Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

"I see… A few demon beasts of mine are currently cultivating in the Ephemeral Forest at the moment. If it isn't too difficult, could I ask you to watch over them while you are there?"

Hearing that Chu Li was indeed planning to go to the Ephemeral Forest, Xuan Hao decided to ask him to watch over the rabbit demon beast and the squirrel during his time there. Not so much to watch over them, but more so for him to not kill them the moment he noticed the two demon beasts. 

After all, there wasn't really anything dangerous in the Ephemeral Forest that they needed protection from…

"Huh? Senior's demon beasts? Ah! Of course!"

Not knowing what was going through Xuan Hao's head at the moment, Chu Li just happily agreed to the request of watching over the demon beasts before the two parted ways after Xuan Hao gave a brief description of the rabbit demon beast and the squirrel.

During the entire process, Chu Li didn't question why a powerful senior who had surpassed the Earth Immortal Realm had decided to bring two demon beasts below the Earth Immortal Realm with him to such a dangerous place, but in the end, he just guessed that it was because the senior was a wandering cultivator and happened to pick up a few demon beasts that he wanted to train and the Ephemeral Forest proved the best place to do this.

Although… He had no idea why the senior had decided to choose a squirrel and a rabbit demon beast instead of a larger demon beast that could serve as a mount. 

Maybe the senior just had some other purpose for them?

…

Following Chu Li leaving the Valley of Illusory Beasts, Xuan Hao continued waiting above the small forest he had hidden inside of for the past month. Waiting for the first Earth Immortal Realm illusory beast to appear inside the range of his divine sense. Not daring to move too far away from the wooden gates in case the Earth Immortal Realm illusory beasts turned out to be too strong to even fight against for a short time with his current strength.

Although there would be the risk of Chu Li poking his head out through the wooden gate connected to the Ephemeral Forest, it was a risk he was willing to take considering that the alternative might result in him dying…

Rooooaaaar-!

Not even five minutes after Chu Li had left, a roar far more powerful than any of the illusory beasts he had faced so far echoed out from the depths of the valley before a terrifying presence appeared at the edge of his divine sense.

"Earth Immortal Realm…" Muttering this to himself as he felt a hint of nervousness at the thought of having to face off against someone in the Earth Immortal Realm, Xuan Hao prepared himself mentally to run away in case he had overestimated his own strength and wasn't able to fight an illusory beast in the Earth Immortal Realm.

WHOOSH-!

As Xuan Hao finished preparing himself, a terrifying wind swept through the uneven terrain of the valley and directly wiped out the small forest below him in the process before a large illusory dragon appeared at the edge of his vision-

Whoosh-!

And before he even had time to react, the illusory dragon had effortlessly cut through the air and appeared in front of him filled with killing intent as a large pair of claws headed directly for him-

BANG!

Only blocking the claws in time because his dao domain had already spread out to surround him. If not, the claws might have been able to reach him before he could even use the Drifting Cloud Steps to run away. Making Xuan Hao painfully aware of how slow his reaction time was in the face of someone in the Earth Immortal Realm.

Although the fights he had seen so far of Earth Immortal Realm cultivators didn't seem so much different in terms of speed compared to a fight between Soul Ascension Realm Experts, it had now become obvious that it was just that he couldn't fully see what was happening in a fight between Earth Immortal Realm Experts, something he might have discovered if he had more time to watch Earth Immortal Realm Experts fighting or just had a chance to observe the fight from a closer distance without dying…

Roar?

Not expecting Xuan Hao to block its attack, the illusory dragon retracted its claws. Unsure of how someone below the Earth Immortal Realm had managed block its attack.

Giving Xuan Hao some much needed time to recover from the impact of the attack while also assessing how to fight against the illusory dragon in front of him.

Given just how fast the illusory dragon was, it was no longer doable for him to try and rely on his Drifting Cloud Steps to avoid its attack, as even though he could teleport to avoid it, he might not be able to use the Drifting Cloud Steps in time to avoid the attacks.

Do I really have to run away?

Feeling a sense of reluctance as he realized that he was still far too weak to face off against an illusory beast in the Earth Immortal Realm, Xuan Hao could not help wondering if it was best to just escape from the Valley of Illusory Beasts while he still had time.

Even if it was disappointing that he would not be able to have his Dao of Illusions reach the Large Success Realm, he would at least be able to stay alive and think of another way to have one of his Daos reach the Large Success Realm before the Earth Immortal Realm Expert from the Heavenly Dragon Tem-

RUMBLE-!

About to turn around and escape from the Valley of Illusory Beasts after concluding that he was still too weak to fight against an Earth Immortal Realm illusory beast, a loud rumbling echoed out from the depths of the valley before the entire valley began violently shaking.

"Huh!? The wooden gates are… Disappearing!?"

However, the main thing Xuan Hao had his attention focused on was the fact that the wooden gates in the distance became illusory and looked like they were about to disappear at any moment…