Chapter 704: Core Region of the Sky Empire
Given how far away the closest path leading to the surface is, it should at least take us two days before we reach it...
Thinking this to himself after leaving the tower that they had been staying inside of for the last few days, Bai Ning could not help feeling a little nervous as he looked over the large empty cave that they were currently inside of.
Even if they had not encountered any demon beasts outside of a few that had reached the Qi Condensation Realm after entering the underground part of the jungle, Bai Ning still felt that there should be some more powerful demon beasts lurking around inside the underground cave network!
"Let's get going! Hopefully we will be able to leave this jungle in less than a week if we are lucky!"
Not knowing what Bai Ning was thinking about, Hui Ying was still filled with excitement after they had gotten their hands on the map, as she happily took the lead and made her way in the direction of the exit leading out of the underground cave network.
"..."
Smiling a bit wryly after seeing Hui Ying dashing forward, Bai Ning shook his head before following after her.
If there really were more powerful demon beasts hidden somewhere in the underground cave network, there was nothing much they could do other than trying their best to avoid them if they had the chance to.
Swish~!
Like this, Bai Ning and Hui Ying began their journey towards the closest path in the underground cave network leading back up to the surface.
As for going back up through the same way they had entered... Neither Bai Ning nor Hui Ying dared thinking about taking that risk with a Nascent Soul Realm demon beast possibly lurking around in the area ready to pounce on them the moment they tried to make their way back to the surface.
...
"So, this is the core region of the Sky Empire... The qi here is indeed denser and the people living here are also far stronger compared to the border region. Not only that, but the demon beasts roaming around the place are also far stronger, a few of them even reached the Nascent Soul Realm! No wonder it is so dangerous for someone in the Nascent Soul Realm to travel through the core region of the Sky Empire!"
Having only just entered the core region of the Sky Empire for a few hours, Xuan Hao could not help feeling amazed at what he saw so far. Even the weakest city that he had encountered so far had someone in the Nascent Soul Realm guarding it!
Well... Considering that he had also encountered quite a few Nascent Soul Realm demon beasts roaming around below him, it was obvious that a city without a Nascent Soul Realm Expert guarding it would not be able to survive inside the core region of the Sky Empire!
The outside of these cities and the small area around them that they protected, housed most of the people inside the core region of the Sky Empire. The rest of the core region was a dangerous place that would be almost impossible to traverse for anyone below the Nascent Soul Realm.
For this reason, the people living in the core region of the Sky Empire were doing their best trying to increase their strength so they could explore the outside world and have the opportunity to visit other places without having to pay a hefty sum of money to join a powerful caravan that traversed between cities.
The sects and kingdoms that controlled these different cities were not much better, as from what Xuan Hao could see, most of them were only in control of a small area of land that they could barely hold on to.
The only difference, was the sects and kingdoms with a Domain Lord Realm Expert behind them!
These kingdoms and sects could be considered the peak power of the Sky Empire and each of them controlled massive swaths of land. Keeping these massive territories safe from the demon beasts roaming around outside was not simple and could only be done through constructing large barriers and having dozens of Nascent Soul Realm Experts standing guard.
Without the support of a Domain Lord Realm Expert, it was impossible to control a proper territory inside the core region of the Sky Empire!
"I wonder... Is the dangerous environment the reason why the Sky Empire has not been able to fully control their territory and has instead allowed different independent sects and kingdoms do it as long as they are loyal to them?" Muttering this to himself as he flew over the first kingdom that was very clearly backed by a Domain Lord Realm Expert, Xuan Hao felt that he managed to understand why the Sky Empire allowed the different kingdoms and sects inside its borders to operate on their own without any supervision.
In a sense, the Sky Empire didn't have enough power to control their territory by themselves and needed these different kingdoms and sects... Of course, that was not mentioning that some of the different powers that had been allowed to grown independently might have ended up giving birth to experts who had reached the Soul Ascension Realm!
If that was the case, the current Sky Empire might not have absolute authority and control inside the Sky Empire like he had first thought...
Even then, for them to still hold on to their current position, the imperial family of the Sky Empire should not be weak in any way and should still be the strongest force inside the Sky Empire!
Thinking about this, Xuan Hao unconsciously looked in the direction of the Sky Empire with a curious expression of his face.
"If the core region of the Sky Empire is already this dangerous, I wonder what the core region of the continent is like..."
Shaking his head as he said this to himself, Xuan Hao could not help feeling both scared and excited thinking about the fact that there should be experts who surpassed the Soul Ascension Realm inside the core region of the continent itself.
Even if he was close to reaching the Soul Ascension Realm and only needed an opportunity to breakthrough after having merged his two domains together, he was still far away from the mysterious realm that came after the Soul Ascension Realm.
"Hm?"
Suddenly sensing a powerful divine sense belonging to someone in the Second Stage of the Domain Lord Realm locking on to him as he was about to pass over the capital city of the kingdom which had the support of someone in the Domain Lord Realm, Xuan Hao frowned for a short moment before realizing that the divine sense originated from somewhere inside the capital city of the kingdom below him.
Knowing that the other party should have sensed him coming over and was just trying to find out who he was and if he was hostile or not, Xuan Hao decided to just ignore the other party as he continued on his way.
Whoosh~!
However, just in case the other party might want to stop him, he decided to release a bit of his aura. Allowing the other party to identify his strength as someone in the Ninth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.
Whoosh-!
Not too long after he released a bit of his power, the divine sense that had come over from the capital city of the kingdom below quickly retreated at a speed that far surpassed what Xuan Hao thought was possible for someone in the Second Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.
Looks like it worked out~
Chuckling to himself after seeing that the other party escaped the moment, he released a bit of his aura, Xuan Hao no longer paid any attention to the kingdom or capital city below as he continued on his way towards the capital city of the Sky Empire.
In the first place, he was already short on time and had no time to waste on any kingdom with a Domain Lord Realm Expert that he happened to pass through.
...
"W-what was that!? Where did such a powerful expert come from!?" At the same time Xuan Hao passed over the capital city of the unknown kingdom, an old man covered in sweat from head to toe could not help exclaiming as he fearfully looked up towards the sky where Xuan Hao was.
"Ancestor!? Did something happen!?"
"Ancestor, is a powerful demon beast approaching again!? Didn't we just recently fend off that Domain Lord Realm Snake from the Thousand Poison Valley?!"
At the same time the old man exclaimed in disbelief as he looked up towards the sky filled with fear, two powerful looking guards standing at the side not too far away quickly rushed over with worry plastered all over their faces.
Both of them had reached the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, so it was obvious that they had not been able to sense Xuan Hao flying past above them.
For this reason, they thought that some powerful demon beast might be approaching to attack their kingdom.
"Both of you, quiet down! I... I need to contact a few friends..." Still not able to calm down after having come in contact with Xuan Hao's aura, the old man that was referred to as ancestor by the two Peak Nascent Soul Realm Expert angrily yelled at the two of them before taking out a communication talisman.
At the moment, the old ancestor wanted to inform his friends about what had happened and try to see if he could find out who the powerful expert just now was!