"You can't do this, we need to discuss it with the elders..."
"Oh? Who is going to stop us? We can discuss everything with these!"
A rather imposing-looking muscle-brained cultivator with red hair was hovering in the air along with three other ten nascent soul masters. All of them were hovering over what used to be the Dark Palm Sect main sect. Around them were many peeks which were producing a certain light.
"If you think that your protective formation will last for long, you are mistaken."
Besides The ten nascent soul masters, there were also some large ships hovering in the air. These ships were smaller versions of the Argonaut but were not much behind it. The whole area was surrounded and the protective formation that was pulsating with energy would not last for more than a day.
"Elder Qiang, please calm down, the Patriarch has ordered us to offer them a branch before we act."
"So that's why he told you to come here…"
Huo Qiang looked to the side where Zhang Zhi was floating about. The man was respected by him as he was probably the fourth-strongest person in the entire sect. His choice of weapon was a strange single-edged blade that Qiang would find hard to evade.
"If elder Qiang would allow me to speak."
Qiang just shrugged and flew back while Zhang Zhi took center stage. He soon opened his mouth and with the help of spiritual energy made his voice echo through the whole area.
"Fellow Daoists from the Yinglong Pavilion, we have come to claim what was rightfully ours. Years have passed since our Patriarch had defeated the Dark Palm Sect's leader, we are grateful that you have temporarily kept watch over the lands that rightfully belong to our United Element Sect. Now as our Patriarch has ascended to his rightful place at the side of the Azure Emperor you can relinquish this burden back to us…"
Zhang Zhi continued to talk and painted a nice picture for this Yinglong Pavilion that had remained here in the main city. This was one of the three sects that had cannibalized these lands.
After the debacle with the Limitless Sword Society that lost their leader after Zhang Dong slew him, they together with the Dragon Gate Sect moved in to distribute most of the lands between themselves. This was the center of their power base here though and rich with treasures.
Zhang Dong ordered a swift occupation by force but not like he wanted to become some kind of bloody despot. He would let everyone keep their lives and some of the treasures if they just packed up their bags and left. Zhang Zhi's words just let the other sect keep some face as it made it look as they were just safekeeping the place for Zhang Dong from the beginning.
Now that it was known that he was the golden dragon and at a similar standing as the Azure Emperor, there was no shame in bowing their heads before him. It would actually make it look like this Yinglong Pavilion was in cahoots with the United Element Sect which would make the other sects fearful of them.
"Ah yes… that's right, we were only safekeeping the treasures for the honorable Golden Dragon, the brother of our honored Azure Emperor!"
After some back and forth the elders finally capitulated. There was just no way that they could go against a force this big without any backup. The cultivators from the United Element Sect could also teleport people onto their ships, even Zhang Dong could appear to eradicate them.
There was enough information to back up the rise in power of this sect. Everyone also watched the royal broadcast which could not be faked. What remained was to hope that they would at least keep their lives.
….
"I see, good going Zhi, prioritize spirit stones and other treasures that store spiritual energy over weapons."
"As you wish, Patriarch!"
Zhang Dong ended the call with his most trusted warrior. He wanted to make sure that his sect got all the spirit stones they could get their hands on. Anything that could store other types of elemental Qi was also important. He still had to boost his three formation cores to nourish this white seed of his. As it continued to grow, so did he, and his maximum power expanded further.
"Everything is going as planned, Liena is clearing things out at the borders, if everything goes well we can siphon the spirit stone tax towards our sect instead of the Heavenly Crane."
After nodding he took off towards his next destination to which he was going solo. The war was approaching but Wang Long was the more important target. His enemy was a murder-happy individual that saw these people as nothing more than points to further his cause.
Luckily Zhang Dong was knowledgeable about the system Wang Long was using. There was a large change in spirit point gaining after getting closer to the nascent soul level. Wang Long would find it really hard to gain anything from low level cultivators, even core formation masters would probably be giving him meager gains now.
This was probably in place to encourage the system holder to go after stronger opponents closer to their own level. Farming points by killing mortals and low level cultivators would probably give fewer points than killing one nascent soul master.
'I hope that's the case… but not like I ever tried killing any of the non-combatants.'
He could mostly just speculate as he never went through a massive killing spree. The system could have some kind of feature that could still absorb the energy from a massive massacre. Before any of that happened he needed to get to Wang Long, while his sect brothers were getting more resources he was flying towards ground zero.
'It sure is fun to be free like this…'
With his current cultivation, he could fly at the speed of a great circle nascent soul master and the best thing was, that no one would stop him. As he rocketed through the various border regions of the other sects everyone just bowed their heads. The word had already spread and his golden dragon status had given him enough prestige to almost go anywhere.
Yes, almost as when he arrived closer to what used to be the main area that was occupied by the Soaring Dragon Sect he found his first barrier.
'Someone placed a barrier here?'
It was a literal barrier made from energy behind him; he could see some dark clouds gathering everywhere. The zone of demonic energy was further inside and this formation was certainly keeping it from spreading outside.
"Halt, Identify yourself!"
A small group of cultivators approached him, one of them was a nascent soul master at the middle stage and he had about ten core formation cultivators with him to boot. The robes that they were wearing was something he had seen before.
They belonged to the Heavenly Crane Sect that now after the Soaring Dragon Sect's demise was crowned the number two power in this empire. While the smaller and middle sized sects would push open their door for his new status, this sect was a bit different. They saw themselves at the same level as the Long Clan.
"Oh? Do I really need to introduce myself, I did proclaim that I would search out the one named Wang Long, did you perhaps miss my inauguration speech, junior?"
The man he was talking with was actually many times older but his cultivation would be considered lower. Zhang Dong was now the Golden Dragon so he needed to act like one. While this elder was probably held in high regard in his own sect, Zhang Dong did not really need to answer to anyone besides their high elders or Patriarch.
"Y-you dare? J-junior…"
The old man was taken aback by how he was speaking but before he could react one of the core formation cultivators next to him quickly whispered something into his ear.
"This is… I must apologize but I didn't expect someone of your status to arrive at this forsaken land."
He quickly changed his tune and clasped his hand while performing a small bow. All the other people that were here did the same.
"But why would the esteemed Long Dong the Golden Dragon grace us with his presence?"
"Ah yes, I need to get there, so could you lower this formation for a moment, I wouldn't want to destroy it."
Zhang Dong smiled a bit while pointing towards the lands that previously were populated by many other cultivators. The dark smoke that covered the area was making it hard to see anything so he would need to get closer to examine it further.
"You wish to go past the formation… but the Supreme Elders…"
The man moved his head to the side as it seemed that he was in some trouble. The Supreme Elders that he mentioned probably ordered him to keep everyone out. They probably didn't foresee that Zhang Dong would arrive here so fast after he made that speech. They might have counted on him to just be all hot air and not follow through his claims but now he was here.
"Don't worry about your Supreme Elders, If I see them I'll put in a good word for you."
"But that wouldn't really…"
"No need to thank me, now please, I don't have all day, the more we wait here the more potential victims could appear, I must examine this demonic presence that lurks inside."
He knew well that there was a lot of peacocking involved in situations like this. The two parties were not against each other as they were in a truce. They still had their boundaries and them letting him just pass here would be a slight hit to their face.
"Could you please wait honored Golden Dragon, I will inform a Supreme Elder and ask for permission this instant…"
"Ah, that's troubling indeed… you see, the more we wait, the longer the madman remains in the empire. If you aren't willing to let me pass, I will have to be somewhat reasonable…"
As he spoke the other cultivators could feel a progressive increase in his power levels. While at first he seemed to be someone at the core formation level, his power exploded well past the nascent soul master that was here.
"Senior please…"
"I'm sorry but you have prattled on long enough."
Without giving these people any more time he bolted towards the protective formation. Due to his formation master knowledge, it was not hard to find an adequate spot to just slip through. A small Zhang Dong sized hole was left behind but with a wave of his hand, he mended it in an instant.
"Well then, I'll be seeing you my fellow Daoists."
The group of cultivators just looked on as Zhang Dong blasted into the distance and quickly vanished into the dark miasma. On their minds was only the scolding that they would receive for not being able to stop this madman from going into a deadly zone filled with malicious beings.