Krune calmed himself and checked it up again. That time, he didn't hear anything.
'Could it be I'm really imagining things?'
But there was one thing he could feel. There was really a link between the lightning power in his soul and the lightning power in the rainbow core. He tried to use this link to control the power of the tribulation lightning, but nothing happened. He would need to use his Spiritual Energy Meridians, if he wanted to use its power, as always. There was also another point, the power of the tribulation lightning in his core had increased again.
'I noticed it is keeping more and more lightning power. But does it have anything to do with the lightning in my soul?'
He decided to give it some time. First, he needs to finish healing himself. After that, he will try to temper his soul with tribulation lightning once more. Maybe at that time, he will find something.
Back at the Mercenary Guild headquarters, Bary Kasfiu was discussing the issue of Krune's rainbow core with Kassius Ruli.
"A rainbow core... To think that our planet would give birth to a rainbow core cultivator. Not only that! But he can also use some tribulation lightning power. This isn't anyone that a small planet like Makui should have. Could it be that the planet's next ten thousand years of fortune would have been used in a single breath?"
Kassius was a lot more realistic, though.
"Stop with that crap! The important thing now is to decide how we are going to deal with him. I'd already sent a copy of the 'Eye Seal Technique' for him to practice. With that, his rainbow eyes irises will be concealed. But sooner or later, people will start to notice his abnormal control over the elements."
Bary shook his head.
"I don't think this is a big issue. One thing is that they are noticing their element control; another thing is that they guess that it is because of a rainbow core. At most, the other powers would think that he is very talented. We are talking about a rainbow core here, let alone very few people know about it. Even if there were a lot who knew, no one would imagine that someone like him would appear on our planet. Even if someone suspects, we can just give some excuse."
Kassius pondered a bit and had to agree that was really the case.
"If that's the case, can't we have him participating in the Mercenary Selection and Martial Gathering?"
Bary nodded
"That's exactly what I was thinking. Even if he hasn't been at that level yet, there is still 8 months ahead for the Mercenary Selection and 10 months for the Martial Gathering. I think he will definitely be at the right power for that moment. It will be a great eye-opener, and challenging the geniuses of the world will also help him further increase his rainbow core. Not to mention, we might be able to send him 'there."
Kassius was surprised.
"I see... you are right! With his talent, there is a very big chance of him getting into there."
Kassius suddenly had an idea.
"In that case, If we try not to get attention, it will eventually backfire on us. So we should do the opposite. We should announce it to the others that we found out Krune was even greater of a genius, and he will be participating in the Mercenary Selection. That way, not only will people not get suspicious, but it will help conceal the truth as well."
Bary nodded and accepted the idea.
"But before that, we need to get his opinion. It's better if we discuss things over with him before taking this next step."
Kassius nodded. That was for the best.
Back at Kaley City, Krune was studding the Eye Seal Technique. He had tried to communicate with the Tribulation Lightning in his soul a few more times in the past few days. And he even tempered his soul with the Tribulation Lightning of his core again. But not a single word came out of it. Krune started to feel that it was really his imagination that it talked to him.
He already has some understanding of the Eye Seal Technique and was practicing it when he suddenly got a call from Lu Ganan, the Kaley City Mercenary Guild supervisor.
"Krune, we need you to come to the guild as soon as possible, have you finished practicing the Eye Seal Technique?"
Lu Ganan was also told about Krune's situation, so he is aware of the importance that the guild puts on him now.
Krune nodded.
"I have already grasped part of it, my rainbow eyes aren't that apparent, so it is enough to totally conceal them already. I'm going right now since I'm not doing much at the moment anyway."
After arriving in the mercenary guild, Yusa and the others were there as well. They also had received the same call. It seems it had something to do with Krune's rainbow core, so they came straight away.
After entering Lu Ganan's private office, they could see another man other than supervisor Lu. They immediately recognized him. It was no other than the Head of Mercenary Guild in the Yule Continent, Bary Kasfiu, Mile was also there standing up in a corner.
"So you have come! Take a seat as well. I have some things to talk about."
"My visit to Kaley City is a secret. So, only the people in this office know about that. I will be leaving as soon as I finish dealing with this situation here."
He then looked at everyone and said:
"First of all, Krune's rainbow core information can't be found out, at least not until he reaches the Divine Soul Realm. So I ask you all to keep this a secret."
Everyone's nodded. They knew the importance of a Rainbow Core and a Five Elements Divine Soul: the less the number of people knowing about it, the better.
"Second, I would like Krune to give up the teaching position and participate directly in the Mercenary Selection and then the Martial Gathering."
Krune and the others got puzzled. Wasn't it decided that he would only be teaching the participants?
"I know what you are thinking. But with a Rainbow Core, Krune's combat power is far above his own stage. There are also 10 months to the Martial Gathering. I have confidence he will get to the 6th or maybe even the 7th stage of Foundation Establishment by that. I don't believe he can't protect himself at that point, at least."
He then looked at Krune.
"I also want to announce this news to everyone. Simply put, I want you to be known as much as possible."
Krune immediately shook his head.
"No way! I hate attention. I don't want to have a lot of people following my tail everywhere I go."
Bary shook his head.
"That's why I came here. I'm not doing it to give you more attention. The opposite, I want to do it to bring everyone's attention away from your Rainbow Core."
Krune might have low EQ, but his IQ is definitely different. He immediately understood the crux of the issue.
"I see! You want to use me as a genius so that everyone will pay attention to me. That way, people will think that my combat prowess is probably because of the full support of the mercenary guild behind me. No one would suspect I could possibly have a Rainbow Core."
Bary was happy he had understood so fast.
"It's good that you understand! I will be honest, with your talent, the Makui planet can only do so much for you, and the same for our mercenary guild. If you try to keep yourself hidden all the time, it will start to make things difficult to help you. But you can still stay away from the holophotes. You don't need to go and give interviews or anything like that. Our guild will take care of all those things. People just need to know we have a genius called Krune on whom we are putting a lot of effort. As for everything else, you can keep doing whatever you have been doing so far."
Krune gave a sigh of relief. At least this time, they came to ask his opinion and gave him a proper explanation. He especially liked the part where he wouldn't need to appear and could keep his own plans without being bothered.
Shinja heard all of that and couldn't help, but comment:
"I think the guild head is correct, Krune."
"The further you go, the more you will have to show your power. If you don't, people will sit on your head. It's an excellent deal, in my opinion."
Yusa and Ao also nodded. They know little about the intricacies between the powers of the world. But if Shinja says this is a good thing, they will trust her. Besides, what guild head Bary said so far made a lot of sense.
Noticing that his friends also agreed to the idea, Krune decided to accept. He looked at Bary and asked:
"I don't like the idea of gathering attention, but I have to admit that everyone's words make sense. so, Guild head Bary: what do you want in exchange for all that help?"
Krune knows there is no free lunch in this world. There is definitely something more behind it. Bary looked at him and gave an approving nod.
"There is indeed something I would like you to do for us, or to be more specific, for our Makui Planet cultivators."
Krune was surprised, something for the cultivators of the entire planet?
"You know the Martial Gathering that will happen after the Mercenary Selection. But do you know who organizes it?"
Krune pondered a bit. He had read about the Martial Gathering after he came to know he was going to teach the Yule Continent top contestants for the Mercenary Selection.
"From what I know, this is done by the biggest powers in the world. Several sects, clans, and organizations take part in it."
Bary Kasfiu shook his head.
"That is what we tell to the public. The truth is much deeper than that."
This time even Mile and Lu Ganan's attention was picked. They didn't know about it either.
"To be honest. This isn't any super-secret! Sooner or later, anyone with the right amount of power would find out. It's just an unspoken rule not to comment about that. The power behind it isn't something that anyone in the Makui Planet can afford to offend after all."
Krune suddenly remembered which power controlled the North East side of the western protectorate where the Makui Planet is localized.
"Could it have anything to do with the Divine Path Sect?"
The Divine Path Sect was the last of the Big Four, also the one who controlled the North East side of the Western Protectorate. The Makui Planet just happens to be part of the North East Side. So they are under the jurisdiction of the Divine Path Sect.
"Correct! To protect their territory, the Divine Path Sect needs a constant flow of new cultivators to join their ranks. But only the real geniuses can enter. That's the use of the Martial Gathering: to filter Makui Planet's good seeds and send them over to try the Divine Path Sect's entrance exam. Unfortunately, there are thousands if not tens of thousands of planets in the North East Side alone. Maybe even more. Because of that, our Makui Planet hasn't had one of our cultivators joining the Divine Path Sect in over a millennium."
Krune then said.
"And, do you think I will have a bigger chance than the others to pass the Divine Path Sect entrance exam thanks to my Rainbow Core and my ability to control some of the Tribulation Lightning power ?"
Bary nodded his head. Krune had already had an idea, but he decided to ask anyway.
"And how can sending your geniuses away help the Makui Planet?"
Bary understood Krune's meaning.
"That is very simple! The Divine Path Sect only accepts geniuses, but those geniuses that can stand up to the sect standard requirement are few and far between. So any planet that gives birth to such geniuses will receive great help from the Divine Path Sect. After all, even if our planet is a small and weak one, they'll never know where a real genius could appear, and that's why we have the Martial Gathering. As for the help that they will provide, it will be both in the form of rare cultivation resources as well as cultivation techniques and skills. For a planet like ours, such help will improve the cultivation world several times. And as the guild that discovered that genius, our mercenary guild will receive even more resources."
"But that isn't all. It's not only us who will benefit from it! You too will get a lot from the Divine Path Sect: resources, techniques, pills, and other things our Makui Planet would never be able to provide."
Krune pondered a bit. Exactly what he thought.
'I was already expecting that sooner or later, I would have to stop hiding my powers. I just didn't think it would be so soon. I wanted, at least, to be a Divine Soul cultivator before that. But it seems I can't delay it anymore. Why is it so hard to keep a low profile?'
'Oh well, forget it! I will need to make a name for myself if I want to keep that married promise anyway. But that is considering that she still remembers it, which I find hard to believe. But it also doesn't matter. Simply keeping that promise isn't my only objective anymore! Maybe, just maybe, I can get enough power to help the wisps situation, after seeing how serious Lakin was about keeping them safe, how can I, his master, stay put and only watch?'
Krune took a deep breath, and a look of determination appeared in his eyes.
"Very well, I accept your idea. Tell me more about this Divine Sect entrance exam."
