Unaware of just how much chaos he had ended up causing by making sure that Lord Windfall ended up dying, Xuan Hao made it to the Iron Sky Kingdom without encountering any problems along the way. At most he encountered a few random flying demon beasts that decided to court death by attacking him.
"I should have a chat with Yi Min about the things that happened and the worm like creature I encountered..." Not forgetting his goal of having a chat with Yi Min about some of the different things he had learnt about and the dangerous mountain range with the powerful Soul Ascension Realm worm hiding beneath it, Xuan Hao did not immediately leave the Iron Sky Kingdom and instead made his way towards the capital city of the kingdom to find Yi Min.
...
"Elder Xuan!? Why is he here...?" Noticing Xuan Hao, the moment he passed entered the formation that covered the Iron Sky Kingdom, Yi Min who was leisurely relaxing in a large couch inside the palace at the centre of the Iron Sky Kingdom's capital city, could not help curiously turning to look in the direction that Xuan Hao was approaching from.
However, as she focused her attention on Xuan Hao who was slowly making his way over towards her, Yi Mi's curious expression suddenly transformed into one of surprise.
"Ah!? Why can't I see through his cultivation realm? My formation should be able to see through the cultivation base of anyone below the Soul Ascension Realm! Don't tell... Does he have an artifact of some kind that allows him to hide his cultivation realm?" Muttering this to herself as she felt shocked at this realisation, Yi Min could not help wondering just what had happened during the short month he had been gone.
Reaching the Soul Ascension Realm was obviously impossible in such a short period of time, so the only reasonable reason for her not being able to see through his cultivation realm, was that he had been lucky enough to get his hands on a powerful artifact that had the ability to hide his cultivation realm.
Given the strength of her formation when it came to detection being around the same level as someone who had reached the Soul Ascension Realm, it was obvious that the artifact Xuan Hao had managed to get his hands on should have exceeded that of a normal Transcendent Rank Artifact!
Thinking about this, Yi Min could not help feeling curious as to what Xuan Hao had gone through during his short time in the core region of the Sky Empire.
Not long after, Xuan Hao arrived at the palace where he ended up spending the next few hours talking with Yi Min about the things, he had planned to inform her about. Outside of this, he also managed to learn that his plan to make the situation in the Sky Empire even more chaotic had worked out perfectly from Yi Min.
Now that the major sects were focusing all their attention on the noble families due to the death of Elder Green Wing and Lord Windfall, the other independent sects would have an opportunity to develop more smoothly with the help of the resources that the imperial family provided to the through the sect alliance. Not only this, but they should also be able to gain more control of the sect alliance if they played their cards right and managed to reduce the trust of the imperial family in the major sects enough for them to intervene in the sect alliance and take away one or more of their leader positions.
Although the chances of this happening were low because it was almost certain to anger the power behind these major sects and push them closer towards the three religions, Xuan Hao also understood that the imperial family would not hesitate to do something like this if the major sects continued to make the situation inside the capital more chaotic.
It could already be considered being tolerant from the imperial family's side to even allow them to fight things out with the different noble families inside the capital city. After all, them fighting inside the capital city also meant that the imperial family had been forced to call back some of their Domain Lords stationed around the Sky Empire to keep tight control over certain important locations, something that would aid the three religions in their attempts to weaken the imperial family...
"Well then, if there is nothing else, I will be taking my leave now-"
"Ah! Wait a moment, I have something I wanted to ask you!" Interrupting him just as he was about to take his leave, Yi Min almost looked like she was about to jump in front of him.
"Hm? What is it?" Not having expected for Yi Min to have anything more to say, Xuan Hao could not help curiously asking this. Silently wondering what she wanted to ask him.
"This- I just wanted to ask if you happened to- Ah..." About to ask Xuan Hao if he had managed to get his hands on a precious Artifact stronger than that of a normal Transcendent Rank Artifact that was specialized in hiding one's cultivation, Yi Min froze midsentence after realizing that it was properly not a good idea to ask someone she barely knew if he had managed to get his hands on a precious artifact. In fact, it might even end up looking like she wanted to rob him of this artifact...
"Hm? What is it?" Tilting his head slightly to the side with a confused expression on his face as he said this, Xuan Hao could not understand why Yi Min had suddenly frozen up on the spot before she even asked him anything.
"Ah! It's nothing! Just forget I ever said anything, I still have something to do, so I will take my leave first!"
Whoosh-!
Not waiting for Xuan Hao to answer, Yi Min dashed out of the room they were sitting inside of before disappearing out of sight the next instant.
"..."
Feeling extremely confused at what had just happened, Xuan Hao decided not to say anything and instead just quietly took his leave.
Whatever was taking place up inside Yi Min's little head, he in no way wanted to get involved in it. Especially considering that he wanted to return to the Star Shattering Sect within the next few days... And he had a feeling that he might end up stuck in the Iron Sky Kingdom for a few more days if he wanted to figure out what Yi Min had wanted to ask him just a moment ago before she had forcibly stopped herself...
If it was under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have minded staying in the Iron Sky Kingdom for a few more days to satiate his curiosity, but his future fourth disciple was still waiting inside the trial space for him to give the judgement so she could come out of there.
Although... Looking at the systems updates of what she was up to, Xuan Hao felt that she might be more happy staying inside the trial space filled with all sorts of different spiritual fruits for all eternity. The main reason why he didn't want her staying there for much longer, was that the spiritual fruits inside the trial space was not unlimited and would in fact run out in another two or three days given the current consumption rate of his gluttonous future fourth disciple... Something that could have lasted a normal person close to a month...
"Hah... Can the spiritual fruits present on the Ninth Star Peak really keep up with this girl's appetite? Looks like it might be a good idea to also mention a possible expansion of our spiritual herb fields... And more importantly, spiritual fruit fields, when I meet up with Elder Song." Muttering this to himself as he remembers the current size of the spiritual fruit and herb fields located on the Ninth Star Peak, Xuan Hao felt like it might be a good idea to expand them to some of the other Star Peaks that currently stood empty at the moment.
This was not only because he was going to take Mui in as a disciple, but also because it would be a good thing for the Star Shattering Sect to have more spiritual herbs and fruits available for both the disciples and elders to eat, but also for the alchemist to use in making pills and potions that could be used or sold for spiritual stones.
Thinking about this to himself while using the Drifting Cloud Steps with far more ease and speed compared to what he had done when he had first started his journey, Xuan Hao ended up reaching the Star Shattering Sect at a far faster speed than he had expected.
From a journey between the Star Shattering Sect and the Iron Sky Kingdom that would normally take around a week, Xuan Hao managed to cross that distance in less than half a day's time!