Is that a Wisp?

Krune's group followed Jilan for three hours until finally, they noticed an enormous mountain in the distance. Even though there were far away, it was possible to see several bird demon beasts flying above it. All of them had similar appearances to Jilan when she was in her real form, so they were obviously Green Talon Eagles.

"We arrived. That's our Race's Mountain. Most of the Green Talon Eagles live in this mountain, as you can see."

Krune's group used their Divine Sense to check the mountain. They soon found out that the biggest majority of the Eagles were under the Semi-Divinity Realm. There were a few hundred at the Semi-Divinity Realm but very little Divinity Realm ones. From what Krune see, there were only 5 Divinity Realm Demon Beasts there. Two in the second Stage, one at the third, one at the fourth, and the strongest at the fifth.

Seeing that, Sisan couldn't help but ask Krune and Iem through Divine Sense.

"Are we really entering their territory? If they gang up on us, we will be in a dire situation."

Krune nodded.

"I know, but it is still worth it. Wind Essence will definitely increase the rewards we will get from the Sect. Besides, as long as we go all out, I still believe we can escape."

Sisan didn't know where that confidence came from, but he decided to keep following Jilan nonetheless.

As soon as they approached the mountain, another three Green Talon Eagles came flying from it. All three of them were at the 9th Stage of the Semi-Divinity Realm, just like Sisan.

"Jilan, what is the meaning of this? Why did you bring outsiders to our mountain?"

Jilan used a Divine Sense message to explain what happened a few hours ago. The three Green Talon Eagles then looked at Krune deeply, not believing he defeated someone with cultivation so much higher than him that easily.

"Are you sure you were not tricked? It is not our place to say what you can do with your Wind Essence. However, it might all be a plan to steal your share of it. Have you not considered that?"

Jilan didn't blame them for saying that. After all, they didn't see Krune in action.

"Don't worry, I have already decided. I'm sure I was not tricked."

Those three Green Talon Eagles then looked at each other and nodded.

"Very well. However, they can not enter our mountain. You will have to go and acquire the Wind Essence by yourself and then bring it back here. We will keep an eye on them to guarantee that they won't try anything funny."

Jilan nodded.

"Alright. Make sure to not mistreat them. They saved my life, after all."

After that, Jilan rushed up to the mountain, quickly disappearing in the distance.

Krune noticed with his Mental Energy that all those eagles also had the same threads connected to their souls. Not only that, but all the other eagles and even the low-level demon beasts he watched on the way had these same threads.

'It seems like everyone on this planet have them...'

Once Jilan was finally gone, another Green Talon Eagle arrived shortly after. This one was a lot bigger and had a much stronger aura than those Semi-Divinity Realm ones.

When those Eagles saw him, they immediately came forward.

"Elder Melio! Welcome back from your travel."

That Green Talon Eagle nodded and then looked at Krune and the others.

"What is happening here?"

That Semi-Divinity Realm Eagle then immediately explained everything with a Divine Sense message.

"What?! He trashed a 7th Stage Semi-Divinity Realm with his 1st Stage cultivation, you say? Jilan is obviously being tricked, can't you see?"

The Eagle immediately nodded.

"Yes. We also thought the same thing, but Jilan insisted that it wasn't the case. Since our Green Talon Eagles can do whatever they want with their Wind Essence share, we didn't try to stop her."

Melio narrowed his eyes and then looked at Krune's group. His aura then came out and pressed them. Obviously, Melio was testing them out. He was one of the five Divinity Realm Green Talon Eagles that Krune's group noticed with their Divine Sense. In Melio's case, he was the one at the 4th Stage of the Divinity Realm.

Sisan felt somewhat uncomfortable with that aura. But he still could resist it.

However, Krune and Iem seemed to not care about it that much. It was as if Melio wasn't doing anything to start with.

Melio was surprised by what he saw. It was within his expectations that Sisan would be able to resist the pressure. After all, Sisan was at the 9th Stage of the Semi-Divinity Realm. However, Krune and Iem were still in the 1st Stage. The difference in cultivation between them was over an entire Realm! The most impressive part was that he could tell that Sisan felt bad with his pressure, but Iem and Krune didn't even flinch.

Suddenly, Melio had an idea. He turned to one of the Semi-Divinity Realm guards and said.

"Wilten, I want your group to test those three."

Wilten was taken aback. Still, Melio was an elder of their Race, so he had to comply.

Melio didn't hide his voice, so Krune, Sisan, and Iem obviously heard what he said too.

Melio then looked at the three and said.

"If you are really as strong as Jilan said, then you won't have a problem to at least put up a fight against Wilten's group. If not, then I'll simply kill you three right here for daring to trick one of our members."

Iem, Sisan, and Krune looked at each other then back at Elder Melio.

"Sure, but what if we win?"

Melio didn't expect that answer. He thought they wouldn't show so much confidence in the face of three peak Semi-Divinity Realm Green Talon Eagles.

"Hmph! If you really win this fight, I'll give you twice the amount of Wind Essence that Jilan promised you."

Krune's group was ecstatic.

"Great! We accept."

Melio nodded and then flew high in the sky. Krune and Wilten's groups quickly followed. Once they reached a high enough altitude, Melio gave the order to start.

What he wanted to test wasn't Sisan, but Krune and Iem. Still, it wouldn't be fair to have three peak Semi-Divinity Realm Eagles to fight against two 1st stage ones. So he also included Sisan in this test just for convenience.

The battle soon started, and it also caught the attention of all the other Semi-Divinity Realm and above eagles. Suddenly, hundreds of Divine Senses fell on the group in the sky.

Iem, Krune, and Sisan then attacked one Green Talon Eagle each. It was evident that they had no intention to form a group. Seeing that, the Eagles also didn't form a team and attacked Krune's group separately. After all, neither of them believed that Krune and Iem were as strong as Jilan mentioned.

Jilan, of course, also noticed the commotion and used her Divine Sense to check. When she saw what was happening, she could only sigh.

'Elder Melio isn't bad, but he is always short-tempered. Even though he had nothing to do with it, he still meddled in my affairs. Well, I guess you reap what you sow.'

She then returned her attention to the collection of Wind Essence and ignored what was happening outside. In Jilan's eyes, Wilten's group simply had no chance whatsoever.

Sure enough, the battle was over around a minute later. In fact, it could have finished a lot earlier, but Krune and Iem purposely held back so that they wouldn't hurt those Eagles too badly. Sisan wasn't as much of a monster as Krune and Iem, but he was still a genius of the Sky Shifting Sect. As mentioned before, he could totally fight an ordinary 1st or 2nd Stage Divinity Realm opponent. Let alone a peak Semi-Divinity Realm Demon beast.

Melio was shocked by what he saw. He considered the possibility of Sisan winning his battle. After all, he had the same cultivation as the Eagle he was fighting against. However, Krune and Iem turned out to be even stronger than Sisan. In fact, he could tell that both Krune and Iem held back just now. Otherwise, even killing these Eagles would have been an easy task!

A few moments later, Jilan finally arrived back on the scene. First, she bowed to Elder Melio. One must remember that he was still an elder of their Race.

"Welcome Back, Elder Melio."

Melio could only nod absent-mindedly.

After that, Jilan passed a vial that brimmed with a green light to Krune.

"Here is the Wind Essence I promised to you."

Krune smiled and accepted the vial. Immediately after, Luvile used his Divine Sense to check it.

"I see... no wonder they have so much Elemental Essence Veins in this place."

Krune couldn't help but ask.

"Did you find anything? Could it be that this Wind Essence is fake?"

"No. This is the real deal. However, its power is very weak. I believe that it only has around 1/10 of the Wind Essence concentration you find in the God Realm. However, this trade was still worth it. For the people and beasts of the Godly Path Realm, such a degree of purity is well worth using. You can still use it to trade for the items to help those siblings. It's just that the value decreased a lot."

Krune sighed in relief and smiled back at Jilan.

"Our deal is concluded then."

Krune, Iem, and Sisan then looked at Elder Melio. After all, they won the fight.

Melio quickly came back to himself after being stared at by Krune's group. However, he didn't seem angry or sad that the eagles lost the battles. Instead, he seemed quite excited.

"You three, come with me. I'll fetch another vial of Wind Essence as I promised. Also, there is one thing I wish to discuss with you. Jilan, you were the one who brought these friends here, so you can come as well."

Krune's group was surprised by that sudden change of attitude. Nevertheless, they nodded and followed Elder Melio. It was also an excellent opportunity to make more inquires about this place.