Is That A Wisp?

"Talk shit about her one more time, and I swear on my life that your head would roll on the ground," Yuric snarled, placing his hand on his sword as he entered a stance. The air around him trembled as a projection seemed to manifest around him.

Krune's eyes widened at the scene, noticing the semi-corporeal projection surrounding Yuric. 'Spiritual Incarnation! So that's why Trivar trusts Yuric that much.'

Cultivators with a Spiritual Incarnation were supposed to be super rare, so Krune was surprised to have come across one. He was also confused as to why such an expert would be a mercenary. After all, the mercenary occupation wasn't the most rewarding out of all battle-related occupations. Plus, an expert with a Spiritual Incarnation like Yuric could join any organization and be welcomed with open arms.

One should take into consideration that even Dima didn't possess a Spiritual Incarnation, despite being a powerhouse at the Semi-God Realm. Just that alone displayed how rare and overbearing a cultivator with a Spiritual Incarnation turned out to be.

Yuric didn't actually manifest his Spiritual Incarnation, only emitting his Godly Energy with a base layer of his laws. But even then, it looked like the surroundings would change into a terrain advantageous to him the moment he acted upon it.

'So that's what a Spiritual Incarnation does. It changes the terrain to where the user would benefit. That would give them the home ground advantage anywhere in the God Realm.' Krune comprehended that property based on the short time the projection flashed behind Yuric. It was vastly different from the Domains he had used in the Realms below.

"What? You think I'm afraid of you?" Xula scowled in response to Yuric's showcase of might, unsheathing her axe from its holster. She seemed unafraid of Yuric, giving off the feeling that she had enough tricks up her sleeve to protect herself and even best her opponent. 

Even Yuric seemed to be a bit hesitant to fight her, despite the fierce expression he displayed. Then again, he wasn't willing to lose face, getting ready to engage with her when Trivar landed between the two. "Alright, stop fighting."

"Tell me what's wrong with your head first," Xula retorted in response to Trivar's words, remaining in her battle stance. 

"Are you telling me you know of a safer route?" Trivar frowned as he replied, "Such losses are frequent in our merchant life. Don't tell me you've already forgotten our previous trips?"

"We barely lost 2-3 carriages in all those trips," Xula frowned as she responded before pointing at the numerous Zenith Pluggers without their respective carriages. "And you're telling me that's similar to losing 90 carriages?"

"Defending them from harm was supposed to be your job description," Trivar snapped.

"22 mercenaries for a total of 120 carriages. I believe I've said my piece at the start. Also, Trivar, you were the one who said this was enough," Krune spoke from the side.

"Yes, I did." Trivar nodded. "As the owner of this caravan, I didn't complain at this loss. So, let me ask you. Why are you behaving like this?"

"People died for crying out loud!" Krune controlled himself from shouting like before. "The lives of people are different from losing materials! As a merchant, you would easily be able to reclaim material losses, but would you be able to reclaim losses of living beings that easily as well?"

"They signed up while knowing the risks." Trivar then looked at Xula and said, "I'm surprised you haven't heard the recent news. All the safer paths are infested with bandit groups now. They've cropped up from the nearby continent thanks to the ongoing continental war. So, relatively speaking, this is by far the safest route. We have no other choice if we wish to deliver our goods like usual."

He adjusted his clothes before continuing, "Afraid of the bandit groups, most merchants refrained from journeying this year. Profits are at stake here. And…" He glared before saying, "A merchant runs after profits, despite the dangers and risks."

"I never knew you were such an individual." Xula snorted after saying her piece before turning around, intending to leave. "Also, this is the last time my Mercenary Team would work with you."

"As long as you complete this mission, I'm fine with that." Trivar shrugged in response.

Xula looked at Yuric, saying before leaving, "I hope you're satisfied with the choice you made."

She then walked away, her pace slower when compared to before, her brows furrowed. Her eyelids trembled as her eyes glazed over. After that, she took in a deep breath as her expression turned placid,  her gait returning to the same imposing manner as before.

"Let's go." Krune didn't say anything else, motioning for the Silver-Winged Mouses to follow him as they returned to their respective carriage. 

Seeing their retreating backs, Yuric transmitted a message to Trivar, "What shall we do with them, Master?"

"Just leave them alone. The Silver-Winged Mouse couple is useless. As for Krune, if need be, we'll use him as our shield. He's supported by the Spirit Awakener Guild. With that, he should have some life-saving treasures on him. There's also Yulian to account for."

"Shall I kill Yulian?" Yuric asked.

"Leave him be for now. It won't be easy to kill him without manifesting your Spiritual Incarnation. But doing so would leave too many traces for our trackers. If we play our cards right, we can make use of the Spirit Awakener Guild's strength to deal with our enemies." Trivar smiled as he replied. "That's why I included Krune in this mission in the first place."

"What shall we do now, brother?" Vardin transmitted the message to Krune's mind. He was hesitant to continue the mission any longer. They were willing to risk their lives for their objective. Though, after seeing Trivar's attitude, they didn't wish to continue the mission any longer, even if it meant that they would lose the mission reward and would be stranded in the middle of nowhere, having to find their way back to some city.

"Did you know about the bandit groups occupying the safer routes?" Krune replied with a question of his own. Everything was communicated through their mind to prevent a third party from listening in on their conversation. 

"Yes." Vardin nodded as he elaborated. "It was posted in the Mercenary Guild on the day we set off. It seems to be a thing of recent. I'm surprised Trivar was able to get hold of the information beforehand and prepare a route accordingly." 

"Alright." Krune sighed. "We'll just stick to our mission. In any case, if it looks like our lives are at risk, we'll abandon this caravan and escape. Are your demon beast forms fast enough to run away from the Zenith Pluggers?"

"Yes." Vardin nodded. "For a short time, we can outrun them easily. We can also burrow into the ground and completely erase our tracks."

"That's for the best, then." Krune nodded, slightly satisfied with the response. "My demon beast form is inconvenient in such cases, so I'll be relying on you to escape. Leave the defense to me. As long as I put my mind to it, they won't be able to breach it that easily."

The place the caravan had halted wasn't anything unique. After some rest and some inspection on the conditions of the Zenith Pluggers, the caravan set off on the next day. This time, their arrangements were slightly different. 

Two Zenith Pluggers were attached to one carriage that seemed to be heavier than before. Also, for some reason, the carriages seemed to have changed in size. They were 20 meters in length and 10 meters in width before. But now, they were 30 meters in length and 20 meters in width.

Krune wasn't paying attention to them since he was busy making plans with the Silver Winged Mouse couple, so he hadn't noticed when they had made the changes. Though, upon entering their respective carriages, Krune noticed a certain formation glowing. It seemed to be a formation that altered the size of the caravan. 

The alteration wasn't limitless and was only possible by designing the carriage accordingly for expansion and contraction. With just a single touch, Krune realized that the carriage was thinner than before. To increase in volume, it had simply expanded. In exchange, the thickness of the walls had reduced.

With a bigger carriage, came a bigger balcony. Unwilling to be caught off guard alone, Krune and the Silver-Winged Mouse couple sat in the same balcony, meditating as they conversed through their minds. 

A week passed in such a manner as Krune made a breakthrough to the Second Stage of the God Foundation Realm. Immediately after that, he stopped cultivating since he was running out of Rank Two God Stones. 

He didn't have a lot of them at the start. Plus, after the current cultivation session where he also shared a bit with the Silver-Winged Mouse couple, he didn't have enough to sustain a breakthrough to the Third Stage of the God Foundation Realm. And so, he decisively stopped.

He had shared some with his teammates because if they became stronger, they would help him out when things turned awry. Besides, it wasn't as if earning Rank Two God Stones was anything difficult for him. He was, after all, a Spirit Awakener. 

"This!" Vardin let out a gasp of shock as he stared into the surroundings. What appeared at the far end of his vision was a large plain that looked as if a deity had bit off a large part of the land. It was situated 10 meters below ground level and continued to proceed deeper and deeper into the ground. 

Rock pillars were occasionally scattered across the land while the bones of humans and demon beasts filled the area. As they were closing in on the region, Krune felt a restriction of sorts placed on his cultivation base, making him feel weaker all of a sudden.

"W-What is this place?" Krune was shocked to see that his cultivation had regressed to the First Stage of the Godly Fusion Realm. He had regressed by an entire realm. He looked at the Silver-Winged Mouse couple to see if they too were at the First Stage of the Godly Fusion Realm.

"Trivar's crazy!" Diana bellowed in her mind, transmitting the content to Vardin and Krune. "Why the hell is he entering the Immortal Severance Zone?"

"Immortal Severance Zone? Is this place related to what's happening to our cultivation bases?" Krune frowned as he asked.

"Yes, it is." Diana nodded as she explained, "Everyone below a certain cultivation base would be suppressed to the First Stage of the Godly Fusion Realm here. That's why this is one of the most dangerous places since lower realm cultivators target higher realm cultivators to snatch their belongings. This happens here all the time. Only those short on time choose this path since there's no natural danger in this region except for a drop in cultivation. Also…"

Her expression collapsed as she continued, "The longer we stay here, the slower our cultivation bases would recover once we escape. Moreover, if we remain here beyond a certain duration, our cultivation would stagnate at the First Stage of the Godly Fusion Realm forever."