Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Caught completely off guard by the trapping formation thrown out by the Land Creation Realm cultivator, Xuan Hao found himself in a momentary state of bewilderment as he watched countless chains splitting off from the metal sheet covering the sky above before they rushed down towards him to completely immobilize him.

This... A Saint Grade Trapping Formation...!

But Xuan Hao had no time to pay any attention to this, as he was instead far too preoccupied staring at the countless small formation symbols that ran along the metal sheet now blotting out the sky completely. Understanding from a glance that this wasn’t some weak formation that he would be able to easily break through, but instead a Saint Grade Formation that would be incredibly difficult for him to break through with his comprehension of the Dao of Formations still being limited to the Large Success Realm or the Pinnacle Grandmaster Relam.

Although only a single step away from the Saint Realm, it was a step that countless people throughout the continent found themselves stuck at and the main dividing line between a formation master being capable of contending against those in the Celestial Immortal Realm on their own or not.

Even then, under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t have mattered much that the trapping formation he was now trapped inside of was a Saint Grade Formation, as it was at most powerful enough to restrain someone in the Middle Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm. Far from strong enough to restrain someone like himself who had reached the Middle Stage of the Sea Formation Realm for more than a few seconds.

The problem was... His current state was far from optional, as he had just used most of his strength to resist against the heavenly blade that was now targeting the Land Creation Realm cultivator and half dead demon beast.

Forcibly breaking the trapping formation wasn’t an option and using his comprehension of the Dao of Formations wasn’t an option either, as his comprehension of the Dao of Formations was far too low to pinpoint the flaws in a Saint Grade Formation. Even if he could pinpoint the flaws and find a way out, it would take far too long, and the Land Creation Realm cultivator would have shaken off or dealt with the already unstable heavenly blade. Rendering any escape impossible. After all, he didn’t just have to find a way out of the trapping formation but also had to get out of the Verdant Abyss so he could make use of the Dao of Space to escape along with Huo Fen and Meng Jie.

Whoosh~

As he was trying to think about a way to get out of his current situation, the chains that had split off from the edges of the metal sheet covering the sky above finally reached him. Bringing along with them a terrifying suppressive power that instantly forced Huo Fen and Meng Jie to stop moving before pressing down on them with a might that almost instantly killed Meng Jie on the spot-

Whoosh-!

Forcing Xuan Hao to manifest his spiritual sea along with his dao domain to resist the suppressive force of the chains before it caused any serious harm to the two. After all, though it was a trapping formation, it was designed to forcibly restrain someone in the Celestial Immortal Realm through generating a powerful suppressive force. Meaning that, for anyone below the Celestial Immortal Realm, it was no different from a killing formation.

Even if Huo Fen could hold on for some time in the face of the suppressive force and avoid being outright killed on the spot, there was no way someone like Meng Jie, who had only reached the Nascent Soul Realm, would be able to resist.

Rumble~!

But using his spiritual sea along with his dao domain to form a protective bubble around himself and the master disciple pair, caused the chains hovering around them ready to pounce at any moment, to freeze before beginning to slither around the protective bubble no different from an animal stalking its prey.

From a glance alone, it was clear that the formation had somehow managed to discern that its objective was merely to stall for time... And with Xuan Hao being forced to expend what little strength he had left protecting Huo Fen and Meng Jie; the objective of the trapping formation had been archived.

Only if he attempted to try and break out of the formation would it cause the floating chains surrounding him on all sides to act, as there was simply no need to waste any energy on attacking him otherwise. The formation inherently understanding that doing so might present a flaw that could be exploited.

”This formation... Is waiting for me to make the first move? Is this a true Saint Grade Formation, able to think for itself to some extent?” Muttering this to himself as he clearly understood the actions of the formation, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a slight shiver run down his spine as he realized for the first time just how terrifying a Saint Grade Formation was, capable of thinking on its own and making decisions accordingly to fulfill its simple goal of stopping him from escaping.

Although he had encountered other Saint Grade Formations in the past, it could be said that their purpose had been completely different, thus not giving him a chance to experience this uniqueness in person.

Then again, it could also just be the result of the unique path that the formation master behind the trapping formation had ended up taking. Giving his or her formation a rather unique pseudo formation spirit of sorts.

A Pseudo Formation Spirit might be the best way to describe it, but... if there is a pseudo formation spirit, what about a true formation spirit? Does a Saint Realm Formation Master have the ability to create something like that or does that belong to a realm beyond the Saint Realm?

Feeling his thoughts starting to wander as he guessed that the trapping formation had some kind of pseudo formation spirit. Allowing it to somewhat think and act independently compared to how a normal formation would act, Xuan Hao remained floating in the same location. Not able to figure out any way to get out of his current situation in his current exhausted state.

Using spatial teleportation was still an option, but with the Land Creation Realm cultivator around, he didn’t dare to recklessly try to escape in this kind of manner, as he still remembered how the spiritual tree had managed to easily track him down. For all he knew, the Land Creation Realm cultivator might have a similar way to track him down. Allowing him to get thrown to the exact same location after using spatial teleportation. At which point, there would be little chance of him escaping from this Land Creation Realm cultivator.

For now, his best option was still to find a way to break through the formation and getting out of the Verdant Abyss before the Land Creation Realm cultivator finished dealing with the demon beast and the heavenly blade, as it would be far easier for him to shake off the other party if he could make full use of the Dao of Space.

Tracking might still be possible, but with enough space to move and knowledge of the Western Central Region, he could potentially move through some of the more dangerous regions that required a far greater control over the Dao of Space to weave through and make the other party think twice about continuing to chase after him.

But... At the end of the day, the only way this could happen was if he managed to successfully break through the trapping formation and made it out of the Verdant Abyss, before any of that happened, his only path of escape would be to get himself thrown deeper into the Verdant Abyss and praying to end up somewhere safe where he could also throw off the Land Creation Realm cultivator who might come chasing after him.

With that in mind, his gaze soon focused back onto the profound formation symbols crawling just beneath the surface of the metal sheet covering the sky above him.

”Huh? That is...”

However, as his attention remained focused on the profound formation symbols, he suddenly sensed something unexpected...

Roar...?

A certain demon beast that had just escaped being dragged into the increasingly chaotic battle playing out between the Land Creation Realm cultivator and the Heavenly Blade, was staring directly at him through the invisible barrier formed by the Saint Grade Formation, causing a new plan to form inside his head. Knowing very well from the unmistakable killing intent that began appearing in the eyes of the demon beast, that it wanted nothing more than to rip him apart.

All he had to do now was to make it act on these thoughts and in the process, lend him a hand in breaking the formation without knowing that it was helping him...