Is that a Wisp?

After Ao took his time to explain to Krune what a brothel was, Krune could only apologize to Go Gao and Lu Ganan profusely after that. He then remembered the man from the sex shop as he inwardly cursed in his mind, 'Humans from sex shops can't be trusted. I will remember this!'

Go Gao and Lu Ganan could only cry after that, and they decided to not make problems for Krune again. Who knows what will come from this low EQ demon beast in human form. In any case, that same day, Krune went to the Alchemist Guild to practice pill making, and he spent his entire day there. Naturally, Krune failed quite a few times. After all, between making basic pills and more complicated ones, it's obviously harder to achieve success with the latter. When night came, he returned to the Mercenary Guild to cultivate, but not before eating his fill in the restaurant on the way.

This cycle continued for the next three days, and Krune could now be successful in over 80% of his attempts. Of course, the synchronization of the elements inside of the medicinal liquid made from the herbs was still something hard for him to accomplish. Not to mention now that he was making harder pills. In the end, he could only synchronize elements to around the 20% to 30% he did in his first attempt. This wasn't a lack of talent but a gap in cultivation. The higher one's cultivation was, the easier it was to control elements. It was already a miracle that Krune could synchronize the elements at his level at all.

'I guess I can finally take orders. The rules of the Alchemist Guild state that one must be at least 50% successful in their pill making at the level of the pill that they're trying to make. I tried quite a few different ones at the Three-Star level, so I'm pretty confident in my chances.'

Krune then went to a monitor in his alchemist room and opened the list of orders available to be selected. He scrolled down, and after pondering over it for a bit, he took out three prescriptions for Thre-Star Pills.

One of the pills was the Spiritual Explosion Pill used for breakthroughs. That was the pill the Ao Sulian wanted to buy in the past to use during his breakthrough into the 4th Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Like any other pill, it also had several levels, and the one requested was for the pill to be at least Three-Star level.

The second was the Foundation Reinforcement Pill. This pill worked differently from the 'Five Elements Paste,' which reinforced one's foundation straight away to a certain percentage. Of course, the more one took it, the lesser the effect. At a certain point, the body would start rejecting the pill, so it was only good for the first three or four uses. After that, it would become almost useless, so it was usually used after one was in the late stages of Foundation Establishment.

The third one wasn't a cultivation-related pill but instead a healing pill. Three-Star Healing Nectar Pill was the pill being requested, with the recipe for this one being complicated. Even among the harder to make pills, this one wasn't very easy. Nevertheless, Krune wanted to try concocting this pill so that he could make a few ones to bring with him in the future.

'If I concoct those three pills without failing, I will receive a total of 1327 Rank Three Spirit Stones of low and middle quality. On top of that, I can finish it all today. No wonder almost everyone wants to be an alchemist. As long as they're good at making pills, they can make a lot of money in such a short time.'

But that's what Krune wanted, after all. He decided that he would now gather 20,000 Rank Three Spirit Stones to try and create his seventh Spiritual Energy Meridian.

---

Time passed by, and just like that, one month had gone. During this time, Yusa, Ao, and Krune took one more mission to get some minerals in another Danger Zone. This one was simpler to complete since it had the same cultivation level recommendation as their own, so there was no bonus. Nevertheless, it still rewarded them with 550 ranking points. The main reason for taking this mission was for them to train in real combat. Yusa had already broken through the 4th Stage, while Ao was steadily moving to the 5th. Krune also took this opportunity to test his strength at the 3rd Stage. He challenged an ordinary 7th Stage Demon Beast and was able to defeat it quite easily.

When they came back, Yusa and Ao left again to continue their cultivation. Krune's cultivation speed was too fast, so they couldn't relax, or they would be left behind by him in no time. Not to mention that Krune's battle prowess was already higher than theirs. If anything, they wouldn't want to lose to him in cultivation as well.

After heading back to the Alchemist Guild, Krune spent his time accepting orders and cultivating at night until he gathered the amount of Spirit Stones he wanted. In fact, even Krune thought he was exaggerating. It shouldn't cost him this many spirit stones to open the seventh Spiritual Energy Meridian. However, it's always good to be prepared.

---

Back at the Mercenary Guild, Krune sent a message to Ao and Yusa. He told them that he was going to create another meridian, and they could keep an eye out for him and check how it was made themselves. After they gathered at the entrance of the Mercenary Guild, Yusa asked a question. "Where do you want to go to do that?"

Krune then answered, "Katiu Forest is too far. It will take over a week to go there and come back. Is there a good place where I can focus on absorbing energy without people bothering me?"

This time it was Ao who answered, telling him, "If all you want is to be out of sight, you can rent a house in the city for yourself."

Ao then explained that by paying a certain amount per month, one would be able to get a place that is only theirs for a specific number of days.

Krune immediately agreed to the idea. With Yusa and Ao's help, he rented a small house near the outskirts of the city. It had a lot of space around and a small house in the center.

Ao then told him, "You just need to set up a concealing formation, and it will be done. I can call a formation master over if you want. A common formation shouldn't cost much anyway."

Krune also accepted the idea. After the formation master came and got paid, he set up the concealing formation. Krune then asked him to put a barrier to impede others from entering or leaving, and with that, the process was done.

Krune then entered the house with Yusa and Ao. They would see for the first time how the Spiritual Energy Meridian was created. Both had heard the explanation from Krune, but hearing about and seeing with their own eyes were two completely different things.

"So, as I've said before, everything comes down to creating all nine pseudo-energy meridians together. Every single one of them is part of the whole, and their different properties will fuse together, creating the brand new Spiritual Energy Meridian. If you're successful, the Spiritual Energy Meridian will start absorbing the Spiritual Energy of the surroundings or anything else that has Spiritual Energy. In this case, that would be the Spirit Stones," Krune explained.

"If it fails, it will break apart, and you will have to start again. When you try it for the first time, be aware that it'll be difficult! Even I failed several times before I was able to create the first one," he continued.

"Alright, I will start now, so pay attention."

Yusa and Ao focused their eyes and Divine Sense on Krune. Other than cultivating, they have also been forming the Pseudo-Energy Meridians so that they could build the real one later. When they started over a month ago, Yusa was in a better state since she had created four in the past, so she only had to create the other five. Ao was different, though. He didn't use the Myriad Energies Technique back then, so he had to start from zero.

At the moment, Yusa had successfully created her sixth pseudo-energy meridian. In contrast, Ao had made three, and it could already be considered very fast. Of course, that's because they had Krune as their teacher. Otherwise, it would have taken them much longer.

Krune then went back to his wisp form since he needed the best control possible to avoid any mistakes in the process. Yusa and Ao were still not used to Krune's wisp form, though. However, they accepted him nonetheless. Little by little, nine pseudo-energy meridians started to appear and fuse together. Krune purposely delayed the formation of the seventh Spiritual Energy Meridian so that Ao and Yusa could see it more clearly.

An hour later, Yusa and Ao heard a 'click' sound, as if some puzzle pieces were joined together. After that, Krune immediately took out thousands of Rank Three Spirit Stones. Sure enough, the Spiritual Energy Meridian started to absorb the Spiritual Energy from the surroundings and the Spirit Stones simultaneously. With that, Krune looked like a black hole. There was so much Spiritual Energy flowing into him that it even became tangible. The Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth was just like the air. One knew it was there, but one couldn't see it. Only when one compressed it to a certain point can one see it.

One thousand spirit stones...

Two thousand...

Three thousand...

The Spiritual Energy Meridian kept absorbing Spiritual Energy from the Rank Three Spirit Stones until it consumed around eleven thousand and some Spirit Stones. After that, the Spiritual Energy Meridian shone for a while like all others before settling down. And just like that, the process was finally over.

Yusa and Ao were amazed. They still had some doubts about Krune's explanation regarding Spiritual Energy Meridians. But after seeing this, all their doubts disappeared like smoke. What impressed them the most was how expensive this thing was! They saw how eleven thousand Rank Three Spirit Stones disappeared like nothing! This thing could totally bankrupt a small clan alone!

Yusa and Ao now understood why Krune valued Spirit Stones so highly. Yusa was simply a money-grubber, and she just loved to have money. In the cultivators' case, Spirit Stones. But although Krune looked like her, it wasn't because he loved them. It was just that he needed as much as possible for those crazy meridians. Yusa even pondered if she should give up the Spiritual Energy Meridians since they were just too f*cking expensive!

As for Ao, his eyes were glistening. He didn't care about money that much. However, the marvelousness of the Spiritual Energy Meridians had totally caught his attention. Even if he had to spend all his savings, so be it! For him, it would be totally worth it!

Krune then tried to cultivate with his seven Spiritual Energy Meridians at the same time. Just as he expected, they could still work at max capacity even if he used all of them. After that, he went back to his human form and looked at Yusa and Ao. Of course, he didn't forget to put his clothes back after it.

"Well, that's pretty much it. To find about the Spiritual Energy Meridians is hard. But after knowing that they exist, the path ahead becomes much easier. Of course, only as long as you can afford them. That's why I spent so much time at the Alchemist Guild. I need money. Simple as that!"

At this point, Ao and Yusa could not help but consider entering a guild as well.