Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

"Huh..? He, he still has strength left!?"

"A-after him!" 

Not knowing how to react when the person, whom they had regarded as already dead, got up and escaped, the Soul Ascension Realm Experts fighting to death with each other momentarily froze on the spot before chasing after him.

Although they had no idea how the old man had suddenly managed to recover enough strength to run away, they also understood that it shouldn't last for long.

If he had really managed to recover his fully strength, he would have chosen to kill them instead of just running away… And that was not mentioning the fact that he didn't escape in the direction of the border but instead chose to escape into the inner region. Making these Soul Ascension Realm Experts even more certain that the sudden recovery of the old man was only temporary and wouldn't last for long.

But…

The fact that he had entered the inner region was still problematic for them. Especially considering that their original goal of seizing the treasures of the two Earth Immortal Realm Experts had now become far harder.

Not only did they have to chase after the old man and find him, but they would now also have to worry about information spreading to some of the larger cities in the inner region. Potentially attracting the attention of an Earth Immortal in the process.

Whoosh-!

Whoosh-!

Whoosh-!

Unfortunately for them, there was nothing they could do about this. Only capable of using all of their strength to chase after the escaping old man. Hoping that he wouldn't be able to escape too far away and find somewhere to hide before they had a chance to catch up.

…

Unaware of what had taken place back at the battlefield created by the two Earth Immortals, Xuan Hao had his full attention focused on a large map hanging on the wall inside a relatively small shop selling different kinds of maps for the different places in the inner region of the Blue Sea Empire.

"So, I still have a few days of travel left before reaching that place…" Muttering this to himself as his gaze remained locked on a specific place on the large map, Xuan Hao took out a few spirit stones and handed it over to the shopkeeper standing a short distance behind him.

"Thank you, I hope the grand map was of use to you senior!" Smiling happily as he grabbed the spirit stones that were sent his way, the shopkeeper waited for a few seconds before stepping forward to pack away the large map on the wall.

Given that Xuan Hao had already paid him and looked like he was about to leave, he wanted to pack away the map again before any new customer entered the shop and ended up seeing the map before having paid him anything… Or were at least a senior figure in the Soul Ascension Realm like Xuan Hao.

After all, seniors like that wouldn't care about a few spirit stones. In most cases, they would even end up overpaying for a simple thing such as viewing a map if they were satisfied, something that had ended up happening just now, as Xuan Hao had thrown out far more than the dozen or so spirit stones required to view the large map.

Whoosh~

Not caring about what was going through the head of the shopkeeper, Xuan Hao turned around and left the small shop after getting a proper idea about where in the inner region he was supposed to go. Soon arriving outside the city before taking off in the direction of the special location.

However, different from how he had travelled in the past, he could no longer use the river as an anchor point for knowing where he was as he now had to hope the information on the large map was at least somewhat accurate. 

In a sense, no longer travelling beside the river ended up making him feel far more at ease.

Not so much because he liked the idea of possibly getting lost in the massive Blue Sea Empire, but because the river contained all sorts of dangers. From possible Earth Immortal Realm demon beast to the countless towns and cities that seemed to be located alongside it.

Even if he had yet to encounter anything dangerous outside of the two Earth Immortals fighting with each other, he had a feeling that this would no longer be the case after entering the inner region. Not to mention, following the river would only end up leading him closer to the inland sea where the Blue Sea Empire's capital and most powerful experts were located.

Given his current strength still being somewhere around the Fifth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm, he really wanted to avoid a place that possibly contained experts above the Earth Immortal Realm for now.

Not to mention, he was still seen as someone from the Explorer Union in the eyes of the Blue Sea Empire and might end up in trouble if he ended up in the capital of the Blue Sea Empire. Possibly invoking the memories of a certain past emperor…

Lost in his own thoughts as he continued journeying deeper and deeper into the inner region of the Blue Sea Empire, Xuan Hao ended up spending the next few days peacefully travelling without encountering any problems.

The most dangerous thing he ran into during this time was a demon beast, who had just recently broken through to the Soul Ascension Realm and decided to challenge him.

In the end, the rabbit demon beast had been the one to step up and kill the arrogant demon beast before it had the chance to beg for mercy or surrender. Wasting no time digging out its core and consuming it before retreating back into his robe again to digest it.

After that, Xuan Hao no longer saw the elusive rabbit demon beast as he arrived at a small town not far away from where the special location should be hidden.

The only problem left for him to solve at this point in time being finding the special location.

At least the information that he had bought from the intelligence department contained a general location of where it was, and it shouldn't be too hard to find by searching through the place. At most it would take a few months or weeks. Depending on how lucky he was.

Of course, there was another far more effective way to find out where the special location was… And that was asking the locals in the area for directions, something that Xuan Hao planned to do. Not feeling too excited about the possibility of spending the next few weeks or months searching for the special location.

Although this might end up giving away the special location in the process, Xuan Hao didn't care too much about this as the speed at which information would spread about a possible treasure or ruin in the area would take years. Maybe even decades before it caught the attention of someone in the Soul Ascension Realm.

Instead, it was far more likely that the intelligence department of the Blue Sea Empire would end up selling the information on the special location to another person before it had time to spread out.

No matter what ended up happening, Xuan Hao hoped that he would at least be able to monopolize the place for a few years. Long enough for him to hopefully comprehend one of the three Daos present in the place to the Large Success Realm.

Shaking his head as he thought about all of this, Xuan Hao descended down towards the small town-

"Huh?! Who is- Flying!? A-a Domain Lord Realm senior!"

Instantly catching the attention of the singular guard standing at the entrance to the small town.

Considering that the town itself was small and only had someone in the Domain Lord Realm guarding it, Xuan Hao was not shocked at the guard's surprised exclamation upon seeing him.

This was also the reason why he had chosen to come to this town to search for a guide that could help him find the area where the special location was hidden. Given that it was a small town, information would also travel out of the place at a far slower pace compared to a large city with an Earth Immortal Realm Expert watching over it.

"Can you help me find someone knowledgeable about the surroundings?" Throwing out a few high-quality spirit stones after saying this, the guard obediently nodded his head.

"Y-yes! Follow me senior!"

Not long after, Xuan Hao was guided to a Nascent Soul Realm elder in the town, who in turn referred him to an old woman that could help him find the area he was looking for… And in only a few short hours, Xuan Hao managed to pinpoint the area where the special location was hidden with the help of the old woman. Handing over a few spirit stones and random artifacts he had no use for as payment.