Shinja was ready to move at any moment. However, she soon found out that there was no need for it. Although Yusa couldn't defeat the demon beast straight away, she totally had the upper hand. Shinja couldn't help but remember when she was at the 5th Stage of Foundation Establishment. At that time, she definitely wasn't as strong as Yusa, and they were even focused on the same element! She finally admitted that she was worse than any of them. So what if she had a Pure Yin Body? She looked like nothing in front of them.
While Yusa battled, Krune took notes and sent a Divine Sense message to her now and then. He told her his opinion and what might help to improve her Water element control. Of course, Shinja didn't know that. She only saw that Yusa was getting better and better as the battle continued. What kind of improving ability is that? It couldn't be helped. They stayed in the city for more than a month, doing nothing but practice. Krune's group had a lot to test out but no opponents, which they could go all out against.
In the end, Yusa defeated the demon beast. She didn't kill it, though. This was another thing that Shinja didn't understand. Krune's group never killed anything unless necessary. As for a reason, she heard from Yusa that Krune asked for it.
The demon beast soon fled, and the group was just about to leave when Shinja approached Yusa. Yusa looked at her with a hint of confusion. For some reason, Shinja looked somewhat embarrassed. Not knowing what she wanted, Yusa asked her, "Is there anything?"
In the end, Shinja gritted her teeth and asked in response, "Errr…well, you know, I noticed that your control during the battle was becoming better and better. How did you do that?"
Yusa was surprised that Shinja asked that out of her own accord. She then laughed out loud since she didn't expect that Shinja could act this cute. While doing so, she thought to herself, 'It looks like she has changed quite a bit.'
Yusa smiled in response and pointed at Krune. "I'd suggest you ask the blockhead over there. He kept sending me Divine Sense messages every time he saw something he thought was wrong. Of course, he wasn't always right. All he did was give out his opinions, but usually, they were right."
Shinja looked surprised after that comment! So it really was Krune! Then again, she felt somewhat awkward to ask a cultivator a lot weaker than her for pointers. From a man on top of that. Well, a demon beast in human form. Anyways, since she already stepped forward, she might as well go to the very end.
Krune didn't mind that, though. He just told her to show her skills when some strong demon beast appeared. He will then check it and give his opinion. Of course, he reminded her that those were just ideas, and there might be some that weren't really suited to her. But before they could continue their journey, he asked her a question that Shinja didn't expect.
"Are you a virgin?"
One must remember that Krune wasn't a real teacher, and he didn't go through an apprenticeship to get where he was. He basically said whatever he thought and didn't care about the repercussions. Although his zero EQ gave people headaches every now and then, it also had its advantages. Krune would never stop to think about how sensitive a topic was, for example, how the virginity of both men and women could affect their yin and yang.
Yusa probably still remembered when Krune started to give his opinions about the water element to her. He often touched over the virginity topic and even demanded to know beforehand if she was a virgin or not. Although she was angry back then, time proved that talking freely about it accelerated her progress.
Now that Shinja asked for it, she would come to know that Krune didn't give a damn to any of that. Yusa tried to comfort her, though, as she told her, "You will get used to it."
Shinja wanted to cry. She didn't want to get used to it at all!
Time soon passed, and it had already been six days since they left the city. If Shinja had some doubts about Krune's proficiency regarding elements before, they were now entirely gone. The deeper they went into the Raskie Danger Zone, the more often they found strong demon beasts. By holding herself back, she was able to show her skills in front of Krune. The most surprising thing was that not only Krune was helping her, but even Yusa also gave her opinions every now and then. As a Water element user, she also understood things more clearly when women were related. Shinja's prowess was getting better with each day she spent with Krune and the others.
There was only one thing she found strange, though. During their journey, Krune asked them to not kill any of the demon beasts. Still, there was one exception, beasts that were harming wisps! Be it Yusa, Ao, or Krune, they didn't show any mercy to those demon beasts at all. It puzzled her quite a bit, but since it wasn't putting them at any risk, she simply ignored it. Shinja even helped them with this kind of task when she was the one to notice a wisp in danger. Not to mention that it took minimal effort from her anyway. Seeing that made Krune's opinion about this ice block improve quite a bit.
Shinja didn't notice, but by now, she was already talking to them normally as if she was really part of their group. They never tried to take advantage of her even once. If taking advantage is to be mentioned, she was the one doing that to improve herself. That feeling of sitting with the others while Krune made food for everyone, talking naturally, laughing, getting angry, beating Krune now and then. She came to love this atmosphere. She had completely forgotten her status as the ice block.
When she finally noticed her carefreeness, she was surprised and conflicted at the same time. But it was then that she was reminded of something. This was all going to be over when the Furiu Realm closes! She would be free from both blood contracts and would have no need to stay anymore. That had affected her greatly, but she didn't show it in front of the others. However, deep down, she wished for the Furiu Realm to stay open for all eternity so she would have an excuse.
---
On the seventh day, they had finally reached the Fog Leopards' territory. During the past week, every single member of the group improved a lot. Shinja had also excluded the idea that they accepted such a mission because of her since they totally had the skills to deal with it.
Krune then came forward and told them, "Those leopards are one of the few demon beasts that changed because of the fog forest. To make sure that we won't be ambushed, I'll have to keep my Divine Sense active at all times. Also, all of you have probably already noticed, but this fog is bizarre. It restrains the use of Divine Sense. Usually, I would be able to extend my Divine Sense over seven kilometers. However, I can barely reach two kilometers here. So, be careful."
Yusa and Ao nodded in response, allowing Krune to continue. "Shinja will stay far away, and unless absolutely necessary, she won't intervene. So, don't count on her help. Let's go!"
Krune spread his Divine Sense to the max, and they quickly moved into the Fog Leopard's territory. Everything was going according to plan. After Krune found one of the leopards with the right cultivation, they pretended to be lost in front of it. When the leopard saw Krune's group, they ran away! The leopard immediately took the bait and set out in pursuit.
It wasn't that the leopard hadn't thought that it could be a trap. It was just that with the cultivation of Krune's group, it was very confident to be able to deal with them even if they had prepared one. Of course, Krune's team didn't prepare any trap. Their objective was to be able to beat this 8th Stage Fog Leopard head-on!
Ao took up the position of vanguard as always. As a Wind element user, he had superb dodging abilities, especially when using Vacuum Blade. His attack power wasn't weak either. Yusa stayed behind, and her task was to support the team. Before being able to use powers like space, time, light, and others, the Water element was the best one for the job. She could use skills like water frames, water prison, water wall, water dragons, and so on and so forth. Yusa really played the support role as if it was part of her very being.
Krune stayed in the middle. As a wisp, he wasn't suited for close combat, so he focused on long-ranged attacks. Blazing Wind Blades weren't the only skills he used anymore. During their travel to this place, Shinja showed her skills for Krune's group to analyze and help her improve. She obtained a lot from that, but Krune obtained even more from it.
"Let's try lightning and water." He had thought about trying it before, but he understood that this combination was as strong as his Blazing Wind Blades. That meant that the previous demon beasts that he battled wouldn't be able to resist the attack. In the end, it wouldn't help him comprehend anything at all, so this was the first time he was going to try it.
Krune focused on both the Water and Lightning element. He then summoned the Myriad Water Dragon and the lightning skill Thunder Line. Just like that, the Myriad Water Thunder Dragons skill was born!
Shinja was shocked! That was HER skill! She had used it before, and both Yusa and Krune had given her quite a big help in improving it. Krune was even able to say a few things about the Lightning element involved in it. Still, it had only been a few days. How can he use her best skill that easily?
Krune was just about to send the dragons forward when suddenly, he felt a ripple coming from inside his foundation. That ripple grew stronger, and in the next instant, the water dragons crumbled!
Krune was taken aback! What just happened? All he could tell was that the ripple came from his future rainbow core. However, this wasn't the time to check things out. Since he couldn't use the Thunder Dragons, he would use his Blazing Wind Blades and, if the chance appeared, his lava lake and stone prison as well.
The battle continued, and the Fog Leopard finally couldn't endure it anymore. Even with his fog merging skill, it couldn't keep itself hidden from Krune's Divine Sense. Krune's Divine Sense was too powerful! The Fog Leopard finally decided to flee, but how could Krune and the others let it go? They had long since prepared for it.
Ao switched his stance and went from evasion to attack. Yusa went from defense to restraint, and her water skills sealed all paths of retreat. Like that, Krune finally found a chance to trap the leopard into his stone prison. Shinja was really impressed! Their teamwork was excellent, and her respect for Krune's group had gone up.
It was now time to bring it back to the city. As for how to do that, of course, it was by making it sign a blood contract! With that, Krune came forward and took the contract out of his spatial ring.
The Fog Leopard, as a late-stage Foundation Establishment demon beast, already had sentience. When it saw the blood contract, it knew what it was straight away. It then sent a Divine Message to this group, "If you're thinking of enslaving me through the contract, then forget it. I won't accept being anyone's slave, so you might as well kill me now."
It was furious at the fact that it lost in a head-on battle against cultivators that were three or more stages below it. Naturally, it wouldn't accept becoming a slave.
Hearing the leopard's words, Krune just laughed. He had never forced anyone to sign a slave contract to start with. First of all, the other part must be willing in both mind and heart, or the contract wouldn't work at all.
"Don't worry. Our mission is to capture an 8th Stage Fog Leopard to help with research on concealing formations. Simply put, you have two choices. One is to die. The other is to help with the formation master's research and be freed after that. Which one do you want?"
The Fog Leopard was quite surprised by that. However, he asked back, "How long will it take?"
Yusa answered this time. "I can't say the exact time, but at least a year, at most five years. I don't think it would take longer than that, but of course, I can't guarantee anything either."
Yusa had the best knowledge regarding formations in the group, so she knew a little more about the time necessary for this. Hearing her words, the Fog Leopard pondered for a while but accepted in the end. The other option was death, after all.
Yusa wrote the contract terms, and the leopard signed it. After that, she told the leopard to go back to the city by itself. According to the agreement with Jorei, there would be someone waiting for the leopard's arrival to go through the process of entering the city.
The Fog Leopard accepted the orders and moved out straight away. Before the blood contract was over, it couldn't harm Krune's group in any way, so they weren't afraid that it would call stronger members of its group to deal with them.
Ao then asked, "Should we head back or stay a little more? The mission will be considered complete even if we don't come back. In the end, there's no need to worry about the time limit anymore."
Krune shook his head as he told them, "Let's stay a little longer. This is a good opportunity for training, so we better use it well."
Yusa and Ao nodded in response, and Shinja would just follow as always since she didn't have a choice to start with. Still, she couldn't help comment, "I wonder how the Furiu Realm is going on at the moment."
Krune looked at her and asked, "What does this Furiu Realm look like?"
Shinja simply replied, "What you know is the same as me. That realm was the house of a supreme expert from a long time ago, and it has been closed for over 500 years since the last opening. The entrance is closed through the use of the power of the five elements. When it opens, some kind of invisible gate takes place while surrounded by the five elements. I heard it's quite hard to find. If not for the fact that the powers of the continent know the exact place of the entrance, it would be difficult to even notice it. The gate connects to another independent space, just like Jorei's room. Of course, it's absurdly bigger."
Krune was a little surprised by those words. Soon after, he asked her, "Does the five elements at the entrance spin around it?"
Shinja was surprised that Krune knew this simple detail. Although it wasn't any secret, unless one has gone there by themselves, one wouldn't know about it. Not to mention that very few paid attention to this fact. Even Shinja herself only knew about it because of a coincidence. With that, she asked him, "How do you know that?"
Krune bitterly smiled and pointed down as he replied, "Well, there's one right below us."