Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Feeling the rather obvious stare filled with anticipation from his disciple, it wasn’t that difficult for him to guess what he was thinking about considering how much this little disciple of his focused almost entirely on increasing his own strength and cultivation. Undoubtedly, he wanted to see his master fight the group of Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators outside and use the opportunity to not just see his master’s strength but also witness a battle far beyond his current cultivation realm.

But... Even if his disciple wanted him to start fighting with the group of Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators, Xuan Hao didn’t intend to do so no matter how much this little disciple of his wanted him to start fighting with those Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators.

After all, he understood that the second he began fighting with those Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators, the situation would grow beyond just involving a few Early Stage Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators and would end up attracting the attention of the more powerful cultivators lurking within the Eastern Central Region.

Even if most of the major powers in the Eastern Central Region were far from strong enough to make him worried, the same couldn’t be said for the four strongest major powers, who each had a Land Creation Realm Ancestor behind them- or it was more accurate to say that he feared the one of these four might recognize him as the one who had caused chaos across the Eastern Central Region not long ago.

Escaping under normal circumstances would be simple, but inside the ancient alchemy sect ruins where passages connecting back to the continent were limited, it was difficult to say it would be that simple for him to escape. Especially if one of those four happened to have an artifact capable of suppressing the Dao of Space-

[Side Quest...]

”...”

Seeing the familiar system interface appearing in front of him just as he was about to pick up Chu Yang and his group to leave before his presence was detected by the group of Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators in the distance, Xuan Hao could not help silently cursing at the timing of the system as he quickly scanned through the quest that had been presented to him...

[Side Quest: Practical Combat Lesson]

[Description: Your second disciple is filled to brim with excitement upon realizing that he finally has an opportunity to see his master in action, as the master, you can’t give up this opportunity to give your disciple a practical combat lesson.]

[Requirement: Starting the quest will result in cultivation being momentarily lowered to ensure a more equal battle. Giving your disciple a proper chance to learn.]

[Reward: Saint Grade Formation Master Inheritance]

[Start Quest?]

[Y/N]

Looking through the description of the quest and the reward presented, Xuan Hao could not help feeling tempted. Although it was clear that the reward wouldn’t directly allow him to reach the Saint Realm with the Dao of Formations in a single step, a Saint Grade Formation Master Inheritance could be considered far more useful, as it would not only be helpful to him, but also the rest of the Star Shattering Sect. Essentially giving the sect’s formation masters a clear path to the Saint Realm.

But... The requirement for the quest was troubling, as he had no idea how it would restrict his strength. After all, if it just lowered his cultivation base to the Breaking Dawn Realm, he would still be able to easily deal with the group of Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators relying on his comprehension alone. Hardly an equal battle. Meaning that the restriction mentioned by the quest should also involve his comprehension to some extent, it was just that he had no idea how it would affect his comprehension of the Dao... Seal away a section of his memories?

Filled with curiosity and at the same time not wanting to give up on the Saint Grade Formation Master Inheritance, Xuan Hao ultimately found himself starting to lean towards accepting the quest... And in the end, he ultimately ended up deciding to do it after meeting the excited eyes of his disciple.

However, before any of that, he first had to ensure that his disciple and his friends would be safe without him around... And the easiest way to do that was to enhance the strength of the concealment formation and ensure that it wouldn’t be that easy to break.

Whoosh~!

Although his comprehension of the Dao of Formations was not that much better than the group of formation masters who had made the concealment formation in the first place. Relying on combining it with his comprehension of the Dao of Space to better hide the formation and the Dao of Ice to strengthen it against any outside attacks, he still managed to make it strong enough to easily resist someone in the Middle Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm for a few minutes, while making it close to impossible for anyone in the Early Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm to detect.

”Master...? This is?”

”Ah, I strengthened the formation a bit to ensure it won’t be that easy to break.”

”Why would- Ah!” Seemingly realizing something from his words, Chu Yang’s eyes shone brilliantly. The excitement in his eyes was visible to anyone around him.

”I take it that you already have some idea, but I thought this would be a good opportunity for a practical lesson now that we have a few willing participants waiting outside...”

Whoosh~

”So, for now, just watch and learn from your master!” Smiling slightly as he said the last part out loud, Xuan Hao also silently accepted the quest from the system, causing his strength to decrease enough for both Chu Yang and the group behind him to notice the clear drop in strength compared to before.

”Master!? T-this is...?” Shocked at this sudden turn of event, Chu Yang could not help exclaiming in surprise along with the group behind him. Caught off guard by the sudden rapid decrease in strength.

”Hehe, of course I must lower my strength or else how would you be able to learn anything?” Smiling confidently in response to the shocked look from his disciple and his friends, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a similar panic as them upon sensing just how much his strength had been decreased.

From the Late Stage of the Sea Formation Realm, the damnable system had suppressed his cultivation realm all the way down to the Early Stage of the Dao Seed Realm.

Even if his comprehension remained intact, to face off against a group of Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators with only Early Stage Dao Seed Realm strength was far from simple.

Dealing with one would be simple, as he could just pour all his strength into a single attack and rely on his superior comprehension to do the job for him, but dealing with more than a single Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator was far from that simple.

”I... I see! But... Master, can you really handle those people like this?”

”Of course, just watch and learn! Dealing with a far stronger opponent is a given, when you reach the Dao Seed Realm in the future, I expect you to have similar confidence when dealing with a stronger opponent!

Now that my cultivation is limited to the Early Stage of the Dao Seed Realm, I will teach you how to fight an opponent that seems impossible to defeat with my current strength.” Feeling the clear doubt in his disciple’s voice as he looked over at him filled with worry, Xuan Hao continued to remain confident in the face of his disciple’s doubts as he shifted into his role as the master perfectly.

”I understand! When I reach the Dao Seed Realm in the future, I will also become strong enough to defeat someone in the Celestial Immortal Realm!”

Deciding to keep his thoughts to himself as he looked over his excited disciple one last time, Xuan Hao turned around under the awed gaze of his disciple and the still shocked group of formation masters behind him. Taking a step forward out of the concealment formation-

Whoosh~

”Huh?! Who are you!?”

Finding himself standing directly in front of the Dao Seed Realm cultivator who had been just about to launch a powerful attack that would have exposed the past concealment formation before he had the opportunity to strengthen it.

”Not someone you can offend.”

”Hah? What do you-”

Bang!

Not wanting to waste time dealing with this little side character, Xuan Hao decided to gently knock her aside with his dao domain before focusing his attention on the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators in the distance. The gentle tap from his dao domain being more than powerful to knock aside a normal Dao Seed Realm cultivator.