Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

"Huh?! Someone else passed through my divine sense just now. However, they disappeared so fast that I didn't even have the time to find out who they were. Perhaps it was someone proficient in the Dao of Space who just happened to pass through… Yeah… Not likely…" A short time earlier as Xuan Hao passed through the divine sense of the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator, the person in question quietly muttered this to himself as he stared off in the direction that Xuan Hao had disappeared in.

Although there was a very real chance that it was just someone uninvolved in what was taking place in the city up ahead and just so happened to be passing through the area with the Dao of Space, he found it highly unlikely considering that the direction the other party had come from also just so happened to be the city.

In his eyes, there was a very real chance that this person might be the main culprit behind the trapping formation and what had ended up playing out at the auction that had taken place. After all, it would be far more realistic for such a powerful cultivator to have manipulated the situation through a weaker cultivator to get his hands on the Stardusk Essence.

As for his accomplishments in the Dao of Space? This Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator didn't view it with that much importance, as he only speculated that the other party had reached the Early Stage of the Large Success Realm and his fast speed had to do with him using some kind of spatial movement technique.

At the end of the Dao of Space, it was a well-known fact that the Dao of Space was among the most difficult Daos to comprehend on the continent, and he simply didn't think someone who had acted as cautiously as he thought Xuan Hao had done would be anyone that powerful. Estimating that he should be someone in the Early Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm who had been lucky to obtain some kind of inheritance related to the Dao of Space and had as such managed to not only comprehend the Dao of Space, but likely also obtain suitable cultivation and combat techniques in the process.

The reason why he automatically thought this instead of thinking he was from another major power was also rather simple and tied to how cautiously he had acted. If he really did have a major power backing him, he wouldn't have bid through a simple Dao Seed Realm cultivator and set up a trapping formation to distract the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators inside while escaping.

"So… A wandering cultivator who saw a clear opportunity to get his hands on a path to reaching the Late Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm in the future and didn't want to give up on the opportunity even if it meant ending up offending all the major powers involved…" Narrowing both his eyes as he whispered this to himself, the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator looked in the direction that Xuan Hao had left in for a brief second before turning around towards the city not too far away before unleashing a powerful attack that soon broke through the already severely weakened trapping formation.

Even though he really wanted to chase after Xuan Hao after he guessed he should be the one behind everything that had happened and the person in possession of the Stardusk Essence, he also understood just how impossible it would be for him to catch someone proficient in the Dao of Space.

His cultivation realm might have been close to reaching the Peak of the Celestial Immortal Realm, but the speed of someone who had comprehended the Dao of Space was legendary for a reason.

The only way he would be able to chase someone like that would be with the assistance of someone similarly skilled in the Dao of Space or with the help of an artifact capable of either tracking or sealing the other party. Artifact that he was in possession of but had unfortunately not taken with him as they were in dire need of some repairs due to an accident he had in a secret realm a few decades ago…

Whoosh-!

Whoosh-!

Whoosh-!

Oh… Looks like the rest are also here, guess they will have to be the ones to deal with that person. Although… They shouldn't know anything about that person nor even his existence, so I might still be able to get something out of this little trip by leveraging this information…

Feeling several other people appearing from all directions around him, the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator who had just broken the trapping formation smiled discreetly to himself as he had already begun planning on how to take advantage of his current knowledge to extract a few benefits from these friends who had arrived a bit later than he had.

"Everyone, I took the liberty to help out our little friends trapped and happened to spot someone escaping from the scene and…"

Although it would be impossible for him to get anything near the value of the Stardusk Essence, he had no intention of ignoring an opportunity to get his hands on a few free spirit stones.

No matter the outcome regarding the Stardusk Essence, he knew that he had lost his opportunity to compete without his spatial artifacts.

Following behind might have been an option under normal circumstances, but with the Dao of Space involved, it would be impossible to keep up without certain artifacts in hand or at least a basic comprehension in the Dao of Space.

…

On the side of Huo Fen and Meng Jie had managed to avoid drawing attention to themselves from the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator who had passed by them. All due to the simple fact that they were far from the only people who were escaping from the city after the trapping formation had appeared, as quite a few cultivators all the way up to the Dao Seed Realm had been waiting outside in case things got dangerous inside when the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators clashed with each other.

That and the fact that the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators who were coming to deal with the trapping formation never expected someone in the Dao Seed Realm to be behind such a powerful formation. Even if they had seen him activate it, they would at most think someone in the Dao Seed Realm was a distraction laid out by a mastermind who wanted to try and do their best to avoid being targeted by the major powers behind them.

Because of this, Huo fen and Meng Jie were able to avoid any problems during the dangerous period where the spatial artifact was gathering power for another teleportation that would hopefully take them further away this time around.

As for the spatial fluctuations that came from the spatial artifact… Those were mostly ignored by the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators who sensed them, as they at most thought it was the escaping cultivators using teleportation talismans out of fear to escape from the current dangerous situation that could turn deadly at any second, something that was understandable considering just how vast an area that a clash between Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators could devastate.

If the two of them were any stronger on the other hand… It was doubtful whether they would be able to slip through in this kind of manner.

Whoosh~!

And so, the two of them soon enough disappeared into a spatial passage, just as Xuan Hao appeared behind them a second too late. Not that the two of them had the time to notice this, as the two of them soon enough found themselves being flung through a second spatial passage at a far more terrifying speed compared to before.

If not for the fact that Meng Jie was being protected by the bracelet and Huo Fen himself had reached the Middle Stage of the Dao Seed Realm, they would have undoubtedly both been torn apart by the violent spatial energies they were subjected to due to the terrifying speed they travelled at.

But at the very least, the speed they travelled through the spatial passage did make them certain that they would end up somewhere far away from their original location. Allowing them to escape pursuit like they had originally planned to do with the first spatial passage.

Now, the only thing the two of them hoped for as one was left with nothing to do but stare at the spatial currents around her, while the other was left fighting for his life to resist said current, was that they wouldn't end up in some kind of ancient forbidden ground right next to a Celestial Immortal Realm demon beast or something along that line­­­­­­­­­…

Whoosh-!

Bang! Bang!

But as they found themselves being launched straight into the mossy surface of an ancient forest floor, it didn't take long for the two to realize that they might not be that lucky.

The only thing missing was-

Roooar-!

Scratch that… This was a worst case scenario…