Swish-!
As the sword slashed down towards the possessed bulky man, it did not explode with power or destroy the surroundings. Instead, it silently cut through the air before arriving in front of the possessed bulky man-
Ptsh-!
Barely managing to set up some last-minute defensive measures, the possessed bulky man had no way to block Xuan Hao's sword, as his body was directly cut in half!
"Aaaaah-!"
Even the remnant soul of the powerful cultivator taking over the body of the bulky man hidden inside the body could not escape and was similarly cut in half, causing a loud banshee like scream to echo out across the already collapsing small independent space.
The reason for the painful scream was that other than the remnant soul also getting cut in half by Xuan Hao's sword, what remained of the small remnant soul of a once powerful expert was directly destroyed by the sword intent that had managed to enter it the moment it was cut in half.
The pain caused by Xuan Hao's sword intent ramping around inside the remnant soul was no laughing matter. Even for an existence that had once surpassed the Soul Ascension Realm during their peak…
Whoosh-!
Having already made sure that the remnant soul possessing the body of the bulky man had been dealt with, Xuan Hao didn't remain inside the collapsing independent space as he dashed towards the portal that had been opened by the Soul Ascension Realm Expert after the one opened by the bulky man had closed.
As for fighting the Soul Ascension Realm Expert… he had no reason to do so. Not to mention, he would not be able to sneak attack the other party after having revealed himself. Even if he could win due to the injuries that the Soul Ascension Realm Expert had sustained during his time resisting the powerful winds of the Thousand Wind Mountains and the battle with the possessed bulky man, it would still take a long time to do so.
Considering that half of the independent space had already collapsed before being consumed by the void in between worlds outside it, he did not really think it would be a good idea to fight it out with the Soul Ascension Realm Expert.
Other than this, he also had no idea how to navigate the void between world. Not to mention finding a way back to the Ewaria Continent again, he had no clue if he could even survive in the void between worlds with his current strength!
For all he knew, he could die the moment he came into contact with the void due to not having some special characteristic only obtainable after reaching a certain cultivation realm…
With all of this in mind, Xuan Hao completely ignored the shocked Soul Ascension Realm Expert looking towards the now dead possessed bulky man-
Swish~
Silently entering the portal before the Soul Ascension Realm recovered from his shock and comprehended what had just happened. The main reason it took him so long being that Xuan Hao made sure not affect him with his strength during his earlier sneak attack.
After all, if he had sensed a threat to his life, there was no way for a Soul Ascension Realm Expert to remain shocked for such a long period of time. To be honest, even the second or so it took the Soul Ascension Realm Expert to recover from Xuan Hao killing the possessed bulky man was considered out of the ordinary and was only due to his current wounded and weakened state.
If he was still at his peak, Xuan Hao would have had no way to leave the independent space without the other party stopping him. Let alone escape without the Soul Ascension Realm Expert having a chance to remember his domain, aura, or appearance…
WHOOOOSH-!
Feeling the terrifying wind all around him the moment he left the collapsing independent space, Xuan Hao could not help frowning after realizing that the wind had grown even stronger than before.
At this point in time, it would not be surprising for this to start attracting the attention of other Soul Ascension Realm Experts…
"I should leave this place to avoid any problems…"
Not wanting to be caught up in something so troublesome, Xuan Hao quickly left the portal and made his way towards the opposite direction that he had entered the Thousand Wind Mountains.
In the first place, he entered the Thousand Wind Mountains to not only explore it, but also to cross over it and reduce the time he would take to reach the capital city of the Sky Empire by a few days.
Even if he had spent some time following the bulky man and exploring the independent space, the time used on this far less compared to if he had decided to go around the Thousand Wind Mountains. Not to mention, he ended up gaining a lot of useful information that would help him with not only strengthening his domain even further, but also reaching the Soul Ascension Realm in the future!
Compared to him saving a few days of travel time, this was far more valuable!
"I can't wait for the other special locations along the way…"
Flying through the terrifying winds while protecting himself with his domain, Xuan Hao could not help muttering this to himself as he started looking forward to what he might find in the other special locations of the Sky Empire along the way to the capital city.
Even if it was nowhere near what the value of the information, he had discovered in the Thousand Wind Mountains, he would be more than happy as long as it was something that would be able to help him increase the strength of his domain!
…
"-and things in the Azure Sky Kingdom are proceeding rather well with the support of the Ascendant Frost Hall. Other than this, a few disciples went missing during the hunt for demonic cultivators…"
Back in the Star Shattering Sect, one of the elders who had gone to the Azure Sky Kingdom to watch over the disciple and also begin the initial steps of absorbing the territory of the Azure Sky Kingdom under the Star Shattering Sect, stood in front of Elder Song as he told him about everything that had happened. Frowning ever so slightly upon mentioning the disciples that had gone missing.
"Hah… It was expected for a few disciples to end up going missing. After all, there is no way to make sure to keep them absolutely safe… Though, some of them like encountered a fortuitous opportunity in some long forgotten ancient ruins or something similar and the elders just couldn't sense their presence…"
Shaking his head as he said this, Elder Song was not too bothered about the missing disciples. After all, death was always around the corner, and they couldn't always watch over the disciples of the sect after they left the territory of the Star Shattering Sect to train in the future.
If they really did that, there would be no way for the disciples to grow and encounter their own fortunate opportunities.
Elder Song understood this very well, as the only reason he had even managed to reach the Core Formation Realm in the first place, was due to him encountering a certain ancient inheritance when he was still only in the Seventh Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Back then, the inheritance had allowed him who was already close to the end of his lifespan to breakthrough to the Core Formation and gain another chance at life.
Without the encounter back then, he would have never reached the Peak of the Core Formation Realm, let alone reaching his current realm!
"Elder Song, should we proceed with fully absorbing the territory of the Azure Sky Kingdom into the sect…?" Seeing reminiscing expression, the elder standing at the side lowered his voice as he asked this.
"Ah? Ah! Yes, we have to proceed now to get the best effect. Remember to get the help of the Ascendant Frost Hall, as they should be far more familiar with the power structure of the Azure Sky Kingdom and how to best set up a proper power structure there."
Blinking his eyes for a short moment as he stopped reminiscing about his past, Elder Song quickly sent off the elder before narrowing his eyes and looking in the direction of the Azure Sky Kingdom.
"After today, the territory of the Azure Sky Kingdom will officially become a part of the Star Shattering Sect!" Muttering this to himself as he continued looking into the distance, Elder Song silently prepared himself.
With the Star Shattering Sect officially taking over the territory of the Azure Sky Kingdom, it would signal that the Star Shattering Sect had finally finished getting their internal matters sorted and was ready to start expanding their territory.
The different kingdoms and sects surrounding the Star Shattering Sect would soon be forced to make a choice between giving away their territory and becoming a subordinate power under the Star Shattering Sect… Or becoming their enemies!