Continuing deeper inside the Thousand Wind Mountains, the environment shifted away from mountains covering ever place in sight and was instead replaced by a large plain filled with small hills where the strength of the wind once again increased.
Whoosh~!
Not hesitating for more than a few seconds when faced with the wind that was far stronger than before, the bulky man tightly clenched the Windbloom Flower in his hands before stepping foot onto the vast yet empty plain.
Crack~!
Not long after, the Windbloom Flower in his hands shook violently for a moment as the almost transparent barrier protecting him rapidly began cracking apart at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"This-?!" Not having any time to react to the barrier suddenly starting to crack apart around him, fear filled the eyes of the bulky man as gripped onto the Windbloom Flower even tighter than before while injecting his qi into it in hopes of helping strengthen the barrier around him.
Fwoosh~
Having closed his eyes not caring about his surroundings as he was using all his strength to try and help the Windbloom Flower resist the now far more terrifying winds all around him to no avail, the bulky man didn't notice a small string carefully approaching without being noticed before attaching itself to the Windbloom Flower.
BOOM-!
Not even a second after the string had connected itself to the Windbloom Flower, the flower seemed to suddenly have evolved, its strength reaching a brand new level as the almost transparent barrier protecting the bulky man quickly stabilized. Allowing the bulky man to stop pouring his qi into the flower.
"Did it evolve after I injected my qi into it!? This... It does seem like the connection has deepened and the power of the barrier is also far stronger compared to before... Looks like injecting my qi into it did indeed end up causing some qualitative change that allowed it to evolve!"
Not knowing what had suddenly happened for the Windbloom Flower to rapidly increase in strength after he injected his qi into it, the bulky man presumed that it was him injecting his qi into it that had ended up causing it to evolve and ultimately increase its strength enough to resist the wind outside.
The main reason why he thought that this was the case and not due to some external factor, was that his connection with the Windbloom Flower had deepened compared to before. Allowing him to not only use its power to protect himself more easily, but also allowing him to sense the different wind currents all around him.
In a sense, his connection to the Dao of Wind had deepened unknowingly and if he reached the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm in the future, he would not have any difficulty reaching the Domain Lord Realm with enough time!
...
"So powerful..." Different from the bulky man that didn't notice the thin thread filled with power connecting to the Windbloom Flower before disappearing, Xuan Hao saw everything as he sucked in a cold breath of air.
Even if it was just for an instant, he had managed to get a grasp over the power behind the small thread connecting to the Windbloom Flower... And he was sure that the person who had been secretly following behind the bulky man like him was someone above the Domain Lord Realm.
Not only was the quality of the qi that was infused into the Windbloom Flower through the thin thread of a completely different level compared to his own, but the small glimpse he had managed to catch of the other party's true strength was more than enough to confirm that the person in question had indeed surpassed the Domain Lord Realm!
"..."
Continuing to look towards the location that he had sensed the person in question should be hiding for the next few minutes, Xuan Hao remained silent without moving and using his divine sense in an attempt to get a better understanding of just how strong he or she was. Knowing very well that it would be best not to move before the bulky man recovered and began moving, while at the same time understanding that he would get found out the moment he used his divine sense to try and find out the strength of the other party...
As a total of fifteen minutes passed by slowly and the time limit of the quest given by the system also reduced to less than an hour, the bulky man seemed to have fully recovered as he once again stood up before continuing deeper inside the Thousand Wind Mountains.
Whoosh~!
Different from the past however, the bulky man seemed to understand the different wind currents passing through the empty yet massive plain of the Thousand Wind Mountains. Allowing him to move far faster compared to the past by avoiding the more powerful wind currents that would end up slowing down his speed.
At the same time, Xuan Hao who was following behind the bulky man as he made his way deeper and deeper inside the Thousand Wind Mountains could not help frowning when feeling the winds outside colliding with his domain.
Even if it was still not anywhere near being able to pose a threat to him, the strength of the wind outside had already become comparable to the attack of a Fourth Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert!
Under such conditions, even a stronger Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm might end up dying!
After all, even if a Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert might have the ability to easily defend against someone in the Fourth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, the wind constantly crashing against his domain was like constant stream of attacks launched by someone in the Fourth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.
Even if the Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert could withstand it for a short period of time, there was no way to continuously enduring such a powerful and consistent stream of attacks!
If not for the fact that the strength of his domain had increased by an unfathomable degree after it had been formed by his sword and ice domain merging together, Xuan Hao would not have been able to ignore the wind outside like he was currently doing...
"Hm? Looks like there is finally something different in this place... Is this perhaps the place that the bulky man was searching for?"
Just at this moment, Xuan Hao discovered something different from the mountains and seemingly endless hilly plains of the Thousand Wind Mountains appearing in the distance on top of a small hill. In an instant, his entire body tensed up as he prepared himself-
Understanding very well that he might encounter a dangerous situation if the place the bulky man was moving towards was connected to the thing hidden inside the Thousand Wind Mountains from his quest.
...
"Finally, I reached this place...!" Coming to a stop in front of a small hill that looked the same as any of the other hills present on the large plains, the bulky man brimmed with joy as he looked towards the only identity on the small hill, a small, yet inconspicuous bird shaped statue no more than a dozen centimeters tall on top of the hill.
If not for the fact that he had a way to track down the location of the small bird statue, there would be no way for someone like himself to ever find it inside the large plains of the Thousand Wind Mountains. Especially considering the fact that he could not use his divine sense due to the strong winds ripping it apart the moment he tried to use it outside the barrier created by the Windbloom Flower.
"Now... All I have to do is offer some of my blood and use the secret technique from those ancient texts. After that, I should be able to open a path to the Thousand Wind Palace, the cultivation abode of an ancient cultivator!" Muttering this to himself as he gazed towards the statue of the small bird like creature on top of the hill, the bulky man was filled with excitement as he slowly began making his way up the hill. Soon finding himself directly in front of the small bird statue.
Ptsh~
Taking out his large axe, the bulky man did not show the slightest bit of hesitation as he cut a large opening in his arm, causing a large amount of blood to spill out and onto the small statue of the bird like creature.
"Next is the technique for opening the passage to the Thousand Wind Palace..."
Filled with determination as he saw the entire statue covered in his blood, the bulky man slowly began reciting some kind of ancient ritual in an ancient language that Xuan Hao watching from a distance had no way to understand.
At most he could tell that it was related to the ancient language he himself was still in the process of researching... Just... Older and far more complex...