Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough-Chapter 1664: Guardian of the Quiet Temple (3)

Observing the guardian as it began moving to attack him again, he didn't hesitate to distance himself before healing himself from the injury he had received from the brief clash. Making full use of his recent comprehension of the Dao of Life to speed up his recovery just enough to finish before the guardian began moving in for another attack.

The clear difference this time around being that the stone platform that had managed to remain fully intact during their battle so far began violently breaking apart as a vast amount of earth qi surged forth from the guardian to reshape the environment around it. Transforming the empty stone platform into a massive mountain range in an instant.

Although the guardian was powerful, the change happened far too quickly. Making him momentarily think that he might have ended up inside an illusion created by the guardian, but a quick test soon proved that it wasn't some illusion.

Is the guardian perhaps far stronger than I first thought…? But, if it was powerful enough to create such a massive mountain range in the blink of an eye, it should have been capable of killing me with relative ease. No need to drag things on for this long…

Feeling a bit lost as he looked in the direction of the guardian that had managed to somewhat blend in with the surrounding environment, Xuan Hao really did not understand what this guardian demon beast was planning to do.

It was true that a mountainous terrain like this would assist someone proficient in the Dao of Earth, but the strength required to create this kind of environment would simply be far too wasteful and take far too long under normal circumstances.

The guardian being capable of transforming the entire independent space into a single massive mountain range filled with countless towering peaks was nothing short of shocking. Until he realized that it was most likely not the guardian who had created this mountain range on its own, but instead some kind of setting that had been present inside the independent space from the beginning. Allowing the guardian to infuse a bit of its qi to activate it and transform the independent space with ease.

Keeping his gaze locked on the guardian as he realized this, it wasn't hard to guess that the guardian had only been testing his strength so far and was only now starting to take him as a serious threat.

Part of him felt happy at the acknowledgement of his strength, while another part of him wished that the guardian would continue not taking him seriously, as it would give him more time to try and search for a weakness to take advantage of.

Rumble~!

Not giving him much time to think about the changing circumstances, the guardian's massive body crushed a smaller mountain underneath its massive body as it used the broken fragments of the mountain to create a shower of rocks that rained down towards him. All of them being enhanced by its earth qi to ensure that they had enough destructive power to threaten him, while it at the same time also used its massive tail to rip out a mountain with its tail before similarly throwing it towards him.

"…"

Seeing the countless rocks that looked like small hills at his current size along with the towering mountain blotting out the sky flying towards him, Xuan Hao felt a slight shiver run down his spine.

Under normal circumstances, a few rocks and a mountain wouldn't have been difficult for him to deal with, but they weren't ordinary and had all been enhanced by the guardian's earth qi. Resulting in even the smallest of rocks carrying with them an overwhelming power strong enough to injure someone in the Celestial Immortal Realm.

Dodging the attack wasn't really an option this time around, as the guardian had already moved to intercept him in case he attempted to dodge.

So, with that in mind, he could only reluctantly raise his hand, causing a blue colored light to bloom in the air before a circular formation circle formed around him. Constructed through a combination of the Dao of Ice and the Dao of Yin to create a nine layered ice lotus with him at the center.

The ice lotus itself could be considered a bit of an experimental defensive method he had come up with after he had comprehended the Dao of Yin but hadn't had the opportunity to test out yet.

Fundamentally, it wasn't that different from the ice wall he normally used, but it still came out far stronger.

The reason for this was that the ice wall used the Dao of Ice at the core while the Dao of Formations strengthened it, while the ice lotus incorporated the Dao of Yin as well, further strengthening the Dao of Ice and in turn making it far stronger defensively compared to the ice wall.

Of course, there was also a clear weakness to the ice lotus, as it would root him on the spot while using it. Preventing a quick dodge like he had been when he had used the ice wall to hold back the guardian's first attack.

But…

In his current situation where there was no chance of him dodging the incoming attack, it was the best ability available to him, as the ice lotus could be considered his strongest defensive technique.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Not a second after the ice lotus bloomed around him, securing him at the core of the nine layered ice lotus, the first rocks from the shattered mountain arrived. Smashing directly into the ice lotus, causing the outermost layer to crack before ultimately breaking under the continuous barrage.

However, after the outermost layer broke, the next layer managed to hold strong under the barrage, as only a few cracks formed before all the rocks were gone-

RUMBLE~!

Not that this made him feel the slightest bit at ease, as the towering mountain thrown out by the guardian soon came crashing down towards him with a terrifying might that surpassed any attack he had faced so far.

Crack~ BANG!

As a result, it was of no surprise that the eighth layer of the ice lotus broke apart with little to no resistance. Followed by the seventh… sixth… fifth… And soon enough, the fourth layer of the ice lotus before it began slowing down, but at the end of the day, this was only slowing down, as it continued descending towards him. Soon enough breaking through third layer.

But at this time, the mountain finally seemed to reach a dead end, as a core part of the ice lotus was not just the multi layered defense, but also the fact that the defensive power of the ice lotus increased the closer to the core of the lotus one got. Meaning that breaking through the second layer of the ice lotus would be far more difficult than breaking through the previous seven layers, let alone the final layer that could be considered the last line of defense where the strength of the ice lotus would be at its strongest.

Crack~!

In the end, the towering mountain only managed to form a few cracks on the second layer of the ice lotus before it lost all its strength and crumbled around him-

CHOMP-!

But this was far from the end, as the guardian emerged the second the mountain crumbled, opening its massive mouth before biting down at the ice lotus. Attempting to directly crush the ice lotus.

"This was not the attack I was expecting to deal with after that mountain…" Muttering this to himself as he felt himself being wildly smashed into the ground by the guardian demon beast as it attempted to break the ice lotus, Xuan Hao clearly noticed the cracks on the second layer widening with each passing second.

Even then, he wasn't the least bit uneasy, as all of this was already expected when he decided to go into full defensive. Not to mention, even if the second layer of the ice lotus was broken, there was still the final layer that was far stronger.

All of this was part of his plan, as he intended to use the opportunity while the guardian was busy trying to break through the ice lotus to test out the Daos he had comprehended and see if the guardian was weak to any of them…

CRAAAACK~~ BANG!

Because of this, even as the second layer of the ice lotus broke apart and the mouth of the guardian reached the final layer of the ice lotus, he didn't panic, as he began to use a small opening undetectable to others to shoot out a few different attacks to test out the reaction of the guardian.

Not enough to warrant any response from the guardian, as the strength of these attacks were all limited to the Earlier Stages of the Nascent Soul Realm.

Any stronger than that and the opening he had created in the ice lotus would have already been noticed and torn open by the guardian demon beast.

Not that it mattered much how strong the attacks were, as it was only to gauge a reaction from the guardian demon beast when met with the power of the different Daos.