Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Chapter 1656 Empty Cavern

Shaking his head a bit as he looked back at the now dead demon beast behind him, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit guilty for killing the demon beast after it had so graciously transported him to the location of the tenth celestial gate. Especially given that it hadnʼt really shown any hostility towards him and had only been helping transport him- even if the transport method was rather unique…

Silently apologizing to the now dead demon beast, Xuan Hao soon began taking in his surroundings.

A dark cavern with nothing of interest outside of its sheer size, a few glowing crystals helping light up parts of the dark space and at the center, the tenth celestial gate standing at the center of the dark cavern surrounded by several massive glowing crystals that made the celestial gate stand out more than almost every other celestial gate he had encountered.

Only the eighth celestial gate stood out more, though it was hard to beat a celestial gate floating in the middle of a thunderstorm when it came to standing out.

However, even though he didnʼt spot anything of interest in the cavern outside of the celestial gate, he didnʼt dare let his guard down after his experience with the now dead demon beast behind him.

For all he knew, there could be more similar demon beast capable of concealing themselves from his divine sense lurking somewhere inside the cavern, worse, they might be stronger than the demon beast who had brought him to the cavern in the first place.

The reason why he hadnʼt been attacked in case there really were other demon beasts above the Soul Ascension Realm inside the cavern almost certainly having to do with the guardian formationʼs presence. Rendering it close to impossible for him to figure out if there were any other demon beasts hidden inside the cavern, as they would never dare to reveal themselves with the guardian formation around.

He could just recklessly destroy his surroundings and try to force out any demon beasts that might be hidden inside the cavern, but doing so would get himself caught up in a potential attack from the guardian formation, something he wanted to avoid if possible. Not to mention, his goal wasnʼt to fight with the potentially hidden demon beasts lurking inside the underground cavern, it was the celestial gate.

Whoosh~

So, with that in mind, Xuan Hao slowly floated over to the celestial gate at the center of the cavern. Making sure to keep his eye out for not just hidden demon beasts, but also ancient formations that might have been placed around the celestial gate in the past to guard it.

Even if only one of the celestial gates he had encountered had an ancient formation guarding it, he could never be too safe. Especially with how weirdly empty the underground cavern was.

Luckily, he didnʼt end up being attacked by some hidden demon beast or fall into an ancient formation on his way up to the celestial gate. The cavern remained quiet all the way without anything happening and although this was a good thing, he couldnʼt help feeling a bit disappointed as he stood in front of the celestial gate.

”Guess I wonʼt find out how that demon beast was able to hide so effectively from my divine sense despite only reaching the Soul Ascension Realm…” Muttering this to himself with a hint of reluctance as he glanced around the empty cavern one last time before focusing his attention on the celestial gate in front of him, Xuan Hao failed to notice the minute changes around some of the glowing crystals close to the walls of the cavern.

The changes were so small that they only slightly bend parts of the light from the crystals, but from the subtle movement, it was clear that something had moved past the glowing crystals at the edges of the cavern the second Xuan Hao had turned around to focus his attention on the state of the celestial gate. After all, he had to first assess the state of the celestial gate before stepping inside and make sure that he wouldnʼt end up inside a spatial storm the moment he stepped through the celestial gate.

This in turn also presented an opportunity to any demon beast or other creature that might be lurking inside the cavern, as Xuan Hao would have his guard lowered compared to normal when most of his attention was being focused on figuring out the situation of the celestial gate.

”Luckily, it seems like the state of this celestial gate is far better than the ninth celestial gate. Almost comparable to the first celestial gate I entered in terms of stability with no clear flaws that are visible from the outside.” Smiling to himself as he managed to ascertain the general state of the celestial gate, Xuan Hao remained oblivious to the different shadows slowly inching closer-

Swish-!

And before he could proceed to enter the celestial gate after making sure that it was safe, a large claw suddenly swung down towards him with terrifying speed-

Swish!

Swish!

Swish!

Followed by another three claws that came towards him with a similarly terrifying speed and deadly intent that far surpassed the Soul Ascension Realm and seemed capable of shattering the space wherever they passed.

BANG!

However, as the four claws were only a few meters away from reaching him, a bright light carrying the terrifying might of the Dao of Light erupted around him before merging with the spiritual sea that manifested behind him at the same time. Creating a small river of light that blocked the four attacks before they could reach their target.

Four demon beasts at the Early Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm? No… More than four…

Narrowing both his eyes as the river of light guarding him illuminated every corner of the cavern, Xuan Hao quickly noticed that there were far more demon beasts hidden throughout the cavern.

Although he couldnʼt sense any of them, the light illuminating every corner of the cavern and his full attention being on his surroundings allowed him to sense the subtle changes where the light moved in unnatural paths. Making it clear something was hidden even if his divine sense told him nothing was there.

8… 12… 15… To think there are more than twenty demon beasts hidden here…

Feeling a shiver run down his spine as he quickly counted over twenty demon beasts hidden throughout the cavern outside of the four that had just attacked him, Xuan Hao understood that he would stand no chance fighting these demon beasts if they had all reached the Celestial Immortal Realm… And that was given that the strongest among them had reached the Early Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm. If there was any stronger than that…

Whoosh-!

Not even bothering to think about it and already having made sure that the celestial gate was safe to enter, Xuan Hao directly rushed inside the celestial gate.

Though it took some time to explain, everything essentially happened in a split second, as all the four demon beasts attacking him saw were their attacks being blocked by the emergence of a majestic river of light before their target rushed inside the celestial gate. Not giving them the chance to launch a second attack.

In the end, Xuan Hao wasnʼt the slightest bit willing to stay behind after realizing just how many demon beasts were hidden inside the cavern. Even if it meant giving up on figuring out how they had not only been able to hide from his divine sense but also avoid detection from the guardian formation.

After all, even though the exchange had been contained and didnʼt cause any damage to the cavern, the four demon beasts who had attacked him had revealed their existence to the guardian formation when they had attacked him.

Under normal circumstances, this should have caused the guardian formation to activate and kill them, but… Nothing happened in the short time between the clash and him rushing inside the celestial gate. Making him suspect that these demon beasts were not only capable of hiding themselves from his divine sense but also seemed to have some kind of ability to hide themselves from the guardian formation.

But… If they were able to hide themselves from the guardian formation, why would they all gather inside an underground cavern with nothing inside of it outside a celestial gate? Unless… The celestial gate has something to do with the demon beasts ability to hide from the guardian formation? Or perhaps something different inside the cavern that I couldnʼt, see?

Feeling his thoughts wandering as he found himself being transported through the now rather familiar spatial passage of a celestial gate, Xuan Hao couldnʼt help wondering about the demon beasts inside the cavern.

But although he felt extremely curious about them and their ability to not only hide from his divine sense, but also the guardian formation of the mystic realm, he also understood that his focus for now should be on completing the celestial trial that awaited him at the other end of the spatial passage.

Finding out more about the strange abilities of the demon beasts hidden inside the underground cavern of the tenth celestial gate would have to wait until after he completed the celestial trial of the tenth celestial trial.

Hopefully, the final celestial trial would be more straightforward compared to the broken ninth celestial trial he had gone through not long ago, as he really didnʼt feel like going through that kind of celestial trial again.

Not just because it was dangerous, but also because it was an overall odd trial compared to the rest of the celestial trials he had gone through so far…