Chapter 387 (1/2)

”How much of the sect has been affected?”

”Not that much Patriarch, most of the destruction was spread through the city but the sect buildings have remained mostly intact.”

”Good.”

Zhang Dong nodded while walking together with a man that he hadn't seen in a while. It was Zhang Kuo that was one of his trusted retainers. His cultivation had advanced into the middle core formation stage and his face didn't change much even though he had aged by a whole five years.

At this moment in time, he was walking through the large halls of his own sect. While normally there would be many disciples running around, the halls remained mostly empty.

”So, all of the disciples have been evacuated to the dimensional regalia?”

”Yes Patriarch, Zhang Ya is with them along with a core group of elders.”.

Thanks to the treasure that he had discovered on his travels the sect was able to evacuate all of their disciples. There was enough space in that pocket dimension to house everyone. The treasure took the form of a medallion so transporting it was rather rudimentary.

The person holding this treasure was inside a similar escape pod-like his children were. Just as they, the person holding the medallion had not yet left and been on standby. During the meeting of the elders, he would need to decide if they would be remaining here or if they would be moving towards a different destination.

”Well done.”

He nodded and was glad that the escape pods were still unused. When activated the tunnels would explode later on and the whole construction would have been unusable. All in all, they didn't suffer that many casualties and were rewarded with the treasures in the spatial rings of the eleven nascent soul masters.

”Thank you, Patriarch!”

Kuo replied with vigor which took him by surprise. This man was usually the more cold and calculating type but after a while, he had also become a father which might have altered his way of thinking.

His own daughter was hard to peel off after he informed her about the elder meeting. For the time being, they were with their mother but he was to return to them as soon as possible. While little Xiu had opened up fully back to him, this wasn't the same for his youngest Jun. It would probably take some time for the boy to open up to him but for now, it was fine for him to be healthy.

”Zhang Zhi, greets Patriarch.”

Before the large meeting hall stood Zhang Zhi with a large samurai sword strapped to his hip. Next to him was a somewhat large woman that looked like a battle-hardened amazon. This was the man's wife who was also part of the old Feng Clan.

”Glad to see you, I have to thank you for taking care of the sect while I was away.”

”I am but a humble servant my lord, I did it all for the sect!”

It didn't look that this man had gotten over Zhang Dong quite yet. Even now he could see that samurai lookalike's eyes sparkling during their conversation. Normally Zhang Dong would only cringe at these sparkly eyes and try to hide but now after not sleeping his number one fan for so long, he didn't mind.

”Keep up the good work then, maybe if we have some time I could impart a new technique to you.”

”I am unworthy of such praise!”

Zhang Zhi just lowered his head but Zhang Dong could tell that when he mentioned the improved technique the man became a bit giddy. Soon all four of them entered through the door and were greeted by a room filled with many sect elders. Everyone was already waiting for him and some of them had less than stellar looks on their faces.

”We greet the Patriarch.”

Huo Qiao called out from the side which made everyone bow their heads to Zhang Dong. This was someone that he hadn't interacted much since the old days but it seemed that the old elder was still friendly with his friend Huo Qiang.

Both of them were sitting quite closely while Qiang's father still looked rather uncomfortable. Even though he didn't look like he approved, he did bow his head. Zhang Dong's performance and boost in power spoke volumes and he could not be denied.

”I'm sure you'd like to know where I've been for all of those years but that will have to wait, we must decide on our next move.”

Everyone nodded as they knew that if they came to the wrong decision they would be eradicated.

”Hah, the moment senior brother returns all hell breaks loose, there is never a boring moment if you are there, I'm glad that you are back!”

Huo Qiang called out while laughing, it seemed that he wasn't taking this that seriously. Even now he was not at full health after facing Elder Tong but this only made him itch for the next challenge.

”I'm glad to be back, I must thank you all for taking good care of the sect while I was away. Now let us discuss the matter at hand, does anyone want to make a proposition about our next step?”

While he was still the Patriarch and the decision-making was up to him, he always liked to hear out the people from his own sect. Their lives were at stake as well, even more than his as he had ways of hiding himself along with his family if he ever needed to.

”What can we do? We offended the Soaring Dragon Sect!”