Death... and me

'Flash Beast?' Rean had never heard of the term before. 'Is it really not a demon beast?'

[It isn't.] Sister Orb replied. [It's a wild creature that only exists for destruction. From the moment it's born, it will rampage and get rid of anything it sees on its way. It moves anywhere it feels Divine Energy is most concentrated in. Do you know where those places are?]

'Cities. It's not only the Divine Veins in the sects, guild, and other organizations. If you consider people's dantians, then the cities have more Divine Energy than anywhere else.' Rean couldn't help but say in response. 'Doesn't that mean that it's possible to guide the beast somewhere else as well?'

[Ha! Good luck trying that. If you can create a concentration of Divine Energy higher than the collective number of dantians in a city, then it might be possible. Then again, what will you do after that? After the beast consumes whatever you use to lure it away, it'll turn back and charge in the direction of the cities again.]

However, Rean found it strange. 'The Sacred Land definitely won't let this happen, though. If they let the beast rampage nonstop, then it would affect the power of the Huring Continent as a whole. They would definitely send their experts out to get rid of it.'

Sister Orb sighed after hearing that. [It seems like you don't understand the real issue here. The Sacred Land doesn't have the strength to fight it back. The beast is much stronger than anyone they could possibly send out. Even if they use all their experts at once, they would still fall short of the beast's power.]

'That strong?!' Rean was shocked just thinking about it. 'So, there's no one who can stop it?'

[Well...I'm just thinking about what I believe that the average level of the Huring Sacred Land is. However, if they happen to have someone at Divinity Realm, they should have the power to contend against the beast. I strongly doubt so, though.]

That's the first time Rean heard of that realm. 'How far is that realm from the Transition Realm?'

[Far enough that a place like this Huring Continent shouldn't even dream of having someone at this level. That's all I can tell you at the moment. Anyways, if they do have someone like that, this person would be able to hold the Flash Beast down long enough.]

'What do you mean by long enough? Shouldn't they try to kill it?' Rean asked, knowing that Sister Orb was probably under some restrictions to talk about the Divinity Realm.

[It can't be killed.] Sister Orb told him. [It's a creature made of all elements and energy. All the skills you throw at it will be simply absorbed or won't cause any damage. All you can do is hold it back long enough for it to disappear.]

'Disappear? It will simply disappear?' Rean found this to be a really weird creature.

[Yep, disappear. That's why it is called a Flash Beast. Considering the average cultivator's lifespan, it truly lives very little. After it's born, it will have a very limited life span. From the records that I have here in the system, the longest a Flash Beast has ever 'lived' was one year and a half. Judging by the size of this crystal, I would say that this one will probably last two months alive or so. If it doesn't consume any Divine Energy while it's out, then it'll be less than two weeks. Of course, as this continent shouldn't have anyone capable of stopping it, it will consume everyone's dantians in the big cities, Divine Stones, Divine Veins, and so on. That's why I'm calculating it should last two months and a half more or less.]

'Doesn't that mean it won't die as long as it has enough Divine Energy?'

[In a certain way, yes. Unfortunately for it, the Realm of Gods has continental barriers. It's not that this beast, with this power, can't pass through it. It's just that it won't be able to feel the Divine Energy on the other side of the barrier, so it'll never try to traverse it. At the very least, I don't have any records of a Flash Beast trying to leave the continent it was born in.]

Sister Orb added, [Well, if it suddenly decides that it'll go through the barrier, the real experts from the Realm of Gods will take notice of it sooner or later. When that happens, this beast will be dealt with straight away.]

Rean couldn't help but wonder. 'Why would such a beast even exist? I mean, it doesn't seem to have any purpose as it won't gain sentience.'

[There are many theories. Some say that it's nothing but a coincidence that it takes form. The Realm of Gods is full of wonders, and the Flash Beast is just one of them. Some say that it was created on purpose by someone, but no one knows who it is. However, the most accepted theory is the regulation idea.]

'What do you mean by the 'regulation' idea?' Rean asked straight away.

[Most believe the Flash Beast appears when the number of lives in a certain continent starts to surpass the limit it could sustain.]

Rean didn't need to hear more to understand the rest. 'I see...the people living on those continents are using too much of their resources, so the heavens send it to get rid of the people, demon beasts, and spirits living there. Is that what you mean?'

[Exactly.] Sister Orb said in agreement. [If a continent doesn't have the power to defend against it, it will lose around 95 to 98% of its total lives. But in exchange, the continent itself will start to recover. It's very common to see such continents flourishing with resources after a few thousand years.]

Rean sighed, not knowing whether it was a good thing or not. 'It's hard to judge whether stopping it is the right thing to do. Anyway, there's nothing we can do about it.' Rean then asked something else, 'Sister Orb, how long do you think it'll take to come out?'