Back at the Solie Clan, everything was calm. Ao had already left a few days ago. He had told Zu Solie about the use of the teleportation formation to move a few important secret things. The Clan Head didn't mind; he had to give Krune his full support at all times, after all. So he was waiting for the day it was going to happen. But then he received a message that their Teleport Formation was receiving someone coming from a coordinate never used before. Zu Solie was puzzled. According to Ao Sulian, it would still take some time before they used the teleport formation.
"Let's take a look!"
When he arrived there, Krune was already in front of the formation. He looked quite frightened. No wonder! If the teleport formation he built had any mistake, he would have been torn to pieces by the space warping power. Noticing who it was, Zu Solie went forward to compliment him when, suddenly, Krune rushed out like a flash of light.
"It seems he doesn't want to talk."
Seeing that, he simply shook his head and went back to do his own things.
Krune was moving in the Mercenary Guilds direction. On the way, he contacted Yusa and Ao, who were still in the city and explained the situation to them. Hearing that, they immediately came out to receive Krune.
"What do you need?"
Krune was in a hurry, so he was direct.
"I have to take the materials for another teleport formation in the guild and then move out immediately. I don't know whether I will be able to set up the last formation in time! So I need you to stay there and buy me time. You can use the teleport formation in the Solie Clan to move directly inside the spiritual vein lake. I left the coordinates written in your communicators after I teleport to Harta City. I will send Shinja back to help you too."
Ao and Yusa nodded. They were confident that if a Core Formation Realm cultivator didn't come, they would be able to hold the fort, even without Shinja. But she will be joining then shortly after anyway. So they shouldn't have any issue at first. They immediately went back to the Solie Clan using the teleportation to go back where Lakin and Ruik were waiting. Since Krune was able to use the teleport formation with no problem, it means that his teleport formation is working perfectly fine.
After getting the materials he needed in the Mercenary Guild, Krune went back to the Solie Clan but teleported to the Harta City instead. After arriving there, he got in contact with Shinja to find where the Long Distance Teleport Formation was located.
As he already expected, the Long Distance teleport formations were all in the Formations Guild of Harta City. Shinja had already paid for the use and gave Krune the authority over it.
"I'm fine alone. I can go to the Rainbow Sect on my own. But I need you to go where Lakin and the others are staying. I hope to finish it fast enough, but the Rainbow Sect is further away from Harta City than Lakin is from Kaley City. However, since I'm alone, I won't need to hold back. With some luck, I can finish everything before any fight is to occur."
Shinja shook her head.
"Even if there is a fight, it won't be a problem. I wanted to test my skills anyway, and this is an excellent opportunity."
Krune nodded and recorded the coordinates of the teleport formation that they had rented. After that, he left straight away. He could count only with Shinja and the others now. Since they've already had a Long Distance teleport formation, Shinja used it to move back to the Solie Clan. From there, she teleported again to where Yusa and the others were waiting.
Krune wasn't wrong. With no one following him, he is definitely faster than any ordinary Late Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. The problem is the distance to arrive, which is much bigger. It still took him five days at full speed to arrive at the entrance of the Rainbow Sect.
'Well then, let's start.'
Back at Katiu Forest, a group of cultivators was moving straight away to the Spiritual Vein Lake Cave. On the front, one could see a long-haired man who acted as the guide, whose name was Huse Cout. Just beside him, there was an older man with white hair. Because of the spiritual energy around him, one could easily say that he is a Core Formation Expert. His name was Hary Cout. Huse just so happened to be his son. Behind them, one could see another ten some cultivators. They were all in the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment, and judging their robes' insignia, they were obviously from the same clan as the white-haired old man.
"Father, we are almost there! what do you plan on doing?"
Hary looked at his son and said:
"Of course, it's going to be a frontal attack. We need to use the wisp nets to prevent those wisps from dissipating their cores. So we can't lose time!"
"You are sure you saw several wisps with cultivation over the 7th stage of Qi Condensation, right?"
Huse nodded.
"I'm sure! There were even two in the 9th stage. Also, in the middle of the demon beasts, there was a white-robed youth as well. He definitely isn't human, and all the wisp seemed to respect him very much. I believe he might really be a Foundation Establishment Wisp in Human Form."
Hary got excited every time he heard about it. If he can get that youth wisp and use his energy, he can definitely break through the bottleneck that had been bothering him for years. Hary is a perfect example of someone who used several wisps and pills to reach the stage he is at the moment. Because of that, his foundation is as poor as one could be unless he gets even better pills. He practically has no hope of advancing his cultivation anymore. Buying low-level wisps to help with his cultivation makes no difference in his state anymore either. But that youth, who might be a Foundation Establishment wisp, is an entirely different story.
"Very well! If you are right and we get to capture all those wisps, I will let you be the next leader of our clan. This will be an accomplishment your brothers will never be able to surpass."
Huse heard that and was ecstatic. At first, he wanted to charge with his group and take everything for himself. But, after seeing the number of demon beasts defending the place, he understood it would be too dangerous. Even if he succeeded, he would probably lose the majority of wisps. His group didn't go into the Katiu Forest because of wisps. After all, fortunately, he was the only one with a Divine Sense big enough to be able to see what was inside that cave lair. So he returned to the city and gave an excuse to the other cultivators. After that, he went to see his father straight away and told him everything.
"Let's hurry up!"
One hour later, they finally arrived at the mountain range where the cave was located. Hary immediately used his Divine Sense and covered the entire mountain. He wouldn't let any wisp flee under his eyes. That moment, he stopped.
"Everyone, wait!"
Huse and the other cultivators looked at Hary, puzzled. There should be no need for them to wait against that level of resistance. It was then they saw a woman dressed in blue coming out of the cave entrance. Behind her, one could see another woman and a man. By checking the spiritual energy around those people, Hary could tell that the woman was also at the Core Formation Realm, while the two behind her were at the 7th stage of the Foundation Establishment.
Hary was surprised. Because there was no doubt, those three were humans, just like him. All the beasts and the youth he wanted to capture seemed to treat them with a lot of respect.
"May I ask who this fellow cultivator is?"
Shinja looked cold as ice, but she answered anyway:
"Shinja Avril, Four Stars Mercenary."
Hary's mouth twitched. He can see that Shinja is at the 1st stage of the Core Formation Realm. But the fact she is a Four-Stars Mercenary showed she could fight those with cultivation level higher than herself. And it wasn't just one or two stages higher! He himself is at the 5th Stage. But his aptitude is very ordinary! Unless he uses a few tricks, he can't fight anyone with a cultivation higher than himself.
"May I know whether this fellow cultivator is planning to control all the wisps? We don't need to fight over it! There is enough for both parts to be satisfied. We can reach an agreement here."
Shinja and the others heard that, and their faces became dark.
"I agree."
Hary felt relieved for a second. But then he heard Shinja's next words:
"This is the agreement! You and your bunch will leave straight away, and I will pretend you didn't talk about my friends as they were some kind of commodity you can buy and sell anywhere."
Hary and everyone were taken aback.
Friends? Wisp friends? Could they have heard it wrong?
"Do you take me for a fool? Who would believe those words?"
Shinja didn't give a damn if he believes her or not. But for the sake of not engaging in battle and having her side suffering casualties, she still played along.
"If you don't believe me, then take out a blood contract and write down exactly what I'll say. I will sign it right in front of you. If you don't believe me even with a blood contract, then there is nothing I can do other than fight."
This time, Hary couldn't answer. If she really signs the contract, then it will prove she is speaking the truth. Hary has lived for a long time already, he can more or less tell she will definitely sign it just to confirm her words. His face then turned vicious. No matter what, he needs that youth who is probably a Foundation Establishment wisp. Otherwise, he will have no hope of advancing anymore.
"I don't care if you are telling the truth or not. I want my wisps. If you don't retreat or make an agreement to share them with us, we can only fight then."
Shinja then took out her frozen hairpin. It was a weapon made for Core Formation cultivators. This one, in particular, improved the flow of water element of her skills. She intended to use it during the Core Formation Realm Tribulation, but, thanks to Krune 'eating' two of the lightning, she was able to hold without damaging the hairpin.
Ao behind her already took his sword out. He might not be able to do anything to the Core Formation cultivator. But he is absolutely confident against the others. He especially wants to test his combat prowess now that he opened his Spiritual Energy Meridians. And Huse, who was at the 9th stage of Foundation Establishment, was a good starter.
Yusa doesn't have a weapon to use, but she brought a lot of runestone formations. She knows she's the best at support, so she will help everyone from behind, not to mention that she also can fight those above her level. Thus she should not have any issue on holding back a few of those middle-stage Foundation Establishment guys.
Both Sides were tense. It was obvious that none would retreat. The demon beast signed a contract with Lakin that they would help defend the cave, so they couldn't leave either. Lakin and Ruik also have Spiritual Energy Meridians, so they can fight cultivators above their levels too. They selected one of the middle stage guys each and were ready to advance.
Shinja looked behind her and sent a Divine Sense message to everyone:
"It has already been a few days since Krune left for the Rainbow Sect Secret Realm. As long as we can defend against this attack, it won't matter if they flee and bring reinforcements later. Krune will definitely have finished everything by then, so focus on keeping yourselves alive, no need for desperate attempts."
Everyone nodded and got ready. On the other side, seeing that Shinja's group did not give up made Hary's face darken. He raised his hand and then pointed forward.
"Attack!"
Shinja stepped forward to receive Hary. She was the only one that could fight Hary Head on. Hary was a flying swords user, but Shinja's watertight defense had no flaws he could exploit. Shinja had already opened her Spiritual Energy Meridians as well. Her soul power and talent had been higher than his to start with, although she began to cultivate the Myriad Energies Technique after Ao. She finished creating all nine pseudo energy meridians, almost at the same time as him with her Pure Yin Body, Soul Technique, and the help of her Spiritual Weapon. Putting all those together, she could jump four stages and hold Hary Back.
As for Ao, he disappeared from where he was. Huse, who was very confident a second ago due to his 9th stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, was taken by surprise! Ao, who was moving in his direction, is by no means any slower than himself. In fact, he is definitely faster!
The two of them engaged in a battle straight away. Huse immediately understood that he was weaker than this 7th-stage Foundation Establishment guy, so he immediately took out a Spiritual Energy Burning pill and swallowed it without thinking twice!
This is one of the alchemist's pills, which can only be used in emergencies. It will increase the Spiritual Energy usage rate several times and provide a great boost in the cultivator's combat prowess for some time. However, it also had its side-effects. After the effect is over, the cultivator would be in a weakened state for several days. If the side-effects aren't treated in time, the foundation might be damaged forever, eliminating any hope of further breakthroughs. The only chance will be to destroy their own dantians or cores and start again from zero.
With the help of the pill, Huse was finally able to cope with Ao.
Lakin and Ruik were fighting one 6th Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator each. Thanks to the Spiritual Energy Meridians, they were having no problem in holding their ground.
On Yusa's side, she was holding back three of the Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment cultivators at the same time. She was also providing support to the demon beasts, who were at a disadvantage. She can also trash someone like Huse at her level if he didn't use that pill. Thus, it wasn't any big deal to be able to hold three middle stage guys while providing support.
The rest of the demon beasts were using their higher numbers to hold back the rest of the enemies, with Yusa providing support every time things went south. They were, actually, the ones taking the least of the burdens.
Yusa looked around and kept everything inside her Divine Sense. Although she could be said to be the key behind their defense, she knew that battle and the others' didn't matter much anymore. There was only one battle, which really mattered at the moment. Surprisingly, it was Shinja's Core Formation Level Battle, but Ao vs. Huse battle.
Huse had consumed a pill that further increased his battle prowess. She knew such a pill had a time limit and huge side-effects. As long as Ao defeat Huse, or the pill's effect ends, the Core Formation guy fighting Shinja in the skies will be forced to retreat. Otherwise, his entire force will be wiped out. The problem is that there is no way he hasn't noticed that problem. So, what does he plan to do about this situation?
Yusa didn't need to have Krune's IQ to understand Hary's next step. At that moment, a runestone formation appeared in her hands. It was consistently being charged with her spiritual energy. No one noticed the Runestone and… the smile on her face.