Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Getting to the auction house located right next to the Explorer Union Branch without any problems, Xuan Hao soon entered the auction house together with Hou Fen and his disciple, being among the first to step inside the auction house itself, as those below the Soul Ascension Realm had to wait in line for a chance to enter. The overall space available in the auction house being far from enough to hold all the Domain Lord Realm cultivators that had shown up leading up to the start of the auction, let alone the Nascent Soul Realm cultivators who had by now mostly given up hope of getting an opportunity to enter the auction house and see a wider world.

Then again, seeing a wider world wasn’t the main goal of most Nascent Soul Realm cultivators trying to enter the auction house. Instead, the main goal of most of these Nascent Soul Realm cultivators was to try and look for a thick thigh to cling to or an opportunity to get noticed and recruited by one of the more powerful cultivators present at the auction. After all, most of them were wandering cultivators without any backing with little chance of reaching the Domain Lord Realm on their own. Even if they did manage to reach the Domain Lord Realm in the future, it would be through risking their lives countless times searching for opportunities.

For most, if the opportunity presented itself, they would be far happier becoming part of a large power even if it did end up costing them some of their freedom. Unfortunately, Nascent Soul Realm cultivators weren’t exactly rare in the central regions of the continent and the general point where different large powers would show interest in wandering cultivators was from the Domain Lord Realm and up, but at that point in time, a wandering cultivator would be far less desperate to find a backer.

The main reason for this being that Domain Lord Realm cultivators had far more time on hand compared to someone in the Nascent Soul Realm. Living more than three times as long as someone in the Nascent Soul Realm, while some even possessed special physiques, got lucky and found a precious life extending pill or managed to comprehend a special Dao like the Dao of Life to further enhance their lifespan. Giving them time to slowly explore their future path without any rush and a certain degree of safety that someone in the Nascent Soul Realm lacked in the central regions of the continent.

Of course, there was always the option of going to the outer regions of the continent to establish oneself, but the lack of cultivation resources and clear decline in spiritual qi in the outer regions made most wandering cultivators give up on going there. Most of them only went there when they saw no hope of advancing to the Domain Lord Realm and wanted somewhere safe to retire and settle down.

But... With the recent chaos that had been caused throughout the continent by the demonic cultivators, it had become even harder for Nascent Soul Realm cultivators to join a large power in one of the four central regions, as the Domain Lord Realm cultivators who would normally be hesitant to join decided that joining someone stronger for safety during a time of uncertainty was a good idea.

There were only so many cultivation resources to go around and someone in the Domain Lord Realm was not just far more valuable than someone in the Nascent Soul Realm but also required far more resources.

The unfortunate fate of the Nascent Soul Realm cultivators who found themselves unable to enter the auction house aside, Xuan Hao, Huo Fen and Meng Jie were guided to a private room on the second floor of the auction house that allowed them to get a good view of the stage where the items would be presented in a bit.

Below them, a large number of people had already gathered to wait for the auction to start. Among them, a few of them lucky Nascent Soul Realm cultivators that had managed to sneak in along with the Domain Lord Realm cultivators during what should have been a rather chaotic scene when the auction house first opened its doors.

At the same time, above, on the third floor of the auction house, seven private rooms could be seen hovering above everyone and... The presence Xuan Hao could feel from four of those private rooms indicated that at least four Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators were already present at the auction hall.

As for where the final fifth Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator currently missing was, he guessed that the other party should still be staying at the small temple. Ready to act in case anything ends up happening during the upcoming auction, a cautious reaction that made him once again understand that something truly valuable would be appearing at the auction for them to take this kind of precaution.

From this, he also understood that it was highly likely that these Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators were working together, as there would be no way for one of the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators to give up on the auction if that wasn’t the case.

But... If all five Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators, not counting the one from the Explorer Union who was still a no-show, worked together to get their hands on something from the auction, who were they working together against?

Filled with questions that had no answer, Xuan Hao’s train of thought was soon interrupted, as he finally sensed the presence of a new cultivator appearing out of seemingly nowhere inside the Explorer Union Branch next door-

Whoosh~!

Whoosh~!

Whoosh~!

And outside of him, it was clear that the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators in attendance also sensed this powerful cultivator appearing, as their divine sense swept over without the slightest bit of restraint. Having no reason to hide themselves from this new arrival like a certain someone had to do to avoid unwanted attention.

Hm? This is... The Dao of Space? And such profound usage of it as well! The person who designed the teleportation formation used by the Explorer Union should at least be in the Large Success Realm of the Dao of Space and potentially even close to the Perfection Realm...!

But, different from these still Early Stage Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators whose divine sense all swept over in the direction of the Explorer Union Branch, he could more clearly feel the subtle spatial currents that soon washed over him from the teleportation formation that should be the culprit behind the sudden appearance of this Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator.

Although... Outside of sensing the general level that the creator of the teleportation formation had been when it came to the Dao of Space, he had no way to tell what realm the other party had reached in the Dao of Formations, a clear indication that the other party had far exceeded him in this regard.

And...

With his current comprehension of the Dao of Formations at the Large Success Realm, the only ones capable of surpassing him by this much had to be someone in the Saint Realm.

The Explorer Union... To have this kind of formation even in such a small city...

Feeling a small shiver running down his spine as he began thinking about just how powerful the Explorer Union was on the continent, it became clear that their current position and ability to operate almost entirely unhindered throughout the entire continent was backed by strength. Strength that only a major power like the Blue Sea Empire had the ability to contend with for some time.

Swish~

”Huh? Someone appeared on stage?”

”Indeed, it looks like the auction is about to begin!”

As he heard Meng Jie calling out in surprise at the sudden appearance of someone on stage followed by her master’s explanation, Xuan Hao threw his thoughts to the back of his mind for now and instead focused his attention on the auction stage where an elegant middle-aged woman now stood with a look of both confidence and strength.

Hm? I didn’t notice earlier, but this woman is at the Middle Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm! It looks like even the Explorer Union attaches quite a bit of importance to this auction.

Narrowing his eyes upon sensing the strength of the cultivator from the Explorer Union, Xuan Hao quickly did his best to minimize his presence even further to avoid being noticed by the other party.

After all, hiding his strength from someone in the Early Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm had become relatively simple by now if the other party didn’t actively try and investigate him.

Someone in the Middle Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm was different, as they had sharper senses and were harder to fool.

Even though directly seeing through his disguise was improbable, all the other party needed was a little bit of suspicion that made them feel something was off. Making them use their divine sense to look through the people around them in a bit more detail than a general sweep of everyone...