Death... and me

Roan grabbed the dark jade slips together with the others. Unfortunately, it was impossible to read what was inside since they couldn't use Spiritual Sense at the moment. "Let's bring them with us and check out once we leave this place," Roan suggested.

Kentucky also found something else in there. "Hey, doesn't this thing look like the rocks senior Phex used his blood on to open the Bestial Sacred Ground?"

Sure enough, all of them focused their attention on the rock after that. "It does seem like that one. Could this be the exit of this dimensional realm?"

Rean then pointed out, saying, "Well, the area behind the rock does have the shape of the doors we opened outside."

Rean then looked at Kentucky for a moment, suggesting, "Use a little of your Divine Demon Beast blood on it, Kentucky."

Kentucky nodded and immediately used his blade-like feathers to make a small cut on his wing. Blood rushed out with the help of his Spiritual Energy, falling above the rock.

*Bzzzzz!*

It was then that the Dimensional Realm's energy began to gather behind the rock as it absorbed Kentucky's blood. Not too long after, that energy expanded, opening what looked like a tunnel.

"This..." Everyone recognized the other side.

"Isn't that the area we stopped right before the last barrier to the Bestial Sacred Ground?" Celis asked for a moment.

Frin nodded in response, answering, "The one and the same. I've passed there quite a few times, after all. There's no mistaking it."

"So, this is some kind of spatial door that connects this dimensional realm to the outside world, huh?" Rean then looked at everyone, asking, "Do you guys wish to leave first? Or should we continue the exploration?"

Frin and Duran didn't need to think twice. "Continue the exploration. We came here for the portal to the Realm of Gods, and we won't leave before confirming if it really exists or not."

Everyone agreed with him as they turned around to leave the chamber. Of course, not before they cleaned the area of all the things they thought to be valuable, though. The only sad thing was that it didn't seem to have any kind of equipment there. Only the materials used to create the glass container were available. The demon had also used the Stage Nine Demon Beast Souls he had accumulated, so they were also gone now.

After that, they took a ride on Kentucky and Gulan and made their way to the island on the Blood Lake. The impressive thing was that the Blood Lake was almost empty as they passed over it. Only the crimson ground underneath could be seen at this moment.

Only when they got close to the island in the center did they see the small amount of demon beast blood remaining. In any case, the whirlpool consuming the blood above the island continued to spin. It wouldn't take more than a minute or so before all the blood disappeared completely.

"Kentucky, Gulan, stay further away. We don't know what might happen once the blood is gone." As Roan said that, Kentucky and Gulan nodded as they ascended even higher into the skies.

They watched it attentively, waiting for the process to be over. Eventually, the last drops of blood vanished from the Blood Lake as the whirlpool of blood also disappeared. Only the dot of energy at the very center of the now dry whirlpool remained.

Rean's group looked at it, waiting to see if something would happen. However, the dot of energy stayed still in that position, doing nothing. They waited for several minutes and were almost losing their patience when suddenly, the sky above shone with a red light, a lot brighter than it had so far. No, to be more specific, it was the centermost star of that dimensional realm that shone.

Following that, the star shot a ray of red light that hit the energy point on the island's center. By now, all the souls that were trapped had already disappeared, so the dot of energy was the only thing remaining.

Rean's group looked at that attentively, waiting to see what would happen. Finally, the dot of red energy seemed to meet its own requirements...

*Boom!*

A huge explosion of Spiritual Energy swept everything around, completely obliterating the island in the center of the now gone Blood Lake. Duran and Frin immediately used their Spiritual Energy to create a barrier in front of everyone. Surprisingly, even with their high cultivation, they were sent flying by the power of the explosion.

It wouldn't be before several kilometers before Kentucky and Gulan finally stabilized themselves in the air. "Holy shit! If Roan didn't tell us to stay far away from that thing, we would be history now."

Duran and Frin ignored that as they looked at the area of the explosion. "Look! What's that?!"

Little by little, the point of red energy began to expand as a huge amount of Spiritual Energy rushed into it. The Spiritual Energy wasn't coming from the dimensional realm alone. Instead, the dimensional realm was also gathering Spiritual Energy from the outside world to fuel that thing. The rest of the red stars in the sky, or the dimensional realm's ceiling, to be more exact, seemed to act as a connection to the outside world, allowing it to happen.

That thing then began to take the shape of a huge ring. As for what was inside, they couldn't tell since it all looked like a storm of silver clouds. No, to be more specific, it looked like a tunnel, and its walls were made of those silver clouds.

"Could that be..." Duran couldn't help but feel a little excited as he asked.

Frin immediately nodded, muttering in awe, "It has to be, right?"

Obviously, they thought it was the so-called portal to the Realm of Gods. It's just that they had no guarantee of it.

*Pin!*

[Congratulations, Hosts! Due to the full activation of the World Beast Formation, the portal to the Realm of Gods of the Demon Beast Race is now open.]

Rean and Roan looked at each other. 'So, that really is the portal, huh?'