Is that a Wisp?

Think about the North of the Canckin Planet as a large circle. That's because the formation around it made so that you could only move inside the ring it covers. Krune's group was teleported to the north side of this ring. As for the others, they were teleported everywhere.

Some noticed the space laws and grabbed their groups' members' arms like Krune's one did. Others were not so lucky and ended being teleported randomly into other locations far away from their initial group. Nevertheless, that mattered little since a tiny number of groups ended like that. The majority was ready enough to react fast as Krune did.

Krune, Laka, and Hanan looked around and couldn't see anyone. Krune had the strongest Divine Sense, but he could only see 2 kilometers in all directions. Unfortunately, once his Divine Sense hit the walls around him, it would be rejected even further. That being said, his 2 kilometers Divine Sense ended having only half of its effect. It was evident that those walls also had protection against Divine Senses.

'Well, mental energy it is then.'

Krune is in the 2nd stage of the Soul Transformation Realm. He went one step higher since he left the Holy Land. Sure enough, formations made to affect Divine Sense had no use against Krune's Mental Energy. Thanks to that, Krune could see as far as 70 to 80km. This was an advantage that none of the other competitors had. It was almost like cheating. Well, Krune didn't mind it, though.

Thanks to his Mental Energy, he was finally able to find other cultivators and demon beasts. Some groups were inside higher levels; others were below. In total, five teams appeared in his perception range.

Krune's group soon noticed another problem.

"It's freezing in here."

Laka and Krune agreed with Hanan.

"These formations are driving the coldness into our bodies, and it is quite harmful. I can feel it blocking my flow of Spiritual, Elemental, and Chaos Energies. It can even invade our foundations."

"We need to use quite a lot of energy to drive it off. I guess Dalin Management doesn't want things to keep going for too long. At this rate, one week would be enough to freeze at least half of the competitors. The energy necessary to fight against it is much higher than what we can recover."

Krune looked away and pretended to agree with Hanan and Laka. However, thanks to his Elemental and Chaos Meridians, his conversion of Spiritual Energy was several times faster than them. Not to mention now that he got a Blackhole Heavenly Fragment. Simply put, he would never run out of energy at this rate. Of course, he wouldn't point it out.

Suddenly, everyone in the Heavenly Competition received a Divine Sense message from Norzulun.

"This is the first phase of the competition, the Ice Maze. I believe you all noticed this place's unique properties, so I won't waste my time explaining it. If you don't want to freeze to death, you have only one choice. Find your way to the protection formation's core. Of course, you can blast the walls away and move directly there, but I wonder if you guys have enough energy to spare to do such a thing."

Laka decided to test it out. He quickly returned to his real form and attacked the wall in front of him.

"Dragon Blast!"

Boom!

The wall cracked a little but did not break. That wasn't all, that crack then began to repair itself at high speeds. In just a few seconds, the wall was back to normal. It even looked like it didn't receive an attack at all.

Of course, Laka wasn't the only one. Almost all the other cultivators and demon beasts tried it as well. Still, the result was the same thing.

"If I want to break this wall, I will need to use all my strength, and it is just one wall. Just how many would be there until we reach the Formation's Core? The energy necessary is far from enough since I doubt they teleported us close to the Formation's Core to start with. Even if we work together, it will still be meaningless."

Norzulun waited until all the explosion faded away before continuing.

"It seems like you all tried it already. Whether you wish to use this method or not is up to you. Anyway, let me continue. I believe that the majority can't last more than a week, even if they don't use any energy at all. The more you use, the quicker you will freeze. However, there is a way to prevent that from happening. As long as you kill another participant, the formation will stop to act on you for one hour. You can use this time to recover your energy, which will give you more time to resist the cold. It is that simple."

In the end, even Dalin Universe Management didn't know what Krune was capable of.

"Alright. Currently, there is a total of 25783 participants, but only the first 5000 will advance into the next phase. Once the last qualified cultivator or demon beast is decided, the competition will be over for the rest. The remaining alive participants will then be teleported outside so that they can go back to their Universes with their protectors."

"Well, that's all. Good luck, everyone!"

Norzulun's Divine Sense Message stopped there.

Krune didn't waste time and immediately returned to his Wisp Form. Even though his recovery of energy was higher than the consumption in his human form, that was only by a tiny bit. However, in his wisp form, his rate of recovery was much better. In fact, all the demon beasts also returned to their real forms since they could fight the cold better like that.

However, Krune's wisp form immediately attracted everyone's attention outside. With the Divine Sense of those Divinity Realm cultivators and demon beasts, it was very easy to watch the entire extent of the formation. Obviously, they noticed Krune's transformation.

"Is that a wisp?"

Everyone knows about the Myriad Wisps Technique by now. However, they were still impressed to see that a Divine Path Realm wisp participating in this competition.

The ones who were the most shocked were the Dalin Universe management members, Norzulun included.

"Isn't that the wisp from the Wisp Main World? The one that was supposed to take Cinty's place when she died?"

"Let me check... he is the representative of the Luvile Universe, and his name is Krune. Wait! That doesn't make sense. Wasn't he supposed to be a Wisp from the Dalin Universe? How did he become a Luvile Universe representative?"

One of the Management elders quickly checked something in his communicator.

"The records aren't mentioning anything about a wisp coming from the Luvile Universe, only its protector. How did he enter the Dalin Universe without going through the registration process?"

Another elder quickly added.

"That's not all. I just checked it here. Krune doesn't have the mark that all outsiders receive before entering Dalin. That's not possible, no one should be able to enter Dalin without it."

The elders looked at Norzulun.

"He entered Dalin Illegally, so he must be quickly captured. We need to verify how he did it! There wasn't supposed to be any way of entering Dalin without anyone noticing."

"That's not all, he is also a wisp in the Divine Path Realm with a Heavenly Fragment. We should take this chance to kill him after the interrogation. Let's go directly for a Soul Search. Since he dared to leave the Wisp Main World and show his face, he can't blame us for what will happen. We also have reason on our side since he is an illegal immigrant."

All the elders of the Dalin Management nodded. However, Norzulun narrowed his eyes.

"Would the Wisp Race let someone like him appear here? Krune is right in the middle of the tiger's den. In theory, nothing he did could be used to escape our grasp."

It was then that Norzulun remembered something.

"No, there is one thing. Or better, there is one existence capable of doing all of that."

Suddenly, a hand appeared on his shoulder.

Norzulun almost jumped in fright when he saw that. Not only him but all the elders of the Dalin Universe Management. No one had noticed this guy appearing. But how did he do it with so many Peak Divinity Realm cultivators and demon beasts around Norzulun?

"Hahaha! There is no need to be this frightened, Norzulun brat. I only came here to check on my little friend over there."

Norzulun was present during the last gathering of the Universes' powerhouses. The same one they used to discuss the Myriad Wisps Technique. Having said that, he immediately recognized this man with rainbow-colored hair.

Norzulun smiled bitterly before bowing to him.

"It's an honor to have senior Wally, the Wisp Race God, here with us today."

All the elders were taken aback. How could they not know who Wally is? This is a legendary existence that no one in the lower realms would ever dare to offend. Who would be idiot enough to buy a fight against an ascender? Wally's power wasn't something that anyone could contend against.

Wally nodded at Norzulun and then looked at the elder who suggested to use a Soul Search on Krune and then kill him.

"I heard quite a few interesting words. What was that? Errr... Right! Something about using a Soul Search in my little friend Krune down there and even killing him. Could it be I heard it wrong?"

That elder immediately began to sweat rivers. He can't even remember the last time he had felt fear. After all, he is a Peak Divinity Realm cultivator. Still, he is nothing more than an ant in front of Wally.

"Cough, cough... this lowly one was obviously just joking, that's all."

Wally then smiled as he nodded his head.

"Oh, so it was just a joke, then that's okay."

Wally then simply let it go, much for that elder's relief. For a second, he thought that he was dead.

However, Norzulun still had to play the Dalin Management's Supervisor role.

"Senior Wally. According to the agreement, you should not intervene in the affairs of the Lower Realms. I hope you didn't forget it."

Wally quickly nodded.

"Of course, I haven't forgotten. I have no intention whatsoever in meddling in this Heavenly Competition. However, the agreement also says I can protect the wisps as I see fit as long as it doesn't get in the way of those affairs you mentioned. That being said, I won't do anything. Even if Krune fails or dies during this Heavenly Competition, I won't care."

"However, there is no rule saying that a wisp can't participate in the Heavenly Competition. Not to mention that he is indeed participating on Luvile Universes' behalf. So I won't stand for some older brats trying to get in his way."

Norzulun and the others didn't dare to deny wally's words. As much as it seemed ridiculous, there wasn't such a rule indeed. That meant that wisps were also allowed to participate.

"As for the thing about the illegal entrance into Dalin's universe, you don't need to worry about that. It was me who brought him inside, so you obviously didn't notice."

Norzulun couldn't help but say.

"Isn't that the same as intervening?"

Wally looked puzzled at Norzulun.

"How come? I just brought a brat into the Dalin Universe, which is also my home and birthplace. Why should I report to you if I want to bring someone into my house or not? Does it make any sense? You should be grateful that I had never done it before."

Norzulun could only sigh and accept. That was just an excuse, but at the same time, one that he couldn't refuse. Still, he was already happy enough. At least, he got Wally's word that he won't intervene in the result of the Heavenly Competition. That meant that Krune will have to rely on himself to take one of the five slots.

In the end, only the elders present, and Norzulun knew about Wally's presence. The rest had no idea about what was happening. Norzulun then made an announcement to the powers who knew about the wisps' situation. No rules are preventing a Wisp from participating in the Heavenly Competition. That was all, he didn't give any other explanation.

With the Dalin Universe management taking this instance, they could only let it go and turn their attention back to the competition itself. Anyway, it's not because a wisp appeared that their objective changed. All that matters is the Five Slots to manage the Dalin Universe. The rest can be discussed later.