1356-1365

Chapter 1356: Large Success, Dao of Ice

Landing at the Peak of the Second Star Peak that seemed to be without any changes from the last time he had been there with countless smaller and larger rocks filled with the blue divine energy still motionlessly covering the mountain peak, Xuan Hao could not help breaking a sigh of relief for some unknown reason. 

Even though he didn't really expect something to have changed since his last visit to the Second Star Peak, he was still happy when he personally saw that there hadn't been any changes since he had last been there and absorbed some of the blue divine energy from one of the smaller rocks. 

If something really did up changing without him being around and with the chaotic qi formation already having locked down the area to prevent anyone else from reaching the Second Star Peak, he would have to move forward far more carefully. 

On a positive note, he at least managed to confirm that absorbing the blue divine energy inside one the rocks last time around didn't seem to affect the rest of the rocks with divine energy inside them. 

However, there was a change taking place, though not one related to the Second Star Peak, but instead Xuan Hao himself, as he clearly felt the flame imprint between his brows revealing itself without him personally intending to do so. 

Not just that, but he could also clearly feel that the flame imprint seemed to be trying to reach out towards the nearby rocks filled with blue divine energy. Clearly trying to absorb the blue divine energy inside of them. 

Of course, given that he still wasn't fully aware of just what the flame imprint was and whether or not it would pose any danger to him in the long run, Xuan Hao decided to start slow. Picking up a smaller rock on the ground before slowly allowing the flame imprint between his eyebrows to absorb it. At the same time allowing his comprehension of the Dao of Ice to rapidly increase, as he felt the profound Dao of Ice inside the blue divine energy flowing through his body before entering the mysterious space contained inside the flame imprint. 

The main difference compared to the past when the small flame, that had now turned into a flame imprint, had absorbed the blue divine energy, was the fact that his body could now endure the blue divine energy flowing through it without any major problems. 

Although the strength of the blue divine energy was still far too strong for him to try and personally absorb with his current strength, it did bring some benefits outside of increased comprehension of the Dao of Ice, as Xuan Hao clearly felt both the size and strength of the meridians throughout his body growing as the blue divine energy flowed through them. Strengthening his already strong foundation even further. 

Unfortunately, after a little over three hours on top of the Second Star Peak slowly absorbing the blue divine energy inside a few of the smaller stones scattered around on the mountain peak, Xuan Hao felt that the capacity of the mysterious space inside the flame imprint seemed to have reached its limits. Unable to absorb any more of the blue divine energy. 

Unfortunately, after a little over three hours on top of the Second Star Peak slowly absorbing the blue divine energy inside a few of the smaller stones scattered around on the mountain peak, Xuan Hao felt that the capacity of the mysterious space inside the flame imprint seemed to have reached its limits. Unable to absorb any more of the blue divine energy. 

Even then, this did not seem to slow down his comprehension of the Dao of Ice, as the lingering power of the blue divine energy was still present throughout his body. Allowing him to continue comprehending the Dao of Ice without any problem. Slowly allowing him to get closer and closer to the Large Success Realm in the Dao of Ice. 

Considering that the Dao of Ice was one of the first Daos he had comprehended back when he was still in the earlier stages of the Domain Lord Realm, it was also one of the Daos he had the longest time to comprehend. 

Thus, as two months flew by on top of the Second Star Peak without any interruptions, Xuan Hao managed to break through to the Large Success Realm in the Dao of Ice. 

Regrettably, after breaking through to the Large Success Realm in the Dao of Ice, the last bits of power left behind in his body by the blue divine energy disappeared. Making him open both of his eyes as he scanned the unchanged desolate landscape of the Second Star Peak that had seen no changes during his two month long secluded cultivation. 

Turning his attention towards the mysterious space hidden away inside the flame imprint, he noticed that it was still filled to the brim. Not able to allow him to try and absorb more of the blue divine energy. 

Even though he had originally wanted to be a bit more cautious about the flame imprint absorbing the blue divine energy, he couldn't bring himself to stop after he noticed how much it help with his comprehension of the Dao of Ice. 

"I really have to be more cautious the next time around. Maybe find out more about the flame imprint and whether or not it will pose any threat by continuing to absorb the blue divine energy…" Muttering this to himself as he shook his head, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit conflicted as he unconsciously touched the area where the flame imprint was located. 

Although he was cautious about the danger that it might pose to him at some point in the future, it was also a fact that it had saved him on several occasions in the past. 

Because of this, Xuan Hao silently ended up deciding to continue trying to absorb the blue divine energy on the Second Star Peak with the flame imprint when it had finished absorbing what had been absorbed this time around. 

Not only because it would be useful for his comprehension of the Dao of Ice, but also because he was genuinely curious about what kind of changes would take place in the flame imprint if he continued to have it absorb the blue divine energy. Especially considering the phoenix feathers it had absorbed and the fact that there was an even smaller phoenix inside it. 

Would continuing to absorb the blue divine energy perhaps cause the small phoenix inside the small flame between his brows to grow? Maybe the mysterious space inside the small flame was specially created to nurture this small phoenix? 

But… If that was the case… What was he? An egg? 

Shaking his head with a slightly wry smile on his face as he thought about this, Xuan Hao decided not to think too much about the meaning behind the small flame imprint or the even smaller phoenix inside the flame imprint for now. 

Though, he did take note of the fact that it seemed like the small phoenix had grown in size after the absorption of blue divine energy this time around. Even if it was only at a scale that could be measured with his divine sense, it had indeed grown… 

" 

Haaa… For now, I should get back to the sect and see what has happened during the time I was gone. Hopefully the new elder changes encouraged the elders in their cultivation. 

Shaking his head as he decided not to think about the small flame imprint any longer, Xuan Hao began making his way back towards the sect while wondering just how many elders had managed to break through to the Domain Lord Realm over the past two months following the encouragement in the form of the core elder position being limited to a hundred people. 

Whoosh~! 

Without even waiting until he was back home, Xuan Hao spread out his divine sense and covered the Shattered Star Peaks. Searching for any new Domain Lord Realm cultivator he hadn't felt before. Knowing that anyone who had managed to reach the Domain Lord Realm over the past two months should still be consolidating their cultivation base inside the sect at this point in time. 

"1… 2… 5… 7 people!? There is actually seven who managed to breakthrough to the Domain Lord Realm over the past two months!?" 

However, the discovery that seven people had actually managed to break through to the Domain Lord Realm in this relatively short period of time was still shocking. Especially considering that he also noticed that there were several elders of the sect currently at the last steps of preparing to break through to the Domain Lord Realm. 

In another month, it wouldn't be shocking for the number of Domain Lord Realm cultivators in the Star Shattering Sect to grow by another five to ten people! 

Indeed… In terms of encouraging the elders of the sect, it seemed like the new arrangement for the core elder and grand elder positions had worked perfectly, as it seemed to have sparked these elders competitive spirit. 

With that in mind, Xuan Hao also decided to check out on Feng Chen and the rest of the sect's elders who had already managed to reach the Domain Lord Realm to check out how they had been doing and whether or not they were still stuck at the First Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.

Chapter 1357: Condensing the 18th Layer around the Dao Seed

Using his divine sense to check out the situation of the rest of the sect elders in the Domain Lord Realm inside the sect, Xuan Hao noticed that most of them seemed to have made significant progress over the past few months, with quite a few of them managing to reach the Second Stage of the Domain Lord Realm during this period of time, one of these elders being Zu Fei, who had somehow managed to reach the Third Stage of the Domain Lord Realm. Surpassing most of the elders in the sect. 

Of course, the main reason why these elders could progress so fast even after they broke through to the Domain Lord Realm, far surpassing that of those Domain Lord Realm cultivators who had once been under the Sky Empire, was because the elders of the Star Shattering Sect had not only the guidance from the cultivation records and Dao Enlightenment Monument from Xuan Hao, but also the lectures from Pei Yang. 

All things considered, it would be stranger if they didn't improve at their current speed, as they had so much that helped them succeed. 

The real challenge would be when they started reaching the Soul Ascension Realm, as even if Xuan Hao had found out about what the different tribulations of the Immortal Soul Tribulation entailed and given that information to the sect, it would only allow the elders of the sect to prepare more for the tribulation when it came. 

At the end of the day, overcoming the Immortal Soul Tribulation was not something that would be easy to accomplish even with the help of the Star Shattering Sect behind them and Xuan Hao, along with Pei Yang, already understood that not all elders of the Star Shattering Sect would be capable of passing through the Immortal Soul Tribulation. 

Even in a massive empire like the Blue Sea Empire, those of the royal family there still ended up dying in the Soul Ascension Realm while trying to pass through the Immortal Soul Tribulation… And it was without a doubt that this massive empire already understood the Immortal Soul Tribulation and would have done everything in their power to prepare their younger generation for the tribulation, but still ended up unable to ensure a safe passage through the Soul Ascension Realm. 

Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao understood that there was nothing he could do about it. 

Cultivation wasn't that easy and there would always be challenges to overcome and the Immortal Soul Tribulation was one of them. 

Although the sect would be able to prepare them for it, they would ultimately have to overcome it by themselves. 

Well… There wasn't really much he could personally help the elders of the sect with when it came time for them to prepare for overcoming the Immortal Soul Tribulation, as he himself had still not overcome the Immortal Soul Tribulation and didn't really have any experience that he could share with them about the tribulation. 

The only one in the sect who had successfully managed to pass through the Immortal Soul Tribulation at the moment was Pei Yang and he was already teaching the elders of the sect. So… There wasn't really much for him to worry about doing in this regard when all things were considered. 

The most important thing for him to accomplish if he wanted to help the Star Shattering Sect was to continue increasing his strength and strive to reach the Peak of the Dao Domain Lord Realm as fast as possible. 

After all, even though the Star Shattering Sect had managed to avoid getting involved in the struggle between the major powers in the core region of the continent and the demonic cultivators so far, he understood that this wouldn't be the case for long. 

No matter how much his new friend wanted to hold back the demonic cultivators from attacking the territory of the Star Shattering Sect, it would only be a matter of time before a more powerful demonic cultivator took notice and decided to attack. 

In a sense, the only reason why the Star Shattering Sect had managed to avoid most of the conflict so far was because of the ancestors from the Blue Sea Empire clashing with the powerful demonic cultivators, causing the attack towards the Blue Sea Empire to be postponed, as the demonic cultivators focused their attention elsewhere. Only allowing a few weaker demonic cultivators to continue attacking the small kingdoms and empires bordering the Frozen Wasteland, whom Xuan Gui could still control with her strength at the Peak of the Demon Lord Realm. 

Of course, it was also important that the current Star Shattering Sect wasn't that big in the grand scheme of things and not attacking could be explained away due to the wall Xuan Hao had created between the Star Shattering Sect's territory and the Frozen Wasteland. 

Not to mention, the demonic cultivators were in a sense still attacking the Star Shattering Sect, it was just through another border that was between them and another bordering kingdom to the Frozen Wasteland. 

If a similarly powerful or more powerful demonic cultivator had been present, things might have been different, but at least for now, Xuan Gui could be considered the one in control of the situation according to what she had been informing him about every now and then. 

In case a more powerful demonic cultivator really did show up and wanted to take charge of the situation, both of them had already come to an agreement that she would inform him about it, as the two of them had already started cooperating together and she understood her only way into the Blue Sea Empire would be if he helped her. 

After all, even though Xuan Gui was a demonic cultivator, it was not like she cared about what happened to the demonic cultivators. Especially considering that the attack on the surrounding empires and kingdoms around the Frozen Wasteland was something that had been forced on to her and most of the demonic cultivators below the Demon King Realm. 

In her eyes, she would much rather spend her time quietly cultivating and slowly accumulate her strength until she broke through to the Demon King Realm before taking revenge on the Blue Sea Empire for what they had done to her… 

Whoosh~ 

Arriving back inside his cultivation room as he waved his hand and closed the door behind him while his thoughts wandered, Xuan Hao slowly sat back down before closing his eyes to resume his cultivation. 

However, he wasn't planning on continuing to comprehend the dao this time around. Instead, he was planning to condense two new layers around the dao seed inside his dantian now that his Dao of Ice had managed to break through to the Large Success Realm. 

Considering that he had condensed the last two layers with the help of the Dao of Space after it reached the Large Success Realm, the total number of layers around the dao seed inside his dantian would reach 18 after he finished condensing another two. 

18 layers around the dao seed symbolized reaching the Middle Stage of the Dao Seed Realm and the dao seed would transform into the half blooming state. 

Although he had no idea if this would actually happen given that he wasn't in the Dao Seed Realm so to speak, he still planned to take care just in case, as it wasn't a completely painless experience to breakthrough to the Middle Stage of the Dao Seed Realm. 

Even if there was no danger of death like the Immortal Soul Tribulation, there was still a certain risk of failure that would in turn injure his soul to a certain extent, something that would then force him to stop his comprehension to recover the injurie his soul sustained. 

Though the higher realms of the Dao Seed Realm seemed unknown to most of the people on the Ewaria Continent, the Half bloom Stage was still rather well known and so was the damage caused to the soul by failing to break through to this stage, something Xuan Hao had long since managed to learn about from not only records bought or gathered by the Star Shattering Sect, but also personally from Pei Yang, who was far more knowledgeable than himself on the Dao Seed Realm or Earth Immortal Realm as it was known throughout the continent. 

So, with that in mind, Xuan Hao slowly condensed the 17th layer around the dao seed inside his dantian before slowly starting to condense the 18th layer. Making sure to keep an eye out for any sudden changes or abnormalities along the way… And just like that, Xuan Hao managed to successfully condense the 18th layer around his dao seed without anything happening, or that was at least what he thought as he finished condensing the 18th layer around his dao seed- 

Whoosh~ 

"Wha-!?" 

As not even a few seconds after he started to relax his guard, a change began to take place inside his dantian.

Chapter 1358: Increase in Strength

As the 18 layers around his dao seed had finished stabilizing and Xuan Hao was starting to relax, the layers suddenly seemed to expand, as the dao seed inside his dantian began growing in size before it began showing signs of sprouting into a dao lotus at any moment. Having more than doubled in size compared to before.

However, the thing that shocked Xuan Hao about this change was not the fact that the dao seed had formally entered the state of half blooming. Symbolizing that he had reached a level comparable to someone at the Middle Stage of the Dao Seed Realm, but instead the fact that he could clearly feel the power of his soul being elevated to a level far beyond what it had been before.

Taking a few seconds to calm down from the sudden change that had taken place inside his dantian, Xuan Hao quickly realized why the strength of his soul had suddenly undergone a major change following the growth of the dao seed.

The dao seed was a part of his soul at this point in time and as the dao seed became stronger, so would his soul. Increasing not only the strength of his soul, but more importantly also strengthening his comprehension in the process. Making it easier for him to comprehend the more difficult Daos like the Dao of Illusions and the Dao of Space that he found too difficult to progress in beforehand.

As he realized this, Xuan Hao could not help feeling like he had gained a deeper understanding of the Dao Seed Realm, while at the same time increasing his confidence in reaching the Peak of the Dao Domain Lord Realm in the future.

After all, even if his current increased comprehension after his soul had been strengthened wasn't enough, he should still be able to reach the next stage of the Dao Seed Realm and strengthen his soul again without having to worry about having to comprehend one of his Daos to the Perfection Realm.

And… Given how much he felt his comprehension had increased he felt confident in doing so within the span of a few years.

Part of him even felt confident that he might be able to promote the Dao of Ice to the Perfection Realm if he could make use of the blue divine energy contained inside the rocks on the Second Star Peak.

The only problem with this was that the flame imprint between his brows had already been filled to the brim and would take some time to digest the already absorbed divine energy before he could try and go back to the Second Star Peak again.

Even then, it should at most take a few years from what Xuan Hao could sense from the mysterious space hidden inside the flame imprint. During which he could focus on some of the other Daos he had been planning to promote to the Large Success Realm.

Among these Daos, the ones that ended up drawing the most attention being the Dao of Blacksmithing and the Dao of Alchemy, as he really wanted to avoid getting surpassed by his disciples again and wanted to stay ahead of them before the system ended up coming after him for being surpassed by his disciples again.

Outside of that, Xuan Hao also felt like increasing his comprehension of these two Daos would give him a good opportunity to spend some time with Qing Yi, Bai Ning and Chun Hua, who had taken an interest to alchemy over the past few months and was currently studying it under the guidance of Qing Yi.

As for his two remaining disciples… Chu Yang was currently out on an adventure and wouldn't be returning to the sect for the foreseeable future, while Mui was busy playing together with her new best friend.

Speaking of Mui and her new best friend, Song Jia, Xuan Hao did hear about what they were up to and wanted to help out Elder Song in case Mui ended up being a bad influence on his granddaughter, but he was told that it was fine and told that it was fine given that the two weren't really causing any harm.

On the other hand, it seemed like the beneficial things created by Mui increased in the companionship of Song Jia, as the two had somehow managed to create some kind of strange artifact that had ended up merging together with Elder Song's soul. Solving the inherent problem that had been left behind by the demonic techniques he had used in the past.

It was also because of this that Elder Song wasn't that hard on the two of them and didn't want to separate them, as they had helped him overcome the one thing that would have stopped him from breaking through to the Domain Lord Realm in the future after reaching the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm.

Not just Elder Song, but it seemed like several of the elders of the sect were helped out by the two troublemakers, as they created an almost impenetrable defense line for them whenever they ended up causing any kind of trouble inside the sect.

Hearing about this, Xuan Hao had no idea what to say, as he wondered if this was something that had been done intentionally by his little disciple or if it was just a coincidence.

No matter what it was, Xuan Hao decided that it would probably be for the best that he didn't interfere with what this little disciple of his was up to. Especially because he learnt that three of the seven elders who had managed to break through to the Domain Lord Realm during his seclusion on the Second Star Peak was because of the help that this little disciple had seemingly unintentionally given them.

Unknowingly, during his short two-month long seclusion, his youngest disciple had somehow grown into a powerhouse inside the sect with several Domain Lord Realm elders supporting her from behind. Truly not something he had expected to happen when he had left for the Second Star Peak.

However, given that it had helped increase the strength of the sect and there wasn't any harm done outside of one time where Mui and Song Jia had created some kind of slime pit that caused people falling into it to get drunk if their cultivation was below the Domain Lord realm, Xuan Hao took the same stance as Elder Song and decided to support the two troublemakers.

"Haaa… I wonder what will happen when she ends up reaching the Domain Lord Realm in the future…" Muttering this as he shook his head, Xuan Hao closed his eyes as he began focusing his attention on comprehending the Dao of Alchemy.

Although the Dao of Alchemy was best comprehended through practice, similar to the Dao of Blacksmithing, Xuan Hao intended to first test out how strong his comprehension had become after his recent increase in strength… And the result was rather shocking, as he felt his comprehension speed of the Dao of Alchemy having almost doubled when compared to before.

Guess I should also check out my status to see if my strength managed to surpass the Middle Stage of the Dao Seed Realm…

Narrowing both his eyes as he thought this to himself, Xuan Hao also clearly felt that his strength had increased by a lot following the transformation of his dao seed, thus causing him to turn his attention towards his status…

Name: Xuan Hao

Dao Domain: Dao of Space (Large Success), Dao of Ice (Large Success), Dao of the Sword (Large Success), Dao of Illusions (Large Success Realm), Dao of Corruption (Small Success), Dao of Fire (Small Success), Dao of Blacksmithing (Small Success), Dao of Light (Small Success Realm), Dao of Formations (Small Success Realm), Dao of Alchemy (Small Success)

Dao Lotus: 18 layers

Sword Intent: Sword Soul Realm Talent: ???? Bloodline: Three Immortals Bloodline (Half-Awakened) Physique: Stellar Dao Body (99% Awakened) (Can evolve into Great Expanse Dao Body) Stellar Dao Body Awakening Requirements: Dao of Space Perfection Realm, Dao of Time Elementary Realm, Profound Immortal Realm (Land Creation) Realm: Late Stage Dao Domain Lord (Comparable to the Late Stage of the Dao Seed Realm) Professions: Alchemist (Grandmaster), Formation Master (Grandmaster), Blacksmithing (Pseudo Saint) Sect: Star Shattering Sect Status: Grand Elder of the Star Shattering Sect Disciples: Qing Yi, Chu Yang, Bai Ning, Mui, Chun Hua Pet: Lazy Winged Lion (First Stage of the Soul Ascension Realm), Rabbit Demon Beast (Fourth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm) Cultivation: The Untold Swords Mantra [Personal Techniques]: Descend of the Ice God's Sword (High Earth Rank) [Movement Techniques]: Illusory Light Steps (Mid Heaven Rank), Drifting Cloud Steps (Incomplete, Peak Heaven Rank) [Sword Techniques]: Rain Sword (Peak Mortal Rank), Heaven Splitting Sword Art (Incomplete, Mid Heaven Rank), Void Sword Art (Incomplete, Low Heaven Rank), Untold Sword Mantra (Incomplete, Unknown) Looking through his status, he had indeed managed to reach the strength comparable to the Late Stage of the Dao Seed Realm. Making him feel a bit more confident in case the sect ended up being targeted by the Blue Sea Empire or demonic cultivators in the future.

After all, the Late Stage of the Dao Seed Realm was beyond the limits of the Earth Immortal Realm widely known throughout the Ewaria Continent and only someone in the Celestial Immortal Realm would be capable of threatening him at this point in time.

Not to mention, using the Dao of Space to his advantage, he might even be able to contend with someone in the Celestial Immortal Realm at this point in time. Possibly ensuring that the Star Shattering Sect wouldn't be seen as an easy target by any of the major powers on the continent.

Chapter 1359: Trying to Use Long-Distance Teleportation

Thinking about how he might have the strength to contend with someone in the Celestial Immortal Realm, Xuan Hao quickly shook his head as he remembered the encounter between the Celestial Immortal Realm Ancestor from the Blue Sea Empire and the Demon King Realm demonic cultivators from the Frozen Wasteland. Especially when recalling the terrifying attack that had collided with the chaotic qi formation.

Although his strength had improved compared to before, he still felt helpless when it came to facing such a powerful attack without the assistance of the chaotic qi formation.

The main difference compared to before being that he now felt confident in at least being able to keep himself alive if he got hit by such a powerful attack.

Contending with someone capable of launching such powerful attacks was simply wishful thinking on his part, as he understood that he was still far away from fighting equally against someone in the Celestial Immortal Realm.

Of course, there was clearly also differences between those in the Celestial Immortal Realm and the Demon King Realm, as the people he had sensed fighting outside the Onyx Empire that was barely standing at this point in time, were obviously far weaker than the one who had been behind the terrifying attack that had ended up being blocked by the chaotic qi formation.

Faced with them, Xuan Hao at least felt some confidence in being able to fight back against them without having to immediately turn to using his Dao of Space to escape.

But then again, this was all just his own thoughts, and he would never truly know how well he would fare against someone in the Celestial Immortal Realm without first facing someone in the Celestial Immortal Realm.

Unfortunately, he didn't really know anyone in the Celestial Immortal Realm that he could ask for help in this regard.

His strongest friend being Pei Yang, who was still quite far off breaking through to the Celestial Immortal Realm.

The only person outside of Pei Yang he could think about as a potential opponent to test out his new strength was Gong Cheng from the Blue Shore Kingdom who had managed to break through to the Saint Realm.

Although, after his recent revelations on the Saint Realm and how it was divided up, he understood that Gong Cheng should have only reached the Third heaven of the Saint Realm that would make his strength comparable to someone at the Middle Stage of the Dao Seed Realm.

Even if this still made him one of the strongest people below the Celestial immortal Realm on the Ewaria Continent, it was still far from the Celestial Immortal Realm.

For Gong Cheng to reach a level comparable to the Celestial Immortal Realm, he would first need to reach the First Heaven of the Saint Realm, something that he doubted the old man had managed to reach in such a short period of time.

But…

Thinking about Gong Cheng, Xuan Hao could not help wondering how he might be faring with the recent actions of the Frozen Wasteland and the demonic cultivators.

Even though he doubted that the demonic cultivators would bother turning towards the resource deprived wasteland that was the outer edges of the continent, it wasn't out of the question for a few of the weaker demonic cultivators to turn their attention towards that place when they became desperate enough… And if they ended up causing enough chaos to warrant Gong Cheng or his people to interfere, it might result in the Blue Shore Kingdom getting noticed and targeted by more powerful demonic cultivators.

No matter how strong Gong Cheng had become after he broke through to the Saint Realm, Xuan Hao doubted that he had managed to grow strong enough to resist the combined might of a group of Demon King Realm demonic cultivators.

If not for the fact that he felt that it would be difficult for him to move more than a few people with his long-distance teleportation and feared that he might be noticed by the more powerful demonic cultivators lurking in the depths of the Frozen Wasteland, he might have already gone to the Blue Shore Kingdom to try and convince him to join the Star Shattering Sect.

For now, the best he could do was establish a line of communication between the Blue Shore Kingdom and the Star Shattering Sect in case something ended up happening.

More specifically, Xuan Hao just wanted some kind of excuse to test out the limitations of his long-distance teleportation before he would have to help Xuan Gui get into the Blue Sea Empire.

After all, it would be rather awkward if he stepped up to help and ended up miscalculating how far he could go, causing them to end up alerting the Blue Sea Empire and possible one of the Celestial Immortal Realm Ancestors who should be on high alert around the borders of the empire at the moment.

Shaking his head as he thought about this worst-case scenario, Xuan Hao stood back up after the situation inside his dantian had calmed down before closing both of his eyes to focus.

Different from normal short distance teleportation that was generally used in movement techniques like the drifting cloud steps, long-distance teleportation was not something that could be used in an instant and took time to use, as he would have to carefully lock on to the spatial coordinates of the location where he wanted to go, while at the same time calculating a route that wouldn't end up with him accidentally running into some kind of spatial anomaly.

Finally, he had to create a stable spatial passage to the location he wanted to go to, something that would be a far more exhausting endeavor compared to using two already connected teleportation formations to travel through a spatial passage that had already been created and stabilized during the creation of the teleportation formation.

Doing all of this, even with his comprehension reaching the Large Success Realm in the Dao of Space and his strength comparable to the Late Stage of the Dao Seed Realm, took over five minutes.

Though not a long time all things considered, it was far too long to be viable in combat… And there was also the fact that it was easy to interrupt the process, as a completely stable spatial environment was required for the long-distance teleportation.

"At the very least, I hope it gets me past the Frozen Wasteland…" Muttering this to himself as everything had been finished, Xuan Hao took a step forward and disappeared from his room. Trying to use long-distance teleportation for the first time in an attempt to jump over the Frozen Wasteland and see if he could avoid detection.

Even if he did fear detection by the stronger existences in the depths of the Frozen Wasteland, he didn't feel like a single passage through the Frozen Wasteland would be enough to draw their attention. Especially considering the war they were currently waging with the empires and kingdoms bordering the Frozen Wasteland and the fact that the endpoint of the spatial passage wasn't anywhere inside the Frozen Wasteland itself.

In the end, Xuan Hao carefully felt the space around him twisting while trying to sense if anyone noticed him during the short time he would be inside the space of the Frozen Wasteland.

Luckily, he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary during the little over a second, he spent crossing the Frozen Wasteland to reach the outer edge of the continent.

Well, he did sense something… And that was the unimaginable exhaustion that came from using the long-distance teleportation. Forcing him to forcibly stop before he could reach the Blue Shore Kingdom.

But… Stopping before reaching the intended location wasn't that simple of an affair, as Xuan Hao's only real solution was to manipulate the space around him to break apart. In turn forcing him out of the spatial passage he had created in the process.

As a result of this, Xuan Hao suddenly found himself falling from the sky in an unknown location at the outer edges of the continent-

Bang-!

Unable to stop himself just after leaving the spatial passage, as he directly crashed into a nearby mountain range before he could regain control-

RUUUMBLE-!

Causing the mountain, he ended up hitting to crumble from the impact. Killing any animal or human who might have been unfortunate enough to have been at the mountain when he crashed into it…

"Good thing I decided to test out the long-distance teleportation before actually using it to try and help Xuan Gui…" Inside the rubble of the mountain that had essentially collapse on top of him, Xuan Hao quietly muttered this to himself with a sense of relief on his face. Completely unaffected by the situation outside of the dust that now covered his body.

The mountain collapsing on top of him unable to elicit even the smallest hint of worry from him, as he pondered about what had just happened when he had been using the long-distance teleportation and what had gone wrong.

Chapter 1360: Not at the Third Heaven of the Saint Realm...?

Everything was fine when using the long-distance teleportation and there weren't really any problems with the technique itself. The main problem was that it was far more draining than he had first expected it to be, as even just crossing the Frozen Wasteland had already drained close to one third of the qi inside his dantian.

Although he should still be able to reach the Blue Shore Kingdom like he had originally planned to do with the qi still left inside his dantian, he had no intention of doing so, as it would put him in a rather dangerous situation in case something happened, or he was attacked after reaching the Blue Shore Kingdom. After all, he had no idea what kind of state the kingdom was in and whether or not he might run into some kind of powerful demonic cultivator the moment he arrived.

With that in mind, he decided to forcibly stop the teleportation technique before he could reach his target location. Sparing himself from using the last two thirds of qi inside his dantian on traversing the last remaining part of the way to the Blue Shore Kingdom. Instead opting to travel the rest of the way normally now that he had managed to successfully cross the most dangerous part of the journey to the Blue Shore Kingdom with the help of the long-distance teleportation technique.

Even if it was nowhere as fast as the long-distance teleportation technique that had essentially taken him no more than a few seconds to cross the Frozen Wasteland that had taken him weeks to cross in the past when he had gone together with Yi Min, it would not take more than a day or two to reach the Blue Shore Kingdom with his current mastery of the drifting cloud steps.

Rumble~

Having concluded that the main reason for the failure this time around had nothing to do with the long-distance teleportation technique but was instead because of the massive energy it requires to activate, Xuan Hao moved aside the rubble of the mountain that had collapsed on top of him before ascending into the sky and moving in the direction of the Blue Shore Kingdom.

Unaware that the mountain he had smashed into and collapsed happened to be the divine mountain of a small kingdom controlled by a group of monks.

"T-The divine mountain has collapsed!"

"Look! Someone ascended into the sky from the collapsed mountain!"

"I-Immortal! One of the monks who went in seclusion on the divine mountain ascended and became an immortal!"

And it just so happened that this group of monks were unfortunate enough to be in seclusion on the divine mountain when Xuan Hao crashed into it…

Not that Xuan Hao would have any idea about any of this, as he had long since left the area by the time that the mortals of the small kingdom began calling out in shock and awe, while the different nobles and other powerful people in the kingdom wore worried expressions on their faces. Wondering what to do now that their powerful backers had suddenly ascended.

…

Standing at the border of the Blue Shore Kingdom only a little over a day after he had successfully crossed over the Frozen Wasteland, Xuan Hao effortlessly passed through the formation surrounding the Blue Shore Kingdom. Feeling the clear change in the spiritual qi present the moment he passed through the formation before he began making his way towards the forge where he knew he could find Gong Cheng.

Ching~ Ching~ Ching~

Not that unexpectedly, Gong Cheng was working away at something inside of the forge at the moment, something he should have gotten himself rather busy with after he managed to break through to the Saint Realm and officially become a Saint Realm Blacksmith.

"Hm? This…!"

However, as he prepared himself to settle down and wait for Gong Cheng to finish what he was in the process of crafting, Xuan Hao suddenly found himself frozen on the spot as he narrowed both of his eyes slightly while looking in the direction of the forge.

"This strength is definitely not in the Middle Stage of the Dao Seed Realm… Could it be… Gong Cheng is above the Third Heaven of the Saint Realm…?" Muttering this to himself with slightly narrowed eyes as he felt the terrifying presence inside the forge, Xuan Hao realized that he might have underestimated the strength of Gong Cheng.

Not to mention the Middle Stage of the Dao Seed Realm. Even his own strength that was now comparable to the Late Stage of the Dao Seed Realm felt inferior to the power of the person inside the forge at the moment.

Even then… After carefully feeling the power for a few minutes, he realized that although strong, it wasn't yet comparable to the Celestial Immortal Realm Ancestors from the Blue Sea Empire or the Demon King Realm demonic cultivators that he had witnessed fighting in the past.

With that in mind, he guessed that Gong Cheng should have reached the Second Heaven of the Saint Realm and was currently comparable to someone at the Peak of the Dao Seed Realm.

Peak of the Dao Seed Realm… Different from the Peak of the Earth Immortal Realm that was only the Middle Stage of the Dao Seed Realm, the Peak of the Dao Seed Realm was infinitely close to the Celestial Immortal and Profound Immortal Realm.

Even standing at a realm comparable to the Late Stage of the Dao Seed Realm, Xuan Hao clearly felt the fundamental difference between him and Gong Cheng, as Gong Cheng seemed to have already touched upon a higher realm, while he was essentially still limited to the Dao Seed Realm.

Of course, in a battle, he would still win against Gong Cheng even if he had strength comparable to the Peak of the Dao Seed Realm, as his Dao of Space and the other Daos he had comprehended were far more suitable for battle than the Dao of Blacksmithing that Gong Cheng had comprehended.

The only place where he might be at a disadvantage would be in terms of artifacts, as he had still not yet managed to get his hands on a suitable sword or another kind of artifact that he could use for fighting. After all, the sect didn't have any blacksmiths strong enough to create a suitable weapon, while he himself was also nowhere near the required realm in blacksmithing to do so.

And that is not even mentioning the precious spiritual metals and other resources that would be required to craft a suitable weapon…

To be honest, Xuan Hao had given up on finding a suitable weapon to use for now, as he did the same as most other cultivators did when they couldn't find someone to craft a suitable weapon and fought without one.

Of course, though it did make his strength a bit weaker than if he had a proper weapon, it didn't really affect it by that much as he could still use his sword intent and Dao of ice or his sword soul to create a suitable sword when fighting, while the rest of his Daos didn't really require a weapon…

"Huh? Xuan Hao? What brings you here?"

Hearing someone calling out to him just at that moment, Xuan Hao turned around and found himself gazing into the surprised eyes of Gong Cheng who had just emerged from the forge. Clearly having sensed his presence when he arrived earlier.

"I'm just here to say hello." Chuckling to himself as he saw the increasingly confused expression on Gong Cheng's face as he said this, Xuan Hao soon put on a bit more serious expression. "But outside of that, I wanted to check up on you because…" Explaining to him what had happened and the attack from the demonic cultivators.

"Demonic cultivators attacking the core region so brazenly… Looks like the situation is about to get far worse in the next few years if things continue developing like this. If I'm not wrong, the demonic cultivators should either be planning to fight another war for supremacy over the core region of the continent or trying to at least carve out a space of their own inside the core region.

No matter which of the two it is, you and your sect can be considered quite lucky to have avoided any real danger so far, as for worrying about me… There is no need to do so. Even if the demonic cultivators learn about my presence, they won't bother to send someone at the Demon King Realm all the way out to kill me for no specific reason.

For now, I definitely recommend for you to ensure the safety of your sect either by trying to stand as a neutral force and avoid the demonic cultivators or find somewhere to hide. Although, both options will be rather difficult to accomplish without someone in the Celestial Immortal Realm presiding over your sect"

Shaking his head as he finished speaking his thoughts on the situation, Gong Cheng gave his own judgement on the situation of the Star Shattering Sect. Clearly trying to lend a hand in how to best go about the current situation.

Even though… The recommendation essentially boiled down to hide away and hope for the best…

Chapter 1361: Presure to Become Stronger

Not planning to move the Star Shattering Sect to somewhere like the border regions of the continent where the Blue Shore Kingdom was located, Xuan Hao could not help smiling wryly in response to what Gong Cheng said. For now, it looked like the best option for him to ensure the continued safety of the Star Shattering Sect would be to reach a realm where he could contend against those Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators and Demon King Realm cultivators as fast as possible. 

Of course, even with this strength, he understood that he wouldn't truly be safe. 

The main thing that came from having strength comparable to the Celestial Immortal Realm would be to make others understand that it wouldn't be easy to take down the Star Shattering Sect without incurring any losses… And given that the demonic cultivators and those cultivators from the core region of the continent wouldn't want to accidentally push someone with Celestial Immortal Realm strength to the other side of the conflict, it should be able to allow the Star Shattering Sect to remain as a neutral force without being attacked by either party. 

At least before the battle became more chaotic and the demonic cultivators managed to push their way into the core region where the different major powers were located, the Star Shattering Sect should be able to continue staying as a neutral party without being attacked. 

However, given the current state of the battle between the two sides, Xuan Hao guessed that it would probably take a long time before this happened, as the different major powers in the core region had no intention of allowing the demonic cultivators to reach their territory. Doing their absolute best to limit the scope of the conflict to the small empires and kingdoms between themselves and the different demonic cultivator strongholds like the Frozen Wasteland. 

In a sense, this was the original goal of these smaller empires and kingdoms, serving as a barrier for the demonic cultivators to reach the core region of the continent, it was just that they only now realized this, as they found themselves being forced forward as shields for these major powers with no way to resist. 

Luckily, in this regard, the Star Shattering Sect and the surrounding kingdom and empires, outside of the Onyx Empire, was rather lucky, as the demonic cultivators hadn't decided on an all-out attack towards the Blue Sea Empire after the failed assassination attempt on one of the Blue Sea Empire's Celestial Immortal Realm Ancestors. 

Not that this would last forever, as Xuan Hao had already been informed by Xuan Gui that the decrease in powerful demonic cultivators attacking the Blue Sea Empire was only because most of the higher-level demonic cultivators were tied up elsewhere at the moment. 

In at most ten or so years, they would likely begin launching a more powerful attack towards the Blue Sea Empire. 

At least with his friend on the side of the demonic cultivators, he didn't have to worry about an unexpected attack from the demonic cultivators without any warning, as she herself had also told him that she would ask him to help her get inside the Blue Sea Empire before that attack took place. Knowing it would be far more difficult for her to enter the Blue Sea Empire when the official attack was launched by the more powerful cultivators. 

Of course, given that her little infiltration plan of the Blue Sea Empire was beneficial to the powerful demonic cultivators behind these attacks, they didn't really care much about this and instead encouraged her to cause as much damage as possible inside the Blue Sea Empire. Even hoping to use it as an opportunity to launch a surprise attack and gain a lot of territory while the Blue Sea Empire's experts were busy trying to chase her down. 

Given that his sect was inside the territory of the Blue Sea Empire that bordered the Frozen Wasteland, Xuan Hao had originally been worried about this, but was soon reassured by Xuan Gui that the place that these demonic cultivators planned on attacking was another empire located on the other side of the Onyx Empire. Meaning that the Star Shattering Sect wouldn't get affected by this attack if what she said ended up being accurate. 

I really need to improve my strength to the level of a Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator. At least, with that level of strength and the chaotic qi formation, I should be able to stand out and keep my sect out of the conflict like Gong Cheng said… 

Feeling the increased pressure on his shoulders as he realized just how dangerous of a situation that the Star Shattering Sect was in; Xuan Hao could not help glancing over at Gong Cheng who was patiently waiting beside him as he thought over what he had said. 

Different from him, who had to worry about the demonic cultivators beginning a war with the cultivators from the core region of the continent, Gong Cheng had nothing to worry about at the edge of the continent. Knowing that the demonic cultivators wouldn't bother with this wasteland where people could barely reach the Foundation Establishment Realm and even fewer the Core Formation Realm. 

In a sense, because of the scarce resources, the edge of the continent where the Blue Shore Kingdom was located could be considered the safest place on the entire continent at the moment, as there was no need to worry about demonic cultivators or the powerful core region cultivators who were now much more abundant in the territories bordering the Frozen Wasteland. 

If not for the fact that he couldn't move the Shattered Star Peak, he would have undoubtedly moved it over next to the Blue Shore Kingdom so both of them could enjoy the safety of being in a resource scarce region. 

Of course, this would force the Star Shattering Sect to give up a lot of their resources and would inevitably slow down the development of the sect, but with the chaotic qi formation around, there would be an abundance of spiritual qi no matter where it placed. 

"Haaa… Looks like the relatively peaceful state of the sect is only temporary without someone comparable to the Celestial Immortal Realm present…" 

"Haha, indeed, only with someone at the Celestial Immortal Realm present can you truly establish yourself on this continent. Just look at me, I'm still stuck in this place even after reaching the Saint Realm and becoming a Saint Realm Blacksmith. All because my strength is still not at the Celestial Immortal Realm!" 

Hearing Gong Cheng's response to what he unconsciously said after thinking about the current state of the Star Shattering Sect, Xuan Hao could not help glancing over at the old man as he realized what he said. 

Indeed… even though Gong Cheng had reached the Second Heaven of the Saint Realm and was essentially comparable to someone at the Peak of the Dao Seed Realm, he was still forced to keep hiding at the edge of the continent out of fear that those powerful Celestial Immortal Realm ancestors would show up and try to either kill him or get him to join them. 

Thinking about this and how Gong Cheng was unwilling to join any of these major powers, Xuan Hao decided that it would probably be best for him to not mention his original intentions of wanting to recruit the old man to join his sect for now. Especially considering the rather dangerous situation that his sect was currently in due to the demonic cultivators. 

Maybe in the future when the situation was safer and he had managed to reach the Peak of the Dao Domain Lord Realm and gain strength comparable to the Celestial Immortal or Profound Immortal Realm, but for now, he should instead try and improve his friendship with this old man so recruitment would be easier in the future… 

"By the way, I never got a chance to probably thank you for the help you gave me and Yi Min when teaching us about the Dao of Blacksmithing. So, I brought a few different spiritual metals along with me this time, as I doubt you have much all the way out here-" 

"Spiritual metal!?" 

Almost the second he finished speaking, Xuan Hao felt his hands being griped as the old man who had remained relatively aloof so far had rushed over and was staring directly into his eyes. 

"Y-yeah, here…" Not knowing what to say when met with this level of enthusiasm, Xuan Hao could only awkwardly take a few steps back before handing over a small interspatial ring filled with all kinds of spiritual metal that he had prepared the moment he decided to head to the Blue Shore Kingdom while testing out his long-distance teleportation. 

"This-! So much spiritual metal! Hehe, with this, I should be able to progress even further and might even reach the level comparable to the Celestial Immortal Realm!" 

Filled with joy as he looked through the spiritual metal stored inside the interspatial ring, Gong Cheng didn't waste any time after seeing the spiritual metal inside of it, as he turned around and rushed back into the forge the next second- 

"…" 

Leaving Xuan Hao behind to stare helplessly in the direction he had disappeared in.

Chapter 1362: Another Distraction

Having a feeling that he wouldn't be seeing Gong Cheng anytime soon after he disappeared into his forge, Xuan Hao decided to not stay around in the Blue Shore Kingdom any longer than necessary. Not wanting to stay away from the sect for too long with the current chaotic situation that might result in the sect running into problems that couldn't be handled by the Domain Lord Realm Elders of the sect. 

Not to mention, his original goal with going to the Blue Shore Kingdom was to test out his long-distance teleportation technique, while getting to meet Gong Cheng could be considered a bonus. 

Testing out his strength against Gong Cheng might have been helpful but given that he doubted that the old man would be leaving his forge any time soon because of the large quantity of spiritual metal he had just gotten his hand on, Xuan Hao decided against it. 

On the other, maybe he should have asked him for a spar before handing over the spiritual metal… 

No matter, it wasn't that important, as Gong Cheng wasn't really combat focused in the first place with his Dao of Blacksmithing and would likely not be able to give him a chance to test the limits of his strength after his recent breakthrough. 

So, with that in mind, Xuan Hao sent a short goodbye message to Gong Cheng through his divine sense before turning around and leaving in the direction he had come from. Not directly activating the long-distance teleportation technique, as he didn't have any reason to waste his qi before he reached the Frozen Wasteland. 

After all, there was nothing in the outer edges of the continent that proved a threat to him at the moment, outside of the demon beasts who might be heading inland through the river connected to the Blue Sea Empire, but such demon beasts were rare and preferred to stay hidden to avoid detection. 

But… To make sure that he didn't end up getting targeted by any of these potentially deadly demon beasts from the endless ocean, Xuan Hao decided to keep a distance from the river connected to the ocean. 

In the end, because of this, the path back to the edge of the Frozen Wasteland where he planned on using his long-distance teleportation formation to get back to the sect took a few hours longer, but at least, he didn't end up running into any problems along the way- 

"Huh?" 

At least, that was until he began preparing to use the long-distance teleportation technique, when he suddenly noticed a large number of demonic cultivators appearing in the distance and rapidly getting closer to where he was. 

The only positive thing was that the strongest among these demonic cultivators was only comparable to the earlier stages of the Soul Ascension Realm, while the negative was that they would reach his position before he could activate his long-distance teleportation technique… And given that it required his full concentration to use, he wouldn't be able to keep himself hidden. 

Should I just kill them? 

As this thought emerged, Xuan Hao casually raised his hand as sword intent began gathering into a sword in front of him, but ultimately, he hesitated as the demonic cultivators got closer. 

Not because he had any intention of sparing them, but instead because it became clear that they didn't just happen to be around the edges of the Frozen Wasteland patrolling, but instead seemed to be heading towards the outer regions of the continent, something rather confusion considering that there wasn't really anything of value there. 

Even if they slaughtered the people for their blood and qi, it would at most be useful to someone in the Higher Demon Realm or maybe someone who had undergone the first demonic transformation, there was nothing useful to a True Demon Realm demonic cultivator. 

"There has to be a reason why these demonic cultivators are here…" Muttering this to himself, Xuan Hao narrowed his eyes slightly as he silently used the Dao of Illusions to hide himself before he got in range of the demonic cultivators. 

Curious about what these demonic cultivators were planning to do and what reason they might have to come to such a desolated place that was even worse than their Frozen Wasteland for cultivation… 

"Ugh, why do we have to come to this god forsaken place? Can't we just send a few of those lesser demons and higher demons to get the job done? Even if there are a few cultivators present, they are at most in the Core Formation Realm. Nothing that would need us to personally come to this place!" 

"I understand your unwillingness to go, but this is orders from Demon Lord Shadow Spirit, we have to ensure everything goes smoothly. Not to mention, this is better than being thrown to the frontlines where we have to face those cultivators from the core region." 

"Well… You do make a point…" 

Listening to the two leading demonic cultivators in the True Demon Realm as they got closer, Xuan Hao could not help feeling even more interested in what they were up to, as it now also seemed to involve a Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivator. 

At the same time, he also felt a bit more cautious about the entire situation, as a Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivator was comparable to the Dao Seed Realm. 

The only reassuring thing was that the demonic cultivators flying past below him were completely oblivious to his presence, as they continued moving deeper inside the outer regions without stopping. 

Guess I will have to wait with going back to the sect for now… 

Smiling a bit wryly to himself at this thought, Xuan Hao understood that his curiosity had gotten the best of him once again, but ultimately, there was nothing to lose from following the demonic cultivators and finding out what reason they had to go to the outer regions completely devoid of resources… 

Whoosh~ 

And so, Xuan Hao silently trailed behind the group of demonic cultivators as they made their way into the outer regions. 

In the process, Xuan Hao made sure to listen in on what the demonic cultivators were talking about and soon found out that they were going to pick up some kind of spiritual metal that had been mined by a small kingdom under their control. 

As for the specifics about this spiritual metal, these demonic cultivators didn't know much outside of the fact that it seemed to have some kind of spatial property. 

Even then, it was more than enough to catch Xuan Hao by surprise when he learnt about it, as he understood full well just how valuable spiritual metal with a spatial property was. 

Not only because it was one of the core components required to craft an interspatial ring, but also because it was an important thing in the construction of spatial formations. Most commonly teleportation formations, something that the Star Shattering Sect needed. 

The main problem so far in the construction of teleportation formations being the obvious lack of formations masters who were proficient in the Dao of Space, but also the lack of spiritual metal with a spatial property. 

If he could get his hand on this spiritual metal that the demonic cultivators were talking about, he should be able to construct a few teleportation formations for the sect in a few important locations. 

After all, in the current Star Shattering Sect, he was the only one who had the necessary comprehension of the Dao of Space to accomplish something like this, but… At least the few teleportation formations he laid down should also be able to serve as something that the formation masters of the sect could go and learn from by watching them in action. 

Of course, before all of that, he would first have to figure out how to construct a teleportation formation but given his current comprehension of the Dao of Space reaching the Large Success Realm and his comprehension of the Dao of Formations reaching the Small Success Realm, Xuan Hao didn't feel like this would prove much of a problem for him. 

The only problem he could foresee would be the demonic cultivators that he was following, as he had no idea what kind of defensive measures the Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivator behind them might have put in place to ensure nothing happened to the spiritual metal being mined. 

After all, spiritual metal with a spatial property was extremely precious and far more valuable than normal spiritual metal, something that could be seen from the fact that the Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivator had two True Demon Realm demonic cultivators acting as escorts for the precious spiritual metal… And when he finally reached the small kingdom in question, his thoughts were proven correct, as he was forced to come to a stop when faced with a formation more than strong enough to block someone in the Dao Seed Realm. 

Such a powerful formation… I'm starting to doubt that the strongest person behind this entire operation is someone in the Demon Lord Realm! 

Narrowing both his eyes as he thought about this, Xuan Hao realized that the spiritual metal present was likely far more valuable than he first thought…

Chapter 1363: Remnant Soul...? And Space Node Stones

Knowing about the value of the spiritual metal that should be present on the other side of the formation, Xuan Hao had no intention of giving up on it. Even if it met potentially falling out with a Demon King Realm demonic cultivator. After all, given that he had not been attacked yet, he was certain that the potential Demon King Realm demonic cultivator behind the formation in front of him shouldn't be present. 

With that in mind, as long as he could break the formation fast enough, steal the spiritual metal and escape with his long-distance teleportation, he should be able to avoid any confrontation with the demonic cultivator behind the formation… And in case there was a teleportation formation present inside the formation; he planned on destroying that to prevent anyone from rushing over. 

Not that it was likely for there to be a teleportation formation given that there was a group of demonic cultivators transporting the spiritual metal on foot, but one never knew if there was an emergency one or not hidden inside the small kingdom... 

The biggest problem with his plan was the fact that he couldn't defend against the other party in case they had comprehended the Dao of Space to the Large Success Realm and had learnt some kind of long-distance teleportation, but the chance of that was low. Especially given that demonic cultivators weren't that well-known for comprehending any Daos that didn't involve things like death and slaughter. 

Having essentially decided that he would be trying to get his hands on the spiritual metal that was on the other side of the formation, Xuan Hao didn't just immediately try to break the formation, but instead decided to try and examine it and figure out how to break it. 

After all, even though his comprehension of the Dao of Formations wasn't that high, the one who had created the formation sealing off the small kingdom wasn't much better than him in terms of comprehension. 

With enough time, he felt confident in figuring out how to break the formation in a short period of time. 

At the same time, he also intended to wait around for the group of demonic cultivators who had already entered the small kingdom to get the spiritual metal. 

Planning to intercept them after they left the safety of the formation and investigate the spiritual metal that they would bring out with them, both to confirm the validity of what they had talked about, but also to find out about the quality of the spiritual metal. 

If the quality was too low and not much better than what the Star Shattering Sect could already produce, he didn't plan on offending a potential Demon King Realm demonic cultivator over it, as he had no idea what kind of methods such a person might have when it came to potentially tracking him down… 

Ah? Looks like they are out again! 

Just at this moment, Xuan Hao noticed the group of demonic cultivators he had been following emerge from the formation before making their way back towards the Frozen Wasteland with a few large spatial bags now in hand. Obviously for carrying much more than could be placed inside a simple interspatial ring. 

So, without any of the demonic cultivators noticing him, Xuan Hao silently followed behind them as they moved further and further away from the small kingdom. 

Intending to make a move on them when they got far enough away from the small kingdom that he was certain someone in the Demon Lord Realm wouldn't be able to sense him when he took down the group of demonic cultivators. 

In the end, because of the demonic culitvators relatively slow pace of travel compared to someone at the Demon Lord Realm, it took a little over an hour before they were finally far enough away that Xuan Hao felt confident in attacking them without being discovered- 

Swish-! 

And so, before any of the demonic cultivators below could react, he made a move. Sending down a stream of sword intent to kill all of them before they had any time to fight back or inform other demonic cultivators about being attacked- 

BOOOOM-! 

However, it was just as the two strongest True Demon Realm demonic cultivators died, that a terrifying aura suddenly erupted from a small jade carried by one of the weaker demonic cultivators in charge of carrying one of the spatial bags. Blocking his sword intent and saving that one demonic cultivator, while the rest of them almost instantaneously died due to the sheer difference in power. 

"W-what!? W-we are under attack…? Everyone… Is dead…?" 

Seeing this shocking sight of his companions suddenly being reduced to nothing more than a blood mist in less than a fraction of a second, their bodies and souls annihilated before they even had a chance to react, the surviving demonic cultivator could only silently whisper to himself in disbelief. Not believing what he had just witnessed, as Xuan Hao's sword intent continued grinding away at the terrifying power that had erupted from the small jade to protect this weak demonic cultivator who should have just recently undergone his second demonic transformation. 

Is it some kind of protective talisman? No… It shouldn't… Perhaps a remnant soul sealed away inside the jade awakening due to the danger and erupting with power to protect the little demonic cultivator? 

As he continued grinding away at the power that had erupted to protect the little demonic cultivator, Xuan Hao's frown could not stop deepening, as he felt increasingly annoyed at what he guessed to be some kind of remnant soul protecting this young demonic cultivator. 

Even when he used his full strength to try and break the barrier that had formed to protect this little demonic cultivator, he could only slowly grind away at the barrier, something that would ultimately give the little demonic cultivator more than enough time to contact others about his situation. 

I can't allow that to happen! 

RUMBLE-! 

Knowing that he couldn't allow the demonic cultivator to contact others, Xuan Hao stopped using his sword intent and instead decided to directly collapse the space around the small demonic cultivator. Directly initiating a true spatial collapse, something that would indeed be a little overkill for killing a Second Demonic Transformation Realm demonic cultivator under normal circumstances. 

"Noooo-!" 

As the spatial collapse started, there was no way to stop it, as Xuan Hao soon heard a painful roar filled with unwillingness coming from inside the small jade. Likely belonging to the remnant soul housed inside the jade, as the little demonic cultivator's figure was soon swallowed up by the spatial collapse. Disappearing along with a small part of the continent. 

"Hm… Unfortunate to lose some of the spiritual metal, but this should at least have stopped any outwards communication from taking place. Now, I just have to check the spiritual metal and figure out whether or not its worth to make a move before someone notices the spatial anomaly or the demonic cultivators fail to return to the Frozen Wasteland…" Muttering this to himself as he looked at the empty black space in front of him that even the world itself seemed to have some difficulties closing in the short term, Xuan Hao soon picked up one of the spatial bags that had fallen on the ground before checking the contents of the bag. 

"This is?! Space Node Stones?! Such a high quality as well…" 

However, when he checked the content of the bag, he could not help showing a somewhat shocked expression on his face. 

The main reason being that the spiritual metal with spatial properties inside the bag was far better than he had expected. 

To be more accurate, it was a kind of spiritual metal called Space Node Stones, that was perfect in the construction of teleportation formations. 

In other words, just the kind of spiritual metal that his sect needed at the moment. Meaning, he almost instantaneously decided on robbing the demonic cultivators and take as much of the spiritual metal as possible. Even if it meant offending a Demon King Realm demonic cultivator as a result. 

Swish-! 

So, with that in mind, Xuan Hao quickly made his way back to the small kingdom guarded by the powerful formation before starting to try and find a weak spot in the location before attacking. Intending to use the time it would take the demonic cultivators to reach the Frozen Wasteland to do this. 

At the same time, also preparing himself for what to do in case there was a Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivator guarding the mine on the other side of the formation, as even if he was stronger than the other party, he didn't plan on fighting and only wanted to seize as many of the Space Node Stones as possible before running away before a Demon King Realm demonic cultivator could show up. 

As for his escape path… he planned on using his drifting cloud steps to get escape from the potential Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivator before using his long-distance teleportation to move across the Frozen Wasteland before escaping into the Blue Sea Empire where he would lay low for a bit to make any potential demonic cultivator capable of tracking his escape path think he was someone from the Blue Sea Empire. 

Just a precaution that might also end up working out, as it could create quite a bit of trouble for the Blue Sea Empire to have a Demon King Realm demonic cultivator come knocking at their door for revenge. Maybe it might even help Xuan Gui a bit in her revenge plot…

Chapter 1364: Importance of Space Node Stones

Arriving back in front of the formation, Xuan Hao didn't waste any time as he began the process of trying to figure out a way to easily break through the formation as fast as possible, while at the same time also checking to see if he could figure out the situation inside the formation. Hoping that the one behind the entire thing would be confident in the strength of the formation and thus wouldn't have dispatched a Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivator to watch over the small kingdom where the mining for Space Node Stones was taking place. 

Of course, given the value of the spiritual stones, Xuan Hao felt this was unlikely, even if the power of those in the outer regions and at the edges of the continent barely reached the Core Formation Realm in most cases, there would still be other dangers in forms of demon beasts from the endless ocean or cultivators like Gong Cheng, who were looking for a place to hide and lay low. 

Any of these two could spell trouble for the demonic cultivators mining for the space stone nodes, as the first could destroy their mining operation, while the latter might result in news of the space node stones spreading to the rest of the continent. 

Obviously, neither was something that the demonic cultivator behind all of this wanted to happen, as it would not only draw attention from major powers like the Blue Sea Empire but would also end up drawing the attention of other demonic cultivators who would likely be more than happy to lend their fellow demonic cultivator a hand in securing the space node stones. 

Unfortunately, even if the other party wanted to monopolize the space node stones at that point in time, it would impossible. Even with the strength of someone in the Demon King Realm. 

But more importantly than that, the main reason why it was difficult to monopolize was that the extraction and mining of space node stones took a long time and couldn't be completed in a short period of time. Requiring years or decades to mine even a small part of the overall mine. 

In a sense, the reason for the secrecy of the small kingdom where the space node stones had been found was also because of this, as without personally encountering one of the rare few times that the space node stones were transported out of the small kingdom, he would have no idea what it was that was being mined there and would likely not have decided to take the risk of breaking in at the risk of offending a Demon King Realm demonic cultivator. 

After all, even though spiritual metal with spatial properties were rare, it wasn't that rare that someone would offend a Demon King Realm demonic cultivator over it. 

Only Xuan Hao, whose sect was lacking a lot of spiritual metal like that was willing to take such a risk, as the Star Shattering Sect really needed to start establishing teleportation formations across the sect's territory to ensure that the sect could continue to grow without any major issues. 

After all, teleportation formations would allow the sect to far more easily move around the sect territory and also have a far easier time transporting different resources around. 

Although it was a bit of a stretch at the moment, it would be ideal if teleportation formations could be created within the different resource rich locations of the fallen Sky Empire that the sect had recently taken over. 

Of course, the longer distance between teleportation formations, the more resources and the more difficult they would be to construct… And although the Star Shattering Sect's territory was rather small when compared to a large empire like the Blue Sea Empire, it had already grown to be close to a third the size of the now fallen Sky Empire. 

The main difference between the two being that the Star Shattering Sect had almost full control over this territory compared to the Sky Empire that didn't fully control most of its territory due to different powerful demon beasts or other things. 

Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao continued trying to comprehend the formation in front of him, as minutes soon turned to hours, as his understanding of the formation guarding the space node stone mine slowly deepened. 

First of all, he discovered that the formation was far weaker than he had first thought. 

Even with strength comparable to the Peak of the Soul Ascension Realm, it should be relatively simple to break the formation itself with enough time. 

Given his current strength was far above that, the weaknesses he had managed to pinpoint in the formation would essentially allow him to almost instantly destroy the entire formation. Rending it completely useless. 

Secondly, he did manage to peer through the formation to some extent after his understanding of it increased and he found weak spots that his divine sense could slip through undetected. 

Unfortunately, when he investigated the situation on the other side of the formation, he discovered that there was not just one, but two demonic cultivators in the Demon Lord Realm present inside the small kingdom guarding the space node stone mine. 

Even if these two Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivators could be considered on the weaker side and wouldn't pose that much of a threat to him given his current strength, it would still take him some time to kill them, time that he didn't have considering that he expected a Demon King Realm demonic cultivator to rush over the moment he broke the formation. 

With that in mind, Xuan Hao had instead focused his attention on where the space node stones were being stored before being transported. Intending to take as much as possible with him before escaping before the two Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivators had a chance to block him. 

Luckily, the space node stones were not being stored inside an interspatial ring or space bag but were instead stored out in the open just next to the mine itself where it was being processed into smaller and more manageable sizes that could be cared with ease inside interspatial rings or bags. 

From the looks of the situation inside, the space node stones were only prepared outside the mine before being picked up later when a group like the one he had killed not long ago appeared to transport it out. 

Because of this, the amount of processed space node stones present outside the mine was close to nothing. 

The majority of it was in large unprocessed chunks that would be difficult to transport not only due to their size, but also due to their spatial nature making it more difficult to stone inside interspatial rings and bags. 

Of course, Xuan Hao wasn't too concerned about this, as with his current comprehension of the Dao of Space, he could forcibly contain the spatial anomalies caused by the space node stones for a period of time before storing them inside some of the interspatial rings he was carrying. 

The main problem being that even though he had further enhanced and strengthened them after his comprehension of the Dao of Space increased and their current size surpassed that of the few space bags he had stolen not long ago, he wouldn't be able to carry all of the unprocessed space node stones out with him. 

At most, he would be able to take half of it, but considering that there was close to ten times the amount of space node stones than what he had managed to get his hands on already, Xuan Hao felt that it would be enough for a simple network of teleportation formations across the current territory of the Star Shattering Sect. 

Of course, in the future, a mine like the one in front of him would be required, but for now, the sect didn't have the strength to size such a mine. 

The best-case scenario would be that one was discovered inside the sect's territory, and they could secretly mine it like the demonic cultivators were doing at the moment. 

Oh well… No matter what, it looks like I will still be breaking into this place… 

Smiling to himself as he thought about this, Xuan Hao soon narrowed his eyes as he focused his attention on the two Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivators inside the formation- 

BOOOOM-! 

And the next second, a terrifying explosion echoed out across the desolated land, as the formation was pierced in several critical locations at the same time by his sword intent. Instantly destroying the formation. 

Ruumble-! 

Not a second later, the two Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivators rushed out, but… It was already too late at this point in time, as Xuan Hao had directly used his drifting cloud steps to teleport himself in front of the unprocessed space node stones before taking as much as he could carry and before reusing his drifting cloud steps to disappear. 

Not giving the demonic cultivatorsthe chance to realize what was happening before he was gone.

Chapter 1365: Escape Path

"Wha-!? Did… Did someone just break the formation and steal the unprocessed space node stones?" Not able to believe what had just happened, as everything happened far too fast for him to react, one of the two Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivators stationed to guard the small kingdom and space node stones being mined there, could not help saying this out loud with a shocked expression on his face. 

Clearly, from the moment Xuan Hao had appeared to when he had arrived at the mine and then escaped again, he hadn't even managed to get up from his position before everything was over. Leaving him in a rather confused state about what had just happened. 

After all, with his strength in the Demon Lord Realm, there were not many people who could easily sneak past him and escape before he even had the time to respond. 

The only people who had this kind of ability would be the Demon King or Celestial Immortal Realm Experts… And the thought of such a terrifying existence breaking into the small kingdom he was in charge of guarding was more than enough to send a shiver down his spine. Especially considering that he understood very well how important the space node stones being mined were. 

Terrifying… If I'm not wrong, that person should not even be a demonic cultivator, but instead one of those Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators from the core region! 

Feeling even more terrified as his thoughts continued wandering, the demonic cultivator didn't even bother chasing after Xuan Hao. Instead, just turning towards his companion. Only to find out that his companion was similarly looking at him with a shocked expression on his face. 

Obviously, it was not just him who had been shocked and terrified by what had just happened… 

"Let's inform the Demon King about this…" 

"Yes… If we don't, he might come looking to kill us later when he realizes such a large amount of space node stones are suddenly missing. Not to mention, the formation breaking should have already alerted him to the situation." 

As the two demonic cultivators came to a decision on what to do, one of them nervously picked up a communication talisman before contacting their lord about the situation and what had happened. 

Both of them making absolutely sure to state that the intruder's strength had surpassed the Demon Lord Realm. Understanding that only if their opponent's strength was far more powerful than theirs would they have a chance to survive when their lord arrived to personally inspect the situation… 

Because of this, Xuan Hao was left escaping on his own without anyone chasing after him, something that he only ended up finding out about after he reached the edge of the Frozen Wasteland and began preparing for the long-distance teleportation. 

Not that this ended up changing any of his plans, as he still intended to first go to the Blue Sea Empire before laying low for a few days or weeks before returning to the Star Shattering Sect. 

No matter what, he didn't want a Demon King Realm demonic cultivator to focus his attention on the Star Shattering Sect. 

After all, even if the chaotic qi formation could defend against the demonic cultivators, there was no way to defend that outside of the Shattered Star Peaks against a Demon King Realm demonic cultivator, 

In the end, by the time that the Demon King Realm demonic cultivator appeared at the scene to personally investigate the situation in an attempt to find out who was behind the attack, Xuan Hao had already long since made his way into the Blue Sea Empire after using the long-distance teleportation technique far beyond what he intended to do. Leaving him almost defenseless as he popped out in front of a small village not too far away from the first large city he had encountered after entering the Blue Sea Empire. 

Even if this was risky. Especially considering the fact that the Celestial Immortal Realm Ancestors of the Blue Sea Empire would be on edge due to the demonic cultivators failed assassination attempt of one of them, Xuan Hao felt it was worth it considering that it might save him and his sect the trouble of potentially being targeted by a Demon King Realm demonic cultivator. 

And… From the fact that he couldn't sense anyone approaching him since he had appeared, Xuan Hao was confident that he hadn't yet been spotted. Allowing him to traverse the Blue Sea Empire relatively easily. 

However, to ensure that it would be convincing in case the Demon King Realm demonic cultivator in charge of the space node stones did have a way to track him, Xuan Hao decided to move in the general location of where he guessed the capital to be located. 

Meaning that he ended up following the large river upstream towards the inland sea he had heard about, as the capital city of the Blue Sea Empire was said to be located there. 

At the same time, he also began thinking about what to do with his information on the space node mine located on the desolate edges of the continent. 

First, he wanted to try and possibly sell the information as there wasn't much, he could do about it outside of the with his current strength, but this thought didn't last long, as he realized the very real possibility of him being killed off as a way to try and silence information on the space node stone mine. 

On the other hand, it would be far better idea for him to keep the matter a secret for now… And when the demonic cultivators began trying to attack the territory of the Star Shattering Sect in the future, he could then release the information on the space node stones. Potentially forcing the powerful demonic cultivators to back off as they would start fighting over the mine. 

Of course, outside of demonic cultivators, this would also gain attention from the other major powers around. Likely resulting in a large-scale battle at the outer edges of the continent, a battle that would buy the Star Shattering Sect some more time if needed. 

All things considered, even though he didn't manage to get his hands on all of the space node stones that had been mined so far, Xuan Hao felt more than satisfied with what he had managed to gain. 

Whoosh~! 

With that in mind, Xuan Hao decided to find a comfortable place to sit down and recover the strength he had lost during his long-distance teleportation. 

Soon realizing that outside of the general exhaustion caused by his dantian almost being fully emptied out, his body had also suffered quite a bit of damage because of the long travel through space. 

If not for the fact that his body could be considered stronger than normal, Xuan Hao didn't doubt that he might have ended up tearing himself apart by using the long-distance teleportation technique. 

Luckily, he didn't have the qi to continue moving forward with his long-distance teleportation technique. Resulting in him managing to leave the hastily constructed spatial passage from accidentally killing him in the process. 

… 

"This… Is this considered the safe passage through the mountain range!?" 

Ptsh-! 

At the same time Xuan Hao reached the Blue Sea Empire, Chu Yang was cutting down a large demon beast as he complained loudly to himself with an exhausted expression on his face. 

It had been weeks at since he started making his way into the mountain range in hopes of using the safe passage, he had acquired to safely reach the other side of the mountain range, but he had found no success so far and was still stuck wandering the mountain range hoping that he was moving in the correct direction. 

Not to mention, he was starting to doubt whether or not the information he had bought was even accurate in the first place, as he found himself constantly fighting against demon beasts as he ventured further inside the mountain range. 

This was not just a few weaker demon beasts in the Foundation Establishment or Core Formation Realm, but instead powerful demon beasts in the Domain Lord Realm! 

Once, he had even managed to spot a demon beast in the Soul Ascension Realm that he had only barely managed to avoid by sheer luck. 

No matter how he looked at it, there was no way that this could be considered a safe passage through the mountain range. 

In his eyes, it felt more like some kind of death trap… 

Of course, even with these thoughts, he still continued following the safe passage, as it didn't take long for him to realize that it was even more dangerous to veer off the passage that he had bought. 

His one encounter with a Soul Ascension Realm demon beast was after all when he had veered slightly off the safe passage. 

So, even if he felt unwilling, he continued moving along the safe passage without any end in sight…