Oblivious to the fact that their life had just been saved, Yusa and Ao proceeded ahead. Before they did anything else, they had to focus on staying alive first. Fortunately, it seemed like there wasn't a single beast in the area. It might be because of the fight over the Earth Dragon's corpse, but they definitely wouldn't go back to check, that's for sure.
After finding a place to hide, Yusa took out one of her concealing formation runestones. It was the same cheap one as always, not very effective if a demon beast at 7th Stage or higher scanned with their Divine Sense. Then again, she didn't like to spend, and this was one of the very rare times where she regretted not having bought a better one.
Ao saw that, but there was nothing he could do either. He usually never carried concealing formation runestones, and he would always flee if things went south. As a Wind Element user, he was pretty confident in his speed, but right now, he could barely move.
Yusa came back and sat down. She then looked at Krune, or better yet, that white blue core with a hint of Spiritual Energy emanated from it floating beside Ao. Yusa then looked at Ao and asked, "Do you think he's okay?"
She didn't understand much about wisps, only knowing that they were good cultivation resources. In response, Ao simply shook his head as he said, "I don't know, he doesn't have a body to speak of, so I can't even say if he's unconscious or just can't talk at the moment."
They had a lot of questions in their minds, but no one was there to answer. They would have to wait for Krune to wake up by himself. An hour later, Krune's energy body flickered a little, which Yusa and Ao, who were meditating to recover their energies, noticed. Yusa then looked at Krune and asked, "Are you back?"
This was the first time that Krune lost conscience, so he was feeling very dizzy and couldn't make sense of what was happening around him. His body floated right and left as if he was drunk. When he heard Yusa's voice, he simply asked, "Did you use the whip or the cuffs?"
Yusa's face immediately turned grim after hearing that. Ao, who was paying attention to Krune's words, couldn't help but burst out in laughter. Although Yusa wanted to beat him up, both she and Ao understood that Krune wasn't thinking straight at the moment. It seemed like the first thing he remembered after hearing Yusa's voice was the event about the sex shop.
Sometime later, Krune's mind cleared up a little, and at least he could now remember what happened. He then noticed that he was in his wisp form and became alarmed, prompting him to immediately turn back into his human form.
It's just that...his clothes were back at the Earth Dragon's corpse, so...this was the second time that Yusa saw Krune's 'little friend.' Although his 'little friend' was the same color like the rest of his body, the hair around was also rainbow, just like the hair on his head. Yusa turned red as a tomato for the third time and immediately looked away while screaming. Unfortunately, Yusa's scream alarmed Krune instead.
"Enemy! Where? Where?!"
Ao couldn't resist anymore, and he was rolling on the ground, loudly chortling. His injuries that had healed a little opened again. Nevertheless, he simply couldn't stop laughing. Krune was jumping all around, looking for an enemy that didn't exist. Ao understood that Krune got the wrong idea when Yusa screamed and was searching for the supposed 'enemy' while naked.
With that, Yusa shouted at him, "Put on some goddamn clothes!"
Only now did Krune notice that he was naked. After that, he looked around and found his spatial ring. Although Ao didn't waste time at the place where the Earth Dragon died, he at least took Krune's spatial ring with him. Krune took a set of clothes out and put them on.
Yusa noticed that Krune had finally put his clothes on, so she looked at Ao rolling in the ground before sending him flying with a kick! Ao's injures got worse again as he vomited blood, but he didn't care. He only thought about one thing at the moment.
'Worth it!'
He then passed out after that.
---
Nighttime soon came, and Ao had already recovered his consciousnesses. He was using his Spiritual Energy to slowly recover from his injuries. Yusa was doing the same by the side. It's just that her face was still somewhat red. Of course, Krune had already apologized to her. This time she didn't complain. He had really saved their lives after all.
Krune, on the other hand, wasn't injured. It's just that he was totally sapped dry of Spiritual Energy. He started to recover the memories before he fainted, and only then did Krune understand why he lost conscience. That's because he almost killed himself! As a wisp, he needed Spiritual Energy to survive, but he used more than 99% of it in that last attack, and only a tiny sliver of it was left.
'So dangerous, I need to learn how to manage my Spiritual Energy better in the future. A little bit more and I would be done for, and here I was, thinking of myself as someone intelligent.'
Krune had already recovered around 70% of his Spiritual Energy. With his six Spiritual Energy Meridians plus the high amount of Rank Three Spirit Stones he had, it went without saying that he was the first one to become battle-ready.
He looked at Ao and Yusa and was impressed. After almost dying, he could feel that their control over Spiritual Energy had soared. Looking at Ao, Krune was sure that he could totally breakthrough to the 4th Stage without the help of pills at the moment. He was probably only waiting to finish healing his injuries. Although Yusa couldn't break through yet, her control over Spiritual Energy had also become better. In his mind, he thought she would also have no problems breaking through to the 4th Stage once she gathered enough energy.
'Life and death situations can really temper oneself. Even I can feel that my universe foundation got sturdier after what happened.'
With Krune returning to a decent state, Yusa and Ao were more relaxed. With his Divine Sense helping to check around, they didn't have much to worry about for the time being.
The next day, Yusa and Ao were already back on their feet. At the moment, they were looking at Krune as if he was going to be eaten alive. It couldn't be helped, though. Krune was a wisp, and wisps at the Foundation Establishment Realm were legends! However, that wasn't the main issue. The problem was, how come he had become so strong like that? Was it really because of the Universe Foundation? Krune felt uncomfortable under their glares. So, in the end, he only sighed as he spilled the beans.
"There is indeed a reason why I can cultivate so fast and have such fine control over the elements. It's more or less because of my cultivation technique." After Krune was finished talking, Yusa's eyes glistened like jewels. She looked at Krune as if he was made out of gold.
"Is it some technique that you got in the inheritance of some supreme cultivator?" As Yusa asked that question, Krune could not help but give her a weird stare as he told her, "Where did you get those ideas? Even if I did find an inheritance, do you think a wisp could even get close to that? Have you ever heard of an inheritance from high-level cultivators without any traps or tests for those who enter?"
Krune poured cold water on Yusa's wishful thoughts, and her happiness disappeared as fast as it came. But then again, how did he get such a technique? Ao was the one to ask this time.
"So, if it isn't some kind of inheritance, then what is it? Could it be that instead of some supreme being's inheritance, a supreme being came to you out of their own accord and gave you this cultivation technique? To be honest, even if you agree with this theory, I won't believe it. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not looking down on you, but I doubt that such a cultivator would select a wisp to pass his legacy."
Krune nodded and looked at Yusa, telling her, "See? That's how you use your head to think. Ao is much better at it than you! Try to forget money a little bit when talking in the future."
Yusa's curious face turned dark after that, "Says the wisp who doesn't want to attract attention but has the eyes of the entire world on him."
Yusa used a special move...
It's very effective!
Ao interfered after seeing that the two were going to bicker once more, hastily asking, "So, what is it, then?"
In response, Krune took out the Myriad Energies Technique and showed it to them. Noticing the technique given, Ao could not help but say, "This...? Isn't this the Myriad Energies Technique?"
Yusa thought that Krune was joking with them, telling him, "Are you making fun of us? Who in the world doesn't know about this technique. I even know it well because I also used this technique to start my path as a cultivator. However, after opening enough meridians, I discarded the technique."
She then continued, "But I still remember the technique. If I want, I can even form four pseudo-energy meridians right now. Of course, I wouldn't be able to use them with my own meridians while doing that."
Krune shook his head after hearing that, asking them, "Tell me, why is it that you can't use the Myriad Energies Technique?"
Ao pondered over the question for a bit before answering, "That's because the pseudo-energy meridians directly deliver Spiritual Energy into the dantian without converting it. On the other hand, normal meridians do the conversion before the delivery. Because of that, both can't be used at the same time."
Taking in a deep breath, he then continued, "Since the Myriad Energies Technique can only form nine pseudo-energy meridians at most, be it demon beast or human, they have much more normal meridians to open. The Myriad Energies Technique is only good at the start to help accumulate Spiritual Energy to open the normal meridians. After the cultivator opens enough meridians, it becomes much faster for one to cultivate using the opened meridians instead of using the pseudo-energy meridians."
Krune nodded his head in praise since Ao gave a short but straight explanation. "Ao is correct. That is the main issue of the Myriad Energies Technique. I will have to ask the two of you to sign a blood contract before I proceed from here. Don't misunderstand me. It's not that I don't trust you. It's just that with the contract in place, higher-level cultivators wouldn't be able to pry into the information even if they use soul search techniques."
Fortunately, both of them understood. If the Myriad Energies Technique was really as good as Krune said it was, then it made sense that the secret must be kept. After signing the blood contract, Krune started to explain how it worked. After hearing the whole story, both Yusa and Ao were left at a loss for words. Yusa then asked straight away, "Doesn't that mean we can also use this technique?"
Krune then answered, "I don't know. I left a copy with Ruik, my friend, for him to try it out. But I reckon that this technique is most suited for races that have outstanding control over Spiritual Energy. We wisps have a short life span and can only try to build our foundation once. Nevertheless, I'm sure that we're one of the best races at controlling Spiritual Energy since we're beings of energy after all."
He then said, "I have a disciple who's also a wisp. Although he's much slower than me while using the real technique, you can say that he's already extremely fast when compared to beasts and humans at the Qi Condensation Realm. He may only be a bit over a year old, but he's already at the 8th Stage of Qi Condensation, maybe even the 9th Stage since it has been a while since I left Katiu Forest. This technique is just way too much well suited for wisps."
Krune continued, "The main issue for you is that you must complete all nine pseudo-energy meridians first. From the information I could acquire back at Kaley City, any other race has to spend a long time to finish forming all nine meridians. However, I don't think it's a coincidence. It probably has something to do with your life span. You might take much longer to achieve the nine pseudo-energy meridians or the Spiritual Energy Meridians themselves. But you have the necessary time to do that, we wisps, don't."
After Krune was done, Yusa and Ao pondered about it in silence. They could probably cultivate the Spiritual Energy Meridians. Then again, it had the risk of not working with other races that weren't wisps, and they would need to test it themselves since no one had tried it before. They wouldn't be able to cultivate as fast as Krune, that's for sure. Yusa could testify for that since she started her cultivation path using the pseudo-energy meridians.
Krune then got up and looked at Ao, telling him, "Ao, as I can see, you probably have no need for pills to break through the 4th Stage anymore. Yusa and I will keep guard, and you go finish your breakthrough. It'll help out in case anything else happens."
Hearing Krune's suggestion, Ao quickly agreed with the area. He then immediately sat down and took a few Rank Three Spirit Stones out while Krune and Yusa kept an eye around while they waited. Not long after, an explosion of spiritual energy soon radiated with Ao as the center, showing the two of them that he succeeded. Ao then spent another hour quelling the raging Spiritual Energy in his body under control. After that, the process was finally over.
Krune then told the two, "Alright, whether you decide to give the Myriad Energies Technique a try or not, you can think about it later. I don't want to be found by another Earth, Water, or any other dragon with an element, so we should finish our mission first."
The two of them agreed with Krune on that. Since they were already back to normal, it's best to finish it and leave the place first.
Following the map, it didn't take long for them to arrive at the area where the Blazing Alligators were. Now that Ao was at the 4th Stage, coupled with Krune's teaching regarding the Wind Element, he had the confidence of defeating a Blazing Alligator on his own. Nevertheless, they decided to lure an alligator out of the group instead. There were too many of them for them to charge in like that.
The first three alligators that came out were too weak for the three, prompting the three to quickly defeat them as they wouldn't be able to complete the mission with their blood. Finally, on the 4th try, Ao lured out a 5th Stage Blazing Alligator. Krune left Yusa and Ao to deal with it while he kept an eye out for any issues.
Yusa was the nemesis of this demon beast. They soon beat the alligator down, and as per Krune's request, the only demon beast they killed since they entered the Kaliu Danger Zone was the Earth Dragon itself. Krune's personality wouldn't change, and he didn't like to kill, so if possible, he won't. The first three Blazing Alligators were also lying unconscious by the side. After the fourth one fainted, they took away a lot of blood but didn't kill it either.
After finishing their job, they immediately departed since they had to take a long time to get back.
After leaving the area where Late Stage Foundation Establishment demon beasts could appear, they hastened their pace. On their way back, Krune kept helping Yusa and Ao improve their control over the Wind and Water Element. After that, both of them would buy a fight with a demon beast on purpose to try their new findings. They were both happy. After that life and death battle, coupled with Krune's help, they were both confident in attempting to obtain a Three Star Badge when they got back at the Mercenary Guild.
---
Back at Rore City, Zuve Lie, the two-star alchemist, was talking with another mercenary group. This group had just arrived to take over the mission regarding the Blazing Alligator's blood. When they applied for the mission, they found out that another group of mercenaries had also taken the mission. In any case, although their names were hidden, their cultivation levels could be verified. This mercenary group thought that Krune's group was courting death, so they came to do the mission themselves since it wouldn't be possible for Krune and the others.
This group was led by Shiar Chronus, and it had four members, with Shiar being the strongest among them. He was at the 5th Stage of Foundation Establishment, while his companions were all at the 4th Stage.
"Don't worry, Alchemist Zuve, we will complete this job as fast as possible. As for the group that came earlier, you can forget about them. They're probably dead or had given up already. They were courting death to try and finish this mission with their strength."
Zuve just smiled in response. For him, as long as the blood was brought back, he didn't care which group did it.
"I'm counting on you, then."
After discussing and taking the necessary information from Zuve, they were just about to leave when an employee of the Alchemist Guild came in to pass a message.
"Alchemist Zuve, those mercenaries from over a week ago have returned. They are asking to talk to you."
Shiar gave a laugh after hearing that, saying, "So, they didn't die, huh? They just gave up instead. Well, let them come in. I'll lecture those guys while I'm at it."
Krune and his group came in when they noticed the other group. However, when Krune and Yusa saw who was there, their expressions became weird. Beside Shiar, there was someone they knew quite well. It was none other than Durin Vola! He had broken through as well and is now a 4th Stage Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.
Naturally, Durin also noticed them. In response, his expression immediately turned gloomy. He was just about to stop his team leader, but it was already too late.
Shiar came forward and told them, "Now look at you three. Do you finally understand how dangerous the mission was? You shouldn't try to bite more than you can chew. Head back to the Mercenary Guild and reflect on your actions. From now on, my group is taking this mission so that this task can be finished."
Durin felt like he wanted to cry but had no tears. His leader probably didn't recognize Krune because he was using his hat to cover his rainbow-colored hair. He could only look away and pretend he didn't know anything while thinking, 'Leader, you brought it upon yourself.'