Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Chapter 1716: Spiritual Tree Fruits (4)

Heh, as expected, that guy can’t hold back any longer and wants to take the opportunity to steal the spiritual fruits before I can recover my strength properly or hand them over!

Smiling inwardly as he thought this to himself while outwardly showing a shocked expression at the sight of the Dao Seed Realm cultivator who came charging towards him the second he landed on the ground with the spiritual fruits, the Middle Stage Dao Seed Realm cultivator from the Explorer Union perfectly put on a believable performance of someone in a weakened state just barely unable to react in time to protect the spiritual fruits as they were snatched away.

The entire thing, seeming completely believable, as everyone’s senses had long since been affected by the surrounding pressure that all of them were experiencing inside the forest that surrounded the towering spiritual tree. Making an ambush on someone who would normally be incredibly difficult to ambush with their powerful divine sense, a very real possibility that ended up playing out before the eyes of the two Early Stage Dao Seed Realm cultivators who had been eagerly waiting to get their hands on one of the spiritual fruits...

”Huh!? That! HOW DARE YOU!”

”This f- Don’t think you can escape!”

And in turn, the two of them didn’t suspect anything wrong with how the situation played out, as they were instantly focused on catching the Dao Seed Realm cultivator who had popped up out of nowhere and snatched out their spiritual fruits in front of their eyes.

”Catch him! We can’t let him escape from the forest!” Joining in as the two people he had brought along both exploded in anger at the theft that had happened before them, the Middle Stage Dao Seed Realm cultivator made sure to act like the spiritual fruits had really been taken away as he joined them in chasing after the thief.

Of course... With his weakened state, he couldn’t show off his true strength and ended up being unable to do much to stop the escaping thief, while the two others ended up similarly unable to catch the escaping thief who took full advantage of the special environment of the forest to ensure that none of them were able to catch up to him.

Even then, as the chase through the forest continued, unnoticed to any of them, the trees around them began swaying gently as something seemed to be moving around below them. Moving directly towards the four Dao Seed Realm cultivators who were running through the forest no faster than someone in the Foundation Establishment Realm, their speed was still affected by the pressure from the spiritual tree. Preventing them from making full use of their strength.

Another reason why they had limited strength also had to do with the simple fact that they were still inherently fearful of the forest they found themselves in and didn’t dare cause any unnecessary damage to the surrounding environment, as doing so could cause the peaceful situation they had enjoyed so far inside the forest to change. After all, they had no idea what kind of dangers might be lurking inside the forest and didn’t plan on finding out.

So, as Xuan Hao watched this situation playing out from afar with great interest, the four Dao Seed Realm cultivators got closer and closer to the edge of the forest. The spiritual tree that had remained inactive so far still in the process of slowly waking up after having sensed the spiritual fruits being taken away.

During this slow wake up process, it also gave Xuan Hao an opportunity to understand why it wasn’t just waking up immediately, as outside of those four being viewed as a few random pests that could be easily dealt with, it also had to do with the special recovery method that the spiritual tree had used.

Essentially, the recover method was an extremely useful one, but came with certain drawbacks, one of which was clearly related to the slow waking up process of the spiritual tree. Not that it couldn’t wake up immediately, but just that doing so would come with losing out on some of the progress it had made towards recovering so far, something that it was unwilling to endure for these four Dao Seed Realm cultivators who were already dead in its eyes.

After all, though the waking up process was slow, it wouldn’t take more than a minute or two in total. Far from enough time for any of the Dao Seed Realm cultivators to escape from the forest domain that had been established by the spiritual tree.

With that in mind, Xuan Hao intended to wait until the last second just before the spiritual tree woke up to make his move and seize the spiritual fruits before escaping. Allowing the Dao Seed Realm cultivators to get as close as possible to him before he had to make a move. Understanding that he would need every second he could get when it came to escaping from someone in the Land Creation Realm. Especially considering that he was still uncertain whether someone in the Land Creation Realm would have some kind of unique method to suppress space and prevent him from effectively escaping through the Dao of Space.

Of Course, even if that was the case, with his current comprehension of the Dao of Space having reached the Peak of the Perfection Realm, he felt more than confident in forcing his way through any suppression or sealing technique the spiritual tree might throw at him. Even more so considering that the spiritual tree would only have a short time to react before he would be gone.

For all he knew, the spiritual tree’s current relaxed attitude might even allow him to seize the spiritual fruits and escape before the other party even had the time to react. Although... The chance of that happening was low considering the difference in strength between himself and the spiritual tree...

Shaking his head as he felt his thoughts wandering while his attention remained focused on the four Dao Seed Realm cultivator, Xuan Hao felt the ground beneath the forest starting to shake more violently compared to before-

”Wha-What was that!?”

”The ground... The trees, something is happening underground!”

Finally, reaching the point where the four Dao Seed Realm cultivators noticed the abnormality and began to use what little they could of their divine sense to dig into the ground and see if they could find the source of this abnormality- Something that all of them soon came to regret, as they all saw the massive tree root wiggling underground directly beneath them. The size alone making it clear where it came from, as only one tree was large enough to be the owner of such massive roots.

The spiritual tree... Is alive!

As all four of them simultaneously had this thought flash through their head at the same time, they all began using every technique and treasure at their disposal to escape from the forest as fast as possible. No longer caring about any damage they might cause along the way, as they all understood that none of this mattered any longer.

With the spiritual tree being capable of moving its roots, it also meant that it wasn’t just a normal spiritual tree, but one that had gained some form of sentience... And no matter how little this sentience was, they all understood that they had already been marked as enemies the second they had decided to go after the spiritual fruits.

This fact was already widely known throughout the continent, as to spiritual trees, seizing the spiritual fruits of a sentient spiritual tree was no different from stealing someone’s interspatial ring. A life and death matter in the cultivation world, as interspatial rings would normally contain a large portion of an individual’s treasures, something no one would be able to tolerate someone stealing from them.

RUMBLE~!

And just as the four Dao Seed Realm cultivators had begun to realize just how terrible and dangerous their current situation was, the ground beneath their feet began shaking even more violently than before. Reaching the point where parts of the ground beneath their feet began splitting open to reveal the terrifying root below ground.

Although none of them had any idea why the spiritual tree was only starting to move now, they had no plan on trying to figure out why, as escaping was their most important goal for now. The spiritual fruits that had been at the top of their mind having long since disappeared, as their life was now on the line.

For powerful cultivators who had already lived for a long time, they had long since understood that the most important thing was to stay alive. After all, if they died, it would be the end!

...

”Looks like it’s finally time for me to snatch those spiritual fruits.”

At the same time, observing this situation from afar as the spiritual tree entered its final state just before fully waking up, Xuan Hao smiled to himself before he took a step forward in the direction of the forest domain.