Thanks to the Spiritual Energy Meridians, Yusa can now control three elements at the same time. But the Group decided it would be better if she didn't show that for the time being. They decided to have her waiting until she got to the 9th stage before showing her capabilities. That way, it would look less suspicious.
Today, Krune's Group was gathered in front of the Kaley City gate that goes to the Katiu Forest. They were just signing the agreement as always.
"The Mercenary Guild will take two to three weeks to send those Core Formation Experts to oversee Shinja's breakthrough. This is more than enough time for me to go and check my disciple. If you want, you can stay. It shouldn't take more than a few days.
Ao and the other shook their heads.
"We are very curious to see this disciple of yours. He is a wisp too, right? We want to see if the rainbow is following him as well."
Krune ignored the last part of the comment and finished signing his name. After that, the Group left for Katiu Forest. They told Lu Ganan in advance that they would only take two weeks out, at most, and would be back before the guild sent the experts. Every new core formation expert is an important asset in a weak place like Makui Planet. They had to make sure that it went without any trouble.
Krune's Group moved at high speed. The Lizard Dragons lair was much closer than the other dangerous places they had to go. It's just that Krune's cultivation and element control in the past were still low, so he took a long time to leave it. Well, 'low' if you consider Krune now. Compared to other cultivators or demon beasts, he was already very strong when he first left the Katiu Forest.
Four days later, Krune could already see the Lizard Dragons cave entrance. But something was strange! He could see with his Divine Sense that a few Foundation Establishment demon beasts, from different races, were guarding the entrance. Krune ignored that and quickly approached. When the creatures saw Krune's Group getting close, they immediately entered into a battle instance, prepared to fight at any time.
Krune saw that but didn't do anything. Yusa and the others also didn't know this place, so they simply waited for Krune's words.
"Who are you? Where are the Lizards Dragons, Lakin, and Ruik?"
The leader on the front, a demon fox in human form, seemed to be surprised. He then noticed the Krune's rainbow hair and immediately came forward.
"Relax, everyone. It's big master! He is back."
Krune thought he heard it wrong.
'Big master? Who? Me?'
He didn't know what was happening. He was about to ask when a young guy appeared at the entrance of the Lizard Dragons cave. He looked quite ordinary. No one would pay much attention to him if he was put in the middle of a crowd. Simply put, he was just like Krune, ordinary to the extreme, except for the fact that he didn't have Rainbow Hair or Eyes.
Krune didn't have to ask, so what if he were in human form? There is no way he wouldn't recognize his disciple aura. Before he could say a word, his disciple had already rushed forward and hugged him.
"Master!"
Krune just caressed his head and laughed out loud.
"Now look at this! It seems you were successful in your Foundation Establishment. Master is happy for you."
Krune then looked around and noticed all the beasts looking at him.
"Well, let's go inside first! You know I hate to attract attention."
Lakin nodded and was about to bring Krune inside when he noticed the humans behind him.
"Master, are those...?"
"I tell you inside. Let's go!"
Lakin agreed, and they moved into the Spiritual Vein Lake room. As soon as Krune got there, he was surprised. The amount of spiritual energy in the cave was several times higher than what it was in his time. But that wasn't all! What really surprised him was the other beings inside.
Wisps! Wisps everywhere!
Let alone Krune, even Shinja, and the others had never seen so many wisps together before.
"This…"
Lakin laughed.
"I brought them here, I often went out to train myself. In the end, because the inner parts of the Katiu Forest have more spiritual energy than the outer ones, I found a lot of wisps during the time master was out. The majority were new wisps just like me who lucked out and didn't get eaten."
Krune nodded.
"I see, but what are you going to do with all of them? It's not like you can take care of them forever! Also, what are those beasts outside guarding the cave?"
Lakin then explained what was happening.
It turns out that Lakin simply didn't have the heart to leave the wisps behind, so he brought them with him. His plan is to train a few of them until they can defend the rest and go. Some of the wisps were already in the 8th stage of Qi Condensation, and there were even two in the 9th. They were coincidently cultivating at that moment, so Krune could feel the Spiritual Energy Meridians on them. It seemed Lakin had taught a few of them how to cultivate the Spiritual Energy Meridians.
As for the demon beasts guarding outside, Lakin had challenged every single one of them and won. As the victor, he simply demanded them to protect the spiritual vein lake cave and keep the secret, making sure they wouldn't go back on their words. Lakin used the blood contracts. The thing about Big Master was something that Lakin made out.
"I see, what about the Lizard Dragons and Ruik?"
Lakin just smiled and said.
"The Lizard Dragons had all become Foundation Establishment Demon Beasts. Their dragon blood was really impressive, even without the Spiritual Energy Meridians. They can still fight those one stage above simply by relying on their bloodline. They should be out hunting for food at that moment. Their Big brother is even on the second stage now. They are all cultivating the pseudo meridians, and it shouldn't take long for their big brother to finish creating the ninth pseudo meridian. After that, he can start creating his first Spiritual Energy Meridian."
Krune nodded. The brothers and sisters Lizard Dragons had pretty much turned out the way he predicted.
Lakin then continued.
"As for Ruik..."
He then turned to look at a specific corner where one could see a big nest. Now that Krune paid attention to that, he could hear some snores coming from it. There was no need for Lakin to say anything more, Krune just laughed and moved close. Arriving there, he could see a Two-Headed demon snake sleeping like a rock. Krune gathered some energy in one of his legs, and they gave a kick. The poor snake flew quite a few meters away.
"Who dares to touch the great Ruik? Do you want to die?"
Krune laughed even more.
"Great Ruik, your head! I, your grandfather, can kick you anytime I feel like! Don't like it? Then come at me!"
Ruik heard that and was enraged. Only when he turned to look at whom said that his expression changed.
"It was you! The worm wisp."
Yusa and the others heard that and looked at Krune.
"Worm wisp?"
Krune's mouth twitched.
"Are you looking for a fight?"
"You were the one who kicked me!"
"You snore too loud!"
"It shows I'm living and kicking!"
Lakin got close to Krune's friends and said.
"Just ignore them. Eventually, they will stop. It doesn't seem it, but they like each other a lot."
Krune and Ruik retorted in unison.
"Who said I like this guy?"
Yusa and the others burst in laugh. They are close, indeed. Yusa then took the opportunity to ask.
"By the way, what is this worm wisp about?"
Ruik's eyes immediately lit up. He completely ignored Krune's existence or the fact that the one who asked was a human who appeared while he was sleeping.
"Oh, let me talk about the day this guy first acquired his human form."
Krune was just about to stop him when suddenly, Shinja and Ao covered his mouth. They very much wish to hear that story. Krune couldn't help but think.
"Traitors!"
Sometime later, Yusa and the others were still laughing about the story from when Krune first got his human form and tried to walk. It could definitely be used again in the future.
On the other side, Krune had a helpless face. He was thinking where his dignity as the leader had gone. Maybe it wasn't even there to start with. Ruik looked at that and just said:
"That's what you get for kicking me."
Krune then sighed and changed the topic.
"So, how is the Myriad Energies Technique going on for you?"
Ruik heard that and got more serious.
"It is as you said before; the wisps that cultivated it had a much easier time to get all nine pseudo energy meridians than me. I only have more Spiritual Energy Meridians than them because I started to cultivate this technique much earlier than them. But I reckon they will pass me sooner or later. Those two cultivating there already have one Spiritual Energy Meridian each."
Ruik then pointed at the two wisps Lakin had mentioned before.
"I have three complete Spiritual Energy Meridians. But now, I lack the spirit stone to open the next ones. After you open the third, the amount of spiritual energy necessary is enormous."
Krune nodded. He already expected that. Yusa was able to open four, basically because she had received Rank Four spirit stones from the Rainbow Sect. However, she was still unable to open the fifth. Her spirit stones ran short.
Suddenly, Krune remembered something.
"Right! Lakin, how many Spiritual Energy Meridians did you open?"
Lakin heard that and was surprised, not because his master asked him about his Spiritual Energy Meridians, but because he didn't ask about his foundation.
"Master, aren't you curious about what I used as foundation?"
Krune smiled and shook his head.
"You successfully created your foundation. It doesn't matter which one it is. The important is that you survived. Don't forget our wisps have only one chance at Foundation Establishment."
Krune got close to Lakin and caressed his head again.
"Master is happy as long as you are happy."
Lakin felt like he was going to cry again, but resisted the urge. He took a big breath and said.
"I opened Four Spiritual Energy Meridians. I could have opened more, but the lack of spiritual energy is very big. The meridians are extremely good, but they need too much spiritual energy to create."
Krune nodded after hearing that. It was as he expected. If Lakin wants to get higher-level spirit stones, he will need to go further into the Katiu Forest and probably fight against the middle- and late- stages Foundation Establishment beasts. Krune could see that he was in the 3rd stage at the moment. It would be quite complicated to do something against the 6th stage or higher demon beasts.
"Show me a few skills. I want to take a look at your level of control over the spiritual elements.
Lakin nodded and showed a few skills, and he learned by himself after he was over. Krune had a pensive look on his face.
"Your element control is pretty much the same as Yusa."
Yusa heard that and then said:
"So it seems like it had nothing to do with the fact you are a wisp. It is easier for wisps to create the Spiritual Energy Meridians. It seems like the control that you get might really be related to your talent."
Krune heard that and nodded.
"It seems like it, anyway! It's not like it is a big thing. The Spiritual Energy Meridians can greatly improve your control over the elements, which is already extremely good."
Lakin then thought about something.
"Right! Master, every time I create a Spiritual Energy Meridian, they don't shine like yours in the end. Ruik's Meridians were the same thing too."
Krune was surprised by that comment. Yusa heard that and confirmed.
"Mine too, they didn't shine even once."
Krune pondered a bit but didn't know why only his shined every time he finished one.
"So, I have three options here as to why my control over the elements is better with the same amount of meridians."
"First, maybe it has something to do with the fact that mine shines when it's done."
"Second, it might be a talent."
"Or third, it is the universe Foundation. But the third one we will find about when Shinja creates her own."
For the time being, Krune decided to put the matter to the back of his mind and changed the topic.
"Lakin, you didn't show your true form outside, right?"
Lakin shook his head. By now, he's already understood how valuable a Foundation Establishment wisp really is. He didn't dare to walk out of the cave in his wisp form anymore. Krune then explained what he'd learned about the high-cultivation level demon beasts of the dangerous zones. After hearing that, Lakin was even surer, his decision was right.
"Well then, why don't you introduce me to the new guys that are using the Myriad Energies Technique?"
Lakin's eyes lit up and immediately brought the two 9th-stage wisps that were cultivating before. Only after Lakin called them over, did they have the courage to approach Krune. They can see how marvelous the Myriad Energies Technique really is. Krune was just the wisp who found out about its true form all by himself, in their eyes, Krune was the same as a god!
Wisps in their wisp forms look pretty much the same, only their size changes a little bit depending on their cultivation. Fortunately, they could still identify themselves by their aura, and Lakin pointed at the one on the right.
"This guy here is called Dier. He is probably becoming a man once he enters the Foundation Establishment. So, we decided on this manly name until we are sure he was one of the first wisps I found out there during my training. He was born for a very little time, so it took quite a while until he could finally speak and understand how to cultivate."
Although Krune couldn't see any difference in Dier's wisp form, he knew he was complimenting him.
"It's good to have you around. If this disciple of mine causes you any trouble, just let me know! After all, he isn't much older than you ."
Lakin felt a little embarrassed but didn't say anything, and then moved to the next one.
"And this one is probably becoming a girl once reaching the Foundation Establishment. So we decided on a girly name for her until we see it for sure. So her temporary name is Cassy. I found her hidden close to a river. It seems she learnt to use the same method as master in the past. Stay close to the river, and if a demon beast or wisp hunter appears, she just dives inside and flees with the current."
Cassy was a bit embarrassed when she heard that, but was also happy when Lakin had told her Krune used to do the same thing. When he was a low-level wisp, she was a great fan of Krune, after all. Of course, it is all because of how grandiose Lakin talked about him.
"So you are probably becoming a little girl. I'm looking forward to seeing it."
Yusa and the others heard about the probable thing and their temporary names, so they asked:
"What do you mean by temporary name?"
Krune didn't think about it in the past, but he had to admit it made a lot of sense. So he decided to explain it himself.
"Wisps don't have a gender before getting their human form. Only after entering Foundation Establishment and transforming for the first time, will they know which gender they are. As far as I can see, by taking Lakin and me as an example, our gender is probably decided by our personality. Of course, we will need to get more examples of wisps to confirm this theory of mine."
Lakin nodded and looked at Cassy.
"We are probably right. Cassy is most likely going to become an amazing girl."
Krune and his zero EQ didn't notice anything. How could Yusa and Shinja not? Yusa got close to Lakin without him noticing. The impressive thing is that even Shinja followed suit and did the same. It was evident that they had combined something. The two girls approached each one of Lakin's ears while he was looking at Cassy and whispered:
"So, little Lakin is interested in the little Cassy, right?"
Lakin's heart almost stopped. In an instant, he fled several meters away with his own wind movement technique. His face was as red as a tomato.
Krune saw that and looked confused.
"What did you say to him?"
Yusa and Shinja smiled and, while looking at Lakin, said:
"It's our little secret, right, Lakin?"
Lakin looked away and pretended he didn't hear anything.