Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Although the hole in question was not located directly in front of them and was on the opposite side of the Iron Sky Kingdom where the core region of the Sky Empire began, it was not hard to spot when their divine sense swept over the Iron Sky Kingdom.

"Did an underground cave collapse?"

As her divine sense swept over the enormous hole in the ground that had ended up forming a natural barrier between her kingdom and the core region of the Sky Empire, Yi Min could not help wondering out loud about what had happened.

Even though a large number of Core Formation Realm Experts had ended up dying when falling into the collapsed cavern, Yi Min didn't see any of them through her divine sense due to focusing most of her attention on the formation towers located close to the hole. Making sure that none of them had been damaged or grown unstable when the ground had collapsed.

Xuan Hao on the other hand, didn't pay much attention to the formation towers and soon managed to spot the countless dead bodies inside the hole that covered an area close to half the size of the Iron Sky Kingdom. Hm? This is… Observing the dead bodies more closely, it did not take long for him to realize that even the weakest among them had reached the Core Formation Realm, while the strongest was someone in the Third Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm.

Of course, after seeing the dead bodies of three Soul Ascension Realm, it didn't take much to guess what had ended up happening… "Yi Min, it looks like someone tried to invade your kingdom while we were gone."

"Huh?! Wait- Ah!"

Hearing what Xuan Hao said while she was still in the process of examining the formation towers closest to the abnormally large hole for any damage, Yi Min's expression soon changed into one of shock as she used her divine sense to check out the situation inside the hole herself.

"I never expected someone to attack during the short time I was gone… And with three Soul Ascension Realm Experts no less…" Saying this as she stared in the direction of the hole, Yi Min slowly turned back to Xuan Hao. "Not to mention, I didn't expect the rabbit demon beast you brought to be strong enough to kill off three Soul Ascension Realm Experts!"

Hearing this, Xuan Hao could only smile awkwardly, he had not expected the rabbit demon beast to be strong enough to kill three Soul Ascension Realm Experts either. Not to mention, one of the Soul Ascension Realm Experts had reached the Third Tribulation, being only a single minor realm below the rabbit demon beast.

I think I should reevaluate the strength of the rabbit demon beast, it was after all strong enough to escape the pursuit of a group of Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beast back when I first encountered it. Maybe it's powerful in more than just speed.

Thinking this to himself as he turned his attention towards the main palace of the Iron Sky Kingdom where he had sensed the presence of the rabbit demon beast, Xuan Hao decided to pay more attention to the rabbit demon beast in the future. Intending to try and figure out what was so special about its bloodline…

Whoosh~

Not wasting too much time hovering in the air around the borders of the Iron Sky Kingdom, Xuan Hao and Yi Min soon made their way towards the capital after Yi Min finished checking the formation towers at the border of the core region of the Sky Empire with her divine sense.

…

"Squeak~" A few minutes before Xuan Hao and Yi Min arrived at the border of the Iron Sky Kingdom, the rabbit demon beast lazily rolled around on top of the bed inside one of the large bedrooms of the main palace. Devouring a few spirit stones as it enjoyed the peaceful time without having to do anything other than eat spirit stones to increase its cultivation. Ignoring the squirrel quietly sitting on the floor next to the bed fully absorbed in increasing its strength. Only opening its eyes every now and then to longingly gaze at the spirit stones being devoured by the rabbit demon beast.

After it experienced the joy of eating a spirit stone together with the slight increase in strength it experienced after refining the pure qi contained inside the spirit stone, the squirrel only ended up wanting the spirit stones even more than before. Especially when considering that the spirit stones currently in the hands of the rabbit demon beast were of far higher quality than the ones it had been given back when it had first been taken in as a subordinate.

By the standards used by human cultivators that it had listened to through its divine sense when it had taken a break from cultivation following the rabbit demon beast handing over a spirit stone, the squirrel guessed that the spirit stones possessed by the rabbit demon beast should what the humans referred to as high-grade spirit stones.

Although, after learning about how rare these kind of spirit stones were from some of these humans, it could not help wondering how the rabbit demon beast's master had managed to get his hands on so many high-grade spirit stones.

Then again, thinking about how powerful the master of the rabbit demon beast was, it didn't think too much about it and just thought that the humans of the Iron Sky Kingdom were too weak and thus didn't have access to things like high-grade spirit stones easily.

"Squeak?!"

Feeling a terrifying divine sense sweeping over it without any intention of staying hidden at this moment, the squirrel could not help feeling a shiver run down its spine before it turned to look at the rabbit demon beast to know if it was the one behind the terrifying divine sense and if there was another invader trying to invade the Iron Sky Kingdom-

"SQUEAK!"

However, different from the expression it had expected to see when it turned around to face the rabbit demon beast, the rabbit demon beast instead let out a joyful squeaking sound before placing the spirit stones on the bed into its interspatial ring that was coiled around one of its legs like a bracelet and jumping off the bed.

Whoosh~!

Before the squirrel even had time to comprehend what was happening, the rabbit demon beast had already disappeared from the bedroom in the direction of the massive entrance to the main palace.

"Squeak- Squeak! Squeak, squeak!?"

What is- Wait! Don't tell me, is the master back!?

Suddenly realizing what might have happened after thinking about things for a few seconds, the squirrel jumped off the ground before rushing in the direction that the rabbit demon beast had disappeared in. Not daring to waste a single second after realizing that the terrifying divine sense just now might have belonged to the master of its master.

…

Hm? Seems like both of them improved quite a bit over the past few months. Especially that squirrel… Hm… With its inherent aptitude for the Dao of Illusions, it shouldn't be too hard for it to breakthrough to the Domain Lord Realm in the future…

Observing the situation in the main palace where the rabbit demon beast and the squirrel were currently staying while he and Yi Min approached the capital city at a leisurely pace, Xuan Hao could not help opening his eyes in surprise after noticing the significant increase in strength of the two demon beasts over the past few months.

The squirrel had managed to improve its cultivation by one minor realm, bringing it one step closer to the Domain Lord Realm, while the rabbit demon beast was close to reaching the Fifth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm. Although the cultivation of the rabbit demon beast had not changed compared to the past, it's strength had undergone a qualitive change as it had fully adapted to the strength of the Fourth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm.

Thinking about it, the main reason for this sudden adaption and increase in strength should have been the three Soul Ascension Realm Experts who allowed the rabbit demon beast to fully utilize its strength for the first time since it had broken through to the Fourth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm.

Unknowingly, these Soul Ascension Realm Experts had ended up becoming steppingstones for the rabbit demon beast's rise…

"We are here!"

Unaware of Xuan Hao's thoughts, Yi Min smiled happily upon seeing the familiar walls of her capital city appearing in the distance. After four months, both of them had finally returned to the capital of the Iron Sky Kingdom… And although it wasn't that long for someone at their cultivation realm to be out travelling, it was still the longest time Yi Min had left her territory in the past hundreds of years. Outside of the time she happened to spend a few months recovering in the Star Shattering Sect…