Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Passing through the gate leading out of the mushroom forest, Xuan Hao found himself on top of a large open platform floating in the clouds with only an endless sea of clouds appearing as far as the eye could see.

The only thing on the platform was the gate that he had passed through, and a dozen or so other gates lined up along the side of the platform, with a familiar looking preservation golem standing motionlessly at the center of the platform.

Even without having to ask the golem, he guessed that this should be a space created for those who completed the celestial trial, with the other gates around the platform being connected to different trials of higher or lower difficulty than the one he had gone through.

In the past, the platform should have been a place for the different trail participants to gather and chat with each other after having gone through the celestial trial, but now that there was only him around, it seemed rather desolate with no one else around.

So, with that in mind, Xuan Hao didn't waste any time as he made his way up to the preservation golem that was motionlessly standing at the center of the platform. Not just to figure out what kind of reward he had gained from completing the celestial trial, but also as a way for him to hopefully find a way out of the celestial trial.

"Trail participant, you have successfully completed the celestial trial of the immortal mushrooms at the highest difficulty, would you like to receive your reward?"

Walking up to the preservation golem that had been standing motionlessly at the center of the platform, Xuan Hao was slightly taken aback when the golem suddenly turned around and asked him this before he even had the chance to say anything to it.

However, after realizing that nothing more happened, he calmly nodded his head in agreement. Feeling curious what kind of reward, he would get after accidentally challenging the highest difficulty of the celestial trial and completing it.

Hopefully, he would at least get the two celestial coins he needed to buy the Dao Domain Lord Realm scroll back at the Tower of Secrets. If not, he really wouldn't have any idea how to react, as he would need to find another celestial trial to go through.

"Confirmed agreement from trial participant, reward will be issued accordingly. Checking treasure vault… Error! Unable to connect with treasure vault. Contact elder for assistance, please stand by…!"

"…"

Listening to the preservation golem as it seemed unable to check some kind of treasure vault for a reward and how it had begun trying to contact an elder, something that would undoubtedly end in failure, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit nervous, as he had a feeling that he might actually end up having to go find another celestial trial if the preservation golem in front of him ended up malfunctioning because there wasn't any elders present.

No… He might not even be able to leave the platform floating in the clouds, as he had no idea how to get out of the place. Entering the gates randomly wasn't an option either, as he might accidentally end up walking into a celestial trial that had been created for someone in the Profound Immortal Realm.

In such a trial, the random mushroom monsters walking around on the ground below might have reached the Dao Seed Realm, with some of them even having the chance of being in the Later Stages of the Dao Seed Realm!

No matter what, he couldn't do something that reckless and could only sit down nervously as he patiently waited for the preservation golem that seemed to be trying to connect with an elder of the Mirage Sect to figure out how to solve the current problem…

"Error. Unable to connect. Error. Elder not present. Failed to contact within designated time limit, switching to alternate reward structure. Trail participant, would you like to switch to alternate reward structure or wait for an elder to show up?"

As a few hours flew by without much happening, Xuan Hao was suddenly awoken by the words of the preservation golem-

"Yes!"

Not wasting any time as he answered the preservation golem. Knowing that it would be impossible for any elder to show up to fix the situation. On the other hand, it might even result in him getting stuck inside of the celestial trial.

"Confirmation accepted; alternate reward structure has been chosen. Converting rewards from celestial trial completion into celestial coins. Total celestial coins granted following conversion, 32."

Listening closely to the preservation golem, Xuan Hao could not help feeling both of his eyes starting to shine as he heard the words celestial coins. Even more so when he heard the large number of celestial coins he had been granted, a total of 32 celestial coins!

Together with the celestial coins he already had, he would now have a total of 38 celestial coins!

Not only was this more than enough for him to get his hands on the scroll that contained the information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm that he had originally set out to get, but he could also try and look through the Tower of Secrets and see if he could find any suitable combat techniques.

At least, given the current windfall of celestial coins he had managed to get his hands on, he should be able to get some heaven rank combat techniques.

And, given that even the lowest level heaven rank combat technique was for the Celestial Immortal Realm or the Profound Immortal Realm, he would also be able to gain some more insight into the realm through these combat techniques.

Of course, outside of combat techniques, he could also try and buy more information on the different cultivation realms. Although, he didn't really know if it would be better to do that or to just buy a combat technique and try to gain a better insight into the cultivation realm that way.

After all, a combat technique would not only allow him to gain a deeper understanding of the cultivation realm that it was created for but would also allow him a chance to understand the dao being used with the combat technique.

For one, he wanted to increase his comprehension for the Dao of Space, so he would definitely take the opportunity to try and find a combat technique related to the Dao of Space so he could deepen his understanding of the dao and also gain a better understanding of how to properly use it in combat.

At the same time, he also had a feeling that he had to look for a new movement technique after what he had gone through in the mushroom forest.

Even though the drifting cloud steps was an amazing technique that allowed him to easily traverse large distances, it was severely lacking when it came to fighting in places where space had either been sealed or had become too chaotic that it would possibly backfire to use.

With that in mind, Xuan Hao planned to also look for a new movement technique not related to the Dao of Space after he got back to the Tower of Secrets. Maybe a movement technique that could make use of the Dao of Light that he had comprehended not too long ago. After all, light was also well known for its speed. Only outmatched by the Dao of Space that could essentially bend space itself to surpass the speed of light.

"Now… How do I get out of here?" Already feeling excited about what to do with his newfound wealth, Xuan Hao could not help looking around the platform for a possible way out that might have appeared after he had been given his reward.

"Trail participant, would you like to leave the reward space?"

However, instead of finding a way out of the place that was called the reward space, he was instead asked if he wanted to leave by the preservation golem.

"Yes?" And not knowing how else to answer, Xuan Hao curiously observed the preservation golem as it created a screen in the air in front of him.

Exchange Hall, Treasure Vault, Disciple Quarters, Visitor Quarters, Arena… These should be the different facilities that exist inside the celestial gate…

Looking through the list, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a hint of curiosity. However, as he tried clicking on the exchange hall, he realized that it didn't work.

Not just the exchange Hall, he couldn't travel to any of the locations listed, as a simple, unavailable prompt popped the moment he tried to do so.

"So much for exploring the celestial gate facilities…" Muttering this to himself with a hint of unwillingness, Xuan Hao could only reluctantly move his hand towards the exit at the bottom of the floating screen before pressing it-

Whoosh-!

And not a second later, a strange power enveloped his entire body before he found himself back outside the fourth celestial gate.