Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Watching the entire situation playing out from above and having long since realized what the Core Formation Realm cultivator was up to through his divine sense, Xuan Hao didn’t jump down to save the damsel in distress, but instead decided to watch silently as the little prince was hit by the terrifying explosive force generated by a Core Formation Realm cultivator sacrificing himself.

Not because he wanted to see the young prince die, but because he had already sensed that the forbidden technique used by the Core Formation Realm cultivator to detonate his golden core was incomplete and didn’t bring out the full power of what it had been supposed to bring out. Even if the young prince ended up in a bad state following the explosion, he would survive and wouldn’t take any serious damage that couldn’t be recovered from.

Of course, not taking any serious damage and being able to recover was only something from his point of view, but from the view of the young prince and his Nascent Soul Realm senior, he had essentially been crippled by that attack. Not only damaging his dantian, but also his physical body to the point where it would be difficult to move for the next few weeks.

Damage to this extent and with recovery essentially impossible for such a small kingdom that barely had a few seniors at the Nascent Soul Realm, would undoubtedly result in the status of the little prince taking a significant hit.

In Xuan Hao’s eyes, it was a perfect opportunity to test the little prince without even needing to use the Dao of Illusions. After all, as precise as the Dao of Illusion could be, it couldn’t compare to the real thing, as it was difficult to copy people he didn’t know anything about ahead of time. This fact being rather obvious in the illusion that he had trapped Lu Dongli inside of, as most of it essentially boiled down to sealing her away and having her go through secluded seclusion without much outside interaction.

Even if he wasn’t accurate when it came to copying her parents, it didn’t matter much with how all her attention had been focused on solving the problem of her ice physique.

The only problem with this way of doing things was the fact that it was going to take at least a few weeks before the challenge of the little prince who had now lost his strength would be done.

So, while the panicked Nascent Soul Realm cultivator still hadn’t realized that he wouldn’t be able to help the little prince recover, Xuan Hao decided to pay Lu Dongli another visit and officially recruit her to become his seventh disciple.

Leaving behind a wisp of his divine sense on Jiang Li to continue monitoring his situation from afar and safe him in case he encountered any deadly threat. Confident that the little bit of divine sense he had left behind would be more than enough to solve any problems or dangers he might run into, as no matter how little or how weak that tiny bit of divine sense was, it still belonged to someone in the Land Creation Realm.

The pressure that could be exerted through that tiny bit of divine sense alone was more than enough to crush someone at the Soul Ascension Realm to death.

…

Unaware of anything that was happening around him after the Core Formation Realm cultivator essentially blew himself up, Jiang Li could barely comprehend that he had been picked up before being carried back to the capital before losing consciousness from the pain coursing through his entire body. Wondering if this might be the end for him before darkness claimed him.

But…

He survived and woke up back inside his room after what his servant told him was three days that the best healers and alchemists within the palace had done everything in their power to help him stay alive.

However, though they managed to keep him alive, his cultivation couldn’t be saved, as his dantian had been far too damaged alongside his body to do anything.

Although his cultivation remained intact, he couldn’t draw on any of the spiritual qi in his dantian, as his meridians had all shattered like glass and even a small bit of spiritual qi flowing through them caused a level of pain that he had never experienced before. Making it impossible for him to even attempt to heal the injuries he had suffered on his own.

The only way for him to recover was to use a special pill that could repair the dantian and meridians, but such a pill was not something his family could get their hands on even if they wanted to, as such a precious pill could only be refined by a legendary Master Alchemist. An existence whose status surpassed even that of a Domain Lord Realm cultivator.

Because of this, after a few days of asking around for potential solutions while he had been knocked out, his family essentially gave up hope of him recovering fully. Understanding that there was no way for them to get the help of a Master Alchemist even if they offered everything of value inside the kingdom treasury.

Jiang Li also understood this, but he felt unwilling to simply give up and after a few days of getting used to his new state, he threw himself into grueling training to try and force his dantian and meridians back together. Ignoring the unbearable pain in the process, as he managed to at least recover a part of his physical strength to the point where he could barely fight someone at the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Although nowhere near comparable to the level of strength he had shown when fighting the Core Formation Realm cultivator, it was more than enough to shock the ones from his family who hadn’t believed he would be able to ever recover from the injuries he had suffered.

During the entire process, he completely ignored any taunting that he received from peers he had beaten in the past until he surpassed them a second time around even in his injured state.

Arrogant as he might have been, it wasn’t without reason, as he was truly confident in himself and always did everything in his power to ensure that he remained at the top. Training far harder than his peers.

Even without a special divine physique to aid him, he would have still been at the top, though nowhere near the same level he ended up with a divine physique aiding him.

In the end, by the time Xuan Hao had successfully recruited Lu Dongli and managed to get her settled into the Star Shattering Sect after explaining everything about her special physique and what cultivation realm she needed to reach to no longer have to worry about turning into a human popsicle, Jiang Li had already managed to carve a brand new path for himself that didn’t rely on his meridian or dantian. Relying entirely on his powerful physical body.

Normally, this would have been impossible considering the injuries he had suffered, but thanks to the special divine physique, it became possible for him to continue strengthening his physical body without a dantian or spiritual qi to rely on. Making Xuan Hao realize that Jiang Li’s divine physique might not be as similar to Qing Yi’s divine physique as he had originally thought.

Still, one thing had at least become certain from his observation of this young prince, who seemed to have perfectly adapted to the sudden change to his life, and that was the fact that he had a love for fighting that he had only ever seen from his second disciple Chu Yang… And this made him think about another way to handle this talented little prince.

Given that the system of his was for taking on disciples, would it perhaps trigger some kind of special reward if his disciples took on disciples of their own?

As soon as this thought emerged, it was difficult to ignore, as Xuan Hao felt that it made perfect sense.

Not to mention, Chu Yang had already grown up and couldn’t be considered to be young any longer. At least from a mortal’s perspective. So, taking on a disciple of his own would be perfectly normal.

Even better, this little prince was perfect for him, as both had a similar love for fighting.

This had nothing to do with him not wanting another disciple who came to him looking for a fight whenever he returned to the sect–no, it definitely didn’t have anything to do with that, he was just looking out for his second disciple and allowing him to experience what his old master had to go through.

Chu Yang potentially not having the time to look for his old master to spar was just a side bonus in Xuan Hao’s eyes, as he was far more interested in finding out what would happen when one of his disciples took on a disciple of their own for the first time.