Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

”This should be the spiritual tree that was mentioned to have appeared out of nowhere a few days ago... Are we sure that there is nothing wrong with it?” As the Middle Stage Dao Seed Realm cultivator found himself standing at the very edge of the forest where the towering spiritual tree was located, he couldn’t help frowning to himself as he asked this. Turning to look directly at one of the two people who had come along with him to this place, a hint of unease in his eyes.

”Yes, as far as what we have managed to observe so far, the spiritual tree is completely harmless and doesn’t attack. The reason why no one has been able to explore it more closely is simply due the fact that the pressure released by the spiritual tree is far too much for someone below the Dao Seed Realm to handle.”

”Pressure that is far too strong for someone below the Dao Seed Realm...? Indeed, it was good you two didn’t approach it recklessly. After all, who knows what kind of dangers might be hidden near that spiritual tree...” Nodding his head slightly as he said this, the Middle Stage Dao Seed Realm cultivator from the Explorer Union didn’t dare to carelessly approach the towering tree.

Even just standing at the edge of the small forest that the towering tree found itself in the middle of, he could clearly feel that terrifying pressure that had just been described to him... And it left him terrified beyond belief, as it was far more intimidating than the presence of the higher ups from the Explorer Union he had met in the past. Making him realize that the towering tree might be something at the Celestial Immortal Realm or potentially even beyond that!

Of course, these thoughts were kept to himself, as he couldn’t confirm them even if he wanted. All he could do for now was follow the original plan of exploring the periphery of the towering tree before slowly working his way closer to the towering tree.

If the situation ended up developing beyond his own control, he would then have to ask for help from a senior, but... He really didn’t want to ask for help if it could be avoided. After all, the towering tree wasn’t just filled with unknown dangers but was also an opportunity for him to advance his cultivation, as the tree itself clearly belonged to a realm above the Dao Seed Realm.

The two people in the Dao Seed Realm who had come along with him had similar thoughts of looking for an opportunity to improve their strength. The only difference was that those two had clearly already tried in the past but had been unable to get anything from the towering tree and had thus ended up contacting him for help in the end.

Continuing like this, if he couldn’t help or get anything out of the towering spiritual tree, he would most likely join the two of them in contacting an even stronger senior figure within the Explorer Union to lend a hand.

Although... That was something he hoped to avoid, as if that situation ended up happening, he would be like the two currently following him. Unable to freely take whatever they found inside and dictate what those two would be able to get their hands on in the end.

As for the Dao Seed Realm cultivator who had been secretly following behind them? He was already fully aware of that person, but had decided to ignore him, as an extra person could prove useful as a distraction in case he ended up running into a dangerous situation inside the forest.

”Let’s get going, we don’t want to waste too much time lingering around, as any time wasted will give others the opportunity to find out about the spiritual tree!”

Whoosh~

With all of that in mind, the Middle Stage Dao Seed Realm cultivator from the Explorer Union confidently took a step forward into the forest. Soon enough, feeling the terrifying pressure from the Land Creation Realm spiritual tree bearing down on him. Forcing him to walk forward normally without flying. Essentially reducing his speed to that of a normal mortal.

...

”How bold... To think I would actually see a few Dao Seed Realm cultivators this daring...” Muttering this to himself with a somewhat amused smile appearing on his lips, Xuan Hao had no idea how to describe those four Dao Seed Realm cultivators who all began to seriously make their way towards the towering spiritual tree even under the terrifying pressure that had been subconsciously released by the spiritual tree.

To be honest, if he was in a similar situation as them, he might have reacted in a similar way thinking he might have a chance of finding some kind of precious spiritual fruit by climbing up the towering spiritual tree, but he was not, he knew full well about the current state of that spiritual tree just from a single glance.

The spiritual tree was in an injured state after an earlier battle followed by another one with the ruler of the Frozen Wastelands and had currently entered a state of deep mediation to recover from these injuries. Entering a state where it completely sealed itself off from its surroundings and focused wholeheartedly on recovering.

This kind of state would normally leave it weakened and without any real way to protect itself from a sudden attack, but given its somewhat remote location, fast recovery speed and trapping the space around itself, it was close to impossible for someone to ambush it.

After all, to reach it in a short time after learning about its location, one would have to utilize the Dao of Space... And without knowing about the net that covered the space around it, it would inevitably trigger the spatial net and alert the spiritual tree. Allowing it to awaken and escape or fight back.

Not to mention, even if someone, like himself, managed to get close to it without being discovered, it would be impossible for him to step inside the forest that surrounded the towering spiritual tree, as he could clearly sense that the forest wasn’t natural, but instead an extension of the spiritual tree itself.

The second anyone stepped inside the forest or flew above it, they would be noticed by the spiritual tree. Making it hard to get close enough for an ambush.

As for why the spiritual tree had not awakened even though four people in the Dao Seed Realm had made their way into the forest under its control? That was simply because those people were far too weak for the spiritual tree to even care about, as it had directly ignored them.

The threat they posed was so minimal that it wasn’t even worth it for the spiritual tree to momentarily abandon its recovery and deal with them. Instead of that, it would be far better for it to just focus on recovery while ignoring the few ants crawling around inside its domain.

Of course, this was all dependent on those few ants not causing any trouble, as the second they did anything that the spiritual tree found displeasing or annoying, it wouldn’t hesitate to force itself awake to get rid of them.

At the very least, in this regard, the group of Dao Seed Realm cultivators were rather lucky, as the terrifying pressure subconsciously released by the spiritual tree made them extremely cautious in whatever they did. Resulting in them not causing any real problems as they slowly made their way closer to the towering spiritual tree.

The problem was... He doubted this would last forever, as he could clearly see a few spiritual fruits of unknown quality glistening just beneath the crown of the towering ancient tree. Even for someone like himself at the Sea Formation Realm, those few spiritual fruits seemed to exude some kind of special presence that was hard to resist.

What are those spiritual fruits? A way for the spiritual tree to accumulate spiritual qi? Another cultivation path special to spiritual trees?

Feeling the clear temptation from those spiritual fruits, Xuan Hao could not help wondering to himself just what they were, as he found it increasingly difficult to stop himself from charging forward to try and snatch those spiritual fruits for himself.

However, in the end, he still managed to keep himself under control as his gaze wandered down towards the group of cultivators who had already reached the base of the towering spiritual tree and were now staring up towards the spiritual fruits hanging far above them.

Although he was able to control himself due to the knowledge that taking a single step forward into the forest would provoke the anger of a Land Creation Realm spiritual tree, the same could not be said for the group of Dao Seed Realm cultivators, who were already barely able to stop themselves from rushing forward the second they laid eyes on the spiritual fruits.