Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Continuing deeper inside the mystic realm, it didn't take long before he reached the mist covered mountains where he had first encountered the celestial trials of the Mirage Sect.

The only difference compared to back when he had been inside of the mist covered mountains being the fact that the entire place had been blown up as a result of the guardian formation activating to kill the cloud demon beast. Leaving behind only remnants of what had once been there. Leaving only the gates of the three celestial trials standing. Unaffected by the terrifying attack of the guardian formation.

Deciding to make a stop and investigate the celestial trial gates more closely now that his strength and comprehension had increased compared to the last time he had seen them, Xuan Hao began to sense the power inside of them to no avail.

Outside of the terrifying spatial laws that helped his comprehension of the Dao of Space to some extent, he didn't manage to gain much from observing the celestial gates, as the concepts that made them up were far beyond anything he could touch with his current understanding of the different Daos involved in the construction of the celestial trial gates.

Even the little bit related to the Dao of Space that he could understand only ended up making him more confused, as it suggested that the celestial trial gate was essential connected to countless different spatial passages that all led to different trial spaces... And from what little he knew about the celestial trial; he could only guess that the celestial trial gate would somehow observe his cultivation base and judge on which of these trial spaces to send him to. Resulting in him being sent to the one fitting for his current cultivation base.

Wait… Does that perhaps mean that I can enter the trial again and challenge a higher difficulty of the trial I already completed?

Thinking this to himself as he finished learning what little he could from the complicated laws of space of the celestial gate in front of him, Xuan Hao could not help narrowing his eyes.

Although he felt tempted to enter the celestial trial in front of him, he also remembered that the trial standing in front of him should be the first celestial trial he had entered back then.

Meaning that if he had to face the trial again, he would end up face to face with Aria, the guardian of the first trial, again.

Well… She shouldn't be that difficult to deal with considering that her main ability involved illusions now that my own comprehension of the Dao of Illusion already reached the Large Success Realm.

Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao didn't hesitate as he stepped forward and entered the gate of the first celestial trial. Feeling curious about what would happen if he entered the same celestial trial twice-

Whoosh~

And without much suspense, he soon found himself being shuttled through a spatial channel.

"Hm? This… Isn't a trial?"

However, unexpectedly, he didn't find himself inside another trial, but instead found himself inside a small space occupied by a single large building that had long since been destroyed beyond recognition.

Even then, from the remnants in front of this building and the few familiar-looking golems that had long since ceased to function, he became certain that this should be another exchange hall like the one he had encountered inside the third celestial trial.

The main difference between the two being that this one obviously hadn't managed to hold out as well as the one inside the third celestial trial, as it had been more thoroughly destroyed. Leaving little hope for him to find another living Mirage Sect Elder inside.

Whoosh~

Of course, Xuan Hao didn't let this discourage him, as he cautiously began to approach the remnants of what had once been an exchange hall similar to the one in the third celestial trial. Hoping that even if there weren't anyone still alive inside, some of the secret techniques and other things had survived.

Unfortunately, as he floated a few centimeters above the ground through the ruins, Xuan Hao was disappointed to discover that none of the techniques of precious materials that should once have been stored inside had managed to survive.

Even when he reached the place where the elder of the Mirage Sect should have been, he only found an empty void where the fabric of space had been directly torn apart and had yet to recover from due to the presence of a terrifying power that still lingered around the place.

Making the usage of divine sense inside the ruined exchange hall an incredibly dangerous endeavor, as it might result in him coming into contact with the terrifying power still lingering around the place.

In the end, Xuan Hao ended up spending the good part of two days searching through the remnant of the exchange hall to no avail. Finding nothing but decaying texts or jades that crumbled the moment he touched them, or his divine sense came into contact with them.

Luckily, leaving the space of the exchange hall wasn't difficult, as the spatial channel that had brought him there was still present close to the entrance of the ruined exchange hall. Allowing him to simply step through it to find himself back outside the gate of the first celestial trial.

Even more surprising, he found out that entering the gate of the first celestial trial would just end up bringing him back into the space where the ruined exchange hall was located. Making it clear that he could only take on the celestial trial once. Afterwards, he would be redirected to the exchange hall no matter how many times he entered the gate.

"I should try and see if it's the same for the two other celestial trials…" Glancing in the direction of the second celestial trial as he said this, Xuan Hao didn't waste any time as he flew over and entered the celestial gate of the second celestial trial without any hesitation.

Soon enough, finding himself inside another small space occupied by a single building that was similarly destroyed like the one inside the first celestial trial.

Another exchange hall.

The only difference compared to the first being that the second one looked far more intact compared to the first.

"But… If both of these exchange halls are located inside their own small space, what happened to the third exchange hall for it to have ended up inside one of the trial spaces?" Narrowing both his eyes as he turned to look back in the direction of the spatial channel he had just passed through, Xuan Hao could not help remembering the exchange hall of the third celestial trial that had essentially been buried in the sand of one of the trial spaces.

If it was just a single exchange hall that was located inside such a small space with only itself present, he could guess that each exchange hall was different, but a second one in a similar situation as the first… He could only guess that something had gone wrong and caused the third exchange hall to somehow end up inside one of the trail spaces.

Perhaps, it wasn't something going wrong, but the elder of the Mirage Sect who had deliberately tried to hide inside one of the trial spaces. Considering that he was the only elder in charge of an exchange hall that had managed to survive for so long, it isn't that unlikely…

Shaking his head as he thought about this to himself, Xuan Hao soon refocused his attention back on the exchange hall in front of him.

Given that the exchange hall seemed to be in a far better situation than the first and even the third exchange hall, he felt confident that he should at least be able to find something of value inside of it.

Hopefully something related to the Dao Domain Lord Realm or something that could help with his comprehension of the Dao of Space or the other Daos he had comprehended.

Of course, he wouldn't be sad finding something related to the history of the Mirage Sect or ancient records regarding what might have happened to the mystic realm of the Mirage Sect, as anything that could survive from the Ancient Mirage Sect would be useful to him. Especially if it helped his understanding of the ancient language improve.

"Hm?! There is actually something!?"

Even then, Xuan Hao was still taken aback and shocked when he actually ended up discovering something that had managed to survive the destruction of the exchange hall.

A small and inconspicuous looking scroll that didn't seem that important having survived due to a special kind of record keeping formation on it having survived the attack back then still functioning even after countless years had passed by absorbing the tiny bits of spiritual qi present inside the destroyed exchange hall.

No matter how little importance this little scroll might have, Xuan Hao was overjoyed seeing a still surviving scroll.