Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

As Zu Fei ended up leaving the sect together with a large number of the older elders in the Nascent Soul Realm following Elder Song's plans for expansion into the border region of the Sky Empire partly controlled by the Onyx Empire, the situation in the Star Shattering Sect became hectic for a few weeks as the younger elders settled into the roles that had been left behind by the older elders.

At the very least, Elder Song had made sure that there was still quite a few Nascent Soul Realm Elders around in the sect to continue teaching some of the older disciples who had already reached the Core Formation Realm or were about to enter the Core Formation Realm, while at the same time ensuring that the younger elders ended up in roles that they could handle and didn't end up somewhere that they were unqualified for.

Making full use of this peaceful time, Xuan Hao used the next half year to condense two more layers around his dao lotus, bringing it up to a total of eight layers.

During this time, he also got a more in-depth understanding of the requirements for condensing a layer around his dao lotus. Learning that the minimum requirement for condensing a layer was to comprehend a dao to the Small Success Realm, while reaching the Large Success Realm would allow him to condense another two.

Comprehending a dao to the Elementary Realm wasn't enough to condense a layer like he had first expected. Meaning that if he wanted to condense any more layers and improve his strength, he would have to either comprehend a new dao or improve his other Daos, like the Dao of Blacksmithing, to the Small Success Realm or beyond.

This realization made Xuan Hao painfully aware of why it was normal for people to try and break through to the Celestial Immortal Realm after reaching the Half Bloom Stage that symbolized someone having condensed at least 18 layers around their dao lotus. For someone to condense 18 layers around their dao lotus, they needed to comprehend at least three Daos to the Realm of Perfection or comprehend 15 Daos to the Small Success Realm and one to the Large Success Realm.

In the eyes of most Earth Immortal Realm cultivators, this was already a task that was impossible for most to accomplish. By the time that most reached the Half Bloom Stage, they would focus all of their time and energy towards trying to break through to the Celestial Immortal Realm. No matter how confident they were in themselves, there wasn't anyone who would be dumb enough to try and reach the Radiant Bloom Stage that at most existed in legends across the Ewaria Continent at this point in time. After all, even the youngest Half Bloom Stage cultivator had lived for thousands of years, with most of them being tens of thousands of years old.

Every single person capable of reaching that cultivation realm could be considered old monsters in their own right and were far from an abnormality like Xuan Hao who had managed to reach a realm comparable to the Earth Immortal Realm below the age of 50.

The only people Xuan Hao could compare himself to at this point in time would be those from the ancient times when the Dao Domain Lord Realm still existed and people like the elder from the Mirage Sect who had managed to reach the Late Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm before he decided to break through were still around.

After all, it was hard for him to compare himself with the current generation given that he had not managed to encounter a single person other than himself that had reached the Dao Domain Lord Realm.

Even if he could still compare himself to someone in the Earth Immortal Realm given his current strength being comparable to one, he was ultimately still in the Domain Lord Realm and had yet to undergo the Immortal Soul Tribulation.

Even if he had no idea what was so special about the Dao Domain Lord Realm and what benefit it would bring, he doubted that anyone in the Earth Immortal Realm would be comparable to him if he decided to undergo the Immortal Soul Tribulation at this point in time. Maybe his strength might reach a level where he wouldn't need to fear someone in the Celestial Immortal Realm!

Then again, from the short conversation he had with the elder from the Mirage Sect about the Dao Domain Lord Realm, it was obvious that it would be better for his future if he could go beyond the Late Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm and reach the Peak of the Dao Domain Lord Realm.

Considering how young he was and the fact that his comprehension of the different Daos only increased with the growing strength of his soul, Xuan Hao also wanted to try and reach the Peak of the Dao Domain Lord Realm.

"Now that I think about it, I should also try to comprehend the Dao of Alchemy and reach the Elementary Realm. Although my comprehension of it increased quite after I reached Master Realm a few weeks back, I'm still a bit away from officially comprehending it…" Muttering this to himself as he opened his eyes, Xuan Hao could not help gazing out in the direction of a pile of books and scrolls located in the corner of his cultivation room.

Over the past half year, other than condensing two more layers around his dao lotus, he had also spent a lot of time increasing his alchemy from the Artisan Realm to the Master Realm. Barely managing to step into the Master Realm before Qing Yi, who was currently in closed door meditation trying to reach the Master Realm after his guidance.

If he didn't want to end up with another emergency quest, he had a feeling that it would be best for him to comprehend the Dao of Alchemy to the Elementa- No, the Small Success Realm. At the same time, he could also raise his Dao of Blacksmithing to the Small Success Realm and ensure that he could continue to stay ahead of his two disciples. On another note, it would also allow him to condense another two layers on his dao lotus, further increasing his strength.

But… That lord from the Heavenly Dragon Temple should be showing up in another half year, I wonder if I can raise my Dao of Blacksmith and Alchemy to the Small Success Realm before he appears? Not to mention, considering the two layers around my dao lotus will also take a few months…

Smiling a bit wryly to himself as he thought about this, Xuan Hao realized that he would most likely not be able to raise the two Daos to the Small Success Realm and condense two more layers before the lord from the Heavenly Dragon Temple appeared.

"Even then… I should be able to raise the Dao of Blacksmithing to the Small Success Realm and condense one more layer around my dao lotus…" Having come up with a plan of action for what he would use the remaining half year before the arrival of the lord from the Heavenly Dragon Temple on, Xuan Hao once again closed his eyes as he focused his full attention on comprehending the Dao of Blacksmithing.

During this period of time, the only time he would leave his cultivation room would be to check up on his disciples once every month or when they personally came to seek his help in cultivation, while also resuming his past lecture once every three months.

Even if the rewards given by the system for completing the three-month lecture weren't useful to him, it was still useful to the sect and his disciples. Especially the spiritual metal that was given through the repeatable system quest, as he found out that it would always be rare and exotic spiritual metal that originated from the ancient era and was hard to find in the current time.

However, the person who enjoyed these rare and exotic spiritual metals the most was Bai Ning, who began frolicking around like a child whenever he brought out any of the spiritual metal that he had managed to get through the repeatable system quest.

Even if the quality of the spiritual metal wasn't that high, the fact that it was exotic and most of it didn't exist in the current time was more than enough to make up for it.

In the end, this resulted in quite a few unique artifacts created by Bai Ning starting to spread through the Star Shattering Sect. Even if the impact of these artifacts didn't create much of a stir, their uniqueness still managed to captivate a large number of blacksmithing disciples and elders. Ultimately increasing Bai Ning's prestige among the blacksmiths of the sect during this period of time, while also making his presence more known throughout the sect as a whole.