Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Knowing just how dangerous it was to move around with the escalating tension throughout not just the Fleeting Cloud Empire, but the entire Eastern Central Region, Chu Yang began to seriously consider following in the steps of other wandering cultivators and settle down until things calmed down again. After all, if one decided to hide deep underground and enter secluded cultivation, it was relatively simple for someone in the Soul Ascension Realm or above to avoid detection.

The only ones who might notice their presence would be those Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators, but with their strength, they care the slightest bit about some wandering cultivators who had decided to hide away and avoid being dragged into the increasingly chao6tic battles taking place. Not to mention, wandering cultivators didn't have that much of an impact in such a large-scale conflict where the main combatants deciding the overall situation were those in the Celestial Immortal Realm.

If there was a wandering cultivator who had surpassed the Dao Seed Realm and stepped into the Celestial Immortal Realm, things would be different but wandering cultivators that powerful were incredibly rare and could almost exclusively be found in the Southern Central Region. Not to mention, if there really was someone that powerful in the Eastern Central Region, they would likely have left the second they realized the situation escalating to the point where even wandering cultivators were being targeted.

However, there was a clear problem that came with hiding away and waiting for things to blow over… And that was the fact that he had no idea how long the conflict now starting to gather momentum in the Eastern Central Region would last, it could be anywhere from a few weeks to hundreds of years. In which case, he didn't plan on spending the next few decades hiding somewhere underground.

Not just because it would slow down his cultivation speed, but more so because it would give Qing Yi and the other disciples under his master an opportunity to catch up with him. At which point would he no longer be able to consider himself the strongest among his master's disciple, something he really didn't want to see happen. Especially so if even someone like Mui ended up surpassing him while he was forced into seclusion underground waiting for things to blow over.

For this reason, even though it was dangerous, he decided to continue making his way through the Fleeting Cloud Empire in the direction of the Northern Central Region. The only somewhat positive he managed to find out about from a few other wandering cultivators in a similar situation as himself that ended with them not hiding away immediately, the branches of the Explorer Union scattered throughout the Eastern Central Region could still be considered safe locations.

If he could make it to one of the Explorer Union's branches, he would be able to rest for a few days without worrying about being attacked by the people from the different major powers.

After all, even though the different major powers dared to attack wandering cultivators with the growing chaos, they didn't dare make an enemy out of the continent spanning power that was the Explorer Union. Meaning that it was a rare safe location where the wandering cultivators would be able to rest without having to worry about being attacked.

Although… The Explorer Union would at most allow wandering cultivators to stay at their branches for a few days before they were shooed away by the staff.

At first, he had found this odd, but after meeting another wandering cultivator who had ended up being shooed away from a branch of the Explorer Union, he learnt why.

The Explorer Union was using the opportunity while the wandering cultivators were in a state of fear and unease to recruit en mass. Giving those who joined them a chance to remain safe by staying at one of their branches.

Normally, it was a bit difficult for the Explorer Union to recruit wandering cultivators in the Soul Ascension Realm and above, but with the chaos spreading through the Eastern Central Region that had resulted in even these powerful wandering cultivators no longer being safe from danger, it had presented a perfect opportunity for the Explorer Union to recruit these powerful cultivators.

In a sense, one of the main reasons the Explorer Union decided to look the other way during chaotic struggles like the one currently taking place likely had to do with the fact that such chaos allowed them to easily recruit a large number of powerful cultivators…

The Explorer Union… Indeed, knows how to best take advantage of a chaotic situation…

Smiling somewhat wryly to himself as he thought about this, Chu Yang made his way into a nearby branch of the Explorer Union to avoid a small patrol moving through the region.

Although the situation was dangerous, with the Explorer Union branches so numerous, it became far simpler to avoid direct conflict with the different major powers fighting for control over the territory of the Fleeting Cloud Empire. All he had to do was move between branch locations of the Explorer Union when there was a gap in the patrols flying around above.

The main problem came with the fact that he didn't exactly know about the exact location of the different branches under the Explorer Union in the Fleeting Cloud Empire… And wouldn't you know, it just so happened that the Explorer Union sold information on the locations of their branches for what could be considered a hefty markup compared to normal times. Ensuring that even if the powerful cultivators didn't end up joining them, they would at the very least end up paying a lot of spirit stones or other treasures to the Explorer Union to ensure their own safety.

With everything the Explorer Union was doing, Chu Yang couldn't help feeling that the recent chaotic state of the Eastern Central Region wasn't the doing of the different major powers who wanted to expand and grow the size of their territory, but instead the Explorer Union who wanted to suck the wandering cultivators in the Eastern Central Region dry before recruiting them.

Under normal circumstances, the Explorer Union was beneficial to wandering cultivators, serving as a true neutral force that ensured fairness and a way for wandering cultivators to stay independent, but… When conflict came, the Explorer Union was far from kind…

Understandable as the Explorer Union had to have some way to ensure they had enough powerful cultivators to guard their branches and ensure the proper running of the continent spanning union with branches everywhere from the four central regions to the outer regions at the edge of the continent.

But, with the thousands of top-grade spirit stones I managed to get my hands on, I shouldn't run out of spirit stones buying information before I get out of the Eastern Central Region…

Although he understood what the Explorer Union was doing, he didn't really care much about it, as he himself had more than enough spirit stones on hand after his trip to the mystic realm where he had broken through to the Initial Stage of the Dao Domain Lord Realm.

If anything, the current situation was beneficial to him, as using the Explorer Union would allow him to move through the Fleeting Cloud Empire relatively safely without encountering anything too dangerous along the way, a far stretch from his first few days wandering through the Fleeting Cloud Empire before he had learnt about the benefits of hiding in one of the Explorer Union's branches.

After all, with enough spirit stones, outside of buying information on the different branches scattered throughout the tumultuous Fleeting Cloud Empire, he could also buy information on the location of different major battles where Dao Seed Realm or Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators were active. Allowing him to avoid being dragged into a conflict he was far too weak to safely get through.

Even though this kind of information was extremely expensive, the value of top-grade spirit stones was nothing to scoff at… And with only a few dozen of them, he had managed to buy enough information to calculate a relatively safe path through the Fleeting Cloud Empire all the way to the borders of the Northern Central Region.

Even though he would have to update his information every few days to ensure it continued to be safe and no new battlefield ended up being erected along the path, it wouldn't end up costing him more than another few top-grade spirit stones.

All things considered, he could be considered to no longer need to care much about the surrounding chaos due to the information he had managed to get his hands on.

Although, the path wasn't entirely safe from patrols of Soul Ascension Realm cultivators, he was more than confident in his ability to sneak past them or escape from them in case he ended up being discovered.

The main problem with the path itself was the simple fact that it would take him at least a month to travel and with time, the situation in the Fleeting Cloud Empire could develop in an unexpected direction that might place him in danger again.

But… There was nothing much he could do about that other than face the potential danger head on when it presented itself…