Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Shaking off the fear that had begun spreading throughout his body after looking towards the entrance of the valley where that villager was standing without any visible cultivation, the bandit leader wasted no time as he continued rushing towards the entrance to the valley. Knowing that he hadn’t truly reached safety, as the demon beasts that had been chasing his companions earlier would soon enough come for him if he wasn’t fast enough.

The villager that seemed to have spotted him approaching from afar wasn’t someone he bothered think too much about, as he more so hoped that the unfortunate villager might be able to buy him at least a few seconds longer in case the demon beasts continued to chase after him.

This… Did this bandit suffer some kind of mental damage during the earlier clash…?

Seeing through the intentions of this bandit leader who hadn’t hesitated to leave behind his companions to buy himself more time to escape, Xuan Hao, the villager without any cultivation, couldn’t help rolling his eyes in disbelief. Not just because of how he had been seen by this escaping bandit leader, but also because his current appearance didn’t exactly make him look anywhere close to some random villager that the other party had mistaken him for.

The robe he was wearing and the clearly profound and mysterious presence surrounding him that had even caused the other party to freeze in fear for a brief moment should have been more than enough for him to realize that he wasn’t some random village hunter who had wandered into the Valley of Giants by accident.

Unfortunately, from beginning to end, the bandit leader was entirely consumed by fear of being surrounded and killed by the demon beasts that had already stopped chasing him. Dashing past the still somewhat confused Xuan Hao, who only gave the other party a somewhat amused glance before focusing his attention on He Jie, who was currently finding himself in an increasingly difficult situation faced with the direct assault of a lord realm demon beast.

The fact that He Jie had even managed to stay alive in his injured state was amazing on its own but also revealed the simple fact that there would have been no way for the bandit leader and his group to ever kill him even in his injured state. If anything, it seemed like He Jie had ended up miscalculating his situation and ended up attracting trouble far beyond what he could handle with his current strength.

From struggling to even get close to He Jie, the lord realm demon beast seemed to slowly grind away the countless hidden artifacts and other trump cards that before starting to get through and land direct hits on He Jie’s already injured body. Worsening an already bad situation.

Originally, he wanted to step in and lend He Jie a hand, but as things continued developing, a feeling of wanting to see how far this older potential disciple could go inevitably took hold, as he instead found himself watching the deadly struggle taking place from afar.

In case something really did end up happening that might kill He Jie, he felt more than confident in stepping to deal with it in time. After all, as impressive as the demon beasts that had reached the Martial Arts Lord Relam was, it was only comparable to the Later Stages of the Foundation Establishment Realm, with the very peak of the realm touching the Early Stage of the Core Formation Realm.

Difficult as it might be to use his strength inside the ancient secret realm, dealing with this kind of situation was more than within his means. If things ever developed in a direction where he might not be able to move in time, he could always throw the parties involved into an illusion and have them fight out things in there instead.

Rumble~

”Hm? Looks like it might be time for me to step in…” Having kept an eye on the situation so far, a sudden tremor followed by an even more powerful presence than the demon beast at the lord realm fighting He Jie so far alerted Xuan Hao to the emergence of another demon beast that had also reached the lord realm. The main difference being that while the first was still within the Foundation Establishment Realm in terms of strength, this one had clearly already stepped into the Core Formation Realm. Surpassing He Jie’s strength countless times over.

Resisting the demon that was still within the Foundation Establishment Realm alongside other demon beasts comparable to the Foundation Establishment Realm was one thing. Dealing with a demon beast that had already managed to reach a realm comparable to the Core Formation Realm was completely different.

Not just because of how much stronger this demon beast was, but more so because the intelligence of a demon beast at this level was above that of a demon beast in the Foundation Establishment Realm. Making it a far more difficult opponent to deal with.

”Wha-! A Peak Lord Realm demon beast!? How did something like this appear in the outer region?!” A fact that He Jie also seemed to understand as his panicked voice soon enough echoed out across the battlefield as he clung to a small worn-down flagpole that had created a small barrier around him to block the demon beasts all around trying to kill him.

Whoosh~

Knowing that it was time to step in and save the rather elderly damsel in distress, Xuan Hao took a step forward and soon enough closed the distance between himself, He Jie and the demon beasts. Arriving directly beside the panicking older man as the new demon beast in the shape of giant tiger lunged straight for him filled with killing intent. The barrier guarding him had already shattered apart under the terrifying might of the giant tiger demon beast as he had no way to protect himself in the face of the terrifying demon beast.

Briefly observing the situation to see if the older man would pull another trick out his sleeve at the last second to deal with this newly emerging enemy, he was ultimately left disappointed as the old man seemed to have fully exhausted his means in the battle for survival so far. Only able to helplessly watch the powerful pair of claws descending towards him after the barrier protecting him had been shattered…

Boom!

Roar!?

And it was at this exact moment that he finally decided to make his move. Grabbing the outstretched paws of the lion demon beast about to sink into He Jie before casually slamming the domineering demon beast that had shown up with great fanfare towards the end into the ground. Knocking the arrogant demon beast silly in the process, as it had no way to comprehend what had just happened before its life faded away filled with a sense of unwillingness to perish in such a way.

”Wha-!?”

Roar!?

The sudden turn of events instantly caught both human and demon beasts off guard, as both sides froze on the spot in shock before their attention focused on the person who had just arrived filled with dread.

The sheer power displayed by instantly killing a demon beast at the Peak of the Lord Realm was more than enough to scare everyone present in submission, as none of the demon beasts nor He Jie dared to make even a single movement. Fearing they would end up as the next tiger demon beast if they did so.

Seeing this, Xuan Hao could not help chucking in satisfaction with the reaction from both sides before his gaze shifted towards He Jie who was now staring at him filled with a profound feeling of both fear and awe. Awe at the strength that had been shown and fear not knowing what your intentions were.

”Don’t worry, I-”

”No need to worry about this little junior, I will see myself out first!”

Whoosh-!

However, contrary to the expected situation of He Jie thanking him for his help, the other party instead interrupted him before he could even finish saying anything. Turning around to escape the next second by using some kind of ancient talisman that directly teleported him away from the valley.

”…”

Faced this kind of absurd development, Xuan Hao couldn’t help feeling the corner of his lips twitching in irritation at the sudden escape of He Jie. Not having ever expected him to get his hands on something like a teleportation talisman inside a place like the ancient secret realm. Especially given that the only way for him to get one would be through the ancient ruins from before the ancient secret realm turned into a world almost completely devoid of spiritual qi.

Still, irritated as he was about the turn of events, he also found himself interested in where this kind of precious talisman had come from.

As for He Jie escaping from him… He never considered this a possibility, as his comprehension of the Dao of Space made it simple for him to trace the direction He Jie had escaped in. Playing with the Dao of Space in front of him was just seeking death...