Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

As Xuan Hao began his search though the inner region of the ancient ruins for the wandering cultivators in the Dao Seed Realm that should be in the process of exploring said ruins searching for opportunities, his two disciples, Qing Yi and Chun Hua arrived at the edge of the mountain range separating the old territory of the Sky Empire with the Northern Central Region.

Having been able to take advantage of the teleportation formation connecting the Iron Sky Kingdom to the Shattered Star Peaks and another teleportation formation that connected the Iron Sky Kingdom to a spiritual herb field located inside the old territory of the Sky Empire, they had been able to shorten the travel time by over ninety percent compared to what it had taken Chu Yang when he had travelled to the border in the past.

Not just that, but given that the Star Shattering Sect’s influence in the old territory of the Sky Empire had been increasing over the past few months with the members of the Zhang Clan showing up to take over most of the Star Shattering Sect’s defense and management in the region, they were also able to get their hands on a path through the mountain range with relative ease through the help of one of the Zhang Clan’s Soul Ascension Realm Elders who had become the one to take control of the spiritual herb field they had teleported to.

In the process, the two had also tried their best to gather information on their senior brother, both trying their best to figure out what had happened to him and more importantly, where he was.

Unfortunately, neither of them managed to find out anything about him recently returning from the Northern Central Region to the old territory of the Sky Empire.

However, it didn’t mean that they were completely without clues about where their senior brother might be, as some of the people from the Zhang Clan had heard about someone who fit the description of their senior brother recently being chased into the mountain range by the different large factions in the neutral region on the other side of said mountain range.

With that information, along with what they had learnt about his situation from their master before he had left, they were now almost a hundred percent certain that he should be stuck in some kind of secret realm or mystic realm inside the mountain range.

If he had really been cornered by a Soul Ascension Realm demon beast, they both had a feeling that he would have figured out a way out of his situation with the help of the protective talismans left by their master.

The only real thing that could cause him to be trapped for an extended period of time, would be him ending up inside a mystic realm or secret realm that he could no longer find his way out of again.

With that in mind, after spending the next week learning all they could about the mountain range separating the old territory of the Sky Empire from the Northern Central Region, the two of them began making their way inside the mountain range in search of any secret or mystic realm entrance where they might be able to find their senior brother.

Luckily for the two of them, they did not have to search for long, as they soon encountered a group of wandering cultivators in the Domain Lord Realm secretly entering a hidden cave with what looked like an entrance to a secret realm inside of it.

Of course, given the secretive behavior of this group of Domain Lord Realm cultivators, both Qing Yi and Chun Hua decided to keep a distance and observe the group over the next few days until they left and made their way back in the direction of the old territory of the Sky Empire with overjoyed expressions plastered all over their faces. Clearly indicating that they had gotten something amazing from the inside of the secret realm.

Although Qing Yi and Chun Hua were curious about what had made these wandering cultivators so overjoyed, they didn’t plan on ambushing them to find out, as their main goal wasn’t to search for treasures, but instead to find their senior brother.

So, with only a little bit of hesitation, the two of them left their hiding spot and made it to the hidden cave covered with a relatively simple concealment formation before making their way inside. Soon enough, they found themselves in front of the entrance to what they presumed to be some kind of ancient secret realm that their senior brother might currently be trapped inside of.

”Let’s go.”

”Yeah…”

And with only a little bit of hesitation, both stepped forward and passed through the entrance. Not feeling that scared of what might be on the other side, as they had already witnessed the group of Domain Lord Realm cultivators passing through the entrance earlier without encountering any problems.

Whoosh~!

The next moment, Qing Yi and Chun Hua found themselves on a floating island in the middle of a sea of clouds with nothing to see no matter what direction they looked.

The only thing outside of the floating island that they could see was the endless sea of black below them that seemed to stir with a terrifying power that made both of them feel a shiver run down their spine. Making them understand only death waited for them if they decided to ever jump down into the water below.

At the same time, they also felt a clear suppression washing over them the moment they arrived on the floating island. Making them understand that they wouldn’t be able to use their domain to fly like they had been able to outside the secret realm or mystic realm that they now found themselves inside of.

The only reassuring thing was that the gate that they had passed through to enter the new realm was still present and allowed them to freely leave whenever they wanted to.

”So… This is what made those wandering cultivators so excited…”

As the two of them got used to their new surroundings and the weird suppression that made flying impossible for now, Qing Yi quickly spotted what she guessed to be the reason behind the group of wandering cultivators’ excitement earlier.

A large pile of spirit stones with what looked like only five or so percent missing.

Even though the quality of these spirit stones were not that high, the sheer number of them was more than enough to make up for it.

At the same time, she also realized that the group of wandering cultivators from earlier had most likely left so quickly because their storage rings had already been filled up with spirit stones. Meaning that they would likely be returning in the not-so-distant future to get their hands on the rest of the spirit stones here.

Although the strength of those wandering cultivators was not that high, there were over a dozen of them all in the Mid to Later Stages of the Domain Lord Realm.

With both her and Chun Hua still being below the Late Stage or Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, it would be hard for them to deal with so many Domain Lord Realm cultivators no matter how much stronger than the normal Domain Lord Realm cultivator they were.

An ambush was the only thing that could work, but that would also involve a certain degree of risk.

Not to mention, they still had no idea about what dangers lurked inside the realm they now found themselves inside of, while a fight in the mountain range outside of the seemingly peaceful realm they now found themselves inside of wasn’t an option either.

After all, fighting in the mountain range ran the very real chance of them attracting a demon beast in the Soul Ascension Realm, something that would undoubtedly end up with them dying if they couldn’t escape in time.

No matter how strong they were, they weren’t a match for someone in the Soul Ascension Realm, let alone a demon beast that was normally far more deadly than a cultivator in the Soul Ascension Realm.

”Let’s explore the rest of this island for now. Maybe we can find a way off the island or some kind of teleportation formation that leads to another similar floating island.”

”Okay, I will search the southern part of the island, you get the northern part of the island.”

As the two of them clearly understood their current situation, they split up and began to search the floating island for a possible way off the island that didn’t involve diving into the dark waters below. Ignoring the piles of spirit stones that the wandering cultivators had been unable to ignore when they had first arrived on the floating island.

Because of this, the relatively barren circular floating island with a diameter of no more than a few thousand meters and only a few trees and rocks on top of it was soon fully explored by Qing Yi and Chun Hua.