Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Leaving behind the now broken city lord mansion that had already been emptied out of anything valuable by the city lord before their arrival, the group of Void Integration Realm seniors didn’t linger around for long and soon enough opened up a new path into the ancient city center as close to the mansion as possible before quickly closing the passage behind them to avoid having anyone follow behind them. Intending on working together to try and seize an opportunity to increase their own strength while at the same time also looking for an opportunity to see if they could find a way into the part of the ancient city center that the city lord had escaped into. Knowing that the opportunity the other party had obtained was bound to be far beyond a simple chance to reach the Late Stage or even Peak of the Void Integration Realm. Given the drastic and decisive actions of the city lord, they were almost certain this opportunity was related to the Void God Realm.

This kind of opportunity was also the main reason why they didn’t want to inform those senior figures about the situation of Desolate River City. Understanding that with those seniors showing up, there would be no way for someone like them to ever stand a chance at obtaining that kind of opportunity. Even if the chance was low, they would much rather take it and have a chance at reaching the Void God Realm than give up that kind of opportunity. Understanding very well from the past of the fragmented continent that only this kind of opportunity would allow them to reach the Void God Realm in the future.

History itself made it very clear that every single one of those senior figures that had managed to successfully ascend to the Void God Realm had all done so by finding opportunities left behind within ancient ruins or structures just like the ancient city center that had now emerged within the heart of Desolate River City.

Why this was the case, none of these Void Integration Realm cultivators knew. Only knowing that to reach the Void God Realm, one had to obtain some kind of opportunity from the different ruins scattered throughout the fragmented continent. In turn, this also meant that those normally aloof beings that grew up within the divine lands isolated from the chaotic and often deadly fragmented continent still had to leave their safe little slice of paradise isolated from the dangers outside if they wanted to ever stand a chance at taking a step forward and reaching the Void God Realm.

A challenge that often didn’t work out, as most of those who ultimately managed to break through to the Void God Realm came from those Void Integration Realm cultivators that had grown up outside the different divine lands who had powerful Void God Realm figures presiding over them.

The group of Void Integration Realm cultivators aside, back within the section of the ancient city center Xuan Hao had originally claimed for himself, a very confused Xuan Hao emerged from one of the smaller ancient structures after having used the past few hours to get a grasp over the internal functions of these ancient structures. Only to find himself in the middle of a bustling city street. Almost convincing that he had somehow ended up outside the ancient city center and ended up back on the main commercial street.

It was only by looking around a few more times and discovering the familiar ancient structures that were difficult to mistake for something different that he became certain he was still inside the ancient city center.

Still, the transformation that had taken place over a period of a few hours was a bit jarring and made him feel a sense of unreality. Only after listening around for a bit, did he get a better grasp of the situation and what had happened. Leaving him somewhat speechless. Having never imagined a group of seventeen people who had all broken through to the Void Monarch Realm at the same time had somehow uncovered his passage into the ancient city center and in turn drawn the attention of the entire city over in the process.

Not just that, but because seventeen people had broken through to the Void Monarch Realm on the spot and the city lord hadn’t blocked or sealed of the entrance demanding a fee for entry, people of all levels had surged forth to look for an opportunity to imitate the seventeen that had broken through to the Void Monarch Realm.

From a simple glance at the people around him, it was clear everyone was still brimming with confidence and hadn’t yet suffered at the hands of the formations and challenges within the ancient structures.

And while not every single one of those challenges and formations had a cultivation requirement so to speak, most did require a certain level of strength to complete from what he had managed to gather during his own research over the past few hours.

The few that didn’t have any requirements on strength weren’t exactly simple for those with a low cultivation either, as they required a powerful willpower. Something that normally also corresponded to cultivation to some extent as those with a stronger cultivation base tended to also have far firmer and stronger willpower.

After all, without strong enough willpower, few would be able to endure living for the lengths of time cultivators beyond the Nascent Soul Realm did, with most mortals generally having the willpower to survive between 500 to 1000 years before their will began crumbling over the long years.

In simple words, he wasn’t worried about these people successfully capturing those larger ancient structures he had already set his sights on, as there was simply no way to clear them with insufficient strength. The only person that somewhat worried him was the city lord who had reached the Late Stage of the Void Integration Realm, as according to what little he had managed to pick up on regarding the function of those tall ancient structures disappearing amidst the chaotic spatial current above, they all led to the same place and the only real opponent in his eyes for the reward waiting on the other side was this city lord at the Late Stage of the Void Integration Realm he had yet to encounter.

Even if there were a few other Void Integration Realm cultivators around, he already had a generally grasp of the strength of those at the Early and Middle Stage of the Void Integration Realm and had essentially confirmed that they wouldn’t pose him much of a challenge even if they decided to team up and work together. Only the mysterious city lord was worth him worrying about.

Of course, it wasn’t entirely because the other party was someone at the Late Stage of the Void Integration Realm but also had to do with the fact that the other party might have far more knowledge of this ancient city center than he had let on so far. Maybe he was even the reason why this ancient city center had emerged in the first place.

Still, worried about this mysterious city lord that had yet to reveal themselves as he was, he couldn’t really do much to prepare beyond what he had already done and could only make his way towards one of the towering ancient structures. An ancient looking cathedral whose entire top half disappeared amidst the chaotic spatial currents above. Before he made his way inside. Not taking long before he came face to face with the first roadblock on his way up the central spire of the massive ancient cathedral, a living holy knight armor with strength comparable to the Later Stages of the Dao Seed Realm.

Undoubtedly a deadly enemy for anyone who stepped inside the cathedral in hopes of striking it rich from the corpses that had already been piled up around the towering pair of wooden doors that remained closed behind it leading further up the spire of the ancient cathedral.

Then again...

Bang!

Crash~

Deadly for those reckless individuals outside who didn’t fear death didn’t mean much before him, as the holy knight armor that had just unsheathed its more than three meter long greatsword found itself becoming part of the pristine walls of the holy cathedral as he casually moved past this great enemy that had already ended the lives of over a hundred unlucky individuals over the past few hours since this part of the ancient city center had been filled to the brim with eager cultivators looking for a chance to improve their own strength.

”Huh? Look! Over here! So many dead bodies...”

”Hah? Who cares! The path upwards is unlocked, let’s go fast! Those people who came before us should have given their lives to take down that guardian over there!”

”Indeed! Let’s go fast before someone else beats us to it!”

And only a short time after he had disappeared upstairs, a new group of eager explorers appeared. Wasting no time as they rushed up after him... After they made sure to search the corpses on the ground for valuables...