Chapter 1162: Joining the Star Shattering Sect
Spotting the rabbit demon beast standing at the entrance to the main palace waiting for him with a stern expression plastered all over its face, Xuan Hao could not help chuckling silently to himself as he landed on the top of the stairs leading up to the entrance of the main palace.
If not for the fact that he had seen how the rabbit demon beast had been lazing around on one of the beds in the main palace, he might have thought that the rabbit demon beast had been working hard for the past few months to ensure that not even a random fly entered the Iron Sky Kingdom without permission, but considering that it had ended up dealing with three Soul Ascension Realm Experts, Xuan Hao decided not to call it out on its bluff as it jumped forward the moment it spotted him and Yi Min.
“Squeak…”
“Yes, you did well.”
“Squeak~!”
Hearing Xuan Hao’s praise, the rabbit demon beast happily jumped around him with a cute and expectant expression on its face; one didn’t have to think for long to understand that the rabbit demon beast was waiting to be rewarded for doing a good job.
“You already have enough spirit stones.”
Not intending to give the rabbit demon beast any more spirit stones as he very well understood that it should have more than enough left in the interspatial ring that he had handed it before leaving the Iron Sky Kingdom together with Yi Min, Xuan Hao didn’t bother playing into the rabbit demon beast’s little play-
Whoosh~!
“Squeaaaaakk-”
Using his qi to sweep up the rabbit demon beast and the squirrel before sending them both into his sleeve. Returning them to their little home inside the pocket space hidden in the sleeve before they had any time to react to what was happening.
Considering the rabbit demon beast’s speed, Xuan Hao had a feeling that it would be rather annoying to catch if it ended up throwing a tantrum after not getting any spirit stones. Not that he expected it to do something like that with its pride, but one could never be too sure.
“Huh…?”
Seeing Xuan Hao casually sweep away the two demon beasts, one of which she had intended to thank for saving her kingdom during her absence, Yi Min opened her mouth with a shocked expression on her face. Not having expected him to just put away the two demon beasts before she even had a chance to say anything.
“Is something the matter?”
“N-no, it’s nothing… Do you want to come inside? To talk about the Soul Ascension Realm Experts that invaded my kingdom! O-of course!”
Not knowing how to ask Xuan Hao about the demon beasts that had been swept up into his sleeve, Yi Min decided to pretend nothing had happened as she instead steered the conversation towards the Soul Ascension Realm Experts who attempted to invade her kingdom during her absence. Intending to try and use the opportunity to talk alone with Xuan Hao and give him a chance to bring up the matter of her kingdom joining the Star Shattering Sect.
If he really ended up not bringing it up, she wouldn’t hesitate any longer and would bring it up herself!
“Sure, I’m also curious about those Soul Ascension Realm Experts and what empire they belong to…” Not feeling anything wrong with what Yi Min said, Xuan Hao nodded his head in agreement before both of them made their way inside the main palace. Heading directly towards the small relaxing room that Yi Min had met him the few other times he had visited the main palace…
Making their way into the small room, Xuan Hao and Yi Min soon decided to bring over the bodies of the dead Soul Ascension Realm so they could examine them and find out which empire they belonged to. After all, given the fame of Soul Ascension Realm Experts, it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out who they were as long as the rabbit demon beast hadn’t completely destroyed their bodies.
As a result, the identity of the three dead Soul Ascension Realm Experts were soon revealed, the two weaker ones in the First Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm being from the Onyx Empire, while the strongest one at the Third Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm was a wandering cultivator who had temporarily decided to reside in the Onyx Empire.
Of course, with his strength, he had managed to get a rather high position in the Onyx Empire. Resulting in his temporary stay turning into a more permanent one, as he had already stayed in the Onyx Empire for over 500 years at this point in time.
In the end, Xuan Hao and Yi Min managed to easily conclude that the people who had tried to invade the Iron Sky Kingdom were from the Onyx Empire. Although, the Third Tribulation Soul Ascension Realm cultivator might not have acted on behalf of the Onyx Empire, as they also ended up finding out that he had been trying to find a territory for himself outside the core of the Onyx Empire to settle down.
The reason why he wanted to do something like this was not in the book given out by the Sky Empire about the different experts in the Sky Empire and some notable people outside the Sky Empire, like the Third Tribulation Soul Ascension Realm Expert from the Onyx Empire.
No matter what the reason was, the Onyx Empire had undoubtedly ended up losing a big part of the army they used for expanding into the Sky Empire and might end up halting their invasion of the Sky Empire due to this. The loss of two Soul Ascension Realm Expert and thousands of Core Formation Relam Experts was nothing to scoff at. Even for a large empire like the Onyx Empire.
“Well, that should be it, I will be heading back to my sect. If the Onyx Empire decides to try and avenge their fallen, you can-”
“Wait!”
Rustle~
Seeing Yi Min suddenly stand up to interrupt him as he was on his way out, Xuan Hao could not help tilting his head in confusion.
Was there perhaps something that he missed during their earlier discussion?
“Ah…”
Feeling Xuan Hao’s confused gaze, Yi Min could not help awkwardly squirming her body. Even though she had prepared herself to ask him about joining the Star Shattering Sect, when faced with the gaze filled with confusion, she could not help freezing on the spot…
“I-I just wanted to ask about the future relationship between my kingdom and the Star Shattering Sect. After all, given the current state of things, I don’t think our current cooperative relationship is going to last for much longer given the speed at which your sect is growing, and I fear that it might end up negatively impacting my kingdom.” Swallowing her nervousness as she said this after a few seconds passed, Yi Min did her best to not directly say that she wanted her kingdom to join the Star Shattering Sect and instead tried her best to subtly guide Xuan Hao towards asking her about it as she had originally wanted.
“Hm? Indeed, there might be elders who would want to expand into your kingdom in the future… To solve this problem, I think it would be best to talk with Elder Song, he is far more knowledgeable in this kind of thing compared to myself. More importantly, he has a better understanding of the elders and their overall attitude towards your kingdom.” Nodding his head as he said this, Xuan Hao didn’t notice the small frown that appeared on Yi Min’s face when she heard him mentioning Elder Song.
“That is not what I wanted you to say…”
“Did you say something?”
“No, it’s nothing…”
Feeling a hint of frustration as she saw the oblivious expression on Xuan Hao’s face, Yi Min could not help wondering if she should bring up the matter of joining the Star Shattering Sect-
“Ah, now that I think about it” However, just as she was about to give up and open her mouth to ask him about joining the Star Shattering Sect herself, Xuan Hao suddenly seemed to remember something. “Why don’t you just join the Star Shattering Sect? That way, you won’t have to worry about any elders in the future who might want to try and expand into your kingdom, and I can help you keep full control of your kingdom after joining.”
“…”
This #!$@!
Not able to stop herself from cursing him inside her head after hearing his suggestion just as she opened her mouth about to speak, Yi Min could not help glaring at him with a bit of resentment over how she had tried her best to make him ask her about this again and again, just for him to ask when she had resigned herself to asking about joining the Star Shattering Sect herself.
“Hm? Is there something wrong with my suggestion?”
“No… I think it would be a great idea, I will go and inform my subordinates about it and get in touch with Elder Song!” Pouting angrily as she said this, Yi Min stomped out of the room. Leaving behind a confused Xuan Hao, who had no idea what had just transpired…
