Is That A Wisp?

The storage ring wasn't anything spectacular. It was only a piece of Two Star God Core equipment. The only thing that was different was the fact that it was slightly cracked. And it seemed that it was losing its essence through this crack. 

However, the energy leaking out was only Spiritual Energy. Based on the rate of leakage, it would take tens of thousands of years for the storage ring to deteriorate further and shatter. And, this trace leakage of Spiritual Energy was being absorbed by the horn. 

Krune then focused his senses once more, sensing another stream of Spiritual Energy being emitted by the horn. This trace stream of Spiritual Energy directly flowed in the direction of the battlefield. With that, Krune finally understood what was happening. "I now understand why the Black Demon hasn't ever fought and always sat and the bottom of the flight of stairs leading to the battlefield."

Krune turned around, looking at Hazak and the old lady, telling them, "It is cultivating.."

"Cultivating?" The two were unfamiliar with the term.

"Cultivating is the act of transitioning from a mortal to an immortal," Krune explained. "Spiritual Energy is the first step to initiate that process."

"Then, the reason it gave its horn to me was…" the old lady muttered with widened eyes. 

"Yes, it must definitely know that the humans of the first generation were cultivators, and the fact their equipment should all have Godly Energy. Godly Energy is the highest level of energy. The most basic form of it is Spiritual Energy." Krune then said, "It knew that its horn would be treated as a treasure and be placed in the treasury, the place where all items of the first generation cultivators would be kept."

"And even though it is faint, with all such equipment in one place, they would begin to produce trace amounts of Spiritual Energy naturally. This Black Demon planned to absorb it and embark on the journey of a cultivator," Krune gazed at Hazak and asked, "Based on what you said, as long as they're within the miasma, Demons don't have the concept of death, right?"

Upon seeing Hazak nod in response, Krune then told them, "So, it isn't pressed for time. It can patiently absorb this trace level of Spiritual Energy and take centuries to break through the stages of Qi Refinement."

"Can I also begin cultivating by using this energy?" the old lady asked, excited. 

"You can, but I would advise against doing so," Krune replied, watching her expression turn into one of disappointment immediately. "With this level of energy, it would take you decades if not a century to even enter the first stage of Qi Refinement. And I can assure you that it won't give you any benefit."

"Then again, this changes things." Krune smiled as he looked at the horn, asking, "If you devour this horn, will you break through your current limit, Hazak?"

"That won't be possible, Sir Pestlor…"

"You can just call me Krune from now onwards. No need to hide my name anymore," Krune said.

"Sir Krune," Hazak said. "Even if I eat this horn, I won't break through my current limit. Even if I eat a Black Demon's body, there's no guarantee I might be able to break past my current limit. Maybe there's a chance if I continue to absorb the miasma every day."

"Then..." Krune smiled, looking at the old lady. "I'll take this horn with me. In exchange, no matter how many people you bring, I'll heal them all."

"What?" The old lady was shocked to hear such a thing. "You can do that?"

"Indeed, I can." Krune patted her shoulder, emitting his Neon Radiance by fusing the healing effect of his Ocean Heart into it, causing the old lady to flinch in shock as she felt invigorated. 

Once the exchange was complete, Krune carried the Black Demon's horn with him, smiling as he and Hazak left the palace, returning to their home soon after. As for the old lady, he told her to come to the Ralk family mansion if she wished to meet him. 

Returning to their secret hideout, Krune patted Hazak's shoulder and told him, "The rest will depend on how much miasma you can produce."

"Please leave it to me," Hazak said, entering its air-tight room to begin producing miasma. Krune constantly fed it red fish, giving it more than enough energy for the task. 

In the meantime, he wore his Monster Gecko armor once again, noticing that it was completely in tatters now. He then infused the healing effect in it, noticing that it was unable to heal. 

After thinking of something, he also infused the development effect into it, causing it to recover slowly. As another idea popped up in his mind, Krune entered the room with the miasma. The miasma immediately began to burn him. 

However, the effect wasn't to the extent when he first appeared at Layer 2. As his body had almost reached the peak of Tier 5, the miasma damaged him less. Nevertheless, he wouldn't be able to remain within it for more than a day.

At that point, his internal organs would begin to melt. But, the reason he appeared in the miasma was to help in his Monster Gecko armor's recovery. As he infused the development effect into it, it began to grow. 

And while doing so, it also absorbed some of the miasma, slightly changing in color as a result. As he was fully regenerating the Monster Gecko armor, and since it had already evolved numerous times while it was with him, adding onto the development effect on it, this was possible. 

Krune could feel its weight slowly increase, smiling as a result. 'This is indeed special.'

As he continued to regenerate the armor, Hazak continued to generate more and more miasma. Once the miasma reached a certain concentration, it sucked in everything into its mouth, compressing it into a tiny sphere. 

Krune then condensed a tiny ice sphere, watching Hazak blow in all the concentrated miasma into it. The miasma had been compressed to the extent it had turned into liquid. And once it was filled up, Krune closed the gap, looking at the thumb-sized sphere in his hand, telling Hazak, "We'll begin our experiment once you have condensed over 300 of such spheres."