'I need more time…'
There he was, sitting on the ground and hastily absorbing holy energies from some previously created pills. All of the spirit stones that he had stashed away were now gone.
The weapons that could boost his body refinement up to the great circle of core formation were now gone. All of the treasures possessing electrical energies had also been consumed in a hasty fashion that was causing him pain.
He knew that one lapse of judgment could cause him to suffer but he didn't care. With the help of Bob and his system, he would be able to work through failures in his cultivation process.
Soon his body started exuding a new power yet he was unable to push his regular cultivation through the next step. His new tetra core cultivation method was very demanding, even more, when he tried to push it towards the great circle level.
The materials that he had stored away in this small man cave he made was also very limited. There was just not enough energy to go around. Just like before it was not equal, he needed to absorb a bit more but for this, he needed more time.
"Ten minutes is up…"
He could hear the sound coming from the other room. Most of the cameras were focused on the Soaring Dragon Sect's flagship while the others were peeking at the room that his children were in.
From what he could tell this room was one of the safety bunkers that was deep underground. It was a specially made escape pod that could be activated and would send the people inside of it into a distant part of the forest. It was lined with special aura blocking materials so no one would be able to tell that someone was escaping.
There were a few other pods like these and he fashioned them for a limited number of people. It was supposed to carry his disciples, family, and closest friends to safety. When he returned though one person that had been there previously was missing for some reason.
He must have missed it while he was making his preparations but his disciple Zhang Liu was sprawled down on the ground. It was clear that he was still alive and just sleeping but Feng Nuana was the person that was not there anymore.
Zhang Xue on the other hand was holding both of his kids by the hands while looking at her passed-out brother. He concluded that somehow Nuana had to have put Liu to sleep for some reason while also leaving the escape pod behind.
Soon the reason became obvious as he could see her running outside. He wasn't sure but he had a suspicion of why she was doing this.
The escape pod that they were in had similar monitors that could show the outside to them. It was clear that they had heard that sexual deviant pronounce his intentions towards his wife. While his disciples were there to keep his children, Nuana was probably more emotional towards her own sister.
'She must have taken Liu out and made a run towards Liena…'
He wanted to smack the little sister on the head as he knew that she could not do anything worthwhile. She was only an early core formation practitioner with no way of helping out. Zhang Dong even feared that if that pervert noticed her that he would decide to take her with him as well.
Suddenly something happened that he didn't expect. The monitors started turning red and he could feel that the large protective barrier that should have been able to last for multiple days had just turned off.
'What the hell…?'
This barrier was made with utmost diligence and with the best materials that he could get his hands on. It should be able to resist anything that this world had to offer and the off switch was deep inside the middle of the sect. Unless someone turned it off from the inside it should not be possible.
'The use of spirit points has been detected.'
The system gave him the answer itself. It was the young man with his own system, with its help he was able to make months of designing and years of work just vanish with a snap of the finger.
Zhang Dong now realized how people felt whenever he used his system against them. Years of hard work and planning went down the drain and the other person didn't even need much to do it.
With even less time on his hands and more people to save he reached out with his hand towards the monitors. With a jolt from his cultivation aura, the alarms were turned off as he activated another function that was embedded into this chamber.
Through a previously set up short teleportation array, he was teleported up into his home. The gaudy castle that he was forced to live on was somewhat an eyesore. It was huge and there was far too much space in it for a small family like him to live there.
The place he appeared was right in the inner courtyard. There was a large fountain in the center that had somewhat changed in appearance. Previously it showcased a random angel with wings but now he could see that someone changed it into a statue with his appearance.
'I guess they wanted to honor their late missing Patriarch…'
He glanced at the white statue that presented him there with a sword in hand. He moved over to it and with one swift kick the statue was sent flying to the side. Then after bending over he moved the slab of hard rock out of the way that was the base of this fountain.
While he was a bit sorry for destroying this piece of art, he needed to get to the room that was right under this statute. With the previous one removed, it didn't seem like the opening mechanism was in place either.
It was a blunder on his part as he did not explain the full function of this system-run fortress. It was impossible to untangle some of the functions that it had from his own system. It was connected to his faction system and not one would really be able to make sense of the construction without its help.
With the fountain being thrown to the side a strange wall of metal appeared. It had various runic symbols on it that soon lit up brightly as he stood on top of it. The structure activated as a circle of about two meters in diameter around him appeared.
Soon Zhang Dong found himself moving down on this circular elevator that brought him to the insides of this large castle. While on the outside it looked like a structure fit for a king, its true functions were hidden away.
This was something that he used his years of crafting knowledge for. After absorbing all sorts of books about making treasures and upgrading them through the system he could put himself in the top five of best craftsmen that this empire had to offer.
While other masters mostly focused their skills on smaller items like weapons and pills, he had a tendency to build big. His first real step in this direction was the huge battleship that he had helped create.
The same battleship and a few other smaller similar ones were now ready and floating above the city.He could feel them activating their generators and getting ready to fire as soon as the barrier was turned off.
'Well then, I hope this thing doesn't just blow up on me…'
Zhang Dong found himself in some strange liquid then suddenly the light went on and he could see everything that was on the outside. He felt as if he was sitting in a pool filled with clear water but while being able to breathe.
With his eyes, he could see indicators of his troops that were part of his faction. The system was integrated into this strange room that only he would be able to operate.
During his exit from the lower room, he had also switched his clothes. He was wearing a skin-tight body suit that was similar to a wet suit. It had added armored parts on his chest and shoulders which had now cables sticking out of them that connected to the strange control room that he was in.
'Biometric signature has been scanned, welcome administrator, would you like to activate the fortress 1?'
'I guess it's time to make myself known…'
"Activate all systems, activate the engines! Reactivate the shields at my command!"
While the grand formation barrier was canceled there was a way to restart it. By using up some of the stored power he could activate the reserve generators that were only accessible through his administrative privileges.
With the orders given many popup screens and loading screens turned up. The inside of the castle started to rumble as it activated as well. The outside structures started cracking as the floating fortress moved forward.
While he was saddened by the fact that he had to damage his own home that he had some fond memories in. His family was more important than material things, the kids were below ground and well protected with his disciples, they would be fine.
"The Patriarch's castle is moving! How could this be?"
"Is the grand formation working again?"
The sect members called out at the sight of their late Patriarch's home moving. It was a symbol that reminded them of him but most of the people here had thought him to had perished.
"People from the Soaring Dragon Sect, you are not welcome here, begone!"
His voice was heard through all the speakers that spread through the city. The large fortress that once looked like a villa started to shed its outer shell. Many cannons appeared from within and all of them were pointed at the ships and cultivators from the Soaring Dragon Sect.
"That Voice… could it really be?"
Zhang Liena backed away from the reactivated barrier and looked to her home approaching. While she wanted to believe that her husband was back, it could have been some intricate treasure with his voice.
"I'm sure you would rather do nothing more than to attack us but before we start killing ourselves I'd wish to speak with that person… yes the person called… Wang Long…"
Zhang Dong had his system so even through the computer screens he could see the man's name floating above his head. It was clear that he went for a similar style of naming but for some reason reversed the last name with his name.
"What is that? Did we activate a hidden boss?"
The pervert called out while not even seeming alarmed by the appearance of the flying castle.
'Bob, can you directly connect me to his system, so we can have a private conversation?'
'Affirmative, connecting now.'
With one last try, Zhang Dong decided to try the olive branch approach. The person was not of this world, so maybe if he knew that he was interacting with another 'player' he might see things differently.
'Connection established.'
"Hello there Long Wang, we need to talk…"