Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

"Wha-!?" Not knowing how to react upon witnessing the demon beast that had been chasing him for the past week getting killed in an instant, Xu Bao could only open his mouth in disbelief as he looked towards Xuan Hao who had appeared beside him. Although he expected Xuan Hao to be strong, he had never imagined it would be to this degree!

"Xu Bao, I never expected to see you here. Especially with such a large demon beast chasing after you."

"Ah! Senior, I- Thank you for saving me." 

"No problem, so, why are you here? As far as I know, your sect should be quite far away from this place…"

"This… I'm here on behalf of the rest of the independent sects to ask the Star Shattering Sect for something…" Feeling the curious gaze mixed in with a bit of suspicion from Xuan Hao, Xu Bao didn't dare hide the fact that he had come to ask something from the Star Shattering Sect. Not only for himself, but on behalf of all of the independent sects as well.

"Hm? Here on behalf of the independent sects? As far as I know, you and the rest of the independent sects shouldn't be involved in the current struggle taking place in the Sky Empire. Unless you decided to join the Sky Empire in fighting back against the invading empires and want my sects help in the matter…?" Seeing Xuan Hao narrow both of his eyes as he said this, Xu Bao instantly felt a shiver run down his spine.

"N-No! That is not it, we haven't joined in on the current fight, it's just that our current situation isn't looking too good at the moment. Even if we remain neutral, we fear that the invading empires might still destroy us.

Because of this, we thought about the possibility of moving our sects to your sect's territory during this period of time to ensure our safety…. And now I'm here to ask your sect for permission to do this. After all, we don't want to enter the territory of your sect before first getting approval."

Clarifying to the best of his ability that he was not here to drag the Star Shattering Sect into the conflict between the Sky Empire and the surrounding empires, Xu Bao nervously looked up at Xuan Hao. Only feeling relieved after discovering that his expression had softened.

"I see, but this is not something you should discuss with me. Even though I'm an elder of the Star Shattering Sect, I'm not the person in charge of these kind of things. With that in mind, I will make sure to get you in touch with someone who can."

"Thank you!" 

Hearing that Xuan Hao didn't outright deny his request after hearing about it, Xu Bao could not help letting out a sigh of relief as he gently bowed his head in thanks. Understanding that it would be much easier to convince the Star Shattering Sect about him and the rest of the independent sects setting up a place of their own inside the territory of the Star Shattering Sect with Xuan Hao's help.

Although it was only a referral, it would at least allow him to talk with someone who could allow him and the rest of the independent sects to settle down in the territory of the Star Shattering Sect… And considering that he and the rest of the independent sects were only looking to stay temporarily, it shouldn't be that hard to accomplish if they just settled down around the borders of the Star Shattering Sect's territory and gave them some of their resources as compensation.

In more simple terms, it could be considered them paying the Star Shattering Sect protection fees to keep them safe during the turmoil in the Sky Empire.

…

Looks like Elder Song will be even busier in the upcoming days… 

Looking at the excited Xu Bao who was flying beside him as they made their way towards the Star Shattering Sect together, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a sense guilt welling up inside him as he thought about Elder Song.

Although there were other people who could handle the matter of the independent sects settling down inside the territory of the Star Shattering Sect during the current turmoil that the Sky Empire is going through, Elder Song was by far the most experienced when it came to handling these sorts of things.

Not to mention, with the strength of the independent sects, it was only natural that only the best would handle this. Even if it came at the expense of Elder Song being overworked once again…

Maybe I should try and encourage Feng Chen to assign more elders to the management of the sect.

Thinking this to himself as he arrived at the base of the Ninth Star Peak together with Xu Bao, Xuan Hao contacted Elder Song and had him come over to take Xu Bao into the sect and go over the matter with the independent sects.

Even if it was a risk to have them enter the territory of the Star Shattering Sect given that they should still have some spies left from the different major kingdoms inside of them, it would be a significant boost to the Star Shattering Sect's strength if Elder Song could manage to turn them into subordinate sects.

After all, when everything was said and done, the independent sects did have several Domain Lord Realm Experts and a lot of Nascent Soul Realm Experts that would help increase the Star Shattering Sect's strength. Allowing them to make up for the current lack of experts to manage the increasingly large territory under the Star Shattering Sect.

Of course, all of that would be for the future. For now, the independent sects first had to be settled down inside the territory of the Star Shattering Sect before any decisions on taking them in permanently could be made. Not to mention, the spies still lurking inside of them also had to be dealt with before all of this.

At least with Elder Song on the case, Xuan Hao felt confident that everything would work out in the favor of the Star Shattering Sect. Even if it might take a few years of hard work from him and the rest of the sect's management elders.

…

Not long after Xu Bao and Elder Song entered the Star Shattering Sect together to discuss the matter of the independent sects, Xuan Hao returned to his cultivation room and focused his attention back on comprehending the Dao of Space.

Considering that he was already on the brink of breaking through to the Small Success Realm in the Dao of Space, it did not take more than a few days before the first signs of reaching the Small Success Realm appeared.

Boom-!

And only week after having rescued Xu Bao from the large bird demon beast, he successfully managed to breakthrough to the Small Success Realm in the Dao of Space. Officially taking him one step closer to the Late Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm.

Unfortunately, now he had to comprehend a brand-new Dao to the Small Success Realm and integrate it into his Dao Domain before he could officially begin thinking about the final step of having one of his Daos reach the Large Success Realm.

Only then would he be able to break through to the Late Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm and obtain the strength to face off against someone in the Earth Immortal Realm.

Before that, he would have no way to face off against the powerful empires and other powers like the Heavenly Dragon Temple in the central part of the Ewaria Continent. 

At least for now, his strength within the Soul Ascension Realm should allow him to face off against someone in the Sixth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm. After all, the Dao of Space could be considered special among the different Daos and would allow him far more versatility when it came to fighting. Even more so considering that the strength of the Divine Void Eyes increased alongside his comprehension of the Dao of Space and his movement technique also became stronger the higher his comprehension of the Dao of Space was.

Although he couldn't yet use the True Spatial Collapse with his Divine Void Eyes, he clearly felt that it was far easier to use the Partial Spatial Collapse after his comprehension of the Dao of Space reached the Small Success Realm. 

While before, he could only use it to practice and it wasn't that useful when it came to combat, he now felt like he could attach the Partial Spatial Collapse to his attacks and enhance their power, like a sword strike that would cause the space to start partially collapsing everything it hit. Although, he would still need to test out things before he could be certain about how it worked and how much stronger it made him.