Chapter 1403: Rabbit Demon Beast Moves Out
Leaving the Star Shattering Sect, Xuan Hao soon arrived at the Iron Sky Kingdom for the first time in a long time. Finding himself rather surprised at the developments of the kingdom since it had become part of the Star Shattering Sect, as it was obvious at a glance that the formation guarding the kingdom had been upgraded after Yi Min had broken through to the Soul Ascension Realm.
At the current level of the formation, it wouldn't be surprising if Yi Min would be able to hold off someone at the Peak of the Soul Ascension Realm. Probably even resisting someone at the Earlier Stages of the Dao Seed realm for a period of time. Showing that outside of her Dao of Blacksmithing improving by a lot since her breakthrough to the Soul Ascension Realm and visit to the Blue Shore Kingdom, her Dao of Formations had also improved by a lot.
Just from a simple glance, Xuan Hao was certain that she should have at least managed to reach the Elementary Realm in the Dao of Formations- Maybe even the Small Success Realm.
But… For now, he didn't really have time to slowly investigate the formation in place to protect the Iron Sky Kingdom and instead had to focus his attention on the rabbit demon beast that he almost immediately noticed lazing around inside one of the large palaces located at the core of the Iron Sky Kingdom's capital city.
Even from a glance, it was obvious that the rabbit demon beast was enjoying its stay in the Iron Sky Kingdom quite a bit. Even using the human servant that it had recruited to serve it spirit stones and other delicacies that it had found during its stay in the Iron Sky Kingdom.
Looking at the situation outside of the palace where the rabbit demon beast had settled down, Xuan Hao could not help smiling somewhat wryly to himself, as he noticed that the people who should be Yi Min's subordinates had all retreated far away from the palace where the rabbit demon beast was located and none of them dared to go anywhere close to it.
The ones in charge of delivering things for the rabbit demon beast to eat were even fighting among themselves for a chance to avoid interacting with the rabbit demon beast.
Although his first thought was that the rabbit demon beast had done something like beating up these people, thus causing them to fear it and not dare approach it, he soon found out that the reason for them not wanting to get anywhere near the rabbit demon beast was because it would force them to continue gathering spirit stones and other delicacies for it.
This was not the normal kind where the servant would just leave the palace to request for more food and spirit stones, but was instead the rabbit demon beast deciding to take on these servants as its own people and train them ruthlessly so they could go out into the world to gather spiritual herbs or other delicious things for it to eat.
At this point in time, there were already more than twenty such people who had been turned into the rabbit demon beast's people. Now scouring the surroundings for spirit stones and other delicious food to bring back to the rabbit demon beast.
Learning about this, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit speechless, as he wondered whether or not the rabbit demon beast really thought of itself as the de facto ruler of the Iron Sky Kingdom, but in the end, there was not much he could do about it, as those people had somehow been convinced to become followers of the rabbit demon beast. Increasing the overall strength of the rabbit demon beast and the number of people under it.
"Guess it will be quite a shock for it to get send away to spy on some demonic cultivator…" Chuckling silently to himself as he turned to glance towards the direction of the rabbit demon beast, Xuan Hao didn't waste any time before barging into the newly constructed throne room that the rabbit demon beast had created for itself while it had been in the Iron Sky Kingdom.
Thump-!
Squeak!?
Landing on the marble floor in front of the now shocked rabbit demon beast who didn't expect its master to suddenly show up in front of it all of a sudden, Xuan Hao could not help showing a somewhat evil smirk as he stared at the panicked and surprised rabbit demon beast.
"Hehe, you are coming with me~!"
Squeak? Squeeeaaaaak-!
Whoosh-!
And before the rabbit demon beast had any time to react, he flew forward and grabbed it before leaving the recently constructed throne room. Not giving it any chance to refuse or fight back, as he used, he drifting cloud steps at their full strength to carry the rabbit demon beast to the border of the Star Shattering Sect where the child of the Demon King of the Frozen Wastelands had been located before dropping it off.
Of course, during the journey that lasted for a few minutes, he made sure to explain its job and what it would be doing. Making sure that it understood the importance of not attacking the demonic cultivator that it was spying on.
Not because he felt that the rabbit demon beast would in any way be weaker than the True Demon Realm demonic cultivator, but because he understood that the defensive measure put in place on the True Demon Realm demonic cultivator by the Demon King of the Frozen Wastelands would in no way be anything that the rabbit demon beast could deal with.
Even he himself felt that it would be impossible to deal with whatever security measures that the Demon King of the Frozen Wastelands had left on this child of his. Especially so considering that he doubted that the protective talisman was the only thing protecting that demonic cultivator. Believing that there should definitely be something similar to the talismans that he left with his disciples.
Not to mention, attacking that demonic cultivator would definitely end up drawing unwanted attention to the Star Shattering Sect, something that Xuan Hao wanted to avoid at all costs and also the reason why he placed the rabbit demon beast in charge of spying on the demonic cultivator.
So, without wasting any time, Xuan Hao turned and left shortly after leaving the rabbit demon beast at the borders of the Star Shattering Sect. Wanting the demonic cultivator to just think a powerful expert from the Blue Sea Empire happened to be passing by. Not something unusual with the current state of things and unlikely to make that demonic cultivator think anything was off.
…
Squeak…?
Being suddenly left at the border of the Star Shattering Sect with a mission to spy on a demonic cultivator that it had no idea about and where it was located nor how it looked, the rabbit demon beast could not help tilting its head with a somewhat confused expression on its face, as it began wondering what to do now.
Although it wanted nothing more than to turn back and return to its little empire and enjoy itself like it had been doing for the past few months, it also understood that there was no way to refuse a mission given by its master. Especially so considering that its master had promised it an extremely generous reward after finishing the mission, something that the rabbit demon beast couldn't refuse no matter how much it might want to do so and that was… Top Grade Spirit Stones!
Top Grade Spirit Stones, to demon beasts at the Soul Ascension Realm, were incredibly helpful for growing their strength… And given that the rabbit demon beast had already solidified its cultivation base at the Fifth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm with all of the spirit stones and other delicious things it had eaten during its time watching over the Iron Sky Kingdom, these Top Grade Spirit Stones might be enough fort it to break through to the Sixth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm and stand at the Peak of the Soul Ascension Realm.
Even if the rabbit demon beast had slowly settled into a rather lazy daily life since being put in charge of guarding the Iron Sky Kingdom, its ultimate goal for doing so was still for it to continue growing its strength.
If not for the generous reward that it had been offered in return for helping guard the Iron Sky Kingdom, there was no way it would do so no matter how it was pampered by the servants of the palace.
Squeak!
With that in mind, the rabbit demon beast showed a determined expression on its face before it jumped forward in the direction of the Frozen Wastelands.
Even knowing the possible danger involved, it still wanted to do it for the rewards. Not to mention, it felt confident in escaping if something went wrong. After all, its opponent was only someone in the True Demon Realm.
Even if it was someone in the Demon Lord Realm, the rabbit demon beast felt that it would be able to escape from them with its speed!
Chapter 1404: A... More Difficult Mission...
Wasting no time after its master left, the rabbit demon beast instantly moved towards the Frozen Wastelands at a shocking speed that would even give someone in the Dao Seed Realm a hard time catching up to.
To ensure that it remained hidden even when going at such a fast speed as it was important for it to remain hidden while investigating the demonic cultivator, the rabbit demon beast made sure to move along the ground instead of flying through the air. Making it far harder to spot for any passing demonic cultivators.
In case, even if it ended up being spotted, most people would just think of it as a random demon beast passing through, likely underestimating its strength due to its small size.
In a way, it was also because of this that Xuan Hao had decided to have the rabbit demon beast be the one to secretly find and investigate the demonic cultivator related to the Demon King of the Frozen Wastelands.
All things considered; the rabbit demon beast encountered no problems as it managed to smoothly pass through a large number of demonic cultivators before entering the Frozen Wastelands undetected. Even moving past several True Demon Realm demonic cultivators who had begun returning after Xuan Hao had left the border area.
The only problem that it encountered after it entered the Frozen Wastelands, was the fact that it had no idea how it would find the demonic cultivator that its master wanted it to investigate.
In the end, the rabbit demon beast could only settle down and act like a normal snow rabbit demon beast that was among the most common demon beasts in the Frozen Wastelands, as it silently listened in to conversations between the demonic cultivators. Hoping to find out anything about this special demonic cultivator that its master wanted it to investigate.
At least in that regard, it was relatively lucky, as the snow rabbit demon beasts were too weak to interest any of the demonic cultivators and together with the fact that most demonic cultivator seemed to just ignore them no matter how close they got, the rabbit demon beast could easily approach the demonic cultivators and listen in on their conversations without being discovered.
However, it soon turned out that it was far more difficult to locate the demonic cultivator its master wanted it to find and investigate, as the other party seemed to be a mystery even among the True Demon Realm demonic cultivators present.
Giving the rabbit demon beast hard time, as it had to analyze any information about this demonic cultivator and try to pinpoint the location of the demonic cultivator in question, something incredibly difficult considering that this demonic cultivator seemed to be constantly moving around.
Even without the other party knowing about the rabbit demon beast secretly searching for it, it seemed like the other party was already doing their best to hide their movements. Making the already difficult task even harder. Forcing the rabbit demon beast to slow down what it had originally perceived to be a simple task that could be finished in a few days and take it more seriously.
From the looks of things, the rabbit demon beast realized that the task given by its master was far more difficult than it had first thought after learning that it had to secretly investigate a demonic cultivator in the True Demon Realm.
After all, in the eye of the current rabbit demon beast, a demonic cultivator in the True Demon Realm wasn't that impressive, as it felt confident in winning against any demonic cultivator in the True Demon Realm with its current strength.
Even if the task was just an investigation, it had felt extremely confident in being able to finish everything up in a few days' time before returning to the Iron Sky Kingdom for its reward.
However, things had turned out to be far more difficult than it had first expected, causing it to somewhat regret not asking its master for more when it had heard about the Top Grade Spirit Stones it would be rewarded for completing the mission.
Indeed… It wasn't that easy for it to get its hands on Top Grade Spirit Stones.
…
At the same time that the rabbit demon beast was starting to regret not asking its master for more spirit stones before he had left, the master in question was sitting down inside the now empty palace at the center of the Iron Sky Kingdom's capital city.
"The rabbit demon beast should have reached the Frozen Wastelands and started trying to find that demonic cultivator at this point in time…"
Looking off in the direction of the Frozen Wastelands as he muttered this to himself while praying for the rabbit demon beast's success in being able to find out more about the demonic cultivator and what he might be up to. Especially so considering that this was likely something that would involve the Demon King of the Frozen Wastelands. The most powerful existence in the Frozen Wastelands according to what he knew about the place at the moment.
Of course, though the Demon King of the Frozen Wastelands was the most powerful existence he knew about inside the Frozen Wastelands, Xuan Hao didn't honestly believe him to be the most terrifying existence in the Frozen Wastelands, as he still remembered that the location of one of the four ancient seals was still inside the Frozen Wastelands.
If that seal was undone, it was likely that the Demon King of the Frozen Wastelands would no longer be the strongest existence in the Frozen Wastelands, though, it hopefully wouldn't turn out like that if he could find a way to strengthen the seal and ensure that the existence sealed inside wouldn't get a chance to escape.
"Hopefully, those people from the Fallen Immortal Archipelago can show up and solve this situation for me when the time comes. All I need to do is strengthen the seals so they will last until they show up and hopefully rebuilds those seals…" Muttering this to himself as he thought about the four ancient seals that sealed some kind of terrifying ancient existence, Xuan Hao could not help feeling an unbearable burden on his shoulders.
Understanding that if those seals were really undone, the first to suffer would likely be the Star Shattering Sect given how close it was to the four seals, with one of them latterly being below the ruins of the former Raging Flame Sect, a very short distance away from the Shattered Star Peaks.
The confidence he had in those unknown people from the Fallen Immortal Archipelago being able to solve the situation of the seal and ensure that it wouldn't break wasn't so much because he trusted them, but more so because he understood that he stood little chance of being able to repair the ancient seals on his own in the time he had left before they broke.
The most he felt confident in being able to do in that time would be to strengthen those ancient seals so they could last until those people appeared.
Of course, that was also under the prerequisite that they arrived at time.
If they didn't show up… He would really have to try and think of some more radical solutions to the problems of the ancient seals. Especially considering that the seal he could interact with, and repair were limited to two at the moment.
The ancient seal in the Frozen Wastelands and the ancient seal inside the whirlpool were not something he could interact with at his current realm, as the one in the Frozen Wastelands was impossible for him to find with the current war taking place, while the one in the red whirlpool required him to directly enter the seal itself.
Although it wasn't really entering the seal and it should only be a small fragment of the thing sealed inside the ancient seal inside the space of the red whirlpool, it was simply far too much for him to handle at the moment.
Even breaking through to the Profound Immortal Realm, he doubted that he would be able to face off against such an existence…
Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao slowly turned his attention towards a small room located at the core of the palace that the rabbit demon beast had ignored during its stay.
The small room in question was Yi Min's cultivation room, but more importantly, it was also the core of the formation that guarded the entire Iron Sky Kingdom!
Knowing this and already having wanted to personally check out this formation and hopefully gain some insights into the Dao of Formations in the process, Xuan Hao didn't waste any time as he directly entered the room to study the formation. Hoping that he would be able to use the improvements and insight he gained to create a proper teleportation formation in the future when he got back to the sect.
Chapter 1405: Escape Plan! News Spreads...
At the same time Xuan Hao began studying the formation guarding the Iron Sky Kingdom, a pale looking young man at the edge of the Frozen Wastelands could not help frowning as he looked down towards a blood red talisman currently emitting an eerie blood colored light in the palm of his hand.
"Second level danger, someone in the Soul Ascension Realm appeared along the borders and it's not the usual one from that demon beast, but a stronger one." Muttering this to himself as he stared down at the talisman, the young man continued frowning while an uncertain glimpse flashed through his eyes.
Is it perhaps related to that terrifying Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator from earlier? Maybe this Soul Ascension Realm cultivator was dispatched here because they noticed the increasing number of True Demon Realm demonic cultivators gathering along the borders here?
As the young man thought about this to himself, he could not help feeling a bit more reassured. Not so much because there was now a stronger Soul Ascension realm cultivator around to guard the border, but more so because it would mean that the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator didn't show up for him.
If the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator really did come for him after learning about his presence in the area, he would not have any way to escape with his current strength. Even if he had countless safety talismans and other things to keep himself safe, it would at most be able to deal with someone in the Earth Immortal Realm (Dao Seed Realm).
The best he could do against someone in the Celestial Immortal Realm, would be delay them for a few seconds and hope that a nearby Demon King discovered what was happening in time, though… That was highly unlikely considering his special identity as one of the children nurtured by the Demon King of the Frozen Wastelands.
Although he had no idea why this was the case given that those Demon Kings would normally be extremely respectful towards his father without a hint of displeasure, he clearly knew that none of them seemed to care the slightest bit about him and his siblings.
Even causing him to suspect that those traitorous Demon Kings were behind the disappearance of his older siblings, who suspiciously always ended up dead or missing after reaching the Demon Lord Realm or being close to reaching the Demon Lord Realm, it was clear that they didn't want to see his father get a proper successor. Doing their best to eliminate all of his siblings to prevent his father from gaining more control over the Frozen Wastelands when they got older and strong enough to replace those traitorous Demon Kings!
Good thing I managed to see through this before I reached the Peak of the True Demon Realm and escaped to the border of the Frozen Wastelands where those Demon Kings influence is severely weakened. Allowing me to move around without worrying about them showing up and killing me at any moment.
Narrowing both his eyes as somewhat proud smile grazed the lips of the pale young man standing alone in the middle of a snow-covered valley close to the borders of the Star Shattering Sect, he didn't continue lingering around in the same location for long before leaving the place. Understanding that his opponents were far more formidable than himself and would undoubtedly track down his location with their people if he remained in the same location for too long.
One example of this was the rumor that had recently spread among the demonic cultivators at the borders close to where he was, as he had not spread the rumors about what he had discovered through his father's protective talisman.
Instead, it was one of those spies from the traitorous Demon Kings, who had managed to sneak up close to him when he had been shocked by the appearance of the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator that had remained at the border without moving. Taking advantage of his shock to get close to him before escaping the next second to spread the information.
Not just that, but when that Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator had disappeared, he had once again been caught off guard by one of those traitorous spies, causing that information to start spreading among the demonic cultivators as well. Soon enough, causing the demonic cultivators to resume their attack on the territories outside the Frozen Wastelands without a single ounce of hesitation.
From a glance, it felt obvious to him that these powerful Demon Kings were secretly mocking him at his foolishness of thinking he could escape from their grasp, but the pale young man was not one to throw in the towel just because of something like. Instead, it only made him more certain that he would have to find a way to escape and ensure his own life so he could come back stronger to support his father and ensure that no more of his siblings would have to die.
Father… I will definitely succeed in escaping. Although I might be gone for a long time, I will make sure to come back strong enough to lend you a hand in suppressing those despicable Demon Kings!
Filled with a sense of righteousness highly unusual for a demonic cultivator, the pale young man smiled briefly before continuing to sneakily move around the borders of the Frozen Wastelands in preparation for his grand escape from the Frozen Wastelands.
After all, even if crossing the borders of the Frozen Wastelands was something simple and also something he had done in the past, he understood that if he moved too far away from the Frozen Wastelands, one of those Demon Kings would always appear before him and throw him right back into the Frozen Wastelands.
Although none of them dared to directly kill him out of fear of his father's retaliation, he also understood that this meant he wouldn't be able to leave the Frozen Wastelands under normal circumstance, thus resulting in his current situation where he was planning to leave the Frozen Wasteland in another way that would make it impossible for those Demon Kings to chase after him.
…
Back in the Star Shattering Sect, everything was proceeding smoothly, as the sect began moving all of its focus towards the upcoming competition of the sect's Blacksmith Elders and Alchemist Elders.
Even if the competition itself was still a little under a year away from actually taking place, it didn't stop the disciples of the sect from becoming more interested in the two professions known as blacksmithing and alchemy with information about the competition spreading throughout the sect.
At the same time, it was not only the disciples of the Star Shattering Sect who learnt about the competition that would take place, but also the disciples and elders from the different independent sects, who would sometime get a chance to visit the Shattered Star Peaks for cultivation or official business.
As a result of this, news of the competition that would take place soon spread outside the Star Shattering Sect and the independent sects under it, causing most of the subordinate powers inside the Star Shattering Sect's territory to learn about the upcoming competition.
Following this, it was not just the alchemist and blacksmiths of the Star Shattering Sect who were interested in the competition, but also blacksmiths and alchemists from the different powers under the Star Shattering Sect, who were interested in the upcoming competition- Some even showing a clear interest in joining the competition to the elders of the Star Shattering Sect that they encountered.
In the end, as even wandering alchemist and blacksmiths began gathering towards the Falling Star City to learn more about this competition after rumors about the generous rewards spread, Feng Chen, Elder Song and the rest of the elders who were behind the competition were forced to reconsider how they went about the competition.
Not just because it had gathered a lot of interest from the different powers inside the territory of the Star Shattering Sect, but also because it was clear that this was no longer just a matter of giving the elders of the sect a chance to prove themselves in front of the younger generation. No. It was now a matter of the sect's reputation and standing in the eyes of the different powers under it.
If handled well, this could be an opportunity to show off and exert the dominance of the Star Shattering Sect when it came to the strength of their blacksmiths and alchemists.
Although… If handled badly, it could negatively affect the Star Shattering Sect and its reputation.
Knowing this, Feng Chen, Elder Song and the rest were forced to take this matter extremely seriously, as they discussed it for days on end. Weighing the pros and cons of expanding the scale of the competition to being something outside the sect itself.
Ultimately, they ended up deciding that it was far too good an opportunity to give up on. Resulting in the location of the competition being changed from the Shattered Star Peaks to the Falling Star City where anyone could come and watch the competition take place.
Not just that, but those who could join the competition were no longer just limited to the elders of the Star Shattering Sect, but instead became open to anyone who wanted to join the competition. The only requirement being that they were below the Grandmaster Realm to ensure any hidden experts that might be passing through didn't end up completely steamrolling the competition.
At the same time, to ensure that the Star Shattering Sect would properly stand out and show how great it was when it came to the aspects of blacksmithing and alchemy, Feng Chen and Elder Song worked together to convince Pei Yang and Yi Min to respectively act as judges for the alchemy and blacksmithing part of the tournament.
Not forgetting the importance of showing off young talent that showed the bright future of the sect, the two shamelessly decided to take advantage of Xuan Hao's absence from the sect to get both Bai Ning and Qing Yi to join the competition as promising young elders of the sect.
Although Qing Yi might not be at the same level as Bai Ning, she was still a genius in her own right and had surpassed most of the elders of the sect at this point in time. Serving as a great example of showing off the sect's younger talent in the eyes of both Feng Chen and Elder Song.
Soon enough, the news of this change to the competition and the fact that anyone who wanted to join could join, caused a large number of people to flock to the Falling Star City in anticipation of the upcoming competition.
Even though there was still around a year before the start of the competition, to most cultivators, a year was not a long period of time and most of the people rushing to the Falling Star City intended to spend this time taking a look around the main city of the Star Shattering Sect and the few remarkable locations, like the Third Star Peak, that was located close to the Falling Star City.
Those not interested in that kind of thing would just enter secluded cultivation while waiting for the year to pass and competition to begin. Nothing out of the ordinary, as most of the people showing up so early for the competition were elders in the Nascent Soul Realm or above.
Chapter 1406: Leaving Seclusion
As the excitement for the upcoming competition had begun to spread throughout the territory of the Star Shattering Sect, causing both established powers and wandering cultivators to gather towards the Falling Star City. At the edge of the neutral territory between the Blue Sea Empire and the Wei Empire, Chu Yang cautiously poked his head out of the small cave he had hidden himself inside of to stabilize his cultivation base after directly having broken through from the Second Stage of the Domain Lord Realm to the Peak of the Fifth Stage.
Although he had expected it to at least take him a week to stabilize his cultivation base given just how much his strength had improved, it ultimately ended up taking longer than that. Forcing him to remain hidden inside the small cave to ensure that he wouldn't end up encountering any problems in the future because of an unstable foundation.
During this period of time, he had several close calls with demon beasts or cultivators who roamed the edges of the mountains. Only managing to avoid detection because their cultivation was too low to notice him without specifically looking for him.
The only time where he had been close to being discovered was when the people, he had originally been secretly following behind inside the mysterious secret realm emerged from the cave he had first come out of after leaving the mysterious secret realm.
Luckily, it seemed like those people were far too occupied by getting as far away from the mountain range as possible to notice him, as they had run straight past him. Heading directly for the city located a short distance from his current location.
If that Soul Ascension Realm cultivator had even paid a little bit of attention, it would have been over for him, as he had absolutely no way to hide himself from someone in the Soul Ascension Realm.
Of course, there was a chance that the other party would just ignore him, but considering how the people from his family had been acting when routing up people to serve as meat shields while exploring the secret realm, he doubted that the other party would do something like that. Especially considering that someone in the Domain Lord Realm would normally carry a large number of treasures on them.
Even though the other party was someone in the Soul Ascension Realm, there was no way that anyone could say no to what were essentially free treasures given their difference in strength.
"But that was the past… Now that my strength has stabilized, it's finally time for me to check out that city." Muttering this to himself while remembering how fearful he had felt when that Soul Ascension Realm cultivator had moved past him, Chu Yang didn't waste much more time at the entrance of the cave before starting his journey towards the small city he had seen located close to the edge of the mountain range a few weeks earlier.
Although he had no idea how safe that city might be considering that it was also related to the one on the other side of the mountain range that he had a less-than-optimal experience inside of, he at least believed that he wouldn't suddenly end up getting attacked the moment he stepped into the city.
The only thing he had to do before entering that city was ensure that his somewhat flawed disguise was fixed up, as it had been damaged and worn off during the last few weeks.
Even if it might not be that useful, it would at least make so people would have to take a second glance at him to discover that something was wrong.
Not to mention, even if they discovered that he was hiding his identity, this wasn't something unusual inside the chaotic neutral region, as there were a lot of people who had come there escaping from something either in the Blue Sea Empire or the Wei Empire. Not wanting their identity to be revealed and their enemies coming after them.
Of course, there was at least some requirements in strength when it came to being someone who had escaped from trouble in one of the bordering empires, but that strength requirement was generally around the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm to Earlier Stages of the Domain Lord Realm as far as he knew.
The main reason for the strength requirements being that anyone weaker than that simply wouldn't be able to travel to the neutral region from one of these empires. The distance was too far to traverse and dangerous.
Only someone close to the Peak of the Soul Ascension Realm would be able to safely travel in and out of an empire like the Blue Sea Empire without encountering any problems along the way…
Arriving at the entrance to the small city he had spotted from afar, Chu Yang didn't take long to realize that this 'small' city was in no way small. Instead, it was a massive city far larger than even the Falling Star City.
It wasn't that he had failed to see such a massive city from afar, but instead because the city itself was mostly located below the surface with the walls of the city circling around a massive hole in the ground only visible after stepping inside the city. The hole in question being where most of the city was located, as shops and other buildings were precariously built on top of large wooden bridges spanning across the hole several thousand meters down.
Not just that, but there was also a large number of buildings built into the rocky sides of the hole itself. Especially so around the area where the large wooden bridges connected to the sides of the hole.
Put together with the countless smaller wooden bridges and hanging bridges that had been constructed to connect the different buildings and make them easily accessible to those below the Domain Lord Realm, the city located inside the hole turned into a seemingly endless maze that would be difficult for even locals to navigate.
"Even though I learnt about the existence of a city on the other side of the mountain range, I never expected it to be so massive…" Muttering this to himself as he leaned over the side of the massive hole that most of the city was located inside, Chu Yang could not help feeling a deep sense of shock.
By far, this was the largest and most unique city he had encountered to date!
Outside of that, he could also clearly sense that the strength of the people moving around inside the city itself was in no way weak. Already sensing at least, a dozen or so Domain Lord Realm cultivators and two people in the Soul Ascension Realm.
This level of strength was more than enough to make this city stand out even in the chaotic neutral territory. Especially so considering that this should only be the surface level of this city's strength, as he didn't dare spread his divine sense to investigate its true strength. Having sensed those powerful cultivators only because those people didn't bother hiding their strength in the slightest.
Even more surprising to Chu Yang was the fact that the everyone inside the city itself was a cultivator, with most people being in the Foundation Establishment or Core Formation Realm and only children being in the Qi Condensation Realm or below.
This is indeed the core region of the continent; cultivation is far easier here. Allowing anyone to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm with little effort…
Seeing the clear difference in cultivation when comparing even the weakest people inside the city to those outside the core region of the continent, Chu Yang could not help understanding how the core region of the continent had managed to be viewed as the holy land for anyone seeking to advance their cultivation.
No matter which power, everyone would eventually move to the core region when they became strong enough to take advantage of the abundant qi between heaven and earth along with the countless natural resources that also existed there.
A pity… Even though the place is far better for cultivation compared to anywhere back in old Sky Empire, it comes nowhere close to the Shattered Star Peaks…
Even then, Chu Yang had personally spent his time cultivating in the rich environment created by the chaotic qi formation. So, in the end, the abundant qi that would normally end up swaying most cultivators to stay after entering the core region didn't have any effect on him.
Instead of that, Chu Yang felt far more curious about the hole that the city was located inside of. Wondering where it had come from and how it was connected to the city itself.
That's it! Now that I'm finally in the core region of the continent, I should use it to train and investigating the giant hole seems like a great first adventure, while also being a good chance for me to learn more about the neutral territory in the process!
And so, Chu Yang set off to explore the giant hole and the city inside of it as his first objective after stepping into the core region.
Chapter 1407: Deep Pit City
Wandering around inside the massive city filled with curiosity, Chu Yang soon found himself standing in front of a branch of the Explorer Union larger than any branch he had seen before. Even after entering the core region of the continent, it seemed like the Explorer Union was difficult to avoid, as they seemed to be present everywhere.
Although, compared to other branches he had seen in the past, this branch was clearly different… And walking into the branch, he quickly discovered why, as the inside not only contained the standard areas for trading, missions and registering, but also had half of its interior changed into what looked like some kind of research facility that was open to the public. Allowing him to see that there were a large number of people busing themselves studying several large ancient stones covered in what he could only guess to be some kind of ancient language.
Asking around a bit inside of the Explorer Union branch to try and find out more about this rather strange new addition to the Explorer Union, it didn't take long before he was told that they were studying the ancient language that had been inscribed on the ancient stones.
The stones themselves originated from a ruin that was located below the city itself and was also the main reason why such a large branch had been established by the Explorer Union.
Apparently, the ancient stones with ancient language inscribed into them were incredibly valuable in the eyes of the Explorer Union and were bought by them for a high price. Resulting in an influx of people coming to explore the ruins at the bottom of the hole in the past to get their hands on the ancient stones.
In the end, this was what had caused the city to grow to its current size, while also earning it the name of Deep Pit City, a simple name that highlighted the importance of the deep hole or pit that the city itself was built inside of.
However, when asking around about the ruins that were located below the city, Chu Yang didn't manage to learn anything other than the fact that it was an extremely dangerous place that had even claimed the lives of several Soul Ascension Realm cultivators in the past, while at the same time preventing anyone above the Soul Ascension Realm from entering the ruins.
In a sense, it was also because of this that the ruins were still around and the Deep Pit City still at a level that few cities in the entire neutral region could reach.
I really want to take a look at those ruins now…
Thinking this to himself as he finished learning everything, he could about the origin story of the Deep Pit City and the ruins located beneath the city, Chu Yang didn't waste much time standing around inside the Explorer Union before leaving and heading down towards the ruins to take a look himself.
Although the ruins were extremely dangerous and had even claimed the lives of several Soul Ascension Realm cultivators in the past, the danger was limited to those entering the ruins. Standing outside the ruins and observing them without entering was safe to do.
If not, there would have been no way for such a large city to have been established directly above the ruins without encountering any problems.
…
"So, these are the ruins below the Deep Pit City? Less impressive than I expected…" Arriving at the bottom of the hole that the Deep Pit City was built inside of, Chu Yang could not help muttering this to himself in somewhat disappointed voice as he looked at the ruins that were supposedly behind the growth and continued success of the Deep Pit City.
The reason itself being rather simple, as the ruins were only a small gathering of around five or so ancient buildings barely standing at the bottom of the hole.
Even though he didn't doubt the danger or treasures inside those ruins considering that there was no reason for the few people in the Explorer Union to lie about something like that, he could not help wondering how those few ruins were behind the prosperity of the city above. Especially considering the few descriptions of the ruins he had heard described something much grander than the few lone buildings in front of him.
"First time at the ruins? Hehe, this reaction is always the same." Just at this moment, a feminine voice suddenly called out to him from behind, causing him to spin around with a surprised look on his face. Not having sensed the other party approaching him.
Turning around to see a middle-aged woman with a slight smile on her face, Chu Yang quickly calmed down as he also clearly sensed that the other part was only in the Fourth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm. Although her concealment methods were incredibly impressive, she wasn't strong enough to pose a threat to him even if he was caught off guard.
Not to mention, it seemed that the woman hadn't approached him with hostile intentions, or she would have likely already taken the opportunity to ambush him instead of calling out to him.
Then again, he couldn't let his guard down just because of this, as there was still a chance that she didn't make a move due to how close they were to the Deep Pit City.
After all, even though there weren't anyone saying not to fight inside or around the city itself, it was still clear that doing so might cause one of the Soul Ascension Realm cultivators inside the city to make attack to prevent the city from being affected by a battle.
"Who might you be?" Shaking his head as he threw these thoughts to the back of his head for now, Chu Yang instead focused his attention back on the woman who had approached him. Curious about why she had decided to approach him.
"A seasoned explorer of this place if I do say so myself and don't take this the wrong way, but my reason for approaching you is to give you a friendly reminder that the ruins in front of you are not the true ruins, but instead just an entrance to them. Inside all five of those buildings, there are functioning teleportation formations linked to the ancient ruins." Saying this, the woman suddenly began point towards the different buildings. "The teleportation formation in that one broke down a few hundred years ago, those two lead to the core part of the ancient ruins and are also the ones those now dead Soul Ascension Realm cultivators went through in the past, while the other two are considered safe for people like us to go through."
Listening to the words of the woman who had suddenly approached him, Chu Yang could not help showing a look of understanding on his face, as he realized why there were so few ruins at the bottom of the hole.
But after this realization, he couldn't help looking back towards the woman who had helped him out. Wondering why she had decided to lend him a hand for seemingly no reason.
After all, what she had told him was no short of being lifesaving advice considering that he might have accidentally ended up going through one of the more dangerous teleportation formations and found himself in a place that even someone in the Soul Ascension Realm would find hard to survive in.
"What is it you want…?" For this reason, Chu Yang decided to just be straight forward as he directly asked her. Not wanting to waste time with meaningless chatter.
"Hehe~ Well, now that you do mention it, I did have something I wanted to ask about… Using the ancient teleportation formations isn't entirely free and requires twenty high grade spirit stones. Considering that more than one person can use the teleportation formations at the same time, I was wondering if we could take one together a split the cost. After all, twenty high grade spirit stones are a rather steep price to pay for using a single teleportation formation. Not to mention, it cost the same to go back through the teleportation formation…"
"That's it? Sure, we can go together."
Hearing that she just wanted to save a few spirit stones on entering the ancient ruins, Chu Yang could not help feeling a bit relived as he nodded his head in approval without a second thought. Agreeing to cover half the spirt stones required to activate the ancient teleportation formation.
The reason why he decided to enter the ancient ruins now instead of just looking at them like he had first decided to do was rather simple, as he could also use this trip to ensure the safety of the teleportation formation, as he doubted that woman would enter a dangerous teleportation formation willingly.
Not to mention, twenty high grade spirit stones were indeed a rather high price for normal Domain Lord Realm cultivators. Even if Domain Lord Realm cultivators in the core region might have more spirit stones, twenty high grade spirit stones should still be valuable.
"Great! Let's get going then!"
Seeing that he agreed, the woman smiled happily as she wasted no time in rushing towards one of the two ancient teleportation formations leading to safer part of the ancient ruins. Taking out ten high grade spirt stones before placing them inside an ancient teleportation formation.
Whoosh~
Noticing nothing out of the ordinary and sensing nothing dangerous during the entire process, Chu Yang cautiously followed behind her before similarly taking out ten high grade spirit stones before placing them inside the teleportation formation, causing it to light up for a brief moment as a spatial power swept over both of them and teleported them away the next moment.
Chapter 1408: Wild Beast Tamer
As the spatial power swept over both of them and swallowed them up the next second, Chu Yang focused his full attention on keeping an eye out for any unexpected situations when he arrived at the other end of the teleportation formation.
After all, no matter how much he might believe that the Domain Lord Realm cultivator wouldn't attack him, there was still a chance that the two of them would run into a dangerous situation after passing through the teleportation formation. Especially considering that the ruins on the other side were considered dangerous even to someone in the Soul Ascension realm.
Although she had told him that the location they were moving towards wasn't the same as the one those Soul Ascension Realm cultivators had died at, it didn't mean that they wouldn't end up encountering a similarly dangerous situation after getting to the other side of the teleportation formation.
No matter what, to ensure his own safety and nothing ended up happening, he had to be on guard against any kind of unexpected situation that might take place after passing through the ancient teleportation formation-
"Huh?"
However, even after being prepared for all kinds of unexpected and dangerous situations that he might end up encountering on the other side, he was still left completely speechless after he came to and found himself on the other side.
"Wha-!? What is this!?"
Even the Domain Lord Realm cultivator who had been travelling along with him was taken aback and couldn't stop herself from exclaiming in a somewhat surprised voice, as the two of them both stared directly towards a group of physically active mole like demon beast currently in the process of creating the next generation of mole like demon beast.
If that was just the case, it wouldn't have been that shocking. Instead, the main thing that caused both Chu Yang and the woman in the Domain Lord Realm to be so taken aback, was the fact that there was another cultivator present intently watching the mole demon beast with an eerie smile on his face while muttering something intangible to himself.
"Huh!? Ah…" Suddenly jumping up in surprise in response to the two voices sounding out behind him, the cultivator watching the two mole-like demon beasts rapidly turned around with a somewhat panicked look like he had been caught doing something he shouldn't have.
"This… A beast tamer!"
Seeing the person after he turned around, the woman standing beside Chu Yang instantly seemed to recognize the other party as she called out in a both shocked and disgusted voice.
Beast tamer? Don't tell me… This guy is trying to nurture demon beasts in the wild…?
Hearing the exclamation of the woman next to him along with seeing how the man seemed to be doing something with the two-demon beast mating with each other, Chu Yang quickly put two and two together, as he realized that this person in front of them was a beast tamer currently in the process of trying to nurture some new demon beasts… And after a casual look over the state of the two demon beasts who continued doing what they had been doing when they first passed through the teleportation formation, it was clear that they had been affected by some kind of drug…
All of a sudden, Chu Yang understood the disgusted expression on the face of the woman beside him, as it seemed like the beast tamers outside the Star Shattering Sect also seemed to have some kind of problems. Doing this kind of thing out in the open without any care for who might happen to pass by and witness it.
Although… When compared to the beast tamers of the Star Shattering Sect, this wild beast tamer seemed to be worse, as he even resorted to harming innocent wild demon beasts.
Just looking at the two demon beasts who had been affected by this malicious wild beast tamer, they were only at the Earlier Stages of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Essentially harmless in the core region of the continent, yet still ended up being targeted by the malicious wild beast tamer.
"This… It's not what it looks like! These two demon beasts have a rare bloodline, and I just wanted to try and merge it to create a powerful demon beast! I swear, I'm not someone weird!"
""…""
"Let's go somewhere different, the area around a thousand meters around the teleportation formation is relatively safe with only weaker demon beasts around."
"Sure…"
After a short silence and a few weird looks towards the wild demon beast tamer who tried his best to justify what he was doing to the two poor demon beasts, Chu Yang and the female cultivator came to similar conclusion as both of them moved away from the scene together, neither of them wanting to get involved with this wild demon beast tamer.
"This…"
Leaving behind the person in question to stare in the direction that the two of them left with a somewhat nervous expression on his face. Clearly, he did not want anything about what had just happened to leak to the outside world, as his reputation could easily be destroyed by something like that if others learnt about what he had done to those two weak demon beasts.
Although he wasn't sure that the two people just now had recognized him and might have misunderstood him as some kind of wild beast tamer conducting some sort of malicious demon beast nurturing experiment, he really didn't want to run the risk of this actually leaking outside.
In the first place, he had chosen to do this little nurturing of his precisely inside the ruins because he understood that there were few people entering the ruins at this moment in time. Making it a relatively safe place for him to conduct his little experiment of trying to merge the bloodline of those two demon beasts together.
The entire thing would only take a few minutes to conclude, but someone had actually shown up just when everything had been about to conclude. Rendering his precious plans of hiding what he was doing completely useless if those two people ended up spreading the information through the Deep Pit City.
At first, it even made him want to kill the two people, as this would be the best way to ensure that the information wouldn't leak out, but after a quick examination of the two people's strength, he quickly realized that this would be completely helpless endeavor given that the two people were both in the Middle Stages of the Domain Lord Realm.
Although he himself could be considered to have reached the Late Stage of the Domain Lord Realm and was rather confident in his own strength, he had ultimately only just reached the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm and was still far from being capable of handling two Domain Lord Realm cultivators at the Middle Stage of the Realm.
This was even more so the case considering that the other party didn't have to fight him to the death and could simply just escape in case they couldn't match him. At which point it would almost be guaranteed that he made an enemy of these two and caused them to spread the information of what they had witnessed in the Deep Pit City.
After all, if they became his enemies, they would definitely also end up investigating his background in the Deep Pit City, something he had to try and avoid at all costs in case these two people were still unfamiliar with him!
Whoosh~!
"W-wait up fellow cultivators! I'm sure that both of you have some questions that I'm more than willing to answer! I-I will also give both of you a few gifts if you are willing to listen to this old man!"
In the end, because of this and knowing that he could under no circumstances allow what had just happened to leak outside, the man quickly grabbed the two demon beasts who had finished up their little battle before chasing after Chu Yang and the female cultivator while calling out to the two of them.
Making sure to also mention gifts so the two of them understood that he wanted to have a friendly conversation with the two of them and didn't have any ill intentions against them.
What does this wild beast tamer want? Is he perhaps embarrassed about being seen nursing demon beast with such a disgusting method…?
Thinking this to themselves upon hearing the wild demon beast cultivator calling out to the two of them, Chu Yang and the female cultivator both looked at each other with a somewhat suspicious expression in their eyes before ultimately deciding to stop and hear out this wild beast tamer.
After all, the other party had already mentioned gifts and none of them had anything against getting things for free just from listening to the words of this wild beast tamer. Especially if that thing involved spirit stones or precious spiritual herbs…
Chapter 1409: Free Stuff~
"Here, these are a few spirit stones and spiritual herbs I gathered during my time inside the ruins, I hope this will be enough for the two fellow cultivators… Ahm! In return, I hope the two of you could keep this entire situation of what just happened to yourself."
"Of course, fellow cultivators have given us so many things, it's only right that the two of us do such a small favor for you in return."
"Haha, great, then I will get going and won't interrupt the two of you any longer!"
Whoosh~!
As the wild beast tamer left without a second thought after handing out a large number of spirit stones and spiritual herbs to Chu Yang and the female cultivator, Chu Yang could not help staring down at the treasures that had been given to him with a somewhat surprised expression on his face.
During the entire ordeal, he had just silently stood to the side doing nothing as the female cultivator and the wild beast tamer conversed with each other about them not mention anything about what they saw after they left the ruins in the future.
Although he understood that the other party wanted the two of them to keep quiet about the scene they had witnessed after first passing through the teleportation formation, he had never expected for the female cultivator beside him to be so skilled and get so many things from that beast tamer. Especially considering that she had not just secured a large number of spirit stones and spiritual herbs for herself but had also helped him get an equal number of treasures for essentially doing nothing but stand at the sideline.
"The person just now isn't a beast tamer, but instead the current successor of the Deep Pit City Lord, he didn't want information of what just happened to spread and potentially affect his chances of inheriting the position as the city lord in the future."
Seemingly understanding what he was thinking about even without him saying anything, the female cultivator promptly explained the identity of the wild beast tamer. Allowing Chu Yang to understand why the other party had willingly handed them so many treasures without a second thought to try and silence the two of them when it came to what they had just witnessed him doping with those two poor demon beasts.
Of course, even though Chu Yang had a feeling that all of this wasn't that simple, he decided to not think too hard about it as he had already been given a large number of free resources and treasures for essentially passing through a teleportation formation at the right moment.
As for fear of the other party retaliating against the two of them after they left in the future, he wasn't too worried, as the other party was only at the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm. Far too weak to threaten him.
At the moment, he guessed that the only thing that might come from what had happened today would be that he and the female cultivator would have someone keep an eye on the two of them during their time inside the Deep Pit City.
Even if this would be a bit uncomfortable, it wasn't really anything he cared too much about as long as the other party only intended to keep an eye on him to ensure he didn't break the promise that had silently been established after received the large number of spirit stones and other precious gifts.
Not really anything that would affect him considering that he had no plans of exploring the Deep Pit City any more than he already had and was instead planning on leaving the city after he had finished his trip to the ancient ruins.
Of course, the situation could always change in the future, but at least at the moment, Chu Yang had no intentions of sticking around the Deep Pit City for an extended period of time. Instead planning to head deeper into the neutral territory where more opportunities could be found.
After all, staying in the Deep Pit City where the main source of income for wandering cultivators was to enter the ruins in search of ancient stones with carvings of ancient text on them, wasn't really something he intended on using his time on. Having no lack of spirit stones at the moment.
As for any other treasures of opportunities that might be hidden inside the ancient ruins… Chu Yang didn't expect to find any with his current strength, as it was rather clear that the core regions of the ruins were dangerous even to someone in the Soul Ascension Realm and the locations he could move around in with his Domain Lord Realm strength had long since been picked clean by other Domain Lord Realm cultivators over the years.
Not to mention, outside of Domain Lord Realm cultivators, Chu Yang was almost certain that there would have also been a few Soul Ascension Realm cultivators cleaning the Domain Lord Realm parts of the ancient ruins to make a few easy spirit stones and pick up anything that the Domain Lord Realm cultivators had ended up missing.
In the end, the only location that might still be hiding something precious at this point in time would be the core of the ancient ruins, a place that even Soul Ascension Realm cultivators dreaded, with no small number of Soul Ascension Realm cultivators having perished there in the past.
A place best avoided at the moment under all circumstances…
"Are you going to continue exploring the ruins? If you are, do you want to explore them together? I'm quite familiar with the place and know some of the better areas where treasures are relatively easy to find, and danger is low."
Just as he was lost in his own thoughts, the words of the female cultivator echoed out beside him. Waking him up from his momentary thoughts and forcing his attention back to the current situation.
"No need, I will just take a look around myself for a bit after leaving."
In the end, Chu Yang decided to not take her up on her offer to explore the ruins together, both because he still didn't entirely trust her and second because there was no way for him to know if she would lead him to some kind of dangerous location that he wouldn't be able to escape with his current strength.
After all, the ancient ruins had claimed the lives of several Soul Ascension Realm cultivators in the past and he had no idea if that was due to some kind of powerful demon beasts lurking inside the ruins or some kind of ancient offensive formations.
No matter what, it was best to be cautious when in unfamiliar territory. Especially so when it came to ancient ruins that were often filled to the brim with all sorts of ancient trapping formations that could kill an unsuspecting cultivator before they even had time to react.
"Hm… I see, farewell for now then and remember to be careful in case that guy ends up trying something on you!"
Not dwelling on the situation after hearing Chu Yang's refusal, it also seemed like the female cultivator understood the thoughts behind his answer as she soon turned around and left the place without a second thought. Moving deeper and deeper into the ancient ruins before finally disappearing from view.
In turn, this gave Chu Yang the opportunity to finally left out a breath of relief that he had unknowingly been holding in since the first time he met her.
The reason for this was simple, his disguise.
Although the disguise was done to the best of his ability, if any of those two Domain Lord Realm cultivators had ended up observing him a bit closer and used their divine sense to observe him, they would have discovered his actual appearance and in turn also noticed his extremely young age, something that was best kept hidden considering that it would definitely end up drawing unwanted attention if his real age and cultivation realm were to spread.
Luckily, it was considered rude and foolish to recklessly use your divine sense on someone else.
Rude because divine sense was not restricted the same way normal vision was, while being foolish because it was often seen as offensive and might cause the other party to attack you.
Because of this, most people would normally not recklessly use their divine sense when encountering someone they were unfamiliar with, as the other party might end up being some kind of ancient monster far beyond their realm of strength.
Though this was not as much of a thing in the outer parts of the continent where the Star Shattering Sect was located, it was especially important in the core region where cultivators in the Dao Seed Realm and above existed.
Even more so because some of these figures would wander the world from time to time to deepen their understanding of the dao. Making them the worst kind of people to accidentally end up offending…
Chapter 1410: Sneaking into the Star Shattering Sect's Territory (1)
Being left alone, Chu Yang didn't waste much time standing around and directly began moving deeper inside the ancient ruins to have a look around the place and see if he could find anything useful from exploring the ruins. Hoping that he could at the very least encounter a few demon beasts that would allow him to further increase his combat experience against those Domain Lord Realm demon beasts, as the Domain Lord Realm figures he had fought most since breaking through to the Domain Lord Realm himself were other humans.
Although the difference in strength between normal human cultivators and demon beasts wasn't that big, there was a clear difference in how the two fought, as demon beast were far more focused on a far more brutal kind of fighting when compared to most human cultivators.
Of course, there was also the fact that the size and strength of demon beast's bodies generally made them harder to kill compared to humans, who in turn caried different kinds of artifacts and talismans that they used when fighting to defend and attack.
With that in mind, Chu Yang's main purpose for entering the ancient ruins soon became focused on trying to find some of the powerful demon beasts that should be lurking inside the ancient ruins. Changing it from trying to find any treasures or hidden artifacts, as he noticed shortly after starting his exploration of the ruins that everything had long since been picked clean by cultivators who had come before him.
All things considered, it was not really that surprising, as even though the Deep Pit City could be considered to have only recently been established, that was when compared to some of the older and somewhat ancient cities inside the neutral territory. In the end, it had still been around a few hundred years at this point in time.
Meaning that other cultivators had long since had the opportunity to pick clean anything of value in the safer parts of the ancient ruins. Leaving only the more dangerous ruins that even Soul Ascension Realm cultivators feared left with possible treasures.
…
Squeak?
At the same time that Chu Yang began his exploration of the ancient ruins below the Deep Pit City in the neutral territories bordering the fallen Sky Empire, the rabbit demon beast that had been searching through the demonic cultivators in the Frozen Wastelands bordering the Star Shattering Sect's territory let out a surprised squeaking sound as it noticed a particular demonic cultivator in the True Demon Realm hastily moving across the expanse of white.
Normally, this would not have been out of the ordinary and the rabbit demon beast would have ignored this person, but what had caused it to let out a surprised sound was because it clearly recognized the demonic cultivator as the exalted existence described by the other demonic cultivators that it had encountered so far. None other than the target that its master had tasked it with finding before figuring out what he was up to.
With that in mind, taking full advantage of the fact that it was completely blended in with the surrounding environment, the rabbit demon beast slowly began chasing the demonic cultivator from afar while keeping a distance where it could just barely hear him talking.
"Have to get to the border… Fast…"
In the end, because of this, the rabbit demon beast ended up hearing him mumbling something about moving towards the border to himself… And looking at the direction that he was moving in, the rabbit demon beast realized that the border he was talking about was none other than the border that the Star Shattering Sect was sharing with the Frozen Wastelands.
Although… Already having learnt of the barrier that his master had established in that area. Preventing any demonic cultivators from crossing that border, the rabbit demon beast could not help feeling a bit confused as to why the demonic cultivator was suddenly moving towards that barrier.
After all, outside of the existence of the barrier not being well known among the different powers that bordered the Star Shattering Sect, the barrier itself was rather well known among the demonic cultivators that had tried attacking the territory of the Star Shattering Sect in the past.
In the end, it was well known among all of the demonic cultivators that only those in the Demon Lord Realm would stand a chance trying to pass through that barrier, while anyone below that would almost certainly end up dead.
With all of that in mind, why did this demonic cultivator still dare thinking about trying to cross over the barrier and try entering the territory of the Star Shattering Sect?
Filled with confusion about this matter, the rabbit demon beast continued to discreetly follow behind the demonic cultivator, while at the same time sending a message to its master through a communication talisman about the entire situation.
Although it couldn't yet speak, it was still more than capable of sending a message through a communication talisman, as the intelligence of the rabbit demon beast had long since surpassed that of ordinary humans with its cultivation reaching the Soul Ascension Realm.
Even the matter of speaking wasn't entirely impossible for it to learn, it was just that the rabbit demon beast didn't want to bother using its time to learn how to speak. After all, it had not really encountered any problems not being able to use the human language so far and was more than capable of commanding its subordinates.
Even the human subordinate it had taken in was more than capable of following its command.
…
"The area ahead should be the border of the newly risen sect, the Star Shattering Sect… If I can pass through the barrier that was placed in that place, I should be able to enter the territory of the Star Shattering Sect and hide there before sneaking into the Blue Sea Empire and finding a more permanent location to stay hidden.
The only problem is that the barrier in this place is close to impossible for someone with my strength to break through, but… Going through the Onyx Empire is not an option with the Blue Sea Empire around and any other nearby kingdoms bordering the Frozen Wastelands are far too difficult to enter without being discovered…"
Whispering this to himself with a somewhat uneasy expression on his face as he stood before the barrier that was standing between the Frozen Wastelands and the Star Shattering Sect's territory, the child of the Frozen Wastelands Demon King felt a shiver run down his spine. Understanding that he was about to do something that could very well end up costing him his life.
But… For his beloved father, he was willing to take on this journey. Knowing that if he stayed behind in the Frozen Wasteland, he was likely to end up dead at the hands of those vicious Demon Kings who had killed his siblings whenever they were about to become strong enough to act as a support for their father in the Frozen Wastelands.
Thinking about this, the young man steeled his resolve before stepping into the dreaded blizzard that had long since become known and feared by the demonic cultivators in this area. Knowing that even Peak True Demon Realm demonic cultivators like himself had ended up dying trying to pass through this blizzard that formed a natural barrier in the past.
The main reason was that he was planning on relying on the lifesaving treasures that his father had left for him to get through the current situation.
Although he understood that this would leave him defenseless after he passed through the blizzard and entered the Star Shattering Sect's territory, he was confident in being able to hide himself away after entering the territory of the Star Shattering Sect.
The main reason for this confidence coming from the fact that there was currently an ancestor of the Blue Sea Empire inside the Onyx Empire as far as he had managed to gather over the past few months. Allowing him to feel confident that any Demon King planning to kill him would end up first having to face off against this Celestial Immortal Realm Ancestor. Giving him more than enough time to move deeper into the territory of the Blue Sea Empire.
Even if the Blue Sea Empire was not that powerful when compared to the entire Frozen Wastelands, it was by no means weak, and he felt confident it would be able to provide him a safe place to slowly cultivate until he became strong enough to support his father in the future.
At the same time, he also understood that him secretly entering the Blue Sea Empire would prove to be a fatal flaw for the Blue Sea Empire, as he would, in the future, be able to land a deadly blow to the Blue Sea Empire from the inside when his father began to officially focus on defeating this empire.
Chapter 1411: Sneaking into the Star Shattering Sect's Territory (2)
Filled with expectations for his glorious future and already thinking about how proud his father would be when he found out that he had managed to escape and grow up safely to the point that he would be able to help him deal with those traitorous Demon Kings, the young man smiled foolishly for a brief moment before once again becoming serious as he took out the talisman that his father had given him for protection.
Outside of just being useful for detecting any powerful opponents and dangers that might be approaching him, the talisman could also defend against a Demon King Realm demonic cultivator for a brief period of time, something that would by his father enough time to respond in case something ended up happening to him.
The way that his father, the Demon King of the Frozen Wastelands would know when the talisman was activated would be because of his connection to the talisman.
Under normal circumstances, there would not be anything wrong with this, but considering that he was planning to leave as discreetly as possible and not attract any unwanted attention, he had not informed his father about his plans and had discreetly moved to the border region of the Frozen Wastelands under the guise of training himself.
Considering that the rest of his siblings were doing the same and taking advantage of the current lower cultivation of those involved in most of the battles breaking out around the borders of the Frozen Wastelands, this was not unusual in the slightest and attracted no unwanted attention as far as he knew.
The main problem was that he understood his father's great care for him deeply. Understanding that he had several things on him that could track him. Including the talisman in his hands.
Because of this, he had worked for years to slowly move these tracking methods out of the clothes her wore and things he carried. Moving them on to several small stones with utmost precision to avoid them breaking.
In the end, after over a dozen years looking into the talisman personally given to him by his father, he had managed to isolate the tracking part of the talisman and successfully moved it onto another talisman that he himself had crafted. Also ensuring that his father wouldn't be able to discover when the talisman was activated.
Although he felt bad about doing this behind his father, he understood that it was important to avoid any of those Demon Kings learning about what he was doing. After all, his father had personally told him in the past that nowhere in the core of the Frozen Wastelands were safe and every wall has ears. Even divine sense wasn't a safe method of communication in the face of some of the more powerful Demon Kings.
To make sure that nobody noticed anything, he had used a blood art to control a local small bird demon beast and had it swallow the things with the tracking and other things to locate him before having the small bird demon beast roam around the borders of the Frozen Wastelands for the rest of its life.
Even though he felt like this kind of method might not last for that long, he at least hoped that it would be able to buy him some precious time. After all, he had no idea what kind of methods those Demon Kings might have secretly put in place to monitor him…
Shaking his head as all kinds of thoughts drifted through his head at this moment, the young man ultimately showed a look of determination on his face before taking a step forward into the terrifying blizzard that had formed a sort of natural barrier between the territory of the Star Shattering Sect and the Frozen Wasteland.
WHOOOOSH-!
At the same time, he stepped into the blizzard, he was instantly met by the terrifying howling of the wind along with countless small snowflakes cutting through the wind with enough power to easily slice apart someone in the Domain Lord Realm.
If not for the fact that he was already at the Peak of the True Demon Realm and had a body far stronger than even a demon beast at the same realm, he would have been forced back the moment he stepped foot into the blizzard.
After all, even someone in the True Demon Realm or Soul Ascension Realm would be put in a difficult situation when faced with what could essentially be considered the attack of a dozen Domain Lord Realm cultivators at the same time.
"This blizzard… Indeed terrifying…" Muttering this to himself as he experienced the terrifying power of the blizzard firsthand, the young man could not help showing a slightly fearful expression on his face as the snowflakes danced around him in a deadly dance that would have torn most other demonic cultivators apart.
Only after stepping into the blizzard did, he gain an understanding of why all the other demonic cultivators at the borders avoided this place. Even more so considering that he had heard some rumors from the few True Demon Realm demonic cultivators he had encountered, that the blizzard grew more terrifying the deeper one went.
Thinking about the power of the blizzard becoming even stronger than it was at the moment, the young man could not help glancing down at the talisman flickering slightly in his hand as a sign of danger.
The talisman was the sole reason he dared to try and pass through the blizzard. Having silently modified the talisman so he could use the power stored inside of it to create a barrier around himself and guard against the terrifying blizzard.
As for the talisman blinking at the sign of danger nearby? The young man had long since ignored this, as he already understood that this danger came from the blizzard in front of him, something he fully understood that moment he stepped into the blizzard itself.
Unfortunately, the danger sensing ability of the talisman would soon be rendered useless, as using the talisman in defending himself would ultimately also end up destroying the talisman in the process, something inevitable considering that his talisman making skills were still nowhere close to his father and there would inevitably be some side effects with the adjustments he made to his father's talisman…
WHOOOOSH-!
Feeling as the blizzard around him did indeed grow stronger and more powerful as he continued moving deeper into the blizzard, the young man could not help frowning to himself, as he already felt his body starting to show signs of freezing, as large chunks of ice was forming on his body-
Crack~ Bang!
Of course, he could still easily break them apart with relatively little strength at the moment, but it became more and more difficult to do this, as his speed began similarly decreasing.
Haaa… Looks like I will have to use the talisman far earlier than expected… At least, I hope it will be enough for me to pass through the blizzard or at least the more dangerous part of the blizzard…
Whoosh~!
As he thought about this to himself, the young man didn't hesitate in the slightest before activating the talisman in his hand, causing it to shine with a bright red glow before an eerie deep red barrier covered him. Blocking out the surrounding snowflakes from reaching him, while at the same time allowing him to breath freely again.
The blizzard was truly terrifying and knowing he had limited time before the energy in the barrier protecting him ran out, the young man wasted no time as he rushed forward.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Because of this, the blood red barrier was soon crashed into countless snowflakes. Making several loud banging sounds like someone was heavily attacking the barrier.
In the end, even as the power of the snowflakes reached a level no weaker than that of someone in the True Demon Realm or Soul Ascension Realm, the barrier showed no sign of breaking, but this was not the slightest bit reliving to the young man, as he understood that the energy used to keep the barrier up was starting to rapidly decrease under the endless barrage of attacks of the snowflakes.
Even more so given the current strength of the snowflakes would be more than enough to almost instantly tear him apart.
However, even with the current sense of urgency when it came to his current situation, he still found himself freezing on the spot upon noticing something hovering in the air a short distance ahead.
"Huh? Wha-What is that!?"
Hovering in the air amidst the violent blizzard, he could barely make up a massive sword towering far into the sky that had been pierced into the ground in front of him.
It was only at this point in time that he realized that this blizzard wasn't some kind of natural barrier, but instead something that had been set up by an extremely terrifying cultivator… And from the strength of the blizzard, it was not hard to guess that the strength of this person should at least have reached the Celestial Immortal Realm!