Death… And Me

Chapter 4426: Two Surprises

Rean immediately decided to try it himself. Godly Energy spread outside his body, and a moment later, his feet left the ground just like Celis’s roots had. Sure enough, he could fly as well.

That wasn’t even the most surprising part. They had heard countless times how expensive flight was in terms of Godly Energy consumption.

Take Harksha, for example. During their journey, she had explained that she couldn’t remain airborne for more than two minutes under normal circumstances, and that was pushing her limits already. Ideally, she avoided staying in the air for longer than ninety seconds. That was why, whenever she had to intercept Flying Godly Creatures, she always tried to end the battle as quickly as possible before returning to the airplane.

Tobao’s situation was much better. After reaching the Law God Realm Middle Stage, he could stay airborne for roughly twelve minutes before his reserves became a problem. That alone showed just how much of a difference an entire major realm made.

Of course, Arcis never had to worry about such limitations. As a Demon Bird, flying was as natural as walking. He relied on his wings rather than forcing himself into the air with Godly Energy. He could if he needed to, of course, like when he needed to make sharp turns that just wings and air wouldn’t allow him to.

Naturally, everyone turned their attention back to themselves.

Rean remained floating in place while silently circulating the Godly Energy inside his body. One minute passed... then another... then another. Only after nearly five full minutes did he finally feel his reserves reaching a dangerous level, forcing him to descend back to the ground.

He exchanged glances with the others.

"Five minutes..."

Celis had obtained almost the same result. Kentucky wasn’t much different either, while Roan’s reserves lasted only a little less because of the slight differences in their cultivation styles. In this regard, Celis was slightly ahead of them, but it was nothing but a few seconds.

Even so, the conclusion was obvious.

"We can remain airborne for over twice as long as Peak Stage Zone Gods..." Rean muttered in disbelief. "And we’re still an entire major realm below them."

The result was undeniably impressive, yet it also left him puzzled.

"Sister Orb," Rean began, "the Anchor God Realm is all about removing the restrictions on the circulation of Godly Energy inside the body. By the Peak Stage, there are basically no more limitations internally."

He paused for a brief moment before continuing.

"After that comes the Aura God Realm, which the purpose is removing the restrictions on releasing Godly Energy outside the body. As Initial Stage Aura Gods, we should only be able to use around 25% of what we would eventually be capable of."

Rean raised one of his hands, allowing a small stream of Godly Energy to flow around his fingers. "I can still clearly feel those restrictions. They’re definitely there. So why are we already capable of flying? Wasn’t that supposed to become possible only after reaching the Zone God Realm?"

[Hehe!] Sister Orb giggled. [Actually, it isn’t anything that unbelievable. Even though you can only release around 25% of your energy outside your body right now, that energy still carries one very special characteristic.]

Everyone immediately understood what she meant.

"The Echo..." Roan spoke first.

[Correct!]

That explanation only made the group even more confused.

Kentucky frowned.

"But if the Echo is responsible for this, shouldn’t it allow us to completely bypass the outside energy circulation restrictions, too? We definitely aren’t using 100% of our power outside our bodies. It still feels exactly like what an Initial Stage Aura God should be capable of for me."

[Sorry, but even I have my limits.] Sister Orb sounded somewhat helpless. [After analyzing everything with the Orb System, I discovered that the flight restriction is actually much easier to interfere with than the restriction on external Godly Energy manipulation itself.]

She immediately pointed toward the evidence.

[Just compare yourselves with ordinary cultivators. A Peak Stage Zone God would probably stay airborne for around two minutes, perhaps two and a half if conditions are favorable.]

[You, however, can already remain in the air for around five minutes despite only being Initial Stage Aura Gods. That difference alone should tell you how much of the restriction your Echo managed to offset.]

She continued after a brief pause.

[It seems the Celestial Plane imposes much stricter laws/restrictions regarding energy circulation compared to just flight. The Orb System could exploit the loophole created by your Great Void Echo, but only partially, only for flight. Anyway... don’t tell me you’re disappointed with this outcome.]

Roan shook his head.

"No." His answer was immediate. "This is already much better than expected."

Then he looked at Sister Orb with his usual indifferent expression. "Sure enough... you can be useful once in a while."

[Hey! You didn’t have to add the last part!]

Rean chuckled, while Kentucky laughed outright.

Celis, however, had already begun thinking about another possibility. "If you managed to use our Great Void Echo to partially bypass the flight restriction..." he said thoughtfully, "...what happens once we reach the Zone God Realm? Will there be anything else?"

Everyone immediately understood what he meant. "If flight is no longer restricted at that point, could you use the Echo to bypass something else instead?"

Sister Orb became silent for a moment before finally answering.

[It’s impossible to know right now.]

She sounded much more serious this time.

[I only discovered that bypassing the flight restriction was possible while finishing your new cultivation technique together with my Orb System. It wasn’t something I planned beforehand.]

[To put it simply, your ability to fly is deeply connected to the cultivation technique level itself. Until we begin designing the Zone God Realm version, I have no way of knowing whether another restriction can be partially removed in the same manner.]

Celis nodded. "Fair enough."

Even so, he couldn’t help but smile faintly. "At least it’s something to look forward to. Maybe next time you’ll find a way to weaken the restrictions placed on our Laws."

[Who knows?] Sister Orb laughed. [Maybe I’ll surprise you again.]

She suddenly paused.

[Speaking of surprises...]

*Pin!*

A familiar notification echoed inside everyone’s minds. It was Sister Orb again, using her robotic system voice this time. She loved doing that!

[Congratulations, Hosts.]

[A new milestone has been achieved.]

[Title Acquired: Aura Gods in No Time.]

[Reward: 200 Orb Points.]

Everyone froze.

Even Roan’s expression changed ever so slightly.

"This..."

Rean blinked several times before looking toward Sister Orb.

"A hidden quest?"

Sister Orb burst into laughter.

[Hahahaha! Did you like it?]

[I prepared this hidden quest the moment all of you reached the Anchor God Realm. I have to admit... seeing your reactions made all the waiting worthwhile.]

Hidden quests weren’t anything new to the twins’ group. They had encountered them before, both back in the Realm of Gods and later during their time inside the Werdlem Empire.

The difference was that hidden quests were, by their very nature, impossible to predict. They never knew whether one was active, whether they were progressing toward completing one, or whether they had already failed without even realizing it.

"What exactly was the objective?" Rean asked.

[Very simple.]

[Speed!]

[I gave you ten years to reach the Aura God Realm. If you managed to break through before that limit, the quest would be completed.]

She sounded extremely satisfied.

[Thankfully, you didn’t disappoint me. Then again, with me as your system and using the cultivation technique I created, it would’ve been incredibly embarrassing if you had failed.]

Kentucky crossed his wings. "I understand why the old system kept hidden quests secret back in the Lisan Universe and later in the Werdlem Empire." He looked at Sister Orb. "But why did you hide this one from us? We really could have failed."

[Exactly.] Sister Orb immediately answered.

[That was one of the requirements.]

She proudly displayed the reward once more.

[Did you think those 200 Orb Points came out of nowhere? The quest being hidden was one of the biggest reasons I could assign such a generous reward.]

[If I had simply told you about it beforehand, the reward would’ve dropped dramatically. Forget two hundred points. You probably wouldn’t even get twenty.]

She sounded almost like a teacher giving a lecture.

[Never forget how rewards are calculated. Difficulty is always one of the biggest factors. And tell me... what is more difficult than completing a quest you didn’t even know existed before the time limit you were also unaware of?]

Nobody could really argue with that logic.

Roan simply asked the question everyone else was already thinking.

"So..." He looked directly at Sister Orb. "Will there be another hidden quest for the Zone God Realm?"

Sister Orb immediately shook her head.

[I’m not answering that.]

She giggled mischievously.

[The moment I tell you whether there is one or not, the potential reward immediately drops.]

[Maybe there is another hidden quest.]

[Maybe there isn’t.]

[Only time will tell.]