Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Beginning their search of the city, it didn’t take them long before they encountered other wandering cultivators who had been drawn to the city for the same reason as themselves, as everyone wanted to try and take advantage of the situation to not just get an easy path to the Shattered Star Peaks, but also learn more about the Star Shattering Sect. Potentially even gaining other benefits from their interaction with a disciple from a large sect like the Star Shattering Sect.

In the process of this search through the city, it became obvious that there were far more wandering cultivators lingering around compared to disciples from the Star Shattering Sect looking for people to join them on a journey to the Shattered Star Peaks.

Not just that, but the two brothers also realized that the strength of the other wandering cultivators was far above theirs, with most of them being in the Later Stages of the Foundation Establishment Realm or even the Core Formation Realm. Rarely was there anyone searching around for disciples from the Star Shattering Sect in the Middle Stages of the Foundation Establishment Realm like themselves.

As for someone in the Earlier Stages of the Foundation Establishment Realm like Chun Qiu’s brother, there was none.

The only thing people at that level of strength seemed to be up to was using the opportunity that came along with the sudden gathering of wandering cultivators stronger than themselves to learn and trade from them.

Although, the weaker Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators were the least active in this regard and it was more so the countless Qi Condensation Realm cultivators who did everything in their power to get as much out of the current situation as they could, though, their main priority was generally on finding out more information on the Foundation Establishment Realm and anything that might be able to assist them with a breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Realm in the future.

After all, even though a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator could be considered amongst the weakest cultivators, it was still above the Qi Condensation Realm and was generally viewed as the first step onto the path of cultivation due to the simple fact that the lifespan of a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator was normally around two hundred years, while the lifespan of a Qi Condensation Realm cultivator was no different from a normal mortal without any cultivation.

For most wandering cultivators without any backing or exceptional luck, the Foundation Establishment Realm could be considered the first real barrier they encountered on their path forward and thus also a barrier that some senior wandering cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Realm and above wouldn’t mind helping their juniors overcome with a bit of guidance.

Of course, the juniors still at the Qi Condensation Realm still had to find these seniors and figure out a way to garner their attention and have them help them on their path forward into the Foundation Establishment Realm… And the best kind of environment for something like that was locations where wandering cultivators above the Qi Condensation Realm gathered, like the city Chen Qiu and his brother now found themselves inside.

The main reason for this being that these weaker cultivators could easily offer their services to the older wandering cultivators and help them learn about the state of the city and what places to avoid and so on. In exchange for knowledge on the Foundation Establishment Realm or a few spirit stones.

Overall, it was considered a positive exchange in the eyes of the more senior wandering cultivators, as they would be able to easily get their hands on some basic information that most of the time didn’t require them to pay a single spirit stone and only needed them to share a bit of their insight on breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. Information that would normally be considered useless under normal circumstances.

Chen Qiu and his brother also ended up encountering a few of these Qi Condensation Realm cultivators willing to help them out during their search for disciples from the Star Shattering Sect and through them ended up learning that the disciples from the Star Shattering Sect, who had come to the city to search for companions had already left two days earlier, with no sign of another disciple from the Star Shattering Sect appearing during again over the past two days.

In fact, from observing the slowly thinning crowd of Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators and Core Formation Realm cultivators, it wasn’t too difficult to realize this fact.

Clearly, those still lingering around the city were just waiting for a miracle. Hoping that another group of disciples from the Star Shattering Sect would appear. Unfortunately, they were bound to be left disappointed, as Chen Qiu could easily guess that although another group of disciples from the Star Shattering Sect might show up again, it would likely be outside another branch sect.

Keeping that in mind, Chen Qiu understood that it would almost certainly be impossible for him and his brother to get anywhere close to encountering a disciple from the Star Shattering Sect and at the same time also get an opportunity to follow them to the Shattered Star Peaks.

Calming down as he thought about this to himself, Chen Qiu decided to return to the inn they had rested in earlier with his brother. Knowing that the two of them had been too late.

For now, all they could do was pack back up and set out on their own. Making the potentially year long journey to the Shattered Star Peaks.

In the end, though the two of them were quite disappointed that they wouldn’t be able to follow alongside a disciple from the Star Shattering Sect, they had already expected this to some extent, as their current strength was nowhere near comparable to the other wandering cultivators who had shown up for the opportunity.

Not to mention, the two of them couldn’t exactly be considered the most talented amongst wandering cultivators, with both already being close to a hundred years old with little chance of reaching the Core Formation Realm in the future.

Seen in another way, their trip to the Shattered Star Peaks was done with the hope that the two might be able to turn around their current situation and increase their chances of breaking through to the Core Formation Realm.

Not just them, most of those heading towards the Shattered Star Peaks were doing so with the simple hope of increasing their chances of breaking through a higher realm…

Packing up what little they had left in their inn room after they returned, the two brothers decided not to linger around the city like the rest and instead decided to decisively leave the next morning. Waking up at dawn before setting out towards the Shattered Star Peaks on their own.

Although they hadn’t managed to join up with a disciple of the Star Shattering Sect during the small trip to one of the cities under a branch of the Star Shattering Sect, they did at least manage to get their hands on far more accurate information on how to reach the Shattered Star Peaks and some dangerous areas that would be best for them to avoid with their current strength.

With that in mind, the trip couldn’t be considered to have been entirely worthless, as they did at least manage to get their hands on some useful information that would make their journey to the Shattered Star Peaks easier.

And along with the fact that the city just had disciples of the Star Shattering Sect passing through it, that information was bound to be far more accurate than any information on the Shattered Star Peaks that they had managed to learn beforehand, as it should not just have come from wandering cultivators, but also the disciples of the Star Shattering Sect.

Like this, the two brothers continued to make their way through the territory of the Star Shattering Sect with a clear goal in mind. Taking the opportunity when it emerged to hunt down a wild demon beast or other animals along the way to fill their stomachs or visit the different mortal towns and cities along the way. Making sure to treat the different mortals they encountered along the way with respect.

Not because they were especially respectful towards mortals, but more so because they had personally witnessed the fate of another wandering cultivator who had ended up causing chaos inside a mortal city…

That wandering cultivator barely managed to trash a few houses before what looked like an immortal descended from the sky and cut him down on the spot before leaving shortly thereafter. Making the two brothers understand that the Star Shattering Sect in control of this territory took the normal rules regarding not recklessly involving mortals in the cultivation world very seriously.

At the same time, that could also be considered their first official meeting with someone from the Star Shattering Sect…