1096 Improvements and Unfortunate Encounter

Deciding not to think too much about what he had lost out on, Xuan Hao instead focused his attention back on the reward that he actually got from Mui breaking through to the Core Formation, becoming his fourth disciple to reach the Core formation Realm.

For now, I should redeem the reward from the system and get stronger before starting to search for any illusory beasts that might be able to help increase my comprehension of the Dao of Illusions…

Glancing around at his surroundings as he thought about this to himself, Xuan Hao soon spotted a small, secluded spot not too far away. A perfect place for him to enter a short seclusion while he redeemed the reward from the system to increase the strength of his physique and bring it one step closer to awakening.

[Redeem reward: Y/N]

Yes!

Whoosh~!

Not even a second after ensuring that the place was safe and he had ensured that he wouldn't end up getting found by any of the illusory beasts that might pass through the place, Xuan Hao redeemed the reward from the system. Soon feeling the familiar power of the system flowing through his body as the strength of his body began increasing rapidly, while at the same time strengthening his connection to the Dao of Space

However, the most obvious change taking place was not the clear increase in the strength of his physical body or the Dao of Space growing clearer and easier to comprehend. Instead, it was the special ability that came along with his physique's awakening, the Divine Void Eyes, which had changed from being able to cause a partial spatial collapse to being capable of causing a true spatial collapse!

Although he had no idea just how exhausting it would be for him to create a true spatial collapse with his current strength, he felt a sense of excitement as he remembered the true spatial collapse he had witnessed back in the mystic realm.

Back then, the true spatial collapse had left behind a scar on the world that didn't show any signs of healing even after a long period of time. Different from the partial spatial collapse that was almost instantly repaired.

Of course, it could also just be because the true spatial collapse had happened in a mystic realm that could in sense be considered outside the world itself even thought it was intimately connected to it through countless spatial passages and had in essence been created by the world over a long period of time.

But even if the true spatial collapse didn't last as long before being suppressed and erased by the forces that kept the spatial structure of the world intact, the true spatial collapse would still provide him a great opportunity for him to comprehend the Dao of Space.

Even if the speed of comprehension might be lower when it was compared to killing illusory beasts to improve his comprehension of the Dao of Illusions, it would provide him a stable path for reaching the Large Success Realm in the Dao of Space in the future… And if he couldn't continue killing the illusory beasts, he could also switch over to comprehending the Dao of Space instead.

The only problem with this was the fact that comprehending the Dao of Space was a far harder ordeal compared to the Dao of Illusions. Even with the assistance of the true spatial collapse ability of his Divine Void Eyes, he doubted that he would be able to reach the large Success Realm in it without at least five or ten years of time.

A terrifying speed when compared to other cultivators, but far too slow if he wanted to reach the Late Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm before the Earth Immortal Realm Expert from the Heavenly Dragon Temple appeared to investigate what was happening at the Shattered Star Peaks.

After all, outside of reaching the Large Success Realm in one of his Daos, he also had to fully integrate them into his dao domain, something that might take months- even more so when considering that he had yet to integrate his Dao of Illusions into his dao domain.

Smiling a bit wryly as he thought about this to himself, Xuan Hao decided to pull up his current status and see how much he had improved. Feeling curious about how far his physique was from awakening given that it would also slowly awaken on its own without the help of the system.

Name: Xuan Hao

Dao Domain: Dao of Ice (Small Success), Dao of the Sword (Small Success), Dao of Corruption (Small Success), Dao of Fire (Small Success), Dao of Space (Small Success)

Not integrated into Dao Domain: Dao of Illusions (Small Success Realm)

Sword Intent: Nascent Sword Soul Realm

Talent: ???? 

Bloodline: Three Immortals Bloodline (Half-Awakened) 

Physique: ??? (76% Awakened)

Realm: Intermediate Stage Dao Domain Lord (Comparable to Sixth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm) 

Professions: Alchemist (Artisan), Formation Master (Expert), Blacksmithing (Expert) 

Sect: Star Shattering Sect 

Status: Grand Elder of the Star Shattering Sect 

Disciples: Qing Yi, Chu Yang, Bai Ning, Mui 

Pet: Lazy Winged Lion (Peak Ninth Stage Domain Lord Realm), Rabbit Demon Beast (Third Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm) 

Indeed, looking through his status, Xuan Hao realized that a few things other than his physique had changed since he had last seen his status.

First of all, the awakening progress of his physique had reached 76%, meaning that it had indeed improved a bit on its own without his cultivation realm improving. Next, the systems evaluation of his current strength had changed from the fifth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm to the Sixth tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm, a clear sign that he was indeed getting closer to reaching the Peak of the Intermediate Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm.

However, the thing that surprised him the most was that the winged lion demon beast's strength had improved from just being in the Ninth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm to the Peak of the Ninth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm. Meaning that it should be in the process of getting ready to break through to the Soul Ascension Realm.

But… Considering how lazy the winged lion demon beast was, he highly doubted that its sudden increase in strength was due to it being diligent and cultivating hard on its own during his absence. Instead, it was far more likely that it had found something to eat that could help increase its strength.

Now, the main question became what it had eaten to increase its strength to a degree that it was about to reach the Soul Ascension Realm…

Deciding to not think too much about this for now as it would only make him worried about the state of the sect's demon beasts, Xuan Hao used his divine sense to check if there were any powerful illusory beasts nearby before leaving the small cave, he had hidden inside of to redeem the reward from the system.

Roooar!

However, just as he stepped outside the small cave, a loud roar could be heard not too far away from him as an illusory beast at the Peak of the Soul Ascension Realm appeared out of nowhere charging directly towards him.

"This…"

Not having expected to be met with such a sight after having made sure there was no powerful illusory beasts around just a second earlier, Xuan Hao could not help frowning to himself as he wasted no time in using his dao domain and Dao of Illusions together to hide himself from the approaching illusory beast.

Even if it had just appeared all of a sudden and was charging directly towards him, it was also obvious from the fact that it kept looking behind itself that it did not see him and just happened to be moving in his direction while roaring loudly.

"Come back! Don't you dare escape from me!" 

Soon enough, it became clear what was happening as a loud yell echoed out from behind the illusory beast and an all too familiar figure appeared not too far behind the illusory beast filled with killing intent.

The cultivator from earlier… 

Seeing this person, Xuan Hao could not help narrowing his eyes as he began moving away from the path of the escaping illusory beast.

Even if his strength was now comparable to someone in the Sixth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm according to the system, he also understood that there was a very clear difference between someone who had just reached the Sixth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm and someone who was just a single step away from the Earth Immortal Realm.

"Huh?"

However, just as he was about to successfully move out of the way and avoid a confrontation with the escaping illusory beast and the terrifying Soul Ascension Realm cultivator, the illusory beast changed direction and came straight towards him once again. Giving him no time react before it was only a few hundred meters away from, a distance that made it impossible for him to stay hidden from the Peak Soul Ascension Realm illusory beast…