Unfortunately for the twins, Rean was the only one capable of making that deal. Roan tried to use the crystals as part of the bet as well, but he was refused. He could only use the arenas as a method to train his combat skills.
The arenas all around the valley had instantly become a hotspot. Because there weren't enough humans to fight, the Lakure ended up challenging each other as well. Of course, the most heated arena was still the one Rean fought in. Everyone wanted to be next in line on getting their poisons removed ahead of time.
As for the second most famous one, it wasn't Roan, nor Calina, Malaka, or Wulio's. The second most famous arena was Kentucky's!
*Creee!*
*Boom!*
Another explosion of dark and light flames came from the arena as a Lakure Race member was sent flying out of it.
*Chick!*
"This fucking bird! Is it really just a Late Stage-Three Demon Bird? It just sent Rubio, a Core and Soul Fusion Realm Initial Stage Lakure flying!"
"Well, yeah. But it was also pushed to its limit. Look, Rubio left many injuries on the bird's body."
"Is that something to brag about? This thing jumped stages and a realm to defeat Rubio."
While they were talking, Light Element began to gather around Kentucky as his injuries slowly closed one after another. It wasn't only the Lakure Race members who felt helpless. The humans felt the same thing. Kentucky was almost as overpowered as the twins.
"Just how much Spiritual Energy does this bird have? It's already the third battle it won, and it still has enough to heal itself."
"Hmph! That's because its opponents are too weak. We shouldn't underestimate it anymore."
"Someone has to give it a lesson!"
However, what really bothered them, or what bothered the males, to be more specific, wasn't his strength, but something completely different.
*Chick, chick!*
"So cute!"
"Did you see how strong it can be with its plumpy body? I love it!"
"I want to hug it so much!"
"Beat them all, fluffy!"
"I'll brush, wash, and brush your feathers later, so don't be afraid of getting dirty."
As always, Kentucky attracted all the women, may it be humans or Lakures. He was a literal chick magnet. Not to mention that the bird itself loved to be pampered by them. Naturally, Kentucky became the bane of both human and Lakure males.
"I want to kill this bird so much!"
"Who the hell thought that it would be a good idea to bring this bird into the arena? Come out, I swear I won't beat you up... that much!"
"Gah! I can't take it anymore! It must be sapped dry of energy already!"
After saying that, the guy hopped on the arena and challenged Kentucky for a battle. He was right about one thing, though. After three battles, Kentucky had nearly depleted his Spiritual Energy. Because of that...
*Boom!*
Kentucky lost his fight as he was sent flying outside the arena, colliding on the ground. With that, all the guys felt like they had been avenged... for a few seconds.
"Kentucky!"
All the women ran in his direction and helped him up. They used their own skills to help him heal while petting and cleaning the demon bird.
*C-Chick...*
"My poor Kentucky."
"We'll help you get better, don't worry."
"Come, let's clean you up. Those bad guys won't touch you anymore."
At the same time, many of the women gave a deathly glare at the males who were complaining about him. Their meaning was obvious. If you think of harming our Kentucky again, you die!
All the males gritted their teeth in anger. It didn't matter anymore whether they were humans or Lakures. They were all united for one reason. That was to destroy the dammed bird. Well, the truth was that they were just jealous...
A Lakure Race member then suggested.
"We need to do something about it, or that thing will take all the women for itself."
A human from the Lagan Sect on his side immediately nodded as he replied.
"Brother, it seems like we truly understand each other. How about we find a way to fry the bird?"
"Oh! I love the idea!"
"But how will we take the bird away from the women? I feel like I'll die if I get close to the bird right now."
"This... We need to put our heads together to think up of a solution."
Rean was nearby healing someone's poison when he saw all of it happening. He seriously didn't know whether to laugh or cry anymore. That's because he could totally tell the truth. Kentucky wasn't weak at all! Sure, he had consumed most of his energy, but he could still win that last battle if he put in the effort. However, Kentucky preferred to be pampered by the females instead. When Kentucky was struck by its opponent in the arena, it made sure that it would fall close to the females' location. It even knew how to make it even more dramatic by kicking on the ground several times and pretending to be very weak after that. It was all on purpose!
'How the hell can a demon bird be this perverted? Could it be that all Minokawas are like him?'
Nevertheless, Rean was quite satisfied with the result.
'However, what a weird turn of events. To think that Kentucky would become the first reason females and males of both races would unite together for one cause. This is far from being enough, but that is definitely a good start. I guess there is nothing better than to love or hate the same thing. I'll make sure he participates more in these challenges. Hahaha!'
After some time, the Light Element stopped gathering in his surroundings as he looked at the guy in front of him.
"It's done. As long as you don't go back to the underground world, your body should be free of the poison from now on."
The Lakure Race guy nodded but didn't say anything before leaving. Sure enough, it wouldn't be that easy to break the barrier between them. Nonetheless, Rean smiled as he got up and stretched a little.
"Well, I'm done with the healings for today. Time to go to the arena."
As soon as he got there, Rean saw that it was already full of Lakures and humans. Of course, Lakures were still the majority by far. Everyone moved aside, paving a way for Rean, waiting to see which arena he would choose so that they could challenge him. Sometimes, Rean healed his opponents' poison even though there was no bet or life-absorbing crystals on the line. That's why the arenas he participated in were the most famous ones.
Going back to the topic of the natural formation. According to the Lakure Formation Masters, the energy of the natural core would last four to five years at most. That's because of the Saint Realm experts that were attacking the formation from the outside. As time passed, more of them joined in the tandem attacks to help deplete the formation's energy.
While that was the case, Jana didn't seem to be preoccupied anymore. Some time ago, she received a message from her ancestor and came to see him. She found out that he was 'fortunate' and found a way to break out of his jail faster. Whether the life-absorbing crystals still gave him energy or not wouldn't change this fact. That was the reason why she accepted Rean's proposal for the crystals.
As for the people outside the barrier, they could only wait. The Sasamil Family's experts had already done what they could. Ernian Sasamil tried to request the help of an Elemental Transformation Realm expert of his family but was refused outright. Unless it was a real emergency, they would not come out. So far, this was something that only affected a few small countries at the borders. It wasn't worth their attention.
And just like that, time began to pass in a flash. Before anyone knew it, three more years had passed inside this natural formation. In other words, it has been six years and two months since Rean's group got there.
After so long, Rean ended up healing thousands of Lakure Race members. By now, everyone got used to his relaxed manner and even got along with him. The same thing could be said for the other humans and Lakures as well. Little by little, they came to talk with each other more. Surprisingly, there were even a few couples that came out of it. Of course, compared to the total number of Lakures and humans in this place, they were almost negligible. Still, that was more than enough for Rean and Roan.
The best part was that there wasn't tension in the air anymore. Both sides got used to seeing the other race, and even the separated groups were dismantled. The only rule was that the humans should not get close to the center of the valley. That was all. Jana made sure that this one rule wouldn't be broken.
Of course, there were still a lot of Lakures that didn't like the humans, especially those who came out of the underground world recently. Unlike the others, they didn't have time to interact with the humans on the surface.
There was one reason why their progress had been this fast, though. It could be found in one of the arenas.
"Kentucky, Kentucky, Kentucky, Kentucky, Kentucky!"
Thousands of women shouted this name the black and white-feathered demon bird ascended to the arena. If one looked closely, they would see that Kentucky had many female accessories on his body. However, the bird puffed its chest in pride as it showed them. Suddenly, it stretched its wings as it looked at the crowd.
*Chiiiiiiiiick!*
"Kyaaaaa! Kentucky! We love you!!!"
Everyone time Rean saw that scene, his mouth couldn't help but twitch a little.
'This might be the first fan club of the cultivation world...'
While the female Lakures and humans cheered, the guys gritted their teeth even harder in response. For the Lakure Race's men, they couldn't care less about their hatred for humans anymore. Not to mention that the male humans were in the same boat as them since the human females left their side because of the demon bird. They all shared a hatred that surpassed any past event. They even created their own team where race didn't matter. Its name? The Alliance of Those Who Want To Beat the Shit Out of That Fucking Demon Bird!
Even Rean's poison healing fights had been outdone by Kentucky's battles. Kentucky was by far the most famous character in the Lakure Race at the moment. Some even thought he had surpassed the so-called ancestor.
Soon enough, the battle started as Kentucky and his opponent fought in the arena.
However, it was at this moment that the ground began to tremble. At the same time, an enormous burst of Spiritual Energy came from the center of the valley.
