"If you don't come out within a minute, don't blame me for what will happen!"
"Yeah, come out already, how dare you make us wait?"
'Who are these people…'
Zhang Dong was right outside the giant pagoda and almost free from his recognizance mission. What he just needed to do now was to find a hidden spot and change his appearance again. Then he could start mapping out the island with his system to prepare the invasion plans. Perhaps even taking some time to look at the sea.
'Doesn't matter, their fight seems to be with the sect leader and not with me.'
In the sky, there were multiple nascent soul masters and also a large group of core formation cultivators. There were five nascent soul demonic cultivators, with about twenty core formation experts for each of them. The weaker warriors were spreading out in all directions to prepare some kind of formation.
'Are they trying to set up a trapping formation so that people won't leave?'
Before leaving Zhang Dong noticed something. All these people were wearing similar dark robes with a peculiar symbol on the back. It was not a Mandarin character as everyone else used, it was something that he remembered from his old life.
It looked like many arrows moving out from a circle in which a skull resided. This was something that he remembered seeing when playing video games before he appeared in this world. It was something that only someone from the same world would probably be aware of.
'So they are Wang Long's new lackeys? Did he perhaps know that I came here or is there another reason? Should I just leave or …'
Zhang Dong didn't feel that he was in danger yet. When he realized that people were approaching he hid his power even more. To the people floating in the sky, he wouldn't appear as much more than a core formation expert. He was interested in the reason these people were here. If they were on orders from Wang Long then perhaps this would be a chance to see how he acted as a leader.
'They do seem rather evil, what's with all those cocky grins?'
Just as always the demonic cultivators were composed of mostly old men. The five looked like zombies that just crawled out of the grave with how pale their skin was. There was also some kind of strange poisonous aura floating around them.
"What's the meaning of this? You dare?"
A rather angry-looking voice burst forth from the large pagoda he was under. The top blew the lid as a burst of flaming energy shot up into the sky. From within a single man emerged that was covered in bandages and a robe. With his enhanced senses he could tell that his frame was covered in third-degree burns.
'Hm… due to some demonic arts an evil cultivator could lose part of their natural healing capabilities. Is this man unable to heal these burns without leaving behind scarring or is it perpetual damage received from the flames he is surrounding himself with?'
Huo Qiang's flame arts were purer than what he was seeing here. The man that looked like a burn victim probably had a very shaky understanding of the Dao of flames. It wouldn't be strange if he had forced himself into this realm while suffering through a lot of pain.
'I guess power is more important than living in pain…'
"Immolation Demon, what's with that look? Do you know who you are speaking to? Have you forgotten who rules these lands now"
"You…"
Zhang Dong could see the fire cultivator move his head down and begrudgingly clasp his hands together to greet this person. He only did the act after seeing the large logo on the other man's robe. It seemed that the two had history together, their power levels were close to each other.
'Old rivals perhaps? Did the other guy grow a spine after joining Wang Long's side?'
This wasn't anything new, whenever someone received a strong backer in this world they would see themselves as a superior being. They could shield themselves behind the person or faction that was now protecting them. If someone badmouthed them it would be as if they are badmouthing the backers instead.
"I see that you understand your place, good."
"Why are you here? Have you come to gloat?"
"You know me well, but watch that tongue of yours! I'm on direct orders from the Demon King!"
"Demon King?"
"Yes, the magnificent Chaos Demon has decided to become the king, the official announcement will come in a few weeks so don't babble it out but I have come for a different reason, the lord demands an offering."
"An offering?"
"Yes, gather all of your finest women, they will be presented for the lord as his concubines!"
"Concubines?"
'I see that guy is up to no good as always…'
Wang Long's overblown libido was known before he even became a demonic cultivator. Yet he was more restrained in the past, most of the time he visited places and picked out a few women to come along with him. It was the same when he appeared in Spirit Spring City to get Liena.
"I will prepare the women, you can leave now…"
"Not so fast, did you think that this is the only reason I came here?"
"What do you mean?"
"Come out, we know you are there, Venom Demon, Shadow Demon!"
'Oh? Are they in for it?'
This didn't seem to be only about the women, there were far too many cultivators here for a simple errand. Almost everyone from the nascent soul masters was around the middle stage, they were each other's equals. However, there was one man that was above them all, a late stage demonic cultivator and he was on Wang Long's side.
'Will those two just come out in peace or try to flee instead?'
He wasn't sure what this was all about, perhaps the other side was seeing this as a chance to take out old rivals. The secret get-together was suspicious but it didn't have to mean anything. Old masters constantly made deals with each other and the three were just making a haphazard truce to help each other.
'They might even think that that burned guy ratted them out… this could turn into a big brawl…'
It didn't look that well for the three demons but also the whole sect wasn't safe. The advantage was seemingly on the side of the new group but this was still the territory of the Onyx Moon Sect. There were various protective formations everywhere that could equal out the playing field against the higher realm cultivator.
"Hey, you there, how dare you! Lower your head this instant!"
'Uh?'
There arose a small problem, as he was still in his overbearing evil cultivator persona he just stayed there with his face pointed towards the sky. This was not something a junior member of the sect would be allowed to do. Everyone else from the sect had their head lowered and just listened as the elders talked.
"Are you deaf? How dare a lowly…"
'Oh boy…'
He kind of tuned out what this person was saying while weighing his options. It didn't look like anyone posed a threat to him so using valuable spirit points to teleport back wasn't necessary. By the laws that governed this place, he was in the right to teach these people a lesson. Even though they were part of a powerful upstart sect, their leader was not here to punish him.
'Would Wang Long appear if I defeated some of his people? Weakening his side before the invasion wouldn't be such a bad idea…'
There were five nascent soul masters, one of them was a bit stronger than the rest but not really a problem. If no other reinforcements came then he could easily deal with them.
"Impertinent insect."
"Wha…"
The core formation member of this group groaned as he felt a massive amount of pressure collapsing on him. Instantly he was pushed down to the floor, his body began giving out crunching sounds as his bones began to snap. Zhang Dong showed no remorse for this act as he was clearly a murderous individual. There was an aura of death around him, some residual energy from the souls of people he killed was still lingering. They had died with indignation and only worsened this man's karma in the process.
"What are you doing?"
"What does it look like to you? I'm squishing a bug."
He looked towards the man that was floating in the sky while performing his attack. Even though the nascent soul master above attempted to suppress it with his own aura, he was unable to. The other two that were hiding in the pagoda were on their way out and also noticed this display of power. His aura was still suppressed making him seem as an early stage practitioner.
"You dare? Immolation Demon, is this one part of your sect? Are you actually gathering forces to go against the Demon King?"
"What are you talking about? This was never about this and you know it, I don't know that person, he just showed up here…"
"You really think I'd believe that?"
The loudmouth started arguing with the Immolation Demon while the real toughest member remained silent. This was the usual tactic of hidden experts, letting someone take the attention off them to test potential threats. This would put them in a safe position to react if an opponent turned out to be strong.
Of course, Zhang Dong was aware of this as his attention wasn't on the shouting match. Instead, he focused on the formation that the core formation experts were trying to create. It wouldn't last long against an assault but it would probably be enough to stop a nascent soul master for a moment and give the other ones time to chase.
"Hey, where do you think you are going?"
To everyone's surprise, the unknown demonic cultivator that Zhang Dong was masquerading as started walking. He ignored any callouts while making his way toward one of the core formation cultivators that was setting up the formation. It seemed that he was trying to make a run for it so one of the nascent soul masters with the poisonous air around them bolted towards him.
"You shall not escape?"
"Escape? I think you misunderstand…"
The core formation cultivator was quickly knocked out on the spot by a fling of his finger. The same finger was used to interact with a focal point of this formation not to dissolve it, but to make it a lot stronger.
"I'm not the one stuck here with you, you are the ones stuck here with me!"
He shouted while jamming his palm into the unsuspecting nascent soul elder's chest that was flying towards him with ill intent. The man's ribs shattered in an instant as he flew back only to collide with the improved formation. One of the enemies was down but there were at least four more that he had to contend with…