Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

"To think we haven't been able to find that old man even after searching the entire mountain range for over two years… No matter how good at hiding he is, he shouldn't have been able to hide from us in his state. Even if he found somewhere special to hide away, we should have found some traces of him by now!"

"Indeed, I'm starting to worry that he might end up recovering before we find him. Even if he can't recover his full strength, an Earth Immortal is still and Earth Immortal. At that point in time, all we can do is wait for death…"

At the same time Xuan Hao was observing the illusory beasts trying to break through the barrier and escape from the Valley of Illusory Beasts, two of the Soul Ascension Realm Experts who had been chasing after the old man in the Earth Immortal Realm were casually chatting with each other not too far away from the entrance to the Sea of Mist.

Given that two years had already passed without them finding any traces of the old man, a part of them had already started to give up hope and were secretly preparing to run away before the old man managed to recover part of his strength in the Earth Immortal Realm and decided to take revenge on them.

Even if they still felt fearful of future retaliation from the old man in the Earth Immortal Realm after they left, they also understood that there would be no way for the old man to continue staying in the Blue Sea Empire after having killed one of their Earth Immortals.

Although the experts of the Blue Sea Empire had yet to appear inside the mountain range that they had chased the old man into, information had recently leaked among the group of Soul Ascension Realm Experts that the Earth Immortal Realm Experts of the Blue Sea Empire were at the scene of the battle and had begun their search for the old man daring enough to kill one of their empire's Earth Immortal Realm Experts.

With all of this in mind, the Soul Ascension Realm Experts searching through the mountain range where the old man in the Earth Immortal Realm had hidden away understood that they only had a short time left to find him before the Earth Immortals of the Blue Sea Empire appeared.

Even if some of them had already given up and were prepared to escape before this happened or the old man managed to somehow recover his cultivation realm and come out to deal with them, the majority of the Soul Ascension Realm Experts were still fully dedicated to continuing the search.

After all, in their eyes, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to obtain the wealth of two Earth Immortal Realm Experts, though it might not be able to guarantee them reaching the Earth Immortal Realm, it would undoubtedly increase their chances.

Rumble-!

Just as the two Soul Ascension Realm Experts chatting with each other were about to find somewhere else to search for the old man in the Earth Immortal Realm, the ground beneath them started violently shaking.

"Huh? What is-"

BOOOOOOM-!

Before the two had the chance to comprehend what was happening, a large hole suddenly opened beneath them. Creating a powerful shockwave that ended up knocking both into one of the nearby mountains in the process.

"Huh…?"

"What in the…"

Witnessing the unfortunate fate of the two Soul Ascension Realm Experts who were knocked into the mountain by the terrifying shockwave that swept out following the hole in the ground appearing, the remaining Soul Ascension Realm Experts began fearfully observing the hole that had suddenly appeared.

"What is that?"

"I don't know, but what about those two, did they die…?"

Not knowing how to respond to the possible death of their two peers, they remained frozen on the spot as they began discussing the situation between each other through their divine sense. The speed of the conversation far surpassed anything archivable by a mortal as they came to a decision to investigate the hole in the ground a few seconds after it had first appeared.

Fearful as they might be of the danger involved, they also understood that the hole might be the entrance to some sort of powerful secret realm… And given that the Soul Ascension Realm Experts still present were still searching for the old man in the Earth Immortal Realm, it was obvious that their greed was stronger than normal when it came to opportunities for them to improve their chances at reaching the Earth Immortal Realm.

Whoosh-!

Whoosh-!

Whoosh-!

With this in mind, most of the Soul Ascension Realm Experts soon arrived at the edge of the hole before looking down into it-

Roooar!

Roar!

Rooooaaaaar-!

And what met them was a sight they would never forget, as close to a hundred illusory beasts entered their view, all of them carrying an aura above the Soul Ascension Realm!

Not to mention whether they would be able to get any benefits from entering the hole, none of the Soul Ascension Realm Experts thought about the old man in the Earth Immortal Realm hidden somewhere nearby. 

Only a single thought was left in their heads after sensing the terrifying strength of the illusory beasts heading up towards them…

Escape!

…

Almost out!

While the Soul Ascension Realm Experts from the Blue Sea Empire realized how dangerous their current situation was and began scrambling in all directions while using all of communication talismans or other special tools to contact the more powerful people behind them or just directly contacting the Blue Sea Empire to request for help, Xuan Hao had almost reached the other side of the tunnel.

The only thing preventing him from continuing to pass the illusory beasts in front of him being that he wanted to eliminate any chance of being related to the large number of powerful illusory beasts that were about to enter the Blue Sea Empie.

Outside of that, Xuan Hao also realized that the demon beasts flying beside him had begun to grow relaxed with the exit getting closer and closer to them.

Although this might not have mattered a lot in a normal situation, his current situation was far from normal and because of that, it was even more nerve wrecking to feel many illusory beasts in the Earth Immortal Realm suddenly start paying more attention to him. After reaching the Blue Sea Empire, Xuan Hao had a feeling that these illusory beasts would start to attack him.

At least I should be able to use my Dao of Space to escape the moment I get out of this place…

Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao ignored the illusory beasts around himself as he put all his power into preparing himself for the time, he made it out of the chaotic tunnel.

It's here!

Unfortunately for Xuan Hao, he didn't have more than a few seconds to prepare himself, as he emerged from the tunnel together with close to a dozen illusory beasts surrounding him on all sides. All of them having reached the Earth Immortal Realm-

Rooar-!

Roar!

And all of them fully intent on attacking him now that they had successfully managed to escape from the Valley of Illusory Beasts. Not a single of them cared about celebrating their escape as they all simultaneously lunged towards Xuan Hao who now found himself being attacked by close to a dozen Earth Immortal Realm illusory beasts.

Rumble-!

No matter how much stronger he had become after reaching the Late Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm, Xuan Hao understood very well that he stood no chance of fighting back against so many illusory beasts in the Earth Immortal Realm. 

Forcing him to use all his power to execute the Drifting Cloud Steps to get out of his current situation, while silently praying that none of the illusory beasts attacking had some kind of weird ability that would lock down the space and prevent him from teleporting away and forcing him to face them head on-

Whoosh~

Boooom-!

Luckily for Xuan Hao, it seemed like none of the illusory beasts had this kind of ability, as he disappeared from the spot before the attacks of the illusory beasts landed. Appearing a few thousand meters away with a relieved expression plastered all over his face.

"Given the disturbance that all of these illusory beasts caused with their appearance, the true experts of the Blue Sea Empire above the Earth Immortal Realm might show up soon…" Muttering this to himself as he glanced towards the large number of Soul Ascension Realm Experts escaping not too far away from the location of the hole, it was not hard to guess that these people should have already informed the Blue Sea Empire about the appearance of the large number of Earth Immortal Realm illusory beasts.

I should get out of here before the experts from the Blue Sea Empire begins to show up, but before that, I have to pick up the rabbit demon beast and squirrel…