Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Having gathered what information he could from the older woman after asking her a bit about the history of the place and anything else that might help him gain a better understanding of what he might encounter within the core of the holy lake, he didn’t hesitate in the slightest and dove straight into the water before moving towards the core of the lake under the surprised gaze of not just the older woman, but also the other Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators who had bene called over by her to see if they knew something she didn’t about the holy lake that might be useful to him.

In the end, though most of the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators didn’t add anything beyond what the older woman had shared with him, one of them had informed him about the presence of a formation around the core of the holy lake, as he had apparently been overcome by curiosity of the holy lake in the past and had secretly entered to explore the place on his own shortly after reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Not only finding the formation but also passing through the formation to enter what he described as a completely different world. Shockingly, this Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator had managed to do what the Core Formation Realm master had failed to accomplish in the past and managed to return alive from the core of the holy lake, something that was only accomplished due to him quickly escaping back out through the formation a few seconds after entering.

An act that had saved his life, as he clearly described hearing something massive crashing into the formation behind him… And although he had no idea what it was, as he couldn’t see what was on the other side of the formation, the terrifying presence alone scared him so much that he dared not think about ever entering the core of the Holy Lake again.

As for why he hadn’t shared this earlier… That was because his behavior at the time was far from heroic, as he had ended up hiding away at home for several years before recovering from the scare, a time that the other Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators had used to praise him for his steadfast mindset and focus on cultivation and use his example to encourage their disciple. Making it far too embarrassing for him to admit the actual reason for his sudden seclusion.

Feeling that the entire situation was rather amusing, Xuan Hao could not help chuckling a bit to himself as he made his way through the water towards the formation that covered the core of the holy lake. Planning to first try and get an understanding of the formation and the creature that had been described by the shy Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator as slamming into the formation just after he had left.

Feeling that the entire situation was rather amusing, Xuan Hao could not help chuckling a bit to himself as he made his way through the water towards the formation that covered the core of the holy lake. Planning to first try and get an understanding of the formation and the creature that had been described by the shy Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator as slamming into the formation just after he had left.

Understanding that he couldn’t be careless when dealing with the remnants of the ancient residence that had once belonged to a power that had several Venerable Realm cultivators overseeing it. Even more so considering that this branch specifically also had someone reach the body cultivation path’s equivalent of the Venerable Realm in the past.

Not to mention the simple fact that he couldn’t carelessly use his full strength inside the ancient secret realm, as doing so ran the risk of attracting unwanted attention from the guardian formation.

Because of all of this, Xuan Hao found himself slowing down significantly the closer to the core of the ancient secret realm he got, as his divine sense extended ahead of him to pick up on the formation that would be guarding the core of the holy lake.

After all, according to the description of the formation that surrounded the core of the holy lake by the shy Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, the formation itself was invisible before he had stepped through it and only became visible briefly once he left when the unknown being on the other side had slammed into the formation behind him just after he had escaped from the core of the holy lake.

Aha! Found it~

Of course, though the formation couldn’t be seen by the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator who had stumbled through it by accident in the past, it wasn’t difficult for him to spot it ahead of time with both his divine sense and inherent understanding of formations working hand in hand.

Still… Standing before the formation and looking at it firsthand, a clear sense of dread welled up inside him, as a single glance was all that was needed for him to understand how terrifying the formation before him truly was, as the power behind the barely visible ancient formation symbols seemingly exceeded that of the guardian formation of the ancient secret realm.

This kind of formation was beyond what he had expected to run into and made him hesitate on what to do next as he simply didn’t dare to enter this kind of terrifying formation that would undoubtedly scan his body the second he passed through it. Revealing the fact that he wasn’t someone in the Nascent Soul Realm.

In fact, it was easy to tell he wasn’t someone in the Nascent Soul Realm even for the guardian formation of the ancient secret realm, but it had to turn its attention towards him, something he had managed to avoid so far.

[Detected member of allied sect, Notifying formation spirit.]

But as he was standing in front of the formation wondering what to do, a mechanical voice from the formation itself suddenly caught him off guard as he soon enough sensed the formation itself momentarily expanding to encase him in a small separate space before he had the chance to do anything. Catching him completely off guard.

”It really someone from an allied sect!? I thought was some kind of malfunction…” And before he even had the time to take in the few words he heard, a new more spirited and lively voice emerged followed by a small almost transparent boy emerging out of thin air in front of him. ”Someone from the Mirage Sect? And at the Land Creation Realm as well!?”

”I-”

”How did you get through that broken guardian formation? Did you find a flaw in the formation or maybe you snuck in through one of the spatial passages connecting to- no, that would impossible, the spatial passages should be cut off. ”

”What I-”

”Ah! A temporary spatial passage? Yes, that should be possible!”

”…”

Not knowing what to say as he was faced with what could undoubtedly be considered a chatterbox of a formation spirit, Xuan Hao felt his fear of potential confrontation washing away as the corner of his lip began twitching in annoyance.

”Hm, but a temporary spatial passage also has problems, like how would you know about the cultivation restrictions put in place by that broken thing and-”

Even now, he heard the constant buzzing of the formation spirit that seemed capable of going on forever, clearly not having had a conversation with anyone for a looooong time.

Still, the never-ending chatter did help him gain a better understanding of the ancient secret realm and the situation he found himself in.

For one, the formation spirit chatting endlessly in front of him had mistaken him as someone from the Mirage Sect because of the robe he was using, being one normally only worn by elders of the Mirage Sect that was impossible to wear without at least becoming an elder in name of the Mirage Sect like he had been.

Next and maybe more important than the identity that the formation spirit in front of him had given him, he learnt that there was something wrong with the guardian formation.

What exactly it was that was wrong with it, he didn’t know, as the only description that he heard from the formation spirit in front of him about it was the fact that it was broken or defective.

Learning at the same time, that the cultivation restriction that existed throughout the ancient secret realm was a direct consequence of the defective state of the guardian formation of the ancient secret realm.

”Ah! How could I forget to introduce myself, I’m Lici! The guardian formation of the Seventh Branch of the Li Clan!”

”Lici…?”

”Yes! I was named by the second young lady after I was born from the formation, something about her thinking it sounded like some kind of fruit she like called a lychee.”

”I see… Pleasure to meet you Lychee, I’m Xuan Hao, an elder of the Star Shattering Sect and in name elder of the Mirage Sect.” Nodding his head with some difficulty in response to the formation spirit that was seemingly named after a fruit, Xuan Hao introduced himself. Making sure to include his status within the Mirage Sect, as that was the thing that had caused this formation spirit to appear in the first place. Not daring to lie in front of it, as he was clear just how terrifying this seemingly silly looking formation spirit was.