After a few days, all the wisps and demon beasts had been allocated around the inner city. With Krune's authority as Legacy Disciple, he could open a few training rooms and fields for everyone to use after everything was set. He decided he would once again immerse himself in cultivation and soul technique training. He doesn't have enough Spirit Stones to open the ninth meridian; thus, that was the best he could do at the moment.
But before that, there was another matter he had to take care of. Krune had closed the door of his room and sat on his bed. He was concentrated on his mind and looked for that speaking Tribulation Lightning.
"Come out! I know you are there. Don't pretend you don't exist after what you did."
After some moments of silence, Krune finally heard an answer.
"Who is pretending not to exist? It was because I used all my power that I had to sleep for a while. In fact, I should be sleeping at the moment too. Because of your mistake, I was forced to intervene and send the lightning back at that ant."
Krune took a deep breath.
"So, what exactly are you? Are you the heavens?"
The voice heard that and burst in laugh.
"Heavens? Me? You must be joking! The thing you call heavens can go to hell for all I care."
Krune was alarmed with that information.
"Heavens go to hell? Does it mean that the Tribulation Lightning isn't the power of the Heavens?"
"Half right and half wrong. The power that triggers the Tribulation Lightning does indeed come from the thing you call heavens. But its concept was learned because of me."
Krune thought it was too much information for him to take.
"In that case, what exactly are you?"
The voice was about to answer when, suddenly, Krune's eight Spiritual Energy Meridians appeared and started to shine again. Krune was taken aback. It had never happened before. They only shined once he created a new one. After a few moments, the shining stopped, and Krune regained the control over them.
"The hell? What happened?"
The entity controlling the voice in his head was silent. Krune didn't know what had happened. It was a warning. A warning directed at himself, telling him that he'd already spoken too much. The voice remembered the aura that came out of the meridians, an aura no weaker than his own.
Krune examined his Spiritual Energy Meridians a little more but didn't find anything strange. He really couldn't understand what had happened. After some time, Krune finally gave up and asked the Tribulation Lightning inside his soul.
"Was it you?"
The voice answered back.
"No, I have nothing to do with what had happened."
Krune found it fishy, but there was nothing he could do if the Tribulation Lightning didn't want to answer. So he went back to the previous topic.
"Anyway, you haven't told me what you are yet."
The voice simply said.
"That's not important for you at the moment. There are a lot of things that better for you not to know if you don't have the power to change anything."
Krune was taken aback with that answer. He still has loads of questions, and he kept asking, but the voice refused to answer even a single one.
"I'm not doing it because I don't like you, but because it really is no good for your future development to know about them now."
Krune was still unconvinced, but, since the voice didn't want to answer, there was nothing he could do.
"In that case, why are you in my soul?"
The voice answered.
"I'm not exactly in your soul. I'm still inside your Elemental Core. I'm simply using the link between the Tribulation Lightning in your soul and me to talk to you."
Krune was feeling gloomy. He only understood that he understands nothing.
"Then, why me?"
The voice once again burst in laugh.
"Coincidence! I have been trying to get free for who knows how many years. It just happens you were there in the right place at the right time."
Krune was speechless. Was it that simple?
"Errr… then, when are you leaving? You can't possibly live inside my Elemental Core forever, right?"
"I can't leave for now since I will be found out. That time, when you got hit by another person's Tribulation Lightning, it was basically because that thing you call heavens had instinctively noticed my presence. So it attacked. If I leave now, I will be struck to death."
Krune was starting to feel like kicking this guy out by force, but then he remembered he had no idea how to do that.
"Anyway, do you have a name?"
The voice answered straight away.
"You can simply call me The Most Supreme Tribulation Lightning."
Krune's mouth twitched when he heard that.
"Alright, from now on, you are little light."
'Little light' was taken aback.
"Who the hell is little light?"
Krune ignored him and made the next question.
"There is no such thing as free lunch in this world. In that case, what can you do for me?"
Little light was still angry with that name, but then it reminded itself of its status. It was beneath itself to discuss such things with a weakling like Krune.
"I won't bicker with you about that name. As for what I can do for you, I've already done plenty. Who you think saved the life of your friends just a few days ago?"
Krune went silent at that moment. Little light wasn't wrong. It was really thanks to him that Krune was able to avoid disaster back in the Katiu Forest. Little light noticed Krune went silent and then continued.
"Besides, don't expect me to give you techniques, show you places with treasures or anything like that. I simply don't have them. Such things had long lost any meaning for me. So I don't even know where to start anymore. What I can do is what I've been doing so far: to help you temper your soul and give timely help when an emergency appears, that's all."
Krune sighed then decided to leave it at that. It doesn't change the fact that little light had truly helped him a lot already. He decided that he would simply treat little light the same way as before, like air.
"Very well, but when the time comes, I want you to tell me what I want to know."
Little light agreed with that request.
"For now, you just need to do the same thing as always. Feed your Elemental Core with the lightning element so that I can recover. Once I get strong enough, I will leave on my own. Besides, it's not like you are on the losing end here."
Krune agreed with that statement. He had got a lot from the power of the Tribulation Lightning, especially his soul and Divine Sense.
"Another thing. Don't comment about me to anyone. Although I don't think someone could recognize me, if, by any chance, I'm found out, your future won't be any good. But you can still use the Power of the Tribulation Lightning. You definitely aren't the first to be able to store it."
After that, little light's voice disappeared. Krune understood it went to sleep again. Who knows when it would wake up!
Back at the cave in that desolate planet, the old man, who had been watching Krune so far, couldn't help but sigh.
"To think he would get that thing. I wonder if it was just a coincidence or destiny."
He then just shook his head.
"Anyway, that thing should have understood my message. It will also provide quite some help to it in the future, and I hope it's the right decision to not eliminate it."
He once again closed his eyes, and the cave returned to silence.
After the conversation with little light, Krune went back to do his own things. Soul Technique trained during the day and cultivation at night. He didn't neglect his skills training either. Since he decided to focus less on his side occupations, for now, he wants to break through into the 7th Stage before the Mercenary Selection.
Yusa and Ao went back to the soul endurance test. As they were close to finishing it, they decided to stop only when they finish the last level. Of course, they can't simply throw themselves at it. They will need to rest their souls before they get injured, so they used that time to cultivate instead.
Shinja had already finished the soul endurance test and got her spirit stones. She had also opened her Spiritual Energy meridians. It has been a little time since she entered the Core Formation Realm, so she decided to focus on her Soul Technique. For now, she also wants to pass the Legacy Disciple test later on.
Lakin and Ruik were also cultivating. They were in the same situation as everyone else. They didn't have enough spirit stones to open more Spiritual Energy Meridians, so they also started to take the Soul Endurance test. Krune had already explained to them that the best thing they could do was to be sure not to agree with the test ending before they could resist all the ten levels.
As for all the demon beasts that joined their group, they were all doing their own things. Krune asked them whether they wanted to cultivate on their own or get the techniques from his side. Those choosing his side would need to sign a blood contract not to spread the technique without permission. In the end, all of them decided to sign the contract. After all, Ruik is also a demon beast, and with his combat power and cultivation speed right in front of them, how could they not want to try that?
Finally, for the wisps that came, they all ended up choosing to cultivate the Myriad Energies Technique as well. Their case wasn't like the demon beasts. They simply had no other choice than doing that. Wisps don't have natural meridians, so any other technique is useless for them.
Time passed, and another few months went by. The Mercenary Selection was just two months away now. Krune'd already broken through the 7th Stage of the Foundation Establishment and was steadily approaching the 8th. To make sure that his foundation wouldn't be unstable anymore, he made sure to cultivate slower than before. Otherwise, he definitely would have reached the 8th Stage by now. He was just about to start another night of cultivation when he received a message from Lakin.
"Master, Cassy is going to try to break through into the Foundation Establishment today. Can you come to check it up?"
Krune was surprised by that. Cassy and Dier had been at the peak of the 9th Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm for a while. But they were taking their time to choose a Foundation, so they haven't made a breakthrough yet.
"Very well, I'm going now."
Krune left his room and disappeared in a flash of lightning. Krune hasn't been just cultivating all that time. He also tried many different uses with his skills. He came to understand that lightning was a lot faster for instantaneous movement. At the same time, Wind was better for long distances. Since Cassy was close by, there was no need to use Wind.
After arriving in a big empty place, Cassy was already there with Lakin, Ruik, and Dier. There were also quite a few wisps and Demon Beasts around whom they were friends. Krune came to know quite a few of them during the past months as well.
Krune looked around and found out that Yusa, Shinja, and Ao were there for some reason. Cassy got quite well along with Shinja. In the past months, he often noticed the two of them talking. Cassy was very curious, so it usually was Cassy making questions and Shinja answering them. Krune then looked around and couldn't help but feel a little moved. When had wisps ever been this friendly with humans and demon beasts?
The fact was, at first, the demon beasts and wisps weren't interacting too much, with an exception for Ruik. Of course! But through Ruik's effort, they slowly came to change a few words with each other. When you live together with the other for so long, you will come to know them better, whether you want it or not.
Cassy noticed Krune arrived and came to compliment him.
"Ancestor, you are here."
Krune heard that and felt helpless. The one who came up with this idea of ancestor was none other than his disciple. He wanted to refuse it, but Shinja and the others thought it to be a good idea. Krune was the progenitor of the Myriad Energies Technique real form, or at least, it was true on the Makui Planet. So it wasn't totally wrong to address him like that since it wouldn't change anything in his life, and the wisps and demon beasts looked to like this way. He simply accepted in the end.
They have already decided who would be the leader and take care of the things other than Hasik. Hasik can only appear in illusory form in the Order Hall. They needed someone alive to appear when necessary. It turns out that Ruik was pushed over the position. At that time, Ruik felt like crying. He loves sleeping. Doesn't that mean that he will have less time to sleep now? He wanted to refuse, but Krune, as an excellent friend, painfully convinced him to accept the position. As for why Krune simply thought.
'If I let this guy be, he will sleep until the end of times.'
And so, Ruik got the undesired Rainbow Sect Leader position.
"Cassy, have you decided which foundation to build?"
Cassy answered straight away.
"Yes, in the end, what I understand the most is myself. Lakin had successfully built a wisp foundation, so I decided to follow his steps. In the future, I will be able to accompany him and find even more wisps. Who needs help."
Lakin heard that and got a little red. It was evident that he was happy hearing that.
"Very well! Remember that for us wisps, the process of breaking our inner core is extremely painful. So don't think about finishing things fast. Both for Lakin and me, it took us over a month to finish this process. But this is not all bad! Your soul will be tempered quite a lot of time. Just make sure only to finish the breakthrough when you are 100% sure that your wisp foundation is perfect. Our wisps only have one chance at Foundation Establishment. There is no other opportunity after that."
Cassy got serious. She's already known that, but it is still somewhat scary, succeed and gain another ten years of life span, fail, and die. Who wouldn't be scared?
Cassy moved into the center of the place. Underneath it, there was a Spirit Gathering Formation, a big one at that. The Rainbow Sect has already had a lot more spiritual energy than outside. With the help of the Spirit Gathering Formation, there was no need for spirit stones or demon cores, of course. To make sure that nothing would go wrong, Lakin still left a lot of spirit stones with Cassy for her to use if necessary.
Cassy focused her spiritual energy and attacked her core interior.
"Crack."
Immediately after that, Cassy screamed out of pain. Shinja was alarmed and was going to move and check her, but Krune stopped her before she could do that and shook his head.
"No one can help with this process! This is something she needs to overcome. Both Lakin and I know very well how painful it is. Remember, this first scream of pain is definitely not the last one."
Lakin was also glued in place, his hands closed into fists. He also wanted to charge over and help her. But as someone who underwent the same process before, he knows as well as his master that any external help will confuse Cassy, instead. She needs to feel this pain and understand on her own from where to go after this.
Cassy finally got a hold of herself. She had almost fainted just now, but she kept reminding herself that if she fainted, she would be dead for sure. After waiting for a little to get used to the pain, she once again attacked the interior of her core.
"Crack."
Another scream. This time even louder than before. Shinja was looking at that and gritted her teeth. Tears were flowing from her eyes, but she held herself back. She was determined to watch the process until the very end. Krune looked at that and just sighed. He then found a place to sit and started cultivating again. He knew that Cassy's screams would continue for a very long time.
