Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Landing close to the entrance to the spirit stone mine alongside his newest disciple, Xuan Hao didn’t immediately go and visit He Jie. Instead, doing what he had originally planned on doing before spotting He Jie. Taking Lu Dongli for a trip through the spirit stone mine while explaining the process of how spirit stone mines formed and their importance, though he had a feeling that the person in question didn’t care that much about his explanation. Finding herself far more interested in the shining spirit stones that could be found all around them as they had headed to a part of the spirit stone mine that had yet to be excavated to avoid disturbing the people working within the mine.

As for why a large section of the spirit stone mine had been left alone… That had to do with ensuring the spirit stone mine didn’t dry up and could continuously produce spirit stone, something that he went to great length to explain to Lu Dongli, who seemed greatly interested in why such a large part of the spirit stone mine was kept intact compared to his earlier explanations that centered around the formation and importance of a spirit stone mine.

Altogether, the short spirit stone exploration on their journey back to the sect ended up taking a little over an hour before the journey to the sect resumed.

Originally, Xuan Hao had planned to pay a visit to He Jie before leaving the spirit stone mine, but the fate of this old man had taken a sudden unexpected turn while he had been exploring the spirit stone mine alongside Lu Dongli.

Not anything bad, but by the time he and his disciple emerged from the spirit stone mine, He Jie was already gone. Having been taken through the teleportation formation connected to the spirit stone mine by the elder in charge of guarding the spirit stone mine.

He could have stopped this from happening but saw no reason to do so as the other party should have been transferred to the Main Sect by the elder in charge and would meet him when he got back to the sect with Lu Dongli.

In fact, he felt that this was a preferable turn of events, as it would give him time to slowly make his way back to the sect alongside his new disciple and get to know her better and settle her in before going to find He Jie, who would undoubtedly find himself stuck being questioned by the elders of the sect after he got there.

Questioning in question that would undoubtedly have to do with the place he had originally come from alongside the unique body cultivation path that the elder in charge of the spirit stone mine already seemed to have learnt about from a few brief conversations he had picked up through his divine sense unintentionally.

After all, though Li Feng and his group of friends had also ended up following the body cultivation path, they had yet to reach the branch sect that they planned to join the sect through and would at least need another week or two to reach it given their speed.

Meaning, He Jie was the only person that the sect knew about that practiced this alternative cultivation path focused on the physical body, something that was certain to earn him the full attention from the senior elders of the sect alongside those who found themselves having a difficult time with the traditional immortal cultivation path. After all, a secondary cultivation path that wasn’t something like the demonic cultivation path or the faith path followed by the believers of the different religions scattered throughout the continent, was tempting not just to those who found themselves stuck unable to advance, but to the entirety of the Star Shattering Sect as it gave these elders and disciple unable to advance a potential way forward.

Of course, with He Jie’s attainments on the body cultivation path, it was laughable to think the sect would be able to gain much from him, but that didn’t matter, what did matter was to confirm the existence of such a path and start exploring in that direction to see if a new cultivation path could be established within the sect in the future.

Although… Having already gathered information on the body cultivation path during his time inside the ancient secret realm, this future would arrive far faster than those elders back in the sect would ever expect...

The matter of He Jie being pushed off for the future, Xuan Hao and Lu Dongli continued their journey towards the Shattered Star Peaks without any significant disturbances along the way, as Xuan Hao made full use of the time to get familiar with this new disciple of his while also taking the time to teach her and get her settled into the Qi Condensation Realm.

After all, though she had managed to reach the Nascent Soul Realm inside the illusion, her progress within the illusion couldn’t entirely be transferred to reality and had to be aligned properly by him so she didn’t end up making any mistakes.

Something that Lu Dongli herself felt was normal and viewed as him correcting her mistakes while also helping her build a far more solid foundation than what she had managed to obtain inside the illusion.

In the end, by the time the Shattered Star Peaks appeared on the horizon, Lu Dongli felt like her knowledge on the Qi Condensation Realm had reached a level far beyond what it had been in the past. Making her feel a deep sense of awe towards her new teacher, while at the same time also looking forward to surpassing the Nascent Soul Realm in the future.

And by the time the two of them landed at the base of the Ninth Star Peak and officially passed through the chaotic qi formation, five days had passed since they had set off from the spirit stone mine. Longer than Xuan Hao had anticipated, but understandable given how he had taken Lu Dongli to visit a few other special areas under the Star Shattering Sect to widen her horizon.

Not just that but teaching while on the move was an overall enjoyable experience.

Lu Dongli herself also benefited from this time together, as outside learning about the Qi Condensation Realm and a bit about the Foundation Establishment Realm that came later, her cultivation realm had also improved. Reaching the Third Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm.

”T-This is smallest mountain of the Shattered Star Peaks!?” Gazing up at the long path snaking its way up the Ninth Star peaks, Lu Dongli could not help exclaiming loudly the second her feet touched the ground. ”So huuuuge!” Her eyes unable to look away as they remained focused towards the peak of the Ninth Star Peak that was currently obscured by a cloud that happened to be passing through.

”Huh? Someone’s making a commotion over there?”

”A young girl… A new disciple?”

”Should be. Just looking at her shocked expression and her cultivation makes that much clear.”

”Haa… True, I remember I was the same back when I entered the sect. First time seeing such a towering mountain up close…”

Hearing the voices of the surrounding disciples who had been drawn to her loud exclamation earlier while looking up the towering mountain in front of her, Lu Dongli, who was originally filled with excitement, could not help shrinking back in embarrassment at her somewhat childish display of amazement.

Rustle~

Doing her best to hide behind her master, who seemed to be her only shield against the eyes of the surrounding disciples that had by now begun reminiscing about their past when they first entered the sect.

To say it was only embarrassing would be an understatement, as Lu Dongli silently wished she could shrink away and disappear.

Although she had lived for a long time inside the illusion- or what she perceived as a past life, she had spent most of her time locked away cultivating and hadn’t interacted much with anyone outside of her family. Leaving her overall development in some areas unaffected despite her current mental age.

In fact, her nervousness in the face of such a large crowd of disciples was worse than if she had faced a similar situation before the illusion.

”…”

Seeing this and feeling that his little disciple had almost turned into a tomato even as she attempted to shrink away, Xuan Hao decided to cover her in his domain so the surrounding disciple would subconsciously ignore her the same way they had subconsciously ignored his presence.

Swish~

Shifting a few hundred meters up the mountain with a simple spatial movement to get away from the disciple down at the base of the mountain so they could peacefully continue up the mountain without any disturbances.

”T-thank you…”

Something Lu Dongli seemed to appreciate a lot, as she nervously shifted away from him before once again becoming absorbed in her surroundings, becoming especially interested in the spiritual flowers that had been planted along the snaking path moving up the Ninth Star Peak.