482 Returning to the Sec

Returning back to the Flying Sword Sect only a few short minutes after Qing Yi and the other elders, Xuan Hao was greeted by his youngest disciple Bai Ning the moment he stepped into his pavilion again after being gone for the past few months.

"Master!"

"Haha, great to see you again as well."

Seeing Bai Ning run over to greet him, Xuan Hao could not help smiling a bit to himself as he happily greeted the young boy.

The seventh stage of the Qi Condensation Realm… Looks like I will have to spend a little more time training him before I go to the Shattered Star Peaks…

Noticing that Bai Ning's cultivation base had not improved as much as he had expected for it to during the time he and Qing Yi were gone, Xuan Hao decided to stay for a few days at the Flying Sword Sect before leaving for the Shattered Star Peaks.

In the first place, I will also have to check up with Chu Yang and see how he is doing now that he broke through to the Core Formation Realm.

Thinking this to himself as he looked over Bai Ning happily standing beside him.

"Let's go and see how your senior brother and sister are doing, I would also love to hear what you've been up to over the past few weeks!"

"Really!?"

"Yes, I'm also quite interested in learning how far your blacksmithing skills have managed to progress and if you managed to make any new friends at the Blacksmithing Hall."

"Hm, I made quite a lot of progress during the last few weeks and even managed to work together on an artifact with one of the-"

Listening to Bai Ning talking about what he had gone through during the time he was not there, Xuan Hao could not help smiling wryly to himself upon learning how many elders in the Blacksmithing Hall, that he had ended up becoming friends with.

In the end, Bai Ning had not managed to make a single friend around his own age, but had instead ended up befriending most of the elders from the Blacksmithing Hall during his frequent visits…

Of course, it also helped that he was a personal disciple of a core elder and could easily move around the sect and talk with the many elders without having to worry too much about his position as a disciple.

After all, the personal disciples of core elders, were viewed as future elders and possible core elders of the sect!

Thinking this to himself as he made his way further inside the pavilion together with Bai Ning, Xuan Hao could not help shaking his head.

Maybe he should help his disciple find a few similarly aged friends among the disciples of the Flying Sword Sect?

"Maybe I should take him with me to the next entrance examination…"

Muttering this to himself without Bai Ning hearing anything, Xuan Hao began making plans for how he could ensure that his youngest disciple got some friends around his age in the future.

…

"You reached the Core Formation Realm!?"

<br/>"Yeah, I guess you will have to reach the Core Formation Realm if you don't want to get left too far behind dear senior sister~"

A few minutes before Xuan Hao had returned to the Flying Sword Sect, Qing Yi had arrived back at the pavilion. Only to discover that Chu Yang had actually managed to break through to the Core Formation Realm during the time that she had been away with her master!

"You-!"

Grinding her teeth upon seeing the cheeky smile plastered all over Chu Yang's face, Qing Yi felt that her status as the senior sister had been challenged and resolved herself to enter seclusion to break through to the Core Formation Realm herself.

No matter what, she did not intend to get left behind by Chu Yang.

"Hmph! The only reason why you managed to reach the Core Formation Realm before me, was because I was participating in the alchemy competition together with master! In another month or two, I will also be able to reach the Core Formation Realm!"

Rustle~

Not waiting for Chu Yang to respond to her, Qing Yi directly left before returning to her room to begin cultivating.

In the first place, she had come to brag about the fact that she had gotten second place during the alchemy competition, but in the end, Chu Yang's break through to the Core Formation Realm had completely caught her off-guard.

"With the resources I won during the alchemy competition, I should easily be able to catch up with that damnable Chu Yang!"

Muttering this to herself as she turned around the corner of the hallway she was walking down, Qing Yi didn't notice the fact that her master and Bai Ning had appeared directly in front of her the moment she turned around the corner.

…

Watching the frowning expression on Qing Yi's face as she turned around the corner just in front of them, Xuan Hao felt like she had already found out about the fact that Chu Yang had broken through to the Core Formation Realm.

Hm? It seems like she didn't discover us yet…

Having stopped together with Bai Ning, Xuan Hao felt a bit amused upon seeing that Qing Yi still didn't notice them and instead just continued forward while glancing back towards the direction she had just come from.

Tap-tap, Thump!

Walking head-first into his chest, Qing Yi showed a confused expression before looking up.

"Ah- M-master!"

"Haha, indeed, it is your master! However, it seems like someone is quite preoccupied thinking about something, I wonder if it's about the fact that Chu Yang broke through to the Core Formation Realm?"

Chuckling a bit to himself upon seeing the embarrassed expression on Qing Yi's face, Xuan Hao could not help himself from teasing her a bit.

"M-master… It's not like that…" Almost whispering these words, Qing Yi felt even more embarrassed.

"Is something wrong senior sister!?"

"No! It's nothing, I will excuse myself, I have something important to do…"

Whoosh!

Realizing that her junior brother Bai Ning was also present, Qing Yi quickly recovered before making an excuse. Dashing away before any of them had a chance to say anything.

"Master, is something wrong with senior sister? Her face looked all red earlier… Do you perhaps think she is sick!?"

"Haha, no need to worry about that! In the first place, your senior sister has already reached the later stages of the Foundation Establishment Realm, there is no way she would easily get sick given how strong her body is!"

Laughing a bit before reassuring Bai Ning everything was fine upon hearing how worried he was, Xuan Hao secretly used his divine sense to check up on Qing Yi, just in case.

"Ah! Why did I have to run into master and junior brother Bai Ning! Ah! How embarrassing!"

"…"

Recalling his divine sense after seeing the embarrassed Qing Yi rush into her room before shutting the door to enter secluded cultivation, Xuan Hao was sure everything was fine.

Though, they might not be seeing her before she broke through to the Core Formation Realm…

Not that Xuan Hao was worried about it, as she should be more than capable of breaking through to the Core Formation Realm in a short period of time now that she had already reached the Ninth Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

"Senior brother! Master is back!"

"Hm? Master is back?!"

"Indeed, I'm back."

Hearing the excited voice of his second disciple, Xuan Hao smiled as he saw Chu Yang rush over upon seeing that his master had indeed returned.

"Master, master, master! I broke through to the Core Formation Realm!"

Fwoosh!

Calling out to him several times like an excited child as soon as he made his way over, Chu Yang quickly unleashed his aura at the first stage of the Core Formation Realm. Wanting to show off what he had accomplished during the time he had been left on his own.

"It was indeed the right choice to take you in as my second personal disciple back then! I never expected for you to reach the Core Formation Realm so quickly. Not only that, but you manged to do it without my help during the time I was gone! You've exceeded my expectations!"

Nodding approvingly with a happy smile, Xuan Hao was indeed quite surprised that Chu Yang had managed to break through to the Core Formation Realm in such a short period of time without his help.

He did not have the highest talent value among his three disciples for nothing! Even Qing Yi, his first disciple, was lacking slightly behind him when it came to cultivation…

"Thank you, master! Actually, there is something I wanted to inform you about…"

Smiling from ear to ear after being praised by his master, Chu Yang did not forget to inform his master about the hole in the mountain and the hollow part of the mountain that he had accidently fallen into.