After spending quite some time convincing the other disciples that Nightingale was a mistake, Rean and Roan got permission to move into the Inner Sect. The higher the disciple's position, the higher they lived in the mountain. At the same time, they would also get more Spiritual Energy.
Well, Rean and Roan had been to the Mountain Peak to visit Mia quite a few times, so they already understood this part. After receiving the room numbers, they took their things and moved up. Of course, Kentucky followed right behind.
Unfortunately for them, as mentioned before, challengers would not get time to rest; only the challenged would. Once the other disciples discovered that Rean and Roan had joined the Inner Sect and got the 903rd and 907th positions, the disciples lower ranked than them immediately issued a challenge against them.
The number 909th challenged Roan while the 916th challenged Rean. Of course, they didn't see the battles that the twins went through. Otherwise, they definitely wouldn't have made such an idiotic decision. Neither Rean nor Roan got any injuries to start with. They were both okay with Spiritual Energy as well. In the end, the two challengers ended up getting a good beating. The ones below them in the rank didn't waste that chance either and immediately defeated those two once more. With that, Rean and Roan's challengers suffered a terrible setback. Well, neither Rean nor Roan cared about it anyway.
Of course, the other disciples that were present made sure to check their fight this time. After all, they were two battles at the Inner Sect level, different from the Outer Sect challenging an Inner Sect. In the end, they all reached a conclusion. It's better to leave the demon twins alone.
Later in their room...
'The Spiritual Energy here will help quite a bit.'
Roan nodded.
'They also have a cultivation tower in the Inner Sect, so it should be of higher quality as well. Let's go. It's time to finish our breakthroughs into the Peak Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.'
Rean also agreed with Roan, and the two left their new rooms just a few moments after they arrived. But before that, Rean gave one of the Luminun Ores to Kentucky to eat. Unsurprisingly, the big guy immediately swallowed it and went to sleep. Rean already got used to this and knew that the Minokawa wouldn't awaken anytime soon. That was more than enough time to have their breakthroughs.
Mia's token could be used in the Inner Sect, too, so the two did not have to pay for the time to use it.
Immediately, they retrieved Rank Two Spirit Stones from the Soul Gem Realm and inserted them in the Energy Gathering Formations.
'Sister Orb, how are our foundations at the moment?'
[Well, you two haven't gone out to battle even once during the last few months with your Late Stage cultivation. Usually, that is the best way to solidify the Foundation during the cultivation time. However, your foundations were already in their best condition in the previous Middle Stage, so it was not affected much during this Late one. It should still be fine if you want to enter the Peak Stage now. However, do not rush with your cultivation while you are in the Peak Stage. Take your time to let the Foundation stabilize on its own.]
[Oh, right! Because you are making breakthroughs like this, your foundations will be a lot more chaotic than in the perfect conditions after you are over. That being said, you probably will need at least three months before you can start cultivating again. I advise you to not try using the Cultivation Stabilizing Pills this time since it would be forcing your Foundation to calm down way too fast. Give your Foundations time to get used to its own energy naturally.]
For Roan, that was already good enough. He thought about going out to do some missions during the Late Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm. However, the Universal Restraint was getting close. He was afraid that something might have gone wrong during it, so he decided to sacrifice some stability for safety. After the breakthrough, they could take extra time to properly recover their Foundation to its peak state while slowly cultivating.
'Alright.'
Rean and Roan then focused on their Light and Dark Element manuals as they began their breakthrough. Sister Orb also checked their condition through the Light and Dark Soul Connection to prevent any mishaps.
Once again, Spiritual Energy began to rush into their ten Foundation Pillars that had broken through their Dantians in the past. Rean's Dark Element Pillar and Roan's Light Element Pillar also helped them with the Elemental Exchange that kept the balance of their cultivation.
Soon, their pools of Spiritual Energy, which was already filled up to the brim, began to overflow. Eventually, there was so much Spiritual Energy that the Spiritual Pool, where the ten Pillars were present, couldn't hold Spiritual Energy anymore. With that, Rean and Roan used the entire energy in their Spiritual Pools to attack the Peak Stage Bottleneck.
The process was basically the same as the previous stages' breakthroughs. Their Foundation began to expand, and so did the Spiritual Energy pool. Finally, the pool increased in size as the Spiritual Energy inside was almost entirely used up. The Light and Dark Element that helped with the process also stopped pouring inside due to the lack of Spiritual Energy.
In the end, Rean and Roan spent two hours to finish their breakthroughs. However, it was just as Sister Orb said. Their cultivations in their dantians was a lot more chaotic than when they entered the Late Stage. That was the price of having a breakthrough before the conditions were perfect.
*Pin!*
[Congrtulations, Hosts! You have successfully reached the Peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm. The first condition to resist the Universal Restraint has been completed.]
[Reward: Authority Level +1.]
After that, the Soul Gem System went silent once more.
Rean and Roan didn't expect that. After all, the System told them about the incoming Universal Restraint, but it didn't say anything about a possible reward.
Right after, Sister Orb was the one to talk with them.
[Well, that was an unexpected reward. Anyway, an extra Authority Level will always be welcome.]
Rean couldn't help but ask.
'But it said that only the first condition was fulfilled. We already have more than 1000 Destiny Points, right? Shouldn't the second condition be completed as well?'
Back then, the Soul Gem System stated that they would need both the cultivation and 1000 Destiny Points to resist the Universal Restraint.
[Don't worry. The Destiny Points were really the second condition for it. However, this condition will only be completed when the Universal Restraint comes down. Simply put, the Soul Gem System will use those 1000 Destiny Point as 'fuel' to protect your bodies and souls. So, be sure to keep 1000 points at all costs.]
Rean and Roan sighed in relief.
'That's good then. By the way, it's been a few months already. Our Router Formation is not complete yet, but the Imperial Family must have already started expanding their own cables around the capital and nearby cities, no? Surely it gave us quite a few more Destiny Points.'
Sister Orb agreed with him.
[That's correct. You had 1289 Destiny Points after you bought the Alchemy Workshop and Electrical Formations Repository. However, that was three months ago. By now, your Communication System and the Steel Works that is also expanding already gave you another 713 points. Of course, as I mentioned in the past, you are getting almost no more points from the Steel Works. From the 713 that you got, only 47 came from it. At the moment, you two have 2002 Destiny Points.]
Rean wasn't surprised by that. He was already not getting much from the Steel Works anyway.
'So we got more than 1000 points free for use. Roan, what do you think?'
Roan pondered a bit and decided to take a look at the reward list first. Of course, they returned to their rooms first before entering the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm.
[Tiger Bones - 500 Destiny Points] (New)
[Spiritual Sense Absorption Upgrade Level 2 - 1000 Destiny Points] (5% At the moment)
[Soul Gem Dimensional Realm Upgrade Level 2 - 800 Destiny Points] (New)
[Yin Yang Bathhouse - Reward from Destiny Strugglers Title]
[Soul Connection Range Upgrade level 2 – 1500 Destiny Points] (300km)
[Soul Gem Blacksmith Workshop - 400 Destiny Points] (New)
[Soul Gem Alchemy Workshop Upgrade Level 2- 1000 Destiny Points] (New)
[Soul Gem Electrical Formations Repository Upgrade Level 2 - 1000 Destiny Points] (New)
'I doubt that the level 2 of the Alchemy Workshop or the Formations Repository will make much of a difference. Besides, we would have only 1002 points once we buy any of those. I don't like this proximity to the limit number, so we better leave them aside.'
Rean agreed with Roan.
'In that case, the Spiritual Sense Absorption Upgrade Level 2 is also out of the question. That leaves us with Tiger Bones and Soul Gem Dimensional Realm Upgrade Level 2. As for the Blacksmith Workshop, I doubt that Level 1 will give me anything useful. Also, I need to wait for my cultivation increase before I can try to forge anything of a higher level anyway.'
'By the way, our Authority Level just increased one level. Did it not give us anything new?'
[Nope!]
For some reason, Sister Orb's nonchalant answer annoyed the twins quite a bit.
'Well, aren't we going into that Profound Abyss in a month? We might as well get the Tiger Bones.'
Rean agreed with Roan, and they finally made their decision.
[Tiger Bones - 500 Destiny Points]
[Confirm Selection?]
'Yes!'
It was then that Rean remembered something.
"Ah! We forgot!"
Right after... the twins were contorting like two worms on the ground due to the pain.
[I wish I had a camera to take a picture.]
"Fuck you!"