Death... and me

The formation locking the Profound Abyss then began to move as the yellow light barrier slowly disappeared. Not long after, the yellow light at a specific location inside the Abyss completely vanished, only leaving a hole of a few meters in size.

Calina was at the very front with her protectors. Not only was Valeu there, but Rean's group could also see two more cultivators with the same clothes as the Imperial Family or their forces. Right beside her were a few more cultivators from other big powers from this region who were also allowed to enter first. Rean's group could tell that a few of them had never appeared in the gathering of participants in the settlement. They most likely felt that there was no point in interacting with the rest with their higher status.

Calina and her three protectors were the first ones to enter. As soon as they approached the entrance, faint ripples of Spiritual Energy covered their bodies. That was a formation made to check everyone's cultivation. It would stop anyone above the Core Formation Realm from entering. Obviously, nothing happened with Calina's group.

The next groups then began to enter one after another, quickly disappearing in the dark below. As their turn approached, Reliance warned them one last time.

"The five of you, be careful of the Decaying Energy. If you feel like you can't hold on anymore, stop somewhere, and focus on driving the energy out of your body. If that's not possible, take one of the Anti-Decaying Energy Pills that Mia gave you. Don't forget. The only place free of Decaying Energy is the Vermilion Pools, so try to get there as soon as possible. However, there are other places where the energy is a lot weaker. You might as well take the chance to rest there if you pass by it."

"Yes, Elder Reliance."

Reliance then sent a Spiritual Message to Rean and Roan.

'Be sure to keep the Minokawa safe, or I'll skin you two alive.'

Roan ignored those words as Rean shrugged his shoulder.

'We will do our best.'

Finally, the turn of the bottom countries arrived. Rean's group then dashed forward with Kentucky, quickly passing by the cultivation detection formation. After that, they jumped inside the Profound Abyss as well.

Malaka mounted on Kentucky while following everyone's descent. Not long after, they began to feel the Dark Fog around their bodies and the Decaying Energy inside it. It was as they were told. The energy could force its way through their Spiritual Energy barrier. To counteract it, they had to use even more Spiritual Energy. Still, the Decaying Energy in this place was relatively weak, so they were able to stop all of it.

As they stepped on the Abyss walls during the descent, the range of their vision gradually became smaller. That case wasn't only because of the lack of light, but the Decaying Fog became more condensed on top of that. Another thing that Rean's group noticed was that their Spiritual Sense seemed to be affected by it. The deeper they went, the smaller the range their Spiritual Sense would have.

Halfway down, Rean's group noticed that the other participants in front of them began to change direction. Everyone was choosing their own courses to began to explore. It was also possible to see that quite a few of them separated from their groups to move ahead alone.

It was at this moment that Tuve and Weren told Rean's group.

"Alright, the two of us are going on our own from here onward. You guys will need to take care of yourselves. Whether you like it or not, Tuve and I can't waste much of our time protecting you all, nor would it be considered training anyway. I wish you three and the bird good luck."

Rean nodded without caring too much.

"It's okay, Senior Weren. We would also prefer to rely on ourselves. Good luck to you and Senior Tuve."

Weren smiled as he and Tuve selected another direction to continue their descent. For Rean and Roan, that was perfect. After all, they didn't want to have anyone close by when the Universal Restraint arrived three days later.

Turns out that the Abyss was larger than it looked outside. The chasm of hundreds of kilometers long on the surface was really just an entrance. The underground world, on the other hand, expanded for thousands of kilometers. If they were not in the Foundation Establishment Realm, covering this kind of distance in just two weeks would be impossible. That was really a training ground made for geniuses.

It took almost two hours for Rean's group to reach the bottom. Even though several hundreds of participants entered it, Rean's group already couldn't see anyone else. The Decaying Fog at the bottom was also a lot thicker. Even with their best Spiritual Energy barrier, a little of it still entered Rean, Roan, and Malaka's body.

"This Energy..."

Roan narrowed his eyes as the Decaying Energy entered his body. Contrary to his expectations, he wasn't feeling any discomfort from it at all.

'Sister Orb, this Decaying Energy has a little Yin Energy mixed with it.'

[Indeed. To be honest, I think that Decaying Energy is, in fact, a variation of Yin Energy. It is not wrong to think about it as a very impure type of Yin Energy. However, Yin Energy impurities have no use against you. That's why you are not feeling anything from it.]

Rean also let the Yin Energy enter his body. However, different from Roan, it did harm his body to a certain extent. It's just that the Light Element in his body could destroy it exceptionally easy. His own rate of natural Spiritual Energy recovery was more than enough to keep up for the consumption.

'I guess that since Yang Energy is my specialty, it's more or less not a problem for me to deal with Yin Energy.'

[Indeed. While Roan is an excellent Yin Energy generator, you are a great Yin Energy destroyer. Once again, the impurities in this Yin Energy have little effect on you. It won't be as easy for you as it is for Roan, who can completely ignore it, but you should have no issues dealing with it either.]

Rean and Roan nodded in response before turning off their Spiritual Energy barrier, letting the Yin Energy enter their bodies. Roan didn't feel anything as expected. However, Rean had to turn his Spiritual Energy barrier once more.

'I see. I can deal with the Decaying Energy that enters my body with ease. Unfortunately, I need a lot more Spiritual Energy to eliminate the Decaying Energy that enters my body than blocking it with a Spiritual Energy barrier. That's because this place makes it very hard to gather the Light Element, so I need a lot more Spiritual Energy for it. It is much more efficient to block it as much as possible and then eliminate the little bit that can pass through my protection and enter my body.'

[Well, I think you have nothing to complain about. Everyone else is definitely taking it a lot worse than you. After all, they don't really have a method as efficient as yours to deal with the Decaying Energy that enters their bodies. They will have to slowly drive it out, which will definitely make them spend a lot more Spiritual Energy than you do.]

Rean smiled and nodded. He was already happy with this outcome. It's just that he won't be as consumption free in terms of Spiritual Energy as Roan. He will have to stop every now and then to recover it with Spirit Stones.

"Right! Malaka, how are you faring?"

Rean looked at Malaka and the faint blue barrier of Spiritual Energy and Water Element around her body.

"I'm okay, but this Decaying Energy is quite tough to deal with. Fortunately, Master gave me a lot of Spirit Stones to recover my energy in the profound Abyss. Too bad she didn't give me any Rank Three ones, though."

Rean smiled after hearing that.

"That's good then. Anyway, don't worry. It turns out that my Light Element is excellent at ridding the Decaying Energy in your body. If you feel that you have accumulated too much of it, just tell me, and I can help you straight away."

Malaka nodded at Rean.

"Alright!"

Malaka was still mounting Kentucky even at this moment, so the two looked at it.

*Chick?*

Kentucky's head bent a little to the side, expressing his confusion to Rean's concern.

Let alone a Spiritual Energy barrier. It seemed like Kentucky was taking it as easy as Roan. Rean couldn't feel any struggles from him at all.

'Oh well... Kentucky is a Minokawa, and Minokawas can use the Dark Element to start with, so I guess he is also not affected by Yin Energy. Or perhaps, his mutation in the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm made him inherit part of Roan's immunity. Anyhow, it's one less thing to worry about.'

However, Roan approached Kentucky and put a hand on its head before closing his eyes. Rean and Malaka looked at Roan with a puzzled expression, though. Roan wasn't the type that would waste his time petting Kentucky. A few seconds later, Roan opened his eyes again.

"This bird is really something else. Not only is it not being affected by Decaying Energy, but it is also absorbing it automatically. I noticed that I can absorb this Decaying Energy as if it is Spiritual Energy. Looks like Kentucky can do it as well. In fact, it seems a lot more nutritious for him than me."

Rean approached Kentucky and looked closely. Sure enough, the Decaying Fog entered his body little by little. However, it wasn't forcing its way in like it does with him and Malaka. It was instead being slowly attracted to Kentucky's Black Scales and Feathers. However, it was so faint that even Kentucky didn't notice it.

"Well, that's even better."

Roan nodded and then selected a random direction.

"Alright, we lost enough time already. Let's go!"