Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

"Master? Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Ah, it's nothing, I was just thinking about how much you two managed to improve over the past two years." Hearing Qing Yi suddenly calling out to him with a worried expression on her face, Xuan Hao quickly reassured her as turned his attention away from the emergency quest and back towards his disciples.

Even though he only had three months to somehow reach the Pseudo Saint Realm in blacksmithing, he at least wanted to check up on his disciples before starting to worry about it.

At least Qing Yi and Mui didn't realize anything had happened as both of them just smiled happily after being praised before Xuan Hao checked their cultivation more in depth by examining their dantian and guided them on where they were lacking and could improve before trying to further increase their strength. Boom-!

In the end, Qing Yi managed to successfully cross the small gap between the Fifth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm and the Sixth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm. Officially breaking through to the Sixth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm with his help and reaching the final minor realm before what could be considered the Late Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.

""Master!""

At the same time Qing Yi returned to her room to stabilize her cultivation base after having broken through to the Sixth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, Chu Yang and Bai Ning arrived at the entrance to the palace after having learnt about his return to the sect from a few of the elders who had seen him together with Pei Yang earlier in the day.

Huh? This is…

Upon seeing the two walking over, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a profound sense of shock.

Even from a distance it was clear that Chu Yang had already managed to enter the later stages of the Nascent Soul Realm over the past two years. Having successfully managed to break through to the Eighth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm. Surpassing many of the sect's elders in the process.

However, the most shocking thing was not how much Chu Yang's strength had increased over the past two years, but the fact that Bai Ning standing beside him had already managed to form a pseudo domain!

Although it was only a pseudo domain and felt different from any domain he had encountered so far, it was still a domain, what's more, the domain itself clearly felt different from any domain he had encountered so far. The normal feeling of power that would come along with a domain was not present and instead, a sensation similar to standing in the middle of a forge engulfed him as he used his divine sense to examine the domain.

This is… a pseudo domain for the Dao of Blacksmithing!?

Thinking this to himself as he continued examining Bai Ning's pseudo domain, Xuan Hao could not help feeling even more shocked than before.

How strong was Bai Ning? He had barely reached the Fifth Stage of the Core Formation Realm, being one minor realm behind Mui, but… He had somehow managed to establish a pseudo domain with such a weak cultivation realm.

Even when he himself had established a pseudo domain, he had been in the Nascent Soul Realm. After all, the pressure on the soul and body from carrying a pseudo domain was not something a Core Formation Realm cultivator should be able to endure, but Bai Ning had somehow managed to do it.

Wait… The power of the pseudo domain is clearly different from my sword domain back then and far weaker than any pseudo domain I have seen… Is there perhaps a difference between normal domains and those related to the different professions?

Narrowing both of his eyes as he thought about this to himself, Bai Ning and Chu Yang walked over and greeted him before Xuan Hao woke back up from his thoughts and praised them like he had done to Qing Yi and Mui. Spending the next few hours helping both of them like he had done with Mui and Qing Yi.

During this time, he made sure to ask Bai Ning about his pseudo domain and managed to find out that his little disciple had not just reached the Artisan Realm in blacksmithing but was only a step away from breaking through to the Master Realm. The only thing he needed to do was evolve his pseudo domain into a true domain.

Of course, because he had already learnt from some of the Domain Lord Realm Experts in the sect about the dangers of establishing a true domain and also learnt about how odd it was for him to establish a pseudo domain with his current cultivation realm. In the end, he decided to ask his master for guidance on how to go about it, as he believed that his master had already managed to comprehend the Dao of Blacksmithing and would know what he should do.

"Ehm… For now, you should stabilize the pseudo domain and build a proper foundation for establishing a true domain. After three months, I will help you with the last preparations needed before you can ascend to the Master Realm and become a Master Blacksmith."

Not knowing anything about the Dao of Blacksmithing nor how it was different from a normal domain, Xuan Hao could only come up with some excuses as he decided to postpone the matter until after the emergency quest. After all, when he reached the Pseudo Saint Realm in blacksmithing, he should be more than capable of helping Bai Ning breakthrough to the Master Realm.

"Thank you master! I will make sure I'm prepared!"

Whoosh-!

Having no idea about the thoughts going through his master's head, Bai Ning smiled happily before turning around to rush back in the direction of the Sea of a Thousand Furnaces that he had come from. Feeling excited at the prospect of being able to reach the Master Realm in blacksmithing and becoming the first Master Blacksmith in the sect.

After all, so far, the Star Shattering Sect didn't have a single blacksmith in the Master Realm, of course, excluding his master…

"Master…" Seeing Bai Ning running away, leaving only him and Xuan Hao behind, Chu Yang could not help looking excitedly at his master with a clear battle intent present in his eyes.

"Let's go to the Combat Hall."

Even without him saying anything, it was easy to guess that Chu Yang wanted to fight him and test out his new strength, likely due to the fact that the number of elders who could train with him at this point in time was close to nonexistent and the ones who could were too busy with keeping the sect running most of the time.

Whoosh-!

Whoosh-!

Not a second later, the master and disciple both left in the direction of the Combat Hall.

…

"That brat really did improve quite a bit; his current strength is already enough to be considered invincible in the Nascent Soul Realm. Now all he needs to do is establish a domain and breakthrough to the Domain Lord Realm…"

After spending an entire day inside the Combat Hall together with Chu Yang, giving him a chance to use all of his combat techniques and helping him improve in the process, Xuan Hao could not help sighing with amazement as he watched Chu Yang in deep meditation digesting what he had learnt.

"Now… It's time for me to find out a way for me to reach the Pseudo Saint Realm in Blacksmithing within the next three months…" Turning his attention away from Chu Yang and leaving him alone to meditate, Xuan Hao frowned slightly as he made his way out of Chu Yang's room and into a small garden located in between the training ground and the palace.

So far, from what he knew about the realms of professions, the only way to reach the Master Realm and improve beyond it was to comprehend the dao of the profession.

If this was not possible it would be impossible to reach the Master Realm, let alone reach the Pseudo Saint Realm.

Given his current realm in blacksmithing only being at the Master Realm, he really had no idea how he would cross over the Master Realm and then the Grandmaster Realm after that before reaching the Pseudo Saint Realm in three months.

Even if he had the help of the system, he doubted that he would be able to comprehend the Dao of Blacksmithing to whatever level was needed for him to reach the Pseudo Saint Realm.

"Maybe I should go and ask Pei Yang, considering his experience, he might have a better idea about the Pseudo Saint Realm and how to reach it…" Muttering this to himself as he felt the difficulty of the task in front of him, Xuan Hao didn't stand around the small garden for long, as he soon jumped into the air and made his way to where Pei Yang was staying.