As mentioned before, when a cultivator enters the Core Formation Realm, they need to feed their core part of their own souls. It will leave a severe injury right after the process that can't be healed without a lot of time. But the Soul Healing Pill can heal the soul instantly!
It is different from the Stabilizing Soul Technique. The technique simply represses the injury in the soul temporarily, while the cultivator deals with the Heavenly Tribulation. But the cultivator still needs to take his time to slowly heal it after. If the cultivator gets the soul restored right after the core is fed, their chances of succeeding against the Heavenly Tribulation is increased several times. The Soul Stabilizing Technique is excellent, but it can't be compared with the Soul Healing Pill.
Ao heard what Krune said and asked what it was. As soon as he listened to the explanation, his eyes lit up as well. He was the same as Krune now. Determined to get those six drops of Dragon Essence Liquid at all costs!
Elder Loni looked at everyone and then started to explain the rules.
"As mentioned, this is a team contest. Every team can have between three and five members. You can't leave the city until 10 o'clock in the morning for two days from now. The same is valid for the team members of the Ragne Planet. At the moment, we are on the border of this continent: your objective is to reach Ravil City, which is in the center. The time limit is one month. Each team will have one black token. Any team wishing to pass this test has to have at least three black tokens by the time they reach Ravil City. And that is also counting your own token."
Loni then continued.
"Each team will receive another blue token meant to be a lifesaving method. Every member of that group must use a drop of blood on this blue token. Once this token is crushed, it will create a barrier around you, and your team members with only a Divine Soul Realm Cultivator or higher can break. But remember that after activating this token, you will be officially out of this gathering. Obviously, your black token will be automatically released outside of this barrier. A member of the Divine Path Sect will come out and bring you back to the city after that. Remember that this is your last resort, and only your team leader can activate your token."
"There will be no one here to protect you, this is the territory of the Divine Path Sect! So no one will dare to break the rules to save your lives. There is no doubt that it is very dangerous! You will have to be careful against other teams, but there are several demon beasts and bandits who are not going to show any mercy to you all. They all signed a blood contract with the Divine Path Sect, and the contract states that they must attack any enemy that might enter their territory. But there is one thing you don't need to worry: there is no Divine Soul Demon Beast or Cultivators here. the highest cultivation you can find is the 5th stage Core Formation Realm."
No one expected for the gathering to get this dangerous, but by now, everyone had already checked what the Dragon Essence Liquid was through their communicators. Not to mention that they were all proud sons and daughters of heavens. They all went through their own powers tests to get their Martial Gathering slots. So there wasn't a single one here who wasn't confident in their strength.
"To guarantee that a team won't betray their own member so that they can get more Dragon Essence Liquid, the contract will state that loyalty must be kept till the end. If the above condition is broken, you will die. The Divine Path Sec doesn't need disloyal members, who can betray their own friends because of benefits."
It was then that someone asked a question:
"Then, what if two teams are battling and another team decides to attack?"
That was the doubt in most people's minds, with the sheer number of contestants this time around; that will happen for sure.
Loni just smiled and replied:
"Teams joining forces, gang up, ambushes, so on and so forth. This is all part of the cultivation world. Your only guarantee is the blue token. Think well how to use it!"
Some of the contestants nodded their heads. What Loni said is the truth. The only thing they won't bare is team members betraying each other. That is also a way to show that you can do almost anything, except betray your Divine Path Sect members.
Loni then laughed and said:
"You also have the option to give your black token to your enemy and then work to get another three tokens, simple as that."
Some contestants' eyes immediately lit up, which is indeed a good way to avoid a lost battle and still have a chance of passing the test.
Another cultivator made one more question.
"Is there a way of knowing if a team still has a black token or not? And, if they have, can we find out if they have more than one token?"
"You can use your own black tokens to feel the presence of nearby black tokens, but you can't tell how many that team has. Just that they do have a black token. Of course, if your team loses all your black tokens, you can only count on your own luck to find a team with one or more, and you can use the other team's tokens to feel other tokens again."
With that, the discussion was over. Everyone immediately tagged together with their own forces. Of course, there was a difference between the slots each power of the Makui Planet received for this Martial Gathering. The stronger the power, the more slots they had. Some had only one slot, while others even had up to ten. Many people joined other groups as well as forces that had more than five people and had to decide which one of them would join someone else's group.
Krune and Ao immediately smiled at each other, there wasn't any need for words between the two of them. But they also got a problem: they need someone else to have at least three members. They couldn't help but remember how Yusa sold her chance to get a slot. If they knew that it would happen, they would have dragged her by force from that room and not let her conclude that trade.
Yusa and Shinja were also there to watch the gathering when the three of them looked at Yusa. She pretended not to know anything.
"Cough, cough, so, who are you taking together with you?"
Ao and Krune sighed and started to think. At first, they thought that Arlan would be a very good choice. But Arlan is not only a member of the Mercenary Guild, but he is also a member of the Divine Swords Sect back in the Makui Continent. Arlan had told them that he entered the Mercenary Competition because he had first joined the mercenary guild, and only after did he join the Divine Swords Sect. Krune and Ao are guessing that he would probably join his sect members who are all sword users.
It's worth mentioning that the Mercenary Guild doesn't stop its members from joining another power, guaranteeing that they won't decide to leave the mercenary guild because they prefer the other guild, or sect, or whatever.
Krune and Ao were pondering if they should try to see if there is any team in need of members and then join their group. Suddenly, they heard someone calling them from behind. In fact, Krune and Ao were so focused on this question that this person had to call the two of them several times until they finally noticed it.
The one who was calling them was none other than Arlan Rosier, which greatly puzzled the two of them. What is this guy doing here?
"You finally can hear me! Were you ignoring my voice on purpose?"
Ao and Krune shook their heads.
"It's just that we were thinking about whether we should join some other team that needs two or more members."
Arlan immediately put a sad face.
"Is that how much you consider our friendship? Couldn't you have at least thought about me even for a second? Especially you, Ao, that hurts, you know?"
Ao had a weird face.
"I thought you would be joining some of your Divine Swords Sect members, no?"
Krune, Yusa, and Shinja immediately nodded. They also had the same thought.
Arlan then showed a helpless face.
"You see, the Divine Swords Sect had ten slots to distribute for the Martial Gathering. They have already made two teams of five, so I'm left out."
Krune and Ao almost fainted; didn't that mean that they were his last option and a group that he didn't want to join to start with? They couldn't help but feel like they are leftovers.
Arlan saw their disappointed faces and started to laugh.
"Alright, alright, I'm joking!!! They had indeed called me to join their groups. In fact, most of them immediately reached me straight away, but I was the one to refuse. I believe we have a bigger chance if the three of us make a group instead."
Everyone except Ao got curious. They thought that it's not like Arlan knows about Krune's real powers. But what they didn't realize was that Ao and Arlan had exchanged a few Divine Sense messages during the Mercenary Selection. At that time, Ao had told Arlan that he only had a 10% to 20% chance of beating Krune, and that was only if Krune stayed in his human form. Otherwise, he would have no chance at all. Of course, Ao hasn't told Arlan which race Krune really is from.
At first, Arlan didn't believe that, but, after seeing how fast Krune dodged Roni's attack back in the Abyss Danger Zone, he thought that Krune might at least be as strong as himself. Thus, he decided to make a group with Krune and Ao.
If the three of them miraculously get more tokens than any other group, it will mean that each one of them will get two drops of Dragon Essence Liquid! How could that not make someone excited?
Noticing Krune and the others puzzled face with Arlan's choice, Ao sent them a message explaining what they had talked through Divine Sense in the Mercenary Selection. Only then did they understand where Arlan's confidence in this group came from.
Krune already had a good impression of Arlan. Although he was also a Sword practitioner, he was a lot easier going than Ao, and they do have some friendship to speak of.
"Well, if that's the case, then welcome to the group. I guess it will be up to the three of us now. We might not be able to get first place in tokens gathering, but I doubt we will have a problem getting enough to pass the first phase at least. Still, I would like to say that we are going all out for that Dragon Essence Liquid drops, so you better be prepared to work a lot."
Arlan was more than happy with that, just like Ao, he is a sword maniac, the more battles to temper his skills, the better!
"Well, External Elder Loni is distributing the blood contracts to the teams, so let's go there."
They got to the front and received one of the blood contracts, just as they were about to sign it with their three names, they heard another person calling them.
"Hey, how come you forgot me? Let me join your group as well!"
Krune and the others looked back, but their faces were full of confusion, it was a girl, and she did indeed look somewhat familiar. Still, they just couldn't remember who she was, even Krune was having trouble to bring back that memory.