Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Leaving behind the eccentric merchant Lao inside the small cave hideout after having successfully recruited him to join the sect and handed over the things Elder Dust Fairy had asked him to give him so he could properly be identified by the Domain Lord Realm Elder who would be showing up to take him back to the sect, Chu Yang soon found himself at the shore of the river where the entrance to the tunnel leading into the cave hideout was located.

Because of the relatively secluded location next to the river that the hatch was located in, he managed to easily make it out without being noticed by anyone in the process.

Of course, one of the reasons why he wasn't noticed was also because most of the cultivators normally on the nearby streets had long since left, either to search for weaker cultivators to use for exploring the ancient ruins or to escape from becoming a scout of these stronger cultivators.

The only few people still on the streets not too far away, were a few of the guards casually patrolling along with a few permanent residents who were living under the protection of the city itself as they were tasked with doing some menial labor to keep the city running.

Even though their strength was only between the Qi Condensation Realm and the Foundation Establishment Realm, none of the wandering cultivators currently roaming through the city in search of usable scout for their exploration dared to target them, as that would go directly against the city lord of the Demon Mountain City, an existence at the Soul Ascension Realm. Not someone that a few wandering cultivators in the Nascent Soul Realm had the courage to offend over a few scouts for their exploration of the ancient ruins. Especially when they could just go after the other wandering cultivators who were weaker than them for something like that.

"I should adjust my strength a bit so I won't come off as someone at the Core Formation Realm or I might get targeted by those Nascent Soul Realm cultivators as well." Muttering this to himself as he scanned the streets and saw nobody above the Core Formation Realm present outside of the few patrolling guards, Chu Yang wasted no time as he adjusted his strength from the Core Formation Realm to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Although this kind of disguise in terms of cultivation realm would almost instantly get seen through by someone in the Domain Lord Realm the moment, they used their domain to observe him or just focus their attention on him, it was still more than good enough when it came to fooling those wandering cultivators in the Nascent Soul Realm.

So, with his outwards cultivation realm being adjusted to the Nascent Soul Realm, Chu Yang made his way deeper inside the city to official start his search for information on how to safely pass through the mountain range. Hoping that the information won't be too hard to find for someone in the Nascent Soul Realm.

If it really did turn out that even someone in the Nascent Soul Realm wouldn't be able to acquire the information, he would be forced to use his Domain Lord Realm cultivation base to try and find out about it.

The only problem with this was that doing so would undoubtedly result in him having to interact with other Domain Lord Realm cultivators, something that had a high likelihood of backfiring, as his flimsy attempt to hide his age would easily get seen through.

…

At the same time Chu Yang was heading further inside the Demon Mountain City to search for information on the safe passage through the mountain range, Elder Dust Fairy was looking off into the distance with a somewhat absent look on her face.

"Elder? Is something the matter?" Just at this moment, a young girl around the age of 16 entered the office that Elder Dust Fairy was sitting in, as she directly opened her mouth to speak upon seeing how Elder Dust Fairy was looking out of the nearby window with an uncharacteristic absent look on her face.

"Hm? Little Yue? Hehe, it's nothing for you, my dear disciple, to worry about, I was just thinking about the person that Grand Elder Xuan's disciple informed me on not too long ago and was a little lost in thought."

"The merchant? Hm… From the way Senior Brother Chu Yang described the merchant, he didn't seem too impressed and just informed us because he thought this merchant might be of some use to us, though, I fail to understand why elder would take it serious enough to ask Elder Song to send Elder Xuefeng to bring him back.

In my eyes, it would be fine to just have that merchant try and make his way to the sect on his own, though the distance is long, and he won't be able to make it with his weak cultivation realm, he should at least struggle for a few years to show that his dedication to joining the sect!" Tilting her head in confusion as she said this, the girl referred to as little Yue by Elder Dust Fairy simply couldn't understand why her master was so interested in some random merchant.

"And that is why I'm the master and you're the disciple, did you forget who the person informing us about this little merchant is?"

"Of course not! How wouldn't I know about senior brother Chu Yang, a disciple of Grand Elder Xuan and also a terrifying cultivator at the Domain Lord Realm! Among all the disciples of the sect, who doesn't know about senior brother Chu Yang? Especially those who visit the Combat Hall!" Saying this with an excited expression on her face as she talked about Chu Yang, little Yue soon turned to her master with a confused expression on her face. "But master, what does any of this have to do with this little merchant?"

"Everything! Chu Yang is well known for not being easy to earn praise from, something that a lot of the sect's elders personally experienced when he went around challenging every one of them back when he was still in the Nascent Soul Realm.

For this merchant to earn his praise even though he is just a little merchant at the Foundation Establishment Realm without any significant background… It can only mean that this merchant is truly impressive even without any help. Meaning that his talents for the art of information gathering might be far more terrifying than even your master if properly nurtured!"

"This… I never thought about it like this. My apologies master!" hearing what her master said, little Yue realized that she had indeed never heard about Chu Yang praising anyone before outside of a few of his fellow personal disciples who were similarly terrifying in their own way.

"It's good that you understand. In return, when that merchant gets to sect, I will put you in charge of him for the first two weeks of his stay at the sect. Perhaps this will help learn what it is about him that is so special that he even earned the praise of Chu Yang." Nodding her head as she said this, Elder Dust Fairy signaled for her little disciple to leave.

Soon enough leaving her by herself inside her office as she once again continued to stare out the window where a small group of disciples could be seen practicing under the guidance of an elder in the Nascent Soul Realm.

The disciples and the elder were all part of her attempt to nurture a new generation of information gathering experts for the sect. After all, even though she had no plan to step down from her position as the head of the sect's information gathering network any time soon, she planned to at least have a suitable successor when that time came.

Little Yue, one of the disciples she had taken a few years earlier following her becoming the person in charge of both the servant quarters and the sect's information network, was one of the people that she had started nurturing for the express purpose of becoming a successor in case something happened to her or she decided to step down when she became older.

Of course, with the news of the eccentric merchant and hearing how even someone as stingy with praise as Chu Yang had praised him in his ability to blend in and adapt to his surroundings, Elder Dust Fairy had a feeling that this little merchant would prove to be a good disciple for her to nurture. Maybe even putting some pressure on little Yue to improve more, as she had started slacking quite a bit since she already stood far above the rest of the disciples, she had taken in.

"Hehe, a good challenge indeed, I hope this little merchant won't disappoint me." Chuckling to herself as she thought about the future, Elder Dust Fairy soon focused her attention back on the work waiting for her on the desk.

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