Red Bamboo Province at the same time was also embroiled in savage battles with the monster invasion. Its population was larger but this also served to lure in much more vicious monsters that preyed on humans specifically. Monsters of all shapes and sizes flooded into the province, causing mass panic.
Over the past month, Divine Blazing Mountain disciples had separated into smaller groups for maximum efficiency. There were too many missions and all grouping up was impossible if they wanted to get the most amount of points. The senior disciples and elders all wanted to get on top of the leaderboard. The only one that was a little indifferent was Fen Ziping.
Fen Ziping wasn't a slouch as he was still very high on the leaderboard. He made sure his elite group would get the most valuable and efficient missions. As the first disciple, he still had to maintain his reputation and no other Divine Blazing Mountain disciple had higher points than him.
However, he didn't place a lot of hope on the dream array like other cultivations. He was clear about his path to immortality. It relied on one thing, women!
"Immortal Prince Fen! Immortal Prince Fen!"
The residents of a frontier town chanted as Fen Ziping stood before them in the town square. His team had just eradicated a skeleton horde. Burnt bones were still scattered throughout the town which was almost completely devastated. However, most of the residents were saved and they showed their gratitude as they cheered.
The residents had lost everything and they would soon have to embark on an arduous journey west. They showed their gratitude as they cheered.
Fen Ziping waved to the crowd but his mind was on other matters. The residents had lost everything and they would soon have to embark on an arduous journey west. This was not the first time he had encountered such a situation since the beginning of the monster invasion.
He eyed the crowed carefully, looking for any woman that was pretty enough to pique his interest. Although this was a backwater town, out of a population of several thousand, there were bound to be a few beauties. He used his invisible spiritual energy to mark the ones he was interested in. He then gestured to his attendant, who was also a powerful 10th Level Spirit Initiate cultivator.
"Fen Duwu, do you see the ones I marked?" Fen Ziping asked.
Fen Duwu nodded, "Sir, we will take care of it!"
The crowd dispersed and continued to clean up the town. They burned dead bodies, treated the wounded, and scrounged for anything left to eat and that they could use. The Divine Blazing Mountain disciples commandeered best undamaged house in town as their residence. The owner was going to migrate west and forced sell the house for a pittance.
As night fell, Fen Ziping's men came back to the house having accomplished their mission. Four men each led in four or five women for a total of eighteen women of all ages. They were all quite pretty, some more so than others. They stood around in the living room in awkward silence.
Fen Ziping arrived in front of them and spoke, "My name is Fen Ziping, first disciple of the immortal sect Divine Blazing Mountain. You all understand why you're here?"
The women nodded.
"You've all received your payment?"
The women all nodded once more. Some became orphans after the battle, having lost their parents. Some were widows who lost their husbands. These ones were desperate and accepted a payment of gold.
Others might not have lost any family but had lost everything else. They were reluctant at first but were eventually enticed by the additional offer of land deeds within the Divine Blazing Province. To Fen Ziping, land deeds were worth even less than gold. But to commoners that no longer had a home, it was a path of survival.
Many were here because they were intimidated by the powerful cultivators while a few were naive enough to think they could become the prince's woman. It would be disingenuous to say that any of these women were here completely of their own free will.
As the 'wife bandit', Fen Ziping had many techniques and schemes. Taking advantage of the misery caused by disaster was one of the easiest ones. Power and authority combined with desperation made persuasion easy.
"Good," Fen Ziping said and examined each woman closely.
His burning desire had slowly been building up all afternoon and he wasn't going to hold back anymore. He picked out ten of the best women for himself. "You all, follow me upstairs. The rest of you stay down here and serve my men well. The food and drink in this house, you can take it all with you tomorrow morning."
"Thank you, Immortal Prince Fen!" The women all bowed.
Fen Ziping led the ten women upstairs into a bedroom with a huge bed. He closed the door and looked at their nervous faces, each with her own unique charming features.
"Relax, it's going to be a long night. Now, let's see... you first!"
---
Glacier Palace was also in the Red Bamboo Province but many miles away in another area. They avoided Divine Blazing Mountain but they still competed fiercely, as evident by their overall sect point total being the third highest in the yearlong competition.
On this particular day, three Glacier Palace teams led by Long Yifei converged on a city that was being overrun by a family of ice giants. All species of giants loved to eat humans and they couldn't resist a large city of over twenty thousand. They besieged it from all sides, preventing escape. The ice giants were over six or seven meters tall and they used their ice hammers and ice axes to smash apart the city walls with ease.
There were many other similar missions but Long Yifei chose this because the ice giant's core was very beneficial to cultivating the Eternal Winter Sutra. Her teams arrived in time to save the city but not before a large number of commoners died. It was a difficult battle but Glacier Palace women were able to overwhelm the ice giants one by one due to their superior ice arts.
After the battle, the women gathered for a quick meeting.
"Second Elder, lead your team towards the west gate. Fourth Elder, lead your team towards the north gate. I will handle the rest. You all know the plan." Long Yifei gave out her orders.
"Understood!" The elders bowed slightly and left.
The elders were much older than her but they still obeyed. Her authority as the first disciple was absolute.
The Glacier Palace teams separated and headed out into the half-destroyed city. Along the way, they helped dig through debris with their power and locate survivors with their spiritual energy. Long Yifei led the way, bathing the commoners in her ethereal presence. The people soon knew of her name and they thanked her with all their hearts.
With their strength, surveying the city only took little time and they soon returned to their meeting spot.
"Reporting, the west side has over a hundred."
"Reporting, the north side has over a hundred as well."
Long Yifei looked satisfied, "Good, adding that to the center which has slightly less than two hundred, we'll have about four hundred. Well within our expectations."
Her aim, and the aim of the Glacier Palace elders, was to scout for new recruits for their sect. The sect only took in virgin women who had to dedicate their entire lives. This was difficult under normal conditions but with this monster disaster, there were many orphaned girls with no other option or broken families who could no longer raise girls. The sad fact was that it was much better for the poor families to sell their daughters to an immortal sect than to human traffickers.
This was also a critical time for the sect to increase their number and thus their future strength. Long Yifei wouldn't waste it. "Very good. Time is short, let's begin!"
"Yes Madam!"