Chapter 857: Falling Boulders Precipice

Days passed in this routine as Krune spent his time cultivating and attempting to awaken the brooch's spirit. Whenever he felt bored, he would attempt awakening a spirit on the sword, only to see that the spirit that he had awakened within minutes would be killed immediately by the hilt.

Normally, awakening a spirit was a tedious process, even for Krune. It took anywhere from half a day to an entire day to form a spirit that was close to awakening. But, most of the time, it would be something that would die within a couple of days.

Therefore, once the equipment had returned to its original state, he would have to begin the process anew. Hence, it would usually take him anywhere from a month to three months to awaken a spirit successfully. As for the brooch, considering the quality of the materials involved, he would need to spend a far longer time to awaken its spirit.

The only thing that did not fall into that norm was the blade of that sword he had received. It took him anywhere from a minute to 30 minutes to awaken its spirit. But alas, all of them were killed by the glowing green hilt. Nevertheless, Krune kept up with it, trying to figure out its mysteries while deepening the comprehension of his Calamity Laws. It was a training of sorts, after all.

His cultivation was also progressing at a steady pace. Thanks to the Rank Two God Stones, he was quite close to breaking through. He had a feeling that after a week or two, he would achieve the second stage of the God Foundation Realm.

"Krune!" Just as he was in the midst of his cultivation, Vardin's voice resounded as the carriage intensely rumbled. Unsurprisingly, Krune stopped cultivating as he kept the sword in his storage time before heading out through the balcony. It was at times like these that he appreciated the caravan for installing the balcony to his room.

All he had to do was jump off of it, and he would soon land on the ground. But at the very moment he arrived at the balcony, Vardin peeked from the roof and said, "Come up! Hurry!"

Hearing that, Krune jumped and landed on the roof of the carriage, finding the action slightly difficult. The laws of the God Realm had completely suppressed his abilities. If he was still in the Godly Path Realm, he wouldn't even have to lift a finger to achieve something of this caliber.

"What happened?" Krune had a serious expression while asking upon noticing the expressions of Vardin and Diana.

"We're approaching the first danger zone. We'll enter it any minute now," Diana turned solemn as she replied, entering a battle-ready state. She looked like she was ready to pit herself in a life-and-death battle.

"It's the Falling Boulders Precipice," Vardin replied, determining the danger zone they were entering based on the terrain.

Krune immediately looked at the very front of the caravan, watching a long line of mountains stream before them appear closer and closer as the caravan moved towards them. It was a series of mountains, with each leading into a range of its own.

Clouds covered everything beyond their middle points, preventing them from gazing beyond. There was a narrow passage in between the mountains with a height of less than a kilometer. Below that was the ground, and above were the clouds.

The rumbling of the caravan grew more and more intense as they proceeded through a beaten path. Then again, the beaten path was only relatively better compared to the ground covered in rocky spikes.

Krune looked beyond the mountains, noticing a path trail through the precipice among one of the mountain ranges. It was barely 10 meters wide in some places, while narrower at others. There were also numerous twists and turns where the path just disappeared out of nowhere.

Nevertheless, what shocked him the most was the current scene in front of him. Rocks of varying sizes fell through the clouds like rain. Big boulders larger than a small house in size fell every once in a while.

He even noticed a boulder crash into a section of the path, collapsing it soon after. This was definitely a danger zone.

"We're really traveling through there? There?!" Krune shouted with a hint of disbelief, pointing at the place as he looked at Diana and Vardin. Unfortunately for him, they nodded at his question with a helpless expression.

Diana responded, "I think Trivar has a valid reason to choose this route."

Before she could say anything else, Trivar's shout resounded throughout the caravan. "All mercenaries, take your positions! As for the caravans, those who are assigned to this task should head up to the roof immediately!."

His shout then relayed the positions everyone had to take up. "Winged Wasps, protect carriages 76-90, five per each member! Block the largest boulders, leave the rest to the caravan members!"

"Five for each one of us. I hope we can do it," Krune sighed as he muttered to himself, looking at Diana and Vardin. "I'll take the ones from carriage 86."

"I'll take the ones in the middle, then," Vardin soon replied.

They were on carriage number 80. Krune arrived at the edge of his carriage, looking at the Zenith Plugger trailing right behind, pulling carriage number 81. The Zenith Plugger slightly lowered its head as it said, "You can traverse on my back during this duration."

Krune nodded, watching Vardin jump first as he landed on its head before leaping again. He then landed on its back as he made his final leap just as he was at the edge of its tail. The tail moved up as he used the height to leap once again, arriving atop carriage number 81.

Krune then turned around, making a sweep over the caravan as he noticed that there were 22 mercenaries in total protecting the caravan, including himself. Obviously, those 22 made up the four teams that were contracted this time. They were moving back and forth through the carriages, positioning themselves accordingly to defend them. The caravan members naturally followed suit, numbering four per carriage.

They were expertly trained for this situation, carrying large shields on their backs, some being bigger than their bodies. Some also held whips to coil around the boulders and throw them using good old centripetal force.

'Hmm... I can't move efficiently like this.' Krune thought for a moment, coming up with an idea as all his 102 shields appeared not long after, forming a multi-layered protective sphere around him. They spun around him like a vortex, causing everyone to look in his direction, shocked at his deft control.

Krune then leaped upwards, sending a shield forward as he controlled its actions through his Mental Energy, landing on it as he used it as his foothold. Before the shield moved down under his weight, Krune then activated his Balance Laws, controlling its output.

He emitted Godly Energy from his leg, changing its inherent structure to make it seem like it was emitted from a foreign cultivator, causing the shield to repel him. At the same time, Krune angled the force emitted by the shield, allowing him to dart forward using the repulsion.

The very moment his body shot forth, he deactivated the Balance Laws and dragged the shield with him, traveling over six carriages as he approached the 87th carriage. It seemed like he would cross it and hit the face of the Zenith Plugger pulling the 88th carriage.

A shield soon shot forward after that, shining with myriad colors as it positioned itself against his path. At the moment of contact, Krune decreased the concentration of the Balance Laws on the shield, reducing the repulsion as his other shields collided with it.

The repulsive force sent him flying towards the 87th carriage as his shields surrounded him, cushioning his fall as he rolled on the top of the carriage, coming to a stop as he got up. The shields continued to revolve around him as Krune smiled, happy that his idea had worked.

His actions were sloppy, but he was satisfied. He was making use of the short duration he could keep his Balance Laws up to move around. As the Balance Laws used all laws, Krune was making use of the Gravity Sub-Law, which was part of the Earth Major Laws. The repulsive force it gave to Godly Energy and the attractive force it had towards all laws, these properties allowed him to achieve this feat. Though he knew that it was only possible thanks to the God Realm.

'The laws are clearer and more defined in the God Realm. So, their uses are grander.' He thought to himself, noticing a lot of eyes trail after him. He didn't have time to bother about their shocked and surprised expressions, getting ready to defend the five carriages under his protection.

He was feeling somewhat excited. Even though it was against nature and not a living opponent, this would be his first real battle in the God Realm.

"We're about to pass through the Falling Boulder Precipice! If there are no mishaps, we should be able to cross it in a couple of days!" Trivar's shout soon resounded as the caravan moved along a path on the precipice, steadily gaining altitude from the ground. They moved closer and closer towards the clouds as the path lead them.

"We have to defend for 2 days?!" Krune's expression crumbled in an instant, unable to hear any replies as the surroundings were filled with the sounds of falling boulders. It was undoubtedly loud since some of the boulders crashed into the slope of the mountain during their fall. Sometimes they would roll, sometimes fly for a bit, etc. Some boulders even fell from the clouds like rain.

They had to defend against attacks from the top and the sides facing the mountain. Krune looked at the other side, noticing the precipice had become deadlier by the second the height of the cliff increased steadily.

In the God Realm, a fall from such a height meant death. The sound of boulders colliding resounded throughout the area, forming a synchronous cacophony as the caravan entered the Falling Boulders Precipice.

"Get ready!" A muffled shout from Trivar resounded as Krune readied his shields, keeping an eye on a large boulder heading his way.

His shields instantly shot forward, forming an inclined slope for the boulder to roll over the carriage, ending up on the other side.

"Heavy!" Krune grunted as the boulder crashed into his shields, causing his Mental Energy to instantly be reduced by a chunk. The formation he had erected using the shields almost caved in when the boulder collided with it, carrying it beyond the precipice. It continued to freefall after that, disappearing beyond where he could see.

Krune hadn't even reoriented himself when another boulder crashed on his shields, causing him to grunt in response and throw it off. The caravan members on his carriage worked on repelling the smaller stones. While looking at them, Krune then saw two boulders heading towards caravan number 86 and 89 at the same time.

"Oh, come on!" he cursed, stomping on a shield to dart towards the boulders while it was covered by his Balance Laws. This time, he stopped using only his Mental Energy to control his shields and returned to controlling them with his Divine Sense and Godly Energy. He was using Mental Energy so he could train his Soul, but the situation didn't allow him to.