Not long after Wan Linyun had become a guest elder of the sect. News about the addition of another Domain Lord Realm Expert started to spread among the elders of the Star Shattering Sect, two of these elders were happily chatting with each other about this over a cup of tea.
"Have you heard? Apparently Elder Song managed to recruit a Domain Lord Realm Expert into the sect."
"Huh!? A Domain Lord Realm Expert!?"
"Yes, but this is not the most shocking thing! From what I heard, the Domain Lord Realm Expert did not even become a sect elder, but instead became a guest elder!"
"Guest elder… Does this no mean that our current status in the sect is above his?"
"Yes! Although… No matter what his current status is, he is still a Domain Lord Realm Expert…"
"Indeed… Knowing Elder Song, he should also get promoted to a normal sect elder in a few years and at that point in time, it would be best not to have become enemies with this Domain Lord by doing something stupid…"
Nodding their head in agreement with each other about this, the two elders agreed that even if their status was currently above that of the Domain Lord Realm Expert, it would be best for them not to do anything that would offend this new Domain Lord Realm Expert.
Like them, most of the elders who learnt about the new Domain Lord Realm Expert joining the sect were excited at the news and couldn't wait to find out who this Domain Lord Realm expert was.
As for the fact that their status was higher than Wan Linyun… None of them thought for a second that they were above a Domain Lord Realm Expert. Especially the Outer Sect Elders and Assistant Elders who were still in the Core Formation Realm.
"Did you hear, the sect apparently recruited a Domain Lord Realm Expert!"
"Another Domain Lord!? Do you think he will be teaching us like Grand Elder Shu and Grand Elder Xuan does every few months?"
"No idea, but I really hope so!"
Following all the elders discussing the matter of Wan Linyun, it did not take long before some of the disciples managed to hear about it. Resulting in the news of Wan Linyun spreading across the entire sect. Not taking long before even the normal servants running the day-to-day operations of the sect knew about the fact that the Star Shattering Sect had managed to get another Domain Lord Realm Expert.
In the end, the news caused everyone to feel a sense of pride at the growth of the sect, both elders and disciples being happy at the addition of a new Domain Lord Realm Expert, as they would all be benefiting from this.
…
While the entire Star Shattering Sect was celebrating a new Domain Lord Realm Expert joining the sect, Wang Hu, one of the Flying Sword Sect's original core elders, was busy overseeing the construction of a massive mine that almost reached the same level as the main mine located at the capital of the Iron Sky Kingdom.
The location of the mine in question was none other than the city that had once been the capital city of the Azure Sky Kingdom.
Back when Xuan Hao had discovered the rich spiritual metal ore deposits below ground, he had informed Elder Song about this. However, because the sheer scale of the mine had been something that would be hard to construct and protect for the Star Shattering Sect at the time, Elder Song had deliberately delayed the construction of a spiritual metal mine until the sect had grown stronger.
It was only after the Sky Empire's visit to deal with the invading demonic cultivators and the control of any kingdom next to the Azure Sky Kingdom had fallen under the control of the Star Shattering Sect, that Elder Song had officially decided to start the construction of the spiritual metal mine. Not forgetting to do his best to keep this matter hidden for as long as possible.
After all, he understood how important spiritual metal was for production of artifacts and doubted that the Sky Empire would just sit on the side and watch the Star Shattering Sect take control of such a large spiritual metal mine. Not to mention the three religions, the noble families and the rest of the powerful forces in the Sky Empire.
The only reason why someone like Yi Min had managed to control a large spiritual metal mine by herself, was because she had a terrifying formation that even someone in the Soul Ascension Realm would have a hard time breaking without the risk of getting heavily injured and attacked by their enemies who would be more than happy to take advantage of something like this… And that was not mentioning the fact that Yi Min was already a terrifying expert at the Peak of the Domain Lord realm. Only a single step away from reaching the Soul Ascension Realm!
"Looks like everyone is happy celebrating the arrival of a new Domain Lord Realm Expert back at the sect, are you not going to go back and join them Wang Hu? I even heard your brother is holding a small get together with some of the other elders."
As Wang Hu was busy overseeing the construction of the spiritual metal mine that now covered what had once been the capital city of the Azure Sky Kingdom, a kind voice sounded out behind him.
"Senior Lou…? Ha… You gave me a shock there; I thought you would be down inspecting the new passages of the mine…" Letting out a sigh of relief as he turned around and faced the old man that had snuck up behind him, Wang Hu could not help shaking his head at the old man's antics.
Ever since he had become the Grand Elder and de facto leader of the Flying Sword Sect's blacksmithing hall, he had always been more playful than his age would suggest. After he reached the Nascent Soul Realm and got put in charge of the Star Shattering Sect's blacksmithing branch, he only seemed to have become more like this.
"Hehe, I already finished doing that, so I came back up to see what you were up to… So, how about it? Are you going to return to the sect to celebrate the new Domain Lord Realm Expert?"
"You know that I can't do that even if I wanted. The spiritual metal deposits located below the capital city of the Azure Sky Kingdom are far too important and any delay when it comes to getting a proper mine up and running will end up negatively influencing you and the rest of the sect's blacksmiths."
"Hm~? How come I didn't know you cared so much about the blacksmiths of the sect? Did you perhaps take interest in one of the new blacksmithing elders from the Spring Flower Sect?"
"You…"
Not knowing what to say after being teased by the old man, Wang Hu froze on the spot. Rendered completely speechless by the fact that the person in front of him was actually someone close to two hundred years old…
"Hehe, I'm only joking with you."
"I really have no idea what to say…"
"No need to say anything, I will be off again, I still need to check up on the most recent batch of spiritual metals that were mined."
Swish~
Watching the old man leave as fast as he had shown up, Wang Hu could not help shaking his head before turning his attention back towards the construction of the mine. Knowing very well just how important it was for not only the blacksmiths of the Star Shattering Sect, but also for the Star Shattering Sect's ability to trade with other nearby powers.
After all, even if the Star Shattering Sect was able to produce a lot of the spiritual herbs and spiritual metals that they needed, there was ultimately some rare spiritual herbs that could not be produced in the sect and some rare spiritual metals that could not be found in the ground beneath the former capital city of the Azure Sky Kingdom.
Even if this was not the case, it would always be good for the Star Shattering Sect to trade with surrounding powers, as they would still be able to get their hands on a large amount of spirit stones this way.
In turn, they would then be able to use these spirit stones to further increase the strength of the sect and maybe even get their hands on more precious things, like Transcendent Grade Spiritual Herbs and Metals that could be used in the creation of more powerful artifacts and formations for the Soul Ascension Realm. Making the foundation of the Star Shattering Sect even stronger!
Of course… All of this was still far off in the future. For now, the Star Shattering Sect still had take care of the remaining large kingdoms before stabilizing their new territory.