247 Chapter 247 (1/2)
He hoped that Zhang Xue would open up to her new cousin. He picked her as she was his disciple and he trusted her to follow his orders. He also couldn't let Zhang Liu take the job, that disciple of his had a problem in the form of Liena's sister to contend with.
Feng Nuana barricaded herself as his fiance and wasn't allowing him to even interact with other women. He wasn't sure why the younger sister was so different from the older one, but he was glad that he ended up with Liena that went by Zhang Liena nowadays.
In the old days, the women from the Feng Clan rarely changed their clan name and took in female children only. With the sect taking over now they were just regular disciples so their outlook on things had changed. Also after Liena married him she decided to change her family name to be more traditional. This caused some friction between the Feng Clan members that were afraid of losing power and prestige.
That's why he was worried about his new niece a bit. He didn't think anyone would do anything drastic knowing he was involved. There still were other family members in the sect that would probably see the new person as a threat.
The inner sect politics were a convoluted thing that he tried to avoid. Some people liked to make their own little factions and help them rise up to power. They wouldn't be able to threaten his position as he was the strongest but in the lower sections of the sect, some infighting occurred.
Zhang Dong gave out a sight while flying away, he had other things to worry about than sect politics now. Time was of the essence and he would need to clear his schedule to resolve the new problems.
The first one was the problem that arose from him offending the Limitless Sword Society along with the Yggdrasil Sect. He slew Zhan Jie their Patriarch in one on one combat and this news was already known in all of the lands.
Normally if you killed a king from another country it would result in a war. In this sect-run empire, things were a bit different. The sect leader's position was a high one but they could still be replaced. In most sects like the Limitless Sword Society, the decision-making process was more democratic than people might think.
Most of them had something like a council of elders in the background. They would be the ones to actually make the decisions. The sect leader was just a figurehead that decided on regular sect decrees. When it came to outside politics and diplomacy, such councils started getting involved.
Like five years ago, it took three of the other sects banding together to take out the Dark Palm Sect. They also only attacked when Zhang Dong was keeping them busy. They only attacked after he killed a large number of their nascent soul elders.
He believed that if the other two sects refused to co-operate the Limitless Sword Society would have to take this hit to their face.
Zhang Dong already showed his hand by defeating two sect leaders in single combat. Both of them were late stage cultivators and masters at their own craft. He was also one of these masters that had learned the sword heart. This would also be something that the old nascent soul fogies would be afraid to go against.
There was also the Divine Fist Sect that was rumored to be backing him. He knew that it was impossible to place spies in his domain. Information about this not being true would probably never leak outside.
How this would play out depended on the Dragon Gate Sect and the Demon Subduing Sect. He had better relations with the sect leaders of those two sects. The one from the Dragon Gate one was actually interested in doing business with his sect.
He was even the one that held out an olive branch towards him by inviting his side to the banquet. Though Zhang Dong didn't get to speak to Xu Qing, their leader at all. He was preoccupied with the Divine Fist Sect debacle and now it continued on.
”I gave Kuo the orders, maybe the spies had figured out something from the rumors…”
Zhang Dong took off into the distance while leaving Zhang Xue and Fang Meili to figure things out themselves.
After a moment or two, he arrived at a new location. He flew down into a large pagoda-like tower that stood in a walled-off section of the sect. No one besides core disciples was allowed here and it was also manned by them.
This was a building set up for his information network. This was the place to receive new intel on other factions and even individuals.
Every strong power required an agency like this. The other sects and factions still kept sending various spies into his domain. He just decided to return the favor and create a spy network of his own.
He left Zhang Kuo as its leader, the man was one of his most trusted advisors. He had long forgiven him about the Jade Grass City incident and the man continued working to prove his devotion towards him and the sect.
Thanks to him they had a mature information network throughout their whole domain. They even had sleeper agents placed inside the three surrounding sects.
Thanks to Zhang Dong's improved disguising technique they were able to replace almost anyone they wanted. They were spies trying to infiltrate his sect all the time. It was easy to capture them and then to replace them with someone of his own people.
The great part about this technique was that it was easy to switch out their spies and even jump to a new persona if they ever got caught. The agents could even switch themselves out so that they wouldn't need to live for years in a foreign land. Never to see their own sect members or families ever again.
Most of them were quite devoted though. There were many specialized techniques they were taught free of charge. A lot of people just took this job for the guaranteed rise in cultivation. Spending over ten years at an enemy camp was nothing for people that could live for five hundred years.
This place looked more like an office building on the inside. Many TV screens littered the inside along with cubicles. The sects technological advancement was pushed in the direction that he wanted.