2 hours later...
Whoosh!
The trio slowed to a stop, their breaths ragged. The instant they tried to run from the Earth Tunneling Wolves, the wolves dove into the ground and chased closely behind. Being attuned to the earth element, these beasts were able to match the speed of the young talents.
This went on for roughly half an hour, before Zhang Yun Guang had the bright idea to convert the earth into another element. A few hand seals and tree roots intertwined, forming an inescapable net underground.
And yet the wolves were barely impeded, tearing through the roots with their claws.
It was only when he condensed the earth into metal were they able to put some considerable distance. The sound of metal grinding against each other echoed throughout the forest, and would likely attract a number of magical beasts to the wolves.
Now, the aura of the second stage wolves had finally subsided, and the trio were left with a heavy feeling lifted off their chests and cold sweat drenching their bodies.
While a single Earth Tunneling Wolf was not an issue, a large number of them would still likely overwhelm the 3 of them, forcing the use of more powerful moves that could attract the attention of other magical beasts.
Zhang Yun Guang took out his map once more, cursing under his breath about how there should be a teleportation Formation to every part of the sect's domain.
Of course the maintenance would be high, and so the sect will unlikely perform such a costly endeavor. Any disciples taking on such a long distance mission would need to travel much of the distance by themselves.
"We've made decent progress," he said, "Continuing at this pace, we might make it there quicker than expected"
That is, if they did not run into any significant troubles, which is unlikely to say the least.
A breeding ground as vast and isolated as the Grand Beast Forest would be no stranger to powerful beasts. They had essentially only just left the teleportation Formation, and still needed to travel a great distance before the trio could even get out of the forest.
Wasting no more time, the three young men shared a glance before continuing on their journey in a similar fashion to before, making great strides in progress.
A few hours later...
"Lets stop here for today"
Zhang Yun Guang sat down on a tree branch that was thicker than the entire length of his body. His eyes were dull, and weariness clearly clung to his body like invisible chains.
Bai Hu and Cheng Xia were much better off, however it can be seen that the rough travels was getting to them as well.
Bai Hu waved his hands, causing several Formation flags to fly out from his sleeve. The sharp points dug into the tree in a circular pattern around the trio to form the Aura Masking Formation.
"This much should be enough to hide us from most beings"
As long as it was not a particularly strong being, they wouldn't be able to see through the Formation.
Sitting down and situating himself in a comfortable position, Bai Hu closed his eyes and entered a meditative state. Seeing this, Cheng Xia and Zhang Yun Guang did the same, entering a trance and resting their minds.
There was no need for them to keep watch, as their talents laid not just in cultivation, but survival as well. Any threats, as long as they were not vastly stronger, would be sensed by each of them with ease.
Bai Hu took in a deep breath before he began to recite the method to cultivate the Thousand Soulspirit Art.
He was at the threshold of the Foundation level for this technique, and one final push was all he needed to break through. The thousand year old Soul Sublimating Fungus in his storage pouch would be more than enough.
The question now was whether or not to break through now in unknown territory. While it may boost his strength and survivability, Bai Hu was unsure of how much commotion the breakthrough will make.
After a few moments of thinking, the young man called out to his companions.
"I need a favor"
Cheng Xia and Zhang Yun Guang opened their eyes and turned to Bai Hu.
The boy took out a golden colored mushroom from his storage pouch. The fungus gave off a soft glow in the dark, and its thickness indicated that it was quite old.
Zhang Yun Guang raised an eyebrow, "A thousand year old Soul Sublimating Fungus?"
It was a treasure that can be highly sought after in the market, as many cultivators can make use of a stronger Divine Sense.
Bai Hu nodded, "I'm going to use it to break through one of my cultivation methods, however I am unsure of how much commotion it would make and whether or not the Formation will be able to hide it"
Cheng Xia nodded, "We will guard you then"
The young man nodded his head in thanks before immediately going into a meditative position. The mushroom floated above his right hand as his left hand hovered over it.
Weng!
A burst of spiritual energy filled the air as Bai Hu pushed his mind against the barrier that separated him from the next stage of the Thousand Soulspirit Art.
His companions looked on with interest, however they both turned away after a few seconds. It was taboo for others to try and glean insights from another's breakthrough, so unless explicit permission was given, they would not simply do it no matter how curious they were.
Making a hand seal with one hand, Bai Hu opened his eyes and threw the fungus into the air before pointing a finger at it.
Fwoom!
A purple flame erupted from his fingertip and shot towards the golden mushroom. The mushroom was shortly enveloped in the flames, its golden glow shining ever brighter. Within a minute, it became reduced to a golden liquid, floating viscously in the air.
The young man parted his lips, allowing the fluid to enter his system and flow into his Dantian.
A burst of spiritual energy exploded from within, spreading through every meridian within Bai Hu's body. The young man hurriedly closed his eyes and focused on the rapidly spreading spiritual energy.
Wrapping his Divine Sense around his body, Bai Hu contained the spreading energy before they were lost into the air. With careful precision, he brought and gathered the energy inside his upper meridians, before condensing it inside his head.
A golden swirling ball of energy was contained by a tightly knitted net of Divine Sense. Taking in a deep breath, Bai Hu completed a set of hand seals, each one causing the spiritual energy in the air to go wild.
The air swirled, causing his robes and hair to be swept up. Inside his mind, Bai Hu entered his sea of consciousness, a mysterious space that holds the mental world of a being.
Bai Hu looked down at his astral figure, a translucent body as light as a feather, before turning his attention to the vast space before him.
A vast void stretched out before him, a spherical space roughly a mile in diameter if it was in the real world. Along the boundaries of the space, Bai Hu saw runic characters floating around, glowing with a soft golden hue.
Spending no time to admire his sea of consciousness, Bai Hu made a hand seal and brought the medicinal fluid into the internal space.
The moment the golden fluid appeared, the golden runes went wild, surging upward and conglomerating above the viscous mass before descending down in a golden waterfall.
Weng!
Bai Hu covered his eyes as a bright light exploded forth. Opening his eyes just a little, Bai Hu saw that the golden runes had undone his Divine Sense around the medicinal fluid and began rapidly consuming the fluid.
Within seconds, the liquid was gone, replaced by hundreds of pulsing gold runes. The spiritual power has now completely saturated the runes.
Sitting down in his astral form, Bai Hu began to recite the method to cultivate the Thousand Soulspirit Art.
Whoosh!
The runes trembled for a moment before scattering to every corner of the sea of consciousness. Bai Hu grunted slightly as he felt the runes pushing outwards, trying to expand the mental space. It was now that he realized the runes were a product of the Thousand Soulspirit Art.
However, the resistance was little, for Bai Hu had tempered his mind continuously. That coupled with a rare treasure like the Soul Sublimating Fungus was enough to loosen the bottleneck.
Boom!
Bai Hu's physical body trembled, brows furrowing as his astral body witnessed his own sea of consciousness tripling in size in the matter of seconds, while the number of gold runes had nearly doubled.
The young man exited his mental world and stood up with his real body. His body felt the same as before, but a refreshing feeling lingered in his mind, and an indescribable aura exuded from his figure.
He smiled at his companions, who had turned back once they noticed his movements, "It was a success, thank you both"