??"Please enter this establishment, respected Mystic Paths." Rattac said with a respectful tone, "He''s inside."


    ''Someone knows how to build up tension.'' Vir thought in response and spread his Prana into the house, retracting it a momentter, "He''s inside, alright."


    Just as Orakha was about to enter the house, Vir grabbed him by the shoulder and shouted, "Can you stop with the ys, In?"


    He stretched his hand and knocked on the stone house, "The both of us can sense what is inside."


    "Alright, you got me." A familiar voice resounded from within, followed by a surge in Prana. "You can enter now."


    "Let''s go," Vir said and entered the house, noticing a round table ced in the centre, followed by three chairs around it, each at an angle of 120 degrees from each other. Seated on one of the chairs, facing the entrance was In. In his hand was a Gold Biome Bomb,yered inside by stone.


    Originally, the inner half of this stone house was made using the Gold Biome Bombyered onto the walls. This way, anyone who enters inside wouldn''t know that they were stepping within a Biome Bomb, now under the mercy of In.


    Any regr cultivator wouldn''t be able to sense the Biome Bomb, since it was wedged betweenyers of stone. However, both Vir''s Mystic Ewworm and Orakha''s Mystic Eaters were mineral-seeking entities.


    They were able to notice the difference between the grain structure of the external stone house and its internal counterpart.


    However, though Orakha sensed the difference, he didn''t seem to care. First of all, In was already aware of all his original secrets. Secondly, the secrets that he maintained currently were expertly hidden using Sumatra Gold. No ability was able to break through that defence for the time being, whether it be Gann''s immune system or In''s Perfect Biome Domination.


    "You were this close to dying, you know?" Vir stared at In and said with an exasperated tone, "It''s dangerous to steal information from me, alright?"


    "No need to boast." In chuckled as he pointed at the two chairs, "Take a seat. Want some tea?"


    "I''ll take your most expensive tea," Vir said and seated himself.


    "We''re not a restaurant." In rolled his eyes.


    "If you say so." Vir didn''tment much on the matter as he calmly stared at Orakha to start speaking.


    "We had to take risks toe here for one reason," Orakha said with a sombre tone and began speaking about Yamahara''s birth and the changes that happened to the Wean n as a result of his arrival.


    In listened to everything in silence until the end, his expression gradually growing serious as he kept mum. He then brought in a jar of tea and began serving the two.


    "Say something, will you?" Orakha shouted as he stood up in anger, "Why the fuck are you mute?"


    "There''s nothing much to say." In remained casual, "It doesn''t matter how strong the Wean n bes. We''ll be free as long as we kill Brangara. We don''t need to care about the others."


    "Wow, that''s spectacr analysis from you. If only we had the brain smarts to have thought of it long ago." Vir pped with a sarcastic tone.


    "You''re pretty daring to say that aftering to my territory." Inughed.


    "What can I say, I am confident of wreaking this cepetently." Vir smiled, not in the least masking his intention.


    "Tell me, In." Orakha red at In, "Are you nning to do anything?"


    "Why are you talking as if I''m the only capable one among the Mystic Paths?" In shrugged and pointed at Vir, "Don''t you have this oh, so strong one? He can cook Brangara for breakfast and Yarsha for dinner."


    "I can do that, unlike a certain turtle." Vir winked at In, "How''s the retirement life treating you?"


    Bang!


    Orakha mmed the table and got up, huffing in anger for a few seconds before regaining his calm. He then alternated between the duo of In and Vir, "My job is done here. Whether or not you want to do something is your headache. I''m leaving this fucking continent behind."


    "And go where?" In asked all of a sudden, his tone serious, "Another continent?"


    "Are you insane?"


    "I''m perfectly sane." Orakha snorted, "The Mammoth n has already made the journey once. We''re simply following the footsteps of our ancestors."


    "Seems you don''t understand the risks associated with the travel." Inughed with a tone of disdain, "It''s not just the Sandy-Grey Void that you have to worry about. There''s also the influence stemming from the Transcendents and Cosmic Beings. You''re better off remaining here since I''m pretty sure Mahira Tusk hasn''t permitted you to leave Sumatra."


    Seeing Orakha frown in response, In sighed, "Seems I was right. You''re taking the risk without the guidance of a Transcendent."


    "Then assist us so that we may escape," Orakha asked, his tone turning respectful.


    "I can tell you more about the situation out there, but that''s the limit of what I can do." In shook his head, "Only an actual Transcendent can protect you from harm once you enter the Sandy-Grey Void."


    In then talked about the Cosmic Beings and the fights the Transcendents had against them at the Nodes. He then detailed the state of the Sandy-Grey Void, at how there were long tunnels trailing from the Nodes and at the end of each tunnel was a Continent.


    "You''ll be travelling through the tunnel to reach the Node, following which you''ll be entering the tunnel leading to another Continent." In said, "The closer you get to the Node, the stronger the influence bombarding you. In the best-case scenario, your bodies will mutate into horrifying monstrosities. Anything other than that is worse than your wildest imagination."


    "Mahira Tusk probably protected the Mammoth n actively as they made the journey. And there was a good chance she made a deal with a Transcendent from the destination Continent to do the same while the Mammoth n approached their continent." In said, "And even with all this, I''m not sure what their state is by the time they reached the other Continent."


    "They might be suffering from problems stemming during the journey even to this day, even when the Empyrean Tusks died and transferred their inheritances to their sessors." He concluded.


    "Cosmic Beings…?" Vir asked in interest, "How strong are they?"


    "Pretty much all of Sumatra''s Transcendents will have to take action against one of them." In said, "I don''t know much about them either. This is the extent of information that I''ve gathered over the years."


    "They''re that strong, huh?" Vir expressed his interest as he stared at Orakha, "Will you be able to afford the journey?"


    ''Since Maroppa is with them, journeying across the Sandy-Grey Void won''t be an issue for them. And with Orakha''s help, she could fuse Sumatra Gold into an Empyrean Tusk''s tusk to forge a solid ship. As long as they stay within it, they might be able to withstand the influence of Cosmic Beings.'' In thought, asking Orakha, "Do you have to leave Sumatra?"


    "There''s no other choice." Orakha sighed, "We''ll all die to Brangara if we stay. It''s better to seek a path of survival outside. Since no matter how far we travel across the Continent, we''ll always remain within his grasp."


    "Bruh, just hole yourself up in a far-away Enve and you''ll be fine." In grumbled, "Use the Sandy-Grey Void to travel across Sumatra''s border until youe across an Enve. Since they''re surrounded by the Sandy-Grey Void, no detection method will be able to sense you there. You can simply cut off the sole route leading to the Sumatra Continent and I guarantee you safety from Brangara."


    "You can live a life of content there," In shrugged, "That''s a thousand times safer than making the journey without Mahira Tusk''s support."


    He then stared at Vir to ask, "When was thest time you antagonised Brangara?"


    "Around five-plus years ago." Vir nodded.


    "Did he unleash a pir of light?" In sighed upon seeing Vir nod. He stared at Orakha and shook his head, "Then it''s a death sentence to leave. At least two Cosmic Beings might be fighting in the Void. You''re guaranteed death if you so much as dare set foot in the region of the Sandy-Grey Void beyond the range of Sumatra''s protection."


    "What should I do then?" Orakha rested his face on his palm, absolutely confused.


    "Are you unable to contact Mahira Tusk?" In asked next.


    "Yeah, we haven''t been able to contact her after the Second Major Disaster." Orakha sighed.


    "Then do it like I said." In nodded, "Head towards an Enve and live there for the time being. And once you''re able to contact her, you can make ns ordingly. That''s your safest bet. And though it won''t be as good as living on Sumatra, Enves should be able to support your need for resources, I think."


    "Yeah, I think we can do that." Orakha thought, ''With Maroppa''s help, it''ll be possible to reach another Enve from the Gaja Enve. Or we can even skip a few Enves and head to a location as far as possible from the Varahan Enve.''


    "Is anyone staying behind?" In asked next.


    "Gann and Harr are staying," Orakha said, startled to sense Prana billow out of In in response.


    "Fuck, why?" He lost his cool for a moment as In grumbled, "Why the heck are they staying?"


    "Dude, just bring them with you as you flee." In red at Orakha, "Shouldn''t you have enough sway over the Mammoth n by now?"


    "I do, but Gann volunteered to stay behind to take care of the Mammoth Treasury." Orakha sighed, "And Harr wanted to give herpany."


    "Welp, someone''s daughter is about to be pig food…" Vir hadn''t finished his sentence when a projectile mmed into him and pummelled him into the walls of the stone house. He casually got up from the attack and shrugged off the dust that the projectile had turned into.


    He casually stared at In, "Truth hurts, doesn''t it?"


    "I can make it hurt better." In red as immediately, Vir began to age.


    "Hmph!" Followed by a grunt, Vir encased himself in a Tratham armour, cranking up psychokinesis to the limit, watching the strings of Pranatched onto him be pushed away in response.


    They dangled a couple of metres before him, unable to approach him. He red at In, "Don''t think for a moment that I haven''t prepared against your abilities."


    "You sure about that?" In said and transformed his arms into a Royal Zinger''s, condensing a Biome Bomb that hung by a threat from his index finger. With a mild tug, the Biome Bomb dangled like a pendulum, beginning to condenseva within.


    "Now, that''s the spirit." Vir bellowed, excited to fight, "Finally, someone to fight without holding back. Don''t cry if I by mistake use your face to wipe my ass."


    "It''ll be eroded by the time I use your ass to clean the streets." In snorted, getting ready to attack.


    "I''m leaving." Right as the duo were about to engage in a battle, Orakha stood up and expressed his intention. He then stared at Vir, "Are youing or not?"


    "Already?" Vir raised an eyebrow as he pointed at In, "I''ve yet to see if this turtle has grown strong or not. Besides, it''ll be better to understand the strength of the force he''s raising, right?"


    "His force isn''t here." Orakha said and stared in the direction of the ocean, "It''s somewhere out there."


    He then red at In, "And this fucker isn''t even In."


    "It''s a mere puppet."


    ''I see, so that''s what is happening.'' Vir''s eyes narrowed as his smile widened, ''No wonder that throw felt damn weak.''


    "Just send a body to inform the Mammoth n." Vir said casually, "You can still revive next to Raaha."


    His expression hardened as he plunged his fist through the figure of In, snorting upon seeing flesh within. A flex of his hand and the mass of flesh was scattered, allowing him to see theyer of Biome Bome that had condensed the flesh to behave as In.


    With a clench of his hand, the Biome Bomb was destroyed, following which he stared in the direction of the ocean, "We''re not leaving this ce until I meet his actual body."


    ''It seems all the Zinger shrieks were done to give this puppet of the information necessary to maintain our conversation.'' Vir thought upon feeling Zinger shrieks resume in the background, sneakily using his Mystic Human Stamp to gather some tangible data from the copsed puppet. His expression froze for an instant before revealing a smile upon seeing a line hidden at the bottom of the data he gained, one delivered using In''s voice.


    [If you''re done ying around, and are feeling brave enough,e to my home.]