1032 Domain Lord... Zu Fei...?
Along the way to where Shu Yao was waiting for him, Shen Xuefeng could not hold back her curiosity as she used the little time, she had together with him to ask all sorts of question. From simple questions relating to her cultivation and how she should prepare for reaching the Domain Lord Realm in the future, she also asked about the Sky Empire and beyond. Filled to the brim with curiosity about what lay outside the constantly expanding borders of the Star Shattering Sect.
As he didn't see any reason in not telling her about the Sky Empire and the world outside of it, Xuan Hao happily shared his most recent journey to the Blue Sea Empire, causing her to open her eyes wide in surprise upon hearing about the fight between the two Earth Immortals from the Blue Sea Empire and the snake demon beast that had similarly reached the Earth Immortal Realm.
Obviously, this was the first time she heard about the realm that came after the Soul Ascension Realm, a realm she hadn't even thought about existing after hearing how powerful Soul Ascension Realm Experts were from one of her senior sisters.
The Domain Lord Realm was already powerful and beyond that was the even stronger Soul Ascension Realm. If that was the case, just how powerful was someone in the Earth Immortal Realm…?
As she was left thinking about this while listening to Xuan Hao's detailed description of the fight he had watched, Shen Xuefeng felt herself getting pumped up over the thought of reaching the Earth Immortal Realm-
"I will take my leave Grand Elder Xuan!"
And after Xuan Hao finished up retelling the battle he had witnessed, Shen Xuefeng excused herself before rushing back to try and break through to the Ninth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm as fast as possible so she could begin trying to reach the Domain Lord Realm. "Senior sister, Elder Song and a few others are waiting in the pavilion over there!" Only barely pointing him in the direction of a pavilion not too far away before she disappeared out of sight.
"…"
Not knowing what to say as he was left alone a little over a hundred meters away from the pavilion that Shen Xuefeng had pointed him towards, Xuan Hao could only blame himself for getting her fired up for cultivating. If she really ended up being successful in reaching the Ninth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm due to this. Maybe she might even end up reaching the Domain Lord Realm before Zu Fei…
No… Zu Fei already created a pseudo domain and is only a single step away from the Domain Lord Realm. The only way for Shen Xuefeng to stand a chance at reaching the Domain Lord Realm faster than her, is if she manages to create a pseudo domain of her own directly after reaching the Ninth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm!
Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao could not help looking back in the direction that Shen Xuefeng had run off in. For some reason, he could not help looking forward to seeing if she could really create a pseudo domain of her own directly after breaking through to the Ninth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.
After all, in terms of talent alone, Shen Xuefeng was far above that of any other elder in the Star Shattering Sect. Even Feng Chen and Shu Yao, who had reached the Domain Lord Realm, were inferior to her.
Maybe in the entire Star Shattering Sect, the only ones comparable to her in terms of talent were his own disciples!
"Shen Xuefeng… I hope you successfully break through…"
Not intending to stand around for any longer as quite a few disciples and elders walking by had started recognizing him, Xuan Hao quietly took a step forward before appearing directly in front of the pavilion before making his way inside.
"Zu Fei!?"
Seeing someone he did not expect the moment he entered the pavilion as he didn't really investigate the place with his divine sense, Xuan Hao could not help letting out a somewhat surprised exclamation.
Considering how she had seemingly disappeared from the sect as she focused all of her energy on trying to reach the Domain Lord Realm so as to not get left behind by Shu Yao and Feng Chen, he really didn't expect to see her so fast after the meeting with the different powers under the Star Shattering Sect ended.
"Xuan Hao! You are here!" Hearing her name being called out, Zu Fei reacted quickly, as she turned around and excitedly called out to him.
"Hm? Wait… This aura…" Suddenly realizing something different about Zu Fei compared to how she had been a few days earlier before he had ended up in the Blue Sea Empire, Xuan Hao narrowed both of his eyes as he used his divine sense to examine her-
"You… You reached the Domain Lord Realm!?" Not a second later, he unconsciously exclaimed in surprise once again, as he realized that Zu Fei had actually managed to reach the Domain Lord Realm. Not only that, but from her stable and calm aura, it was obvious that she had somehow managed to stabilize her strength already.
I should only have been gone for a little over two days. How in the world did she manage to break through to the Domain Lord Realm and also stabilize her strength in such a short period of time? From my earlier calculations, it should at least have taken her three years to reach the Domain Lord Realm. Maybe two in the best-case scenario…
Filled with questions as he stared directly at Zu Fei, it was rather obvious to everyone present inside the pavilion that he wanted to know how she had managed to break through to the Domain Lord Realm in the short time that he had been gone from the sect. Not only that, but also how she had managed to stabilize her cultivation base so quickly.
"Xuan Hao, allow me to explain…" Being the first to pick up on the questions that Xuan Hao had, Elder Song stepped forward before starting to explain what had happened after he left the sect to chase after the core disciple from the Heavenly Dragon Temple.
…
A few days earlier after Xuan Hao left the sect…
"Is this the place the commotion from earlier came from?" Arriving at the Fifth Star Peak, Shu Yao narrowed both of her eyes as she scanned the surroundings with her divine sense. Leaving no stone unturned as she was fully prepared for combat.
Whoosh~
"Yes… Xuan Hao informed me that someone managed to sneak inside the sect during the meeting and he chased after them. The person already used some kind of teleportation talisman to escape, and Xuan Hao chased after him, but… I have no idea what that thing on the Fifth Star Peak is, Xuan Hao didn't mention it before chasing after the intruder…"
Arriving beside her at this time, Feng Chen nodded his head as he told her about what Xuan Hao had said to him before chasing after the core disciple from the Heavenly Dragon Temple before turning to curiously look at the strange staircase that had popped up from the water on the Fifth Star Peak. Not knowing what it was, as Xuan Hao hadn't said anything about it before chasing after the core disciple from the Heavenly Dragon Temple.
"I see, we should probably leave it alone until Xuan Hao returns. After all, even if the Shattered Star Peaks are now essentially our main sect grounds, it still has a lot of unknown dangers hidden inside of it."
"Indeed, waiting for Xuan Hao is the best option as he is also the one with most experience regarding the Shattered Star Peaks. Especially considering that he examined all of them before choosing the Seventh Star Peak as the best location for the sect to be built."
Both concluding that it was best to wait for Xuan Hao to return before thinking about investigating the strange staircase that had popped up from the water at the Fifth Star Peak, they suddenly noticed that someone was approaching.
"Hm? Zu Fei? Elder Song? What are you two doing here?"
"Sect Master, Grand Elder, we just came here because of the earlier commotion, but from the looks of things, everything has already been solved."
"Yeah, good job you two… I just tagged along because I thought it would be dangerous for Elder Song to come here by himself. After all, the fluctuations from earlier were at least in the Domain Lord Realm-"
RUMBLE-!
Just as Zu Fei was about to finish her sentence, a loud rumbling sound suddenly echoed out from the Fifth Star Peak before a bright light lit up beneath the surface of the water-
Whooosh~
And before any of them had the chance to react, a terrifying wind swept through the surroundings-
"Huh?"
Knocking the dumbstruck Zu Fei into the air and down the spiral staircase that had emerged at the top of the water…
