Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Having decided that he would be staying behind after the guardian formation broke to try and see if he could get anything from the ancient buildings that had remained inaccessible to him so far, Xuan Hao found himself slowly settling down to meditate on the Dao of Formations while he still could. Ignoring Meng Jie and the demon beast, who were by now looking up at the towering ancient guardian formation that had now become visible above them. Awe and fear present on their faces, as they could clearly feel the inherent power that had once flowed through the formation, though decayed and barely able to function due to the long passage of time, a power that should have far surpassed the Profound Immortal Realm could still barely be felt.

Of course, this terrifying power that should have once fueled this ancient formation had long since disappeared and what remained was mere remnants of what had once been. If not, those two Land Creation Realm cultivators attempting to slowly break through the ancient guardian formation would have long since been killed off by the ancient formation the second they attacked.

In a sense, it was these remnants of power still clinging to the ancient formation symbols that Xuan Hao relied on to deepen his understanding of the Dao of Formations.

Like this, an hour flew by with the state inside the ancient guardian formation remaining peaceful, as Xuan Hao, Meng Jie and the demon beast kept their attention focused on the slowly breaking ancient guardian formation, while Huo Fen remained oblivious to what was happening around him. Remaining entirely focused on maintaining the five alchemy artifacts, something that had only become more difficult the closer he got to completing what Xuan Hao had learnt from Meng Jie muttering to herself over the past hour was called a Star Soul Pill.

As for what use this Star Soul Pill had... He couldn’t be sure and could only guess from the name of the pill and the ingredients involved that it should be a pill related to the soul and potential even one that would help rapidly increase the strength of one’s soul.

However, with how Huo Fen and Meng Jie had essentially risked their life for the Stardusk Essence to create this kind of pill, he doubted that it was just a pill that would improve the strength of the soul. Instead, he felt that it was more likely that the pill served some kind of purpose in healing the soul or fixing existing flaws that couldn’t be fixed through normal means...

Craaack~!

In a state of meditation observing the ancient guardian formation in operation above, Xuan Hao suddenly opened both of his eyes as he sensed a section of the ancient guardian formation shattering completely.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

And only a few seconds later, a chain reaction took place above, as large sections of the formation began breaking apart before exploding into small clusters of light that caused countless small cracks to spread across the surface of the ancient guardian formation, like glass shattering.

Even someone without any comprehension in the Dao of Formations would understand that the ancient guardian formation had reached its limit and had begun breaking down, though, with his current comprehension of the Dao of Formations, he could at least tell that there was still a minute or two left before the formation fully collapsed under the pressure of the two Land Creation Realm cultivators attacking from outside.

Keeping that in mind, he wasn’t too hurried as his gaze travelled towards Huo Fen, still fully absorbed in the process of refining the Star Soul Pill with the help of the five alchemy artifacts. Unaware of the increasingly dire situation around him.

Even if he wanted to give him a bit more time, he didn’t really have any time left to give him.

How unfortunate... It looks like I might have to interrupt Huo Fen before he-

Boom-!

”Haha! I succeeded!” Almost the second these thoughts flashed through his head and his hand already mid motion to grab Huo Fen and the five alchemy artifacts with his domain before dragging them out of the ancient alchemy sect ruins, a loud sound echoed out from one of the five alchemy artifacts followed by Huo Fen’s excited exclamation. Making it clear that he had just barely succeeded in completing the Star Soul Pill before being forcibly interrupted and dragged out.

”Huh? What is-”

Whoosh-!

But... Knowing that he was rather pressed on time given the imminent collapse of the ancient guardian formation that kept the two Land Creation Realm cultivators out, Xuan Hao’s hand only stopped for a brief second before it came down all the same. Grabbing hold of Huo Fen and the five alchemy artifacts before pushing him out through the passage and into the hidden space below the abandoned church. Not bothering to inform him about the situation, as he had already informed his little disciple about it earlier before he had pushed her and the little demon beast out alongside her. Instructing her to inform her master about the situation after he joined her on the other side.

Rumble~

Outside of that, the slight rumbling sound that came from the passage followed by it suddenly collapsing in on itself also made it clear that she had also been clearly told to close off the passage after her master had been pushed through. Ensuring that none of the Land Creation Realm cultivators would follow them upon reaching the other side.

The only potential problem he could see with Meng Jie and her master waiting for him was the little demon beast, as the restrictions he had placed on it wouldn’t last forever. After all, sealing a demon beast in the Land Creation Realm was far from simple and with his current strength, he could at most do so for a few days without directly crippling the demon beast in question.

But this wasn’t much of a problem, as he expected to be able to leave the ancient alchemy sect ruins in at most an hour or two. More than enough time for him to get to the village before the demon beast could turn into a problem.

Thinking about it, the concealment formation that he had placed at the small hidden space below the abandoned church had a higher likelihood of failing than anything going wrong with the restrictions he had placed inside the demon beast...

Shaking his head at these thoughts as he once again focused his attention on the situation at hand, Xuan Hao slowly moved towards a cluster of ancient buildings at the core of the small intact section of the ancient alchemy sect before getting ready to make a move to forcibly break through the formations guarding those buildings and grab anything of value inside before leaving.

Although he could stay behind and try his luck at more of the ancient building ruins, he understood that doing so would likely end up with him clashing with those two Land Creation Realm cultivators more than just once or twice.

Not to mention, the cluster of ancient buildings he had chosen as his target was in the most central position and was by far the location with the most ancient buildings that still had their formations intact and connected to the wider ancient guardian formation. Showing just how important they were...

CRAAAAAAACCK-!

And as a loud cracking sound echoed out from above followed by a loud rumbling sound that seemed to originate from the two Land Creation Realm cultivators outside the ancient formation causing a small hole to finally emerge in the ancient guardian formation, Xuan Hao wasted no time as he launched an attack towards the different formations guarding the cluster of ancient buildings-

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Destroying all of them with relative ease, as the ancient guardian formation had already drained them of strength and had lost any ability to put up any real resistance as it began to collapse.

Whoosh~!

It was exactly this collapse that he had been waiting for, as the formation still blocked those two Land Creation Realm cultivators while at the same time not being able to continue sustaining the formation inside. Giving him the perfect opportunity to sweep through those few ancient buildings before those two outside could interfere-

”Huh!? Someone is inside!?”

”YOU! HOW DARE YOU TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR HARD WORK!”

Of course, not being able to enter was different from being unable to see what was taking place inside through their divine sense, as the two Land Creation Realm cultivators saw clearly how someone on the other side of the collapsing ancient guardian formation was taking advantage of the situation to raid what looked like the most luxurious and splendid location inside. Sweeping up treasures and spiritual herbs while they were only able to watch from afar.

The anger from knowing that they had essentially been taken advantage of, being more than enough to make the two thro previous cation to the wind, as they began using far more strength than they had before while keeping an eye on each other, causing the collapse of the ancient guardian formation to hasten visibly.

Swish~

Unfortunately, even if the speed of the collapse increased with the two now unleashing their full strength towards the already collapsing ancient formation, it wasn’t enough to intimidate Xuan Hao, as he continued freely moving through the ancient buildings, from small decorative pagodas covered in ancient spiritual herbs to large collections of alchemy recipes and other precious books and records that had remained intact, he swept through everything inside the cluster of majestic ancient buildings. Leaving nothing behind inside for the two outside to get their hands on.