Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Putting aside the thoughts of turning the enlightenment spaces that the system had brought him to in the past into cultivation grounds for the sect to the back of his mind for now, Xuan Hao returned his attention to the massive palace that stood before him.

Part of the reason for his mind going elsewhere after reaching this towering palace had been because he was feeling nervous thinking about what he might end up encountering once he stepped inside, while another was due to the formation fluctuations he sensed surrounding the palace. Even from a simple glance, he could tell that it wasn’t a defensive formation, but instead one that would analyze him from top to bottom.

Something that would leave him with nowhere to hide, as he would essentially be naked in front of the formation considering just how its level was compared to any formations he had encountered in the past. In fact, he theorized that the formation itself was directly connected to the main formation guarding the ancient city center. Not in the same manner as the other formations that were just kept running by it but directly integrated as part of the formation.

Knowing what he now knew about the destruction of the world that the fragmented continent had once been a part of, he was reasonably fearful that the formation would immediately realize that he was not someone from the fragmented continent and would then mobilize the wider formation to execute him on the spot.

Still, he didn’t want to give up on the potential treasure trove of information stored within the main palace of the ancient city center, thus he decided to test the situation by condensing a fake body entirely made from his divine sense. Not practical in the slightest when it came to fighting, but it was at the very least useful when it came to testing out the situation and finding out whether it would be safe for him to enter the main palace.

In a worst-case scenario, he would just lose a bit of his divine sense and be forced to spend some time recovering it. After which, he would still be able to explore the rest of the palace complex searching for information and treasures- if the formation didn’t somehow manage to trace the little divine sense clone back to him.

Risky as it was, it was a risk he was willing to take considering how he had already learnt what he could from the palace complex without entering the places that he suspected remnant souls of those who had once called this palace complex home resided.

Of course, though he had no idea about the strength of the remnant souls in those areas outside of the small tower that the four youths had ended up entering, he knew that for a remnant soul to still be around after such a long time meant that it belonged to someone who had at the very least reached the Venerable Realm in terms of strength.

After all, it had been millions of years since the city center and in turn also the palace complex had been sealed off. Meaning anyone below that level that might have been left alive at the start had long since perished over the years.

In fact, he had already found countless signs of those who should have once lived throughout the palace complex back when the fragmented continent had split off from the original world and ended up drifting through the void.

Though... the fate of those people was obvious, as they had either perished or died trying to leave the palace complex. The reason for them dying while trying to leave the palace complex having to do with the fact that the seal on the ancient city center had been in place from the very start and hadn’t been lifted since the now fragmented continent had split off from the original world.

The reason behind the seal on the ancient city center never being lifted was a mystery, as those below the Venerable Realm had no clue and were essentially forced to breathe their last within the palace complex without knowing the reason, while those at the Venerable Realm were either still around in the form of a remnant soul or had perished along with the information. Leaving him with no real way to figure out the reason why the ancient city center had been sealed off in the first place and didn’t remove this seal even after they got far away from the original world.

After all, if the seal was only around for the first few decades or centuries after having ejected from the original world, he could understand that as it having been placed there to ensure they weren’t noticed by the forces under the Dao of Corruption during their escape, but millions of years? He couldn’t imagine that the beings that had attacked their world back then would still be able to notice them, let alone send forces to exterminate them given the current deadly location of the fragmented continent.

Not to mention, there was a good chance that the forces that had attacked them back then had ended up perishing over the long years. Especially since there was a good chance those beings went to invade his world after finishing off the original world of the fragmented continent, something that would ultimately end with them being vanquished during the ancient battle back then.

Meaning, there might be some other reason why the palace complex had been sealed off back then and had remained sealed off to this day.

Whoosh~

Unable to figure out the reason behind this on his own with the little information he had been able to gather about the state of the palace complex after it had been separated from the original world, Xuan Hao shifted his attention to the divine sense clone he had created to test out the formation that guarded the main palace of the palace complex. Slowly guiding it forward towards the palace in a somewhat nervous manner. Knowing there was a good chance that the little clone of his would be erased the second it took a step inside and a chance that the formation would trace the divine sense back to him and kill him as well.

Unfortunate as it would be to lose the treasures he had managed to pick up along the way so far. Especially the golem that had almost reached the Venerable Realm in terms of strength. He didn’t feel too sad about potentially perishing to the formation guarding the ancient city center, as it would at the very least give him a chance to experience the might of a formation whose strength exceeded that of an ordinary Venerable Realm cultivator. After all, from what he could tell, the ancient lord of this city and leader of the faction behind it should have been a being that had reached the Holy Lord level in terms of strength, a being who would have been considered a pinnacle expert even in the ancient times of his world.

Of course, with the lower quality of the world compared to his own, there had only been four such figures when the world had been at its pinnacle and he had a feeling that these four figures weren’t comparable to the holy lord realm figures of his world given how they had still ultimately been brought to their knees by the ancient church of the plague god.

Maybe somewhere between the Venerable Realm and the Holy Lord level in terms of strength? To be honest, he couldn’t be clear, as even the Venerable Realm was far beyond him at his current realm...

That aside, while he was thinking about this, the divine sense clone officially crossed the threshold of the towering palace and unsurprisingly, he instantly felt a terrifying force locking onto his divine sense clone before starting to examine it inside out. Allowing it to instantly see through the origin of this divine sense clone, as Xuan Hao soon enough felt the seemingly omnipotent power trace his little divine sense clone back to him. Not giving him the time to react, as by the time he realized what was happening, that power had already silently retreated like it had never existed in the first place.

In the end, he hadn’t been able to avoid being examined by that formation, but at the same time, he was still alive and kicking... And the formation guarding the ancient city center along with the palace complex hadn’t activated to purge him. Meaning he had successfully made it through this deadly encounter without perishing like part of him had already expected given what he had learnt from the old remnant soul within the small tower.

After all, while he might look different from those belonging to the ancient church of the plague god, his presence undoubtedly carried the unique traces of the world he came from.

Unless... the very essence of the world had somehow changed after the long years and with the cataclysm back then...