At the same time that the second stage of the alchemy competition ended, Xuan Hao was searching through the close to endless tunnels beneath the surface of the Iron Sky Kingdom.
Even though he had limited himself to only search through the eastern part of the capital, it was still a far harder task than he had first expected it to be! The main reason for this being the fact that the tunnels went way deeper into the ground than he had first expected.
…
Sighing to himself as he reached yet another dead end without finding any clues as to the location of the demonic cultivator, Xuan Hao began to think that there might actually not be another tentacle monster around.
If that was really the case, it would be way harder for him to find the demonic cultivator hidden inside the capital.
"Nothing here as well-"
Rumble~
Just as Xuan Hao was about to turn around and leave to resume his search, a loud rumbling sound could be heard. Followed by the sound of a large quantity of rocks being moved around just a few meters beneath him.
Someone is digging a new tunnel?
This was the first thought that passed through his mind, but it was soon dismissed again.
From the time he had searched through the underground tunnels in the eastern part of the capital, Xuan Hao had come to understand that most of the mining activities were stopped. The few mining operations still active, were located close to the surface!
Not to mention the fact that yin qi grew denser and denser the further down one went. Making it? impossible for ordinary people to mine at such depths, Xuan Hao was currently he was a few thousand meters below the ground.
At such a depth, the yin qi was dense enough to even kill Qi Condensation Realm cultivators! Only someone at the Foundation Establishment Realm would be able to prevent the yin qi from invading their body and killing them!
A mining operation at such depth required a lot of cultivators and resources to carry out, there was no way he would have missed something like that with his divine sense. Even if it had been slightly restricted due to the dense yin qi in the air around him.𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
Demonic cultivator who cultivated yin qi would love such an environment, as it would allow them to progress twice as fast as normal with half the effort.
If someone was moving around at such a depth and it weren't any large-scale mining operation conducted by the Iron Sky Kingdom, it was highly likely demonic cultivators and it just so happened that he was looking for one!
Whoosh~
Thinking about this, Xuan Hao quickly made his way towards the source of the sound without alerting the other party. Even making sure to go back and make his way down through the tunnels instead of directly bursting through to the tunnel being dug out below him.
After all, the demonic cultivator he was chasing after should be quite strong. Given the fact that he had managed to escape from someone at the Domain Lord Realm, or at the very least pretended to do so if he was working together with General Guan…
At the very least, Xuan Hao expected that the demonic cultivator should have already reached the demonic cultivators equivalent of the Domain Lord Realm.
According to the demonic cultivation realms, that would mean he had reached the third and final transformation before fully transforming into a demon!
The thought of encountering someone like that, was more than enough to cause Xuan Hao to be extra careful as the origin of the digging sound from earlier finally came into view.
Rumble!
Crack-
Tentacle cocoons…?
Seeing five large tentacle cocoons similar to the one he had seen a week ago in the middle of a large underground cave all using their countless tentacles to dig deeper into the ground, Xuan Hao immediately hid himself as he decided to observe what the gathering of tentacle cocoons were up to before doing anything.
Thump~
Not a moment later, a young man with pale skin and blood red eyes appeared from a tunnel at the other side of the underground cave.
Roll~
A large tentacle cocoon similar to the other five in the process of digging with their tentacles rolled behind him before settling together with the other five tentacle cocoons where it soon joined in the digging process.
"Hm… That should be all of them, it's just a pity that I lost one of them. At least I was smart enough to hide a self-destruction formation inside of them in case something like that happened. Even if that little girl Yi Min tries to, she will only realize it when it's too late!"
"…"
Listening to the young man who had just appeared inside the cave together with a tentacle cocoon, Xuan Hao had a feeling that he was the demonic cultivator he was looking for.
Not only that, but the yin qi around him seemed to condense even further as the ground beneath his feet froze over with every step he took. This was not due to a domain or anything like that but was merely an after effect of the yin qi swirling around his body.
Just looking at it from a distance made Xuan Hao feel a shiver run down his spine. Of course, this was not because the ground froze over with every step that the pale looking young man took, but because of the power that was hidden within each step.
At this point, Xuan Hao had already managed to conclude that the pale looking young man currently looking over the tentacle cocoons as they dug deeper into the ground, was at least at the peak of the Third Demonic Transformation. Making him comparable to a Peak Domain Lord!
Even if Xuan Hao had managed to comprehend two domains and had fought against the winged tiger demon beast, Xuan Hao knew very well that there was no way he would be a match for the person in front of him.
Almost instinctively, he knew that he would die if he fought the pale looking young man in front of him!
Where this sudden fear came from, Xuan Hao had no idea, and he didn't want to try and test out his luck by fighting the demonic cultivator. After all, Yi Min had merely asked him to find out where the demonic cultivator was. Not kill or fight him!
Knowing this, Xuan Hao decided to make his way back towards Yi Min and inform her about the location of the demonic cultivator so she could deal with it.
As for what the tentacle cocoons were up to under the demonic cultivator's orders?
He did not plan to stay around and find out. Even without knowing what the demonic cultivator was up to, Xuan Hao was certain that it was nothing good…
Crack~
About to make his way out of the underground cave back towards Yi Min, Xuan Hao looked back towards the entrance of the tunnel he had come in through just behind him with a shocked look on his face.
There, in the tunnel he had entered the underground cave through, a giant oversized rat at the Second Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm casually made its way over. Stepping on a few pieces of wood that had fallen off the large support beams that kept the long-abandoned tunnel standing.
The oversized rat in question was a rock eating rat, a common demon beast found deep underground in natural or manmade tunnels and caves.
The rock eating rat lived off eating rocks and had developed a special resistance to the dense yin qi found deep underground. Normally, miners or explorers would ignore these demon beasts, as they never attacked others before being attacked.
All in all, there was nothing special about the peaceful oversized rat that liked to eat rocks…
"Hm?"
Other than the fact that it had just managed to alert the demonic cultivator inside of cave…
What have I done to deserve this?
Smiling wryly to himself as he looked over towards the demonic cultivator cautiously looking over towards his direction, Xuan Hao turned around to look towards the still oblivious oversized rat making its way over from the entrance of the tunnel. Unaware at just how dangerous its current situation was.
Given his current precarious situation, Xuan Hao knew that it would not be long before the demonic cultivator came over to take a look. At that point, Xuan Hao would have no way to hide.
Whoosh!
So, before he would be discovered by the other party, Xuan Hao decisively used a movement technique to run away.
…
"Who!?"
The scene of an unfamiliar person suddenly appearing before running away instantly entered the eyes of the pale looking young man, as he realized that his hiding spot had been discovered.
Who is that? The Iron Sky Kingdom has more than one Domain Lord? No! I can't let this person escape and inform that little girl Yi Min!
Narrowing both of his eyes as an overwhelming killing intent leaked out from them, the pale looking young man didn't think too much about Xuan Hao's identity before chasing after Xuan Hao.