Not aware of the fact that Chu Yang and Qing Yi had almost used all of the talismans he had given them and would soon only have the last protective measure that he had secretly left on them before they entered the mystic realm, Xuan Hao arrived in front of the final body of water between himself and the mountain range surrounding the terraced pools of water and the remnant of the pagoda, a large ring shaped lake.
Having become aware of the spatial anomaly that seemed to affect the crystal-clear water, Xuan Hao did try his best to figure out a way to reduce the effect of the spatial anomaly without using up all of his energy in the process.
Not taking too long to find out that although it was simple to undo the effect of the spatial anomaly trapping him in some kind of spatial tunnel through a simple brute force release of his dao domain, the energy used to do this would at most allow him to cross a distance of a few hundred meters. Far from enough to reach the other side of the large ring-shaped lake in front of him.
If he wanted to reach the other side, he at first thought that he might be able to find some way to make use of his Dao of Space comprehension to undo or at least reduce the effect of the spatial anomaly without using the same level of energy as he had used through a simple brute force release of his dao domain, but… This proved to be wrong.
His comprehension of the Dao of Space was far too insignificant at the moment to even begin to grasp the workings of the spatial anomaly covering the terraced pools and the seemingly random spatial tunnel that it would trap him inside of the moment he entered the water.
On the other hand, he ended up using far more energy only using his Dao of Space to deal with the spatial anomaly than if he had just used the full power of his dao domain. Forcing him to try and figure out some other way that he might be able to reach the mountain range.
In the end, this allowed him to find out that the simple solution of just teleporting to the other side was not an option either due to the spatial anomaly affecting the space and causing him to end up in random locations as a result.
Although he might end up at the base of the mountains because of this, there was also a chance that he could end up getting teleported to the middle of the widest part of the ring-shaped lake. Not only placing him five kilometers away from any safe place in the middle of the ring-shaped lake that drained his qi, but also trapping him inside a spatial tunnel that would make it close to impossible for him to escape.
Instead of doing something this dangerous, Xuan Hao preferred to try and figure out another way he could reach the mountain range without having to rely on luck to not end up in a deadly situation. Not to mention, the spatial anomaly might end causing him to end up somewhere under the crystal-clear water.
From the single time that he had tried to go under the water to test out if it was better than staying above the water, Xuan Hao didn't dare to do this again, as even with his strength, he felt his energy being drawn out at a speed that would end up reducing him to a lifeless husk in less than a half a minute….
Because of this, Xuan Hao wanted to avoid any situation that could cause him to end up beneath the crystal-clear water. Meaning that teleportation was out of the question if he couldn't find some way to ensure that he wouldn't end up finding himself beneath the water or the more dangerous locations on the ring-shaped lake.
Rustle~
Squeak?
Poking its small head out of his sleeve at this moment, the rabbit demon beast had just finished absorbing all of the qi stored inside the spiritual stones that Xuan Hao had given it and had now come out to ask for more… Or at least that was what Xuan Hao believed from the way that the rabbit demon beast was looking at him.
"Do you want more spirit stones?"
Squeak!
Jumping up in excitement the moment it heard Xuan Hao mention spirit stones, the rabbit demon beast momentarily forgot the fact that it was standing at the edge of one of the terraced pools of water-
Squeak!?
And before it landed back on the ground again, it suddenly realized that it had accidentally ended up jumping off the edge of the terraced pool of water and now found itself in the air above the crystal-clear water of the ring-shaped lake that surrounded the terraced pools and the remnants of the pagoda. Soon finding itself plummeting into the water below.
Splash!
"…"
Not knowing how to react to the rabbit demon beast seemingly jumping into the water on its own volition, Xuan Hao could only watch as it hit the water and sank beneath the surface before rapidly swimming back up-
"Hm?"
However, as the rabbit demon beast was about to try and swim its way back to the surface again, a large crystal fish the size of a small house appeared behind the rabbit demon beast as it opened its large mouth to swallow the rabbit demon beast.
Bang!
Of course, this did not work out as the large crystal fish was planned, as the rabbit demon beast abruptly turned around in the water before unleashing a deadly blow that instantly sent the large crystal fish flying into the distance. Not too surprising when considering that the large crystal fish had the strength compared to the earlier stages of the Nascent Soul Realm, while the rabbit demon beast had already reached the Soul Ascension Realm.
On the other hand, it could be considered a miracle that the crystal large fish had even managed to get knocked flying with an intact body. Even if the blow from the rabbit demon beast had long since destroyed the soul inside the body…
How can it fly? Is it perhaps because it's already dead? But more important than that, how come a mere Nascent Soul Realm fish can survive inside the water that constantly drains the energy of anyone entering? Even if it might be able to survive for a few minutes, there should be no way that it could live inside the water, unless… The water doesn't affect anyone below a certain cultivation realm!?
Squeak!
Lost in his own thoughts about what he had just witnessed, Xuan Hao failed to realize that the rabbit demon beast had still not left the water before he heard its panicked squeaking from below, causing him to turn his attention away from the direction that the body of large crystal fish had been sent flying in.
"What in the- Where did all these weird crystal fish come from!?"
Looking back down at the rabbit demon beast, Xuan Hao could not help exclaiming in surprise after spotting the close to a thousand large crystal fish gathered in front of the rabbit demon beast now backed up against the edge of the terraced pool where Xuan Hao was standing.
The reason why the rabbit demon beast didn't just escape back up to him, was that a dozen or so of the stronger crystal fish in front of it, created long sea grass tendrils that grabbed hold of the rabbit demon beast's body. Preventing it from escaping, as even if it destroyed the sea grass, the sea grass would almost instantly grow back again. Wasting the rabbit demon beast's energy as a result.
SQUEAK!
As a result of this, the rabbit demon beast could only desperately call out to him, as it had no other path to escape from the large number of crystal fish slowly approaching it. After all, although these crystal fish weren't much stronger than the Nascent Soul Realm and Domain Lord Realm, their numbers more than made up for this.
Not to mention, the rabbit demon beast also had to deal with the constant drain on its energy from the surrounding water, something that didn't seem to affect these large crystal fish in the slightest.
Swish-!
Not having any time to figure out where these fish had suddenly popped up from, Xuan Hao jumped down to the rabbit demon beast and cut it free before jumping back to the edge of the terraced pool before any of the stronger crystal fish had the chance to catch him and bring him into the water. Understanding very well that he wouldn't fare much better than the rabbit demon beast if he ended up getting caught and was forced under water.
Of course, Xuan Hao didn't forget to catch a few of the crystal fish in the process of getting the saving the rabbit demon beast. Intending full well to study them and see if there might be something other than a lower cultivation realm that might be the reason these fish could live inside the crystal-clear water without any problems…