Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Knowing about the value of the spiritual metal that should be present on the other side of the formation, Xuan Hao had no intention of giving up on it. Even if it met potentially falling out with a Demon King Realm demonic cultivator. After all, given that he had not been attacked yet, he was certain that the potential Demon King Realm demonic cultivator behind the formation in front of him shouldn’t be present.

With that in mind, as long as he could break the formation fast enough, steal the spiritual metal and escape with his long-distance teleportation, he should be able to avoid any confrontation with the demonic cultivator behind the formation… And in case there was a teleportation formation present inside the formation; he planned on destroying that to prevent anyone from rushing over.

Not that it was likely for there to be a teleportation formation given that there was a group of demonic cultivators transporting the spiritual metal on foot, but one never knew if there was an emergency one or not hidden inside the small kingdom...

The biggest problem with his plan was the fact that he couldn’t defend against the other party in case they had comprehended the Dao of Space to the Large Success Realm and had learnt some kind of long-distance teleportation, but the chance of that was low. Especially given that demonic cultivators weren’t that well-known for comprehending any Daos that didn’t involve things like death and slaughter.

Having essentially decided that he would be trying to get his hands on the spiritual metal that was on the other side of the formation, Xuan Hao didn’t just immediately try to break the formation, but instead decided to try and examine it and figure out how to break it.

After all, even though his comprehension of the Dao of Formations wasn’t that high, the one who had created the formation sealing off the small kingdom wasn’t much better than him in terms of comprehension.

With enough time, he felt confident in figuring out how to break the formation in a short period of time.

At the same time, he also intended to wait around for the group of demonic cultivators who had already entered the small kingdom to get the spiritual metal.

Planning to intercept them after they left the safety of the formation and investigate the spiritual metal that they would bring out with them, both to confirm the validity of what they had talked about, but also to find out about the quality of the spiritual metal.

If the quality was too low and not much better than what the Star Shattering Sect could already produce, he didn’t plan on offending a potential Demon King Realm demonic cultivator over it, as he had no idea what kind of methods such a person might have when it came to potentially tracking him down…

Ah? Looks like they are out again!

Just at this moment, Xuan Hao noticed the group of demonic cultivators he had been following emerge from the formation before making their way back towards the Frozen Wasteland with a few large spatial bags now in hand. Obviously for carrying much more than could be placed inside a simple interspatial ring.

So, without any of the demonic cultivators noticing him, Xuan Hao silently followed behind them as they moved further and further away from the small kingdom.

Intending to make a move on them when they got far enough away from the small kingdom that he was certain someone in the Demon Lord Realm wouldn’t be able to sense him when he took down the group of demonic cultivators.

In the end, because of the demonic culitvators relatively slow pace of travel compared to someone at the Demon Lord Realm, it took a little over an hour before they were finally far enough away that Xuan Hao felt confident in attacking them without being discovered-

Swish-!

And so, before any of the demonic cultivators below could react, he made a move. Sending down a stream of sword intent to kill all of them before they had any time to fight back or inform other demonic cultivators about being attacked-

BOOOOM-!

However, it was just as the two strongest True Demon Realm demonic cultivators died, that a terrifying aura suddenly erupted from a small jade carried by one of the weaker demonic cultivators in charge of carrying one of the spatial bags. Blocking his sword intent and saving that one demonic cultivator, while the rest of them almost instantaneously died due to the sheer difference in power.

”W-what!? W-we are under attack…? Everyone… Is dead…?”

Seeing this shocking sight of his companions suddenly being reduced to nothing more than a blood mist in less than a fraction of a second, their bodies and souls annihilated before they even had a chance to react, the surviving demonic cultivator could only silently whisper to himself in disbelief. Not believing what he had just witnessed, as Xuan Hao’s sword intent continued grinding away at the terrifying power that had erupted from the small jade to protect this weak demonic cultivator who should have just recently undergone his second demonic transformation.

Is it some kind of protective talisman? No… It shouldn’t… Perhaps a remnant soul sealed away inside the jade awakening due to the danger and erupting with power to protect the little demonic cultivator?

As he continued grinding away at the power that had erupted to protect the little demonic cultivator, Xuan Hao’s frown could not stop deepening, as he felt increasingly annoyed at what he guessed to be some kind of remnant soul protecting this young demonic cultivator.

Even when he used his full strength to try and break the barrier that had formed to protect this little demonic cultivator, he could only slowly grind away at the barrier, something that would ultimately give the little demonic cultivator more than enough time to contact others about his situation.

I can’t allow that to happen!

RUMBLE-!

Knowing that he couldn’t allow the demonic cultivator to contact others, Xuan Hao stopped using his sword intent and instead decided to directly collapse the space around the small demonic cultivator. Directly initiating a true spatial collapse, something that would indeed be a little overkill for killing a Second Demonic Transformation Realm demonic cultivator under normal circumstances.

”Noooo-!”

As the spatial collapse started, there was no way to stop it, as Xuan Hao soon heard a painful roar filled with unwillingness coming from inside the small jade. Likely belonging to the remnant soul housed inside the jade, as the little demonic cultivator’s figure was soon swallowed up by the spatial collapse. Disappearing along with a small part of the continent.

”Hm… Unfortunate to lose some of the spiritual metal, but this should at least have stopped any outwards communication from taking place. Now, I just have to check the spiritual metal and figure out whether or not its worth to make a move before someone notices the spatial anomaly or the demonic cultivators fail to return to the Frozen Wasteland…” Muttering this to himself as he looked at the empty black space in front of him that even the world itself seemed to have some difficulties closing in the short term, Xuan Hao soon picked up one of the spatial bags that had fallen on the ground before checking the contents of the bag.

”This is?! Space Node Stones?! Such a high quality as well…”

However, when he checked the content of the bag, he could not help showing a somewhat shocked expression on his face.

The main reason being that the spiritual metal with spatial properties inside the bag was far better than he had expected.

To be more accurate, it was a kind of spiritual metal called Space Node Stones, that was perfect in the construction of teleportation formations.

In other words, just the kind of spiritual metal that his sect needed at the moment. Meaning, he almost instantaneously decided on robbing the demonic cultivators and take as much of the spiritual metal as possible. Even if it meant offending a Demon King Realm demonic cultivator as a result.

Swish-!

So, with that in mind, Xuan Hao quickly made his way back to the small kingdom guarded by the powerful formation before starting to try and find a weak spot in the location before attacking. Intending to use the time it would take the demonic cultivators to reach the Frozen Wasteland to do this.

At the same time, also preparing himself for what to do in case there was a Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivator guarding the mine on the other side of the formation, as even if he was stronger than the other party, he didn’t plan on fighting and only wanted to seize as many of the Space Node Stones as possible before running away before a Demon King Realm demonic cultivator could show up.

As for his escape path… he planned on using his drifting cloud steps to get escape from the potential Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivator before using his long-distance teleportation to move across the Frozen Wasteland before escaping into the Blue Sea Empire where he would lay low for a bit to make any potential demonic cultivator capable of tracking his escape path think he was someone from the Blue Sea Empire.

Just a precaution that might also end up working out, as it could create quite a bit of trouble for the Blue Sea Empire to have a Demon King Realm demonic cultivator come knocking at their door for revenge. Maybe it might even help Xuan Gui a bit in her revenge plot…