Seizing the opportunity that he had created for himself; Xuan Hao executed a swift and calculated strike in the form of a concentrated ball of fire that had been created by using all his knowledge of the Dao of Fire and most of the qi still left inside his dantian.
FWOOOSH-!
Roooar-!
As the ball of fire hit the thick hide covering the underbelly of the demon beast and began burning through it at a speed visible to the naked eye before beginning to wreak havoc inside its body, a howl filled with pain soon echoed out across the green mountain slope.
Whoosh~
Followed by the flames now covering the entire body of the demon beast dissipating after close to two minutes of continuous burning, Xuan Hao could not help looking at the massive body still moving after the flames had dissipated in shock. "It's actually still alive…"
Although the light in the eyes of the demon beast visibly dimming down compared to before and its body had been heavily injured by the attack just now, it still stood up and looked like it could fight, a testament to just how powerful the body of a Sixth Tribulation of Soul Ascension Realm demon beast was.
If it had been a normal human cultivator, Xuan Hao doubted that they would have been able to endure the flame containing his insights of the Dao of Fire for more than half a minute…
ROOOOOAR!
Knowing that it had managed to survive the attack, the demon beast let out a proud roar as it looked down towards Xuan Hao filled with killing intent.
Though the flame had not been fatal, it had caused a rather large amount of damage to its body that would take a long time to recover… And that was not even mentioning the fact that there might be other demon beasts or strange creatures in the mist who would want to try and take advantage of its weakened state to devour it!
"…"
Seeing the proud expression of the demon beast as it looked down towards him filled with killing intent, Xuan Hao could not help frowning to himself as he understood that he would not be able to defeat the other party with his current strength.
Even if the demon beast had been weakened by the earlier attack, he was not in a much better situation, as his dantian had almost completely dried up after the last attack.
Do I really have to escape and leave the mountain range?
Understanding that he would not stand a chance against the demon beast in his current state, Xuan Hao could only prepare to escape from the mountain range with the last bit of qi still present in his dantian. Not the slightest bit interested in fighting to the death with the demon beast in front of him when he could guarantee his own safety by running away.
Only someone with something wrong in their head or faced with no other choice would enter a life and death battle. Especially so for cultivators who had lived for a long time!
Roar!
Continuing their short staring contest for another few seconds, Xuan Hao felt his entire body tense up when the demon beast finally let out a short roar.
However, instead of attacking him, the demon beast turned around and escaped back into the mist behind it.
"This…"
Seeing the demon beast suddenly turning around and escaping into the mist, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a sense of relief washing over his body.
From the looks of it, the demon beast had the same thoughts as him and didn't want to take the risk and continue the fight. After all, even if it might win, it should have also understood that it would have ended up in a far worse situation at the end of the battle. Putting it at an even greater risk of being attacked and killed when recovering later.
"For now, I should find a place to recover before another demon beast shows up." Muttering this to himself as he looked back in the direction that the demon beast had disappeared in, Xuan Hao did not linger around the edge of the mist for long before finding a small empty cave not too far away that he could recover inside of.
Whoosh~
Not wasting any time on the quest that had been completed when he passed through the mist, Xuan Hao focused all of his attention on recovering his strength as fast as possible. Even using the spirit stones stored in his interspatial ring to speed up the process.
After all, he had no idea what might be lurking inside the mountain range. For all he knew, it could be far more dangerous than the mist had been, but… Even then, he still decided to take the risk. Not wanting to leave the mountain range now that he had finally managed to find his way through the mist.
…
Opening his eyes at dawn the next day, Xuan Hao rose from his meditation spot and stretched his limbs, feeling the renewed strength coursing through his veins.
"Finally, back to normal again. Guess its time to check out the side quest and see what the second part of it is about." Smiling to himself as he said this, Xuan Hao glanced towards the system panel that had popped up in front of him.
[Side Quest: Mysterious Mountain Range, Part 1 (complete)]
[Reward: Unlock Part 2]
Reading through the quest and seeing that it had indeed been completed this time around and he wasn't trapped in some sort of illusion created by the mist again, Xuan Hao unconsciously let out a sigh of relief.
If he found out that he was still inside the mist, it would properly be time to leave, as the mountain range would have been far too dangerous for him to explore with his current strength.
Luckily, that was not the case.
"Redeem reward…" Not thinking too much about the, what if scenario, Xuan Hao directly redeemed the reward for the first part of the side quest. Feeling curious as to what the second part of the side quest would be about.
[Side Quest: The Three Celestial Gates, Part 2]
[Description: You have reached the mysterious mountain range hidden behind the mist. To uncover the secrets hidden inside the mountain range, you must find three ancient celestial gates and pass through them.]
[Objective: Seek out the Three Celestial Gates and defeat the guardians within.]
[Reward: Starlight Essence]
"Three Celestial Gates?"
Reading through the new quest that had appeared, Xuan Hao felt himself growing increasingly curious as to what was hiding inside the mountain range and what kind of secrets it might contain. Maybe it contained information on the ancient power that had once controlled the mystic realm in the past, or maybe he would finally be able to find out what came after the Soul Ascension Realm.
After all, since he had reached the Dao Domain Lord Realm, he had yet to encounter any substantial information about the realm that came after the Soul Ascension Realm. Not even able to get a name on the realm itself.
The only clue he had so far about a potential name for the realm was the old soul he had found inside a ring proclaiming itself as a Divine Moon Immortal.
Divine Moon Immortal could be the title for someone who had reached a certain cultivation realm, while it at the same time could also just be the title used to address certain experts inside a powerful empire or sect. In the end, there was no way for him to know what it was…
Thinking back to how he had just ended up throwing the ring away in fear of the old soul trying to snatch away his disciples, Xuan Hao could not help hitting himself over the wasted opportunity to find out more about the cultivation realms above the Soul Ascension Realm, as that old soul should have definitely belonged to an ancient expert above the Soul Ascension Realm.
But then again, he had no way of knowing about this back then and just wanted to ensure his disciples stayed with him. Not wanting to run the risk of his disciples being taken away.
"Haaa… Looks like I should just hope that the Three Celestial Gates have some information on the realm above the Soul Ascension Realm." Shaking his head as he muttered this to himself, Xuan Hao decided not to think about the old man in the ring that he had thrown away in the past.
As for the Starlight Essence listed as the reward for the quest? Xuan Hao had no clue what it was and understood that it would be useless for him to ponder on its purpose before completing the quest.
For now, Xuan Hao made his way out of the small cave that he had spent the last day inside of before slowly starting to make his way up the mountain in search of the Three Celestial Gates mentioned by the quest.