Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Knowing he would have to rely on the demon beast’s help to break out of the formation he found himself trapped inside, Xuan Hao thought that this would be relatively simple to accomplish considering just how much the demon beast hated him after he had killed its child that had been among the demon beasts attacking Huo Fen and Meng Jie when they had been moving through the Verdant Abyss on their own a few days earlier.

Roooar!

Unfortunately, even though the demon beast had been relatively easy to manipulate so far, it seemed to have grown smarter since their last encounter and didn’t immediately charge forward to attack him. Having learnt from how bad things worked out when it had done so the last time.

Instead, it began a slow approach while keeping part of its attention focused on the Land Creation Realm cultivator busy fighting with the heavenly blade in the distance. Fearful that this formation and Xuan Hao’s presence might be some kind of elaborate trap set up by the Land Creation Realm cultivator to prevent it from using the opportunity to escape back into the depths of the Verdant Abyss.

After all, the battle between itself and the Land Creation Realm cultivator had been far from optimal and had caused it to sustain countless injuries... And now that it had been hit directly without nay defense by the heavenly blade, it was in an extremely weakened state where it could very well end up losing its life if it continued fighting with the Land Creation Realm cultivator.

But... Thinking of its dead child it had originally come to avenge, the demon beast couldn’t let go and run away. At the very least, it would have to kill the one who had killed its child, the person who just so happened to stand before it hidden behind some kind of formation.

For this reason, though it wanted nothing more than to leave and get back to the safety of the core region of the Verdant Abyss where a Land Creation Realm cultivator wouldn’t be able to act recklessly without running the risk of attracting the attention of other equally if not more powerful demon beasts, the demon beast couldn’t stop itself from slowly approaching the invisible wall formed by the trapping formation. Soon enough, finding itself gently prodding at the seemingly invisible wall that had sprung up between itself and Xuan Hao.

It’s not attacking... That is... Unexpected and troublesome...

Seeing the demon beast not attacking the trapping formation like he had expected it to do after he had sensed the killing intent directed towards him, Xuan Hao could not help frowning to himself at the unexpected development.

From the looks of things, it was clear that the demon beast was cautious about the entire situation and didn’t dare to act as recklessly as it had done before, something that undoubtedly stemmed from fear of walking into another trap.

The problem was, it wasn’t a trap that had been set up by the Land Creation Realm cultivator and it would get a real shot at trying to kill him if it managed to break the trapping formation. Even though he himself was far from being in an optimal situation, he felt confident that he should be able to escape from the exhausted demon beast after it broke the trapping formation.

His confidence stemming from the fact that the demon beast itself, already injured and exhausted after an extended battle with the Land Creation Realm would be far more exhausted than himself after breaking the Saint Grade Formation. Giving him more than enough confidence in being able to outrun it- or at the very least keep it at a distance until he got out of the Verdant Abyss.

But... None of this would matter if the demon beast itself refused to bite the bait and attack the trapping formation, as it continued to carefully probe around the trapping formation while the battle between the heavenly blade and Land Creation Realm cultivator was slowly drawing to a close in the distance.

The heavenly blade, unstable and weakened being no match for the Land Creation Realm cultivator who held nothing back as he tried to suppress it as fast as possible so he could refocus his attention on the demon beast and Xuan Hao. Not planning to let either of them escape. The demon beast because of just how valuable it would be and Xuan Hao because of what he had done.

If he wanted to get out of his current situation without being forced to rely on the Dao of Space to potentially place himself in an even more dangerous situation, he had to figure out a way to force the demon beast probing around just outside the trapping formation to attack said formation.

But... What could I use to force this kind of demon beast that is already extremely vary to attack? It’s not like I have anything other than myself to offer- Ah!

Freezing on the spot as he suddenly seemed to realize something, Xuan Hao’s gaze slowly trailed down towards Huo Fen, who was still breathing roughly after the suppressive force he had been forced to endure a few seconds earlier.

I might not have something capable of tempting a demon beast this powerful, but this old man does! After all, Stardusk Essence is not just useful to cultivators, but also demon beasts, essentially being an incredibly potent tonic that is impossible for most wild demon beasts to resist...

Narrowing both his eyes as he remembered what little information he had learnt about the Stardusk Essence from both Huo Fen during their travel through the Verdant Abyss. ”Huo Fen, can I borrow the Stardusk Essence for a second?” Xuan Hao didn’t hesitate to ask Huo Fen for the Stardusk Essence. Understanding that this might be the only way to tempt this demon beast to take action to destroy the trapping formation.

”Huh? Stardusk Essence...? You want the Stardusk Essence, but- No, of course!” Feeling the clear oppression from Xuan Hao’s gaze, Huo Fen swallowed any resistance to the question that wasn’t really a question before he carefully pulled out the Stardusk Essence with a difficult expression on his face. Clearly struggling visibly to hand over the Stardusk Essence.

Whoosh~

Not caring about this as he understood time was of the essence, Xuan Hao pulled the Stardusk Essence out of his hands before unscrewing the cap on the small bottle the Stardusk Essence was stored inside of. Allowing some of its energy to disperse outside before guiding it outwards towards the demon beast prodding around the edge of the trapping formation.

Swish~~~

Sniff~ Roar? Sniff~ Sniff~

Just enough for the demon beast in question to pick up on the scent and realize just how beneficial the origin of this scent and lingering energy would be to its advancement-

Roar!? ROOOOOAAAAR-!

Roaring wildly filled with excitement as the hesitation that had existed only a second earlier seemingly disappeared into thin air as the demon beast focused its full attention on the small bottle in Xuan Hao’s hand. Wasting no time before it began to recklessly attack the trapping formation with all its remaining strength.

Understanding very well that if it managed to swallow the content of the small bottle, it would not only see an increase in strength, but in the short term, it would also help heal the injuries it had incurred. Allowing it to feel more than confident about being able to slip past the Land Creation Realm cultivator and back to the core region of the Verdant Abyss where it would then attempt to further elevate its cultivation realm.

All this was of course a best-case scenario for the demon beast, but the second these thoughts had appeared, there was no getting rid of them, as it was now wholeheartedly focused on getting its hand on the small bottle in Xuan Hao’s hand.

”Thanks, here you go.” Seeing that his plan to tempt the demon beast had been successful, Xuan Hao smiled slightly to himself before handing the Stardusk Essence back to Huo Fen.

”What the... This... I... Thank you...” In turn, being handed the Stardusk Essence again, Huo Fen was left in a state of bewilderment. Not knowing what to say, as he could only look between the Stardusk Essence, Xuan Hao and the demon beast with a look of disbelief before placing the Stardusk Essence back into his interspatial ring silently.

Although he understood why Xuan Hao had wanted the Stardusk Essence after seeing how the terrifying demon beast outside was now helping them deal with the formation that had trapped them, he still couldn’t believe that he had been bold enough to do something like that. After all, when the formation broke, the demon beast would come for them.

And... Though he had no idea about just how strong Xuan Hao was, he could at least tell that he should be exhausted after the dealing with the bandit group, their formation and the heavenly blade the leader of the bandits had summoned. Making him fearful that he might not be able to deal with the demon beast after it broke through the formation and got to them...