Everyone noticed that Krune had suddenly gone silent. He then took a deep breath and said.
"In fact, I can help Yusa getting the first two Tribulation Lightning Bolts. At that time with Shinja, I wasn't strong enough, and I didn't know what was going to happen. But now I'm confident that I can take even more than two."
Yusa immediately asked.
"Are you sure? If you are doing it just because you are worried, I will say that you are overthinking. I'm very confident in my chances."
Krune shook his head.
"I'm doing it not only to help you but to help myself too. The Tribulation Lightning can help purify the one that I have. It will be of immense help to me in the future. Not to mention that I can take it as practice for my own Tribulation."
Everyone couldn't help but nod. Krune's case is different from someone else helping. He is not directly intervening in the process, the Tribulation Lightning itself is the one going out of its way to strike him. So there is no risk of it getting stronger because someone is trying to help Yusa.
Krune also said that it can be used as a practice, which is a valid reason. If it is only two Lightning Bolts, considering Krune's power, it should be extremely easy for him to fend it off. Even though Krune's realm is lower than Yusa's, no one doubts that he is much stronger than her.
"Very well, Yusa and Krune should rest for today. We will depart tomorrow morning. Because we are close to the Mercenary Headquarters, no one will try anything funny. So you only need to care about your Tribulation."
Yusa and Krune nodded. In fact, because they are in a certain way sharing the burden, it is bound to be much easier for Yusa than anyone else before. Except for Shinja, of course.
Krune was still quite tired of the whole day of alchemy concoction, so he returned to his room and rested for the day. There, he took the chance to ask Light Spirit about the details.
"Should I use my Elemental Meridians to guide the Lightning inside my universe foundation like the last time?"
Light Spirit replied
"That is basically it. I have recovered quite a bit too. So as long as you guide it to strike your planet foundation, I will be able to guide the energy directly into your Elemental Core. Besides, there is a little good surprise waiting for you as well."
Krune interest was picked.
"What kind of surprise?"
Light Spirit only laughed and said.
"If I tell you, it won't be a surprise anymore."
Krune felt the situation somewhat fishy, but he couldn't do anything anyway. So he just ignored it for now and went back to rest.
The next day, everyone had gathered again. Mile checked if everyone was ready, and they departed right after. The place that Yusa was going to take the Heavenly Tribulation was quite close, so it only took them one hour to arrive. Not to mention that they didn't move at full speed as well.
After arriving there, Krune passed the Soul healing Pill to Yusa for her to consume after the soul gets hurt. Krune then left and went far away. He couldn't stay close to Yusa since he would need to leave the range of the Heavenly Tribulation after he absorbs two bolts.
Yusa took out several spirit stones and received Krune's message that he was ready too. She then immediately pushed for the Breakthrough. Just like everyone else, she used her soul to feed the core inside her foundation, and it only took a few seconds for the process to start. Yusa's soul was immediately absorbed by her core. Even though she was ready, she couldn't help but grunt after the process began.
Fortunately, Yusa had also gone through the soul tempering back in the old Rainbow Sect. So she was still leagues ahead of the majority of the cultivators who tried to Breakthrough into the Core Formation Realm before. Her core kept grinding her soul away until it was finally satisfied. After that, her dantian started to change into the Core Formation Realm, and she could feel the connection with her own core now.
She then looked above and could see the tribulation clouds starting to gather in the sky. Yusa then took the Soul Healing Pill out and consumed it straight away. In less than a minute, her soul became whole again, even the pain disappeared completely.
'It's just as Krune said, the pill can really heal my soul entirely before the Tribulation even finishes charging the first bolt. As expected of the Dragon Essence Liquid that even the elder of the Divine Path Sect drooled over.'
Yusa could feel that she could control her strength without any problems again. She then took out a spiritual weapon that she asked for the Blacksmith Hall to forge. Yusa's weapon looked like a pearl, and it basically had the same use as Shinja's frozen hairpin. It could enhance her control over the water element. Everything was ready. She only had to wait for the lightning bolt now.
Far away close to the border of the Heavenly Tribulation clouds, Krune was also waiting for the bolt to come.
"Light Spirit, don't you think that I'm a little too far? Will the Tribulation Lightning really feel my presence at this distance?"
Light Spirit immediately replied.
"Don't worry, I can tell that the Tribulation Lightning already felt my presence. It is definitely coming after you."
Krune nodded and then waited as well.
It didn't take long, though. The Tribulation Lightning finalized charging and immediately struck down. But just like the last time, it made a curve and rushed directly at Krune in the distance. Krune, of course, was already expecting that, and he controlled his Elemental Meridians to take it straight away.
As soon as the Tribulation hit, the meridians guided it directly inside his Universe Foundation. Krune then used the same method as before and separated that power in several parts. After that, he immediately guided each one to his planet foundation as well.
The bolts struck it, and Krune could feel the power of the Tribulation Lightning running all over. But just a second after, that power rushed inside and entered his Elemental Core. Suddenly, some rainbow-colored smoke started to come out of it. Light Spirit then said.
"Don't worry, this is the impurities I talked about. I'm refining the power of the Tribulation Lightning inside your core now. I need you to send more bolts faster. If you continue at this speed, I won't be ready for when the next one comes."
Krune nodded and guided one Lightning bolt after another to his planet. Although he could feel the pain in his soul every time it struck, it was only for a second every time. Compared to when he was tempering his soul with Tribulation Lightning, this is nothing!
It all took some time to explain, but in the outside world, just a few seconds had passed. Krune and Light Spirit's coordination was impeccable, as soon as one Lightning Bolt was absorbed, the next one arrived right after. In less than a minute, Krune and Light Spirit had dealt with all the Tribulation Lightning power.
It was also good that they finished it fast because the second bolt was already coming. Krune then showed a smile and received it too. He was impressed with his improvement, he didn't expect that it would be this easy to control the Tribulation Lightning of a Core Formation Realm. After receiving this second lightning bolt, Krune immediately rushed far away from the Tribulation. To be safe, he didn't stop running until he heard the third lightning coming down. Light Spirit also confirmed that it wasn't coming for them anymore.
Krune then took his time to separated and send it to his planet foundation. Light Spirit and Krune kept their coordination, which proved to be very effective until the very end. Light Spirit saw that there was no more Tribulation Lightning and then said.
"Alright, everything went just as we expected."
Krune nodded and then asked.
"It was easier than I thought. Shouldn't we have absorbed more in this case?"
Light Spirit immediately refused that idea.
"No can do, your Elemental Core isn't really finished yet. If we overdo it, it might get damaged. We should play it safe."
Krune heard that and nodded. He felt that he was too overconfident for his own good. Light Spirit then told him another thing.
"Besides, if you take too much of Yusa's Tribulation Lightning, her body and dantian will not be tempered by it. That would instead affect her future accomplishments."
Krune got alarmed.
"Doesn't that mean that we already affected it?"
Light Spirit just laughed.
"Don't worry, she wouldn't be able to use all nine bolts even if she wanted to. I reckon that she will able to use five or at most six. More than that, and Yusa will probably die instead."
Krune let out a sigh of relief, he was afraid that because of him, her future cultivation would be affected. But then, Krune noticed another issue.
"Light Spirit, what about all this rainbow smoke inside my planet foundation? Should I use my Elemental Meridians and send it out?"
Light Spirit heard that and laughed out loud.
"First of all, this is not smoke, this is a kind of energy. Didn't I say that a little surprise was waiting for you? Well, this is the one I was talking about."
Krune was confused with that.
"What is so good about it?"
Light Spirit then said.
"Let me explain. Tribulation Lightning only uses its own power. It has no need for other elements. But because it has been residing inside your Elemental Core, it couldn't help but absorb some of the multi-elemental power that it has. The purpose of our Tribulation Lightning absorption today was to get rid of these unnecessary elements. But it doesn't mean that they are harmful. Instead, this rainbow energy is extremely beneficial to your foundation."
Light Spirit then continued.
"But that's not the main issue, that's because this is not simple elements anymore. The rainbow energy elements had been purified for a long time by the Tribulation Lightning, so it has become something entirely different. It is much better than even Elemental Source Energy. You will also hear about its name in the future when you get stronger. Cultivators and Demon Beasts above the Void Breaking Realm call it 'Chaos Energy.'"
"This energy will be more than sufficient for you to finish reinforcing your foundation and even Breakthrough directly into the 9th stage. So make sure that you use this change right."
Krune's eyes immediately lit up. He was expecting to keep reinforcing his foundation for at least two or three more months. But now he can finish it in one go and even Breakthrough directly. How could he not be happy?
As for Yusa? He already took two Tribulation Lightning Bolts for her. She also had the Soul Healing Pill to start with. If she can't succeed with such an advantage, then she was bound to die in her Core Formation Breakthrough from the very start.
Krune was just about to start absorbing it when Light Spirit advised him.
"Oh, right! You shouldn't need more than 50% to 60% of it to finish your Breakthrough. After that, you should use the rest for something else."
Krune then got curious once more.
"What else can we use it for?"
Light Spirit answered with another question, though.
"The Universe Foundation has this name for a reason. In that case, what is it that you think that your planet foundation needs the most at the moment?"
Krune's eyes opened wide! If he could, there was indeed one thing that he always wanted but couldn't make before.