do you think this side of the Universe would let you two change its living beings' Destiny and do nothing?]

'And once again, only now do you tell us about it.'

[Well, you never asked.]

"$&*#$!%U$@&$##!!!"

Rean and Roan then spent a few more minutes gathering Light Element and used the Second Form of the Life Style. Still, before they healed even half of the injuries, Roan got up once more.

"We already stopped the bleeding. Take a blood replenishing pill, and let's move. I don't think anyone else selected our Cave Entrance, but I don't wanna risk being seen by others in this place."

Rean nodded and got up with some difficulty. Still, he gritted his teeth and followed Roan right after.

Weren's group was still waiting in the same place. However, they seemed to be in a quite bad shape. That tremor made several fall on them. They had to put a lot of effort to prevent themselves from getting buried there. Fortunately, Malaka, Kentucky, and 'Freta' weren't weak either, so they also helped with resisting.

"What the hell just happened? No one told me about Earthquakes happening in the Profound Abyss before."

Calina, who had a lot more information about the abyss, was also confused. Her elders didn't mention anything about earthquakes either. As for Malaka, she was more concerned about Rean and Roan, who had just left moments before that happened.

Weren and Tuve then looked at each other while communicating through Spiritual Sense messages.

'Isn't it too much of a coincidence that this shit happened as soon as those twins left?'

'Indeed. However, would they be able to cause a stir like this? Even if we gathered all the Core Formation Realm cultivators in the Profound Abyss, we wouldn't be able to do it.'

'I know. Still, I can't help but think that it did have something to do with them. You saw how urgent they looked when they suddenly dashed away, didn't you?'

'Yeah. I don't like this feeling. Let's wait just a few more minutes. If they don't come back, we will proceed forward with these two girls. I believe Malaka and this girl called Freta also have a copy of the map they talked about. If that's the case, Rean and Roan won't have any issues finding where we went.'

'Very well. It's better than staying here. I don't want this entire cave falling on our heads either.'

Tuve and Weren nodded. However, it turned out that there wasn't a need for it. Rean and Roan came back just a few minutes later. However, they soon noticed their injuries.

"What happened to you?"

Rean sighed as he said.

"What else could it be? An Earthquake appeared out of nowhere. We were caught in the middle of the falling rocks everywhere. We are fortunate to have suffered just these injuries."

Roan didn't have the patience to talk, though.

"The caves around here are too unstable. Let's get out of here first and talk later."

Neither Weren nor Tuve had any objection to it. Malaka and Calina also nodded after hearing that. Right after, they dashed away from the place. Fortunately, that was the right decision. That's because the cave they were in collapsed just a few minutes later. It couldn't be helped. After all, it was located very close to the place where Rean and Roan went through the Universal Restraint. Several other nearby passages also collapsed just like this one.

The group moved forward as Rean and Roan healed their injuries with the Light Element. Surprisingly, they didn't encounter any Demon beast even after moving for more than one hour. From the looks of it, all of them fled from the place where the Earthquake originated.

"Alright, this place seems good enough. Give Rean and me some time to finish healing our injuries."

Weren, Tuve, Malaka, and Calina nodded. They also took the chance to ask them if they knew what happened.

"What happened? The Earthquake happened."

"But why did you run away in the first place?"

Rean scratched the back of his head before saying.

"Ahem... Roan had a sudden urge to take a dump. Because he is very vulnerable during those moments, so I had to go with him to protect his ass."

Roan's mouth twitched.

'Are you looking to die?'

'Hahaha! Bite me!'

Calina's face went red as Malaka laughed out loud. Weren and Tuve's mouths twitched in response.

"Fuck! Do you think we will believe that?"

Rean sighed helplessly. It was not like he could tell what happened for real. First of all, no one would believe it anyway.

Roan then glanced at them.

"Then there is nothing we can do if you don't believe us. By the way, it is not like this information is important to find a Vermilion Pool, right?"

"This..."

Weren and Tuve wanted to disagree, but it was confirmed that what mattered the most at the moment were the Vermilion Pools.

"Fine! We won't ask anymore. Anyway, what about that thing you wanted us to do to show the correct path to one of the Vermilion Pools?"

Roan nodded and then explained.

"It is as I said exactly. I need you two to report to the Imperial Family elders that you saw several men in black surrounding Calina's group during your travel. You didn't want to get involved in others' conflicts, so you retreated straight away. After all, there were many more enemies while you two were only traveling as a duo."

Roan then continued.

"Do that, and will I not only show you the correct path but also give you a copy of our map. I'm sure it will be of great help to you two."

Tuve immediately shook his head.

"You are asking us to lie in the face of the Imperial Family experts. Are you crazy? If they find out that we are lying, not even our bones will remain."

Roan laughed, not minding that too much.

"Don't worry, they will not look into it. All they're going to do is thank you for the report."

Weren couldn't help but ask.

"How do you know?"

"You don't need to care about it. All you need to know is that the risks involved are minimal. It is a small price to pay for the Vermilion Pool and the chance of entering the Nascent Soul Realm in the future."

Tuve wasn't convinced.

"I don't know what you are planning or why you would want us to report it. However, I'm not an idiot either. Did you see the Imperial Family experts and the Princess being killed?"

It was then that Calina approached them and said.

"I did. I was there, after all."