Resuming his journey through the mist after having made sure the massive worm wasn't following after him, Xuan Hao did not take long to encounter another strange creature. However, this time around, he didn't approach it and just passed by it without doing anything.
Even if the strange creature seemed to have noticed him, it didn't move an inch and ignored him like the rat lion creature had done.
Like this, Xuan Hao travelled through the mist for close to four hours before abruptly coming to a stop. In front of him, a familiar looking pair of doors could be faintly seen through the mist.
"The grand temple…?" Recognizing the large pair of doors in front of him, Xuan Hao could not help opening his mouth in surprise. Not having expected to stumble upon the grand temple that he had encountered in the illusion.
Not only that, but outside of the surroundings being covered in a thick layer of mist that made it hard to see more than a dozen or so meters around himself, there was no change from the large pair of doors he had seen in the illusion.
Is the strange creature inside perhaps also the same as in the illusion…?
Seeing that the grand temple was exactly the same on the outside as in the illusion, Xuan Hao could not help wondering if the strange creature with a presence similar to that of a holy beast was also the same as in the illusion.
Whoosh~
However, just when he was lost in his own thoughts thinking about the strange creature inside the grand temple, a strong wind appeared out of nowhere. Pushing the mist away for a short moment before it began drifting in from all sides to fill up the gap created by the strong wind.
Witnessing the large passage in the mist that had been created by the strong mist, Xuan Hao could not help opening both of his eyes in surprise as he saw the mountain slope filled with plants and trees located at the end of the passage.
"This… A path out of the mist!" Realizing this, Xuan Hao didn't bother wasting any time on the grand temple that he had already explored once, as he used all of his strength to rush towards the end of the passage that had been created by the strong wind. Not wanting to miss the chance to escape from the mist.
Even if he felt that he was getting closer to leaving the mist on his own, he also understood that there was a chance that the mist might be messing with him. After all, it should not have taken more than a half an hour to one hour to cross the mist… And that was only because he slowed down to try and avoid drawing some powerful strange creature to attack him. If he had used his normal speed, it wouldn't have taken more than a minute or less to cross!
Swish~!
Because of this, Xuan Hao was not too worried about reaching the end of the passage before the mist had a chance to fill it in again. Instead, the thing that worried him, was the possibility of a powerful strange creature would appear and attack him after sensing his movement-
ROAR-!
Almost like it had read his thoughts, a loud roar echoed out across the mist covered mountain slope. Even if he could not see what kind of creature had made the loud roar, he could still feel the terrifying aura belonging to the Sixth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm that burst forth together with the loud roar getting closer to him with each passing second.
Other than the strange creature that he had encountered inside the grand temple whose strength was hard to fully grasp, it was by far the strongest creature that he had encountered inside the mist so far!
Something that was especially impressive considering that all of the strange creatures that he had encountered inside the mist had at least reached a realm comparable to the First Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm.
"It shouldn't be able to catch up to me before I escape from the mist…" Muttering this to himself as he glanced back in the direction of the powerful aura that was getting closer and closer to him before looking towards the end of the passage, Xuan Hao didn't feel too worried about the powerful creature.
Even if he couldn't defeat someone in the Sixth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm with his current strength, he should be more than capable of keeping himself alive. For now, the most important thing to Xuan Hao was not how well he would do in a fight against the other party, but whether or not he would be able to escape from the mist before the other party caught up to him.
After all, fighting inside the mist ran the risk of provoking even more of these powerful creatures that might end up joining the fight as a result, something that would undoubtedly result in him being forced to leave the mountain range.
Whoosh~
Not more than a few seconds later, Xuan Hao manages to leave the mist and land on the green ground covered in a thick layer of moss and grass.
"Finally, I'm out…"
Feeling a sense of relief at finally getting out of the mist that he had ended being trapped for over a day inside, Xuan Hao could not help unconsciously relaxing his body.
ROAR!
However, this sense of relaxation was soon interrupted as an enormous demon beast emerged from the dense mist a few meters behind him. Its menacing presence sent tremors through the air, as its claws ripped through the mist down towards where Xuan Hao was standing.
"Hm!?"
At that very moment, Xuan Hao's entire body tensed up in response to the sudden attack-
Swish-!
Reacting with lightning-quick reflexes, he used Drifting Cloud Steps to their limit together with spatial manipulation-
BANG!
Narrowly evading the ferocious attack of the demon beast.
Landing gracefully on a nearby boulder, Xuan Hao narrowed both his eyes as his divine sense locked on to the imposing demon beast.
Swish-!
Not giving Xuan Hao any time to prepare, the demon beast lunged forward. Its massive claws slashed through the air at a speed that made it appear like they had instantly appeared in front of him. Not planning to give Xuan Hao any chance to dodge this time around!
"Wha-"
Bang!
Despite his best efforts, Xuan Hao found himself unable to resist the full power of the demon beast head on. Getting knocked back before being met with an onslaught of attacks from the demon beast that seemed intent on ending things fast.
Bang! Bang!
Each strike from the demon beast pushed him further back and made it increasingly difficult to block. The impact of the attacks sending shockwaves sweeping through the surroundings.
If not for the fact that his Dao of Ice was specialized for defending and could block the attacks of the demon beast after being strengthened by his dao domain, Xuan Hao would have had no way to defend himself against the powerful attacks of the demon beast.
Looks like I will have to come up with something if I want to continue exploring this place. Maybe it's time to test out how powerful the Dao of Fire is…
Feeling that his current situation was getting worse with each passing second and he had to do something before reaching the point of being forced to escape unless he wanted to die, Xuan Hao dedicated part of his attention towards coming up with a plan that would allow him to land an attack on the demon beast without having to worry about getting killed by the claws of said demon beast in the process.
Although his strength was only two minor realms below the demon beast, this small gap was the difference between someone in the Middle Stage of the Soul Ascension Realm and someone in the Late Stage of the Soul Ascension Realm. Not something that was as easy to overcome as it was in the Nascent Soul Realm…
"Ah! I got it!"
Finding the opportunity, he had been looking for just when the ice barrier he used to block the demon beast was about to break, Xuan Hao willingly allowed the ice barrier to shatter under the attack of the demon beast before using the millions of small ice shards in tandem with his Sword Dao to transform the small ice shard into ice sword that formed a blizzard that surrounded the demon beast.
WHOOOSH-!
Although this ended up preventing the demon beast from attacking him, it put an enormous stress on his dao domain and drained the qi in his dantian at a speed visible to the naked eye. Even with his seemingly endless supply of qi, he would not be able to hold on in his current state for more than a minute. Showing just how powerful the demon beast was.
However, Xuan Hao's goal was not to keep it trapped for as long as he could.
BANG!
ROOAR!
So, not wasting a single precious second, Xuan Hao shattered the small ice swords in the blizzard before gathering them together into a large ice pillar beneath the demon beast that knocked it into the air.
Exposing its vulnerable and unprotected underbelly in the process!