"Hah... Looks like that little lion will have some competition in the future..." Shaking his head as he could already imagine the winged lion's reaction to another glutton similar to itself in the sect, Xuan Hao felt relieved that the Star Shattering Sect at the very least had the Ninth Star Peak to provide spiritual herbs and fruits for the sect. Although, it might be a good idea to plant a few more spiritual fruit trees to keep up with the increased consumption that was bound to happen in the future...
Not thinking too much about it outside of that, Xuan Hao turned his attention back towards the system that was waiting for him to complete the judgement of Mui's trial.
From what he had managed to learn about her trial so far, she had managed to pass all three trials smoothly without any problems. Displaying her powerful comprehension talent during the first trial, her strong will during the second trial and her combat ability during the third. Even if her method of completing the final trial was a bit unique, she had ended up successfully beating a much more skilled opponent.
The way he would have to judge her trial was not complicated in any way and only required him to consider her trial to have successfully been completed or failed. The only problem, was that if he considered her trial to be completed, she would end up getting teleported to his current location... And given that he was still a week or two away from reaching the Star Shattering Sect, Xuan Hao did not want to do this now. Especially when considering that he still had to pass through a few dangerous locations...
At this moment, Xuan Hao really wished that he could teleport around by tearing through space... But to do this, he would have to deepen his understanding of the Dao of Space. Not something he had time for before he returned to the sect.
Should I wait until I return to the sect until I give the judgement for Mui's trial...?
Noticing that there wasn't really any time limit on when he was supposed to give out the judgement for the trial, Xuan Hao could not help wondering if he should just wait until he had returned to the sect before giving out the judgement. At least, this way, he would avoid having to travel with her through the different dangerous locations that he had left on his journey back to the sect.
"Hm... This shouldn't be too much of a problem for her. After all, the location where she is currently, should be the location where the spiritual fruits she enjoys so much originates from..." Muttering this to himself as he thought about the description of the place that Mui had been teleported while waiting for him to give out a judgement for the trial, Xuan Hao ended up deciding to have her stay there for now until he made it back to the sect again.
Given how much she enjoyed the spiritual fruits there, Xuan Hao did not think she would be too unhappy about this. On the contrary, he had a feeling that she would be happy staying in the valley filled with not only the spiritual fruits she had enjoyed so far, but also many new spiritual fruits...
"Guess she is staying inside the trial space for a week or two." Having decided to wait until he returned to the Star Shattering Sect until he gave a judgement for Mui's trial, Xuan Hao continued his journey back towards the Star Shattering Sect.
Whoosh-!
Using the Drifting Cloud Steps to teleport close to a dozen miles with every single step. Not only making his speed far faster than anything doable by someone in the Domain Lord Realm, but also allowing him to comprehend the Dao of Space while travelling. Increasing the distance at which he travelled with every single step. Only being forced to slow down when passing through some of the more dangerous locations along his path.
...
"So, this is the place my brother-in-law was murdered..."
At the same time, the old master from the Hollow Thunder Family had arrived at the place where the battle between Elder Green Wing and Lord Wind fall had taken place.
Whoosh-!
Hovering midair above the island that had been sunk due to the fight between the two powerful Domain Lord Realm Experts, the old master used his divine sense to scan the battle for any energy left behind by the fight.
Even if he was almost a hundred percent certain that the person that had killed his brother-in-law was Elder Green Wing, he still had to make sure that this wasn't a set-up by someone who wanted to weaken his Hollow Thunder Family by having him start a fight with the Green Mountain Sect... But, as he scanned through the remnants of the battlefield, the killing intent present in his eyes began growing more and more intense!
Rumble~!
A few minutes later, a terrifying aura at the Peak of the Domain Lord Realm erupted around the old master from the Hollow Thunder Family. If Xuan Hao had been able to witness this, he would have discovered that the old master from the Hollow Thunder Family was not only at the Peak of the Domain Lord Realm, but the aura around him also carried a hint of power belonging to that of the Soul Ascension Realm!
Of course, there was no such thing as half a step into the Soul Ascension Realm. One had either reached the Soul Ascension Realm or in the Domain Lord Realm. The reason for the Soul Ascension Realm aura that had started forming around the old master of the Hollow Thunder Family, was because the old man had already begun the process of transcending the first tribulation. Meaning, his strength had surpassed the Domain Lord Realm, but the first tribulation had not descended yet...
Before the death of his brother-in-law, he should have been in secluded cultivation waiting for the tribulation to descend. The reason why for the old master's terrifying killing intent towards the Green Mountain Sect and Elder Green Wing, was not just because of the death of his brother-in-law, but more so the fact that the sudden news had ruined his perfect state of mind. Making the tribulation that he could face at any moment far more dangerous than it would have been if his state of mind had been perfect!
For this reason, the old master not only wanted to kill Elder Green Wing from the Green Mountain Sect to avenge his brother-in-law, but also because not avenging his brother-in-law would create a flaw in his perfect state of mind. Normally, this would not have been a problem and could be resolved over time but given that he could face the first tribulation at any moment now, he did not have the time needed to slowly fix this flaw in his state of mind and could only brute force it by avenging his brother-in-law.
As for the repercussions that could come from him killing Elder Green Wing without waiting for the imperial family to come out with their judgement on the matter-
What did it matter after he reached the Soul Ascension Realm? Even the imperial family had to show a certain level of respect towards him after he reached the Soul Ascension Realm... Punishing him over the death of a single Domain Lord Realm Expert that wasn't even part of the imperial family? That was impossible!
"Hehe... Looks like it really was the work of that Elder Green Wing from the Green Mountain Sect! That Elder Green Wing sure does have a lot of courage! Did he really think I won't dare doing anything to him because he is from one of those major sects!?" Having already finished examining the battlefield and confirmed that his brother-in-law had indeed been killed by Elder Green Wing, the old master from the Hollow Thunder Family could not help showing a vicious grin as he looked back in the direction of the capital city.
Through the remnant energy left behind by Elder Green Wing, he could roughly find out that he had gone in the direction of the capital city, or more accurately, the Green Mountain Sect, whose main sect was located inside the large kingdom that was backing them!
"Hehe, if you went straight for the capital city and hid in there, it might have been a bit difficult for me to kill you... But you decided to go back to your sect instead!"
Laughing happily as he said this with a wide smile on his face, the old master from the Hollow Thunder Family did not bother wasting a single second before using his movement technique to fly in the direction of the Green Mountain Sect, a hint of desperation and fear barely visible on his face.
Even if he didn't show it or say anything about it, deep down, he understood that the tribulation would not only determine whether he became a Soul Ascension Realm Expert or not.
There was only one ending for failing to overcome the tribulation... Death!