Death… And Me

Etherian then looked at Paulo before saying, "You go wait outside. I'll send the twins out once I'm finished with them."

Paulo was obviously curious as to what Etherian wanted to discuss with the twins, but he could only nod in response and leave. 

Once Paulo was gone, Etherian's expression changed before he asked the two, "You didn't come from the Realm of Gods, but from the Mortal Realm, right?"

Rean and Roan were surprised to hear that. That was the first time someone mentioned the Mortal Realm to them, let alone ask if they came from there. Rana was the only exception, but they knew she wouldn't have told anyone anything. Nevertheless, they had to consider whether they should say it or not. 'What do you think?'

Roan pondered over it for a bit. 'I believe there isn't much of a point in denying it.'

Rean agreed with him. 'Since he asked such a specific question directly at us, he must have a way of knowing we came from there.'

With that, they nodded at Etherian as Rean asked, "How do you know that?"

Etherian smiled in response after seeing the twins' serious expression. "If you're afraid that someone else noticed it, you don't need to worry. I'm probably the only one here who can tell that. Besides, it's not like this is a crime or anything. As to how I found out, it's because of the remaining Spiritual Energy deposits in your body. It's obvious to me that you cultivated with Spiritual Energy for a long time before changing to Divine Energy."

"Is there such a thing?" Rean asked while checking his body with Divine Sense and Soul Power. Only after doing a thorough search did he finally find a few remnants in his body that even he didn't know was there. Roan also noticed the same thing.

"It seems like you found it," Etherian told them. "As long as you remove those remnants of Spiritual Energy from your bodies, no one will be able to tell where you came from."

Roan couldn't help but ask, "But how did you know about that? Are ascenders that common?"

Etherian shook his head as he replied, "The opposite. Ascenders are extremely rare. As far as I know, our Huring Continent hasn't received a single one for many millennia. By the way, the last one to appear was me."

Hearing that, the twins understood immediately. "No wonder you found out about our origins. You came from the Mortal Realm yourself." However, that also wasn't very good news for the twins. If no one appeared in this continent for millennia, that just showed how ridiculously big the Realm of Gods was. After all, there should be a lot of ascenders coming up when one considers the entire Mortal Realm and all the planets with cultivators there. But even with that, none appeared here after so long.

"Or...you just don't know if an ascender appeared or not, right?" Roan also added.

Etherian nodded. "True. However, I think it's very difficult for an ascender to appear in my Huring Continent without me knowing. Can you guess why?"

Rean pondered in silence for a bit before he tried a response. "Transition Realm...?"

Roan had to admit Rean was right. "Now that you say that..."

Etherian was satisfied with the answer. "Exactly. All ascenders who come up are usually at the peak of the Transition Realm. It means that they were on the verge of breaking through but couldn't do it because of the Mortal Realm's issues. However, as soon as they arrive, the Spiritual Energy in their body is changed to Divine Energy, giving them a boost. That boost immediately forces a natural breakthrough into the next realm. The same happened for me."

Etherian continued, "However, once someone goes through a breakthrough into the next realm, a phenomenon that spans for several hundred kilometers appears. With how thorough the information network of our Sacred Land is, it's almost impossible that we don't see when someone surpasses the Transition Realm. Unless the cultivator leaves our Huring Continent and makes his breakthrough somewhere else before coming back, of course."

Roan shook his head after hearing that. "That obviously wouldn't be possible for an ascender. As you said, the breakthrough happens naturally, and I refuse to believe any cultivator would try to stop it. Especially ascenders, who wanted it for so long before arriving in the Realm of Gods. Not to mention that they wouldn't be able to pass through the continental barrier."

Etherian nodded in agreement. "Smart. That's why I can tell that it's almost impossible for me to not know when an ascender arrives. In fact, I also have information about the other several continents around Huring, where another four appeared since I arrived." Etherian then narrowed his eyes before looking at Rean and Roan, asking, "However, how come two Soul Transformation Realm cultivators have arrived in this realm? Was there another way to enter the Realm of Gods other than the normal way?"

Since it was obvious to them that they were all ascenders, Rean decided to tell how they came to this place. He recounted the story of how they found a devil, how he used the demon beasts' Bestial Sacred Land Formation to recover and had the portal deactivate during it. Once it was defeated, they fixed the formation, but due to the extensive damage, it would only stay open for some time. They and many other cultivators didn't want to let the chance pass up, so they ascended straight away.

"Such a thing happened..." Etherian was obviously surprised by the twins' story. "I didn't know it was possible to construct portals between the Realm of Gods and the Mortal Realm. But then again, I'm only a cultivator of an isolated continent. In the grand scheme of things, I'm just a fly compared to real ones."

Etherian then smiled back at the twins as he asked, "Now you know why I took some interest in you. How can I phrase this? It felt quite lonely to be the only ascender in this place after so long. Just make sure you wipe out those Spiritual Energy remnants, and you'll be fine. After all, only another ascender like me would know where to look for the clues."

The twins had to admit they had quite a good impression of Etherian after all this.. "Thank you."