Chapter 416 (1/2)

'Well, that went better than I expected… now what?'

After going through the Long Clan, raising his holy energies to a new level, and giving his disciple some pointers, Zhang Dong was back in his secret lair. It was the same room he teleported to when the Soaring Dragon Sect was attacking through which he could look at his territory without being bothered.

While he wanted to do nothing more than to return to his family, he needed to think. What would be the best plan for the coming future that was more uncertain than ever. Zhang Dong wasn't sure but he needed to make a decision. The other elders could make propositions but in the end, it was him that needed to make the decision. A decision that would dictate if more people would die or not.

'What options do I have…'

He started to pace back and forth while looking at the monitor screens. On them, there were many sect members running around. The city had been freshly destroyed and the rubble was still being cleared out. The city populace was also still scattered in all directions while some sect members were with them for protection.

'If those bridges between empires open up, then the common people are at risk…'

The first problem was with the normal people that just wanted to live their lives. Not everyone cared for this war between empires as not everyone was a cultivator. In reality, the majority of people in the world were in the 'mortal' category while the 'immortals' were a vast minority.

But in a world where one cultivator could without effort eradicate thousands of lives with a wave of their hand, it was obvious who was in charge. What the mortals could do was flee to the outer reaches where the spiritual energy was low and cultivators were sparse.

His sect was in such an area that posed a problem of its own. It was a very well-established sect with many resources and good technology. It would probably be a prime target for any attackers from the other empires.

Luckily the escape mechanism of the sect had not been used yet. They would be able to flee to the designated locations if their formations fell to the attack. Thus some would probably want to remain here and wait it out. The grand formation was powered by the spirit vein under their lands, it was much more powerful than regular formations at a close level to the one that the Long Clan had.

When he looked from the point of the game, the Long Clan flying city was probably the last bastion of defense. From what he knew, the Azure Emperor was sure that even if they lost all of their lands, the flying fortress could not be breached.

Some would probably prefer this turtle tactic. Most of the cultivators just cared about their own lands and sects. If the rest of the empire was eradicated in this war, it didn't matter at all. After a hundred years they would just repopulate them again with their own branch families like the last time this happened.

It seemed to Zhang Dong that the Long Clan flying city was something to act as a safe point for the system holder. From there they could leave and farm for spirit points in a world filled with battle. Then maybe within those hundred years they would achieve victory and amass enough points to get to the next level.

'Maybe the longer this war lasts the stronger the enemies will become… something like a horde mode in games, they will just keep coming in waves, some of them bringing bosses that you're supposed to defeat?'

He could only speculate on the true way that this new phase would play out. If the enemies just came in waves then having a good well-protected fortress would be the best option. But the big question was if this sect that he had created was enough to push back the impending doom or not.

If the spiritual formations fell in the coming onslaught, then he would be responsible for many deaths of his own people. It might have been better to just move their base of operations into the Azure Emperor's castle.

'There is one problem, I don't think they will just let me move the entire city into their territory…;

While the Azure Emperor treated him like a blood brother, he wasn't the only one there. Zhang Dong could see them only accepting the innermost sect members without letting him bring over the common people that would be left out in the dust.

The lands that he controlled were also vast, much more than Spirit Spring City. There were various other similar metropolitans with millions of people living there. They were run by small clans that had trouble even producing one core formation master.

He was unaware of the scope of the attackers but how things were now, he believed them to have many cultivators at similar power levels as nascent soul masters. Saint Emperor and Saint Emperors from the Emerald Phoenix empire would probably swarm them. Without nascent soul cultivators to patrol the lands the cities would be in shambles.

'The sect had improved a lot though… they should have a good chance of defending the lands…'