Death... and me

In the end, none of those four wanted to be the first to attack. That meant they would receive the greatest losses during the subjugation of the royal family. Besides, chances were that they would be wiped out by the others once things settled down due to their lack of strength.

Lrist agreed with Roan, saying, "Joining forces to attack at the same time is also out of the question. These four already don't get together. Who can guarantee that one of them won't betray the others and cause a collapse? That's how this balance was kept. Not to mention that the Jhiod Continent is financially supporting this balance. Whoever starts to lose ground, the Jhiod Continent comes out and helps them."

Roan hadn't asked that much, but it seemed like it wasn't any big secret since this guy mentioned that. "Simply put, each side knows that they're being played with by Jhiod. However, none of them can afford to enrage the Jhiod Continent. No, to be more specific, if they start losing ground, they can't afford to not accept the Jhiod Continent's help. This truly seems like an incredibly shitty situation to be in."

Lrist nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Anyway, the reason I told you this much is that this is your best bet to get into Jhiod Continent. Every time the official spatial gate between Jhiod and Lebgram opens, each one of those five powers will send their experts to do business on the other side and vice versa. If you join one of them and help them get some victories on their side, they might make an exception and let you go there."

Rean and Roan couldn't help but sigh after that. As the System's quest mentioned, they couldn't use the top five powers. "That won't be possible. We need some other way of entering Jhiod that doesn't involve us meddling in the power struggles. After all, we signed the contract that we must not intervene in their fight." Well, the contract was useless, but it at least served to use as an excuse.

Only then did Lrist remember that point. "Oh, right! All new Transition Realm experts that arrive in our Lebgram Continent must sign the Soul Binding Contract with those clauses."

"It's quite idiotic," Rean could not help but say. "Only those at the Transition Realm have to sign it. Asking Void Tempering Realm cultivators or above to do the same is useless since they can use their Spatial Powers to get rid of the seal in their souls."

Lrist shook his head in response. "The reason Soul Binding Contracts are used on those at the Transition Realm is that it is cheaper. The continent has other ways to prevent outside experts at the Void Tempering Realm or above from intervening as well."

Roan wasn't surprised by that. Even though he had never asked, he was sure that Lebgram Continent and Jhiod had their ways of doing it.

Suddenly, Rean threw a pill at Lrist, telling him, "Alright, swallow it."

"What's this?" Lrist looked at the dark and white pill in front of him. It gave off a very strong herbal scent, but he couldn't tell anything else other than that.

Rean shook his head. "Just swallow it already. It's not like you have a better choice."

Although unwilling, Lrist could only do so.

Soon after, Rean touched his shoulder.

'Life Style, Second Form, Instant Recovery!'

Immediately, the pills' medicinal properties rushed to the areas where Lrist lost his four limbs. At the same time, Rean's Instant Recovery used its medicinal power to obtain the nutrients necessary for regrowth.

"This..." Lrist knew pills that could recover one's limbs. He would definitely acquire some if he escaped this situation. However, none of them worked as fast as this. He would need many of them, and the process would take a very long time. However, at Rean's speed, his four limbs would be back to his body in just a few minutes.

Roan didn't say anything as he just watched, waiting for it to be over.

Eventually, all of Lrist's limbs were back to normal. It's just that Lrist would have to train them once again from the start. "What a powerful healing ability..."

Rean then smiled at him, saying, "I just wanted to recover your limbs so that you know I wasn't lying about our deal. However, you better think twice if you think you can escape this place. You will need much more than just your new four limbs to do that."

Then again, Rean didn't need to say that. Lrist could see that Celis' Divine Energy Draining Prison of vines was still up. Not only that, now that he had been inside it for this long, all the Divine Energy in his dantian was gone. He could recover it later, but definitely not now. He simply had no chance whatsoever if he tried to escape. Let alone the twins, even some common Transition Realm cultivators would be enough to stop him in this state. "Don't worry, I'll answer everything." Of course, he still had his doubts about Rean's words, but he could only comply with them.

It was then that Lrist thought about something. "By the way, how come you didn't ask as to who sent me or anything like that yet?"

Rean shrugged his shoulders in response. "It doesn't matter. We don't care about who sent you since the objective is obvious; rob us of our Divine Stones. We don't want more trouble, so we won't pry any further into this question. Later you can just say we're from some big power or whatever if your senders ask anything. After all, your friend did die."

Lrist shook his head, clarifying, "That guy and I didn't have any kind of meaningful relationship. He only joined forces with me because we were both asked the same thing. For people like us who take these kinds of jobs to make a quick buck, it's obvious that we might die at any moment. We accepted this knowing the risks."

Roan nodded, satisfied. "That's good." He then went back to the main topic. "Well, how is it? Do you know another way that doesn't involve the top five powers?"

Lrist scratched his head before saying, "Well... there is one way..."