Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Following the path that he hoped would get him closer to the path out of the maze, Chu Yang soon found himself barely avoiding several powerful demon beasts who were all in the Soul Ascension Realm or above.

The only reason why he had been able to avoid the senses of such powerful demon beasts being because their divine sense and other ways to sense him had been restricted in the same way his own divine sense and domain had been restricted.

Of course, given their stronger strength, they should have been able to sense him even if they had been restricted like he had been. The fact that they still couldn’t sense him implied that the suppression one experienced was different depending on one’s cultivation realm.

With that in mind, Chu Yang guessed that even if his strength had reached the Soul Ascension Realm, the area covered by his divine sense inside of the maze would most likely still be around the two or so meters that his current divine sense could cover.

More importantly than the demon beasts he barely managed to avoid due to paying proper attention to his surroundings, he also ended up realizing that the suppression that he was experiencing was slowly increasing in intensity compared to before.

From his strength being suppressed to a level where he was comparable to the Fourth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, he was now only comparable to the Second Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.

Although there was a high likelihood that this was an indication that he was moving deeper inside the maze instead of getting closer to leaving the maze, he didn’t have much of an opportunity to change his path, as by the time he discovered this, his path back had already been blocked off by a demon beast in the Soul Ascension Realm.

Not just that, but the paths themselves seemed to shift and change around him. Meaning that even if he stood still and waited for the demon beast to leave and open up the path back, the path itself would have already disappeared when he arrived. Making it impossible for him to backtrack the same way he had come from.

In the end, he could only continue moving forward, as standing still wasn’t an option either, as doing so would open him to possibly encountering a demon beast wandering around the maze, something he wanted to avoid at all costs given that even the weakest demon beast in the part of the maze that he was inside of had reached the Soul Ascension Realm.

Not to mention, he had no idea if a path would suddenly open up next to him with a demon beast emerging from the new path. Continuing to move seemed like the best option available to him.

Like this, a day quickly flew by with Chu Yang surviving at a knifes edge as he traversed through the dangerous maze. Narrowly avoiding powerful demon beasts around every turn and slowly learning how to properly navigate through the maze without endangering himself.

Unfortunately, even though he began getting a grasp of how to navigate through the maze, he didn’t get any closer to leaving the maze no matter how hard he tried to move back to safety.

Instead, it seemed like he only continued moving deeper and deeper into the maze, as the demon beasts wandering around the maze became increasingly powerful.

The demon beasts in the Soul Ascension Realm that he had originally been fearful of had long since seized to exist inside the maze. Instead, he only ever saw Dao Seed Realm demon beasts wandering the maze at this point in time.

However, this was by far the most terrifying thing as he continued moving deeper into the maze. Instead, it was the fact that he now regularly spotted demon beasts above the Dao Seed Realm.

Even though he would love to say that they were in the Celestial Immortal Realm, he had no clue, as the terrifying presence around them seemed to have surpassed anything he had encountered so far.

Be it the Celestial Immortal Realm, Profound Immortal Realm or even above that, it no longer held any meaning to Chu Yang, as encountering any of them would mean certain death for him at his current cultivation realm- No, not just his current cultivation realm, even if he reached the Soul Ascension Realm or Dao Seed Realm, his fate in the face of those terrifying demon beasts would likely be the same. Death.

The only positive thing about his deadly situation was the fact that none of the demon beasts had noticed him at this point in time. Allowing him to continue moving deeper into the maze.

Although… At this point in time, he had pretty much already come to terms with the fact that he most likely wouldn’t make it out of the maze alive. The danger all around him was simply far too great and even his master, whom he viewed as the strongest person he had encountered in his life, didn’t seem to be comparable to the countless demon beasts above the Dao Seed Realm that he had encountered so far inside of the maze.

”Huh? That is… T-t-the way out!?”

However, just as he was letting the despair of his current helpless situation set in and prepared himself for a demon beast to pop up and instantly kill him at any moment, he froze on the spot, as he discovered a familiar looking staircase appearing at the end of the path he was walking down.

The simple sight of this path out of the terrifying maze was more than enough to instantly reignite his hope of getting out of his current situation alive, as he wasted no time rushing forward towards the path leading out of the maze.

Only stopping whenever a branching path appeared to ensure that there weren’t any terrifying demon beasts lurking around the corner ready to pounce on him the moment, he rushed past them.

Luckily, there were no demon beasts present blocking his path out of the maze. Allowing him to get out of the maze without encountering any problems along the way. Soon he flopped himself onto the staircase with an exhausted expression plastered all over his face. Relieved to finally be out of the maze.

If anything, his journey through the maze had not been difficult in terms of his physical strength, but more so in terms of his mental strength, as it had been mentally exhausting to wander through the maze where every turn or path, he took could potentially end his life.

By far, the maze had been one of the most- No, the most terrifying experience that he had ever gone through and he hoped to never have to go through something like that again, as he genuinely felt like he had absolutely no control over his own life and could only leave things up to fate and pray he didn’t get noticed by any of the terrifying demon beasts he spotted during his journey through the maze.

But its finally over… I really don’t ever want to go back there again…

Closing both of his eyes for a brief moment as he remembers some of the closest encounters he had traveling through the maze, Chu Yang soon decided to sit up and look out over the small room that seemed no different from when he had first seen it. The maze itself was nowhere to be seen, as only a peaceful and pristine stone floor was visible.

The familiar demon beasts that seemed weak and fragile viewed from the outside. Gathered together in a small corner of the floor, while a stairwell could be seen on the other side of the small room leading up towards the surface-

Wait… A stairwell…?

Suddenly realizing something was off with the not just the location of the demon beasts from where he remembered they should have been inside the maze, Chu Yang finally noticed the most glaring difference in the small room since he had made it out, another path leading out of the small room had appeared.

Not just that, but it was clear to him that the path in front of him was the same one he had used when first entering the small room and later the maze. Meaning that his current location was somewhere different he couldn’t see from the stairwell he had originally used to enter the small room!

”…”

Feeling a shiver run down his spine as he realized that he was still not out, Chu Yang slowly turned around. Only to realize that the staircase that now obviously looked different compared to the stairwell, did not lead up to the surface of the floating island, but instead seemed to be going down.

Looking closer. At the end of the staircase, a half open wooden door could barely be made out, as Chu Yang understood that he was still far from safe...