Waiting in the slow moving line for a little over an hour to enter the capital city of the Sky Empire, Xuan Hao did not have any problems entering after reaching the gate and paying the guards a few spirit stones as entrance fee.
Even the formation that he worried about stopping him due to his cultivation base did not do anything when he made his way through the gate and entered the capital city. From this alone, it was obvious that his strength had not yet reached a level where he would be considered a threat to the capital that would have to get permission to enter.
Considering the fact that the people on top of the Sky Empire had all reached the Soul Ascension Realm, this was not too odd, as the difference in strength between the Soul Ascension Realm and the Domain Lord Realm was not something that could easily be crossed. Even with his current strength that could be considered far above that of a normal Domain Lord Realm Expert, Xuan Hao could only barely fight with a Soul Ascension Realm Expert and had no way to kill the other party...
Calming down after looking away from the ancient divine symbols gently glowing on the gate and the wall behind him, Xuan Hao could not help showing a surprised expression on his face as he looked at the busy streets and large buildings in front of him made out of all sorts of different rare spiritual materials.
Inspecting the strength of the different people moving around on the streets, Xuan Hao was even more surprised after finding out that almost all of the people walking around had at least reached the Foundation Establishment. Even finding a single person who was in the Qi Condensation Realm was difficult outside of the children who had only just started cultivating!
"So, this is the capital city of the Sky Empire..."
Seeing just how strong the normal people walking along the streets of the city was, Xuan Hao began to understand why so many Nascent Soul Realm Experts and Domain Lord Realm Experts could appear in the core of the Sky Empire compared to the outer region.
Of course the most important factor that allowed this to happen was still the abundant resources and denser qi present in the core region of the Sky Empire...
"Hm?"
Feeling someone looking at him as he was inspecting the strength of the people walking around him on the busy streets, Xuan Hao narrowed both of his eyes as he turned to look towards a middle aged man standing not too far away.
Domain Lord... And someone in the Fourth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm! Did he perhaps sense my divine sense when I looked around...?
Seeing through the strength of the middle-aged man looking towards him in an instant, Xuan Hao could not help smiling wryly after realizing that the other party had most likely sensed his divine sense when he used it to find out the strength of the different people on the streets of the capital just now.
To be honest, this was quite surprising to Xuan Hao, as he had specifically limited his divine sense, so it didn't spread more than a few hundred meters around him and even made sure to avoid any of the guards standing around the wall and gate of the city...
With all of this in mind, even if an ordinary Domain Lord Realm Expert in the earlier stages had been around, it would be impossible for them to pick up his divine sense!
The problem was... He didn't expect for there to actually be someone in the middle stages of the Domain Lord Realm present!
Rustle~
Watching as the middle-aged man staring directly at him slowly got up from the small restaurant he was sitting in before making his way over towards him, Xuan Hao decided to wait for the other part. Feeling quite curious as to what the man would want from him knowing the difference in their strength.
After all, even if the man in the Fourth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm could just barely pick up his divine sense, he would have no idea to see through the strength of his divine sense with his current strength.
Although this allowed Xuan Hao's true cultivation realm to be hidden from the man, it also allowed the man to understand the difference in strength between them. Even if he was not clear about Xuan Hao's strength, he would at the very least be clear that he was at least someone in the later stages of the Domain Lord Realm!
"Greetings senior! I'm Elder Scarlet Flame from the Sunfire Sect. If I'm not being too rude asking, are you perhaps also here for the sect alliance meeting next week?"
Hearing what the middle-aged man asked him after walking over Xuan Hao could not help showing a surprised expression on his face. Given how rare sects with Domain Lords in them were compared to kingdoms with Domain Lord Realm Experts in them, Xuan Hao didn't expect to actually run into one of the rare few Domain Lord Realm Experts from a sect after just entering the capital city.
Not to mention, he seemed to remember that Qing Yi had made friends with someone from the Sunfire Sect during the alchemy competition in the Iron Sky Kingdom!
How odd... If I don't remember wrongly, the current Domain Lord Realm Expert in charge of the Sunfire Sect should be in the earlier stages of the Domain Lord Realm and more important... Should be a woman. Not a middle-aged man...
"Yes, I'm also here for the sect alliance meeting... But if I don't remember wrongly, the Sunfire Sect only has a single Domain Lord and that person should be a woman..."
Deciding to say this, Xuan Hao curiously looked towards the man standing in front of him. Wanting to know if he was really someone from the Sunfire Sect or not.
"Ah, that... I'm actually the dao partner of the current sect master and just recently came back from exploring some ancient ruins located outside the Sky Empire and haven't really shown my current strength enough for those people to find out about it. If I'm not wrong, you should be in a similar situation senior..."
Listening to what the self-proclaimed dao partner of the Sunfire Sect's sect master said, Xuan Hao felt that what he said made sense.
Given that even he had still not been listed inside the list of Domain Lord Realm Experts of the Sky Empire, it was obvious that there would be other people in a similar situation as himself, Xuan Hao just didn't expect to meet someone like that so fast. Not to mention, the other party also said that he was the dao partner of the Sunfire Sect's sect master...
"Senior, I'm telling the truth! See!"
Clearly feeling Xuan Hao's suspicious look the moment he said that he was the current dao partner of the Sunfire Sect's sect master, the middle-aged man quickly took out the invitation to the sect alliance meeting for the Sunfire Sect and showed it to him.
"This... I guess you are telling the truth, I just didn't expect for the sect master to have such a powerful dao partner..."
Seeing the middle-aged man get ready to pull out the family paintings from his interspatial ring after not getting a reaction from him after showing off the invitation to the sect alliance meeting, Xuan Hao stopped him as he said this.
"But... Is there something you need from me?" Understanding very well that the man in front of him would not try so hard to convince him about his identity for no reason, Xuan Hao narrowed both of his eyes before asking this the moment the man put away one of the family painting he had pulled managed to pull out before Xuan Hao stopped him.
Even if one of his disciples had grown friendly with someone from the Sunfire Sect and he had a good impression from his short encounter with the people from the Sunfire Sect, Xuan Hao understood that the attitude of a few people was far from enough to get a good grasp over what kind of sect the Sunfire Sect was.
For all he knew, the Sunfire Sect could be a hidden demonic sect similar to the Black Rose Sect that had disappeared into the thin air after being found out!
"Actually... There is something I wanted to ask you about after finding out you were also here for the sect alliance meeting..."
"So... What is it?"
Not feeling the slightest hint of surprise after hearing what the man said, Xuan Hao patiently looked towards him as he waited to hear what it was.
"This... Let's go to a more quiet place first, the things I want to talk about are not really good to discuss out in the open..."
"Sure, you lead the way."
Feeling even more curious about what this Elder Scarlet Flame wanted to talk about, Xuan Hao didn't hesitate to follow after him to a more isolated place inside the capital city...