Is that a Wisp?

After getting his ID and badge, Krune went to another part of the guild to take the necessary information to study first. Since he obtained a Four Star badge, he didn't need to make One-Star Pills to sell anymore. He wanted to start with Three-Star Pills since they were definitely worth much more. Of course, he also took his reward of 1000 middle-quality Rank Three Spirit Stones. After all, every spirit stone was precious!

He decided to spend the next few days memorizing all the content available up to Three-Star Pills before coming back to start learning how to concoct pills. Although he did obtain the Four Star badge, he still wasn't a Core Formation Realm cultivator. After doing so, he holed himself up in his room. Krune spent his days studying alchemy while he used the night for cultivation. Since his breakthrough was close, he couldn't relax.

On the same day, Supervisor Go Gao came to the Mercenary Guild to pay a visit to Lu Ganan, the supervisor there. After meeting up, Lu Ganan greeted him with a smile and said, "Go Gao, it has been a while. Why did you come here?"

Go Gao had a solemn expression on his face as he replied, "Can we talk in private? I have something important to discuss."

Lu Ganan was slightly confused with Go Gao's behavior. Usually, this guy would smile all the time. To see his serious face was something rare. Eventually, the two of them arrive in his face. Inside Lu Ganan's office, both of them were staring at each other. Supervisor Go then took a deep breath and started to talk, "Did Supervisor Lu know that your member, Krune, came to our Alchemist Guild to take part in the alchemist test?"

Lu Ganan was taken aback by this question. The Mercenary Guild headquarters asked him to keep an eye out for Krune, so he did know that Krune went to the Alchemist Guild. But why would Go Gao come and pay a visit to him just to talk about that? The Mercenary Guild didn't forbid any of its members to join other guilds, after all.

"I do know. As you've probably heard, the Mercenary Guild puts a lot of importance on him. We've received orders from the headquarters to keep an eye on him, but we don't stop our members from joining other guilds. So, what's the problem? Could it be that Krune created some problem for your guild?"

Supervisor Go was surprised to hear that. The Mercenary Guild headquarters was putting a lot more importance into Krune than he thought they would. Naturally, this wasn't good news for him.

"Lu Ganan, Krune has passed the Alchemist Guild's exam. Not only that, but he was able to create a Three-Star Qi Gathering Pill on his very first try. He can feel the synchronization of the elements inside the cauldron, which is something that only those at the Core Formation Realm should be able to. The only exceptions are the direct disciples at the Alchemist Guild headquarters. Still, the earliest someone was able to do that was at the 7th Stage of Foundation Establishment. Krune, on the other hand, is capable of doing that while still at the 2nd Stage. His future as an alchemist is limitless!"

Go Gao looked directly at Lu Ganan's eyes and told him straight, "I will be direct here. We want Krune to leave your Mercenary Guild and be part of the Alchemist Guild alone. Any price is negotiable."

To his surprise, Lu Ganan answered him straight away. "Out of the question."

He then said, "Our Mercenary Guild has great hopes for him. Our Yule Continent hasn't had such a genius for a long time. You might not know this, but it has been over ten martial gatherings since our Yule Continent was able to send someone as a representative of the Mercenary Guild. The headquarters has great hopes for him to be able to do that two years from now. So, I can't accept your request."

Supervisor Go didn't give up, though, saying, "He is also a part of our Alchemist Guild now, and the guild has made an exception as well, wherein we bestowed him a Four Star Alchemist badge. We will not allow such a genius to throw his life away for some barbaric gathering."

Lu Ganan didn't back off, saying in response, "Martial prowess is vital for one's safety. Impeding him from doing battle is the same as cutting off his martial path in the middle. Since he's a battle genius, the best way to temper him is through life and death battles. Only through that can he achieve greatness."

Go Gao got angry after that. "Bullsh*t! Are you saying that Krune can't achieve greatness as an alchemist? Alchemy is one of the most respected professions in our entire world. No, in the entire universe! He can achieve much more by following the alchemist path alone!"

Naturally, Lu Ganan didn't want to hear anymore. "That's enough! Anyways, we won't let Krune go. Our Mercenary Guild found him first! If you want him to be an alchemist, fine! But we won't agree to him stopping his martial path."

Go Gao then stood up and left, but not before leaving a few words behind. "Our Alchemist Guild will not give up. I will show to everyone that Krune's correct path is alchemy, so he has no need to risk his life meaninglessly!"

Just like that, a fight started between both guilds of Kaley City. As for the culprit, he was peacefully cultivating during the night, and he had no idea what was happening outside. Yusa and Ao tried to contact him, but Krune didn't want to be disturbed, so he turned off his communicator. And just like that, a week passed.

---

It was almost 5 o'clock in the morning when suddenly, people close to Krune's room could feel the spiritual energy of the surroundings rushing in the direction of his room.

"Someone's breaking through." That was the thought of the majority.

Surprisingly, they were right! After going through a life and death battle against the Earth Dragon and using the Five Elements Paste, he was very close to breaking through into the 3rd Stage. Now that a week of cultivation had passed, he had finally finished his preparations and achieved the next realm. After spending some time stabilizing his spiritual energy, Krune took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

'3rd Stage Foundation Establishment. It's already been over three months since I achieved the 1st Stage back in Katiu Forest. I had spent less than a month to get to the 2nd Stage. However, I used over two months to get to the 3rd Stage. I will have a better idea about the time I need to reach the Core Formation Realm after breaking through to the 4th Stage of Foundation Establishment.'

Krune stood up and went to take a shower after that. He then took a few more glances into the information regarding alchemy for Three Star Alchemists to make sure he remembered everything and decided to head to the Alchemist Guild after that. His universe foundation needed way too much spiritual energy, so he was left with less than a thousand Rank Three Spirit Stones. The majority were middle-quality Spirit Stones from the time he passed the Alchemist Guild's exam. While making his way, it was then that he remembered supervisor Go's request.

'Joining the Alchemist Guild and leaving the Mercenary Guild would be a good thing in most situations, but alchemists take their time to cultivate. Their improvement is guaranteed, but at the same time, slow. As a wisp, my life span is too small to patiently wait for my realm to improve. In the end, I need combat experience if I want to improve faster, so I guess I will need to refuse supervisor Go. Still, I will stay as a member of the Alchemist Guild to make some money. I hope that's enough.'

He then grabbed his communicator and turned it on. When he checked it, he could see hundreds of messages from Yusa and Ao, which confused him. Could it be that something happened? He then sent a message to the two of them that he was heading to the entrance, so they could meet him there if they needed something. Krune grabbed his things after that and left.

On the way out of his room, he had the same feeling as before. Everyone was staring at him, but he was sure that he hadn't done anything this time. When he got to the entrance of the Mercenary Guild, Yusa and Ao were already there. Yusa came forward and put her hands on Krune's shoulder, telling him, "Man, this isn't even funny anymore. I wonder if you really are serious about living a low-key life."

Krune did not know what Yusa meant about that. What was she talking about?

After Yusa was done saying her piece, Ao then told Krune his thoughts, saying, "Anyways, I think you should ponder more about whether you want to leave the Mercenary Guild to join the Alchemist Guild. The Mercenary Guild was the first one to recognize you after all."

Krune looked at them and couldn't help but say, "But I didn't say that I was leaving the Mercenary Guild. Supervisor Go said that I could think over it first, but in the end, I decided that I would stay in the Mercenary Guild as well. Without battle experience, my cultivation will lag behind. You two, better than anyone else in this city, know very well that I can't simply cultivate slowly like everyone else."

"First of all, how do you even know that the Alchemist Guild offered me to only be a member of their guild?" he continued.

Yusa and Ao looked at each other and then back at Krune as Yusa asked him, "Do you really not know what is happening?"

Krune shook his head, but he could feel that something bad had happened, something that he would not like at all! Yusa then looked at him and said, "You really are a star. Even when you aren't doing anything, you still can make the world tremble. The Mercenary Guild and the Alchemist Guild of Kaley City are almost starting a fight against each other, and the reason is no one else but you."

Krune was taken aback! Fighting because of him? Why?

Yusa then continued, "The supervisor of the Alchemist Guild came a week ago to demand that you should be released of your status as a mercenary and that you should only be a member of the Alchemist Guild. Lu Ganan, of course, rejected straight away. You're the rising star of the Mercenary Guild, after all, whether you like it or not. They then got into a heated discussion, and finally, things went out of control."

Krune felt like crying after hearing that. Even when he wasn't doing anything, people would still go out of their way to destroy his peaceful life.

Just when he was about to move out to talk with the Alchemist Guild, Go Gao appeared in the distance. Surprisingly, it wasn't only him. Lu Ganan also came out from inside the Mercenary Guild.

Go Gao arrived in front of Krune and said, "You're finally out of your seclusion. I can see that you even broke through the 3rd Stage of Foundation Establishment, congratulations. Why don't you come with me right now? As long as you decide to leave the Mercenary Guild, I can guarantee that no one will stop you."

Lu Ganan then said in response, "Why would he leave my Mercenary Guild? It is you who are forcing him into such a decision. Can't you see that he doesn't want to do that at all?"

Both of them started to bicker with each other. Krune, on the other hand, was feeling gloomier and gloomier. Everyone was paying attention to him, the one who made the two guilds fight over him. He could see that the tension between both parties was very high, and he pondered how he should alleviate the situation.

It was then that he remembered a few words said by that sex shop attendant back then. He said that men liked to go to a place called a brothel to get rid of their tension. Even though Krune would not listen to that guy's advice about women anymore, it couldn't be that he's also wrong about men, right? The attendant that day was a male as well, after all. Krune then went in between the two supervisors and told them, "There's no need to continue this discussion. I have already made my decision that I will stay in the Mercenary Guild, but I will also be part of the Alchemist Guild. As for the part of losing my life during the missions, supervisor Go has no need to worry about it. If there's something that I'm confident about, that is to keep myself safe."

Lu Ganan was ecstatic. On the other hand, Go Gao didn't like the answer. They didn't lose Krune, but they didn't acquire him for themselves either. Just as he was about to talk, Krune put his arms around Lu Ganan and Go Gao's shoulders, telling them, "Let's go. I will bring you guys to have some fun."

Lu Ganan and Go Gao asked almost by instinct. "Go where?"

Krune then smiled and said, "To the brothel, of course! I heard that you human males like to go there to alleviate their tension, and that's the best place for us to be at the moment. This fight between both guilds is now over."

The people around that were watching the show looked strangely at Go Gao and Lu Ganan. That's because they all knew that both of them were... married!

Go Gao and Lu Ganan almost vomited blood after that. Who the hell will go there with you? Do you want our wives to make us infertile?! As for Yusa and Ao, they could not help but put their hands on their faces as they were 100% sure! Krune had absolutely no idea about what a brothel really was at all!

And just like that, the old news about the guilds fighting was somehow changed to the story about the guild supervisors being good customers of the Red Lantern, the most famous brothel in the city! Both Go Gao and Lu Ganan had a hard time at home explaining what really happened. They were also left alone by their wives for the next few months. Because of that, they wanted to cry but had no tears to shed.