Thump!
Making his way inside the rundown inn, Xuan Hao directly placed the group of close to thirty young disciples that he had been carrying with him on the ground. Catching all of the elders inside the inn by surprise at the large group of unconscious people filling up a large part of the relatively small first floor of the inn.
"This- Aren't these the disciples from the Tree Flower Sect and the Stone Horn Sect...?"
"Indeed, they are the disciples from the Tree Flower Sect and the Stone Horn Sect! I recognize the young man laying over there as the current number one genius from the Stone Horn Sect... But why are they here?"
"If I'm not wrong, we should have all agreed to not let our disciples roam outside our sects during this sect alliance meeting due to how dangerous it would be..."
As the elders from the different independent sects began talking among each other, they soon turned their attention towards the two elders from the Stone Horn Sect and the Tree Flower Sect.
"Don't look at me! I have no idea how these young ones got here, I instructed my entire sect to enter a lockdown and not interact with the outside world until the sect alliance meeting finished!"
"I-I-I'm the same, I have no idea how the disciples from my sect ended up here either..."
"Are you two sure about that!?"
"Hmph! Old man, what do you mean by that? Do you want to start something!?"
Listening to the conversation between the elders from the side, Xuan Hao had at first wanted to see if he could find out how these disciples from the Tree Flower Sect and the Stone Horn Sect had appeared in the capital city. However, when the conversation suddenly went in another direction and the two elders from the two sects did not seem to know how their disciples had appeared inside the capital city, he decided to no longer listen in and instead excused himself before finding a quiet place to wait for the still unconscious disciples to wake up and explain the matter themselves.
All things considered; Xuan Hao had a feeling that their appearance inside the capital city just at the time that the sect alliance meeting was taking place was not an accident. Even more so when considering that the young elder from the Sparrow Sect already seemed to know about their exact location.
"Hm? W-where is this...?"
Luckily for Xuan Hao and the elders who were close to starting a fight among each other at this point in time, the young genius from the Stone Horn Sect soon woke up before looking around himself filled with confusion.
"Young Stone! You brat! Why are you here instead of the sect!? Do you perhaps not understand a simple order of not leaving the sect!?"
"Ah!?"
Hearing the voice of the elder from the Stone Horn Sect, the young genius that had just woken up could not help jumping up and fearfully look towards his master before discovering the large number of elders far stronger than him all looking towards him. "M-m-master!? W-what are you doing here- A-a-and who are all these s-seniors...?"
"Answer my question brat, why are you here... And you better answer honestly!" Not caring about the terrified expression on his disciple's face, the elder from the Stone Horn Sect instead said this in a far more strict tone. Understanding very well that if he didn't do so, there was a high chance that some of the more powerful seniors present would do it. At that point in time, his disciple would be in for a really bad time...
"Y-yes, master!" Understanding just how serious the situation was from the large number of seniors gathered all around him, the genius disciple from the Stone Horn Sect quickly nodded his head as he said this before starting to describe how he had ended up in the capital of the Sky Empire.
From first sneaking out of the sect together with a group of friends due to one of them getting a hint that a treasure that would help increase his cultivation base would soon appear nearby. At first everything had been normal, but when he had been about to grab the treasure in question, he and everyone else had fallen into a teleportation trap formation that would randomly teleport them somewhere far away... And as luck would have it, that location happened to be no more than a few miles away from the capital of the Sky Empire.
Because of all of this, the young genius from the Stone Horn Sect had decided to rest in the capital of the Sky Empire for a few days to recover before heading back towards the Stone Horn Sect. Wanting to return to the sect before his master returned... As he understood very well that he would be punished if he could not return in time...
"This idiot! He was clearly fooled by someone and tricked into entering the capital city, but hasn't realized it yet... Hehe, old man, looks like the disciple inherited his talents from his master!"
"You-!"
So, the presence of the disciples from the Tree Flower Sect and the Stone Horn Sect was deliberately done by someone beforehand, the most obvious culprit behind this should be that young elder from the Sparrow Sect.
Not having to hear the Tree Flower Sect's disciples' side of how they had ended up inside the capital of the Sky Empire, Xuan Hao could not help shaking his head as he had already managed to guess who the mastermind behind this entire thing was.
The original intent of the plan, however, should not have been targeted towards drawing him away, but should have instead been targeted towards drawing away Xu Bao. After all, there was no way that the young elder from the Sparrow Sect would have expected Xu Bao to win the leader position over his senior during the sect alliance meeting.
If things had really played out like the elder from the Sparrow Sect had wanted, it would certainly have ended up weakening the independent sects even further. Maybe there might even have been a chance that Xu Bao would end up getting critically injured. Well... All of this didn't matter, as the plan of the Sparrow Sect had gone up in smoke without archiving anything...
All there was left to do now, was to wait for Xu Bao to return to take care of the independent sects and make sure they didn't end up getting attack by the major sects on their way back. After which, he would begin making his way back towards the Star Shattering Sect.
...
At the same time Xuan Hao entered the inn together with the disciples that had been kidnapped by the Sparrow Sect, a shadowy figure watching over the entire matter narrowed both his eyes before a frown made its way on to his barely visible face.
"That useless old man from the Sparrow Sect can't do anything! From the looks of it, we will have to do something, or the independent sects will be able to walk away from the capital city with the leader position and use it to increase their strength... But... We have no way to deal with them inside the city without the imperial family noticing.
Looks like I will have to consult the others about setting up an ambush outside the city to deal with that old man Xu Bao once and for all. Maybe we can also deal with that ancestor who just recently returned at the same time. Although, that ancestor can be ignored. After all, he should at most have a hundred years left to live considering his age!"
However, just as the shadowy figure turned around to leave after having come to a decision on how to deal with the matter regarding the independent sects, a terrifying freezing sensation enveloped him from head to toe.
"Hm? T-this!? Who-"
Whoosh~!
Barely managing to react as he called out, the shadowy figure didn't get a chance to say anything more before his entire body and soul was frozen solid. Forcing the shadowy figure to enter a deep slumber without the opportunity to resist.
...
At the same time inside the inn, Xuan Hao looked towards the shadowy figure that had been turned into an ice statue with a slightly irritated expression on his face.
"How troublesome... I really don't want to deal with some ambush after leaving the city. At least this way, I won't have to worry about anyone showing up due to the death of a Domain Lord Realm Expert. Having comprehended part of the Dao of Ice was truly a great thing for situations like this..." Muttering this to himself as he turned away from the shadow figure that had been turned into an ice sculpture in a hidden location no more than a few thousand meters away from the inn, Xuan Hao returned to quietly waiting for Xu Bao to return.
Although it might not be within the range of a Seventh Stage Domain Lord's domain, it was well within the range of Xuan Hao's domain. Allowing him to easily utilize the power of his domain, that was already extremely close to the Soul Ascension Realm, to freeze him before the other he even had a chance to resist.