Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

As the Middle Stage Dao Seed Realm cultivator from the Explorer Union continued to climb up the towering spiritual tree filled with determination to overcome the trial he had made up on his own, the three Dao Seed Realm cultivators watching below, one still in hiding, were all nervous to the extreme. All for the simple reason that they could clearly see how the one climbing up the tree was starting to slow down the further up the spiritual tree he went. Indicating that the pressure they felt standing at the base of the spiritual tree increased the higher one climbed up the spiritual tree.

”I hope senior can reach those spiritual fruits before being knocked down...”

”Yeah... At least grab a few for us first...”

Along with the quiet words of the two from the Explorer Union watching their senior putting his life on the line to climb up the spiritual tree to get his hands on those spiritual fruits, it became clear that neither of them cared the slightest bit about this senior and only really cared about whether he would be able to bring any spiritual fruits back down to them.

For the one still hiding a bit farther away from the base of the spiritual tree, the situation wasn’t that different. Only, he was hoping that the one climbing would be knocked out cold or at the very least weakened by the time he came back down with the spiritual fruits, as that would give him a far better chance of being able to snatch them before escaping.

Like this, time slowly flew by, as half an hour passed with all three Dao Seed Realm cultivators below keeping their gaze focused on the figure of the Middle Stage Dao Seed Realm cultivator slowly getting closer to the spiritual fruits hanging above.

Although he was only a little over a dozen meters away from reaching the spiritual fruits at this point in time, the pressure that he was enduring had also increased exponentially since he started climbing up the spiritual tree. Reaching the point where he could barely move forward by using all his strength.

Rustle~

But... Even then, after another two hours of clawing his way upwards towards those tempting spiritual fruits hanging above, he finally managed to reach them. Finding himself eagerly extending his hand to grab the five closest spiritual fruits without the slightest bit of hesitation before letting go of the spiritual tree to fall back to the ground after successfully completing his mission. Knowing that he had used up far too much of his strength to linger around to try and get his hands on more of the spiritual fruits.

After all, the exhaustion he felt after being under the terrifying pressure of the spiritual tree for over twelve hours had left him in a weakened state and he didn’t want to fully use up all his strength to get a few more spiritual fruits. Understanding that doing so would almost certainly result in those juniors of his taking advantage of the situation to kill him off to seize all of the spiritual fruits for themselves.

Even if that didn’t happen, there was still the Dao Seed Realm cultivator who had secretly been following them that he had to worry about. Not that him getting a few less spiritual fruits mattered that much to him, as he personally felt five were more than enough for him to break through to the Late Stage of the Dao Seed Realm and start preparing for breaking through to the Profound Immortal Realm.

As for the sharing agreement he had with those two Dao Seed Realm cultivators below? That was not even something he thought about as he fell towards the ground below. Long since having prepared to betray those two and take everything for himself.

Not that he planned to tell those two about it any time soon, as his plan involved the little Dao Seed Realm cultivator that had been following them so far making a move to try and steal the spiritual fruits from him so he could make it look like that person succeeded and pin everything on him.

At that point, if those two still wanted a spiritual fruit of their own, it was no longer his problem, they would have to try and take them back from the one who stole them.

A great plan indeed. Now I just have to wait for that person to make a move, and everything will play out accordingly...

Narrowing both his eyes as a calculating smile grazed his lips for a brief second, the Middle Stage Dao Seed Realm cultivator expanded his senses and locked on to the still hidden Dao Seed Realm cultivator who had obviously started becoming somewhat restless after seeing him falling back towards the ground.

The main reason for this was also that he had made sure to make himself look far weaker than he actually was during the climb up the spiritual tree all the way to when he plucked those five spiritual fruits.

In fact, he could have reached the spiritual fruits two hours earlier and might even have been able to snatch another two spiritual fruits if he held nothing back, but in the end, this would not just intimidate the hidden Dao Seed Realm cultivator but would weaken him to a point where he really did have to start worrying about his life.

Avoiding a few extra spiritual fruits to ensure he had enough strength to keep himself safe was the best way to deal with the situation in his opinion. Not to mention, it also gave him enough strength to discreetly hide away the five spiritual fruits while replacing them with five different spiritual fruits he had laying around inside his interspatial ring that looked similar on the surface.

Whoosh~

At the same time also using his own strength to disguise them to the best of his abilities, as long as those three didn’t have time to properly inspect the spiritual fruits, there would be no way for them to sense anything off about them.

The only problem he encountered in his originally flawless plan was that the spiritual fruits themselves couldn’t be stored inside his interspatial ring. Forcing him to hide the spiritual fruits on his body. Giving those three below a chance to discover them if they got too close.

No matter, I should just silently disappear when pretending to chase after that guy and everything will be fine. The situation will be out of my hands and even if those two want to complain, they can only blame that sneaky fellow...

As the calculating smile on his lips slowly turned into a confident and even somewhat arrogant one, the Middle Stage Dao Seed Realm cultivator from the Explorer Union didn’t notice the slight shift in the spiritual tree behind him since he plucked those five spiritual fruits.

If he truly paid attention to the forest below, he would have noticed that the entire forest was swaying slightly, like something massive was about to awaken below the ground, a clear signal that the ’trial’ he had believed to have overcome by reaching the spiritual fruits was far from over.

...

”Ah, looks like it’s about time for him to reach those spiritual fruits.”

A few minutes earlier, Xuan Hao slowly lifted his head from the soft grass before gazing up at the Middle Stage Dao Seed Realm cultivator eagerly climbing the last few meters up the towering spiritual tree before reaching out both his hands to pluck five of the ten spiritual fruits hanging from the spiritual tree’s crown.

Even though this was less than what he had expected, it wasn’t that unexpected, as he had long since figured out what this little fellow was planning ever since he realized that he was deliberately holding back while climbing up the spiritual tree.

At the end of the day, all that effort would be for nothing, as he seriously couldn’t see a path of survival for this little Dao Seed Realm cultivator after the spiritual tree woke up...

Rustle~

”Hm? It’s waking up slower than expected... Is this perhaps because it already sensed the strength of those four and doesn’t believe they have a chance to escape?” Feeling the barely noticeable movement below following the spiritual fruits being plucked, Xuan Hao could not help frowning to himself as his gaze locked on to the lone figure rapidly falling towards the ground where the two Early Stage Dao Seed Realm cultivators from the Explorer Union were waiting.

Unlike him, none of them had noticed what was happening or what kind of being they had just started to wake up, but even with this, it was clear that there was tension in the air. Especially for the one hidden amidst the undergrowth of the forest, as he prepared himself to make a move to steal the spiritual fruits-

Swish-!

And seeing the opportunity arriving, he made his move. Charging towards the Middle Stage Dao Seed Realm cultivator from the Explorer Union just as he landed on the ground beside the two who were eagerly eyeing the spiritual fruits in his arms...