Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Feeling the clear killing intent from the two Land Creation Realm cultivators who were now using their full strength to break down the already collapsing ancient guardian formation faster and reach him before he could take any more of the treasures and spiritual herbs that they perceived as their own after the hard work they had put into breaking the ancient guardian formation, Xuan Hao could only silently smile to himself as he happily swept up countless ancient spiritual herbs ranging anywhere from the Mystic Grade to the Saint Grade. Along with a large assortment of alchemy recipes that would turn into the future foundation for the Star Shattering Sect’s Alchemy Hall.

The only thing he hadn’t found was a Saint Realm Alchemist Inheritance, but he wasn’t too discouraged, as he still had a few buildings left to search through. The only problem was that the ancient guardian formation was collapsing far faster than expected even after he had considered the potential increased effort from the two Land Creation Realm cultivators after they discovered someone inside who had taken advantage of their hard work over the past few hours.

Those two... They were hiding far more of their strength than he had originally thought when he first sensed someone attacking the ancient guardian formation, causing him to miscalculate how much time he had...

Rumble~!

By the time he reached the final ancient building, a towering ancient pagoda that stretched more than a hundred meters into the sky, the ancient guardian formation had already been forcibly torn apart by those two as they began charging towards him filled with killing intent. Leaving him with the difficult choice of leaving before things became too dangerous or to sweep anything of value inside the towering ancient pagoda he had left for last due to its sheer size.

A choice that was simple in his eyes, as he wasted no time rushing inside the ancient pagoda, using the full strength of his divine sense to look through every inch of the pagoda in an instant. Locking down anything of value before using his domain to pull everything that caught his eye inside an interspatial ring for later inspection.

For now, he didn’t exactly have any time left to look through everything he had found that seemed to hold some kind of value inside the ancient pagoda, as most of the valuable things inside the towering pagoda, was information that would take some time to properly look through and understand.

For now, he had to worry about the two who had already arrived outside the towering ancient pagoda...

Rumble~!

”DIE YOU THEIF!”

As one of the two had already brandished his spear and was charging straight at him without any regard for the towering ancient pagoda, as the spear soon pierced straight through the ancient wooden structure like a hot knife through butter. Arriving directly in front of Xuan Hao just as he finished storing away the last bit of precious scrolls he had found inside the pagoda-

BOOOOM-!

And with barely any time left, a small ice lotus a little taller than a person bloomed around him. Meeting the incoming spear head on. Forcing it to slow down as it worked its way through rapidly emerging layers of ice that became increasingly hard to pierce through.

Rumble~!

But of course, this was the full-blown attack of a Land Creation Realm cultivator that wasn’t holding anything back and though powerful, Xuan Hao’s ice lotus couldn’t hold back the terrifying spear, as it continued getting closer.

However, Xuan Hao’s intention was never to clash directly with these two Land Creation Realm cultivators, as he used the time that had been bought by the ice lotus to shift to the side before entirely vanishing from the towering pagoda just before the spear tip could reach him.

”Huh...? That... The Dao of Space...?” Seeing Xuan Hao disappearing directly in front of him, the Land Creation Realm cultivator froze for a second before a look of realization hit him. ”YOU! YOU ARE THAT ANNOYING MENACE THAT CAUSED THAT DAMNABLE TREE TO WRECK THE ENTIRE EASTERN CENTRAL REGION!!!” Followed by an enraged roar that unleashed a chaotic wave of spiritual qi that directly tore apart the ancient pagoda from the inside. Reducing the once towering ancient pagoda to rubble in an instant.

Not that any of this concerned the person behind it, as he had already focused on the figure that had reemerged a short distance away from the ancient pagoda completely unscratched.

”This... How unexpected...” Similar to the first, the second Land Creation Realm cultivator also appeared shocked upon realizing who Xuan Hao was though he appeared far calmer than the spear wielding Land Creation Realm cultivator. Instead, seeming to be deep in thought as he observed Xuan Hao from afar, having likely realized just how difficult it would be for the two of them to do anything to him with his high comprehension of the Dao of Space.

”YOU! YOU ARE NOT GETTING AWAY THIS TIME!”

Rumble~

However, before the relatively calm Land Creation Realm cultivator could make a decision on what to do next and before Xuan Hao could take another step away with the Drifting Cloud Steps, the spear wielding Land Creation Realm cultivator threw out a small star shaped artifact that sprung to life and began to release countless small spatial waves that disturbed the flow of space. Making it difficult to use the Dao of Space around the small star shaped artifact.

This is... An artifact that restricts space? Although I expected to encounter something like this in battle, I never expected to encounter it so soon. But... With my current comprehension of the Dao of Space, it can at most affect something like the Drifting Cloud Steps and make it more difficult to utilize, it doesn’t affect combat related abilities nor long distance teleportation.

The problem is... I’m inside the ancient alchemy sect ruins and long-distance teleportation isn’t exactly something I can use here, and fighting isn’t really what I’m here for either. Hehe, quite a troublesome little star...

Narrowing both his eyes as he thought this to himself while looking at the little star shaped artifacts that had been thrown out by the spear wielding Land Creation Realm cultivator before he came charging towards him for a second time, Xuan Hao didn’t feel the slightest hint of fear, as he could still very much use the Drifting Cloud Steps.

The main limitation was the distance he could travel and how long it took to take each step, as long as he left the area affected by the small star shaped artifact that had been thrown out, he would be able to easily outrun the spear wielding Land Creation Realm cultivator-

Whoosh~

And so, without a second thought, he disappeared for a second time before the spear could reach him as he began making his way towards the ancient forest located outside the relatively intact section of the ancient alchemy sect. Not intending to clash with any of the two Land Creation realm cultivators, as he had already felt from the brief clash inside the pagoda that he was still some distance away from being able to fight someone in the Land Creation Realm, let alone two at the same time.

Having essentially confirmed that his current strength seemed to be somewhere between the Sea Formation Realm and the Land Creation Realm. Able to clash directly with someone in the Early Stage of the Land Creation Realm but unable to pose any real danger unless he managed to catch the other party off guard.

”Huh...?”

However, just as he thought he was about to escape from the area affected by the star shaped artifact, he suddenly saw the small star shaped artifact floating over next to the spear wielding Land Creation Realm cultivator before following him. The effect it had on the surrounding space was not affected in the slightest by this movement, as it continued restricting his use of the Drifting Cloud Steps.

This isn’t just an artifact that can affect space around itself, but one also able to be moved around at the same time...

Feeling like his situation was going to become much worse as the spatial restriction artifact was able to be moved around, Xuan Hao could not help frowning to himself as he glanced back towards the spear wielding Land Creation Realm cultivator who was now slowly gaining on him with each passing second.

Effective as the Drifting Cloud Steps was, the delay and smaller travel distance caused by the star shaped spatial restriction artifact did allow the Land Creation Realm cultivator who originally was far faster than someone in the Sea Formation Realm, began to close the distance that had opened between the two of them.

Even worse, the second Land Creation Realm cultivator who had hesitated on whether to stay behind and search through what treasures might still be left in the relatively intact section of the ancient alchemy sect, had ultimately chosen to also join the chase that was about to end as fast as it had begun.

The sheer speed at which everything happened essentially meaning that in less than a second, the relatively sizeable distance that had been created by Xuan Hao earlier had already been closed as he found himself once again facing the spear of the first Land Creation Realm cultivator.

Only this time around, he had clearly prepared for him to try and escape, as the spear was imbued with some kind of strange spatial power that seemed to directly lock on to him. Giving him a feeling that if he used the Drifting Cloud Steps to dodge the attack, the spear would be able follow him...