Death... and me

Roan then continued, "Something's going on. I'm pretty sure a lot of the cultivators and demon beasts are waiting for something to happen. Then again, I don't know what that may be."

"Haven't you tried to ask?" Rean asked.

However, Roan shook his head, telling him, "I just thought it had nothing to do with me. Besides, I was more interested in getting the materials for Luan to start cultivating the Starlight Body Cultivation Technique."

Rean then got up after that. "Well, we can decide as to whether we should head to the Sea Chilling Spirits' territory or investigate further. Do you want to leave now?"

Roan shook his head once again, saying, "No, Luan's too young, so I will need to watch him closely while he looks for his compatible star. It'll be better if we stay in a single position during that. Whatever might happen, it shouldn't be a problem since this is a neutral city."

Rean nodded after hearing that. "Alright then. I'm going out to see if I can find more information about this commotion. You and Luan can just start the body cultivation technique."

Roan agreed with Rean after that. "Sure, I'll be watching you through the connection. Keep sharing the memories." Rean nodded in response and left. After that, Roan passed all the information to Luan and explained what he should do. "Did you understand? You will enter the sea of stars in your mind and travel forward nonstop. You're able to select the free stars you pass by, but you must not do that. There's one specific star that's out there, only for you. You must find that star. Just use the method I taught you."

Luan nodded in response. "Yes, dad. I just need to keep traveling until I find the barrier and then use the method you told me to pass through it. Only then will I be able to feel my own star with the other technique."

Roan was satisfied, nodding in agreement. "That's correct. Now, start your cultivation. Don't worry. The part that hurts comes only once you have accumulated enough Starlight Energy in your body for the breakthrough. Before that, accumulating Starlight or connecting to your star won't cause any pain."

Meanwhile, Rean left the hotel and looked around with his Divine Sense. Soon, he saw one of the aquatic demon beast guards in human form. That demon beast looked at the sky nonstop, ignoring what was happening around him. Well, this city was underwater, so he couldn't see the sky. 'He should be enough.' However, Rean also noticed another point. 'Hmm... the city looks a lot emptier now than it was when we arrived.'

Rean quickly arrived in front of the guard, asking, "Hello, sir. May I ask a question?"

The aquatic demon beast's attention shifted to Rean after that. "Hmm? A member of the humanoid races? Why are you still here? I thought you were supposed to be gone already."

Rean sighed as he replied, "Sir, even if you don't like the humanoid races, there's no need to treat us this badly, right?"

The aquatic demon beast looked at Rean as if he was looking at an idiot, saying in response, "Who the hell is treating you badly? I couldn't care less whether you're from the humanoid races or not."

Rean got confused after that. "Then, why does everyone keep asking me to leave the city? I thought the aquatic demon beasts simply didn't want us to be here because we aren't like them."

The guard couldn't help but sigh as he replied, "You're wrong. I won't say we love the humanoid races, but we at least don't have a reason to pick on them. Anyway, it's pretty obvious that you don't know what's going on. The reason I asked why you haven't left is that the city's formation will close."

"Close?" Rean was taken aback. "Why would you guys close the formation?"

"You really don't know anything, do you?" The guard then explained, "As you most likely know, this city is called Salt Canyon City. The reason is that it is built inside the Salt Canyon. You did notice that you entered the canyon while you were making your way to our city, didn't you?"

Rean nodded in response. The city was indeed located inside a canyon underwater.

The guard continued, "Well, the canyon is just a canyon. And there isn't really any salt other than seawater. Though, that isn't the reason why it got the name Salt Canyon. Instead, it was due to the phenomenon that happens once every ten years, the Salt Sweep."

"Salt Sweep? What's that?" Rean obviously was unaware of it.

"That's the reason why I asked why you stayed behind. The Salt Sweep isn't really related to salt. It's just that when it passes through the canyon, it looks like you threw salt everywhere. I guess it would be more correct to say that it's some kind of white powder."

"Cocaine?" Rean muttered out of the blue.

Roan, who was watching it, almost vomited blood in response. 'How the hell did you even get to that? There's no way it's cocaine. First of all, no one would know what it is to start with.'

'My bad, my bad.' Rean scratched the back of his head as he apologized.

Sure enough, the aquatic demon beast in human form became confused when he heard that. "What's cocaine?"

"It's not. It's nothing. Don't worry about it. So, what is this white powder?"

The demon beast narrowed his eyes in response but didn't insist. "That's the thing. We don't know. All we know is that anyone who comes in contact with it will have their bodies turned into a salt statue. Well, to be more specific, a statue made of the same white powder. It's just that it still looks like salt."

Rean finally understood after that. "I see... that's why everyone keeps asking why we're still here. In that case, I guess I'll take my leave before this thing appears."

The aquatic demon beast shook his head as he said, "What are you talking about? Look above you. It is starting."

Rean then looked up, and sure enough, the roof of the formation that covered the entire city was full of cocai- cough, cough, white powder.