They moved forward quite fast, with Krune's gigantic Divine Sense, it was quite easy to avoid meaningless battles. It wasn't perfect though, two demon beasts had slipped in during the few minutes that Krune wasn't using it. But with his group strength, unless a 7th stage appears, they will pretty much be able to deal with it.
Another reason to avoid battles was so that they wouldn't alarm the stronger beasts. This deep into the danger zone will not have Core Formation Realm beasts. Still, there is a chance of an 8th or even a 9th stage Foundation Establishment beast appearing if they make too much noise.
By the time they were getting close to their target, the strength of the beasts entering Krune's Divine Sense had got higher too and he even found two 7th stage ones. Still, just as he expected, unless it's a demon beast specialized in the soul, they couldn't notice his Divine Sense.
Yusa looked on the map and then commented.
"We are more or less 500 kilometers away from the blazing alligators' lair, it should only take two hours before we arrive."
Ao replied through the communicator.
"That's good, thanks to Krune's pointers, my wind element manipulation got much better during this trip. I'm very confident that I can hold my own against a 5th stage ordinary beast if all I need to do it buy time too. I should even be able to defeat one 4th stage if I put some effort too."
Yusa agreed, Krune's views about element manipulation had opened her eyes too.
"Our target is the blazing alligators, as a water element user and Krune's previous help, I think I should be able to defeat a 5th stage one. Of course, that's because I counter their main element."
Krune looked a little embarrassed since he wasn't used to people praising him.
"You can stop already, this is making me uncomfortable. All I did is point out where you were doing wrong, the rest was all up to you two to figure out, so I had nothing to do with that. Each person's view of the elements isn't exactly the same after all."
Yusa and Ao laughed at that, he then noticed something.
"You were doing it on purpose too!"
They confessed that he was right. Krune is very easy to tease, and it feels very good too.
Krune then sighed helplessly, but he quite liked this atmosphere. Until a few months ago, it wasn't something common for him.
Suddenly, Krunes face changed.
"Not good! Ao, retreat now!"
Ao Sulian noticed that something was wrong, he didn't delay even for a split of a second and rushed back at full speed.
Boom!
Just a second later, after leaving his standing place, the ground caved in! Inside, one could see two red eyes coming out. Krune's Divine Sense can reach over six kilometers above the ground. However, it couldn't do the same underground. It was only when that demon beast was a hundred meters away from Ao that Krune finally saw it. Fortunately, Divine Sense communication is faster than any gadget, and one can send their thoughts into their companions' minds straight away.
The three of them looked at the demon beast in front of them, and it was an Earth-Dragon. Although it has a dragon on its name, it isn't a real dragon. He is just like the Lizard Dragons. The difference is that the concentration of Dragon Blood in his body is much higher than the former, making him much stronger than ordinary 7th stage beasts. Of course, because of that, it wouldn't be able to take the human form before it achieves the late Core Formation Realm. In the end, Divine beasts bloodline has its own disadvantages too.
"You are quite fast to be able to dodge that, and I was pretty sure no one had noticed me coming. But that's that, to think that two 3rd stage and one 2nd stage Foundation Establishment cultivators would come this far into the Kaliu Danger Zone. It would have been faster if you had simply suicided, don't you think?"
Yusa then smiled.
"Since we are going to die anyway, why don't you let us go? It won't make difference to you anyway, right?"
The Earth Dragon shook his head.
"Even a mosquito's meat is still meat, why should I let it go?"
The Earth Dragon didn't even wait for them to answer and attacked straight away! He even targeted Krune because he had the smallest cultivation.
The three of them spread their Divine Sense out to be able to communicate and immediately dodged. Still, just because this Earth Dragon is a defense type demon beast, it didn't mean that it was slow. One has to pay attention to the difference in their cultivation levels too.
To the Earth Dragon's surprise, Krune was able to avoid his attack and, he was faster than Ao Sulian earlier. But this earth dragon had a vast experience in battle, and it immediately used his earth element attacks to bind Krune in place. However, just as it hit the target, Krune's figure turned into water! It wasn't Krune who did that, but Yusa instead!
Water Frame!
During the days they were moving into the deeper parts of the danger zone, the group discussed about their own abilities as to better coordinate during times of peril.
The Earth Dragon Divine Sense caught Krune's silhouette appearing close to Yusa. That type of water skill was tough to see through, even for it.
Ao wasn't doing nothing either, he was using his own wind piercing and wind blade attacks to target the Earth Dragons eyes. Ao is, in fact, a sword user. Still, he knows he doesn't have the attack power to breach the defense of the Earth Dragon, so he can only use such methods to distract the Earth-Dragon. At the same time, Krune prepared an attack strong enough to kill or at least force it into retreating.
Sure enough, the Earth Dragon got annoyed with Ao's barrage of attacks. Although it could use its divine sense to see the battlefield, it felt really uncomfortable to not being able to keep its eyes open. But it didn't fall for Ao's provocation because it was angry, it just thought that Krune and Yusa had no way of doing anything to it. Krune was faster than Ao, but the Earth Dragon thought that because of it, Krune's attack power wasn't anything worth looking at. As for Yusa, she is obviously a water element user, so her attacks have minimal effect on him.
Krune's eyes lit up, and he immediately focused his power to create 62 blazing wind blades! He can't use his stone or water prison on that Earth Dragon, though. The first doesn't have the power to hold a demon beast with cultivation much higher than his own, and the second didn't have enough power to breach the Dragon's defense.
With Ao's Wind Movement and Yusa's Water Frame skills, they were able to hold the Dragon for a few seconds, enough to bring it's attention away from Krune. Still, there is one thing puzzling Ao and Yusa. Demon beasts are usually stronger in their real forms. However, Krune is still using his human form even in a dangerous moment like this. Could it be that he doesn't trust the two of them enough to show his real form? But then, they discarded such an idea. If it was really the case, they could have simply signed a blood contract stating that they shouldn't reveal Krune's real form to anyone, the problem would have been resolved as easy as that.
Krune was in a dilemma, and it's not that he doesn't trust both of them. It's just that after he heard that even Divine Soul Demon Beast Cultivators keep an eye open for the situation in the danger zones, he is afraid of catching their attention. For now, he could only try to do what he can in his human form.
The chance finally appeared.
"Skill merge! Blazing Wind Blades!"
All 62 Blazing Wind Blades were aimed at the same point! The Earth Dragon, who wasn't paying any attention to Krune a second ago, felt danger approaching. When it used its Divine Sense to check, it could see a sea of fiery red blades coming at it. Fast! Really Fast! It was already too late to dodge too! The Earth Dragon then focused all of its spiritual energy on his scales, using the earth element to strengthen them!
Blood spurted out and was burnt away as soon as it left its body. The Earth Dragon couldn't help but roar in pain. Krune had left a gruesome injury close to his neck. If the Earth Dragon hadn't noticed the Blazing Wind Blades in time, it wouldn't have reinforced its scales with the earth element, and death would be the only outcome.
Krune started to sweat a little. To use so many Blazing Wind Blades at the same time is quite hard, even for himself. Not to mention that because he is in his human body, he has to circulate spiritual energy through his body before he can use any skill. That's the main reason for him to be weaker in human form.
The Earth Dragon got up, and it looked at Krune in hatred. It almost died just now and then. So it decided to get rid of Krune before dealing with his companions first. The Earth Dragon immediately pounced at Krune while using its Earth Element to stop him from dodge. But Krune still had his friends with him, now that the Earth Dragon is focusing Krune, they had the space to act as they liked. Ao kept doing his best to disturb the Earth-Dragon. At the same time, Yusa kept using her Water Frame to save Krune every time he couldn't dodge.
The Earth Dragon then noticed a problem, the injury on its body was too deep, and its blood kept flowing out. If it continued like this, it would have to flee, but how many battles had it gone through before? It then used Krune to get close to his companions without them noticing. Just when it was about to pounce at Krune another time, a water frame appeared in front of Krune again. Still, the Earth Dragon was waiting for it. It didn't know if Yusa could use two water frames at the same time to deceive its sense, but it felt it was worth a try. At worst, it would just flee since these cultivators won't be able to follow it underground anyway.
The moment the water frame appeared, the Earth Dragon changed direction and pounced at Yusa instead. Krune's group wasn't expecting that at all, and sure enough, Yusa couldn't use two water frames at the same time. She had just used one in front of Krune, so she can't use it again straight away. Krune was too far away, so he wouldn't get there in time. Yusa also doesn't have the necessary speed to dodge, and just as the Earth Dragon was about to kill Yusa, Ao appeared between them. He had a formation runestone in his hand, and it was a protection formation. As long as it is charged with enough spiritual energy, it can be activated at any time. Ao had kept charging it ever since the Earth Dragon appeared. It is another one-time-use runestone, and now was the time to use it!
A barrier then appeared in front of Yusa and Ao, and the Earth Dragon's attack that should have killed Yusa hit the barrier instead. But how could a barrier created with the spiritual energy of a 3rd stage Foundation Establishment cultivator resist the attack? It only lasted a split of a second before breaking apart. After that, Yusa and Ao were sent flying!
Fortunately, the barrier had enough power to reduce the damage, so they didn't die even though they received severe injuries. The Earth Dragon didn't waste time, and those two wouldn't be able to dodge the next attack with those injuries. It also knows that Krune couldn't use that many fiery blades so fast either, so he wouldn't be able to save them. The Dragon then immediately pounced at Yusa and Ao.
It was at this moment that it felt extreme danger coming from behind, which didn't make sense! That 2nd stage Foundation Establishment guy shouldn't be able to use that many fiery blades to attack again so soon. When the Earth Dragon used its Divine Sense to check, the human form beast cultivator was nowhere to be seen. However, right above his dragon head, there was something that shouldn't have been there. It had a spiritual energy body, but the strange part is that that spiritual energy body was completely red! Crimson red! The Dragon couldn't help but think.
'Is that a wisp?'
It was the Earth Dragon's last thought.
Krune was enraged, and his body crimson because of his madness! When he saw that his companions were about to die, he completely threw caution to the wind! He reverted into his true form and used his wind movement. Now that his human body wasn't in the way, his control over the spiritual energy soared. The weight of his body wasn't a hindrance anymore, too, so he immediately appeared above the Earth-Dragon. All around Krune, one could see that over a hundred Blazing Wind Blades had taken form! Not only were there more blades, but they were also even more powerful than any other he had ever used! Krune used all the spiritual energy available to him till almost the last bit.
The blades showered down, and the Earth Dragon didn't even have the time to focus on its defense. Its body was cut into hundreds of pieces to the point that even its demon core was split in half! The energy inside the core then released all the spiritual energy like an explosion! In the end, the Earth Dragon was no more!
Ao and Yusa looked at that amazed! They saw the entire process. They saw the moment Krune reverted to his wisp form till the moment he killed the Earth-Dragon. They thought they would die, but Krune reverted the situation in the last second. Still, they simply couldn't believe that Krune was a wisp! Where have they ever seen a Foundation Establishment wisp before?
Krune's crimson spiritual energy body reverted back to the wisps natural white blue one. Still, his energy body was very dim at the moment. Even his core could totally be seen. As for Krune himself, he had never used so much spiritual energy at once before. In the end, he lost his consciousness. He floated there without moving, just like that.
Yusa was the first to come back to herself. She struggled to get up while looking at Krune and then told Ao.
"Hurry, we need to leave, there will be demon beasts flocking this area very soon. We need to leave and hide, we are in no condition to battle anymore."
Ao nodded, he got up and rushed at Krune, he grabbed Krune's core and left with Yusa. He also helped her on their way out since he was a little better than Yusa after the attack. Thanks to his faster reactions, his condition was the best one at the moment. As expected of a wind element user!
Not long after, they could hear roars coming from where the Earth Dragon died. The body of an Earth Dragon is extremely precious, especially its blood, which has some Dragon Blood in it. It will undoubtedly create chaos among the beast around.
Around 1700 kilometers away, an old man was sitting inside of a sealed cave. He wasn't human, but a beast in human form. He is an early-stage Divine Soul Demon Thunder Lion! He was doing his recognition in the area as he always does with his Divine Sense when he noticed the battle between Krune's group and the Earth-Dragon. He didn't pay attention at first since such scenes happen way too often, after all. He was sure that the Earth Dragon was going to win when suddenly, Krune became a wisp. At that moment, he got shocked! It was a Foundation Establishment wisp, and a very strong one at that! If he were to put his hands on Krune, he might be able to use his spiritual energy to breakthrough into the middle Divine Soul Realm!
The Thunder Lion was ecstatic! It was just about to move when suddenly, he felt a pressure coming from above at him. It was extremely strong, and whoever was doing it to him could totally smash his body to a pulp with just a finger! The lion had to use all his strength just to say a few words.
"Senior, did I do something wrong?"
He was afraid! He never felt so terrified before. After a few seconds, the pressure disappeared, and only a powerful presence remained. The Thunder Lion then heard a voice that it couldn't tell from where it was coming.
"About that wisp, you didn't see anything, and you didn't hear anything either."
"Am, I, Clear?"
The Thunder Lion nodded its head so vigorously that it felt his neck was going to break. The voice then just said one more word.
"Good."
And then, that presence that could destroy a planet was finally gone, just like that.
The Thunder Lion was sweating all over. It decided that it won't touch another wisp for the rest of its life!
Countless galaxies away, the old man who had noticed Krune's success during his first Spiritual Energy Meridians creation closed his eyes. One could just hear him murmuring.
"Little friend, you better get strong fast. I won't be able to protect you for long."
The cave then turned silent once more.