Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Watching how the Ancestor of the Blue Sea Empire ran away without the slightest bit of hesitation while dragging the other Land Creation Realm cultivator along with him, the Blood Sea Demon King who had just reached the edge of the Blue Sea Empire’s core territory could not help letting out a quiet sigh of relief as he signal for the three remaining demonic cultivators following him to take care of the defensive formations that still blocked their path even after the Ancestor of the Blue Sea Empire had decided to run away.

The reason for this along with the relief he felt entirely had to do with the fact that he wasn’t entirely confident that he would be able to topple the Blue Sea Empire before the time limit imposed by the Star Shattering Sect arrived. After all, though he looked fine on the surface and the Ancestor of the Blue Sea Empire had clearly also believed that he still had the ability to fight. Reality was that he was far from capable of fighting anywhere near his peak level after sacrificing close to half of his own soul alongside the blood puppet he had specifically nurtured for thousands of years.

Not to mention, though it looked like the sword formation hadn’t been able to harm his true body, this was far from true, as the sword formation was an attack conjured up by a formation that had surpassed the Profound Immortal Realm. Weakened as it was, it still carried some trace power belonging to the Venerable Realm and one of these trace powers still lingering within the sword formation had been able to directly trace back the link between the blood puppet and his true body and attack it from afar.

If not for him having reacted in time and used a trump card of his own to offset the damage along with the Ancestor of the Blue Sea Empire having directly commanded the sword formation to chase after the five escaping demonic cultivators, there was a very real possibility that the sword formation would have been able to truly kill his true body and soul from afar.

Luckily, the Ancestor of the Blue Sea Empire had mistakenly thought he had already died and ended up forcing the sword formations attention away from him. Allowing him to escape the situation alive.

This might have ended up costing the lives of two demonic cultivators comparable to the Land Creation Realm in the end, but… Compared to him along with the rest of the demonic cultivators of the Frozen Wastelands taking control of a major power like the Blue Sea Empire’s territory within the Northern Core Region of the continent, this kind of loss was worth it. Especially considering the strength that had been displayed during the battle would be enough to intimidate the remaining major powers into tolerating the existence of himself and the rest of the demonic cultivators.

Of course, this kind of situation wouldn’t last for long, and the different major powers of the Northern Central Region would undoubtedly team up to push him and the demonic cultivators under him out and take the territory of the now destroyed Blue Sea Empire for themselves.

However, this was something he had long since expected and had prepared for accordingly, as his goal was never to just take down the Blue Sea Empire to expand the influence of the Frozen Wasteland. Instead, it had to do with something that could be found within the Blue Sea Empire or more specifically the ancient ruins that the Blue Sea Empire had placed its capital city on top of.

Originally, it might have been better to try and sneak inside instead of launching this massive war with the Blue Sea Empire that had ultimately also caused the strength of the Frozen Wasteland to suffer, but considering the location of those ancient ruins, it was pretty much impossible to sneak inside without toppling the Blue Sea Empire.

After all, though it had been simple enough to sneak a blood puppet inside the capital city of the Blue Sea Empire, the entrance to those ancient ruins were located at the very core of the imperial palace and was guarded by countless defensive formations that even someone like the Blood Sea Demon King whose strength was comparable to the Peak of the Land Creation Realm would find himself struggling to get through in a short time.

In fact, as the next few days flew by and the defensive formations guarding the Blue Sea Empire’s capital were fully dismantled and those unable to escape in time were killed off by the demonic cultivators, the Blood Sea Demon King found himself standing in front of those final defensive formations with a hint of resignation on his face.

Originally, he would have been able to force his way through those defensive formations and enter the ancient ruins below the capital city after just a few hours, but having been severely wounded and weakened to the point where he could barely exert strength comparable to the Middle Stage of the Land Creation Realm, he couldn’t forcibly break through those defensive formations in a short period of time and felt that he would at least need a week of continuous effort to break them.

Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t have been a problem, as it would just take a few extra days to break through the defensive formation and reach the ancient ruins where he could begin his search for the thing he had attacked the Blue Sea Empire for in the first place.

However, he had a feeling that he would soon end up facing someone from the Star Shattering Sect, as the time limit, they had imposed would be coming to an end in another two days… And although the larger battle had already come to an end, there were still countless smaller battles across the territory of the Blue Sea Empire, as the countless smaller powers that had existed beneath the Blue Sea Empire continued to fight back against the demonic cultivators.

Normally, the three demonic cultivators with strength comparable to the Land Creation Realm would have been more than enough to suppress any kind of struggle from minor powers like this, but unsurprisingly, these minor powers weren’t without support, as the different major powers stepped in and gave them a hand in resisting the demonic cultivators. Throwing the recently conquered territory of the Frozen Wasteland into increased turmoil that would undoubtedly be picked up by the Star Shattering Sect as a sign that the fighting hadn’t stopped.

In fact, the main reason why the different major powers that should have held back and avoided provoking the demonic cultivators decided to join the struggle and discreetly assist the different minor powers across the territory of the Blue Sea Empire had to do with the Star Shattering Sect, as it was clear to the Blood Sea Demon King that these major powers not only wanted to cause a headache for him, but also wanted to see what the Star Shattering Sect was going to do if the battle continued even after the deadline that had been set down in place by them.

All of them hoping that the Star Shattering Sect would step in and attack the demonic cultivators, as this would give them a chance to reap the benefits of the aftermath and take over the territory of what had once been the Blue Sea Empire.

At the same time, outside of them hoping for the Star Shattering Sect to step in and deal with the demonic cultivators, it also had to do with the simple fact that every single major power that existed within the Northern Central Region had grown immensely curious about just how strong the Star Shattering Sect was, as it hadn’t shown any power beyond the Sea Formation Realm so far… And to directly state their intention of interfering with a battle between the Blue Sea Empire and the Frozen Wastelands was a clear sign that the strength of this ancient hidden sect far surpassed that level.

The question on everyone’s mind was now just how powerful the person who would ultimately be dispatched by the Star Shattering Sect would be, with some of the ancestors of the different major powers even wondering if the Star Shattering Sect would be capable of directly dispatching someone who had reached the Star Creation Realm.

If someone in that realm really did end up appearing, it was likely that the Star Shattering Sect wouldn’t just be considered a major force within the Northern Central Region, but it would most likely also end up entering the eyes of the different major powers from the Southern Central Region. Especially those who already had dealings and trade agreements with the different major powers from the Northern Central Region, as the emergence of such a powerful new force could undoubtedly affect these prior relationships to some extent depending on the attitude and plans of the Star Shattering Sect regarding potential future development in the Northern Central Region.