Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Realizing that there wasn’t any trap waiting inside the cities he had encountered so far, but instead some kind of defensive system that he was completely unfamiliar with, Xuan Hao decided to not continue lingering around outside of the city he now found himself in front of.

The main problem he found himself facing now was the fact that he didn’t really have any reliable method to guard himself in front of this unfamiliar defensive system. The only thing he could do was hope that ordinary hiding techniques would work against it with the support of his high cultivation base.

If it didn’t work, he could at the very least use the opportunity to learn more about the defensive system and try to figure out a way to sneak past it the next time around.

Of course, there was always the chance that the defensive system wouldn’t care about him even if it noticed his presence and would only act if it detected hostile intent or dage to the city itself.

In fact, as he thought about it while approaching the city like a normal person, he felt that this was a far more likely situation, as there would normally be no way for a small city like the one in front of him to survive in case someone in the Celestial Immortal Realm appeared. Even though he said the threat he detected from the small temple at the core of the city was comparable to that of someone in the Celestial Immortal, it was ultimately not a living person and had clear flaws someone a living person would be able to take advantage of . The most obvious being the fact that it was stationary.

But... This was of course considering that the activation of the small temple’s defensive system didn’t end up alerting someone more powerful that would come rushing over...

”Are you new here?”

Just as he was lost in his own thoughts thinking about the small temple at the center of the city while waiting along with a long line of normal people waiting in line to enter the city, he heard a voice calling out to him from behind, causing him to spin around and face a slightly older man waiting in line together with a little girl he assumed to be his granddaughter.

The surprising thing wasn’t that someone had called out it him as he hadn’t hidden himself while lining up and was only his cultivation base, but instead that the strength of the old man was far stronger than he had expected. Reaching the the Middle Stage of the Dao Seed Realm.

Not just that, but the little girl that was following him had actually reached the Nascent Soul Realm. Comparable to his own disciples in terms of talent!

”Yes, it’s my first time coming to the Western Central Region.” Even then, he didn’t show any surprise on his face, as he gently nodded his head and answered the old man truthfully. After all, the city he found himself about to enter was located extremely close to the Southern Central Region’s borders and it wasn’t odd for someone not normally from the Western Central Region to visit this city.

At a glance at the people who were waiting in line alongside him and the grandfather granddaughter pair, it was clear that most were merchants who made their living travelling between the two central regions. Taking advantage of the relatively peaceful border to engage in trade without encountering too much risk of being robbed by bandits along the way.

But, the reason why he had caught the attention of the old man was likely not because of any of this, but instead because the strength he showed outwardly placed him around the Middle Stage of the Soul Ascension Realm. Making his strength stand out compared to the mostly Domain Lord Realm and below cultivators waiting in line to enter the city.

As for the reason why he chose to stand out as someone in the Soul Ascension Realm instead of the Domain Lord Realm that would allow him to blend in better? That was because he wanted to avoid running into troublesome situations while inside the city, while at the same time also ensuring that he was taken more seriously upon visiting the Explorer Union Branch inside the city.

Though a bit odd for him to stand in line with his strength, it wasn’t too unusual considering the force that was behind the city itself wasn’t just the Nascent Fire Temple, but also the much stronger Heavenly Dragon Temple.

In fact, him standing in line could be seen as a sign of respect towards the Heavenly Dragon Temple...

”I see, someone from the Southern Central Region I presume? Guess you are also here for the upcoming auction then.”

”Yes, I’m here for that as well, though I’m a bit surprised at how many people came to this small city just for an auction. After all, it isn’t the largest in the area nor the strongest one.” Hearing what the old man said, Xuan Hao could not help narrowing his eyes slightly before answering the old like he understood what the old man was talking about.

The information of an auction taking place in such a small city drawing the attention and personal visit of someone in the Middle Stage of the Dao Seed Realm had almost instantly drawn his attention. Making him want to try and dig deeper to find out more about this auction taking place.

”True, but it is close to the border between the Southern Central Region and the Western Central Region. Although... Like you said, I never expected an auction in such a small city to draw so much attention.

Even though we arrived early, there is already so many Domain Lord Realm, Soul Ascension Realm and even a few Earth Immortal Realm (Dao Seed Realm) cultivators present. I even heard a rumor that someone representing the Heavenly Dragon Temple is going to show up at the auction!”

”Someone from the Heavenly Dragon Temple?!” Feeling shocked upon suddenly hearing the Heavenly Dragon Temple being mentioned, Xuan Hao could not help swallowing slightly before calming down as he looked at the old man with a somewhat questioning look in his eyes. ”I... I never expected someone like that would come all the way out here for an auction, thought they would just send someone from the Nascent Fire Temple in their place. After all, this place is under their control.”

”Hehe, you should know how valuable the things at this auction is, there is no way they would just send someone from the Nascent Fire Temple. In fact, I suspect that one of their Celestial Immortal Realm monks will show up!”

”Celestial Immortal Realm monk...” Narrowing both of his eyes even further after hearing what the old man said, Xuan Hao could not help feeling like he had ended up walking into something completely unexpected. Even potentially running into a Celestial Immortal Realm monk from the Heavenly Dragon Temple in the process.

Although... He couldn’t sense the presence of any Celestial Immortal Realm monk inside of the city, so the other party should not have shown up yet or, they were hiding inside the small temple that his divine sense could not penetrate without alerting the strange formation or system guarding the city.

”You didn’t expect that, did you? Hehe, I myself understand that I stand no chance at getting any of those precious things with my strength myself, so I’m just here to enjoy the show with my little granddaughter, while also giving her a chance to experience the world.”

”I see... Looks like I will also have to reevaluate whether to join in on the auction or not...”

”Understandable, with a potential Celestial Immortal Realm monk around, its best for people like us to stay far away and only observe from the side if we want to stay alive.”

Nodding his head a bit mechanically at the words of the old man, Xuan Hao already decided to investigate the auction that he had just learnt about from the old man. Feeling extremely curious about this auction that had managed to not only draw the attention of this old man at the Middle Stage of the Dao Seed Realm, but also a potential Celestial Immortal Realm monk from the Heavenly Dragon Temple.

Even though he understood that it would be for the best to avoid contact with people from the Heavenly Dragon Temple, his interest was officially piqued by the auction.

With that in mind, after talking with the old man about the auction during the rest of the time waiting in line, he decided to go directly to the Explorer Union for information on the different forbidden zones inside the Western Central Region before going out to try and gather more information on the upcoming auction.

Wanting to ensure that he would be capable of escaping through the use of the Dao of Space in case something ended up going wrong, as there was no way he planned on staying behind and wait for the different temples scattered throughout the Western Central Region to team up to attack him.

At the same time, getting his escape path ready also meant that he would have the option of forcibly snatching the thing at the auction that had drawn the attention of the Heavenly Dragon Temple.

Though this wasn’t exactly considered a moral thing to do, with his current comprehension of the Dao of Space, he would be able to do it without anyone noticing it was him...