Chapter 479: The Sect That Rules Over the Swamp...
Entering the large branch of the Explorer Union, Xuan Hao was amazed by the sheer size and amount of people walking around inside the building. The branch he had been to in the past during the time that the Heavenly Sky Kingdom was still around, was nowhere near the level of the one he currently found himself inside of.
Even the strength of the people inside was far higher, with even the weakest person inside having reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, while the stronger ones had reached the earlier stages of the Nascent Soul Realm!
From this alone, it was easy to see just how strong the Explorer Union was inside the Cloud Sky Kingdom... Not to mention the fact that there was still a Half-Step Domain Lord present inside the branch!
The Explorer Union sole purpose was exploring secret realms, mystic realms, ancient ruins and so on. Not involving themselves with any of the kingdoms or empires across the Ewaria Continent in an attempt to not get involved in any of their wars and conflicts. At least not anything he had heard about.
For them to have such a large branch inside the Cloud Sky Kingdom, Xuan Hao could only think of one reason...
"Hah... When will we go back and try to explore that place again? So far, we have still not managed to enter the inner part of that place. Even the branch leader only reached the border between the outer and inner area..."
"Calm down, your sister still needs to recover before we can move anywhere near that place any time soon!"
Listening in on the conversation between two of the Nascent Soul Realm Experts inside the branch, Xuan Hao felt like the place that the Nascent Soul Realm Experts were talking about, was likely the reason for the Explorer Union's presence in the Cloud Sky Kingdom!
Thinking about it, it was most likely an ancient ruin or something along that line. After all, a secret realm would have not only caught the attention of the Sky Empire, but also the nearby empires.
At that point, it would not just be the Explorer Union that was present in the Cloud Sky Kingdom...
Similar to what had ended up happening with the secret realm that appeared in the Heavenly Sky Kingdom, where Domain Lords from both the Onyx Empire and the Sky Empire showed up within a short period of time.
If not for the fact that the secret realm had been destroyed so quickly, other empires would have likely also begun showing up to explore the newly discovered secret realm. At that point, the Heavenly Sky Kingdom along with the Flying Sword Sect might get drawn into a conflict between these great powers!
Shaking his head as this thought passed through his mind, Xuan Hao knew that it was truly a lucky thing that the secret realm had been destroyed back then...
"Hello! Is there something I can help with?"
"Yeah, I wanted to know where the Flowing Cloud Sect is located."
Hearing a voice calling out to him, Xuan Hao realized he had already made his way over to the counter of the Explorer Union, as he quickly responded before the other party had time to realize that he was spacing out.
"The Flowing Cloud Sect? It's located..."
Not even a second after hearing his question, the person behind the counter gave him a detailed explanation of where the Flowing Cloud Sect was located. Even mentioning a few different caravans going towards the Flowing Cloud Sect that he could travel together with for safety. Only requiring him to pay a small fee.
Not that he would need to travel with some random caravan for safety in the first place...
The reason why the clerk behind the counter had mentioned it, was most likely because he had hidden his cultivation base. Looking no different than a normal person with no cultivation.
Given his age, she might even think that he was someone who was trying to enter-
"... If you take of in the next 3 days, you should be able to make it for their entrance examination! I heard that they are also taking in people above the age of eighteen if they are talented enough! If you are not successful, you can always join the Explorer Union! We accept everyone and even allow you to choose a free cultivation mantra when joining!"
"... Thanks... I will get going then..."
Listening to the clerk behind the counter confirm his thoughts about him, Xuan Hao could not help smiling wryly before taking his leave.
"Good luck!"
"..."
Ignoring the clerks call, Xuan Hao quickly left the Explorer Union branch.
Next time, he should not completely hide his cultivation base. Maybe showing something around the level of the Core Formation Realm... At least that way, he would not have to encounter a similar situation in the future...
"Hah..."
Letting out a sigh as he stepped outside, Xuan Hao directly left the capital city of the Cloud Sky Kingdom without finding out the reason why the Explorer Union had built such a large branch there.
In the first place, he just wanted to check up on Old Ji as he was now called before returning to the sect to see his two disciples, Chu Yang and Bai Ning again.
Finding out the reason why the Explorer Union was in the Cloud Sky Kingdom would surely end up with him getting side tracked and only returning a few weeks after Qing Yi and the other elders had made their way back to the sect.
This was not really something he wanted to do at the moment... After all, he could always come back to the Cloud Sky Kingdom in the future and find out why the Explorer Union was so active there.
Whoosh~
Having made up his mind to not investigate the Explorer Union and just what they had found inside the Cloud Sky Kingdom, Xuan Hao flew into the air hidden beneath his domain before flying towards the location of the Flowing Cloud Sect that the clerk had described to him.
"Though... I do wonder why the Flowing Cloud Sect would be located in such a hostile location..."
Muttering this to himself as he flew through the air, Xuan Hao could not help remembering the map that the clerk had pulled out while explaining how to get to and where the Flowing Cloud Sect was located inside the Cloud Sky Kingdom.
The area in question, was a large swamp located at the borders of the Cloud Sky Kingdom. Not only was this swamp dangerous according to the clerk, but it was also massive enough to cover a good ten percent of the entire Cloud Sky Kingdom!
Just seeing it on the map, Xuan Hao could easily understand just how large the swamp was.
If put into the past Heavenly Sky Kingdom, the swamp itself would cover around the same area as the territory of the Flying Sword Sect!
For the Flowing Cloud Sect to be in control of such a large swamp... It caused Xuan Hao to wonder why they had even ended up calling themselves the Flowing Cloud Sect instead of something like the Great Swamp Sect or Muddy Water Sect!
On the other hand, perhaps it was for the better that they were called the Flowing Cloud Sect...
Whoosh!
No longer thinking too much about the name choice of the Flowing Cloud Sect, Xuan Hao increased his speed after getting far enough away from the capital city. No longer bothering to hide himself with his domain.
The only reason he had hidden himself, as because he didn't want to accidently cause a panic inside the capital city...
...
"Is that so... Looks like they are really not giving up that easily!"
At the same time that Xuan Hao was making his way over towards the Flowing Cloud Sect, somewhere inside the large swamp of the Cloud Sky Kingdom, a middle-aged man looked towards the ruins of a large temple, an overwhelming killing intent overflowing from both his eyes.
Currently, a large dome shaped barrier covered the temple as several people in front of the middle-aged man could be seen attacking the large dome surrounding the temple ruins. All of them were at least in the Foundation Establishment Realm, while the stronger ones had already reached the Core Formation Realm!
"We have to leave soon leader... The help from the Flowing Cloud Sect is sure to arrive any minute now! If one of the Core Elders of the Flowing Cloud Sect shows up-"
"Shut up! I know already! Just help bring this damnable formation down!"
Half of the temple had already sunken into the soft swamp soil over the years, but even with all of this, the formation that conjured forth the dome shaped barrier had somehow still been fine after all of that...
"..."
Seeing his leader act like that, the man who had tried to warn his leader about the approaching danger could only keep quiet before joining the others in attacking the barrier around the temple ruins.