The reason why Xuan Hao was shocked when he saw where the old man was heading was not due to the fact that he had found some kind of hidden passage that led to some kind of underground space similar to the one located beneath the ruins of the Raging Flame Sect, but instead because the old man went to a rather familiar place.
To be more specific, he descended headfirst into the strange dark red whirlpool hidden away inside a ravine of the Burning Mountain Range. Using yet another strange artifact to protect himself from the flames and powerful spatial distortion around the dark red whirlpool. After all, even though he was at the Peak of the Domain Lord Realm, he was still far too weak to deal with something capable of shattering space.
Whoosh~
Hesitating for a short moment after the old man disappeared inside the dark red whirlpool, Xuan Hao soon chased after him. Using all of his strength to block the terrifying flames, while at the same time using his limited comprehension of the Dao of Space to negate the spatial anomaly caused by the dark red whirlpool as he plunged into it.
Rumble~
Even then, his current strength was only barely enough for him to forcibly halt the terrifying power of the dark red whirlpool for a few seconds-
15:36
Swish-!
Just enough time to slip inside the space hidden on the other side of the dark red whirlpool before he was crushed by the terrifying power contained inside of it. Soon finding himself hovering above a piece of land the size of a large city hovering in the middle of an empty dark expanse.
"Haaa… That was far too close…" Muttering this to himself as he looked back in the direction of the dark red whirlpool that now seemed to have turned into the sun of the dark expanse that he found himself inside of, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a shiver run down his spine. The size of the dark red whirlpool had grown to a size that far eclipsed the one in the Burning Mountain Range, taking up close to half of the dark expanse.
Although he had managed to safely pass through the dark red whirlpool just now, he understood very well that the only reason he had managed to pass through it safely was because he had managed to comprehend the Dao of Space and the Dao of Fire. Giving him a certain degree of resistance against the powers related to these Daos.
If not for that, he doubted that he would have been able to make it through the dark red whirlpool with his current strength at the Late Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm!
"Looks like this seal is still working normally without any problems, but… If there isn't a problem with this seal, is it perhaps one of the other seals? And is the damage more extensive than the one located beneath those sect ruins?"
Not aware of the fact that Xuan Hao had been scared silly passing through the dark red whirlpool that now seemed to have grown far larger compared to before as it took up almost half of the dark expanse, the old man just tilted his head in contemplation as a frown appeared on his aged face.
"No, if that was the case, that being should have already escape… Maybe one of the seals were found by those people!?" Having seemingly concluded something after looking around the seemingly empty piece of land for a few seconds, the old man didn't waste any time as he rushed back up and made his way back out of the empty expanse where only the dark red whirlpool and the empty piece of land were present.
"That was fast…" Noticing the old man leaving already, Xuan Hao could not help muttering this to himself as he watched the old man dash past him without noticing before charging back into the dark red whirlpool.
"Hm?"
However, just as he was about to turn around and leave the empty expanse to follow after the old man, he noticed something moving in the distance. More specifically, it seemed like part of the dark expanse had come alive as an eye the size of the empty island appeared to stare directly at him.
"This… Don't tell me the seal is-"
Roooar-!
Rumble~!
Hearing a loud roar followed by the massive eye rapidly approaching him from the distance, Xuan Hao didn't think twice before turning around and using all of his strength to rush back into the dark red whirlpool. Only now understanding why the old man had spent such a short time inside the dark expanse and left shortly after confirming that there wasn't anything wrong with the seal.
The seal was none other than the dark red whirlpool, while the city sized island floating in the middle of the dark expanse should be part of the seal in some way he couldn't comprehend.
As for the dark expanse itself... That was where the being sealed inside the dark red whirlpool resided!
Whoosh-!
Wasting no time as he realized this and felt the shadow of death approaching him from behind, Xuan Hao soon plunged into the dark red whirlpool. Not carrying the slightest bit about sustaining any injuries from forcing himself out through the dark red whirlpool at a speed far surpassing his earlier cautious and slower approach. Understanding that staying for even a single second longer inside the dark expanse might end up resulting in the being sealed there catching up to him.
Even though he had reached the Late Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm and could hold his own against someone in the Earth Immortal Realm at his current realm, he didn't have any delusions of being capable of fighting back against the being sealed inside the dark red whirlpool.
Weakened or not, he was almost certain that the being sealed there had surpassed the Celestial Immortal Realm!
BOOOOM-!
Not even a second after he had managed to escape from the dark red whirlpool while sustaining a few injuries in the process, Xuan Hao felt a shiver run down his spine as the dark red whirlpool behind suddenly exploded with a terrifying power as it seemed to be fighting back against something-
FWOOOOSH-!
Forcing the flames of the whirlpool to spread out and incinerate everything inside the ravine before rapidly spreading out to cover the surrounding mountains located around the ravine. Killing any cultivator or demon beast unfortunate enough to find themselves within the range of the flames.
Of course, Xuan Hao didn't dare to slow down as he continued escaping from the dark red whirlpool. Soon catching up to the old man who didn't seem to show the slightest reaction at what was happening behind him as he continued moving towards an unknown location that Xuan Hao silently prayed wasn't the seal in the Frozen Wasteland.
After all, the seal located in the Frozen Wasteland was by far the hardest one to find… And more importantly than that, the demonic cultivators in the Frozen Wasteland were far too unpredictable at the moment. The most memorable case of this being the powerful demonic cultivator that he and Yi Min had barely managed to avoid while passing through the Frozen Wasteland on their way to the Blue Shore Kingdom. If he entered the Frozen Wasteland again, Xuan Hao was afraid that he would end up encountering one of these powerful demonic cultivators again…
[Investigate the Four Ancient Dao Seals: 3/4] Deciding to not think too much about possibly having to go to the Frozen Wasteland again, Xuan Hao focused his attention on the quest that had now updated after his short visit to the dark expanse inside the dark red whirlpool.
"At least the investigation mentioned by the system doesn't mean I actually have to investigate the seals themselves; I just have to confirm their location and see them for myself…" Muttering this to himself as he went over his recent experience with the dark red whirlpool, Xuan Hao could not help letting out a sigh of relief.
At the very least, he didn't have to examine the seals and learn more about them for the system to consider him having investigated them.
If he really did have to do something like that, he highly doubted that it would be possible to investigate the seal of the dark red whirlpool with his current strength. After all, he would only be able to stay for a short moment before the being sealed in there appeared. Not to mention, he had no way to tell if that being was waiting on the other side of the dark red whirlpool if he tried to enter the dark expanse on the other side again.
"Hm? Looks like he isn't going to the Frozen Wasteland…" Noticing the old man suddenly changing his direction towards somewhere that wasn't the Frozen Wasteland, Xuan Hao's train of thought was momentarily interrupted as he similarly turned to follow him.
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