"Just how long is it going to continue staring at me!?" Having remained frozen on the spot as he waited for the creature to jump out of the shadows and chase after him for what felt like hours, Xuan Hao could not help growing impatient as the creature had showed no signs of moving. The eyeball poking out and the tentacle-like arm connected to it was the only thing that the creature had revealed of its body.
Even then, Xuan Hao had not allowed his curiosity to get the better of him this time around. Not using his divine sense to investigate the creature, as he understood that this might end up provoking the creature into attacking him.
This was not to say that he had not managed to gain any new information about the creature during this, as he had managed to get some idea of the creature's strength by detecting the faint energy waves emanating from the eyeball as it stared at him. Allowing him to guess that its strength should have reached a realm comparable to the Sixth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm.
Allowing him to feel grateful that he did not use his divine sense to investigate the creature earlier and risk provoking it in the process. After all, even if his current cultivation was not too far from being comparable to the Sixth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension, he had never faced anyone that strong before and felt that it would be best to exercise cation. Not to mention, he had no way to tell if the creature was hiding part of its strength and had just showed him a bit of it to make him lower his guard.
Feeling that it would be a waste to continue his staring competition with the creature that refused to move out of the shadows inside the grand temple, Xuan Hao decided to leave. Although he still made sure to keep an eye on the creature in case it happened to get any ideas.
Rustle~
Moving back through the small shrubs behind him, the eyeball of the creature did not seem affected by his sudden movement and still kept its attention focused on him without showing any signs of leaving the shadows and entering the light that came in from the open doors of the entrance to the grand temple.
Continuing like this until the eyeball finally disappeared behind a few large rocks on the slope of the mountain, Xuan Hao could not help letting out the breath he had unknowingly been holding during his earlier staring competition with the strange creature.
Even if he was still far from being safe from the strange creature lurking inside the grand temple, he could at least begin to use his divine sense again without having to worry about accidentally provoking the strange creature. If the creature was still within his divine sense, it could only mean that it had decided to leave the hall of the grand temple and follow after him!
Feeling a bit nervous as his divine sense spread out and moved back in the direction towards the grand temple, Xuan Hao soon opened both of his eyes in surprise as he discovered that the creature that had been lurking in the darkness had actually moved all the way up to the entrance of the grand temple.
Upon closer inspection, Xuan Hao realized that the creature had more than four arms and was covered in all sorts of weird tentacles with different colored eyeballs attached to them. From a first glance, it looked similar to the abominations created by the Dao of Corruption, the only difference between it and the abominations created through the Dao of Corruption, was that there was no presence of the Dao of Corruption around the strange humanoid creature. Instead, it seemed to be giving off some sort of holy glow that didn't match its current horrifying appearance.
Whoosh~
BANG!
Sensing his divine sense, the strange creature rushed forward and shut the large doors of the grand hall. Instantly causing the part of his divine sense inside the grand temple to be cut off, while at the same time preventing him from looking inside the grand temple again without opening the doors.
During the short moment the creature took to close the door, a faint mist similar to the one he had passed through when entering the mountain range could be seen around one of the eyeballs of the creature as it seemed to try to tell him something.
"What in the world was that…" Not knowing what to say as his divine sense could only linger around the entrance to the grand temple, Xuan Hao could not help wondering just what the strange creature was and what it meant with the strange jiggling of one of its eyeballs.
From the little knowledge he had on things related to gods, he could only think that the strange creature should be related to some sort of god given the holy glow that had been present around it, but… Its appearance did not seem to match what one would normally consider a holy beast.
On the contrary, he would have believed it more if its appearance was that of a small bird with a lizard tail twice its own size. At least that seemed to fit the aesthetics of holy beast more.
Shaking his head as he thought this to himself, Xuan Hao turned his attention away from the now closed doors of the grand temple. At the very least it didn't look like the creature was going to leave the temple and chase after him. Only closing the door to block out the light coming in through the doors he had left open when escaping from the temple.
No longer worrying about the creature from the grand temple coming out to attack him, Xuan Hao remembered the quest from the system. Although it had only required him to pass through the mist, it had still not been completed even though he was clearly not inside of the mist any longer.
"I wonder if I just missed it because I was too excited about the stone tablet earlier…" Muttering this to himself as he looked through his system quests, Xuan Hao did his best to ignore a certain time limited quest that seemed like it was going to be with him for the rest of his life and instead focused on the side quest.
[Side Quest: Mysterious Mountain Range, Part 1]
[Description: You have stumbled upon a mysterious mountain range hidden by an enchanting veil of mist. Passing through the ethereal veil will undoubtedly come with dangers that will not be easy to resolve, but at the same time, treasures and other mystical rewards would undoubtedly also be present amid the danger hidden behind the veil. Show your unwavering courage and enter the mountain realm to find out what is lurking behind the mysterious veil of mist!]
[Reminder: The mist is not as simple as it seems, passing through it requires more than simply walking through.]
[Extra Reminder: It is recommended not to get trapped in the mist, as it can slowly drain away the life essence of living things if exposed for an extended period of time.]
[Reward: Unlock Part 2]
Hm? Reminders? Why are there suddenly reminders on the quest… And why are they about the mist? Don't tell me-
RUMBLE-!
Suddenly realizing something, Xuan Hao directly used his dao domain to violent rip apart the mountain around him-
Whoosh~
However, before he could do any damage to the mountain around him, his surroundings started twisting like the surface of a lake after a stone had been thrown into it. Soon changing from a peaceful plateau into treacherous cliffs and perilous ravines that were soon covered by the all too familiar mist that he had been traveling through just a short time earlier. The narrow path he had used to traverse also appeared beneath his feet once again.
This- Was I trapped in an illusion created by the mist earlier!?
Feeling a shiver run down his spine as he thought about what had just happened, Xuan Hao quickly looked through his interspatial ring to see if the stone tablet was still there… And to his surprise, it was indeed still there. Meaning that he should not have been trapped in an illusion just now, or it would make no sense for the stone tablet he had picked up in his illusion to still be there.
Unless the illusion only affected what I saw and didn't restrict my movement. Meaning I could have still gone somewhere off the narrow path and found the stone tablet! Now that I think about it, the strange move from the creature before it closed the door to the grand temple, was it perhaps trying to inform me about the fact that I was still inside the mist…?
Remembering what the strange creature had done before closing the door to the grand temple, Xuan Hao could not help feeling that it had indeed been trying to warn him.
Maybe the strange creature looking like some kind of abomination was indeed a holy beast. Not to mention the fact that the appearance of the creature he saw might not even have been the real appearance of the creature.