Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Struggling to think of any way to bypass the formation guarding the ancient secret realm, Xuan Hao inevitably found his thoughts shifting towards the ancient jade pendant Li Feng had managed to obtain partial control of following his breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment. Right before he realized that he didn’t exactly have any kind insurance or guarantees that the ancient jade pendant would even work as some kind guard against the guardian formation of the ancient secret realm. At most he had his own speculations about other potential functions of the ancient jade pendant.

With this realization, he couldn’t help staring at the formation disc that still had a functioning teleportation formation leading directly to the ancient secret realm with an annoyed expression slowly emerging.

He had managed to get his hands on the ancient secret realm’s spatial coordinates, had almost entered the ancient secret realm only to be stopped by the guardian formation of the ancient secret realm. Now that he had finally found another way inside the ancient secret realm, it looked like he was about to be stopped at the doorstep once again unable to even take a single step forward.

Unbearable as this kind of situation was, he knew that the reason ultimately boiled down to him being too weak to force his way through the guardian formation. If he was strong enough, he wouldn’t have to worry about potentially dying after entering the ancient secret realm.

Originally, the thought entering for a quick look before leaving had already appeared at the back of his mind but considering how the strength of the guardian formation was unknown and might be powerful enough to erase him the second he steps inside the ancient secret realm, he decided against it. Reduced to staring at the ancient formation disc.

Wait… Maybe I can still enter the ancient secret realm if I get that young master to lead the way. This way, I would also be able to check if that jade pendant has any kind of special reaction to the ancient formation disc, but also test if it can really help someone enter the ancient secret realm…

However, as he was left staring at the ancient formation disc, a plan on how to potentially enter the ancient secret realm suddenly emerged.

Although it might be considered dangerous for Li Feng, in fact, it wasn’t that dangerous, as the only way for him to activate the ancient teleportation formation inscribed into the formation disc would be with the help of the ancient jade pendant. Meaning the jade pendant would have to react to the ancient jade pendant in some kind of way for him to even enter the ancient secret realm in the first place and if it really did react, it most likely meant that it would be safe for Li Feng to enter the ancient secret realm.

Having come to this conclusion and feeling an intense desire to explore the ancient secret realm belonging to an ancient cultivation clan, Xuan Hao didn’t waste a second and set off immediately. Finding Li Feng moving along a well-travelled road together with a group of other youths seeking to enter the Star Shattering Sect through the recently established branch.

”Hey, do you really think we can enter the Star Shattering Sect?”

”Of course! Our talent is far better than most we have encountered so far, brother Li has even reached the Ninth Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm! With a talent like that on our side, we are sure to enter the Star Shattering Sect!”

”Hehe, you sure would like to rely on big brother Li, though… It is understandable with your talent. Already 15, yet only at the Fifth Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm…”

”You! You are one to talk! You are also at the Fifth Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm!”

”Heh, but I’m two years younger than you! Far more talented!”

”You!”

”Both of you, calm down, I’m sure entering the Star Shattering Sect won’t be too difficult, with it being a new branch, they are bound to lower their normal requirements a bit to ensure the place isn’t empty.”

From listening to the conversation taking place between this group of eager youths, Xuan Hao quickly concluded that Li Feng already seemed to have taken a leading role thanks to his cultivation being the strongest even with his true cultivation hidden.

But his goal didn’t really have much to do with seeing how well Li Feng got along with these new companions he had met shortly after setting off for the newly established branch of the sect. Instead, he had to find a way to have Li Feng find the formation disc and see if anything ended up happening-

Whoosh~

BANG!

”Ahhh!? What was that!?”

”S-s-something just fell from the sky…!”

”Y-yeah, it landed a few meters up ahead.”

And to do this, he did the simplest thing he could think of as he didn’t really want to come up with some complicated illusion or push him into a small adventurer together with his new companions. Throwing the formation disc down from above. Ensuring that it landed directly in front of them.

Confused as they might be about the entire situation, with none of them able to see him and all of them being young and curious, they would soon enough go and investigate the ancient formation disc that had fallen from the sky.

”Wow… It looks like some kind of old… Silver dinner plate?” But as a somewhat chubby youth bravely took the first step forward to investigate what had landed in front of them and opened his mouth to inform the rest about what he saw, Xuan Hao could not help smiling somewhat wryly as he looked down towards the formation disc on the ground.

It did indeed look somewhat like a dinner plate made of silver, but to call it out like that even with such a mysterious appearance was a bit…

”A silver dinner plate…? Why would a silver dinner plate fall from the sky?” Echoing his inner thoughts, the young girl who had boasted about being more talented earlier stepped forward and questioned the description given by the chubby youth. Not believing that the thing that had fallen from the sky was something like a silver dinner plate.

”That… Maybe one of those immortal flying ships from legends passed through and one of the immortals dropped one by accident…?”

”””…”””

”Ehm… Why, why am I the only one here trying to come up with an explanation for what happened?” Feeling the silence that surrounded him as everyone stared at him in a rather particular manner after hearing his explanation about what might have happened, the chubby youth felt a bit embarrassed as he called out for someone else to come up with a better explanation.

”The origin aside… We can only know what it is after investigating it more closely.” Ignoring the words of the chubby youth, Li Feng took a step forward and shifted the attention back towards the silver dinner plate that had landed in front of them.

Even if the origin of this strange thing was a mystery, it didn’t seem to do anything other than making all of them hesitate to continue moving forward.

For this reason, Li Feng decided to be brave and take the lead in trying to figure out the use of the silver dinner plate.

Not because he was fearless and didn’t think it might be some kind of trap that had been laid by a group of bandits that could very well be hiding nearby, but because he felt confident that he would be able to survive even if it was a trap with the ancient jade pendant on his side.

The sole reason why he didn’t want to just go around the strange object was because he understood that if it really was a trap, the bandits that would be waiting would linger around and follow them, which might result in an even deadlier ambush a few hours later.

To solve this problem, the best solution would be to investigate the potential trap immediately and deal with the bandits that might be lurking nearby before they caused any serious harm. After all, though he himself could ensure his own safety, he couldn’t say the same for his companions, as they weren’t exactly anywhere close to him in strength nor had much combat experience.

”Hm? No trap…?”

But as he stepped next to the ancient formation disc, he didn’t spring a trap but instead found himself standing with a somewhat bewildered expression on his face as nothing happened… Well… Not nothing, as before he had the chance to react, the keepsake that had been given to him by his mother, the ancient jade pendant, flew out on its own before connecting to the dinner plate on the ground-

Whoosh~

And before he had any time to react a towering gate made of light suddenly appeared in front of him, as the jade pendant slowly returned to its original position around his neck while he was staring at the towering gate of light filled with disbelief alongside his new companions who couldn’t believe what had just happened either.