Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Following the river upstream for the next few weeks, Xuan Hao encountered several different towns and cities along the way. Although smaller than the city he had visited close to the border and the absence of anyone in the Earth Immortal Realms, these cities and towns were by no means small and weak.

On the other hand, even the weakest town had someone in the Soul Ascension Realm watching over it. The stronger cities on the other hand at least had a dozen Soul Ascension Realm Experts present inside them with one expert at the Peak of the Soul Ascension Realm from the Blue Sea Empire watching over the city.

Just the Soul Ascension Realm Experts present in a single city of the Blue Sea Empire's border region was more than powerful enough to flatten the current Sky Empire! 

Even if the ancestor of the Sky Empire's imperial family was still around with his guardian formation and all the Soul Ascension Realm Experts in the Sky Empire worked together, they would still not be able to stand against the dozen or so Soul Ascension Realm Experts.

After all, outside of there being a lot of them, their average strength was far above the Soul Ascension Realm Experts in the Sky Empire, who were mostly between the First and Second Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm. Not to mention, there was still a Peak Soul Ascension Realm Expert, who was more than strong enough to destroy the Sky Empire by himself!

All of this was more than enough to solidify just how strong the blue Sea Empire was… And the worst part was that this was only the outer region of the empire. Still far away from the Blue Sea Empire's core of power.

"I wonder if I will start to encounter Earth Immortal Realm Experts after reaching the cities in the inner region…" Muttering this to himself as he glanced down towards a relatively large town by the side of the massive river, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a sense of unease.

After all, he had not even entered the inner region of the Blue Sea Empire and had already encountered so many Soul Ascension Realm Experts. 

If things continued like that, it would only make sense for him to encounter Earth Immortal Realm Experts after reaching the inner region of the Blue Sea Empire, something that he wanted to avoid given his current strength being nowhere near strong enough to contend against someone in the Earth Immortal Realm.

At the moment, the best he could do was take advantage of his Dao of Space to run away before the other party had the time to attack.

Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao continued his journey upstream. According to what he knew, he should be reaching the inner region of the Blue Sea Empire soon-

Rumble-!

Having only just turned his attention away from the small town below him, a loud rumbling sound suddenly echoed out upstream.

RUMBLE-!

Not even a few seconds later, an even more terrifying sound could be heard as what could only be described as a wave of water the height of a small mountain appeared in the distance before rapidly approaching his current location at a speed that even someone in the Soul Ascension Realm would find it hard to match. 

Even standing more than a thousand meters above the ground, it was only barely enough to stay above the top of the enormous wave of water… And that was not mentioning the fact that the wave of water seemed to be strengthened by the Dao of Water. 

Even with his current strength, he had a feeling that it would be difficult to face the wave of water head on.

"Wha-what in the world is that?!"

Given how loud the rumbling sounds earlier were and the fact that it was quite hard to miss the wave the size of a mountain range moving towards them, it did not take long before the people in the town below him realized that danger was approaching…

"A mountain range- Huh? I-is that mountain range moving closer or is it just me?"

"That is-!? I-I-I don't want to die like this!"

"Me too! Let's run away while we still have time!"

"Hmph! Given the speed of that wave, only someone in the Soul Ascension Realm would be able to do something like that…"

"T-then… Maybe we can hide underground and try to keep the water out with a formation instead of facing it head on…"

As everyone in the city below began panicking upon realizing that the enormous wave of water was approaching them, the town lord in charge of protecting the town had other plans-

"What a terrifying use of the Dao of Water, I can't deal with something like that with my strength! I have to get out of here!"

Whoosh-!

And before any of the other people in the town had the time to fully comprehend the danger of the current situation, the town lord who had been put in charge of the town by the Blue Sea Empire to ensure the town's continued survival and growth. Disappeared without a trace. 

"…"

Seeing this, Xuan Hao felt a sense of admiration for the town lord. Not because he had abandoned his town and the people inside of it, but because he had been able to accurately perceive that the wave had been strengthened by the Dao of Water.

Even for him, it was quite hard to pick up on this, let alone for someone who was only in the earlier stages of the Soul Ascension Realm.

Of course, after understanding that the wave of water had been strengthened by the Dao of Water, the town lord also understood that he would only end up dying if he decided to continue staying inside the town and try to protect it.

"Hm… I wonder where this wave of water came from. Given the strength behind it, it should have either been created by a Peak Soul Ascension Realm Expert specializing in the Dao of Water or…" Stopping midsentence as he thought about the second possibility, Xuan Hao could not help feeling an urge to turn around and escape in the direction he had come from.

BOOOOOOOM-!

Swish-!

However, before he had a chance to decide on what to do, a terrifying explosion echoed out from upstream. Followed by something passing through the wave and flying over the town at a speed that even made it difficult for him to perceive what it was-

BANG!

Smashing into the ground only a few thousand meters away from the town filled with terrified people.

"This is…"

Seeing "what" had smashed into the ground in front of the town, Xuan Hao froze for a second as he realized that the second possibility had come true!

Whoosh-!

Wasting no time after realizing this, Xuan Hao directly used the Dao of Space to escape in the direction leading away from the river. After all, the thing that had landed on the other side of the town just so happened to be blocking his escape path downstream…

"Ahhh! How dare you attack me inside the Blue Sea Empire!?" 

Not even a second after Xuan Hao escaped from the town with the help of the Dao of Space, a terrifying roar filled with killing intent echoed out from the place that the "thing" had landed. Making it clear that it wasn't a thing, but instead a person who had been knocked through the wave of water.

Swish-!

Wasting no time following the loud roar, the person who had landed just outside the town jumped into the air before rushing back in the direction he had come from. In the process of doing this, he passed through the wave again-

WHOOSH-!

The only difference was that this time around, his terrifying qi tore apart the wave of water the size of a mountain range, causing it to collapse in on itself. Losing any of the power it had before.

"We are saved!"

"Thank you senior!" 

"Ah! The great immortals blessed us!"

Although a large amount of water was still heading towards the town at this moment, it was far from strong enough to pose any threat to the city without being strengthened by the Dao of Water. Resulting in the people of the town began happily celebrating as they thanked the senior who had destroyed the wave of water and saved them.

Indeed, it was as I feared… A battle between Earth Immortal Realm cultivators! The wave should just have been created during their fight inside or around the river…

Having already created a rather large distance between himself and the town at this point in time, Xuan Hao looked back at the wave of water that was still in the process of collapsing.

Although he had expected to encounter someone at the Earth Immortal Realm after entering the inner region of the Blue Sea Empire, he had never expected to run into a battle between two Earth Immortal Realm cultivators!