Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Biting their lips before following Xuan Hao into the devil forest, it didn’t take long before the large number of powerful cultivators from the cultivator alliance drew the attention of the powerful demon beasts from the devil forest.

However, given the fact that the cultivator alliance had moved out in full force this time around to catch the thief, the demon beasts who sensed the arrival of these powerful cultivators from the cultivator alliance didn’t dare to step forward and confront them. Understanding very well that they would stand no chance in the face of so many powerful cultivators, be they demon beasts at the Dao Seed Realm or even the stronger ones comparable to the Land Creation Realm. None of them could withstand the combined might of so many cultivators.

Luckily for them, these cultivators from the cultivator alliance understood that their entry into the devil forest this time around was bound to stir up the more powerful demon beasts within the depths of the devil forest and thus decided against killing any demon beasts along the way as they chased after Xuan Hao. Knowing to leave an out for themselves when the time came.

Hoping that if they didn’t cause any damage to the devil forest, the demon beasts wouldn’t chase them in case they retreated.

Of course, if the demon beasts were given enough time to gather their strength, the situation would be different, but before that happened, this group from the cultivator alliance felt confident that they would be able to catch Xuan Hao and get the things he had stolen from their treasury back again. Giving them no reason to remain within the devil forest for long.

After all, no matter how bold and reckless they believed Xuan Hao to be following his entry into the devil forest, none of them believed he would be daring enough to enter the core of the devil forest. Knowing that doing this wouldn’t just draw the attention of the demon beasts in the periphery of the devil forest but would draw the attention of the lord of the devil forest, a being that anyone born within the small world feared and wouldn’t ever think about engaging.

Even during the war a few hundred years ago, the lord of the devil forest had only appeared once to end the battle and forcibly push the cultivator alliance back into the eastern region of the small world where the ancient city guardian formation had activated to forcibly push back and injure the lord of the devil forest.

Only with that ancient formation had they been able to injure and push back the lord of the devil forest, without the assistance of the ancient formation, they didn’t dare to face this lord of the devil forest.

The only positive from the battle back then was the fact that the lord of the devil forest seemed to have wanted to use them and the rest of the cultivators from the cultivator alliance to fuel his breakthrough to an even higher realm that would allow him to transcend their world and the ancient formation injuring him had directly blocked his path forward and forced him back into the depths of the devil forest to recover his strength.

In fact, from what little information the cultivator alliance had managed to gather, this lord of the devil forest hadn’t just been focusing his efforts on recovering after the war but was also in the process of laying down the groundwork for taking down the ancient formation that they relied on to resist his attack. Preparing for another attempt to ascend to a higher realm.

”He entered the core of the devil forest...” And amidst the internal worries of the Land Creation Realm and Celestial Lord Realm cultivators from the cultivator alliance, the one in control of the artifact used to track him silently spoke up in a somewhat uneasy voice. ”Do we still follow?” Voicing out his inner thoughts after sensing how everyone else suddenly came to a silent stop.

”If we enter the core of the devil forest, we might end up encountering that lord. Even if he was injured in the past, who knows how much he has recovered over the years... If he is already close to being fully recovered. Entering the core of the devil forest might be the last thing we do in this life...” Sensing the unease of those around her, one of the Land Creation Realm cultivators directly voiced out the worries of everyone present.

All of them had experienced the terror of facing that lord in the past and had personally witnessed how someone at the Early Stage of the Land Creation Realm had been easily squashed to death like a random bug by this terrifying being.

The mere thought of facing this terrifying figure again, even in an injured state, was something that left these upper echelons of the cultivator alliance deeply afraid. The lord of the devil forest had already turned into an inner demon for these powerful cultivators standing at the very top of the small world. Every single one of them understood that it was only with the assistance of the ancient formation laid down by their ancestors that they had been able to resist this terrifying demon beast.

”I think everyone is thinking about this the wrong way, that person who emptied out the treasury has already entered the core of the devil forest and is bound to draw the attention of the lord of the devil forest before us. Even if I don’t understand what gave this person the confidence to do something like that, I can at the very least tell that his comprehension of the Dao of Space far exceeds mine. Having reached a terrifying level that makes me feel a similar level of dread as facing the lord of the devil forest.

Maybe this person isn’t an enemy, but an ancient senior who recently awakened that is no weaker than the lord of the devil forest. The act of emptying out our treasury might be because this ancient senior needed the vast quantity of cultivation resources to rapidly recover his strength and the cultivation manuals and techniques to learn the general state of the world after his reemergence. Going to the devil forest now might not be to escape us but instead face off against the lord of the devil forest.”

Different from how everyone else were reacting to the current situation, the older senior at the Large Success Realm in the Dao of Space decided to speak up at this moment and share another view of the current situation, one that instantly caused everyone to fall silent to think about his words before a few began nodding their head in understanding.

”This makes sense, after all, this is the only reason I can think of why someone would do something like this and recklessly charge towards the devil forest. Thinking about it in another way, the reason this ancient senior didn’t bother informing us might be because his lifespan is already running out after awakening and before having to face the tribulation, he decided to rush in to deal with the lord of the devil forest.”

”Indeed, I did hear that in the ancient times, when the world was vast beyond anything comparable to the current world, powerful cultivators about to face their final tribulation at the end of their lifespan in the Profound Immortal Realm had methods to forcibly seal themselves and live on in a sealed state without attracting the final tribulation.

This kind of sealing was common for major powers in the past, but now the method is gone. Not to mention, the sealing process having obvious flaws, as once sealed, one would essentially be forced into a dead end. Only lingering around for one final brilliant eruption before perishing, serving as deterrence for those older powers whose existence spans tens of millions of years.”

As the other senior figures from the cultivator alliance joined in and followed this train of thought, Xuan Hao’s identity quickly shifted away from a thief to an ancient senior figure who had decided to go out with a bang and take the lord of the devil forest down with him in the process, something that Xuan Hao would never have expected, as his reason for entering the core of the devil forest was simply to complete the task that had been assigned to him now that he had gotten what he could from the cultivator alliance.

In any case, it wasn’t something Xuan Hao himself would mind, as with these Land Creation Realm and Celestial Lord Realm cultivators now viewing him as an ally about to sacrifice himself to take down the greater evil that in their eyes was the lord of the devil forest, they also shifted from targeting him to providing him with help in handling the different demon beasts that might interrupt his battle with the lord of the devil forest.