Walking back through the hallway, Xuan Hao decided to explore the different paths branching off the side of the hallway. However, no matter which of these paths he followed, he would always end up in a room that had been completely destroyed from the outside.
From time to time, there would be preservation golems laying broken on the ground in front of these rooms or along the way, but no matter, none of these golems were still active and he was only met with an eerie silence whenever he tried speaking to them.
In the end, he soon found himself back at the large pair of sandstone doors. The preservation golem that he had encountered the first time he made his way inside the Exchange Hall having seemingly disappeared into thin air.
"Will I really need to leave without getting any information on the gate out of this place? How will I even be able to find the gate with less than half a day left before the seven-day limit is reached!?" Feeling a slight sense of panic as he muttered this to himself, Xuan Hao could not help looking back into the long hallway that seemed to go on forever.
Although he had not managed to find the preservation golem that was still active when searching through the countless destroyed rooms connected to the long hallway, he did not think that it had left. Guessing that it was most likely located in the same place where the core of the formation was located. After all, that would be the only place he had not managed to find inside the underground structure that made up the Exchange Hall.
Knowing this made no difference, as there was no way he would be able to find the location of the formation core with his current strength without it showing itself.
Even someone who had possibly surpassed the Earth Immortal Realm had been unable to completely destroy this formation, let alone someone like himself who had only reached the Intermediate Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm…
Whoosh~
However, just as he was about to give up on continuing to search for the active preservation golem, the golem in question suddenly appeared in front of him.
"This is-"
"Greetings trial participant, as a tier three trial participant, you only have one hour left inside the Exchange Hall to choose a secret technique at the third tier before being forced out. If you require any recommendations for secret techniques, please refer to the sect elder in charge of maintaining the trial ground. If even this does not help, the elder will help you leave through the gate.
Please remember, the gate inside the Exchange Hall is different from those outside the boundaries of the Exchange Hall and is only accessible by the elder in charge. Any attempt to use it without permission will be met with swift punishment."
Not caring about Xuan Hao's shocked expression, the golem emotionlessly stated this before patiently waiting for an answer.
The gate is located inside the Exchange Hall!? And… Tier three trial participant? Is it perhaps referring to my new status after completing three celestial trials? And sect elder… I never expected a sect elder to be in charge of this trial in the past. Maybe this is also one of the reasons why the formation managed to survive to this day. Although, considering how long it has been, that sect elder should have long since passed away…
Not answering the preservation golem immediately as he thought about the information that it had just provided him with, Xuan Hao remained standing in front of the sandstone doors for a few seconds before an idea suddenly popped into his head.
The preservation golem had mentioned that he could visit the elder and ask for the elder's guidance on what secret technique to choose and access to the gate, but… Given that the elder in question should have already died after the long passage of time, he would not be able to find the gate by asking the elder.
Instead, it seemed like it would be better to use this chance to enter the core part of the Exchange Hall and try to gain access to the core of the formation that should normally be guarded by the elder from the Mirage Sect.
Despite the fact that his current understanding of formation could be considered abysmal when compared to the ancient formation protecting the Exchange Hall, he should still be able to do this if he had access to the formation core.
If it succeeded, he should be able to find out if there were any hidden locations inside the Exchange Hall that he had missed and more importantly, find out where the gate out of the desert trial was located.
"Great, can you help guide me to the elder?" Having come to a decision, Xuan Hao felt a bit nervous as he asked this while looking at the emotionless golem in front of him.
"Yes, as a tier three trial participant, you are entitled to ask an elder for assistance once before becoming a tier two trial participant. Are you sure you still want to visit the elder?"
"Yes!"
Not hesitating in the slightest after hearing what the golem said, Xuan Hao eagerly nodded his head.
So, what if he could only visit an elder in charge once as a tier three trial participant? It was not like the Mirage Sect was still around to keep the celestial trials running, where would he possibly make use of this chance to visit a sect elder in the future?
"Confirmed, I will now guide you to the core section of the Exchange Hall where the elder resides. The elder in charge of this trial is the Myriad Sands Elder, its recommended to remain respectful in front of the elder to avoid possible penalties." Saying this, the golem stepped out of the hallway and into the small hall that Xuan Hao had just barely stepped inside of before a strange power flowed out from it and entered the large pair of sandstone doors-
BOOOOM-!
Only a second later, strange ancient symbols flowed across the surface of the sandstone doors before they slammed shut.