After the third round, the first day of the Mercenary Selection came to an end, because quite a few people had used a lot of spiritual energy, while others not so much. Also, from the next day onwards, people from the same continent will start fighting each other. There were continents like Makui, which had the most of the participants. At the same time, there were others like Yule Continent, which had less, so it was unavoidable to get this conclusion. Although the guilds didn't want to see guild members of the same continent giving up or going easy on their opponents, there was nothing else to be done anymore.
It could, in fact, be a good thing now. Those with a real chance of advancing would get further, while those who know that they aren't capable enough would stay. Yule Continent was the only one, which didn't have that luxury. From the twenty-seven participants, who came this time around, only six remained in the end, and none of them were in the same group. Turi Belane, who had challenged Ao back then, was also in this group.
It was late at night, and Yulie Forgon was just back inside his residence. Someone of his level could easily buy a spatial ring big enough to fit a house inside, and that is the one he was using there that moment. Someone coming that moment would be able to see a cold light in his eyes. Krune's prowess had thrown his plans in disarray. If things continued like that, it would be very difficult for his nephew to get one of the five slots for the top five contestants.
"You can't blame me for it! Blame your luck to end into the same group as my nephew."
Yulie changed in some black clothes and silently left his house. He had to get rid of Krune as soon as possible. Otherwise, his nephew wouldn't be able to pass through the last phase of the selection, and maybe he would even lose to Krune before getting the chance to try that phase.
Krune's group was gathered close to the place where the elders of the Yule Continent were staying. It was very rare to have someone trying something against the top contestants, so no one was paying too much attention. The elders and guild head Bary were all cultivating or doing their own things. Krune was discussing with his friend how they should proceed after winning their brackets.
"I think we don't need to show much of our capabilities just yet. From what I've seen so far, except for Arlan, I don't think we would have problems with the other mercenaries", said Yusa while thinking about the general situation.
Ao shook his head.
"The mercenary guild is one of the big powers of the world. The members of the guild are between the top of those who are going to fight for the ten slots of the Divine Path Sect entrance exam. We could fight him instead so that we can have a better idea of what to expect during the Martial Gathering."
Krune nodded after hearing that.
"It indeed makes sense. Undoubtedly Arlan is one of the best at the moment, even between all the powers. It is better to do that to understand our futures opponents."
He then looked at Yusa and Ao.
"But we don't need the three of us to do this. In that case, who will fight him? I don't believe any of us would be in any great danger; at most, we can just admit defeat if we see that the victory's price is too great."
Ao immediately raised his hand.
"I want to try. He is a Sword user just like me. It will be very convenient for my training. Between the three of us, the only one who uses a sword is myself, so I have the confidence of keeping myself safe."
Krune and Yusa nodded. They had confidence not only on themselves but in their team members too. Ao was not the type to take unnecessary risks either if he said he could deal with it. Then he definitely had that confidence.
Outside Krune's place, a shadow approached without anyone noticing. It was none other than Yulie Forgon. After checking where the participants of the Yule Continent were, he spread his Divine Sense just enough to cover the place. If he alerted any of the Yule Continent elders, he would need to retreat immediately. He had to kill Krune before anything else. The best case would be to kill him without alerting anyone.
Inside Krune's room, little light suddenly woke up.
"Krune, someone is using Divine Sense to look for you. From what I can sense, it seems like this person doesn't have any good intentions."
Krune was still talking with Ao and Yusa when he heard that message. He immediately got up.
"How strong?"
"Definitely in the Divine Soul Realm, probably late stages. I can feel its killing intent. He is here for an assassination attempt and has already locked his Divine Sense on you."
Yusa and Ao didn't understand what was going on. But looking at Krune's face, it was obvious that something happened. Krune immediately reached his chest and smashed the jewel that was attached to a collar on it.
Inside the place where the elders of the Mercenary Guild were staying, Bary was cultivating beside his father. Suddenly, the jewel on a bracelet he was using cracked. Both Lian Casfiu and he noticed that and immediately understood what was happening.
Lian was close by. The main reason for him being there was especially to protect Krune. He spread his Divine Sense and disappeared the next instant. He quickly found the assassin, but he couldn't determine who he or she was. The clothes the person was using had formations protecting against Divine Sense from passing through.
Lian Casfiu was one of the very few cultivators in the Makui Planet in the Soul Forging Realm, so Yulie obviously couldn't feel the moment Lian's Divine Sense scanned him. But he still found out that someone had discovered his location. He had his robe to thanks for that. It was the spiritual equipment that blocked Divine Sense. But it was exactly this ability that allowed Yulie to find out that someone tried to check him. The fact that he couldn't detect who scanned his body proved that the person was several times stronger than him.
"It's that dammed Lian Casfiu. Only he has a realm higher enough for me not to notice his Divine Sense."
Seeing that it was impossible to Kill Krune anymore, Yulie immediately decided to retreat. It was then that he heard a voice coming from his side:
"Leaving already? You have just arrived! Why don't you come in for us to drink some tea and have a little chat?"
Yulie was alarmed. He didn't expect Lian would appear there so fast. He immediately activated his movement technique and tried to flee. However, he noticed that the space around him suddenly became like a sea of water, but it wasn't at the same time. This definitely wasn't a spiritual energy skill. The Sky Fall Continent Mercenary Headquarters also had Soul Forging Realm cultivators, and two of them, to be more exact. So he knew very well what it was slowing him down so much.
"Domain!"
Domain was an ability that only those in the Soul Forging Realm and above could use. They could bring forth this ability due to their understanding of the space. It was one of the main reasons why Divine Soul Cultivators were no match for Soul Forging Cultivator. Not to mention the difference in their realms alone.
"Now then, you've just arrived. If I let you come and go as you please, where would my face go? There is no need to worry. I will take care of you."
Noticing that the situation wasn't good, Yulie bit his tongue and activated a blood escaping technique. He also took a Runestone Formation from his spatial ring, which he had already left charged, and activated. The escape technique allowed him to achieve the speed of an early-stage Soul Forging realm. At the same time, the Runestone formation diminished the power of the domain blocking him.
"Hmph! You aren't going anywhere."
Just as Lian was about to catch him, Yulie used another secret technique. His cultivation suddenly started to fall, from the 9th stage to the 8th, and then to the 7th. However, his speed, which was already very high due to the blood escaping technique, increased even more. Soon, he left the area where Lian's Domain was in effect. Lian looked at that and couldn't help but sigh.
"He was willing to sacrifice this much just so that I couldn't find his real identity. Not that it is too hard to guess who it was anyway! But without capturing him, I won't be able to prove anything."
Back in the Krune's room, Bary had appeared just instants ago, when he showed his presence. Little light told Krune that the assassin had fled. Krune finally let out a sigh of relief.
Bary was with his Divine Sense fully spread and ready to take Krune away at a moment's notice. The other elders of the guild and even the elders of the other continents nearby noticed his Divine Sense and came out to check what was happening. Not long after, Lian Casfiu came back to check on Krune. Seeing that everything was okay, he left the aftermath for Bary to take care of.
"Don't worry, father, leave it to me."
Lian nodded and then disappeared the next second. He had already told Bary through Divine Sense about everything that had happened. Bary then looked at Krune and told him.
"The assassin escaped, but he had to pay an enormous price to do so. Whoever it was, he or she definitely won't try anything against you anytime soon."
Krune nodded.
"Does Guild Head Bary know whether any of the contestants received an attempt of assassination?"
Guild Head Bary heard that and immediately understood where Krune was coming from.
"Give me a second, I will check."
Bary then spread his Divine Sense once more and talked with the elders of the other guilds. Realizing that someone tried to assassinate a member of the Yule Continent during the Mercenary Selection immediately alerted everyone. The elder of all guilds made a quick check on their members and told Bary their members were fine. Bary then told the same to Krune.
"I see! Then it's not hard to guess the culprit. The mercenary selection has five slots for the Martial Gathering. It would make no sense to attack me. The best is to kill some of the other seeded mercenaries since they still don't know how strong I am. But this assassin wouldn't do that, which proves that the threat he is feeling is related to the group bracket I'm in. If we look into the combat power of the contestants remaining inside my bracket, only two possible contestants can make it to the final phase, I and Shad Forgon. This moment, everyone still thinks that Shad Forgon is most likely to be the final winner in my group. But this person still chose to come after me, which means that he wants to help Shad instead."
Krune's face then darkened.
"It can only be one of the Divine Soul Realms of the Sky Fall Continent, or at the very least, someone related to them. They wanted to guarantee that Shad would be the winner of my group and that he wouldn't be too worn out on top of that. My presence in Shad's group had destroyed their plans, thus, this assassination attempt!"
Bary nodded. He and his father had already got to the same conclusion.
"In that case, let's have Shad Forgon to sign a blood contract and confess what he knows."
Krune shook his head.
"It will turn out to be useless. Whoever did it, definitely hasn't told Shad about the operation, exactly because he can't get rid of a blood contract like a Divine Soul Realm cultivator can. At most, he would have some assumptions, but that would not be considered as proof of anything. It was also because of this that the one who came was a Divine Soul Cultivator. After all, blood contracts can't bind them."
Bary couldn't help but agree with Krune. It would have been a very idiotic action to tell Shad about what was going to happen and then spill out the truth through a blood contract.
"Then let it be! In the end, this was their only chance. Tomorrow we will have the last three battles of the group brackets. Whether you lose or win to Shad doesn't matter anymore. They won't be able to stop you from competing."
Bary let out a sigh and then said:
"My father will keep a look, for the time being, so you can rest until tomorrow. I'll come back at around nine o'clock to take you there."
Krune nodded and saw Bary off. But before leaving, he left another of those jewels that Krune used to alert them. Bary also wanted to ask how Krune found out about the assassin but decided not to ask. In the end, it probably had to do with some of Krune's secrets, after all. When Krune returned, he could see that Yusa and Ao were full of questions. Krune had used the Divine Sense to talk with Bary during the whole time. So they didn't know what was happening.
"It goes like this…"
Yusa and Ao faces' darkened. The worst of all was that the side who tried to do that was extremely obvious, but they couldn't do anything about that.
"Let it be! It's just as guild head, Bary said. This was their only chance. From tomorrow onwards, any new attempt would be just a fool's action."
Yusa and Ao nodded and then left a little later to go back to their room.
Krune sat on the bed and just sighed.
"That's what happens when you give up your low profile life."
He shook his head and went back to cultivate. He is almost at the 8th stage now.