Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Sitting down with Feng Chen to chat talk the Dao of the Sword, Xuan Hao was surprised to discover that it didn't just turn into a one-sided ordeal of him talking while Feng Chen listened. Instead, he also managed to improve his understanding of the Dao of the Sword by listening to Feng Chen, as there was still a difference in the way they both understood the Dao of the Sword.

Even then, Feng Chen was still by far the one who ended up benefiting the most out of the two of them… And unsurprisingly, he even managed to breakthrough the bottleneck he had been stuck on. Successfully reaching the Fifth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.

In the end, after spending close to a week chatting with Feng Chen about the Dao of the Sword, Xuan Hao finally sensed that Bai Ning had finished the Mystic Grade Greatsword he had been crafting.

Unsurprisingly, Elder Song also seemed to have learnt about it shortly after him and had already arrived at the forge to take away the sword for storage in the sect's treasury, while in return handing all kinds of rare and precious spiritual metals to Bai Ning.

By the time Elder Song left, Bai Ning had already rushed back into his forge with the precious spiritual metals. Eager to use them to forge another artifact at the Mystic Grade and see if he could make one better than the greatsword he had just made.

Seeing this, Xuan Hao could not help silently letting out a sigh as he stood up from the small table that he had been sitting at together with Feng Chen.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, it just looks like that disciple of mine finished up the weapon he was crafting. If I don't get going, I won't be able to catch him before he locks himself away in the forge again." Hearing Feng Chen's question, Xuan Hao only helplessly shook his head as he said this.

Outside of chatting about the Dao of the Sword with Feng Chen, he had also talked about his plans to catch up with Bai Ning after he finished crafting the greatsword he was in the process of crafting.

Venting a bit of his frustration over the fact that this disciple of his was always in the process of crafting something when he was looking for him.

Of course, he could always interrupt him, but that had a chance of ruining the thing he was in the process of making. Not to mention, he didn't really have anything urgent to discuss with him.

"Haha, I understand, I hope we can chat again like this in the future!" Laughing slightly with a look of understanding on his face, Feng Chen signaled that everything was fine as he also got up from his seat.

"Sure, let's chat again in the future. Bye then."

Whoosh~!

Nodding his head in response, Xuan Hao did a quick farewell before turning around to leave. Intending to catch that little disciple of his before he had a chance to lock his forge and start the process of crafting another artifact.

…

"Xuan Hao? Haven't seen you in quite some time."

Arriving in front of Bai Ning's forge a few minutes after leaving Feng Chen, Xuan Hao happened to run into Elder Song who finished up everything with his disciple and happened to be inspecting the greatsword outside of his forge.

"Elder Song, it has indeed been quite some time since we last saw each other, but it looks like you have been doing quite well for yourself." Inspecting Elder Song as he said this, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit surprised that the old man had actually managed to step into the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm.

Although this could be considered rather normal with the resources and the Dao Enlightenment Monuments assistance, it had to be known that the soul injury that he had received back when he tried treating Song Jia on his own still hadn't been fully healed and should have made it close to impossible for him to reach the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm in such a short period of time.

But upon closer inspection, he quickly discovered the reason, Elder Song's soul had been nourished by some of the precious spiritual herbs and other things that the sect had managed to gather over the past few years and although not fully recovered, it wasn't far from it.

In at most another few years, his soul would have fully recovered, and he should be able to reach the Domain Lord Realm like so many elders had done ahead of him.

"Indeed, I have been doing well, but more importantly than that, are you perhaps here for Bai Ning? If you are, I would recommend not wasting too much time talking to this old man, as he seemed quite eager to try the new spiritual metals I gave him earlier."

Interrupting his thoughts, Elder Song chuckled to himself as he said this while pointing towards the forge behind him. Even though he didn't say anything about his reason for showing up, it was quite obvious to Elder Song.

"This… Thank you, I will get going before he ends up starting on something new…" Whoosh~

Hearing what Elder Song said, Xuan Hao nodded his head thankfully before turning around to enter the forge where Bai Ning was busy looking through the different spiritual metals that Elder Song had given him.

"Ahm…"

"Hm? Who is- Master!?"

Giving a low sound to catch his attention, Bai Ning quickly turned around with a slightly annoyed expression that quickly changed into one of shock after realizing that it was his master.

"Indeed, I'm here, I take it that you didn't check your communication talisman yet?"

"Huh? Oh…"

Hearing what his master said, Bai Ning could not help showing a somewhat awkward expression on his face as he put down the spiritual metals, he had been happily playing around with just seconds earlier before he picked up his communication talisman.

Indeed, he had been a bit too excited that he forgot about everything since seeing the new spiritual metals that Elder Song had brought. Making him forget the fact that his communication talisman seemed to have gone off a few days earlier when he was in the midst of crafting the Mystic Grade Greatsword.

"Ah! Senior Sister Qing broke through to the Domain Lord Realm- No, the Third Stage of the Domain Lord Realm!?"

"Not entirely accurate, she managed to breakthrough to the Fourth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm shortly after that, though it was after I sent that message.

Bai Ning, I know you enjoy forging, but you should also take some time off every now and then to interact with the others. Not to mention, you are the only one who is still in the Core Formation Realm at this point… And don't try to make any excuses, I know that you have been dragging on your breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm because you don't want to be stuck consolidating your cultivation base for an extended period of time."

"This…"

Hearing what his master's scolding, Bai Ning could not help freezing at the spot as he felt a shiver run down his spine.

Indeed, he had remained stuck at the Peak of the Core Formation for close to a year at this point in time and just like his master had said, he deliberately stopped himself from improving any further. Not wanting to spend weeks and possibly months stabilizing his cultivation base.

Time he wouldn't be able to focus on blacksmithing…

"M-Master, I-"

"No excuses, I didn't just come here to say hello, but also to help guide you into reaching the Nascent Soul Realm."

"Huh? M-master, y-y-you aren't planning to…"

"Yes, now, we are going to the ascension platforms located at the base of the mountain and I will personally guide your breakthrough and ensure that everything goes well."

"M-master-"

"Hehe, you don't have a choice in this matter!"

Whooosh~!

"Maaaasssteerr!"

Not giving Bai Ning any chance to escape, Xuan Hao directly picked him up with his domain and carried him down the mountain to one of the smaller ascension platforms used by those trying to breakthrough from the Core Formation Realm to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Although he hadn't originally planned to do something like this when visiting Bai Ning, it was only after seeing him personally that he realized what this little disciple of his was up to.

Forcibly suppressing his cultivation and stopping himself from breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm in order to avoid having to spend time consolidating his cultivation base.

No matter what, he couldn't allow something like that, as it would not only slow down Bai Ning's progress but could also end up harming him if he forcibly stopped his own breakthrough for a long time.

For this reason, he could only step in as the master and ensure his disciple broke through smoothly. Even if he was a bit unwilling…