Death… And Me

Chapter 4530: Control

[Roan,] Sister Orb called his attention in the Womb’s Dimensional Realm. [Those two outside... the protection I put on them is about to wear out.]

Roan narrowed his eyes. ’Let’s go out then.’

Roan’s mind immediately made its way back through the strands of energy, and he opened his eyes inside the airplane. Yet, when he opened his eyes, he felt like something had changed, although he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

Mario and Revana looked nervous, but both still had their eyes fixed outside, carefully watching to see if anything approached them. They clearly understood that their current safety depended entirely on Roan, so neither of them dared to become distracted.

"Come here. I need to renew your protection," Roan suddenly called out to them.

The couple looked back, seeing that Roan had opened his eyes again. "Y-Yes, senior."

Roan put his hand on their shoulders again, and Sister Orb immediately got to work, renewing the temporary protection around their souls. The familiar sensation of the navy-blue energy strands being blocked returned once more, and the couple could finally breathe a little easier. "Alright, go back to watching. I’m not done yet."

"Understood." The couple immediately returned to their previous positions near the windows.

Roan sat in his seat, closed his eyes, and allowed his mind to go back to the strange Dimensional Realm... or at least, that was what he tried to do.

’Hum?’

Yet, even though he was allowing the strands of Navy-Blue Energy to touch his soul, the mind journey he had experienced before didn’t happen at all. His soul remained firmly inside his body, with none of the familiar sensations of his mind being pulled toward the distant source. ’Sister Orb?’

[I’m confused as well.] Sister Orb answered after checking the situation. [These energy threads are still trying to drag your soul out of your body, and I’m blocking them. However, they seem incapable of allowing your mind alone to follow their origin anymore.]

Roan narrowed his eyes. ’Does that mean I’ll be forced to go to the pillars? They are a lot closer to the source, after all. The problem will be getting enough time to touch a pillar without anyone trying to rob my body while my mind is out.’

That was the biggest issue. The pillars had already proven to be extremely dangerous, but at least Roan knew that touching one would allow his mind to reach the strange place. Here, however, the situation had suddenly changed. Whatever was controlling those navy-blue threads seemed to have realized that Roan could use them as a path.

It was then that Celis spoke. ’There is no need. You gave me more than enough time.’

Roan and Sister Orb’s attention immediately turned toward Celis. ’Have you found out where it is?’

’No,’ Celis said. ’However, there is nothing else we can acquire from that Dimensional Realm, at least not on the energy side.’

Celis went silent for a moment before continuing. ’To be honest, I don’t think that Dimensional Realm has an entrance or an exit.’

That statement didn’t make any sense to Roan. ’How can there be no entrance or exit? The energy threads must bring the Yin Energy to the Womb. There has to be a way in for it to receive the energy and a way out for it to control the energy threads and make them attack.’

’You got me wrong,’ Celis explained. ’The reason that there isn’t an entrance or exit is that that place is not a Dimensional Realm.’

[Impossible!] Sister Orb immediately refuted. [All the readings I got from that place while Roan’s mind was there were from a Dimensional Realm! It has to be!]

’It’s because that thing is indeed isolated through spatial powers,’ Celis explained. ’For all intents and purposes, it looks exactly like a Dimensional Realm, but it isn’t.’

’How do you know?’ Roan asked.

’Because of the energy interference,’ Celis explained. ’The energy that our Dimensional Realm received after coming from outside always suffered some interference, however small it might be. All the Dimensional Realms we have been inside in the past had the same characteristics.’

’It is nothing worth paying attention to. It is still the same energy. No one cared about this kind of characteristic because... well... there was simply no reason to do that.’

Celis continued after a short pause. ’The interference doesn’t change the properties of anything. Had it not been me, you definitely wouldn’t have noticed it either. Nonetheless, I can confirm with certainty now. That is definitely not a Dimensional Realm. It is very close, and it carries pretty much all of a Dimensional Realm’s isolating characteristics as well, but it is not one.’

[I want you to give me a full report of these characteristics.] Sister Orb immediately said. [I’ll save it in the system to make sure I will never commit the same mistake again! Shit! This is not befitting of the best system ever, me!]

Roan completely ignored Sister Orb’s complaints. ’Celis, does that discovery help us in any way?’

’Yes.’ Celis was actually quite satisfied with the results. ’Since it is not a Dimensional Realm, I’m absolutely sure we can use the energy readings to find its location. However... we should also be careful.’

Roan and Sister Orb could immediately guess why.

’The blockage?’ Roan asked.

’Yes,’ Celis confirmed. ’The reason Roan’s mind can’t go back there anymore. I felt it while his mind returned to his body, and I believe Roan noticed something too. There was a change in these Navy-Blue Energy Threads, and I’m pretty sure it was made on purpose. Whatever is responsible for that enclosure has just changed the rules to make sure Roan’s mind can’t return.’

[Couldn’t it be an automatic change?] Sister Orb asked.

Roan shook his head in response. ’I’ve been in there several times when touching the pillars. Then I entered it with my mind again in the "ghost" location. If it was something automatic, it should have blocked me after the very first try, not just now.’

Before they could continue discussing the matter, a shout suddenly came from outside.

"Senior Roan!"

Mario’s voice immediately snapped Roan out of his thoughts.

Roan’s eyes instantly opened, and he flashed by Mario’s side, looking in the direction the man was pointing. There, he saw it. Several Godly Creatures were now running in their direction, and at the front, a Godly Predator had left its group and was charging ahead.

"Seems like we really caught some undesired attention."

Without wasting any time, Roan assumed control of the airplane and fed the Celestial Thrusters with Godly Crystals. The airplane turned around and shot into the distance, this time heading toward Dlaval City.

All around him, Roan could see Godly Creatures changing their directions and trying to stop the airplane. Fortunately, Rean’s airplane could fly at Zone God speeds, meaning those creatures didn’t have much of a chance to react. Above all, they couldn’t truly see the airplane with their eyes, which made it even harder for them to block Roan’s path.

[How are they seeing us with the Godly Pressure Disguise active?]

’They aren’t, not in the normal way,’ Roan immediately understood. ’It’s the Navy-Blue Threads. They are revealing our location to the Godly Creatures somehow. The Godly Creatures are just following their natural instincts now that they can feel the presence of cultivators instead of another Godly Creature.’

Sister Orb quickly understood his reasoning. [So the threads are essentially acting as a beacon.]

’Something like that.’

The airplane gained more and more altitude, and that basically made any ground-based Godly Creature helpless to pursue Roan’s group. Nonetheless, flying Godly Creatures still appeared from time to time, forcing Roan to change direction whenever one got too close.

The chase continued for a while.

Eventually, Roan flew out of the deep Navy-Blue environment where the "Ghost" appeared. The sky slowly turned back to its normal sky-blue color, and the overwhelming Navy-Blue hue gradually fell further behind.

Nonetheless, one thing didn’t disappear.

The many Navy-Blue Energy Threads!

They kept materializing everywhere the airplane passed through, trying to enter Roan, Mario, and Revana’s bodies. The airplane’s fuselage was completely useless against them, and even the distance from the Ghost’s territory didn’t seem to matter. The threads simply followed, constantly attempting to penetrate their bodies and drag their souls away.

Roan narrowed his eyes as he watched strands and more strands emerge in front of the airplane. ’If these things aren’t being controlled, then nothing in this world is.’