Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Outside of just starting the construction of a secondary city at the base of the Third Star Peak for the wandering cultivators who wanted to stay close to the Shattered Star Peaks to take advantage of the better cultivation environment, Elder Song also decided to establish a few shops run by the sect along with a large marketplace at the core of the new city that would be directly sanctioned by the sect to hopefully gather the different wandering cultivators setting up markets on their own. Lastly, following the suggestion of another elder, it was also decided that the sect would establish an auction house inside the new city. Giving the sect a way to offload some of the more high-end artifacts and spiritual herbs that didn’t see any use inside the sect, while at same time also building the sect’s reputation in the eyes of wandering cultivators.

In a way, if the Explorer Union ever came again and wanted to establish themselves inside the Falling Star City when the sect itself ultimately became more well known in the core regions of the continent, there would always be the chance to push them into this secondary city and ensure that the Explorer Union wouldn’t be able to interfere directly with the sect while at the same time keeping the friendly relationship in place.

After all, even though the Star Shattering Sect had expanded by a lot over the past few years and had managed to become selfsustained in many ways, it was still difficult to offload excess spiritual herbs or other things without the assistance of the Explorer Union and some spiritual materials were simply impossible for the sect to acquire without the assistance of the Explorer Union.

Although Elder Song and several other elders wanted to avoid having to rely on the Explorer Union for trade and had somewhat managed to accomplish this when it came to lower level cultivation resources, the sect was still somewhat reliant on the Explorer Union when it came to acquiring unique resources and selling off excess production that couldn’t be consumed internally by the sect.

With the peace that existed between the Star Shattering Sect and Blue Sea Empire for now as the latter was busy dealing with demonic cultivators attempting to push past their borders, the sect had been able to start trade with other nearby kingdoms and empires.

Unfortunately… These kingdoms and empires were simply far too weak and far from the core region to provide any real benefit to the sect outside of a large quantity of spirit stones that would in turn be used to buy higher quality cultivation resources from the Explorer Union or to directly help run the sect.

What the Star Shattering Sect needed now was a way to procure higher quality cultivation resources and rare cultivation resources that couldn’t normally be found inside the territory of the sect without having to go through the Explorer Union… And one of the experimental ways to do this was through wandering cultivators who tended to wander the continent and acquire all kinds of unique treasures and resources along the way. In a way, this was the main purpose behind the construction of the second city at the base of the Third Star Peak.

Of course, this was not something Elder Song or the rest expected to happen immediately, but over time as the reputation of the city grew amongst wandering cultivators and attracted stronger wandering cultivators. The one behind the proposal of the auction house run by the sect even hoped to use this auction house to draw stronger wandering cultivators to the city faster by using some precious artifacts, pills or other cultivation resources as bait.

If it came down to it, the sect could also make one of the shops established by the sect one that sold techniques and cultivation manuals deemed fine to release. Allowing the wandering cultivators to see a chance of advancing further through the sect, something that would undoubtedly be precious to wandering cultivators who had been blindly making their way through the cultivation world without any mentor or clear cultivation path.

After all, techniques or cultivation manuals released by the Star Shattering Sect were different from those that normally appeared on a normal market accessible to wandering cultivators, as their quality would be directly guaranteed by the Star Shattering Sect itself. Ensuring that these cultivators would get what they paid for and didn’t have to worry about potentially being scammed like they might have been in the past when buying cultivation manuals or techniques from someone they didn’t know and likely wouldn’t ever see again.

But outside of just cultivation manuals and combat techniques, the sect could also earn a lot by establishing a simple exchange hall next to the shops and auction house operated by the sect and take on a similar role as the Explorer Union. Buying up cultivation resources from these wandering cultivators for spirit stones.

Although all of this would require a rather sizeable investment in both resources and manpower from the sect to make reality, the resources diverted from the expansion of the Falling Star City was more than enough to cover this for now. Not to mention, the main things the sect would be selling were things that they had in excess and were already selling to the Explorer Union or techniques that were deemed to be of no real importance in keeping hidden.

Even then… The second news of the city at the base of the Third Star Peak being constructed reached the wandering cultivators who had been camping around the Shattered Star Peaks. All of them were overcome with excitement. Not just because of the different shops and other things that the Star Shattering Sect was going to set up, but more so the simple fact that the construction of this second city meant that the Star Shattering Sect wouldn’t be driving them away, something a large portion of the wandering cultivators had started fearing after noticing the increasingly large number of wandering cultivators starting to gather close to the Shattered Star Peaks.

In the future, they would be able to enjoy the benefits brought by cultivating close to the Shattered Star Peaks without having to worry about being driven away.

As for the cost of staying in this new second city being constructed at the base of the Third Star Peak? None of these wandering cultivators worried about any of this, as Elder Song had already gathered a few of the stronger wandering cultivators and informed them that the sect wouldn’t do anything beyond guiding the general layout of the city itself and ensure safety by having a Soul Ascension Realm Elder oversee the city along with a few weaker elders and disciples.

In other words, it wouldn’t cost anything to enter the city itself, and the sect would ensure some degree of safety. If anyone wanted to get their hands on a plot of land inside the city borders, they could do so for a small fee that even someone at the Foundation Establishment Realm could afford. Paying a fixed amount of spirit stones every year to keep said plot of land.

As for what they would do with that land… The Star Shattering Sect didn’t really have any restriction, be it an inn, a restaurant, a home or even a spiritual fruit farm, everyone was welcome to do whatever they wanted.

Unsurprisingly, the wandering cultivators were more than happy with this kind of arrangement and even took down their hastily constructed abodes scattered around the Shattered Star Peaks to help with the initial construction of the city.

After all, outside of all the benefits that were provided by this newly established city directly under the Star Shattering Sect’s protection, there was also the simple fact that this city had limited space.

Even if it expanded in the future, it was clear that the locations close to the market, auction, exchange hall and shops run by the Star Shattering Sect itself would be the most important locations in this city and at the same time also the ones that would be best suited for setting up shops of their own.

Because of this, with the assistance of close to a thousand wandering cultivators ranging from the Earlier Stages of the Qi Condensation Realm all the way to the Nascent Soul Realm, a city soon emerged at the base of the Third Star Peak. Built with a clear path that went through the city and up the Third Star Peak for those at the end of their life who wanted to make a last attempt at breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm before their lifespan ran out.

In a way, the newly constructed city was also a good way for these close to dead seniors to enjoy themselves and calm themselves before making that final attempt at overcoming the bottleneck to the Nascent Soul Realm, someone who would undoubtedly spend a lot of spirit stones, as they had no idea of knowing if this would be their last time with an opportunity to do so. After all, it was rare for wandering cultivators at the Peak of the Core Formation and the end of their lifespan to still have family they cared for still left in the world…