Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Feeling his thoughts starting to wander as he thought about the future of the Star Shattering Sect, Xuan Hao descended in front of his home at the Seventh Star Peak, ready to find his disciples-

"MASTER!"

But before he even had the time to do that, Mui came rushing out the second his feet landed on the ground. Dragging a bewildered Song Jia along with her.

"Mui? What is-"

"YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT BAOBAO! I THINK HE'S SICK!!!"

Before he could even respond to the loud greeting from his youngest disciple, he found himself being dragged along by the little girl not much different from Song Jia, who in turn gave him a rather wry smile, seemingly having grown used to what was happening. Although, it did make it clear to him that this little disciple of his should be overreacting.

After all, if there was really something urgent about Baobao's situation, he doubted that Song Jia would be this calm, as she similarly liked the strange little creature she had worked together with Mui to… Create? Give life to? No… Craft? He didn't really know how they had created a living creature like Baobao, so he decided not to think too much about it as he was dragged to the Qi Spring Lake alongside Song Jia.

As for what the disciples and elders who saw them along the way thought about the situation… He didn't worry, as he had already used his domain to hide them from the few disciples and elders that they encountered along the way…

"So… What exactly is it that's wrong with Baobao?"

Taking the opportunity to ask this after he was dragged all the way to the shore of the Qi Spring Lake by his youngest disciple, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit puzzled as his gaze swept over the healthy and cute looking blob that was Baobao floating in front of them without any sign of being sick.

"Master! Can't you see it!?"

Met with his disciple's questioning in response, he decided to examine Baobao a bit more seriously, but no matter how he looked at it, there was nothing wrong with Baobao.

No… Instead of there being nothing wrong with Baobao, it looked livelier than it had been the first time he had seen it. Perhaps this increased liveliness had been misunderstood as it being sick in the eyes of his disciple?

"Baobao is… more energetic…?"

And so, he voiced out his doubts while keeping his gaze focused on Baobao who had already plopped down on top of Mui's head with lively expression on its face as it began playing with her hair like there was no one else around.

"Yes! You see it too master! Baobao has become far more energetic compared to before, this would only happen if he was sick!"

"… And why would becoming more energetic mean that he is… Sick…?"

"Huh?"

"…"

Seeing the face of someone caught completely off guard by his rather simple question, Xuan Hao could not help seriously questioning the intelligence of this little disciples of his.

✧ Fourth Disciple, Mui ✧

Race: Human

Talent: 81

Comprehension: -91

Dao: Dao of Water (Domain)

Potential Dao: Dao of Water, Dao of Darkness, Dao of Ice, Dao of Space, Dao of Chaos

Physique: Desolate Ancient Moon Physique (Dormant)

Realm: Fifth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm

Profession: Blacksmithing (Abysmal), Formation Master (Abysmal)

Cultivation Mantra: Myriad Water Art

Taking a quick look through her status, he discovered that outside of her cultivation breaking through to the Fifth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm during his absence, it really did seem like her intelligence had taken a hit. Her comprehension having gone down from -89 to -91. Decreasing by an entire two points in the short time he had been out of the sect.

Although he felt like it might be a benefit with how this disciple of his was functioning, he still worried about her abysmal comprehension somehow affecting her overall intelligence… And looking at the current situation, it seemed like this fear was proving to be a correct one!

"Master…?"

"N-Nothing, you can continue. How does Baobao being energetic make him sick?"

"That… I, I have never seen Baobao like this before and it might be because there was some kind of problem with the materials during the crafting process that only appeared now! In case something is wrong, I must fix it before it gets worse, just… I have no idea how to work on the materials in the same way as in the past. No… Not to mention working on them, I don't even have any idea how to check on Baobao's condition!

Because of this, I need master's help, as you have a far stronger divine sense than me and should be able to properly assess what is wrong with Baobao!"

Listening to the reasoning given by Mui, Xuan Hao could not help feeling that his disciple did make more sense than he thought she would. Making him feel a bit embarrassed about his earlier thoughts questioning her internally.

Indeed, he had forgotten that Baobao wasn't a normal living being, but was instead something that had been created by Mui and Song Jia through a gathering of a large number of precious crafting materials that they had gathered from all over the sect.

Judging Baobao's state normally was indeed wrong, and a more in-depth examination was needed to properly assess the state of Baobao.

Whoosh~

As he thought about this, he didn't hold anything back as he began to seriously examine Baobao with his full strength. Taking the opportunity to also see if he could comprehend something useful from his disciple's creation in the process. After all, she had created a brand-new life, something that was impossible for him to do and should have definitely been impossible in her current cultivation realm.

Hm? This is… Looks like there really is something wrong with Baobao…

But as he used his divine sense to scan through every inch of the small floating ball in great detail, he soon ended up discovering something he had ended up missing when he had casually used his divine sense to check Baobao's condition earlier.

The thing in question was so miniscule that even his divine sense had missed it the first time around.

As for what that thing was…

"A dantian? No… Not a fully complete dantian, but the beginning of one."

"Dantian?! Baobao has a dantian!? Does that mean Baobao can cultivate as well!? Is this the reason why Baobao is so energetic!?"

Hearing what he quietly muttered to himself upon discovering the small gestating dantian hidden away inside Baobao, Mui jumped up filled with excitement as her earlier fear and worry was completely blown away like it had never been there in the first place.

The presence of a dantian inside of Baobao making it clear to her that Baobao wasn't sick like she had first thought but had instead taken a step forward in becoming a more complete living being.

"No, Baobao can't cultivate, it's more like a gestating mass that can turn into a dantian, but at the same time, it could also turn into something completely different. Considering that Baobao can be considered a living artifact to some extent, while it could become a dantian, there is also a chance that it might turn into a unique internal space."

Shooting down his disciple's dream of Baobao starting to cultivate, he didn't hold anything back as he directly voiced out his thoughts on Baobao's current condition.

Although his first thought had been that it was a gestating dantian about to come into existence, a second glance allowed him to understand that the small mass didn't just have to turn into a dantian.

"Unique space…? Ohhh! Like a secret realm! Does that mean I can turn Baobao into my own personal world in the future!?"

"This… Maybe…"

"Yay! Baobao will definitely become the biggest and most awesome secret realm in the world!"

Boop~

Watching as both Mui and Baobao began to happily dance around on their own, Xuan Hao could not help smiling a bit wryly to himself as he turned to look at Song Jia, who was just staring speechlessly at the two who seemed overcome with joy not too far away.

Clearly, the sudden turn of events had been completely unexpected, but as the situation sank in, it didn't take long for her to wobble over and join Mui and Baobao. Leaving a certain master to stand on his own.

So much for a grand welcome after returning to the sect. Dragged along before being forgotten…

Shaking his head as he thought this to himself, Xuan Hao decided to leave Mui and Song Jia on their own and instead check up on his remaining disciples to see how they had been doing during his absence.

For once, he decided to not go with Bai Ning last and decided to pay this reclusive disciple who seemed to have nothing but blacksmithing on his mind a visit.