After another week of travel, Krune's group then made their way back to the Elemental Sect Planet. Once there, they noticed how the checking rules were still as strict as before.
"It seems like there are being very through with this."
Feifei nodded.
"There might have six planets with one entry to the Elementa Path Realm each. But the fact is that the supply of Elemental Path Stones of six planets is far from being enough for an entire Universe. Any kind of power would definitely do their best to protect it."
Krune and the others nodded.
"So, what should we do? Move around the city outskirts?"
Tiane then suggested.
"As long as we don't leave the city without permission, there should be no problems. So I guess we should separate here and check everywhere with our Elemental Meridians. Considering that we are inside the city, there shouldn't be many Elemental Path Stones. Not to mention that it was just recently that the Elemental Path Realm opened, so there shouldn't be many stones formed yet as well. If we can find some stones in this condition, we can consider the Elemental Stones gathering plan feasible and move to the next part."
Krune, Feifei, and Ruik accepted Tiane's idea, and they immediately separated. The teleport formation that they used to arrive is inside a City called Tava, one of the biggest cities on the planet. So the city itself was, in fact, enormous. Each member of their group then decided to cover one of the cardinal directions. Krune South, Feifei West, Ruik North, and Tiane East.
According to what Krune thought, they should keep their Elemental Meridians activated all the time. Krune is sure that the Elemental Meridians are very attracted by those stones, the question in hand is from how far they could feel that attraction.
The answer didn't take long to arrive, though.
Just 20 minutes after they separated, Krune already got a message from Ruik.
"Found one, or at least, I think I did. The problem is that my Elemental Meridians are asking me to go underground."
Feifei and Tiane were on the same call as well.
"Is the place you are at the moment bad for you to go down?"
Ruik nodded his head.
"Yes, I'm still in the middle of the city. If I didn't need to care about that, I would have done it already."
Krune pondered a bit and then said.
"Forget this one. Let's try to find stones that are on the outskirts. If you start using your cultivation to go underground in a place like this, it will be too suspicious. Before arriving there, ignore any other call from your Elemental Meridians."
Everyone nodded, and they kept moving to the city's borders. On the way, Krune, Feifei, and Tiane also had times where their activated Elemental Meridians felt like being attracted by something. But it was always underground.
'Well, that is to be expected. Any Elemental Path Stone that might appear on the surface would probably be found straight away with so many people and beasts here.'
Krune was the first one to arrive at the southern borders. He could see the wall protecting the city's entrance and a protection formation moving all the way up to the skies.
'That should be what they are relying on to stop others from leaving and profiting on their Elemental Stones.'
Krune ignored the wall and started to move around. He also kept some distance away from the wall since it had some patrols now and then. Still, it didn't take long for Krune's activated Meridians to once more feel attracted by something.
'I felt it two times already, and it was just like when my Meridians absorbed the demon beasts' light and the Elemental Path Stone. It must be an Elemental Path Stone as well.'
Krune found the place where he felt his meridians attraction to be the strongest and immediately started to use his Earth Element and Laws to go down. This time, there was almost no one around since very few lived near the city's borders. Thanks to his Earth Element and Laws, it was also easy for Krune to move the Earth without causing any ruckus.
In less than a minute, Krune had gone over a hundred meters down. Finally, the attraction that he felt from his Elemental Meridians grew bigger, and Krune finally noticed the Elemental Stone in his Divine Sense.
'As expected, if one isn't very close, it is hard to notice the stone with Divine Sense alone. The attraction from the Elemental Meridians can reach much further, though.'
Krune then moved to the Stone Direction and finally grabbed it.
'There is no doubt, it is an Elemental Path Stone. I guess it confirms the success of our plan.'
Krune didn't take that Elemental Path Stone, though. He had already looked into the Elemental Sect Planet Rules for Elemental Path Stones. Any stones had to be delivered to the sect in case you bumped on one. The sect would then pay you a certain amount of its value. In case someone was caught smuggling stones out of the planet, the sect members have the authority to imprison that smuggler. The price to be released also isn't anything that a single Elemental Path Stone could pay.
Usually, the sect would put a seal and force those who broke the rules to work for them for several years. The total number of years depended on how many Elemental Path Stones he or she tried to take away. That is also why Krune wants to get permission to look for them so that his group wouldn't fall into this situation.
As soon as Krune returned to the surface, he received a message from Tiane. She, too, arrived at the outskirts and found a stone around 150 meters underground. Since their group had agreed to it before, Tiane also left that stone behind. Feifei and Ruik contacted Krune as well sometime later to tell that they too found it.
The group then went back to the city center. In the end, Krune and the other spent around 2 hours in this endeavor and found the location of 10 or so Stones.
"Alright. We confirmed that the Elemental Meridians are really much better to find hidden Elemental Path Stone than Divine Sense is. But we also found out that there are differences in quality. The Elemental Path Stone that I used back in the wisp world provided energy equivalent to a 1st Stage Divine Soul Realm Demon beast from the Elemental Path Realm. But the Stones we found this time around didn't have that much energy."
Feifei didn't find it strange, though.
"That was probably a crafted stone. They used Rank 10 Spirit Stones and Elemental Flowers to finish that. So I guess it is normal for that stone to give so much more energy."
Krune and the others nodded.
"Still, if we put all the ones we found together, it should have more energy than that single one I used. So the plan is still worth it. It is just that we will need to find thousands of them for each of us. But since we can do it while we cultivate, it shouldn't be a problem."
Krune then looked into some information in his communicator and said.
"Let's go to the Elemental Sect and see if my pills can really be traded by a collection pass. I already checked, and there is a branch of the sect in every single big city on their planet. We can go there now and check it."
Feifei and the others nodded and immediately moved out.
"Krune, do you have enough of your special pills with you?"
Krune smiled after hearing that question.
"I made a lot of pills, and I made sure to keep a reasonable amount for myself. That is also why I haven't concocted in some time. It is simply because I already had the pills ready. Now those extra pills will have another good use."
Krune's group arrived in the Elemental Sect Branch a few minutes later. There, Krune went to the counter and inquired about the Elemental Path Stones collection.
"It is indeed possible to provide a pass to gather Elemental Path Stones. But that pass is costly and has limited time use. Every pass has the same value as 100 Elemental Path Stones of any quality. The time that it is active is only one month. If you can't find enough to cover for this price, you will be forced to work for the sect for several years to pay for the rest. Are you okay with that?"
Krune then brought out his trump card.
"Can the price be paid with alchemist pills?"
The attendant nodded.
"Depending on the type and tier of the pill, it can."
The attendant didn't know much about alchemy, so he called an alchemist that works in their branch to check Krune's pills first.
As soon as the Alchemist tried to check Krune's pill with his Spiritual Energy and Divine Sense, the purple flame appeared around it. As an alchemist himself, he immediately understood what that meant. A lot of people and beasts want to have Krune's pills, but there was simply not enough supply out there! Still, they had all read about the information about them and the so-called purple flame that it shows when Spiritual Energy is sent inside.
"This! Are you sure you want to use these pills to pay for the collection pass?"
Krune nodded. For him who can make those pills at any time, the Elemental Path Stones that had to be paid were of much higher value.
"Very well, with this number, I can provide you with a one year pass. Jolk's pills are not as valuable as the Elemental Path Stones, but they are much harder to find. The main advantage is that they can achieve the effects of much higher-tiered pills, so in fact, it saves a lot more money even if their value is lower."
Krune didn't mind.
"It's okay. What I want are the Elemental Path Stones, those pills are of little use for me at the moment."
The Alchemist nodded and then talked with the attendant again. Not long after, Krune and his group received a three-months-pass each. Krune's pills were worth a year of collection, but it was for him alone. Since they were in four, they would need a pass each. So that year was shared between the four.
Before Krune left, that Alchemist asked him.
"For you to have this many of Jolk's pills, are you perhaps related to him? Or perhaps... are you him?"
Krune smiled and just nodded. He was using his Jolk identity and appearance at the moment, just like Feifei was with her Wulia Feier alias and face as well.
"If you want to receive this good deal again in the future, make sure to not spread the news. If it turns out that I can't spend my time having fun with my friends here, then I will be forced to leave."
The guy immediately nodded. Those pills would save a lot of money to their sect. So he might even get a bonus depending on how many of those pills he gets from Krune in the future.
Krune looked at everyone and said.
"Let's go!"
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