1067 Gathering of the Independent Sects

Following the invasion by the Onyx Empire and their seizure of the Earth Hill Spiritual Metal Mines that had only been protected by a few Domain Lord Realm Experts, the rest of the surrounding empires wasted no time in following in their footsteps. Each of them invading the Sky Empire from different directions as they seized different important resources close to their borders that they had been eyeing for a long time.

Still, none of them dared to move further inside the Sky Empire. Not wanting to be the first who ended up having to fight with the Soul Ascension Realm Experts hiding away inside the capital city of the Sky Empire.

After all, even if the strongest among these Soul Ascension Realm Experts had reached the Second Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm and had no way to compare to the peak experts of these empires who had at least reached the Fourth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm, they still had more than enough numbers to make up for this.

Even if the attacking empire might still be able to win in the long run due to the presence of the peak expert, they would undoubtedly end up suffering a lot of losses. Giving the other empires an opportunity to sweep in and finish both of them.

However, this didn't mean that these empires had given up on trying to invade the core region of the Sky Empire and finish them off once and for all. Instead, it just meant to digest the territory they had conquered before deciding on their next plan of action.

Although this would take a bit longer than just directly rushing to the capital city to fight it out, it was far safer.

…

At the same time that news of the Onyx Empire invading the Sky Empire reached the core region of the Sky Empire, the people from the different independent sects had gathered together to discuss the matter in a remote place hidden away from any potential spies that might still be present inside their sects.

"So… What are we going to do? Are we going to try and support the Sky Empire or are we going to try and stay neutral during this conflict and not involve ourselves?" Seeing that no one said anything for a good five minutes after they had gathered together, Xu Bao was the first to speak up among the different sect representatives present. Breaking the eerie silence that had fallen upon the meeting before it even had a chance to start.

"This… According to the Sect Alliance that was set up by the imperial family before their disappearance, we are supposed to help out, but… Although we are supposed to help out the Sky Empire, we really have no reason to do so considering that the imperial family is gone.

Even if the other sects have all relocated to the capital city, the only reason they did so was because their masters commanded them to do so…" Hesitating for a moment before stepping forward to say this, one of the representatives didn't even bother hiding his intention to not join the war.

"""…"""

Hearing what he said, the other representatives from the independent sects didn't say anything as they all silently agreed with the statement.

Not to mention that the Sky Empire was outclassed by the large number of empires trying to invade them, but the imperial family had also disappeared and was nowhere to be seen.

Although they had been supported to some extend with different resources from the Sky Empire following the establishment of the Sect Alliance, it had only been in place for a few years and was far from enough to make them join a seemingly hopeless fight together with the people whom they considered to be their enemies.

Instead of this, everyone present felt that it would be far better for them to remain on the sidelines during the upcoming war and just go under whichever empire ended up in control of the territory that their sect was located on. At least this way, they would have a better chance at survival compared to if they joined the fight.

"By the way, now that we have all agreed that we won't be joining in on the upcoming war, does anyone know what the Star Shattering Sect is going to do? Senior Xuan did not seem to be present inside the capital city as far as I am aware, so his sect might also have decided to not join the war as well…"

As the conversation about what to do seemed to have silently concluded with everyone in silent agreement on not joining the war, one of the people present suddenly stood up and asked.

Considering that Xuan Hao and his sect was by far the strongest independent sect among the independent sects in the Sky Empire, it made sense to be curious about what their stance on the matter was.

"Hm… Indeed, I haven't heard anything about Senior Xuan recently. Maybe it would be a good idea for us to find out. After all, it seems like his sect should be far more powerful than any of us."

"From what I heard, it seems like the Star Shattering Sect is located somewhere at the border between the Frozen Wastelands and the Sky Empire, I haven't really heard much about the sect other than the fact that it should have only been created a little over a dozen years ago…"

"A dozen years ago!? Looks like the Star Shattering Sect is far more mysterious than I first thought…"

"Indeed, for it to have only been around for a few dozen years and be so strong, it's obvious that it should be a branch of an even more powerful sect or a sect who has only recently emerged from hiding. No matter what it is, the Star Shattering Sect might be far stronger than we first thought…"

As everyone present began sharing what little information they had about the Star Shattering Sect, they slowly became more and more shocked. Realizing that the Star Shattering Sect was far from a simple independent sect that just happened to produce a single powerful expert.

"…"

Hearing all of this, Xu Bao just silently smiled to himself as he thought about how he had long since realized that the Star Shattering Sect should be an ancient hidden sect from the ancient era. 

Although he was not certain at first. After looking into the Star Shattering Sect and finding out how they had seemingly just appeared out of nowhere on an ancient mountain range that had been uninhabitable before ended up fully convincing him that the Star Shattering Sect should be one of those legendary hidden sects.

As for the information floating around about the Star Shattering Sect being the combination of two smaller sects from a now gone kingdom, he didn't think too much about this, as it should just be a rouse created by this ancient hidden sect to conceal their emergence back into the world.

After all, how could two random sects from a border kingdom possibly produce a powerful expert like Xuan Hao?

Even if he had no idea just how strong Xuan Hao was, he estimated that he should at least have reached the Soul Ascension Realm. Possibly even having surpassed that and stepped into a higher realm!

"Ah! Everyone, I seem to have recently heard from one of my friends who visited the border of the Frozen Wasteland for some business, that the Star Shattering Sect had begun aggressively expanding in all directions around themselves.

Even more surprising than this, there were also rumors floating around that the Star Shattering Sect had someone in the Soul Ascension Realm presiding over them. Although I have no idea if this news is real…"

Just at this moment, one of the people present seemed to remember something as he loudly interrupted everyone present to say this.

"Soul Ascension Realm!? Are you sure about that!?"

"Yeah! If that is really the case, they might be strong enough to keep those empires away during the upcoming turmoil!"

Filled with doubt, everyone could not help turning towards the person who had just said that the Star Shattering Sect might have a Soul Ascension Realm Expert. Understandable considering that the independent sects in the Sky Empire had never produced any Peak Domain Lord Realm Experts, let alone someone in the Soul Ascension Realm.

"Yes! I'm certain. Although I didn't have time to confirm this news myself…" Nodding his head as he confirmed his earlier words, it did not take long for everyone present to start exclaiming loudly in surprise-

"Wow! This is amazing, maybe we-"

"Hahaha, a Soul Ascension Realm Expert among us independent sects! That is-"

"Maybe we can-"

"SILENCE!"

However, before things got out of hand, Xu Bao stepped in and silenced everyone before things had a chance to become too chaotic.

"I understand everyone's enthusiasm, but we still have to decided on how we are going to stay neutral during the upcoming turmoil. Even if we want to stay neutral and not involve ourselves, we have no way to guarantee that those empires will leave us alone."

"""…"""

Knowing what Xu Bao said was right, everyone's happy smiles soon turned into frowns as they understood that this was indeed the case.

Although they might want to stay neutral, there was no guarantee that those empires would just leave them alone and allow them to continue existing after getting rid of the Sky Empire, they needed something that could help ensure their safety during the upcoming conflict outside of just staying out of it…