Death... and me

It turns out that it was the old man, Hage. Out of everyone Rean invited, Hage was by far the weakest and in the worst shape in terms of cultivation. But then again, Rean had to admit Hage was the guy he liked the most and wanted to appear by the gate. Naturally, it delighted him to see Hage there. "So you came, huh?"

Hage shrugged his shoulders, responding, "Well, I won't lie. Your offer triggered all the alarms in my mind. I'm pretty sure whatever you have to ask me for isn't something I'll like. However, who cares? I probably can't live for more than 20 or so years with my current cultivation, so I'm already at a stage where I have nothing else to lose."

Rean nodded before pulling Hage to a corner with less movement. "Here's the deal. My brother here and I are starting a new sect, and we need people to join. Their age, talents, and backgrounds aren't an issue. However, if you join, you won't be able to leave the sect for a while unless you decide to quit the sect altogether."

"A sect?" Hage was taken aback to hear that. "That doesn't make sense. Why would you ask someone like me to join then? With your strength, I'm pretty sure you can get some better members, even if these members won't be able to leave."

Rean then pulled out a Soul Binding Contract in response. Obviously, it was the new version that couldn't be rejected. "Read it and see if you want to join or not. This is a Soul Binding Contract."

Although Hage didn't have a good level of cultivation, he at least knew what a Soul Binding Contract was. As one could imagine, he became even more suspicious after reading the contents. It was just too vague, even if it could keep the secret. "Sigh... whatever. Let's see what kind of crazy place I'm getting into. Here goes one of my life's last bets."

He quickly signed the contract, which burned down before a seal was put on his soul. Seeing that, Rean touched Hage's shoulder and said, "Don't resist."

Hage was puzzled about what he shouldn't resist, but he relaxed his body and let Rean do what he intended. For a moment, his vision blurred as the scenery around him changed completely. The next time he saw anything, he was already inside the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm.

[Finally, an adult!] Sister Orb was ecstatic seeing Hage there.

Hage, obviously, was completely lost. "A talking orb?"

Sister Orb ignored his words as she quickly used the Dimensional Realm to pull Hage over. Well, to be more specific, she pulled Hage to where Luan and the other kids were located. [Alright. Your job is to take care of these kids. We're still recruiting people, so it'll take some time until we start building the sect. Well, at least we already have the materials for a few buildings. Anyway, good luck.]

"Wait, what?!" Hage was completely lost. How come him joining the sect changed into him becoming a babysitter?

Luan then approached Hage and said, "Hello, senior. You don't need to worry. I'll be checking on the kids every now and then to make sure they're following your orders. Besides, they will have to cultivate a lot from now on, so it should be pretty silent."

"Cultivate?" Only then did Hage notice the environment's Divine Energy, which was around 40 to 50% denser than outside. "Holy shit! So much Divine Energy!"

Of course, he didn't forget what happened. "Who are you? No, wait! Where are we at the moment? I was at the city's gate. How did I end up here?"

Luan noticed that Hage had just arrived, so he tried to give him a quick explanation of what this place was. However, Luan was a kid himself, so he didn't do quite a good job. Then again, it was just enough for Hage to understand the situation.

"So this is a Dimensional Realm... or whatever these words mean. It's like a piece of land separated from reality or the like. That's... quite hard to believe." Hage was old but had a good head, at least.

Suddenly, a hand touched his shoulder, which gave Hage a scare. "Hahaha! There's no need to be so afraid. You already signed the contract, so no one will do anything to you, Hage."

Hage sighed in relief and quickly noticed that two new cultivators were on Rean's side. "Are they your friends too?"

Rean shook his head in response. "They received the same offer as you." Rean then pointed at the two and introduced them. "The left one is Himfal. The right one is Vania."

Himfal and Vania were obviously much more at a loss since they didn't get Luan's explanation. "Sir... what is this place?"

Rean then pondered over it for a bit before using a Divine Sense message to tell them everything they should know about.

"Dimensional Realm?"

"A moving sect?"

"More Divine Energy?"

Rean nodded to all of their questions. "Yes. I haven't drafted the specifics yet. However, I intend to realize payments in Divine Stones according to contribution. We will build the sect here. Oh, right! You guys already signed the contract, so you won't be able to talk to anyone about it even if you wanted to. With that said, I can give you another chance. If you want to leave, this is your last chance. I'm a man of my word. Since I said I wouldn't force anyone to stay, then I won't."

Vania, Himfal, and Hage were still processing all the new information Rean passed to them through Divine Sense. It was just way too much. However, one thing was certain, this could definitely become a turning point in their lives.

Himfal was the first one to answer after organizing all the information in his head. "I'm willing to stay. Just the Divine Energy alone is more than welcome." Himfal seemed to be around his forties. Of course, Rean already asked his real age, which was 212. It's just that his cultivation made him look younger.

Vania, who seemed to be in her thirties, but was actually 147 years old, was the next one. "Me too. As long as what you said is true, of course."

Rean was happy to hear that, so he asked the last one. "What about you, Hage?"