700 Stuck Underground
"Ah... If you are here to deal with the demonic cultivators, can you leave the Azure Sky Kingdom alone? My sect is currently already in the process of cleaning that place up at the moment and using it to train some of our younger disciples at the same time."
Hearing that they had indeed come to deal with the demonic cultivators, Xuan Hao decided to ask them to leave the Azure Sky Kingdom alone.
Not only was his sect already dealing with the demonic cultivators in the Azure Sky Kingdom, but Xuan Hao was also afraid that the Domain Lord Realm Experts among them might find out about the rich deposits filled with spiritual metal located below the capital of the Azure Sky Kingdom.
If they really ended up discovering them, it might be difficult for the Star Shattering Sect to claim them as their own before the Sky Empire came over to take a piece of the spiritual metals below the Azure Sky Kingdom...
"Hm? Leave the Azure Sky Kingdom alone? Sure, we will be more than happy to do that! After all, we are already far too few people to handle the many kingdoms that have recently been overrun with demonic cultivators over the past few weeks, your sect taking care of one kingdom for us is a more than welcome thing. Makes it easier for us!"
Showing a happy expression on his face after hearing Xuan Hao mentioning that his sect was already dealing with the demonic cultivators in the Azure Sky Kingdom, the imperial guard happily agreed to leave the Azure Sky Kingdom alone.
Given the fact that Xuan Hao was someone who had reached the Ninth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, the imperial guard did not doubt that his sect would be able to deal with the surge of demonic cultivators in a small kingdom.
"That's great... Well then, I won't hold you up any longer."
"Farewell senior!"
Whoosh~
Taking his leave after having made sure that the group of people from the Sky Empire would not be entering the Azure Sky Kingdom, Xuan Hao resumed his journey.
"The senior just now is from a sect located in the border region and his sect is already taking care of the Azure Sky Kingdom, so we will ignore that kingdom and focus on the other kingdoms bordering the Frozen Wasteland!"
Informing the rest of the imperial guards that had been silently waiting from afar about his short conversation, the imperial guards all showed happy expressions on their faces after hearing that one of the kingdoms they were supposed to clean up had already been dealt with by the sect of the mysterious senior they had just encountered.
"That senior just now... I wonder what his name is..."
"Indeed and what sect is he from? Maybe we should check it out after we finish our job..."
"For such a powerful senior to be unknown, I think he might be someone from another empire that fled to the Sky Empire and decided to settle down here!"
"Hm... That does indeed seem plausible, but-"
"Everyone! Let's get going before things end up getting even worse in those kingdoms!"
Seeing the rest of the imperial guards start chatting with each other full of curiosity about the identity of Xuan Hao and his sect, the imperial guard that had just chatted with Xuan Hao quickly interrupted them and informed them about what they were here for.
""YES!""
Hearing what their leader said, the rest of the imperial guards tensed up for a moment before all of them continued their journey towards the border between the Sky Empire and the Frozen Wasteland.
"Hey, who was that just now?"
"Yeah, and what sect is he from?"
The two other Domain Lord Realm Experts did not say anything up till now quickly used the opportunity when the rest of the imperial guards were controlling their demon beasts to start asking the imperial guard that had been chatting with Xuan Hao.
"Hah..."
Knowing that he would not be able to satiate the curiosity of the two other Domain Lords due to him not getting much information about Xuan Hao, the imperial guard could not help letting out an exhausted sigh as he silently prayed that they would reach the border faster.
...
"No matter what direction we move, we always end up running into a group of Qi Condensation Realm demon beasts! Just how many demon beasts are hidden down here and where are the stronger demon beasts!?"
Having walked through the underground cave network of the jungle for close to an hour at this point in time, Hui Ying could not help complaining after seeing a group of demon beasts appearing in front of them.
After they had escaped from the underground hideout and dealt with the small group of Qi Condensation Realm demon beasts, it did not take long before they encountered another group of Qi Condensation Realm demon and after dealing with that group of demon beasts, another group of Qi Condensation Realm demon beasts appeared...
The group of demon beasts in front of them that looked like a group of oversized rats was the seventh group of Qi Condensation Realm demon beasts they had encountered after entering the underground cave network!
Even if they had no trouble dealing with the Qi condensation Realm demon beasts, Hui Ying could still not help feeling a bit annoyed when she saw another group of Qi Condensation Realm demon beasts appear in front of her...
"Indeed... It's rather weird that we have encountered so many Qi Condensation Realm demon beasts after entering the underground part of the jungle, while we have yet to encounter a single demon beast in the Foundation Establishment Realm or above."
Nodding his head as he agreed with what Hui Ying said, Bai Ning also felt that it was weird that they had only encountered Qi Condensation Realm demon beasts so far.
The only reason he could think of, was that the weaker demon beasts had hidden underground to safely grow and would leave after they broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
The only problem with this, was that they had yet to find any paths leading back up to the surface.
"Hah..."
Letting out a sigh as he thought about this, Bai Ning felt his head hurt as he turned his attention towards the group of Qi Condensation Realm demon beasts-
Roar!
Roar!
Roar!
"Weird rats, how can you even roar in the first place?"
ROAR!
"Fine! If you want to fight, come!"
Swish~!
BANG!
"..."
From the looks of it, Hui Ying had decided to deal with the demon beasts by herself...
Looking away from the one sided massacre that was taking place as Hui Ying easily beat up all of the oversized rats, Bai Ning instead began inspecting the cave that they were currently inside.
Compared to the other places they had been in so far, the current cave was actually lit up by some sort of crystals that had been exposed in the caves walls and ceiling.
Allowing Bai Ning and Hui Ying to see their surroundings far more clearly compared to when they were forced to use their qi to enhance their eyesight to see in the darkness.
Because of this, Bai Ning managed to see the cave they were inside far more clearly compared to any before-
"Wha-!?"
And it was at this moment that he realized that not only was the cave they were inside of was far larger than he had expected, but he could also see the ruins of what had once been larger structures deeper inside the cave.
"Follow me, we might be able to find a way out of here!"
Calling out to Hui Ying with a serious expression on his face, Bai Ning understood just how important these ruins might be to them in their quest to find a way out of the jungle!
Swoosh~
Not waiting for Hui Ying, he cautiously began approaching the ruins in the distance.
"What?! O-okay!"
Bang!
R-roar!
Not knowing what had caused Bai Ning to become so serious all of a sudden, Hui Ying quickly dealt with the last remaining oversized rat demon beast before quickly running after Bai Ning.
"Ruins!? Are they perhaps related to the hideout we found earlier...?"
Only after catching up with Bai Ning did she spot the ruins deeper inside the cave and realized why Bai Ning had suddenly become so serious.
The ruins were far larger than the small hideout that they had found before and the chance of them finding something that could lead them out of the jungle in there was far larger compared to if they had found another small hideout.
After all, even if there might not be any spiritual herbs or metals inside, there was a high chance that there was some scrolls or books that had managed to remain intact inside.
Given that the demon beasts inside the underground cave network did not really care about books and scrolls, they should still be fine inside the ruins if they had managed to remain intact over the years!