Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Of course, even if he wanted nothing more than to get rid of those remnants of the Sky Empire that now served as nothing more than an extension of the Blue Sea Empire, there was nothing much he could do about them for now.

After all, even if these smaller kingdoms that had managed to survive at most had Soul Ascension Realm level strength because of the subtle assistance from the Blue Sea Empire, it would almost instantly draw the attention of the Blue Sea Empire if anything happened to them. At which point, it wouldn’t be difficult for the Blue Sea Empire to figure out that it was the Star Shattering Sect that had moved to destroy them.

Even if this might not result in a full-scale war between the Blue Sea Empire and the Star Shattering Sect because the other party was still rather busy dealing with the demonic cultivators from the Frozen Wastelands, it would undoubtedly break the current peaceful coexistence between the two.

Although… This peaceful coexistence was hinged on the fact that the Star Shattering Sect stopped expanding its territory and remained isolated in the outer region of the continent without increasing its influence any further… And even with this, Elder Song was almost certain that the Blue Sea Empire would have taken action to suppress the Star Shattering Sect if they hadn’t been occupied by the demonic cultivators.

A predictable response from a power trying to stomp out any competition before it could grow into a real threat.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to do so when it came to the Star Shattering Sect, as it was still a hidden ancient sect to the wider world. Meaning that it had the power to fight back in case the Blue Sea Empire really attempted to stomp it out.

In a sense, it was also because of this that the Blue Sea Empire had mostly adopted a passive kind of suppression through trade restrictions and constant monitoring.

If the Star Shattering Sect didn’t begin expanding in the direction of the Northern Central Region and its territory didn’t expand beyond predictable parameters of other hidden ancient sects who had emerged in the past, it would be left alone.

However, this restriction had already started affecting Elder Song’s plans for expanding the sect and he had been forced to turn most of his recent focus towards expanding the sect’s infrastructure and developing already conquered territory while silent hoping that one of the bordering kingdoms would be overrun by demonic cultivators so the sect would have an excuse to expand further.

To be honest, it wasn’t wrong to say that Elder Song had grown a bit addicted to seeing the constant expansion of the sect over the past few years. Even reaching a point where it felt a bit unnatural to him when the sect suddenly stopped expanding its borders again.

He understood that this could be considered a flaw in his mentality, even if it was just him wanting the best for the sect and so, to avoid any further complications or growing any far more dangerous thoughts, he decided to take a rare break from managing the situation of the sect and entered secluded cultivation to sort out his thoughts. Leaving the management of the sect to a few talented elders he had trained up over the years in case something ever happened to him.

In a sense, his secluded cultivation wasn’t just because of his somewhat flawed thinking of a constantly expanding sect, but also because he wanted to test the elders he had been training up and see how they would manage the sect in his absence.

The situation now, where the sect stopped expanding and there wasn’t any upheaval or major problems in the sect, was a perfect time to test them and see how well they would do in managing the internal situation of the sect.

At the same time, Elder Song also decided to take this opportunity to strive towards reaching the Domain Lord Realm.

After all, even if he had neglected his cultivation to focus on managing the sect, his cultivation had still risen steadily under the guidance and help of the countless elders of the sect who all wanted to see him succeed. Allowing him to smoothly reach the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm and stand only a single step away from the Domain Lord Realm.

The main reason why he had not broken through to the Domain Lord Realm yet didn’t have much to do with the fact that he wasn’t talented enough or didn’t have the comprehension required to comprehend a domain of his own and break through to the Domain Lord Realm, but more so had to do with the fact that he never had the time to sit down and cultivate for more than a few hours a day…

Rumble~

Because of this, only two weeks after he entered secluded cultivation, Elder Song smoothly broke through to the Domain Lord Realm without encountering any serious issues along the way.

The Dao he comprehended was a rather special Dao that rarely ever appeared throughout the continent, potentially even being as rare and difficult to find as the Dao of Space.

The Dao in question was the Dao of Order, a unique Dao that didn’t specifically strengthen the user when it came to combat but instead brought about a significant change to one’s divine soul. Making it far stronger than others at the same realm.

But… In Elder Song’s case, the most important aspect was that it allowed him to gauge a general direction for the Star Shattering Sect’s management through the Dao of Order. Allowing him to train and comprehend the Dao of Order while he did his everyday work in managing the Star Shattering Sect and ensuring that everything ran smoothly.

Perhaps even creating a new cultivation path only suitable for himself, as it allowed his comprehension of the Dao of Order to increase together with his cultivation realm as he worked hard on improving the overall state of the Star Shattering Sect internal situation.

In the end, by the time he returned to take charge of the situation in the star Shattering Sect after having stabilized his cultivation base, the elders who had been proud of themselves for handling the situation in the sect without the presence of Elder Song were in for a difficult time, as they soon found out how much more terrifying Elder Song became after he gained some insights into the Dao of Order and broke through to the Domain Lord Realm.

If the Elder Song from before breaking through to the Domain Lord Realm had been terrifying, the one after breaking through to the Domain Lord Realm and gaining insights into the Dao of Order was even more terrifying, as he began rapidly restructuring the internal framework of the Star Shattering Sect to fit with the Dao of Order.

Although this did end up making the Star Shattering Sect far more efficient in the end, it was nothing short of a nightmare for the elders who were put in charge of implementing the countless new changes thought of by Elder Song after his breakthrough to the Domain Lord Realm.

Of course, it wasn’t just the elders in charge of the sect’s management who felt the changes following Elder Song’s breakthrough to the Domain Lord Realm, but also those in charge of the different profession-based branches of the sect like the Alchemy Hall and the Blacksmithing Hall.

Even reaching the point where a Dao Seed Realm cultivator like Pei Yang began to feel a sense of dread in the face of Elder Song.

Not because of how strong he was or anything along that line, but instead because he found that the old man could instantly point out the flaws in everything, he did regarding the management of the Star Shattering Sect’s Alchemy Hall.

The dread in question came from him thinking that the old man might rat him out to Xuan Hao and point out all his mistakes to him!

After all, the only person that he somewhat feared in the Star Shattering Sect was Xuan Hao. Especially so because he had personally benefited from his teachings in the past and understood that his cultivation should have already reached a point beyond the Dao Seed Realm.

If Elder Song pointed out his mistakes to him… He feared not just disappointing Xuan Hao but also making him feel like handing over the sect’s Alchemy Hall to him might have been a mistake!

In the end, because of this, Pei Yang, who would have originally been hands off in the management of the Alchemy Hall, decided to take direct action in managing the Alchemy Hall following the guidance of Elder Song, who was more than thrilled to see someone take his advice to heart. Especially so because he noticed the actions of Pei Yang had encouraged others who had been somewhat hesitant before to act and make improvements in their part of the sect without any further suggestions from him.