Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

As months went by with the number of cultivators coming from the surrounding empires decreasing with each passing day, the Star Shattering Sect began to prepare for the first demonic cultivators to arrive, while at the same time assigning a few different elders at the Domain Lord Realm to keep an eye on the borders of the sect's territory to prevent any powerful demonic cultivators sneaking inside.

Among these elders, the most prominent was none other than Chu Yang who had just recently broken through to the Domain Lord Realm and had begun to take on more responsibilities in the sect.

Of course, considering that he didn't want to waste any of his precious cultivation time, Elder Song ended up having a rather hard time having him do anything related to teaching the younger disciples of the sect. Especially so considering that Chu Yang was still incredibly young and some of the older disciples of the sect were older than him by more than twenty years.

In the end, guarding the borders of the sect against demonic cultivators was the only thing that Chu Yang felt wouldn't waste any of his precious cultivation time, as by doing this, he would have an opportunity to face off against powerful demonic cultivators.

Even if the time spent outside the sect would end up affecting his cultivation speed, facing powerful demonic cultivators would more than make up for it, as it would help him in his comprehension of the Dao of the Spear.

Not to mention, he had also recently learnt about the Dao Domain Lord Realm from his master after he broke through to the Domain Lord Realm and felt eager to try and comprehend some of the Daos that his master had mentioned were suitable for him. Especially the Dao of Blood, as he had already gained some initial insights into it after trying to understand the Devil Immortal Jade that had been floating around inside his dantian without doing anything other than help increase his cultivation speed.

Knowing the thoughts of his disciple as well, Xuan Hao had also been more than happy to let him leave the sect to help out with the upcoming crisis that was going to face the sect.

Not at all having anything to do with the fact that Chu Yang had come to try and drag him away for a practice battle ever since his cultivation base had stabilized. Even coming to a tactic understanding with Chun Hua to accomplish this goal, as both of them worked together to get him to join them in the Combat Hall for the past few months.

Outside of that, Chun Hua, still new to the sect, hadn't taken on any real responsibilities after she broke through to the Domain Lord Realm and still spent most of her time cultivating by herself inside her master's palace. Only occasionally leaving to train with Chu Yang or to play together with Mui, whom she had grown rather close to over the past few months.

During one of these times out playing with Mui, the little girl had managed to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm. Bringing the total number of disciples under Xuan Hao in the Nascent Soul Realm or above to four. Allowing him to complete the requirement for another hidden main quest.

[Hidden Main Quest: Have four disciples reach the Nascent Soul Realm (complete)]

[Description: Have four of your disciples break through the Nascent Soul Realm below the age of 50.]

[Reward: Expansion to Codex of the First Four Mortal Realms, Soul Ascension Realm.]

In the end, the reward from this quest wasn't anything that could help him directly, but instead an expansion to the codex of the first four mortal realms that he had already upgraded to the Domain Lord Realm in the past.

Although it wasn't that useful to him, as it didn't contain any information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm, it was a clear path from the Peak of the Domain Lord Realm and all the way up to the Dao Seed Realm, something that the current Star Shattering Sect would benefit tremendously from considering that the elders of the sect had begun to break through to the Domain Lord Realm and the next step would be for them to go through the tribulation and reach the Soul Ascension Realm.

After all, even though the Dao Domain Lord Realm seemed like a stronger path compared to going through the Soul Ascension Realm, it was far from suitable for anyone and most of the elders and disciples of the sect would be following the path of undergoing the seven tribulations of the Immortal Soul Tribulation one by one.

Even then, the codex's Soul Ascension Realm chapter also contained information on the seven tribulations that made up the Immortal Soul Tribulation, something that was useful for him.

The first tribulation, the tribulation of fire, where one will have to endure the fires of heaven, as it descends to remove impurities that have been accumulated in the body over the years. The older one is and the more pills and elixirs one has used to increase their cultivation, the more terrifying this tribulation will be. The fires of heaven can take different forms depending on the cultivator, from lightning to a river of water descending from above.

The second tribulation, the tribulation of earthen lightning, lighting will descend from the sky to strengthen the body. This tribulation can be easy or hard, depending on how strong the body already is. For example, most demon beast won't have any problems with this tribulation, while humans tend to struggle with their weaker body.

The third tribulation, the illusory heart tribulation, an illusion will descend and trap the cultivator. The tribulation is easier for those with a strong will, while it kills anyone failing to escape the illusion in time.

The fourth, fifth and sixth tribulation, the three soul tribulations, the soul needs to undergo a transformation to reach a higher realm, therefore it will go through three soul tribulations manifesting in the form of heavenly lightning descending from above, that will help strengthening the soul or destroying.

The Seventh Tribulation, dao seed formation, the final tribulation where one will have to endure the onslaught of heavenly lighting while forming the dao seed around the soul to both strengthen it beyond the mortal realm and protect it.

Although the formation of the dao seed around the soul can be considered to have broken through the mortal realm and reached a higher realm, the dao seed itself is still a seed and isn't considered a true immortal soul and can at most be considered a pseudo immortal soul. Only when the dao seed finishes growing and blooms, can a true immortal soul be born.

Outside of that, there was a small part at the end of the description regarding the Immortal Soul Tribulation that did mention the Dao Domain Lord Realm… And in it, outside of what he already knew about it descending in its entirety, it also stated that the strength of the Immortal Soul Tribulation for those who reach the Dao Domain Lord Realm would increase in difficulty depending on when they decided to break through.

After learning about this, Xuan Hao felt that the reward from the system wasn't that bad, as it at least helped him understand that he wouldn't be able to just breeze through the Immortal Soul Tribulation like he had first thought he would have been able to do considering how much stronger he was when compared to someone in the Soul Ascension Realm.

Not just that, but the information on the tribulation would also help him prepare for it properly so he wouldn't be taken by surprise when faced with something like the third tribulation that descended in the form of an illusion.

All things considered; Xuan Hao decided to hand over the Soul Ascension Realm chapter for Elder Song to handle like he had done in the past. Making sure that the part on the Dao Domain Lord Realm wasn't included for now.

If the Star Shattering Sect really did have someone outside of his disciples reach the Dao Domain Lord Realm, he would always be able to teach them about this and prevent any information of the Dao Domain Lord Realm from leaking to the outside world before he fully understood the situation of the different major powers and whether or not they would try and attack the Star Shattering Sect after learning about them having information on the Dao Domain Lord Realm…

"Hm? Now that I think about it, it should be about time for that quest to be completed…" Opening his eyes inside his cultivation room as he thought about the hidden main quest, Xuan Hao could not help glancing down on a certain quest that would soon be completed.

[Time left: ~2 months]

Only around 2 months left before I can stop having to look at that quest ever again!