"Hah..." Taking in a deep breath of air after he finished recovering, Xuan Hao could not help looking in the direction of the ethereal spear with a hint of fear present in his eyes.
By far, this was the closest he had been to death. Even the encounter with the remnant soul of the demonic cultivator that had surpassed the Soul Ascension Realm didn't come close to him almost having his head blown off.
At the same time, it also made him understand that the trial was not as harmless as he thought at first, there was still a very real chance of him dying, even after the difficulty had been lowered to a level fitting for his current cultivation realm according to what was written in the scroll of trials.
Another idea also appeared in his head at this moment, and that was the idea that the trial itself might have decayed after the long passage of time. Although the celestial gate did not look the slightest bit damaged from the outside, he had no idea about the inner workings of the celestial gate and the formations that kept it active all these years.
No matter if it was a formation that had decayed after a long period of time or the original purpose of the trial. The only thing that mattered was the fact that he now understood that there was a very real chance of him losing his life inside the formation!
Bang! Bang!
Losing his concentration and control over the swords currently suppressing the wisps that were part of Aria's true body for a moment due to the surprise attack of the ethereal spear, the wisps made use of this opportunity to break free from the swords before gathering together into the shape of Aria. The only difference this time around was that the gentle glowing light that came from her skin had turned into a dark green color.
Whoosh~!
Following the transformation of Aria, the ancient symbols of the formation seemed to react to the dark green glow of her skin before the mist covering the plaza suddenly started growing thicker.
"The mist is growing stronger…" Muttering this to himself as a frown appeared on his face, Xuan Hao felt the mist pushing against his dao domain with more power than before. Not only that, but the power that the mist was using to push against his dao domain was steadily increasing with each passing second.
If things continued like this, he would soon be forced to put all of his attention towards making sure that his dao domain didn't end up collapsing under the pressure of the mist. Something that would inevitably force him to turn his attention away from Aria and give her a perfect chance to launch another sneak attack towards him!
Swish-!
Knowing this, Xuan Hao charges towards Aria with an intent to end things before it gets to that point. At the same time, the ethereal mist around him seems to come alive at that moment, as if responding to the threat he poses to the guardian.
Whoosh~
The mist that had remained inactive and only passively pushing against his dao domain so far, morphs into phantom-like shapes, swirling around Xuan Hao with far more power compared to before as his dao domain began shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"…"
Aria's luminous eyes that had been staring out into the air during the entire encounter so far finally had a reaction, as she turned to look at the approaching Xuan Hao. The expression on her face still remains serene, even in the face of the approaching Xuan Hao.
Whoosh~
Raising her delicate hand, a melodic hum started to resonate through the air. Responding to this melodic hum, the mist around Xuan Hao began to pulse with the rhythm of her command, intensifying its assault.
Crack~
Realizing the gravity of his current situation as parts of his dao domain began cracking under the intense assault of the mist, Xuan Hao used his sword in an attempt to push back the mist, but it was rendered useless, as the mist seemed to regenerate almost instantly.
Boom! Boom!
Each breath becomes a battle against the all-encompassing mist, and the strain on his dao domain grows with every passing moment.
As the clash continues, the ethereal energies of the mist seem to become even more unforgiving. Yet, Xuan Hao's determination remained unwavering as he got closer to Aria. Subconsciously, he already understood that his only chance of making it through the trial was if he managed to defeat Aria, and to do this, he mustered up all of his strength and focused his mind on finding a way to do this.
"There!"
In a moment of profound clarity, Xuan Hao found the weakness he had been looking for and crossed the last bit of distance between himself and Aria before the mist had a chance to fully break through his already crumbling dao domain.
Rumble!
Channeling his energy into the silver sword with newfound intensity, Xuan Hao unleashed a powerful strike, aiming to sever the ethereal ties that connected Aria with the formation and the plaza beneath him.
BOOM!
As the attack landed, the ethereal mist stopped attacking for a short moment, momentarily disrupted by Xuan Hao's formidable attack.
"…"
Aria's serene expression remained unchanged, but a glimmer of surprise appeared in her empty eyes. As if she had not expected him to find the ethereal strings that bound her together with the plaza and formation. At the same time, a hint of respect could also be seen in her eyes. Acknowledging Xuan Hao's strength and determination.
"HAAAA-!"
BOOOOOOOM-!
With a mighty roar and a final surge of energy, Xuan Hao directly broke through the ethereal strings, causing the phantom-like shapes that had been assaulting his dao domain to dissipate into nothingness together with the rest of the mist. Returning the plaza to the same empty state that he had seen it in when he had first stepped through the celestial gate.
"Finally, its over…" Standing victorious, an exhausted smile made its way to his lips before he looked up Aria floating in the air a few meters away from him.
Her ethereal form remained unscratched, but her demeanor conveyed an air of acceptance. Xuan Hao had proven himself worthy, not just through his combat skills, but also through his resilience and fast decision making. After all, if he had hesitated in launching an attack against her just now, the mist would have overwhelmed him before he had a chance to reach her.
As the confrontation came to an end, the ethereal mist that made up Aria's body began to dissipate like the rest of the mist.
However, before she had a chance to disappear completely, she opened her mouth for the first time since she had appeared.
"You have passed the Trial of the Eternal City. Farewell for now, may you successfully ascend the tribulation and step into the Earth Immortal Realm in the future."
"…"
Watching silently as Aria's figure completely disappeared from the plaza without a trace, Xuan Hao had no idea how to react to the few words she had left behind before dissipating.
Earth Immortal Realm? Was that the realm that came after the Soul Ascension Realm?
Rumble~
"Ah!?"
Feeling like he had been given far too little information and wanting to find out more about the Earth Immortal Realm that he had just learnt about, Xuan Hao could not help jumping in surprise when he suddenly felt the ground beneath him moving.
"Is the trial not over?! Is there perhaps a second part to the trial?!" Not knowing what was happening, Xuan Hao cautiously moved away from the place he had been standing before carefully observing the changes of the ground where he had been standing a few seconds ago.
Even if Aria had told him that the trial had already come to an end, he could never be too sure. Especially after sensing the weird change that was taking place.
"Hm?"
However, after waiting around for a few seconds, Xuan Hao realized that the origin of the strange change was nothing more than a large and familiar looking gate that had emerged from the ground in the middle of the plaza. To be more precise, it was an exact copy of the celestial gate that he had walked through to enter the trial.
"So, it was just the way out of here appearing and scaring me in the process…" Letting out a sigh of relief as he muttered this to himself, Xuan Hao felt his entire body relax again. If he had to face another opponent like Aria in his current state, he had no idea if he could even last for a minute or two.
After all, the last attack of his had taken all of his energy and he would need at least a few days to recover. Especially from the trauma of having part of his head blown off. Not something he wanted to experience again…