Death... and me

The days passed in a flash as Rean and Roan planned the best approached for the infiltration. The reached the conclusion that it would be better to go through the front gate straight away. That's because, in theory, the side walls would be the place that most would want to use to enter.

With Rean's Light and Spiritual Sense Bending, together with Roan's silent approach, they should be able to pass by those Foundation Establishment disciples. They also reach an agreement that they would immediately enter the Soul Gem Realm the moment Rean felt a Spiritual Sense pass through his Spiritual Sense Bending.

One good thing about Rean's ability is that different from other low-level cultivators, he can tell if someone's Spiritual Sense touched his 'barrier.' He can't feel the Spiritual Sense of someone at a level much higher than his. Still, he can tell that those powerful Spiritual Senses passed through his Spiritual Sense Bending.

Of course, keeping his Spiritual Sense Bending running all times is out of the question. So if someone with much higher cultivation checks him before he activates it, he won't be able to tell.

The sect began to get busy. Disciples were running everywhere, preparing for the Gathering. There is no lack of stories where someone gained the elders' favors after showing their abilities during it. Everyone is confident, so they wanted to show what they were capable of.

Julio and Lenna were no different. After almost an entire month going through the Bodily Training of the Iron and Blood Faction, they got more or less used to it. Although the changes weren't that big, they could already feel the differences that this faction training brought to their body and cultivation.

Rean and Roan pretended to be preparing as well, not raising anyone's suspicion. Just like that, the first month after the Sect Entrance Exam was gone.

The Sect Gathering was held halfway up to the Dalamu Mountain. Usually, this is the territory of the Inner Sect Disciples and Elders. But once every year, it opened for the disciples of the sect to take a look. This is also a way to motive the Outer Sect Disciples to put more effort into becoming Inner Sect ones.

There, you could find an enormous building, which was always used for the gathering. On the morning of that day, the Inner Sect opened its door, allowing all the Outer Sect Disciples and Elders to step inside. As one can imagine, there were several areas marked as restricted. Without permission, those disciples couldn't step inside there.

Rean and Roan were also marking their presence. At the Inner Sect's entrance, some disciples recorded all the names that entered the Inner Sect. The twins didn't want to waste time, so they were one of the first to mark their names there.

They quickly run away from the others, paying attention to avoid restricted areas. When they saw that there was no one around, Rean activated his Spiritual Sense Bending for half a second. That's because he first wanted to check if there were any High-Level Spiritual Sense feeling them. Because his Spiritual Sense Bending was only activated for that moment, it wouldn't be able to bend the other side's Spiritual Sense. That being said, whoever could be watching them, they wouldn't find anything strange.

'Here is not good. I could feel two Spiritual Senses that are definitely above the Initial Stage of the Core Formation Realm.'

Roan nodded, and the two of them moved to another area. The twins changed position another five times until Rean finally found a place without any Spiritual Sense looking at them. Without wasting time, he jumped on Roan's back and activated both the Light and Spiritual Sense Bending. Although it was quite comic, that was still their best approach.

With their analysis of the Spiritual Senses' positions, they quickly found a way out of the Inner Sect without alerting anyone. With their name marked there, it will take quite some time before anyone notices that they aren't around.

Roan carried Rean while they moved through another path that few were using. They also tried to avoid anyone who looked like an elder. After that, they only took twenty minutes to arrive at the Blue Orchid District's border with Roan's speed. That is already a good mark since Roan had to continually change positions on the way to prevent them from being seen by someone's Spiritual Sense.

The two of them found a corner and began to wait. It would take some time before the gathering started per see. That being said, there are probably disciples and elders of the Blue Orchid Faction/District who hasn't gone there yet.

'The Gathering is starting in two hours, so we will move 15 minutes before it. By that time, everyone who was supposed to be in the Gathering will have left already.'

Rean agreed with Roan as they kept waiting and rehearsed their plan.

[Alright, it's time. You two can move forward now.]

With Sister Orb's voice, Rean once more jumped on Roan's back and activated his Light and Spiritual Sense Bending Skills.

Roan moved straight to the entrance of the district. Sure enough, two disciples at the Foundation Establishment Level were guarding it as always.

'Their Spiritual Sense is active. Don't move too fast, or it will be hard to bend them.'

Roan nodded, and he approached silently like a ghost. He slowly squeezed through those disciples' backs and entered the Blue Orchid District.

'How is it?'

'So far, so good. Other than the Spiritual Sense of those disciples at the entrance, I can't feel any other.'

'Good. Which direction is Malaka?'

'Northeast, almost two kilometers away.'

Roan's eyes went sharp as he made his way there. As expected of the Blue Orchid District, there were almost no disciples around. The place looked more like a ghost town. Even if the Gathering is happening, the other districts definitely wouldn't be this empty. That's the shortcome of having so little amount of disciples to start with.

Around a kilometer inside the Blue Orchid District, Rean's Soul message came out.

'Stop, there is a Spiritual Sense.'

Roan jumped to a concealed corner before asking.

'Did they find us?'

Rean shook his head.

'No. We are at the very border of this Spiritual Sense, so it is too weak to see here. However, this one is definitely above the Initial Stage of the Core Formation Realm. We can't go further than it or whoever is releasing this Spiritual Sense will feel our presence.'

Roan nodded.

'Alright, I'll go around.'

With Rean's guidance, they avoided that Spiritual Sense. But soon, they found that more Spiritual Senses at a high level in the direction where Malaka was staying. Suddenly...

'Enter!'

*Vup!*

In less than half a second, Rean and Roan entered the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm. A few seconds after they disappeared, a middle-aged woman appeared at the place where they had been a few moments ago.

"Hm? Am I feeling things wrong?"

Inside the Soul Gem Realm, Sister Orb projected an image of the outside world for Rean and Roan to see.

"Didn't you notice her Spiritual Sense in time?"

Rean shook his head.

"That wasn't the problem. She wasn't using her Spiritual Sense when we got close. She only activated it when we were there. Naturally, I didn't feel it until it was too late."

Roan nodded. That was really unlucky of their part. There was nothing they could have done about that.

"Let's wait a bit. Before she felt our presence, her Spiritual Sense had to force its way through my Spiritual Sense Bending first. So before it really touched our bodies, I had already given the order to enter the Soul Gem Realm. She definitely didn't feel our presence for more than a tenth of a second, so she probably thinks it was a mistake."

As they observed the outside, another two girls who looked to be a lot younger appeared as well. They then quickly bowed in respect.

"Hello, elder Zuna."

Rean and Roan finally knew her name.

"Cilia, Rana, have you seen anything around during the patrol?"

The disciples called Cilia and Rana were puzzled.

"We didn't see anything, elder Zuna. We didn't get any reports either. Did someone enter our Blue Orchid District?"

Zuna narrowed her eyes as her Spiritual Sense scanned around. But other than the two disciples in front of her, she couldn't find anyone else.

"No, I think it was just my imagination. How is the Spiritual Rebirth going?"

Immediately, Rean and Roan's ears were picked.