As the group of three left the Combat Hall and made their way towards the Sea of a Thousand Furnaces where Bai Ning was spending his time honing his blacksmithing skill by refining different artifacts that would either be kept for his own use or given away to the sect as a form of repayment for letting him freely use the different spiritual metals and other materials without having to do any sect missions or other things for them, Xuan Hao arrived back at his now rather empty palace.
"Hm? They joined up with Chu Yang and are heading towards Bai Ning. Looks like I don't have anything to worry about, Qing Yi is doing a great job showing Mui around and at the same time also introducing her to the other two…" Using his divine sense to figure out the current situation of his disciples, Xuan Hao could not help smiling to himself after knowing that everything was going well and there was nothing for him to worry about.
For now, it would be best to just leave his disciples to themselves and let them get along with each other without his interference. After they had returned and got some time to rest, it would be time to see how far they had gotten during the time he had been away from the sect.
As for Mui, he would need to properly introduce her to the life of a cultivator and at the same time also teach her some of the basics of cultivation. After all, even if the trial space had taught her a lot about cultivation and the different cultivation realms, it had taught her nothing when it came to common sense and other well-known things among cultivators.
One clear example of this would be how she had just been eating the spiritual fruits without trying to refine the energy contained inside of them, thus resulting in most of the benefits of eating the spiritual fruit being wasted…
Although this might not have mattered that much when she was inside the trial space and was consuming the spiritual fruits that would have never been eaten if she hadn't done it, it was different for the spiritual fruits that came from the Ninth Star Peak, as those spiritual fruits would normally be fully utilized by the other disciples or elders who would otherwise have eaten them.
Even if his status in the sect was more than enough to still allow Mui to continue eating the spiritual fruits like she had been doing so far without refining the energy inside of them, he also understood that doing so would negatively impact the sect. Not to mention, it would be bad if she ended up encountering a precious spiritual herb in the future and chose to just eat it without using the energy contained inside of it…
Maybe I should see how that deer is doing?
Knowing that there would not be anything for him to do for at least a few hours now that his disciples were out showing Mui around the sect, Xuan Hao decided to go and check in on the blue deer he had left in the care of Shu Yao before leaving for the capital city.
Thinking about the blue deer, Xuan Hao also remembered the ruins at the Main Star Peak that he had escaped from the last time he went up there. Given that he had now reached the Dao Domain Lord, he should be strong enough to deal with whatever was hiding inside the ruins. Even if it was an existence in the later stages of the Soul Ascension Realm, he should at the very least be able to escape with his current strength.
As for the existence he had sensed inside the ruins being above the Soul Ascension Realm… Xuan Hao didn't think this was possible. After all, if the other party had surpassed the Soul Ascension Realm, there would have been no way for him to momentarily resist the attack back then and escape safely…
Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao used his divine sense to find the blue deer in the process of playing around outside the pavilion Zu Fei had set up close to the edge of the Qi Spring Lake to harvest the water lotus flowers and lilies she had been growing there.
…
"You are eating my water lotuses again!? That damnable Shu Yao… Why does she keep leaving you here whenever she decides to do something outside the sect!?"
Arriving at the pavilion Zu Fei had established on the edge of the Qi Spring Lake, Xuan Hao was met with the sight of Zu Fei trying her best to prevent the blue deer from eating the water lotuses that she had recently harvested, something that did not seem to be working, as Zu Fei also tried her best to restrain her strength in an attempt to not accidently hurt the blue deer in the process.
"Elder Xuan!?" Spotting Xuan Hao a few seconds after he landed on the ground in front of the pavilion, Zu Fei was at first confused before both her eyes lit up. "Are you here to pick up this one!? If so, please help me or I will lose this month's entire harvest of water lotuses!"
"No problem."
Whoosh~
Waving his hand, Xuan Hao used his domain to stop the blue deer from eating any more of the water lotuses-
"Hm? This is…"
However, in doing so, he discovered that the strength of the blue deer had already reached Nascent Soul Realm. Making it obvious why Zu Fei had not been able easily restrain it with her strength.
Is it perhaps because of the water lotuses that it was able to break through and reach the Nascent Soul Realm?
Turning his attention towards the water lotuses that Zu Fei had rushed over to get the moment he used his domain to restrain the blue deer, Xuan Hao did not find anything unusual about the water lotuses that would help the blue deer reach the Nascent Soul Realm.
Although the water lotuses were spiritual herbs that were beneficial when consumed and when used by alchemists to refine different pills and potions, it did not have any special effect when it came to helping someone reach the Nascent Soul Realm.
"Thank you for the help Elder Xuan, I don't know what I would have done without your help now that the little deer reached the Nascent Soul Realm…"
"Hm? It only just reached the Nascent Soul Realm?"
"Yes! If I'm not wrong, it broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm a day or two ago. Making it far harder to stop it from eating the water lotuses without injuring it in the process… By the way, did you just come for the little deer, or did you come for something different?"
"Yeah, I just came to check up on the little one, though I never expected to find it stealing your water lotuses…"
"Hehe… Indeed, I never expected it either…"
As the two both turned to look towards the blue deer that was trying its best to break free from the restraints that had been formed around it by Xuan Hao's domain without even noticing the person that had restrained it, Xuan Hao decided to let it go after the Zu Fei finished putting away all the water lotuses.
Thump!
Landing on the ground freed from the restrains created by Xuan Hao's domain, the blue deer first rushed towards where the water lotuses had been… But soon froze on the spot after noticing that they were gone.
"It's been a while little one, I see that you have grown quite comfortable in the sect during your time with Shu Yao?" Walking up to the blue deer as he said this, Xuan Hao watched as it suddenly came back to life and turned around to look at him with a wronged expression on its face. Clearly having figured out who it was that had stopped it just now.
This little one… Looks like I will have to ask Shu Yao to start teaching it not to steal spiritual herbs from others!
Rolling his eyes upon seeing the reaction of the blue deer, Xuan Hao turned his attention back towards Zu Fei who was also looking at the little deer playing innocent, he noticed that the blue deer was not the only one that had become stronger during his time away from the sect, Zu Fei had also become stronger.
Not only had she managed to go all the way to the Ninth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm. Officially reaching the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, but after careful inspection, he could also sense that the initial shape of a pseudo domain had already been created by her. At this point in time, she was only a single step away from constructing a pseudo domain that would put her only a single step away from the Domain Lord Realm!