Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Watching from afar as the older man who had the potential to become a disciple of his get surrounded by a group of people who clearly didn’t just show up to say hello, Xuan Hao couldn’t help pausing momentarily as he decided to see how things would develop. After all, though the older man was in a weakened state and had just used all his strength to finish off the demon beast he had been fighting, he doubted that the older man wouldn’t have made any preparations for this kind of situation.

Not just because he was of older age and should be experienced, but also because he noticed that while the older man was a bit taken aback by the sudden ambush, he wasn’t afraid and instead waited for the leader of the group to approach. Clearly understanding that the greatest threat to his safety was the Martial Arts Grandmaster Realm individual, while the rest didn’t pose much of a threat if he could kill or critical injure the Martial Arts Grandmaster Realm individual.

But… If he knows this, so would the enemy…

Silently thinking this to himself as he watched how the enemy Martial Arts Grandmaster Realm body cultivator approach in an extremely cautious manner despite his earlier confidence, Xuan Hao could not help shaking his head a bit. Understanding that the other party had also seen through the potential escape path of the older man and was already guarding against it.

Still, guarded as he might be against the other party, there was no way for him to prepare for what happened next-

Rumble~ Bang!

As the ground beneath the two began trembling violently followed by a large demon beast in the shape of a massive worm breaking through the ground in between the He Jie and the other Martial Arts Grandmaster Realm body cultivator…

”W-w-what is that!?”

”Giant Blood Worm! Get back!”

”Everyone, scatter! These worms are at least comparable to someone at the Grandmaster Realm!”

And along with the sudden panic caused by such a sudden change, He Jie used the opportunity during the panic to slip away before the other party had the chance to recover from the shock of what had happened.

”No! Don’t fall back, he will escape!”

Even with the leader of the bandits ambushing him calling out for everyone to calm down and hold the line, it was no use, as no one wanted to get devoured by the massive blood worm that had just burst out from below.

Valuable as the corpse of a Grandmaster Realm demon beast was, it was far from enough for them to risk their lives to face off against not just an injured and exhausted Martial Arts Grandmaster Realm body cultivator, but also a fully healthy Grandmaster Realm demon beast.

In this panic, the older man slipped away skillfully while at the same time cutting off the most valuable part of the demon beast he had just killed. Clearly already having expected everything that had happened, as there was no panic or surprise present on his face as he disappeared before the group of bandits could calm down.

Watching how everything played out from afar, Xuan Hao could not help sighing in amazement, as different from the group who now found themselves locked in a deadly struggle with the newly emerged grandmaster realm demon beast, he saw clearly what had happened.

It was during the short instant when the bandits had emerged that He Jie had discreetly used some kind of technique to gather the blood flowing out of the dead demon beast and cause it to drill below ground to gather in the space between himself and the leader of the bandits, the exact spot where the giant blood worm as they called it, had emerged.

Although he hadn’t seen through this originally as everything happened below ground and was difficult to detect with his current limited divine sense. After he paid attention, it wasn’t difficult for him to spot the small tunnel still covered in blood that had been left behind.

Indeed, an older cultivator like this definitely had some tricks up his sleeve, as the conversation and everything that had happened before the sudden emergence of the demon beast had been done for the sole purpose of keeping the other party distracted while at the same time buying time for this demon beast to show up.

Still, though he might have been able to escape from the group of bandits who had surrounded him not long ago, it was difficult to slip away from someone like himself who had divine sense on his side.

At least that was what he would have said if He Jie had truly slipped away, but he hadn’t.

Instead, the older man was waiting silently not too far away from the chaotic battlefield between the bandits and the giant blood worm. His intentions clear from a glance, as he had no intention of letting these people who had threatened his life escape.

The problem was, he wasn’t exactly in the best state currently and wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight even if he ended up ambushing the other Martial Arts Grandmaster Realm body cultivator.

After all, though most of the bandits were panicking while struggling in the face of the newly emerged demon beast, the leader had already recovered from his initial panic and was already starting to take control of the situation by drawing the giant blood worm’s attention towards himself instead of his companions. Giving these weaker bandits a chance to calm down and join him in the battle.

And along with more of them joining in, the giant blood worm was soon enough suppressed and had little to no ability to fight back. Giving the bandit leader more than enough time to also keep an eye out for a potential ambush, something that he clearly understood was a very real possibility.

”So… How will he get through this situation?” Muttering this to himself with growing interest as his gaze shifted back towards the older man, Xuan Hao suddenly froze as he saw what the other party was doing. Rubbing his eyes briefly for a second to see if he was seeing things.

Not only had He Jie stopped lurking in the dark like he had originally been doing, but he had already revealed himself to the bandit leader.

But the thing that had caused him to rub his eyes in disbelief was not the act of him revealing himself to the other party, as this could have been done to exert subtle pressure on the other party during his battle with the grandmaster realm demon beast.

Instead, it was the fact that He Jie had taken out the most valuable part of the demon beast he had killed earlier, the heart, and was now rubbing it against the ground in an almost maniacal manner.

The sight alone leaving Xuan Hao wondering if there were some kind of unique demonic cultivators present within the ancient secret realm and if this He Jie just happened to be one of these unique demonic cultivators, as that was the only way he could explain this odd behavior.

”What… What is he doing…?”

”He’s wasting the heart! That thing is main ingredient for a blood heart potion!”

”Aaah! Wasting a blood heart potion capable of not just helping someone reach the Grandmaster Realm but also help someone in the Grandmaster Realm improve!”

However, from the pained exclamations of the bandits who witnessed what He Jie was doing, he could be sure that it wasn’t some kind of unique demonic cultivator ritual, as they also viewed what he was doing as crazy.

Still, even with everyone screaming bloody murder as they were caught up in the battle with the giant blood worm, He Jie continued rubbing the heart of the demon beast onto the rough ground until the entire heart was ground away. Leaving behind a bloody mess that would have left anyone seeing it wonder if they had stumbled upon a demonic ritual site of some sort.

”Good… This should be enough…” But the person responsible just nodded his head with a slight smile before getting back up. Wasting no time as he slipped into the shadows again. Leaving everyone including Xuan Hao confused about what in the world they had just witnessed, as he had essentially just jumped out for a few seconds to destroy the most valuable part of the demon beast he had killed before leaving without any explanation.

Rumble~

But as everyone watching were in a state of confusion, a loud rumbling sound soon enough become the center of attention, as Xuan Hao observing from afar almost immediately realized what was happening, as it seemed like the heart sacrifice that He Jie had engaged in served a similar purpose as the blood gathering he had discreetly engaged in to draw the giant blood worm over. Only on a far larger scale without being discreet with what he was doing…