Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Following behind the three from the Explorer Union along with the one who should be guarding the city, it didn’t take long before they all disappeared inside a special region situated right next to the city itself. In a sense, this special region and the resources it produced was the sole reason why there even was a city of such a scale in the first place... And from how these four were acting, it was clear that they should have uncovered something inside this special region.

As for what it was that had been uncovered- he couldn’t be too sure about it, but it should be related to the special spiritual metal and wood that the special region produced.

But... For it to draw the attention of both the Explorer Union and the local Dao Seed Realm city lord, it shouldn’t just be the normal Transcendent Grade Spiritual Metal or Wood.

At the same time, it shouldn’t have reached the Saint Grade, as something at that level wouldn’t just have drawn over someone in the Middle Stage of the Dao Seed Realm but would instead have attracted the attention of someone in the Celestial Immortal Realm.

With all of that in mind, he guessed that the thing that should have been found should be a spiritual object at the Peak of the Transcendent Grade or potentially even Half-Step into the Saint Grade. Already having some aspects surpassing the Transcendent Grade.

Outside of his own guess on how the situation would be playing out, there was also a chance that this did involve something beyond the Transcendent Grade and the reason that none of the people had informed any of their higher ups was simply because they all felt greedy and wanted to seize the opportunity for themselves.

Although this was understandable when it came to the Dao Seed Realm cultivators from the Explorer Union, the same could not be said for the city lord, as he should have informed his superiors if it did indeed involve something above the scope of the Dao Seed Realm. After all, he should be aware of just how low his chances of winning were in the face of three Dao Seed Realm cultivators from the Explorer Union and would have reached out to a senior for help.

Of course, even if he knew that the situation wasn’t likely to hold any real benefits for him with his current cultivation realm and would at most end up with him taking away whatever these four were aiming for and handing it over for Elder Song to take care of when he returned to the sect and offloaded any unneeded cultivation resources or crafting materials he had picked up along the way, he still continued to discreetly follow after them.

Curious as he was, he saw no reason in not following. Especially considering how he was mostly just wasting time while waiting for Chu Yang to finish his meditation session. Anything he managed to gain along the way could be considered an unexpected but welcome surprise. Even comprehending the Dao of Formations through observing the Saint Grade Formation wasn’t done with the sole goal of increasing his comprehension of the Dao of Formations, but also just a way for him to waste a bit of time without really wasting time.

Seeking out information on the Southern Central Region wasn’t an urgent matter either and could also be considered another way for him to pass time without really wasting it. After all, he would have to seek out information on the Southern Central Region at some point in time. Not just to learn about the power structure in that region, but more importantly, to learn more about the different religious organizations he had once clashed with in the past and where they had gone, as he hadn’t really seen any traces of them since the Star Shattering Sect had managed to establish itself as an ancient hidden sect.

Well... They weren’t entirely gone so to speak, as they still operated throughout the Northern Central and Outer Regions gathering faith from countless smaller and larger kingdoms and empires alike, it was just that there was a clear lack of higher-level individuals from these different religions, something that had caused their power throughout the Northern Central Region to start shrinking ever since the Star Shattering sect had emerged and potentially even before that.

Maybe it has something to do with the current situation in the Southern Central Regin? After all, the demonic cultivators didn’t just launch an attack on the Northern Central Region but targeted all the central regions of the continent at the same time. The Frozen Wastelands is just the one in charge of targeting the Northern Central Region...

Narrowing both his eyes as he thought about this while looking down at the group of three followed by a sneaky city lord from behind continued advancing through the towering mountains and large forests that made up the special region, Xuan Hao couldn’t help feeling himself growing more curious about how the other central regions were dealing with the demonic cultivators.

The threat to the Northen Central Region was clear and came in the shape of the Frozen Wastelands, while the Eastern Central Region had been growing increasingly chaotic since the demonic cultivators had begun their attacks. Although not directly visible in the same way that the demonic cultivators from the Frozen Wastelands were attacking the Northern Central Region, the number of demonic cultivators in the Eastern Central Region were growing... And with them, the situation in the Eastern Central Region was growing increasingly chaotic.

If he had to guess, the demonic cultivators attacking the Eastern Central Region weren’t strong enough to directly take on the entire Eastern Central Region like the Frozen Wastelands had been able to take on the Northern Central Region, thus resulting in them instead focusing on subtly manipulating the overall situation of the region and weakening the power of the different major powers there to make it easier for themselves in the future.

As for the Western Central Region and the Southern Central Region... He had no clue about the demonic cultivators there or how they were planning on invading the core region from those regions.

The Southern Region seemed far too powerful to be easily shaken, while the Western Central Region seemed to be stable enough to even have thoughts about taking advantage of the Northern Central Region to seize more territory.

Then again, he hadn’t been to the Western Central Region or the Southern Central Region, nor did he know much about the two regions, thus he was unable to tell what the current situation of those two regions truly was like.

At least, as he thought a bit more about it, he realized that the absence of the different religions in the Northern Central Region and their weakening influence might have to do with them being forced to recall their forces to deal with the situation back in the Southern Central Region where their main branches on the Ewaria Continent was located.

But... If that was really the case, the demonic cultivators attacking the Southern Central Region would be far more powerful than he had first thought-

”Huh!?”

Just as he was lost in his own thoughts while carelessly following behind the four Dao Seed Realm cultivators, Xuan Hao suddenly found himself freezing abruptly on the spot as his divine sense picked up something completely unexpected in the direction that the three Dao Seed Realm cultivators from the Explorer Union were moving.

”That- The spiritual tree in the Land Creation Realm!?” Muttering this to himself in disbelief as his divine sense swept over a towering tree in the middle of a forest nestled inside a valley between two equally towering mountains, Xuan Hao had no idea how to react and could only freeze on the spot as he had already begun to use the Dao of Space to escape from his current location as fast as possible before the other party sensed him.

But...

As he was about to teleport away, he stopped.

Not because he suddenly wanted to stay behind and see what the few Dao Seed Realm cultivators were up to, but instead because he sensed a very fine net being spread throughout the space, a complex spatial trap that would act to capture him the second he attempted to use the Dao of Space to teleport away.

Although he would be able to forcibly break this net with his current comprehension of the Dao of Space without much effort, it also made him realize that the spiritual tree wasn’t exactly in an optimal situation and after a few more seconds of investigation, he realized that the spiritual tree should be in a kind of statis where it couldn’t really sense its surroundings.

The good thing about this was that it hadn’t sensed him and wouldn’t be able to do so unless he attacked it or tried to teleport away, while the bad thing was... Nothing really, he could leave if he wanted by simply flying normally.

Inevitably, this made him even more curious about the current situation regarding the cultivators from the Explorer Union and just what it was they were up to.

After all, even though they should not be able to sense the spiritual tree’s true strength with their current cultivation realm, they should at the very least be able to detect the danger it poses to them.

Yet, even knowing this, they still decided to approach, something that intrigued him immensely, as there should be some reason why they risked their life essentially sneaking up on a sleeping Land Creation Realm spiritual tree...