Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Returning back to the Star Shattering Sect following the weird encounter with the Domain Lord Realm Expert belonging to an unknown empire, Feng Chen and Elder Song decided to bolster the borders in case more powerful experts began appearing following the appearance of the unknown Domain Lord Realm Expert.

No matter how uninterested in the Star Shattering Sect the Domain Lord Realm Expert had looked, they didn't dare to let down their guard in case one of the empires attacking the Sky Empire had set their sights on the Star Shattering Sect. 

Even if the Star Shattering Sect now had someone in the Soul Ascension Realm and the matter had already begun to spread outside the borders of the Star Shattering Sect over the past few months, it had become obvious from their interaction with the unknown Domain Lord Realm Expert that the people from the invading empires would not easily believe that there was a Soul Ascension Realm Expert in the Star Shattering Sect, a sect located at the border of the Sky Empire.

Not to mention, the invading empires had no lack of Soul Ascension Realm Experts and would be more than strong enough to dispatch a few of these experts to deal with the star Shattering Sect in case they ended up viewing them as a possible threat!

The main problem was the fact that Feng Chen and Elder Song had no idea how strong Xuan Hao was and how he would compare to other Soul Ascension Realm Expert, but… Considering that he should only have broken through to the Soul Ascension Realm recently, he should be far from strong enough to deal with any of those invading empires.

Other than that, there was also the fact that Xuan Hao wasn't at the sect of at the moment. Meaning that they had no way to resist if someone at the Soul Ascension Realm ended up appearing at the moment, something that ended up motivating Feng Chen to continue cultivating and try to reach the Soul Ascension Realm, so the sect didn't have to only rely on Xuan Hao to fend off any possible enemies in the Soul Ascension Realm.

As a result of this, Elder Song ended up becoming the one in charge of the Star Shattering Sect as Feng Chen decided to retreat into seclusion in an attempt to break through to the Third Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.

At the very least he wasn't totally alone in managing the Star Shattering Sect this time around, as he had both the management elders that he had taught and Shu Yao to help ensure things went smoothly without him burning out in the process.

Because of this, Elder Song had more than enough energy to move forward with his plan to host another recruitment event for new disciples. Planning to take advantage of the Star Shattering Sect's recently integrating the different major kingdom to get a new batch of talented disciples to join the sect. 

…

"So, this is where the Star Shattering Sect is located…"

Standing in front of the now sprawling city at the base of the Ninth Star Peak, a young boy could not help looking up towards the towering mountains of the Shattered Star Peaks filled with admiration.

"Hey, can you stop blocking the path for the rest of us!?"

"Yeah, some of us still have to sign up in time before the next recruitment period begins!"

Unintentionally, he ended up blocking the path for the large number of similarly young people who had been standing behind him waiting for a chance to enter the bustling city and sign up for the upcoming recruitment of new disciples for the Star Shattering Sect that was going to take place in less than a week.

"Sorry…"

Smiling a bit awkwardly as he heard the increasingly large commotion that had begun growing behind him, the young boy didn't dare stand around for a second longer as he rushed inside the city. Not daring to continue blocking the path inside the relatively small side gate that had been specially allocated to the young people coming to try their luck at joining the main sect of the Star Shattering Sect.

Although the gate was far smaller than one of the main gates used by most people, it was far faster to go through than the main gates. Especially considering the city was constantly expanding, causing more and more people to rush towards the city.

To be honest, it wouldn't be surprising if the main gates of the city ended up being moved to expand the city even more, something that had already happened more than three times over the past year according to what the young boy had heard during his journey to the Shattered Star Peaks.

Not only that, but he had also heard that the Star Shattering Sect had apparently begun to build some kind of large buildings at the base of the Ninth Star Peak where the path leading up the Ninth Star Peak and into the Star Shattering Sect was located. In process of this, several large shops were forcibly moved, even the Explorer Union had apparently been moved away due to this construction project.

I wonder what those large buildings are for… Perhaps places for the disciples of the sect to sell their things, or maybe something related to the recruitment tests…

Thinking about this to himself as he made his way through the bustling streets, the young boy soon arrived at the large buildings in question. Although, different from his imagination, most of the buildings that should still have been under construction had already been built and looked like they were already in use. 

"Internal Management Department of Transportation Infrastructure, External Management Department of Export and Import of Spiritual Herbs, Internal Management Department of…"

Glancing over the different signs above the entrance to some of the finished buildings, the young boy could not help feeling his head hurt at the long names displayed. Even if he didn't fully understand what the buildings were for, he was at least certain that they shouldn't have anything to do with the recruitment tests.

"Ah! There it is!"

Spotting what he had been looking for the next moment, the young boy wasted no time as he rushed over to a small building located right next to the path leading up the Ninth Star Peak. Above the entrance to the building, the large words [Recruitment Sign Up] were written in bold letters. Making it easy for anyone passing by to spot them.

If not for that, the large number of young people gathered outside the building would be more than enough to guess that it was the right place for signing up for the recruitment tests.

"Now… To get registered…"

Finding his way through the large number of young people both younger and older than him, the young boy soon managed to reach the small building where he successfully managed to register for the Star Shattering Sect's recruitment test after waiting around in line for another few hours. Getting an identification token for the test and a location outside the city where he was supposed to be when the test started.

Although he had no idea why he would be going somewhere just outside the city when he had never seen the slightest sign of there being anything related to the recruitment tests, the young boy didn't question it and just decided to head back without getting involved with the other young people. Knowing that there was a possibility of ending up in an elimination duel against any friends he might end up making there.

In his opinion, it was better for him to wait until the end of the recruitment tests when he had become a disciple of the Star Shattering Sect before creating any friendships.

With his strength having already reached the Later Stages of the Qi Condensation Realm and his young age, he felt more than confident in being able to enter the Star Shattering Sect!

…

Much like the young boy who had come to the Shattered Star Peaks to become a disciple of the Star Shattering Sect, there was no lack of people confident in being able to pass through the assessments and other tests that the elders of the Star Shattering Sect might throw at them.

Unfortunately for them, the sheer number of people who had gathered to try and join the Star Shattering Sect was far above what it had been in the past. 

The number of outsiders present also ended up causing a rather significant strain on available hotels, inns, and other similar establishments in the city, to the point where Elder Song was forced to dedicate some of the sect's resources towards temporarily building new places for these young people to stay.

In total, the number of young people present in the city for the chance to become a disciple of the Star Shattering Sect ended up exceeding two hundred thousand by the time the day of the assessment came… And by the time the assessment came to an end, only two thousand of them would become disciples of the sect- A number that had already been raised from the original one thousand planned new disciples by Elder Song due to the sheer amount of young people who had shown up…