Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Having a feeling that he wouldn’t be seeing Gong Cheng anytime soon after he disappeared into his forge, Xuan Hao decided to not stay around in the Blue Shore Kingdom any longer than necessary. Not wanting to stay away from the sect for too long with the current chaotic situation that might result in the sect running into problems that couldn’t be handled by the Domain Lord Realm Elders of the sect.

Not to mention, his original goal with going to the Blue Shore Kingdom was to test out his long-distance teleportation technique, while getting to meet Gong Cheng could be considered a bonus.

Testing out his strength against Gong Cheng might have been helpful but given that he doubted that the old man would be leaving his forge any time soon because of the large quantity of spiritual metal he had just gotten his hand on, Xuan Hao decided against it.

On the other, maybe he should have asked him for a spar before handing over the spiritual metal…

No matter, it wasn’t that important, as Gong Cheng wasn’t really combat focused in the first place with his Dao of Blacksmithing and would likely not be able to give him a chance to test the limits of his strength after his recent breakthrough.

So, with that in mind, Xuan Hao sent a short goodbye message to Gong Cheng through his divine sense before turning around and leaving in the direction he had come from. Not directly activating the long-distance teleportation technique, as he didn’t have any reason to waste his qi before he reached the Frozen Wasteland.

After all, there was nothing in the outer edges of the continent that proved a threat to him at the moment, outside of the demon beasts who might be heading inland through the river connected to the Blue Sea Empire, but such demon beasts were rare and preferred to stay hidden to avoid detection.

But… To make sure that he didn’t end up getting targeted by any of these potentially deadly demon beasts from the endless ocean, Xuan Hao decided to keep a distance from the river connected to the ocean.

In the end, because of this, the path back to the edge of the Frozen Wasteland where he planned on using his long-distance teleportation formation to get back to the sect took a few hours longer, but at least, he didn’t end up running into any problems along the way-

”Huh?”

At least, that was until he began preparing to use the long-distance teleportation technique, when he suddenly noticed a large number of demonic cultivators appearing in the distance and rapidly getting closer to where he was.

The only positive thing was that the strongest among these demonic cultivators was only comparable to the earlier stages of the Soul Ascension Realm, while the negative was that they would reach his position before he could activate his long-distance teleportation technique… And given that it required his full concentration to use, he wouldn’t be able to keep himself hidden.

Should I just kill them?

As this thought emerged, Xuan Hao casually raised his hand as sword intent began gathering into a sword in front of him, but ultimately, he hesitated as the demonic cultivators got closer.

Not because he had any intention of sparing them, but instead because it became clear that they didn’t just happen to be around the edges of the Frozen Wasteland patrolling, but instead seemed to be heading towards the outer regions of the continent, something rather confusion considering that there wasn’t really anything of value there.

Even if they slaughtered the people for their blood and qi, it would at most be useful to someone in the Higher Demon Realm or maybe someone who had undergone the first demonic transformation, there was nothing useful to a True Demon Realm demonic cultivator.

 ”There has to be a reason why these demonic cultivators are here…” Muttering this to himself, Xuan Hao narrowed his eyes slightly as he silently used the Dao of Illusions to hide himself before he got in range of the demonic cultivators.

Curious about what these demonic cultivators were planning to do and what reason they might have to come to such a desolated place that was even worse than their Frozen Wasteland for cultivation…

”Ugh, why do we have to come to this god forsaken place? Can’t we just send a few of those lesser demons and higher demons to get the job done? Even if there are a few cultivators present, they are at most in the Core Formation Realm. Nothing that would need us to personally come to this place!”

”I understand your unwillingness to go, but this is orders from Demon Lord Shadow Spirit, we have to ensure everything goes smoothly. Not to mention, this is better than being thrown to the frontlines where we have to face those cultivators from the core region.”

”Well… You do make a point…”

Listening to the two leading demonic cultivators in the True Demon Realm as they got closer, Xuan Hao could not help feeling even more interested in what they were up to, as it now also seemed to involve a Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivator.

At the same time, he also felt a bit more cautious about the entire situation, as a Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivator was comparable to the Dao Seed Realm.

The only reassuring thing was that the demonic cultivators flying past below him were completely oblivious to his presence, as they continued moving deeper inside the outer regions without stopping.

Guess I will have to wait with going back to the sect for now…

Smiling a bit wryly to himself at this thought, Xuan Hao understood that his curiosity had gotten the best of him once again, but ultimately, there was nothing to lose from following the demonic cultivators and finding out what reason they had to go to the outer regions completely devoid of resources…

Whoosh~

And so, Xuan Hao silently trailed behind the group of demonic cultivators as they made their way into the outer regions.

In the process, Xuan Hao made sure to listen in on what the demonic cultivators were talking about and soon found out that they were going to pick up some kind of spiritual metal that had been mined by a small kingdom under their control.

As for the specifics about this spiritual metal, these demonic cultivators didn’t know much outside of the fact that it seemed to have some kind of spatial property.

Even then, it was more than enough to catch Xuan Hao by surprise when he learnt about it, as he understood full well just how valuable spiritual metal with a spatial property was.

Not only because it was one of the core components required to craft an interspatial ring, but also because it was an important thing in the construction of spatial formations. Most commonly teleportation formations, something that the Star Shattering Sect needed.

The main problem so far in the construction of teleportation formations being the obvious lack of formations masters who were proficient in the Dao of Space, but also the lack of spiritual metal with a spatial property.

If he could get his hand on this spiritual metal that the demonic cultivators were talking about, he should be able to construct a few teleportation formations for the sect in a few important locations.

After all, in the current Star Shattering Sect, he was the only one who had the necessary comprehension of the Dao of Space to accomplish something like this, but… At least the few teleportation formations he laid down should also be able to serve as something that the formation masters of the sect could go and learn from by watching them in action.

Of course, before all of that, he would first have to figure out how to construct a teleportation formation but given his current comprehension of the Dao of Space reaching the Large Success Realm and his comprehension of the Dao of Formations reaching the Small Success Realm, Xuan Hao didn’t feel like this would prove much of a problem for him.

The only problem he could foresee would be the demonic cultivators that he was following, as he had no idea what kind of defensive measures the Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivator behind them might have put in place to ensure nothing happened to the spiritual metal being mined.

After all, spiritual metal with a spatial property was extremely precious and far more valuable than normal spiritual metal, something that could be seen from the fact that the Demon Lord Realm demonic cultivator had two True Demon Realm demonic cultivators acting as escorts for the precious spiritual metal… And when he finally reached the small kingdom in question, his thoughts were proven correct, as he was forced to come to a stop when faced with a formation more than strong enough to block someone in the Dao Seed Realm.

Such a powerful formation… I’m starting to doubt that the strongest person behind this entire operation is someone in the Demon Lord Realm!

Narrowing both his eyes as he thought about this, Xuan Hao realized that the spiritual metal present was likely far more valuable than he first thought…