196 Chapter 196 (2/2)

”That is something I can't tell just yet, I must go through the lands to see...”

Matt's mapping feature had gotten a boost since he reached the nascent soul level. He could now check to see below the earth as well, he wanted to scout the area's out. He wanted to find something akin to the spiritual veins that could be found in the deeper regions in the empire. He wasn't hoping for that much but even another spirit stone mine would be enough.

He had heaven grade spiritual energy gathering formation in his library, so he didn't need a place with a high concentration of it, he just needed it to be manageable.

”It would be best if those three sects allowed us to stay at the area where the Dark Palm Sect was located but don't think they will let us.”

The people nodded, the large sects had their bases located in places with strong spiritual energies. It wouldn't be odd if those clans left some of their members there after they conquered it.

”Maybe if the honorable Wei Hung acted, we could gain that land for ourselves?”

One of the Zhang Clan Elders asked the others nodded with approval while looking at Zhang Dong. In their opinion, if that strong master acted even the three sects would have to listen. Wei Hung's illusion had left a big impression on these people, they thought it was just a slither of his true might and it was already that strong, how powerful was Zhang Dong's master in person? He might have even been on par with the Azure Emperor that ruled the land!

Zhang Dong just shook his head side to side while answering.

”My master won't act unless it's really dire, he only acted when my life was in danger, I fear he doesn't care for this sect of mine. I wouldn't put my faith into him that much, personal strength is always better than borrowed one.”

The elders in the room sighed out after Zhang Dong's reply. They knew those types of masters that weren't concerned about anything besides their disciples. Wei Hung was apparently one of those, only taking action when his pupil was in danger but not caring about the people involved with him or her.

”That's… understandable…”

”Regretful…”

The elders voiced their concerns but still encouraged Zhang Dong to seek out his master for help. He just nodded at the request, though he knew no help was coming as he was his own master.

”The main concern is the three large sects, Dragon Gate, Limitless Sword, and Demon Subduing… we don't know what they will do but I don't think they will let us have any of the more bountiful lands.”

”I agree with Senior Brother, they probably won't allow us into the mainland that is closer to the spiritual veins.”

Feng Liena responded while everyone in the room nodded. It would be quite foolish from the three powerhouses to let them reside in places with a high concentration of Qi. The spiritual veins were something that formed naturally in this world.

Cultivators in this world liked to place their sects in areas with spiritual veins with high concentration. This was also how things in this empire were constructed. The spiritual veins with the highest concentration were further into the mainland, the closest place to it was the Empire's Capital city.

The Azure Emperor lived there with his clan, he wasn't part of any sect but that didn't matter if you were the strongest person around. His clan had many powerful experts and even if they had fewer people than some of the sects they excelled in quality over quantity.

”Yes, they just might make us remain in these lower lands where the spiritual energy isn't high enough to produce nascent soul cultivators…”

Everyone nodded, that was the likely scenario and they wouldn't be able to go against all three of those sects even if their three nascent soul elders could contend with the opponents.

'Hm, the improved versions of the techniques are superior which mostly means that they require more spiritual energy to cultivate in.'

Matt rubbed his chin, he needed to get his sect into a good location, otherwise it would take decades until they achieved anything.

'Should I sneak into their territory and raid their spirit stone mines?'

Matt didn't really want to do risky things like that, even with a spirit stone mine converted into points he couldn't produce that many nascent soul masters, unless he dropped a grade with their cultivation manuals.

”Yes, that is probably what they have planned but not like we can do anything about it.”

Zhang Jin commented from the side with a frown on his face.

The meeting continued well into the night. While they had Zhang Dong's attention the other members from the new sect were sure to ask him many questions. Some of them were even trying to reel him into their families with marriage proposals. This of course earned the scorn from the Feng Clan side of the sect.

They went over the death reports and decided on giving all the warriors a proper send-off. Their families would be getting some monetary compensation and could even get a position as a disciple.

Further discussions were halted as no one knew where their new base of operations would be. They needed to plan the internal structure of their sect and also needed to build the proper facilities to house the outer, inner, and core disciples.

They decided that a merit-based system with incentives would be the best. Every new disciple would be put in an age bracket and tested. The average recruits would be outer disciples, above them were the inner disciples with more privileges and even further were the core disciples that were the true elites.

They didn't go into much detail about the merit system and rewards as no one knew how much resources they would have to spare.

”Then it is decided, we will wait till the situation with the Dark Palm sect is resolved, we will bolster our defenses and me and the two Grand Elders will continue cultivating in preparations.”

Zhang Dong went with the term 'Grand Elder' just like their enemies did as it was something easy to follow. Soon enough everyone dispersed and went to prepare for the future tasks of making the sect.

While Zhang Dong was heading out he came across his female grand elder, she was apparently waiting for him. She gave him a smile, her face beaming as she just stared into his eyes.

”Ah, yes!”

He straightened himself out a bit, it was time to get some tea. The future was uncertain but it also held many wondrous possibilities.