Hiro felt like crying already.
'Easy? What was easy? Open the barrier? Controlling the Elemental laws? No, wait! Since when have you comprehended sub-laws from each element? No, forget that for now, I just said that it would take several days of practice to synch the barrier and the user's laws. Aren't you a little too fast? No, wait again! He did that just as I said it, didn't he? It was on purpose, right? Right?! He was definitely trying to pull my leg!'
Krune had no idea about what was passing inside Hiro's head, nor did he care. He just looked at everyone and asked.
"Are you guys going to keep looking? Shouldn't we enter before the other teams notice it?"
Only then did Hiro come back to himself and immediately sent the order to his group through Divine Sense.
"We are going in!"
Just as everyone started to pass through the barrier, they heard a scream from behind.
"Hiro, damn you! Don't think that I will let you go that easy!"
The other teams soon noticed what happened and rushed over as well.
Still, Hiro only smiled.
Doesn't matter how fast they are, they aren't beside the barrier like his team. As soon as they passed through, Krune entered and moved away from the entrance. With that, there was nothing more holding the Protection Formation from closing itself, so the entrance disappeared right after.
Lier and the other groups' leaders could only look at Hiro and his team on the other side while cursing him.
Hiro just laughed and then drew some words with Spiritual Energy on the air.
"I can't hear you, but I'm sure that you are congratulating me. Thank you for all your support, I will make sure to take a good look inside in your place instead."
Even Krune felt like laughing after seeing that, let alone Feifei, who already burst out in laugher.
The other groups felt like cursing Hiro even more, but it was evident that their voice couldn't pass the formation as well.
Hiro then ignored everyone and proceed to follow his group.
But it was then that he remembered.
"Right! Jolk, you can control laws of the five elements?!"
Krune didn't deny it.
"I was just lucky during my cultivation. That's all."
Hiro might be surprised by that discovery, but the ones really terrified were the members of his group. After all, Marshine and the others all know that Krune is still in the Core Formation Realm! He hasn't even entered the Divine Soul Realm yet.
Still, they decided to not say anything. One must remember they are the weakest link of this group.
Hiro decided to ignore it for now. The important is that they got inside before anyone else.
"Alright, guys! We might have a better headstart, but sooner or later, the other teams will arrive at the protection formation. So the other group will come here too, whether we want it or not. Let's make the best of our time and try to take away as many spoils as possible. The rules of the Elemental Sect are still in place here. Any treasure that you find is yours."
Hiro and his exploration team then separated from Krune's group.
"We are going to move on our own, so you guys do whatever you like as well. If it comes to a fight for a treasure, may the ones with the best skills win."
Krune and the others nodded. This is indeed the best outcome for them. The member in Hiro's group with the lowest cultivation level was already at the 6th Stage of the Divine Soul Realm. If Krune and the others followed them, they would only get the leftovers. That's not what they wanted.
The reason that Krune allowed the entire Elemental Sect group to enter was very simple. The other teams outside would indeed come in sooner or later, so it was better for them to have more targets than just his group. Not to mention that they only found about this possibility to open the protection formation thanks to Hiro's group. This could also be said to be a way of repaying them for this information.
"Very well, see you later."
As mentioned before, the Elemental Path is really a one-way path. Still, the distance between its side borders is enormous. So there was more than enough space for both groups to move around. While Hiro's group took the right side, Krune's group did the same to the left.
It didn't take long before Rarol's instincts acted again.
"Haha! Come with me!"
Krune and everyone else immediately followed him. Not long after, Krune's Divine Sense finally found what it was.
"Holy shit! There are over a hundred Elemental Flowers ahead, and at least half of them are the Special Types!"
Filio then asked.
"If there are so many Elemental Flowers, what about the demon beasts? Such a number of flowers will probably have an army defending."
Everyone immediately stopped since they also thought the same. But surprisingly, Krune denied that conjecture.
"Nothing... There is nothing at all! It's only the flowers. I can't feel the presence of a single demon beast what so ever."
Everyone felt excited to hear that. Still, Krune's group proceeded with caution. After all, they don't know what kind of traps could be found here. But it was not necessary, though. They collected the flowers and shared between themselves without any issues.
"It seems like that the land can't give birth to those demon beasts inside the protection formation. Anyway, this is not a problem. Let's keep moving."
Feifei and Krune had absorbed a lot of the lights coming from those beasts before, and it indeed increased their rate of Elemental Source Energy conversion. But the fact is that the change wasn't that great. Even after those several days of absorption, the improvement was nothing more than 1 to 2%.
Of course, Krune and Feifei weren't sad by those results. One must remember that they didn't even expect to find something like those demon beasts to start with. Not to mention that in the long run, this 1 or 2% of increase will give a significant boost in the future.
That wasn't the first batch of Elemental Flowers that they found, though. The further they went, the more they plucked. In just a single day, Krune's group members already had hundreds of flowers each. Feifei made a deal with the others Special Flowers and acquired their Destiny Related ones in exchange for time and space.
Other than Feifei, no one else here was an adept of divination, so those flowers were indeed the least precious for them. It was a Win-Win situation for both parties.
Suddenly, Krune's Divine Sense picked something in the distance.
"There is a building ahead."
Everyone immediately entered on guard. Buildings have never been found in the Elemental Path before, so they don't know what could be inside.
Krune's group approached that construction slowly while keeping their Divine Senses out. Once they arrived in front of it, they noticed that they looked quite well preserved, considering the time that this Dimensional Realm existed.
Feifei then commented.
"It's most likely a formation. If you pay attention, the wind is being blocked for some kind of barrier. That is why it looks so well at the moment."
Tinnian then noticed something.
"Oh, I can see the entrance. But it seems to be closed."
They got close to it, and so far, nothing happened. Once Krune's group was in front of the gate, they noticed a small panel with a seal that looked like the one on the pillar outside the protection formation.
Rarol got close and put his hand on it.
"It's okay, you guys can touch it too. It's just information."
Krune and the others touched that, and once again, information was sent directly into their souls.
"Yang Hall."
Everyone understood those words and decided to enter. But against their wishes, the door of the building didn't even budge.
"Should we attack it?"
Tinnian touched the dor and tried to feel it with his Spiritual Energy.
"No can do. This thing is definitely far above what our powers to achieve. I would be impressed if we could even leave a dent on it."
Feifei then noticed something.
"Wait, what about those marks that were given to us before we entered the Elemental Path?"
Everyone finally remembered them and immediately brought the marks out. Tinnian was the first one, he approached the seal and put his Mark on it. Sure enough, his mark started to shine, and the door began to open.
But right after, something unexpected happened.
"He-hey! My mark, it lost its color."
They looked at it and sure enough. Everyone could only tell the outline of it, the colors were totally gone.
Tinnian then added.
"It did lose the colors, but I can still feel its presence."
Tinnian tried to see if he could make it go back to normal by touching the seal again, but nothing happened.
Filio then reached a conclusion.
"I guess it is safe to say that each mark can only open one building. After that, the only thing remaining is the fact that it can teleport you outside when the time is over. Of course, this is just a conjecture."
Marshine than suggested.
"If that is true, then there are a lot more buildings waiting to be opened too. Instead of using the remaining marks straight away, we should forget the Elemental Flowers and take our time to explore this place. So far, we didn't find a single demon beast, so we should just move at top speed to save time."
Their group nodded and then entered the building. Since they already lost a mark on this, they might as well take a look at what is inside.
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