1061 Journey Back
"Wh-what am I supposed to do now!?" Following Yi Min leaving together with Xuan Hao to recover the Shattered Star Peaks, the muscular Domain Lord Realm Expert could not help loudly exclaiming to himself as he looked down at all the different materials, he had prepared for repairing the formation.
Now that his master had left, these materials would just end up gathering dust on their own, as he had no way to repair the formation without the guidance of his master.
Not only that, but without his master around, he understood that some people might start to grow suspicious and start thinking about ways to take advantage of the situation to benefit themselves.
"I… I won't get a moment of rest before master returns…" Muttering this to himself as he looked out in the direction where the different important families and clans that had helped Yi Min manage the Iron Sky Kingdom in the past, the muscular Domain Lord realized that he would be visiting them a lot of the next few months.
Even if these families and clans had supported the Iron Sky Kingdom without showing any hint of greed or disloyalty, he knew that they were just lacking an opportunity. Especially the younger generations, who had been punished by him and Yi Min's guards whenever they caused trouble.
…
At the same time that the muscular Domain Lord was lamenting over being left to deal with the management of the Iron Sky Kingdom for the next few months, Yi Min was curiously observing the ground below her while being caried by Xuan Hao.
During their journey to the Star Shattering Sect, Yi Min decided to make full use of her time to observe the different kingdoms that they passed through. Observing their strength and how stable these kingdoms were.
As a result of this, she noticed that most of these kingdoms were in a state of instability or had directly collapsed into a gathering of smaller powers vying for power over the territory.
The reason for this was not too hard to find, as she noticed several people from different empires creating discord between the powers of these different kingdoms. Doing their best to create instability that would destroy these kingdoms from the inside.
Although this would not influence the Sky Empire in the short term, the chaos starting in the border regions of the empire would inevitably end up spreading towards the core region where the more powerful kingdoms were located. Giving these empires a chance to swoop in and take over a large chunk of territory without much resistance.
At least for now, it looked like kingdoms with Domain Lord Realm Experts, or a lot of Peak Nascent Soul Realm Experts had managed to escape this chaos for now, but… It would only be a matter of time before they would also be targeted.
"Hm? Are we inside the territory of the Star Shattering Sect?" Because of this, Yi Min immediately noticed when the chaotic atmosphere below her changed into a far more peaceful one with close to no people running around causing problems.
"Yes, this can be considered the current borders of the Star Shattering Sect. Although, with Elder Song around, I doubt it will remain the border for long…" Nodding his head in response, Xuan Hao could not help giving Yi Min a curious look. Silently wondering how she knew they had entered the territory of the Star Shattering Sect. After all, it was not like there was any border patrol or branch sect nearby for her to identify.
Not paying any attention to the curious look from Xuan Hao, Yi Min was instead busy observing the land below. The obvious change after entering the territory of the Star Shattering Sect made her curious about how the Star Shattering Sect managed its territory. Especially given that the current place they were flying over should not have been part of the Star Shattering Sect's territory for more than a few months.
"How did you manage to stabilize the territory so quickly? Shouldn't it have been a kingdom at war with you only a few months earlier?" Not able to contain her curiosity, Yi Min turned away from the ground below and stared directly up at Xuan Hao.
"The kingdom below is…" Hearing what Yi Min said, Xuan Hao turned his attention towards the kingdom below. Not taking long to identify the kingdom as the Cloud Sky Kingdom. The kingdom where Ji Yichuan, the former demonic cultivator had ended up settling down after joining the Flowing Cloud Sect.
"It should be the Cloud Sky Kingdom; it has been under the Star Shattering Sect for a few years already. Not to mention, it willingly came under the Star Shattering Sect. If the Star Shattering Sect couldn't even manage a place that willingly came to our side, it would be quite an embarrassing ordeal…"
Saying this, Xuan Hao could not help chuckling a bit at the surprised expression on Yi Min's face.
Clearly, she did not expect that the kingdom below them was a kingdom that had willingly joined the Star Shattering Sect years ago. After all, she had only recently learnt about the Star Shattering Sect expanding into the surrounding kingdom. Not having learnt that the Star shattering Sect had already expanded years ago.
At the same time, Yi Min also came to the realization that she had no idea how large the territory under the Star Shattering Sect was, nor did she have any idea just how strong it was.
The only thing she had really learnt of the Star Shattering Sect was the fact that it was the sect that Xuan Hao was from and that was it…
In an instance, Yi Min's curiosity reached the peak as she could not wait to see the Star Shattering Sect.
…
Not flying too fast so as to let Yi Min take examine her surroundings with what little divine sense she could muster in her current state, the towering mountains of the Shattered Star Peaks soon became visible in the distance.
"Huh?"
Lifting her head to see the towering mountains of the Shattered Star Peaks appearing in the distance, Yi Min could not help asking this as she looked towards the nine mountains towering above the surrounding grass plains.
Although she had seen her fair share of large mountains when she wandered around during her earlier years, the Shattered Star Peaks were by far the tallest mountains she had ever seen. Especially the Main Star Peak that looked like it was piercing through the sky and reaching into the heavens above.
"Is that the Star Shattering Sect…?" Not knowing whether or not a sect could be built on top of mountains like that, Yi Min could not help hesitantly asking this as she kept her gaze focused on the towering mountains slowly growing larger in the distance.
"Yes, the mountains are known as the Shattered Star Peaks and the Star Shattering Sect is located at the peak of the Seventh Star Peak." Feeling an unknown sense of pride when he saw the amazed look on Yi Min's face, Xuan Hao smiled happily as he confirmed her doubts.
"To think a sect can be built in such a place… I never really understood why sects always chose to build on top of mountains instead of just staying on the ground. Even if there is less qi between heaven and earth, it can be made up for with the help of a qi gathering formation. Not to mention, its far easier to expand if one is located on the ground…"
"…"
Hearing what Yi Min said, Xuan Hao's earlier happiness disappeared as he was left speechless. Having no idea how to respond to what Yi Min said. In a sense, she was correct, the Star Shattering Sect would be able to expand faster on flat ground where there was no need to worry about running out of mountains to build on…
But thinking about it for more than two seconds, Xuan Hao realized that this would be impossible considering that the chaotic qi formation required the chaotic qi that was especially dense in the Shattered Star Peaks to function properly.
Then again, it still made him wonder why other sects decided to establish themselves on top of mountains instead of on the ground. Maybe it was just a cultural thing that sects had to be located somewhere with mountains or directly on top of a mountain…
"Oh!? You do have a city! I didn't even notice it before." Not aware of the fact that she had made Xuan Hao question the choice of sects to establish themselves on top of mountains instead of on the ground like most other powers did, Yi Min excitedly called out as she spotted the city located at the base of the Ninth Star Peak.
The city in question had been first established by the Flying Sword Sect long ago but following the Flying Sword Sect and the Spring Flower Sect merging together and moving their main sect to the Shattered Star Peaks, it had undergone a process of rapid development.
In the end, it had now become a massive city housing over a million people. Most of which were related to the Star Shattering Sect in one way or another.
