Chapter 1280: Can A Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator Fly?
As his divine sense spread out into the forest, Xuan Hao didn't take long to notice that there were more than just a few demon beasts in the Nascent Soul Realm gathered around the outer parts of the forest. Not just that, but he even noticed a few stronger demon beasts in the Domain Lord Realm among them.
The weaker demon beasts in the forest in the Core Formation Realm and below were also present, but they had long since hidden themselves. Most of them had gone below ground into small dens or tunnels where they could hide from the divine sense of the demon beast up above with the help of the layer of earth between them and the surface.
Of course, this kind of hiding method would only work against those demon beasts in the Nascent Soul Realm whose divine sense weren't that strong and couldn't penetrate far into the ground. Faced with the Domain Lord Realm demon beasts, they were still clearly visible.
Even then, the Domain Lord Realm demon beast had no interest in hunting down these weaker demon beasts and would much rather prefer to go after the Nascent Soul Realm demon beasts.
But… Why had all of these powerful demon beasts who were nowhere near the edge of the forest now present at the edge of the forest…?
Thinking about this as his divine sense continued to spread further into the mystic realm, Xuan Hao could not help wondering about this question.
At the current moment, his main guess as to what had happened was rather simple, a powerful demon beast above the Domain Lord Realm had appeared inside the forest during the time he had been gone from the mystic realm. Scaring the weaker demon beast away.
Considering that he had indeed sensed a few demon beasts in the Soul Ascension Realm and possibly even the Dao Seed Realm in the deeper regions of the mystic realm during his last visit, it wasn't that unrealistic for one of these powerful demon beasts to have wandered out from the inner regions of the mystic realm and into the forest he currently found himself at the edge of.
Narrowing both his eyes as he thought about this, Xuan Hao pushed his divine sense to its limits. Soon covering the entirety of the forest. Stretching his divine sense to its absolute limit as it now covered an area close to four times the size of the old Heavenly Sky Kingdom.
Even with his cultivation base in the Late Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm, covering such a large area was exhausting. Especially considering that everything inside his divine sense had to be processed by his soul. Putting enormous pressure on his soul to see everything inside the scope of his divine sense.
Even then, Xuan Hao soon discovered what he was looking for at the other edge of the massive forest.
The thing in question being the cause for the large number of powerful demon beasts that had appeared at the edge of the forest, a Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beast.
Although it was not in the Dao Seed Realm, it was more than powerful enough to have scared the different Nascent Soul Realm and Domain Lord Realm demon beasts present at the edge of the forest into escaping as far away as possible.
Even more so when considering that this demon beast at the Peak of the Soul Ascension Realm seemed to be in the process of breaking through to the Dao Seed Realm. Resulting in the aura surrounding this demon beast being no weaker than that of a demon beast that had already broken through to the Dao Seed Realm.
"Hm… I guess it shouldn't have come here because of the commotion caused by me and those two leaving the mystic realm back then, but instead because it wanted to find somewhere safe to break through to the Dao Seed Realm." Muttering this to himself as he retracted most of his divine sense and focused his attention on the Soul Ascension Realm demon beast, Xuan Hao didn't take long to comprehend why this powerful demon beast had appeared at the edge of the mystic realm where only Core Formation Realm demon beast and a few Nascent Soul Realm appeared under normal circumstances.
BOOOM!
ROAR-!
Just at this moment, a loud explosion followed by an equally loud roar echoed out not too far away from him, as Mui finally managed to break through the turtle shell of the snake turtle demon beast.
Roar!
Now at the mercy of Mui, without any chance to properly defend itself against the terrifying power of her metal balls, it didn't take long before the snake turtle demon beast was crushed beneath one of the metal balls. Putting an end to its miserable fate of being tortured by Mui without the ability to fight back.
"Hehe! It's my win!" Showing a triumphant smile as she proclaimed this while looking down at the dead snake turtle demon beast, Mui put away her metal balls before jumping over to her master with an expression looking for praise.
"You did well, but you have to remember that the main reason for your victory this time around was because of your metal balls. Next time around, you should try and fight without using them. Only this way can you enhance your combat and movement techniques." Knowing what Mui wanted, Xuan Hao smiled slightly as he praised the little girl, while also reminding her to also practice her combat and movement techniques instead of just relying on her special artifacts.
After all, without a strong enough movement technique it would be easy for her to get caught off guard by the enemy, while being stronger in fighting without the help of artifacts was always a good thing if one found themselves without any way to use these artifacts or they grew too weak to use in the future.
Even though Xuan Hao doubted that this would be much of a problem for Mui, as it seemed like her artifacts became stronger the stronger, she was, it was also good for her to try and fight without the help of the artifacts, as it could put more pressure on her and help her cultivation grow faster.
"I understand master!" Nodding her head happily at the praise, Mui wasn't the slightest bit affected by what her master said. After all, she had already tried fighting without the help of her artifacts against Chu Yang and Chun Hua, something that had indeed helped her cultivation and combat sense grow.
Although her master hadn't said it, she understood what he meant by her not using her artifacts to fight.
"Good, let's go and find another demon beast for you to fight. This time around, don't use any of your artifacts and just use the combat techniques you have learnt." Smiling happily upon seeing the look of understanding on Mui's face, Xuan Hao picked her up with his domain before flying in the direction of another Nascent Soul Realm demon beast not too far away from their current location.
Even though he had also entered the mystic realm to improve his own strength and try to reach the Peak of the Dao Domain Lord Realm, he first intended to spend some time training Mui with the help of the different Nascent Soul Realm demon beast present at the edge of the forest before doing so.
Intending to first get her strong enough that she should be able to explore the outer parts of the mystic realm on her own before leaving to continue exploring the inner parts of the mystic realm.
The reason he wanted to go to the inner parts of the mystic realm that he had felt too weak to explore before being that he wanted to see if he could find more remnants of the Mirage Sect. Possibly more of the Celestial Trials, as they had proven to be incredibly useful when it came to increasing his strength in the Dao Domain Lord Realm.
Not to mention, the Mirage Sect clearly had information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm and searching through the remnants of this once glorious ancient sect might prove useful in finding out more about the Peak of the Dao Domain Lord Realm.
Maybe he might end up running into another elder from the Mirage Sect that had somehow managed to keep himself alive through some mysterious methods like the one who had given him the robe he was currently wearing.
Thinking about this as he carried Mui through the forest before arriving in front of a rather surprised Nascent Soul Realm demon beast, Xuan Hao concealed his own presence before throwing his little disciple towards the surprised Nascent Soul Realm demon beast who couldn't comprehend how someone had suddenly appeared in the air above it.
"Maaaasttteeer!" Finding herself suddenly plummeting towards the ground, Mui could not help screaming out for her master in surprise. Not having expected her master to suddenly drop her directly above a demon beast.
"…"
Oh… Forgot that she couldn't fly on her own…
Chapter 1281: Training Mui
Following a rather awkward landing by Mui who had suddenly been dropped from the sky by her master, it didn't take long for her to start fighting with the Nascent Soul Realm demon beast that had been too shocked by the strange situation to attack before Mui was already on the ground.
Being only a single minor realm above Mui, the demon beast should have been losing out considering how an even stronger demon beast had been easily toyed around with by Mui-
Bang!
"Wah!?"
However, given the fact that the one-sided fight earlier had been entirely due to her artifacts, Mui instead ended up losing out when faced with the demon beast an entire minor realm above her. Showing that she wasn't that skilled when it came to fighting without her artifacts.
On the other hand, if not for her strong foundation surpassing that of normal Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, she would have long since ended up dead when faced with the demon beast a minor realm above her.
After all, Mui's current combat experience was close to non-existent. Only ever having fought a few battles with her senior brother and sister.
The only thing that she seemed to excel at was her ability to escape from enemy attacks, an ability she should have learnt while being chased down by the elders of the blacksmithing hall in the past.
Even though this escape ability wasn't a specific movement technique so to speak, it was still rather efficient and might even evolve into a unique movement technique with enough time.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As the fight between Mui and the Nascent Soul Realm demon beast dragged on for the next few hours, Mui who had originally been rather inexperienced when fighting against a demon beast for the first time without the help of her artifacts, had grown to the point of now being able to fight back against the Nascent Soul Realm demon beast.
Although she was still losing out and was pushed into a corner, she now displayed strength fitting for someone at her cultivation realm.
Not just that, but her talent for cultivation began to shine at this moment, as she still continued improving even at this point in time.
With enough time, she would grow beyond the level of an ordinary Fifth Stage Nascent Soul Realm cultivator and would enter the ranks of geniuses capable of fighting those above them.
Rooar-!
Unfortunately, her strength had already been weakened to the point where she couldn't continue fighting back against the Nascent Soul Realm demon beast. Meaning that she didn't have the time for her to continue improving with the pressure brought by the Nascent Soul Realm demon beast's constant stream of attacks.
"Looks like we will have to find another demon beast for her to train with after a quick rest…" Muttering this as he observed the fight from above and how Mui's situation become worse with each passing second, Xuan Hao casually waved his hand as a large icicle materialized above the Nascent Soul Realm demon beast-
Ptsh-!
And before the demon beast had any chance to react, the icicle fell directly on top of its head. Instantly killing it before it could mount the slightest bit of resistance.
"Ah! Master, I could have killed it myself!" Stumbling back in surprise before realizing what had happened, Mui pouted angrily as she stared up towards her master. Feeling like her master had underestimated her and thought she needed help.
"Sure, you could~ now let's go and find something to eat. After all, this place is filled to the brim with all kinds of delicious spiritual fruits." Rolling his eyes as he said this, Xuan Hao decided to turn the conversation towards something different.
"Spiritual fruits!? Really!?"
And like expected, Mui took the bait and instantly forgot about how he had killed the demon beast, as her full attention focused on the spiritual fruits he had mentioned.
"Yes, here are a few I picked up while you were busy fighting with the demon beasts earlier."
Chuckling to himself after seeing the shift from his little disciple, Xuan Hao casually took out a few spiritual fruits from his interspatial ring before throwing them towards Mui, who happily caught them before chomping down on the first spiritual fruit with an overjoyed expression.
The demon beast from earlier completely disappeared from her mind as she indulged in the spirit fruits thrown out by her master.
"Ah~ That was good~ Hm? Ah! The demon beast! Master, we have to find another demon beast!" Only after finishing the last spiritual fruit did Mui seem to remember the demon beast, as she called out for her master to find a new demon beast for her to fight.
"Sure, let's get going then, there are lots of demon beasts for you to fight inside the forest." Inspecting Mui with his divine sense and making sure that the spiritual fruits had done their job of helping her recover from her earlier battle, Xuan Hao once again set off together with Mui. Heading in the direction of the closest demon beast that would be unfortunate enough to end up as Mui's training partner.
Reaching the third demon beast, Xuan Hao continued to watch over Mui as she fought below. Using his divine sense to help guide her every now and then as she continued to rapidly improve.
Soon enough, a few weeks flew by like this, as Xuan Hao watched over Mui while she fought the different Nascent Soul Realm demon beast to improve her own strength and increase her combat experience. Feeding her spiritual fruits after each battle to help her recover her strength.
At the same time, he also made sure to step in and guide her whenever she needed help in one of her movement- or combat techniques. Ensuring that she could progress without any bottleneck halting her progress.
In the end, Mui managed to improve to a point where she could fight demon beasts two minor realms ahead of her without losing out, while she could kill demon beasts a minor realm ahead of herself after a long-drawn-out battle.
Demon beasts who were the same realm as her and below was no match for her, as she could kill them with relative ease.
All of this was without her using her artifacts, as if she was using them, no demon beast in the Nascent Soul Realm was a match for her. Even a demon beast in the Domain Lord Realm would end up finding it hard to deal with those strange metal balls, as they seemed to remain unaffected by the normal suppressive power of a domain.
With this in mind, Xuan Hao felt confident in leaving Mui to explore and train around the outer edges of the mystic realm on her own.
Of course, before leaving her to explore by herself, he made sure to hand her several talismans that contained the power of a single attack of his, while also leaving behind some of his power inside of her soul to protect her in case that wasn't enough. Also serving as a way to alert him in case she encountered something dangerous and needed his help.
Outside of that, as he left Mui on her own, he also decided to clean up the forest and the surrounding areas. Killing any demon beasts in the Domain Lord Realm or above to prevent them from causing trouble for Mui while he wasn't around.
In the end, this also included the Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beast that had gone to the edge of the mystic realm to safely break through to the Dao Seed Realm.
Unfortunately for this demon beast, it might have been safer for it to have stayed in the inner parts of the mystic realm to break through than going to the edges of the mystic realm where it was unfortunate enough to run into Xuan Hao.
Not that there was much it could do, as Xuan Hao killed it before it even had the time to register what was happening before, he neatly placed its corpse inside an interspatial ring for storage.
Although the corpse of the Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beast wasn't worth much to him, it was still filled with countless useful materials that could be used by the blacksmiths of the sect and the Beast Tamers of the sect who would happily take the meat for feeding the demon beasts of the sect.
In a sense, the corpses of powerful demon beasts could be used instead of spirit stones when it came to feeding the demon beasts of the sect, something that had grown more common as the Star Shattering Sect grew in strength and had more access to places where they could procure stronger demon beasts for feeding their own demon beasts.
Among these places, the most obvious one was the Grand Mission Pavilion that regularly issued missions for demon beast corpses in exchange for contribution points. Turning it into the biggest contributor of demon beast meat for the sect's demon beasts.
Chapter 1282: Leaving Mui on Her Own
Having left Mui to continue exploring the forest close to the entrance of the mystic realm on her own, Mui didn't waste any time as she happily made her way through the forest in search of more Nascent Soul Realm demon beast to hunt down and spiritual fruits for her to eat. Having grown fond of this kind of lifestyle of fighting and eating delicious spiritual fruits after the few weeks she had spent training with her master inside the mystic realm.
At the very least, for the foreseeable future, Xuan Hao wouldn't have to worry about Mui using her time on something other than training.
The only thing he had to worry about after leaving Mui on her own to explore the forest at the edge of the mystic realm was when she finished exploring the forest and began moving deeper into the mystic realm.
Even if he had informed her about the dangers involved in going too far into the mystic realm where the more powerful demon beasts at the Domain Lord Realm and above resided, he had a feeling that this wouldn't stop her for long, as her curiosity would ultimately end up winning with enough time
To stop this from happening, he would have to return before she could finish up the demon beasts inside the forest four times the size of the old Heavenly Sky Kingdom… And although this seemed large and there were countless demon beasts present inside this forest, Xuan Hao guessed that he would at most have half a year to a year before Mui finished up the demon beasts inside the forest.
The main reason for this fast clearance being the fact that some of the metal balls she carried along with her could be used for flying at a speed comparable to someone in the Domain Lord Realm if she focused her full strength on it.
With that in mind, the normally large size of the forest to someone in the Nascent Soul Realm became something that could easily be traversed in a short period of time.
Luckily, outside of just the Nascent Soul Realm demon beast that had been left alive before leaving Mui on her own, Xuan Hao had also made sure that there were a few demon beasts in the Half Step Domain Lord Realm that the current Mui couldn't defeat even with the help of her strange artifacts. Making sure that she wouldn't be able to steamroll over all of the demon beasts left in the forest and start making her way into the more dangerous inner parts of the mystic realm.
Of course, even though Mui wouldn't be able to kill these demon beasts half a step into the Domain Lord Realm, she should be more than capable of escaping from them and keeping herself safe without triggering or using any of the safety measures he had left for her.
The only flaw in this plan was that the Half Step Domain Lord Realm demon beast might break through to the Domain Lord Realm, posing a real deadly threat to Mui, while other stronger demon beasts could also show up during his absence.
All things considered, Xuan Hao had done his best in making a good training environment for Mui before leaving and left a few safety measures for her to use in case something ended up going wrong.
"I really do hope nothing ends up happening…" Muttering this to himself as Mui left the coverage of his divine sense, Xuan Hao turned his full attention towards the inner region of the mystic realm. Showing a somewhat cautious expression as he glanced across the different powerful demon beast ahead.
Although not a single one of them had reached the Dao Seed Realm, they were still far stronger on average than back when he had first entered the mystic realm with most of them having reached the Nascent Soul Realm with no small number of Domain Lord Realm demon beasts hidden among them.
Even the occasional Soul Ascension Realm demon beast wasn't that hard to spot. Essentially confirming that the strength of the demon beasts in the outer parts of the mystic realm had indeed increased.
The only problem was the reason for this sudden increase in strength among the demon beasts.
First, it could be what he suspected when he first noticed the increased number of Nascent Soul Realm demon beasts inside the forest that Mui was now exploring on her own, a powerful demon beast had emerged in the inner parts of the mystic realm and had caused the weaker demon beasts to escape into the outer parts of the mystic realm.
Though this could explain the movement of the demon beasts, it was also a rather worrying thing considering that a Dao Seed Realm demon beast shouldn't be able to create such a large disturbance. Possibly pointing at the birth of a Celestial Immortal Realm demon beast.
However, he had already seen what had happened to the cloud demon beast when it revealed its strength at the Dao Seed Realm and was discovered by the guardian formation.
If not for the fact that he had been lucky enough to escape from the blast range of the guardian formation by jumping into one of the celestial trials, he doubted that he would have been able to make it out alive.
With that in mind, it led him to a second idea of what might have happened… And that conclusion was that a demon beast inside the inner parts of the mystic realm had somehow managed to trigger the guardian formation of the mystic realm into attacking.
This could either have happened because the demon beast was already in the Dao Seed Realm and accidentally revealed its aura or perhaps because a new demon beast had broken through to the Dao Seed Realm and ended up triggering the guardian formation in this way.
Of course, there was also the possibility that one of the demon beasts already in the Dao Seed Realm that had somehow managed to hide from the guardian formation of the mystic realm in a similar way as the cloud demon beast had done, decided to try and break through to the Celestial Immortal Realm. Triggering a possibly even stronger response from the guardian formation.
If one of these three things had happened, it would make sense why all of the demon beasts that normally resided deeper inside of the mystic realm had decided to venture out and showed no signs of returning from where they had come.
As for a demon beast successfully breaking through to the Celestial Immortal Realm or perhaps even the Profound Immortal Realm… Xuan Hao didn't think that this was possible, as he could clearly still feel that the guardian formation of the mystic realm was intact and full of energy.
The only reason why it hadn't descended to kill him with his cultivation reaching a level comparable to someone in the Dao Seed Realm was because he had the robe of the Mirage Sect Elder on.
If not for that, Xuan Hao had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to hide his true strength from the formation after entering the mystic realm without seriously restraining his own strength like the cloud demon beast back then. Ultimately ending up in a similar way as the cloud demon beast had after it had revealed its strength at the Dao Seed Realm.
At the very least, he didn't feel any real danger inside of the mystic realm knowing that the strongest opponent he would encounter would be in the Soul Ascension Realm, with those above being reduced to ashes by the guardian formation the moment they revealed their strength.
The only real threat he could think of left inside the mystic realm would be the celestial trials, ancient formations like the one that had trapped him inside the misty mountains for a period of time and remnant of the terrifying power that had attacked the mystic realm and the Mirage Sect in the past.
Although he hadn't encountered a lot from the battle that should have taken place inside the mystic realm in the past, he had a feeling that he would soon end up encountering more scars from the terrifying battle that should have taken place back then as he continued moving deeper inside the mystic realm.
At the same time, he also looked forward to encountering more of the celestial trials, as they had been useful in both increasing his strength and triggering a rare quest from the system.
In a sense, his main reason for going to the mystic realm was to try and find more of the celestial trials that had been left behind by the Mirage Sect for training the younger generation. Especially so because he was still considered part of the younger generation in the eyes of a terrifying ancient sect like the Mirage Sect and could gain a lot from the celestial trials outside of
Chapter 1283: Exploring the First and Second Celestial Trial Again
Continuing deeper inside the mystic realm, it didn't take long before he reached the mist covered mountains where he had first encountered the celestial trials of the Mirage Sect.
The only difference compared to back when he had been inside of the mist covered mountains being the fact that the entire place had been blown up as a result of the guardian formation activating to kill the cloud demon beast. Leaving behind only remnants of what had once been there. Leaving only the gates of the three celestial trials standing. Unaffected by the terrifying attack of the guardian formation.
Deciding to make a stop and investigate the celestial trial gates more closely now that his strength and comprehension had increased compared to the last time he had seen them, Xuan Hao began to sense the power inside of them to no avail.
Outside of the terrifying spatial laws that helped his comprehension of the Dao of Space to some extent, he didn't manage to gain much from observing the celestial gates, as the concepts that made them up were far beyond anything he could touch with his current understanding of the different Daos involved in the construction of the celestial trial gates.
Even the little bit related to the Dao of Space that he could understand only ended up making him more confused, as it suggested that the celestial trial gate was essential connected to countless different spatial passages that all led to different trial spaces... And from what little he knew about the celestial trial; he could only guess that the celestial trial gate would somehow observe his cultivation base and judge on which of these trial spaces to send him to. Resulting in him being sent to the one fitting for his current cultivation base.
Wait… Does that perhaps mean that I can enter the trial again and challenge a higher difficulty of the trial I already completed?
Thinking this to himself as he finished learning what little he could from the complicated laws of space of the celestial gate in front of him, Xuan Hao could not help narrowing his eyes.
Although he felt tempted to enter the celestial trial in front of him, he also remembered that the trial standing in front of him should be the first celestial trial he had entered back then.
Meaning that if he had to face the trial again, he would end up face to face with Aria, the guardian of the first trial, again.
Well… She shouldn't be that difficult to deal with considering that her main ability involved illusions now that my own comprehension of the Dao of Illusion already reached the Large Success Realm.
Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao didn't hesitate as he stepped forward and entered the gate of the first celestial trial. Feeling curious about what would happen if he entered the same celestial trial twice-
Whoosh~
And without much suspense, he soon found himself being shuttled through a spatial channel.
"Hm? This… Isn't a trial?"
However, unexpectedly, he didn't find himself inside another trial, but instead found himself inside a small space occupied by a single large building that had long since been destroyed beyond recognition.
Even then, from the remnants in front of this building and the few familiar-looking golems that had long since ceased to function, he became certain that this should be another exchange hall like the one he had encountered inside the third celestial trial.
The main difference between the two being that this one obviously hadn't managed to hold out as well as the one inside the third celestial trial, as it had been more thoroughly destroyed. Leaving little hope for him to find another living Mirage Sect Elder inside.
Whoosh~
Of course, Xuan Hao didn't let this discourage him, as he cautiously began to approach the remnants of what had once been an exchange hall similar to the one in the third celestial trial. Hoping that even if there weren't anyone still alive inside, some of the secret techniques and other things had survived.
Unfortunately, as he floated a few centimeters above the ground through the ruins, Xuan Hao was disappointed to discover that none of the techniques of precious materials that should once have been stored inside had managed to survive.
Even when he reached the place where the elder of the Mirage Sect should have been, he only found an empty void where the fabric of space had been directly torn apart and had yet to recover from due to the presence of a terrifying power that still lingered around the place.
Making the usage of divine sense inside the ruined exchange hall an incredibly dangerous endeavor, as it might result in him coming into contact with the terrifying power still lingering around the place.
In the end, Xuan Hao ended up spending the good part of two days searching through the remnant of the exchange hall to no avail. Finding nothing but decaying texts or jades that crumbled the moment he touched them, or his divine sense came into contact with them.
Luckily, leaving the space of the exchange hall wasn't difficult, as the spatial channel that had brought him there was still present close to the entrance of the ruined exchange hall. Allowing him to simply step through it to find himself back outside the gate of the first celestial trial.
Even more surprising, he found out that entering the gate of the first celestial trial would just end up bringing him back into the space where the ruined exchange hall was located. Making it clear that he could only take on the celestial trial once. Afterwards, he would be redirected to the exchange hall no matter how many times he entered the gate.
"I should try and see if it's the same for the two other celestial trials…" Glancing in the direction of the second celestial trial as he said this, Xuan Hao didn't waste any time as he flew over and entered the celestial gate of the second celestial trial without any hesitation.
Soon enough, finding himself inside another small space occupied by a single building that was similarly destroyed like the one inside the first celestial trial.
Another exchange hall.
The only difference compared to the first being that the second one looked far more intact compared to the first.
"But… If both of these exchange halls are located inside their own small space, what happened to the third exchange hall for it to have ended up inside one of the trial spaces?" Narrowing both his eyes as he turned to look back in the direction of the spatial channel he had just passed through, Xuan Hao could not help remembering the exchange hall of the third celestial trial that had essentially been buried in the sand of one of the trial spaces.
If it was just a single exchange hall that was located inside such a small space with only itself present, he could guess that each exchange hall was different, but a second one in a similar situation as the first… He could only guess that something had gone wrong and caused the third exchange hall to somehow end up inside one of the trail spaces.
Perhaps, it wasn't something going wrong, but the elder of the Mirage Sect who had deliberately tried to hide inside one of the trial spaces. Considering that he was the only elder in charge of an exchange hall that had managed to survive for so long, it isn't that unlikely…
Shaking his head as he thought about this to himself, Xuan Hao soon refocused his attention back on the exchange hall in front of him.
Given that the exchange hall seemed to be in a far better situation than the first and even the third exchange hall, he felt confident that he should at least be able to find something of value inside of it.
Hopefully something related to the Dao Domain Lord Realm or something that could help with his comprehension of the Dao of Space or the other Daos he had comprehended.
Of course, he wouldn't be sad finding something related to the history of the Mirage Sect or ancient records regarding what might have happened to the mystic realm of the Mirage Sect, as anything that could survive from the Ancient Mirage Sect would be useful to him. Especially if it helped his understanding of the ancient language improve.
"Hm?! There is actually something!?"
Even then, Xuan Hao was still taken aback and shocked when he actually ended up discovering something that had managed to survive the destruction of the exchange hall.
A small and inconspicuous looking scroll that didn't seem that important having survived due to a special kind of record keeping formation on it having survived the attack back then still functioning even after countless years had passed by absorbing the tiny bits of spiritual qi present inside the destroyed exchange hall.
No matter how little importance this little scroll might have, Xuan Hao was overjoyed seeing a still surviving scroll.
Chapter 1284: Dawn Immortal, Sea Immortal, Earth Immortal
Carefully placing the still intact scroll into his interspatial ring, Xuan Hao began to search through the destroyed exchange hall with far more motivation compared to before. Soon turning the place upside down for any other scroll or books that might have managed to survive the long passage of time since the exchange hall had been destroyed.
Unfortunately, he didn't manage to find anything other than crumbling scrolls and shattered jades. Nothing of value outside of the single scroll had managed to survive inside the exchange hall. Even then, Xuan Hao was still filled with excitement, as he had gone in expecting to find nothing.
"Time to see what is written in the scroll…" Leaving the second exchange hall and finding a secluded place inside the crater that had been left behind following the destruction of the mist covered mountains at the hands of the guardian formation, Xuan Hao excitedly pulled out the small scroll before carefully undoing the preservation formation that had allowed it to survive for such a long period of time.
Hoping that the scroll wasn't written in the ancient language, but instead one he could understand that resembled the current language of the Ewaria Continent.
Whoosh~!
Unfortunately, the moment he undid the preservation formation that had kept the scroll intact and tried to use his divine sense to read through it without touching the scroll and possibly destroying it, part of the scroll directly disintegrated. Leaving behind only a small part of the original scroll.
On the positive side, the part that had managed to survive being taken out of the preservation formation was not written in the ancient language that he had yet to fully comprehend but was instead written in a more modern language not much different from the one currently being used on the Ewaria Continent. Allowing him to understand what was written inside the scroll, while at the same time giving him a better understanding of how the ancient language ultimately ended up evolving into the current modern language used on the Ewaria Continent. Increasing his understanding of the ancient language and getting him closer to understanding it.
As for what was written inside the scroll, it wasn't anything like a secret technique or something similar to it but was instead a kind of record describing ancient events that had taken place inside the mystic realm. More specifically around the exchange hall and inside the second celestial trial and different people of importance that had taken part in the trial.
Although this information wasn't really that important, it still contained a lot of information that was useful. For example, it contained information on certain geniuses of the ancient Mirage Sect that had visited the celestial trial or the exchange hall in the past.
Not just that, but it also contained a brief description of these geniuses, their realm and what Daos they had managed to comprehend… And there was no lack of geniuses in the Profound Immortal Realm. Allowing him to get a better understanding of the different realms in the Profound Immortal Realm.
At the very least, it seemed like the part of the scroll that had been destroyed was the part containing information on the weaker and less talented cultivators who had been to the exchange hall in the past, while unfortunate as even the weakest one among them was above the Dao Domain Lord Realm and had at least reached the Pinnacle of the Dao Seed Realm and was already in the process of reaching the Profound Immortal Realm, he could at least increase his understanding of the Profound Immortal Realm.
Of course, it could also just be that the information on those in the Dao Domain Lord Realm was kept on another scroll that had already been destroyed…
First of all, the first realm and Early Stage of the Profound Immortal Realm was called the Breaking Dawn Realm. The start of the Profound Immortal Realm. The people in this realm were either referred to as Breaking Dawn Immortals, Dawn Immortals or just Profound Immortals.
Geniuses who had reached this realm were rare, but not uncommon, with the age of these geniuses ranging between the ages of 200 to 500 years.
Next up were those who had reached the Middle Stage of the Profound Immortal Realm, the Sea Formation Realm. The people in this realm being reffered to as Sea Immortals or just Profound Immortals. Although far rarer compared to those in the Early Stage of the Profound Immortal Realm, there were still a small handful of them noted down in what was left of the scroll.
Different from the first group though, their ages ranged between 300 to 800 years.
Last, there was a single person standing proudly at the top of the scroll and noted down as a holy son of the Mirage Sect.
At the age of 353, this person had managed to reach the Land Creation Realm, the Late Stage of the Profound Immortal Realm. Referred to as an Earth Immortal in the description. Making Xuan Hao understand that the title of an Earth Immortal had a different meaning when referring to someone in the time of the Mirage Sect.
The Earth Immortal Realm wasn't referring to someone in the Dao Seed Realm like he had first thought back when the elder of the Mirage Sect had encouraged him to overcome the tribulation and become an Earth Immortal Realm in the future, but instead seemed to refer to the Late Stage of the Profound Immortal Realm.
However, as he realized this, Xuan Hao also realized that the tribulation that the elder of the Mirage Sect had referred to might not be the Immortal Soul Tribulation he had first thought he might be referring to, but instead a completely different tribulation that one would have to undergo in the Profound Immortal Realm…
Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao focused his attention back on the scroll floating in front of him as he read through the far more detailed description of the holy son.
The Daos comprehended by the holy son wasn't anywhere near as many as he expected, as there was only four different Daos, the Dao of Yang, the Dao of Space, the Dao of Fire and Dao of Wind.
However, each of these Daos had reached the Realm of Perfection, with the Dao of Fire even reaching a brand-new realm of comprehension that he wasn't aware of, the Origin Realm.
Although he doubted that it meant that this holy son figure had managed to comprehend the entirety of the Dao of Fire, he was certain that this realm of comprehension was far beyond his current understanding.
At the same time, he also noticed that the holy son shouldn't have been able to reach the Peak of the Dao Seed Realm with the four Daos he had comprehended. Not just that, but it was the same for most of the geniuses that had managed to reach the Middle and Early Stage of the Profound Immortal Realm. None of them had comprehended enough Daos to create enough layers around their dao seed…
However, there was one common thing… And that was every single one of them had at least comprehended one Dao to the Realm of Perfection with two other supporting Daos reaching the Large Success Realm.
"Perhaps this is another path to the Profound Immortal Realm? Considering how many different Daos one would have to comprehend under normal circumstances to reach the Peak of the Dao Seed Realm, I guess it makes sense that there are other ways to reach the Profound Immortal Realm.
If not, it would be hard for anyone not in the Dao Domain Lord Realm to reach the Profound Immortal Realm considering how difficult it might be for others to start comprehending different Daos. Even then, reaching the Perfection Realm in a Dao and the Large Success Realm in two other Daos is still difficult to accomplish.
As for the layers around the Dao Seed… Maybe the Perfection Realm allows the creation of far more layers than I first guessed…"
Shaking his head as he said this to himself, Xuan Hao realized that there was still much that remained unknown about the Dao Seed Realm. For now, he had at least managed to figure out a bit more about the Profound Immortal Realm and another possible path to reaching the realm that the ancient geniuses of the Mirage Sect seemed to take.
Unfortunately, these wasn't any information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm inside the scroll, as it specifically noted down that the holy son at the Late Stage of the Profound Immortal Realm was a genius that had managed to reach that level without going through the Dao Domain Lord Realm.
"Looks like I can only try and look through the third celestial gate and see if there is anything to find there…" Muttering this to himself as he sealed the scroll before placing it inside his interspatial ring, Xuan Hao turned around and made his way out of the second celestial trials exchange hall and made his way in the direction of the celestial gate leading to third celestial trial.
Chapter 1285: Back at the Third Celestial Gate
Reaching the third gate leading to the third celestial trial where he had encountered the elder from the Mirage Sect, Xuan Hao didn't directly enter the celestial gate. Instead stopping to observe it from a few meters away with a somewhat surprised expression on his face.
Different from the other two celestial gates that were completely stable even though they had been attacked, the third celestial gate had some unstable elements to it.
Although it was far too small for him to have noticed when he had first passed through the third celestial gate. Now that his strength had increased, he could sense that the damage done to the third celestial gate during the battle that had happened in the past was far more severe than the other two celestial gates.
Not just that, but it was clear that most of this damage had affected the spatial structure of the celestial gate.
It was only by sheer luck that his strength hadn't been at level that would take him through one of these damaged spatial passages, or he might very well have ended up dead before he even had the chance to reach the third celestial trial and meet the elder from the Mirage Sect…
The reason why he remained stationary in front of the third celestial gate was that he had no idea if the spatial passage leading to the location of the exchange hall inside the third celestial gate was among the spatial passages that had been damaged.
Something that wasn't hard to imagine considering that the exchange hall shouldn't originally have been inside the trial space he ended up inside of, but instead inside a space similar to the ones of first and second celestial trials.
So… Should I give up on trying to enter the third celestial gate?
Thinking this to himself as he stared at the celestial gate in front of him with a hint of hesitation on his face, Xuan Hao tried to use his divine sense to try and investigate the spatial passages on the other side of the gate.
However, even if the celestial gate didn't seem to stop him from trying to investigate the spatial passages connected to it, his current understanding of the Dao of Space was far too shallow.
In the end, the only thing he ended up learning, was that although a lot of the spatial passages had been damaged to some extent, it didn't mean that they would end up killing him, as the passages themselves were still in place.
Given his current comprehension of the Dao of Space, he should be more than capable of ensuring that he didn't end up falling out of any of these damaged parts along the way.
The only real danger was the spatial passages that had been fully torn apart at one point and were slowly being chipped away at by spatial storms at an incredibly slow pace due to the durability of these spatial passages.
In total, less than a single percent of the spatial passages had ended up in such a situation, but from the power he could sense through them, he understood that his current strength was far from enough to survive the spatial storms on the other side of these spatial passages.
No matter how low the chance of encountering one of these spatial channels might be, Xuan Hao had no plans of taking an unnecessary risk that might cost him his life just to try and figure out how the exchange hall might have ended up inside one of the trial spaces. Especially considering that he could always come back in the future after his comprehension of the Dao of Space increased and investigate the situation when he didn't need to risk his life.
At least that was what Xuan Hao planned to do after he investigated the different spatial passages connected to the celestial gate…
Rumble~
Unfortunately, he didn't realize that forcibly using his divine sense to investigate the inner workings of the celestial gate had ended up triggering a security mechanism inside the celestial gate, causing a terrifying to lock on to him before dragging him inside the third celestial gate. Not giving him any chance to resist as he soon found himself travelling through one of the spatial passages.
Although the celestial gate didn't stop his divine sense earlier, it shouldn't have been because it allowed him to investigate it, but more so that the celestial gate's inner workings had been damaged to the point that its response had been delayed and only acted a few seconds after he had used his divine sense.
On the bright side, the spatial passage in question hadn't sustained any damage and allowed him to safely move through it without having to fear being pushed into a spatial storm and ripped apart…
Bang!
Being thrown to the ground the next second, Xuan Hao was once again reminded that it wasn't the time to be happy about his circumstances, as he jumped up to take in his new surroundings.
A grand hall comparable to the size of a single exchange hall- Or that was at least what it should have been, as what Xuan Hao saw was just a pile of spiritual rocks and other metals that had long since broken down.
All located on a similar piece of floating land as the exchange hall, with the only difference from the exchange halls being that the battle that had taken place at the grand hall had clearly been far more damaging, with space itself having been torn apart. Leaving mile long holes in the ruins that had an even more terrifying aura lingering around it compared to the one he encountered in the first celestial trail's exchange hall.
However, out of all of this, the main thing Xuan Hao focused his attention on was a familiar looking golem that slowly dragged its barely functioning body towards him amidst the ruins.
"A preservation golem?"
Indeed, this golem was none other than one of the preservation golems he had seen for the first time inside the exchange hall of the third celestial trial.
From what he knew about these golems, they served the simple purpose of ensuring that the celestial trial kept functioning, while also preventing any trial participants from moving somewhere they shouldn't, an example being the preservation golem he had met stopping him from entering the exchange hall and triggering the protective formation there.
"Does it perhaps have any idea why I ended up here?" Muttering this to himself as he watched the preservation golem slowly getting closer to him, Xuan Hao began to cautiously approach it while making sure to keep as wide a distance as possible to any of the places where space had been directly torn apart by some kind of terrifying power.
Soon enough, finding himself standing in front of the preservation golem that stopped moving after seeing that he was directly in front of it.
"Greetings tier three trial participant, you have been found in breach of the rules regarding interference of celestial gate spatial passages. Normal punishment, 500 years solitude cultivation in the trial space, Empty Peak. Punishment invalid. Reason, tier three trial participant has been granted temporary elder status. The case has been forwarded to Grand Elder Li Meng.
Grand Elder Li Meng will oversee the case and meet out proper punishment, as automatic punishment cannot be met out against a temporary elder. Tier three trial participant. Please proceed forward and await judgement from Grand Elder Li Meng."
Not wasting any time as it began speaking in a similar fashion as the first preservation golem he had encountered, Xuan Hao quietly listened as it soon finished talking and did its best to point towards somewhere behind it.
Likely the place where the Grand Elder Li Meng that it had just mentioned should have been located under normal circumstances before this place had been destroyed.
In the end, the place that the preservation golem was pointing had no Grand Elder Li Meng. Instead, the entire space of the place where it pointed had been violently torn apart, as a horrifying aura permeated the place.
Even looking directly towards it for a split second caused a terrifying pain to erupt in the depth of his soul.
Just looking at the remnants of what should have undoubtedly been the starting location of a battle between terrifying existences beyond the Profound Immortal Realm caused him to recoil in pain, as part of the remnant will almost ended up damaging his soul just now.
If he really proceeded forward like the preservation golem told him to do, he feared that he wouldn't be judged by some Grand Elder Li Meng but would instead end up being torn apart by what remained from the ancient battle that should have started inside the ruined grand hall that he now found himself inside of.
With this in mind, Xuan Hao focused his attention back on the preservation golem again, curious and fearful about what might happen if he didn't follow along with what it said, as he knew that it might be capable of triggering some formation that would force him to cooperate…
Chapter 1286: Mui's Battle
"No response detected from tier three trail participant. Please proceed forward. Grand Elder Li Meng will- No response from Grand Elder Li Meng detected. Grand Elder Li Meng is currently busy. You are allowed to leave as the violation committed doesn't reach the level required for forceful detainment of an elder.
Be aware, Grand Elder Li Meng will be informed of your violation when he returns and will meet out proper punishment then. Escaping the Mirage Sect before Grand Elder Li Meng carries out punishment might result in Grand Elder Li Meng issuing a warrant on behalf of the Mirage Sect to the surrounding sects."
Nervously waiting in front of the preservation golem, Xuan Hao could not help silently breathing a sigh of relief as he heard what it said. Even if it was threatening him, he didn't really care about this, as the Li Meng that it was referring to had most likely already been killed in the attack that destroyed the hall.
The only thing he did care about was whether or not this preservation golem was in control of some kind of formation that might force him into the terrifying void that had been formed where the Grand Elder Li Meng mentioned by the preservation golem should have been.
"Okay, I will make sure to come back the moment Grand Elder Li Meng returns and calls for me."
Even then, he still made sure to nod his head politely in response to the preservation golem. Not intending to find out if it had some way of forcing him to stay in case, he showed any signs of wanting to run away.
"Acknowledged, you may leave. Remember, do not cause any more violations or you will be treated in accordance with the sect laws regarding repeat offenders. Elder status will not protect you much in that case, as the law enforcement elders will be the ones responsible for dealing with you." Nodding its head mechanically without any emotion, the preservation golem plopped down on the ground motionlessly.
Not because it had broken down after delivering the message, but instead because it had finished doing its job and entered some kind of low maintenance mode that allowed it to preserve its energy while also slowing down the inevitable decay that had started taking place after it had suffered a significant amount of damage at some point in the past.
"I will be taking my leave…"
Seeing this, Xuan Hao didn't plan to wait around any longer inside of the destroyed hall that had once been the seat of power for a Grand Elder of the Mirage Sect, as he directly made a beeline for the spatial passage that had taken him there.
Any plans to search through the place for possible treasures or scrolls that might have been left behind had disappeared the moment he happened to look in the direction of where the Grand Elder of the Mirage Sect should have been.
Just looking in the wrong direction had almost cost him his life, there was no way he would dare to search through such a place!
Not to mention, he had a rather easy way to go there in the future, as it seemed like he would just have to cause some kind of violation to be dragged there by the third celestial gate.
Of course, doing so in the future might not result in a similar reaction, as the preservation golem did mention something about the law enforcement elders being the ones to take care of him if he did something similar in the future.
At the very least, if he got stronger and increased his comprehension of the Dao of Space, it shouldn't be that difficult to get back by tracking the different spatial passages connected to the third celestial gate. Not difficult, if he didn't think about how high his comprehension of the Dao of Space needed to be to do something like this.
Looks like I probably won't come back here before reaching the Profound Immortal Realm…
Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao took the last step forward and entered the spatial passage that had originally taken him to the destroyed hall-
Whoosh~
Disappearing from the destroyed hall the next second before once again finding himself shuttling through the intact spatial passage back towards the third celestial gate that he had entered through.
…
At the same time her master was in the process of leaving the destroyed grand hall, Mui was busy fighting with two demon beasts at the Nascent Soul Realm, one of them at the Fifth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, while the second one had reached the Sixth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
And from the fact that she kept being pushed back by the two monsters that had formed an alliance against her, it was obvious that she wasn't used to fighting more than a single demon beast at the same time.
Not that Mui let this discourage her, as she took the opportunity to grow more familiar with fighting more than a single opponent at the same time. Growing more confident with each passing minute and starting to push back against the two demon beasts that had overwhelmed her at the start.
Of course, this didn't mean that she was anywhere close to winning the battle against the two demon beasts. On the other hand, her starting to push back ended up causing the two demon beasts to fight with even more power and ferocity than before.
Soon enough resulting in Mui being suppressed by the two demon beasts again. The main difference being that they now went all out in trying to kill her after learning how fast she had seemingly adapted to their strength and begun to fight back against them.
Although demon beasts without enough intelligence to communicate through their divine sense, they were still more than smart enough to understand that it would be best for them to kill Mui as fast as possible. Knowing that if she continued to slowly increase her strength during their fight, it would be them who ended up dead.
"How did they suddenly get so much stronger!?" Not understanding how the demon beasts suddenly ended up getting stronger all of a sudden, Mui who hadn't experienced something like that before, as all the demon beasts that had faced her in the past had gone all out from the start when facing her one on one, began to panic.
"Wait! Don't tell me… ARE THEY HIDING THEIR REAL STRENGTH!? No! I can't afford to hold back if they turn out to secretly be at the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm!" In the end, due to her inexperience with such things, Mui couldn't understand that the demon beasts had just held back a little bit of their strength and wasn't hiding their true cultivation realm.
Whoosh~!
As a result of this, to be on the safe side, Mui didn't hesitate to take out her metal balls. Not intending to hold back any of her strength in the face of the two demon beasts that had been hiding Peak Nascent Soul Realm Strength and could attack her with all of their strength at any moment.
R-Roar?
Roar…?
In the end, the two demon beasts could only retreat a few meters with confused expressions on their faces after seeing the metal balls that suddenly flew out of Mui's interspatial ring before floating in the air in front of her menacingly.
Well… As menacing as a floating metal ball could look…
"Hm? They retreated- Ah! They are preparing to unleash their full strength for a single powerful attack! Similar to when master attacks and kills his opponent in a single powerful attack! Hmph! I won't let you!"
However, in the eyes of Mui, who had been observing their every move, the slight retreat from the demon beasts and confused expressions ended up looking like they stepped back and were looking at her filled with contempt for her lower cultivation realm as they prepared to unleash their "full strength" to attack her.
Rumble~!
And so, before the two demon beasts had much time to react, the metal balls around Mui sprung into action, as all kinds of terrifying attacks descended towards the two still confused demon beasts that had no clue what was happening or how Mui had suddenly gotten so powerful-
Whoosh-!
BOOOM!
As the powerful attacks landed the next second, Mui kept her full attention on the two demon beasts. Prepared to continue her attack in case they managed to block her attack.
Roar!?
Roar…
"Tch! Just as I expected! You were indeed hiding your strength!"
Indeed, just like Mui had suspected and under the surprised eyes of the two demon beasts, a large earthen wall had appeared in front of them just before impact. Blocking the damage from Mui's artifacts and saving the two demon beasts in the process, something that both of the demon beasts knew wasn't their work.
As for where this earthen wall had truly come from… The culprit was one of the metal balls Mui had thrown towards the two demon beasts that had ended up malfunctioning and landed on the ground where it ended up creating the earthen wall protecting the two demon beasts…
Chapter 1287: Mui's Escape
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Following the demon beast "revealing" its real strength, Mui used all of her strength to try and kill it to no avail as it continued using powerful earthen walls to block her attacks. Resulting in not a single one of her attacks landing no matter how much strength she put into them, as the earthen wall seemed to grow stronger the stronger her attacks were.
Don't tell me… This demon beast is already half a step into the Domain Lord Realm and has established a pseudo domain of earth!? Is this perhaps why I can't get any of my attacks through?
Narrowing both her eyes for the first time as a frown appeared on her face as she thought this while looking at the earthen walls that had once again blocked her attack, Mui felt that she might have severely underestimated her opponent.
Having thought that it was at the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, while it had actually taken another step forward and entered the Half Step Domain Lord Realm!
"No, I can't go on like this or I will run out of strength if I keep this up. Giving it the perfect chance to counterattack… I-I have to retreat for now!" Muttering this to herself as she gazed towards the demon beast hidden behind the earthen wall, Mui turned around and escaped in the opposite direction of the demon beast. Knowing very well that she stood no chance of contending against a Half Step Domain Lord Realm demon beast with her current strength.
Although she would still have the ability to kill it if she decided to use some of the talismans left behind by her master, she had no intention of doing so, as she was far more interested in returning in the future to get her revenge after she got stronger.
Yes, Mui felt that she was only just slightly behind the Half Step Domain Lord Realm demon beast in terms of strength and felt confident that she would be able to kill it as long as she gained a bit more experience with fighting and broke through to the Sixth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.
Not to mention, she also knew that the pseudo dao of the demon beast should be the Dao of Earth. Meaning that she could prepare for dealing with her in her next battle with the demon beast.
Just you wait! I will definitely get my revenge after I become stronger!
Whoosh~!
With a determined mindset and a clear goal in mind, Mui disappeared from the opening that had been created by their battle. Leaving behind a rather confused demon beast that could only stare in the direction she had disappeared with a look that was both fearful of the power she had displayed, while also being confused over what had just taken place.
In the end, the demon beast could only think that Mui had deliberately kept it alive.
As for the reason… The demon beast didn't think it was for anything good given the clear killing intent she had displayed before leaving.
Roar…
And so, knowing the danger of staying around the forest any longer with someone like that around, the demon beast made the decisive decision to venture deeper into the mystic realm to try and escape from Mui before she returned again.
Although it had deliberately made its way towards the edge of the mystic realm to escape danger and the many powerful demon beasts that had now begun roaming around its former home, the demon beast had a feeling that it would still be safer than staying in the forest at the edge of the mystic realm where Mui was running rampant. Especially given that she seemed to be deliberately targeting it.
…
Thump~
At the same time that Mui finished up her battle with the scared demon beast now in the process of running away, Xuan Hao silently landed on the ground in front of the third celestial gate with a somewhat surprised expression on his face.
"I'm back at the third celestial gate? I for sure thought I would end up somewhere different after going through that spatial passage. Especially considering how long it took to get back…" Muttering this to himself as he recalled how long his return journey had taken compared to going the other way, Xuan Hao could not help voicing his thoughts out loud.
From the third celestial gate to the destroyed hall, it had taken him a few seconds to get there, but one the way back, it had taken him several minutes. Making him believe that he would end up somewhere different.
Maybe its because the spatial passage I took back was different from the one I used to reach the destroyed hall, but even then, the difference shouldn't be that big…
Shaking his head as he realized that his current understanding of the Dao of Space was still far too low to understand the workings of the different spatial passages contained inside the third celestial gate, Xuan Hao decided to not think about it for now as he instead focused his attention back on the third celestial gate.
Of course, this time around, he didn't dare to use his divine sense to investigate the inner workings of the celestial gate, as he had no plans of being dragged back to the dangerous place that he had just managed to leave.
Instead, he was thinking about whether or not to enter the celestial gate and try to enter the space of the third celestial gates exchange hall. Even if he knew about the danger involved in doing this, he had managed to analyze some of the differences between the different spatial passages that he had seen inside the third celestial gate during his extended travel time back.
For example, the most common spatial passages that were by far the weakest should be the ones connecting to the different trial grounds inside the celestial gate, while the stronger ones should be connected to more important locations, like the exchange hall.
More importantly, none of these stronger spatial passages had been damaged. Meaning that it should be safe for him to enter the third celestial trial and travel to the place where the exchange hall of the third celestial trial should have originally been located before it had ended up inside one of the trial grounds.
Of course, he could always be wrong in his speculations and that was why he hadn't yet stepped forward to enter the third celestial gate, but instead just stood in front of it as he continued to go over what he had managed to see before he got dragged away into the destroyed hall.
Like this, a few days flew by as Xuan Hao was fully focused on trying to comprehend what little he could from the countless spatial passages he had seen inside the third celestial gate.
In the end, Xuan Hao closed his eyes for a brief moment to calm himself down before taking a step forward into the third celestial gate. Having concluded that it should be safe for him to enter after going over the different spatial passages he had seen, and which ones might lead to the space where the third celestial trials exchange hall was located.
Whoosh~
Feeling the familiar spatial forces warp around him as he stepped through the third celestial gate, Xuan Hao nervously felt his surroundings as he was sucked into one of the countless spatial channels. Only feeling relieved after successfully making his way through the spatial passage and landing on the ground of the space where the third exchange hall was located.
"Huh? This… Is the third celestial trial's exchange hall…?"
However, as he got a chance to observe his surroundings, Xuan Hao was shocked to discover that the piece of land he was standing on was the only thing left inside the space where the third exchange hall should have been.
No, that wasn't entirely true, as there were still a few remnants and corners of the third exchange hall that had broken off and were now aimlessly floating around inside the space with a few bits of land still intact beneath them.
But outside of this, the space where the third exchange hall should have been located was completely empty.
Although he had already expected this to some degree considering that he had already seen the third exchange hall inside the third celestial trial space he had gone to when first entering the third celestial trial, he was still shocked when seeing the large empty space where the third exchange hall should have been.
After all, it wasn't entirely empty, as the space had been forcefully torn open to move the third exchange hall… And given the bits of familiar aura still lingering in the void, Xuan Hao was certain that it should have been done by the elder of the Mirage Sect that he had encountered.
Not just that, but it should have been done before the attack had truly begun, as there was no aura outside the elder from the Mirage Sect present.
Chapter 1288: Tower of Secrets
I should check out the little bit still left of the third exchange hall in this place and see if I can find something useful…
Glancing in the direction of the few parts of the third exchange hall that had been floating through the empty void in front of him, Xuan Hao jumped up and flew towards the closest piece of land still floating in the void.
Considering that there wasn't any aura present outside of the one that should have belonged to the elder of the Mirage Sect, he didn't feel any fear doing this, as the presence of the robe that had been handed to him by the elder in question also carried some hints of that aura. Allowing him to fearlessly move through the void without any worries.
Not just that, but he could also feel that the remnants still left lingering in the void moved to protect him.
"Looks like I won't have to worry about anything dangerous happening…" Chuckling as he felt this, Xuan Hao soon landed at the land that had been closest to the spatial passage he had come through.
Although it had been severely damaged and the building still left standing on it had essentially been torn in half, Xuan Hao didn't let that discourage him as he flew inside the building. Not wasting any time as he searched through the entire place.
Unfortunately, even though it didn't seem like the space of the third exchange hall had been targeted during the attack back then due to the absence of the third exchange hall itself, it looked like everything that had been left behind was damaged to some extent during the movement of the third exchange hall.
Though there might not have been a lot of damage and the scrolls, or other precious materials would have been able to survive for a long time without any disturbance floating motionlessly in the void, the preservation formations that would have ensured they remained intact far beyond their normal shelf time had been destroyed when the third exchange hall had been forcefully moved.
In the end, the scroll and books crumbled with time and the few precious materials that had been left behind similarly eroded due to the lack of spiritual qi in the air inside the empty space. The qi gathering formations that would normally have filled this space long since having perished during the battle that should have taken place back then.
"I hope at least some of the smaller preservation formations managed to survive. At least considering that this place wasn't attacked, it should be more likely to find something here compared to the other places." Shaking his head as he muttered this to himself while looking towards the dozen or so other pieces of land still left floating in the void, Xuan Hao didn't waste any time as he flew over to search through them.
Hoping that his thoughts about the place would be accurate and he would have the chance to find a storage room for scrolls or precious materials that had managed to survive the movement of the third exchange hall.
Not anything large, just a small room would do.
Be it precious materials or scroll recording ancient techniques or records of the past, a small intact room would be able to allow the strength of the Star Shattering Sect to rapidly increase…
Thump~
Thinking this to himself as he landed at the second and by far the largest piece of still intact land floating inside the space that had once housed the third exchange hall, Xuan Hao stepped forward and entered the rather large tower like structure on the floating land.
From past explorations of the other two exchange halls, he knew that this tower should have originally been connected to the exchange hall through a long path outside the exchange hall itself.
However, every other exchange hall he had visited so far, this tower had been completely obliterated. Leaving nothing behind but a pile of rubble and a few traces of what had once been.
Because of this, the tower was also the thing that Xuan Hao looked the most forward to exploring, as it seemed to be a fully intact building without any sign of damage. Meaning that the preservation formation inside it might still be intact!
With that in mind, Xuan Hao didn't waste any time as he made his way over the entrance of the tower-
Whoosh-!
However, before he even had a chance to enter the tower, a familiar looking preservation golem appeared in front of the door leading into the tower.
Not just that but compared to the other preservation golems that he had encountered so far, the one standing in front of the tower was completely intact without any damage. Confirming his guess that the tower had managed to remain fully intact due to not being directly attached to the exchange hall itself.
Normally this would not have mattered if the exchange hall had been attacked, but given that the exchange hall wasn't attack, the tower had managed to survive and even seemed to still function like it should have done in the past before the fall of the Mirage Sect.
Lost in his own thoughts as he kept looking at the preservation golem in front of him, the preservation golem suddenly stepped forward. "Tier three trial participant, would you like to enter the Exchange Hall, Tower of Secrets?"
"Huh? Tower of Secrets?" Taken aback, Xuan Hao could not help muttering this to himself as he stared at the preservation golem filled with confusion at the sudden question.
"New trial participant detected; would you like an explanation of the Tower of Secrets?"
"Yes." Hearing the words of the preservation golem, Xuan Hao quickly calmed down as he nodded his head. Remembering that the main purpose of the preservation golems was just to act as guides and help the trial participants of the celestial trials… And the preservation golem in front of him should be one such preservation golem in charge of the place called the Tower of Secrets.
"Acknowledged, the Tower of Secrets is one of the main exchange locations for the Exchange Hall. Inside the Tower of Secrets, you can exchange celestial coins granted through the completion of the celestial trials for different movement and combat techniques stored inside the Tower of Secrets."
"I see… But how do I get these celestial coins? I don't remember getting anything like that after completing a celestial trial…" Frowning slightly as he said this, Xuan Hao could not help thinking that he might have ended up leaving behind the so-called celestial coins mentioned by the preservation golem by accident because he didn't know what it was.
"Celestial Coins are awarded for anyone completing the celestial trials. Would you like to view your current progress and celestial coins trial participant?"
"Yes."
Swish-!
Already familiar with the how the examination of the preservation golems was done due to his first experience encountering one of them, Xuan Hao wasn't as shocked when it easily passed through his dao domain and directly appeared in front of him this time around.
Instead, it only made him more amazed over the strength of these preservation golems, while also making him certain that it would be best not to do anything that caused them to attack him.
"Initial examination will begin now, please do stand still during this process as movement might cause inaccuracies in the examination." Hearing the familiar instructions, Xuan Hao remained still as he waited for the examination to finish.
"Examination has been completed; would you like me to list your current progress?"
"Yes."
"Confirmation of trial participant granted; I will now list your current progress in the Celestial Trials…" Not wasting a single second after hearing Xuan Hao's response, the golem began speaking again.
"… Cultivation realm of trial participant, Late Stage Dao Domain Lord, number of trials completed, 3, requirement to enter Tower of Secrets at the Late Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm, 3, faction, no information available. Trial participant has been granted temporary elder status and can freely access any exchange hall without normal limitations. Total available celestial coins, 7. No more information can be gathered on the trial participant.
It is recommended that the trial participant buys knowledge regarding the Dao Domain Lord Realm if the elders of the trial participant haven't informed the trial participant. Information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm can be found at the second floor of the Tower of Secrets."
"Huh? Information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm!?" Hearing what the preservation golem said, Xuan Hao could not help exclaiming out loud with a shocked expression on his face. Never having expected the preservation golem to directly mention information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm, something he really needed at the moment given his lack of knowledge on how to reach the Peak of the Dao Domain Lord Realm.
After all, a guess was still just a guess and couldn't compare to real knowledge from someone who had managed to reach the realm!
Chapter 1289: Too Expensive...
"Yes, there is information on the Dao Domain Lord inside the Tower of Secrets, as long as you have the required celestial coins, you can obtain the knowledge." Responding to his rather loud exclamation, the preservation golem didn't move in the slightest as it said this. Making Xuan Hao even more excited, as he understood that he would finally be able to get information of the Dao Domain Lord Realm that wasn't just a few fragments here and there or information gained through advancing through the Dao Domain Lord Realm by himself.
Not only would it be useful for reaching the Peak of the Dao Domain Lord Realm and going beyond that in the future, but it would also be useful for improving his current strength in the Late Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm, as it would give him a clear path to follow.
"Can I enter the tower now?"
With that in mind, Xuan Hao could not help excitedly turning to the preservation golem as he asked this. Wanting nothing more than to enter the tower as fast as possible so he could get his hands on the knowledge about the Dao Domain Lord Realm that was stored inside according to what the preservation golem had said.
Whoosh~
Turning back towards the tower after hearing what Xuan Hao said, the preservation golem suddenly raised one of its hands, causing the formation that was guarding the entrance to open.
"You have met the requirements and can enter the Tower of Secrets whenever you want. Mandatory warning, forcefully trying to take away any of the things inside the Tower of Secrets without paying, will result in the killing formation inside activating.
Do be aware, elder status does not protect you from the killing formation, as it is designed to kill anyone attempting to steal from the tower."
"…"
Hearing what the preservation golem said just as he was about to rush inside the Tower of Secrets, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a shiver run down his spine.
Although he had already reached the Late Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm and could be considered to be comparable to someone at the Middle Stage of the Dao Seed Realm, he understood that he would stand no chance against the formations left behind by the Mirage Sect. Especially so considering that the tower in front of him had managed to remain fully intact.
After all, given that the tower was still intact meant that the killing formations protecting the tower itself should also be intact. Not having weakened much since the battle that should have taken place in the past.
Just the fact that the geniuses of that time had reached the Profound Immortal Realm was more than enough to stop him from having any thoughts of stealing anything from the tower, as it at least meat that the strength of the killing formations inside the tower had reached the Profound Immortal Realm in terms of power. Not something he was anywhere close to being able to deal with in his current cultivation realm.
Even then, it shouldn't be a problem as long as I use the celestial coins to buy the information from the tower…
Shaking his head as he thought this to himself, Xuan Hao made his way inside the Tower of Secrets and was soon met by a beautifully decorated room filled with rows upon rows of shelves filled to the brim with scrolls.
"So many scrolls… And the space in here is far larger than outside, is there perhaps some kind of space expansion formation in place?" Muttering this to himself as he glanced around the place, Xuan Hao could not help feeling curious as he walked over to one of the shelves and picked up one of the scrolls.
[Sword Sovereign Domination, Volume 1, Low Heaven Rank. Entire Sword Sovereign Domination, Saint Rank]
[Price: 5 Celestial Coins]
"Low Heaven Rank? Saint Rank?" Seeing a few unfamiliar terms written on top of the scroll, Xuan Hao ignored the price as he turned to look back at the preservation golem that had been silently following behind him since he stepped inside the Tower of Secrets.
"Do you want an explanation of the technique ranks?" Picking up what he wanted immediately with a simple straightforward question, Xuan Hao quicky nodded his head. Wondering if the division of qi techniques and other techniques was any different in the ancient times compared to the current time.
"Acknowledged, combat techniques and the names of their ranks can change depending on where you are from, but they are still universally classified into three realms. According to the name that the Mirage Sect follows, these three realms are Mortal, Earth and Heaven.
Mortal signifies the first four mortal realms, Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation and Nascent Soul Realm. Low Mortal Rank signifying Qi Condensation Realm combat techniques, while Peak Mortal Rank signify Nascent Soul Realm combat techniques.
Earth signifies the first steps to comprehending the dao and transcending the mortal realm, the Domain Lord Realm, Soul Ascension Realm and Dao Seed Realm. Low and Mid Earth Rank being the Domain Lord Realm and the Soul Ascension Realm respectively, while the Dao Seed Realm is the High and Peak Earth Rank.
Heaven signifies transcending the mortal realm, the Celestial Immortal Realm and the Profound Immortal Realm. Low Heaven Rank being the Celestial Immortal Realm, Mid Heaven Rank being the Sea Formation Stage of the Profound Immortal Realm, while the High Heaven Rank is for the those at the Land Creation Realm. Peak Heaven Rank combat techniques being reserved for those at the peak of the Profound Immortal Realm."
This… Was far more detailed than I expected it to be… Not having expected such a long and detailed description from the preservation golem, Xuan Hao could not help smiling wryly to himself as he thought about the description of the different ranks given by the preservation golem.
Indeed, when compared to the ranking system of combat techniques that was being used at the moment on the Ewaria Continent, he liked this ancient ranking system far more and had already decided to go ahead and implement it in the sect after he returned.
Not just to make things a bit easier to understand for his disciples, but also to make it easier for himself, as he had a feeling that he would interact far more with this ancient system compared to the one currently in use throughout the Ewaria Continent in the future.
But, outside of that, there was something he was curious about and that was-
"Are there any ranks above the Heaven Rank?"
"Yes, the Saint Rank is the rank for combat techniques above the Heaven Rank, but there are no such combat techniques present in the Tower of Secrets. The information available to me does not extend to things that aren't present in the Tower of Secrets, so I can unfortunately not give an explanation on the Saint Rank outside of its name." Saying this in a somewhat depressed tone, the preservation golem suddenly looked a bit pitiful after acknowledging that it didn't have any information on the Saint Rank that was beyond the Heaven Rank.
"It's fine, can you help me find the information of the Dao Domain Lord Realm inside the tower?"
"Yes, the information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm is located on the second floor of the Tower of Secrets. Normally, access to the second floor is only granted after becoming a tier two trial participant, but given the temporary elder status, there are no restrictions on which floors you can enter."
"That's great, lead the way." Feeling relieved after hearing what the preservation golem said, Xuan Hao soon found himself following it up the spiral staircase at the center of the tower leading up towards the second floor of the tower.
However, this relief vanished a few seconds later when he glanced at the different scrolls along the way.
[Price: 12 Celestial Coins]
[Price: 10 Celestial Coins]
[Price: 8 Celestial Coins]
[Price: 15…]
Not a single one of them was cheap enough for him to buy with his current celestial coins. Making him feel increasingly nervous about the price of the Dao Domain Lord Realm information that he had wanted to buy from the Tower of Secrets just a few seconds earlier.
Even more so because he clearly noticed that the price of the scrolls around him kept rising as he followed the preservation golem deeper inside the second floor of the Tower of Secrets…
"Trial participant, the information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm is here."
[The Precarious Journey, a look into the Dao Domain Lord Realm]
[Price: 8 Celestial Coins]
And indeed, just like he had feared, the price of the information he wanted to buy just so happened to be a single celestial coin over what he had on him. Making him not know whether to cry or laugh over the fact that he had found the information he wanted but couldn't access it.