Cultivating Disciples To Breakthrough

by Stayrr

Within a quiet pavilion on top of a lonely mountain peak, Xuan Hao slowly opened his eyes with a bewildered look on his face, he had transmigrated into a cultivation world as an elder of the Flying Sword Sect. He was even an expert at the Nascent Soul Realm, who had the power to easily destory an entire city with a wave of his hand. Most importantly, he had a system that allowed h

29. 949

Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough #Chapter 949 End Of The Second Trial - Read Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough Chapter 949 End Of The Second Trial Online - All Page - Novel Bin

Taking advantage of this new ability to control the tentacle plants that he had ended up creating by accident when the Dao of Corruption came into contact with the tall grass, Xuan Hao used all the power that he could squeeze out of the tentacle plants to keep the two unfortunate emerald serpents from escaping the tentacle plant forest that they had ended up entering. Even if he knew that the tentacle plants were far too weak to kill any of them, his goal was to exhaust them enough that he could swoop down and kill one of them before the other emerald serpents came to help them.

As long as he killed one of them, he would have completed the trial of the second celestial gate and an exit would hopefully appear before he ran out of energy to keep himself up in the air and out of danger.

At the same time, below Xuan Hao, the two emerald serpents were struggling to break free from the seemingly countless number of tentacle plants that had suddenly grabbed hold of them.

Rumble~!

As they thrashed around on the ground in an attempt break free from the tentacle plants, the two emerald serpents began growing increasingly desperate after realizing that the grip of the tentacle plants didn't weaken in the slightest. On the contrary, it seemed like their strength was starting to weaken, as the tentacle plants were slowly sapping away their life force.

Hissss!

Knowing that their time was running out, the two emerald serpents gathered their remaining strength in a last-ditch effort before violently attacking everything around them-

BOOM-!

Crack!

As one of the two emerald serpents had reached the Peak of the Soul Ascension Realm while the other had passed the Fifth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm, the power that the two emerald serpents exploded with when going all out was far above the limit of what the tentacle plants could endure, as they shattered under the powerful attack. Giving the two emerald serpents a chance to escape from the tentacle plant forest trapping them.

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"What a perfect opportunity to strike!"

However, it was just at this moment, when the two emerald serpents had gone all out to escape, that Xuan Hao had been waiting for-

Swish-!

And in an instant, Xuan Hao dived down towards the weaker of the two emerald serpents, covering the distance between himself and the emerald serpent in the blink of an eye, while his sword shone in a sharp silver light before he swung it down towards the emerald serpent with all his might. Using almost all the remaining qi left in his dantian for the simple yet powerful sword attack.

Ching~!

Soon, the clash of metal against scales resonated through the tentacle plant forest, and for a moment, Xuan Hao felt a shiver run down his spine. The sword had indeed reached its target, but the emerald serpent's strength had surpassed his expectations and had actually managed to block the attack with its tough scales.

Squeak!

Swoosh~

Realizing the seriousness of the current situation, the rabbit demon beast who had remained inactive during the last two attacks jumped into action and used its qi to help amplify the strength of Xuan Hao's sword attack. Helping increase its strength just enough for Xuan Hao's sword to slash through the tough scale and bury itself deep inside the head of the emerald serpent before the sword energy contained inside violently spread throughout the body of the emerald serpent.I think you should take a look at

Hisss-

BOOOM-!

Not having the energy left to fight against the violent sword energy wreaking havoc inside of its body, the emerald serpent directly exploded.

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Swish-!

Having successfully killed the final emerald serpent with the timely help of the rabbit demon beast, Xuan Hao let out a sigh of relief before escaping back into the sky before the Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beast had time to exact revenge for its dead comrade.

"That was the final one, the exit should appear now that I completed the trial." Though exhausted to the point where his entire body was in pain, Xuan Hao knew that he wasn't safe yet and kept looking around the grass plain. Searching for the gate that would hopefully be appearing before the last bit of energy inside his body ran out and he ended up falling into the rather large number of emerald serpents who wanted nothing more than to kill him.

Rumble-!

Not disappointing him, the ground beneath began violently shaking before it split open directly below where the five demon beasts and emerald serpents were fighting with each other-

ROAR!?

HISSS!?

As a result of the ground beneath them suddenly opening up, the emerald serpents and demon beast ended up falling straight into the opening in the ground. Instantly putting a stop to the fighting, as the remaining demon beasts and emerald serpents who had been lucky enough to stand at the edge where the hole in the ground opened up observed the weird change with cautious expressions on their faces. None of them understood what had happened and if the demon beasts and emerald serpents who had fallen down into the hole were dead or alive.

Rumble~

However, it did not take long before the emerald serpents and demon beasts who had disappeared into the hole appeared again. The only difference was that instead of being on top of the ground, this time around, they were all on top of a massive stone platform that slowly ascended from the hole before reaching the same level as the surrounding terrain. In the middle of the enormous stone platform, a gate similar to the second celestial gate could be seen opening up the moment the stone platform had settled in place.

"It's here!"

Swish!

Observing this from above and seeing the second celestial gate, Xuan Hao used all of his remaining strength to rapidly descend from the sky before rushing through the celestial gate before any of the demon beasts or emerald serpents had any time to react to what was happening-

Whoosh~!

Disappearing from the trial space the next moment.

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Roar!?

Seeing Xuan Hao disappearing together with the rabbit demon beast, the demon beasts beside the celestial gate and those approaching from the distance all realized that the celestial gate that had appeared was exactly the same as the one they had passed through before finding themselves inside the trial space-

Whoosh-!

Whoosh-!

Whoosh-!

And considering that Xuan Hao and the rabbit demon beast had already left, these demon beasts no longer saw any reason to stay inside the trial space. After all, even if they were confident in their own strength, they would like to avoid having to fight with the emerald serpents if possible.

Hisssss!

Seeing the demon beasts all trying to leave through the celestial gate that had suddenly appeared, the emerald serpents that had remained hidden all sprung forth and attacked them. Not intending to let them leave so easily. Especially considering that three of their own had already been killed, while none of the demon beasts had died so far.

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In their eyes, there was no difference between the demon beasts and Xuan Hao. Meaning that they also viewed these demon beasts as the ones behind the death of three of their comrades!

Boom! Boom!

Soon, violent shockwaves spread through the trial space, as the emerald serpents clashed with demon beasts who were trying their best to ignore them as they rushed towards the exit. None of them were willing to risk getting stuck inside the trial space if the celestial gate ended up disappearing.

Hissss!

Hisss!

Hiiisssss!

Even more so because they now realized just how many emerald serpents were hidden inside the tall grass!

…

"Hah… That was a close call…" Having successfully managed to escape through the celestial gate before any of the demon beasts or emerald serpents could stop him, Xuan Hao could not help collapsing on the ground with an exhausted expression on his face.

The few minutes that he spent inside the second trial had ended up draining him completely. Only the bare minimum qi was still present inside his dantian to make sure that he could still move around. Outside of this, he couldn't even do something basic like flying in his current state, let alone fighting.

Squeak? Squeak!I think you should take a look at

Popping its small head up from a small hidden pocket in Xuan Hao's robe that it had hidden inside of the rabbit demon beast curiously examined Xuan Hao's current state before jumping out of the pocket with a heroic expression on its cute and cuddly face.

Even if Xuan Hao didn't understand a single thing of what it was trying to say, he still understood that it intended to protect him while he recovered.

Whoosh~!

So, without caring about where he had ended up inside the massive forest of the mist covered mountain range, Xuan Hao closed his eyes and focused all his attention on recovering from the earlier battles. Only keeping a bare minimum divine sense active outside of his body in case something happened.

Given that the rabbit demon beast had already accepted the blood contract and become the Star Shattering Sect's official guardian beast, he didn't worry about the rabbit demon beast attacking him while he was recovering.

Squeak!

Seeing Xuan Hao closing his eyes before starting the process of recovering, the rabbit demon beast let out a happy squeak, as it felt joyful knowing that Xuan Hao trusted it enough to do something like this. After all, in the mind of the rabbit demon beast, it thought Xuan Hao did this due to him trusting it. Not aware of the fact that there was a certain blood contract in place that would prevent it from trying to kill him in the first place…

Following this, time slowly passed in the small clearing that Xuan Hao and the rabbit demon beast had been teleported to after leaving the trial space. One hour turning into a day before long an entire week had passed since they had left the trial space.

During this period of time, no particularly strong demon beast appeared, but there were still a few Domain Lord Realm demon beasts appearing every now and then. Of course, with the rabbit demon beast around, these demon beasts didn't stand a chance.

From the looks of things, the Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beast who should have left the trial space at this point in time, had ended up in completely different locations from them. If they were lucky, these demon beasts would have given up on chasing after them and had returned back to the empty void to continue their fight for control over it.

Whoosh~

As a gentle wind passed through the leaves of the tree that the rabbit demon beast was sleeping on top of at the moment, Xuan Hao slowly opened his eyes after a week of recovery. Although he didn't just spend the past week solely on recovering, but also used part of this time to study the dao domain attack he had used.

Although the dao domain attack was a powerful attack that essential carried the power of the different Daos he had comprehended and integrated into his dao domain, Xuan Hao also understood that this kind of attack had no control and could end up backfiring on himself if he was not careful enough.

If he wanted to fully use the power of his dao domain for an attack like that, he would have to comprehend how the different Daos had reacted to each other and figure out a way to harmonize them into a single attack. Not the chaotic mess of an attack that he had ended up using.

At the very least, the attack did give him some precious insights into how he could use the Dao of Corruption in the future. Although, he did feel like something was wrong with the Dao of Corruption. After all, there had to be some kind of reason that the only ones he had seen using the Dao of Corruption were abominations.

Maybe my current strength and comprehension of the Dao of Corruption is too low to figure out what is wrong…

Shaking his head as he threw the problems with the Dao of Corruption to the back of his mind for now, Xuan Hao turned to look at the rabbit demon beast sleeping on top of tree branch not too far away from where he was sitting.

No matter how he looked at it, the behavior of the rabbit demon beast was more akin to a cat than a rabbit…

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Feeling Xuan Hao's gaze, the rabbit demo beast woke up and jumped down from the tree before waltzing over with a proud expression plastered all over its small cute, furry, and cuddly face. Almost like a child looking for praise after it had done a good job.

"You did well…" Not knowing what else to say when faced with this kind of behavior, Xuan Hao took out a few spirit stones and threw it to the rabbit demon beast who happily jumped up and swallowed them before closing its eyes to absorb the spiritual energy inside the spirit stones and turn it into its own qi.

Asleep again… Oh well, it at least deserves some rest after watching over me for the past week.

Shaking his head as the rabbit demon beast once again went into a state of cultivation, Xuan Hao instead turned his attention towards the system or more specifically the side quest relating to the three celestial gates. Curious about what had changed after he passed the trial of the second celestial gate, while a small part of him was hoping that it would give him some clues as to the location of the third and final celestial gate, so he didn't have to search through the massive forest again.

Even more so than before, as he had now ended up offending most of the Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beasts inside the forest…

[Side Quest: The Three Celestial Gates, Part 2]

[Description: You have reached the mysterious mountain range hidden behind the mist. To uncover the secrets hidden inside the mountain range, you must find three ancient celestial gates and pass through them. So far, you have successfully passed through the First Celestial Gate, the Gate of the Eternal City and the Second Celestial Gate, the Gate of the Serpent Plains. Only the third and final Celestial Gate remains. Luckily, you happened to be teleported right on top of it after leaving the trial of the Second Celestial Gate.]

[Objective: Seek out the Three Celestial Gates and defeat the guardians within.]

[First Trial: Trial of the Eternal City (Complete)]

[Second Trial: Trial of the Emerald Serpent (Complete)]

[Third Trial: ???]

[Reward: Starlight Essence]

Reading through the description of the side quest once again after having confirmed that he had indeed successfully passed through the second trial, Xuan Hao was overjoyed to discover that there was indeed a clue about the location to the third Celestial Gate inside the description.

The only problem was that he had no idea where the Celestial Gate that he was apparently on top of was. From what he could see, the only thing beneath him was the familiar soil and foliage of the forest. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Unless the third celestial gate is located inside some kind of underground cave…

Realizing this, Xuan Hao didn't waste a second before using his divine sense to pierce into the ground beneath him in search of the cave that the third celestial gate should be located inside of.I think you should take a look at

"Huh?"

However, after only a few dozen meters, Xuan Hao was left baffled as he discovered that there was nothing beneath him. No dirt, no stones, no cave, just a large sea of clouds that seemed never ending with similar islands like the one he was on top of appearing every now and then in this sea.

"I ended up on top of one of the mountains!?" Taking a few seconds to comprehend just what had happened, Xuan Hao could not help feeling shocked at where he had ended up after leaving the trial of the second celestial gate.

For some reason, he now understood why none of the Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beasts had come to find him during the past week.

Even if they wanted to find him, it was unlikely that they would think of climbing up one of the terrifyingly tall mountains to do this. Even if they intended to do something like this, it would not be an easy feat to accomplish as they might end up running into a unique race similar to the weird tree race, he had encountered after leaving the trial of the first celestial gate.

Even if the demon beasts had also reached the Peak of the Soul Ascension Realm, they were still far weaker when compared to the terrifying tree he had encountered back then!

But… Now I at least know why the description said that the third celestial gate was directly below me. The only problem left to solve is how to get down to the forest again…

Although he only needed to get down and not climb up the mountain, Xuan Hao still felt that doing this wouldn't be much safer than climbing up the mountain.

As for just jumping off the mountain and flying down through the sea of clouds to reach the forest below…. Xuan Hao did think about this, but quickly changed his mind after seeing a demon beast falling off the side of one of the mountain peaks into the sea of clouds before getting devoured by some kind of strange creature living inside the sea of clouds.

From the short glance he had managed to get of the creature, he understood that its strength was no less than the large tree from the weird tree race. Making the act of jumping off the mountain peak and descending down through the sea of clouds a far less appealing way of getting back down to the forest below again.

At least for now, it looked like slowly climbing his way down the mountain would be the safest way for him down.The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøvlß1n.

Swoosh~

Having come to this conclusion, Xuan Hao grabbed the rabbit demon beast before starting to make his way down the tall mountain. Making sure to remember the location that was directly below the place where he had ended up after leaving the trial of the second celestial gate.

Not bothering to question the weird shape of the mountain peak that he had ended up on during the entire process…

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Going down the side of the mountain together with the rabbit demon beast, Xuan Hao didn't end up encountering anything dangerous like he had first expected and managed to reach the location where the mountain met the sea of clouds.

However, instead of plunging directly into the clouds that was blocking his view, Xuan Hao came to a stop a dozen meters away from the clouds and began carefully examining them for any traces of the strange creature that he had seen swallow up a rather unlucky demon beast only a few minutes earlier.

Although the chance of encountering the strange creature hidden inside the sea of clouds should be far lower by sticking to the side of the mountain where he would be harder to spot, there would always be a chance that he was unlucky and ended up running into the strange creature the moment he tried passing through the clouds.

Only after making sure that there was nothing inside the clouds directly in front of him with his divine sense, did he proceed down into the sea of clouds below.

Whoosh~

As Xuan Hao stepped into the sea of clouds, he was immediately captivated by the ethereal beauty of the sea of clouds that seemed to stretch on endlessly, its misty waves rolling and swirling like an otherworldly spectacle. Drawn by the allure of this mystical place, Xuan Hao momentarily forgot about the danger lurking beneath the beauty of the place.

ROOOAR!

Just at this moment, a loud roar rippled echoed through the sea of clouds. Followed by a strange creature emerging from the depths of the place, its immense form obscured by the swirling clouds. Its body was filled with dozens of flowing tendrils that looked like flowing clouds and a pair of sharp horns could be seen on top of its head. The limbs of the creature were completely obscured from view and were impossible to discern at his current distance, but Xuan Hao could easily imagine them in a similar flowing state as the tendrils.

All things considered, Xuan Hao believed that the creature was far larger than any demon beast he had met before and should only have been surpassed by the corpse of the large squid-like creature belonging to the Dao of Corruption that he had seen during his time in the ancient sect ruins in terms of size.

However, the most shocking thing he discovered about this creature was not its size nor its unique appearance, but instead its strength.

When he first got a glance of what should have just been one of the small tendrils sticking up from the sea of clouds to devour the unlucky demon beast who had ended up falling into the sea of clouds, he had perceived the creature to have reached a similar strength as the powerful tree from the weird tree race, but… Now that he saw it in person, he realized that the strength of the creature in front of him was far above that of the Soul Ascension Realm.

If he was not wrong, the creature in front of him should have already surpassed the Soul Ascension Realm and reached the Earth Immortal Realm that the guardian Aria had mentioned to him!

Even worse, the creature's mouth was wide open, revealing its razor-sharp teeth as it looked towards him with what could only be described as a hungry expression.

The overwhelming fear of being targeted by a terrifying existence like this momentarily caused him to freeze on the spot. After all, different from the remnant soul of the demonic cultivator he had encountered in the temple at the Main Star Peak, the creature in front of him was a genuine Earth Immortal Realm demon beast. Not something that he had any way of resisting with his current strength.

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Also feeling the terrifying aura of the Earth Immortal Realm, the rabbit demon beast woke up from its cultivation state and poked its head up before turning to look towards the approaching cloud demon beast- I think you should take a look at

Squeak?

However, different from Xuan Hao who had momentarily frozen in fear when faced with the cloud demon beast, the rabbit demon beast was completely unaffected by the terrifying aura and instead looked just as arrogant as always while facing another demon beast.

ROOAR!

Seeing the arrogant expression on the face of the rabbit demon beast who seemed to be looking down on it, the cloud demon beast let out another terrifying roar filled with killing intent. This time directed towards the rabbit demon beast in an attempt to force it into submission through its display of strength-

Squeak? SQUEAK!

Unfortunately for the cloud demon beast, the rabbit demon beast didn't react the way that it had wanted it to and instead just let an angry squeaking sound. Feeling offended by the cloud demon beast's attempt to scare it.

"Huh?"

It was also at this moment that Xuan Hao managed to recover from the impact of the Earth Immortal Realm aura of the cloud demon beast. Only to be left speechless at the scene of the small rabbit demon beast no larger than his fist arrogantly facing off against the immense cloud demon beast that eclipsed it in both size and strength.

What in the world is this rabbit, is it perhaps stronger than I first thought?

Seeing this scene, Xuan Hao could not help guessing that he might have misjudged the strength of the rabbit demon beast. Although it displayed the strength of someone who had just passed the Second Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm, it might actually secretly be hiding its true strength.

Considering the fact that he had no clue about the abilities of Earth Immortal Realm demon beast and had no idea if he would be able to see through the disguise of such a powerful demon beast, Xuan Hao could not help feeling that it made sense if the rabbit demon beast had been able to hide its true strength from him.

Swish-!

Bang!

SQUEEEAAAK!

However, as one of the tendrils came flying over and hit the body of the rabbit demon beast who ended up getting being knocked flying in a state that could be considered at the brink of death, Xuan Hao quickly threw the thought of the rabbit demon beast secretly being a powerful demon beast in disguise out.

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"..."

Not knowing what to say after seeing the rabbit demon beast getting send flying before hitting the side of the mountain before rolling down and out of the sea of clouds, Xuan Hao had no idea whether to call the rabbit demon beast stupid of genius for escaping the sea of clouds in this manner.

Although, part of him had feeling that this was not the intended outcome that the rabbit demon beast had been hoping to archive…

Roar?

In a similar confused state after seeing the rabbit demon beast disappearing, the cloud demon beast also seemed to have thought the rabbit demon beast was some kind of strong demon beast that was hiding its true strength. In a weird coincidence, both Xuan Hao and the cloud demon beast were left in a confused state looking in the direction that the rabbit demon beast had disappeared in.

Ah! I still have to escape as well!

Swoosh-!

Suddenly realizing that he also had to escape from the cloud demon beast, Xuan Hao took advantage of the cloud demon beast still being in a confused state to follow the rabbit demon beast.

ROOOOAR!?

Realizing that Xuan Hao was trying to escape, the cloud demon beast let out a loud roar filled with killing intent. Feeling an unknown anger that it had never felt before spreading through its body as it looked at the escaping Xuan Hao.

So far, all of the creatures it encountered would end up shivering in fear without moving. Never had there been any prey daring enough to escape from it before today!

BOOOOM-!

Thinking about this, a far more terrifying energy exploded forth from the cloud demon beast. Soon enough, its Earth Immortal Realm cultivation base was on full display.

Rumble!

As a result of this, the entire sea of clouds started violently trembling violently like it was about to collapse under the terrifying pressure brought about by the Earth Immortal Realm cultivation base.

"So, this is the Earth Immortal Realm! How I wish my first encounter with a living expert in the Earth Immortal Realm would have been more friendly…" Muttering this to himself while desperately trying to escape the terrifying cloud demon beast, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a sense of helplessness wash over him when faced with the full strength of the cloud demon beast.

Only at this point in time did he truly realize just how big the difference between someone in the Soul Ascension Realm and Earth Immortal Realm was. Even if he could reach the Late Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm in the future, he doubted that it would be enough for him to stay alive in the face of someone in the Earth Immortal Realm.

Whoosh~

As the entire sea of clouds was on the brink of collapse under the terrifying aura of the cloud demon beast, a change suddenly took place, as the formation that had been trapping him in the center of the mist covered mountain range reappeared-

Roar?

"Huh?"

Rendering both Xuan Hao and the cloud demon beast confused.

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However, this confusion soon turned into fear as the formation expanded at a speed visible to the naked before covering the entire mist covered mountain range before stretching far beyond the boundaries of the mist covered mountain range itself. Soon enough a terrifying aura rendering even the cloud demon beast insignificant gathered in the sky far above the mist covered mountain range.I think you should take a look at

Looking through the sea of clouds that had already collapsed at this point in time, the location where the power was gathering through the formation became visible.

The power is gathering… In the sun!?

Feeling like his mouth unintentionally opened in disbelief after realizing where the formation was gathering power, Xuan Hao felt a shiver run down his spine as a thought appeared in his head.

The guardian formation guarding the entire mystic realm activated!

Although he had managed to sneak past the formation and make his way inside the mystic realm with the help of the demon beasts who helped destabilize the entrance for him, he still understood just how terrifying this formation was.

Even using his full strength, he couldn't even cause a small ripple to appear when it was in a passive state. Now that the formation had activated, he could only imagine how terrifying it was…

RUUUUUMBLE-!

Just at this moment, the formation seemed to have gathered enough power, as the sun in the sky violently exploded before a stream of flames descended down towards the cloud demon beast still locked in state of shock and fear.

I have to get away from this place!

Not caring about anything else, after realizing that the target of the formation was the cloud demon beast, Xuan Hao jumped off the side of the mountain before rapidly falling towards the ground. Trying his best to escape before the flames could reach the cloud demon beast.

Squeak!

At this time, Xuan Hao noticed the rabbit demon beast still in the process of rolling down the side of the mountain beside him.

"…"

Swish~

Using his dao domain to grab the rabbit demon beast on his way down, Xuan Hao once again focused on trying everything to increase the speed at which he was descending towards the forest below. Hoping that he could make use of the third celestial gate to escape from the powerful clash of energy that would soon take place between the cloud demon beast and the terrifying flames.

"There it is!"

Spotting the third celestial gate just as he was about to reach the ground, Xuan Hao could not help happily exclaiming to himself as he rushed towards it with all his strength-

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM-!

However, just at this moment, a terrifying explosion echoed out from behind him followed by a terrifying heat wave that instantly melted or burnt everything on his body expect his interspatial rings and the rabbit demon beast that he barely managed to save in time. If not for the fact that he had comprehended the Dao of Fire, he doubted that he would have even been able to protect himself…

Even without turning around, Xuan Hao realized that the clash between the cloud demon beast and the flames descending from the sun had begun.

Luckily for him, he didn't have to experience any more of the clash between the two, as the third celestial gate was directly in front of him-

Whoosh-!

And not wasting a single second, he rushed into it.

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Far away from the mist covered mountain range, both Chu Yang and Qing Yi were sitting down at the edge of a small lake as they both let out a small chuckle while talking about what they had gone through since the death of the mole demon beast.

Rumble!

It was at this moment that a loud rumbling sound suddenly echoed out behind them, causing them to turn around.

"Hm? What was tha-"

BOOM!

Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Chu Yang was just about to ask Qing Yi if she saw something when a shockwave suddenly hit both of them-

Splash!

Throwing both of them into the small lake before they had any time to react or resist the shockwave.

Not knowing what happened, Chu Yang and Qing Yi decided to not immediately surface and instead remained inside of the water. Having guessed that the shockwave they had been hit by was the result of two powerful demon beasts fighting with each other.

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Judging that they had no way to resist the shockwave nor even notice the shockwave approaching them, the strength of the demon beasts fighting should at least have reached the Domain Lord Realm!

With this in mind, it would be best for them to try and stay hidden. After all, with their current strength, they would have no way to fight back if they ended up getting targeted by a Domain Lord Realm demon beast…

BOOOOOM-!

As if to prove them right, a far more terrifying sound echoed out above them, as terrifying heatwave caused the water of the lake to boil before rapidly starting to evaporate.

Even if they could endure the boiling hot water with relative ease given their current cultivation realm, Chu Yang and Qing Yi could not help starting to worry after seeing the water level of the lake lowering.

From the looks of things, the heatwave was not like a simple shockwave passing over them once before disappearing, but instead something that lingered around above them without disappearing. If they could not find a place to hide before the remaining water of the lake dried up, they would have to face the terrifyingly high temperature that was already starting to make some of the rocks close to the lake start melting.

The fact that the lake could even endure for such a long period of time was due to a special kind of ice crystal growing on the side of the lake. The ice crystal itself was not really that special outside of lowering the temperature of the water, but at this point in time, these seemingly useless ice crystals had ended up buying them more time.

Crack~!

Unfortunately, these ice crystals were shattering at a speed visible to the naked eye, as they had no way to endure the heat the moment the water around them evaporated.

"Let's go deeper and hope the lake is deeper than it looked from the shore…" Not knowing what else they could do at this point in time, Chu Yang and Qing Yi both began making their way deeper into the lake. Silently praying that it was deeper than it looked and there were more powerful ice crystals at the bottom to help protect them from the terrifying heat.

"Over there!" Reaching the bottom of the lake with the surface of the lake now only a few meters above them at this point in time, Qing Yi called out as she spotted a massive ice crystal at the center of the lake.

Even with the water of the lake evaporating at a speed visible to the naked eye, the water next to the ice crystal still remained close to the freezing point. Although the ice crystal was still showing signs of starting to crack, the speed was far slower compared to any of the other ice crystals on the bottom of the lake.

Whoosh~!I think you should take a look at

Not wasting a single precious second, both Qing Yi and Chu Yang rushed towards the massive ice crystal before finding a small hole in the side of it. From where they could squeeze inside the ice crystal.

Although the temperature was freezing and forced them to use their qi to protect themselves from turning into human popsicles, it was still far better than being burned alive by the terrifying heat that was rapidly evaporating the water of the lake.

Slowly, the water inside the ice crystal drained out from the small hole they had used to squeeze inside the ice crystal-

Crack~!

And before long, a cracking sound followed by a steady increase in temperature followed.

"The lake is gone…" Not having to think too hard about what had happened, Qing Yi could not help muttering this to herself as she prepared one of the defensive talismans that her master had given her. Prepared to use it the moment the ice crystal broke apart.

"…"

Chu Yang didn't say anything but had similarly prepared himself with one of the defensive talismans in hand.

CRACK-!

BANG!

Only a short moment later, the ice crystal finally couldn't hold up against the terrifying heat as it shattered. Exposing both Chu Yang and Qing Yi to the terrifying temperature outside the ice crystal-

Whoosh~

"Huh!?"

"Waaaah!?"

However, before any of them had a chance to use the talisman of their master to protect themselves from the heat, they fell into a small hole located directly beneath the now shattered ice crystal that they had been hiding inside.

Luckily for them, the ice crystal that had been above the hole prevented the heat from fully entering the hole before it shattered-

Splash!

As a result, both Chu Yang and Qing Yi once again ended up in the water after falling for a few dozen meters.

Swish~

Understanding that the water would soon start heating up before also evaporating, Chu Yang grabbed the collar of Qing Yi, who was still in a state of panic after the sudden drop, before diving down into the water filled hole without any hesitation.

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"Huh?"

Continuing down for what felt like hours, Chu Yang suddenly realized that he was being dragged down by a powerful force. Even if he tried and resist this downwards pull, it was to no avail, as he got dragged down together with Qing Yi.

Rumble~

Soon the faint sound of rushing water could be heard coming from beneath them and before they had any time to react before the hole ended abruptly and they once again found themselves falling-

"Waaaah!? Not again!"

Something Qing Yi was not too thrilled about. Especially after noticing the massive underground river that slowly came into view beneath them.

Splash!

However, she could do nothing but cling onto Chu Yang as they fell into the water and were along with the powerful current. Even if they could fight against it, it would be a hopeless endeavor, as they would end up running out of energy before, they had a chance to escape from the massive underground river. After all, they were still in the Nascent Soul Realm and couldn't fly like someone in the Domain Lord Realm…

All things considered; they could only pray that they didn't end up inside the lair of some powerful demon beast when the currents of the underground river finally calmed down enough for them to make their escape.

…The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøvlß1n.

Not aware of what his disciples were going through due to the clash between the cloud demon beast and the main guardian formation of the mystic realm, Xuan Hao was cautiously making his way through a large desert.

The desert itself was a vast and desolate expanse, stretching as far as he could see. Its golden sands almost like an ocean frozen in time that only moved under the constant power of the wind. Only the towering dunes and large cliffs dotted the barren landscape.

Different from the other two celestial gates he had gone through so far, there was no sign of any stone pedestal or Scroll of Trials that would help him understand what the trial was about. The only thing accompanying him was the scorching sun dominating the empty sky above.

I wonder if the fight between the cloud demon beast and the guardian formation is over…

Having already wandered through the desert for over an hour without finding anything at this point in time, Xuan Hao could not help wondering about what had ended up happening to the cloud demon beast.

Given that the guardian formation was far more powerful than the cloud demon beast from what he had managed to see before escaping, the fight should have ended relatively quickly, but then again, he had no idea how powerful the cloud demon beast really was. After all, the Earth Immortal Realm was still far away from the current him and he could only speculate as to what had ended up happening from the difference in power between the two.

For all he knew, the cloud demon beast could have never displayed its true strength and might have ended up escaping before the formation had a chance to kill it.

As for the cloud demon beast winning against the formation? Xuan Hao never thought about this, as the cloud demon beast was obviously still trapped inside the mystic realm. Meaning that it was too weak to break through the formation and leave.I think you should take a look at

Hm? Maybe the cloud demon beast was just waiting for an opportunity to strike and took this chance to launch an all-out attack towards the guardian formation to break free from the mystic realm.

Thinking about this, Xuan Hao could not help getting worried about his two disciples who were still inside the mystic realm. Different from him who could resist the aftereffects of the clash between the cloud demon beast and the flames from the sun in the sky of the mystic realm, his two disciples would have no way to resist even a fraction of power from such a powerful attack.

Considering that the talismans containing part of his power had not yet been activated, he could at the very least feel at ease that his disciples shouldn't be anywhere close to where the cloud demon beast and guardian formation were clashing with each other.

However, at the same time, he also understood that things might not always be like this, as the fight between the two might start expanding and affect a larger part of the mystic realm in the process.

For now, he could only hope that his two disciples were far away from the mist covered mountain range and if they happened to be close enough to see the battle taking place from a distance, he hoped they would be smart enough to make their way back towards the exit of the mystic realm.

If this was not possible, he at the very least hoped they would escape as far away as possible from where the battle was taking place…

Rumble~

"Hm?!"

Whoosh~!

Suddenly feeling a faint shaking from the sand beneath him, Xuan Hao threw the thoughts of his two disciples to the back of his mind as he jumped into the air to avoid any possible ambush from beneath-

Bang!

And this was just in time as a giant mouth broke through the sand beneath the place, he had been standing just a second ago.

Rumble!

Having missed its target, the large mouth filled with countless teeth lined up in hundreds of rows inside wiggled around for a few seconds in confusion before diving back into the sand again. Giving Xuan Hao a chance to marvel at the massive size of what could only be a giant sandworm.

Even from the short glimpse he managed to get of it above ground, he could easily guess that the sandworm must have reached a length of several kilometers… And the sandworm in front of him had only reached the Fourth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm!

If the sandworms grew larger the stronger, they were, Xuan Hao could not even imagine how large a Soul Ascension Realm sandworm would be. Even the cloud demon beast and the dead squid like demon beast belonging to the Dao of Corruption wouldn't be anywhere near the size of such a sandworm…

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956 Scroll of Trials and a rather Unique Dao...

Deciding to land on one of the nearby cliffs instead of going back on the ground again after his brief encounter with the sand worm, Xuan Hao could not help narrowing his eyes as he spotted something in the distance.

Hidden by several large cliffs which blocked his view from the ground, a large structure could be seen on the other side.

The structure itself was a massive sandstone tower that was partially buried in the shifting sands of the desert. Even if he could only get a general outline of the structure at his current distance, it was still possible to see some of the worn-out carvings and symbol etched into the surface of the tower.

Swish~!

Seeing this sandstone tower, Xuan Hao didn't waste any time before making his way over to investigate it. After all, it was the only structure that he had encountered so far in the desert and might contain a clue as to what the trial of the third celestial gate was about.

Hopefully, the trial would not require him to hunt down a certain number of sandworms…

"Hm? The Scroll of Trials?"

Reaching the sandstone tower, Xuan Hao was surprised and relieved to find the familiar stone pedestal present at the top of the tower.

Given that he had not found the stone pedestal after such a long time, he had thought that there wouldn't be any scroll of trials present inside the third celestial gate, but from the looks of things, it was just a little harder to find this time around.

Whoosh~

Examining the top of the sandstone tower for any traps with his divine sense, Xuan Hao slowly descended before landing on top of the sandstone tower beside the stone pedestal after making sure that there weren't any traps or anything else guarding the scroll of trials.

"Trial of the Great Sandworm? Defeat the guardian of the desert to pass the trial…" Reading through the scroll of trial, Xuan Hao felt like one of his fears had been confirmed, as he did indeed have to defeat a sandworm. The only positive thing about it was the fact that he would only have to defeat a single one like the first trial he had gone through.

Then again, he didn't have over a dozen Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beasts entering the celestial gate together with him this time around. Meaning that the difficulty of the trial should at the very least be easier to accomplish compared to the trial of the second celestial gate.

If not for the fact that he had managed to take advantage of the fight between the emerald serpents and the demon beasts, he doubted he would have ever been able to complete the trial of the second celestial gate with his current strength…

Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao focused his attention back on the scroll of trials again. Looking for any clues as to where the guardian of the desert was located and hopefully also a few weaknesses that he would be able to take advantage of while fighting the guardian.

"Ah, there is something here!" Finding a part that listed the different Daos that the guardian was weak against, Xuan Hao could not help feeling his head start hurting after seeing the endless list of Daos that he had never heard about before appearing in front of him.

"Dao of Curses, Dao of Seals, Dao of Illusions… Why is this sandworm weak to so many different Daos!?" Muttering this to himself as he continued reading through the long list of Daos that the sandworm was weak against, Xuan Hao could not help lamenting to himself over just how many different Daos existed in the world.

Among these different Daos, the weirdest one was a Dao called the Dao of Beast Riding. For some reason, it made him think about the beast tamers back in the Star Shattering Sect. Maybe the path that they were going would result in them comprehending a Dao like this in the future…?

Reading through the long list filled with countless Daos also made him feel amazed at the sheer number of Daos that the power who had constructed the celestial gates were knowledgeable about. Maybe only the empires located at the center of the continent would come anywhere near this level of knowledge on different Daos… And this was not even mentioning the fact that the list in front of him was only Daos that the sandworm was weak against…

"Hm? Dao of Ice? Ah!? It's weak to the Dao of Ice!" Mindlessly reading through the long list for what felt like hours as the scroll seemed to magically expand whenever he reached the end, Xuan Hao could not help exclaiming when the Dao of Ice suddenly appeared on the list of Daos that the sandworm guardian was weak against.

Not only was he filled with excitement learning that the guardian was weak to the Dao of Ice, but it also gave him a boost in confidence when it came to fighting the guardian of the desert.

Now, the only thing he needed to find out about was where this guardian was located. After all, given how large the desert was, it would take him a long time to search through it by himself. Especially considering that he still had no clue about just how large the desert was in the first place.

So far, the only thing he knew about the desert other than the fact that it was inhabited by giant sandworms living beneath the desert itself. Outside of that, he had no idea just how big this desert was nor if there were other living creatures inside the desert.

To find out about this, he could only continue reading through the scroll of trials-

"Hm?"

However, a problem soon occurred, as the list of Daos that the guardian of the desert was weak to came to a sudden end without there being any information on the location of the guardian in question…

1/2

Bit late with first chapter as I was busy dealing with some family stuff. Next chapter will be out in another hour or two... Or three (the last part was not edited in later! I promise!) :3

PurpleSpring

The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

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957 Search For the Guardian of the Desert

"How am I supposed to find a sandworm hiding beneath the sand in this massive desert without any clues about its whereabouts?" Feeling a sense of helplessness wash over him as he comprehended the true difficulty of the trial ahead of him, Xuan Hao could not help looking down at the endless sea of sand beneath the sandstone tower.

Even if he ended up searching through the entire desert, he realized that he might not be able find the guardian of the desert that he was looking for, as it still had the ability to hide underground like the sandworm he had encountered not too long ago.

"Maybe I should explore the rest of the sandstone tower and see if I can find anything useful for finding the guardian of the desert…" Knowing that it would be useless for him to just stand around and lament over the difficulty of the trial, Xuan Hao placed the scroll of trials inside his interspatial ring before making his way down the small ladder next to the stone pedestal leading down into the sandstone tower.

"Looks like there won't be much to find in here…" Muttering this to himself as he made his way down the ladder, Xuan Hao could not help letting out a disappoint sigh as he saw the empty interior of the floor directly below the top of the sandstone tower. Sand all over the place and what little furniture and other things that might have been present inside the tower in the past, had long since decayed and disappeared from the world.

If not for the fact that the ladder was made up of the same sandstone that the tower was built out of, it would most likely also have disappeared in the long passage of time. Not giving him much hope for the rest of the sandstone tower, as it seemed only the scroll of trials had somehow been able to endure the long passage of time.

Continuing down, it did not take long to confirm this.

All things considered; the interior of the sandstone tower was not much more interesting than its worn down exterior.

However, after reaching what should have been the bottom of the empty sandstone tower, Xuan Hao discovered that it kept going down far beyond the surface of the sand.

"Hm?"

Not only that but leaning over the side of the sandstone spiral staircase that had appeared at the bottom floor, he realized that there was a much larger structure beneath the sandstone tower, or more specifically, the sandstone tower was only a small part of this massive structure that was still sticking up above the surface of the sand. The rest had been buried beneath the sand over countless years. The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

Whoosh~

Feeling a cold gust of wind drifting past his face as he was leaning over the edge of the spiral staircase, Xuan Hao took a step forward and jumped off the edge of the spiral staircase-

Swoosh~

Bang~

Plummeting directly down to sandstone floor at the bottom of the spiral staircase. Not planning to go in circles for what would have been a few thousand times before finally reaching the bottom of the staircase when he could just jump over the edge skip the tedious task and prevent himself from ending up dizzy in the process.

Given that he did not spot any traps or living things with his divine sense, he did not really worry about jumping into some kind of trap.

"Indeed, this place is not as simple as I thought at first…" Getting a chance to inspect what could essentially be considered the true bottom of the sandstone tower, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a sense of surprise upon seeing the countless murals and other paintings covering the walls and ceiling of the small side hall that he found himself inside of.

The reason for the surprise was not that these murals and wall paintings had managed to survive during the long passage of time, but due to the fact that he was already familiar with many of the murals and wall paintings, or more specifically, the stories that they were presenting.

"This is the battle of the ice phoenix fighting against the combined power of the different races…" Muttering this to himself as he realized the implications of the different murals and paintings covering the small hall, Xuan Hao froze on the spot as he began to examine the different murals and paintings more carefully.

Feeling curious if there was something different about these murals and paintings compared to the ones he had seen before. However, outside of being far more detailed with more races present in the battles, it did not look that much different from the murals he had seen so far.

Although he already knew that the mystic realm should have belonged to an ancient sect called the Mirage Sect that was skilled in the art of illusions according to the information Feng Chen had found, he had no idea what kind of sect this was nor how they had suddenly disappeared from the world.

Considering that they might have allied together with the ice phoenix depicted as the enemy of everyone in the murals and painting. Maybe they were even the sect that the ice phoenix was a part of, if that was the case, it would make a bit more sense how the Mirage Sect had disappeared.

"Why do I feel like learning more about this ice phoenix only ends up making things more confusing than before?" Muttering this to himself as he glanced up at the mural depicting the ice phoenix all by itself in the face of the countless different races, Xuan Hao felt like his head had started to hurt.

With his current limited information, it was nothing more than a pipe dream if he wanted to figure out just what these murals were depicting. Outside of what was shown.

In the end, he could only throw this to the back of his mind once again before making his way towards the large pair of doors leading out of the small hall.

2/2

Will be a bit more on the main plot of the novel for once, rare, I know...

Rant below can be ignored~

I want to also start writing on my second novel again from tomorrow and try to see if I can do daily chapters for that as well.

For some reason I feel like I want to write far more than before at the moment. No idea if this sudden drive to write more is due to me starting to enjoy writing the same I did before I got contracted, even before this novel existed, but I want to continue this, as its far more enjoyable for me to write than before at the moment. Not that I didn't enjoy it before, just like it more now xD

PurpleSpring

Standing in front of the large pair of sandstone doors leading out of the small hall, Xuan Hao couldn't help marveling at the intricate carvings on the surface of the large doors. Even with the passage of time, these intricate and mystical carvings of different mythical creatures had managed to remain intact.

Taking a step forward before trying to push open the pair of large sandstone doors, Xuan Hao could not help frowning as he felt the terrifying weight of the pair of doors in front of him.

Rumble~

Deciding to put more strength into his arms and raising the strength used all the way up to the Peak of the Domain Lord Realm, the large sandstone doors finally began to show signs of moving-

Creeeeaaak~!

However, it was only when his strength reached a level comparable to that of the First Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm that the sandstone doors finally gave in and opened up to reveal a large hallway on the other side.

"Just what kind of sandstone is this door made of…?" Muttering this to himself as he briefly glanced over the now open pair of sandstone doors, Xuan Hao soon turned his attention towards the large hallway leading deeper inside the massive underground structure buried beneath the sand.

Although he had no idea what kind of purpose the structure had served in the past for the trial, he felt that it should have some other use than just being the place where the scroll of trials happened to be located.

If that was the case, there would have been no need to construct such a massive structure in the first place, just leaving the stone pedestal somewhere near the place he had appeared after entering the trial like the other two trials had done would have been far simpler…

"Hm? This is…" Observing the walls of the hallway, Xuan Hao could not help frowning as he noticed a thin line of energy connecting to the sandstone door traveling along the side of the wall before disappearing behind a corner a few hundred meters ahead.

The reason that this thin line of energy happened to catch his attention was not due to the fact that it was there, but more so the fact that he hadn't sensed it with his divine sense earlier and should have only just appeared after he opened the sandstone door.

I hope this isn't some kind of trap…

Feeling a sense of unease as he kept his attention focused on the corner that the thin line of energy had disappeared behind, Xuan Hao prepared himself for whatever kind of trap might have been triggered by him opening the sandstone doors.

The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

Tap~ Tap~

Not a second later, the sound of something light moving through the hallway could be heard. Instantly causing Xuan Hao to prepare himself for the worst as his dao domain spread out together with his divine sense.

"Huh?"I think you should take a look at

However, what appeared in front of him was not some kind of powerful guardian demon beast nor some kind of puppet that might have been activated as a result of someone entering the structure forcefully. Instead, what appeared in front of him was a human-sized golem made up of what could only be described as some kind of mud. Not to mention over half of its body was missing, causing it to slowly limp towards him at a speed that even a normal mortal could outrun.

The only thing forcing him to take the golem seriously even in that condition, was the fact that he could feel a terrifying power no weaker than the cloud demon beast inside the golem.

Although it was faint and clearly close to extinguishing at any moment, he didn't dare being the slightest bit careless when faced with something that had to do with the Earth Immortal Realm, the feeling of absolute suppression that he had felt when facing the cloud demon beast was still fresh in his mind.

Thump!

Just as the golem was about to reach the area covered by his dao domain, it came to a sudden stop before its head turned to look directly at him.

"Greetings trial participant, you have not reached the minimum requirement for redeeming a secret technique. Entering the exchange hall without fulfilling the minimum requirement will result in a response from the Protective Formation in place that might kill you.

The Mirage Sect is not responsible for any trial participants who die after violating the rules. Please turn around and return only after reaching the minimum requirements for exchanging a secret technique."

"It can talk!?"

Taken by surprise by the golem suddenly starting to talk, Xuan Hao momentarily froze as he looked towards the golem filled with confusion.

"Talking is a normal feature of a preservation golem, as they are required to converse with trial participants on occasions and prevent them from recklessly activating the protective formations of the Celestial Trials and get themselves killed in the process." Not caring about his confused state, the preservation golem promptly answered the surprised exclamation without missing a beat.

What in the world is this thing… And Celestial Trials? Is it perhaps talking about the trials of the celestial gates?

Taking a few seconds to calm down as he looked towards the self-proclaimed preservation golem, Xuan Hao could not help feeling confused about the new information that he had obtained from the golem.

Even then, through the information that it had given him, he could at the very least determine that it shouldn't be an immediate threat to his safety and just came out to warn him before he ended up accidently walking into a so-called protective formation guarding part of the underground structure… And given the other formations he had seen so far after entering the mystic realm, he felt rather lucky that he didn't end up walking into one again.

Other than that, he also found out about the fact that the golem belonged to the Mirage Sect and that there was some kind of exchange hall with secret techniques inside the underground structure.

As for any more information, it looked like he would have to try and see if he could get any more information from the golem in front of him. Maybe even try to figure out what the Celestial Trials and requirements it had mentioned was about…

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"Can you give me an explanation of the Celestial Trials?" Feeling that he might as well try to see if he could get any more information from the preservation golem, Xuan Hao decided to ask something simple to start off with.

"The Celestial Trials is the official name of the trials managed by the Mirage Sect."

"What about the Exchange Hall?" Hearing the answer from the golem, Xuan Hao could only roll his eyes as the golem didn't really get any new information before trying to see if he would have any more luck asking about the Exchange Hall.

"The Exchange Hall is the place where Trial Participants can exchange for secret techniques."

"…"The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøvlß1n.

From the looks of things, it would not be answering his question in a detailed manner that would allow him to understand the Celestial Trails or the Exchange Hall in greater detail, but instead just a simple explanation that shed no light on just what the Celestial Trials and Exchange Hall was nor why the Mirage Sect had decided to construct them in the first place.

Hm… If it doesn't have any more information about the Exchange Hall and the Celestial Trials. Maybe it can help me understand when I have the qualifications to enter the Exchange Hall…

"Is there any way I can find out when I have met the requirements to enter the Exchange Hall?"

"Yes, would you like to view your current progress trial participant?"

"Yes?" Not expecting a positive answer, Xuan Hao agreed without thinking-

Swish-!

And before he had any time to react, the half-broken golem that could barely move had appeared directly in front of him. Passing through his dao domain like it wasn't there in the first place. Even if the golem did not show any signs of attacking him, it still caused a shiver to run down his spine, as he felt thankful for not accidentally attacking the golem earlier on.

"Initial examination will begin now, please do stand still during this process as movement might cause inaccuracies in the examination."

Hearing the instructions of the golem that seemed far scarier than before at the moment, Xuan Hao decided to do as it said and remained completely still without moving a single muscle.

Rustle~

Having woken up due to the sudden commotion happening outside, the rabbit demon beast that had somehow managed to sleep through the sandworm encounter slowly poked its tired head out of the small hidden pocket in Xuan Hao's robe.

Squeak?

Coming face to face with the half-broken golem that was standing directly in front of Xuan Hao at this point in time as it was in the process of examining him, the rabbit demon beast could not help tilting its head in confusion. Not understanding what was going on or why Xuan Hao was standing completely motionless without moving a single muscle.I think you should take a look at

SQUEAK!?

As it turned its attention towards the half-broken golem, the rabbit demon beast suddenly seemed to have noticed something as it jumped up in fear before escaping back into the pocket.

Confusing Xuan Hao as to just what had happened to the fearless little rabbit that didn't even fear a demon beast in the Earth Immortal Realm to cause it to become so fearful all of a sudden.

"Examination has been completed; would you like me to list your current progress?"

"Yes."

However, before he had a chance to investigate this any further, the golem finished the examination and not wanting to do anything wrong, Xuan Hao decided to respond as fast as possible. Throwing the matter of the rabbit demon beast's fearful behavior to the back of his mind for now.

After all, even if he wanted to figure out what had caused the rabbit demon beast to become so fearful all of sudden, there was not really much he could do given that it couldn't talk. Even then, he already had a guess, as it had been rather obvious that it was something about the half-broken golem that had caused it to become so fearful all of a sudden…

"Confirmation of trial participant granted; I will now list your current progress in the Celestial Trials…" Not wasting a single second after hearing Xuan Hao's response, the golem began speaking again.

"… Cultivation realm of trial participant, Intermediate Stage Dao Domain Lord, number of trials completed, 2, requirement to enter Exchange Hall at the Intermediate Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm, 3, faction, no information available, unable to gather more information. No more information can be gathered on trial participant, it is recommended that trial participant leave the Exchange Hall and only return after completing at least three trials.

Trial participant has not completed the Trial of the Great Sandworm yet and is recommended to complete it, the guardian of the desert can be found living between the two large cliffs sticking up from the ground south of the Exchange Hall."

Listening to the golem, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a hint of excitement as he realized that the golem not only gave him the answer as to what he needed to enter the Exchange Hall, but also gave him the location of the guardian of the desert that he had been looking for.

"It's recommended that trial participant leave the Exchange Hall immediately, or the protective formation will automatically kick the trial participant out. The Mirage Sect is not responsible for any trial participants who die after violating the rules. Be warned, this request has already been given twice and there is no third warning."

Lost in his own thoughts for a short moment as he felt excited learning about the location of the guardian of the desert that he had been looking for, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a shiver run down his spine upon hearing what the golem in front of him said.

"No worries, I will be leaving immediately!"

Swish-!

Not wanting to stay around inside the so-called Exchange Hall for even a second longer after knowing that it might possibly end up costing him his life, Xuan Hao didn't waste a single second as he left back through the large sandstone doors and made his way back up to the surface again.

Even if he had no clue if the golem had any strength left to fight him nor if the protective formation was still in place, he saw no reason to risk his life testing out these things, it would be far safer to first deal with the guardian of the desert before returning later after having defeated it when he had reached the minimum requirements for entering the Exchange Hall…

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Rumle~!The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

Just at the moment that he reached the top of the sandstone tower, a loud rumbling sound echoed out beneath him as he saw several ancient symbols appearing all over the interior of the sandstone tower. Even without knowing the meaning of these ancient symbols, it was not hard to guess that this should be the protective formation that the preservation golem had mentioned to him.

Whoosh~!

Having now confirmed that the formation guarding the Exchange Hall was still around, Xuan Hao didn't dare waste even a second as he jumped off the sandstone tower before landing on a large sand dune just below the sandstone tower.

Looking back towards the sandstone tower that was now covered in all sorts of ancient symbol brimming with power that made a shiver run down his spine, Xuan Hao understood that he would not be able to return to the Exchange Hall without first fulfilling the minimum requirement mentioned by the preservation golem.

In a sense, he could be considered lucky that he had stumbled upon the Exchange Hall before the formation had activated, as he had no idea how he would find the location of the guardian of the desert without the help of the preservation golem inside.

Even if he could still search through the entire desert for the location of the guardian of the desert, it would most likely end up taking months if not years to do so. Especially considering that he would have no clue what he would even be looking for without having the chance to read through the trial of scrolls located at the top of the sandstone tower…

Remaining focused on the sandstone tower now covered in all sorts of ancient symbols, Xuan Hao tried to see if he could gain anything from trying to comprehend them. However, with his current limited understanding of formations, this was easier said than done, as he could only give up after a few minutes before turning to look south from the sandstone tower.

"The golem mentioned two large cliffs sticking up south from the Exchange Hall, but no matter where I look, I can't seem to find the cliffs that it mentioned." Muttering this to himself as he scanned the desert south of the sandstone for the two large cliffs that the golem had told him about, Xuan Hao realized that it would not be as easy to find the guardian of the desert as he had first expected.

If even the Exchange Hall had been buried beneath the sand over the passage of countless years, so it would only be obvious that the cliffs mentioned by the golem had also been buried beneath the sand over the years.

Hah… Looks like it will still require some effort to find the guardian of the desert…

Letting out a sigh as he thought about this, Xuan Hao could only hope that a part of the cliffs was still above ground like the sandstone tower of the Exchange Hall. If this was not the case, it would become far harder to find the guardian of the desert.

Whoosh~

Deciding not to think about it anymore, Xuan Hao floated a few meters off the ground before starting to move south of the Exchange Hall. Not forgetting to use his divine sense at the same time to scan for the presence of the two cliffs beneath the sand at the same time.

Although this did carry the risk of accidentally giving away his location to any of the sandworms living beneath the sand, he was more than willing to take this risk if it meant that he would be able to find the guardian of the desert faster. Not to mention, he should be able to easily escape from the sandworms by flying, as he doubted that they would be able to chase after him above the sand.I think you should take a look at

Even if the sandworms had the ability to fly, he didn't think they would be fast enough to chase after him given their size, but… A part of him really wanted to see what it would look like for one of the giant sandworms to fly.

"Hm?"

However, just as Xuan Hao was preparing himself to spend the next few days searching through the desert for any signs of the two cliffs that might have disappeared beneath the sea of sand, two large spikes adjacent to each other suddenly appeared in the distance.

"This was easier than expected…" Not knowing what to say upon noticing what could only be the two cliffs that the golem had mentioned sticking up from the ground, Xuan Hao quickly slowed down as he prepared himself to face the guardian of the desert that should be hidden beneath the sand in between the two large cliffs.

Even if he had no idea how strong the guardian of the desert was, he could at the very least still guess that it should at least be somewhere around the same strength as the guardian Aria whom he had faced alone. No, considering that he also had the rabbit demon beast with him, it might even be slightly stronger than Aria!

Thump~

Landing on the ground a few thousand meters away from the two large cliffs, Xuan Hao spread out his dao domain and allowed it to penetrate the ground beneath him to help guard against any attack from below.

Rumble!

Only a few seconds after landing and having his dao domain spread out, a loud rumbling sound echoed out from beneath him, as the sand beneath his feet started shifting. Soon revealing a large mouth opening up directly beneath him-

Swish-!

Of course, having already been prepared for an attack from beneath, Xuan Hao didn't show any surprise after seeing the giant mouth filled with rows upon rows of teeth opening up beneath him, as he instead used his movement technique to quickly avoid the surprise attack before the mouth had a chance to close around him.

Bang!

Not a second later the enormous mouth closed shut with tremendous force!

"So, this is the guardian of the desert…"Landing a few hundred meters away, Xuan Hao could not help narrowing his eyes as he witnessed this giant mouth closing shut before swallowing everything within a few kilometer of where he had been standing just a moment ago. Only now realizing just how large the guardian of the desert was compared to the sandworm he encountered earlier on...

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RUMBLE-!

Realizing that it had missed its target, the sandworm emerged from beneath the desert's surface, its massive form causing the sand on top of it to cascade down its body like a waterfall running down the side of a mountain.

Turning its massive body in the sand for a few seconds as Xuan Hao watched on in awe, as he wondered whether it would even be possible for him to kill such a massive creature in the first place. Not only was the size of the sandworm a problem, but its strength was by far the most worrying. Having reached the Fifth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm.

Although the Fifth Stage of the Soul Ascension Realm might not sound like too much of a problem considering the fact that Xuan Hao's current strength was comparable to that of someone in the Fourth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm, it also had to be noted that the physical body of the sandworm in front of him was far stronger than just a Fifth tribulation Soul Ascension Realm demon beast.

Observing it with his divine sense, Xuan Hao had a feeling that even the Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beasts from the massive forest of the mist covered mountain range would be nowhere near the same level of the sandworm in front of him. Even worse, he could sense a few similarities between the power given off by the enormous body and the cloud demon beast!

If he was not wrong, the physical body of the sandworm in front of him should have reached a realm that was only a single step away from the Earth Immortal Realm…

ROOOOOAR!

Not caring about what Xuan Hao thought about it, the sandworm let out a deafening roar, its dark eyes fixed on Xuan Hao, as it recognized him as the same person who had escaped from its attack a few seconds earlier.

Rumble~

Wasting no time after this, the sand worm rushed towards him as its giant mouth opened side enough to blot out a part of the sky.

Swish-!

Dodging the mouth of the giant sandworm by leaping into the air, Xuan Hao could not help wondering if he had overestimated the strength of the sandworm. Even if it had a strong body, it would not be too difficult to deal with if its only form of attack was opening its mouth wide and trying to swallow him. Especially so with how he would be able to simply fly into the air to dodge this kind of attack with no effort on his part.

The only limiting factor was that the space of the desert still limited his ability to fly for a prolonged period of time. Although not to the degree of the emerald serpent trial, it still used a significant amount of energy, something that would be best to avoid when it came to fighting against a powerful creature like the sandworm below him.

Thump!

For this reason, instead of remaining in the air above the sandworm, Xuan Hao firmly landed on top of it before the silver sword appeared in his hands as he gathered his power at the tip of the sword before stabbing into the scales covering its body-

Ching~!

However, the defensive ability of the sandworm was not something that easy to breakthrough, as the sword barely scratched the surface of the scales before bouncing off without doing any real damage to the enormous creature.The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

If he wanted to do any real damage to the sandworm with his current strength, he would first have to find a weak point, a chink in the scaly armor of the sand worm.I think you should take a look at

ROOAR!

Feeling Xuan Hao trying to stab through its scales, the giant sandworm roared in anger before it began violently thrashing beneath him in an attempt to throw him off. Even if he did not succeed in breaking through its scales, it was still a rather painful experience to be hit with the full blunt force of his sword attack.

Bang! Bang!

Roar!

Soon realizing that it was unable to throw off Xuan Hao who continued probing its body for any possible weakness by using his dao domain to conjure thousands of different sword attacks to attack all over its body, the sandworm decided that enough was enough-

RUMBLE-!

And before Xuan Hao had any time to react, the enormous body of the sandworm over a dozen kilometers in length suddenly rolled over. Resulting in Xuan Hao finding himself getting dragged down beneath the sand in the process.

The change in surroundings didn't affect him too much as his dao domain kept the sand at least a few dozen meters away from his body, but at the same time, he also understood that it would be far harder to escape the attacks of the sand worm. Especially considering that he was at least a hundred meters beneath the sand at this point in time.

However, as long as he remained attached to the sandworm, there would be no way for it to attack him-

"Huh?"

It was only at this point in time that Xuan Hao realized that the scales of the sandworm that he had been standing on top of only a moment ago had completely disappeared. Instead, being replaced by a layer of solid sand that felt similar to them.

The sandworm has the ability to manipulate sand!?

Even if he realized this now, it was already too late at this point in time, as the sandworm had already managed to fool him and somehow escape without him noticing.

It did not really help that his divine sense had been severely limited due to him being underground and the fact that the sand had a rather unfortunate property of also restraining the area he could cover with his divine sense in a similar way as the tall grass from the emerald serpent trial.

In a sense, he was now completely defenseless against the giant sandworm hiding somewhere nearby, just waiting for an opportunity to strike.

All of a sudden, Xuan Hao no longer felt that the sandworm was weaker than expected…

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Knowing that trying to escape back towards the surface would end u putting him at a disadvantage when it came to defending or avoiding a possible attack, Xuan Hao decided to remain motionless in the sand as he waited for the sandworm to make the first move.

It's here…

Feeling the sand around him moving, Xuan Hao narrowed both of his eyes before focusing his full attention on his divine sense. The moment the sandworm approached him to attack, he would be able to react and get out of the way before making his way back up to the surface of the desert where it would be far safer for him to fight the sandworm.

Rumble~

"Huh?"

However, instead of trying to swallow him like he had expected it to do, the sand beside him started rapidly hardening. Making it far more difficult to move around compared to before. Even if it was still possible to move, it would be close to impossible for him to dodge an attack from the sandworm.

For this reason, Xuan Hao could not help showing a somewhat ugly expression on his face upon seeing the sandworm appearing directly beneath him.

Opening its large mouth, the moment it entered the range of his divine sense, the sandworm began rapidly ascending towards Xuan Hao, who was completely surrounded by the hardened sand that had turned into some kind of sandstone at this point in time. Not intending to give him any chance to escape like he had done before.

Bang!

Swish-!

Knowing just how bad his current situation was, Xuan Hao could only use all of his energy to forcefully break through the sandstone all around him before rushing towards the surface.

Unfortunately, the process of breaking through the sandstone caused his speed to slow down as the sandworm caught up to him-

RUMBLE-!

And through his divine sense, he could see the razor-sharp rows of teeth surrounding him on all sides slowly closing in on him. Essentially, he had just entered the mouth of the sandworm and it was currently in the process of closing its mouth in an attempt to use the countless rows of teeth to rip him apart.

Different from the Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beast that had ended up swallowing him back in the forest of the mist covered mountain range, the sandworm did not have any weakness he could take advantage of and attack, as all parts of its mouth was covered in rows upon rows of sharp teeth.

Entering its body to cause damage was also out of the question, as it was similarly guarded by even more teeth that would be impossible for him to break through!

As for where the sand it swallowed ended up going… From what he could see through his divine sense, it seemed like it had countless small openings inside its mouth that allowed the sand to filter out without entering its stomach.

From the looks of things, if he didn't figure out a way to escape his current situation, he would really end up getting skewered by the sharp rows of teeth rapidly closing in on him!

Maybe I can take advantage of the small openings in the mouth of the sandworm and try to see if I can cut open a hole big enough to fit through…

Feeling like he was growing desperate as the large teeth started getting closer along with the hole representing the way out of the mouth getting smaller, Xuan Hao decided to try and take advantage of the small openings in the mouth of the sandworm to possibly create a path out of the mouth.I think you should take a look at

Even if he had been unable to break through the scales of the sandworm so far, it could be said that the small openings presented a way for him to attack the scales of the sandworm from beneath and possibly cut them off the sandworm entirely this way.

Swish-!

Not wasting a second after having come up with this plan, Xuan Hao gave up on trying to outrun the sandworm and instead allowed himself to fall deeper into the mouth before moving towards one of the places in the mouth where the sand filtered through before being expelled from the mouth.

Swoosh-!

Using his silver sword enhanced by his sword intent and further strengthened by the power of his dao domain, Xuan Hao began slashing at the place where the sandworm was filtering the sand out of its mouth.

Ptsh!

The blade soon cut into the tough, leathery flesh covering the inner part of the sandworm's mouth, causing a large amount of blood to spray out, dying the surrounding sand bright red in the process-

ROOOOOOOOAR!

And at the same time causing a deep howl filled with pain to erupt from beneath him as the sandworm howled in pain at the sudden attack inside of its mouth. Although it was only superficial damage so far and hadn't really done much damage to the sandworm itself, it was still a painful experience for the sandworm.

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However, more importantly than all of this, the sudden pain caused the sandworm to momentarily come to a stop as its body twisted in response to the pain.

"Hm!?"

Not having expected this when he was trying to desperately dig his way out of the sandworm's mouth, Xuan Hao's eyes shone with excitement at the brief window of opportunity that had presented itself-

Swish-!

Not one to let go of this chance, Xuan Hao abandoned his plan of digging a hole through the mouth of the sandworm and instead seized the moment to muster all of his strength before escaping from the jaws of the sandworm.

Bang!

Crossing the last few dozen meters to the surface, Xuan Hao leaped into the air before stepping to the side-

BANG!

Narrowly avoiding the sandworm, that had already managed to recover from the pain, as it burst up through the sand beneath him in a rather majestic display of its massive body that was now fully out of the sand for the first time.

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Watching as the sandworm continued up for a few more seconds after having missed him before gravity kicked in and dragged its massive body back towards the ground again, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a sense of awe when faced with the sheer size of the sandworm. By far, it was the largest creature that he had ever encountered so far. Even the weird squid creature and the cloud demon beast came nowhere near the size of the sandworm gracefully falling towards the ground in front of him.

As Xuan Hao speculated earlier, the giant sandworm was too big to fly.

Maybe it was due to the fact that the space inside the trial space was far more stable than the outside world, making it far harder to fly, or maybe it was simply due to the fact that the sandworm had never thought about trying to do it in the first place.

No matter what it was, this all resulted in the sandworm now falling back down towards the ground without being able to slow its fall.

But… More importantly than that, the sandworm's current state presented a perfect opportunity for Xuan Hao to launch an attack-

Swish!

And having already managed to find one of the sandworm's possible weak spots during his short stay inside its mouth, Xuan Hao was more than happy to jump at this opportunity to test out whether or not he could make use of the tiny filters to get beneath the scales of the sandworm and start doing some real damage inside of it.

Ching~!

Hitting the scales of that covered the large head of the sandworm, Xuan Hao didn't flinch and instead focused on controlling the energy contained inside the sword to spread out to cover the head of the sandworm instead of trying to break through the close to indestructible scales. Allowing it to search for the small openings that had been used to filter the sand out from the mouth earlier on.

Although this was not easy to do with how little time he had left before the sandworm landed on the ground and had the chance to escape or try and swallow him again, Xuan Hao already knew the rough location of where these filters were located on the head of the sandworm-

"There!"

And a short moment before the sandworm landed on the ground, he finally found them!

Whoosh-!

Wasting no time after finding his target, Xuan Hao used a large portion of his qi to create a large amount of sword energy that soon gathered in the palm of his hand before violently smashing it into the location where the openings that the sandworm used to filter sand out of its mouth was located.

BOOOOOOM-!

The second his palm filled with sword energy hit the body of the sandworm, it violently exploded forth with a terrifying might before rushing into the small openings in the body of the sandworm.

ROOOOOOOOOOOAR!

Feeling the terrifying sword energy that had infiltrated its body before traveling beneath its scales directly towards its vital organs, the sandworm could not help letting out a both panicked and painful roar, as it felt the sword energy tearing apart its body in the process.

Even worse, when it tried to expel the sword energy running rampant inside of its body, it quickly discovered that the scales that normally protected it, was now making it far more difficult for it to forcibly expel the sword energy from its body. Not only that, but it soon discovered that Xuan Hao had appeared on the opposite side of its head-

BOOOOM-!

And before it had a chance to react, another palm filled with sword energy fell on the sand filter, as even more sword energy rushed inside of its body before starting to cause even more damage.

ROOOOAR!

At this point in time, the sandworm was no longer thinking about swallowing Xuan Hao, but was instead thinking about how to escape before things got worse… And the best way to do this was by digging into the sand where it would be able to exert its full power.

In the head of the sandworm, as long as it could hide away beneath the sand, it would be able to easily escape from Xuan Hao and find a safe place to expel the sword energy from its body.

Understand this as well, Xuan Hao tried his best to destroy the sandworm from the inside before it had a chance to reach the sand, but in the end, he also realized that the body of the sandworm was simply far too large for him to kill in such a short amount of time.

Even if he had free access to run rampant inside the body of the sandworm at the moment, it didn't matter.

And that was not even mentioning the fact that the sandworm also had an abnormally fast recovery speed. If he didn't dedicate part of the sword energy to making sure it didn't regrow the parts that he destroyed, it would end up recovering almost immediately after he had done any damage…

I won't be able to kill it in time like this, but how can I kill the sandworm faster than now?NvεlB¡n: Transforming Moments into Memories.

Knowing that he would have to think of something else if he wanted to kill it before it could escape, Xuan Hao could not help narrowing his eyes as he thought about all possible solutions he could think of-

Wait… Maybe I can try and use the Dao of Corruption. If it works, it should feed on the energy inside the body of the sandworm and devour it from the inside!

Thinking about this, Xuan Hao thought about a few other ideas, but in the end, only the Dao of Corruption seemed like it was going to work and not having any time left to think of other ways to kill the sandworm, Xuan Hao decided to use the Dao of Corruption.

Swoosh!

In one swift motion, the Dao of Corruption spread through his Dao domain and entered the body of the sandworm. Using the many passages carved out by the sword energy to rapidly spread through the entire body of the sandworm.

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Although the Dao of Corruption had only just begun devouring its vitality, the speed at which it was spreading through the paths carved out by the sword energy was increasing and before long, the Dao of Corruption had spread throughout the entire body of the sandworm.

Roar!

Feeling the Dao of Corruption rapidly starting to devour its vitality, the sandworm let out a painful roar as a terrifying killing intent emerged from the depths of its eyes. Although it was in a rather bad situation when the sword energy permeated throughout its body, it did not truly believe that Xuan Hao would be able to do any real damage before it reached the sand below, but this changed the moment it felt the Dao of Corruption infiltrating its body before starting to devour its vitality.

Even if it should be able to reach the sand before the Dao of Corruption devoured it completely from the inside, it understood that it would be left in an extremely weak state and would be unable to defend against any follow up attacks from Xuan Hao.

Not to mention Xuan Hao, even if it managed to escape, it would also have to worry about other sandworms taking advantage of its weakened state to try and devour it to increase their own strength.

Compared to Xuan Hao, where it could escape from by digging into the sand, there was no way that this kind of escape would work against a fellow sandworm…

BANG!

Just at this moment, the tail of the sandworm finally crashed into the sand below, causing a large amount of sand to fly into the air as the rest of the sandworm began crashing into the sand. Although this was the case, it would still take some time before the entire body of the more than a dozen kilometer long body of the sandworm was back on the ground again.

Rumble!

However, this was more than enough for the sandworm to establish a connection with the sand, as the entire desert beneath it starting violently trembling before it rushed up body of the sandworm before covering its entire body-

BOOM!

And before Xuan Hao had a chance to understand what the sandworm was planning to do; a terrifying force was exerted through the sand.

Whoosh-!

As the sand was pressed up against the body of the sandworm, a strange reaction took place between the scales of the sandworm and the sand, as a strange yellow qi began oozing out from the sand before being absorbed by the sandworm the next moment.

Not knowing what was happening, Xuan Hao could only continue to observe the situation inside the body of the sandworm, as the yellow qi soon arrived at the areas where the sword energy and Dao of Corruption was present.

Bang! Bang!

Not a second later, the yellow qi began clashing with the Dao of Corruption and the sword energy at the same time. Stopping any further damage to the inside of the sandworm's body, while at the same time also started to push back before slowly starting to recover some of the damage that had been done by the sword energy or the Dao of Corruption.

"Huh?"

Seeing this, Xuan Hao could not help showing a confused expression on his face. Not understanding how the sandworm had suddenly managed to mount a defense and push back against him, Xuan Hao began to more closely observing the yellow qi as it coursed through the body of the sandworm and fought back against the sword energy and the Dao of Corruption with his divine sense.

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The yellow qi did not act like normal qi, but instead behaved in a similar fashion to his sword energy and the power from the Dao of Corruption that had infiltrated the body of the sandworm.

This yellow qi… If I'm not wrong, it should be the Dao that the sandworm comprehended…

Observing the battle inside the body of the sandworm for a few seconds, Xuan Hao came to this conclusion.

Although he had not seen the sandworm use any form of domain so far, it was still a demon beast at the Fifth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm. No matter how bad its comprehension was, it should still have comprehended a domain at its current realm.

As for what kind of Dao it had ended up comprehending, it was rather obvious.

So, it comprehended the Dao of Sand, I thought that its ability to manipulate the sand was due to the fact that it was a sandworm, but… Now it looks like the reason it has this ability is because it comprehended the Dao of Sand!

Narrowing both of his eyes as he thought about this, Xuan Hao realized that it would be impossible for him to kill the sandworm with the sword energy and Dao of Corruption before it could escape underground… And watching as half of the sandworm's body had already been submerged in the sand, Xuan Hao could only try and think of another way to kill it before it had a chance to escape.

Hm? What about the Dao of ice… It should be weak to it according to the scroll of trials, but… Is this weakness perhaps alluding to the fact that the Dao of Ice has some sort of restraining effect on the Dao of Sand?

During this time, Xuan Hao suddenly remembered how the scroll of trials had listed the Dao of Ice as one of the weaknesses of the sandworm.

Although he had no idea how the sandworm would be weaker against the Dao of Ice compared to any of the other Daos he had comprehended before, he now finally had an idea as to how the sandworm would be weak against the Dao of ice-

Whoosh~!

And not really having any other options left, Xuan Hao gathered most of his remaining power together in a single attack using the Dao of ice before pushing it through the small openings and along the path carved out by the sword energy and into the body of the sandworm.

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Swoosh~!

As the freezing cold power of the Dao of Ice rushed inside the body of the sandworm, it immediately transformed into small ice crystals that froze everything they passed by before replacing the already exhausted power from the Dao of Corruption and the sword energy in fighting against the yellow qi belonging to the Dao of Sand.

Crakle~

Following the ice crystals meeting the yellow qi, a noticeable crackling sound could be heard throughout the body of the sandworm, as the ice crystals attached themselves to the yellow qi before freezing them in place.

Roar!?

Trying to gather more yellow qi from the surrounding desert to fight back against the ice crystals, the sandworm could not help letting out a panicked roar, as it realized that the yellow qi had met its natural enemy. No matter how much yellow qi it gathered from the sand around it, it couldn't do anything to the ice crystals that were rapidly spreading throughout its entire body without slowing down.

Whoosh-!

Before long, some of the ice crystals inside the body of the sandworm began following the yellow qi out of the body of the sandworm before spreading into the sand that covered the sandworm-

Roar!?

And before the sandworm realized what was happening, the sand all over its body that it was using to create the yellow qi, froze in place. Not only that, but the sand around its body also froze over completely. Locking the sandworm in place and preventing it from escaping into the sand below.

ROOOOOOOAR!

Knowing how bad its current situation was as it clearly felt the ice crystal starting to freeze its entire body from the inside, the sandworm began thrashing around in an attempt to free itself from the frozen sand that imprisoned it-

Crack!

Given just how powerful the physical body of the sandworm was, the frozen sand had no way to hold the powerful sandworm in place, as it directly shattered apart after the sandworm began thrashing around.

Of course, Xuan Hao had never expected to keep the sandworm in place. All he really wanted to do was buy more time for the freezing cold power of the Dao of Ice to spread through the body of the sandworm.

Rumble~

For this reason, Xuan Hao decided to use what little power was still left in him to create dozens of small ice chains that from the broken frozen sand on the ground to bind the sandworm and hold it in place before it had a chance to escape beneath the sand.

ROAR!

Feeling the dozens of chains that was now holding it in place, the sandworm's killing intent exploded again as it began thrashing around to break free from the chains.

Craaaaack-!

However, different from the frozen sand that had held it in place before, the sandworm had grown noticeably weaker during this short period of time as the ice crystals continued spreading inside of its body. Making it harder and harder for it to make use of its powerful physical body to break free from the icy chains.

Craaack-!

Even when it broke apart one of the chains, it was soon replaced by a new one, as Xuan Hao used whatever energy he managed to recover to create new ice chains that could prevent it from escaping. Not intending to let it run away after going through such a long and exhausting battle.

R-Roar!

Realizing that it was no use, as it felt the ice crystal starting to spread to its vital organs, the sandworm could not help letting out a final defiant roar before the ice crystal managed to fully engulf its vital organs. Killing its body before freezing its soul to death a short time later.

"Finally…"

Feeling the soul of the sandworm disappearing along with all signs of life from its body, Xuan Hao let out a sigh of relief as he stopped providing qi to the ice chains holding its body in place-

Craaaaaaack~

Bang! Bang

Instantly causing the dozens of ice chains to shatter before falling to the ground in large chunks of frozen sand.

BOOOOM-!

Only a short second later, the massive body of the sandworm fell to the ground. Not able to remain upright any longer without the help of the large ice chains.

Thump~

Not able to keep himself in the air due to exhaustion any longer, Xuan Hao used the last bit of qi left I his body to land on the ground before closing his eyes to recover as fast as possible. Although he had managed to defeat the guardian of the desert, he also understood that there were still other sandworms in the desert and given his current exhausted state, he would most likely not even be able to face off against the Domain Lord Realm sandworm that he had encountered earlier on…

Rustle~

Poking its small head out at this moment before rapidly scanning its surroundings for something, the rabbit demon beast soon showed a relieved expression on its face after realizing that the preservation golem from earlier was nowhere to be found before turning its attention towards Xuan Hao.

Squeak?

Seeing Xuan Hao's exhausted state as he was fully focused on recovering, the rabbit demon beast could not help tilting its head in confusion. Not understanding what had happened during the time that it had hidden away inside his robe.

Squeak!?

Beginning to scan the surroundings for something that wasn't the preservation golem, the rabbit demon beast soon spotted the giant frozen sandworm laying no more than a few hundred meters away from it.

Squeak…

Feeling the terrifying power still lingering in the air around the sandworm before looking back towards Xuan Hao who had completely shut off the world outside to recover as fast as possible, the rabbit demon beast could not help showing a hint of admiration on its almost permanently arrogant little face.

For the first time since it had decided to follow after Xuan Hao, the little rabbit demon beast began to admire him.

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Having defeated the guardian of the desert and with the rabbit demon beast guarding him, time slowly passed as Xuan Hao was focused on recovering his strength. Outside of a small part of his divine sense that he was using to keep an eye out for any potential enemies approaching, he was blind to his surroundings and what the rabbit demon beast was up to during this time.

Unknown to Xuan Hao, after the first day passed, the rabbit demon beast had begun to look towards the large dead body of the sandworm filled with hunger. For a demon beast like itself, the body of a demon beast whose physical body was already a step into the Earth Immortal Realm was something incredibly tempting.

Even if it understood that Xuan Hao was the one who had killed the sandworm and it would essentially be stealing from him, the rabbit demon beast felt its reason disappear with each passing second as it started focus more of its attention on how great the sandworm would taste than on keeping an eye out for any approaching demon beast who might try to cause trouble.

Squeak…

Finally reaching a breaking point on the third day, the rabbit demon beast cautiously approached the dead body of the sandworm before slowly starting to nibble away at the frozen body.

Chomp~ Chomp~

At first it only intended to take a few bites of the giant sandworm without Xuan Hao noticing, but it soon lost control over its body after feeling the clear and distinct increase in power brought along by consuming the body of a more powerful demon beast. Even with its Second Tribulation Soul Ascension Realm cultivation base, it still clearly felt its cultivation increasing as it consumed the body of the sandworm and absorbed the inherent power inside the flesh.

BOOOOM-!

Before the rabbit demon beast could get itself under control again, its cultivation base directly broke through to the limit of the Second Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm!

Squeak!?

Recovering its senses, the moment it accidentally broke through the limits of the Second Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm, the rabbit demon beast let out a surprised squeaking sound before looking up into the air above it where a small and almost invisible tribulation cloud had started forming.

Whoosh~

Following the tribulation clouds forming, an illusory bolt of lighting flashed through the sky before descending towards the unprepared rabbit demon beast. From the surprised and panicked expression of the rabbit demon beast, it became rather obvious that it didn't know that breaking through the limit of the Second Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm would instantly result in the third tribulation of the Immortal Soul Tribulation descending.The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

If it had known this beforehand, it was almost certain that it would not have continued mindlessly consuming the body of the dead sandworm. After all, each and every single tribulation of the Immortal Soul Tribulation was a life and death matter. Unless absolutely necessary, demon beasts and humans alike would prepare beforehand undergoing the tribulation to increase their chances of survival… And given how the rabbit demon beast was still feeling stuffed from eating so much sandworm meat, it could be said that it was far from prepared to deal with this tribulation…

Bang!

SQUEAAAK!

As the illusory lightning bolt flew through the air before smashing into the panicked rabbit demon beast, the rabbit demon beast could only let out one final panicked squeak before its eyes went blank and it collapsed on the ground without showing any signs of movement.

"Huh?" Opening his eyes and looking over due to the rather large commotion that had been caused by the rabbit demon beast, Xuan Hao could not help letting out a surprised sound as he managed to catch a glimpse of the illusory lightning bolt before it smashed into the body of the rabbit demon beast.

Although only for a short moment, the terrifying power contained inside the small illusory lightning bolt was more than enough to cause a shiver to run down his spine as an almost primordial feeling of fear appeared in the depths of his soul.

This is… The Third Tribulation of the Immortal Soul Tribulation…?

Taking a few seconds to calm down and examine the situation, Xuan Hao could not help opening both of his eyes in surprise after realizing just what had happened. Although he was not familiar with the Immortal Soul Tribulation, he could still put two and two together after noticing the obvious increase in strength of the rabbit demon beast.

Not to mention the obvious tribulation clouds hanging in the sky above the rabbit demon beast…

But how did it manage to reach the Peak of the Second Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm so quickly and even challenged the third tribulation? As far as I know, it should not have been too long ago that it passed the second tribulation from what I could tell-

Lost in his own thoughts as he looked over the rabbit demon beast wondering how it could have improved so fast, Xuan Hao suddenly noticed that a large part of the dead sandworm seemed to be missing.

Ah… So that is what happened…

Putting two and two together, Xuan Hao had no idea what to say for a short moment before a somewhat helpless expression appeared on his face. "This little thing, so gluttonous. Maybe this will be a good lesson for it if it manages to survive the tribulation."

At this point in time, there was nothing he could do but hope that the rabbit demon beast managed to overcome the tribulation and successfully reach the Third Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm. Only then would it have a chance to learn from its mistake.

"It looks like I won't be able to return to recovering for now…" Muttering this to himself as he looked over the motionless rabbit demon beast that seemed to be locked in some kind of internal struggle, Xuan Hao sat down not too far away as his divine sense spread out to cover his surroundings in full force.

Even if the rabbit demon beast had ended up in a dangerous situation due to its gluttony and might end up dying because of it, Xuan Hao had no plans of giving up on the rabbit demon beast. Intending to give it his all in protecting the rabbit demon beast while it was going through the third tribulation.

Although his strength had not fully recovered yet, it should be fine as long as he didn't end up encountering another guardian of the desert.

Hm… Maybe I should check out the side quest while I'm waiting. At least it should have been completed now that I killed the guardian of the desert.

Knowing that he wouldn't have too much to do in the foreseeable future, Xuan Hao decided to check on his side quest and see what had changed now that he had killed the guardian of the desert…

[Side Quest: The Three Celestial Gates, Part 2 (Complete)]

[Description: You have reached the mysterious mountain range hidden behind the mist. To uncover the secrets hidden inside the mountain range, you must find three ancient celestial gates and pass through them. So far, you have successfully passed through the First Celestial Gate, the Gate of the Eternal City and the Second Celestial Gate, the Gate of the Serpent Plains. Only the third and final Celestial Gate remains. Luckily, you happened to be teleported right on top of it after leaving the trial of the Second Celestial Gate and soon made your way into the third and final celestial gate. Soon overcoming this final trial.]

[Objective: Seek out the Three Celestial Gates and defeat the guardians within.]

[First Trial: Trial of the Eternal City (Complete)]

[Second Trial: Trial of the Emerald Serpent (Complete)]

[Third Trial: Trial of the Great Sandworm (Complete)]

[Reward: Starlight Essence]

Reading through the side quest, it had indeed already been noted down as complete after he killed the guardian of the desert without him needing to leave the trial space first. Outside of being noted down as complete, only a few things had changed in the description.

However, he decided against redeeming the reward for completing the side quest for now. Not only because he had no idea what the Starlight Essence was, but also because he feared that redeeming the reward might end up rendering him unable to move or do anything for a period of time… And considering that he was currently watching over the rabbit demon beast, this would have to wait until later.

At the very least, it seemed like there wasn't any kind of time limit as to when he would need to redeem it like with the cultivation increase. If there had been something like this, he would have thought that the system might be trying to get him into trouble, but then again, the system didn't really keep him out of trouble in the first place…

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Having finished reading through the side quest and with nothing more to do while watching over the rabbit demon beast, Xuan Hao decided to use his dao domain to slowly cut up what remained of the sandworm. Given that the sandworm was already dead, this was far easier to do compared to when he had first tried to break through its defenses.

Whoosh~

After cutting up the sandworm into smaller and more manageable chunks, he separated the scales, meat, teeth, and other useful materials before placing them inside a few spare interspatial rings that he carried with him. After all, given the size of the sandworm, there was no way he would be able to fit everything inside single interspatial ring…

In the end, not only did he manage to harvest a lot of meat that would be beneficial for the growth of demon beasts, but he also managed to gain a lot of other useful materials that could be used in the creation of powerful artifacts and alchemical concoctions of the Soul Ascension Realm. The only problem was that there wasn't really anyone in the current Star Shattering Sect that could make use of the Soul Ascension Realm materials for now.

"Even if the materials harvested from the sandworm isn't useful to the current Star Shattering Sect, they should at the very least serve as encouragement for the elders and disciples to improve. Maybe I could even try to use some of the materials myself…" Muttering this to himself as he put away the last few parts of the sandworm, Xuan Hao soon shook his head. Although he wanted to try and use the scales and teeth of the sandworm to make something, he also understood that his current level when it came to blacksmithing was far too low.

Maybe if he improved his alchemy a bit further and reached the Master Realm, he would be able to make something using a few unique materials harvested from the sandworm, but that would be it. If he wanted to make use of the more powerful materials, he would have to surpass the Master Realm in alchemy.

All things considered; Xuan Hao once again felt that his professions were lacking too far behind when compared to his current cultivation realm. Not only that, but he also felt that the current Star Shattering Sect was lacking when it came to experts specialized in different professions.

The Star Shattering Sect might be improving quickly at the moment, but it would inevitably end up running into a barrier at some point in time if there were no artifacts, potions, pills, or talismans to support the rapid growth of the sect.

Looks like I will have to ask Elder Song about this after returning to the sect and see if he already has some plans to deal with this issue. Given how he is, I don't doubt that he already has some ideas about this issue…

Thinking about this, Xuan Hao could not help smiling wryly when thinking about Elder Song.

Without him, there would have been no way for the Star Shattering Sect to grow so fast and still remain stable. In a sense, Elder Song was the most suitable person for running the Star Shattering Sect and he didn't doubt that Feng Chen would be more than happy to hand over the role of sect master as long as Elder Song managed to reach the Domain Lord Realm in the future. NvεlB¡n: Transforming Moments into Memories.

Unfortunately, the damage that his soul had suffered while taking care of his granddaughter had still not been fully recovered after he used the purification pill. Even then, he wouldn't have any problem reaching the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm. Forming a pseudo domain should also be possible, as that mainly relied on comprehension and didn't involve any kind of tribulation.

Breaking through to the Domain Lord Realm and having to face a tribulation that was specifically targeting his soul on the other hand… That was not something he could endure without his soul fully recovering.

At least there was still a long time until Elder Song reached the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm considering that he was still in the earlier stages of the Nascent Soul Realm and there should be more than enough time to find something to help remove the last bit of hidden injuries in his soul.

Although this might have been difficult before, it should not be too hard to find something like this with his current cultivation realm. Not to mention, he could always try to go through the Explorer Union and buy something through them.

After all, the Explorer Union was spread across the entire continent and sold countless precious materials and spiritual herbs. Even if the price of spiritual herbs or medicine that could heal the hidden injuries inside a soul were expensive, he was not really poor. Especially when considering that large number of special materials he had managed to gather from the sandworm.

Given its size alone, the number of defensive artifacts that could be crafted from its scales alone would be more than enough to make him the riches person in the Sky Empire, let alone if he decided to include things like its teeth and the meat containing part of the power belonging to the Earth Immortal Realm.

In a sense, after killing the sandworm and harvesting its materials, Xuan Hao had become the richest person in the Sky Empire. The only problem was that even if he wanted to sell part of the sandworm, he doubted that there would be anyone who could pay the price. Maybe only the Explorer Union would be able to do this, but they would properly need some time to transfer over these resources first…

Squeak…

Lost in his own thoughts as he had nothing better to do while watching over the rabbit demon beast, an exhausted squeak soon echoed out beside him, as the rabbit demon beast slowly opened its eyes before a powerful aura belonging to the Third Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm emerged around it.

It had successfully passed through the tribulation!

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Squeak!

Recovering some energy after seeing Xuan Hao sitting next to it, the rabbit demon beast jumped up with what little energy it had left before showing off its new strength. However, it severely overestimated how much energy was left in its body after the tribulation-

Thump~

As it ended up falling flat on its face in front of Xuan Hao.

Squeak…!

Ending up in an embarrassing situation like this, the rabbit demon beast let out a somewhat embarrassed squeaking sound before it used the last bit of its energy to climb up Xuan Hao's robe before quickly hiding away inside of it, its proud nature not allowing it to show its face after such a shameful display.

"…"

Not knowing what to say after witnessing this, Xuan Hao could only shake his head before getting up to leave. Although he had not fully recovered yet, he didn't want to stay inside the trial space for too long after having completed the trial. After all, from his experience with the first trial, there should be a limit as to how long he would be able to stay inside a trial after completing it.

Although he did not find anything like this with the second trial, he had been too busy trying to escape at that time.

Given the limited knowledge he had on this matter, he believed that the normal time would be around one week. The only problem was that he had no idea where the gate leading out of the desert was located, it did not neatly appear in front of him after he killed the sandworm. Even worse, it had already been six days since the death of the sandworm.

If he had the same amount of time to leave as the first trial, he was left with less than a single day before the situation inside the desert would become life threatening!

"Guess I can only go back to the Exchange Hall for now and see if I can find out anything from the preservation golem guarding the place. At least I should be able to enter the Exchange Hall now…" Muttering this to himself as he glanced in the direction of the sandstone tower with the Exchange Hall beneath it, Xuan Hao could only pin his hope on the preservation golem and hope that it also knew the location of the gate out of the trial space.

Whoosh~!

Having decided where to go, Xuan Hao didn't waste any time as he jumped into the air before making his way back towards the sandstone tower.

…

Arriving in front of the sandstone, Xuan Hao narrowed both of his eyes as he saw the thin barrier covering the area around the sandstone tower. Different from before, the protective formation mentioned by the preservation golem was now fully activated.

"The protective formation, I wonder if I will be fine just walking into it…" Feeling the ancient power flowing through the ancient symbols on the sandstone tower and into the thin barrier, Xuan Hao hesitated in front of the formation.

If the formation did not recognize him as someone who had completed three trials like the preservation golem said was required to enter the Exchange Hall, he might end up in a far more dangerous situation than facing off against the guardian of the desert if he decided to step inside the formation in front of him. Not only that, but there was also the fact that he did not have a long time left before the seven-day time limit was up.

It's not like I have a much better choice…

Taking a deep breath, Xuan Hao closed his eyes for a short moment-

Thump~

Before taking a step forward into the formation.

"Haaaa… Why is this so nerve wrecking…?" Waiting for a few seconds without anything happening, Xuan Hao could not help letting out a sigh of relief after making sure that the formation did not attack him.

Swish~

Now knowing that he was fine to enter the Exchange Hall, Xuan Hao didn't waste any time before making his way into the sandstone tower and down the spiral staircase. Soon finding himself in front of the large pair of sandstone doors that had closed again at some point in time.

Creaaak~

Slowly pushing open the large pair of sandstone doors again, Xuan Hao did not wait around like he had done the last time and instead began making his way along the old worn-down hallway that was on the other side. Not feeling too worried about any danger now that he knew that the place should be safe for him to move around.

"Hm?"

Moving along the hallway for a few minutes, a large pair of wooden appeared at the end. In front of which, two golems could be seen standing motionless without any signs of life.

On closer inspection, Xuan Hao discovered that the two golems looked exactly the same as the preservation golem that he had encountered when first entering the Exchange Hall. The only difference was that the state of these golems was far worse than the one he had encountered, both of them long since having decayed to the point where they could no longer function-

Whoosh~

"Ah!?The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

Or at least that was what he thought, as one of the two golems suddenly lit up for a brief moment before turning towards him.

"Greetings trial participant, it seems you have successfully completed three trials and have the qualifications to enter the lower section of the Exchange Hall. Would you like a basic introduction to the Exchange Hall?"

"Yes?"

Listening to the golem that looked like it was about to collapse at any moment, Xuan Hao could only hesitantly nod his head in agreement. Not knowing if the golem in front of him even had enough energy left inside of it to complete an introduction of the Exchange Hall in the first place…

"Great, I will now begin a ba-"

Crack~

Bang!

"…"

And almost like it had been planned beforehand, the golem collapsed before it had time to finish the first sentence…

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Not knowing how to react to the golem collapsing in front of him all of a sudden, Xuan Hao remained frozen on the spot for a few seconds before a helpless expression appeared on his face. Even if he had somewhat expected this outcome given the state of the golem, he had at least hoped that it would be able to give him an introduction as to how the Exchange Hall functioned. Unfortunately, it looked like he would have to figure this out by himself.

I was expecting far too much from this broken golem…

Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao slowly began to approach the large pair of wooden doors. Part of him was silently praying that the pair of wooden doors weren't sealed by some sort of ancient formation that required the help of the two broken golems on either side of the large pair of doors.

Creeeaaak~

Lucky, when he tried pushing open the large pair of doors, there was no resistance. However, the sight that met him on the other side of was not anything like he had expected-

"The ceiling of the Exchange Hall collapsed!?"

Instead, what Xuan Hao was met with was a barely intact room that had mostly been buried beneath the sand. From what he could see with the help of his divine sense, it looked like none of the things that had been buried beneath the sand had managed to survive the passage of time without the protection afforded to them by the formation of the Exchange Hall and the preservation golems.Ñøvl-B1n was the first platform to present this chapter.

Wait! The formation should have been created for the sole purpose of protecting the Exchange Hall. If the formation is still around, there should not have been a chance for the formation to still exist, as it would have to be destroyed before the ceiling of the Exchange Hall would have a chance to collapse…

Feeling that the current situation in front of him didn't make any sense, Xuan Hao could not help narrowing his eyes before focusing his divine sense on the place where the ceiling collapsed.

The place was big enough to cover around two thirds of the now buried Exchange Hall, but with his current divine sense, it was not too difficult to examine the entire thing.

"Huh?"

However, after covering the entire collapsed part of the ceiling with his divine sense, Xuan Hao could not stop a surprised sound from escaping his lips followed by a hint of disbelief appearing in his eyes.

"This… The ceiling didn't cave in due the constant stress put on it by the sand from the outside, but because someone destroyed the ceiling with brute force!" Muttering this to himself in shock at this revelation, Xuan Hao felt a shiver run down his spine.

Given the power of the formation in place surpassing even the strength of the cloud demon beast that he had encountered back in the sea of clouds, Xuan Hao could not imagine how strong someone would have to be to breakthrough the formation and destroy the most important part of the Exchange Hall. Even if it was someone in the Earth Immortal Realm, he doubted that it would be possible to do anything to the ancient formation guarding the Exchange Hall.

Someone above the Earth Immortal Realm…?

As this thought occurred to him, Xuan Hao turned his attention towards the rest of the Exchange Hall that had been buried beneath the sand. Looking at it again, it seemed like every single one of the secret techniques that the preservation golem had told him about had ended up being destroyed by the attack back then.

The person who did this should have been one of the Mirage Sect's enemies. Maybe even one of the people behind the destruction of the Mirage Sect…

Guessing the identity of the person who had caused the destruction of all the Exchange Hall's secret technique, Xuan Hao did not continue to search through the sand. Understanding very well that there was no way that any of the secret techniques would have been able to survive the attack of an existence who possibly exceeded the Earth Immortal Realm.

Even if some of the secret techniques had ended up miraculously surviving the attack, there was also the fact that they would have to survive beneath the sand for thousands of years without any form of protection.

Feeling a sense of disappointment welling up inside of him as he glanced over the large pile of sand covering everything inside the Exchange Hall except a small area around the wooden doors, Xuan Hao turned around and made his way back into the hallway.

Hopefully there is more to this place than just this single room. Maybe the person who attacked this place didn't get to destroy everything. After all, the formation is still active- Meaning that the core of the formation should still be intact…

"Hm… Maybe I should try and see if I can find the preservation golem from earlier and see if it can help me find the gate out of this trial space. At least it seemed like it had more than enough energy to hold a conversation." Muttering this to himself as he remembered the preservation golem that he had encountered when first entering the Exchange Hall, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit more hopeful.

Given how big the underground structure that the Exchange Hall was located inside of was, there was no way that it would only contain a single room filled with secret techniques. If he was not wrong, there should be far more rooms like the one buried in sand.

The only problem was that he had no idea if these rooms had ended up encountering a similar attack and ended up getting destroyed… But then again, there was no way to figure this out before looking for himself. Not to mention, he still had to find the gate leading out of the trial space!

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Walking back through the hallway, Xuan Hao decided to explore the different paths branching off the side of the hallway. However, no matter which of these paths he followed, he would always end up in a room that had been completely destroyed from the outside.

From time to time, there would be preservation golems laying broken on the ground in front of these rooms or along the way, but no matter, none of these golems were still active and he was only met with an eerie silence whenever he tried speaking to them.

In the end, he soon found himself back at the large pair of sandstone doors. The preservation golem that he had encountered the first time he made his way inside the Exchange Hall having seemingly disappeared into thin air.

"Will I really need to leave without getting any information on the gate out of this place? How will I even be able to find the gate with less than half a day left before the seven-day limit is reached!?" Feeling a slight sense of panic as he muttered this to himself, Xuan Hao could not help looking back into the long hallway that seemed to go on forever.

Although he had not managed to find the preservation golem that was still active when searching through the countless destroyed rooms connected to the long hallway, he did not think that it had left. Guessing that it was most likely located in the same place where the core of the formation was located. After all, that would be the only place he had not managed to find inside the underground structure that made up the Exchange Hall.

Knowing this made no difference, as there was no way he would be able to find the location of the formation core with his current strength without it showing itself.

Even someone who had possibly surpassed the Earth Immortal Realm had been unable to completely destroy this formation, let alone someone like himself who had only reached the Intermediate Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm…

Whoosh~

However, just as he was about to give up on continuing to search for the active preservation golem, the golem in question suddenly appeared in front of him.

"This is-"

"Greetings trial participant, as a tier three trial participant, you only have one hour left inside the Exchange Hall to choose a secret technique at the third tier before being forced out. If you require any recommendations for secret techniques, please refer to the sect elder in charge of maintaining the trial ground. If even this does not help, the elder will help you leave through the gate.

Please remember, the gate inside the Exchange Hall is different from those outside the boundaries of the Exchange Hall and is only accessible by the elder in charge. Any attempt to use it without permission will be met with swift punishment."

Not caring about Xuan Hao's shocked expression, the golem emotionlessly stated this before patiently waiting for an answer.

The gate is located inside the Exchange Hall!? And… Tier three trial participant? Is it perhaps referring to my new status after completing three celestial trials? And sect elder… I never expected a sect elder to be in charge of this trial in the past. Maybe this is also one of the reasons why the formation managed to survive to this day. Although, considering how long it has been, that sect elder should have long since passed away…

Not answering the preservation golem immediately as he thought about the information that it had just provided him with, Xuan Hao remained standing in front of the sandstone doors for a few seconds before an idea suddenly popped into his head.

The preservation golem had mentioned that he could visit the elder and ask for the elder's guidance on what secret technique to choose and access to the gate, but… Given that the elder in question should have already died after the long passage of time, he would not be able to find the gate by asking the elder.

Instead, it seemed like it would be better to use this chance to enter the core part of the Exchange Hall and try to gain access to the core of the formation that should normally be guarded by the elder from the Mirage Sect.

Despite the fact that his current understanding of formation could be considered abysmal when compared to the ancient formation protecting the Exchange Hall, he should still be able to do this if he had access to the formation core.

If it succeeded, he should be able to find out if there were any hidden locations inside the Exchange Hall that he had missed and more importantly, find out where the gate out of the desert trial was located.

"Great, can you help guide me to the elder?" Having come to a decision, Xuan Hao felt a bit nervous as he asked this while looking at the emotionless golem in front of him.

"Yes, as a tier three trial participant, you are entitled to ask an elder for assistance once before becoming a tier two trial participant. Are you sure you still want to visit the elder?"

"Yes!"

Not hesitating in the slightest after hearing what the golem said, Xuan Hao eagerly nodded his head.

So, what if he could only visit an elder in charge once as a tier three trial participant? It was not like the Mirage Sect was still around to keep the celestial trials running, where would he possibly make use of this chance to visit a sect elder in the future?The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøvlß1n.

"Confirmed, I will now guide you to the core section of the Exchange Hall where the elder resides. The elder in charge of this trial is the Myriad Sands Elder, its recommended to remain respectful in front of the elder to avoid possible penalties." Saying this, the golem stepped out of the hallway and into the small hall that Xuan Hao had just barely stepped inside of before a strange power flowed out from it and entered the large pair of sandstone doors-

BOOOOM-!

Only a second later, strange ancient symbols flowed across the surface of the sandstone doors before they slammed shut.

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Creaaaak~!

Following the change in the sandstone door, the golem pushed open the door to reveal a dark and empty hallway before walking over to stand in front of the now far more awe-inspiring sandstone doors like a solemn guard.

"The elder is waiting on the other side, please remain respectful to avoid possible penalties." Saying this, the golem motioned for him to enter the dark hallway before falling silent.

Looks like I will have to go the rest of the way myself…

Seeing how the golem was motioning him to continue inside the eerie and dark hallway that had been revealed on the other side of the sandstone door, Xuan Hao could not help hesitating for a moment as he felt a sense of unease upon seeing the dark hallway.

Different from the rest of the underground structure that had remained lit up by some sort of magical crystals placed along the sides and ceiling of the structure, the dark and eerie hallway had none of these. Not only that, but there seemed to be some sort of dark mist oozing out from the side of the hallway. Making it even more creepy and eerie than it already was.

Whoosh~

However, after a quick scan of the dark mist and hallway, he soon realized that there was nothing dangerous about the dark mist that shrouded the hallway.

Maybe it's an aesthetic choice of the elder in charge of this place? After all, he might be someone who found it fun to show off his might to the trial participants who come to ask him for guidance…

Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao stepped into the dark and eerie hallway before making his way towards the barely visible pair of doors at the end of the hallway-

BANG!

However, the moment he stepped inside the dark hallway, the large pair of sandstone doors slammed shut behind him. Plunging the entire hallway into darkness.

"This…"

Taken by surprise, Xuan Hao froze for a short moment before calming down, it was most likely that the preservation golem had closed the door behind him due to the fact that it was still operating as if nothing had happened to the Exchange Hall.

At least given that everything still worked like normal with other trial participants present in the trial space, it only made sense for the golem to close the door behind him as other trial participants might need to use the rest of the Exchange Hall where the secret techniques were located.

Although he understood this logic and would not have a problem navigating in complete darkness with his current cultivation realm, it was still not a nice feeling to have the sandstone doors slam shut behind him.

"Hopefully I will be able to leave this place without the help of an elder…" Not bothering to try and push up the large pair of sandstone doors now covered in all sorts of ancient symbols, Xuan Hao began making his way deeper inside the dark hallway.

Swish~

Taking only a short time to reach the pair of doors located at the end of the hallway.

"Hm?"

However, the moment he was about to open the pair of doors, a shiver ran down his spine as he felt a terrifying aura lock on to him from the other side of the doors. Even with his strength at the Intermediate Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm, the terrifying aura instantly rendered him unable to take a single step.

The elder in charge of the trial space is not dead?!

Feeling the terrifying aura rendering him unable to move at all, a terrifying thought appeared in his head as he looked towards the pair of doors in front of him filled with fear. Although the owner of the terrifying aura had not said anything yet, Xuan Hao already felt his imagination run wild as he shivered in fear in front of the closed pair of doors.

Even his encounter with the cloud demon beast in the Earth Immortal Realm had been nowhere near as terrifying as running into an elder from an ancient sect that had possibly surpassed the Earth Immortal Realm!

"…"

However, as a few minutes turned into hours in front of the closed pair of doors and nothing ended up happening, Xuan Hao slowly regained some sense of control over his body and mind under the terrifying pressure.

Using all of his strength, he slowly made his way out of the small area in front of the door, that was within the range of the terrifying aura-

Thump!

And two long hours of taking a meager three steps backwards did Xuan Hao manage to escape the range of the terrifying aura, as he directly collapsed on the ground covered in sweat with a fearful expression still plastered all over his face.

Why isn't the elder appearing…?

Only after somewhat recovering from what he had just gone through, did he realize that the elder who should have been responsible for the terrifying aura was nowhere to be seen. Ñøvl-B1n was the first platform to present this chapter.

Given that he had now spent a little under six hours in front of the pair of doors, this was a rather odd situation. After all, the elder should have long since known about his presence even before he had made his way inside the sandstone tower and down into the Exchange Hall…

How odd…

Feeling that something was wrong, Xuan Hao could not help curiously looking towards the pair of doors that the elder should be located behind.

Maybe the terrifying aura is not from the elder in charge of the trial, but instead something different like the core of the formation, with the strength of the formation, it would very likely have a terrifying aura far stronger than that of the cloud demon beast!

Thinking about this, Xuan Hao felt that this made far more sense than the elder of the Mirage Sect still being alive on the other side of the door. The only problem with this, was that he now had to find a way through the terrifying aura that rendered him almost completely unable to move…

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Standing in front of the door just outside the range of the terrifying aura, Xuan Hao turned around and looked back towards the sandstone doors that were now hidden behind the dark mist that covered the dark and eerie hallway behind him.

At first, he had thought he would be able to make use of the formation to find a way out, but given the terrifying aura present, he began to doubt whether or not he had overestimated his own abilities. Even if the formation was in a worse shape due to the passage of time and didn't have anyone in charge of it any longer, it was still a powerful formation that was far beyond his comprehension.

Thinking about it for just a few seconds, Xuan Hao understood that he had been a little too arrogant when thinking that he would ever be able to gain any level of control over such a powerful formation even if he managed to find the formation core.

Not to mention trying to get some level of control over the formation core, his current strength was not even enough to approach it!

No, I should be able to approach it if I can adjust to the terrifying pressure.

Narrowing both of his eyes as he thought about this, Xuan Hao decided to try and approach the door again, soon feeling the terrifying aura envelop his entire body and soul before locking them in place. Although he could still move, it was at an incredibly slow pace…

Knowing that it would possibly take weeks before he could even reach the door at his current speed, Xuan Hao decided to close both of his eyes as he used what little power, he could still use to calm himself down before starting to adjust to the terrifying pressure. Only after adjusting enough to move at a normal pace would, he have a chance to find out where the terrifying aura was coming from.

Whoosh~

Pushing the inherent fear, he felt when affected by the terrifying aura, Xuan Hao felt the pressure on his soul and body lessen significantly. Although he was still far from being able to move properly under the terrifying pressure, he clearly felt that it had become easier to move. Meaning that it was indeed possible for him to adjust to the pressure.

With a bit more time, I should be able to pass through the doors and find out where the terrifying pressure is from…

Thinking about this as he looked towards the wooden doors in front of him, Xuan Hao soon closed both of his eyes as he focused his full attention on trying to adjust his body and soul to the terrifying pressure.

Like this, time flew by and by the time Xuan Hao opened his eyes again, it had already been over nine days since the death of the guardian of the desert. Making Xuan Hao doubt his earlier prediction of only being able to stay inside a trial space for seven days after completing the trial.

In turn, making him start to regret the fact that he had decided to return to the Exchange Hall to look for the gate out of the trial space. Considering that there seemed to be no limit on how long he could stay inside the desert trial, it would have been far safer for him to just search through the desert for any sign of the gate instead of risking his life going into a place that had already demonstrated how dangerous it was when he first encountered the preservation golem.

Well… it's not like I can just go back anymore…

Understanding that there was nothing he could do now that he had ended up trapping himself inside the core part of the Exchange Hall, Xuan Hao only shook his head in regret as he thought about this before focusing his attention back on to the pair of wooden doors in front of him.

After spending the last two days trying to adjust to the terrifying pressure that came from something on the other side of the wooden doors, he had already successfully managed to reach a level where he could walk normally under the terrifying pressure.

Of course, this was still not something that came without a cost, as he would not be able to use any of his power to defend himself while moving. The only form of defense that he had was his physical body…

Thump! Thump!

However, Xuan Hao didn't care too much about this as he began moving towards the wooden doors. If he really ended up encountering an enemy who could attack under the terrifying pressure, he doubted that his Intermediate stage Dao Domain Lord Realm strength would be able to do anything in the first place.

Reaching the wooden door in only a few steps, Xuan Hao used all of his strength to try and push it open-Ñøvl-B1n was the first platform to present this chapter.

"Hah? This- Why is it so hard to open!?"

Unfortunately, he quickly discovered that there was no way for him to push the door open with the strength available to him. Even if a normal mortal would have been able to easily open the wooden doors, there was no way for him to even exert this little bit of strength under the terrifying pressure.

What to do… If I can't get past a simple pair of wooden doors, how am I ever going to leave this place!?

Feeling a sense of unease welling up inside him after realizing he had been defeated by a simple wooden door, Xuan Hao wanted nothing more than to burn the pair of wooden doors in front of him.

But… If I can't push open the wooden doors, can't I just use my own weight to push them open!?

Thinking about this the next moment, Xuan Hao didn't bother trying to think about any other solution as he allowed his body to fall forward into the pair of wooden doors-

Bang!

Falling straight into them and pushing them open in the process, Xuan Hao soon smashed into the ground with over half his body now on the other side of the wooden doors.

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At least I managed to open the doors…The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøvlß1n.

Slowly getting back up again, Xuan Hao began to examine the dark room on the other side of the wooden doors where the terrifying aura originated from. Not taking long to spot the several large bookshelves filled to the brim with all sorts of ancient-looking books and scrolls.

Unlike the rest of the Exchange Hall, the books and scrolls located inside the core section of the Exchange Hall did not seem to have suffered any damage. Making him certain that the enemy who attacked the Exchange Hall in the past, should not have managed to break through to the core section where the formation core was located.

Unfortunately for Xuan Hao, he did not take long to realize that all of these bookshelves were covered by a thin protective layer belonging to the protective formation. From the looks of things, he wouldn't be able to get his hands on any of the secret techniques or possible precious information stored inside the books.

Then again, without the presence of the protective layer, these scrolls and books would most likely have decayed at this point in time…

Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao began making his way deeper inside the room. Moving past the large bookshelves that covered most of the room before finding himself in front of the formation core.

The formation core was not a traditional core that would be made up of different precious materials lined up together in a specific manner, but was instead a palm sized crystal sphere, delicately suspended at the center of the room by an ornate golden pedestal.

Observing closer, Xuan Hao discovered all sorts of intricate runes and symbols etched into it, as it pulsed with an ethereal radiance that seemed to resonate with the rest of the formation in a strange manner that also seemed to supply it with the energy needed to keep functioning normally.

Surrounding the crystal sphere, an arrangement of slender jade pillars encircled it, forming some kind of protective circuit that both served as conduits for energy to be more easily supplied to the rest of the formation, while at the same time also serving as guardians that keeping anyone from interfering with the operation of the crystal sphere.

The size of the jade pillars and crystal sphere almost filled up three quarters of the entire space available inside the rather large room. The bookshelves now almost seemed to only serve as a cover to prevent anyone peeking inside from seeing the formation core located on the other side.

Something that might have made sense in the past when trial participants would come to visit the elder in charge for guidance, as the Mirage Sect might not have wanted the exact location of the formation core to leak out… And at the same time also needed the elder to guard it at all times.

Maybe this was one of the reasons why the core section of the Exchange Hall had managed to survive the attack in the past and still remain somewhat operational after thousands of years.

"But… How am I supposed to break through the jade pillars guarding the crystal sphere…?" Muttering this to himself as he felt a sense of helplessness when looking over the slender jade pillars forming a protective barrier around the crystal sphere preventing anyone from approaching, Xuan Hao could not help regretting that he had ever thought he would be able to take control of such a powerful formation with his current cultivation realm.

Even if the formation had been severely weakened over the years, the core itself showed no signs of decay and looked like it hadn't been affected at all. Bad news for Xuan Hao who had been planning on taking control of the formation core and trying to use it to find out where the gate mentioned by the preservation golem was located.

"Hm? The terrifying aura isn't coming from the formation core…?" Focusing all of his attention on examining the crystal sphere and the jade pillars covering most of the space inside the now not so dark room, Xuan Hao realized that the terrifying aura that was still suppressing him did not come from the formation core. Instead, it seemed to come from somewhere behind the formation core at the back of the large room.

On the other hand, the formation core seemed to perfectly retain every bit of energy circulating through, with not a single bit of it leaking out into the surroundings.

Is it perhaps really the elder from the Mirage Sect!? But… If it really is the elder from the Mirage Sect, why has he still not done or said anything over the past few days?

Feeling himself starting to grow nervous as he thought about this, Xuan Hao slowly began making his way around the core of the formation.

"This-!?"

Finally reaching the back of the room behind the formation core, Xuan Hao could not help exclaiming in surprise as he saw a figure sitting in a lotus position in the middle of a small formation connected to the larger formation core.

The figure in question was bathed in a soft, ethereal light as an expression of wisdom was visible in his frozen features. From the outside, it looked like he was meditating. However, the aura of death surrounding his body gave away the fact that he had long since passed away.

"T-the elder from the Mirage Sect!?"

Realizing who the person in front of him was, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a shiver run down his spine as he finally found out where the terrifying aura was coming from.

In a sense, the terrifying aura was not the result of a powerful expert releasing his cultivation to suppress him nor the powerful energy of the formation core leaking out. Instead, it was merely due to the remnant power left inside the body of the elder from the Mirage Sect. Even after thousands of years, this power did not disappear and still lingered in the world!

"How powerful was this elder when he was still alive…?" Muttering this to himself as he looked towards the dead body of the elder from the Mirage Sect. If not for the fact that there was a very clear aura of death surrounding his body, he would have thought that he was merely meditating at the moment. Even the passage of time didn't seem to have any effect on his body.

"Oh? Someone actually managed to reach this place after so many years?"

However, just as he was busy examining the elder from the Mirage Sect, a voice suddenly sounded out inside his head-

"Ah!? Who!?"

Causing him to jump up in shock before looking around himself for the origin of the voice. However, no matter how hard he looked, he found no one other than himself inside the room.

"I'm in front of you."

Hearing the voice again, Xuan Hao could not help looking towards the elder from the Mirage Sect with a shocked expression plastered all over his face. "You- the elder from the Mirage Sect!?"

"Indeed, although my current state won't be able to last for long. Even with the supply of energy from the celestial guardian formation, I will at most be able to keep this remnant part of my consciousness around for another minute.

With that in mind, it's great to see that the celestial trials still have some use for the younger generation after so many years. Although, from the fact that no one came from my sect after all these years, it seems like the Mirage Sect isn't around any longer…"

Feeling a profound sense of sadness in the voice, Xuan Hao decided not to say anything as he quietly listened. Understanding that this was a priceless opportunity to obtain information on what had ended up happening in the past that might have caused the fall of the Mirage Sect.

"Ah, what am I talking about, there is no time for this. Junior, I can see that you have reached the Intermediate stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm and carry the mark of the Frozen Sovereign and one of the three bloodlines flow through your body, so I won't have to waste energy on checking if you are one of them."

"Frozen Sovereign? Three bloodlines?"

"Huh? You don't know…? What kind of state are those three in that- Ah… I don't have time for this! Before I ended up disappearing, I originally wanted to give you my inheritance, but that is something that would take at least a few weeks if not longer. Because of that, I have instead decided to give you my comprehension of when I went through the Dao Domain Lord Realm in the past.

Although I only managed to reach the Later stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm before I took on my tribulation in the past, it should still be useful for you. Seeing as you very clearly didn't have anyone to guide you so far, the information on the Immortal Soul Tribulation might also prove useful for when you go through the tribulation in the future."

Whoosh~!

Not allowing Xuan Hao to say anything after he said this, a strange power suddenly erupted from the body of the elder before entering his body the next moment before he had any time to react.

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Rumble~

As the power rushed inside his body, Xuan Hao soon felt it reach his dantian where his soul was located before rapidly merging together with his soul. Not giving him any chance to resist during the process, as he soon felt a large amount of information appearing in his head.

Going through the new information that had appeared in his head, Xuan Hao could not help opening his mouth in shock as he realized that it was indeed information on the Immortal Soul Tribulation and Dao Domain Lord Realm that the remnant consciousness had mentioned. Not only that, but Xuan Hao also discovered that there was a lot of information on the realms before the Dao Domain Lord Realm. Although this would not be that useful to him, it would prove useful when it came to helping his disciples and the rest of the sect improve.

Among all of the information on the realms below the Dao Domain Lord Realm, the most important part by far, was the part about the Domain Lord Realm, as it contained a similar level of information on the realm as the codex of the first four realms that he had been given by the system in the past.

Even if the codex had not been that much use for him back then, it was one of the main reasons why the Star Shattering Sect had managed to gain so many Nascent Soul Realm Experts in such a short period of time. Ñøvl-B1n was the first platform to present this chapter.

Back then, he even specifically created a simplified version of the codex that Elder Song then handed over to the outer sect elders at the Peak of the Core Formation. Allowing most of these old Peak Core Formation Realm Experts who had remained stuck at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm to finally find out what they were lacking before taking on the Cloud Tribulation and reaching the Nascent Soul Realm.

Now with information similar to the codex on the Domain Lord Realm, it would not be wrong to say that it would be far easier for the elders and disciples of the Star Shattering Sect to reach the Domain Lord Realm in the future.

Of course, the current Star Shattering Sect did not really have that many Peak Nascent Soul Realm Experts at the moment, but one person who would definitely benefit from this the moment he returned, was the grand elder of the half spirit race. Even if he had already guided the old man and he would reach the Domain Lord Realm if given time, the new information would undoubtedly help him shorten the time by a few years!

"That should be everything I'm able to transfer in my current state. Unfortunately, the power required to transfer information on the Earth Immortal Realm or above is far too much in my current state as they have already transcended the mortal realm..."

"Elder, this information is already extremely useful and will help me reach the Late Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm in the future, there is no need for anymore." Hearing the sad voice of the elder from the Mirage Sect echoing out in his head again, Xuan Hao could not help interjecting before the remnant consciousness ended up becoming depressed again.

"More than enough? I see, I'm even being pitied by a junior in the Dao Domain Lord Realm now… Hah… Whatever, I used most of my remaining energy on transferring the information over just now, so I don't have long before my remnant consciousness disperses into nothingness together with my body.

Given that I connected myself to the formation here to keep my consciousness alive for such a long period of time, this will most likely result in it collapsing soon after my death. Although this won't destroy the trial space, it will destroy the two gates connected to it leading out of the trial space-"

"I will be trapped inside the trial space!?" Not able to stop himself from exclaiming in surprise after hearing that he would be trapped inside the trial space, Xuan Hao began unconsciously looking towards the formation core that seemed perfectly fine from his point of view.

"Patience junior, I said it will collapse shortly after my consciousness disperses, you still have more than enough time to use the gate located inside this place before the formation collapses."

"This… Sorry senior…" Feeling a sense of embarrassment that he had never felt before when being addressed like this, Xuan Hao silently apologized before shutting his mouth. Understanding that it wasn't a good idea for him to waste any more of the senior's already limited time. Especially considering that he was the only person who could tell him where the gate leading out of the trial space was located.

"No worries, well then, the gate in the core section of the Exchange Hall is located just behind me inside this room, you can just use that to leave when the time comes."

"Behind you?" Hearing what the elder from the Mirage Sect said, Xuan Hao could not help looking at the empty wall behind his body with a look of confusion plastered all over his face. No matter how hard he looked at the wall with his divine sense, dao domain or just normal eyes, there was no gate.

"It's hidden by the formation at the moment and can only be accessed by an elder like myself or through proper identification. Given that you have neither of these requirements, the only way for you to use this gate will be through the celestial robe on my body. Putting it on, you will have an identity similar to mine inside the Exchange Hall or trial space for that matter. Meaning you will be able to use the gate without any problems.

Unfortunately, my body is currently under the protection of the formation, so you will have to wait until this remnant consciousness of mine disperses before you can take it. At least the part of the formation guarding my body should collapse before the core of the formation, so you should have a chance to take the robe before this entire place gets destroyed…" Ignoring the fact that he felt like the remnant consciousness of the elder was rolling his nonexistent eyes at him as he said this, Xuan Hao solemnly nodded his head. Understanding that this might be his only chance to escape from the trial space.

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"Great, it looks like you understand. Guess this is it for me then, I hope you will remember the help I gave you in the future junior. If you encounter anyone from the Mirage Sect, I hope you will help them as well, as I doubt, they will be in a good position considering the current state of the celestial trials…"

Whoosh~

As the voice of the remnant consciousness echoed out inside his head for what would be the last time, the body of the elder from the Mirage Sect suddenly turned into dust before disappearing from the world. Leaving the celestial robe to gently land on the stone floor inside the smaller formation that had protected the elder of the Mirage Sect for the past thousands of years.

Rumble~

Shortly after this happened, the entire room started violently trembling as the formation core located in the middle of the room began breaking down at a speed visible to the naked eye-

Bang!

And before Xuan Hao had managed to recover from the fact that the elder from the Mirage Sect had disappeared from the world, one of the large jade pillars surrounding the crystal sphere on top of the golden pedestal shattered.

Bang! Bang!

Following closely behind the first jade pillar, the rest of the jade pillars started shattering one by one.

Realizing what was happening, Xuan Hao nervously turned to look at the formation that surrounded the place where the elder from the Mirage Sect had been sitting only a moment ago. Focusing all of his attention on the celestial robe laying in the middle of this small formation.

Even with more than half of the jade pillars shattering, the small formation protecting the celestial robe left behind by the elder of the Mirage Sect was still functioning and didn't show any signs of weakening. On the other hand, it looked like the smaller formation was drawing more power from the formation core to sustain itself in case its connection to the formation core was cut off.

This… How am I supposed to get the celestial robe if this small formation ends up holding on for longer than the core formation!?

Seeing what the smaller formation was doing, Xuan Hao could not help panicking as he realized just how dangerous his current situation was. If the smaller formation didn't break before the formation core like the elder from the Mirage Sect had told him, he would end up getting killed by the collapse of the formation core. Even if he ended up miraculously surviving, he would end up trapped inside the trial space with no way out.

WHOOSH-!

However, just at this moment, the formation core seemed to have noticed the smaller formation trying to siphon away energy, as it violently reacted by reversing the process. Forcefully sucking out all the energy from the smaller formation that had no way to resist the might of the core formation-

Crack!

And without any energy to keep itself running any longer, the smaller formation instantly collapsed.

Swish-!

Knowing that he was already running out of time, Xuan Hao dashed forward the moment the formation broke before grabbing the celestial robe and putting it on like the elder from the Mirage Sect had told him to do.

Whoosh~

Putting on the celestial robe, Xuan Hao was shocked to discover that the robe melted away the robe he had been wearing before neatly fitting on to his body-

SQUEAK!?

Taking the rabbit demon beast who had been sleeping inside a small hidden pocket of the robe by surprise, as it suddenly found itself falling to the ground. Only barely managing to grab hold of the celestial robe before it hit the ground.

Swish-!

Not giving the rabbit demon beast any time to comprehend what was happening, Xuan Hao used his dao domain to keep it in place before rushing towards the gate that materialized in front of the empty wall the moment he put on the celestial robe. Not daring to waste a single second, as the jade pillars keeping the formation core safe had almost completely disappeared at this point in time. Only three of them were still left standing-

Bang!

Only two of them were left standing, keeping the formation core from growing unstable.

Squeaaaaaak-!

Having no clue about the current dangerous situation it found itself in, the rabbit demon beast now forced to remain in place by Xuan Hao's dao domain could not help letting out an unwilling scream as it looked at the ground rapidly moving below it.

Even with all of this, it didn't try to fight against Xuan Hao's dao domain, as part of it had still sensed the dangerous aura that had slowly started to leak out from the core formation that was rapidly breaking down behind them.

Clank!

Shing~

"Greetings elder, the gate is active. The current coordinates are locked on to the southern spring garden, would you like to change the co-"

Swish~!

Reaching the gate and seeing a small golem suddenly pop up from the ground, Xuan Hao wasted no time talking to the strange small golem as he jumped through the gate before it even had time to finish what it was saying.

No matter how dangerous the southern spring garden mentioned by the small golem was, he doubted that it would be any worse than staying inside the Exchange Hall.

Not a second later, Xuan Hao felt himself travelling an enormous distance in a short span of time as the space around him twisted violently before everything came to a stop.The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøvlß1n.

"Hm?"

Looking around himself, Xuan Hao discovered that he was standing on top of the foundation of what should have once been a large pagoda that had now long since decayed to the point where only the foundation and a small part of the pagoda itself remained.

The area around him on the other hand, was made up of countless terraced pools of crystal-clear water that seemed to stretch on for several kilometers. Taken together, the formations of these terraced pools almost looked like a huge dragon snaking its way through the surrounding mountains.

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Not caring about their new surroundings, the rabbit demon beast jumped out of the celestial robe the moment it felt Xuan Hao's dao domain no longer holding it in place-

Squeak!

Letting out a loud squeaking sound to show its dissatisfaction over what had just happened. Not only was it rudely woken up, but it was retrained without being able to move the moment it grabbed hold of the robe to prevent itself from falling to the ground.

"Huh? Oh, sorry about that earlier, I didn't really have time to explain." Seeing the angry rabbit demon beast that almost looked like a small stuffed toy, Xuan Hao did his best not to laugh at it as he said this. Trying not to anger the rabbit demon beast any further.

Squeak!

Puffing its small cheeks in anger after noticing the very clear smile on Xuan Hao face as he said this while trying his best not to laugh at the rabbit demon beasts current cute looking appearance, the rabbit demon beast decided that its pride had been injured, as it gave one last squeak filled with anger in Xuan Hao's direction before bouncing off the side of the foundation and into the crystal clear water below-

Splash!

Not showing the slightest bit of care as it landed in the water before paddling awkwardly for a few moments before reaching the side of the terraced pool of water where it then crawled up into a small thin tree hanging over the edge of the next pool of water.

Rustle~

Only after reaching a comfortable branch around the top of this small thin tree did the rabbit demon beast settle down before going to sleep again. Having decided to ignore Xuan Hao as it attempted to sleep away the embarrassment that it had just experienced.

"…"

Not knowing what to say after seeing this, Xuan Hao decided not to say anything and just ignore the rabbit demon beast. At least for now, he was far more interested in finding out where this southern spring garden was located and if he was still inside the mystic realm or had ended up being transported somewhere completely different. After all, considering that the gate would normally only be used by elders and had several different locations that it could access, it would not be odd if one of these locations ended up leading to somewhere outside the mystic realm.

The only thing that made him believe that this might actually not be the case and he should still be inside the mystic realm, was the fact that the elder from the Mirage Sect had decided against using the gate to leave and try to find a way to recover, but then again, this might be due to the fact that his situation was already far too serious to move without the help of the formation. Not to mention, there was also a chance that the enemies of the Mirage Sect might have been waiting for him on the other side.

Given the current state of the pagoda, whose foundation was the only thing left behind, he had a feeling that the southern spring garden should have encountered a similar attack back then. The only difference between this place and the Exchange Hall in the desert trial space, was the fact that the Exchange Hall had managed to hold on against the attack and avoid complete annihilation.

Although… Considering the state of the elder from the Mirage Sect, it could not really be said that the Exchange Hall had managed to survive, as the most important secret techniques stored inside the Exchange Hall had all gotten destroyed by the attack. The only techniques that had managed to survive were left in the core section of the Exchange Hall that was unassailable due to them being sealed away by the core formation.

Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao began to slowly examine the foundation and what was left of the pagoda that had once stood upon it. Even though he didn't expect to find anything useful in the ruins of the pagoda, he still wanted to make sure that there wasn't anything dangerous left behind and ensure the location was safe before he chose to redeem the reward from the system.

"Hm?"

Examining the foundation, Xuan Hao could not help frowning as he noticed a few very distinct claw marks on the side of the foundation. In size alone, these claw marks stretched across the entire surface of the foundation that spanned for a few hundred meters. Giving a sense of just how big the demon beast who had left these claw marks was, while at the same time confirming his earlier suspicion about someone having attacked the pagoda and destroyed it in the past.

However, different from the Exchange Hall that had very clearly been blown open in several precise attacks by what should have been some sort of powerful qi technique. The one who had attacked the pagoda on the other hand, was very obviously a demon beast. Lacking the precision and skill of the person who had attacked the Exchange Hall.

So… the ones who attacked the Mirage Sect back then was a combination of different races?

Thinking this to himself as he arrived in front of the large claw mark spanning across the entire foundation, Xuan Hao gently touched the claw mark-

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However, the instant his hand touched the harmless looking claw mark, a terrifying killing intent on par with the power released by the elder from the Mirage Sect suddenly exploded outwards before it engulfed him. Overwhelming him in an instant!

Whoosh~!

Before he had any time to pull his hand away from the large claw mark, he felt the scenery around him change before he suddenly found himself in front of majestic pagoda stretching hundreds- If not thousands of meters into the sky above him. Countless cultivators could be seen all around him as they went to and from the large pagoda through several large gates that seemed to act as teleportation points connecting to some larger network.

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Chapter 977 Fall of the Southern Spring Garden (Part 2)

Observing the large pagoda that had appeared in front of him, Xuan Hao was suddenly taken aback as he felt a terrifying killing intent descending from the sky before a large shadow appeared above the majestic pagoda.

ROOOOOOOAR-!

Before he even had time to look up, a loud roar echoed out across the southern spring garden, causing Xuan Hao and the countless cultivators walking around on the large plaza located in front of the pagoda to look up in terror and disbelief at the massive dragon that had appeared in the sky above the pagoda.

RUMBLE-!

Not even having any time to comprehended what had happened and how he had suddenly ended up in this situation, the entire pagoda trembled violently as a countless complicated formation symbols flowed out from the pagoda before gathering together into several large golden arrows that shot of towards the demon beast.

Boom! Boom!

By the time Xuan Hao realized what was happening, the dozen or so golden arrows had already reached the large demon beast in the sky above as they exploded with a might far more terrifying than the power shown by the cloud demon beast. Even if the dragon was powerful, Xuan Hao found it hard to believe that it would be able to escape unscratched from such a powerful attack-

ROOAR!

WHOOSH-!

But different from what Xuan Hao imagined, the demon beast in the sky didn't seem to be affected by the terrifying golden arrows, as it merely shrugged them off before it swung its large claws down towards the pagoda filled with killing intent.

"SOUTHERN DRAGON KING! YOU DARE ATTACK MY MIRAGE SECT!?"

However, before the large claws of the dragon had a chance to reach the majestic pagoda, a loud voice echoed out from inside the pagoda before a large golden hand appeared to meet the large claws midair-

BOOOOOOM!

The collision between these two powerful existences instantly caused a terrifying shock wave to spread through the surroundings. Instantly killing any of the cultivators who had been unfortunate enough to be outside the protection of the barrier covering the area around the pagoda.

Among these unlucky cultivators, there was no shortage of people who had surpassed him and reached the Earth Immortal Realm, there were even a few who seemed to be even stronger than the ones who had reached the Earth Immortal Realm.

But in the end, none of them survived the terrifying shock wave produced by the collision between the golden hand and the massive dragon claws…

"This… I'm fine? Wait… Is this perhaps a scene from the past? But how did I get to witness it? Is it perhaps due to the claw mark on the foundation?" Only now realizing what he saw in front of him was nothing more than a vision of past events, Xuan Hao's earlier fear towards the large dragon in the air above the pagoda quickly turned into curiosity as he began more closely observing the battle that was taking place in the air above the pagoda.

BOOM! BOOM!

Following the initial clash between the golden hand and the dragon claws, a golden shadow had rushed out of the pagoda before starting to violently clash with the large dragon in the air above. The constant clash between the two terrifying existences caused the earth beneath to tremble violently, as everything around the pagoda was destroyed.

Although his cultivation was far too low to observe the fight in full and figure who was winning, it was not too difficult to guess the result from what he had seen before being shown this vision of the past. In the end, the loser would ultimately be the elder from the Mirage Sect guarding the pagoda, but Xuan Hao did not let this affect him, as he made full use of this opportunity to observe the fight between these two powerful experts.

Even with his strength, he was still able to perceive the profound use of the different Daos comprehended by these two terrifying experts and try to remember it and apply it to his own fighting style even more.

ROOOOAR!

with his dao domain. After all, when compared with how these two were using their dao, what he did could only be described as rudimentary and child's play…

The clash between the two was a beautiful dance between the golden mystic powers of the elder from the Mirage Sect and the powerful elemental energy of the dragon. Even with insufficient strength, it was still clear to Xuan Hao that he still had long to go when it came to his own comprehension or strength. The sight of the two terrifying existences from the past only fueled this desire even more.

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"DAMNABLE ELDER! YOUR MIRAGE SECT WILL BE NO MORE AFTER TODAY!"

As battle continued for hours like this, with neither side budging, the dragon spoke up for the first time as it cursed the elder from the Mirage Sect who had stopped him from destroying the pagoda.

"YOU-"

RUUUUUMBLE-!

Not giving the elder from the Mirage Sect any time to respond, the dragon made use of this momentary lack of attention to rapidly gather its power before unleashing a final, devasting surge of elemental energy towards the elder from the Mirage Sect-

"AHHHHH!"

Caught off guard by the sudden all-out attack by the dragon, the elder was unable to mount a sufficient defense as he was struck by the full force of the attack.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

The impact was catastrophic, causing a cataclysmic explosion that soon engulfed the elder and the pagoda below him in a blinding blaze of elemental energy.

"HAHAHAHA!"

As the dust settled, only the loud laughter of the dragon in the sky above was left behind, as the elder from the Mirage Sect had vanished from the world. Only the barely standing formation protecting the pagoda was left behind.

Rumble~!

And that was not for long, as the massive dragon once again brought down its large claws-

Crack~!

BANG!

Instantly destroying the already weakened formation before its large claws tore through the majestic pagoda. Killing all the cultivators inside of it!

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Chapter 978 Fall of the Southern Spring Garden (Part 3)

RUMBLE~!

Following the large dragon claws tearing through the pagoda, what was left standing of the pagoda started to collapse on top of the foundation that had managed to hold on against the large pair of dragon claws.

ROOOOAR!

Seemingly offended by the fact that the foundation had managed to remain unscathed even after its attack, the large dragon brought down its large claws once again-

Chiiing~

However, even this was not more than enough to leave a claw mark on the foundation. Far from enough to actually destroy it.

ROOOAR!?

Showing a somewhat surprised expression on its massive scaly face upon discovering this, the dragon could not help freezing on the spot as it looked down towards the foundation of the pagoda with a hint of suspicion. Obviously, it made no sense for the foundation of the pagoda to be this strong compared to the pagoda itself. If the pagoda had been made from the same material as the foundation, there would have been no way for it to destroy it so easily.

What is with the foundation, why is it so much stronger than the pagoda itself? Although it would not be wrong for the foundation to be stronger than the pagoda, this is far too much…

Also feeling that something was wrong with the foundation he was currently standing on top of, Xuan Hao could not help curiously examining the foundation again. For some reason, he had a feeling that something was about to happen. Not only because the dragon would not leave behind any more than the single claw mark it had just left behind, but because a few barely visible symbols had appeared all across the foundation following the dragon's attack.

"This!? Why in the world are the symbols belonging to that snow bird present on the foundation of the Mirage Sect's pagoda- Unless… I have to get out of here!"

WHOOSH-!

Having realized something after the appearance of the barely visible symbols that now covered the entire foundation, the dragon's suspicious expression transformed into one of terror, as it turned around before flapping its massive wings-

Rumble~

However, before the dragon had time to escape, a low rumbling sound echoed out from the foundation as the barely visible suddenly lit up with a blinding brilliance that rendered Xuan Hao blind for a short moment.

ROOOOOOOAR-! Ñøvl-B1n was the first platform to present this chapter.

BOOM-!

All he could do was listen to the painful roar of the dragon before he heard something massive falling to the ground in front of him.

"Huh?"

When the bright light finally subdued enough for him to see again, Xuan Hao was shocked to discover the body of the dragon hovering midair above the southern spring garden. However, the most surprising part was that its entire body had been frozen solid without any signs of life left in it-

Craaaaack-!

Bang! Bang!

And before Xuan Hao had time to react, the body of the dragon suddenly broke apart before raining down on the desolated terrain below it. Slowly shaping out the terraced rough shape of the terraced pools of crystal-clear water that he had seen before being shown this vision of the past.

As for where the crystal-clear water that would fill up these terraced pools had come from… It became rather obvious when looking at the massive chunks of ice covering the body parts of the dragon spread out across the large roughly shaped terraced pools.

Whoosh~

However, before Xuan Hao had a chance to examine the chunks of ice and the body parts of the dragon more closely, the space around him began twisting violently before he once again found himself in front of the dragon claw mark that ran across the foundation of the pagoda.

Not only that, but he also found the terrifying killing intent left behind inside the dragon claw mark trying to make its way through the meridians in his arm and follow them back towards his dantian where his soul was located-

Whoosh-!

Even without thinking for a second, Xuan Hao removed his hand from the dragon claw mark, cutting off the terrifying killing intent that was trying to make its way through his body and into his dantian.

Although he had no idea what the killing intent left behind by the dragon in the past, he had no plans to find out. After all, this was an expert that far exceeded his understanding. For all he knew, the dragon might have a way to use the remnant killing intent left behind back then to revive itself. No matter what it was, Xuan Hao had no plans to allow the killing intent anywhere near his dantian where his soul was located.

As for the killing intent that had already entered his body… It quickly began to disperse after being cut off from its source.

"I really can't be careless when dealing with anything related to the Mirage Sect…" Muttering this to himself as he looked towards the dragon claw mark in front of him, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a shiver run down his spine as he distanced himself a bit further away from the dragon claw mark. Not intending to give the remnant killing intent any chance of getting close to him again.

Even if it did help him see a vision of what had caused the destruction of the pagoda in the past. The reason that it showed him this scene was most likely to prevent him from noticing the killing intent slowly making its way along his meridians and towards his dantian.

If he had been any weaker and the energy coursing through his meridian hadn't already had a chance to accustom itself to a similar level of pressure due to his encounter with the elder from the Mirage Sect, the killing intent might have already reached his dantian and infiltrated his soul at this point in time…

Feeling another shiver run down his spine as he thought about this, Xuan Hao decided to go over and check up on the rabbit demon beast. After all, there might be some remnant intent left behind in terraced pools of water that had been created by the body of the dragon in the past…

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Chapter 979 Ice Phoenix, Snow bird, Frozen Sovereign

Leaving the dragon claw mark behind, Xuan Hao made his way over towards the edge of the foundation before looking around for the small thin tree that the rabbit demon beast had decided to sleep in.

"There it is, looks like nothing happened to it…" Muttering this to himself after noticing that nothing had happened to the rabbit demon beast, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a sense of relief. Although he was not attached to the rabbit demon beast given how little time they had spent together, he was still aware of how valuable its existence was to the Star Shattering Sect.

The main reason why this was the case was due to the fact that the current Star Shattering Sect didn't have any experts in the Soul Ascension Realm. Without him present, the Star Shattering Sect wouldn't be able to safely expand beyond the limits of the border territory of the Sky Empire.

The rabbit demon beast who had reached the Third Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm solved this problem, as only the old ancestor of the Sky Empire had the strength to fight against it… And given that the ancestor of the Sky Empire could not leave the capital city without risking another attack from the experts belonging to the three religions, the Star Shattering Sect would be able to expand freely throughout the territory of the Sky Empire.

As for dealing with the three large religions… Xuan Hao hadn't really thought of a way to this yet, as he understood that he was still too weak to fight with the stronger experts from these three religions. Although, given that the three religions in the Sky Empire were only small branches located outside the core of the continent where the main churches and temples of these religions were located, Xuan Hao felt that it should be fine if he just ignored these three religions and the territory under their control for now.

As long as he didn't directly attack the three religions and reduced the faith they were currently gathering from the kingdoms and territories under their control, the core of these religions located in the core of the continent shouldn't send out any powerful experts in the Earth Immortal Realm.

Thinking about all of this, Xuan Hao turned his attention away from the rabbit demon beast, as he focused it back on to the foundation beneath his feet. Although he had not managed to see what had ended up killing the dragon, he had still seen the ancient symbols that had covered the foundation before the death of the dragon.

Other than this, the only clue he had to who was behind the death of the dragon, was the last sentence that the dragon had screamed in a panic before trying to flee.

"Snow bird… Is it perhaps related to the ice phoenix?" Whispering this to himself as he curiously crouched down to inspect the foundation more closely, Xuan Hao could not help wondering if the snow bird mentioned by the dragon was the same as the ice phoenix whose feathers had already merged together with him.

Other than that, there was also the mark of the frozen sovereign that the elder from the from the Mirage Sect had mentioned as one of the reasons for him trusting him to not be from any of the forces that had destroyed the Mirage Sect.

Given this, it was not hard for him to understand that this frozen sovereign mentioned by the elder from the Mirage Sect was likely the ice phoenix whose feathers had merged together and formed the flame imprint hidden between his brows… And with this in mind, the snow bird that had created the symbols protecting the foundation of the pagoda was most likely the same as the frozen sovereign mentioned by the elder from the Mirage Sect.

Fwoosh~ The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøvlß1n.

Gently touching the location between his brows where the flame symbol was hidden and feeling the blue divine power inside churning with power, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a sense of disappointment as he remembered how the elder from the Mirage Sect had passed away before he had a chance to ask him about the frozen sovereign.

This was the first time he had found someone who actually knew about the ice phoenix, but in the end, he had not managed to gain anything substantial. The only information he had managed to gain was the fact that the ice phoenix was allied with the Mirage Sect in the past.

At least I now know that I should be able to gain more information on the ice phoenix by searching through the remnants of the Mirage Sect. Maybe I will even be lucky enough to encounter another elder who managed to survive the battle back then…

Feeling a bit more positive as he thought about this, Xuan Hao didn't forget that the entire mystic realm had once been under the control of the Mirage Sect, it was inevitable that some of the records of the past should have managed to survive like the elder in the Exchange Hall. After all, from the battle that had taken place at the pagoda, it didn't seem like the Mirage Sect was weaker than its opponent, but merely that it had been caught off guard by the sudden attack.

Compared to the pagoda, the main sect of the Mirage Sect should not have perished so easily. Maybe the attack on the Mirage Sect in the past had even served as the catalyst for the battle depicted in the murals and paintings of the ice phoenix facing off against the combined might of countless different races on its own.

But in the murals, there wasn't any depictions of the Mirage Sect… Did the Mirage Sect fall before the battle began or did something else happen?

Finding it a bit weird that the Mirage Sect that seemed to be one of the core allies of the ice phoenix was not depicted at all in the murals or paintings of the great war he had seen in the past, Xuan Hao could only shake his head after realizing that he was lacking far too much information to try and figure out what had ended up happening to the Mirage Sect back then.

For now, he could only resume examining the remnant left behind by it…

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Chapter 980 Starlight Essence

Using close to half an hour meticulously searching the foundation for any signs of the symbols he had seen in the vision of the past, Xuan Hao ended up finding nothing. Even trying to use the flame imprint between his brows to try and see if it would cause some sort of reaction didn't prove useful and, in the end, Xuan Hao could only give up trying to find out more about the foundation.

After all, it was not like he could break part of it to see what might be hidden inside with his current strength. On the other hand, doing something like this might result in the symbols seeing him as an enemy and attacking him…. And when comparing his own strength with the dragon who had almost instantly been killed by the symbols, he didn't really feel like he had the strength to try and forcefully break open the foundation and find out what might be hidden inside of it.

"Ha… I guess I will have to give up on that for now…" Shaking his head as he muttered this to himself while looking down towards the smooth surface of the foundation beneath his feet, Xuan Hao turned his attention towards the system panel showing the different quests he had been issued.

Glancing through the list of quests, Xuan Hao decided to ignore the limited time quest that seemed to never run out of time before turning his attention towards the side quest for the celestial gates that he had completed close to a day ago at this point in time.

[Side Quest: The Three Celestial Gates, Part 2 (Complete)]

[First Trial: Trial of the Eternal City (Complete)]

[Second Trial: Trial of the Emerald Serpent (Complete)]

[Third Trial: Trial of the Great Sandworm (Complete)]

[Reward: Starlight Essence]

Not bothering to read through the long description of the side quest again, Xuan Hao instead focused his attention on the Starlight Essence. Although he had an idea that it should be something precious, he honestly had no idea what it was nor what it did. In the end, this was also the reason why he had chosen not to redeem the reward while he was still inside the trial space.

After all, for all he knew, the Starlight Essence might be something that forcibly made him enter a state of enlightenment or something similar after redeeming it. Even if this might be a good thing on the surface, it was not really safe to enter such a state inside the trial space where a giant sandworm could be lurking beneath him at any moment… And that was not mentioning the fact that the desert might get more dangerous the longer he ended up spending inside of it.

Although he was no longer as sure as before that the trial space would kill him after seven days, he still had a feeling that something bad would have happened to him if he stayed in there for a period longer than seven days…

Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao turned his attention back towards the side quest as a small panel appeared in front of him.

[Redeem Reward: Y/N]

Yes!

Only glancing over the small panel for a short moment, Xuan Hao unconsciously nodded his head as he thought this to himself-

Whoosh~

Not a second later, a delicate crystal that emitted a gentle, ethereal glow resembling the stars in a moonlit sky, appeared hovering a few centimeters in front of him as it pulsed with a soothing rhythm. The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

So, this is starlight essence.

Observing the strange, yet beautiful crystal that had appeared in front of him, Xuan Hao unknowingly felt a mixture of awe and reverence appearing in the depths of his soul as he looked at the delicate crystal floating in the air in front of him.

However, upon closer inspection of the delicate crystal, Xuan Hao was shocked to discover that there seemed to be several small stars hidden inside of the crystal, each one blending together in a unique constellation that seemed to contain the essence of the universe.

Even if Xuan Hao understood that this should be nothing more than an illusion created by the inherent power contained inside the starlight essence, it still made him feel an undeniable desire to learn more as he entered an all most spell bound state while starring into the seemingly large universe hidden inside the delicate crystal hovering in the air in front of him.

…

At the same time Xuan Hao entered a trance while looking at the starlight essence, the rabbit demon beast let out a lazy yawning sound before stretching its entire body on top of the thin tree branch that seemed like it was about to break at any moment under its weight.

Squeak~

Finished stretching its body, the rabbit demon beast that seemed like it had just woken up from a short nap slowly began climbing down the thin tree hanging over the edge of the terraced pool of water before jumping into the water and making its way back towards the foundation where Xuan Hao was located.

Having decided that it had punished Xuan Hao with waiting for long enough.

Squeak?

However, when it reached the foundation of the pagoda, it could not help letting a confused squeak escape from its small mouth as it saw Xuan Hao staring blankly into the air. In the eyes of the rabbit demon beast, he looked like a lost soul who had lost its purpose.

Squeak…

Feeling like it knew what had caused him to end up in this lost state, a rare apologetic expression appeared on the face of the rabbit demon beast.

Maybe I was too harsh on him…

Along with this simple line of thought going through its head, the rabbit demon beast decided to quickly make its way over to Xuan Hao. Intending to show its magnanimousness towards Xuan Hao by forgiving him for the early scare he had given it earlier.

Squeak… Squeak, Squeak, Squeak? Squeak!

Arriving in front of Xuan Hao, the rabbit demon beast lifted its head "Huh!?"

to look at him as it graciously forgave him for his earlier transgression. Knowing full well just how much its forgiveness was worth…

"Huh!?"

And just like the rabbit demon beast had been expecting, it soon saw the expression on Xuan Hao's face starting to light up again before a joyful expression appeared on his face.

Swish~

Feeling happy and a tad bit embarrassed upon seeing this reaction, the rabbit demon beast hurried up along the new a far more comfortable robe that he was wearing before finding a much large hidden pocket than before that it could hide inside of. Now that it had forgiven Xuan Hao, he should resume their journey out of this place… And hopefully also supply it with more of the delicious rocks that he had been giving i!

Squeak~

Thinking about the delicious rocks it had eaten and how there would be more of them appearing in the future, the rabbit demon beast felt itself getting drowsy as it soon drifted off into sleep once again. For some reason, the energy inside of its body had almost been completely drained after swimming back to the foundation.

As for how it was possible for a short swim to drain the energy of the Third Tribulation Soul Ascension Realm demon beast… The rabbit demon beast didn't really think about this, as its thoughts were already preoccupied with thinking about the delicious rocks that it would be eating in the future.

…

"Huh!?"

Feeling himself suddenly waking up from the strange trance that he had somehow found himself in, Xuan Hao could not help looking at the delicate crystal floating in the air in front of him with a blank expression on his face before it was soon replaced by one filled with joy.

During the short moment that he had been staring straight into the delicate crystal and observing the unique constellation hidden inside. During this process, he realized that the starlight essence was a strange form of energy stored inside of the delicate crystal. In a sense, the delicate crystal served the simple purpose of not allowing the starlight essence stored inside to leak out and disperse into the surrounding environment.

Not only that, but the small bits of starlight essence leaking out from the delicate crystal, gave him a chance to absorb the starlight essence… And doing this, he discovered that his body seemed to have a reaction after coming into contact with the starlight essence- no, it was more accurate to say that his special physique that was still in a dormant state seemed to have a reaction to the starlight essence.

Not just a reaction, the starlight essence is clearly helping in awakening it!

Feeling a joyful expression appearing on his face after this realization, Xuan Hao understood just how precious the starlight essence in front of him was. Even if he couldn't fully awaken his physique, he should at the very least be able to get close to fully awakening it…

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