Chapter 1419: Start of the Competition
Following the decision of the Blue Sea Empire to not do anything further regarding the Star Shattering Sect before the situation with the demonic cultivators came to an end, the Star Shattering Sect’s territory soon turned into a forbidden area that no one from the Blue Sea Empire dared to enter… And although this was rather confusing to some of the weaker cultivators of the Blue Sea Empire participating in the suppression of the demonic cultivators, they dared not question it considering that it had come from those above them.
In turn, because of this, the kingdoms and empires located close to the Star Shattering Sect also ended up becoming somewhat fearful of the Star Shattering Sect.
After all, in their eyes, it seemed like the Blue Sea Empire was deliberately trying to avoid the Star Shattering Sect. Making the mysterious background of this recently established sect even more mysterious and terrifying.
At the same time, the reputation of the Star Shattering Sect that had somewhat stagnated at a level comparable to the old Sky Empire seemed to once again rise. Attracting countless young people to try and join the sect even from outside the territory of the Star Shattering Sect. Among them were even the children of some of the higher ranked people in the surrounding empires and kingdoms, as they now wanted to try and establish a connection between this mysterious sect and themselves.
Not just because they wanted their younger generation to have a better path for development, but also because they wanted to avoid getting attacked when this mysterious sect ended up expanding its territory again in the future.
After all, in the eyes of these surrounding powers, it was only a matter of time before the Star Shattering Sect finished stabilizing its territory and began expanding again. Especially so considering that was what they had done so far to grow to their current size.
The only thing that would assure them that they wouldn’t get caught up in this and lose their territory would be if they somehow managed to establish a connection between themselves and the Star Shattering Sect.
As for the situation with the demonic cultivators? They weren’t too worried considering that the battle had essentially entered a standstill with the demonic cultivators unable to advance any further following the reinforcements from the Blue Sea Empire showing up.
Instead of the demonic cultivators they were far more worried about how the situation would end up playing out after the threat of the demonic cultivators disappeared and the people from the Blue Sea Empire left their territory.
…
Back in the Star Shattering Sect, time continued to pass without much happening following the decision to make the Star Shattering Sect into an ancient hidden sect in the eyes of the demonic cultivators and the people from the Blue Sea Empire. The only real change taking place being that the excitement for the upcoming alchemy and blacksmithing competition reached a new high, as the Falling Star City was filled to the brim with both wandering cultivators and aspiring alchemists and blacksmiths.
The large influx of people ended up causing the already rapid expansion of the Falling Star City to expand even faster. Even causing the old Flying Sword City to expand as well. Allowing those who couldn’t find anywhere to stay inside the Falling Star City to stay inside the Flying Sword City.
In the process of this, the old Flying Sword Sect that had already become the largest branch of the Star Shattering Sect ended up growing even larger, as more elders and disciples had to be moved to the sect to manage the situation in the increasingly large Falling Star City. Growing the number of Domain Lord Realm cultivators inside the branch to an astonishing seven people, along with several Nascent Soul Realm Elders and even more disciples.
For the disciples who were already part of the Flying Sword Sect branch, this was the best thing that could have happened for them, as the resources allocated to the branch grew together with the large influx of people being added to it. Giving some of them an opportunity to shine and get the chance to be promoted into disciples of the main sect.
Not just the old Flying Sword Sect, but a few of the other branches also experienced a similar growth, as there were an increasingly large number of people flocking towards the territory of the Star Shattering Sect.
This was not only because of the upcoming competition but was more so because of the recent attitude that the Blue Sea Empire had shown towards the Star Shattering Sect. Making a large portion of the wandering cultivators situated at the borders of the Frozen Wastelands feel that it would be safer for them to stay inside the territory of the Star Shattering Sect until the situation with the demonic cultivators blew over.
In the end, they only became more convinced of this after realizing that the Star Shattering Sect hadn’t been the slightest bit affected by the demonic cultivator’s invasion like the surrounding kingdoms and empires had been. Instead, they had used those demonic cultivators to train their younger generation, something that further convinced them that staying inside the Star Shattering Sect’s territory would be a safe choice.
Like this, months flew by without any major changes as the day of the alchemy and blacksmithing competition finally arrived… And with the location of the competition having moved to a newly constructed space designed for the competition together with the expansion of the Falling Star City, it quickly attracted a large crowd of people to come and watch the competition.
Not just that but given that the Star Shattering Sect had already allowed others to join the competition, there were many aspiring blacksmiths and alchemists not from the Star Shattering Sect joining the competition after the luxurious rewards were officially announced.
Even if an age requirement of 500 years had been put in place, the number of people signing up ended up forcing Elder Song and the rest of the elders in charge of the competition to extend the duration of the competition far beyond what they had initially anticipated.
At the same time, also forcing them to hold a few preliminary competitions leading up to the competition itself to eliminate a large number of those who ended up signing up to join the competition.
By the time that the competition was going to start, a little over 50 elders from the sect were ready to participate, while another 150 had joined from outside.
Of course, even with so many people joining the competition while not being part of the Star Shattering Sect, Elder Song wasn’t the slightest bit worried about the elders of the sect not preforming well, as he had already seen the level displayed by those 150 outsiders.
In his eyes, they would be perfect to display the strength of the Star Shattering Sect when it came to alchemy and blacksmithing… And together with the age limit put in place, it wouldn’t invoke any suspicion from the Blue Sea Empire, as 500 years old could still be considered part of the younger generation in their eyes.
As for the talent being displayed by these elders being up to par… Elder Song felt confident in them after they had been personally guided by both Pei Yang and Yi Min over the past year.
Although they might not be comparable to the genius blacksmiths or alchemists of the Blue Sea Empire, he felt that they shouldn’t be too far behind.
Not to mention, just in case, he had Bai Ning join the blacksmithing part of the competition, while having Qing Yi join the alchemist side of the competition.
Given their talent and age, it was impossible for the Blue Sea Empire to have any thoughts about them not being a hidden ancient sect. After all, their talent was simply something that was beyond the Blue Sea Empire’s ability to nurture, something that could only appear inside a power that existed beyond the Blue Sea Empire!
Feeling confident as he thought about this to himself while glancing over in the direction of the large platform that the competition was about to take place on top of, Elder Song smiled happily to himself before running off to make a few last second preparations for the upcoming competition.
Among the preparations was also the most important of them, which was to have Xuan Hao join the competition and oversee as a senior from the sect.
Given his strength, Elder Song wanted to make use of Xuan Hao to fully display the might of the Star Shattering Sect to the Blue Sea Empire and make them fully believe in the fact that the Star Shattering Sect was an ancient hidden sect.
Although everything so far had been going smoothly and the Blue Sea Empire seemed to wholeheartedly believe in the fact that the Star Shattering Sect was an ancient hidden sect, he also understood that only if a senior of the sect that was far beyond the normal cultivation realm of those outside the core region of the continent appeared, would they find it impossible to not associate the Star Shattering Sect with an ancient hidden sect!
