Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

As the greatsword wielding Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator rushed at him filled with killing intent, Xuan Hao responded calmly by using his own sword to block the larger greatsword. Relying almost entirely on his superior comprehension of the Dao of the Sword to condense a sword intent strong enough to resist the full might of a cultivator at the Middle Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm.

Although he had expected this to happen after seeing Xuan Hao fighting with the other Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators who had either died or run away by now, it was still a surprising experience to find himself unable to break through the defensive posture of what he perceived as an Earth Immortal Realm (Dao Seed Realm) cultivator.

”Hmph! I refuse to believe I can’t beat you!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Refusing to believe that he wouldn’t be able to breakthrough the defense of someone who was more than an entire major realm below himself, the greatsword wielding Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator began hammering down recklessly in an attempt to deplete Xuan Hao’s strength. After all, the recovery rate and qi reserves of someone in the Celestial Immortal Realm far surpassed that of someone. Making this kind of technique viable, even if it was rather reckless.

But... It didn’t take long before he realized that Xuan Hao seemed to have an endless supply of qi available. Showing no signs of growing any weaker even after he had expended over a quarter of his own qi.

His tactic wasn’t wrong, the problem was just that Xuan Hao wasn’t an ordinary Dao Seed Realm cultivator, but instead a far stronger cultivator who had their strength arbitrarily lowered, though his strength was limited, his massive qi reserves were still present and so was his rapid recovery speed. Meaning that this kind of tactic was essentially useless and did nothing more than waste his own qi.

Frustrating as it was to realize that he had essentially squandered a large portion of his qi reserves doing nothing, the greatsword wielding Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator was ultimately forced to return to normal tactics, as he once again began fighting more honestly with Xuan Hao, their blades colliding hundreds of times in the blink of an eye. The terrifying energies of the two ravaging their surroundings even as most of the energies were contained in a small space around where they collided with each other.

...

At the same time the Xuan Hao and the greatsword wielding Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator began colliding with each other in the air above the treasury in quick succession, the energy ripples that formed and managed to spread beyond the relatively contained area they fought in...

”Aaah-!? How!?”

”G-get back! The energies from those two are far more powerful than the ones from before!”

”You don’t have to say that twice! I only just reached the Soul Ascension Realm. No way I’m going to end up being swept away by the aftershocks of- Aaaaaah-!”

Swept over the nearby Dao Seed Realm, Soul Ascension Realm and other weaker cultivators, who had been able to safely observe the battle from a distance so far without running into any problems. Killing a few of them in the process, as those below the Dao Seed Realm were simply far too slow to react in the face of the danger.

Luckily, the effects of the battle weren’t all encompassing and only a few stray sword strikes that missed their target and energy bursts from missed or blocked techniques ended up leaving the battle. Limiting the impact and giving the weaker cultivators who were still alive a chance to react and escape to safety before they too ended up being swept away.

The only one able to fully enjoy the battle without being interrupted and having to flee midway, was Chu Yang, whose eyes were already wide open as his attention remained entirely focused on the battle between his master and the greatsword wielding Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator. The observation formation already working at its limit trying to keep up with the fast movements of the two combatants, as it was far from simple for it to keep track of someone in the Middle Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm, let alone when there was also someone proficient in a movement technique related to the Dao of Space.

In a way, the only reason why the observation formation was able to keep up with the current battle was because Xuan Hao had deliberately limited his movement to ensure that his disciple could watch the battle playing out and learn from it for when he would inevitably have to face someone in the Celestial Immortal Realm in the future. Having not forgotten the goal of the quest from the system that required him to use this battle as a teaching opportunity for his disciple.

In fact, to ensure that he was satisfying the requirements of the quest, Xuan Hao had already dedicated a part of his divine sense towards teaching his disciple what he was doing and how he himself would be able to use similar tactics in case he ended up finding himself in a similar situation in the future, something that was only possible because of his powerful soul allowing him to focus on two entirely different things at the same time.

On one hand, he was in a deadly battle with a Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator, while on the other, he was busy teaching his disciple everything about said battle.

The entire situation was also clearly seen by the group of formation master, who felt themselves becoming even more awed by his ability to seemingly use someone at the Middle Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm as a practice tool for his disciple to learn from.

But more so than just awe, they also felt a profound sense of terror in the face of this kind of power, as they understood full well just how terrifying someone capable of doing something like this was. The positive was, this person was not an enemy, but instead the master of Chu Yang, who they already viewed as a friend after having gone through life and death together a few times during their escape from the flying ship...

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As the battle began intensifying with the Celestial Immortal Realm below the two of them breaking through some kind of invisible barrier that had been blocking his path to the treasury during their battle so far, Xuan Hao could not help narrowing his eyes slightly as he felt the subtle change taking place within the sword intent of his opponent.

How interesting, this person is about to break through under pressure. Indeed... Someone able to reach the Middle Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm is far from ordinary.

The sudden realization that he wasn’t the only one using his opponent, but the other was also using him to refine his sword intent, was a reminder that he wasn’t the only one able to take advantage of a tough situation to improve himself.

In fact, the pressure he brought would normally not have been enough to allow this kind of improvement, but his high comprehension of the Dao of the Sword had ended up inadvertently helping his opponent by showing him a clear path to the Perfection Realm in the Dao of the Sword. Allowing him to rely on this proven path to refine his own and slowly start perfecting it so he himself would also be able to reach the Perfection Realm in the Dao of the Sword himself.

Originally, he had only been in what could be considered the middle of the Large Success Realm, but now he had essentially reached the later stages of the realm and was rapidly approaching the peak of the realm with a clear intent of going straight for the Perfection Realm.

This kind of rapid comprehension was far from normal and shouldn’t have been possible unless he had a sudden enlightenment during battle, but that was not the case.

Instead, the reason for the terrifying comprehension speed had to do with him having swallowed something that was rather familiar to Xuan Hao, a source crystal.

Having originally been unwilling to fight him, this Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator had clearly sensed the opportunity to breakthrough to the Perfection Realm after they began clashing with each other. Prompting him to directly swallow a small source crystal during battle to ensure that he could take full advantage of his current situation.

At this point in time, even if Xuan Hao wanted to end the battle and instead focus on the one below, it was unlikely that his opponent would allow him to do that. After all, the clear benefit of reaching the Perfection Realm in the Dao of the Sword was far more valuable than the unknown treasure below that he might not even have the chance to acquire before the stronger cultivators that had been alerted by the death of several Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators earlier.