"They are really not here but why were they trying to infiltrate that ship?"
Zhang Dong was floating above the port city where many various ships were floating around. After helping out the merchants he decided to see if the inhabitants were doing well. The people were just minding their own business and continuing with their work as if nothing happened. Due to the storm barrier communication with the ships inside was impossible thus they had no idea of what had happened.
'I can feel a trace of mana being used and it's coming from there.'
Before any pesky cultivators came out to invite him to some kind of feast he disappeared towards a faraway location. After landing behind some large rocky formations he found something interesting.
'This does look like a magic circle.'
On the ground, he saw a circle with a pentagram in the middle. Around the pentagram were various runes that were identical to the ones he learned about in the other world. It seemed that these people could have a connection to it or magic was the same even in the other worlds.
"But I can use this to my advantage…"
There were a few options here, he had captured the group that had attacked the ship but they would probably not reveal their plans to him without a lengthy interrogation process. Yet this teleportation magic here could help him out with that problem.
'This does look like a two-way portal, someone had to have stayed behind on this side to stabilize it.'
With that in mind, he moved his hand towards the pattern on the ground. The mana burned out a clear pattern for the spell being used and left a trace amount of mana. This mana would lead him to the mage that stayed behind on this side.
The magical technology being used here was slightly above what the cultivators in this world were capable of. It was mostly impossible to make it inside of a flying ship with a teleportation formation unless there was an existing gate inside of it. Yet these people were able to make it inside without one.
'There could have been some item smuggled to the inside but even with that, this could complicate things if they can just ignore protective formations and get inside cities like this.'
This was the biggest problem here, if these people were able to get through the ship's protective formations it could be possible for them to get into fortified positions. Even with a smaller force, they could cause widespread damage and then flee before launching a full-scale attack.
'But if I attune the formations to this type of mana signature it should counter it, I'll have to send it over with these prisoners when I have the chance but before that, I should trace this to the source.'
He had arrived here to absorb lightning energy but instead, there were more invaders from the other Empire running around. If he was lucky the forces that were gathered here would not be large enough to give him any trouble. But for some reason, he was feeling bad about this one, with teleportation being involved the forces of his enemies could have been up to something.
After grabbing some of the soil with his hand he performed a tracking spell that he learned from the other world. The spoil started radiating blue light which expanded to the sides rapidly. Soon it started taking the shape of a wolf made from mana that would be used as his tracking hound.
"Well then boy, get the scent, and let's go."
The wolf made from pure mana started sniffing at the ground where the pentagram was. After a couple of whiffs, it turned its head to one side while giving out a howl. It had caught the mana scent of the tracking target and quickly sprinted towards it with its master following behind it.
With his finger, he pointed towards the wolf made of light to hasten the process. With an injection of the energy, the creature bolted forward at speeds similar to a core formation expert. The distance he was going was unknown to him as he needed to rely on this spell.
'I guess I'll look at the scenery for now…'
Zhang Dong's journey started and while continuing the chase he was sure to get hit by some of the lightning bolts that were shooting down from the sky. Each hit was quickly absorbed with this lightning core which grew in size by a tiny fraction that was hard to notice.
'Would be nice to have more of these cores, I'd be immune to all elemental afflictions but the downside is being reliant on external factors for cultivation.'
Sometimes he wished that he had picked up sword fighting as his main profession. This too was a Dao from this world that he could train himself in yet it only relied on regular training.
'But this way is certainly faster as long as there are resources to borrow from, otherwise understanding the elemental arts gets quite vague.'
While contemplating the world's Dao he made his way towards the giant torrent of electrical energy in the middle of this area he was in. Of course, he was hiding himself from the sect that ruled this area otherwise they would have made moving around their lands a lot harder.
Luckily for him, these invaders weren't as obnoxious as the ones roaming close to his lands. Even when going in deeper he didn't spot any chaos besides the continuous lightning strikes raining down from the heavens. Yet this could have just been the quiet before the storm, if they were more methodic then they were perhaps only taking their time before the full-blown invasion.
"Wait… that's enough."
Suddenly his spiritual sense that was feeling out for magical activity sounded a red alarm. Before his mana sniffing wolf was discovered he quickly snapped his fingers to make it disappear. The reason for this was simple as right before him stood a trapping barrier similar to the trapping formations that cultivators used.
"A protective spell, if I go through here they will know that I'm here, that is unless I counter it."
This was not a threat to his life, it was mostly a large-scale detection spell. Probably the spell was created to monitor everyone entering the area. A normal person would not feel that anything was out of place when going through the threshold. But somewhere in the zone that this spell was created was something keeping track of people entering the area.
Before launching any countermeasures Zhang Dong decided to look around. The area he was in was composed of empty hills with forests populated by some lightning beasts. Even from here, he could see some white thunder tigers wandering around without caring for the thunder cracking in the distance.
'At least the closest settlement is many kilometers away, even if I cause some damage no one should be hurt but first I need to get through this barrier.'
While Zhang Dong had impersonated a magical spirit emperor in the other world he didn't spend that much time here. He had gone through all of the libraries he could but he was not all-knowing. Magic was a field as vast as cultivation and worked in mysterious ways, if he wasn't careful his enemies would be aware of his presence and then he would need to switch to plan B.
'Going in forcefully isn't always the best way, most of the time it's better to take your time and feel things out first…'
With that in mind, he placed his digits on the edge of the barrier. First, he started with one finger to get a good feeling for the energy signature. Slowly but surely he added another finger and traced both up and then down. Finally, after he got a good feel for it a third finger was added and he started pushing towards as he attempted to push the thin membrane-like barrier out of the way.
'There we go, slow and steady… there we go!'
Thanks to his slow approach he was able to produce a small opening that expanded to let him through. Without activating the initial barrier the only thing he needed to do was mask himself by creating a familiar mana signature around his body.
'But this is strange, I don't really see much enemy movement on this side of the empire. Could it have something to do with the way these people use their power?'
The tribes that he met closer to his own sect appeared faintly on the mapping system he copied over from the Long Clan. This was mostly because they were body refiners with a slim amount of Qi. These knights that he was up against now were similar, if they didn't activate that mana aura they were quite weak.
'Their main base should be in this location…'
Zhang Dong glanced towards the area that was bright red and closest to the bridge entrance into this empire. It was south-eastwards and together with the information he received confirmed the location of one of the opposing empires. It was a lot brighter than the stronghold where those vampires were.
'There must be quite the concentration of energy there, it might be difficult to get through their defenses…'
It was a perfect circle that encompassed a huge area. It was clearly something like a grand formation protecting the area. Perhaps if the Long Clan had listened to him they could have controlled these locations and held back the invaders but as it was now it was too late.
"But this is no time for my mind to wander, I need to see what these guys are up to…"
He had shrouded himself in his own version of mana to counter this detection spell but this also forced him to travel on foot. If for some reason he produced even the smallest amount of Qi his cover could be broken. For the time being his body refining would have to be enough as it was not something that easily detectable.
"I guess you guys won't just let me through, huh?"
A group of electrically charged beasts looked towards him after the concealment spell. While using it he didn't seem all that strong so even these foundation establishment creatures saw him as a fast meal. But he did not want to waste his time and stamina on these small fries, he needed to find the hiding place of this magically inclined race of invaders.
"Well then, which one is the leader… that one."
Thus he looked towards the biggest looking tiger that was causing little bolts of energy to shoot off from its whiskers. After taking care of the alpha beast the other would probably let him through, if not then this might be quite the journey.