Chapter 1173: Strengthening the Formation?

"So they did indeed come to test out the strength of the formation..." Having heard everything that the three of them said as the senior among them attacked the chaotic qi formation, Xuan Hao could not help letting out a sigh of relief as he watched them disappearing into the distance. Feeling relieved that he had acted in time to control the chaotic qi formation and make it seem like it was weakening on the outside. Allowing the three to rest easy that the Star Shattering Sect wouldn't be difficult for their lord to deal with.

If he hadn't acted in time or had decided to kill off the three people from the Heavenly Dragon Temple, he might have been able to enjoy peace for the next few years, but he would inevitably end up dealing with a far more troublesome situation after that. Especially considering how important the ruins located on the Fifth Star Peak seemed to be to this lord from the Heavenly Dragon Temple.

After all, even now, it was rather obvious that this lord didn't want information about the ruins to leak out to the rest of the Heavenly Dragon Temple and wanted to monopolize it for himself.

If not for that, it was doubtful whether or not the more powerful experts from the Heavenly Dragon Temple would have shown up to claim the ruins on the Fifth Star Peak before they emerged. Giving him and the Star Shattering Sect no chance to reach a level capable of resisting them.

At least, with only a single lord of the Heavenly Dragon Temple aware of the ruins on the Fifth Star Peak and doing his best to not leak out information of its existence to the rest of the Heavenly Dragon Temple, the Star Shattering Sect stood a chance of growing stronger before having to face the Heavenly Dragon Temple.

Not to mention, it was almost certain that the lord from the Heavenly Dragon Temple would hide his own traces when he left for the Fifth Star Peak when the ruins were about to emerge. Meaning that, even if he ended up dying together with his subordinates, it would take some time for the Heavenly Dragon Temple to figure out where he had gone... And that was not to mention the fact that they seemed to be at odds with the Blue Sea Empire. Making it harder for them to investigate the situation in the empires located close to the borders of the Blue Sea Empire without the Blue Sea Empire finding out.

In the best-case scenario, the Heavenly Dragon Temple searching for their lord who had mysteriously disappeared in an area close to the Blue Sea Empire would trigger a war between the Blue Sea Empire and the Heavenly Dragon Temple. Making it far more difficult for the Heavenly Dragon Temple to find the Star Shattering Sect and realize that the Star Shattering Sect had something to do with their missing lord.

"Of course, all of this is only the best-case scenario..." Muttering this to himself as he thought about the future trouble that would come when the lord from the Heavenly Dragon Temple arrived.

At the very least, from some of the conversation between the three from the Heavenly Dragon Temple as they left, he managed to pick up that their lord would arrive in another year. One year... I wonder how much stronger I can become during this period of time...

Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao retracted his divine sense and allowed the chaotic qi formation to return to normal before focusing his attention back on cultivating another layer for his dao lotus.

At the same time, also making sure to inform Feng Chen and Elder Song that they didn't have to worry about what had just happened. Making a simple excuse saying that it was just him strengthening the chaotic qi formation in preparation for expanding it in the future.

After all, even to this day, the chaotic qi formation still didn't cover the entire Shattered Star Peaks, the Third Star Peak was still being used by those outside cultivators at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm seeking to reach the Nascent Soul Realm at the end of their life, while other parts of the Shattered Star Peaks were still covered in chaotic qi that made it difficult to traverse.

Of course, compared to the past, most of the Shattered Star Peaks were already inside the chaotic qi formation and could be considered to be part of the Star Shattering Sect.

However, in the future, Xuan Hao wanted the chaotic qi formation to cover the entire Shattered Star Peaks and the area around the Shattered Star Peaks. Including the Falling Star City.

At that point in time, the formation could be divided into different layers with different levels of access, with the Shattered Star Peaks being the hardest to enter, while entering the Falling Star City at the base of the Ninth Star Peak would be relatively easy for any wandering cultivator.

As for the Third Star Peak... Xuan Hao had no intention of changing it, as it served as a good way for the Star Shattering Sect to find new Nascent Soul Realm Experts, while also making the wandering cultivators who learnt about the Third Star Peak look more positively at the Star Shattering Sect. After all, it was rare for a powerful force to give an opportunity like the Third Star Peak to outsiders without expecting anything in return. Even if the Third Star Peak was only useful for those at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm trying to reach the Nascent Soul Realm, this didn't change.

On the other hand, the existence of the Third Star Peak had allowed the Star Shattering Sect to gain a total of three new Nascent Soul Realm Experts over the years. Although the three Nascent Soul Realm Experts weren't much to the current Star Shattering Sect, it still helped increase the strength of the sec. Especially considering that the Star Shattering Sect hadn't used any of their own resources to nurture these three Nascent Soul Realm Experts.

...

"Strengthening the chaotic qi formation... So that was what caused the terrifying aura just now? No wonder it felt so much stronger than the Domain Lord Realm if it was Xuan Hao..." Hearing about what had happened from Xuan Hao, Feng Chen could not help letting out a sigh of relief as he said this loud enough for Zu Fei and Shu Yao cautiously standing beside him to hear.

"Grand Elder Xuan? I see..."

"So, it was Xuan Hao..."

Hearing that it was just Xuan Hao strengthening the chaotic qi formation, both Shu Yao and Zu Fei let out a sigh of relief as they looked over in the direction that the terrifying aura had emerged with a hint of fear present in their eyes.

Although they now knew that the origin behind the terrifying aura had been Xuan Hao, it didn't make them any less fearful of it. Having reached the Domain Lord Realm, both of them had thought they were already strong, but now that they had felt the terrifying aura from Xuan Hao strengthening the chaotic qi formation, they both felt like they were still far too weak.

Unknowingly, the attack of the senior from the Heavenly Dragon Temple ended up igniting the cultivation spirit of Zu Fei and Shu Yao. Making both of them want nothing more than to return to their own cultivation room and try to strive for the Soul Ascension Realm.

"..."

Seeing this, Feng Chen wasn't much different, as he also wanted to go back to cultivating his sword domain and strive to reach the Soul Ascension Realm.

However different from the two of them, he didn't just want to do this because he wanted to grow stronger, but because he understood that he would have to reach the Soul Ascension Realm in the future if he wanted to keep his position as the sect master.

After all, the strength of the Star Shattering Sect was constantly increasing and if he couldn't keep up, he knew that he would inevitably be replaced by someone from the younger generation.

Speaking of the younger generation, the disciples whom he felt would be the most likely to replace him was one of Xuan Hao's disciples. After all, two of them had already reached the Nascent Soul Realm and were getting close to reaching the Domain Lord Realm.

Xuan Hao surpassing him in strength was one thing, but how could he possibly sit around doing nothing as his two disciples were about to surpass him!?

If that really happened, where would his face as someone from the older generation go? Even more so considering that the two disciples in question were still under 50 years old...

Whoosh~!

Whoosh~!

Whoosh~!

Having come to a somewhat tactic understanding after they realized what the cause of the terrifying aura just now was, Feng Chen, Zu Fei and Shu Yao looked at each other for a short moment before making their way back towards the Seventh Star Peak.