Death... and me

The twins noticed that they were straying out of the main topic and returned their attention to the couple.

"Anyway, the Iceblock and I didn't really need your help. We were pretty fine on our own. Still, you didn't know that, so I'll thank you anyway for your intentions. Oh, right! You can call me Rean."

Roan simply nodded at them.

"Roan."

The couple finally came back to themselves. After that, Lana was the first to step forward to introduce herself.

"Ahem... As you heard, my name is Lana, Lana Valeno. As for this guy on my side, he's just an extra; just pretend he doesn't exist."

The man felt like he swallowed a fly all of a sudden.

"Fuck you! My name is Westren Valeno. I'm this idiot's older brother. I'm also the person who needs to constantly save her ass so that she doesn't kill herself."

Lana gave Westren a death glare, which he ignored completely.

"By the way, who are you? Don't tell me that you came from one of the nearby villages. No one would ever believe such bullshit. Are you perhaps part of one of the small sects that allied with us during this war? Usually, I would condemn a sect who sent two children into a place like this. However, considering your strength and your resolve during the killing, you are obviously not like common kids."

Roan simply stayed silent and let Rean do all the explanation.

"Well, not exactly. Believe it or not, our meeting was just a coincidence. As for being able to kill without fear, that's because we basically passed by similar situations in the past. You could say that we are used to it."

Westren narrowed his eyes.

"Does that mean you have nothing to do with our Sky Piercing or the Heaven's Might Sects?"

Rean nodded.

"We came here to collect Midday Ginsengs. My ice block of a brother needs it to concoct a few pills for our cultivation, so we had no other choice. We were on our way to the Sun Streak Mountain Range when we bumped into each other."

Lana pondered a bit and nodded in the end.

"Indeed, the Sun Streak Mountain Range does have Midday Ginsengs. If I'm not wrong, this is quite a rare herb. However, because there aren't many uses, rarely someone comes here to get them. It's a herb that keeps absorbing the Spiritual Energy all day long except when the Sun is at its highest point. During those few moments, it uses all the Spiritual Energy accumulated to absorb all the Sun Light in the area around it."

Roan showed some surprise when he heard the description. Midday Ginseng was indeed a rare herb that didn't have many uses, so not many knew about it.

"Are you an alchemist?"

Lana smiled and nodded.

"Indeed. I'm just an Earth Low-Level Alchemist, though."

Roan didn't feel surprised.

Westren then pointed in a specific direction.

"If your objective is the Sun Streak Mountain Range, then you are around two hours away from there. You were indeed going in the right direction too. However, that is the area controlled by the Heaven's Might Sect."

Rean smiled and then explained.

"That's even better. Other than collecting the herbs, we also came here to test our combat skills. Still, as long as no one attacks us, we won't be the ones to initiate an assault either."

Westren then thought about something.

"Then, if we had attacked you..."

Rean just shrugged his shoulders. The meaning of his actions was pretty obvious.

Lana and Westren felt a chill on their backs. It's good that they didn't attack the twins. Otherwise, the bodies on the ground would be theirs instead.

Still, Lana quickly recovered and said.

"In that case, I'm going with you."

Let alone Rean and Roan, even Westren was taken aback by that.

"What are you thinking? These kids obviously don't need our help. In fact, chances are that we will get in their way instead."

Rean and Roan nodded their heads. That's what they thought as well.

However, Lana explained why she decided to do that.

"Although the Sun Streak Mountain Range is under the Heaven's Might Sect hands, it is right beside the border with our own territory. If I let these twins go there and our sect members decide to attack them, wouldn't they kill our fellow disciples instead?"

Rean and Roan finally understood what she meant.

"I see, so you want to stay with us so that your sect members won't mistakenly attack us and get killed in the process, right?"

Lana nodded.

"Correct."

Roan immediately shook his head, though.

"That will kill half the meaning of our travel. We also came here to acquire combat experience, so your presence would instead prevent the battles we need from happening."

Lana and Westren were taken aback. However, they couldn't blame Roan. After all, a war zone was indeed one of the best places to find challenges.

Westren then thought about something.

"I know what to do. I can bring you two into the Sun Streak Mountain Range through another route. This route will instead pass inside the Heaven's Might Sect territory. If they see my and Lana's robes, they will definitely attack us. That way, you can have even more battles while Lana and I can prevent you from killing our sect members."

Roan couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

"I guess you are committing a mistake here. We are not helping any side. It's because you were not idiot enough to attack us that we didn't do anything to you either. That's all. If we do like you said, it will be the same as helping your sect during these times. We don't really want to take anyone's side."

Westren nodded. After all, he saw the twins' powers.

It was then that Lana had an idea.

"In that case, what about we make a deal? We will follow the route that my brother mentioned. Naturally, it will catch the attention of the Heaven's Might Sect disciples we pass by. As for any members of our sect who might be on that side, they will let us pass if we talk to them."

"That will definitely help our sect a lot. So, in exchange, I'll be your guide inside the Sun Streak Mountain Range. I know that place quite well, which means I can reduce the time you need to find the Midday Ginsegs by a lot. It's definitely much better than blindly looking for it."

Rean then asked something else.

"Why would you take the risk of entering the enemy's territories and going through the battles with us? We are already letting you go without asking anything. Wouldn't it be much better to simply report our existence and have your stronger sect members deal with us?"

Westren immediately laughed after hearing that.

"Isn't that obvious? We will get war points that can be exchanged for benefits for each enemy cultivator we kill during this war. You are not part of this war, so you obviously can't take the points. In that case, it will all be ours. Who would let such a chance to pass? We saw your combat power. You are definitely much stronger than any Foundation Establishment cultivators we saw in the past by far!"

Rean and Roan looked at each other and then back at the siblings.

"That's indeed a good reason and deal. Very well, we shall follow your plan."