Chapter 398 (1/2)
'So this is what the top of the Empire looks like?'
Zhang Dong looked up at the giant wall that even with his enhanced vision he couldn't see the end off. It was truly immense, how long something like this took to build was probably astonishing.
The place that he would be entering supposedly survived the trials of time. The Long Clan that ruled this Azure Dragon Empire was apparently something that stuck with it through many millennia. They were the undisputed champions of the land now even more, after one of the large sects disappeared.
The Heavenly Crane Sect that was around the same prestige as the Soaring Dragon Sect was somewhat in a bind now. While previously the big three could not really act out against each other, now it was different.
Qing Long the Azure Emperor could now take over everything if he really wanted. With the Soaring Dragon Sect being gone the Long Clan could overpower the Heavenly Crane Sect. It would take some time but without a third party looming over their shoulders to strike when they were weakened, it was now possible to take the initiative.
But Zhang Dong's elders informed him that this was not really how the Long clan operated. They gave their subjects a degree of freedom to fight it out with each other. They would probably sit back and watch from behind these walls till another Soaring Dragon Sect arose to fill in the gap.
There was far too much land to occupy by one faction. From Zhang Dong's perspective, it was probably smarter to focus on a couple of high quality spots than to spread themselves out.
In this world, one nascent soul master could take out a full battalion of core formation cultivators. Only if they were in possession of some high quality battle formation that boosted their strength past this master would they stand a chance.
Even then, the master could easily flee and prolong the fight. Such battle formations took a lot of training and even one person falling behind could cease to be. Thus it was better to focus on quality over quantity.
The land he was on was still only the border town that divided the commoners and royal members of society. For the people living in this empire, it was an honor to go past those dragon gates. Some would even abandon their families if they could become a member of the Long clan, even being a retainer was enough for other kingdoms to fall.
”I'm not sure what you have heard about the Emperor but best you be on your best behavior, you will not speak unless spoken to, don't meet the Emperor's or his aid's eyes, I don't think I need to explain to you what angering the Emperor could entail for your sect?”
While slowly floating towards the gate one of the elders from his escort started giving him 'advice' on how he should behave in front of his Emperor. It seemed like it was natural that Zhang Dong should be put in his place as he was just some random sect Patriarch from a rural area of the empire.
It didn't seem like these people were seeing him as much of a threat for now. While the escort was composed of some strong nascent soul elders, they were clearly not the strongest fighters on their side. The most powerful man here was at the level of the nascent soul late stage elders that attacked his Sect.
The man called Tong would probably wipe the floor with all of them here and even Huo Qiang could take him with a slight boost from the faction system. This would be a good moment to let his aura spill to show them that they shouldn't underestimate him but the smarter option was to do the opposite.
The more they underestimated him the more freedom he would be given, if they decided to spring a trap they would probably not prepare something lesser from which he could escape from.
”I will heed your advice fellow daoist but could you answer my question?”
The old man frowned a bit as he got interrupted by then nodded as they still had some time.
”Do you perchance know why the Azure Emperor has summoned me?”
The man just shook his head as he replied.
”No, The Azure Emperor has his reasons, those reasons are not for someone like me to know.”
Just as he expected the men here were just following orders and would be out of line if they actually asked for the reason. He could clearly tell that they were also perturbed by his appearance
Finally, they arrived at the giant gate that looked like it would require some titanic creatures to open it. But while he was stuck looking at the massive construction the people from the escort beckoned him to the side.
”Why did you stop, come this way.”
”Ah, we aren't going through the gates?”
The group of elders looked at each other and then back at Zhang Dong before giving out a chuckle. They seemed to be some kind of inside joke but they still were cordial enough to not laugh out loud.
”The Heavenly Azure Dragon Gates are not for such trifle exchanges.”
The man answered while they descended down to the ground, there he found something that he was familiar with, a teleportation formation. Quickly it started making more sense to him, he was but a single man and opening this huge gate only happened when something like the Argonaut needed to pass through it, not a single Patriarch from a country Sect like him.
The group of elders looked quite smug after Zhang Dong's comment. It was clear to him that after it they saw him as someone uneducated and that didn't know his own worth.
”Please step into the teleportation array.”
They were even quite condescending while asking for him to stand in this teleportation formation. It was as if they thought that he was unaware of such formations. This might have been true to other Sects as even they mostly only had access to teleportation gates that were easier to manufacture.
Even he had to agree as the ones back home were all teleportation gates and he used his system's features to go around the building process. This didn't mean that he was not aware of the ways of constructing one of those. Now when he was able to see a working model he would be able to copy it over if the need ever arose.