Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Thinking about the current growing power of the rabbit demon beast that seemed intent on getting its hands on as many spirit stones as possible. Not just because eating spirit stones was something that would help increase its strength as a demon beast, but also because it enjoyed eating spirit stones, something that made it the most expensive demon beast in the Star Shattering Sect.

With that in mind, it could be considered a good thing that it was working towards earning its own spirit stones instead of only getting them from the Star Shattering Sect and it was in part also because of this that he had allowed the rabbit demon beast to build its own little faction inside of the Star Shattering Sect, as it didn't really harm the sect in any way. On the other hand, it benefited the sect in the form of more mission being made available inside of the sect's territory through the developing merchant organization.

Not just that, but it had begun to help the different minor powers within the sect's territory to start trading with each other more easily and without any worries, as the merchant organization came from the Star Shattering Sect. Making it essentially untouchable in the eyes of the different minor powers.

Even if the rabbit demon beast made sure that it wasn't cheap in any way to trade through it, it was still far better compared to the alternative in the eyes of these minor powers, as the rabbit demon beast was more than capable of ensuring the safety of the goods being transported through it. Mainly due to the protection of sect disciples that were hired by it through the mission pavilion.

Of course, it didn't mean that there wasn't any danger, but it was just lessoned given the influence of the Star Shattering Sect inside of its territory, with only a few desperate wandering cultivators or bandits daring enough to dare and rob the goods being transported through the rabbit demon beast's merchant organization.

As for trade outside of the sect's territory… That was something far from safe even being related to the Star Shattering Sect. So, for now, the rabbit demon beast was limited to expanding its influence inside of the Star Shattering Sect's territory.

The rare few times that it was daring enough to take on trades outside of the Star Shattering Sect's territory either had to be done with itself present or a higher-level cultivator from the Star Shattering Sect that at least reached the Soul Ascension Realm. After all, the state of the world outside of the sect's territory was only growing worse with each passing day as the demonic cultivators slowly advanced closer to the Core Region of the Continent.

At this point in time, let alone someone in the Nascent Soul Realm, even someone in the Domain Lord Realm wouldn't be able to ensure their safety travelling around the outer regions of the continent. Only someone in the Soul Ascension Realm had the strength to somewhat ensure their own safety… And that was only considering that they weren't unlucky enough to run into a powerful demon cultivator that had managed to break through the borders of the Frozen Wasteland and sneak closer to the core region.

All of this was not mentioning that the different minor powers and wandering cultivators were all slowly concentrating closer and closer to the core region of the continent as the territory of the demon cultivators expanded… And unluckily for the rabbit demon beast, the territory of the fallen Sky Empire was an especially sought after location for these wandering cultivators and fallen minor powers to settle down, as they viewed the Star Shattering Sect as the greatest shield against the expanding influence of the demonic cultivators.

Even if these wandering cultivators and minor powers respected and feared the Star Shattering Sect, it didn't mean that they wouldn't be taking advantage of the little rabbit demon beast's merchant caravans.

Ultimately resulting in the current state of things where the rabbit demon beast was restricted to the Star Shattering Sect's territory unless there was an especially worthwhile trade that made it worth it for it to move out or a Soul Ascension Realm cultivator from the sect wanted to take on one of the countless escort missions it had managed to post at Grand Mission Pavilion at the Seventh Star Peak.

Unfortunately for the rabbit demon beast, even though it posted countless missions for the sect elders, the contribution points were so low that they wouldn't bother taking them on unless there was no other mission around, something that the rabbit demon beast had no clue about. Instead, just thinking that the Soul Ascension Realm cultivators of the sect were either too afraid of the potential danger or had other things keeping them busy preventing them from taking on its escort missions.

After all, when it came to escort missions inside of the Star Shattering Sect's territory, it always had countless disciples lining up to take on any mission it had its people post in the Grand Mission Pavilion, while there was always a lack of people when it came to missions for those Soul Ascension Realm Elders of the sect.

The little rabbit demon beast had no way of knowing that there had always been a lack of mission for the disciples of the sect and even if the rewards were low, there would always be disciples there to snatch them up before others. After all, every contribution point they could get their hands on counted for these younger disciples. Especially considering that not everyone had the courage or strength to head to the borders to fight demonic cultivators.

In that sense, the escort missions of the rabbit demon beast were incredibly beneficial to the Star Shattering Sect, as it gave the disciples afraid of facing demonic cultivators an opportunity to leave the sect and experience the world.

Of course, it didn't change the fact that the reward for the escort mission was simply abysmal compared to other missions. Earning them the reputation of not really being mission issued by the sect out of need but instead being trips outside the sect for the disciples to experience the world for the first time.

Indeed, when it came to experiencing the world for the first time, escort missions were indeed great, as they allowed the disciples to travel together with locals and learn about the world from them during their journey.

The danger that they encountered along the way could mostly be solved by anyone in the Foundation Establishment Realm, though… Most of the time, they wouldn't encounter any danger and would just be on the road learning about the world for a few days to a few weeks depending on the length of mission.

In turn, the addition of the escort mission also allowed people from the different minor powers inside of the Star Shattering Sect's territory a rare chance to interact with the disciples of the sect. Allowing them to establish connections with the disciples of the sect and deepen their connection to the sect.

After a few months of operating, the rabbit demon beast's small merchant organization had already grown into the largest one inside of the Star Shattering Sect's territory, outside of the Explorer Union's trade network.

However, more importantly than its growth, it had allowed the Star Shattering Sect to strengthen its bond with the different minor powers under its control, something that left both Elder Song and Feng Chen in awe over the genius strategy of the rabbit demon beast.

Neither of the two thought the rabbit demon beast did this just because it wanted more spirit stones and felt that the spirit stones that it was given from the Star Shattering Sect were too few. Instead, the two of them believed that it was a carefully laid plan by Xuan Hao to use the rabbit demon beast to strengthen the sect's control over the different powers inside of its territory.

Because of this, the two of them made sure to support the rabbit demon beast and the growth of its merchant organization. Even sending over a large number of spirit stones to help with the growth of the merchant organization. Soon enough seeing the merchant organization grow rapidly as a result.

However, unknown to the two of them, the reason for the rapid growth of the merchant organization had nothing to do with the large number of spirit stones that were sent over, as those spirit stones had been long since consumed by the rabbit demon beast.

Instead, the main reason for the rapid growth had to do with the fact that the rabbit demon beast managed to secure an extremely cheap labor force through the Star Shattering Sect that came in the form of disciples going out of the sect for the first time to experience the world.

And luckily for the rabbit demon beast, it didn't look like it would run out of younger disciples to exploit in the near future with the recent large scale recruitment of disciples…