Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Faced with the ceiling breaking as the two Void Integration Realm cultivators that had disappeared earlier reappeared, Xuan Hao understood that waiting around until he got closer to the small hallway wasn’t an option any longer-

Whoosh~

Not wasting any time as he directly utilized the Illusory Light Steps to close the distance between himself and the small hallway in less than a second. Arriving even faster than the two Void Integration Realm cultivators that had just reappeared and far faster than the group of weaker Void Integration Realm cultivators who were now extremely unlikely to reach the hallway in time with the ceiling above them already collapsing down on them.

”Huh!?”

”That- There was someone else!?”

”When did this person show up!?”

Of course, his sudden appearance caught everyone, the two seniors who had just reappeared included, completely off guard, as none of them had realized he was around before he willingly revealed himself while using the Illusory Light Steps to reach the small hallway before anyone else.

Still...

RUUUUMBLE-!

With the ceiling above caving in as a pair of talons easily the size of the more than one-thousand-meter-tall skeleton poked through the rubble, the remaining Void Integration Realm cultivators within the hall didn’t have much time to think about where he had come from and had to focus their attention back on trying to reach the small hallway and get to safety before the skeleton broke free and caught them or the terrifying talons above got them.

Unfortunately for the group of Void Integration Realm cultivators who had left behind the owner of the giant belt, they weren’t anywhere near fast enough to reach the hallway in time and were soon enough squashed by the falling debris from the ceiling above. Only one of them managed to pull out some unique movement technique that didn’t rely on the Dao of Space before being squashed and increased his speed just enough to make it through the entrance of the small hallway before being buried alive like those behind him.

Meaning, outside of Xuan Hao, only three others managed to successfully reach the small hallway in time before the path behind them was cut off by what he could only assume was some kind of massive bird demon beast and the giant skeleton. Leaving him and the rest with no real way to backtrack the way they had come. Not that any of them planned on leaving now that they had seemingly successfully survived the trial of the ancient central palace and reached what should be the true core of the palace.

But... Though everyone was feeling a sense of profound joy upon realizing that those two terrifying beings couldn’t shrink down and chase after them, they still retained the same level of cation they had before everything had descended into chaos.

Although, the main reason for this cautiousness didn’t have much to do with the potential danger that might be lurking within the palace, but instead the sudden addition of Xuan Hao who had appeared out of seemingly nowhere and clearly displayed a profound mastery of a Dao that wasn’t the Dao of Space, something that in the eyes of these locals was a clear display of strength given how one rarely had the opportunity to focus on any Dao other than the Dao of Space and the few who did were generally those who were already at the Pinnacle of the Void Integration Realm and were just waiting for an opportunity to break through or those who had already reached the Void God Realm.

No matter which of the two it was, it was clear to the three that Xuan Hao wasn’t someone who could be underestimated, as the three former enemies had already banded together after making it to the small hallway and were now cautiously gazing towards Xuan Hao standing a bit further inside the hallway.

To be honest, he had long since expected this kind of reaction from these locals given how the fundamental difference between his cultivation and theirs also made it impossible for them to sense his strength and because of this, he had already decided to ignore them after getting to the small hallway and instead focus on finding out about what might be lurking at the end of this smaller hallway.

Of course, remembering the spatial maze he had been caught in not that long ago, he made sure to pay special attention to his surroundings to avoid another incident of him being trapped within a spatial maze without even realizing it. Making sure to pay especially close attention to the surrounding spatial environment as he slowly made his way through the hallway on foot instead of recklessly flying forward.

Outside of potential spatial mazes that might slow him down along the way, he also made sure to keep an eye out for any other deadly traps.

A decision that soon enough paid off, as he found himself just barely sidestepping some ancient trapping formation that covered close to half of the small hallway. Forcing him to take a few awkward turns that was quickly picked up by the group of Void Integration Realm cultivators following behind him as he watched them follow in his footsteps without much hesitation through his divine sense. Making him realize that this little group of three were taking advantage of him being in the lead to scout the way forward for them.

Although annoying, it also meant that they wouldn’t cause any problems for him and would in turn also give him some potential teammates in the future, as he doubted the troubles they had faced for him not that long ago were over.

In a sense, part of him already expected the other end of the hallway to lead into another small hall where the giant skeleton from earlier would either be waiting for them or could appear the second they entered through spatial manipulation that was now limited by the surrounding formations instead of the natural presence of the giant skeleton.

As for the massive bird that had broke the ceiling of the previous hall and became the main culprit behind the fall of almost all the other Void Integration Realm cultivators that had been left behind... He had a feeling it didn’t have anything to do with the trial that was the giant skeleton.

Instead, it should be a demon beast that lived within the space outside the hall that the giant skeleton existed within. Meaning the small independent world that the hall existed in wasn’t the size of a small secret realm like he had originally predicted, but instead far larger.

The only ones who knew anything for sure about it would be those two Void Integration Realm cultivators who had been forced to flee from the hall by the skeleton earlier and had ended up drawing the terrifying flying demon beast back with them in a panic while being chased down.

The reason why they had returned to the hall where they knew the skeleton waited for them except of going somewhere else within the world beyond the hall was a mystery, though it seemed to indicate that there might be other terrifying entities beyond just the flying demon beast that had chased after them within that independent world... And faced with entering the territory of those other terrifying creatures, they had instead chosen to return to the hall where the giant skeleton waited for them.

Not because the giant skeleton was easier to deal with in any way, but instead because they knew that there was a way out within the hall that the giant skeleton guarded.

Unaware of the sealing of the path they had originally wanted to escape through, they had ultimately still ended up successfully escaping from the massive flying demon beasts whose true size and appearance remained a mystery to anyone except the two of them who had faced this terrifying demon beast themselves.

Hm? Here already?

Thinking about the world that laid beyond the walls of the hallway he found himself inside of, Xuan Hao was taken aback when he suddenly felt a large door appearing before.

Felt, didn’t see, as the door itself was completely invisible to the naked eye and could only be observed through divine sense.

Without using divine sense to perceive the gate, it just looked like the hallway continued onwards endlessly without any end in sight.

Still, though this looked very much like a way out of the hallway, his initial excitement died down quickly as he realized that the door seen through his divine sense could very well also be some kind of deadly trap.

In fact, there was a far greater chance that it was some kind of elaborate trap designed specifically to fool someone into using their divine sense to pry open the door and unleash some kind of deadly trap waiting on the other side.

But... He couldn’t very well give up on trying to figure out what was on the other side of the door if it truly was the way forward...