Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Following the greatsword wielding Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator’s rapid escape the second he realized that he wouldn’t be able to gain anything from staying any longer and might even end up in a dangerous situation if things dragged on for too long and the stronger cultivators began to show up and potentially clash with each other over the treasury that had yet to be claimed, Xuan Hao focused his attention on the treasury in question- or more specifically, the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator currently attempting to break into the treasury, something that had proven far more difficult than any of them had initially expected, as the treasury itself was guarded by countless layers of invisible formation that nobody had been able to sense when the clash for being the first to enter the treasury first began.

If knowledge of these formations had been known to those attempting to enter the treasury, it was likely that a struggle would never have taken place in the way that it had, as working together would have been the only way for someone to realistically get inside the treasury without being attacked by those behind along the way.

But... The problem for Xuan Hao who wanted to fight with this Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator was that he couldn’t exactly follow in steps of the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator already having made his way through several formations during his battle with the greatsword wielding Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator.

Originally, it might have been possible, but the formations that had been broken through had already repaired themselves and essentially made it impossible for him to follow in the steps of that Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator.

Using his comprehension of the Dao of Formations that had reached the Large Success Realm to catch up with him might have been an option, but the other party was also someone who had reached the Large Success Realm in the Dao of Formation. Rendering any plan to try and rely on his comprehension of the Dao of Formations to catch up with the other party useless. All he could do was observe the other party as he seemingly reached the final formation blocking his entry into the treasury below.

”How troublesome...” Silently muttering this to himself as he watched the other party working hard on created a small passage to slip through the final formation guarding the treasury, Xuan Hao understood that his last hope for completing the quest issued by the system before the stronger cultivators began to show up was entirely in the hands on whatever lurked inside the treasury.

Anything that either killed the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator or forced him to escape would allow him to complete the sect quest, as the practical combat lesson could be considered to have concluded with all of his enemies having been chased away.

However, if it turned out that there was nothing else hidden inside the treasury with the potential to force this Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator to run away, he would almost certainly end up failing the quest, as there would be no way for him to complete it before the stronger cultivators appeared and made it impossible for him to kill or chase away this last remaining opponent.

In the worst-case scenario, those new arrivals might also be added in as part of the quest, something he wanted to avoid at all costs as there was simply no way for him to deal with anyone above the Middle Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm with his current strength... And that was only if the other party decided against using whatever artifacts, talismans or other unique things they had saved up for a true life and death struggle.

Because of this, he kept his gaze focused entirely on the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator below as he managed to create a small passage through the final formation that had been blocking his path to the treasury.

Rumble~

Watching intently as the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator found himself standing directly in front of the entrance leading into the treasury before starting to slowly push open the ancient gate that had blocked the view of what was hidden inside the treasury earlier.

”Stardusk Essence...!”

And it was as the ancient gate was pushed open that Xuan Hao realized what was hidden on the other side was none other than the storage filled with Stardusk Essence that he had been theorizing should be hidden somewhere inside the ancient alchemy sect ruins.

Only, he had expected it to be hidden around the somewhat intact part of the ancient alchemy sect that Huo Fen and Meng Jie were currently waiting for him inside of. Not outside it in the middle of what looked like a deserted section of the ancient alchemy sect.

But then again. Maybe this was the reason why this location had been chosen to hide something as precious as Stardusk Essence.

”S-Stardusk! So... So much Stardusk Essence! With this, not to mention reaching the Late Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm, I might even be able to reach the Peak of the Celestial Immortal Realm- No! I might even be able to go beyond that!”

Not much different from Xuan Hao’s shocked expression, the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator who had opened the treasury showed an even more shocked expression compared to Xuan Hao. Followed by one filled with joy, he understood that all the Stardusk Essence was now his for the taking.

As for the potential danger of having to fac Xuan Hao after pocketing all this Stardusk Essence? He didn’t worry in the slightest, as he had countless means to escape ready for just such a situation.

The only thing he needed to do now was secure this treasure in his interspatial ring and he could smoothly leave without having to face Xuan Hao, or worse, the seniors he knew were rushing over and could show up at any moment to seize this treasure from him.

After all, with this much Stardusk Essence around, even someone in the Land Creation Realm would feel tempted, let alone someone below the Land Creation Realm.

But... To think that such a massive quantity of Stardusk Essence was simply guarded by a few decaying formation that even someone below the Saint Realm in the Dao of Formations could break through was nothing short of naive, something that the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator now one foot inside the treasury understood well, as he hadn’t dared to let his guard down for even a second since spotting the Stardusk Essence.

The greater the treasure, the more dangerous it would be to reach it...

Rumble~

A fact that was soon proven true, as a large shadow suddenly emerged from the unseen depths of the treasury before consolidating into a terrifying shadowy demon beast.

The important fact being that the strength of this shadowy demon beast that had manifested in front of the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator clearly carried a presence no weaker than someone in the Land Creation Realm.

For a little Celestial Immortal at the Middle Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm, facing this kind of terrifying creature was nothing short of death sentence. No matter what kind of safety measures a long-lived Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator might be able to get their hands on. Facing someone in the Land Creation Realm was impossible.

Whoosh-!

Something that the Celestial Immortal Realm inside the treasury understood full well, as he instantly gave up on the Stardusk Essence after sensing the strength of his opponent. Directly using one of his artifacts to try and break free and escape from the ancient alchemy sect ruins-

”Huh!? The formation... It changed!? Spatial restrictions... The formation deceived me!?”

Only, when attempting to escape, the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator, realized to his horror that the formations he had broken through a short time earlier relying on his comprehension of the Dao of Formations had completely changed. Rearranging themselves into a singular formation that far surpassed the ones he had broken through in the past.

Even without properly analyzing this new formation, it was clear from the restriction he felt that the formations that should originally have been decaying Saint Grade Formations with barely any strength left, had merged through some unknown means to form a fully intact formation that surpassed the strength of an ordinary Saint Realm formation.

Escaping this kind of formation, even with his strength and trump cards, was impossible.

”Looks like I can only use that thing...” Feeling the helplessness of his current situation where a Land Creation Realm demon beast was about to attack him and annihilate him at any second, the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator took out a small spherical crystal before shattering it.

WHOOOSH-!

Soon enough, causing a massive suction force to appear inside the barrier, but this suction force didn’t seem to have any effect on the surrounding environment. Instead, it only seemed to affect the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator, who soon enough had his soul sucked out of his body into the small crystal-

Swish~!

And when Xuan Hao was about to investigate the situation for afar out of curiosity of what that Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator was up to, he found that the small crystal had already turned into a steam of light that easily passed through the formation that had blocked the Celestial Immortal Realm seconds earlier before disappearing into the distance at a terrifying speed. Leaving both Xuan Hao and the shadowy demon beast stunned at the sudden change, neither having expected the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator to give up on his physical body so decisively...