Krune waited for the Two-Headed Demon Snake to calm down and start to talk. But before that, he took out one of the blood contracts which he got from Gony. He stated that if the snake lied, it would die. Without any other choice, the snake used its blood to leave its mark on it. The contract immediately burnt and attached the restriction on the snake's soul.
"So, I'm going to simply tell the general concept which I believe works for everyone. Big clans and sects probably have better methods, but the end result will be the same.
Krune agreed with that point of view, Feifei, as part of the Wang Clan, most likely had the best methods available for her.
"To breakthrough into the Foundation Establishment realm is to lay a foundation which will sustain your Core once you breakthrough into the Core Formation realm. That's general knowledge, as to how to lay such foundation, we have to break down the interior of our Demon Core or Dantian in the humans' case and leave only the shell. The better it's broken, the easier it is to reform it in the form of a foundation. Think about the foundation as a bird's nest in the middle of an island surrounded by the lake's water."
"The lake's water is your spiritual energy. The higher your Foundation Establishment level, the more water that lake has. The island in the center is the foundation, you need to provide it with rich amounts of spiritual energy so that the flora, fauna, and earth get richer and richer. Only when the island gets sturdy enough can you breakthrough from the previous stage to the next. Finally, at the center of that island, you will build the nest that will nurture your future Core for the Core Formation stage. That nest is the Core of the foundation."
"So, you can take it simply as, break the interior of the core, reform it in a foundation like way, that's all."
The snake stopped talking there. In fact, there were more things about the foundation to be said, but it was still upset with its loss. It didn't lie though, it simply didn't tell everything.
Unfortunately for this Two-Headed Demon Snake, wisps are extremely intelligent, so Krune started a round of questions and answers.
"I understand the principle. Let me ask, is there no standard form for the foundation? Anything within those two criteria can be considered a foundation? For example, if I build my foundation like an egg instead, white and yolk, does it also works?"
The snake looked strangely at him, white and yolk? Such a weird example, but it answered Krune's question nonetheless
"In theory, it should work. Everyone has their own way of thinking about how to build their foundations. As long as it is acknowledged by the heavens, the formation of the foundation will be a success."
"But there is one thing you must pay attention, the foundation that you are laying down 'MUST' be something that you understand entirely. If you try to create something that you simply think as powerful but have no idea how it works, then it will definitely fail!"
Krune didn't understand one thing.
"I understand the part of being able to understand what you built. But what about this acknowledged by the heavens thing? What do you mean by that?"
The Demon Snake answered dutifully.
"It means exactly that, once your foundation is built, it has to receive the acknowledgment of the heavens. I will give you my own example of how it worked for me. When I finished building my foundation, I felt like the world came in contact with it. Like they were one with each other. That is a very magical feeling. After the acknowledgment ends, that feeling of being one with the world disappears too. From what I heard from the other demon beasts of the Foundation Establishment stage, it was the same with them too."
Krune agreed with that. Being one with the world isn't something someone at their level should be able to do. It was only because the heavens itself was present to check their foundations that that magical state could be achieved for a few moments. Krune then looked back to the snake and asked again.
"So, what happens if you are not acknowledged?"
The snake smiled at Krune.
"Your core or dantian will be destroyed, you will lose all your cultivation, and you will have to start again from zero."
Krune was given a fright! That's because his own life is attached to his Core! If his Core is destroyed, there will be no such thing as a start from zero. He will simply die there and then!
'Now things got tricky! I will have to think through how exactly I want to build my own foundation, and I will have to understand it completely to raise the chances of success too.'
Krune couldn't help but sigh.
'Wisps are really a pitiful race.'
Suddenly, Krune thought about another thing.
"Tell me, is there a chance of failure if you build something that you understand? Also, is there a way to increase the chances of success?"
The snake replied back.
"Yes, you could still fail even if you understand how it works. No one knows why that happens. Maybe it is because you think you understand your foundation, but in fact, you don't. Or maybe is because the foundation you built is not compatible with yourself, who knows?"
"As for if there is a way to increase the chances of success, there are indeed a few tricks for it. The first is to build a standard foundation, something simple to understand. The example I gave you before of the island on the lake is one of those standard foundations, anyone knows how to build such a thing."
"The second would be through the use of alchemist pills like the Foundation Establishment Pills. From what I know, those pills will help you with the modeling of your foundation, they make the broken interior of the Core or dantian easier to be modeled."
Krune understood. No wonder alchemists are so respected, the pills that they can concoct have real heaven-defying effects.
"Is there anything else I should take note when trying to breakthrough into the Foundation Establishment realm?"
The snake nodded
"Yes, but the rest are just complementary. Make sure to have a lot of spiritual energy resources available, spirit stones, and a spiritual vein are good examples. There is also alchemist pills that provide certain amounts of spiritual energy."
"Also, since I'm bound by the contract, I have to tell you this. One of the best sources of spiritual energy for breakthrough is your own race. Whether you mind it or not, wisps spiritual energy can really give a huge burst in the process since their energy is extremely easy to be absorbed."
Krune sighed again but declined to comment. He already expected this when he heard that you need to have a lot of spiritual energy resources ready. The demon snake then continued.
"There is also the time needed, and it changes from being to being. Not only are differences between each one's talent, but there is also the fact of what kind of foundation you intend to build. If it is something simple, then it's fast. If it is something hard, then it's longer."
Krune asked the demon snake another thing.
"Considering that I decide to lay down a simple foundation like the island in the lake, how long would it takes?"
The snake pondered a bit.
"I can't be sure since I don't have too many examples, but I can tell you that I took a whole week to finish my own, and I used this exact island and lake foundation."
"So, make sure to seclude yourself somewhere well hidden if possible. If the process is stopped in the middle, you will fail, and your Core will be destroyed as well."
Krune understood it, but he wasn't very concerned. His spiritual vein can be considered quite safe already. With the lizards taking care of the place and Lakin to take care of the lizards, he should find no problems in the long term. A situation like that cultivator group that came to take Dragon Blood is something very rare to start with. He would need to be truly unlucky to get bothered twice in a roll, he also had one more idea of how to guarantee his safety.
"Anything else?"
The snake just shook its head. It couldn't think about anything else to say. That wisp asked all the important questions, even though it didn't want to answer, it had to.
"Very well, time to get my payment for the trouble you caused me then."
Sweat started to fall down from its back again. It was then that the snake saw Krune taking out another blood contract. It thought about one thing, and its expression became nasty.
"Even if I have to die, I will not become your slave. If you think you can force me to sign a slave blood contract, you might as well kill me first."
Krune looked back at the snake and was a little surprised. Its pride runs through its blood, but that's okay, Krune didn't want to have a slave to start with. He couldn't force the issue either. For the blood contract to work, the one signing it must really agree with it in body and soul, threats are useless in this case.
"You are overthinking it. I don't want you to sign a slave contract, I want you to be my protector until I finish my Foundation Establishment breakthrough. You will have your own free will, and our contract will be finished once I succeed or fail. You will come with me to the borders of the inner part of the Forest and guard me until the process is done."
"Don't think I'm forcing the issue, and I might as well tell you this. Wisps don't have a body, their soul is attached to their Core from the moment they are born. So if I fail, I will die since my Core will be destroyed. You could think about it as a way of getting revenge against me too."
The Two-Headed Demon Snake was very conflicted, then it thought about something.
"Then what if you decide to never breakthrough? Doesn't it mean that I will have to protect you forever?"
Krune just laughed out loud, which puzzled the snake.
"Did you forget from which race I'm from? I'm a wisp! Or could it be that you don't know that wisps can live at most ten years if they don't break through into the Foundation Establishment realm?"
The demon snake was stunned! That's right, wisps have an extremely low life span! It's just that this wisp was so strong that the snake forgot about this issue.
"Very well, I accept those conditions."
Krune was delighted, beasts are really a straight forward bunch. Once they decide one thing, they are very direct about that.
Krune started to write on the contract under the inspection of the demon snake. It is stated that the demon snake shall protect Krune and its underlings until he succeeds or fails in his breakthrough. It doesn't matter the result, once he is done with that, the demon snake is free to go.
It also stated that if he fails, the demon snake can not harm his underlings. It's to prevent the demon snake from taking revenge on his disciple or the Lizard Dragons. The demon snake also agreed with that.
After signing with its blood, the blood contract burnt, and a new restriction was put on the demon snake's soul.
"Good! Then we should go back now. There is rarely any Foundation Establishment beasts or cultivators around there. Even if some appear, they will not try to find a problem with a poison type Foundation Establishment beast like yourself. So you will basically spend your time in leisure until the end of our contract."
But before they left, Krune turned to the spiritual vein and took all the spiritual stones in it. The demon snake didn't think much about it. Once they are gone, some other demon beast is bound to take this spiritual vein for itself. So those spirit stones would change the owner anyway. In that case, the wisp might as well bring it with him.
Krune was a little surprised to find that this spiritual vein wasn't too bad. The spirit stones close to the center of the spiritual vein lake are Rank Two low-quality ones, and those are the best spirit stones he found so far.
On their way back, the demon snake used it's Divine Sense to ask how Krune became so strong even though he is a wisp.
"Hard work and luck, that was pretty much it."
Even though the snake didn't like the answer, Krune wasn't lying. It was luck that brought him together with Feifei and old Feng from which he got the Myriad Energies technique. And it was through hard work and even more lucky that he found about how the real Myriad Energies technique really worked.
Of course, Krune wouldn't tell the snake about his improved version of the Myriad Energies technique. That is his secret, something that might bring calamity upon oneself. The lower the number of people who knows about it, the safer he would be. He was only imparting his cultivation technique to Lakin because he trusted him and he was his disciple too.
Krune was gone for two days only. When he came back, the Lizard Dragons and Lakin were given a fright. Lakin even thought that Krune might have been made as a hostage and forced to show the way back to their lair.
"Alright, everyone, there is no need to be afraid. I made a deal with our friend here, and he won't attack anyone, let me introduce him."
"His name is, his name is... Err..."
Krune looked back at the Two-Headed Demon Snake. If he had his human form already, his face would definitely be as red as a tomato.
"Cough, cough. Now that I think about it, I haven't asked your name yet."
The demon snake was feeling gloomy, it looks like this wisp had never put much thought about it. The demon snake used it's Divine Sense to convene its thoughts to everyone.
"I'm called Ruik. For the time being, I'll be in charge of protecting you all until my contract with Krune is over. Do not call me over unless it's something important."
After that, it simply found a corner to lay down and went to sleep. Other than Krune, it didn't care about any of the others.
Krune didn't mind it either, he knows how prideful Ruik is.
"Alright, everyone, you can go back to whatever you were doing. Lakin, you come with me. There are a few things I need to explain to you too."
