Chapter 1347: Struggles of a Small Power
Finding himself leaving the Demon Mountain City only a short time after getting his hands on the information, Chu Yang didn’t waste any time as he ventured inside the mountain range following the path recorded inside the jade slip.
Although he didn’t think the people from the Shadow Lotus Sect would be wrong in the fact that their information should still last for another few months before it became useless, he also understood that crossing the mountain range was far from a simple matter even with the help of the jade slip to guide him through a relatively safe passage.
Even with that, it would still take him at least a month to cross the mountain range safely. Meaning he did have to leave immediately if he wanted to have some time to spare while crossing the mountain range before the information, he had just used most of his spirit stones on became invalid.
The only real worry he had with leaving the Demon Mountain City at this moment was that he would end up running into the people from the city lord mansion who had also entered the mountain range in search of the ancient ruins that had been found by the explorer union.
Hopefully, wherever that ruin was located, it would be somewhere far away from the safe passage through the mountain range, as he really didn’t want to get involved with the powerful people from the Demon Mountain City if it could be helped. Especially considering that he had managed to establish a somewhat unfriendly relationship after dodging the recruitment by the city lord…
As Chu Yang slowly began his journey through the mountain range and Xuan Hao being busy doing his own thing back in the sect, there wasn’t much outside the ordinary taking place inside the Star Shattering Sect, as the demonic cultivators weren’t much of a challenge and had essentially just turned into great practice tools for the sect’s elders and disciples.
So, with that, things inside the Star Shattering Sect continued developing normally, as the number of disciples inside the main sect slowly began growing… And together with the strength of the disciples increasing, so did the strength of these disciples.
One major change that did take place but wasn’t that noticeable was the fact that the strength of Outer Sect Elders that had normally been at least at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm had ended up being changed to the Nascent Soul Realm. Meaning that the weakest elder in the Star Shattering Sect had now at least reached the Nascent Soul Realm and any disciple who wanted to become an elder in the future would at least have to reach the Nascent Soul Realm.
Even the assistant elders who would normally be able to scoot by with their far weaker strength compared to even the Outer Sect Elders had been changed to at least be in the Nascent Soul Realm in the future.
Though… Because of their importance in the sect’s daily running, those among them still in the Core Formation Realm had been allowed to keep their position even though their strength was below the new minimum requirement.
At least in the future, there would be no elders below the Nascent Soul Realm even among the sect’s assistant elders.
In turn, because of this, there had also been some changes to the cultivation realm of other levels of the sect. For one, the strength of Inner Sect Disciples had been increased and now needed one to at least reach the Core Formation Realm. Meaning those in the Qi Condensation Realm and the Foundation Establishment Realm would always be Outer Sect Disciples.
At the same time, the strength of normal Sect Elders had been Increased to the Later Stages of the Nascent Soul Realm, while the rank of Core Elders had been changed to the Domain Lord Realm.
The Status of Grand Elder on the other hand wasn’t changed much and was now just reserved for the peak of the Sect’s power that didn’t include the Sect Master. Meaning that the only Grand Elders at the moment still remained Xuan Hao and Shu Yao, who had just broken through to the Fourth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm not long ago.
Outside of all these changes that had taken place without being that noticeable to the disciples and elders of the sect due to how much they had all grown over the past few years, there hadn’t really been any changes in the Star Shattering Sect.
…
“To think someone from the Ice Cave Abode would come to our town to recruit disciple, I really hope we can get chosen!”
“Indeed… If we get chosen, we can embark on the immortal path and live for hundreds if not thousands of years in the future!”
“Brothers, I pray that all of us have an affinity and can embark on this path together!”
At the same time that everything was smoothly developing for the Star Shattering Sect without any problems along the way, inside a small town located at the edge of the Star Shattering Sect’s territory that had managed to avoid any of the dangers related to demonic cultivators because of the Star Shattering Sect’s almost airtight defense along their borders, a group of youths were excitedly chatting with each other as they walked towards the center of the town.
At this moment, the Ice Cave Abode, a small force that existed under the Star Shattering Sect’s sphere of influence had arrived at the small town and had asked the town lord to gather all the young people for examination.
Although everyone and even the town lord himself was overjoyed and excited about this, even sending out his own children to join the examination in hopes that they could join the Ice Cave Abode, it wasn’t the same for the two envoys from the Ice Cave Abode who were currently looking at the increasingly large number of young people gathered in front of them filled with excitement.
“Haaa… So many young people, but among them, there are only a dozen or so that has stepped into the Qi Condensation Realm and only two that has reached the Third Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, with not a single one at the Fourth Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm…”
“Indeed, the talent in this town is far below expectations. Only those two at the Third Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm have some potential.”
Shaking their heads as they both expressed their disappointment to each other while looking out over the young people who had gathered together in front of them, the two envoys from the Ice Cave Abode could not help wondering if they had done something wrong as they remembered the other towns they had visited so far during their annual recruitment of disciples.
So far, out of a total of twenty-three different small towns and villages, they had only ended up finding a little over a dozen young people suitable for joining the Ice Cave Abode, something that was extremely bad considering that they would normally have recruited at least fifty new disciples under normal circumstances.
However, they both understood why this was, as not too long ago, a new branch of the Star Shattering Sect had popped up in the vicinity of their Ice Cave Abode.
Although the branch sect of the Star Shattering Sect didn’t suppress them or take away the resources that they were in control of, it did end up attracting all the talented young people in the surroundings. Essentially leaving behind nothing for them, as anyone with just a little talent would always choose to join a massive force like the Star Shattering Sect over a small power like the Ice Cave Abode.
Even if it was just a branch sect of the Star Shattering Sect, it was well known that even a branch sect would at least have someone at the Later Stages of the Nascent Soul Realm presiding over it, some even having powerful cultivators at the Domain Lord Realm.
Not just that but joining a branch sect of the Star Shattering Sect also gave one the chance to join the main sect in the future, something that no talented young person wouldn’t want to do. Especially since they could also join the main sect as elders in future if they failed to do so during their time as disciples.
To be honest, even the two envoys of the Ice Cave Abode at the Foundation Establishment felt tempted when they thought about joining a massive power like the Star Shattering Sect, but there was nothing they could do to do so, as they were already far above the age to become a disciple and far too weak to try and become an elder of the Star Shattering Sect.
Not just them, but even the leader of the Ice Cave Abode at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm was too weak to be an elder of the Star Shattering Sect…
