After the fourth day of battles, the last five of the fifteen contestants got chosen. Elder Loni then Gathered everyone again and announced the previous five just like he did the last time.
"Divine Swords Sect, Kariu Rone."
"Ferlo Clan, Edil Ferlo."
"Watzen Kingdom's Second Princess, Mari Watzen."
"Purple Sea, Poison Eel Levi"
"Blazing Leopards Territory, Blazing Leopard Rasma."
"With that, all fifteen slots of this time are covered. Get ready because tomorrow, we are going back to your Makui Planet. We are then staying there during the next three months and a half. After that, we will depart for the Divine Path Sect Entrance. That's all."
Tasier went to talk with the Leopard Rasma since they are both from the Borle continent. Arlan then went to see the other Divine Swords Sect members. It turns out that the Divine Swords Sect title of strongest Sect wasn't just for show. After all, they still got three slots in the end. And if you count the fact that Arlan is part of the Divine Swords Sect as well, then they have four.
Krune and the others went back to do their own things since they didn't know any of the other contestants anyway. The day passed, and it was finally time to go back. Inside the Spaceship, Arlan was talking with Krune.
"So, you want to use the Dragon Essence Liquid to make a soul healing pill. I admit that it would help a lot to breakthrough into the Core Formation Realm. But don't you think you should ask a higher tiered alchemist to do it? You are only at the peak of the Four Stars Level, after all."
Krune shook his head.
"My tier is enough to make those pills, not to mention that if I ask for another alchemist to make it, you will need to pay a very high fee and give up any extra pills that they make. Dragon Essence Liquid is too rare, so I want to keep as many pills as possible."
Arlan then asked.
"I think that your Yule Continent Guild would still find someone, though."
But Krune was adamant.
"I think that too, but I really want to try it out. Who knows when I will have a chance to use Dragon Essence Liquid again?"
Arlan had to agree with that statement.
"Are you confident about it?"
Krune immediately nodded.
"The Four Stars Soul Healing Pill isn't super hard to make. The main issue is getting the Dragon Essence. I reckon that you most likely can't put your hands on it in our Makui Planet. So we are fortunate to six drops now."
Arlan pondered a bit and then made another question.
"In that case, how many pills you can make with a drop?"
Krune then shook his head.
"I don't know. First, I will practice making the same pill without the essence until I'm proficient with the process, only then will I have a base. But I reckon that it shouldn't be less than three. Of course, I might fail the pill creation process too, and lose everything. Haha!"
Arlan heard that and sweated all over, but then he greeted his teeth and said.
"In that case, use my two drops as well. The more drops you have, the higher your chances of making them."
Krune was surprised at that.
"Are you sure about that? I've never tried it before, and I admit that a higher tiered alchemist might have better chances. If all of them fail, there will be nothing left."
Arlan just sighed.
"Since you trusted me to pass the Myriad Energies Technique, then I will believe that you can concoct the Soul Healing Pills. Besides, even if you fail, I will consider it the price for the technique you gave me."
Krune just laughed after hearing that. It's not wrong to say that the real Myriad Energies Technique isn't the least worse than the Dragon Essence Liquid. If anything, it is probably worth even more!
On the way back, Ao seemed a little bored. The reason is that Arlan was focused on finishing the last two pseudo energy meridians. So he didn't have his usual partner to train with swords. In the end, he got to practice with Yusa instead. Yusa also needs to stabilize her foundation, and battles are an excellent way to do that. As for Shinja, she got Krune to be her spar partner. Both of them need to reinforce their cultivations too, after all.
Two weeks later, they were finally back to Makui Planet. Krune's group immediately left back to Yule Continent. Tasier, Arlan, and Lofa had to go back to their Sect or Family to report about the Martial Gathering. So they would come over to the Yule Continent a month later.
After arriving at the Yule Continent, Guild Head Bary wanted to throw a banquet to commemorate Krune and Ao's results, but they refused it. Krune wanted to go back to the Rainbow Sect to check on Lakin before coming back to concoct the Soul Healing Pill.
Of course, bringing something as rare as the Dragon Essence with him would only incur disaster. So he left the six drops with Bary before moving out.
There is no way that the Mercenary Guild would take it for themselves. After they saw Krune and Ao's results in the Martial Gathering, it was evident that their chance of entering the Divine Path Sect is exceptionally high. Even a full bottle of Dragon Essence Liquid wouldn't be worth it for them to betray Krune.
Krune's group arrived at Harta City without any commotion. Guild Head Bary made sure that no one would know that they left the Guild Headquarters. So, after changing their appearances a little, no one recognized them. As for the registration at the city gate before entering the danger zone? Bary had taken care of that as well! Krune couldn't help but think how convenient it is to have connections.
Krune's group moved without anyone noticing, and they only took two days to arrive at the place where the gate is. But as soon as they arrived, they saw a big problem. They found loads of cultivators and Demon Beast at the Core Formation Realm and above around the area. Not to mention that with the sheer number of late stages Core Formation Realm cultivators, there is bound to Divine Soul Cultivator here too.
"You four, this area is restricted at the moment. Whatever you are doing in this direction, go do that somewhere else."
After hearing that call, Shinja played the role of the leader this time and asked what was happening.
"This has nothing to do with you. We are inside a Danger Zone, so remember that even if we get rid of you here, no one will complain. Get out and don't bother us."
Krune's group could see several types of emblems attached to the cultivators and demon beasts in human form. It was evident that several powers had gathered here. That's why they didn't get attacked straight away since it would be harmful in the eyes of the other powers.
Shinja then apologized, and they left right after. By the looks of it, their team wasn't the first one to bump into this place. After they traveled far enough, They finally stopped to discuss the situation. To be safe, they used Divine Sense for that.
"We would have to be idiots to think that this has nothing to do with our Rainbow Sect. Could it be that they have already entered?"
Krune shook his head.
"They haven't. I have the power to open and close the gate at the moment. If it were open, I would have noticed. Although I have no idea how they found this place, I can guarantee that the gate is still closed."
The others let out a sigh of relief, specially Shinja, who was extremely worried about Cassy. They then looked at Krune to see if he had any idea. He is the only Legacy Disciple, after all.
"Don't worry, I have discussed with Hasik before. So I know where the other entrances are at the moment. Let's move there and see how the situation is."
After that, they immediately departed. Krune's group traveled for another day until they arrived close to a big lake.
"Is it inside the lake?"
Krune shook his head and pointed up.
"It's above it, around ten kilometers high to be more precise."
Shinja and the others were surprised! How did no one find it?
"It's because it has always been closed, so no one knows that it was there. But we have another issue. Because we are deeper inside the Danger Zone, there are probably some Divine Soul Demon Beasts overseeing the area. So they might notice what we are doing."
Ao then said.
"Then let's look for another place. It's better to prevent them from noticing."
Krune shook his head.
"There are another two entrances, but they are even deeper inside the Danger Zone. The demon beasts here might be stronger, but not to the point we can't deal with them. Unfortunately, this is our limit, going further than here would be suicide."
Krune then looked at Yusa. She noticed that and understood what he was thinking.
"The best Runestone concealing formation that I have at the moment can at most keep us hidden from the middle to late stages Core Formation Beasts. If the Divine Soul Realm Demon Beast overseeing this area decides to penetrate the formation, the Runestone won't be able to stop it."
Krune nodded but then said.
"We will have to take our chance; groups using runestone formations to conceal themselves should be a common occurrence in this place. I refuse to believe that the Divine Soul guys would waste their time to penetrate every single formation they see. Their job is to keep too strong cultivators and demon beasts from wantonly attacking weaker ones. But we just so happen to be at the right cultivation realms here."
Yusa and the others couldn't help but nod. That did make a lot of sense. Besides, it's not like they have another option.
After that, they immediately took flight while Yusa kept a concealing Runestone formation activated. It would be bad if aerial beasts saw them passing into their territory. Only after they got close to the place where the gate was would Yusa use her best Runestone formation to keep the site out of prying eyes.