Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Watching the silverback gorilla emerging from the block of ice, Xuan Hao couldn’t help feeling a shiver run down his spine as the terrifying presence of the Star Creation Realm demon beast hit him.

Even if he understood that the demon beast in question was long since dead and this level of power had only been archived through the parasitic mushroom colony using some kind of technique to forcibly draw out the remaining bit of strength dormant within the silverback gorilla demon beast corpse, he also understood that it didn’t make much of a difference for him, as he still had to face off against a demon beast at the Star Creation Realm.

The only positive compared to facing off against an actual Star Creation Realm demon beast being the fact that the parasitic mushroom colony couldn’t use anything beyond the terrifying physical strength of the silverback gorilla demon beast. Meaning he didn’t have to worry about any kind of special abilities or domain from the silverback gorilla demon beast. The only domain he had to deal with remained the one created by the parasitic mushroom colony... And with him already having alerted the surrounding terrain while also keeping the parasitic mushroom colony trapped within the mountain sized ice cube, there was little the parasitic mushroom colony could do to once again create a mushroom forest without it being crushed by the ice domain he had established.

Still, though he didn’t have to worry about the parasitic mushroom colony, he did have to worry about the corpse of the silverback gorilla demon beast that the parasitic mushroom colony was controlling.

Something that was clear from the second it had successfully broken out of the ice cube that had sealed its towering body before, as it wasted no time before coming down towards him filled with killing intent that should be originating from the parasitic mushroom colony in control of the towering body.

Whoosh~

Luckily, without the mushroom forest around any longer, though he didn’t stand much of a chance in the face of the silverback gorilla demon beast corpse, he did at the very least retain his ability to slip away through the usage of the Dao of Space before the silverback gorilla could reach him. Emerging from a small spatial tear a few hundred kilometers away, just in time to see the towering gorilla crashing directly into the ground below the place he had been hovering in the air less than a second earlier-

BOOOOOM-!

The power of the impact alone causing the ground to surge outwards like waves as a vast quantity of rocks and dirt was sent flying alongside the terrifying impact, a few nearby mountains not surviving the aftermath, as they crumbled when the wave coursing outwards from the center of the impact reached them.

The sheer power contained within the shockwave of the impact alone was more than enough to make someone like Xuan Hao feel a shiver run down his spine, as he realized from a simple glance that even his body, stronger than the average Late Stage Land Creation Realm cultivator, would stand no chance in the face of this kind of terrifying power.

Even though the silverback gorilla demon beast had long since perished and the parasitic mushroom colony couldn’t utilize its comprehension of the Dao, the physical strength it posed seemed to embody the Dao of Strength without any direct utilization of this Dao by the parasitic mushroom colony.

A kind of ingrained comprehension that was carved into its very flesh and blood and one that the parasitic mushroom colony seemed to have pulled on to help the silverback gorilla corpse recover part of its former strength before its death.

Whoosh~

Somewhat occupied going over what he had just witnessed, Xuan Hao found himself forced back into the current battle as the silverback gorilla once again leapt towards him. Only this time around, he clearly felt some kind of power locking on to him. Not preventing him from escaping through the Dao of Space like he had done earlier, but more so to ensure that the attack heading for him wouldn’t miss and would be able to travel after him in case he decided to use the Dao of Space to escape again.

This power didn’t originate from the parasitic mushroom colony but instead came from the Dao of Strength that the silverback gorilla corpse was utilizing. Forcing him to face the attack head on instead of dodging through the mysterious utilization of this unique Dao that he hadn’t faced off against before- or at the very least not faced off against at a particularly high level.

Faced with this situation where escape was no longer an option under the mystery effects of the Dao of Strength, he could only prepare himself to take the incoming attack head on, something he understood would mean certain death if it was a direct confrontation. After all, by no, it was clear that the strength of the silverback gorilla demon beast when it had been alive wasn’t just that of a demon beast that had just broken through to the Star Creation Realm. Instead, it was more like a senior approaching the limits of the realm about to challenge the Venerable Realm standing above the Profound Immortal Realm.

Of course, the corpse of the silverback gorilla couldn’t mobilize the full strength it had when it was still alive, but what it could mobilize was still far from anything he could deal with at his current cultivation realm...

Understanding this, Xuan Hao didn’t hesitate before directly manifesting his current strongest defensive technique, the nine layered ice lotus before simultaneously manifesting his inner world to bolster the defenses of the ice lotus-

Rumble~ BANG!

Watching with a pained expression on his face as the fists of the towering silverback gorilla demon beast touched the first outer layer, causing it to crumble without offering the slightest bit of resistance. Expected considering the difference in strength, but still painful to watch. Especially so as the next few layers provided no resistance either.

Craaack~ Bang! Bang! Bang!

From the first to the eighth layer, the towering fist of the silverback gorilla didn’t slow down as it continued to descend towards him from above. Only upon reaching the eighth layer was the towering fist held back for a little less than a second before tearing through the eighth layer.

BAAAANG-!

Hitting the final and strongest ninth layer of the ice lotus that proved far more difficult to break through, as the ice layer didn’t crack immediately on contact. Holding on for a little over a second before countless miniscule cracks spread throughout the final ice layer-

Craaack-! BANG!

Holding on for a little over three second before it crumbled like the ice layers before it.

But it accomplished what Xuan Hao wanted. Holding the attack back long enough for him to retreat while avoiding the Dao of Strength from making the terrifying fist chase him down. Having realized during the instant he was locked onto that if he held on long enough, the binding power of the Dao of Strength that forced him into a confrontation would vanish. Allowing him to slip away.

In total, he needed to hold on for three seconds, something he had just barely accomplished thanks to the defensive power of the ice lotus bolstered by his inner world.

Even then, he had a feeling that the reason why he only needed to hold on for three seconds was because the corpse couldn’t actively utilize the Dao of Strength, it could only partially wield it through what had long since been deeply ingrained into the body before death.

Still, this was a good thing for him, as he never thought of taking down the silverback gorilla demon beast corpse in the first place. All he needed to do was drag things out long enough for the inherent power forcibly awakened by the parasitic mushroom colony to run out. After which he would once again be able to go on the offensive against the parasitic mushroom colony.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

And so, before long, a game of cat and mouse began, with Xuan Hao desperately doing anything in his power to avoid a direct confrontation while the parasitic mushroom colony controlling the silverback gorilla demon beast corpse tried its best to catch up to him with no real success.

Even if the parasitic mushroom colony could force a confrontation from time to time, Xuan Hao could barely muster enough strength to resist before the Dao of Strength lost its lock on him. Slipping away through the Dao of Space before he could get ground into paste by the towering fist of the silverback gorilla.

Of course, it wasn’t without cost on Xuan Hao’s side and as the battle went on, he found himself in an increasingly bad state with blood already covering one of his arms that had barely survived a direct hit from the silverback gorilla demon beast corpse. Not every escape being as clean as the first one.