Not too different from what was happening inside the Flowing Cloud Sect that Ji Yichuan was a part of, the different sects all across the Cloud Sky Kingdom and in the kingdoms bordering the Cloud Sky Kingdom all began to plan for their future after the Star Shattering Sect inevitably ended up taking control over the kingdom they were living inside of, some even went ahead and directly sent over representatives to the Star Shattering Sect ahead of time to make sure that they could increase their chances of becoming a branch sect instead of a normal subordinate sect.
Other than this, a few number of sects who didn't want to end up under the control of the Star Shattering Sect also used the time they had to leave their original ancestral grounds behind as they escaped towards another border region where they would be able to settle down without having to worry about some powerful sect showing up to take control of their territory.
Of course, the number of sects that were willing to essentially uproot their entire linage and give up the relationships that had been built up over thousands of years were not many... But even then, the number was still more than enough to weaken the overall number of Nascent Soul Realm Experts present in some kingdoms by more than twenty percent!
However, in the end, the decrease in Nascent Soul Realm Expert didn't really matter to the Star Shattering Sect. In the first place, the expansion of the sect was not done to absorb these different Nascent Soul Realm Experts that had once been under the different kingdoms.
In a sense, these people leaving could be considered a good thing to the Star Shattering Sect, as they wouldn't have to spend time dealing with them in the future when they took over the kingdom that they resided in...
"Hm... Everything is developing smoothly and it seems that those people from the larger kingdoms have gone quiet after Shu Yao displayed her strength in the Feather Kingdom."
Back in the Star Shattering Sect, Elder Song was going over all of this information about what was happening across all of these different kingdoms as he quietly muttered this to himself while leaning back in the chair he was sitting in with a small smile on his face.
After the matter with the Feather Kingdoms ancestor had been settled by Shu Yao, the larger kingdoms that had started scheming to do everything to resist the Star Shattering Sect went quiet and no longer openly dared say anything against the Star Shattering Sect.
Clearly they had not expected for there to be more than a single Domain Lord Realm Expert inside the sect and had only believed that it was rumours spread by the Star Shattering Sect before they had witnessed Shu Yao in action through several different experts they had send over to observe what the Star Shattering Sect would do to deal with the sudden emergence of the Feather Kingdom's ancestor who had reached the Domain Lord Realm.
Well... It could also have something to do with the fact that Shu Yao had managed to convince the Winged lion to help out in dealing with those larger kingdoms. From what he had heard recently, it seemed like she had gone to visit one of those kingdoms together with a small deer and the winged lion not too long ago...
Thinking about it, Elder Song had a feeling that this might be the main reason why those large kingdoms had been so quiet over the past few weeks...
"Maybe I should go and check up on the tournaments taking place in the different branch sects and get ready to send the winners over to the border of the Azure Sky Kingdom to participate in getting rid of the demonic cultivators." Deciding to turn his attention towards something different, Elder Song got up from his chair before making his way out of his room to check up on how things were progressing when it came to the different tournaments that the disciples of the different branch sects were holding.
Now that the first batch of disciples had already begun making their way towards the border at the Azure Sky Kingdom together with a group of elders, it would not be long before the official clean-up of demonic cultivators in the kingdom located beside the Azure Sky Kingdom would begin. At the same time, it would also be an opportunity for these disciples to increase their combat experience and improve their strength.
I wonder if there is anyone talented among those branch sects...
Swish~
Already looking forward to seeing who among the different branch sects would be heading towards the Azure Sky Kingdom for a chance to enter the main sect, Elder Song smiled to himself as he headed towards the closest branch sect of the Star Shattering Sect. The former Flying Sword Sect.
...
Not too far away from the Seventh Star Peak where the Star Shattering Sect was located on the Shattered Star Peaks, Bai Ning and Hui Ying were walking along the recently constructed path connecting all of the different peaks of the Shattered Star Peaks.
"I wonder what master is doing. According to Elder Song, master should already have reached the capital city of the Sky Empire for some kind of important meeting..."
"Hm... I'm sure your master is doing great at the meeting and talking about all kinds of important stuff... I think..."
"..."
Glancing towards Hui Ying after hearing what she said, Bai Ning had no idea what to say when he was suddenly faced with the stupid look on her face starring back towards him.
To be honest, after they had returned back to the sect, he had not thought he would ever get to see Hui Ying again after their adventure together in the weird jungle filled with all kinds of dangerous demon beasts... But the little girl had somehow managed to find him no more than a few hours after he had managed to recover.
Ever since then, the little girl had been sticking close to him like glue and refused to leave him alone.
In turn, now that Hui Ying was following him around all the time, the time he had for practicing his blacksmithing had also ended up decreasing by a lot. Forcing him to instead spend his time walking around the sect and interacting with other disciples or cultivation, a true nightmare to Bai Ning who had been preparing himself to spend the entire time during his master's absence on practicing his blacksmithing skills without thinking about anything else.
"Hmph! Why are you looking at me like that!?"
"..."
Having somehow ended up offending the little girl with his continuous stare, Bai Ning could only look away from her before lamenting to himself over just what he had done to deserve something like this.
Master... When are you going to return again!? I swear I will spend more time on cultivation as long as you can help me get rid of this little girl!
Looking into the clouds floating past above, Bai Ning began praying that his master would return faster so he could help him escape from Hui Ying and hopefully give him more time to practice on his blacksmithing skills.
"Why are you looking up into the sky all of a sudden? Did one of those flying seniors pass by?" Not understanding why Bai Ning suddenly stopped to look up into the sky, Hui Ying who had been walking beside him curiously stopped before looking up into the sky like him. Thinking that one of the seniors who had reached the Domain Lord Realm might have flown past them.
"No... I just spotted a funny looking cloud. Let's get going, we need to reach the Ninth Star Peak before it gets dark or the elders guarding the entrance to the sect won't allow us to leave without supervision..."
Shaking his head as a small smile appeared on his face after seeing Hui Ying copying him and similarly looking up into the sky while searching for what she assumed to be a senior flying past them, Bai Ning once again started walking along the path again.
"Ah! Wait up for me!" Causing Hui Ying who had been searching for the sky above to rapidly run after him.
Swoosh~
"Hm? Why are you-"
"Race to the Ninth Star Peak! Don't use your cultivation base to cheat!"
Hearing what Hui Ying said before she continued straight past him before speeding towards the Ninth Star Peak without waiting, Bai Ning could not help showing a slightest suppressed expression on his face before being replaced by one of understanding.
The little girl clearly did not want to arrive at the Ninth Star Peak when it got dark, and they wouldn't be able to leave the sect and explore the city below the Ninth Star Peak like they had originally been intending to do...
"Hah... Guess I will play along this time..." Muttering this to himself as he looked towards Hui Ying's disappearing figure in the distance, Bai Ning dashed forward and caught up in an instant-
"Ah! You're using a movement technique! Cheater!"
Swish-!
Before directly leaving her in the dust!