Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Seeing that the situation in the Frozen Wastelands was coming to an end with the spiritual tree escaping the second another demonic cultivator at the Land Creation level appeared to be about to join the battle, Xuan Hao could not help silently chuckling to himself.

Not only did he managed to get a better idea of how strong the spiritual tree that had come chasing after the enlightenment orb was, but he had also managed to get a better idea of the strength hidden inside the Frozen Wastelands and what it was that they were relying on to face against so many major powers in the Northern Central Region at the same time… And to be honest, though he had expected for there to be more powerful demonic cultivators hidden away inside the Frozen Wastelands, he had never expected for one of them to be forced out by the spiritual tree.

This was not because he underestimated the Frozen Wastelands, but more so because he hadn't expected the battle to escalate to the point where the ruler of the Frozen Wastelands wouldn't be able to hold on against the spiritual tree. Given him a good idea about the fact that the spiritual tree was stronger than the ruler of the Frozen Wastelands.

Then again… It could also just be the ruler of the Frozen Wastelands trying to keep his true strength hidden from the countless people closely watching the battle playing out.

For obvious reason, he personally felt that this was a far more likely scenario, though… If that was the case, it hinted that whatever the ruler of the Frozen Wastelands was hiding was worth far more than someone new at the Land Creation level appearing inside the Frozen Wastelands.

Whatever it was, Xuan Hao decided not to think too hard about it. After all, at the end of the day, the Star Shattering Sect was in a neutral relationship with the demonic cultivators of the Frozen Wastelands and would likely not be at the receiving end of whatever the ruler of the Frozen Wastelands was planning. Instead, it would be the different major powers of the Northern Central Region who would have to face it, something that he was more than happy to see happen considering it would not just alleviate the pressure on the Star Shattering Sect if these major powers weakened, but would also potentially give the Star Shattering Sect a perfect opportunity to expand into the core region in the future.

Smiling to himself as he thought about the chaos that could be caused by the demonic cultivators in the future when they finally managed to reach the true borders of the different major powers and began to fight them in earnest, Xuan Hao understood that this would be the best chance for the Star Shattering Sect to expand its influence and territory.

Even if the different major powers and the demonic cultivators found it odd, they wouldn't have the energy to do anything about it, as they would be busy dealing with each other. Allowing the Star Shattering Sect to develop effortlessly from the side.

But… There was one glaring flaw in this strategy… And that was the simple fact that he had no idea how forces outside the Northern Central Region would react if the Star Shattering suddenly began to expand rapidly.

At the end of the day, the Star Shattering Sect was still considered a hidden ancient sect. Doing something that was too far from the norm would eventually attract unwanted attention.

"The best-case scenario would be for me to break through to the Land Creation Realm before the true battle between the major powers of the Frozen Wastelands and the demonic cultivators of the Frozen Wastelands begin, as I would truly have the power to support the Star Shattering Sect." Muttering this to himself as he thought about the future of the sect, Xuan Hao once again realized that only with enough strength would he truly be capable of keeping himself and the sect safe.

Although his current cultivation realm at the Middle Stage of the Sea Formation Realm was incredibly powerful throughout the entire continent and was more than enough for him to establish a new major power in the central region of the continent, he didn't just want the Star Shattering Sect to become another major power in the Frozen Wastelands, but now seriously wanted to carry on the identity that he had been making use of so far… And to do that, he would almost certainly have to first break through to the Land Creation Realm before the Star Shattering Sect became known outside the Northern Central Region.

It wasn't that the different powerful forces on the continent were unaware of the Star Shattering Sect, it was just that it didn't really do anything to catch their direct attention so far.

Expanding into a few smaller kingdoms that had been overrun by demonic cultivators was far from important enough to draw the attention of the other central regions, with one exception being the monk from the Golden Nirvana Temple.

After all, most other regions outside the Northern Region knew about the Star Shattering Sect, was that it was a hidden ancient sect that had recently emerged and had swallowed up a bit of the territory that surrounded the sect. Nothing out of the ordinary that warranted any special attention. Especially so because the strongest figure that had been confirmed to be from the Star Shattering Sect so far was only someone at the Early Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm. Not nearly enough to start making them feel special about the Star Shattering Sect, as it still looked and operated like a normal hidden ancient sect. The only difference being that their territory was a bit larger than normal.

"I should get Elder Song's insight on the matter just to be sure…" Narrowing both his eyes slightly as he muttered this to himself, Xuan Hao didn't linger around for long as he decided to pay Elder Song a visit and inform him of the most recent developments in the Frozen Wastelands and at the same time get his opinion on the future direction of the sect.

Speaking of Elder Song… After he comprehended the Dao of Order, his cultivation seemed to have undergone a qualitive change, as he was proceeding through the Domain Lord Realm far faster than anyone he had seen before. Only his disciples seemed capable of contending with him in terms of cultivation speed ever since he broke through to the Domain Lord Realm.

In just a few short months, he had managed to elevate his cultivation from the First Stage of the Domain Lord Realm to the Third Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.

But that was not the most terrifying part, the scary part was that the old man barely cultivated and instead spent most of his time managing the sect after he had comprehended the Dao of Order. Claiming that this was another form of cultivation… And with the result laid out for him to see himself, he really couldn't say anything to him about how spending more than sixteen hours a day working wasn't a good thing.

A side effect of this was that the rest of the sect's management elders and the few unlucky disciples chosen to be the assistants of these elders found themselves caught up in the same daily routine as Elder Song.

And while this might have been physically fine for those elders that had reached the Nascent Soul Realm, it had already left the few unlucky disciples who were serving as part of the sect's management with little to no time for sleep or cultivation.

Weirdly enough, this didn't affect their cultivation speed in the slightest and even seemed to have improved it a bit, something which he later ended up tying back to Elder Song teaching theses elders and disciples about the Dao of Order and helping draft up simple cultivation techniques for these unfortunate disciples to use while they were worked to the bone by Elder Song.

In the end, though Xuan Hao personally wanted to intervene when it came to the disciples, he found himself being rejected.

The reason for this being rather simple, being an assistant to management elders of the sect was by far one of the most lucrative jobs for younger disciples to take on. Often being far more valuable than hunting down demonic cultivators at the border or doing any other mission that would always come with certain risks.

Not to mention, with how their cultivation wasn't slowing down, but instead speeding up, there was no way these disciples would be willing to give up their jobs as assistants. Even if it meant they would be working for 12+ hours daily with little time for much else.

At that point, it was not just clear to Xuan Hao that he wouldn't be able to convince these younger disciples, but also that Elder Song was already nurturing them to fully embrace the life of a management elder in the future…