The only places possible to acquire Condensed Space Fragments are blackholes. Those are the most dangerous existences in the Universe, and the ones in the Godly Path Realm are even more so. Space and time around it are unpredictable, let alone the gravity pull. Even a Nascent God would be helpless if he fell inside one of those.
A Condensed Space Fragment can be found once a Blackhole's Quasar comes out. During that moment, Space warps so much that some of it condense. Once that happens, one must be fast and take it before the fragments fall inside the Blackhole itself.
As one can imagine, it is extremely dangerous, and even Nascent Gods would probably die if they tried. That's because those fragments appear way too close to the Blackhole itself. The gravitational pull is so intense that the Nascent Gods trying to get the fragments could instead be trapped by the Blackhole and die within.
Not surprisingly, Condensed Space Fragments are incredibly scarce, not to mention that those willing to sell them are almost nonexistent. First of all, those willing to even try to acquire them are hard to find...
Or at least, that's what the information available on the Blacksmith Network said.
"There is no way we will be able to find such a thing selling. Even if some appear, the prices that will be offered for them will far surpass what I could ever afford in the short term."
Surprisingly, Zule didn't seem sad. He had a pensive expression on his face instead. Obviously, that information gave him some ideas.
"Condensed Space Fragment... If I could get this, would you be able to reforge me?"
Krune was taken aback.
"Do you know where to find one? I'll tell you that you can forget about the blackholes themselves, I absolutely won't get close to it just to fix you."
Zule shook his head.
"No, I'm talking about an already existing Condensed Space Fragment. You heard before that the ancestor of the Emukran Sect found me, right? He wasn't the cultivator who created me."
Krune nodded. He heard Iridia talking about it before.
"What about that?"
Zule then continued.
"It just so happens that I have an idea about where we can find one or maybe even two or three of those—my creators' personal Dimensional Realm. He died when he tried to open a passage to the Lower Realms without paying the price. However, his Dimensional Realm stayed behind. I also know that it is a hidden one, so chances are that it still exists. The only doubt is if someone had found about it already or not."
Krune pondered a bit and nodded.
"If that place really has the Condensed Space Fragments, then it might have the other materials I would need too. To be honest, I don't think I would be able to gather the rest of the things anytime soon. They aren't as hard as the fragments, but they aren't something that someone at my level could get easily either."
Zule nodded, excited.
"Great! Then we can go there to take a look later. However, it will have to wait. Your cultivation is way too low to enter my creator's Dimensional Realm. The restrictions, formations, traps, etc. there would kill you instantly."
Krune didn't think it to be strange.
"He was expecting that he could go to the Lower Realm, so he definitely left it well protected. That much, I already expected."
Zule agreed with Krune.
"Correct. However, too many years have passed already, so those protections most likely lost a lot of the deadly power. Still, Divine View Realm cultivation is too low to get close."
There wasn't anything wrong with that. If there was no one to do manutention in those formations, they would be worn out sooner or later. Nothing can beat time.
"What Cultivation Realm do you think I could go there?"
Zule pondered about the time and then said.
"Divinity Realm. Considering your combat power, you will need that at the very least."
Krune sighed in relief.
"If that's the case, then I have a request for you as well. You want me to fix you and go through a lot of danger to do that. You won't refuse it, right?"
Zule nodded.
"As long as it is within my abilities, I don't mind helping you out. You are helping me, too, after all."
"As you can see, my Purple Flames can increase the power of equipment by a lot. You are already a piece of equipment at the peak of the Nascent God Stars Level. If I fix you with Purple Flames, your power will increase even more, theoretically surpassing the limit of the Godly Path Realm. In that case, I want to try to open the Realm Barrier to the Lower Realms once more."
Zule was taken aback.
"Are you crazy? If I do that, I might have my sentience destroyed by the Godly Path Realm and Mortal Ream Heavens."
Krune smiled and then replied.
"As I said, you will probably surpass the limit of the realm, so I believe you won't be at risk of being destroyed. At most, you will be damaged again. But even if that happens, I can fix you once more."
Zule still shook his little head, though.
"That's just your conjecture, there is no way to know for sure."
Krune then shrugged his shoulders.
"Then, I have no need to fix you. I will just wait until I reach the Nascent God Realm and do everything on my own. Why would I go through such a dangerous attempt if I get nothing in return?"
Zule narrowed his eyes after hearing that.
"In that case, I can simply tell everyone that you are a Heavenly Fragment Owner. You wouldn't be able to reach that level before you were caught."
Krune didn't mind those words, though.
"That would simply allow them to take you as well. You can only keep connected with my Fragments, it won't work with Iem since he already has a fully merged Heavenly Core. You would be sinking both yours and my boat like that."
Zule felt helpless since he knew it was true. Where would he find another Heavenly Fragment's Owner if he separated from Krune? Hard... way too hard...
"There must be something else you want other than that."
Krune shook his head. The thing he wanted the most was to go back to the Mortal Realm. Not only him but Luvile too. Wally knew a way to bring him back there, but he said he won't tell it to Krune. Krune didn't know if it was true since he needed to go back to take Luvile's body. However, he is sure that Wally wouldn't bring him back before his cultivation was much higher than merely Divinity Realm. His only chance was to rely on the 'possible' Purple Flame Realm Barrier Dimensional Slasher.
"I don't want anything else. If I were you, I would accept this idea. After all, once you surpass the limit of the Godly Path Realm with the Purple Flame effect, you might be able to hide straight away from the Heavens and Nascent Gods. It's definitely a good deal."
Zule fell in contemplation after hearing that.
'I could wait for him to fix my treasure and simply ignore this promise... No, he definitely thought about it already. If he offered this deal, that meant he has a way to force me to keep my word.'
Krune then said.
"You don't need to answer it now. I'm still quite far from the Divinity Realm, so you can take this time to think about it. Let me know when you reach a decision."
Zule could only nod in the end. He had a lot to consider before making that decision.
Krune then returned to his Shield Crafting and ignored everything else.
This time, Krune gave up using only 38 Shields. Instead, he increased the number to 102. Not only that, but it was evident that his shields now were somewhat different from the ones he used in the past. At the very least, they definitely had other uses other than attacking and defending.
That number wasn't a problem for Krune to control anymore. With his soul power, he could even control ten times that value. Still, he didn't want to get distracted while controlling everything, so he kept a safe quantity. As crucial as the shields might be, his own body was the top priority. He couldn't afford to deviate too much attention from it.
Krune got faster and faster as his experience making the new shields increased. At this rate, he would finish them way before he expected.
Suddenly, his communicator flashed. Krune looked at the forging process of the next shield and then turned his attention to the message in the communicator.
'So the next Sealed Space began to stabilize. Tulike said that it be good to enter in three and a half weeks, uh?'
Krune returned his attention to his forging and smiled.
'I only need another four or five days to finish all the shields. The only doubt is whether Iem will be able to draw the formations on their backs in time. Still, even if he can't, using my Myriad Lightning Shields in the old way won't be that much worse.'
After pondering a bit, Krune put those thoughts behind and concentrated on the forging.
Finally, four days later, Krune finished. He looked at all 102 shields and began to think about Feifei.
'I wonder what she would think if she knew what I've just done. Hahaha!'