"Indeed... They might not even have known about the Tetonite..." Calming down after a few minutes of Xuan Hao reassuring her that the three Soul Ascension Realm Experts most likely had no idea about the Tetonite located beneath the palace, Yi Min flopped on to the bed exhausted.
Although she had managed to suppress the chaotic qi enough for her to have a conversation and move around, it was still exhausting to do so. Laying down on her bed was a far easier thing to accomplish compared to sitting up.
"How long do you think it will take for you to recover?" Asking this as he noticed just how exhausting it was for her to move around, Xuan Hao could not help secretly wondering if her earlier fall from the bed had made her situation worse.
On second thought, it was rather unrealistic for someone in the Soul Ascension Realm to end up in such a state due to a small fall from a bed...
"I don't know but given the fact that the chaotic qi managed to spread throughout my entire body and makes up most of the qi present inside my dantian, it wouldn't surprise me if it took me a month or longer to fully recover..." Lifting her head just enough to make eye contact, Yi Min thought about something for a short moment before continuing. "But I doubt I could ask you to stay around for that long, you still have to look after your sect. Especially now that the surrounding empires are looking to invade the Sky Empire." "Not only that, but there is also the threat of the Frozen Wastelands. Although things have calmed down over the past few months, the situation across other empires bordering the Frozen Wastelands have only grown worse, I even heard about an empire far stronger than the Sky Empire falling to a terrifying demonic cultivator..." Showing an expression filled with fear as she said this, Yi Min rolled around in her bed to shake off the fear she felt after mentioning the situation with the Frozen Wastelands.
In a sense, one of the reasons why the surrounding empires had not yet decided to attack the Sky Empire was also because of the current situation in the Frozen Wastelands.
Even though the situation of the Frozen Wasteland had yet to truly affect the Sky Empire, it could only be considered a matter of time when looking at the seemingly endless number of demonic cultivators coming out of the Frozen Wastelands.
"Indeed, it is rather unfortunate that the Star Shattering Sect is located right next to the Frozen Wastelands. If something does end up happening, the Star Shattering Sect will likely be the first to suffer in the Sky Empire..." Remembering his past experience with the demonic cultivators trying to enter the Azure Sky Kingdom, Xuan Hao could not help smiling wryly as he said this.
The barrier he had created back then might be able to scare off the demonic cultivators below the True Demon Realm, but the moment a demonic cultivator in the True Demon Realm appeared, a large number of demonic cultivators would likely attempt to enter the Sky Empire again.
As for the other kingdoms of the Sky Empire bordering the Frozen Wastelands... Most of these kingdoms had already been reinforced by several Domain Lord Realm Experts and a large number of Nascent Soul Realm Experts before the imperial family went into hiding.
Even after the imperial family had disappeared these Domain Lord Realm Experts remained at the border to the Frozen Wasteland to prevent any demonic cultivators from entering the Sky Empire.
It was also because of this that the surrounding empires had not targeted these Domain Lord Realm Experts. After all, if they killed them, they would have to dispatch dozens of their own Domain Lords to deal with the constant influx of demonic cultivators trying to enter the Sky Empire and the surrounding empires.
In an odd twist of fate, this had caused the small kingdoms located around the border of the Frozen Wasteland to become one of the safest locations during the current tumultuous period that the Sky Empire was going through. Making it one of the most desired locations for people wanting to avoid the upcoming war to stay or keep their families during the chaos, some even choosing to join these kingdoms in an attempt to avoid fighting in the upcoming war.
As a result of this, the small kingdoms ended up growing at a speed that even made Elder Song back in the Star Shattering Sect amazed. At this point in time, one of the small kingdoms had even managed to produce a Domain Lord Realm Expert from the large quantity of resources flooding into them due to the presence of so many powerful cultivators.
The only reason why the Azure sky Kingdom had been left alone from this large influx of powerful cultivators was due to the presence of the Star Shattering Sect. Even if the Sky Empire had no idea about the Star Shattering Sect having someone in the Soul Ascension Realm yet, they had long since become fully aware of the fact that the sect was home to someone who had at least reached the Later Stages of the Domain Lord Realm...
Thinking about this, Xuan Hao could not help wondering if the Star Shattering Sect should begin trying to attract more experts to settle down in the territory of the Star Shattering Sect. Despite the fact that this would destabilize the territory of the Star Shattering Sect for some time, it should be helpful when it came to increasing the overall strength of the Star Shattering Sect as the different powers entering the territory of the Star Shattering Sect would inevitably end up becoming subordinate powers of the sect in the future. Whether or not they wanted to...
Whoosh~
Feeling like this should be a viable plan for increasing the strength of the Star Shattering Sect, Xuan Hao took out his communication talisman and informed Elder Song about right away. Hoping that the old man could finetune the idea and implement it in the best possible way.
Well, it should be time for me to get back to the sect. Even if the situation with the Frozen Wastelands have not affected the Star Shattering Sect, what Yi Min said make sense and it never hurt anyone to be-
"Ah! Now that I think about it, Yi Min, how are you going to protect yourself during your recovery with your formation gone?" About to turn around and leave Yi Min to recover by herself, Xuan Hao suddenly remembered the fact that the formation Yi Min used to protect her kingdom had been destroyed.
"Huh? Ah... I didn't think about that..." Caught off guard by the question, Yi Min suddenly realized that she didn't have any form of protection left after her formation was destroyed. Even if she did have a thousand different artifacts, she had no way to use any of them in her current state...
Although the muscular Domain Lord Realm Expert should be more than strong enough to keep the Iron Sky Kingdom stable without her present, there was no way for him to protect her if another Soul Ascension Realm Expert ended up appearing... And given the current state of the Sky Empire with the Soul Ascension Realm Experts from the surrounding empires roaming around the place, it was not too unlikely for another Soul Ascension Realm Expert to show up.
"Hm... For now, do you want to come with me to the Star Shattering Sect?" Thinking about the problem for a moment, Xuan Hao decided to suggest this. Feeling like it would be a good opportunity for Yi Min to recover faster in the rich environment of the Shattered Star Peaks while at the same time getting to know the Star Shattering Sect.
"Huh? Go to your sect?"
"Yes, even if you leave your kingdom for a month or two, I doubt anything will happen unless one of the surrounding empires decides to invade the Sky Empire and ends up targeting your kingdom for the spiritual metal mine, but... If that really does happen, you won't be able to do anything about it in your current state."
"That... Indeed, I won't be able to do anything even if I remain here. On the other hand, my presence might even attract the attention of any Soul Ascension Realm Experts passing through the area." Muttering this to herself, Yi Min soon came to an agreement with Xuan Hao that she would leave with him to stay in the Star Shattering Sect for the next few months while she recovered. n-)o)(V-/e-/l-.b--I./n
The only thing she had to do before leaving was inform the muscular Domain Lord Realm Expert about her leaving and instruct him on what to do during her absence, while also making sure that he would just tell the rest of the people in the kingdom that she was in secluded cultivation to recover from the fight during her absence.
The fewer people knew about her absence, the better, as her disappearance would inevitably cause some people to become greedy for the spiritual metal below.