Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Unaware of the fact that they had a chance to get their hands on transcendent grade spiritual herbs or metals during this competition, the participants all moved towards a free cauldron or furnace after having picked up the materials they needed.

The next part of the competition was rather simple and set in stone, as they would just have to refine or craft something to the best of their ability before being judged by the elders of the Star Shattering Sect. Following which the most talented ones would move forward to the next stage of the competition.

Whoosh~

Because of this, none of these participants batted an eye when one of the elders who had been standing on the side observing them while they picked out spiritual herbs and metals, stepped forward and removed the spiritual herbs and metals that had been placed for them to pick from-

”Ah… To think they lost the chance to get their hands on a transcendent grade spiritual herb.”

”Yeah, it was clear that there was more than one hidden inside the piles of herbs and metals, but… None of them reacted to our conversation so far. Hehe, looks like the elders of the Star Shattering Sect sealed up the competition space and prevented them from hearing us.”

”Indeed… Only those talented enough would be able to recognize the presence of transcendent grade natural treasures. Truly an interesting way to find talented people. The only problem being that the cost of using this kind of method is far from something that we can accomplish, one has to at least be from one of those terrifying empires from the core of the continent, like the Blue Sea Empire!”

”True, but I also-”

BAAAANG!

As the next part of the competition officially began and the participants began the process of refining their artifacts or potions, the barrier that had been put in place to block the voices of the spectators also disappeared, causing one of the blacksmiths who had been eager to get ahead of the rest to briefly lose control of his emotions. Exploding the furnace in front of him before launching him flying into the barrier that protected the audience members from just such an accident.

”Ah!? What is- Damn you!”

”How dare you blow up right next to me!? Are you deliberately trying to sabotage others!?”

”This reckless fool…”

In the end, the ones who ended up most affected by the sudden explosion were the unlucky blacksmiths unfortunate enough to be located next to the one who had just exploded. Forcing them to take drastic measures to protect themselves and their furnace to prevent it from being affected by the explosion that had suddenly taken place.

To the dismay of these blacksmiths, though they could block most of the damage and prevent their materials from being destroyed by the other party, they still ended up with damaged materials. Lowering the quality of the artifact that they could create.

In the end, this caused the remaining participants to act far more cautiously compared to before, as some proficient in the Dao of Formations even went as far as to set up a formation around her alchemy cauldron to defend herself against any potential explosions that might end up taking place on the side of the alchemists.

The most unaffected by all of this were the Domain Lord Realm cultivators that had joined the competition, as they simply chose to use their domain to guard themselves and their furnace or cauldron.

Although it did put a strain on them, it would not be enough to interfere with their abilities as blacksmiths or alchemists. At most it would slightly increase the time needed for them to complete what they wanted to create.

Given that this was only the first challenge of the competition and it was essentially just designed so that the 150 outsiders who had gone through preliminaries over the past few weeks had a chance to see the abilities of the Star Shattering Sect’s elders, there wasn’t any time limit introduced in the challenge and they could take as long as they wanted to complete their artifact or potion.

Of course, with the normal time required for refining some high quality artifacts, potions or pills taking weeks and possibly months, there had been a small time limit of a week introduced to ensure that the competition wouldn’t end up dragging on for too long, but outside of that, the group of alchemists and blacksmiths had more than enough time to create whatever they wanted to create with the materials that they had gotten their hands on.

Like this, the first day of the competition soon flew by with all of the alchemists and blacksmiths present continuing to craft the thing they had set out to create. Most of the planning regarding what they wanted to create, had finished during the time they had used on choosing which spiritual metals or herbs to use.

”This… Is so boring!”

As a result of this, it didn’t take long before the first few excited people who had come to watch the alchemy and blacksmithing competition merged into a single competition. Leaving out of boredom. Having anticipated an exciting competition similar to that of the martial arts competitions that the Star Shattering Sect had hosted in the past.

By the end of the second day, the only people who remained behind to watch the tournament were those who had come to try and gauge the strength of the Star Shattering Sect and the different wandering alchemists and blacksmiths, who took this as an opportunity to learn from their seniors.

For these wandering alchemists and blacksmiths, it was difficult for them to find a good opportunity to learn from someone stronger than them without some kind of lucky opportunity.

The fact that the first part of the competition had dragged on for such a long time only made them happier, as it gave them a longer time and better chance to observe their seniors working. Learning directly from how they were moving.

Not just that, but the fact that there were so many other blacksmiths and alchemists present among the audience, with most of the normal cultivators already having been weeded out, it gave everyone watching a great opportunity to discuss their insights and share with each other what they learnt. Even better, there were some senior blacksmiths and alchemists among the audience, who in turn decided to join in on the fun and help their juniors.

All things considered; the first real challenge of the competition was no longer for the elders of the Star Shattering Sect to show up. Instead, it had become a place for the wandering blacksmiths and alchemists to learn and improve their skills together.

…

”How unexpected… To think this kind of environment for learning was fostered after most of those weaker fellows left. How amazing, the Star Shattering Sect should also be able to use the opportunity to gauge any talents among the audience whom they might have missed under normal circumstances with this kind of environment…

Ancient hidden sects… Their methods are indeed terrifying. Especially so when it comes to recruiting disciples!” Muttering this to himself as he observed the entire situation, the spy from the Blue Sea Empire, who had been about to leave along with the rest of the people that had grown bored, unconsciously came to a stop as he realized what was happening.

Once again, his amazement of the Star Shattering Sect- Or more precisely, the methods of ancient hidden sects, was reaffirmed.

Even the Blue Sea Empire was far inferior to the hidden ancient sects when it came to recruiting new talents to join them, something that allowed these sects to recruit disciples from a far smaller area and still retain their strength without any problems.

Huh? Why is the senior looking at me- Ah! I unconsciously muttered that to myself just now!

Just as the spy was about to continue making his way out of the competition space, he suddenly realized that Xuan Hao was staring directly at him, causing an overwhelming sense of pressure to engulf his entire body. Preventing him from even taking a single step forward.

Although what he had said had been brief, he had clearly mentioned something that wasn’t normal for a Core Formation Realm cultivator.

After all, what kind of Core Formation Realm cultivator would know about ancient hidden sects? Especially so one that came from outside the core region of the continent…

I… I really messed up this time around…

Only able to think about this to himself as he remained frozen on the spot unable to move, the spy from the Blue Sea Empire who had barely reached the Core Formation Realm, felt a sense of impending doom. Understanding far too well that there would be no survival for a small spy like him once he was discovered. Even more so considering that he was currently dealing with a terrifying hidden ancient sect.