Death... and me

"How do we live?"

Rean nodded, clarifying, 'It's obvious that you have been trapped here for a very long time. Most likely, Senior Glasita was far from being the first one here. Naturally, you had to find a way to live in this place.'

"Oh, so that's what you mean," Xuve understood after that. "Well, it isn't any secret. Just think of this place as some kind of closed miniature world. Everything here works pretty much as it does outside. We have authorities, organizations, clans, and so on."

That was quite impressive, in Rean's opinion. 'You have all of that in such a small place?' Of course, Rean compared it to the Realm of Gods or the cultivation worlds. If it was compared to Earth, this place could only be thought to be huge. However, the cultivation worlds and the Realm of Gods were all about huge distances and powers in control over thousands, if not tens and hundreds of thousands of kilometers alone. 1341 kilometers was more or less nothing when compared to the scale of the Realm of Gods.

Glasita didn't deny that, replying, "Well, you aren't wrong there. It's not that hard for some conflicts to appear every now and then. Then again, it's not as bad as you think. Can you guess why?"

Roan immediately nodded, answering, 'Space. There is only so much for everyone to work with. If high-level cultivators start to fight each other nonstop, the available living area will be gone in a flash. The real experts most likely never intervene with disputes.'

Glasita and Xuve were surprised by Roan's words once they heard that. "Smart. That's correct. When a dispute arises, only those at the Saint Realm or Stage Seven and below are allowed to fight each other. This is a pact that everyone signed a long time ago. Although there isn't really anyone to enforce the rule, rarely does anyone break it. If higher-level cultivators or demon beasts really have no other choice than to fight, they will do it inside specific areas with protection formations that can withstand their power."

Xuve then shrugged his shoulders, saying, "Well, we're also part of one of those powers, so we also follow those rules."

Rean then decided to leave this kind of conversation for another time. 'Forget about the power struggles for the moment. Can you tell us how we ended up in this place? As you know, the last thing we can remember is how our bodies transformed into statues of white powder.'

Glasita was the one to explain, telling them, "You should be able to see it from here. Look there." She then pointed in a certain direction. There, the twins could see what seemed to be a large lake with the same colorful water that Glasita used on them. "There are a total of 33 lakes like that one in the Upside Down World. Everyone that becomes a statue will eventually appear inside the lakes. This time around, a total of 42 people and demon beasts appeared at different times. Since you two arrived at the same time as the little boy and the Demon Bird, we thought you were together. That's why you were put in the same room."

Hearing that, Rean and Roan understood why. The Salt Sweep only happened once every ten or so years, so the arrival times were obviously connected to that timing. "You mentioned that there are other places with the same phenomenon. Could it be that there are 33 places in Pol Continent where it happens? Is that why you have 33 lakes?"

Glasita nodded, saying, "That's correct. The lake you can see there is the lake connected to the Salt Canyon deep in the Foczi Sea. Well, the majority of the living beings here aren't the ones who came from outside anymore, though. After so long, there are a lot more people and demon beasts who were born here instead of appearing in the lake as we did."

Xuve continued from there, telling them, "By the way, we're part of the Traquio Sect. In case someone asks, you can use our names."

Roan then looked at the lake and could tell the water it had was the same one that was being used to revert them to their original forms. 'So that lake's water is what you used on us, right? Is there anything special about it?'

Glasita shook her head. "Other than reverting the transformation, it doesn't have any other uses. At the very least, we didn't find any other use. Also, the water in the lake never goes down. We use a lot of it for farming, for example. Something always feeds it from below, beyond the barrier."

Rean could imagine that it was probably the same natural formation from outside, the one that gave birth to the white river. 'Sister Orb, the lake water and the white river are probably different sides of the same coin, don't you think?'

[So you noticed that as well, huh? I also reached the same conclusion. The natural formation most likely creates both the river and the lakes with opposite effects. Well, it's not like we can do much with that information at the moment.]

Rean nodded in response. 'Well, it might come in handy later.'

Eventually, Roan decided to ask something that was bothering him. 'Alright, let's get into the main topic. Why did you help us? It doesn't seem you lack people or demon beasts in this place. Is there a reason to go through the trouble of reverting us to our original forms? I wouldn't be surprised if you simply broke all the statues that appeared in the lake and only transformed back the spatial rings on them.'

Glasita shrugged her shoulders as she replied, "If we do that, how exactly do you expect us to get information about the outside world? As far as I know, the dead don't speak."

'Roan speaks, though,' Rean said after that.

Roan completely ignored Rean's remarks. 'Information, huh? Well, it does make sense. The more people you transform, the greater the amount of information you can get.'

'By the way.' Rean called their attention. 'Considering the size of this place, don't you suffer from overpopulation?'