Seeing the branches moving around menacingly above him, Xuan Hao felt a shiver run down his spine as he jumped to the side-
BANG!
Just barely managing to avoid the large branches that came crashing down into the ground where he had been standing only a few seconds earlier. If he had not been fast enough to react, it was easy to imagine how bad his situation would be after being hit by those large branches. Even the ground that was far stronger than in the rest of the mystic realm was easily shattered under the terrifying power of those branches.
Whoosh-!
Not giving him any time to relax, the branches that had smashed into the ground soon came flying towards him at a terrifying speed that made it impossible to avoid in time-
Bang! Bang!
Knowing this, Xuan Hao used his dao domain to create several ice spikes beneath the approaching branches before having the pierce through the branches, slowing them down just enough for him to avoid the attack again.
Swish-!
However, different from the last time, Xuan Hao didn't waste any time before escaping in the opposite direction of the large tree. Knowing very well that his current strength was far from enough to fight against someone who had surpassed the strength of even the Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beasts that he had encountered so far.
Not to mention, during the short clash he had when using his ice spikes to slow down the branches, he had firsthand experienced just how tough the bark of the tree was. Even if he used all of his strength, he doubted that he would be able to do any significant damage to it… And that was not mentioning the fact that he had no idea if there were other similarly strong trees around!
Although it looked like all the Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beast had been attracted to the empty void created by the spatial collapse. Different creatures like the tree he was currently escaping from, were not as attracted to the spatial energy leaking out from the empty void.
Rustle~
Seeing Xuan Hao escaping, the towering tree standing more than three hundred meters tall shook its large crown in a satisfied manner before shrinking into the ground and disappearing like it had never been there in the first place.
"Hm? It left?"
Of course, Xuan Hao discovered this, but decided to continue moving away from the weirdly colored trees. Understanding that the reason the large tree left should have been because he had also left. If he decided to go back and try to find out more about the weird trees, the large tree would almost definitely return again, and he had no way to know if it would chase after him at that point in time.
Thump~
Coming to a stop after travelling like this for a little over half an hour, Xuan Hao used his divine sense to sweep through his surroundings and make sure that there weren't some powerful demon beasts nearby that would ambush him the moment he stopped paying attention.
In the end, the most powerful demon beast was only a small boar that had just reached the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm. Even if it attacked him without him defending himself, he doubted that it would even be able to leave a scratch with its strength. However, it was unlucky enough to be the sole focus of his divine sense for a short second-
Roar?!
Something that scared it so much that it fell on its back with all its legs in the air before it began showing its defenseless stomach.
"Why is a boar demon beast doing this? Isn't this the wrong animal…?" Not really something Xuan Hao had expected to see from a boar demon beast.
No, that doesn't matter, I need to figure out what I'm going to do now!
Shaking his head as he looked away from the unique boar demon beast that he had the joy of meeting, Xuan Hao turned his attention to the important question at hand.
Given that most of the dangerous creatures in the forest were busy fighting for control over the empty void, he should be relatively safe traversing the forest. For this reason, he had two options on how to use this time. The first was to search for a way out of the forest, while the other was to try and find the remaining two celestial gates.
Considering the fact that the first celestial gate had been inside the formation, Xuan Hao had a feeling that the other two would also be inside the formation. The only problem with this was the fact that he had no idea where these two celestial gates were and would have to search through the entire forest. Not like the other option, where he would only have to search around the edges for a weak point in the formation.
"Haaa… Why am I even thinking about this, obviously I will stay inside the formation and try to find the remaining celestial gates…" Muttering this to himself as a wry smile made its way to his lips, Xuan Hao took a step forward and disappeared deeper inside the forest.
Roar?
Leaving a terrified boar demon beast shivering in fear not too far away, its small feet and defenseless stomach facing the air for all of the other nearby demon beasts to look on with confused expressions. None of them understood what had happened to the strongest demon beast in their little part of the forest.
…
ROOOOOAR!
At the same time Xuan Hao had decided to search for the remaining two celestial gates, a loud roar echoed out across the battlefield back at the empty void. Following which one of the Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beasts fell to the ground without coming back up.
Not too far away, the demon beast responsible for the terrifying roar earlier dashed forward and bit into the throat of the motionless demon beast on the ground. Killing it before it had a chance to mount any form of resistance. Officially marking the first death of a Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beast during the struggle for control over the empty void and the spatial energy that it produced. Showing just how important it was for these Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beasts who had remained stuck at the same realm for thousands of years without any sign of progress.
Outside of just this, the demon beasts present also felt that after breaking through, they would be able to escape from the small forest and finally explore the world outside.
Although most of the demon beasts had been born inside the forest, they still had a certain level of intelligence and had long ago managed to understand that there was a far bigger world outside of their small forest by interrogating the small demon beasts that happened to make their way inside the forest by accident from time to time.
ROOOA-
Ptsh-!
Letting out another roar to assert its dominance over the rest of the demon beast and also state its claim on the empty void with its superior strength, the powerful demon beast that had just managed to kill a Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beast didn't have the time to finish its roar before a small and feeble looking rabbit demon beast suddenly appeared behind it and stabbed its hand right through its chest. Instantly killing the unprepared and exhausted demon beast in the process.
Squeak~!
Making a cute squeaking noise after having killed the massive demon beast with the strength to kill a Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beast, the small and feeble looking rabbit demon beast established its dominance like the now dead demon beast had tried to do just a second ago.
Unfortunately, the cute squeaking noises of the small rabbit demon beast was far less intimidating and didn't have any effect against the rest of the Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beasts.
ROOOAR!
ROOOOOAR!
ROAR!
On the other hand, it seemed like it had a negative effect, as the rest of the demon beast all began charging towards the small rabbit demon beast filled with killing intent. None of them viewed the rabbit demon beast as a threat due to its small size and its strength that had only reached the Second Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm.
As for how a small rabbit demon beast in the Second Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm had managed to kill a Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beast that had the strength to kill other Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beasts? They all thought that it was due to the other demon beast having been severely weakened after its battle and not paying attention to its surroundings. Giving the weak rabbit demon beast a chance to launch a sneak attack and kill it!
SQUEAK!?
Having expected that its awesome power and majestic visage would intimidate the rest of the demon beasts into submission, the rabbit demon beast let out a surprised squeak before realizing the danger of its current situation before quickly turning around and escaping.
ROOOAR!
ROOOOOOOOOAR!
ROAR!
Unfortunately for the rabbit demon beast, the rest of the demon beasts present had been thoroughly enraged by its earlier display of arrogance and decided to momentarily put a halt on the fight for the empty void as they all began chasing after the small rabbit demon beast. None of them cared too much about leaving the empty void for a short time. After all, to experience any effect from the spatial energy, they would need to absorb it for at least a few years…