Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Chapter 2041  Collapse of the Formation Core and the Dark Space

Feeling space itself starting to solidify around him as those claws began descending, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a shiver running down his spine.

Even in an injured state with only one of its claws still around, the sheer pressure and might of even that single motion was more than enough for him to understand the gravity of his current situation and the simple fact that if he wanted to get out of his current situation alive, he would have to finish off that demon beasts before the claws could descend upon him.

Dodging the attack was something he thought about, but with space itself being sealed up by the mere presence of the claw about to descend, he understood that it would be impossible for him to dodge the attack. Instead of that, it would be far better to focus on preventing the attack from ever reaching him in the first place by killing of the demon beast before it could finish the slashing downwards.

Problem was, though he had already formed a crescent moon constructed entirely from sword light and shot it off towards the half-dead demon beast, he understood that there was no way his attack would reach in time.

Not just because the claw descending towards him was by no means weak, but also because the sheer pressure of the claw alone caused the crescent moon formed by a combination of the Void Sword Art and his comprehension of the Dao of the Sword, couldn't realistically resist long in the face of an attack close to the Venerable Realm.

Although he was far stronger than most others at the Earl Stage of the Land Creation Realm and might even be able to hold his own in the face of someone at the Late or even Peak Stage of the Land Creation Realm, he stood no chance in the face of an attack that had already surpassed the Star Creation Realm to some extent.

Because of this, he could only think of another way to get out of his current situation as he watched the crescent moon starting to shake violently under the pressure of the descending claw that seemed to rip apart the very fabric of the dark space as it descended towards him.

Wait… It's tearing through the space of this place to destabilize the space and make it impossible for me to escape!?

Realizing almost immediately what the demon beast was doing as space itself was ripped apart, Xuan Hao didn't find himself panicking as his ability to use the Dao of Space became difficult to use in the current chaotic spatial environment of the dark space. Instead, he began feeling a profound sense of dread upon witnessing the space that had been torn apart by the demon beast, as from the other side of that torn space, he caught a glimpse of the terrifying spatial storm that also seemed to have noticed the entrance created by the demon beast…

RUUUUMBLE-!

And before the demon beast had any time to react, the spatial storm that had been unable to enter the ancient secret realm found an official entry point thanks to the terrifying might of the demon beast directly tearing through the spatial fabric of the ancient secret realm and creating a direct passage for the spatial storm to enter through.

ROOOAR!?

Not at all having expected something like this to happened as the claw that had been descending was swallowed up by the spatial storm and torn apart before the spatial storm expanded at a speed visible to the naked eye, the demon beasts could only let out a panicked roar before it was completely engulfed by the expanding spatial storm.

Watching all this playing out from afar, Xuan Hao understood full well that things had turned into a worst-case scenario, as the demon beast had seemingly decided to pull in the spatial storm and get itself killed in the process.

The only thing he could hope for was that the formation spirit whose formation core was about to get swallowed by the expanding spatial storm had some way to deal with the current situation.

But, as his gaze focused on the formation core that he believed would be putting up a solid fight to try and seal off the hole that had been torn open and was expanding with every passing second under the savage power of the spatial storm, he saw nothing other than a small light shooting out for it before reaching him followed by the all mighty star that was the formation core get swallowed by the spatial storm without putting up any kind of resistance in the process.

To call it an anticlimactic ending would be an understatement, as Xuan Hao could only stare questioningly at the small light that had shot out from the formation core before taking the shape of the formation spirit he had interacted with not long ago.

"What are you looking at? There is no way I can resist that kind of terrifying spatial storm in my current state, better cut the losses ahead of time and allow that damnable broken guardian formation to deal with it. Now, let's get going before that storm reaches us!"

"Sure…" Not knowing what else to say as he was faced with the hurried and unapologetic tone of the formation spirit who didn't seem to care the slightest bit about the formation core that had just been torn apart, Xuan Hao knew that it was best not to question the other party, as they still had to get out of the dark space that was rapidly being swallowed up by the spatial storm.

Luckily, the formation that the formation spirit was part of didn't seem to collapse immediately following the destruction of the formation core, so it still retained some control over it and constructed a passage for them to escape through, something Xuan Hao didn't hesitate to follow along with, as he didn't have any better way out of his current situation.

The question of how the formation spirit was still around and fine after the formation core itself had been destroyed would have to wait, though part of him felt that it might have to do with the formation spirit itself having developed and become an independent entity capable of cultivation on its own since it had gained sentience as a formation spirit.

Although rare, it wasn't something unheard of and could happen to any formation spirit presiding over a Saint Grade Formation for long enough.

Still, as a formation spirit was ultimately a formation spirit, their ability to act and move outside the boundaries of their formation was extremely limited.

For this reason, he wasn't that surprised when the formation spirit handed him what he guessed was the true core of the formation and the core of the formation spirit's existence after they emerged from the dark space before slowly fading away. Having likely exhausted all its strength to escape just now.

Instead, the thing that surprised him was how much this formation spirit seemingly trusted him, a doubt he had raised with the formation spirit before it had dispersed and entered some kind of hibernation state to avoid detection from the guardian formation of the ancient secret realm.

However, the answer he got was just that he was part of the Mirage Sect and that alone was enough for it to trust him.

Talk about answering a question without actually answering the question…

Silently grumbling to himself as he didn't exactly get the answer he wanted from the formation spirit, Xuan Hao stuffed the formation core into his interspatial ring before rapidly escaping from the holy lake that would soon become an entrance for the spatial storm to enter the ancient secret realm.

Not because he feared being caught up in the spatial storm, but instead because he understood from what the formation spirit had said before entering a state of hibernation, that the guardian formation of the ancient secret realm should be capable of dealing with the spatial storm, though it would undoubtedly come at a cost.

A cost that was visible to him the second he returned to the ancient secret realm, as his cultivation hadn't been sealed down to the Nascent Soul Realm, but the guardian formation didn't seem to care the slightest bit about him, as it instead manifested above the holy lake in an attempt to hold back the expanding spatial storm.

RUUUUUUUUMBLE-!

The clash alone caused the entire secret realm to shake violently, as the guardian formation descended with its full might to seal off the spatial storm before it could spread throughout the ancient secrete realm and tear it apart from the inside.

But because the spatial storm already far exceeded what the guardian formation ancient secret realm could deal with, it ended up locked up in a stalemate, as the two terrifying forces violently crashed into each other at the core of the holy lake, neither party able to win over the other. The only reason the guardian formation had the ability to hold back the spatial storm being because the spatial storm hadn't been able to fully enter the ancient secret realm.

Watching this terrifying clash play out from afar, Xuan Hao didn't leave immediately but instead found a place to sit down and observe the terrifying clash between the raw natural spatial force of the spatial storm and the intricate complex ancient formation symbols manifesting to defend and push back against this primordial spatial power.

The two terrifying forces that clashed with each other, involving principles and laws from both the Dao of Formations and the Dao of Space that far exceeded his own understanding of the two.

Just a chance to observe these two terrifying forces clashing with each other was immensely beneficial to his own comprehension of both the Dao of Space and the Dao of Formations.

At the same time, he also took the opportunity to look through the now completed side quest.

[Side Quest: Search the Ancient Secret Realm of the Noble Li Clan (Complete)] [Description: You have encountered the ancient secret realm belonging to an ancient noble clan that once stood at the pinnacle. Searching through the place might lead to finding something of immense value.] [Requirement: Find the ancient residence of the Noble Li Clan hidden inside the ancient secret realm. (Complete)] [Reward: Heavenly Earth Vein Root (Heavenly Material)] Directly redeeming the reward before directly absorbing the Heavenly Earth Vein Root into his dantian. Intending to use the opportunity before him to not only further his own comprehension of the Dao of Space and the Dao of Formations but also use the unique environment to saturated with these to Daos thanks to the clash taking place to break through to the Middle Stage of the Land Creation Realm.

Solidifying the landmass within his dantian using the Dao of Space and the Dao of Formations, while starting the process of expansion that was the core of the Middel Stage of the Land Creation Realm with the help of the Heavenly Earth Vein Root. Potentially also laying down a foundation for reaching the Late Stage of the Land Creation Realm in the future by infusing the Dao of Space and the Dao of Formations into the landmass within his dantian ahead of time.

Bit longer chapter again, planning on doing a bit longer chapters when fights or breakthroughs take place to avoid cutting those things up into several smaller chapters.