Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Following behind as the two of them were led inside by the squirrel demon beast, Li Chi could not help feeling amazed at how easily they had been able to gain entry. Only now, realizing that the elder standing beside him likely had a far more important status than he had originally anticipated. After all, being friendly with his grand elder who happened to oversee the sect’s storage realm wasn’t difficult, as most sect elders tended to have a good relationship with him due to his important position, but the rabbit demon beast was another matter entirely.

Even among the stronger elders of the sect, the ones capable of visiting this revered demon beast could be counted on a single hand and every single one of them were considered at the very top of the sect, with most even exceeding the strength and influence of his grand elder.

Still, Li Chi didn’t allow this realization to stop him, as he continued moving along the narrow passage leading up to the main entrance. The only difference compared to before being that he was now doing his absolute best to try and remember where he had seen Xuan Hao before. Wanting nothing more than to figure out who this mysterious senior was.

However, as he began attempting to figure out Xuan Hao’s identity, he soon enough realized that he had never actually learnt anything about this senior during their time together over the past few hours.

Still, he knew a lot about the remaining individuals in the sect who possessed the level of authority to directly meet lord rabbit. Narrowing down the list of potential candidates significantly by the time the two of them got to the main entrance-

Swish!

Kyuuun-!

But nothing prepared him for what happened next, as the lord rabbit he had been preparing himself to meet came flying out towards the two of them.

Did we do something wrong?! Is lord rabbit angry!?

Feeling an overwhelming sense of despair at the terrifyingly powerful rabbit demon beast that suddenly came flying towards them from seemingly nowhere before they even had a chance to step inside, Li Chi felt his mind starting to short circuit as he raised his arms defensively. Already fearing for the worst as he thought the great lord rabbit had been offended by their sudden entry into his abode and intended to punish them.

However, different from what he had expected to happen after he closed his eyes to prepare for the inevitable, he didn’t feel himself getting knocked back by an angry rabbit demon beast…

”What are you doing trying to act all cute after not telling me about the little business you have been building in my absence. Look, you even ended up scaring this little fellow with your sudden strange act.”

Kyuun…

Instead, he heard the scolding voice of the elder who was standing right next to him along with the somewhat apologetic sound of the great lord rabbit, a situation so outside his expectations that it inevitably caused him to squint open his eyes to see what had happened.

”Huh!? That… Lord Rabbit is being carried!? And so disrespectfully?!”

Seeing a sight that he had never expected to see, as the lord rabbit he was holding the utmost level of respect and reverence towards due to its strength and position in the sect, was being casually dangled in the air by the elder standing next to him. The small fluffy feet flailing ferociously in the air in a vain attempt to escape the seemingly casual grab from the elder.

A casual motion that Li Chi soon enough understood to be far more complex than it looked at first glance, as the seemingly vain flailing of the rabbit demon beast carried with it a level of power that caused his small heart to tremble in fear. Knowing that if even a fraction of power behind those small fluffy feet was directed towards him, he would be reduced to a pile of dust in an instant.

Understandable as this was given the difference in strength between himself and the rabbit demon beast, the thing he couldn’t understand was how the elder next to him was able to so casually grab the powerful lord rabbit so casually.

After all, lord rabbit was rumored to have already reached the Peak of the Dao Seed Realm. Only a single step away from reaching the Profound Immortal Realm.

In the sect, there was only one person capable of treating the great lord rabbit in this kind of way-

”Elder Xuan–no, Ancestor Xuan!”

And that person was none other than Xuan Hao, the strongest figure in the entire sect and also the person whom Li Chi himself looked up to the most, as he was the reason behind the half spirit race leaving their small hideout and ultimately joining the Star Shattering Sect that had allowed them to explore a wider world beyond their small isolated home. No longer having to fear being hunted down like they had in the past.

Although fear remained deeply entrenched in the heart of every member of the half spirit race and prevented them from moving too far from the Shattered Star Peaks out of fear that they would be hunted down for not being part of the main race ruling the continent, humans, like they had in the past. The safety provided by the Star Shattering Sect had allowed them to steadily develop far beyond what they had been able to in the past.

Li Chi even knew about one half spirit who had decided to join the sect elders and disciples in fighting demonic cultivators all the way at the borders between the sect and the Frozen Wastelands, something that would have been unimaginable in the past!

”Hm? Seems like you figured it out on your own, though it did take a bit longer than I expected. After all, though this little rabbit here is well known throughout the sect, no one would bother visiting it outside of Elder Song.” Hearing the exclamation from Li Chi, Xuan Hao could not help chuckling to himself as he responded honestly to Li Chi. Not bothering to hide the fact that his little rabbit was far from popular with anyone outside of Elder Song who valued the connection it had with the Explorer Union and the spiritual carrots it produced.

Even if others would seek out the little rabbit to make use of its connection to the Explorer Union like Li Chi had told him about others doing, he was almost certain that the one they ended up encountering wasn’t the little rabbit, but instead the cable little servant of the little rabbit.

After all, from what he had seen so far of that servant, it was clear that he was the one in charge of everything while the little rabbit just sat back and enjoyed the profits of his little servant’s hard labor.

”That… But those elders definitely said that they visited lord rabbit for guidance when working with the Explorer Union, they even said that without lord rabbit’s assistance and helpful words, it would have been impossible for them to get what they wanted from the Explorer Union…” Unable to believe that those elders had lied to him after they returned from the Iron Sky Kingdom, Li Chi could not help quietly muttering out a protest on behalf of what those elders had told him.

Rolling his eyes a bit upon hearing how he described how other elders from the sect had seemingly been helped by the little rabbit, Xuan Hao could not help dangling the small rabbit that had already given up on struggling any longer in front of him.

”Guidance and helpful words… From this one…? Have you heard any words of wisdom from it so far? Do you understand it?”

Kyyuuun!

”That…” Hearing the kyun sound of the little rabbit now face to face with him, Li Chi realized that he indeed couldn’t understand this little demon beast… And if he couldn’t understand it, how in the world would it ever be capable of smoothly guiding a conversation with the Explorer Union?

The entire situation made him realize that those elders had indeed lied to him in the past, likely to build up their own reputation in the eyes of the grand elder, whom he had indeed ended up sharing this news with after he learnt about it.

Speaking of, he did remember the somewhat odd look given to him by the grand elder back when he had first told him about it… Had he already seen through everything back then!?

The realization hit him out of nowhere, as Li Chi had momentarily forgotten about the fact that he was in the presence of the most senior member of the sect. His mind was completely occupied with trying to remember the different elders who had told him about the lord rabbit in the past. Now clearly realizing that there was something wrong with the tales they had told him about the lord rabbit back then. Describing the lord rabbit as a large demon beast far exceeding the size of a small house, something that was rather clearly not true…