Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

As everyone froze on the spot following the sudden death of the five Soul Ascension Realm cultivators and the cardinal who was a follower of the Fire God, the cardinal from the Order of the Sky God breathed a sigh of relief as he used the time to recover some of his strength while keeping an eye on the five Soul Ascension Realm cultivators who had been attacking him just a short time ago.

Given what had just happened, the stronger Soul Ascension Realm cultivators observing everything from afar felt even less inclined to join in on the fight taking place, while those who had just ended up losing their Soul Ascension Realm cultivators decided to pull back their remaining Soul Ascension Realm cultivators and not interfere in his battle. Fearing that he would do something similar to the cardinal belonging to the faith of the Fire God had just done.

In the end, the original dozen or so Soul Ascension Realm cultivators he would have to face on his own following the fall of the other two cardinals and the escape or fall of the other Soul Ascension Realm cultivators from the Sky Empire, was reduced down to seven people.

Although this was still not something he could handle with his current strength, he would at least be capable of holding on for a few more days if none of the observing Soul Ascension Realm cultivators interfered, something that was unlikely to happen after the death of the five Soul Ascension Realm cultivators.

The senior should show up within this period of time. If not… I won't be able to make it and might have to join that fellow…

Thinking this to himself as the battle that had momentarily come to a stop resumed again, the cardinal belonging to the Order of the Sky God could not help hoping that his senior would show up soon…

"He actually chose to kill himself and take down five with him… Looks like I underestimated the resolve of those three to defend their branch. Even when faced with death, they still stay and defend to the end, a pity that they will die like this…"

At the same time that the cardinal following the Fire God incinerated himself and the five Soul Ascension Realm cultivators fighting him, the old ancestor of the Sky Empire watching the fight from afar could not help muttering this to himself as he let out a sigh of regret.

If not for the fact that the three cardinals had always been trying to vie for control over his empire since its establishment, he would have been overjoyed to have such people join his empire.

"Indeed, a pity… But at least they can inflict quite a bit of damage before dying. Making it a bit easier for us to reestablish ourselves in the future by targeting the territory of the empire who lost Soul Ascension Realm cultivators to them!"

Not showing the same pity as the old ancestor who had been around for longer and had established some weird sense of friendship with the different cardinals who had been around since the start of the Sky Empire, the emperor standing beside him just nodded his head in response while listening out the clear benefits of the three cardinals last ditch effort to defend their branch in the Sky Empire.

Losing a single Soul Ascension Realm cultivator, even if it was only one at the First Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm, was a major loss to the invading empires and would weaken them until a new Soul Ascension Realm cultivator was produced, something that could take anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand years.

For one of the invading empires who ended up losing two of their Soul Ascension Realm cultivators just now, they would enter a period of time where would be weakened enough that they might not be able to hold on to all their territory.

If they ended up losing another Soul Ascension Realm cultivator, they might even end up reaching the same point as the Onyx Empire, that was now looking like it would become a second Sky Empire after the different invading empires finished digesting their gains from conquering the Sky Empire.

"…"

Deciding not to respond to the emperor who was already busy thinking about how to restore the Sky Empire before it had even fallen, the old ancestor just turned his attention back to the battle taking place above the capital city.

Even though the cardinal from the Order of the Sky God was stronger than the other two and had managed to reach the Third Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm, he wouldn't be able to hold on for more than a few days faced with the continuous barrage of attacks from seven Soul Ascension Realm cultivators at the First Tribulation of the Soul Ascension realm… And the only reason he could even last that long in the first place was due to the fact that the attacking Soul Ascension Realm cultivators didn't go all out like they had done in the past.

Instead, they now acted far more cautiously than before. All of them fearful that the cardinal would suddenly sacrifice himself in an attempt to drag them down with him.

…

"The Sky Empire is about to come to an end…" Whispering this to himself as he looked in the direction of the core region where the capital city of the Sky Empire was located, Feng Chen could not help feeling like a terrifying pressure was pressing down on him from above. Having just learnt about the invading empires attack on the capital city of the Sky Empire where the last remaining power of the Sky Empire was gathered.

The reason for not finding out any sooner being that the different invading empires had essentially cut off any way for the people inside the capital city of the Sky Empire to communicate with the outside world.

Doing this not just to prevent the people inside the capital from trying to ask for help, but more importantly to prevent attracting people wanting to take advantage of the situation. More specifically the wandering Soul Ascension Realm cultivators and the Soul Ascension Realm cultivators that might be bordering one of the invading empires but being too far away to join in on the fight for territory in the Sky Empire.

The first of which would want to try and take advantage of the chaos to rob the treasures left behind in the capital city, while the last wanted to prevent the empire that happened to border them getting stronger.

Although it had been five days since the attack had begun and things were still not over, Feng Chen understood very well that the future days of the Star Shattering Sect would be difficult with the different invading empires possibly starting to pay more attention to the Star Shattering Sect after they were done with the Sky Empire.

Even with the support of Xuan Hao and Pei Yang who had reached the Earth Immortal Realm, the overall strength of the Star Shattering Sect was still too weak. Especially in terms of cultivators in the Domain Lord Realm and Soul Ascension Realm.

Not to mention, Xuan Hao had once again disappeared, while Pei Yang wouldn't move unless the Star Shattering Sect was threatened, as he was still busy recovering his strength and had to worry about the possibility of being recognized by the people from the Blue Sea Empire.

Realistically, the Star Shattering Sect was helpless in the face of the invading empire without the help of Xuan Hao and Pei Yang.

"Maybe it's better to stop expanding the territory of the sect after the two outer regions of the Sky Empire is under our control and lay low for a few years to consolidate the new territory and increase the overall strength of the sect before continuing to expand." Muttering this to himself as he thought about the situation, Feng Chen felt that this made sense and went straight towards Elder Song's courtyard to discuss the situation with him.

Considering that Elder Song was the smartest person he knew and the fact that he seemed to be far more knowledge than him, the sect master, when it came to the development of the sect, Feng Chen wasn't surprised to learn that Elder Song had already thought about this.

Not just that, but after a short conversation, he even managed to learn that he had already arranged the future development of the sect after the two outer regions of the Sky Empire entered their control.

As for how to deal with the outer region that was now partly under the control of them and the Onyx Empire? It was rather simple… Just wait for the situation in the Sky Empire to resolve itself and wait for the Onyx Empire to retract its forces to solidify its defense against the empires wanting to take advantage of its current weakened state.

According to Elder Song, as long as the Star Shattering Sect played it neutral during the upcoming conflict and didn't continue to expand, it should be able to avoid entering the future war between the Onyx Empire and the different empires.

After all, the current territory of the Star Shattering Sect wasn't that valuable outside of a few places like the Iron Sky Kingdom… And even if one of the empires wanted to take on the Star Shattering Sect and try to seize the spiritual metal mine below the Iron Sky Kingdom, they now had two Soul Ascension Realm cultivators in the eyes of the outside world. Not a force that could be recklessly offended.