Following the flower shattering completely without the support of Shu Yao, Zu Fei's water domain rapidly began expanding in all directions without showing any signs of stopping. Giving Elder Song no chance to escape, as Feng Chen needed to jump in and save him before he ended up getting killed by the chaotic water domain that was still far from under Zu Fei's control.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes... Just a little shocked..." Recovering from the shock of what had just happened, Elder Song did his best to demonstrate that nothing had happened to him before turning his attention towards the figure that had broken free from the flower that had been hurled towards him.
"Hm? Is that... Zu Fei? What happened to her...?" Recognizing the person as none other than Zu Fei, Elder Song could not help showing a confused expression on his face as he unconsciously muttered this to himself. Even though it was rather obvious that her strength had grown a lot stronger from before, he had no idea how she had managed to increase her strength by so much in such a short period of time.
"Indeed, it's Zu Fei. As for her increase in strength... I have no idea what happened to her inside that place. All I know is that when we found her, she had already begun the process of breaking through to the Domain Lord Realm." Shaking his head as he said this, Feng Chen also turned his attention towards Zu Fei. "From what little I have gathered so far; it seems that she encountered something that allowed her to increase her comprehension of the Dao of Water. Allowing her to establish the water domain that she is now using to break through to the Domain Lord Realm..."
Although it was just a guess, Feng Chen had no idea how close to the real answer that he actually was, that is... If he considered the act of killing the helpless slime creatures an opportunity...
"I see, so that is what happened... Hopefully she manages to successfully reach the Domain Lord Realm..." Hearing what Feng Chen said, Elder Song felt that it made sense as he silently began to watch Zu Fei's expanding water domain with a hint of excitement present in his eyes.
The process of watching Zu Fei's break through might not mean a lot to Feng Chen and Shu Yao, who were already in the Domain Lord Realm, but it presented a great opportunity for Elder Song to get more familiar with the process involved in breaking through to the Domain Lord Realm.
Although he was still far away from reaching the Domain Lord Realm himself, this kind of experience was extremely precious. After all, compared to reading about the process, it would always be far more beneficial to see the process in person...
As time slowly began to pass at the base of the Fifth Star Peak, Zu Fei struggled in a sate between life and death with both Feng Chen and Shu Yao standing guard at her side in case something they could help with came up, while Elder Song eagerly took in everything, he could learn from watching Zu Fei's breakthrough.
Rumble~
Close to a day after her breakthrough had begun and in a state that was only a single step away from entering the underworld, Zu Fei's breakthrough officially came to an end as a powerful aura belonging to the Domain Lord Realm emerged from her. Announcing to the world that she had successfully managed to fuse her nascent soul and domain together and step into the Domain Lord Realm!
...
"So... That's what happened? Zu Fei killed a few random slime creatures and managed to reach the Domain Lord Realm in a few minutes without any side effects? Not only that, but her chaotic cultivation base also stabilized by itself a few hours after she broke through...?"
Back on the Seventh Star Peak, Xuan Hao could not help asking this as he finished listening to Elder Song explaining what had happened with the help of Feng Chen, Shu Yao, and Zu Fei.
"Well... Yes..."
Knowing just how weird the entire thing was, Elder Song could only show a somewhat awkward smile as he said this. Understanding very well that Xuan Hao was hoping for a better explanation on how Zu Fei had suddenly managed to reach the Domain Lord Realm in such a short period of time.
Unfortunately, this was the best he could do, as the entrance to the structure beneath the lake on the Fifth Star Peak had already been covered in the dangerous lake water and there was no way for them to return to investigate what Zu Fei had told them.
Entering the lake itself was completely off limits, as it was essentially a gathering spot for chaotic qi. Even if Shu Yao and Feng Chen used all of their strength to try and enter the lake water, they would still end up dying the moment they ended up coming in contact with the lake water.
"Haaa... How troublesome... Looks like I will also have to allocate some time to investigating the Fifth Star Peak in the future." Muttering this to himself as he was fully aware that neither Shu Yao nor Feng Chen were strong enough to endure the lake water, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a sense of helplessness when recalling how he had told himself that he would focus on increasing his cultivation realm after returning from the Blue Sea Empire.
No... I should focus on my cultivation for now. Investigating the Fifth Star Peak can wait. Getting strong enough to resist the Heavenly Dragon Temple is far more important. Not to mention, there is a lot of other things I have yet to check up on, like the strange seal below the Raging Flame Sect, the likely origin of the strange black vortex of qi... Hm... Now that I'm at the topic, that small vortex did seem to grow stronger along with me before it was exterminated by the system...
Closing both of his momentarily as he was thinking about this, Xuan Hao turned his attention towards his dantian before focusing on the place where the tiny black vortex had been in the past.
Although the small dark vortex had done nothing to him before it was destroyed by the system, its presence alone had left a small scar on his dantian that had taken quite some time to recover. Not to mention, he was always thinking about whether or not it would return in the future. Especially after he came to the realization that the small black vortex of qi was related to the ancient seal below the Raging Flame Sect... n./0velb1n
No use thinking too much about it, I already destroyed it. Maybe only after making a trip to the seal will I be able to understand how it managed to enter my dantian-
"Xuan Hao, is something wrong?"
"Hm? Oh, it's nothing, I was just thinking about something." Hearing Elder Song suddenly call out to him, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit embarrassed as he said this.
"No problem, I understand, I also feel troubled thinking about how Zu Fei could have successfully broken through to the Domain Lord Realm so quickly without any side effects. Makes me really interested in just what the slime creatures she mentioned were and if we can make use of them in the future to help the sect give birth to more Domain Lord Realm experts.
Even if it can't directly help someone reach the Domain Lord Realm, it should at least be able to help quite a lot and make the process simpler and easier for our sect elders and disciples. Maybe we might even be able to use the slime creatures to trade with others. Considering how desperate for a chance to reach the Domain Lord Realm some Nascent Soul Realm Experts get at the end of their life, we should be able to get a lot of resources if we can sell the slime creatures! Not only that, but..."
Listening to Elder Song who suddenly began to talk excitedly about the slime creatures that Zu Fei had encountered and how they could be used to benefit the Star Shattering Sect and help increase the strength of both disciples and elders, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a sense of helplessness washing over him as he turned to look at Shu Yao, Feng Chen, and Zu Fei.
"..."
However, they didn't provide much help, as they were similarly staring at him with a clear suggestion for him to stop Elder Song before they ended up in a lesson on the importance of trade for the next few hours.
"Well, I have to get going, can't leave my disciples alone for too long now that I'm back again."
Swish~!
However, understanding that it was easier said than done to stop Elder Song when he first started, Xuan Hao instead came up with a quick excuse and left before anyone had a chance to say anything.
Having already learnt about Zu Fei's breakthrough to the Domain Lord Realm, there was really no reason for him to stay behind for the lecture...