Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Stepping through the small celestial gate without the slightest bit of hesitation after sensing his opportunity to escape from what would have undoubtedly ended up with him dying, Xuan Hao didn't even register the massive bird being reduced to dust behind him as he charged forward at full speed-

BANG!

Slamming headfirst into an invisible barrier the second before slowly finding himself sliding down the side of said invisible barrier as his brain worked overtime to comprehend what had just happened.

First, he escaped from the sea of lightning through the small celestial gate.

Second, the ferocious beasts had not followed him, as they would have already launched another barrage of attacks by now.

Third, he had smashed headfirst into a wall- No, a barrier of some kind. One that was invisible and difficult to sense. Making it understandable how people might accidentally fly into it…

Everything pointed towards him having successfully managed to clear the celestial trial… And looking around himself a bit more now, he discovered that he was in the middle of a small, paved stone platform with a single pedestal in the middle of it.

Around the small, paved stone platform was a vast world filled with an ethereal mist that stretched on as far as he could see, though… He couldn't enter that mist-filled world, something he had learnt about firsthand when his face met the barrier surrounding the small, paved stone platform rather intimately.

Rustle~

Getting back up again after understanding that he wasn't in any immediate danger any longer and he most likely found himself inside some kind of special space that appeared after completing the celestial trial, Xuan Hao curiously stepped towards the only thing of interest on the small, paved stone platform, the pedestal, or more specifically, the scroll on top of the pedestal.

"Sea of Lightning, Trial Summary…? Is this perhaps something new or were the other celestial gates perhaps too damaged?" Reading the first few words on top of the scroll, it wasn't difficult for him to understand the meaning of his current location and the rest of the scroll.

The only thing that left him a bit surprised was the fact that he hadn't encountered this kind of space in any of the other celestial trials he had gone through. Likely an indication of just how damaged those celestial gates had been compared to the seemingly intact eighth celestial gate.

Of course, even if the situation seemed to indicate a celestial gate in a far better situation than the rest, it was doubtful that the enemies of the Mirage Sect would have simply allowed a celestial gate to remain intact after having destroyed all the other celestial gates to varying degrees.

Because of this, the celestial gate that he was inside of had likely also suffered extensive damage. Only, compared to the others, the damage it had suffered wasn't apparent and hadn't affected the celestial trial inside.

Well… The small celestial gate not being open might have something to do with whatever damage the celestial gate had ended up suffering from…

Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao decided to throw his doubts regarding the eighth celestial gate to the back of his mind and instead focus his attention on the scroll on the pedestal. In any case, anything pertaining to the celestial gates and their fate was far beyond his current strength.

[Celestial Trial, Sea of Lightning]

[Strength: Early Stage of the Sea Formation Realm]

[Difficulty: 4/5]

[Reward: 100 Celestial Coins]

[Difficulty Bonus: 175 Celestial Coins]

[Total: 275 Celestial Coins]

Overall, the information on the scroll wasn't a lot, but it gave him a clear idea of how many celestial coins he had managed to earn from completing the trial.

To be honest, it was rather shocking to find out that a single trial had earned him close to three hundred celestial coins, but considering the difficulty and his near-death experience, it was understandable.

Although, looking at the difficulty that was only 4 out of 5, it made him realize just how powerful some geniuses in the past were. After all, it was clearly indicated in the scroll of trials that the final difficulty involved the appearance of a Land Creation Realm ferocious beast.

He found it difficult to face off against a single ferocious beast at the Peak of the Celestial Immortal Realm, he couldn't imagine how someone was able to face off against a ferocious beast even stronger than that.

"There is always someone stronger. Reaching the top of one mountain will only reveal an even taller mountain beyond that." Muttering this to himself, Xuan Hao's attention shifted towards a second scroll hidden beneath the first.

[Tier Three Trial Participant, Temporary Elder Status]

[Strength: Early Stage of the Sea Formation Realm, Former Dao Domain Lord]

[Celestial Coins: 312]

[Normal Trials Completed: 8]

[Special Trials Completed: 0]

[Eligible to take on special trial, inform an elder of the Mirage Sect for more information]

The second scroll hidden beneath the first wasn't that much different in the amount of information, the main difference was that it was information about himself instead of the trial itself. Giving him a clear idea of his status in the eyes of the celestial trials, while also showing the number of Celestial Coins he had available along with the trials he had completed so far.

The only thing that caught him somewhat off guard was the last part of the scroll that finally gave him some insight into the special trials required for promoting his status from a tier three participant.

Unfortunately, even if he wanted to find out more, there wasn't much he could do with the information of "ask an elder of the Mirage Sect", as there weren't really any elders of the Mirage Sect around for him to ask, outside of one that had already died shortly after giving him the robe that granted him his temporary elder status.

"So… What do I do now? Wait to get thrown out?" Done looking through the two scrolls, Xuan Hao glanced around the small, paved stone platform. Wondering if he would be thrown out of the trial like had happened in the past after he completed a celestial trial.

However, as he sat down to wait for the trial space to expel him like had happened in the past, seconds slowly turned into minutes and minutes into hours without anything happening.

By the three-hour mark, he couldn't help growing a bit nervous about his circumstances and by the five-hour mark, he had already begun searching through the limited space available to him for any clues that might help him understand his current situation and how to leave the trial space now that his trial had been completed.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard he looked through the small space, he found nothing that would help him leave.

As for forcefully leaving… That was nothing more than a wistful fantasy, as the barrier surrounding the small, paved stone platform not only sealed the space, but was also powerful enough to withstand anything he threw at it without the slightest ripple.

Wrong… Something is definitely wrong with this celestial gate!

Only now, understanding that the eighth celestial gate might be the worst damaged out of all the celestial gates he had encountered so far, Xuan Hao could not help despairing inside as he stared into the ethereal mist that surrounded his little island of paved stone.

Instead of a malfunction in the operations of the celestial trial trapping him inside a small space that noted down a small summary of his trial, he would prefer having to brave his way through a spatial storm on his way to the trial.

After all, the spatial storm was something that could be overcome with enough luck and strength on his side, while his current situation seemed completely hopeless, as breaking free would essentially require him to break the barrier put in place by the celestial gate itself.

Even if he was lucky and somehow managed to break the barrier created by the celestial gate to contain him in his current location, it would in turn also make the rest of the celestial gate view him as a potential hostile entity, something that would mean certain death at his current realm.

"Is all I can do wait here and-"

Whoosh~!

In the process of lamenting over his predicament, Xuan Hao suddenly found the space twisting around him before he found himself back in front of the massive eighth celestial gate without any warning.

"…"

Staring up at the celestial gate now directly in front of him while ignoring the thunder clouds rumbling all around him, Xuan Hao had no idea if he should complain or feel thankful that he had managed to leave the eighth celestial gate.

Whoosh~

In the end, he decided not to say anything and quietly left in the direction of the next celestial gate. Noting down that there was definitely something wrong with the eighth celestial gate and to avoid it in case he had an opportunity to enter the celestial gates again in the future.