1290-1298

Chapter 1290: Ten Celestial Trials

Of course, it had to be too expensive for me to buy outright... And given the formations that should be guarding this place, trying to forcefully take it isn't an option. 

Smiling wryly as he thought this to himself while looking at the thin scroll placed on the shelf in front of him, Xuan Hao did his best to suppress the desire to just try and forcefully take the scroll. Knowing very well that the formations inside the Tower of Secrets would end up killing if he did so. 

"Is there any way to earn celestial coins outside of partaking in the celestial trials?" With that in mind, Xuan Hao could only turn around and ask this. Hoping that there was some other way for him to earn that last celestial coin required for him to get his hands on the scroll containing the information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm. 

"Yes, outside of the main method of obtaining celestial coins, they can also be obtained through trading with other trial participants for things other than celestial coins and combat matches with other trial participants putting some of their celestial coins on the line. 

Outside of that, a more difficult way to earn celestial coins is also available. Involving the submission of at least Earth Rank combat techniques that haven't been registered inside the Tower of Secrets before. Slight changes to a combat technique does not serve as a valid submission." 

"Submission of combat techniques? Can I perhaps submit some of the combat techniques from the sect and try to see if I can get the last remaining celestial coin through this!?" Feeling both his eyes starting to shine as he said this after hearing what the preservation golem said in response to his question, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a sense of renewed hope that he wouldn't have to leave behind the scroll containing information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm. 

"Submission of new combat techniques require the validation of an elder before they can be placed inside the Tower of Secrets, would you like me to contact an elder for combat technique evaluation? Be warned, contacting an elder without proper reason will result in a deduction of 5 celestial coins." 

"No… No need for that…" 

However, before he could start getting excited about submitting the different high level techniques that the Star Shattering Sect had managed to get their hands on since their rapid expansion and some of the techniques he had obtained himself, the preservation golem destroyed his hopes. 

Contacting an elder from the Mirage Sect to come and evaluate his combat techniques now that the Mirage Sect itself had been destroyed was nothing more than a pipe dream. Not something that would happen no matter how much he wished for it. 

Instead, there was a higher chance that he would end up losing 5 celestial coins by trying to contact one of the elders from the Mirage Sect… 

Haaa… Looks like the only way for me to earn enough celestial coins to get my hands on the scroll with information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm is to find another celestial trial and complete it. 

The only problem with this is the fact that I haven't found any other celestial gates so far. Not to mention, there is a high likelihood that the other celestial gates won't be in good condition. Meaning just entering them will pose a risk… 

Thinking this to himself as he looked down at the scroll that was just barely above what he could afford, Xuan Hao soon turned back to face the preservation golem that had remained silent since his refusal to contact one of the elders. "Do you have any idea how to find any of the celestial gates?" Not thinking twice as he asked this, as he intended to try the only method left for him to get more celestial coins, challenging another celestial trial. 

"Yes, you can track down celestial trials with the help of a celestial compass, as you have yet to claim a celestial compass, you can get one for free." 

Whoosh~ 

Taking out a small golden compass with a small crystal dial inside, the preservation golem directly handed it over. "Do be aware, losing or destroying the celestial compass will mean you have to pay for the second one. The price of a celestial compass is 25 celestial coins." 

"Thank you…" Not knowing what else to say in response, Xuan Hao just looked down at the compass in his hand with a surprised look on his face. Not having expected the preservation golem to suddenly hand over something that would help him track down the location of other celestial trials. 

[Main Quest: The Ten Celestial Trials] 

[Description: Having gained the celestial compass, you can now track down the remaining celestial trials inside the mystic realm. Complete all the celestial trials.] 

[Celestial Trials Completed: 3/10] 

[Reward: Increase comprehension of the Dao of Space, ???] 

However, the most surprising thing was that a new main quest appeared the moment he took the celestial compass from the preservation golem. 

Not to mention the single celestial trial that he planned to complete so he could get his hands on the information regarding the Dao Domain Lord Realm, it seemed like the main quest wanted him to clear all the celestial trials present inside the mystic realm. 

But… A total of ten trials… 

Frowning as he thought of having to go through seven more celestial trials, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit uneasy. 

Not so much because he was fearful of the celestial trials themselves, but more so because he was afraid of encountering a situation where the spatial passage leading to the trial had been destroyed and would end up resulting in him being thrown into a spatial storm the moment, he tried to go through it. 

Although the chance of this happening when passing through the third celestial gate wasn't high, it was still there… And he had no idea if any of the remaining seven celestial gates were in a worse state than the third celestial gate… 

"No… I don't need to worry so much about all of this for now, there isn't a time limit to the quest. For now, I should just start off with trying to find a stable celestial gate and get the last celestial coin I need for the scroll with information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm. 

After that, I can use the information in the scroll to increase my strength and try to reach the Peak of the Dao Domain Lord Realm before trying to go through any of the unstable or damaged celestial gates." Calming down as he muttered this to himself, Xuan Hao glanced back down at the celestial compass in his hand. 

If he had enough time, it shouldn't be that difficult for him to complete the main quest given by the system. 

The only worry he had outside of the unstable spatial passages being the fact that he had no idea what the remaining seven celestial trials entailed. 

Considering that they were also designed for those trial participants in the Profound Immortal Realm, he understood that even if he felt confident after going through three of them, he couldn't let his guard down. 

Even more so considering that the difficulty of the celestial trials would likely increase now that his strength had broken through to the Late Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm. 

"Well… It's no use staying inside this place any longer. After all, there isn't much I can get with my meagre 7 celestial coins…" Glancing down at the scroll with information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm one last time as he said this, Xuan Hao turned around and made his way back in the direction he had come from. 

Now that he had managed to get his hand on a celestial compass that could help him find the other celestial trials present inside the mystic realm, he didn't intend to waste any time lingering around inside the Tower of Secrets staring at the scroll he couldn't get his hands on. 

Instead of that, his time would be far better spent returning to the mystic realm and start searching for one of the seven remaining celestial trials as fast as possible- 

"Trial participant has left the Tower of Secrets without purchasing anything, one celestial coin has been deducted as entrance fee." 

"…" 

Deciding to not say anything after hearing the emotionless voice of the preservation golem behind the moment he stepped out of the Tower of Secrets, Xuan Hao could not help silently cursing to himself as he wondered what had happened to his temporary elder status of being able to enter anywhere inside the exchange hall. 

Obviously, even though it seemed like he could enter everywhere from what he had experienced so far, he still needs to pay some kind of mandatory fee for not buying anything after entering the Tower of Secrets…

Chapter 1291: Strange Mountain

Leaving through the spatial passage after going through the remaining ruins floating around inside the almost empty space, Xuan Hao glanced back in the direction of the Tower of Secrets one last time. Promising himself that he would return the moment he got the one- two celestial coins required to buy the scroll that had the information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm. 

At the very least, from the celestial coins he had been given so far, it seemed that he got at least two celestial coins for completing a celestial trial with one of them giving him 3 celestial coins. 

Of course, there was always a chance that completing a celestial trial only rewarded a single celestial coin, while anything more than that would be rewarded whenever someone preformed beyond the expected level required to complete the trial. 

If that was the case, he would have to try and do his best to complete whatever trial he ended up inside of without holding back. 

Not that it mattered that much which of these two guesses were correct regarding the number of celestial coins rewarded from completing a celestial trial, as he intended to do his best at completing the celestial trials anyway. After all, the celestial trials were far too dangerous for him to not use all of his strength. Especially now that his strength had increased to the Late Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm and the difficulty of the trial should have increased compared to the past when he had gone through the celestial trial at the Intermediate Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm. 

Whoosh~ 

Safely coming out on the other side of the spatial passage, Xuan Hao didn't wait around as he looked down at the celestial compass and left the place in the direction that it was pointing. Intending on completing the closest celestial trial as fast as possible so he could return to the space of the third exchange hall and exchange for the scroll containing information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm. 

Luckily for him, he didn't have to head deeper inside the mystic realm where he didn't have any idea of the situation, but instead somewhere towards the outer parts of the mystic realm according to the celestial compass. 

Even if it could still be hidden in a place similar to the first three celestial gates he had found, he didn't feel like he would end up encountering anything too dangerous in the outer parts of the mystic realm. 

At the very least, he didn't think he would end up running into something that would pose a threat to him outside of the trial inside of the celestial gate itself. 

After all, if any demon beast above the Soul Ascension Realm appeared, the guardian formation of the mystic realm would activate to kill it. 

Although… Remembering the last time the guardian formation had activated to kill the cloud demon beast, he had a feeling that the most dangerous thing would be finding himself too close to a Dao Seed Realm demon beast when the guardian formation activated, as he was certain that the power behind its attack was more than strong enough to kill someone in the Profound Immortal Realm, let alone someone who had yet to reach the Profound Immortal Realm like himself… 

Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao silently decided that he would teleport as far away as possible the moment he spotted a Dao Seed Realm demon beast. Planning to avoid any chance of him getting caught up in the aftermath of the guardian formation activating. 

Ching~ 

However, just at this moment, Xuan Hao heard a quiet sound echoing out from the celestial compass, as he discovered that the compass turned around and pointed at a small mountain just behind him. Signaling that he had already arrived at the location of the fourth celestial gate. 

"Hm? I'm already here?" 

Not having expected the fourth celestial gate to be so close, Xuan Hao could not help showing a somewhat surprised expression on his face as he looked over at the small, secluded mountain that the dial of the compass was now pointing towards. 

The mountain in question was small and secluded. Looking like nothing out the ordinary if one didn't consider that the attack from the guardian formation had essentially vaporized the landscape around the small mountain. Leaving it standing out amidst the charred landscape. 

Even if it could normally be ignored, it was rather hard to do so when it was the only thing that had been left standing in the wake of the destruction brought by the guardian formations attack to kill the cloud demon beast. 

The reason why he hadn't discovered it was simply because he had been teleporting forward following the celestial compass and didn't pay much attention to his surroundings before the celestial compass had reminded him that he had reached the location of the fourth celestial gate. 

And now that he saw the weird, secluded mountain in the middle of the scorched land created by the attack of the guardian formation understood that there was more to it than what met the eye. 

I guess the mountain is protected by some kind of formation that allowed it to survive the attack from the guardian formation. Not just that, but a quite strong formation considering that it managed to survive the residual power of that terrifying attack. 

Narrowing both his eyes as he thought about this, Xuan Hao used his divine sense spread to spread out and envelope the small mountain in an attempt to try and find the location of the fourth celestial gate… And to his surprise, he soon discovered the fourth celestial gate inside a cave just big enough to fit it close to the peak of the mountain. 

The formation he had expected to block his divine sense or create some kind of illusion to confuse it, didn't happen. Instead, he had managed to smoothly find the fourth celestial gate without any problems. 

This is far too easy… 

Still, feeling cautious about how the small mountain had managed to survive while everything around it had perished, Xuan Hao didn't immediately descend to investigate the situation of the fourth celestial gate. 

Instead, he decided to carefully approach while using his divine sense and dao domain in combination to carefully investigate the base of the mountain without making his way off the scorched ground. 

Hm? This is… 

And just like he had expected, as he used the combined power of his divine sense and his dao domain to investigate the area around the mountain, he managed to discover a faint layer of qi that seemed to envelope the entire mountain. 

Thin to the point that he hadn't even noticed it when his divine sense first swept through the mountain in search of the fourth celestial gate. 

However, even if he could sense this faint layer of qi that enveloped the small mountain, he still couldn't figure out what kind of purpose it had, as the thin layer of qi essentially had no power. Not much different from normal. 

The only thing that seemed to give away that this thin layer of qi wasn't normal was the fact that some kind of strange ancient looking symbols seemed to form through the thin layer of qi every now and then. 

Although he didn't know any of these symbols and had never seen them before, his comprehension of the Dao of Formation allowed him to at least understand that these symbols were related to some kind of formation. 

Not just that but given that he couldn't understand these symbols even when he had comprehended the Dao of Formations, it was obvious that the formation formed by the thin layer of qi was far more complicated than what first met the eye. 

Whoosh~ 

Thud! 

Casually throwing out a small ice spear formed by his Dao of Ice to test out the formation, Xuan Hao could not help narrowing both his eyes, as he watched the entire mountain shimmer briefly before allowing the ice spear to pass straight through it and pierce into the scorched ground a few thousand meters away. 

"So… This was how it managed to avoid being affected by the attack from the guardian formations…" Muttering this to himself as he looked at the small mountain, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit relived that the formation protecting the small mountain didn't seem to be an offensive one, but instead a more unique defensive formation. 

At least he didn't feel that worried about the formation, as he should be able to freely test it out and try to comprehend it without facing the risk of being attacked by it. 

After understanding the formation and whether or not it would try and imprison him the moment he entered it, he would be able to figure out how to best reach the fourth celestial gate without anything to worry about. 

Even if it might take a few days of trial and error, Xuan Hao didn't mind it that much, as he had more than enough time at hand and the scroll with information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm wasn't going anywhere.

Chapter 1292: First Sign of Chaos, Blue Sea Empire's Forces Appear

Finding a place next to the small mountain with the thin layer of qi protecting it, Xuan Hao sat down and began the process of slowly analyzing the mysterious formation protecting the small mountain. Intending to find out if it would cause him any harm by entering the formation or if it was just designed to protect the mountain itself from being harmed. 

At least from what he had seen so far, he guessed that there shouldn't be any problems with entering the formation, but just to be sure he wanted to make sure that this was the case. Not to mention, it wasn't like he didn't gain anything from studying the formation, as it helped him increase his comprehension of the Dao of Formations. 

At the same time, it also gave him insight into the ancient formations used in the past during the time that the Mirage Sect was around. Giving him an easier time when encountered similar formations in the future, as he would have some knowledge about the different formation symbols, they used and what purpose they served. 

For example, if he had prior knowledge of the ancient formation symbols that were just barely visible on the surface of the thin layer of qi covering the small mountain range, he would have been able to figure out the purpose of the formation without having to spend a few days studying it. 

"If I continue encountering formations like this whenever I encounter a celestial gate in the future, I might end up reaching the Large Success Realm in the Dao of Formations before doing so in the Dao of Space…" Chuckling to himself as he muttered this while looking at the thin layer of qi that formed some kind of complicated formation that he couldn't see through, Xuan Hao closed both of his eyes as his divine sense and dao domain both spread out began probing the thin layer of qi from all directions. 

Although the ancient formation hidden in the thin layer of qi was hard to notice and impossible to sense without at least having comprehended the Dao of Formations to the Small Success Realm, it wasn't that difficult to analyze after finding it. 

In the end, all Xuan Hao needed was time and he should be able to fully understand the principles behind the mysterious formation. 

Of course, his goal wasn't to fully understand the formation, but instead just to figure out if it was safe for him to enter the formation. 

After all, to fully understand such a complicated formation, it would take him over a dozen years with his current comprehension of the Dao of Formations… And Xuan Hao had no plans of staying around for so long inside the mystic realm to analyze a single ancient formation. 

Maybe in the future when he ran out of things to do, he could come back to the mystic realm and try to understand the different ancient formations scattered around inside the mystic realm, but for now, he was fully set on reaching the fourth celestial gate on the small mountain and get the remaining two celestial coins he needed for the scroll with information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm. 

… 

At the same time Xuan Hao sat down and began to analyze the mysterious formation covering the small mountain, the situation back in the Star Shattering Sect had begun to rapidly change. 

The reason for this was that the first group of cultivators from the Blue Sea Empire arrived in the devasted Onyx Empire. Engaging in a devasting fight with the True Demon Realm demon cultivators that had caused the destruction of the Onyx Empire. 

The battle itself didn't just affect the Onyx Empire, but also started affecting the neighboring powers that happened to border the Onyx Empire, as the terrifying battle between the Soul Ascension realm cultivators from the Blue Sea Empire and True Demon Realm demonic cultivators from the Frozen Wasteland pushed out any of the weaker demonic cultivators into the surrounding territories. 

In the end, Feng Chen and Shu Yao were both forced to go to the Star Shattering Sect's border with the Onyx Empire to defend against the large influx of demonic cultivators, while a large number of elders and disciples followed them. Leaving the Star Shattering Sect mostly empty outside of a few essential elders and the weaker disciple who weren't strong enough to participate in the battle with the demonic cultivators. 

As for the winged lion demon beast that had been guarding the border, it still remained in place as it focused on consolidating its strength after the countless battles it had with Su Wuhan. Only planning to act in case a demonic cultivator in the True Demon Realm appeared. 

Surprisingly, although the Star Shattering Sect ended up mobilizing most of their strength and the strength of the independent sects to deal with the influx of demonic cultivators, they couldn't stop all of them from getting through. 

At the end of the day, there were simply far too many demonic cultivators and there was no way to fully defend the massive border that they shared with the Onyx Empire. Especially so when most of the Domain Lord Realm Experts ended up busy dealing with the stronger demonic cultivators and didn't have time to kill off the weaker demonic cultivators. 

Even though the weaker elders and disciples of the Star Shattering Sect and independent sects did their best trying to kill as many as possible, it didn't take long before the few demonic cultivators that managed to make it through started causing chaos inside the territory of the Star Shattering Sect. 

It was at this moment that the different smaller forces that had escaped to the Star Shattering Sect from the Onyx Empire when the demonic cultivators overwhelmed the Onyx Empire's border with the Frozen Wasteland, finally had a chance to shine, as they worked in tandem with Elder Dust Fairy and the extensive information network she had laid down inside the territory of the Star Shattering Sect to track down and kill these demonic cultivators. 

All things considered, the damage that the Star Shattering Sect ended up suffering because of the demonic cultivators was relatively minimal, as most of them were taken care of before they could end up becoming a big problem. 

Of course, this didn't mean that there wasn't any demonic cultivator that ended up causing serious damage to the Star Shattering Sect, as some of them ended up taking advantage of the relatively weak powers that existed under the protection of the Star Shattering Sect to rapidly devour a large number of weaker cultivators to rapidly increase their own strength. 

An example of such a situation that caused Chu Yang to leave to the sect, was when a demonic cultivator managed to find a weak aristocrat family that had fled from the Onyx Empire where the strongest person was only around the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm. 

In the end, the demonic cultivator devoured the entire aristocratic family. Reaching a realm comparable to someone in the First Stage of the Domain Lord Realm before Elder Dust Fairy had learnt about him. 

However, by the time Chu Yang arrived to kill the demonic cultivator before it could cause any more damage, it had already destroyed close to a dozen small forces around the aristocratic family. 

But more important than that, it had ended up destroying one of the Star Shattering Sect's recently established branches in the region. Killing all the elders and disciples that had been staying at the branch. 

Although there weren't more than four elders and a little more than a few hundred disciples in the branch due to its recent construction, it was still devasting news for the sect, as it could be considered the first time that the Star Shattering Sect had experienced such a large number of deaths in such a short period of time. 

Even at the border between the sect and the Onyx Empire where demonic cultivators kept appearing in endless numbers, the number of elders and disciples dying were minimal due to the protection of the more powerful cultivators at the Domain Lord Realm preventing any powerful demonic cultivator from running amok among the weaker elders and disciples, something that didn't happen outside the border. 

Outside of the devasting loss of a branch, the different independent sects under the Star Shattering Sect also suffered their fair share of disasters, as they ended up losing more than the Star Shattering Sect. Mainly due to the fact that Elder Dust Fairy had focused the full power of the information network towards ensuring the safety of the Star Shattering Sect and its branches after the loss of one branch. 

In the end, resulting in the information around the territory of the different independent sects being a bit slower and less accurate than usual, as most of the talented people under Elder Dust Fairy relocated to places close to the different branches of the sect.

Chapter 1293: Fall of a Dao Seed Realm Cultivator...

Outside of the chaos that was taking place inside the territory of the Star Shattering Sect, the rest of the powers surrounding the Onyx Empire managed to deal with the situation without a lot of problems. The only power that experienced a worse situation than the Star Shattering Sect being the empire that bordered both the Onyx Empire and the Frozen Wasteland. 

In the end, this empire was forced to deal with an influx of demonic cultivators from two different directions at the same time. 

If not for the timely arrival of cultivators from the Blue Sea Empire, it wouldn't have been out of the question for this empire to end up in a similar state as the Onyx Empire. 

At the same time, the first existence in the Dao Seed Realm also appeared a few days after the fall of the Star Shattering Sect branch. 

Following this, it didn't take long before the demonic cultivators in the True Demon Realm to get killed, as the demonic cultivators still left inside of the Onyx Empire began fleeing back in the direction of the Frozen Wasteland. 

As a result, the number of demonic cultivators trying to enter the Star Shattering Sect's territory began to significantly decrease, as most of the powerful demonic cultivators who learnt about the appearance of the Dao Seed Realm cultivator from the Blue Sea Empire all began to flee back in the direction of the Frozen Wasteland. 

In turn, the weaker demonic cultivators became rather easy to deal with as the Domain Lord Realm cultivators of the sect were freed up to help deal with the weaker demonic cultivators trying to rush into the sect's territory. 

By the time that the first few people from the Blue Sea Empire appeared to lend a hand in dealing with the demonic cultivators, the situation was already under control. Resulting in them leaving to help out in places where they were more needed. 

Of course, this didn't mean that the Star Shattering Sect was completely out of danger, as the people from the Blue Sea Empire would undoubtedly return to survey the situation after the demonic cultivators were fought back. 

Not just to ensure that the demonic cultivators had been dealt with, but likely also to get an idea about the current strength of the different forces that were in a sense under their protection. 

When that time came, it would be the time for the Star Shattering Sect to endure the scrutiny of the Blue Sea Empire. 

Although it might only be someone in the Soul Ascension Realm coming to do this, it was still something that was of upmost importance. 

First of all, Pei Yang's existence had to remain hidden as he was still a wanted figure in the eyes of the Blue Sea Empire. 

Secondly, the Shattered Star Peaks couldn't be fully exposed to the people from the Blue Sea Empire, as the place would undoubtedly end up being coveted by the Blue Sea Empire. After all, the dense qi of the place and spiritual herb garden on the Ninth Star Peak was more than enough to make even a Dao Seed Realm cultivator greedy. 

At the very least, when it came to this kind of thing, Feng Chen had already managed to come up with a way to fool the people from the Blue Sea Empire by utilizing the chaotic qi formation to limit the spiritual qi present on the Shattered Star Peaks in case someone from the Blue Sea Empire wanted to see the sect. Also using the chaotic qi formation to hide anything that the Blue Sea Empire shouldn't see. 

Of course, this would only work if the other party was in the Soul Ascension Realm. 

If the other party was in the Dao Seed Realm, it could still work, but it would depend on the strength of the Dao Seed Realm cultivator and how suspicious he was of the Star Shattering Sect. 

Someone above the Dao Seed Realm wanting to check out the Shattered Star Peaks would make it impossible for him to hide anything with the help of the chaotic qi formation. 

Well… He should be able to hide things, but it would just be instantly picked up by the other party… 

However, just as Feng Chen returned back to the sect and began to prepare for having to endure the scrutiny of someone from the Blue Sea Empire who might show up at any moment after the demonic cultivators were pushed back to the Frozen Wasteland. News came that the Dao Seed- Earth Immortal from the Blue Sea Empire had been unsuccessful in pushing back the demonic cultivators to the Frozen Wasteland. 

Not just that, but he had been ambushed by a group of powerful demonic cultivators in the Demon Lord Realm. Equivalent in strength to someone in the Dao Seed Realm. 

As a result of this unexpected ambush, the Dao Seed Realm cultivator from the Blue Sea Empire had ended up dying at the outer regions of the Onyx Empire close to the borders of the Frozen Wasteland. 

In turn, the demonic cultivators that had been escaping back towards the Frozen Wasteland had regained their spirits and once again began swarming back into the Onyx Empire and out towards the surrounding powers bordering the Onyx Empire. 

Although these demonic cultivators had not yet reached the borders of the Star Shattering Sect and resumed their earlier attack, Feng Chen didn't dare waste a single second as he left the sect and rushed back towards the borders to help out with holding back the demonic cultivators. Understanding that there was little chance of the Blue Sea Empire showing up to survey the territory of the Star Shattering Sect now that they had lost someone at the Dao Seed Realm. 

Instead, it looked like the battle with the demonic cultivators was about to take a turn, as demonic cultivators at the Demon Lord Realm were now involved. 

Even if he had no idea about the situation outside of the few smaller empires located around the Star Shattering, Feng Chen had a feeling that this was only the prelude to what was about to come. 

At the very least, he felt somewhat reassured knowing that Pei Yang was there to help protect the sect in case a demonic cultivator at the Demon Lord Realm appeared. Bringing some semblance of safety to the chaotic time. 

Of course, Feng Chen was completely unaware that the Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivators wouldn't be targeting the Star Shattering Sect's territory in the first place and would instead be actively trying to avoid it due to Xuan Hao's friendship with Xuan Gui, who didn't go back on her word and specifically ensured that there wouldn't be any Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivators attacking the Star Shattering Sect. 

… 

At the same time that Feng Chen hurried back to the border between his sect and the Onyx Empire, the ancestors of the Blue Sea Empire had gathered together at the core of the Blue Sea Empire's capital city to discuss the current state of things. 

"In just a few hours, we ended up losing more than three earth immortals dispatched to suppress the demonic cultivators of the Frozen Wasteland and force them back. No matter how you look at this, it's obvious that those demonic cultivators are planning on attacking us for real this time around!" 

"Indeed, outside of us, the others also faced similar losses. Even those monks in the west who normally don't interfere also ended up losing one of their senior monks close to archiving enlightenment." 

"A monk close to archiving enlightenment… So, someone close to reaching the Celestial Immortal Realm? Looks like they suffered quite a bit…" 

As the ancestors discussed, it was quickly revealed that outside of the Dao Seed Realm cultivator that ended up falling in the Onyx Empire, another two Dao Seed Realm cultivators had also ended up dying. Putting the total loss of Dao Seed Realm cultivators at three. 

Although not enough to cause any real damage to a massive power like the Blue Sea Empire, it was still something that could be felt and caught the ire of these ancestors above the Dao Seed Realm. 

"Those damnable demonic cultivators! I will go and teach them a lesson, or they might think that they can get away with blatantly killing our people!" 

In the end, one of the ancestors didn't wait for the rest to finish discussing as he stood up before leaving in the direction of the Frozen Wasteland filled with killing intent. 

"This… Is it okay for him to leave like this? We still don't know what those demonic cultivators are planning." 

Seeing this, one of the ancestors could not help voicing his concern, as it was rather obvious that the demonic cultivators were plotting something that didn't just involve the few Demon Lords that had shown up so far. Especially considering that the attacks were happening across all demonic cultivator-controlled areas. Not just the Frozen Wasteland. 

"Don't bother, one of the people who died was his grandson." 

"This… Hah… I understand…"

Chapter 1294: Wiping Out the Demonic Cultivators

Following the Celestial Immortal from the Blue Sea Empire moving out to deal with the demonic cultivators, it didn't take long before the demonic cultivators that had returned to invade the Onyx Empire suddenly found themselves being reduced to nothing more than a bloody mist as the Celestial Immortal arrived and used his terrifying strength to kill all of them before continuing in the direction of the Frozen Wasteland filled with killing intent. 

Among the few demonic cultivators that had managed to escape alive from the terrifying and all-encompassing power of the Celestial Immortal Realm ancestor by being at the edge of the Onyx Empire and on their way to invade some of the different powers bordering the Onyx Empire, there were a few in the Demonic Transformation Realm who had managed to sense the terrifying power that had suddenly descended a short distance behind them. 

"Celestial Immortal! A Celestial Immortal from the Blue Sea Empire is here!" 

"W-we have to leave!" 

"But where do we go? That Celestial Immortal should be moving towards the Frozen Wasteland…" 

As the Demonic Transformation Realm demonic cultivators came to a stop on their way towards one of the empires bordering the Onyx Empire, they all understood that they had to leave as fast as possible and find somewhere to hide before the Celestial Immortal ancestor from the Blue Sea Empire appeared again and killed them off. 

As the Demonic Transformation Realm demonic cultivators came to a stop on their way towards one of the empires bordering the Onyx Empire, they all understood that they had to leave as fast as possible and find somewhere to hide before the Celestial Immortal ancestor from the Blue Sea Empire appeared again and killed them off. 

At the very least, they felt lucky that they were so meaningless to that existence that they had been completely ignored just because they were a few hundred meters outside the range of the place where his domain had descended. 

"Maybe we can hide inside a secret realm. Although those places are bound to be searched through, we might be able to avoid detection by finding an uninhabited secret realm to hide inside of." 

"Good idea." 

"Yeah, let's go with that. After the danger passes, we can start growing our strength secretly while avoiding any attention from the surrounding powers." 

Coming to a decision on how to escape from their current dangerous situation unscratched, the group of Demonic Transformation Realm demonic cultivators formed an alliance with each other as they rushed forward in the search of a secret realm that they could hide inside of. 

Luckily, the border of the empire that they were planning on entering was relatively weak. Allowing them to overwhelm the border guards by working together before entering the empire in search of a secret realm to hide inside of. 

Not much different from this group of Demonic Transformation Realm demonic cultivators, the rest of the powerful demonic cultivators that had managed to survive the arrival of the Celestial Immortal Realm ancestor from the Blue Sea Empire, came up with similar solutions and began searching everywhere for secret realms to hide inside until the danger outside passed. 

Of course, their success varied widely depending on the strength of the empire or power that they decided to try and hide away inside of, as most empires, including the Star Shattering Sect, managed to successfully fend off against the demonic cultivators trying to enter their territory to hide away. 

Even then, there were still a lot of demonic cultivators that were successful in escaping and finding somewhere to hide away while the danger outside passed. Only planning to reemerge when they were certain the people from the Blue Sea Empire were gone. 

… 

Noticing the strange and sudden disappearance of the demonic cultivators a few hours later when only a few weaker demonic cultivators appeared at the Star Shattering Sect's borders, Elder Dust Fairy wasted no time as she set out to figure out what had happened through the people that she had managed to place in the Onyx Empire. 

"Huh? All of the demonic cultivators suddenly died?" 

In the end, she quickly learnt that all of the demonic cultivators inside the Onyx empire had suddenly died. Only showing a sudden expression filled with terror before being reduced to a bloody mist without any chance to fight back. 

Even if Elder Dust Fairy didn't know what or who was behind the sudden death of the demonic cultivators, she guessed that the other party should be someone above the Dao Seed Realm from the fact that they had managed to kill all of the demonic cultivators inside the Onyx Empire in no more than a few minutes. 

"Did the Celestial Immortals from the Blue Sea Empire finally make a move?" Muttering this to herself, Elder Dust Fairy shook her head before taking off to inform Feng Chen and Elder Song about what had happened in the Onyx Empire. Understanding that the battle with the demonic cultivators in the Frozen Wasteland was about to reach a realm completely out of their league. 

In such a situation, she understood that the best course of action would be for them to retreat back to the Shattered Star Peak where they at least had the protection of the terrifying chaotic qi formation in case something ended up happening. 

After all, the strongest people in the Star Shattering Sect at the moment was Pei Yang who was around the earlier stages of the Dao Seed Realm and Xuan Hao who should also be somewhere around the middle stages of the Dao Seed Realm from what she could guess from how Pei Yang had clearly referred to him as being the stronger one between the two. 

Both were far from strong enough to contend with a peak existence at the Celestial Immortal Realm- 

BOOOM-! 

Just as she was lost in her own thoughts making her way back towards the sect, a terrifying explosion suddenly rang out in the direction of the Frozen Wasteland before a terrifying shockwave leveled the territory of the Onyx Empire that she could barely see in the distance. Killing anything in its path. 

"The Celestial Immortal started fighting…" 

Even without seeing where the shockwave had come from, she was clear of one thing, the Celestial Immortal Realm ancestor from the Blue Sea Empire should have started fighting. 

However, there was one thing that confused her about the shockwave… And that was the fact that it seemed to have been stopped by something before it had a chance to reach the territory of the Star Shattering Sect. 

Is it the barrier that Senior Xuan set up to stop demonic cultivators? 

Remembering the fact that she had heard Elder Song talking about Grand Elder Xuan Hao setting up a barrier to stop demonic cultivators from barging into the territory of the Star Shattering Sect from the Frozen Wasteland, Elder Dust Fairy could not help narrowing her eyes with a look of disbelief as she stared off in the direction of the Frozen Wasteland. 

Although the power of the shockwave just now should only contain a fraction of the strength of the Celestial Immortal Realm, it was still far beyond anything she had ever seen or felt before. 

For the barrier set up by Grand Elder Xuan Hao to stop it, she guessed that she might have underestimated the strength of this Grand Elder. 

Perhaps, he was already close to reaching the Celestial Immortal Realm or the Profound Immortal Realm that she had only recently learnt about. 

"I hope that is the case…" Shaking her head as she said this while looking off in the direction of the Frozen Wasteland, Elder Dust Fairy didn't waste any more time as she continued to rush back in the direction of the Shattered Star peaks. 

… 

Whoosh~ 

A few hours earlier, upon arriving in the air above the destroyed capital city of the Onyx Empire, the Celestial Immortal Realm ancestor from the Blue Sea Empire frowned in disgust as he looked down at the demonic cultivators who were in the process of consuming the bodies of several fallen cultivators below. 

"Hmph, to think so many demonic cultivators left the Frozen Wasteland to cause chaos and destroy one of those small empires. Let's just kill all of those insects to start off with." Not saying anything more than this, the ancestor gently lifted his right arm, as a terrifying light suddenly appeared in the palm of his hand before splitting up into countless small streams of light that shot off in all directions- 

"AH!?" 

"Wha-!?" 

"Noooo-!" 

Soon spreading throughout the entire Onyx Empire. Killing any demonic cultivator that they came in contact with along the way. Reducing them to nothing more than a bloody mist before continuing onward to their next target before any of the cultivators still struggling to stay alive in the demonic cultivator infested Onyx Empire had the time to see what had happened. 

In no more than a few minutes, the streams of light returned to the palm of the Celestial Immortal Realm ancestor before dispersing into thin air like they had never existed in the first place. 

"Now, time to deal with those Demon Lord Realm insects." Not showing the slightest hint of exhaustion after having essentially wiped out every single demonic cultivator in the Onyx Empire within a few short minutes, the Celestial Immortal Realm ancestor from the Blue Sea Empire wasted no time as he began making his way towards the Frozen Wasteland.

Chapter 1295: Trapped

Reaching the Frozen Wasteland filled still brimming with killing intent after having cleaned up the demonic cultivators running rampant in the Onyx Empire, the Celestial Immortal Realm ancestor from the Blue Sea Empire slowed down as he began to use his divine sense to check his surroundings for the Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivators. 

"There you are…" 

Not taking long before he spotted the three Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivators further inside the Frozen Wasteland. 

Whoosh~! 

However, instead of directly flying deeper inside the Frozen Wasteland to kill them, he decided to gather his strength together into a powerful attack before launching it towards the three Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivators in the distance. Intending to kill them off from afar without having to wander too far into the Frozen Wasteland. 

After all, even though he was filled with killing intent and wanted nothing more than to kill those three demonic cultivators, he wasn't dumb enough to just wander deeper into the Frozen Wasteland where an ambush not much different from the one that his grandson had died to might be waiting for him. 

Understanding very well why the Frozen Wasteland had managed to remain a haven for demonic cultivators without being destroyed by the Blue Sea Empire and other powerful empires that surrounded it. 

The most obvious reason being the powerful demonic cultivators at the Demon King Realm comparable to someone like himself at the Celestial Immortal Realm… 

BOOOM-! 

Watching with his divine sense as his attack landed only a few seconds after he had thrown it out, the ancestor from the Blue Sea Empire could not help narrowing his eyes as he noticed a bright red demonic barrier engulfing the three demonic cultivators to protect them just before his attack landed. 

Although this did result in the barrier shattering a few seconds later, the ancestor from the Blue Sea Empire didn't feel the slightest bit happy nor did he try to throw out another attack. Knowing that doing so would most likely just result in another similar barrier appearing to protect the three demonic cultivators who were now shivering in fear while looking in his direction. 

With that in mind, the ancestor from the Blue Sea Empire instead focused his attention on an empty spot just beside the three shivering demonic cultivators as his eyes narrowed even more than before. 

Even if it had only been for a brief moment, his divine sense had long since enveloped the three Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivators and the area around him. Allowing him to notice the slight change in that empty space. 

Whoosh~ 

And like he had expected, a figure covered in blood red robe emerged from the empty spot beside the three Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivators. Shocking the three terrified demonic cultivators even more as they had seemingly no idea about this person having been there in the first place. 

"Blood Lotus Demon King!? W-we greet his excellency!" 

""…"" 

However, it didn't take long before one of the three recognized the person that had emerged as none other than one of the demon kings in control of the Frozen Wasteland, causing him to bow his head, something that was soon followed by the other two demonic cultivators. 

Though not the Demon King of the Frozen Wasteland who could be considered the ruler of the Frozen Wasteland, a demon king was still a demon king, an existence far beyond small demon lords like themselves. 

"To think a demon king would be showing up. Looks like he intended to use those three as bait to ambush me…" 

Shaking his head with a look of disdain on his face as he said this while looking towards the demon king that had emerged, the ancestor from the Blue Sea Empire didn't show the slightest hint of fear as he directly took out a small talisman and shattered it before waiting to see what the demon king planned to do now that his ambush had failed. 

The talisman he had just shattered was a safety precaution that would instantly inform the rest of the ancestors from the Blue Sea Empire that he had encountered someone at the Celestial Immortal Realm or a demonic cultivator in the Demon King Realm. 

In another few minutes, two more ancestors from the Blue Sea Empire would be showing up to ensure that nothing went wrong. After all, someone in the Dao Seed Realm dying was fine and didn't harm the foundation of the Blue Sea Empire, but someone at the Celestial Immortal Realm was a completely different matter. 

Even if the Blue Sea Empire could be considered among the strongest on the Ewaria Continent and could endure the loss of one or two Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators without their foundation being affected much, it didn't mean that they planned on doing so. 

If possible, they would still do everything in their power to ensure that none of the Celestial Immortal Realm ancestors ended up dying. 

"…" 

Knowing that the ambush plan had failed, the Blood Lotus Demon King remained silent as he kept his attention focused on the Blue Sea Empire Ancestor in the distance. Completely ignoring the existence of the three demon lords who had no idea whether to stay or run away. 

In the end, a stalemate emerged between the two sides, one waiting for reinforcements, while the other hadn't made any clear indication of what he wanted to do after his ambush had failed. 

Whoosh-! 

Whoosh-! 

"Wow, it really is a demon king, I didn't expect one of them to emerge. Are they perhaps tired of being trapped in this cold place and want to start a full-blown war? Didn't they learn from the last time around?" 

"Perhaps… They have been awfully quiet for the past few thousand years…" 

As a few minutes flew by, two more ancestors from the Blue Sea Empire soon appeared beside the first, as they both commented casually while looking over in the direction of the demonic cultivator that remained completely silent since he had appeared. 

"Now that you two are here, should we try and kill this demonic cultivator? Even if more demon kings end up showing up, with three of us here, we should be able to escape without any problem." 

"Hm… Although it is a bit risky to go deeper inside the Frozen Wasteland, it shouldn't be much of a problem considering we are three." 

"Indeed! Even if we can't kill that demon king, we should at least be able to kill those three Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivators!" 

Not wasting much time chatting with each other, the three ancestors from the Blue Sea Empire soon came to an agreement, as they all used their movement techniques to close the distance between themselves and the demon king referred to as Blood Lotus by the three Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivators- 

RUUUUMBLE-! 

BOOM! 

Following which a terrifying power containing the combined might of three Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators descended before exploding with a might far beyond something a single demon king should be able to safely deal with. 

Whoosh~! 

However, contrary to the scene of the demon king getting sent flying that the three ancestors had expected to see, they were instead met with the sight of a large blood red barrier that perfectly absorbed the attack without the slightest bit of damage. Completely different from what had happened only minutes earlier when the first ancestor had launched a long-distance attack towards the three Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivators. 

Rumble~ 

And to make matters worse, the ground and air around them began to tremble ever so slightly as everything around them was soon replaced by an endless sea of blood and blood red sky. 

"This… Looks like we walked into a formation." 

"You don't say…" 

"No need to worry you two, we are still three against one. No matter how much effort this guy put into this formation, it's impossible for him to trap us here for long, let alone kill us!" 

"I know… It's just annoying to break these trapping formations…" 

"True…" 

However, instead of panicking at the fact that they were trapped inside a formation, the three ancestors from the Blue Sea Empire only let out somewhat annoyed exclamations before all three of them erupted with their full strength. Beginning the process of forcibly breaking out of the formation through strength alone. 

Although this would take longer than solving the formation, none of the three were skilled in the Dao of Formations, so they could only go with the most rudimentary way of breaking the formation through strength. 

"Looks like this should keep them trapped for a few hours…" Seeing that the three had been trapped and wouldn't be able to escape in the next few hours, the demon king that had remained silent so far finally spoke up as he turned towards the three Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivators. "You three, I have something for you to do before they break free or more ancestor from the Blue Sea Empire shows up..."

Chapter 1296: Guarding the Border and a "Small" Mountain

As the three ancestors from the Blue Sea Empire remained trapped inside the formation, the three Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivators quickly flew off in the direction of the Onyx Empire before splitting up and disappearing in different directions. Intent on carrying out the task that had been given to them by the demon king, as they understood only death would await them if they refused to do so. 

Crack-! 

BANG! 

And like this a few hours quickly flew by without much happening before the three ancestors of the Blue Sea Empire finally managed to break through the formation that had trapped them, as all three of them used their full strength to attack the Blood Lotus Demon King that had been patiently waiting for them- 

BOOOM-! 

Soon resulting in the devasting shockwave that Elder Dust Fairy had seen, as the four began to fight with each other. Destroying anything in their path. 

Unfortunately for the ancestors of the Blue Sea Empire, they couldn't kill the demon king in front of them, while the Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivators that they had originally planned to kill had long since disappeared. 

In the end, as the battle dragged on and several powerful auras appeared from the deeper parts of the Frozen Wasteland, the three could only reluctantly turn around and leave the Frozen Wasteland without accomplishing anything other than killing a bunch of weaker demonic cultivators that could easily be replaced. 

"Hmph! Don't think you will get another chance to leave this wasteland again in the future!" 

Feeling unsatisfied with this kind of situation, the ancestor that had originally gone to kill the demonic cultivators behind the death of his grandson decided to not fully leave the place, as he directly placed himself at the border between the Onyx Empire and the Frozen Wasteland. Intending to stay behind and kill any demonic cultivator that appeared to calm down his killing intent. 

Of course, considering that this wasn't inside the Frozen Wasteland itself, the other two ancestors didn't say anything and just quietly left to inform the other ancestors about what had happened so they could figure out what the demonic cultivators were planning. 

More importantly, they also had to figure out how the situation was like with the other empires around them and if they had taken any losses among their Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators. After all, it was clear that the demonic cultivators were planning something big. 

Following the ancestor from the Blue Sea Empire settling down inside the Onyx Empire, it didn't take long before the Star Shattering Sect and surround small empires found out about what had happened, as the number of demonic cultivators trying to invade their territory sharply decreased with the appearance of the Blue Sea Empire Ancestor. 

For some empires that only bordered the Onyx Empire and not the Frozen Wasteland itself, the assault of the demonic cultivators came to full end, while others like the Star Shattering Sect still had to deal with the attack of demonic cultivators coming from other parts of their territory. 

Even then, the stress on the Star Shattering Sect itself was reduced to a manageable level, as demonic cultivators stopped coming from the direction of the Onyx Empire and now only came from the opposite direction of the Onyx Empire where the demonic cultivators seemed to be far weaker… And over a short period of time, it became a popular place for the disciples and elders to go for training in combat against the demonic cultivators. 

After a few weeks, the Situation in the Star Shattering Sect's territory stabilized and reconstruction of the branch sect that had been destroyed officially began. 

The only thing that worried Feng Chen, Elder Song and the rest of the higher ups of the sect was the presence of the ancestor from the Blue Sea Empire, who remained at the Onyx Empire's borders with the Frozen Wasteland. Killing any demonic cultivator daring enough to try and cross over. 

Although he hadn't really done anything to the Star Shattering Sect, it was still a worrying thing when such a powerful cultivator had decided to settle down next to you. Especially considering that the strength of this cultivator was more than enough to destroy the Star Shattering Sect. 

However, the most worrying thing was that he would have a reason to do so if he noticed the existence of Pei Yang or became greedy after seeing the abundant spiritual qi present inside the chaotic qi formation of the Shattered Star Peaks where the main sect of the Star Shattering Sect was located. 

Not that there was much the Star Shattering Sect could do other than pray that the ancestor from the Blue Sea Empire didn't decide to leave the Onyx Empire and check out the surrounding powers. 

… 

At the same time back in the mystic realm, Xuan Hao slowly opened his eyes after having remained seated in front of the small mountain with the fourth celestial gate on top of it for the past few weeks. 

Having been fully focused on comprehending the formation that protected the small mountain, he had ended up losing track of time in the process. 

In the process of doing so, he had not only managed to deepen his understanding of the formation but had also managed to increase his understanding of the Dao of Formations. 

Although not to the point where he broke through to the Large Success Realm, he was at least one step closer to reaching the Large Success Realm and should be able to reach it if he decided to spend another few months in front of the ancient formation guarding the small mountain. 

A terrifying comprehension speed, but ultimately not what he planned on using his time on at the moment, as his goal for now was to complete a celestial trial and get his hands on the scroll containing information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm. 

After having done that, he could always return to comprehend the ancient formation for a few months and reach the Large Success Realm in the Dao of Formations. 

The main reason for his confidence in being able to return and comprehend the formation in the future came from the fact that the ancient formation guarding the small mountain wasn't hostile in any way nor would it be trapping him upon entering it. 

Instead, he had managed to learn that the sole purpose of the formation was to protect the small mountain from any attacks that might damage it… And only if he tried to damage the small mountain would the ancient formation guarding it activate and possibly trap him in the process. 

As long as he didn't do any of this and just peacefully entered the formation and made his way to the fourth celestial gate, everything would be fine. 

The only problem was that the ancient guardian formation seemed to view even the slightest movement of spiritual qi as damaging the natural environment of the small mountain. Essentially meaning that he would be forced to seal his cultivation base before entering the range of the formation. 

Even though doing this wouldn't affect the strange of his physical body and he would still be able to almost instantaneously undo the seal if he encountered any dangerous situation inside, it also meant that he would be limited to walking normally up the small mountain without using any strength above what a normal mortal could do. 

Though it might not be that much of a problem to climb up the mountain in this kind of manner, the small mountain was only small in terms of cultivators. For a normal mortal, the small mountain was already like a giant piercing through the sky. Standing over ten thousand meters tall. 

Even if there was a path to follow, it would still take a few days to reach the summit where the fourth celestial gate was located… 

"Haaa… Nothing to do about it if I want to reach the fourth celestial gate without having to try and force my way through the formation." Muttering this to himself as he looked up at the now towering mountain and the summit that now loomed far above him, Xuan Hao spent the next few minutes sealing off his own cultivation base. 

Making sure that no spiritual qi leaked out from his body before he stepped on to the long path leading up the mountain towards summit where the cave with the fourth celestial gate inside of it was located. 

At the very least, although the formation seemed to react to his dao domain. Preventing him from flying up, it didn't react to his divine sense. Allowing him to fully explore the mountain and continue comprehending the ancient formation as he slowly made his way towards the summit. 

In the process, he noticed that his comprehension speed of the Dao of Formation did increase by a bit after entering the formation, but it had nothing to do with the mountain, but more so the fact that he could now personally feel the formation with his own body.

Chapter 1297: Undamaged Celestial Gate

Continuing to slowly make his way up the mountain, Xuan Hao didn't pay much attention to his surroundings as he focused on comprehending the Dao of Formations. 

Soon enough, a few days flew by peacefully as he followed the already established path up the mountain and all the way to the summit where the cave containing the fourth celestial gate was located. 

"So, this is the fourth celestial gate…" Finding himself wandering inside the cave before coming to a stop in front of the fourth celestial gate, Xuan Hao could not help muttering this to himself as he looked up at the majestic celestial gate. 

Although he had already seen it through his divine sense earlier, the feeling of being directly in front of the celestial gate was different, as he could feel the majestic and terrifying presence of the gate bearing down on him. 

Not just that, but he could also clearly sense that the celestial gate in front of him was different from the other three celestial gates he had encountered so far. 

Different in the sense that the other three celestial gates had been damaged, while the one in front of him didn't seem to have suffered any damage from the attack that had taken place in the past, something he didn't expect considering the fact that the battle back then seemed to have been rather one sided. 

But then again, it could also just be that what he had seen so far was just the result of a first strike advantage catching the Mirage Sect and their elders off guard. 

Different in the sense that the other three celestial gates had been damaged, while the one in front of him didn't seem to have suffered any damage from the attack that had taken place in the past, something he didn't expect considering the fact that the battle back then seemed to have been rather one sided. 

But then again, it could also just be that what he had seen so far was just the result of a first strike advantage catching the Mirage Sect and their elders off guard. 

From then onwards the advantage of having the first strike would decrease and it would be harder to kill the elders from the Mirage Sect. Giving them an opportunity to fight back and save some of the celestial gates before they could be damaged. 

Even if he had no idea why they would do something like this, he still felt appreciative of the Mirage Sect for doing so, as it would be much safer for him to undergo the celestial trial with an undamaged celestial gate compared to a damaged one where he ran the risk of ending up inside a spatial storm. 

"Hm? Considering that the celestial gate is intact and doesn't have any sign of damage. Perhaps the elder of the Mirage Sect in charge of this celestial gate might have survived…" Suddenly realizing that there was a very real chance that he might encounter someone from the Mirage Sect by entering the celestial gate, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit nervous as he stopped himself just before entering the celestial gate. 

Although his interactions with the Mirage Sect so far had been positive and there shouldn't be any danger if he encountered someone from the Mirage Sect, he couldn't help feeling uneasy at the prospect of encountering another elder from the Mirage Sect. 

After all, from what he had managed to learn so far, an elder from the Mirage Sect should at least be someone at the Peak of the Profound Immortal Realm and possibly even beyond that. Meaning that he would stand no chance to resist if the other party turned out to be hostile. 

Following these thoughts, the more rational part of his brain also jumped in and reassured him that it would be impossible to encounter an elder from the Mirage Sect unless he or she was in a similar state as the elder he had already encountered. 

Considering how long it had been, if an elder or someone different from the Mirage Sect had managed to survive the battle back then by hiding inside of the fourth celestial gate in front of him, they should have long since left the place, either to seek revenge or rebuild the Mirage Sect. 

Thinking about it, they might have already tried to rebuild the Mirage Sect inside of the mystic realm once, as that might have been the reason why the guardian formation of the mystic realm had somehow managed to still remain operational after a devastating attack on the mystic realm in the past. 

However, for unknown reasons, they had given up on rebuilding the Mirage Sect inside the mystic realm and had left the place. 

Not just that, but outside of the guardian formation that should have been repaired by the remnants of the Mirage Sect that had survived the attack back then, it didn't seem like they had done much with the celestial gates, as everything inside of them remained completely untouched from back when they had been attacked. 

Unless… The celestial gates had some kind of safety measure built into them that directly closed the celestial gate and prevented anyone from entering. 

Considering that he had only seen the gate in an open state where all the spatial passages were connected, it seemed insane to forcibly seal the countless spatial channels connected to a single celestial gate, but considering the power of the celestial gates themselves far surpassing his current understanding, he couldn't count it out… 

No matter what happened, there was no way for him to figure it out by standing motionlessly in front of the fourth celestial gate- 

Whoosh~ 

So, without wasting any more time with his own thoughts, Xuan Hao threw aside his hesitation and stepped inside the fourth celestial gate. 

In the end, even if there were some risks to entering the fourth celestial gate, he would ultimately still have to go through the celestial trial to obtain the celestial coins needed for him to get his hands on the scroll containing information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm. 

… 

At the same time Xuan Hao began making his way up the mountain a few days earlier, Mui, who had been running rampant inside the forest close to the edge of the mystic realm stood triumphantly in front of a large demon beast at the Ninth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm. 

"Waaahahaha! Finally got you!" Laughing happily as she looked down at the demon beast that had already been knocked to a state where it couldn't fight back any longer, Mui decisively manipulated one of her artifacts to deliver the killing blow- 

Bang! 

Ending the life of the powerful demon beast that could be considered one of the strongest demon beasts still left inside the forest. 

"Hehe, now I should have killed off most of the demon beast in the Nascent Soul Realm. If I want to continue training, I will have to leave the forest and go deeper inside the mystic realm!" Saying this to herself as both her eyes started shining, her eyes soon started dimming again as she remembered what her master had told her about the dangers present in the deeper parts of the mystic realm. 

Although she felt confident in her current strength now that she had grown accustomed to fighting demon beasts and was far more skilled in using her artifacts, she had no real way to face a Domain Lord Realm demon beast outside of using the things that her master had left behind for her. 

Even then, with her cultivation already being close to breaking through to the Sixth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm and her current strength making her confident in facing Half-Step Domain Lord Realm demon beasts if she encountered another once again, Mui didn't feel fearful of moving deeper inside the mystic realm. 

All things considered, she had to move deeper into the mystic realm if she wanted to continue on with her training and increasing her own strength, as the demon beasts still left in the forest were far too weak for her to train with. 

Most of them only being in the Core Formation Realm or the Foundation Establishment Realm, with any in the Nascent Soul Realm already having been killed off by her during the past few weeks. 

"Let's do it! Maybe I will even be able to find that Half Step Domain Lord Realm demon beast from back then and get my revenge now that I'm stronger!" 

In the end, Mui ultimately decided to leave the forest and head deeper inside the mystic realm. 

For traveling, she decided to use one of her artifacts for flying, as normal travel through the forest would at least take her a few weeks to reach the other side of it. 

Normally, it would have taken her far longer to clear the forest of any Nascent Soul Realm demon beasts, but it was precisely because of this Xuan Hao had felt at ease leaving Mui there while he himself went deeper into the mystic realm by himself. 

Never would he have expected that she had somehow managed to turn her artifacts into flying artifacts. 

Not just that, but the spiritual qi consumption that should have been massive for something like that, had somehow been negated by her, as she had used different spiritual metals she found over the past few weeks to improve on the artifact in question and turn it into a real flying artifact, something Xuan Hao hadn't thought about when he had left her alone in the forest to train by herself…

Chapter 1298: Fourth Celestial Trial, Mushroom Forest

Unaware of the fact that Mui had already finished off all the Nascent Soul Realm demon beasts in the forest that he had left her in, Xuan Hao focused his full attention on the spatial passage that he had been sucked inside of after entering the fourth celestial gate. 

Although the fourth celestial gate looked like it had been completely undamaged from the outside and there shouldn't be anything wrong with the spatial passages connected to it, Xuan Hao still remained cautious in case he ended up being thrown into a spatial storm. 

After all, even with his current strength at the Late Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm, he was nowhere near strong enough to resist against the spatial storms he had seen when observing the different spatial passages connected to the third celestial gate. 

At most, he would be able to try and make use of his comprehension of the Dao of Space to force himself out of the spatial passage before he ended up inside a spatial storm. 

Even if this might end up being dangerous, he still felt like it would be better than him getting stuck inside a spatial storm where he would have no way to escape with his current strength. 

Dispersing the spatial storm or trying to escape from it with his comprehension of the Dao of Space was also impossible, as he doubted that he would be able to do something like that unless his Dao of Space broke through to the Perfection Realm. 

Luckily, there wasn't anything wrong with the spatial passage and he soon found himself safely on the other side of the spatial passage. 

Plop~! 

However, what appeared on the other side of the spatial passage was nothing like what he had expected to see when he entered the fourth celestial gate, as a forest made up of giant mushrooms spread out in all directions around him as far as he could see. 

Not just that, but the place he had landed after leaving the spatial passage was one of these giant mushrooms that stood dozens of meters tall with a cap that had a diameter of over a hundred meters. 

From first impressions, the trial contained inside the fourth celestial trial was by far the most unique one and made him wonder just what kind of challenge he had to overcome to complete the fourth celestial trial. 

Fight some kind of mushroom monster? Protect the giant mushrooms from an external threat? Or perhaps something completely different… 

No matter what kind of challenge awaited him, Xuan Hao didn't dare let his guard down, as he understood from past experience that the difficulty of the trial was adjusted according to his cultivation realm… And considering that he was now in the Late Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm, it should be far more dangerous compared to the past. 

Of course, there was also the fact that he wasn't even at the Peak of the Late Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm yet and could only be considered around the middle stages of the realm. Making the current celestial trial far more dangerous compared to the past three celestial trials. 

"For now, I should try and find the scroll of trials so I can figure out what this celestial trial is about…" 

No longer having the help of his system to at least give him some hints about the trial he was going through, Xuan Hao quickly decided to try and seek out the scroll of trials he had encountered during his past three celestial trials. Understanding that he should be able to find out what he needed to do if he found the scroll of trials of the fourth celestial trial. 

The only problem with this was the fact that he had no idea where this scroll of trials might be located, as everything around him looked the same with giant mushrooms in all directions. 

Even when he used his divine sense to try and find out more about the mushroom forest, he only found out that the range of his divine sense had been severely limited… And that there was nothing within the range of his limited divine sense that helped him figure out what direction to go in. 

The only thing he found with the help of his divine sense was a few mushroom-shaped monsters that roamed around at the ground below. 

However, given that most of these monsters were barely in the Nascent Soul Realm with only a few in the Domain Lord Realm and none above the Domain Lord Realm, he decided to ignore them, as they were far too weak to do anything to him and didn't seem much different from the wild demon beasts normally found inside large forests outside of them being mushrooms. 

"Guess I will have to try and head in a random direction and hope for the best…" Muttering this to himself as he looked down at a few mushroom monsters fighting with each other right below the giant mushroom that he was standing on top of, Xuan Hao stepped off the edge of mushroom and flew in a random direction- 

"Ah?!" 

Or at least, that was what he wanted to do, but he instead found himself plummeting to the ground below without any way to stop himself- 

BANG! 

And unfortunately for one of the two mushroom monsters fighting, he landed directly on top of it. 

Killing it in a single hit, as he had been trying to use the full strength of his dao domain to stop himself from falling. Resulting in the unfortunate Domain Lord Realm mushroom monster being crushed by the full force of his dao domain… 

Squuueeee~!? 

Taken aback by the sudden death of its opponent, the second mushroom monster let out a surprised sound before turning around and escaping before it ended up in a similar state. 

"There is a restriction that prevents flight… And one that is strong enough to restrict even my dao domain… Is it perhaps related to the challenge of this celestial trial?" Not paying any attention to the terrified mushroom monster or the one that had been crushed beneath him, Xuan Hao was instead preoccupied with the fact that he had been unable to fly. 

It had to be known that outside of the range of his divine sense being limited and being unable to fly, his strength hadn't been restricted in the slightest. Making him guess that it should be related to the challenge of the fourth celestial trial in some way. 

After all, during the past three celestial trials, he hadn't encountered such a situation before. Making it clear that there was a good chance that the restrictions were related to the challenge of the fourth celestial trial. 

Not able to figure out anything from just standing around, Xuan Hao ultimately just shook his head regretfully before continuing to move in the direction he had first wanted to fly in. 

Without the scroll of trials or some kind of powerful demon beast that served as a challenge to overcome, he could only search through the mushroom forest by himself. 

Although his speed wasn't that affected as he could still use his comprehension of the Dao of Space to execute the Drifting Cloud Steps and teleport himself forward, it was still annoying finding himself falling back towards the ground whenever he used the Drifting Cloud Steps to teleport himself a few thousand meters every step. 

At least, as long as he continued using the Drifting Cloud Steps, he could teleport forward before he had any time to fall from the sky. Essentially archiving a similar result as if he was flying through the air normally. 

The only problem with this kind of movement technique being that it was far more draining to execute than normal, as the formation that suppressed his divine sense and flight ability also seemed to be actively trying to stabilize the space inside the celestial trial. 

Even then, it didn't take him long before he found the first thing that stood out inside the mushroom forest, a mushroom far larger than any other mushroom stretching more than a thousand meters into the sky with a cap that seemed to cast an eternal night on the mushroom forest below it. 

Rumble~ 

However, the most unique thing about this massive mushroom was the fact that it seemed to be alive. Moving ever so slightly at a speed that would make it hard to discern that it was even moving if not for the loud sounds that it created every so often. 

As for the strength of this giant mushroom, Xuan Hao honestly had no clue, as he couldn't really tell how strong it was through his divine sense. 

Of course, knowing that he was inside a celestial trial and the giant mushroom very much looked like a possible challenge he would have to overcome, Xuan Hao decided to be on the safe side and not recklessly approach the giant moving mushroom.