Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Making their way through the door sized opening that appeared in the side of the tree after Bai Ning activate the small artifact in the shape of a small stone, both Bai Ning and Hui Ying were taken aback by the beautiful spiral staircase on the other side leading down below the surface of the jungle.

Not to mention the fact that spiral staircase was still perfectly intact after what had most likely been hundreds if not thousands of years going unattended, the fact that such a beautiful staircase was even there in the first place made both of them wonder just what might be waiting for them at the bottom of it.

At the same time, it also made both of them more careful when proceeding down the spiral staircase.

…

"To think there was something like this below the surface of the jungle…"

"Indeed… So many precious spiritual herbs…"

Reaching the bottom of the spiral staircase inside the large tree, both Bai Ning and Hui Ying could not help exclaiming in surprise, as they found themselves inside a small room decorated with all sorts of rare material.

Even after most of the things inside the small room had succumbed to the long passage of time, the few things that had survived were all precious spiritual herbs or metals.

Swoosh~!

Not wanting to leave any of the precious spiritual herbs or metals behind, Bai Ning carefully picked up all of them and placed them into his interspatial ring after having made sure that there weren't any traps around them.

"…"

Watching Bai Ning take away all the precious spiritual herbs and spiritual metals, Hui Ying did not say anything and just remained silent without saying anything.

Given that their current situation was her fault because she had just carelessly rushed into the jungle without listening to what Bai Ning said before having him come and safe her, Hui Ying felt that it was only fair that he took the spiritual herbs and spiritual metals…

"A pity that all the books and scroll in here has long since decayed and are no longer readable in any way…"

Putting away the last few spiritual herbs and metals, Bai Ning did could not help feeling a hint of pity as he looked over the many long since destroyed books and scrolls everywhere around the small hideout.

All of them had long since destroyed due to the passage of time. The material they had been written on was simply not of a high enough quality to withstand the passing of hundreds if not thousands of years in an underground room…

"Ah! There is something over here!"

"Hm?"

Just as he was feeling great sadness looking over the many destroyed books and scrolls that possible contained information on how to get out of the jungle they were currently stuck inside of, Hui Ying called out as she pointed towards a small opening hidden beneath the spiral staircase.

"This is…"

Arriving beside Hui Ying before he looked through the small opening beneath the spiral staircase, Bai Ning could not help feeling a shiver run down his spine as he felt like something was looking back up at him.

"A demon beast…?"

Understanding that the feeling of something looking back at him had most likely come from some sort of demon beast, Bai Ning had a feeling that entering would not be any less dangerous than moving around the jungle above them!

ROOOOAR!

BANG!

Just as Bai Ning was wondering whether or not to enter through the opening beneath the spiral staircase leading to an underground cave network below them, a loud roar echoed out above them before the sound of something massive crashing into the tree that functioned as the entrance to the small hideout shook violently.

Fwoosh-!

In response to what both Bai Ning and Hui Ying guessed to be a massive demon beast crashing into the tree serving as the entrance point to the hideout they were currently inside of, several dim runes lit up on the walls all around them before a terrifying pressure far above the Core Formation Realm demon beasts they had faced earlier appeared.

"Nascent Soul Realm…" Muttering this to himself as he clearly understood the realm that the pressure belonged to, Bai Ning could not help feeling a shiver run down his spine.

If he had made a mistake when activating the entrance to the hideout earlier, the formation that had currently activated to fight off against the demon beast outside would have activated to attack them!

Given that they were both only in the Foundation Establishment, Bai Ning understood very well that neither of them had any chance to resist the attack from a Nascent Soul Realm formation. Even with all his defensive artifacts put together, he would not have any way to defend against it!

ROOOOOAR!

However, the demon beast outside did not seem afraid of this formation and only seemed to be filled with even more killing intent compared to before. Allowing both Bai Ning and Hui Ying to understand that the demon beast had most likely reached the Nascent Soul Realm…

A Nascent Soul Realm demon beast!

With their current strength, there was absolutely no way for them to face such a powerful demon beast!

BANG!

CRACK-!

Feeling everything around them shaking as the demon beast outside attack the already decaying Nascent Soul Realm formation that protected the hideout, Bai Ning and Hui Ying could not help feeling a shiver run down their spine as they saw a large number of the symbols and runes covering the walls of the hideout start cracking apart.

Given a few more attacks by the demon beast outside the already decaying formation would be broken down!

""…""

Knowing very well that they had no way to face off against a demon beast that had reached the Nascent Soul Realm, both Bai Ning and Hui Ying inevitably looked towards the small opening beneath the spiral staircase leading down into an underground cave network beneath the jungle.

Even if they understood that entering might end up being more dangerous than travelling along the surface of the jungle, they did not really have a better option with the powerful Nascent Soul Realm demon beast just outside…

"Let's leave this place before the formation breaks!"

"Yes!"

Swish-!

For this reason, neither Bai Ning nor Hui Ying hesitated in squeezing their way through the small opening beneath the spiral staircase before escaping as quickly as possible to get as far away from the underground hideout as possible before the formation broke.

Roar!

Roar!

Roar!

The few demon beasts that had been observing them just earlier attempted to attack them, but to both Bai Ning and Hui Ying's luck, these demon beasts had only reached the Qi Condensation Realm and were of no threat to them-

Ptsh-!

Allowing both of them to easily deal with them before continuing to escape in one of the many tunnels that branched off the underground cave network that they now found themselves inside of.

Even if this might not be the smartest thing to do as they might end up running into a deadend this way, both Bai Ning and Hui Ying were far too occupied with getting as far away as possible before the Nascent Soul Realm demon beast broke through the formation and entered the small hideout.

After all, a demon beast in the Nascent Soul Realm had already developed a divine sense similar to human cultivators!

If they were within the range of the demon beast's divine sense when it broke through the formation, they would have no way to escape if it wanted to chase after them!

…

BOOOOOM-!

Only a short time after Bai Ning and Hui Ying had escaped through the small opening beneath the spiral staircase, the formation that had been protecting the small underground hideout broke, as a terrifying aura belonging to a Nascent Soul Realm demon beast spread through the now completely destroyed underground hideout.

ROOOOAR!

RUMBLE-!

Along with a loud roar, the massive tree that served as the entrance to the underground hideout was forcefully pulled out from the ground together with the spiral staircase that had been connected to it.

In the end, a massive hole leading all the way up to the surface appeared. Not only leading straight down into the small hideout, but also leading down into the underground network that was located below it!

Thump~

Slowly, a large ball of what could only be described as hair rolled into the underground hideout. Almost completely filling up the entire space with its sheer size.

Not able to properly move around with its massive size, a gentle light soon covered the massive ball shaped demon beast.

Fwoosh~!

Following the gentle light disappearing, the massive ball shaped demon beast disappeared from sight. Instead, being replaced by a small cute looking rabbit.

If Xuan Hao was around, he would have realized that the rabbit was none other than the Nascent Soul Realm rabbit demon beast skilled at illusion techniques that he had encountered during his time in the Burning Mountain Range!