Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Over the next few weeks, Xuan Hao, Qing Yi and the rest of the elders slowly made their way back towards the Flying Sword Sect on the demon beasts they had bought before leaving the Iron Sky Kingdom.

During this period of time, Qing Yi had fought a lot of different opponents under the guidance of her master, as she had even managed to breakthrough again within a short period of time. Reaching the Ninth Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Only a single step away from reaching the Core Formation Realm!

This, however,  did not mean that Xuan Hao spent all his time on Qing Yi's training after he had managed to stabilize his cultivation.

Instead, he once again put focus back onto making interspatial rings for the quest before randomly throwing them out along the way according to the instructions of the system.

At this point, it had become far easier and faster for him to make interspatial rings and by the time they reached the Cloud Sky Kingdom just next to the territory of the Flying Sword Sect, he had already managed to scatter 571 interspatial rings in total. Allowing him to already be more than halfway done with the quest!

"Now that I think about it, I wonder how that old man is doing…"

Remembering his meeting with the former elder of the Black Rose Sect back in the secret realm, Xuan Hao could not help recalling the fact that the old man should have settled down in the Cloud Sky Kingdom under one of the sects there.

"Hm, if I'm not wrong, he should have joined the Flowing Cloud Sect…"

Muttering this to himself as they officially entered the territory of the Cloud Sky Kingdom without being stopped, Xuan Hao thought about whether or not he should pay the old man a visit or not.

After all, the old man was someone who had once been an elder of a demonic sect, so Xuan Hao was quite curious about how he was doing at the moment.

Not to mention the fact that he had reached the Nascent Soul Realm the last time he had met him without using the demonic cultivation technique he had been practicing when he had first met him!

How he had escaped the influence of the demonic technique and even managed to cultivate normally again was quite an interesting thing. After all, when one walked down the demonic path, one would normally not have a way out again…

"Chi Hu, can you take charge for the rest of the journey back to the sect?"

"Hm? S-sure, but why?"

"I have an old friend here in the Cloud Sky Kingdom and was planning to visit him before making my way back to the sect, it might take a while, so I didn't want to hold all of you up when we are almost back home."

"I see… Then don't mind us and leave, we should be more than safe so close to the sect. At most we will just have to say we are from the Flying Sword Sect! I doubt anyone in the Cloud Sky Kingdom would dare attack us at that point! Hehe!"

Feeling his curiosity towards the current situation of old Ji as he was called last time, he saw him; Xuan Hao did not stay around for long after finishing his conversation with Chi Hu. Only talking a bit with Qing Yi to inform her about him leaving before flying towards the direction of the Cloud Sky Kingdom's capital to find out where the Flowing Cloud Sect that old Ji was now a part of was located.

<br/>"Though, it looks like I might have been a bit harsh to Qing Yi during the past few weeks…"

Flying through the air, Xuan hao could not help frowning unhappily upon remembering the happy expression on Qing Yi's face the moment he mentioned that he would be leaving to visit an old friend in the Cloud Sky Kingdom.

Not thinking about this for too long as the capital of the Cloud Sky Kingdom appeared in the distance, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit amazed upon witnessing the capital of the Cloud Sky Kingdom.

The capital city was located next to a small mountain range with a large river located directly next to it where dozens if not hundreds of large merchant ships could be seen sailing in towards a large harbour connected to the capital city of the Cloud Sky Kingdom through several large roads.

Looking at the sheer size of the capital city of the Cloud Sky Kingdom, Xuan Hao could not help but wonder just how strong the Cloud Sky Kingdom actually was.

After all, while still smaller than Yi Min's capital city, it was not by much.

Maybe they actually have a Domain Lord…?

Thinking about this, Xuan Hao decided to be a bit more cautious as he landed a few thousand meters from the capital city and began making his way over on foot instead of flying. Not wanting to accidently end up offending the Cloud Sky Kingdom in case they really did have a Domain Lord watching over them.

…

Whoosh~

Having made his way inside the capital of the Cloud Sky Kingdom, the first thing Xuan Hao did, was to use his divine sense to scan the entire capital city. Trying his best to find out whether or not there really was a Domain Lord inside the capital city of the Cloud Sky Kingdom.

"No Domain Lord…"

After having his divine sense sweep through the capital city a few times, Xuan Hao could only shake his head upon realizing that there was not any Domain Lord inside the Cloud Sky Kingdom

However, even if he had not found any Domain Lords, the capital was still very clearly powerful. The sheer amount of Nascent Soul Realm Experts present was far above what the Heavenly Sky Kingdom had; this was even including the different sects inside their territory!

At the same time, the strongest person inside the capital was not someone at the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm but was instead someone who had reached the Half-Step Domain Lord Realm. Already having comprehended his own pseudo domain!

"Hm… It seems like there really isn't any Domain Lord inside the capital of the Cloud Sky Kingdom, I wonder how the city got so big without a Domain Lord to back it up, a Half-Step Domain Lord should not be able to do it…"

Muttering this to himself as he walked down the busy streets of the capital city, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit curious about how the capital of the Cloud Sky Kingdom had managed to grow so large and powerful without the backing of a Domain Lord.

Currently, the only thing he knew about the Cloud Sky Kingdom, was the fact that it was neutral when it came to conflicts involving any of the other nearby kingdoms. Even when the Azure Sky Kingdom and the Heavenly Sky Kingdom had fought, it had not tried taking advantage of the situation to expand its borders or gain any benefits by helping one of the two kingdoms.

Other than the neutrality and no conflict attitude of the Cloud Sky Kingdom, Xuan Hao also knew that there were a few strong sects inside of it. One of them being the Flowing Cloud Sect that the former Elder Skinling of the Black Rose Sect, now known as Old Ji or Ji Yichuan had joined.

"Now all I need to do is find someone who knows where the Flowing Cloud Sect is located…"

Walking along the street, Xuan Hao checked out the different shops along the way, as he thought about how to go about finding the location of the Flowing Cloud Sect before long reaching the end of the street.

"This is…"

Seeing the gigantic building that was located at the end of the street going from the main gate of the capital city, Xuan Hao could not help opening his eyes as a look of amazement appeared on his face.

Not to mention just how big the building in front of him was, through his divine sense, he had also discovered that the building in front of him was far larger than the castle of the Cloud Sky Kingdom at the centre of the capital city!

"The Explorer Unions?"

Spotting the familiar two pickaxes crossing each other above the entrance to the large building, Xuan Hao instantly realized that the building belonged to the Explorer Union. Not only that, but after scanning through the building in front of him with his divine sense, Xuan Hao also realized that the Half-Step Domain Lord inside the capital city was not inside the capital at the centre of the city but was instead inside the branch of the Explorer Union currently in front of him!

"Interesting… Looks like the Explorer Union's branch here is quite strong…"

Muttering this to himself, Xuan Hao didn't stand around looking at the large building for too long before entering.