Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

The capital of the Iron Sky Kingdom was by no means small and easily stretched on for several thousand meters in each direction! The sheer size of the capital alone, was easily enough to fit the entire Flying Sword Sect a few times over… Not that this was unwarranted as most of the people inside the Iron Sky Kingdom lived inside the capital and worked in one of the countless mineshafts that surrounded the capital.

Looking at it from far away, Xuan Hao could not help but sigh in amazement as he clearly felt an enormous formation was in place and covered the entire capital. The sheer number of resources required for something like that was far from anything he would ever be able to afford given his current situation!

Just from feeling the terrifying aura hidden inside the formation, Xuan Hao was certain that more than one treasure at the Transcendent rank had been involved in its construction! The formation was likely strong enough to directly kill someone at the Domain Lord Realm without needing anyone to personally control it!

This alone easily showed off just how wealthy the Iron Sky Kingdom was and understandably also made Xuan Hao more nervous about possibly meeting the current ruler of the Iron Sky Kingdom.

After all, from what he could tell, there was a high chance that he was stronger than him and that is not to mention the fact that he would have the support of the giant formation covering the capital in case they ended up fighting!

"I wonder if the king of the Iron Sky Kingdom opened up an independent space… Given his resources, he should have the ability to do something like that…" Muttering this to himself as he gazed over towards the capital of the Iron Sky Kingdom in the distance, Xuan Hao could not help but think back to what he knew about independent spaces, also known as secret realms after the master of the independent space had either passed away or left.

Normally, an independent was a space that could only be created by an extremely powerful Domain Lord close to reaching the Soul Ascension Realm. Given that they had enough resources.

So, with that in mind, Xuan Hao could not help but think that the king of the Iron Sky Kingdom had his own independent space, similar to the secret realm that he had visited in the past!

As for the reason why, someone would spend so many resources to create an independent space in first place, Xuan Hao still had no clue.

Maybe the process of creating an independent space would be helpful towards one's comprehension of the world?

"Master… This is the capital!?" At the same time that Xuan Hao was deep in thought thinking about how far the king of the Iron Sky kingdom had gone, Qing Yi walked up beside him and asked with an amazed look on her face.

"Yes!"

Outside of the bottomless mining shafts the capital was built around, it looked completely different from how Qing Yi and the rest of the elders had imagined it after listening to Xuan Hao back in the small town located close to the border of the kingdom.

From what he had said, they had imagined that the capital would be built on top of a giant mining shaft several thousand meters wide, but this was not the case. Instead, the capital looked like it was placed on solid ground without any giant mining shaft visible beneath it!

"Should we get going? It's starting to get dark, and they might close the gates during the night…" Watching as Qing Yi and the others gazed over towards the capital with amazement on their faces, Xuan Hao interrupted their current state as all of them nodded their heads in agreement with what Xuan Hao said.

They really did not want to end up walking all the way to the capital. Only to find out that they had closed the gate and they would need to wait until morning… 

Even if they had Xuan Hao who would likely be able to get them in anyway due to the fact that he was a Domain Lord. One could never be too safe. After all, with the Iron Sky Kingdom's strength and status in the Sky Empire, they were more than capable of dealing with a Domain Lord.

…

Walking over towards the capital, Xuan Hao and the rest quickly realized just how many mining shafts were in the area around the capital. 

Seeing it from a distance and seeing it up close was a completely different experience, as a large crowd of people could be seen constantly streaming out from the countless mining shafts and towards the capital.

Looking at this, Xuan Hao felt that it was a little odd that none of the people coming out of the mining shafts scattered around the capital were carrying any of the ores or other things that they had mined down below.

Whoosh~

Spreading out his divine sense, Xuan Hao quickly looked into one of the nearby mining shafts, as he quickly found out the reason why the people coming up were not carrying anything along with.

The reason in question, was a large underground network of mine carts that carried the newly extracted ores towards the capital, where they would likely be processed before being sold or used directly by the blacksmiths of the Iron Sky Kingdom!

Wanting to follow the direction the ores were going and look further; Xuan Hao abruptly came to a stop as he felt the formation around the capital appear in front of his divine sense.

If he continued any further, he would likely end up alerting the formation and in turn the king of the Iron Sky Kingdom…

Whoosh~

Retracting his divine sense, Xuan Hao decided to not go any further. In the first place, he did not want to accidently offend the Domain Lord of the Iron Sky Kingdom…

Other than that, they had also arrived in front of the gate leading into the capital. The only thing standing between them and entering the capital being an identification process carried out by the guards. Similar to how the border guard had wanted to confirm their identifies and where they came from before they were allowed to enter the Iron Sky Kingdom.

"Here for the alchemy competition?" Having made it to the line of people that were waiting to enter through the gate, Xuan Hao was caught slightly off-guard upon seeing one of the guards walk up to him and ask this.

"Yes… How did you know?"

"I was informed about a group from the Flying Sword Sect coming to enter the capital for the alchemy competition hosted by Artisan Alchemist Fang Shi. Hm… From what the border guard informed us about, your identities have already been confirmed, so you can enter without waiting!"

"I see… I will have to thank the border guard for her help if I see her again." Nodding his head in understanding upon hearing what the guard said.

"No problem, we have all just recently been informed about making sure the competitors coming to join in the alchemy competition gets there safely. Recently, things have not been so safe inside the capital, so I recommend you head directly towards the south side of the capital where the royal palace is located. The alchemy competition will begin in five days' time. Until then, you can stay at a small manor that is ready for you to stay in over the next few weeks."

"We have a small manor!?" 

Hearing what the guard said, Qing Yi could not help but exclaim from behind Xuan Hao as she heard this. Having expected they would be staying inside an inn during the alchemy competition. Much like how she had done travelling towards the Flying Sword Sect and waiting for the entrance ceremony to officially begin.

"Yes, all of it was arranged by the Sky Empire's Fang Shi, who is also the host of the alchemy competition!" 

After having made sure that they would indeed be staying inside a small manor during their stay in the capital, Qing Yi had completely ignored the part where the guard mentioned the capital was dangerous at the current point in time. Instead, she was looking forward to seeing the small manor they would be staying at.

"How do we find out where to go when we reach the south part of the capital?"

"The place is more heavily guarded, and you will need to show the invitation to the alchemy competition again. After which, someone will help you find your way to the place where the competition is held and the location of the small manor that is reserved for you during your participation in the alchemy competition!"

"I see, thank you…"

"No need, it's my job!" 

With a final polite exchange, Xuan Hao and the rest soon made their way inside the capital of the Iron Sky Kingdom.. Of course, skipping over the line at the gate on the way in.