Is that a Wisp?

"It's finally done!" Krune said as he stared at the Yin Beasts hanging from the ceiling. There were fourteen of them in total. Among them, eight had reached maturity. As for the rest, they were in descending order of maturity, including the fourteenth one that had just been birthed.

"It's time to reap the benefits," he said soon after as he picked up the Nightmare Core, noticing that it had dimmed considerably when compared to how he obtained it at first. It had expended a lot of power to birth fourteen Yin Beasts.

Smiling, Krune condensed the Cloud Whale around it, piercing it through the body of the youngest Yin Beast, watching it scream in agony as its essence was extracted.

Krune smiled in response, watching the degree of increase in the Nightmare Core's strength surpass what he saw previously. "So, absorbing blood from those that are alive is more effective. That trip to the Sub-Realm is proving valuable in countless situations."

With that, Krune continued to poke the Cloud Whale in the Yin Beasts, one after another. By the time he was finished with the sixth Yin Beast, a change had appeared within the Nightmare Core when it had reached full strength.

Followed by a minor energy fluctuation, a minor crack appeared in it. For a moment, Krune was worried if he had overfed it with energy.

However, upon a closer look, he nodded in understanding, muttering, "I see, that makes perfect sense now."

As he was using a female to birth the Yin Beasts while feeding the hatchlings males, it caused two types of energy to be absorbed by the core. Once the Nightmare Core absorbed enough, it split off the respective energies.

As Krune plunged the Cloud Whale into the seventh Yin Beast, the Nightmare Core split into two halves, soon turning into smaller whole spheres. Smiling at the result, he continued to repeat the same process, finally absorbing the essence from all fourteen Yin Beasts.

Had they been dead, then he wouldn't have been able to see such a scenario. But with them being alive, adding in his nurturing process, the two energies built up within them over time. That was what he had been aiming for all along.

Then again, he had initially planned to manually split the Nightmare Core into two during the absorption process before developing them into two separate entities. But since it had happened naturally, he was even more satisfied.

In any case, that meant his train of thought was in the correct direction. Seeing the husks of the fourteen Yin Beasts, Krune proceeded to extract valuable parts from their bodies. Leaving the rest of their bodies aside, he arrived at the room that he had created especially for the refinement process, setting up all the necessary tools.

He had spent a lot of money on this, almost expending most of their funds. Nevertheless, the place he had created was perfect for what he was about to create next.

Exiting the cave, Krune called forth the two children, stating when they arrived, "Have you memorized everything that I have taught you?"

"Yes!" The two of them shouted in response, having clearly grown a lot as compared to before. They were almost ten-year-old now, ready to join the County Academy.

Smiling, Krune told them to wait, heading towards the village as he knocked on the door to the village head's house. When the village head opened the door, he was pleasantly surprised. Well, he was already expecting it a bit when someone knocked on their door in the night.

Only someone like him did that.

Upon seeing Wang Hu's old friend, Krune smiled, asking solemnly, "Are you ready to give up your life for your granddaughter to become an Imperial Meister?"

For a moment, the village head was stunned before laughing in response. "That's beyond what I could ever hope. Let these old bones help my family."

As for the parents of Chen Xue that had heard their conversation, they fell on the floor, expressing both sadness and happiness. Sadness at the sacrifice of the village head, but happiness at the enormous future that was already paved for their daughter.

It was no different from a beggar instantly turning into a king. They were unable to handle such an emotional matter, looking like they would announce the matter to the entire world.

But at this time, Krune's cold voice shut them up, pouring cold water over their emotions. "If word of her leaks, then the aristocratic families would eradicate the both of you and any familial relations Chen'er has. This way, they'll ensure the bloodline of an Imperial Meister would flow through their family line next."

"So, until the day Chen'er announces it herself after turning into an adult, you better quiet about it. Or else, take it to your graves. Will you swear upon your ancestors?" he asked them.

As their minds rapidly cooled down, they rationally thought through his words, solemnly bowing as they quickly said, "We swear upon our ancestors to take this matter to our graves. If we break it, may we suffer in hell and never reincarnate."

"Good enough." Krune then nodded at the village head, bringing them to the bandit cave.

Upon seeing the location he was staying at, the village head was surprised. "To think you were close by all along."

"Well, come in!" Krune brought him inside, hearing an excited voice of Chen Xue that pounced upon her grandfather.

The grandfather and granddaughter pair spoke a lot as Krune watched the scene for an hour before coughing once.

"Can't I spend some more…?" The village head asked, unwilling to part with his granddaughter so soon. Having seen her grow from birth and seeing her every day, he had become pretty lonely after not seeing her for the past 21 months.

"No, we don't have enough time. After you would be my turn. Just so you know, my strength is waning even faster recently." Krune shook his head in response.

Only at this moment did the village head notice Krune panting a lot. His skin had cracked while there were countless blisters on his hands. He seemed to have aged by a decade compared to the last time he saw.

"I have been pushing myself a lot these past 21 months." Krune smiled wryly, leading the village head to the refinement chamber, the cave where he had set up all the tools.

Upon seeing his actions, the two children teared up immediately, realizing something based on the conversation they had exchanged just now.