Having sent his Master out, Krune also left for the Blacksmith Hall. Other than improving his skills at forging, he didn't have much else to do. Of course, he also left his nights open for cultivation and practicing the Elemental Regulation Technique.
Time passed, and three months went by.
During this time, Juji had successfully built his foundation and entered the Foundation Establishment Realm. Krune then asked him if there was any problem with the Myriad Wisps Technique.
"Nothing wrong here, Ancestor. My cultivation speed has improved a lot now that I brokethorugh too."
Krune nodded and made a few more questions, but it seemed that his new technique was really working fine, much for his relief.
Krune then returned to the Blacksmith Hall to continue his practice.
Today, Krune was in the middle of crafting something new. He was sweating all over and feeling quite tired. Still, he kept at it for hours nonstop! Finally, he finished his job. Krune looked at that thing that looked like a seal in front of him and smiled satisfied.
"Five Silver Stars Divine Imprint!"
As soon as he finished it, his Four Silver Stars badge started to shine. That was the proof that he had forged something above of the level that the badge represented. Krune's smile got even bigger after that since it also proved that he was successful.
"I can finally ask Elres to start forging my shields."
Krune then exited and went to the counter to exchange his Silver Stars badge. The Menial disciple that took care there was already numb to Krune's improvement. Krune came to him for every badge exchange, which scared him at first. But now, he decided to simply ignore it. Not to mention that the Hall manager gave him strict orders to not spread Krune's information around.
"Here is the Four Silver Stars Badge. Please exchange it for the next one. Also, can you call Blacksmith Elres over? I need to talk to him."
The Menial disciple nodded and left to change the badge. Sometime later, he came back with Elers by his side and the new badge.
Krune then received his badge and followed Elres to his private Blacksmith room. Elres had already been made privy of Krune's circumstances. Although he didn't want to believe it, the proof was right in front of him.
'In this universe, there really are those called heaven-defying geniuses.'
He sighed deeply and then asked.
"Did you make a Divine Imprint already?"
Krune nodded and brought it out. After checking it, Elres nodded.
"Very well. As you know, Divine Imprints must be attached to the equipment straight away after they are made. You will need to accompany me during the forging process to guarantee that every single one of the imprints is delivered at the right time."
Krune agreed with that.
"Yes, I already told everyone that should know that I won't be able to leave the Blacksmith Hall for some time, so we can start anytime you want. But before that..."
Krune then brought out all the Tribulation Ores that he got from Uncle Feng.
"I would like to use those ores to make my Flying Shields."
Elres looked at that and was amazed!
"This! They are all Tribulation Ores! How did you get your hands on them?"
Krune laughed and said.
"They were my payment, but that's all I can tell."
Elres then looked at Krune and asked.
"Are you sure you want to use them to make peak Silver Stars Shields? I will be honest here, it would be quite a waste. After all, these Ores are Golden Stars Materials."
Krune immediately nodded.
"I'm sure! It has to be them."
Elres then took the materials and said.
"Okay, we can start an hour later. Considering the time that you take to forge a Divine Imprint, we are probably staying there for at least 10 days, so you better be ready."
Krune nodded. As long as the shields are completed before he leaves for the missions in the dimensional realms, that is fine.
At the same time, somewhere close to the border between the Divine Path Sect territory and the Central Region. There is a frozen planet almost voided of any life called Zalein. The temperature is so low that a common human would freeze in just a few seconds. Still, this is also the Planet where the Blue Luan inner elder of the Divine Path Sect brought her disciples for training.
Shinja's Master's name was Lua. Like most of the demon beasts, she also didn't have a family name. Lua had prepared a full training program for all the disciples and their different realms. The reason that she chose this Planet was that it has existed for a very long time. Due to that, its core had long since cooled down.
Another reason is that this Planet was different from others. Here, the deeper you go, the colder it gets. Lua then brought the group to a place where they could see a gigantic hole. Once you looked down, you simply couldn't see the end of it.
In the end, Lua told them that this Planet was one of the places that the Sect prepared for its disciples. Especially those who use water or ice as the main elements. It was also because this place had been prepared for the Divine Path Sect that they could even breathe at the moment.
Lua looked at everyone and said.
"Alright, for those at the Core Formation Realm, I hope to see you reaching at least 10km deep by the end of our stay here. Divine Soul Realm is 30km. Finally, Soul Forging Realm has to reach 80km. Don't look down on the dangers of this place. The cold in this place is different from the one you all know. It can breakthrough your spiritual energy barrier and enter your body where it is really difficult to remove. If you see that you are getting close to your limit, come up again, rest, and go back inside when you are ready."
One of the disciples who came here for the first time asked.
"What are the advantages of this place, Master?"
Lua looked at all the new disciples and said.
"That cold that I told you is imbued with Water Element. Although it sounds obvious, the concentration that it reached in this place is out of the charts. Your objective is to use your own control of the Water or Ice Element to fend it out. You are not allowed to use any other element unless you get into a dangerous situation. First of all, if you use any other element to hold off the cold, the training will lose its meaning, and you will basically waste your time here."
Only now they understood how strange this place is, but it was obvious that it was made for them to improve their control.
"Alright, I'm going ahead, but I will keep a look at you all with my Divine Sense. Anyone who exceeds my expectations will receive a reward by the time we get back to the Sect."
Immediately, everyone's eyes lit up!
Shinja came to understand her Master a little during the time they spent together. She was very strict and cold, but she was also very generous. All that she demanded was for you to give your all. As long as you reached her target, you would usually be compensated. For her Master to make it so clear this time, it was evident that she had prepared something very good for those who succeed!
Lua then flew inside of the hole while her disciples followed right behind her. Just like this, Shinja's Master special training program started.
As for Ao's group, their situation could be called anything but good at the moment.
During this time, both Ao and Arlan had broken through the Core Formation Realm as well. Thanks to the Elemental Meridians, they are already close to the third stage while Yusa had already entered it. As for Ula, she had just broken through into the 4th stage when she participated in the Divine Path Sect entrance exam. So in the last months, she had reached the peak of the 4th stage. Don't think about it as slow, one must remember that she doesn't have the Myriad Energy Technique. This rate of improvement already shows how talented she is, even without the Elemental Meridians.
Ao's group was hidden inside a cave that they excavated themselves. They had quite a few injuries, including Yusa, who usually plays the support role. The one in the worst condition was Ula. As a 4th stage Moon Wolf and a Tribulation Lightning user, she turned out to be their main attack power. But because of that, she was also the one to suffer the most.
Thankfully, Ao had brought a lot of healing pills, which he passed to Ula so that she could recover faster. It pained Ao to see Ula in that state, but he knew that now wasn't the time to think about it.
Ao looked at everyone and couldn't help but comment.
"Just how are they even tracking us down time and time again? Can divination really be that useful?"
Yusa shook her head.
"I don't know, but I don't think it is divination anymore. Unless we are facing a group with a Divine Soul Realm or even a Soul Forging seer. But why would such a high-level guy play with us like this? With that cultivation realm, it would be much faster if he just came by himself and finished us off."
Arlan nodded.
"Yusa is right. Whatever it is, it's not to do with divination anymore. We have something that they are using to track us down."
Ula was in her Moon Wolf form at the moment so that she could control her spiritual energy better. Still, she was fully focused on healing, so she didn't pay attention to their conversation. Even in that form, Ao could see her pained expression, so he patted her head a little. Ula was taken aback for a second and then immediately relaxed while continued to recover.
Ao then looked at Yusa and asked.
"Are the detection runestones still working fine?"
Yusa nodded.
"As soon as a fly gets close, I will know."
The situation continued like that for a few hours when suddenly, Yusa opened her eyes.
"They are here, we need to move!"
And just like that, Ao's group missions were going through ups and downs while they strived to get used to a group where Krune isn't present. But one thing is sure, as long as they can survive, they will improve by leaps and bounds!