Chapter 480: A Burning Sensation
"So, this is the swamp that the Flowing Cloud Sect is located inside of…"
Arriving in front of the swamp that the clerk had told him about, Xuan Hao could not help feeling amazed upon seeing the dozen or so narrow paths connected across the swamp with small wooden bridge.
Even more impressive was the enormous swamp cypress trees that had almost ended up becoming the only species of trees inside the swamp in front of him.
Other than that, Xuan Hao also inspected the different demon beasts hiding away in between the roots of the swamp cypress trees along with those hidden below the muddy waters.
The strongest among them was by far the alligator demon beasts, where even at the entrance to the swamp, the weakest among the group he had spotted, had already reached the later stages of the Qi Condensation Realm!
Whoosh~
Only staying around the entrance to the swamp for a few moments to appreciate the beauty of the cypress trees and get a grasp over what kind of demon beasts would likely be present inside the deeper parts of the swamp where the Flowing Cloud Sect was located, Xuan Hao once again flew into the sky before heading towards the Flowing Cloud Sect's location.
At the same time, he also began realizing just how hard it would be for the Flowing Cloud Sect to recruit new disciples and somewhat began to understand why they also accepted new disciples who were above the age of eighteen.
After all, it was not really easy to reach the Flowing Cloud Sect, as even the outer parts of the swamp already brimmed with demon beasts in the later stages of the Qi Condensation Realm.
Given how dangerous the outer parts of the swamp were, there should be quite a few demon beasts in the Foundation Establishment Realm, if not the Core Formation Realm in the deeper parts of the swamp.
Not really something a young child seeking to enter a sect had any way to deal with…
Travelling through the swamp, Xuan Hao saw many different and unique demon beasts that he had never seen before. However, he had come to realize that the most terrifying thing about the swamp was not the demon beasts, but the large quantity of insects present.
Not to mention the sheer number of insects flying all over the place, they were also extremely poisonous!
During the short period of time that he had spent flying through the swamp, he had already witnessed close to a dozen strong demon beasts collapse dead on the ground after being stung by these poisonous insects. The strongest of which had already reached the Foundation Establishment Realm!
Inside the swamp, the apex predator was not the strong alligator demon beasts he had seen, but was instead the small poisonous insects flying all over the place…
Thump!
Coming to a stop mid-air before landing on one of the many small wooden bridges below him, Xuan Hao frowned as he touched his forehead.
The reason for this, was that he had suddenly begun to feel a slight burning sensation from the place between his brows where the feather imprint was located.
Whoosh!
Using his divine sense, Xuan Hao quickly realized the fact that the feather imprint between his brows suddenly showed itself and began shinning with a pale blue light.
"The feather imprint is showing itself…?"
Muttering this to himself as he touched the now feather imprint between his brows shinning with a pale blue light, Xuan Hao quickly realized that he could not hide it like he had done before…
Other than that, Xuan Hao also began to feel something calling out to him from afar.
How weird… I wonder what it is…
Whoosh!
Looking towards the direction that the calling was coming from; Xuan Hao did not stay around waiting for long before moving towards the thing that was calling out to him.
For better or worse, he had a feeling that the burning sensation and the imprint of a feather between his brows would not disappear before he found the thing calling out to him. At the very least, he could tell that it was not too far away and was still somewhere inside the swamp…
…
At the same time, Xuan Hao began searching for the thing that was calling out to him and had caused the feather imprint between his brows to show itself, the formation around the temple ruins deeper inside the swamp was beginning to crack, as a few of the temple pillars covered in cracks began breaking apart.
Bang!
Along with each of the pillars breaking apart, the formation that formed the dome shaped barrier around the temple ruins weakened even further.
"Finally, that damnable formation is breaking! Haha, they won't be able to hide away for long!"
The middle-aged man in the lead of the people currently attacking the dome shaped barrier smiled happily upon seeing this.
Even if he had angrily dismissed one of his subordinates earlier upon hearing the mention of the Flowing Cloud Sect's possible reinforcements showing up, he knew very well that his subordinate was right.
In the first place, the reason why he was so nervous, was because he understood that he would have no way to fight back when one of the Flowing Cloud Sect's Nascent Soul Realm Experts arrived.
The only reason why he had dared to stay for so long with the Flowing Cloud Sect not being located too far away from his current location, was because a giant swarm of death poison mosquitos had appeared between the temple ruins and the Flowing Cloud Sect.
The death poison mosquitos were not something to be taken lightly, as their special soul poison was strong enough to even kill someone in the Nascent Soul Realm!
Given that these terrifying insects were blocking the main path between the Flowing Cloud Sect and the temple ruins, the Nascent Soul Realm Expert from the Flowing Cloud Sect would have no choice but to take a detour around them.
Crack~
"Haha! Looks like it won't be able to hold for much longer! Everyone, begin spreading out, we can't let any of them escape!"
Seeing one of the main pillars of the temple shatter as several large cracks began appearing on the dome shaped barrier, the middle-aged man laughed happily to himself before informing his subordinates to surround the temple.
Whoosh!
It did not take long for his subordinates to spread out and completely surround the temple ruins before once again resuming their attack.
"Hm… This should be the place…"
"Ah-!"
Hearing someone's voice just behind him, the middle-aged man jumped up in a fearful manner before turning towards the direction of the voice.
Having remained completely focused on the temple ruins and the people inside of the temple, he did not even notice that someone had suddenly appeared behind him.
Who is that…? It should not be someone from the Flowing Cloud Sect, we should still have a few minutes before their Nascent Soul Realm Expert arrives…
Thinking this to himself as he inspected the young man that had suddenly appeared behind him, the first thing that stood out was the weird feather imprint located between his brows shinning with a pale blue light.
Staring at the feather imprint between the young man's eyebrows, the middle-aged man felt a shiver run down his spine, as he suddenly realized that he could not move a single muscle in his body.
The rest of his subordinates was no better, as everything suddenly seemed to have frozen in place. The attacks traveling towards the dome shaped barrier covering the ancient temple had at some point dissipated mid-air before reaching their target.
"Looks like there is also someone inside the temple ruins."
Watching as the young man suddenly took a step forward before disappearing in front of him, the middle-aged man barely managed to force his body to turn around after the young man had disappeared.
However, when he turned around, he just managed to see the young man lightly taping the dome shaped barrier.
Crack~
Bang!
This… What in the world!? Who is that person!?
Seeing the barrier that would at least have taken them another minute or so to break apart, being destroyed by a light tap from the young man, made the middle-aged man realize just how terrifying the young man was.
"Hah… I can… Hah… Move again…"
As the figure of the young man disappeared into the temple ruins, the middle-aged man collapsed onto the ground sweating all over. The restrictions keeping him from moving had disappeared, but this was only followed by an overwhelming sense of terror.
"L-leader, w-what should we do…?"
"We leave! Immediately!"
"But what about…"
"You want to enter the temple ruins with that person around!? You should be happy you are still alive! Let's leave before that person returns!"
Angrily rebuking the subordinate who had come over to him, the middle-aged man did not dare stay around the temple ruins for even a second longer, as he directly left without waiting for his subordinates to follow.
"L-leader!"
"Wait for me!"
Soon everyone surrounding the temple ruins ran away with their tails between their legs. Not daring to stay around after seeing their leader escape.
"First you want to stay and now you want to leave?"
Muttering this to himself before following the others. The subordinate who had asked what to do, could only sigh to himself as he began to wonder when his leader had become so cowardly.
However, in the end, he did not have anything to say regarding his decision. After all, the young man who had suddenly appeared, was simply way too scary…