Cultivating Disciples To Breakthrough

by Stayrr

Within a quiet pavilion on top of a lonely mountain peak, Xuan Hao slowly opened his eyes with a bewildered look on his face, he had transmigrated into a cultivation world as an elder of the Flying Sword Sect. He was even an expert at the Nascent Soul Realm, who had the power to easily destory an entire city with a wave of his hand. Most importantly, he had a system that allowed h

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Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough #Chapter 789 Day Of The Sect Alliance Meeting - Read Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough Chapter 789 Day Of The Sect Alliance Meeting Online - All Page - Novel Bin

"That was easier than I expected…" Making his way back towards the Star Shattering Sect, Feng Chen could not help muttering this to himself as he turned to look back towards the group of experts from the Sky Empire that had been so polite to him.

To be honest, when he chased after the demonic cultivator and got closer to the border of the Frozen Wasteland where the people from the Sky Empire were busy doing their best to prevent the demonic cultivators from passing through, Feng Chen had felt a bit nervous about encountering the Domain Lord Realm Experts from the Sky Empire. Not knowing how they would react to an unknown Domain Lord Realm Expert suddenly appearing out of nowhere...

But… In the end they were far more polite and respectful than he had expected. Even more surprising was the fact that they had met Xuan Hao on their way to the border of the Frozen Wasteland and learnt about the Star Shattering Sect from him.

The main reason why they were not too surprised when I first appeared should be because of what Xuan Hao said to them… How wonderful, it looks like Elder Xuan already managed to establish some friendly relationships with the people from the Sky Empire!

Shaking his head as he thought about this, Feng Chen secretly smiled to himself as he sped up in the direction of the Star Shattering Sect.

Now that the matter of the demonic cultivators had been solved, he could return to the sect and allow Elder Song to send out some of the disciple to help clean up the demonic cultivators that had made their way into the Azure Sky Kingdom.

If the demonic cultivators present in the Azure Sky Kingdom were not enough, he could always start sending them into the kingdom located beside the Azure Sky Kingdom.

Considering how many demonic cultivators were present from what little he had observed while chasing after the demonic cultivator just now, the people from the Sky Empire should be more than happy with a little help in cleaning up those demonic cultivators.

…

After Feng Chen returned to the Star Shattering Sect and informed Elder Song about what had happened , it did not take long before Elder Song took the lead in gathering disciples to fight with the demonic cultivators.

The main attraction for these disciples being the different rewards such as precious artifacts and spiritual herbs they would be able to obtain after killing the demonic cultivators.

Of course, this was outside the precious things that the demonic cultivators were already carrying on them!

As for the elders who were supposed to protect them and help deal with the more powerful demonic cultivators that had made, they way through the experts from the Sky Empire… Elder Song had already dealt with this matter a short time after Feng Chen had left the sect.

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During this exercise, Elder Song also took the opportunity to allow some of the branch disciples to join in on fighting the demonic cultivators.

The only difference between them and the disciples from the main sect, was that they would not be able to gain any treasures or spiritual herbs from killing the demonic cultivators… Instead, they got a chance to enter the Core Sect if they performed well!

For these branch disciples, a large part of them were composed of those who had failed to enter the Star Shattering Sect in the past and were forced to instead move to one of the branch sects hoping that they would be able to enter the Star Shattering Sect in the future.

For this reason alone, the few branch sects that had just recently been established went crazy with excitement. Soon enough, the branch disciples formed all sorts of tournaments on their own without the help of anyone. Wanting to determine who would be able to get the chance to join the Star Shattering Sect.

Seeing as this happened, Elder Song who had originally only wanted to invite a few of the branch disciples as an afterthought could not help feeling surprised before contacting the elders of the different branch sects to help out the disciples in handling these sudden tournaments that sprouted up everywhere inside the branch sects of the Star Shattering Sect.

To make sure everything went smoothly for these branch disciples, Elder Song even went out of his way to send a few spiritual herbs and artifacts that could be used as rewards during these tournaments by the branch disciples.

At least this way, the branch disciples who were weaker would also join in and get a chance to win something if they gave it their all.

In the end, this matter would last for a little over a week before a winner from the different branch sects could be chosen.

However, considering just how many demonic cultivators were present in the kingdom adjacent to the Azure Sky Kingdom, Elder Song was not the slightest bit worried about the demonic cultivators getting killed off before these tournaments ended and the branch disciples could get a chance to participate in cleaning up the demonic cultivator.

The main reason for this, was that even if the elders from the Star Shattering Sect he had sent over gave it their all in cleaning them up, it would still at least take two month. Maybe even three months for them to clean up all of the demonic cultivators!

Even if someone like Feng Chen in the Domain Lord Realm and the experts from the Sky Empire helped out, it would still at least take a month… With this in mind, there was more than enough time for the branch disciples to hold a week long tournament!NvεlB¡n: Unleashing Imagination, One Read at a Time.

…

At the same time that the branch disciples were getting ready for their tournaments and the disciples of the Star Shattering Sect were getting ready to fight with the demonic cultivators, Xuan Hao slowly opened his eyes as he looked out at the sun hanging high in the sky above the capital city of the Sky Empire through the window next to him.

"It's time…" Muttering this to himself as he turned to look at the crowd of people compromising of the different representatives from different independent sect that had gathered in front of the entrance to the inn, Xuan Hao casually inspected everyone there before finding Xu Bao and the rest of the Domain Lords standing in the front of the group talking to each other about something.

Swish~

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"-And I really think we should-

"Good morning, everyone."

"Ah!?"

Appearing in front of the Domain Lords before saying this before they had enough time to register his presence, Elder Scarlet flame who had been talking unintentionally let out a surprised sound as he turned to look towards Xuan Hao who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere with a shocked expression on his face.

"Haha! Looks at you! To think a Domain Lord would get scared so easily! Haha, this is a first!"

"Shut it you little brat! At least I'm not the same height as an eight-year-old!"

"Wah- YOU!"

Boom-!

Crack~

"Senior! It's great to see you." As Elder Scarlet flame had was almost about to start fighting with a small old man in the Domain Lord Realm who was no taller than a kid, Xu Bao had already walked over forcefully knocked of them to the ground with his domain before smiling as he said this without looking towards the two people that had been smashed into the ground by his domain.

"Ah, the feeling is mutual. Are we perhaps going to leave for the meeting immediately? From what I know, there should still be a few hours before we are supposed to be there."

Deciding that it would be best not to pry into what had just happened to the two Domain Lords that had been transformed into human pancakes under the pressure of Xu Bao's domain, Xuan Hao just asked about the meeting.

"Oh, that? I guess I forgot to tell you yesterday, but we are planning to get to the meeting some time before it starts. The main reason for this is due to many of the sects, as you already know, are not too friendly to us independent sects.

Even if we have senior around to help us out, I'm almost one hundred percent certain that they would try to block our way inside the meeting or prevent us from even reaching the meeting in the first place. After all, most of the more powerful sects are supported by kingdoms with experts in the later stages of the Domain Lord Realm…"

"I see… That is understandable…"

Nodding his head as he heard what Xu Bao said, Xuan Hao felt that it was reasonable for them to go early and not end up getting stopped midway by a group of random Domain Lords who wanted to prevent them from joining the meeting.

Although he was more than strong enough to chase away anyone who would show up to try and stop them, he didn't want to show off his true strength and wanted to keep the illusion of him being in the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm for the meeting.

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Making their way towards the location that the meeting would take place together with the group of people from the different independent sects across the Sky Empire, Xuan Hao could not help noticing that the number of people walking on the streets today far exceeded the number of people that had been around during the week he had spent in the capital city.

Even when the matter with the demonic cultivator in the noble district took place, there were not this many people on the streets of the city. More importantly, the number of people in the Nascent Soul Realm and Domain Lord Realm present in the streets had also increased far beyond what it had been before.

If he would normally be able to spot one or two Domain Lords walking through the city, this time around, Xuan Hao had already managed to see more than a dozen... And that was considering that they had yet to enter the core of the capital where the sect alliance meeting was going to take place!

From all of this, it was obvious to see how important the sect alliance was to all of the different powers in the Sky Empire. Even if it did not directly involve the imperial family or the three large religions, the sect alliance was essential something that the imperial family had come up with to weaken the influence of the three religions of the Sky Empire!

The main reason why the number of people present was also because most of them were curious whether or not the three religions would work together to mess up the sect alliance meeting... At this point in time, the matter of the sect alliance was no longer about the different sects that had gathered together from all over the Sky Empire but was instead a struggle for power between the two largest factions inside the Sky Empire!

"Senior... I think we might soon encounter a problem..."

Just as Xuan Hao was lost in his own thoughts while observing the different people walking through the streets of the capital, Xu Bao suddenly used his divine sense to say this without anyone else hearing it.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Not understanding why Xu Bao had suddenly said they would encounter a problem, Xuan Hao could not help asking this through his divine sense. Even if he didn't understand what it was about, he at the very least still understood that it would not be a good idea to say this considering Xu Bao had informed him through divine sense instead of directly saying it to him.

"I saw a few Domain Lords belonging to some of the sects that recently participated in trying to weaken not only the weaker sects who didn't have a Domain Lord Realm Expert backing them, but also stronger independent sects like the Sunfire Sect that Elder Scarlet Flame is from.

If I'm not wrong, these sects and Domain Lords should be backed up by one of the more powerful kingdoms that at least have someone in the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm in charge!"

Frowning to himself as he heard what Xu Bao said to him through his divine sense, Xuan Hao could not help following the old man's gaze towards a group of Domain Lords observing them from a distance.

Third Stage of the Domain Lord Real, First Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, Second Stage-

"Are you sure these people will cause a problem and try to stop us? Even if they have the backing of a Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm, the strongest among them have only barely managed to break through to the Third Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.

Even without accounting for me or yourself, Elder Scarlet Flame Should be able to deal with this group of people by himself!" Feeling even more confused at why Xu Bao was acting so cautious after seeing through the group of Domain Lord's strength, Xuan Hao turned back towards Xu Bao for an answer.

"Hah... I forgot you are new to all of this... Senior, what I mean by them causing trouble for us is not so much them blocking our path by themselves, but the fact that they will begin to spread information about our location to the other sects that are hostile towards us independent sects.

If I'm not wrong, it won't be long before some of the more powerful sects that want us to disappear starts to show and when that happens, it's only a matter of time before they come out do their best to stop us from reaching the meeting..."

Hearing what Xu Bao said, Xuan Hao began to understand what he meant with them encountering a problem. Especially when he remembered just how many sects under the different kingdoms of the Sky Empire Xu Bao had told him were hostile to independent sects.

Even if it was inaccurate estimate, the number of Domain Lords from these sects put together would at least amount to 60!

Although most of these Domain Lords were only between the first and third stage of the realm, it was still a powerful force that could be ranked just below the largest powers of the empire when put together!

"This... You really have a lot of people who like you..."

"I... Hah... Let's get going before we end up getting surround and unable to reach the meeting in time. Even if the Domain Lords that are going to show up won't be strong enough to stop us, I fear that their backers might also make an appearance and at that point in time, we might end up having to deal with multiple people in the later stages of the Domain Lord Realm!" Not able to come up with a response to what Xuan Hao said to him through his divine sense, Xu Bao could only let out a sigh before saying this.

Xuan Hao might be an extremely powerful expert that should at least have reached the Eighth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm in the mind of Xu Bao, but he still understood that there would be no way for him to help them out if multiple experts above the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord realm appeared to block them.

Not to mention, he had already understood that Xuan Hao did not want to reveal his true identity nor his true strength.This chapter made its debut appearance via N0v3lB1n.

With all of this in mind, it would be better for them to avoid a confrontation with these hostile forces.

Whoosh~!

Whoosh~!

Whoosh~!

Informing the rest of the experts from the different independent sects about their current situation through his divine sense, it did not take long before everyone increased their speed as they rushed towards the core part of the capital where the sect alliance meeting was going to be held.'

"Hm!? They discovered us, we can't let them go before the rest show up!"

"Yes, we have to prevent them from leaving or the lord will punish us later!"

Noticing that they had been discovered, the group of Domain Lords watching them from the side looked like they were about to step forward and stop them-

"Hah? Do you perhaps want to be the one to stand in front of that old man Xu?"

""...""

However, the Third Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert who acted like the leader of the group quickly stopped all of the eager Domain Lords in their tracks with a single sentence, as all of the Domain Lords unconsciously turned to look at Xu Bao at the front of the group who was similar starring directly at them with a faint bit of killing intent leaking out from his eyes that sent a shiver down their spine.

After seeing that the group of people from the independent sects had gathered together and were about to escape from them, they had completely forgotten about the existence of Xu Bao.

The main reason for their fear when facing Xu Bao, was due to the fact that Xu Bao had been rumoured to be the one that killed a Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert who had once destroyed an independent sect that was on friendly terms with his sect. This was also the reason why nobody dared to go too overboard when dealing with the more powerful independent sects in the Sky Empire!

After all, an expert that could kill a Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert was not someone anyone wanted to fall out with if it was possible to avoid. At most they would destroy the weaker independent sects and spend their time weaking the stronger ones as they waited for Xu Bao to die of old age...

...

Rushing through the capital city before coming to a stop in front of a large gate leading into the core of the capital where the imperial family and the three religions were located, Xu Bao and the rest of the experts from the different independent sects could not help letting out a sigh of relief.

Leaving early had been a good idea, as the different people that would normally block them had not been able to show up in time. Now, as long as they entered the core of the capital, there would be no way for those people to interfere with them joining the sect alliance meeting!

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Having reached the gate leading into the core of the capital city, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit surprised as he saw the two guards standing on either side of the gate.

Even from a glance, it was obvious that these two guards had both reached the Domain Lord Realm. Not only that but they were above the Third Stage of the Domain Lord Realm and should at the very least have reached the Fourth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm!

Two experts at least in the Fourth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm acting as simple guards in front of a gate was more than enough for one to understand just how powerful the imperial family of the Sky Empire was... And that was not mentioning the fact that there was more than one entrance into the core of the capital that should be guarded by similarly powerful experts!

"Looks like we managed to avoid any of those people on our way here, it was really a great idea to move out a few hours before the start of the meeting. Even if they want to stop us, there is nothing they can do inside the core of the capital that is fully under the control of the imperial family.

If they really decide to still try and do something, then we just have to cause a small ruckus and attract the guards over. Although they might be powerful inside the Sky Empire, there is no way that they will be able to go against the imperial family!" Walking up to Xuan Hao as he said this, Xu Bao smiled happily as he looked towards the group of Domain Lord Realm Experts who had followed them through the capital all the way to the gate leading inside the core of the capital.NvεlB¡n: Where Every Word Sparks Wonder.

Although this group of Domain Lords wanted to stop them, they understood that there was no way for them to do this with their current strength. The best they could do was follow after them and keep and eye on them while waiting for the more powerful Domain Lords who similarly wanted to deal with the independent sects to show up.

Now that their reinforcements had not showed up in time, these Domain Lords were all upset for obvious reasons as they could only watch them begin to make their way inside the core of the capital city.

"..."

Watching the happy expression that appeared on the faces of Xu Bao and the rest of the people from the different independent sects as they began making their way through the gate one by one, Xuan Hao could not help rolling his eyes as he glanced towards the unhappy Domain Lords who were filled with unwillingness observing them from afar.

Even if he could have dealt with them in case their reinforcements had showed up in time to try and stop them from making it to the meeting, Xuan Hao still felt happy that he did not have to show off his strength.

After all, considering that several experts who were in the later stages of the Domain Lord Realm would have showed up, he would have been forced to show strength beyond the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm if he wanted to help everyone reach the meeting in time. Something he was happy that he had been able to avoid doing.

"Are you here for the sect alliance meeting today?"

"Yes."

"Please show me your invitation."

Passing through the gate leading inside the core of the capital city without much difficulty after showing the invitation that he had gotten from the Sky Empire soldier that had showed up in the Flying Sword Sect, a massive palace easily the size of a city appeared in front of him.

Even without knowing anything about the palace, it did not take long for Xuan Hao to guess that the massive palace was none other than the legendary Sky Palace.

Although he did not know a lot about the capital city of the Sky Empire, he had still heard about the Sky Palace that was located at the core of the entire city. Not only was it the place where the imperial family of the Sky Empire lived, but it was also rumoured that the majestic city the size of an entire city was the core of the terrifying guardian formation and could be considered the most protected area of the entire capital city.

Well... Considering the fact that the most powerful expert of the entire Sky Empire resided there, it was obvious that the most dangerous and well protected place throughout the entire Sky Empire would be the Sky Palace!

"Hm?"

Finished taking in the majestic palace that had appeared in front of him, Xuan Hao could not help narrowing both his eyes as he spotted three similarly massive temples located around the Sky Palace. Looking like they were flanking the palace from all sides.

Those should be the main temples of the three large religions...

Not taking more than a few seconds to understand who the large temples belonged to, Xuan Hao could not help marvelling over just how bold these religions were to place themselves inside the core of the capital city where the imperial family was located.

Even if it wasn't obvious at first, it was clear that these three wanted to deal with the imperial family of the Sky Empire and completely take control of the Sky Empire.

If not for the fact that the ancestor of the imperial family was still around and the guardian formation existed, Xuan Hao didn't doubt that these three would have long since worked together to erase the imperial family and transform the Sky Empire into a religious empire split evenly between the three of them!

"Senior, the meeting is going to be held over there..." Just at this moment as Xuan Hao was lost in thought while inspecting the majestic Sky Palace and three massive temples flanking it, the voice of Xu Bao echoed out beside him.

Turning to look at Xu Bao, Xuan Hao saw that he was pointing in the direction of a bright blue palace that was located not too far away from one of the three temples inside the core of the capital.

"That place is..."

"The Palace of the Blue Sea, it's the place that the imperial family often uses for important meetings or to welcome important people from other empires."

Hearing what Xu Bao said to him, Xuan Hao felt that the name was indeed fitting for the bright blue palace that stood out like a sore thumb amidst the rest of the buildings and palaces present inside the core of the capital.

"Should we get going? I think it would be good for us to enter now so we can get a good place to sit before the rest of the sects start to show up. After all, the last thing we want, is for us to end up getting separated by them due to the different strength among us independent sects..."

"Sure, I think that would be a good idea as well."

Not understanding too much about the minor details of the sect alliance meeting, Xuan Hao just nodded his head and agreed to what Xu Bao said without thinking too much about it.

From his interactions with the old man so far, it was clear that he had everything planned out and under control, so it would not hurt to allow him to take control of minor things like this.

As for spending some time looking around the core of the capital before the meeting officially began... Xuan Hao didn't dare to do this as he still had no idea whether or not his disguise would work against someone in the Soul Ascension Realm.

Even if the risk of encountering a Soul Ascension Realm Expert wandering around was close to none, the chance of this happening in the core of the capital city was far higher than compared to the rest of the capital city.

After all, even if only counting the Soul Ascension Realm Experts that had been made know to the wider population of the Sky Empire, there would still at least be five Soul Ascension Realm Experts present inside the core of the capital city.

Considering that the imperial family had the ability to scare off the three large religions, Xuan Hao was almost certain that they had more than just the two Soul Ascension Realm Experts that had been made known to the wider Sky Empire...

Swoosh~

Not thinking too much about just how dangerous the core of the capital was, Xuan Hao followed behind Xu Bao as he made his way towards the Palace of the Blue Sea together with the rest of the experts belonging to the different independent sects.

For now, the most important thing was to get through the sect alliance meeting and make sure that the independent sects would at least be able to secure one leader position in the sect alliance. Hopefully doing so without exposing his strength...

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Making his way towards the Palace of the Blue Sea together with Xu Bao and the others, Xuan Hao could not help noticing that although they had come a few hours before the meeting officially started, they were not the first people to show up for the meeting.

Other than them, it also seemed like some of the weaker sects who only had someone at the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm watching over them had shown up to make sure they would be there in time.

After all, even if they didn't have to worry about being blocked like the independent sects. Most of these weaker sects were still unfamiliar with the capital city and didn't want to risk getting lost while making their way to the core of the capital in the last minute. For them, it was a good idea to show up early and not have to worry about something like that happening to them.

"Hm? This is... The sect master of the Seven Fates Sect...?" Looking around at the different people who were slowly making their way inside the Palace of the Blue Sea, a person that Xuan Hao had only heard descriptions of through Shu Yao made his way through the entrance before disappearing inside the palace.

Although he had never seen the sect master of the Seven Fates Sect himself before and had no idea what he was up to after his sect had left for the core region of the Sky Empire, Xuan Hao was still curious what had happened to the Seven Fates Sect. Especially after learning how hard independent sects had it in the core region of the Sky Empire.

Even if the Seven Fates Sect had the support of their sect master who had reached the Domain Lord Realm, the sect itself was still extremely weak when compared to other sects and kingdoms in the core region of the Sky Empire and would be easy to weaken and possibly destroy as long as those kingdoms targeting Xu Bao and the other independent sects turned their attention towards the Seven Fates Sect!

"Well... Considering that the sect master of the Seven Fates Sect decided to move his sect to the core region of the Sky Empire, he should have investigated the situation and gotten a grasp over the attitude that most kingdoms showed independent sects.

For him to still move his sect into the core of the Sky Empire even knowing this, he should at the very least have a plan on what to do to avoid the attention and attacks of these powerful kingdoms..." Muttering this to himself as he continued looking at the continuous stream of people entering the Palace of the Blue Sea, Xuan Hao could not help shaking his head before throwing this matter to the back of his mind.

In the first place, what the Seven Fates Sect did had nothing to do with them after they left their old territory behind and entered the core of the Sky Empire. For now, the most important thing in front of him was to get through the sect alliance meeting without and secure a leader position for the independent sects without getting his true identity or strength leaked!

Only doing so would he be able to turn most of the Sky Empire's attention away from the Star Shattering Sect that was currently developing at the border and have them focus their attention on the sect alliance by having the independent sects secretly cause chaos between the rest of the sects controlled by different kingdoms in the sect alliance.

Of course, the independent sects that would be doing this... Did not yet know anything about this...

...

At the same time Xuan Hao, Xu Bao and the rest of the experts from the different independent sects were making their way inside the Palace of the Blue Sea to prepare for the sect alliance meeting, a group of people covered in a hazy mist like aura met up not too far away from the gate to the core of the capital that Xuan Hao and the rest had passed through just a few minutes earlier.

"What!? Those people actually went to the core of the capital ahead of time without any of us noticing anything!? Hah... I should have expected this, you people are really useless! How did you even fail to find out where those independent sects were staying inside the capital!?"NvεlB¡n: Where Every Word Sparks Wonder.

"We are useless!? Was it not you and your little friends who were supposed to keep an eye on those independent sects while they approached the capital? How come I don't seem to remember you contacting us about them getting close to the capital?"

"You... They left far earlier than expected and had already left for the capital when me and my people reached their sects!"

"Hmph! What a convenient excuse!

"YOU-!"

"Now-now, calm down you two, we still have to consider what to do next now that we failed in stopping those independent sects from making it to the sect alliance meeting."

As two of the mist like figures began arguing with each other over who was at fault for allowing the independent sects to easily enter the core of the capital without any problems, a far older and more powerful voice sounded out from one of the remaining figures who had been silently observing the argument until now.

"Senior... Fine, I understand..."

"I guess I will let this matter go for now on behalf of senior, but don't get happy too fast! I will make sure to come and ask you for some compensation for the time wasted by me and my people at a later!"

Understanding that they would not be able to continue their argument any longer now that one of the seniors had grown impatient, both of the mist like figures who had been arguing with each other just a moment ago quickly stopped and quietly fell to the side as the mist like figure who had made them stop just a second ago stepped forward and faced the rest of the people present.

"I think we all understand why we are here, none of us want those independent sects to gain any more power. Especially that Xu Bao, I fear he will soon breakthrough to the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm and allow the independent sects to gain an official position of power inside the Sky Empire.

No matter how much we fight with each other normally, we have to work together when it comes to dealing with the independent sects! We can't allow a new power to appear inside the Sky Empire and take away the resources that would normally be ours!"

""...""

Not saying much after hearing what the old senior said, most of the people present just silently agreed with what he said as they waited for him to come up with a way that they would be able to do this.

"Because of this, I plan for us to work together and have the sects we nurtured over the years work together to suppress the independent sects during the meeting. Even if we can't prevent them from joining the meeting at this point in time, we should still be able to stop them from getting a leader position if the sects we nurtured works together to suppress them together!

I know that all of you want to get a leader position for your own sect and secure the resources offered by the imperial family, but if we want to prevent the independent sects from gaining any power and a chance to surpass us, we will have to work together now!"

"But... Who is to say that you won't just get your sect to secure a leader position while we waste our chance trying to suppress the independent sects? We will have to talk this through in more detail and come up with a better plan that prevents you or others from doing something like that! After all, it's not like any of us are friends and will just happily follow what is said..."

""...""

Hearing someone spoke out the moment the owner of the old voice finished telling them his suggestion on how to suppress the independent sects, the people present all turned their eyes towards the mist like figure of the old voice's owner.

"Hah... It seem like we do have to talk about how to go about suppressing the independent sects. After all, all of you people don't seem to trust my word-"

"You damnable half dead fossil! Don't forget how you stabbed me in the back 50 years ago and stole a spiritual herb from me! And you want me to trust your word now!?"

"As I said... We will have to talk about the method we want to use... We should be fine, there is still a few hours before the start of the meeting..." Not knowing what else to say after hearing a familiar angry voice screaming at him filled with killing intent, the owner of the old voice could only retreat a bit as he said this. Understanding that he would not be able to get anywhere without the method of suppressing changed or they managed to get a way to guarantee that everyone would follow the plan...

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Unaware of the fact that a group of people had met up to find a way to interfere with the independent sects during the meeting after having lost their chance to do so before they made their way inside the core of the capital, Xuan Hao used the time before the meeting to look around the Palace of the Blue Sea by himself.

Xu Bao and the rest of the experts from the different independent sects had already entered the main hall where the meeting was going to take place to ensure they would have a good place to sit and also to avoid running into any of the people from the sects that wanted them gone.

After all, even if they could not do anything to them inside the core of the capital where the imperial family commanded absolute control over the entire place, they could still mess with them in other ways.

"Hm... I wonder who the imperial family will send over to be in charge of the sect alliance meeting. Considering the fact that there is a chance the three religions might intervene and cause trouble during the meeting, the person they sent over should be someone in the Peak of the Domain Lord Realm..." Muttering this to himself as he wandered around the Palace of the Blue Sea, Xuan Hao could not help glancing towards the entrance of the palace located a few hundred meters away from his current location.

Deep down, he was hoping with all his heart that the person sent over by the imperial family would not end up being one of their Soul Ascension Realm Experts. Even if the chances of this happening were low, it was not non-existent.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.

Thump~ Thump~

Just at this moment, a large group of people passed through the entrance of the palace with arrogant expressions on their faces before making their way towards the hall where the experts sent to the capital by the different sects of the Sky Empire had gathered.

"This is..." Not knowing what to say when he saw the arrogant expressions on the faces of these people, Xuan Hao could not help wondering what had given them the confidence to act so arrogant inside the core of the capital under the control of the imperial family.

The first thought about their identities that came to mind was that they were the people who had come over from the imperial family's side to manage the sect alliance meeting... But this thought was quickly thrown away after he realized that the strongest among those people had only barely reached the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.

Even if the person sent over by the imperial family was on the weaker side, Xuan Hao would never believe that the imperial family would sent over someone who had not even reached the Late Stage of the Domain Lord Realm!

If they really did that, there was no way that the different experts present during the sect alliance would show much respect to the imperial family outside of what was expected. In a sense, the control of the sect alliance meeting would almost certainly leave the control of the imperial family if something like this happened and instead fall into the hands of the different powerful sects that were controlled by even more powerful kingdoms...

Rustle~

"Ah? Elder Scarlet Flame? What brings you out here? Did something perhaps happen?" Suddenly seeing Elder Scarlet Flame approaching him from behind, Xuan Hao could not help showing a slightly surprised expression on his face as he began worrying that something might have happened during his short time walking around the palace and exploring it.

"Nothing like that! I just came here to inform you that the sects who are against us are- Ah! Looks like they already arrived... I think we should get back before they reach the meeting hall!" About to say something to Xuan Hao, Elder Scarlet Flame suddenly spotted the group of people who had just made their way inside the palace as he quickly said this while pulling on him to leave and return to the hall where the rest of the people from the different independent sects were waiting for them.

"Those are the people from the different major sects?" Feeling a bit surprised after learning the identity of the large group of people, Xuan Hao could not help curiously observing the people who had just entered the palace as he said this.

Even if he did not think that they were the people who had been sent over by the imperial family, he didn't expect for them to be the people from the sects that had been harassing and trying to weaken the independent sects.

The reason for this was not due to their strength or anything like that. Instead, it was the due to how arrogant they were!

Although they had the support of some major kingdoms inside the Sky Empire, there was no reason for them to act arrogant inside the core of the capital that fell under the control of the imperial family. The only ones capable of doing something like that was the imperial family or the three religions!

Because of this, Xuan Hao also thought that the group of arrogant people might have been sent over by one of the three religions to cause trouble during the sect alliance meeting... But now it looked like this was not the case...

"Yes! It's them who always try to prevent us independent sects from growing whenever they get the chance to do so!" Nodding his head filled with anger as he looked towards the group of Domain Lords filled with killing intent, Elder Scarlet Flame looked like he was about to jump forward and attack them at any moment.

"I see... Let's go back and wait for the meeting to start..."

Feeling and seeing the clear killing intent that manifested around Elder Scarlet Flame, Xuan Hao understood that it would be a bad idea for them to stay any longer in case those people discovered them or Elder Scarlet Flame decided against his better judgement to attack them in a moment of emotional upheaval.

Even if those people were not his match, Xuan Hao far preferred not making his presence known before the start of the meeting.

"Yes... Let's go..." Looking a bit reluctant as he said this, Elder Scarlet Flame narrowed both his eyes for a short moment as he said this before both of them made their way towards the meeting hall together.

...

"Killing intent!?"

"Hm? Who was that just now?"

"Someone sure is fearless! Think we won't do anything after leaving this place!"

At the same time Xuan Hao and Elder Scarlet Flame left and made their way back towards the meeting hall, the group of people from the different major sects all looked towards the place they had been standing just a second ago.

From their reactions, it was obvious that they had noticed the killing intent Elder Scarlet Flame displayed just now. Not that it was hard to feel due to him not trying to hide it in the slightest.

"But... Who was that person? Does any of you know what sect he is from?"

"I don't know what sect that person is from, but if I'm not wrong, he should be an elder from one of the independent sects. Hmph! These people are getting more and more fearless with each passing day!"

"Independent sects... Hehe! After today, we will make sure that they won't be able to show themselves for a long time!"

Realizing that the person who had looked at them filled with killing intent without the slightest bit of fear present on his face was someone from one of the independent sects, the group of people from the different major sects quickly calmed down before starting to cure at Elder Scarlet Flame.

Even if they wanted to take revenge for the clear disrespect, they had been shown by someone weaker than themselves, they also understood that doing so would incur the wrath of Xu Bao. An existence that none of them had the ability to deal with.

Only their backers had a chance to deal with this person... And they didn't want to do so due to the fact that Xu Bao was rumoured to have enough strength to kill someone in the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.

No matter how much they wanted the independent sects gone, there was no way they wanted to risk their own life in killing them off. After all, they also had to worry about other kingdoms on the same level as themselves taking advantage of the situation to destroy their kingdom or kill them when they were in a weakened state!

"Let's go, our lords have already come up with a way to deal with those independent sects. All we have to do is follow their command!"

Seeing that everyone had come to a stop as they throwing all kinds of different insults towards the independent sects, one of the people present spoke up and quickly got the group moving again as they made their way towards the meeting hall filled with arrogance.

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Reaching the meeting hall that had been close to filled up with people at this point in time, Xuan Hao and Elder Scarlet Flame did not stand around at the entrance as they made their way towards the place where the rest of the people from the different independent sects were sitting.

At this point in time, the rest of the sects who were participating in the sect alliance meeting were already present and waiting for the people from the imperial family to show up and start the meeting and allow them to get a better insight into just what the imperial family wanted from the sect alliance.

After all, even if everyone present had some idea about what the sect alliance would be doing and the different resources that the imperial family would be providing them with, they had never truly gotten an answer from the imperial family about just what they wanted out of the sect alliance.

Although they had no way to refuse the command of the imperial family considering just how big the difference between the sects present and the imperial family was, the sects present still accounted for over 50 Domain Lords when put together!

Even if the imperial family wanted to use them to weaken the influence of the three religions, they could not go overboard and directly ask them to sacrifice themselves by entering a kingdom controlled by the one of the three religions and fight with the local church that had been established in that kingdom...

"Great to see you again senior! Hm? Did something happen to Elder Scarlet Flame?" Making their way to where the rest of the independent sects were sitting, it did not take long before Xu Bao who stepped out to welcome them back noticed the killing intent that still lingered around Elder Scarlet Flame.

"Nothing much, we just encountered the people from the major sects before making our way back here."

"I see, that is understa- The major sects!? You encountered those people and managed to leave without them trying to stop you!? From what I know, there is no way they would have allowed you to just leave so easily after seeing you!" Hearing what Xuan Hao said, Xu Bao had a surprised expression as he said this.

Different from Xuan Hao, he very much understood just how arrogant the different major sects were and just how little was needed before they would do everything in their power to kill the whoever was unlucky enough to cross their path. This was even more so after they learnt that the independent sects had also gotten an invitation to the sect alliance meeting with a very real chance to get a leader position inside the sect alliance!

"Yes, the major sects, we left before they had a chance to cause any trouble. Not to mention, I don't think they would dare to do anything in here with the guards of the imperial family guarding this place..." Rolling his eyes upon seeing the panicked and surprised expression that appeared on the face of Xu Bao, Xuan Hao could not help saying this as he pointed towards the guards that were silently standing around the edges of the meeting hall.This chapter made its debut appearance via N0v3lB1n.

Even if they didn't say anything and just stood there silently, their presence alone represented the imperial family and any trouble caused in their presence would be a clear sign of disrespect towards the imperial family and would not go unpunished. The difference in strength between these guards who were at most in the Nascent Soul Realm and the powerful Domain Lord Realm Experts from the major sects did not change any of this.

Bang!

Just at this moment, one of the large doors leading into the meeting hall was violently flung open as one of the guards standing beside the door was forced to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit by the door that had suddenly come flying his way for no reason.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Followed by the guard standing beside the door slowly recovering from the unexpected situation, a group of people filled with arrogance made their way inside the meeting hall while disdainfully looking at the people present in the hall. Not even the slightest bit of care towards these smaller sects could be seen on any of their faces.

"""..."""

Seeing this scene, everyone present inside the meeting hall turned to look towards the source of the commotion with surprised expressions on their faces. Not only had someone suddenly caused a scene, but they had also managed to almost smash a door directly into the face of a guard that was under the imperial family!

As everyone's attention was focused on the door that had been flung open, a young man in his late teens stepped through the door with a happy smile on his face. The pure white robe covering his body embroidered with the symbol that represented Followers of the Fire God was more than enough for everyone to understand why the young man didn't care much about offending the guards of the imperial family.

"Haha, calm down everyone, I just happened to accidently push open the door a little too hard~" As the carefree laughter of the young man echoed across the entire hall, everyone felt a shiver run down their spine as they simultaneously felt a terrifying aura erupting from the body of the young man before they all felt their movements being restricted.

Even Xu Bao who had reached the Peak of the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm found it difficult to move under this pressure!

"This- This person should be one of the Followers of the Fire God's Peak Domain Lord Realm Experts!" Feeling a shiver run down his spine as he muttered this to himself while looking towards the young man who had suddenly entered the meeting hall all of a sudden, Xu Bao could not help feeling that something bad was going to happen.

After all, the sect alliance was essentially a way for the imperial family to weaken the influence of the three religions. For one of them to show up in the meeting that would serve as to officially establish the sect alliance... It was obvious that the young man had not come with good intentions in mind. Especially considering he had appeared before the expert from imperial family showed up!

"..."

Sitting beside Xu Bao as the young man entered the meeting hall, Xuan Hao could not help glancing over the young man. However, different from Xu Bao, he could clearly see the other party's cultivation base.

Although the young man had hidden it to some degree, his cultivation realm had not yet managed to reach the Ninth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm and he was actually still at the Peak of the Eighth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.

With this kind of strength, there was no way that the young man planned to do anything, as his strength was far from enough to do anything about the close to 30 Domain Lord Realm Experts that had already gathered inside the meeting hall if they worked together to attack him.

But... If this was not his goal... What was the goal of this follower of the fire god...?

Feeling curious about what the young man was planning to do, Xuan Hao took a wait and watch attitude as he made sure that the other party had not noticed him.

Thump! Thump!

As silence fell over the entire meeting hall after the young man belonging to the Followers of the Fire God had shown up, the sound of loud footsteps could be heard echoing out from behind the young man, causing everyone present to tense up.

However, at the next moment, the source of the loud footsteps appeared at the door just behind the young man and was revealed to be the people from the major sects whom Xuan Hao and Elder Scarlet Flame had encountered not long ago.

"Hm!? Who is this little brat!? Daring to block the path into the meeting hall!"

Starting to yell loudly filled with an obvious killing intent, one of the people from the major sects who had reached the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm walked up to teach the young man blocking their path a lesson.

"Hmph! Just wait until I find out what sect you are from, and I will make sure to-" But just as he was about to do anything, the person from one of the major sects suddenly noticed the symbol embroidered into the robe of the young man who had been blocking the entrance, causing him to freeze on the spot without daring to continue what he had planned on doing.

"..."

Not having expected for someone to just randomly walk up on him and threaten him, the young man belonging to the Followers of the Fire God could not help freezing for a short moment as he tried processing what had just happened.

Did someone from one of the sects who didn't even have a single expert in the Late Stage of the Domain Lord Realm really just go up and threaten him for no reason and give him an excuse to beat him up...?

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"Ah... Excuse me, something suddenly came up and I will have to take my leave! Farewell everyone!"

Not wasting a single second after having realized who he had offended, the Domain Lord Realm Expert in the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm from one of the major sects turned around-

Swish-!

And escaped in the opposite direction of the young man belonging to the Followers of the Fire God before the other party could do anything.

Given the speed of a Sixth Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert, there was no way for the young man to catch the other party without alerting the imperial family and ruining his superiors plans. All he could do was stare in the direction that the Sixth Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert had disappeared in with a speechless expression on his face.

Hm? Didn't that person show up with someone...?

As he slowly managed to recover from what had just happened, the young man turned his attention towards the rest of the Domain Lord Realm Experts from the different major sects that had arrived together with the person who had yelled at him just now.

"We have nothing to do with that person just now!"

"Yeah, that person just ran in front of us and started acting rudely towards your excellency!"

"That rude person deserves to get killed for his disrespect towards you!"

"Yeah, we should just-"

Understanding what was going through the head of the young man in front of them, the group of Domain Lord Realm Experts from the different major sects did not waste a single second as all of them jumped forward to try their best at distancing themselves from the person they had been walking alongside just a few seconds earlier.

No matter what, there was no way they were dumb enough to give the person in front of them a reason to deal with them. After all, this place was still under the imperial family's control! As long as they didn't give the other party a reason, there was no way that he would be able to do anything to them!

"Hmph... I understand..." Narrowing both his eyes as a faint killing intent was visible in them, the young man gave up on using the group of Domain Lords in front of him.

The main reason for this was not so much the fact that the imperial family would jump in to prevent him, but due to the fact that he would not be able to deal with the group of Domain Lords in front of him.

After all, he was only in the Eighth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, while the group of Domain Lords in front of him had all at least reached the Fifth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, most of them being in the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm. Even if he was close to the Peak of the Domain Lord Realm, there was no way for him to deal with so many Domain Lords at once!

"Thank you for your benevolence your excellency!"

"Thank you, great divine lord!"

"I will remember this sign of gratitude and make sure to engrave your name in my ancestral home to honour you!"

"""..."""

Listening to the absurd praises from the group of Domain Lord Realm Experts from the different major sects as they slowly made their way past the young man and entered the meeting hall, everyone felt speechless at just how shameless this group of old people were.

Where had the arrogance they had when talking to any other sect gone? It was no wonder how people like this had ended up becoming the subordinates of those large kingdoms...

As this thought passed through the head of most of the people present as they watched the Domain Lord Realm Experts from the different major sects moving to the front of the meeting hall before finding a place to sit down, Xuan Hao was curiously looking towards the entrance of the meeting hall where the group had appeared from.

Different from the rest of the people present, he had clearly felt a faint aura belonging to someone in the Peak of the Domain Lord Realm appearing the moment that the young man looked like he was about to attack the group of Domain Lord Realm Experts from the different sects just now.

"It looks like the person from the imperial family has already shown up... But why has he not made his presence known yet...?" Muttering this to himself as he continued looking towards the direction where he had felt the faint aura from earlier, Xuan Hao could not help feeling curious about what the imperial family was planning. After all, it was clear that they were waiting for the young man belonging to the Followers of the Fire God to make a move first before they took action themselves...

"Ahm! Everyone! Can I have your attention again!"

Just at this moment, the young man from earlier loudly called out, causing everyone inside the meeting hall to tense up as they once again remember that one of the followers of the Fire God who the sect alliance was aimed against was still present in the meeting hall.

...

At the same time Xuan Hao looked towards the entrance that the people from the different major sects had just passed through, a middle-aged man covered in a thin mist like screen quietly standing beside the entrance could not help frowning as his eyes rapidly scanned everyone present inside the meeting hall.

Hm? Did someone spot me just now... No, the strongest person present here has only reached the Eighth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, it should just be due to me being too nervous recently. After all, his majesty said that the artifact should be able to conceal me from anyone below the Soul Ascension Realm!

Thinking this to himself as he finished scanning over everyone present inside the meeting hall, the middle-aged man ended up attributing the feeling just now to him being too nervous. After all, for someone to hide from him, that person would at least have to have a similar artifact as himself... Or be an expert in the Soul Ascension Realm!

No matter how much importance the three religions put on spoiling the sect alliance meeting there was no way for one of the cardinals to show up in person, as for another Soul Ascension Realm Expert to enter the meeting hall... This was impossible due to the guardian formation preventing any unknown Soul Ascension Realm Expert from entering the capital!

As for there being someone other than him with a similar artifact... The middle-aged man threw out this thought even faster!

Not only was the artifact something that would require a skilled blacksmith in the Soul Ascension Realm to spend years to make, but it was also extremely difficult to acquire the special spiritual metals used to make the artifact. Even with the power of the entire Sky Empire, searching for these special spiritual metals had taken close to 500 years!N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.

"But... What do those people plan by sending someone in the Eighth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm here? Even if he wanted to do something, the Domain Lord Realm Experts here should be more than enough to deal with him..." Narrowing both his eyes as he returned his focus to the young man who was standing no more than a few meters away from him, the middle-aged man did his best in holding himself back from teaching that person a lesson for barging into one of the palaces under the imperial family.

"Ahm! Everyone! Can I have your attention again!"

Just as the middle-aged man was trying to figure out what the three religions were planning, the young man started talking again after seeing that the Domain Lord Realm Experts from the different major sects had gotten inside the meeting hall.

"So~ Today I haven't come with any hostile intentions like all of you might be expecting. Instead, I have come with an offer for all of you-"

Listening to the young man talking, the middle-aged man could not help frowning as a bad feeling welled up inside him.

"-The offer is simple, all of us three religions have come together to offer all of you here an opportunity to join under us and convert to believers!"

As the young man finished saying this, expressions of disbelief appeared on the faces of everyone present. None of them expected for the three religions to suddenly come together and want to convert them to join their side. After all, converting to become a believer and replacing all of ones energy to the divine power cultivated by believers would at the minimum cause ones cultivation to decrease by a minor realm and in the worst cases an entire major realm!

No matter what, none of the people present were willing to do something like this. Even if the three religions were willing to help make sure their cultivation base wouldn't fall, doing this would still end up offending the imperial family. Not something any of the sect representatives present wanted...

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This... What happened to the three religions...?

Hearing the suggestion of the young man who had come on behalf of the three religions, the person from the imperial family that was hiding no more than a few meters away from the young man could not help frowning as a flash of surprise flashed through his eyes for a brief moment.

Compared to the people from the different sects who had shown up for the sect alliance meeting, he understood very well how much the three religions hated the different sects and wanted nothing more than to exterminate them if they got the opportunity to do so without having to worry about the imperial family or each other.

For them to be willing to even take them in was not something he nor the rest of the imperial family had ever considered. Not only because the three religions would normally be unwilling to ever bring up something like this, but also because there was no way the experts from the different sects would ever be willing to reduce their strength to join them.

After all, while they could escape getting attacked by the three religions by converting, they would in turn have to deal with the even more powerful imperial family that was the most powerful force inside the Sky Empire. Not something anyone from the different wanted to do. Even if they had the chance to convert without the risk of losing part of their cultivation base as a result...!

Hmph... Does the three religions perhaps think these sects are unaware of the demerit behind converting-

"As many of you already know, there is a chance of losing part of one's cultivation base when converting to a believer and us three religions have already come together with an agreement that will make sure to cover for any loses you might incur during this process.

Not only this, but we will also do the same for your sect's elders and disciples! With all of this in mind, we also plan to assist you in advancing beyond your current realm after you converted!"

Just as the middle-aged man from the imperial family began to snicker silently to himself while disdainfully looking towards the young man who had come as a representative of the three religions, the person in question interrupted him and directly proved him wrong.

Just how many resources do they have... Did they perhaps contact their main branch in the core of the continent for help...?

Remembering just now that the three religions were in fact only branches of a much larger organisation that stretched across the entire continent, the middle-aged man could not help sighing to himself as he concluded on how the three religions would be able to afford helping so many people convert without having to worry about their loss in strength.

Different from the rest of the people present, he understood just how expensive it was to do something like this. The resources needed to help a single First Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert convert without him losing any strength were already more than enough to help nurture three new Domain Lords!

The resources needed to do something like this was not even something that the imperial family could afford to lose. Only the three religions with the help of their main branch in the core of the continent had the ability to waste so many resources without worrying!

...

At the same time that the middle-aged man from the imperial family was lamenting over just how many precious resources would be wasted by the three religions to pull something like this, Xuan Hao who had been observing the entire situation could not help feeling curious after hearing what the young man said.

Although he had heard about converting to become a follower of a god before, he had never thought about doing so. Especially after learning that his strength would reduce by a minor realm or in the worst case scenario, a major realm!

Even if he had no idea about the amount of resources that would be needed to prevent this from happening, he still understood that it should be something astronomical from looking at the reaction of the person from the imperial family who remained frozen for a good five seconds after hearing that the three religions were willing to ensure no one would lose anything after converting.

If it was just for the people present, it might have been fine... But the three religions promised to do this for everyone in the sect who agreed. Be it disciples or elders, they would cover the loss of everyone who converted to their religion!

"I didn't expect for the three religions to do something like this... I expected for them to crash the meeting and try to force it to disband or something similar... Looks like the three religions are really not doing well due to the sudden appearance of the Church of the Plague God..."

"Did something happen with the Church of the Plague God?"

Hearing Xu Bao muttering to himself, Xuan Hao could not help feeling curious about the subject. After all, he had not really heard a lot about the Church of the Plague God ever since it had disappeared from the Heavenly Sky Kingdom and the surrounding kingdoms where his sect was located. Them taking control of around a dozen kingdoms close to the edge of the core of the Sky Empire, was about the only thing he had heard about them so far.

"Hm? Did I say that out loud... Excuse me... It's just that the Church of the Plague God has recently begun showing signs of starting to invade the two closest kingdoms that both happen to be under the control of one of the three religions.

For this reason, the three religions are in an extremely tense state as two of them are getting prepared to fight against the Church of the Plague God again, while the last one is left alone... And it just so happen that the one left behind is the Order of the Sky God, who has a bad relationship with the other two religions, someone who will definitely look for an opportunity to weaken them while their focus is on defending their territory against the Church of the Plague God!"

"I see... It looks like they don't want to end up dealing with an additional opponent and make their current situation even worse. Looks like the imperial family chose the perfect time to set up the sect alliance..." Shaking his head as he said this after hearing what Xu Bao said, Xuan Hao could not help feeling that the imperial family was far more scary than these three religions.

Even if the three religions were backed by a far more terrifying power located at the core of the continent, the imperial family of the Sky Empire was not someone that was easy to mess with. This could also be seen from how they had managed to remain in power even with three powerful religions trying their best at taking control over the empire away from them and turn it into a faith empire that would allow them to more freely spread their own faith across the territory of the Sky Empire.

After all, even if the three religions already spread their faith to most of the kingdoms in the Sky Empire, some of the more powerful and larger kingdoms that were under the direct control of the imperial family remained outside their sphere of influence.

No matter how much they wanted to enter these large kingdoms filled with millions upon millions of people that could be used to gather faith, there was no way that the imperial family would allow them to do this... And they could only give up considering that the imperial family was ultimately still in control.

"Everyone, you don't have to make a choice now and it can wait for after this little meeting..."

Whoosh~

Not staying around after having finished saying this, the young man directly left the meeting hall filled with representatives from all the different sects all across the Sky Empire.The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

Even if no one had gotten to say anything about the offer given by the three religions, it was sure to influence the sect alliance meeting to a certain degree.

In the worst case scenario for the imperial family, it could even result in the powerful sects who didn't get what they wanted from the meeting using the offer given by the three religions to threaten the imperial family into giving away more resources to them...

Those damnable religions! Even if no one ends up joining them, this is sure to cost the imperial family far more resources than intended!

Understanding this very well, the middle-aged man who had been hiding in the corner so far, could not help silently cursing to himself as a hint of killing intent appeared in his eyes while looking in the direction of the young man who had just left the meeting hall.

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"Ehm! It's good to see that everyone is here."

Understanding that it would not be a good idea for him to continue hiding now that the three religions had made their method of meddling in the sect alliance meeting obvious, the middle-aged man who had remained hidden so far stepped forward-

"Ah!? Who!?"

"Where did that guy come from!?"

"This- Perhaps it's the person from the imperial family… Don't tell me he has been here the entire time!?"

Appearing at the entrance to the meeting hall out of thin in the eyes of everyone who were still looking in the direction due to it being the same location that the young man representing the three religions had been standing just a few seconds earlier.

The only person not surprised by the sudden appearance of the middle-aged man, was Xuan Hao, who had long since know about his presence from the moment he had entered the meeting hall. The artifact he had been using to hide himself having been rendered useless in front of Xuan Hao's divine sense.

"The Grand General…"NvεlB¡n: Where Every Word Sparks Wonder.

Even Xu Bao who had been sitting beside Xuan Hao this entire time was surprised after seeing someone appeared at the entrance to the meeting hall. The only difference between his reaction and the rest of the people present, was that Xu Bao was not so much surprised about the other party suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Instead, he was more surprised due to the identity of the other party.

Grand General… Although Xuan Hao did not know who the other party was before, it did not take long for him to realize the identity of the middle-aged man from the imperial family after hearing what Xu Bao had unconsciously muttered upon seeing him.

The Grand General was a famous person in the entire Sky Empire and was one of the few Peak Domain Lord Realm Experts in the Sky Empire that were rumoured to only be a single step away from reaching the Soul Ascension Realm. In simple terms, he was far stronger than an ordinary Peak Domain Lord Realm Expert.

The main thing that Xuan Hao found interesting about him was not this, but the fact that the Grand General was also the person in charge of the Sky Empire's entire military operation and essentially had the power to mobilize every person inside the Sky Empire granted to him by the imperial family!

Of course… Whether or not the more powerful forces like the three religions would actually listen and obey such an order was another matter…!

But… Why did the imperial family sent someone like this to oversee the sect alliance meeting…?

Shaking his head as he thought this to himself while carefully inspecting the middle-aged man who stood proudly at the entrance of the meeting hall and inspected everyone present, Xuan Hao could not help wondering just what the imperial family wanted the sect alliance to do.

Although he had almost been certain that they wouldn't outright ask them to attack the three religions and try to reduce their influence inside the Sky Empire, he no longer felt certain that the person in front of him wouldn't ask them to do something like that. After all, the person in front of them was none other than the current person in charge of the entire military apparatus of the Sky Empire!

"Now that all of you have settled down, let's get started on the sect alliance meeting!"

As Xuan Hao was trying to figure out just what the imperial family was planning, the Grand General seemed satisfied with everyone's reaction, as he made his way to the centre of the meeting hall before saying this.

Signalling the start of the long-awaited sect alliance meeting.

…

"Looks like the Star Shattering Sect will soon start expanding into the territory of the Cloud Sky kingdom. Given what the elders of the sect have talked about, it seems like the royal family will be more than happy with this outcome…"

At the same time that the sect alliance meeting officially began, Ji Yichuan who had just recently managed to break through all the way to the Third Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm was going over the most recent information he had received about the Star Shattering Sect.

Even if he understood the origin of the Star Shattering Sect far better than most others due to him once having been part of a demonic sect that had been enemies with the Flying Sword Sect, he was still taken aback at just how fast the newly established sect that had come into being after two of the most famous sects in now gone Heavenly Sky Kingdom had grown.

Only a few years had passed, yet this newly established sect had turned into a terrifying power that contained more than one Domain Lord Realm Expert and was beginning to forcefully take over new territory to make sure its growth was smooth.

Even the Flowing Cloud Sect that was located quite a distance away from the Star Shattering where he was currently staying had ended up getting affected by this, as the sect master was considering what to do after the Star Shattering Sect took over the Cloud Sky Kingdom that the sect was located inside of.

Although the Star Shattering Sect had been rather gentle to most of the sects that existed inside the different kingdoms that the sect had taken control of, the more powerful sects who had Nascent Soul Realm Experts would all end up becoming subordinate sects of the Star Shattering Sect.

In the best case scenario, the sect could become a branch sect of the Star Shattering Sect and get countless resources that would help all of their disciples grow and at the same time enjoy the protection brought along with becoming a branch sect of such a powerful sect.

Even if this came with certain restrictions, these restrictions were not really worth mentioning when compared to the benefits received after becoming an official branch sect of the Star Shattering Sect.

Rustle~

"Hm?"

It was at this moment that the sound of rustling leaves echoed out behind him before an old man dressed in the Flowing Cloud Sect's inner elder uniform appeared behind him.

"Elder Far Sky? Is there anything I can help with?" Recognizing the elder who had appeared in front of him as one of the elders who had helped him enter the Flowing Cloud Sect when he had first come to the Cloud Sky Kingdom, Ji Yichuan could not help showing a happy smile upon seeing the old man.

Even if he had not done a lot for him compared to the princess of the Flowing Cloud Sect who had been the person that did the most when it came to helping him enter the Flowing Cloud Sect, Ji Yichuan still remembered how the old man had helped even when most of the elders were not too happy about him joining the sect due to his unknown background.

"Of course, Old Ji! But first of all, what are you doing up here by yourself? Didn't the sect master ask you to join him for the meeting today? I'm sure everyone will be happy to hear your input on the matter regarding what we should do after the Star Shattering Sect takes control of the Cloud Sky Kingdom!"

"This…"

Not knowing what to say after hearing the old man who had just barely reached the Peak of the Core Formation Realm start scolding him like a senior scolding a child who had run away before an important test, Ji Yichuan could only smile wryly as the old man in front of him was indeed right.

Today, the Flowing Cloud Sect had a meeting about the future of the sect after the Star Shattering Sect took over the Cloud Sky Kingdom… But just before this meeting was about to start, he had decided to sneak away without anyone noticing.

Well… He thought nobody noticed him noticing, but from the sudden appearance of Elder Far Sky, it looked like he had been noticed…

"Is it perhaps because you are afraid of us learning about your past? Although I don't know a lot about you, I can tell that you are a good person Old Ji. Even if something happened in the past, I'm sure you had your reasons…"

"…"

Listening to Elder Far Sky, Ji Yichuan could not help freezing on the spot. Indeed, like Elder Far Sky had just said, a bit of him was scared of them learning about his past as a former demonic cultivator.

Although he had never really thought about this matter after entering the Flowing Cloud Sect, a part of him still feared what would happen after they found out about. Especially after his relationship with the princess of the Flowing Cloud Sect had managed to-

"Ehm! It's not what you think Elder Far Sky, I just had to get some air before the start of the meeting!"

"If you say so… Just remember that you will have to come to terms with the past at some point in time, you can't escape it forever…"

"…"

As the conversation between both of them slowly came to an end, Ji Yichuan and Elder Far Sky made their way back towards the main palace of the Flowing Cloud Sect where the meeting about the future of the sect was going to take place.

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Not too different from what was happening inside the Flowing Cloud Sect that Ji Yichuan was a part of, the different sects all across the Cloud Sky Kingdom and in the kingdoms bordering the Cloud Sky Kingdom all began to plan for their future after the Star Shattering Sect inevitably ended up taking control over the kingdom they were living inside of, some even went ahead and directly sent over representatives to the Star Shattering Sect ahead of time to make sure that they could increase their chances of becoming a branch sect instead of a normal subordinate sect.

Other than this, a few number of sects who didn't want to end up under the control of the Star Shattering Sect also used the time they had to leave their original ancestral grounds behind as they escaped towards another border region where they would be able to settle down without having to worry about some powerful sect showing up to take control of their territory.

Of course, the number of sects that were willing to essentially uproot their entire linage and give up the relationships that had been built up over thousands of years were not many... But even then, the number was still more than enough to weaken the overall number of Nascent Soul Realm Experts present in some kingdoms by more than twenty percent!

However, in the end, the decrease in Nascent Soul Realm Expert didn't really matter to the Star Shattering Sect. In the first place, the expansion of the sect was not done to absorb these different Nascent Soul Realm Experts that had once been under the different kingdoms.

In a sense, these people leaving could be considered a good thing to the Star Shattering Sect, as they wouldn't have to spend time dealing with them in the future when they took over the kingdom that they resided in...

"Hm... Everything is developing smoothly and it seems that those people from the larger kingdoms have gone quiet after Shu Yao displayed her strength in the Feather Kingdom."

Back in the Star Shattering Sect, Elder Song was going over all of this information about what was happening across all of these different kingdoms as he quietly muttered this to himself while leaning back in the chair he was sitting in with a small smile on his face.

After the matter with the Feather Kingdoms ancestor had been settled by Shu Yao, the larger kingdoms that had started scheming to do everything to resist the Star Shattering Sect went quiet and no longer openly dared say anything against the Star Shattering Sect.

Clearly they had not expected for there to be more than a single Domain Lord Realm Expert inside the sect and had only believed that it was rumours spread by the Star Shattering Sect before they had witnessed Shu Yao in action through several different experts they had send over to observe what the Star Shattering Sect would do to deal with the sudden emergence of the Feather Kingdom's ancestor who had reached the Domain Lord Realm.

Well... It could also have something to do with the fact that Shu Yao had managed to convince the Winged lion to help out in dealing with those larger kingdoms. From what he had heard recently, it seemed like she had gone to visit one of those kingdoms together with a small deer and the winged lion not too long ago...

Thinking about it, Elder Song had a feeling that this might be the main reason why those large kingdoms had been so quiet over the past few weeks...

"Maybe I should go and check up on the tournaments taking place in the different branch sects and get ready to send the winners over to the border of the Azure Sky Kingdom to participate in getting rid of the demonic cultivators." Deciding to turn his attention towards something different, Elder Song got up from his chair before making his way out of his room to check up on how things were progressing when it came to the different tournaments that the disciples of the different branch sects were holding.NvεlB¡n: Where Every Word Sparks Wonder.

Now that the first batch of disciples had already begun making their way towards the border at the Azure Sky Kingdom together with a group of elders, it would not be long before the official clean-up of demonic cultivators in the kingdom located beside the Azure Sky Kingdom would begin. At the same time, it would also be an opportunity for these disciples to increase their combat experience and improve their strength.

I wonder if there is anyone talented among those branch sects...

Swish~

Already looking forward to seeing who among the different branch sects would be heading towards the Azure Sky Kingdom for a chance to enter the main sect, Elder Song smiled to himself as he headed towards the closest branch sect of the Star Shattering Sect. The former Flying Sword Sect.

...

Not too far away from the Seventh Star Peak where the Star Shattering Sect was located on the Shattered Star Peaks, Bai Ning and Hui Ying were walking along the recently constructed path connecting all of the different peaks of the Shattered Star Peaks.

"I wonder what master is doing. According to Elder Song, master should already have reached the capital city of the Sky Empire for some kind of important meeting..."

"Hm... I'm sure your master is doing great at the meeting and talking about all kinds of important stuff... I think..."

"..."

Glancing towards Hui Ying after hearing what she said, Bai Ning had no idea what to say when he was suddenly faced with the stupid look on her face starring back towards him.

To be honest, after they had returned back to the sect, he had not thought he would ever get to see Hui Ying again after their adventure together in the weird jungle filled with all kinds of dangerous demon beasts... But the little girl had somehow managed to find him no more than a few hours after he had managed to recover.

Ever since then, the little girl had been sticking close to him like glue and refused to leave him alone.

In turn, now that Hui Ying was following him around all the time, the time he had for practicing his blacksmithing had also ended up decreasing by a lot. Forcing him to instead spend his time walking around the sect and interacting with other disciples or cultivation, a true nightmare to Bai Ning who had been preparing himself to spend the entire time during his master's absence on practicing his blacksmithing skills without thinking about anything else.

"Hmph! Why are you looking at me like that!?"

"..."

Having somehow ended up offending the little girl with his continuous stare, Bai Ning could only look away from her before lamenting to himself over just what he had done to deserve something like this.

Master... When are you going to return again!? I swear I will spend more time on cultivation as long as you can help me get rid of this little girl!

Looking into the clouds floating past above, Bai Ning began praying that his master would return faster so he could help him escape from Hui Ying and hopefully give him more time to practice on his blacksmithing skills.

"Why are you looking up into the sky all of a sudden? Did one of those flying seniors pass by?" Not understanding why Bai Ning suddenly stopped to look up into the sky, Hui Ying who had been walking beside him curiously stopped before looking up into the sky like him. Thinking that one of the seniors who had reached the Domain Lord Realm might have flown past them.

"No... I just spotted a funny looking cloud. Let's get going, we need to reach the Ninth Star Peak before it gets dark or the elders guarding the entrance to the sect won't allow us to leave without supervision..."

Shaking his head as a small smile appeared on his face after seeing Hui Ying copying him and similarly looking up into the sky while searching for what she assumed to be a senior flying past them, Bai Ning once again started walking along the path again.

"Ah! Wait up for me!" Causing Hui Ying who had been searching for the sky above to rapidly run after him.

Swoosh~

"Hm? Why are you-"

"Race to the Ninth Star Peak! Don't use your cultivation base to cheat!"

Hearing what Hui Ying said before she continued straight past him before speeding towards the Ninth Star Peak without waiting, Bai Ning could not help showing a slightest suppressed expression on his face before being replaced by one of understanding.

The little girl clearly did not want to arrive at the Ninth Star Peak when it got dark, and they wouldn't be able to leave the sect and explore the city below the Ninth Star Peak like they had originally been intending to do...

"Hah... Guess I will play along this time..." Muttering this to himself as he looked towards Hui Ying's disappearing figure in the distance, Bai Ning dashed forward and caught up in an instant-

"Ah! You're using a movement technique! Cheater!"

Swish-!

Before directly leaving her in the dust!

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Different from Bai Ning who was busy with Hui Ying, Chu Yang was spending most of the time while his master was gone training inside the combat hall with the different elders who had reached the Nascent Soul Realm. Doing his utmost in trying to fight with every single one of them, even to the point where he would challenge the more powerful elders who had already reached the Fourth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.

As a result of this, although Chu Yang's cultivation base had not improved a lot, his overall strength had managed to undergo an earth-shaking change compared to when he had first reached the Nascent Soul Realm. Allowing him to fight evenly with some of the elders who had reached the Third Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm and even hold on for quite some time against the elders who had reached the Fourth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm!

Because of this, the elders of the Star Shattering Sect had all grown familiar with Chu Yang and the moment he appeared on the path leading up to the combat hall, all of them managed to recognize him in an instant-

"He is here again… Ah! I seem to have forgotten something when I left the lecture hall earlier, I will be taking my leave first!"

"Oh my, it seems like I also forgot something at the restaurant earlier, I will also be taking my leave."The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

"I'm the same, I will also be-"

Whoosh~!

Whoosh~!

Whoosh~!

Not even a second later, all of these elders disappeared from the combat hall before Chu Yang even had a chance to say anything to them.

"Hm? Did something happen? Where did everyone go…?"

Just at this moment, an elder who was making his way out of the combat hall looked around himself filled with confusion upon seeing that his group of friends whom he had been talking with just a few minutes earlier had disappeared without saying anything.

"Elder Golden Sparrow! It's great to see you again!"

Only after hearing an all too familiar voice calling out to him and seeing the figure of Chu Yang striding towards him did this elder realize why all of his friends had seemingly disappeared into thin air all of a sudden.

"C-Chu Yang…" Muttering the name of the person approaching him, Elder Golden Sparrow could not help shivering as he remembered the last time he had fought with Chu Yang inside the combat hall, as a cold shiver ran down his spine.

Even if he had reached the Third Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm and could be considered one of the Star Shattering Sects most promising elders who had recently managed to get his time to shine after moving to the Seventh Star Peak, he could only barely keep up with Chu Yang who was at the Peak of the First Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.

As a result of this, his fight with Chu Yang back then had been quite one-sided. Resulting in him coming out of the combat hall all beaten up while Chu Yang had only ended up becoming exhausted from beating him up…

No matter what, I don't want to fight with this person again!

"Chu Yang, my friend, I sadly can't help you out this time around no matter how much I want. Recently my good brother got injured and I need to go over and take care of him!"

"Wait a moment…"

Coming up with the best excuse he could think of in the short few seconds it took for Chu Yang to reach the entrance of the combat hall where he was standing, Elder Golden Sparrow was just about to leave when Chu Yang suddenly stopped him right in his tracks.

"W-what is it…?" Feeling like something was wrong, Elder Golden Sparrow could not stop himself from sweating nervously as he asked this.

"Nothing much, take this medicine, it was refined by my senior sister. I'm sure your aunt will be able to recover from her injuries."

"Haha, you are too kind! My aunt is sure to make a recovery with this- Ah…"

Realizing that he had made a mistake, Elder Golden Sparrow suddenly started sweating to sweat profusely as he turned to look towards Chu Yang who was smiling kindly at him.

"Hehe, think this excuse will work more than once? If I'm not wrong, you should have more than enough time to spare for a small practice duel in the combat hall. No? Or could it be you are running away from this junior who has only recently reached the Nascent Soul Realm…?"

"This- Of course not!"

Not able to say anything after hearing what Chu Yang said along with the gazes of the surrounding disciples looking at him, Elder Golden Sparrow could only reluctantly agree in an attempt to not tarnish his reputation as an elder among the disciples.

"Great! Then let's get going!"

The moment Elder Golden Sparrow agreed, Chu Yang didn't waste a single second as he entered the combat hall together with Elder Golden Sparrow.

"Hm? This…"

However, just before he got dragged inside the combat hall by Chu Yang, Elder Golden Sparrow managed to spot the figures of the elders who he had planned on meeting up with observing him from a distance.

You guys! You dare betray me like this and leave me behind!

Not able to voice any complaints before he disappeared inside the combat hall, Elder Golden Sparrow could only quietly curse at these elders as he swore to himself that he would make sure to return the suffering he was going to experience!

….

"So, you are from The Green River Sect from the Green Sky Kingdom… And you want to become a branch sect of the Star Shattering Sect?"

Not too far away from the combat hall where Elder Golden Sparrow got dragged into one of the many practice rooms for fighting, Feng Chen was having a meeting with a sect representative from one of the many sects that had come to the Star Shattering Sect ahead of time in an attempt to become a branch sect and gain the protection and resources that came along with this.

The only problem was…

"Yes! My Green River Sect is among the most powerful sects of the Green Sky Kingdom, our great sect master has even reached the Nascent Soul Realm and is expressing his intent on becoming a branch sect of the Star Shattering Sect… Of course, we also hope for the Star Shattering Sect to help us out with a few of our enemies…"

Most of these sects came with the intention of making use of the Star Shattering Sect to get rid of their enemies or to get as many resources possible. Even worse was the fact that many of these sects did not have the slightest intention on truly becoming a branch sect of the Star Shattering Sect. Only wanting the benefits that came along with it…

"You really are quite brave to come all the way here-"

"Hehe, I know! I had to journey through quite a few dangerous areas filled with demon beasts to get here! Not only that, but I also saved quite a few disciples of your sect while making my way here! Did I mention how I also took down this massive demon beast that was about to-"

BANG-!

Swish~

Having originally wanted to send this person off with a few words, Feng Chen simply couldn't be bothered after being rudely interrupted by the other party's bragging. Deciding to knock the other party flying out of the Shattered Star Peaks.

Even without verifying anything he said, Feng Chen was certain that most of it was not true. After all, this person's cultivation had only barely reached the Core Formation Realm. Not to mention saving the disciples of the Star Shattering Sect, some of the stronger Foundation Establishment Realm disciples would easily be able to beat up this fellow…

As for the survival of the arrogant representative of the Green River Sect, Feng Chen had made sure not to directly kill the other party when he launched him flying just now. As for whether or not he survived the landing… That did not have anything to do with him…

At least, considering that the other party had reached the Core Formation Realm, he should be able to survive if he used some secret technique to dampen the fall at the cost of his cultivation base…

"Probably won't be hearing anything more from this Green River sect… Send in the next person!" Muttering the first part to himself before calling out for the elder who had been standing beside the entrance to the small pavilion where the meeting had taken place to get the next sect representative, Feng Chen no longer thought anything more about the Green River Sect as he focused his attention on the new person who made his way inside the small pavilion.

"Greetings, Sect Master of the Star Shattering Sect! I'm from-"

Soon enough, a new meeting began…

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Different from the mostly peaceful circumstances of the Star Shattering Sect who didn't really have anything dangerous taking place, outside of the infestation of demonic cultivators that appeared in the kingdom bordering the Azure Sky Kingdom, Chun Hua, whom Xuan Hao had seen off to the core of the continent not too long ago, was caught in a dangerous situation as she found herself face to face with a powerful cultivator who had chased after her for the past few days.

The reason was simple, he had realized that she wasn't human… But more importantly, her special physique could be refined into a special kind of pill that would be able to help a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator safely establish a domain and step into the Domain Lord Realm without any of the normal dangers associated with reaching the Domain Lord Realm.

Even worse, the pill that could be refined by using her body was not only useful to people in the Nascent Soul Realm, but also people who had reached the Domain Lord Realm, Soul Ascension Realm… And to a certain extend. Even those who had surpassed the Soul Ascension Realm!

This was one of the main reason why she had been trying to keep her identity secret. Outside of the fact that she was not a member of the human race…

"Hehe, why don't you just give up! Given the difference between our cultivation realms, you won't be able to win against me. At least if you surrender obediently, I will give you a swift death!"

"Hmph! You are dreaming!"

At this point in time, she had already been backed into a corner with no chance of running away.

The two stood facing each other without saying anything for a short moment.

One was a tall, muscular man with an arrogant expression and a powerful aura. The other a lithe, agile woman, whose eyes shone with a fierce determination.

"If you want it that way, it looks like I will make sure you regret your choice!"

Swish-!

Without warning, the man attacked, his fist crashing down like a hammer. But Chun Hua was ready for this attack, dodging to the side before striking back with a swift and fierce kick enhanced by the qi spewing forth from her dantian into her leg. Giving it an eerie glow as it headed towards the man.

Bang-bang-bang!

The man was not one to be underestimated and countered with a flurry of punches, but Chun Hua was too quick, dodging and weaving through his attacks before striking back with a series of punches and kicks of her own.

Boom-boom-boom!

As the battle raged on, both of them summoned their inner energies, each drawing even more qi from their own dantian to enhance their physical abilities far beyond their limits. For a moment, the two were evenly matched due to Chun Hua's skilful movements allowing her to dodge most of the attacks, both exchanging blows at lightning-fast speed-

Fwoosh-!

However, it was at this moment that the man unleashed a powerful energy blast that could not be dodged. Understanding very well that the Chun Hua was not as easy to defeat as he had first expected. Forcing Chun Hua to go on the defensive-

Boom-!

Only barely managing to summon her own inner energy to take the shape of a green coloured protective shield that deflected the blast. Allowing her to avoid getting blown up by the sudden powerful attack.

"Die!"

Understanding that most of her qi had been drained to stop the powerful energy blast, Chun Hua let out a fierce cry before using a moment to close the distance between herself and the muscular man. Wanting to take advantage of the fact that the man should be in a similar exhausted state as herself after the powerful energy blast he had thrown towards-

Bang-bang-bang!

BOOM-!

Not wasting a single second to use the last bit of energy left in her already tried body to unleash a barrage of strikes that finally broke through his guard.

"This… Impossible!" The man could not believe what had just happened as he stumbled back before collapsing on the ground, badly wounded, Chun Hua now standing over him, her eyes blazing with killing intent.

"You may be stronger than me, but you are far too arrogant! If you had just gone all out against me from the start, you might have ended up winning!" And with that, she launched one final blow towards the man looking towards her filled with disbelief on the ground-

Bang!

Killing him before he got a chance to get back up again. The battle was won, and Chun Hua emerged as the undisputed champion.

"Hah… I have to get out of here and find a safe place to recover…"

Although not without cost, the man had been of a far higher cultivation base than herself, so even if she had managed to win, it would still take her weeks, if not months to recover from the damage she had sustained.

Ever since she had managed to make her way back to the core of the continent again, she had constantly been faced with dangerous situations like this. The only problem this time around was that she had not been able to escape from her pursuer no matter how much she tried to use everything she had leant.

Is this person perhaps in possession of some kind of special artifact that allows him to track down my location…?

Narrowing her eyes as this thought occurred to her, Chun Hua didn't dare waste a single moment before searching through the belongings of the man-

Rustle~

"Here it is!"

Not taking long to find his interspatial ring.

Whoosh~

"Hm? This is…!"

Taking out everything from her now dead pursuers interspatial ring, Chun Hua could not help freezing on the spot as she discovered a small token with a pure black lotus engraved into it located among the many different artifacts, pills, books, clothes and other things that the man had been carrying along with him.

The main reason why Chun Hua froze up on the spot was not because the small token was some kind of precious artifact. Instead, it was what the small token represented!

"The Shadow Lotus Sect… To think that man was a member of the Shadow Lotus Sect…" Almost whispering this to herself as she looked at the token with the small black lotus engraved into it, Chun Hua didn't dare stay around any longer as she used all of her remaining energy to use her movement technique to leave the location of the fight.

Although she did not have a good understand of the core region of the continent where the most powerful empires and powers were located, she still knew about the sect that the token on the man she had just killed belonged to.

The Shadow Lotus Sect, a sect that was known throughout the core region of the continent as the masters of information gathering. Their members were skilled spies and assassins, known for their unique ability to blend into the shadows and gather information without being noticed by divine sense. The more powerful members were even capable of hiding themselves inside the domain of a Domain Lord Realm Expert!

Despite their reputation as assassins and spies, there was also a few members of the Shadow Lotus Sect who were not assassins and acted as guardians for the different branches of the Shadow Lotus Sect located all across the core region of the continent where one could buy information… Or facilitate the disappearance of one's enemies...

Considering the fact that the man she had just killed did not display any of the Shadow Lotus Sect's famous assassin techniques when fighting with her just now, Chun Hua was almost certain that the man she had just killed was one of these guardians in charge of protecting one of the core regions branch sects.

Well… Considering that the man had only reached the Nascent Soul Realm, he should still be a guardian in training. After all, the weakest guardian of the Shadow Lotus Sect in charge of guarding a branch would be in the Domain Lord Realm, the biggest branch she had heard about even had multiple Soul Ascension Realm guardians…

In the end, she could not really be completely sure about this. The Shadow Lotus Sect was highly secretive, and very few outsiders knew anything about them.

For all she knew, the token that the man had been carrying with him could be fake and he could have used it to scare people when he was close to getting killed.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.

Although this might be rather stupid as there was no way the Shadow Lotus Sect would let something like this go after finding out, it would always be a good way to safe himself in a dangerous situation.

Swish-!

No matter what, Chun Hua did not dare stay around to find out whether or not the man she had just killed truly belonged to the Shadow Lotus Sect.

After all, if he really was a member of the Shadow Lotus Sect, the person coming to investigate the matter would almost certainly be the Domain Lord Realm branch guardian who had been in charge training him. Not someone she had the ability to resist with her current strength…

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Having escaped from the location where she had just fought with the possible member of the Shadow Lotus Sect, Chun Hua could not help freezing on the spot after she went around the massive mountain towering far about the ground that had originally blocked her path forward and forced her to fight with her pursuer.

As far as she could see with her current cultivation realm, an endless expanse of rolling hills and gentle slopes, dotted with clusters of different wildflowers and special spiritual herbs that swayed in the wind spread out before her.

Together with the sun hanging high in the sky above, casting a warm golden light across the land and the sky being a brilliant shade of blue without a single cloud to mar its perfection, Chun Hua understood that there would be absolutely no way for her to hide herself in this kind of environment if someone chased after her.

"Turning around at this point in time is not an option, as I risk running into someone from the Black Lotus Sect…" Muttering this to herself as she understood that she would have to take the risk in running through the plains in front of her to get to a place that would be easier for her to hide herself while recovering from the injuries she received during the fight with the presumed guardian in training, Chun Hua didn't waste a single second longer before dashing across the plains at the fastest speed possible in her current state.

…

Bang!

Crack~

Not too long after Chun Hua had escaped from the place where her fight between the person, she suspected to be a branch guardian in training belonging to the Black Lotus Sect, had taken place, a large shadowy figure landed violently on the ground beside the dead body of the man while gazing towards the small mountain of items that had appeared beside him when Chun Hua had emptied his interspatial ring.

"Looks like this is the place where junior brother Fang was killed…" Narrowing both of his eyes as he saw the dead body along with the small mountain of items on the ground, the large shadowy figure instantly focused on the token with the small black lotus on top of it that had been discarded not too far away from the pile of items.

Whoosh~

Picking up all the items together with the dead body and putting them all into his interspatial ring, the shadowy figure soon turned around and gazed towards the endless plain that looked like a ocean of green in the distance.

Even though Chun Hua had done her best not to leave any traces of the direction she had moved in, it was close to impossible for her to hide her traces when faced with someone who had reached the Domain Lord Realm. Especially when that person was from a sect that was mainly focused on information gathering like the Black Lotus Sect…

"The person realized this child was part of the Black Lotus Sect and decided to run away while trying to hide the direction… smart, but ultimately useless!"

BOOOM!

As the shadowy figure finished saying this, a dense murderous aura filled with an intense killing intent exploded all around him before destroying his surroundings.

"Hmph! I will make sure to return what you did today in full! Even daring enough to kill someone from my Black Lotus Sect!"

Swish!

As his killing intent reached a new peak, the shadowy figure directly took a step forward and disappeared in the direction of the endless plains.

Given that the other party should only be someone in the Nascent Soul Realm and not someone in the Domain Lord Realm from the clues left behind by the fight. The Domain Lord Realm Expert from the Black Lotus Sect was not the slightest bit worried about Chun Hua escaping.

After all, he could also tell from the weakening energy she had left behind while escaping, that she was seriously injured and wouldn't even be able to use her full strength to execute a movement technique to escape.

…

"This!? Someone is actually chasing after me… And that person even managed to pinpoint my location within such a short period of time!?"

At the same time that the Domain Lord Realm Expert from the Black Lotus Sect began chasing after her, Chun Hua who had managed to reach a small isolated forest that could only barely allow her to avoid someone who had yet to reach the Domain Lord Realm, could not help panicking as she looked down at a special magic artifact that she had taken with her back when she had left home.

The artifact in question was not too special and just allowed her to see certain energy signatures of people nearby, a perfect artifact for avoiding dangerous situations when out exploring by herself.

The only problem with such an artifact was that the other party would need to leak a massive amount of energy before being detected, something that would normally only happen when someone was fighting.

In a sense, Chun Hua had been lucky that the person chasing after her had momentarily exploded with killing intent. Allowing part of his powerful energy to ravage the surroundings. Giving Chun Hua a chance to detect that someone was indeed chasing after her.

"At least someone in the Domain Lord Realm… Even worse, from the energy reading just now, the other party should not be someone in the earlier stages of the Domain Lord Realm…" Muttering this to herself as she looked over the artifact that had just detected the powerful burst of energy, Chun Hua could not help shivering all over as she realized just how powerful the person chasing after her was.

The last time such a powerful expert chased after her, she ended up getting caught even when using the special concealment talismans, she had been given by her family. The only reason she had escaped back then was due to the other party not having any hostile intentions towards her…

Remembering her past encounter with Xuan Hao and how her special concealment talismans had not helped her escape, Chun Hua could not help feeling even more afraid as she looked at the powerful aura that was rapidly approaching her direction.

Given the current speed of her pursuer, it would not take any more than a minute or two before he caught up to her. Not only that, but the energy around her pursuer that had allowed her artifact to pinpoint his location would fade in another few seconds. No longer giving her a chance to see the exact location of her purser. Leaving her in the dark as to when he would show up.The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

"Even if the concealment talismans don't allow me to escape. At least they should be able to buy me some time…"

Whoosh~

Knowing that she had no other choice than to use the concealment talismans she had left from when she had hidden from Xuan Hao, Chun Hua used all of her remaining talismans at once before rapidly escaping from her current location. After all, there was a good chance that her pursuer had managed to lock on to her energy signature with some unknown method.

Even if this was not something she could do anything, she was at the very least confident that the concealment talisman would be able to completely hide her traces from the Domain Lord Realm Expert chasing after her.

After all, even when she had been caught by Xuan Hao, this had only happened after she had decided to give up and reveal herself. Before this, he had not been able to find her and could only use the formation to ensure she didn't leave the Shattered Star Peaks!

…

Freezing on the spot mid-air the moment Chun Hua used the concealment talisman, the Domain Lord Real Expert who had been chasing after her could not help frowning as he wondered what had happened for her aura to just suddenly disappear.

"Hm!? Where did that person go!? How come I can't sense their aura anymore... Did that person perhaps perish from the injuries received during the fight…?" Muttering this to himself as both his eyes narrowed, the shadowy figure could not help shaking his head.

If the person he had been chasing after had died, the other party's aura would not just simply disappear all of a sudden without any reason.

"A concealment talisman… And a quite powerful one at that… Looks like this person is rather special…" Narrowing both of his eyes even further as he came to this conclusion after a few seconds of thinking, the shadowy figure did not waste a single second as he continued towards the small forest in the middle of the endless plains where Chun Hua's aura had disappeared.

As someone from the Black Lotus Sect, he was quite experienced with concealment talismans and knew a lot about them, thus it did not take him long to understand what had happened.

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Escaping from the small forest that was isolated in the middle of the endless plain, Chun Hua made use of the fact that the concealment talisman would be able to keep her hidden to run out in the open. Not that the small forest would have been much use for her to stay hidden when faced with the powerful divine sense of a Domain Lord Realm Expert.

"I should almost have reached one of the small city states located around the edges of this plain..." Muttering this to herself as she continued using all the energy she could muster; Chun Hua could not help remembering one of the many maps she had gone through before she had left her home following a disaster that had severely weakened the strength of her family.

Back then, she wanted nothing more than to grow stronger and have the ability to help her family...

Shaking her head as some memories of the past appeared, Chun Hua focused her attention back on running in the direction that the closest city state bordering the endless plains should be located. Sincerely praying that she would be able to reach it before the concealment talismans she had activated to hide herself from the Domain Lord Realm Expert pursing her ran out...

"What a large city..."

After traveling for a few hours, a massive city slowly appeared in the distance, causing Chun Hua to open her mouth wide, marvelling at the sheer scale of the city that had appeared in the horizon.

Although city states were normally not viewed as powerful due to most of them being controlled by someone in the Domain Lord Realm, this, by no way meant that they were small and insignificant.

On the other hand, due to the strongest person in a city state being someone who had reached the Domain Lord Realm, these city states would often become a gathering spot for wandering Domain Lord Realm Experts not afflicted with any power.

Giving them a safe place to trade with each other without the fear of accidently having a Soul Ascension Realm Expert take an interest to what they were trading... Or worse, end up offending a Soul Ascension Realm Expert!

The large number of Domain Lord Realm Experts present inside one of these city states, was also the main reason why Chun Hua felt that she would be able to hide herself there.

Not only would the large number of Domain Lord Realm Experts serve as a way to limit her pursuer's ability to search for her, but the large number of people inside the city itself would also make it impossible to find her exact location. After all, at this point in time, all her pursuer had to go with was the small bits of remnant energy she that was left lingering in the air due to her movement technique.

On the endless plain where there were close to no other forms of life around, this might be a good way to track someone... But inside a large city filled with millions of people, there was no way to use this method to track her down. Even if the other party was a Domain Lord Realm Expert!

Of course this was not considering whether or not a member of the Black Lotus Sect had some other unique method to track her down.

If that was truly the case, there would be no way for her to escape from her pursuer...

"Hm? This is... That person is moving again- Ah! My concealment talisman is no longer working!?"

Suddenly noticing that the last concealment talisman on her had run out, Chun Hua could not help panicking as she looked towards the massive city in the distance.

Even if she would be able to escape her pursuer, that was only if she managed to enter the city before that person had time to catch up with her!

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Swish-!

Understanding that her chances of survival was close to zero if that person managed to catch up with her, Chun Hua used every way possible to increase her speed as she dashed towards the city in the distance. Even going so far as to take out a special artifact that would allow her to increase her speed beyond her current realm by sacrificing a large part of her lifespan.

Of course, she would only use such a dangerous artifact when her pursuer was about to catch up with her. After all, the last thing she wanted, was to throw away hundreds of years of her lifespan for no reason...

...

At the same time Chun Hua was using all her strength to rush towards the nearest city state where she would have a far better chance to hide from her pursuer, the person in question was floating in the air above the small forest where Chun Hua had activated the concealment talismans with a confused expression on his face.

"How odd... It's already been a long time since the concealment talisman was activated. Normally, a concealment talisman at that level should at most last for around an hour... Maybe that person has more than one...?" Not able to understand why Chun Hua had not shown up, the person from the Shadow Lotus Sect could not help feeling nervous as he constantly scanned his surroundings for any signs of Chun Hua.

No matter what, he understood very well that there was no way a random person would have multiple concealment talismans capable of hiding from someone in the later stages of the Domain Lord Realm like himself.

Even if the other party had been lucky an stumbled upon a hidden realm to get them, as a member of the Black Lotus Sect, he understood just how unlikely something like this was.

The most obvious reason for why someone would carry so many high level concealment talismans, was that the other party had some kind of powerful backing!

"But where is this person from...? In this region, the strongest powers should only be the differ city states. The only problem is, these city states power is at most in the Domain Lord Realm- Hm?" Just as the person from the Black Lotus Sect was trying to figure out what power Chun Hua was from, both his eyes narrowed sharply as he looked towards a specific direction.

"Looks like the concealment talisman finally ran out of power...!"

Knowing that there was not much time for him to waste, as he could feel the remnant energy left behind by Chun Hua approaching a massive city located at the border of the endless plains, the Domain Lord Realm Expert from the Black Lotus Sect directly used his movement technique-

Swish-!

Turning into a shadow that streaked across the empty yet peaceful plains below. Startling the few animals and demon beasts that roamed around the endless plains.

Given the speed of a Domain Lord Realm Expert, it only took him a short time before the city Chun Hua was rushing towards became visible... And along with it, Chun Hua herself!

"Hehe, looks like I managed to catch up in time-"

Boom-!

Just as the person from the Black Lotus Sect was about to use his domain to grab hold of Chun Hua not too far away from him, a loud explosion could be heard before a blood red light engulfed Chun Hua's figure and carried her towards the city at a speed not inferior to someone in the Domain Lord Realm.

Hm? A sacrificial escape artifact? For someone in the Nascent Soul Realm to use something like this... Even a single second should drain 10 years off that person's lifespan... But do you really think this is enough to escape from me?

Narrowing both his eyes as he glanced towards the blood red ball of light escaping towards the city in the distance, a cold smirk appeared on the face of the man from the Shadow Lotus Sect.

Although the current speed of Chun Hua was indeed comparable to someone in the Domain Lord Realm. Even being faster than someone who had just reached the Fourth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, it was far from enough to escape from him!

Swish-!

Not wasting a single second, the man from Black Lotus Sect once again turned into a shadow as he dashed towards Chun Hua engulfed by the blood red light from the sacrificial artifact she had just used.

...

Allowing the artifact floating gently in front of her devour her life essence in exchange for carrying her towards the city at a speed far surpassing what she had before, Chun Hua could not help looking back towards the eerie shadow that was approaching her from behind with a look of shock and fear plastered all over her face.

"How... How is he so fast!?"

Different from what she had expected, the shadow seemed to be far faster than what she had expected. Even worse, it was constantly increasing in speed as it got closer and closer to her!

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W-what should I do? Is there even anything I can do...?

Having exhausted all of her methods in trying to escape from the Domain Lord Realm Expert from the Black Lotus Sect, Chun Hua could not help feeling a wave of fear washing over her when she realized this.

Even if she was someone in the Nascent Soul Realm, she could not stop herself from trembling upon thinking about what would happen to her after the person from the Black Lotus Sect caught up to her...

"Hehe, you won't be able to run away any longer!"

Just at this moment, the voice of the man from the Black Lotus Sect echoed out all around her before a massive palm formed by shadows descended down towards her before grabbing hold of the blood red ball of light created by the sacrificial artifact that was engulfing her.

Crack~

Not even a second later, the blood red light began cracking apart as it had no way to resist against the shadow palm of the man from the Black Lotus Sect. In the first place, the blood red light's main purpose was to escape. Not defend!

Bang!

For this reason, the sacrificial artifact in Chun Hua's hands shattered together with the blood red light that had been engulfing her. Only able to resist against the powerful shadow palm for a little over a second at the cost of the artifact itself!

Even the artifact grandfather entrusted to me in case I encountered a deadly situation did not survive...

Seeing the artifact in her hands shattering under the powerful attack, Chun Hua could not help looking up towards the massive palm made up of shadows continuing to descend down towards her without showing any signs of stopping.

As the palm hit her, Chun Hua felt the terrifying power of a Domain Lord Realm Expert first-hand as her body was destroyed. Leaving behind only her nascent soul to face off against the seemingly unstoppable power of the palm attack-

BOOM-!

It was just at this moment when her nascent soul was about to get destroyed by the powerful palm attack, that a terrifying energy in the shape of a small sword appeared from the deepest part of her nascent soul. Blocking the powerful palm attack of the Domain Lord Realm Expert from the Black Lotus Sect before it could destroy Chun Hua's nascent soul!NvεlB¡n: Where Every Word Sparks Wonder.

Whoosh-!

However this was not the end as energy from the surrounding air rapidly gathered towards the small sword that was now floating in front of Chun Hua's nascent Soul.

Rumble~!

As the small sword absorbed a massive amount of energy within a split second, the air around it started crackling with energy, and the ground all around it began violently trembling like an earthquake had occurred.

"What terrifying power..."

Floating in the air not too far away from where Chun Hua's nascent soul was, the Domain Lord Realm Expert from the Black Lotus Sect started shivering with fear as he saw the small sword that had gathered the energy from the surroundings. Allowing it to rapidly increase in power before he had a chance to do anything to it.

"A soul imprint left behind by an expert... And from the power alone, it should be someone in the Soul Ascension Realm! This is not good... Even with my strength, I won't be able to survive the attack of a Soul Ascension Realm Expert!" Understanding very well what the small sword floating in front of Chun Hua's nascent soul represented, the Domain Lord Realm Expert from the Black Lotus Sect barely whispered these words to himself before turning around and escaping in the opposite direction of Chun Hua-

Swish-!

However, with a mighty roar, the small sword slashed down in a powerful arc towards the escaping Domain Lord Realm Expert, the blade slicing through the air with a sound like thunder!

Rumble-!

The force of the small sword was so great that the simple motion of it slashing down created a shockwave that spread out in all directions with a devastating effect on the few trees found on the empty stretch of land around it.

"Nooo-!"

The Domain Lord Realm Expert from the Black Lotus Sect had no way to defend against the sheer power of the attack and was faced with the full force of the small sword!

In just a fraction of a second, his body was bathed in the terrifying sword light and energy of the small sword's attack, causing the terrifyingly powerful energy to enter his body and flow through him. Destroying him from the inside out-

"Ahhh-!"

The pain brought along by having both his body and soul torn apart at the same time was not something even a Domain Lord Realm Expert was able to endure!

A few seconds that seemed like an eternity to the Domain Lord Realm Expert from the Black Lotus Sect slowly passed like this as the final bit of resistance left around what was left of his soul began crumbling apart under the sword energy that seemed to have only increased in strength during this period of time.

RUMBLE-!

Directly causing the ground nearby to crack apart as the sound of rushing wind and crackling lightning spread all across the endless plains and the nearby city states-

"P-Please! S-show mercy! I'm a Branch Guardian of the Black Lotus Sect! If you kill me, the Black Lotus Sect won't let-"

BOOOOOOOM-!

Before the Branch Guardian from the Black Lotus Sect had any time to finish his sentence, the sword energy seemed to have reached its peak as it exploded with even more power than before. Killing him in an instant, while also sending out a powerful wave of energy that tore the earth apart in a straight line from where the Domain Lord Realm Expert had been located and towards the small forest at the centre of the endless plain.

Swish-!

After this was done, the small sword that had been weakened to the point of almost collapsing appeared again before turning around and entering Chun Hua's nascent soul floating in the air not too far away from the now massive ravine that had appeared in the endless plains.

"..."

If she had not lost her body, the look on Chun Hua's face would have been one of absolute disbelief. After all, she recognized the aura of the small sword just now being the same as the elder called Xuan Hao whom she had encountered back in the Shattering Star Sect.

Although she understood that he had given her a soul imprint of sorts after she left, she had never expected for the soul imprint of Xuan Hao to be that powerful!

From the power alone, she was certain that Xuan Hao should not be someone in the Domain Lord Realm and should at the very least be someone in the Soul Ascension Realm. Given the power of the attack just now, there was even a chance that he should be someone who had gone through more than one tribulation!

Thinking this, Chun Hua could not help feeling a shiver run down her spine as she felt grateful for not ending up on the bad side of such a powerful senior before turning to look towards the city in the distance.

I should get out of here before those Domain Lord Realm Experts from the nearby city states start appearing...

Knowing that it would be a bad idea for her to stay around in her current state, Chun Hua used the little power she had left to fly away from the site of the battle just now. At least flying was possible for someone in the Nascent Soul Realm as long as they lost their bodies...

Recovering my body again should not be a problem with my race's powerful connection to the Dao of Life!

Feeling happy that she was not a human and would be able to restore her body again with enough time due to her special race, Chun Hua quickly disappeared from the site of the battle.

Luckily for her, the Domain Lord Realm Experts in the nearby city states were far too afraid to approach the site of the battle due to the power involved clearly having surpassed the Domain Lord Realm

...

"Haaaa... So, exhausting..."

At the same time the small sword exploded with all its power and killed the Domain Lord Realm Expert from the Black Lotus Sect, Xuan Hao sitting in the meeting hall in the capital city of the Sky Empire could not help letting out an exhausted sigh as he had transferred a large part of his energy through the soul imprint to allow it to explode with power comparable to a Soul Ascension Realm Expert for a single attack.

Although a soul imprint could allow the owner of the imprint to transfer part of his power through the imprint, the imprint itself was far too small to endure so much energy and could normally only be used for a single attack... And that was not mentioning the massive loss in energy involved. Even a single attack had almost drained half of the qi inside Xuan Hao's dantian...

"Is something wrong Senior? Is the meeting perhaps boring? Don't worry! The real part of the meeting where the voting for positions takes place will only be a day or two from now!"

"No, that was not- Never mind, it was nothing..."

Seeing the worried expression on Xu Bao's face, Xuan Hao could not help shaking his head before turning his attention back towards what was happening in the middle of the meeting hall. Even if it was boring, he at least had to understand how the imperial family wanted the sect alliance to operate...

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Having returned his attention back towards the meeting currently taking place Xuan Hao could not help lamenting over just how boring the meeting had been so far, with most of the time being spent on the few major sects trying to get as many resources as possible from the imperial family.

"If the imperial family wants that much from us, it's only obvious that we get the spiritual crystal mine at the Hollow Grave Valley. After all, I'm sure the three religions would be willing to part with a few spiritual crystal mines if we were willing to join them..."

"Don't forget the natural spiritual herb fields at the kingdom close to my sect... And a few spiritual metal mines! The three religions would surely not forget about something like this!"

Even after close to two days since the meeting had been officially started by the Grand General of the Sky Empire, these few major sects were still busy doing their best to get any benefits they could out of the imperial family. Making sure to use the three religions offer to get more resources from the imperial family.

"Is this really going to take another two days? Isn't there a way to finish this part up faster?" Not wanting to wait for the same dozen or so people who were asking for some kind of benefits from the imperial family, Xuan Hao could not help turning towards Xu Bao sitting beside him as he asked this.

Although he had already expected a meeting like this about the creation of a brand-new major power in the Sky Empire would be complicated, he had not expected that even the part about the different benefits would take such a long time to finish.

Just thinking about this alone was more than enough to cause Xuan Hao a headache. After all, even if he joined the meeting willingly, he did not think it would take such a long time and merely thought that it would take a day or two at most...

"Maybe we could ask for the Great General to move on to the next part of the meeting, but I'm sure that will end up offending those major sects and make them our enemies-"

"Aren't they already our enemies...?"

"This..."

Hearing what Xuan Hao said, Xu Bao seemed to freeze for a short moment before a look of realization appeared on his face.

Indeed, the major sects had always done their best to try and weaken or destroy the independent sects. For what reason did they need to sit around and wait for these major sects to gain more benefits from the imperial family?

"Great General! Can we move on to the next part of the meeting? Not all of us are here to watch a few people beg your imperial family for scraps!" Not wasting a single second after this thought occurred to him, Xu Bao stood up and called out to the Great General. Not forgetting to insult the major sects in the process...

"What is that guy doing!?"

"Hmph! That old man is courting death!"

"Hehe, that old man won't survive for long after leaving this meeting hall!"

Hearing that someone was daring enough to call out to the Great General while the major sects were doing their best to get as many resources from the imperial family as possible, the different representatives from the smaller sects could not help looking towards Xu Bao filled with surprise.

"This is... someone from the independent sects? No wonder they don't fear those people..."

"The independent sects... I forgot they would also be joining this meeting..."

Only a few of them recognized Xu Bao and remembered his identity.

Considering the relationship between the independent sects and these major sects, it was not odd that Xu Bao, who was considered the strongest expert among the independent sects of the Sky Empire, would step in and stop the major sects from gaining any more benefits and other resources from the imperial family.

"This old man! He dares!?"

"Hmph! This old man is getting bolder now that we are inside the capital city!"

Hearing what Xu Bao said, the major sects could not help cursing to themselves as they stared towards Xu Bao filled with killing intent.

Although they were bold enough to get more resources and other benefits from the imperial family due to their backing from some of the more powerful kingdoms of the Sky Empire, they understood that they would not be able to bring up this subject again in front of the Great General following what Xu Bao said.

If they did that. Not only would they harm their reputation, but they would even damage the reputation of their backers... And when that happened, the chance of their backers investigating the matter was only a matter of time.The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

At that point in time, there was a high chance of them finding out that they were using their names to secretly get more resources for themselves from the imperial family. Not something any of the people from the major sects wanted to happen.

"Hm... Does everyone want to move on to the next part of the meeting...?"

Hearing what Xu Bao said, the Great General understood what he was trying to do as he said this while looking around at everyone present, his gaze lingering at the different people belonging to the major sects most of the time.

In his eyes, he did not really care about these few people from the major sects. Only seeing them as an extension of the powerful kingdoms that existed behind them asking for certain benefits through them to align themselves with the imperial family for the upcoming power struggle between the imperial family and the three religions.

If the resources they were asking for was on behalf of their backers, they would not hesitate to continue to ask for more... but if it wasn't, they would not dare continue asking for anything in fear of their backers finding out that they were using their names to get more resources while at the same time risking offending the imperial family...

"Looks like everyone agrees that this has dragged on for quite some time now because of a few notable individuals... In the interest of not wasting anyone's time, let's move on to the next part of the meeting. The overall structure and purpose of the different parts of the sect alliance."

Understanding very well that these major sects were indeed using their backing to get more resources for themselves after seeing their silence following his question, the Great General no longer bothered giving them any face on behalf of the people behind them as he moved on to the next part of the meeting.

Following the major sects no longer stepping up to ask for all sorts of different resources every few minutes any longer, Xuan Hao could once again focus on listening to the Great General as he explained how the sect alliance was going to function, while also discussing some of the points with the representatives of the different sects present.

From this, Xuan Hao managed to understand just how the imperial family wanted to make use of the different sects to weaken the three religions.

The main way that the sect alliance would do this, was through the sect alliance poaching people from the different kingdoms under the three religions by establishing themselves just outside their territory.

Although the three religions would be able to easily deal with a few branches like this, there was no way to deal with all of them due to just how many branches a power like the sect alliance would be capable of setting up.

Even if they used their power to deal with all of them, this was almost sure to weaken them and give the imperial family a chance to land a deadly blow.

After all, with all things considered, even if the sect alliance would not have any powerful experts at the Pinnacle of the Domain Lord Realm, the sheer number of Domain Lord Realm Experts was more than enough to stop the three religions from rashly attacking them.

The different sects that existed inside the Sky Empire might not be powerful when compared to the most powerful kingdoms who had existences that reached the Late Stage of the Domain Lord Realm... But they certainly had no lack of experts who had reached the middle three stages of the Domain Lord Realm!

...

As the meeting was growing closer and closer to the end where the voting for leader positions would take place, Xuan Hao could clearly feel Xu Bao sitting beside him starting to get nervous...

"Senior, it should not take more than a few hours before the voting for who gets the leader positions in the sect alliance begins. At that point in time, me and the rest of the people here will have to rely on your help..."

"No need to worry like this, I already told you I would support you and the rest of the independent sects."

"That is good..."

Seeing Xu Bao calm down again after hearing what he said, Xuan Hao could not help silently chuckling to himself at just how quick this old man was to change his mood.

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"... And with that we move on to the last part and most important part of the meeting. Choosing who will sit in the leader positions of the sect alliance!" As the last few hours of the meeting went by without much happening, outside of Xu Bao interrupting the few people from the major sects whenever they tried bringing something up, the Great General from the imperial family finally reached the last part of the meeting. The vote of who got a leader position in the sect alliance.

"It's finally time..." Sitting beside Xuan Hao, Xu Bao could not help tensing up as he turned to look at Xuan Hao with a nervous expression on his face without saying anythin. No matter how confident he was in Xuan Hao being able to help secure a leader position for him and the rest of the independent sects, he could still not stop himself from feeling nervous about it.

Like Xu Bao, the rest of the people inside the meeting hall also tensed up upon hearing what the Great General who had been sent over by the imperial family said. All of them understood that the most important part of the meeting was about to start.

Normally, they would all think that the leader positions would fall into the hands of the major sects who were by far the strongest present... But this was no longer the case with the independent sects around.

Even if the independent sects did not have any kind of backing like the major sects did, they still had Xu Bao, who was by far considered the strongest person among all the sects currently present.

With someone like him around, these different sects were no longer certain that all the leader positions would end up being given to the people from the major sects. After all, even if a lot of the sects present were to some extend backed by a kingdom or a noble family of some sort, it did not mean that they would just mindlessly follow what the major sects did.

If there really was a chance for the independent sects to win over a leader position in the sect alliance, there was more than a few sects among the ones present that did not get along with the major sects and were willing to support them as a show of defiance towards the major sects.

Observing the reactions of everyone present while also feeling the burning gaze of Xu Bao sitting beside him, Xuan Hao could not help smiling wryly as he understood that the next part of the meeting was not going to be as peaceful as it had been up to now.This chapter made its debut appearance via N0v3lB1n.

Although the chances of anyone resorting to violence in the presence of the Great General from the imperial family was low, it was not something that was a certainty. Especially considering that the people from the different major sects looked like they were about to jump off their seats and attack Xu Bao at any moment...

"Now that it seems like everyone is ready, I will start the official process for choosing the leader positions of the sect alliance. The method itself is rather simple and will be based on voting. The sects that get the most votes will be chosen for the leadership positions!"Hearing the voice of the Great General suddenly echo throughout the meeting hall, Xuan Hao turned his head as he looked towards the centre of the hall where the Great General was located.

The voting process was the most important part of the meeting and would also be what determined who would oversee the sect alliance. For this reason, not only Xuan Hao, but the rest of the people inside the meeting hall all turned their attention towards the Great General from the imperial family. Wanting to know how the voting process would work. After all, all of them understood that there would be no way a Domain Lord Realm Expert's vote would hold the same power as someone who had only reached the Nascent Soul Realm...

"For the voting, those below the Domain Lord Realm counts as one vote, as for the Domain Lord Realm, those in the First to Third Stage of the Domain Lord Realm's vote will count as 5, while those between the Fourth and Sixth Stage count as 10, 15 and 25 votes respectively. Anyone above the Sixth Stage will count for 100 votes!

The voting will be done through someone standing up and announcing they want the position. Followed by everyone who wants to support that person announcing it. During this, you will only be able to vote for one person!"

"""..."""

As the Great General finished talking, everyone inside the meeting hall fell silent. The one's who had originally wanted to support the independent sects secretly without offending the major sects no longer dared to do this. After all, them standing up and announcing their support for the independent sects was sure to not only offend the major sects but also the kingdoms standing behind them!

"This- This process of voting was clearly something that those kingdoms convinced the imperial family to do! Luckily, we have senior with us, or there would have been close to no way for us to get a single leader position during this meeting..." Muttering this to himself as he gazed towards the different people from the major sects who were smugly looking towards him from the other side of the meeting hall, Xu Bao could not help frowning as he realized that they should have had a hand in how the voting for leader positions was going to take place.

If not for the fact that Elder Scarlet Flame had managed to find a powerful expert who had reached the later stages of the Domain Lord Realm like Xuan Hao, Xu Bao was almost certain that this would have ended up resulting in the independent sects not getting a single leader position.

After all, even if he himself was someone in the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, the major sects had more than seven such experts when put together. Not to mention the fact that the number of experts that were in the three middle realms of the Domain Lord Relam supporting the major sects far exceeded that of the independent sects!

"..."

Feeling a sudden passionate gaze from Xu Bao who was sitting beside him, Xuan Hao had no idea what to say, as he turned to look towards the people from the different major sects who were smugly looking around themselves. Reassured that they would be able to get their hands on all of the leader positions.

Looks like I'm bound to catch their attention, it was a good idea to disguise myself as a long-lost ancestor from one of these independent sects, that has just recently returned from adventuring outside the Sky Empire...

Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao could not help feeling happy for the small necklace around his neck, with it, he had been able to perfectly disguise himself without the Peak Domain Lord Realm Expert from the imperial family noticing anything.

At this point in time, outside of the people from the independent sects who knew about him, the rest of the people present saw him as an old man with one step in the grave. Not too dissimilar to Xu Bao who was sitting beside him.

Although they did not know about him nor his cultivation base, Xuan Hao was certain that everyone from the different sects thought about him as an old ancestor from one of the independent sects.

The only person present that had sensed the aura belonging to someone in the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm that he had allowed to be seen, was the Great General from the imperial family who had been secretly glancing towards him from time to time. Obviously feeling a bit surprised over the fact that there was someone in the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm among the people in the independent sects.

"Now that all of you seems to have understood the voting process, the people who want a leader position can stand up... But remember, there will only be a total of four leader positions!"

Whoosh~

Not even a second later, four people among the major sects stood up at the same time. Clearly, they had already agreed on how to split the leader positions in the sect alliance among themselves.

"Looks like those people already came to an agreement on how to control the sect alliance..." Muttering this to himself as he looked over the four people from the major sects, who had all reached the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, Xuan Hao could not help glancing back towards Xu Bao who had similarly stood up to signal that he would also be going for one of the leader positions in the sect alliance.

Even from a glance, it was obvious that the four people from the major sects were not too happy upon seeing Xu Bao standing up against them, but then again, it was something they had already expected to happen...

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"Only five people interested in the four leader positions for the sect alliance?" Following these words from the Great General, everyone inside the meeting hall remained quiet and just stared at the four people from the major sects. None of the people from the remaining sects inside the meeting hall dared to fight with the major sects for the four leader positions of the sect alliance. The only people who would do something like that, was the independent sects that were already enemies with the different major sects and had nothing to lose from going against them.

"I see... Then I won't waste any time and will move on to the voting part! First, let's start with the elder from the Sparrow Sect." Rolling his eyes upon seeing that nobody dared stepping forward due to the major sects rather colourful reputation when it came to dealing with those who went against them, the Great General didn't bother wasting any time, as he directly moved on to the voting process.

"Hehe, I hope everyone here will vote for me!" The elder from the Sparrow Sect, one of the Sky Empire's major sects, happily stepped forward with a smile on his lips after hearing what the Great General said.

Clearly, he already believed that getting the leader position was only a matter of time. The fact that Xu Bao had decided to also stand up didn't bother him in the slightest, as he understood that nobody other than the few independent sects present would dare to vote for him. After all, everyone present knew what would happen if they went against the major sects...!

Not to mention, there was no benefit in them supporting the independent sect openly, outside of angering the major sects-

"I support the elder from the Sparrow Sect!"

"I support the Sparrow Sect-"

Because of this, many the representatives from the different sects that were present all stood up in support of the elder from the Sparrow Sect, while also showing off their cultivation base for the Great General to see and count their votes correctly.

"357 votes in total for the Sparrow Sect, next, we will move on to the elder from the Rock Fire Sect..." As the first of the votes came to an end, the Great General directly announced the total number of votes that the elder from the Sparrow Sect had managed to gather before moving on to the next person among the four people from the major sects.

"I support the Rock Fire Sect in getting the leader position!"

"I support-"

The elder from the Sparrow Sect was not even allowed to gloat over how many votes he got before the voting continued moving on to the next person.

...

Even with my support, it looks like it will just barely be enough for Xu Bao to secure a single leader position.

Thinking this to himself as he observed the four people from the major sects, Xuan Hao could not help glancing towards the elder from the Sparrow Sect with a small smile on his face.

Although everyone from the four major sects had managed to get around the same number of votes, the person with the lowest number of votes, was the elder from the Sparrow Sect. The reason for this being rather obvious from his arrogant and condescending expression.

If given the choice, it was obvious that the rest of the sects inside the meeting hall would choose one of the other three people from the major sect instead of the one from the Sparrow Sect. In turn this had resulted in the difference in votes between him and the three other representatives from the major sects being a little over 50 votes...

"Let's start the final vote!" As the vote for the four people from the major sects concluded, it did not take long before the final vote for Xu Bao began.

"I vote for Senior Xu Bao!"

"I vote for..."

Not wasting any time after the vote for Xu Bao began, the different experts from the independent sects didn't waste a single second before standing up in support of Xu Bao. Not forgetting to show off their cultivation base in the process.

"Hehe, do they really think that they have enough people to get a leader position? Even if they have 10 or so Domain Lords, most of them are in the early stages of the realm. If not for that old man Xu Bao, there is no way that the independent sects would have been able to survive until now!"

Watching the different people from the independent sects getting up to show their support for Xu Bao, the elder from the Sparrow Sect could not help snickering to himself with a disdainful expression on his face. Not at all impressed by the display of the independent sects.

The number of Domain Lord Realm Experts and Nascent Soul Realm Experts among the independent sects had long since become known to these major sects over the many years they had spent trying to weaken and destroy them.

Even if they did not recognize Xuan Hao who was sitting beside Xu Bao, they were not at all worried about one stranger being able to change the tide in the favor of the independent sects. At most thinking that he might be an old ancestor from one of the independent sects that was around the middle stages of the Domain Lord Realm.

As for him being someone above the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm? This thought never crossed the mind of the people from the major sects.

Normally, the appearance of another Domain Lord Realm Expert on the side of the independent sects would not be able to make a difference when it came to the vote for who got the leader positions... But unfortunately for the major sects, they were about to discover that their carelessness and disregard for the independent sects would cost them one of the four leader positions!

"I vote in support of Xu Bao for the leader position of the sect alliance!" Just as the last among the independent sects had finished showing their support for Xu Bao to take on the leader position, Xuan Hao got up in a similar fashion and voiced his support for Xu Bao-

Boom-!

Not a second later, he released his cultivation base that was at the Peak of the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm with the help of the necklace. Instantly causing everyone present to feel a shiver run down their spine due to the powerful aura of a Late Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert.

Even the people from the major sects were no exception, as all of them opened their eyes wide while fearfully looking towards Xuan Hao who was disguised as an old man. Not a single one of them expected that the old man sitting quietly beside Xu Bao to actually be a terrifying expert that had reached the Late Stage of the Domain Lord Realm!NvεlB¡n: Where Every Word Sparks Wonder.

"This- When did the independent sects gain such a terrifying expert!?"

"It should be an old ancestor that has just recently broken through to the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm..."

"Just recently broken through to the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm!? What are you talking about!? This old senior is clearly already at the Peak of the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm. Only a single step away from reaching the Eighth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm!"

"This... If that is the case, how come we have never heard about this senior before...?"

"How would I know? Perhaps he has been cultivating in seclusion ever since reaching the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm..."

As everyone inside the meeting hall began discussing the sudden appearance of such a powerful expert on the side of the independent sects, the faces of the people from the major sects transformed from one of surprise and fear, into one of regret.

Given that they were all powerful experts at the Domain Lord Realm, it did not take them long to realize that the total number of votes for Xu Bao would end up surpassing the elder from the Sparrow Sect.

Even worse, the number of votes that Xu Bao would surpass the Sparrow Sect with, was no more than twenty!

"This- How can this happen!?" Realizing that he would not be getting a leader position, the elder from the Sparrow Sect felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on top of his head as his eye's filled with disbelief.

Not a second later, his face twisted into one filled with fury before he turned to look towards the smaller sects that had chosen not to vote for him with killing intent.

From the fact that he had only been beaten by twenty votes, he very clearly understood that he would have been able to avoid this if some of these smaller sects had chosen to vote for him instead of the three other major sects!

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"Now that the voting part of the meeting has concluded, the last part of the meeting will only be for the four who managed to get a leader position in the sect alliance. The rest of the people here may leave and wait to get contacted about the first steps in setting up the sect alliance."

Not caring about how angry the elder from the Sparrow Sect was feeling after he realized that he would not be getting one of the leader positions, the Great General from the imperial family directly announced the end of the meeting for everyone who had not ended up getting one of the four leader positions.

"This..." Not able to say anything to the Great General after he had announced the end of the meeting, the elder from the Sparrow Sect could only stare out into space helplessly.

No matter how much he wanted to complain to the Great General and ask for a new vote to be held, he understood that doing so would be the same as doubting the validity of the results, something that was certain to offend the Great General!The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

Even if his Sparrow Sect had the support of a powerful kingdom inside the Sky Empire, there was no way that his backer would be happy to learn about him offending a Peak Domain Lord Realm Expert and there was even a chance that his backer would cut connections with his sect due to this... Because of all this, the elder from the Sparrow Sect could only get up from his seat with an unwilling look on his face before making his way out of the meeting hall.

Not lacking too far behind the elder from the Sparrow Sect who was among the first to get up and leave the meeting hall, the rest of the people from the different sects inside the meeting hall slowly began to make their way outside.

All of them feeling surprised over the outcome of the meeting, as none of them had expected for the independent sects to actually have the backing of an expert that had surpassed the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm and reached the Peak of the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.

Not only was this going to affect the newly established sect alliance, but it was also going to have a profound impact on how the different sects interacted with the independent sects in the future. After all, there had never been an expert that had surpassed the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm inside the sects of the Sky Empire before this moment!

Having the support of a power with an expert above the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm and having someone who was part of the sect above the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord realm were two completely different things!

Even if the major sects had the support of powerful kingdoms with experts that were above the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm. Ultimately, those experts were not part of the major sects.

...

As everyone was making their way out of the meeting hall, Xuan Hao did not get up to leave immediately. Instead turning to look towards the Great General who had been looking towards him ever since he had announced the end of the sect alliance meeting.

From a glance, it was obvious to Xuan Hao that the Great General wanted to say something to him. Not too shocking considering that he was a Peak Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert that had appeared out of nowhere in the eyes of the Great General.

When put together with how rare Domain Lord Realm Experts above the Sixth Stage were inside the Sky Empire, it was obvious that the Great General would want to know more about him and how a Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert had suddenly appeared among the independent sects.

"Senior, I think that the person from the imperial family wants to talk with you..."

"I know, he most likely wants to find out where an expert above the Sixth stage of the Domain Lord Realm suddenly appeared from." Nodding his head as he said this in response to Xu Bao, Xuan Hao could not help feeling happy that he had not shown up with his real identity as an elder from the Star Shattering Sect.

If he really did show up as someone from the Star Shattering Sect and had a cultivation base above the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, he was certain to not only catch the attention of the imperial family, but the entire Sky Empire.

At that point in time, there would be no way that the Star Shattering Sect would be left alone to expand on its own without much resistance, some of the more powerful forces inside the Sky Empire would almost certainly interfere and try to prevent the growth of this new power. Especially the three religions and the different powerful kingdoms, who would be impacted the most by the sudden rise of a powerful independent sect.

Even the imperial family would not leave the Star Shattering Sect alone if this happened. Instead, they would most likely try to use it to weaken the power of the three religions...

"Greetings, fellow cultivator. I don't think I have seen you anywhere inside the capital before. Might I ask what sect you belong to?"

It was just at this moment as the last person outside of the three people from the major sects who had managed to get a leader position had left, that the Great General moved over to greet Xuan Hao with a polite smile on his face.

Even if he was someone at the Peak of the Domain Lord Realm, the Great General still understood that it would always be better to have more friends. Especially if that friend was someone who had managed to reach the Late Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.

"Greetings, Senior, I'm from the Strone Ridge Sect. The reason why senior might not have heard about this humble old man before today, might be because this old man left the Sky Empire close to a few thousand years ago to look for an opportunity to search for opportunities to increase my strength and have only recently returned."

Understanding very well that the Great General wanted to not only find out more about him but also befriend him, Xuan Hao politely returned the greeting before using the identity that he had prepared beforehand with the help of a person from one of the independent sects.

"The Stone Ridge Sect...? Hm... So you are that ancestor that left back then! No wonder I didn't recognise you. Back then, I had only just reached the Nascent Soul Realm and hadn't gotten a chance to familiarise myself with the different Domain Lord Realm Experts that were around inside the Sky Empire back then..." Nodding his head with an understanding expression on his face after hearing Xuan Hao's response, the Great General did not doubt Xuan Hao's identity.

Not to mention the fact that there would be no benefits to impersonating someone from an independent sect to go against the powerful major sects, a Domain Lord Realm Expert that had entered the late stage of the realm could be considered as the pinnacle of power inside the Sky Empire below the Soul Ascension Realm.

Because of this, the imperial family would normally do their best to rope in someone like this. Even if the other party did not come from the Sky Empire, the imperial family would still be more than happy to recruit a powerful expert like this.

Outside of the increase in strength such an expert brought to the imperial family, there was also the important fact that having another powerful Domain Lord Realm Expert that could teach the younger generation of the imperial family would be useful for increasing the future strength of the imperial family. After all, there was no way that the old Soul Ascension Realm Experts of the imperial family could waste their time to go around teaching every single member of the imperial family's younger generation...

"The Stone Ridge Sect... To think that old ancestor from back then actually returned as someone in the Peak of the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm... The luck of these independent sects is truly out of this world!"

"Indeed... I don't think our lords will be happy when they learn about this. Not only did such a powerful person emerge from the independent sects that we were supposed to supress, but we also lost one of the leader positions..."

"Don't worry too much about it, this old man is far older than any of us and can't be considered our responsibility. Instead... he is a perfect excuse as to why we lost a leader position!"

"Maybe..."

"..."

At the same time that Xuan Hao and the Great General began chatting with each other, the three people from the major sects listened in from the side with a look of realization on their faces upon hearing about Xuan Hao's identity.

All of them secretly feeling relieved that he was not someone from their generation...

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"Well then, Senior, I won't take any more of your time and will be taking my leave for now. Hopefully the sect alliance will work out in favour of my sect and the rest of the independent sects!"

After spending a few more minutes chatting with the Great General about what he had been doing during his time outside the Sky Empire and what kind of opportunities he had encountered that allowed him to reach the Peak of the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, Xuan Hao got up and began to leave the meeting hall.

"Haha, no worries at all fellow cultivator, I will make sure your Stone Ridge Sect will get treated well!" Smiling happily as he said this while waving goodbye to Xuan Hao, the Great General was clearly satisfied with their short conversation and the possible new friendship he had managed to establish.

The same could not be said for the three people from the major sects who had listened to the conversation about Xuan Hao's adventures outside the Sky Empire from the side.

At this point in time, all three of them were feeling extremely uncomfortable knowing that one of their enemies had actually managed to gain an expert above the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm. Not only that, but it also looked like he had managed to befriend the Peak Domain Lord Realm Expert from the imperial family!

No matter how they looked at it, they had a feeling that the sect alliance and the resources given to it by the imperial family would not be exclusively controlled by them and their sects. Something that was certain to cause some problems between them and the people who had backed them and helped them reach their current position.

...

Having left the meeting hall, Xuan Hao did not continue to wander around the core of the capital city and instead directly left together with some of the other people from the independent sects that he had come together with. Knowing very well that staying around the core of the capital would bring with it, an increased chance of him encountering one of the Soul Ascension Realm Experts from either the imperial family or the three religions.

Although the chance of this happening was low, he did not want to take the risk. Especially considering that he had no idea how well the necklace he used to disguise his identity and cultivation base would work against someone who had reached the Soul Ascension Realm.

Even if it worked, there was still a chance that the Soul Ascension Realm Expert he encountered would not have any kind intentions towards him. This was especially true if that Soul Ascension Realm Expert happened to be from one of the three religions... If he encountered one of those three, he was almost certain that they would not let him leave easily!

"Senior, are you going to wait for Senior Xu together with us at the inn?" Having made his way out of the core of the capital city where the most dangerous and powerful people of the Sky Empire was located, one of the people from the independent sects that were walking together with him asked this in a somewhat worried tone.

"This... Is there perhaps a reason you are asking about this...?" About to leave them behind and start his journey back towards the Star Shattering Sect now that his primary goal for going to the capital city had been completed, Xuan Hao could not help stopping himself after seeing the worried expression on the face of the people from the independent sects.

Even without knowing what they were worried about, it was obvious that they did not want to see him leave before Xu Bao got back...

"Ehm... S-Senior... It's just that now that Senior Xu is busy with the last part of the sect alliance meeting, there is no one around to stop the major sects or their backers from taking out their anger on us. After all, now that they lost one of the four leader positions, I'm certain that they are going to use this opportunity before Senior Xu returns!"

"This..." As one of the people nervously stepped forward and explained the reason as to why they didn't want him to leave, Xuan Hao could not help frowning as he remembered how enraged the elder from the Sparrow Sect had been after he found out that he had lost the leader position in the sect alliance that he had originally thought was his.

Given how temperamental this person seemed compared to normal Domain Lord Realm Experts, Xuan Hao would not find it shocking if this person took the chance while Xu Bao was not around to take revenge on the independent sects.

Although he would not be able to kill any of them inside the capital city, he would still be able seriously injure them without getting in trouble with the guards of the capital city...

"I understand, I will stay together with you until Xu Bao returns from the meeting." Not feeling that it would be too troublesome to stay together with these people and look after them until Xu Bao returned from the meeting, Xuan Hao let out a soft sigh as he said this.

Troublesome or not, he understood that he would have to make sure that nothing happened to these people. After all, the independent sects were an important part of the plan to make everyone in the Sky Empire pay less attention to the Star Shattering Sect while it was developing.

"Thank you Senior!"

Not wasting any time after hearing what Xuan Hao said, the person who had nervously asked him to stay together with them until Xu Bao returned, happily jumped over and thanked him with a happy smile plastered all over his face.

"Senior, thank you for staying behind and waiting for Senior Xu with us!"

"Thank you for your help, Senior! I'm sure no one will dare target us now!"

"Yes, thanks to Senior, we can rest easy until Senior Xu returns."

The rest of the people who had nervously been waiting for an answer in the background did not lack behind for long, as all of them similarly jumped forward to thank Xuan Hao with relieved and happy expressions on their faces.

"You guys have far too much energy... Let's get going." Feeling a little taken aback by how lively the group of old people from the independent sects got all of a sudden, Xuan Hao could not help smiling a bit wryly as he said this before beginning to make his way towards the inn where the group of people from the independent sects had been staying ever since entering the capital city.

...

At the same time Xuan Hao was making his way back towards the inn with the people from the independent sects, the elder from the Sparrow Sect was standing in front of a shadowy figure in a dark corner of the capital with a fearful expression on his face.

"You are telling me that you actually lost the leader position to that old man Xu from the independent sects!? Do you know how many resources I used to ensure that your Sparrow Sect was chosen to take up that leader position in the sect alliance!? Yet... You are now telling me that you lost that chance I used so many resources to get you, to someone from one of those independent sects!?"

"I-I'm sorry my lord... But the appearance of a Peak Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert among one of the independent sects was not something we could have accounted for!"

"Hmph! Do you think I don't know about how you lost to them with only twenty votes!? Don't think we don't know what takes place inside the meeting, you self-proclaimed major sects are not the only people among the sects that we are supporting!"

"This- Forgive me for my failure my lord!"

Thump!

Knowing that he could not blame his failure to secure one of the four leader positions on the sudden appearance of a powerful expert among the independent sects, the elder from the Sparrow Sect fell to the ground with a pleading expression on his face.

At this point in time, he understood very well that he would not be able to avoid the blame for losing the leader position that his lord and the backer of the Sparrow Sect had spent an enormous amount of resources to get his hands on.

"Hmph! You only know how to beg now?"

"My lord! Please give me another chance! I will do anything!" Knowing that there was a chance that his lord might abandon him and no longer provide resources to him and his sect, the elder from the Sparrow Sect became even more desperate than before as he said this.

"Hm... Fine... Go out and find out more about this Peak Seventh Stage domain Lord that appeared out of nowhere. Ah! And also make sure to punish those independent sects! Hmph! How dare they take what is mine!?"

"Y-yes my lord!"

Whoosh-!

Not wasting a second after hearing that he had managed to get another chance, the elder from the Sparrow Sect quickly left the area to carry out the order that had been given to him.The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

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Making his way back towards the inn located close to the edge of the capital city, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit surprised that the fact that the elder from the Sparrow Sect did not show up to cause trouble.

Considering how that elder had acted back inside the meeting hall and the clear killing intent he had directed towards him and the rest of the people from the independent sects, Xuan Hao had expected for him to be waiting for them close to the gate that separated the core of the capital city from the rest of the capital city for an opportunity to cause trouble... But in the end, he had been nowhere in sight so far.The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

Was I worrying too much about that elder from the Sparrow Sect...?

Walking along the streets of the capital together with the people from the independent sects, Xuan Hao could not help thinking this to himself as he carefully scanned his surroundings for any sign of the elder from the Sparrow Sect, but in the end, he found nothing during their journey back to the small broken down inn located at the edge of the capital city.

The small broken inn was in the same state as it had been when they had left it behind earlier in the day, something that helped reassure everyone present that the major sects should not yet have found this hiding spot of theirs.

Although it was inevitable that the small rundown inn's location would be exposed now that they had travelled to it without hiding themselves on their way back from the sect alliance meeting, it should at the very least give them a little more time without having to deal with anyone from the major sects showing up to cause trouble...

"Everyone! Remember to remain cautious! Even if we have the help of senior to ensure our safety, the capital city is ultimately not a place that we have much power in compared to those major sects!" As everyone slowly started relaxing upon stepping foot into the rundown inn, Elder Scarlet Flame who had been cautiously observing their surroundings during the entire journey from the core of the capital city, stepped forward and said this.

Rustle~!

Hearing what Elder Scarlet Flame said, the group of people from the independent sects that had slowly started relaxing quickly tensed up before they started looking around themselves for any possible sign of the major sects that might be lurking just around the corner waiting for a chance to launch a sneak attack on them while their guard was down.

Seeing this scene, Xuan Hao had no idea what to say about these people. The more he interacted with them, the more unreliable they seemed to be. To be honest, it was surprising that the major sects had not managed to deal with them...

"There is no one around here waiting for us, you can rest easy for now." Not waiting for the group of people from the independent sects after saying this, Xuan Hao walked inside the rundown inn to find a place to relax while waiting for Xu Bao to return from the part of the sect alliance meeting that only involved the four chosen leaders of the sect alliance and the Great General from the imperial family.

"Senior-" Not able to react in time to what Xuan Hao said before he disappeared inside the rundown inn, it did not take long before the group of people from the different independent sects followed after Xuan Hao inside the rundown inn. No longer worried that a possible ambush from the major sects would be waiting for them inside.

...

"So this is the place where those independent sects have been hiding until the sect alliance meeting..." Arriving at a location not too far away from the rundown inn where Xuan Hao and the rest of the people from the independent sects were staying, the elder from the Sparrow Sect quietly muttered this to himself before a terrifying killing intent appeared in his eyes.

If not for the fact that a terrifying expert in the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm was present, he would have already sprung on the opportunity to deal a blow to these independent sects while Xu Bao was not around to protect them.

Rustle~

As the elder from the Sparrow Sect was lost in thought thinking about how to deal with the Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert that had appeared out of nowhere on the side of the independent sects, a young man slowly made his way over while glancing towards the rundown inn in the distance with a similar killing intent.

"Elder... Are we really not going to attack them? Even if they have the support of a Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert, with the support of the other major sects and the lords, we should not-"

"Impudent! What do you know!?" Not giving the young elder a chance to finish what he was saying, the elder from the Sparrow Sect directly interrupted him before starting to scold him with a somewhat disappointed expression on his face. "This is still inside the capital city and under the strict supervision of the imperial family! Tell me... What do you think will happen if suddenly start such a major battle inside the capital city? Do you really think that the imperial family will just sit around and do nothing?"

"This- I'm sorry elder! I didn't think this matter through!" Knowing that he had made a mistake in what he said, the young elder quickly apologised. Afraid that he would accidentally end up offending the old elder in front of him.

"Hmph! As long as you know your mistake." Seeing how sincere the young elder was, the old elder from the Sparrow Sect did not pursue the matter further and instead turned his attention back towards the rundown in where the people from the independent sects were staying.

Like he had said, the problem of dealing with the Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert was not something that was easy to do without alerting the guards that constantly patrolled the inside of the capital city.

Even if the rundown inn was located at the edges of the capital city, it would not take more than a few minutes before guards started showing up if a fight broke out.

Although this was still considered a long time to someone who had reached the Domain Lord Realm, it was far from enough time to deal with someone who had reached the Peak of the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm. Even with the help of people supporting the major sects!

For this reason, he to use a different way to deal with the independent sects before Xu Bao returned and it got even more difficult to deal with them...

"Elder... If we can't attack them head on, why don't we get them to come to us...?" Hearing the young elder who had gone silent after being scolded, the old elder from the Sparrow Sect could not help narrowing both of his eyes before turning towards him. "Do you perhaps have an idea on how to get them to leave that rundown inn? Do tell me..."

"Actually, it won't be that hard at all... Earlier today, I happened to overhear that the disciples from a few of these independent sects happened to also be present inside the capital city at the moment. Namely, the Stone Horn Sect and the Tree Flower Sect..."

"Haha! I see! We could indeed use those disciples to force a few of those people inside that inn to come to us. No matter how strong that new expert is, there is no way he would be able to be at two places at once!" Laughing happily as an evil smile made its way on to his face after listening to what the young elder said, the old elder from the Sparrow Sect did not take more than a few seconds to understand what the young elder wanted to do.

Splitting up the different elders from the independent sects was indeed a great way to deal with the problem of having to face off against the Seventh Stage Domain Lord realm Expert.

Not only would they be able to avoid having to deal with him this way, but in case he decided to help out the elders who wanted to save their disciples, they would always be able to target the remaining independent sects hiding away inside the rundown inn.

In case all of the people from the independent sects decided to go to save those disciples, they could always split them up into several different locations all across the capital city. Giving them no way to save them unless they split up!

"You will be in charge of taking care of the young disciples from the Tree Flower Sect and I will take care of the ones from the Stone Horn Sect!"

"Yes, Elder!"

Whoosh~!

Whoosh~!

Not wasting any time after having come up with a way to deal a blow to the independent sects, the two elders from the Sparrow Sect did not waste a single second as they both disappeared in two different directions.

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They plan to capture a group of disciples and use them to split us up? Good idea, but ultimately useless considering that they don't know about my true cultivation realm...This essence is securely nested within the heart of Nøvlß¡n

Standing inside the rundown inn, Xuan Hao could not help shaking his head as he thought about this while looking in the direction that the two elders from the Sparrow Sect had disappeared in.

Outside the two elders from the Sparrow Sect that had just left to catch the disciples from the Tree Flower Sect and the Stone Horn Sect, there was also a large number of Domain Lord Realm Experts belonging to the other major sects watching over the rundown inn.

Given that he could already be considered to be infinitely close to someone in the Soul Ascension Realm, there was no way that he wouldn't be able to notice the elders from the Sparrow Sect and the rest of the experts from the other major sects lurking around the rundown inn waiting for an opportunity to strike... But then again, there was no way that these people would expect something like this in the first place.

"I will be going out for a short moment, make sure that you don't leave the inn during this period of time!"

"Huh? Senior, what do you mean that you will be leaving-"

Swish-!

"Senior!?"

Knowing that he would be able to hide himself from the divine sense of the different experts belonging to the major sects outside, Xuan Hao left behind a group of confused representatives from the different independent sects, as he chased after the two elders from the Sparrow Sect. Not intending to let them take advantage of the disciples from the Tree Flower Sect and Stone Horn Sect.

...

Having already parted ways with the old elder from the Sparrow Sect, the younger elder stopped in front of a small inn located close to the Explorer Union Branch inside the capital city.

"This should be the place where the disciples from the Tree Flower Sect are staying. Hehe, these disciples have no idea what is about to happen to them!" Chuckling to himself as he said this while gazing towards the small inn, the younger elder had once again returned to his former arrogant state now that his senior was no longer around. Not caring the slightest bit about the group of disciples from the Tree Flower Sect.

After all, what could a group of young disciples who would at most have reached the Core Formation Realm do against a Domain Lord Realm Expert like himself? Even if they had some protective measures left behind by a senior from their sect, they would at most allow them to hold out for a few seconds!

Another reason why the young elder was so confident in himself, was also because the strongest elder from the Tree Flower Sect had only barely reached the First Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, while he himself had reached the Second Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.

Even if the ancestor of the Tree Flower Sect was present, there was no way that he would be able to resist him for long, let alone give away defensive artifacts or talismans that could deal with someone in the Second Stage of the Domain Lord Realm like himself!

"There they are!" Using his divine sense to locate the group of disciples from the Tree Flower Sect inside the inn, the young elder didn't bother wasting any time searching the inn any further. Directly using a movement technique to dash inside before arriving inside the room where the disciples from the Tree Flower Sect were staying-

"Wha- W-who are you!?"

Catching the five disciples from the Tree Flower Sect present inside the room by surprise. Clearly not having expected for someone to suddenly show up inside of their room all of a sudden without any of them noticing.

"Hehe, you can ask your elders about that later!"

Swish-!

Not bothering to explain anything to this group of young disciples who were mostly in the Core Formation Realm, the young elder from the Sparrow Sect waved his sleeve and knocked all five disciples out before taking them away from the inn.

"So powerful... Who was it that visited the inn just now...?"

"I don't know, but the other party should at least be someone in the Domain Lord Realm!"

"Domain Lord Realm... No wonder I didn't manage to pick up on the other party before he had already left..."

Everything happened far too fast for anyone inside the inn to realize what had happened before the young elder from the Sparrow Sect had disappeared.

If not for the fact that the young elder from the Sparrow Sect had not bothered to hide his aura during the kidnapping of the five young Tree Flower Sect disciples, it would have been impossible for them to even notice anything in the first place. After all, the strongest person inside the inn had only reached the Nascent Soul Realm. Far from enough to notice someone in the Domain Lord Realm if the other party wanted to stay hidden.

However, unknown to the young elder from the Sparrow Sect who had just left the inn with the five disciples from the Tree Flower Sect before making his way towards a prearranged location to meet up with the older elder from the Sparrow Sect before beginning the next part of their plan to split up the cultivators from the independent sects, Xuan Hao had already managed to catch up and was silently following him.

In Xuan Hao's eyes, it was far easier to wait until all the disciples from the independent sects had been gathered in one location before striking to take them away and safely retreat without having to fight with the two Domain Lord Realm Experts from the Sparrow Sect.

Although fighting them before they had a chance to get their hands on the disciples from the independent sects was tempting, Xuan Hao also understood that doing so came with the risk of the other Domain Lord Realm Experts jumping in to join the fight.

At that point in time, he would only barely be able to hold them back with the strength of an average Peak Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert. Not only that, but he would also risk the fight catching the attention of one of the Soul Ascension Realm Experts inside the capital city.

No matter how confident he was in the ability of the necklace to hide his cultivation base from someone in the Domain Lord Realm, he had no confidence in it being able to hide his cultivation base from someone in the Soul Ascension Realm. Especially not if the person who ended up paying attention to the fight was the terrifying ancestor of the imperial family...

"Senior!" A few minutes after moving through the capital, the young elder suddenly came to a stop before calling out to the old elder from the Sparrow Sect who was waiting for him in an empty alleyway located at the edge of the capital on the opposite of the city to the rundown inn. Over twenty unconscious people on the ground next to him.

Thump!

"Senior, are we-"

"Only five? I thought the Tree Flower Sect would have more disciples inside the capital city. The Stone Horn Sect had more than twenty disciples, one of them was even a genius that managed to reach the Nascent Soul Realm!"

Putting the five disciples from the Tree Flower Sect that he had carried with him on the ground, the young elder didn't even get a chance to say anything before the old elder interrupted him.

"I didn't expect for there to be so few disciples either... At the very least, these disciples should still be more than enough to force those independent sects to come out to rescue them. Especially that disciple in the Nascent Soul Realm, I'm sure that the Stone Horn Sect will do everything to get him back!" Not knowing what to say in response, the young elder could only say this before pointing towards a brawny looking young man among the over twenty Stone Horn Sect disciples' unconscious on the ground.

"Hm... Indeed, that disciple in the Nascent Soul Realm does represents a future Domain Lord Realm Expert for their sect, there is no way that the Stone Horn Sect will give up on getting him back!" Nodding his head as he said this after hearing what the young elder said, an evil smile appeared in the eyes of the old elder while looking towards the brawny young man in the Nascent Soul Realm.

If not for the fact that killing the young man from the Stone Horn Sect would ruin their chances of splitting up the people from the independent sects, he would have already done so to ensure that the stone Horn sect didn't gain another Domain Lord Realm Expert in the future.

Oh well... He would always be able to kill the young genius from the Stone Horn Sect after the experts from the independent sects had split up...!

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Observing the two elders from the Sparrow Sect as they talked with each other while completely ignoring the knocked out disciples from the Stone Horn Sect and the Tree Flower Sect laying on the ground beside them, Xuan Hao took the opportunity to slowly approach them. Making use of the necklace to hide himself completely from the two talking elders from the Sparrow Sect.

This should be close enough…

Getting within a few meters of where the disciples from the two independent sects were placed on the ground, Xuan Hao narrowed both his eyes before getting ready to dash forward and take the unconscious disciples away with him without having to fight with the two elders from the Sparrow Sect.

Considering the fact that he had disguised himself as someone who had reached the Peak of the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, it was not too unrealistic for him to be capable of escaping from the two elders from the Sparrow Sect while carrying the close to thirty disciples from the Stone Horn Sect and Tree Flower Sect with his domain.

Even if they might get a bit suspicious about how he had managed to get so close without them noticing and how he knew what they were up to, they should attribute it to them having underestimated the strength of someone who had reached the Peak of the Seventh stage of the Domain Lord Realm. Maybe they might even think he had used some kind of special concealment talisman to approach them without them noticing!

Whoosh~

Having reached a distance that would allow him to easily grab the unconscious disciples before escaping, Xuan Hao decided to make his move-

"Wha-!?"

"This- You are!?"

Catching both elders from the Sparrow Sect by surprise, as neither of them managed to react in time before Xuan Hao took away the unconscious disciples from the Tree Flower Sect and the Stone Horn Sect.

"We can't let him get away!" Recovering from the sudden turn of events the fastest, the older elder from the Sparrow Sect who had participated in the sect alliance meeting didn't waste a single second before dashing after Xuan Hao. Understanding very well that the chances of them being able to do anything to the independent sects without using the disciples to split them up was close to zero.

Not only that, but he would also have to explain how he hadn't been able to get anything done to his lord once again!

Although the old elder from the Sparrow Sect doubted that his lord would throw away a powerful sect like the Sparrow Sect which had several Domain Lords under it, he also understood that the resources the Sparrow Sect would receive from this lord was almost certainly going to decrease…

As for the Sparrow Sect finding another backer… The old elder didn't even dare to think about this. After all, other than the resources and benefits that they were provided with for serving under a powerful kingdom of the Sky Empire, the kingdom in question also had several ways to ensure that the Sparrow Sect did not just find another backer after they had invested a large amount of resources into them. One of them being that they would be deemed as an independent sect and would end up facing the same level of suppression inside the Sky Empire as the rest of the independent sects that barely hang in there due to the backing of Xu Bao.

The difference between the Sparrow Sect at that point in time and the independent sects, would be the fact that they would be considered the enemies of not only the major sects, but also the independent sects that they were a part of… Not something any of the major sects wanted to happen to them!N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.

Swish-!

As he thought about all of this while chasing after Xuan Hao who was slowly getting further and further away from him, the old elder from the Sparrow Sect that had reached the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, suddenly increased his speed even further. Allowing him to catch up with Xuan Hao and launch an attack.

Not towards Xuan Hao, but instead the disciples from the two independent sects that he was carrying with him. Knowing very well that it would be far harder for Xuan Hao to defend these disciples while also escaping at the same time. Hoping that he would be able to buy enough time for the remaining people from the major sects to use this window of time where Xuan Hao was missing to launch an attack on the people from the independent sects that were hiding away inside the rundown inn on the other side of the capital city.

Even if the chances of them being able to do any real damage before Xuan Hao managed to return was low, the old elder from the Sparrow Sect still hoped that they would at the very least be able to archive something as he launched another attack towards the disciples Xuan Hao was carrying before the first had time to land.

Not even a second later, the first attack landed on one of the disciples from the Tree Flower Sect-

BOOOM-!

However, different from what the elder from the Sparrow Sect had expected, Xuan Hao didn't slow down to defend against the attack, but merely used the power of his domain to block the attack.

"This- How is this even possible!? Is the domain of a Seventh Stage Domain Lord really this powerful!?" Not able to understand how his first attack had been blocked so easily without the other party even slowing down for a second, the elder from the Sparrow Sect could not help marveling over just how much stronger someone in the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm was compared to someone like himself who had reached the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm. Even without seeing his second attack landing, he already understood that it would not be able to do anything to slow down Xuan Hao!

…

At the same time the two elders from the sparrow sect were chasing after Xuan Hao who was making his way back towards the rundown in where the people from the independent sects were located, one of the elders belonging to one of the smaller major sects could not help showing a doubtful expression on his face while looking down at a communication talisman.

"The Peak Seventh Stage Domain Lord snuck past us and is currently on the other side of the city…? If what that old man from the Sparrow Sect says is this true, then this is a good opportunity to attack the remaining people from the independent sects still inside the rundown inn… But… If the Peak Seventh Stage Domain Lord is still present, the one launching the first attack is sure to face the wrath of this expert…" Muttering this to himself as he went over the information that had been told to him through the communication talisman, the elder understood how great of an opportunity this was to weaken the independent sects.

The only problem was… If the Peak Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert was still present, the person who launched the first attack would be sure to face the wrath of this expert head on.

Even if he wouldn't die from this due to his cultivation having reached the Fifth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, he was certain that he would not be able to get out unscratched!

With that in mind, the Sparrow Sect was already considered a troublesome sect among the most powerful of the major sects… And it was not easy for this person, or the rest of the people from the major sects placed around the rundown in, to trust the words of the Sparrow Sect.

For now, all the message sent out by the Sparrow Sect had archived, was to make the major sects lurking around the rundown inn start to test the waters in an attempt to figure out whether or not the Peak Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert had truly left. As for using the limited time they had to attack the independent sects inside the rundown inn? None of them had dared to truly launch an attack.

…

"These stupid people! How dare they doubt my words!" As a few people from the Sparrow Sect were still stationed around the rundown inn to keep an eye on the situation, the older elder from the Sparrow Sect of course ended up learning that none of the major sects present around the rundown inn had dared to make the first move and attack the independent sects.

For a short moment, the elder from the Sparrow Sect could not help lamenting over his bad reputation within the major sects. If he had just earned the trust of at least one of the major sects present around the rundown inn at this moment, the opportunity to attack the independent sects would not be lost like this…!

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"The people from the major sects have all started moving... Could it be that they found out about the fact that senior is missing!?"

"This- This should not be the case... If they found out senior is missing, they should have already launched an attack at this point in time!"

"Indeed... From the looks of it, they only want to test the water and don't truly want to start a fight..."

"What should we do!? If Senior does not return in time and they realize he is not here..."

Observing the movements of the people from the major sects from inside the rundown inn, the group of close to 10 Domain Lord Realm Experts among the independent sects could not help getting nervous as they realized what these major sects were up to.

Even if the major sects were only going to test the waters, as long as Xuan Hao didn't return in time, they all understood that these major sects were going to launch an all-out attack. Even if they could not kill them inside the capital city, they would still be able to cripple a large part of their cultivation base and leave them in a half-dead state. Recovering from such a state might be possible, but it would take hundreds- If not thousands of years! Essentially leaving them with no chance of improving their cultivation base in the future...

No matter what, there was no way that they would want something like that to happen! Especially considering that they had just managed to secure a leader position for Xu Bao and were about to receive a lot of new resources from the imperial family that would be able to not only help in increasing their own strength, but also the overall strength of their sects!

"Let's try to drag things out as much as possible for now. Even if senior is not around, we cannot show any weakness when confronted by these shameless puppet sects that wants nothing more than to erase us and take all our resources for themselves!" Stepping forward with a confident expression on his face as he said this, Elder Scarlet Flame calmed down the group of increasingly panicked elders and ancestors of the different independent sects.

Given that both Xuan Hao and Xu Bao were absent, he was more than strong enough to take the lead with his cultivation in the Fourth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.

"""..."""

Hearing what Elder Scarlet Flame said, everyone inside the small inn quieted down. Understanding that for them to appear like nothing was wrong, they would have to go out and face off against the people from the major sects in case they got too close to the inn.

Although doing this might work at the start, when one of the more powerful experts among the major sects approached, they would inevitably realize that the senior they relied on was gone. At that point in time, it was easy to imagine what would happen...

In the first place, it was not like they had the choice of escaping, as doing so would instantly confirm that they no longer had a powerful expert watching over them.

...

Glancing back towards the two elders from the Sparrow Sect chasing after him, Xuan Hao could not help letting out a sigh of relief to himself as he blocked another attack that had been sent flying towards one of the disciples he was carrying with his domain.

From the short exchange he had with the two elders from the Sparrow Sect just now, he realized that the most powerful and older one among the two elders had should have only just recently reached the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm and could only be considered to be in the early stage of the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm. Making it far more reasonable that he was able to easily escape them as someone who had reached the Peak of the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.

Whoosh~!

As a few minutes passed like this, two chasing and one escaping, Xuan Hao could not help feeling surprised that no guards had showed up to stop them. On the contrary, the guards he spotted did not seem to care about him or his pursuers and instead just observed the situation from the side without doing anything.

From the looks of it, the guards would truly not do anything unless it caused damage to the capital city or involved a life and death situation.

Although Xuan Hao felt happy about this as he did not have to worry about a Soul Ascension Realm Expert showing up, he could not help feeling that the attitude of the guards was rather weird. Maybe the attitude of the imperial family was to just let the Domain Lord Realm Experts settle the matter between themselves. Only when it was a matter of life and death that could result in the weakening of the Sky Empire would they start to involve themselves.

"Hm? The people from the major sects lurking around the in actually didn't attack...?"

Seeing the rundown inn appearing in the distance together with the different people from the major sects who looked like they were cautiously moving closer and closer to the inn, Xuan Hao could not help secretly laughing to himself. From the looks of things, the elder from the Sparrow Sect had a rather bad reputation among the other major sects. Not one of them trusted him enough to launch an attack on the inn...

"That is- The Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert, he really was gone..."

"Looks like that old man from the Sparrow Sect was telling the truth..."

As Xuan Hao got closer to the rundown inn, it did not take long before the people from the major sects who were slowly approaching the inn discovered him. Allowing the to understand that the Sparrow Sect had indeed told them the truth when they informed them that the powerful expert watching over the independent sects was gone.

But at this point in time, there was nothing they could do about it. The time that the Sparrow Sect had bought for them to attack the independent sects had already passed and now they would not be able to do anything without having to first go through the terrifying Peak Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert.

"That idiot, if he wanted to buy time for us to attack the independent sects by drawing away that person, why did he not inform us about it first!?"

"Indeed, he should have known how little we trust him and his Sparrow Sect... Did he perhaps suffer some kind of mental problem recently...?"

Showing up just in time to hear the people from the other major sects scolding him loudly with angry expressions on their faces, the old elder from the Sparrow Sect felt like throwing up a mouthful of blood in anger.

He had indeed planned to inform all of them about his plan to bait out and split up the people from the independent sects, the only problem was that the person he wanted to draw away the most had suddenly shown up before he had a chance to carry out his plan.The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

Not only that, but the disciples from the Tree Flower Sect and the Stone Horn Sect that he had planned to use for this had all been taken away before he had a chance to react. Taking him by surprise with just how close Xuan Hao had managed to get without him finding out about it... But then again, he also remembered a few things he had heard about concealment talisman during a conversation with his lord a few years earlier.

Back then, he had learnt that not only did there exist concealment talismans that would be able to allow someone with only a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation base to hide from someone in the Peak of the Domain Lord Realm, but there were even more powerful concealment talisman out there that would allow one to hide from someone who had reached the Peak of the Soul Ascension Realm!

Of course, he did not fully believe something like this. After all, just how powerful was someone in the Soul Ascension Realm... Let alone someone who had actually managed to reach the Peak of the Soul Ascension Realm. How could a simple talisman allow some weak ant in the Foundation Establishment Realm to hide from someone like that!?

The only reason why he even believed the existence of concealment talismans that could hide from the domain of a Peak Domain Lord Realm existence, was due to the fact that his lord had personally shown him one of these talismans in person during the visit back then!

Swish-!

At the same time that the elder from the Sparrow Sect was momentarily lost in thought upon hearing the scolding voice of the other major sects, Xuan Hao passed through the experts from the major sects blocking his path and entered the rundown inn. None of the people present daring to stop him!

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Thump!

Making his way inside the rundown inn, Xuan Hao directly placed the group of close to thirty young disciples that he had been carrying with him on the ground. Catching all of the elders inside the inn by surprise at the large group of unconscious people filling up a large part of the relatively small first floor of the inn.

"This- Aren't these the disciples from the Tree Flower Sect and the Stone Horn Sect...?"

"Indeed, they are the disciples from the Tree Flower Sect and the Stone Horn Sect! I recognize the young man laying over there as the current number one genius from the Stone Horn Sect... But why are they here?"

"If I'm not wrong, we should have all agreed to not let our disciples roam outside our sects during this sect alliance meeting due to how dangerous it would be..."

As the elders from the different independent sects began talking among each other, they soon turned their attention towards the two elders from the Stone Horn Sect and the Tree Flower Sect.

"Don't look at me! I have no idea how these young ones got here, I instructed my entire sect to enter a lockdown and not interact with the outside world until the sect alliance meeting finished!"

"I-I-I'm the same, I have no idea how the disciples from my sect ended up here either..."

"Are you two sure about that!?"

"Hmph! Old man, what do you mean by that? Do you want to start something!?"

Listening to the conversation between the elders from the side, Xuan Hao had at first wanted to see if he could find out how these disciples from the Tree Flower Sect and the Stone Horn Sect had appeared in the capital city. However, when the conversation suddenly went in another direction and the two elders from the two sects did not seem to know how their disciples had appeared inside the capital city, he decided to no longer listen in and instead excused himself before finding a quiet place to wait for the still unconscious disciples to wake up and explain the matter themselves.

All things considered; Xuan Hao had a feeling that their appearance inside the capital city just at the time that the sect alliance meeting was taking place was not an accident. Even more so when considering that the young elder from the Sparrow Sect already seemed to know about their exact location.

"Hm? W-where is this...?"

Luckily for Xuan Hao and the elders who were close to starting a fight among each other at this point in time, the young genius from the Stone Horn Sect soon woke up before looking around himself filled with confusion.

"Young Stone! You brat! Why are you here instead of the sect!? Do you perhaps not understand a simple order of not leaving the sect!?"

"Ah!?"

Hearing the voice of the elder from the Stone Horn Sect, the young genius that had just woken up could not help jumping up and fearfully look towards his master before discovering the large number of elders far stronger than him all looking towards him. "M-m-master!? W-what are you doing here- A-a-and who are all these s-seniors...?"

"Answer my question brat, why are you here... And you better answer honestly!" Not caring about the terrified expression on his disciple's face, the elder from the Stone Horn Sect instead said this in a far more strict tone. Understanding very well that if he didn't do so, there was a high chance that some of the more powerful seniors present would do it. At that point in time, his disciple would be in for a really bad time...

"Y-yes, master!" Understanding just how serious the situation was from the large number of seniors gathered all around him, the genius disciple from the Stone Horn Sect quickly nodded his head as he said this before starting to describe how he had ended up in the capital of the Sky Empire.

From first sneaking out of the sect together with a group of friends due to one of them getting a hint that a treasure that would help increase his cultivation base would soon appear nearby. At first everything had been normal, but when he had been about to grab the treasure in question, he and everyone else had fallen into a teleportation trap formation that would randomly teleport them somewhere far away... And as luck would have it, that location happened to be no more than a few miles away from the capital of the Sky Empire.

Because of all of this, the young genius from the Stone Horn Sect had decided to rest in the capital of the Sky Empire for a few days to recover before heading back towards the Stone Horn Sect. Wanting to return to the sect before his master returned... As he understood very well that he would be punished if he could not return in time...

"This idiot! He was clearly fooled by someone and tricked into entering the capital city, but hasn't realized it yet... Hehe, old man, looks like the disciple inherited his talents from his master!"

"You-!"

So, the presence of the disciples from the Tree Flower Sect and the Stone Horn Sect was deliberately done by someone beforehand, the most obvious culprit behind this should be that young elder from the Sparrow Sect.

Not having to hear the Tree Flower Sect's disciples' side of how they had ended up inside the capital of the Sky Empire, Xuan Hao could not help shaking his head as he had already managed to guess who the mastermind behind this entire thing was.

The original intent of the plan, however, should not have been targeted towards drawing him away, but should have instead been targeted towards drawing away Xu Bao. After all, there was no way that the young elder from the Sparrow Sect would have expected Xu Bao to win the leader position over his senior during the sect alliance meeting.

If things had really played out like the elder from the Sparrow Sect had wanted, it would certainly have ended up weakening the independent sects even further. Maybe there might even have been a chance that Xu Bao would end up getting critically injured. Well... All of this didn't matter, as the plan of the Sparrow Sect had gone up in smoke without archiving anything...

All there was left to do now, was to wait for Xu Bao to return to take care of the independent sects and make sure they didn't end up getting attack by the major sects on their way back. After which, he would begin making his way back towards the Star Shattering Sect.

...

At the same time Xuan Hao entered the inn together with the disciples that had been kidnapped by the Sparrow Sect, a shadowy figure watching over the entire matter narrowed both his eyes before a frown made its way on to his barely visible face.

"That useless old man from the Sparrow Sect can't do anything! From the looks of it, we will have to do something, or the independent sects will be able to walk away from the capital city with the leader position and use it to increase their strength... But... We have no way to deal with them inside the city without the imperial family noticing.

Looks like I will have to consult the others about setting up an ambush outside the city to deal with that old man Xu Bao once and for all. Maybe we can also deal with that ancestor who just recently returned at the same time. Although, that ancestor can be ignored. After all, he should at most have a hundred years left to live considering his age!"

However, just as the shadowy figure turned around to leave after having come to a decision on how to deal with the matter regarding the independent sects, a terrifying freezing sensation enveloped him from head to toe.

"Hm? T-this!? Who-"

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Barely managing to react as he called out, the shadowy figure didn't get a chance to say anything more before his entire body and soul was frozen solid. Forcing the shadowy figure to enter a deep slumber without the opportunity to resist.

...

At the same time inside the inn, Xuan Hao looked towards the shadowy figure that had been turned into an ice statue with a slightly irritated expression on his face.

"How troublesome... I really don't want to deal with some ambush after leaving the city. At least this way, I won't have to worry about anyone showing up due to the death of a Domain Lord Realm Expert. Having comprehended part of the Dao of Ice was truly a great thing for situations like this..." Muttering this to himself as he turned away from the shadow figure that had been turned into an ice sculpture in a hidden location no more than a few thousand meters away from the inn, Xuan Hao returned to quietly waiting for Xu Bao to return.

Although it might not be within the range of a Seventh Stage Domain Lord's domain, it was well within the range of Xuan Hao's domain. Allowing him to easily utilize the power of his domain, that was already extremely close to the Soul Ascension Realm, to freeze him before the other he even had a chance to resist.

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Following the Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert who had been secretly watching over the entire thing from the side was frozen by Xuan Hao without a chance to resist, there was no longer anyone left to cause trouble for the independent sects. Even if the major sects outside had surrounded the rundown inn, there was no way that they dared to launch an attack with a terrifying expert in the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm present on the side of the independent sects.

As for the kingdom that the Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert that had been turned into an ice statue by him belonged to, Xuan Hao didn't really worry about them showing up to cause trouble. After all, they had no idea what had happened to the Seventh Stage Domain Lord in the first place, and he doubted that they would think that a Seventh Stage Domain Lord had been incapacitated without a chance to resist.

For this reason, Xuan Hao and the elders from the independent sects ended up spending the next few hours quietly waiting for Xu Bao to return before they could leave the capital city… Well… Almost everyone…

"Ah! M-master! P-please spare me!"

"G-grand Elder, w-we just followed senior brother! P-please spare us!"

The group of disciples from the Tree Flower Sect and Stone Horn Sect were all rather loud due to the punishment inflicted upon them by their elders...

"Senior Xu Bao is back!"

"Looks like the last part of the sect alliance meeting finally came to an end…"

Like this, Xu Bao finally appeared at the entrance to the rundown inn with a haggard expression on his face. Even without asking him about what had happened during the last part of the meeting, it was obvious that it had been a rather draining endeavor for the old man who had been so confident before they had left him in the meeting hall.

"Thank you for looking after them in my place senior."

"No problem at all…" Shaking his head as he said this to show that it was no problem at all on his side, Xuan Hao could not help seizing up that haggard state of Xu Bao at the same time. "But what on earth happened to you?"

"This… It's a long story, but let's just say that those three from the major sects are hard to deal with. Even if we didn't fight, I feel like I just left a life and death battle with demonic beast at the Peak of the Domain Lord Realm… At least I had the help of the Great General, if not, I doubt I would be able to get anything for the independent sects during that meeting…!" Almost whispering the last part to himself, Xu Bao soon shook his head before his face was filled with energy once again before he turned to look directly at Xuan Hao.

"Senior, you don't have to worry about your sect gaining any unwanted attention due to the sect alliance, I managed to make sure that the sect alliance would not interfere in the development of any sects located in the border region of the Sky Empire!

Although those three didn't fight me that much on that point due to how weak most sects located in the border region of the Sky Empire are compared to those in the core region. If I'm not wrong, the reason why they fought me on that point should be due to them thinking that the reason I did this was to ensure that there would be more independent sects showing up in the future. After all, sects that come from the border region tend to end up becoming independent sects. Just take the independent sects here, more than half are from the border region!"

"Really?"

"Yes! Senior Xu Bao is telling the truth, most sects in the core region of the empire do not really get a chance to develop without the interference of one of the larger kingdoms. The Sparrow Sect is a good example of this, they were nurtured by a powerful kingdom ever since a Domain Lord Realm Expert appeared inside the sect…"

"I see… How interesting…" Muttering this to himself as he went over the new information that had been given to him, Xuan Hao could not help wondering just how much these independent sects had gone through to establish themselves in the core region of the Sky Empire where almost everyone would target them and look for an opportunity to destroy them.

Although the imperial family itself did help ensure the safety of Domain Lords in most circumstances as it pertained to the overall strength of the Sky Empire as a whole, the three religions, powerful kingdom and major sects would from time to time find a way to destroy an independent sect and kill the Domain Lord watching over it.

As for the weaker independent sects that only had Peak Nascent Soul Realm Experts watching over them, they would normally settle down close to, or directly inside of one of the larger independent sect's territories for safety.

"Senior, I think we should get ready to leave the capital city. Although the major sects might not dare to do anything to us due to the strongest among them only having reached the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, the same cannot be said about the powerful kingdoms behind them.

Even if they normally won't do anything, I doubt they would be willing to just watch us leave after snatching away one of the leader positions for the sect alliance. Especially the kingdom behind the Sparrow Sect, I doubt they are happy about the fact that the sect under their control lost its leader position in the sect alliance…"

"Indeed, leaving now before its too late is indeed a good idea." Nodding his head as he heard what Xu Bao said, Xuan Hao agreed that it was indeed a good idea for them to leave as fast as possible. Especially when one considered the fact that the Seventh Stage Domain Lord, that he now suspected to be from the kingdom behind the Sparrow Sect, was found by someone.

Not long after this, Xuan Hao, Xu Bao and the rest of the elders from the different independent sects made their way out of the capital city together.

"They are leaving…"

"Is no one going to stop them!? We can't just allow them to leave like this!"

"Are you perhaps willing to make the first move then? Don't forget that they not only have that old man Xu Bao support them now, but also a terrifying ancestor who has reached the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm!"

"…"

As they left the capital city, the people from the major sects could only watch from the side with unwilling expressions on their faces. No matter how much they wanted to attack the independent sects, none of them were willing to make the first move and suffer the wrath of Xu Bao and the ancestor in the Seventh stage of the Domain Lord Realm…

In the end, the powerful kingdoms that some of the major sects had been hoping would make a move did not appear either, as the Xuan Hao along with the independent sects made their way out of the capital city without any problems before disappearing into the distance.

…

Having travelled together with the Xu Bao and the rest of the people from the independent sects for a few hours after leaving the capital, Xuan Hao came to a stop before looking back towards the direction of the capital city, a concentrated expression appeared on his face for a short moment before he returned to his usual peaceful look.This essence is securely nested within the heart of Nøvlß¡n

"This should be far enough away from the capital, I'm sure that the major sects or the people from the powerful kingdoms aren't following us, so I'm going to take my leave." Turning towards Xu Bao as he said this, Xuan Hao had in fact just used his divine sense to sweep through their surroundings to make sure no one had been following after them to launch an ambush the moment they split up… And just now, he had been able to confirm that there weren't any such people around waiting to ambush them.

If there really were someone, it would be someone who had already surpassed the Domain Lord Realm and reached the Soul Ascension Realm… But Xuan Hao doubted that the Soul Ascension Realm Experts from the three religions would have enough time to deal with a few independent sects at the moment. Especially with how busy they were with the church of the plague god.

Even if they had the time, there was no way they would have waited for so long. After all, to a Soul Ascension Realm Expert, a Domain Lord was someone who could be killed with ease, a Seventh Stage Domain Lord or a Sixth Stage Domain Lord made no difference in the eyes of a Soul Ascension Realm Expert!

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Hearing that Xuan Hao was about to leave, Xu Bao could not help freezing for a moment before a sudden feeling of loss washed over him.

Over the past few days, he had grown used to the fact that he had the support of a powerful senior that would be able to help him, but now, he was once again back to being the only person who was able to support the independent sects when faced with the powerful kingdoms standing behind the major sects.

Although he had long since know that this time would come, he could still not stop himself from feeling a certain sense of loss when it was finally time for Xuan Hao was about to leave.

Knowing that nothing would come from just staring blankly into the distance, Xu Bao calmed down before turning towards Xuan Hao. "I hope you have a great journey back home. Remember to contact me if you need help with anything! Ah! You can also contact me if you come to the core of the Sky Empire again, I will be more than happy to have you visit at my sect!"

"Of course, I will make sure to contact you in the future in case I visit the core region or need your help." Chuckling silently to himself as he saw the somewhat begging expression that had unconsciously appeared on the face of Xu Bao, Xuan Hao felt that it would be a good idea to visit Xu Bao and his sect when the Star Shattering Sect officially began expanding into the core region of the Sky Empire.

If things worked out well, Xuan Hao had a feeling that he would be able to get Xu Bao and his sect to join under the Star Shattering Sect when that happened. At that point in time, it would not be hard to get the rest of the independent sects to join under the Star Shattering Sect.

This way, when the Star Shattering Sect expanded into the core region of the Sky Empire in the future, they would already have a solid foundation in the core region of the Sky Empire due to these independent sects. The prerequisite to this, was of course that the independent sects would not get overwhelmed by the major sects or the powerful kingdoms behind them before this happened…

Well… That is a matter for the future. For now, I need to get back to the sect and see how my disciples are doing, I wonder if Qing Yi has managed to reach the Nascent Soul Realm yet…

Shaking his head as he thought about all of this, Xuan Hao did not stay around the group of elders and disciples from the independent sects for any longer-

Swish-!

Directly using the Drifting Cloud Steps to start his journey back towards the Star Shattering Sect. Wanting to return to see how far his disciples had managed to improve during the time he was gone.

…

At the same time Xuan Hao started making his way back towards the Star Shattering Sect after having split up with Xu Bao and the rest of the elders from the independent sects, Qing Yi was sitting in a small valley located at the bottom of the Seventh Star Peak. Chu Yang watching over her from a distance.

Although the place was not located far away from the sect itself, it was isolated and not a place that disciple or elders would normally visit when travelling between the different Star Peaks. For this reason, it was a perfect location for cultivators who were looking for a quiet place to breakthrough in peace.

Closing her eyes as she entered an optimal state of mind, Qing Yi focused on what she had come to this small, isolated valley to do. Break through to the Nascent Soul Realm!

"It's finally time…" In the distance, Chu Yang could not help tensing up as he saw this, a hint of worry flashed past his eyes as he focused on Qing Yi whose aura started violently fluctuating as she began breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm.

CRACK-!

As Qing Yi's aura seemed to have reached its peak, a loud cracking sound echoed out across the small valley. Signalling that the golden core floating around inside her dantian had started the process of breaking apart and the birth of her nascent soul was imminent.

Bang!

Only a few minutes later, Qing Yi's expression was filled with pain as her core fully broke apart. However, the pain only lasted for a split second, as it all disappeared the moment a small nascent soul appeared at the centre of her dantian following her core being broken.

The newly born nascent soul was so small and weak that it looked like a small wind could blow it away, but at the same time, a terrifying aura could clearly be felt from within the depths of this small and seemingly weak nascent soul.

Swish~

Knowing that the Cloud Tribulation, that she had seen Chu Yang go through after he had broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm, would soon descend, Qing Yi used the limited time she had left to observe the appearance of her nascent soul.

Gazing upon her nascent soul, Qing Yi could not help feeling awestruck by its beauty. Different from an ordinary nascent soul, her nascent soul shone like a bright flame, making it look like a small human shaped sun had appeared in the middle of her dantian. Not only that, but she could clearly feel that her innate divine physique had strengthened following the birth of her nascent soul.

If she had been at the early stage of the Small Sun Realm of her divine physique before this, she had now managed to reach the middle stage of the Small Sun Realm!

Although this could only be considered an increase by a minor realm, Qing Yi could clearly feel that the strength of her body had increased by several times and at the same time, her connection to the Dao of Fire seemed to have become even stronger than before!

RUMBLE~!

Just at this moment, a loud rumbling sound echoed out across the small valley, causing Qing Yi to turn her attention away from her nascent soul and on to the large cloud filled with lightning that had rapidly began to gather above her.

Different from the ordinary bronze, silver and gold coloured cloud tribulations, the one gathering above her was made up of all kinds of different coloured clouds that gathered together into a single massive rainbow coloured cloud that flashed with all kinds of different coloured lightning.

"Looks like I will also have to endure a special cloud tribulation like Chu Yang…" Smiling wryly to herself as she said this while looking up at the rainbow coloured cloud that was growing larger and larger above her, Qing Yi began preparing herself for the cloud tribulation to descend.

BOOOOOM-!

Not giving her more than a few seconds to prepare after it had finished absorbing all of the different coloured clouds, a loud clap of thunder echoed through the surroundings as a rainbow coloured bolt of lighting descended towards Qing Yi sitting on the ground below.

"Ahhh-!"

Like what had happened to Chu Yang when he had been faced with his cloud tribulation, Qing Yi could only let out a painful cry as she felt her entire body being ripped apart by the powerful lightning. The only difference between her and Chu Yang, was the fact that her body was in a slightly better state due to her powerful innate divine physique…

Whoosh~!

Not waiting for Qing Yi to recover, the rainbow coloured cloud floating in the air above her rapidly descended towards her while at the same time shrinking down to the size of her head before forcefully entering her body before appearing directly in front of her newly born nascent soul-

"Ahh-!"

Not wasting a single second before it started the process of merging together with her nascent soul, Qing Yi soon felt the soul tearing pain from the small rainbow coloured cloud that had now shrunk down to the size of an apple merging together with her nascent soul.

However, this was only the beginning, as part of the rainbow-coloured cloud split off and transformed into a large sea of energy that rapidly filled up her dantian before spreading to the rest of her body to begin the process of refining her body from that of a Core Formation Realm cultivator into that of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.

"AAAAAHHHHH-!"This essence is securely nested within the heart of Nøvlß¡n

Of course, the pain brought about by this transformation only made it worse, causing Qing Yi to let out a pain filled scream at the increase in pain from having her body forcefully reconstructed by the energy from the rainbow cloud. Even worse, the pain only increased due to the fact that her body was far stronger than Chu Yang's when he had broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm. Making the energy coursing through her meridians from her dantian spend far longer time between each reconstruction.

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This essence is securely nested within the heart of Nøvlß¡n

"So powerful…" Unconsciously whispering this to himself as he saw the rainbow-coloured lightning hitting Qing Yi before the cloud shrunk down and forcefully began merging together with her nascent soul, Chu Yang could not help feeling a hint of surprise upon sensing the strength of the rainbow coloured lightning that had been formed by Qing Yi's cloud tribulation.

Although it was not by much, Chu Yang was certain that the power of Qing Yi's cloud tribulation was above that one the one he had endured… Yet, she had not suffered near the same level of damage that he had when struck by the lightning from her cloud tribulation. Only when the cloud floating above her shrunk down and began the process of merging together with her nascent soul did he realize just how powerful Qing Yi's physical body was when compared to his own when he had been in the Core Formation Realm.

Keeping in mind that one's body would get forcefully reconstructed and strengthened even further during the process of one's nascent soul merging together with the cloud from the cloud tribulation, Chu Yang had a feeling that having a stronger physical body than normal would not always be something positive. After all, the pain one would have to endure would be far more unbearable-

"Aaaahhhh-!"

The pain filled scream echoing out across the small, isolated valley coming from Qing Yi, was more than enough to prove this…

I hope she can make it…

Unknowingly starting to get worried as he saw how much pain Qing Yi was experiencing, Chu Yang silently prayed that she would be able to overcome the process of her nascent soul and the cloud from the cloud tribulation merging and successfully reach the Nascent Soul Realm.

BOOOM-!

After a few more minutes passed with Qing Yi's struggling to keep herself conscious under the extreme pain brought along by both the tribulation cloud merging together with her nascent soul and the pain brought by her body being reconstructed over and over again, the cloud tribulation officially came to an end as a terrifying aura belonging to a Nascent Soul Realm Expert erupted from Qing Yi sitting at the centre of the small, isolated valley.

Rumble~!

Given that she had just broken through, Qing Yi had not yet had enough time to fully familiarise herself with her new powers. For this reason, the area a few hundred meters around her was destroyed by her rampaging energy. Instantly proving why she had chosen to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm inside a small, isolated valley away from the sect instead of breaking through inside the sect.

…

I finally managed to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm. Now I won't be behind Chu Yang any longer!

Feeling the power that was flowing through her entire body after the tribulation cloud fully merged with her nascent soul, Qing Yi could not help thinking this to herself as a happy smile appeared on her face when thinking that she had finally managed to catch up to Chu Yang who had reached the Nascent Soul Realm before her... Not realizing just how much damage her current lack of control over her newfound strength was causing to the area around her.

Crack~

Bang!

"Ouch! W-what was- A tree…?"

It was only when a cliff nearby was damaged by her ramping energy, causing a small tree located on top of said cliff to fall down and land directly on top of her head before her rampaging energy could destroy it, that she realized just how much damage her lack of control over her newfound power had caused to the small valley.

Whoosh~

Understanding that the small valley would suffer even more if she didn't start to try and control her rampaging energy, Qing Yi ignored the tree that had fallen on top of her head and focused on trying to adapt to her newfound power.

Even if she had reached the Nascent Soul Realm, she still needed some time to solidify her foundation after having broken through. Only when she had done this could her break through be considered to have finished… But all things considered, she had already managed to make it through the most dangerous part and would not be at risk of failing any longer. All she needed at this point was time!

…

"Hm? Qing Yi broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm?" Coming to a stop mid-air above a small city only a few hours after having left Xu Bao and the other elders from the independent sects to start his journey back home, Xuan Hao could not help looking at the system notification that had suddenly appeared in front of him out of nowhere.

[Hidden Main Quest: Have two disciples reach the Nascent Soul Realm. (complete)]

[Reward: 5% of host's physique is awakened, Random Teleportation Talisman (Ewaria Continent).]

Although he did expect for Qing Yi to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm during the time he was gone, he did not expect to get a reward from the system after she broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm. After all, he already had one disciple who had broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm and with the Core Formation Realm and the realms below, it only gave out a reward for the first disciple that managed to break through.

Maybe it's because it's more difficult to reach the Nascent Soul Realm when compared to the Core Formation Realm. After all, when looking across the Sky Empire, Core Formation Realm Experts are plentiful even at the border of the empire. Nascent Soul Realm Experts on the other hand are the peak of power on the border of the Sky Empire. Even in the core region of the Sky Empire, Nascent Soul Realm Experts still have a certain degree of status…

Thinking this to himself, Xuan Hao could not help glancing down towards the small city below him. Not a single Domain Lord Realm Expert was present inside that city and the strongest expert was a Nascent Soul Realm Expert that had reached the Peak of the Eighth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.

Inside the core region of the Sky Empire, cities like these were the most common and could be found almost everywhere.

Of course… Due to this, it was also rather common for these small cities to be affiliated with a larger kingdom or one of the three churches. After all, a large portion of the Sky Empires population lived inside these small cities that were scattered all across the territory of the Sky Empire.

Turning his attention away from the small city below that was teeming with life, Xuan Hao focused his attention back on to the system notification.

[Redeem Reward: Y/N]

Yes.

Not wasting any time, he directly redeemed the reward. Instantly feeling some unknown power appearing out of nowhere as it rapidly began coursing through his meridian before starting to temper and refine his body from inside out. Bringing the awakening percentage of his physique up from 20 to 25!

The improvement might not have been a lot when compared to what he got in the past, but Xuan Hao could still clearly feel that his strength had improved. Not only that, but he also felt his connection to the space around him had increased even further. Allowing him to not only utilize the Drifting Cloud Steps with far more ease, but also improve his speed at comprehending the Dao of Space.

Spatial manipulation was something that everyone who reached the Domain Lord Realm would be capable of to a certain degree and it required a basic understanding of the Dao of Space that everyone who reached the Domain Lord Realm would get after breaking through to the Domain Lord Realm.

Although this understanding of the dao of space was something everyone breaking through to the Domain Lord Realm would acquire, it was far from enough to give them any true understanding on the Dao of Space. Only if they truly tried to comprehend the Dao of Space would they be able to utilize it in combat and incorporate it into their own domain.

The Empty Void ability that he had gained from awakening part of his special physique could be considered a way to use the Dao of Space to cause space to partially collapse in a given area… Of course, Xuan Hao did not really have the ability to do this due to his comprehension of the Dao of Space, but merely relied on his Divine Void Eyes to do this…

"But… What is this Random Teleportation Talisman…?" Having adjusted to his newfound strength and increased perception of the Dao of Space, Xuan Hao looked down towards the small inconspicuous talisman that had appeared in his hand.

For some odd reason, Xuan Hao had a feeling that activating the talisman would not be a good idea, the word random in the title of the talisman and the Ewaria Continent on the back of it was more than enough for him to realize that the talisman was very likely to teleport him somewhere random on the Ewaria Continent. Possibly even the home of some terrifying demon beast that had surpassed the Soul Ascension Realm…

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Deciding not to use the Random Teleportation Talisman, Xuan Hao carefully placed it inside his interspatial ring. Afraid that he would end up accidentally activating the talisman and end up getting send into a dangerous location on the Ewaria Continent.

"That was far more nerve wracking than I expected..." Letting out a sigh as he said this after safely having put away the teleportation talisman, Xuan Hao did not stay around for much longer before resuming his journey back towards the Star Shattering Sect.

The small city below was unfortunately not in the same peaceful state of mind that Xuan Hao currently found himself in. Instead, all of them were looking up towards the air where Xuan Hao had been standing just a moment ago filled with fear.

"J-just who was that terrifying expert that appeared above the city just now? Even the cardinal who has reached the Soul Ascension Realm is not that terrifying!" Even the Peak Eighth Stage Nascent Soul Realm Expert in control of the small city was no different, as he muttered quietly muttered this to himself while staring up at the empty spot in the sky where Xuan Hao was only a few seconds earlier.

The reason for all of this, was that when Xuan Ha had redeemed the system reward and allowed it to improve his physique, it had unknowingly caused the inherent aura of the physique to leak out in the surroundings. Terrifying everyone in the city below him who suddenly felt petrified and unable to move when faced with the terrifying aura belonging to Xuan Hao's special physique.

"I-I have to inform one of the Archbishops, no, the Cardinal, about this!" Feeling that something big was about to happen in the Sky Empire due to the terrifying existence that had suddenly appeared above his small city for a short moment, the Peak Eighth Stage Nascent Soul Realm Expert did not dare hide this as he quickly left the small city. Leaving in the direction of the capital city as quickly as possible.

Even if it would be hard for him to meet with someone like a Cardinal given his strength, he still understood that if he did not try, he would end up dead when the Cardinal ended up finding out in the future and learnt that he had not come to inform him!

Of course, all of this happening was unknown to Xuan Hao, as he had not discovered the fact that the aura belonging to his special physique had leaked out when he redeemed the reward from the system. Having been far too focused on the sudden increase in strength and comprehension he had experienced after the improvement had finished.

...

A few days after Xuan Hao had unknowingly caused an uproar in one of the small cities under one of the three religions, Xu Bao and the group of elders and disciples from the other independent sects came to a stop in a small opening.

"I think some of the major sects are chasing after us, looking for an opportunity to strike the moment we split up to return to our own sects."

"Senior Xu... Are you sure about this? If the major sects really followed us all the way out here, it will be quite hard for us to deal with them if they don't first show themselves."

"Yes... Unfortunately, the chances for us being followed is rather high from the few signs I could pick up, I think the best way for us to deal with is for me and Elder Scarlet Flame to stay behind and delay them for some time while the rest returns to their sects. Even if it gets dangerous, it should still be rather easy for both me and Elder Scarlet Flame to escape from them if we want to." Nodding his head as he said this, Xu Bao looked towards Elder Scarlet Flame to see his response.

"I understand, I will be more than happy to stay behind and buy them a bit of time..." Understanding that this would be the only way that the disciples and the elders from the weaker independent sects that had only reached the Nascent Soul Realm to get back to their sects safely, Elder Scarlet Flame didn't hesitate in agreeing in what Xu Bao said.

No matter how dangerous it was for him to fight with the Domain Lords from the major sects, he understood that he would be able to escape safely due to his large number of escape techniques that would even render a Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert helpless in catching him!

As for Xu Bao getting out safely, Elder Scarlet Flame understood far better than anyone present just how strong this old man was, even if an Eighth Stage Domain Lord showed up, Elder Scarlet Flame doubted that it would be enough to deal with him.

The older the cultivator, the more trump cards they would have... And with this in mind, Xu Bao had already lived for several thousand years and could be considered an old monster that had countless trump cards up his sleeve. Dealing with someone like this was not something anyone wanted to do if it was possible to avoid. This was also one of the reasons why the major sects had not dared to group up to try and kill Xu Bao...

"We understand... I will make sure everyone gets back to their sects safely, Elder Scarlet Flame, Senior Xu, thank you for your help once again!" Knowing that it was best not to waste any time, one of the remaining Domain Lords stepped forward and said this before starting to leave while caring part of the Nascent Soul Realm elders and disciples present together with him.

Considering how long the major sects and the independent sects had been fighting with each other, this was far from the first time something like this had happened... And Xu Bao would normally always be the person who stayed behind to make sure that the major sects wouldn't be able to do anything.

Although, different from the past, the number of experts from the major sects present this time around was sure to be far more compared to the past.

Whoosh~!

Whoosh~!

Whoosh~!

Following the first Domain Lord taking the lead to leave first, the rest of the Domain Lords did not waste any time, as they all carried a group of people with them before leaving. Not forgetting to thank both Xu Bao and Elder Scarlet Flame for staying behind to ensure their safety first.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.

"Looks like it's just us two now... I really wish that senior was still around, it would be far easier for us to deal with the major sects if that was the case..."

"Indeed, it would be far easier for us to deal with the major sects if that was the case, but the reason why they showed up now is likely due to the fact that they found out that senior is no longer travelling together with us... But... Considering how strong senior is, I don't think they would have been able to observe us from afar without getting discovered by senior and they should know about this as well..."

"Wait- Do you mean-"

"Yes... I think there is a traitor among the independent sects, someone informed the major sects about the fact that senior left. If I'm not wrong, this traitor should most likely be someone from the Stone Horn Sect..."

"This..." Not knowing what to say after hearing what Xu Bao said, Elder Scarlet Flame could not help being filled with killing intent upon thinking about the fact that someone among the independent sects had turned on them and secretly provided the major sects with crucial information that could severely harm all of the independent sects.

Even if he understood that the culprit was most likely not the entirety of the Stone Heart Sect but only a few people or maybe only a single person from the Stone Heart Sect. Part of him still wanted to catch up with the people from the Stone Horn Sect and find out just who the traitor among them was... But in the end, he understood that this would be useless. The major sects already knew about their current situation and location. Killing a traitor would at most bring a short moment of happiness before the major sects showed up to ruin that moment.

For now, Elder Scarlet Flame understood that staying behind to stop these major sects was far more important than catching the traitor hidden among the Stone Horn Sect's people.

Thinking about it, Xu Bao had already understood this fact far earlier than him, but had still decided not to mention anything about a traitor to the rest of the independent sects.

He most likely already has an idea as to who the traitor is and at the same time also has a way to deal with the major sects that are chasing us.

Shaking his head as this thought appeared, Elder Scarlet Flame could not help smiling wryly as he suddenly understood that the major sects were very likely about to enter a trap...

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"They are here... " Hearing Xu Bao suddenly say this after having waited around for close to half an hour, Elder Scarlet Flame could not help turning in the direction that Xu Bao was looking in with a somewhat nervous expression on his face. Even if he trusted that Xu Bao had everything under control and should be more than capable of dealing with whatever the major sects had planned, he could still not stop himself from getting nervous upon seeing close to a dozen Domain Lords suddenly appearing in the distance. Especially when he realized that the weakest among them having reached the Fourth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm like him!

"All of them are above the early stages of the Domain Lord Realm... Looks like the major sects really want to deal with us this time around..." Not knowing what else to say when faced with such a powerful lineup, Elder Scarlet Flame could not help turning towards Xu Bao. Curious how the old man planned to deal with the large number of powerful Domain Lords from the major sects.

"Never expected for them to send out so many, there is even three of them in the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm... Elder Scarlet Flame, let's get out of here, there is no way for us to fight with all of them at once!"

"Huh!? Wai-!"

Swish-!

Not even having the time to say anything in response to what Xu Bao said, Elder Scarlet Flame suddenly felt himself getting dragged into the opposite direction of the dozen or so Domain Lord Realm Experts from the major sects. At the same time, Elder Scarlet Flame also realized that the Domain Lords from the major sects used their movement techniques to chase after them without delay.

This... This was not a part of Senior Xu's plan...?

As these thought passed through his head while being dragged along by Xu Bao, Elder Scarlet Flame could not help feeling nervous while looking at the large number of powerful Domain Lords chasing after them.

Although he would be confident in escaping from a Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert, he would not be able to escape if he ended up getting surrounded by a group of Domain Lords equal to him in strength as some of his methods of escaping only worked against a single person...

"Hm? T-this-!?" Just at this moment, Elder Scarlet Flame could not help opening his mouth in surprise as he suddenly saw a terrifying energy attack approaching them from the front. Even without knowing where the attack had come from, it was obvious that the power behind it had far surpassed the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm and should have already reached the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.

"Hmph! To think one of those people decided to leave the capital city to ambush us... Are they not afraid of the imperial city finding out about this!?" Different from Elder Scarlet Flame who was shocked by the sudden attack, Xu Bao did not seem too surprised as he threw out a small talisman in the direction of the incoming attack.

Whoosh-!

Activating just before the incoming attack reached them, the talisman formed a massive shield-

BOOOOOOOM-!

Completely isolating them from the devastating power of the energy attack that erupted the moment it hit the shield formed by the talisman.

"This- Seventh Stage Domain Lord!?" Realizing the strength behind the attack after seeing it erupt firsthand, Elder Scarlet Flame could not help shivering as he suddenly felt less confident in being able to escape from someone in the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.

"Elder Scarlet Flame, you should escape from here as quick as possible. If I'm not wrong, their target should be me."

"Senor Xu!? I... Even if I'm not as strong as you, I'm still more than capable of holding off against one of their Sixth Stage Domain Lords by myself for some time!" Hearing what Xu Bao said, Elder Scarlet Flame could not help freezing for a short moment before saying this. No matter what, there was no way he would just leave Xu Bao behind to fend for himself against close to a dozen Domain Lords, one Seventh Stage Domain Lord and possibly even more hiding somewhere nearby for an opportunity to attack.

"Stay behind? Hold off one of them? Haha, no need to worry that much about me, to be honest, this is not the first time they tried to kill me off like this, all I have to do, is avoid them until someone from the imperial family shows up to intimidate them." Chuckling a bit upon hearing what Elder Scarlet Flame said, Xu Bao reassured Elder Scarlet Flame before a somewhat odd expression appeared on his face. "Not to mention, who says I'm the one at a disadvantage?"

"This... You already knew about the appearance of the people behind the major sects..." Muttering this to himself in a tone of disbelief, Elder Scarlet Flame could not help feeling a shiver run down his spine. From the looks of it, the major sects and their backers were indeed about to fall into a trap set up by Xu Bao like he had first expected.

If that is the case, I should get out of the way so Senior Xu can fight without having to worry about me...

Swish-!

Understanding that it would be best for him to leave, Elder Scarlet Flame didn't stay for a second longer. Directly using one of his many escape methods to turn into a sphere of light that rapidly flew past the Domain Lords from the major sects before disappearing in the distance. The main reason the escape was so smooth being that none of the Domain Lords attempted to stop him. Making it even more obvious that their sole target was Xu Bao.

...

Elder Scarlet Flame should have managed to get far enough away by now... Hah... These people never do give up on trying to target me. Two... No three of them showed up this time around? How did so many of them manage to sneak out without the imperial family noticing, is the situation with the three religions really getting that bad?

Normally, delaying until the imperial family shows up would be fine... But if the three religions are interfering with the matter to possibly weaken the newly established sect alliance, I fear they won't show up in time.

Watching as Elder Scarlet Flame disappeared in the distance, Xu Bao silently thought about this while observing an old man that had appeared in front of him along with two similarly strong auras that had appeared on either side of him to block his path of escape.

At first he had only thought a single expert in the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm were following them. Now that he discovered that there was three of them, Xu Bao understood that there would be no way for him to escape with his current strength.

No matter how many trump cards he had up his sleeve, escaping from the encirclement of three Seventh Stage Domain Lords working together with close to a dozen Domain Lords that had at least reached the Fourth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm. The reason he had hinted at having a plan to Elder Scarlet Flame was just so he would be able to get out of this encirclement alive while there was still time...

"Xu Bao, there is no way out for you this time around! Even if we have to bear the wrath of the imperial family for killing a Domain Lord that is part of the Sky Empire in the future, we will make sure that your independent sects won't ever be able to nurture anyone close to the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm in the future, let alone someone as powerful as you!" Closing in on him as he said this, one of the Seventh Stage Domain Lords smiled with pride upon mentioning how the independent sects would lose their main support for being a relatively powerful force in the core region of the Sky Empire.

"Hmph! Have you forgotten about the ancestor from the Stone Ridge Sect!? Even if you kill me today, the independent sects will still have someone even powerful than me backing them up!"N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.

"Hah? That old ancestor? Don't think I don't know how old he is, he won't be around for more than a hundred years. Maybe he won't even last for fifty!"

"..."

Listening to the old Seventh Stage Domain Lord, Xu Bao could not help silently cursing the fact that Xuan Hao had chosen an identity that would be so close to death according to the natural lifespan of a Domain Lord.

I hope senior managed to get my message in time...

Knowing that there was nothing more for him to do, Xu Bao could only silently pray that Xuan Hao had gotten the message he had sent to him through his communication talisman the moment he found out that the backers of the major sects had come out in person to try and kill him.

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This... To think that I wouldn't notice that the major sects were actually chasing after us back when we left the capital city…

Looking down at his communication talisman after having learnt about the fact that Xu Bao had ended up getting surrounded by a large number of Domain Lord Realm Experts along with three who had reached the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, Xuan Hao could not help feeling surprised at the fact that he hadn't noticed them following them before he had left.

It had to be known that his divine sense covered an area several times larger than that of a normal Domain Lord Realm Expert at the Ninth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm. All things considered, if anyone had been secretly following them from behind, he should have been able to notice them during the sweep he did of the area around them with his divine sense before leaving them to start making his way back towards the Star Shattering Sect.

"I don't have much time to waste if I want to safe Xu Bao…" Understanding very well that the independent sects would be of no use to the Star Shattering Sect if their strongest backer ended up dying, Xuan Hao did not waste any time before turning around to start moving in the direction of where Xu Bao had told him he had been surrounded.

Swish-!

However, even if his speed was far faster than that of a normal Domain Lord in the Ninth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, it had still been several days since he parted ways with Xu Bao and the rest of the independent sects. Even if he used the Drifting Cloud Steps at its full potential at, it would still take him two or three days before he could reach the location where Xu Bao had been surrounded.

For now, all he could do was hope that Xu Bao would be able to hold on until he could reach him.

…

BANG!

"Aaaah!" Letting out a painful scream as he felt himself getting knocked flying into a nearby mountain by one of the Seventh Stage Domain Lords, Xu Bao could not help feeling regretful that he didn't ask Xuan Hao to stay behind for a few more days after they had left the capital city.

Although he did have his suspicions that there might be a traitor among the people from the Stone Horn Sect or the Tree Flower Sect after what had happened to their disciples, he had never expected that the traitor in question would be someone among the people who had gone to the capital city!

Whoosh~

As Xu Bao was struggling to get his badly damaged body up again, one of the Seventh Stage Domain Lords approached him with an arrogant smile on his face. "Haha! Old man! How much longer do you think you can escape? Don't think that the imperial family will suddenly show up to rescue you this time around, they are far too busy to show up anytime soon!"

"You-"

"Hehe, now just die old man, we will make sure to take care of your sect and the rest of the independent sects later!" Interrupting Xu Bao before he had a chance to say anything, the arrogant Domain Lord floating above him directly gathered all of his power together in a single powerful attack before sending it down towards him.

BOOM-!

Barely managing to get up in time to defend against the incoming attack, Xu Bao soon found himself standing in the middle of a massive crater that had appeared beneath him. The mountain he had been on just a second earlier had been completely destroyed by the terrifying attack of the Seventh Stage Domain Lord floating in the air above him.

I won't be able to hold on for much longer like this…

Understanding that he wouldn't be able to keep fighting back any longer if things continued like this with him passively getting beaten up, Xu Bao thought about trying to escape like he had done when he had first been surrounded.

Although he had been injured back then and had been forced to use a powerful lifesaving artifact, he had spent a long time getting his hands on when he had been younger, it had still allowed him to escape for close to a day before they had managed to catch up with him again. Compared to the last day he had spent on getting beaten up while desperately using all kinds of different artifacts and other lifesaving tools to keep himself alive, Xu Bao far preferred the time he had spent running away.

The only problem, there was no way that the one floating above him or the rest hiding not far away would give him the chance-

BOOOOOOOOM-!This essence is securely nested within the heart of Nøvlß¡n

Just at this moment, a terrifying sound echoed through the surroundings before a shockwave of energy passed over them from afar, tearing apart the ground and scattering debris in all directions. Catching Xu Bao and the rest of the Domain Lords present by surprise before all of them turned to look towards the location of the shockwave.

In the distance, two people could be seen clashing with each other, one could be seen unleashing a barrage of devastating attacks while the other defended without allowing a single attack to land. The sound of their battle alone was more than enough to send shivers running down the spine of Xu Bao and the rest of the Domain Lords fearfully looking towards the source of the terrifying energy shockwave that had just passed over them.

Even without getting any closer, they all understood that the people fighting in the distance were not in the Domain Lord Realm, they were Soul Ascension Realm cultivators!

Boom-boom-boom!

"Wait… Aren't they getting closer…?" As the battle in the distance raged on, the Seventh Stage Domain Lord floating in the air above Xu Bao quietly muttered this to himself with a look of both shock and fear plastered all over his face.

"W-we need to get out of here! No matter what, there is no way for us to survive if we get involved in the battle between two Soul Ascension Realm Experts!"

"But what about that old man Xu Bao?"

"Do you perhaps want to stay and keep fighting?"

Following what the Seventh Stage Domain Lord said, the rest of the Domain Lords in the distance all started panicking, some even directly disregarded everything and used all their strength to escape as quickly as possible.

Swish-!

Understanding that a chance like this would not come again, Xu Bao used this opportunity to try and escape-

Bang!

But the Seventh stage Domain Lord in the air above him was not just going to let this happen, as he appeared in front of Xu Bao before knocking him back in the direction of the two fighting Soul Ascension Realm Experts. "Hmph! Think I would allow you to escape just because of this!? Even if I can't kill you today, I will make sure you won't be able to leave this place alive! Brothers, come and help me!"

Whoosh-!

Whoosh-!

Appearing beside the Seventh Stage Domain Lord floating in the air not far away from Xu Bao, the remaining two Seventh Stage Domain Lords both looked towards Xu Bao filled with killing intent.

"Sure, but we need be quick, we don't want to be caught up in whatever is happening between those two Soul Ascension Realm Experts. Especially when the imperial family shows up to deal with the matter…"

"I understand, I don't want to be around when more Soul Ascension Realm Experts start showing up either…"

As the three Seventh Stage Domain Lords came to an agreement, they all gathered their power together before launching a combined attack towards Xu Bao who had just gotten back up from the earlier attack.

WHOOOSH~

As the powerful combined attack of three Seventh Stage Domain Lords landed on him, Xu Bao used everything at his disposal to fend off against the terrifying power-

BOOOOOOM-!

"Aaaaaah-!"

But in the end, there was no way for him to fend off against the terrifying combined attack. All he could do was watch as a large part of his body was destroyed by the energy before he was knocked in the direction of the battle between the two Soul Ascension Realm Experts.

They want to borrow the power of the two Soul Ascension Realm Experts fighting to kill me off…

Not having to be a genius to figure out what the three Seventh Stage Domain Lords wanted to do, Xu Bao could not help silently cursing as he understood that his chances of getting out alive had disappeared.

As for escaping… The current state of his body did not allow him to do this in the short term, he would need at least a few minutes to recover from the powerful combined attack just now.

No matter what kind of trump cards he might have left, none of them would be able to help him defend for that long against the terrifying shockwaves that would hit him when the two Soul Ascension Realm Experts got a little closer!

As for where these Soul Ascension Realm Experts came from in the first place? This was simply not something he had the time or luxury to think about in his current situation…

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"This is...!?" Arriving not far away from the location where Xu Bao had informed him that he had been ambushed, Xuan Hao could not help freezing on the spot as he sensed the terrifying power of the two Soul Ascension Realm Experts fighting in the distance.

Although he had only just entered the range of the shockwaves from the battle itself, he had a far easier time when it came to understanding the strength of the two people fighting in distance... But this only caused a look of fear to appear on his face. The reason for this, was that the people fighting were not someone who had just broken through to the Soul Ascension Realm like the Soul Ascension Realm Experts he had encountered during his time in Great Poison Swamp. Instead, their strength was closer to that of the ancestor of the Sky Empire he had seen in action once during the demonic cultivator incident...!

Feeling a shiver run down his spine when he remembered this, Xuan Hao could not help wondering why these two terrifying Soul Ascension Realm Experts had suddenly appeared inside the Sky Empire.

I shouldn't think about this now! First, I need to find Xu Bao.

Shaking his head as he looked away from the fight that was taking place in the distance, Xuan Hao concentrated back on the reason he had come to such a dangerous place in the first place. Understanding that Xu Bao would not be able to survive for long in a place where he had to endure the terrifying shockwaves produced by the two Soul Ascension Realm Experts fighting with his current cultivation realm.

At the very least, because the two Soul Ascension Realm Experts were busy fighting with each other, they should not have enough time to pay attention to him.

Whoosh~

Not wasting any time, Xuan Hao slowly began searching the area around the battle between the two Soul Ascension Realm Experts with his divine senses for signs of Xu Bao.

...

Looks like this is the end...

Feeling how the last bit of energy coursing through his meridian was about to get exhausted, Xu Bao could not help thinking this as he gazed towards the small talisman floating in the air in front of him while giving off a gentle light that prevented the powerful shockwaves from the clash between the two Soul Ascension Realm Experts from reaching him.

The talisman in question was Xu Bao's last lifesaving measure and had already drained most of the energy that had been left in his body after being hit by the combined attack of the three Seventh Stage Domain Lords who had ambushed him together with the major sects just a short time ago.

To be honest, Xu Bao had at first wanted to escape with his remaining energy instead of ending up in a situation where he could only wait for death, but the three who had placed him in this situation had also made sure that he would not be able to do this. Making sure to keep an eye on him until the terrifying energy from the two Soul Ascension Realm Experts cut off his path of escape and prevented him from moving from his location without ending up dead in the process.

Now, if he wanted to escape, he would have to endure the onslaught of the shockwaves from the battle between the two Soul Ascension Realm Experts without the protection of the talisman floating in the air in front of him, the energy left in his body simply didn't allow him to both escape from the area affected by the two soul Ascension Realm Experts and also keep the protection talisman floating in front of him active at the same time.

I wonder if senior managed to get my message...

Knowing that his time was running out, Xu Bao mindlessly thought about this as he gazed down towards the communication talisman laying on the ground beside him all torn to shreds due to him extracting what little energy was present inside it to supply the protection talisman keeping him alive.

"Xu Bao!"

"Hm? Now I even seem to hear senior talking to me..."

Suddenly hearing Xuan Hao's voice as he felt himself drifting closer and closer to the eternal sleep that would inevitably engulf him if things continued in its current direction, Xu Bao could not help muttering this to himself as he looked up into the sky above him-

"Ah!? Senior!?" Only after mindlessly looking into the sky above him did he discover that the voice he had heard earlier wasn't something he had heard, and Xuan Hao was indeed present!

"Sorry for this, but we have to get out of here as quickly as possible!"

"What do you- Aaaaaaaah-!"

Not having the time to react before he suddenly felt an unknown power grabbing hold of his body before lifting him into the air, Xu Bao suddenly felt the environment around him passing by at a speed that far exceeded his comprehension. Not a second later, he found himself on top of a mountain far away from the fight between the two terrifying Soul Ascension Realm Experts.

"Hm? What happened to my body!? Why do I suddenly feel so full of energy!?" Having come to a stop, Xu Bao suddenly noticed that not only had his surroundings changed, but the inside of his body that had been dried up just a second earlier had been filled up with energy once again.

Although his body had not recovered, the energy inside his body would speed up his recovery and at the same time also allowed him to move around without fear of not being able to defend himself.

"I injected part of my energy into your body just now. Although it won't be able to recover the damage to your body, it should be able to help you return to your sect from here."

Hearing Xuan Hao's voice, Xu Bao could not help turning around with a helpless expression on his face. "This- Senior- I-I don't know what to say..."

"It's fine, just remember to make sure that the Star Shattering Sect doesn't end up getting any attention from any of the major powers of the Sky Empire like we originally agreed on. Although... Given what is happening over there, I don't think I will have to worry about something like that happening for now..."

"This- Indeed, with something this big happening in the Sky Empire, I doubt the imperial family will have time to focus their attention on the border region..." Understanding what Xuan Hao was referring to, Xu Bao could not help smiling wryly while looking in the direction of the fighting taking place in the distance. Understanding that Xuan Hao was not going to ask him for something after saving him.

At the same time, part of him could not help wondering just how strong Xuan Hao was.

Given how he had been able to save him so smoothly so close to two Soul Ascension Realm Experts fighting with each other, Xu Bao speculated that he should at the very least have reached the Peak of the Domain Lord Realm. Maybe even the Soul Ascension realm!

Thinking about how there was a chance that the person standing in front of him had reached the Soul Ascension Realm, Xu Bao could not help but be filled with both happiness and an unknown sense of safety knowing that the independent sects had managed to gain the support of a possible Soul Ascension Realm Expert.

After all, inside the Sky Empire and across the Ewaria Continent, a person who had reached the Soul Ascension Realm could be considered to have reached the peak of power. No matter where they went, they would be considered someone that no one wanted to offend. Even the more powerful empires that stood above the Sky Empire, a Soul Ascension Realm Expert was still considered to be the peak of power... At the very least according to what he knew...

...

This... What is that old man thinking about?

"You should get going, it won't be safe here for long..." Feeling the weird gaze of Xu Bao, Xuan Hao could not help wondering what he was thinking about before saying this. Understanding very well that the fight taking place in the distance would soon start to affect the mountain they were standing on top of.

"Hm? Ah! Yes senior! I will get going now!" Nodding his head in understanding as he also saw the battle between the two powerful Soul Ascension Realm Experts growing closer and closer with each passing second, Xu Bao soon took his leave. Leaving Xuan Hao standing behind alone on top of the mountain.This essence is securely nested within the heart of Nøvlß¡n

Now... Should I leave... Or stay and find out what all of this is about...?

Remaining on top of the mountain as the fight in distance got closer, Xuan Hao could not help thinking this to himself. Part of him really wanted to find out what had caused these two powerful Soul Ascension Realm Experts to suddenly appear inside the Sky Empire...

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