Squeak!
Seeing that Xuan Hao did not attack it, the small rabbit demon beast felt its confidence grow as it made its way over to Xuan Hao. Not because it wanted to have him fight off the demon beasts currently chasing after it, but because it felt that following him might give it a better chance at escaping compared to just running around in circles without any set goal in mind like it was currently doing. Not to mention, there was no way that it expected Xuan Hao to have the ability to fight against so many Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beasts.
"This… Does it want to follow after me? Does it perhaps think I know a way out of this forest?" Muttering this to himself as he watched the rabbit demon beast stop a few meters away from him before obediently waiting for him to move like a normal pet, Xuan Hao was once again left speechless by this weird rabbit demon beast-
ROOOOAR!
And hearing the loud roaring sound growing closer to his current location, he decided to leave and follow the barely visible path in the grass. Deciding to ignore the rabbit demon beast for now and instead focus on finding the second celestial gate.
As for the demon beasts chasing after the rabbit demon beast? With his current strength and comprehension of the Dao of Space, they wouldn't be able to catch up to him if he didn't want them to. Not to mention, if the rabbit demon beast couldn't keep up with him, it wouldn't be able to follow him in the first place!
Continuing deeper into the forest along the path, it did not take long before a large gate similar to the first celestial gate that he had encountered appeared in front of him. Even without inspecting the gate personally, it was easy to conclude that the gate in front of him was one of the two remaining celestial gates that he was looking for.
"Hm!? This is…"
The celestial gate itself was not much different from the first that he had encountered and filled him with the same sense of powerlessness that he had felt back then when first facing the terrifying primordial power dormant inside the first celestial gate. Even if he had already experienced it, the fraction of power leaking out from the celestial gate in front of him was more than enough to cause a shiver to run down his spine.
Although the celestial gate in front of him was similar to the first celestial gate, after calming himself down, he still managed to spot a clear difference between the gate in front of him and the first celestial gate… And that was the fact that the thin mist engulfing the second celestial gate was a bright green color. Filled with a seemingly boundless and inexhaustible vitality.
Thump~
But Xuan Hao didn't end up standing around more for a few seconds to examine the mist before he stepped forward into the bright green mist without the slightest bit of hesitation.
Whoosh-!
Different from the twisting and turning of space that he had observed after stepping through the first celestial gate, the bright green mist began moving around him gently pushed him through a bright green portal before carrying him through the void without any signs of the Dao of space being used in the process. Making Xuan Hao doubt whether or not the Dao of Space was the only way to travel through the void over long distances. However, this thought soon disappeared, as he understood that his current cultivation realm was far too low to even attempt trying to do something like teleporting without the use of the Dao of Space.
The sheer power required for something like that was something that he couldn't even comprehend in his current realm.
Squeak?
Arriving at the celestial gate only a few seconds later, the rabbit demon beast curiously tilted its head as it looked up towards the large gate that had suddenly appeared in front of it. Even when faced with the terrifying primordial power that was leaking out from the gate, it remained completely unaffected. Instead, it was far more focused on the remnants of Xuan Hao's aura that pointed towards him entering the gate-
Squeak!
Swish~
So, not wasting a single second on observing the gate any further, the rabbit demon beast directly jumped into the green mist before disappearing from the forest.
Rustle~
A few minutes later, the first of the Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beasts emerged from the thick foliage around the celestial gate-
Roar?!
However, different from the rabbit demon beast, it started shaking violently with a fearful expression on its face. Not even daring to look towards the celestial gate in front of it!
Roar!
Roar!
A few other demon beasts that emerged behind it were in a similar state, as none of them dared to approach the celestial gate. Only capable of observing it from a far with fearful expressions on their faces. Deep down, their instincts told them that death would be the only outcome if they dared to pass through the towering gate in front of them.
Bang!
Crack-!
It was at this moment that a large ape demon beast more than a dozen meters tall smashed through a few trees before arriving at the opening where the second celestial gate was located.
ROOOOAR-!
Looking towards the celestial gate, instead of retreating fearfully like the rest of the demon beasts had done, it felt like the primordial power was challenging it and began charging towards the celestial gate filled with killing intent-
Whoosh~
However, before it had a chance to attack the celestial gate, it ended up passing straight through the bright green mist. Disappearing from the forest without even getting a chance to leave the green mist surrounding the entrance of the gate.
Roar?
Seeing this, the surrounding demon beasts who were fearfully quivering in front of the second celestial gate could not help looking up with surprised expressions on their faces. Only now realizing how cowardly they were acting.
If the rabbit demon beast had dared to go though the gate, how could they, as the senior demon beasts, not do the same!?
As the surrounding demon beasts thought about this, a hint of shame appeared on their faces before being replaced by anger-
Whoosh~
Whoosh~
And the next moment, these demon beasts all charged forward into the celestial gate. Suppressing the inherent fear that they felt from the primordial power with the anger they felt towards the rabbit demon beast that had dared to humiliate them. Soon enough, not a single demon beast was left waiting in front of the celestial gate as all of them had decided to charge into it!
…
Unaware of the fact that the rabbit demon beast and all of the Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beasts had been fearless enough to follow him inside the celestial gate, Xuan Hao began to curiously inspect his surroundings as he wondered what kind of guardian, he would have to face this time around.
Looking around himself in an attempt to find out more about his new environment, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit baffled when he realized that there was nothing other than grass plains stretching endlessly in all directions around him.
"Hm? Other than being tall, the grass here also has the ability to restrict my divine sense to some degree!?" Discovering that the grass covering the endless plains also had the ability to restrict his divine sense, Xuan Hao understood that this was most likely something that had to do with the guardian of the second celestial gate.
As for what it had to do with the guardian, he could only hope that it wasn't something similar to Aria, who had managed to take control of the mist and use it to attack him.
If the guardian of the second celestial gate really did have the ability to control the endless sea of green and use it to attack him, Xuan Hao really doubted he would be able to face off this kind of guardian with his current strength. After all, from what he could gather from a short look at the grass around him, its toughness was already on par with some demon beasts in the Earlier Stages of the Soul Ascension Realm.
Although it would not be impossible to fight against, it would not be easy in any way. Especially considering how much grass was around him.
Now that I think about it, I wonder if there is another Scroll of Trials somewhere in here as well…
Whoosh-!
Remembering the Scroll of Trials that he had encountered inside the first celestial gate, Xuan Hao did not waste any time before jumping into the air and using his eyes to scan the endless sea of green for anything that stood out now that his divine sense had been rendered close to useless by the tall grass.
"Found it!"
Not taking too long to spot an odd stone pedestal with a scroll on top of it in the distance, Xuan Hao descended to the ground before making his way towards the stone pedestal.
Squeak!?
Unknown to Xuan Hao, not too far away, a certain rabbit demon beast that had chased him into the celestial gate happened to spot him when he jumped into the air.