'They are really making me work… I wonder if someone suspects something by now…'
Zhang Dong looked at the passed-out man in his grasp. Just a moment ago the two had been exchanging blows in the air but now the previously strong man looked like someone's grandpa. This was already his tenth battle at the border region and the enemies weren't really letting up.
Just as he previously expected, the man that escaped had called for some reinforcements. Even though their counterattack was quite sloppy it wasn't the end of it. A full-on war for the control of the border was now raging in the empire. The other forts and strongholds didn't go unnoticed and within a week's time, the Long Clan had sent out their troops to stop the creation of these castles.
Their enemy seemed to have less manpower than their side on the surface but this was nothing more than a pretense. The Long Clan's roots ran deep, a lot deeper than he anticipated. It wasn't just the fear of the royal family that drove them, a lot actually believed that they were part of it all. For others, this was the chance they were waiting for, with enough merits they could be promoted to proper clan members.
However, his side was still managing to hold out. One of the reasons was that he was taking it a lot more seriously than his competition. Even now, not many of the nascent soul masters from the main sect showed themselves. This was the key to their victory, an unorganized opponent that lacked a proper structure in their army.
The battles he was going through were actually easier than the ones against the Phoenix emerald empire or the demi-humans. Those people actually had one central figure leading them, even the demi-humans that were divided into tribes had more control over people. They at least didn't mix their tribes up together too much which lessened their need for cooperation.
Here on the other hand it was a mix-up of various clans and sects together. This was a recipe for disaster as cultivators were very headstrong and didn't really like to cooperate with outsiders. Without a proper divide between officers and soldiers there was bound to be problems. No one wanted to be the vanguard and suffer casualties and even now during his battle, there were similar problems.
'They tossed this elder at me just so they could get away…'
It was actually a tactic that worked. The time it took him to take out this nascent soul master, his friends had managed to escape. They weren't faster than him nor were they stronger but still they got away. All of this was due to one thing, strange teleportation talismans that somehow every master above the core formation level was equipped with.
'I guess this is what the Long Clan thought up to conserve their forces… but not sure what they will do with all those demoralized nascent soul masters…'
The whole thing was somewhat annoying. Whenever there were more than one nascent soul master on the battlefield, they would run the moment they realized there was no way of winning. Sometimes they would even do it before he could initiate combat. His fame of being a powerful master at the great circle level was spreading through the front like wildfire. The legend of the dark master Lei Yinglo was already reaching the middle regions.
"Elder Yinglo, thanks for your work!"
"Ah? Make nothing of it, just doing what I was hired for."
He waved his hand while dangling a passed out late stage nascent soul master in his other arm. The people that were bowing in his direction were people from his own sect. He had taken the recently created teleportation gate in his fortress and traveled to this location as a backup elder. After the Long Clan figured out that these structures were being assembled they sent out many soldiers to sabotage the endeavor. Now he was swapped with more work as he showed everyone how competent of a fighter his alter ego was.
"Elder, we need you at the gate."
"Again? What is this, the eleventh time?"
"My apologies but our base in the north is getting attacked by a unified force, they brought siege weapons and our sect members are having a tough time holding out."
"Ah… fine, show me the way, you can take care of this guy without my help, right?"
"Thank you, great elder!"
He grumbled while flying towards the other castle that was identical to the one his group assembled. While they were taking a break without any problems he was here working overtime. Luckily with his help things were progressing rather smoothly and he hoped to have this wall assembled within the designated time window. With it up there would be no way of the Long Clan getting through without heavy weaponry or many nascent soul masters.
The passed-out nascent soul maser was thrown to the side and would be later questioned by his people. However, there was probably not much that he knew, all of these people were outsiders that didn't really know what the Long Clan was up to. Their mission was to run interference while his sect tried to assemble a defensive wall in the west.
'We should have started this sooner while the relations were a lot better between us…'
Zhang Dong regretted that in the past he didn't push for setting up stronger boundaries but there wasn't really that much time to take care of everything. His sect was brand new and there were many middle-sized sects in the area that didn't take them quite seriously. Some time was spent on convincing them that they were really the replacement for the Soaring Dragon Sect.
If they attempted to send out their armies to the borders it would have probably not gone well with their previous peaceful approach. His motto was to use more of the carrot than the stick in these situations. Yet this required a lot more time than showing the others a large fist and ordering them to submit.
'Being a dictator has its pros during times like these…'
After giving out a small sigh he departed towards the teleportation gate and his next destination. Peace gained through warfare and oppression never lasted long and that was his main reason for doing things like he did. It would only last as long as his sect remained in power. He could actually see something similar happening now. With each new loss, the Long Clan was hemorrhaging followers.
They were believed to be an unmoving titan that had existed since time immemorial. Everything thought that they couldn't be moved or defeated by anyone. Even though the soldiers they sent were from branch families and people interested in gaining fame, a loss was a loss. This started to make people think, there was a possibility that the old behemoth had lived too long.
'Perhaps that's why they are using outsiders for the current push, if they fail they can blame them for everything… Maybe they are underestimating us more than I previously anticipated… good.'
When he arrived on the other side of the portal a battle was taking place. In the sky, he saw many flying barges made of wood. They were firing their guns at the defensive formation of this fortress. His sect was returning fire and even managing to give the others a run for their money. It was mostly a stalemate without much progress from the other side but now that he was here, it would change.
"We greet the Elder, we have been…"
"No need for pleasantries, I'll take care of their leader so just keep firing back, this won't take too long."
Just like that he was gone and floating above the castle. Thanks to the structures being all the same it made maneuvering around the corridors a lot easier. While this was risky as their enemies would eventually get their hands on the plans, it made things easier for the people working there. It would be easy to train anyone and then send in a replacement.
"S-stop him!"
"W-who is he… oh no, it's that man!"
It seemed that these branch members knew about him. The moment he appeared between the flying vessels they started pelting him with spirit cannons. It seemed that he was a more important target than the whole stronghold. However, this meant that they would be getting bombarded back by the members of his sect.
The explosions covered the sky and turned it black. Yet even if one of the spirit cannon shots collided with his body, there would be no damage to his enhanced body. Body Refining made anything below the great circle level of power ineffective. He wouldn't even get scratched if he remained in one spot and became a target dummy.
Soon his target came into view, the largest ship from the group with its master on board. He could feel three people of the nascent soul variety on board. They were all sitting together and powering up their defensive formation while using their cannons to shoot. Hitting such a small target in the air wasn't an easy task so they found themselves with an old man ramming their flying ship.
Splinters flew everywhere as he burst through the side and collided with their main engine. It took one hit and then promptly exploded. A cascading effect was soon created as the whole giant boat blew up with the people in it. To his surprise, the three nascent soul masters that were inside didn't really do much to protect the crew of the ship. Instead, they used the smoke and blast to hide their presence in an attempt to attack him.
Yet this didn't matter, he had grown too powerful already. Even when three of them worked in unison they were just not fast enough to land any blow. Instead, they suffered a counterattack that sent them flying in three different directions and into smaller flying vessels that were on their side.
"We must escape, he is too powerful for us!"
"Yes brothers, we must retreat… huh?"
"What is it?"
"The talisman… it's gone?"
"Gone? Wait… mine isn't here either."
"Are you looking for these?"
After so many run-ins with these nascent soul masters, he knew that they would try to escape the moment they had the chance. To keep them from it, he decided to strip them of their teleportation talismans that he managed to pinpoint with the help of Bob and the system.
"You three aren't going anywhere but into the spirit stone mines, now surrender and I might show mercy…"
Zhang Dong smiled while giving Bob another mission. With these three talismans in his possession now he had something to work with. Now what he needed to do was find where these people were escaping to and give them a visit…