"Now that the voting part of the meeting has concluded, the last part of the meeting will only be for the four who managed to get a leader position in the sect alliance. The rest of the people here may leave and wait to get contacted about the first steps in setting up the sect alliance."
Not caring about how angry the elder from the Sparrow Sect was feeling after he realized that he would not be getting one of the leader positions, the Great General from the imperial family directly announced the end of the meeting for everyone who had not ended up getting one of the four leader positions.
"This..." Not able to say anything to the Great General after he had announced the end of the meeting, the elder from the Sparrow Sect could only stare out into space helplessly.
No matter how much he wanted to complain to the Great General and ask for a new vote to be held, he understood that doing so would be the same as doubting the validity of the results, something that was certain to offend the Great General!
Even if his Sparrow Sect had the support of a powerful kingdom inside the Sky Empire, there was no way that his backer would be happy to learn about him offending a Peak Domain Lord Realm Expert and there was even a chance that his backer would cut connections with his sect due to this... Because of all this, the elder from the Sparrow Sect could only get up from his seat with an unwilling look on his face before making his way out of the meeting hall.
Not lacking too far behind the elder from the Sparrow Sect who was among the first to get up and leave the meeting hall, the rest of the people from the different sects inside the meeting hall slowly began to make their way outside.
All of them feeling surprised over the outcome of the meeting, as none of them had expected for the independent sects to actually have the backing of an expert that had surpassed the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm and reached the Peak of the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.
Not only was this going to affect the newly established sect alliance, but it was also going to have a profound impact on how the different sects interacted with the independent sects in the future. After all, there had never been an expert that had surpassed the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm inside the sects of the Sky Empire before this moment!
Having the support of a power with an expert above the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm and having someone who was part of the sect above the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord realm were two completely different things!
Even if the major sects had the support of powerful kingdoms with experts that were above the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm. Ultimately, those experts were not part of the major sects.
...
As everyone was making their way out of the meeting hall, Xuan Hao did not get up to leave immediately. Instead turning to look towards the Great General who had been looking towards him ever since he had announced the end of the sect alliance meeting.
From a glance, it was obvious to Xuan Hao that the Great General wanted to say something to him. Not too shocking considering that he was a Peak Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert that had appeared out of nowhere in the eyes of the Great General.
When put together with how rare Domain Lord Realm Experts above the Sixth Stage were inside the Sky Empire, it was obvious that the Great General would want to know more about him and how a Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert had suddenly appeared among the independent sects.
"Senior, I think that the person from the imperial family wants to talk with you..."
"I know, he most likely wants to find out where an expert above the Sixth stage of the Domain Lord Realm suddenly appeared from." Nodding his head as he said this in response to Xu Bao, Xuan Hao could not help feeling happy that he had not shown up with his real identity as an elder from the Star Shattering Sect.
If he really did show up as someone from the Star Shattering Sect and had a cultivation base above the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, he was certain to not only catch the attention of the imperial family, but the entire Sky Empire.
At that point in time, there would be no way that the Star Shattering Sect would be left alone to expand on its own without much resistance, some of the more powerful forces inside the Sky Empire would almost certainly interfere and try to prevent the growth of this new power. Especially the three religions and the different powerful kingdoms, who would be impacted the most by the sudden rise of a powerful independent sect.
Even the imperial family would not leave the Star Shattering Sect alone if this happened. Instead, they would most likely try to use it to weaken the power of the three religions...
"Greetings, fellow cultivator. I don't think I have seen you anywhere inside the capital before. Might I ask what sect you belong to?"
It was just at this moment as the last person outside of the three people from the major sects who had managed to get a leader position had left, that the Great General moved over to greet Xuan Hao with a polite smile on his face.
Even if he was someone at the Peak of the Domain Lord Realm, the Great General still understood that it would always be better to have more friends. Especially if that friend was someone who had managed to reach the Late Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.
"Greetings, Senior, I'm from the Strone Ridge Sect. The reason why senior might not have heard about this humble old man before today, might be because this old man left the Sky Empire close to a few thousand years ago to look for an opportunity to search for opportunities to increase my strength and have only recently returned."
Understanding very well that the Great General wanted to not only find out more about him but also befriend him, Xuan Hao politely returned the greeting before using the identity that he had prepared beforehand with the help of a person from one of the independent sects.
"The Stone Ridge Sect...? Hm... So you are that ancestor that left back then! No wonder I didn't recognise you. Back then, I had only just reached the Nascent Soul Realm and hadn't gotten a chance to familiarise myself with the different Domain Lord Realm Experts that were around inside the Sky Empire back then..." Nodding his head with an understanding expression on his face after hearing Xuan Hao's response, the Great General did not doubt Xuan Hao's identity.
Not to mention the fact that there would be no benefits to impersonating someone from an independent sect to go against the powerful major sects, a Domain Lord Realm Expert that had entered the late stage of the realm could be considered as the pinnacle of power inside the Sky Empire below the Soul Ascension Realm.
Because of this, the imperial family would normally do their best to rope in someone like this. Even if the other party did not come from the Sky Empire, the imperial family would still be more than happy to recruit a powerful expert like this.
Outside of the increase in strength such an expert brought to the imperial family, there was also the important fact that having another powerful Domain Lord Realm Expert that could teach the younger generation of the imperial family would be useful for increasing the future strength of the imperial family. After all, there was no way that the old Soul Ascension Realm Experts of the imperial family could waste their time to go around teaching every single member of the imperial family's younger generation...
"The Stone Ridge Sect... To think that old ancestor from back then actually returned as someone in the Peak of the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm... The luck of these independent sects is truly out of this world!"
"Indeed... I don't think our lords will be happy when they learn about this. Not only did such a powerful person emerge from the independent sects that we were supposed to supress, but we also lost one of the leader positions..."
"Don't worry too much about it, this old man is far older than any of us and can't be considered our responsibility. Instead... he is a perfect excuse as to why we lost a leader position!"
"Maybe..."
"..."
At the same time that Xuan Hao and the Great General began chatting with each other, the three people from the major sects listened in from the side with a look of realization on their faces upon hearing about Xuan Hao's identity.
All of them secretly feeling relieved that he was not someone from their generation...