Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

With an increasing number of wandering cultivators starting to move towards the Star Shattering Sect’s territory, it should have drawn the attention of surrounding major powers under normal circumstances.

However, the different major powers from the Northern Central Region found themselves far too busy dealing with the demonic cultivators that became an increasingly real threat to their continued existence and power. None of them had much time to care about what the wandering cultivators below them were up to. Much less so considering that the newly built Bright Stone City had yet to draw any truly powerful wandering cultivators.

Even then, though the different major powers didn’t notice the change, the Explorer Union wasn’t the same, as the different branches almost immediately noticed the increased concentration and strength of wandering cultivators inside the territory of the Star Shattering Sect. Wasting no time as they sent out people to investigate the situation, believing that some kind of ancient ruin that they might be interested in had emerged.

But… As those sent out by the Explorer Union realized that the wandering cultivators hadn’t been drawn out by the emergence of some new ruins, it didn’t take long for the Explorer Union to retreat again. Clearly having no interest in the city that had been built by the Star Shattering Sect at the base of the Third Star Peak even after knowing about the existence of an exchange hall that would directly cut their own profits in the region.

The reason for this was rather simple, the current Star Shattering Sect was not an entity that could be easily offended at its current strength, while the overall loss in revenue for the Explorer Union was almost non-existent to a power the size of the Explorer Union. Not to mention, when accounting for the large quantity of cultivation resources that the Star Shattering Sect bought and sold through the Explorer Union, there was absolutely no reason for the Explorer Union to carelessly go against the Star Shattering Sect and jeopardize this relationship.

In a sense, the large quantity of cultivation resources that the Star Shattering Sect was trading with them on a monthly basis, was the main reason why the Explorer Union decided to entirely ignore the Bright Stone City instead of insisting on establishing a branch location inside the newly built city for wandering cultivators.

Although not a large concession, it was still something rare for the Explorer Union that had long since grown used to establishing itself everywhere except for a few major powers like the Blue Sea Empire, where their relationship had ended preventing them from establishing themselves without facing hostile retaliations.

Most importantly, the Explorer Union already had several branches spread throughout the territory of the Star Shattering Sect and even had a branch located a short distance away from the Shattered Star Peaks. Ensuring that the wandering cultivators who still wanted to make use of the Explorer Union were still able to easily access it without encountering any problems along the way.

After all, though the distance between the Shattered Star Peaks and the old Flying Sword Sect might be long to someone in the Qi Condensation or Foundation Establishment Realm, it was nothing to someone in the Domain Lord Realm. Only a few steps and one would be able to find themselves in front of the Flying Sword City that had a rather sizeable Explorer Union Branch emerge over the past few years.

Speaking of the old Flying Sword Sect, it had now turned into one of the most prominent branches of the Star Shattering Sect and was also considered the gathering place for the sect’s most promising talents with a chance to officially enter the main sect in the future, something that also had to do with the fact that taking up a teaching position at the Flying Sword Sect was far simpler than any of the sect’s other branches.

Not because it was closer to the main sect at the Shattered Star Peak, as the teleportation network of the sect solved most such problems inside the sect’s territory. Instead, it was because the disciples at the old Flying Sword Sect were far more talented than the rest of the disciples from the rest of the branch sects.

Or…

In simpler terms, those young talents were far more independent compared to disciples from other branch sects. Having their own training regiments and schedule to follow. Allowing the elders lucky enough to find themselves working as teachers at the old Flying Sword sect to slack off far more and focus the extra on cultivating themselves.

Of course, there was limits to this, but it was a matter of fact that these talented disciples worked hard on their own with the clear goal of entering the main sect standing right before them. Ensuring that none of them slacked off, as they had been carefully chosen and fought their way into becoming part of the old Flying Sword Sect in the first place.

Far better than ending up as the elder in charge of one of the branch sects located along the border between the Star Shattering Sect and the Frozen Wastelands, as the elders in charge of those branch sects not only had to teach the younger disciples, but also had to ensure a safe teaching environment by keeping out any demonic cultivators who might have managed to sneak past the sect’s multilayered defensive system at the border.

In a sense, the different branch sect’s at the border also served as another layer of defense against potential demonic cultivators sneaking deep into the territory of the sect. Meaning that the elders who ended up there were not just teachers, but also guardians who had to keep an eye out for any demonic cultivator who might be attempting to sneak past the small sphere of influence that had been granted to them.

The branch sects at the other sections of the sect’s border served a similar purpose in stopping hostile and demonic cultivators from entering the territory of the sect. The difference between the two being that there wasn’t really any threat they had to guard against unlike those stuck close to the border with the Frozen Wastelands or the neighboring kingdoms that had already been overrun with demonic cultivators.

The running of the sect’s branches aside, the influx in wandering cultivators did end up causing far more unrest inside the relatively stable territory of the Star Shattering Sect, as it was far from every wandering cultivator who had stepped into the territory of the Star Shattering Sect that had come with kind intentions.

From the normal wandering cultivators that just came to seek an opportunity or a quiet environment to cultivate at the base of the Third Star Peak inside the new city that directly fell under the protection of an ancient hidden sect like the Star Shattering Sect to those who had followed the masses with the hope of striking it rich by forcibly seizing cultivation resources from others- or in simple term, steal from others.

The increase in theft, killing and overall unrest was something Elder Song and the rest of the sect’s elders had long since predicted with a sudden surge in wandering cultivators rushing into the sect’s territory.

So, without much suspense, Elder Song and the rest announced countless new missions for the younger disciples to help calm down the unrest where it emerged, escort weaker wandering cultivators and hunt down those who resorted to killing normal mortals or those under the protection of the Star Shattering Sect itself, which was essentially the different local powers who ended up being the first to suffer from this influx in wandering cultivators.

Although this did still end up resulting in a lot of harm, the situation did not take long to stabilize as the sect’s disciples and elders alike began to go out to personally calm down the growing unrest.

In a way, the emergence of these wandering cultivators was not just beneficial to the Star Shattering Sect when they would inevitably show up to spend their wealth at Bright Stone City, but also the experience they would provide for the sect’s younger generation.

After all, though the sect could now provide them with combat experience by facing demonic cultivators and demon beast with relative ease, it was still somewhat difficult for the younger disciples to go through the struggles of facing other cultivators and learning how to communicate with them… And of course, also a brand-new kind of life and death situation that they wouldn’t encounter just by facing off against demon beasts and demonic cultivators.

In the short span of a few days, the sect turned the initial chaotic situation in a precious opportunity for the sect’s younger disciples to take full advantage of, while at the same time also using the opportunity to display the strength of the Star Shattering Sect itself throughout its territory. Making most who had come to cause trouble and take advantage of the chaos think twice about messing around.