Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Entering the small city that only had the presence of a single expert in the Soul Ascension Realm watching over it, Xuan Hao soon found himself silently following the old man as he slipped into the river unnoticed by the Soul Ascension Realm Expert in the city. Not taking long before both of them arrived at the rather desolate riverbed that only had a few small fish passing by every now and then.

The only thing standing out from the rather boring environment of the riverbed was a broken stone pillar that stood out like a sore thumb… And looking closer at the broken stone pillar, Xuan Hao discovered that it was the top of some kind of large structure that had been buried beneath the loose soil of the riverbed.

Even without having to see the old man enter the buried structure, it was rather obvious that the seal that last seal he was searching for was somewhere inside the large structure or at the very least connected to it in some way-

"Hm? What is this thing doing here?"

Bang!

For this reason, it was quite shocking to suddenly see the old man causally knocking the stone pillar aside before continuing forward without giving the now fully broken stone pillar and the large structure that had been partly revealed by the earlier attack a second glance.

"…"

Deciding that it might be for the best to not come to his own conclusions regarding the location of the last seal, Xuan Hao looked away from the massive structure that had been buried in the loose soil of the riverbed and instead decided to silently continue following the old man. Not intending to stray away from the old man in case he ended up accidentally losing him in the river.

After all, even though his divine sense could easily cover a massive area, the water in the river was dangerous and using his divine sense without a care might end up with him accidentally awakening one of the powerful demon beasts that were sleeping in the river. Not only endangering himself, but also the old man who was the only person he knew about with knowledge about the location of the last seal he needed to complete the quest from the system…

"Ah! Here it is."

It was only a few minutes after walking around on the riverbed that the old man suddenly came to a stop on an empty spot that was no different from the rest of the riverbed before he began taking out a strange artifact that looked like an oversized apple made out of metal.

What in the-

Whoosh~

Not even having time to understand who came up with such a strange looking artifact, the apple artifact flew out and merged together with the sand and gravel covered riverbed before a hole began to open up beneath the old man-

Rumble!

Directly causing the water to rush into the opening. Swish-!

Wasting no time after seeing the old man disappearing into the hole that had opened up in the riverbed, Xuan Hao followed after him without thinking twice about the danger that might be on the other side of the hole. Having seemingly forgotten his last encounter inside the seal in at the Burning Mountain Range.

…

Back in the small city located next to the river, a flying ship appeared to hover above the small city before landing a short distance away from the gate leading into the city, causing the Soul Ascension Realm Expert in charge of the city to rush out.

"This- East Sea Army!"

However, only a second after he rushed out did, he realize the identity of the people behind the flying ship, as he quickly backed down and put on a respectful expression while waiting for the people on the flying ship to appear.

Although the East Sea Army was by far the weakest among the four armies of the Blue Sea Empire and was constantly suppressed by the other three armies, it was still an official army of the Blue Sea Empire and could not be disrespected by a small city lord in the Soul Ascension Realm!

"To think that there's only such a small city nearby…"

"Nothing much we can do about it, the larger city that is located a little upstream got destroyed by a group of illusory beasts not too long ago and hasn't been rebuilt yet and is currently under the South Sea Army's control."

"Indeed… It would be best for us to avoid the South Sea Army, if possible, I really don't want to encounter any of their people again. Especially after our last encounter…"

"Hehe, indeed, those cowards will definitely try and use their position and backer to annoy us."

As the first few people disembarked from the massive flying ship, the city lord could not help feeling a shiver run down his spine as he listened to the conversations taking place between the soldiers.

Even though he had some knowledge about the bad relationship between the East Sea Army and the other three armies, he also understood that ordinary soldiers wouldn't dare to talk like the people who had just disembarked the flying ship!

Wait- The strength of these people- Even the weakest among them is in the Domain Lord Realm!? Don't tell me- Is this perhaps the main army of the East Sea Army!?

Suddenly realizing that he wasn't dealing with an ordinary army ship, the Soul Ascension Realm city lord felt a shiver run down his spine as he felt the very clear pressure of someone in the Earth Immortal Realm pressing down on him.

"Are you the city lord of this city?"

"Y-yes!" Hearing a voice suddenly calling out to him following the terrifying pressure of an Earth Immortal Realm Expert bearing down on him, the city lord kept his head lowered as he nervously answered. Understanding that the person asking him was most likely the Earth Immortal Realm Expert that was casually suppressing him.

"Sort out a place for us to stay at. At the same time, find any abnormalities in the surroundings over the past few months and bring them to me."

"Yes! I will be back shortly with the information, as for a place to stay… You can use the mansion in the middle of the city where I stay during your time here!" Nodding his head without daring to say anything else, the Soul Ascension Realm city lord directly offered his own abode as a way to please the Earth Immortal Realm Expert before he rapidly turned around and escaped back inside the city to find the information that had been requested.

Inside, the Soul Ascension Realm city lord was just hoping that things would blow over quickly and the East Sea Army would leave without causing any problems for him. After all, with his current strength, he had no way to resist a terrifying entity like the East Sea Army.

Swoosh-!

"…"

Watching as the city lord disappeared back inside the city at a speed that made one think he was escaping from some kind of terrifying demon beast, the general of the east sea army could not help smiling a bit wryly as he shook his head.

As weak as the East Sea Army might be back in the capital city, it still held quite a significant level of influence outside the core of the Blue Sea Empire, something that was brilliantly demonstrated by the city lord who had already disappeared inside the city.

"At least we won't have to worry about anything while we stay here." Muttering this to himself as he looked at the dust kicked up by the city lord as he had run away, the general turned back to command his subordinates to move into the city-

Rumble-!

However, just at this moment, a violent tremor hit the small city, causing everything to start shaking as a few smaller buildings collapsed.

"What is happening!?"

"An earthquake!?"

"No, I think someone might be fighting nearby!"

"Don't tell me- Another illusory beast!?"

As the weaker soldiers began panicking at the prospect of having to face another illusory beast in their current state, the general and the other Earth Immortal Realm Experts of the Blue Sea Army instantly realized that the origin of the tremor didn't come from an illusory beast.

Instead, they all noticed that it came from the river next to the city… And knowing just how dangerous the river was as it was a hotspot for demon beasts from the endless ocean to hibernate in, they all prepared themselves in case one of these demon beasts had woken up. After all, the weakest of these demon beasts hibernating had reached the Earth Immortal Realm, while the stronger ones were rumored to have surpassed the Earth Immortal Realm and reached the Celestial Immortal Realm!

"""…"""

However, as time passed without any demon beasts appearing, the general and the rest calmed down before deciding to go over and investigate the situation on the river…