The fog around the Divine Fist Sect was slowly clearing up. It didn’t fully go away but instead cleared up in a one-kilometer wide radius. When the cultivators standing on the walls tried to look beyond that they would only see the thick mist. If they listened closely they would also hear the strange shrieks of the monsters that lurked within it.

Down on the ground, the rescue initiative was in full swing. With the combined powers of all the nascent powerhouses, the beasts had been slain in a short amount of time. Some of the affected humans that weren’t too far gone were apprehended. They were now being kept in quarantine while the divine healers from both sects tried their utmost best in getting them under control.

The people from the Divine Fist Sect had a lot of their own members succumbing to the infection so they were motivated in getting their sect brothers and sisters a cure. With the live specimens that Zhang Dong caught and with Huo Fu’s medical expertise, a cure was being developed. A cure that didn’t require a nascent soul master versed in holy healing.

“I must thank you on behalf of this sect.”

Mao Wuying along with the other three nascent soul elders clasped their hands while standing opposite to the three grand elders from the United Element Sect. Huo Qiang just smirked while Zhang Dong nodded weakly.

“I’m glad that we could save some people but this isn’t quite over. The problem still remains, this mist is proof.”

He looked into the distance where the miasma was still lingering. The protective formation that was enhanced by him was keeping the fog away for now. With it pushed back the monsters wouldn’t be able to approach the sect ground.

Zhang Dong found it strange that this version of his old foe needed this mist. When he first came to this world there wasn’t such a requirement. The frenzied monsters could freely move through the lands but they weren’t as strong as the ones here. He could only attribute this to the monster being weakened or the starting area being some kind of special case.

“Elder Heng informed me that you have faced off against this monster before?”

Wuying asked while looking to Zhang Dong who nodded at the question.

“Yes, but back then it was much weaker. Only at the core formation level. It wasn’t that strong and it could only boast high regenerative capabilities. By the way, Elder Heng described it, it is probably the same demonic beast but it had probably advanced further. I fear that I underestimated its regenerative capabilities and it somehow survived our last encounter…”

Zhang Dong replied while wondering if this was actually the same version of the Cthulhu that he fought twice already. It could have been another one that laid dormant for one reason or another. If it was the one he previously met he hoped that with the current holy Dao that he possessed he would be able to deliver a finishing blow. By the looks of things, this version was susceptible to divine and holy energies. The mist that wasn’t able to penetrate here and the monsters that started burning up when they got closer to these divine energies were proof.

“Aye, the way this monster draws energy from other beings would explain how it could have gotten stronger in such a short period of time... First let me explain what happened on that day.”

Mao Wuying added his two cents, the story was close to what Fang Heng had reported. The sect leader only shone some light on how exactly the relic worked that they used. That item wouldn’t help them much though as it had crumbled to dust after activation.

From what the elder explained the item was a holy sword that was at the highest grade that a heavenly item could reach. It was also just a hilt with most of the blade broken.

“Some of the divine blade’s shards might still be in the monster's body. This might be just my guess but the creature should have trouble healing itself with our divine item inside of its body.”

This made a lot of sense, the Cthulhu that he knew was a creature that could heal itself from any wound. He had to disintegrate it into small particles to get rid of it both times. Even then it might have been the same one and survived.

It should have been able to mend itself from a wound like that. It looked like the divine energies that were inside that damaged blade proved more deadly to the beast. It had to even flee and send its underlings instead of attacking by itself.

“That does make a lot of sense. We will move towards the ruins where you found the monster, I must ask you to lend me a guide.”

“Of course United Sect Patriarch, we will aid you however we can…. but…”

Mao Wuying looked behind himself with a troubled look, Zhang Dong kind of knew why this old man was hesitating. His sect was now in shambles and they were down to four nascent soul masters. Even the lesser sects that were at the banquet had more manpower than they had now.

The man probably wanted to prioritize his own people and fighting that demonic creature might not be on his agenda. He was probably thinking about abandoning this city and seeking refuge elsewhere. If Zhang Dong told him to jump into the portal into his lands he would probably take him up on the offer instantly.

“I’ll guide them, sect leader!”

The one to step forward was Fang Heng, the man that he was most familiar with. He was a powerful nascent soul powerhouse so it would be nice to have him along for the ride. The other nascent soul elders didn’t trust him just yet. This was understandable as he just barged into this city not that long ago.

The fact that he was saving them without asking for anything in return was already raising some eyebrows. This wasn’t something a cultivator in Zhang Dong’s position would do for free. They could understand it if this creature had something like an immortal treasure but it looked like he was just killing it to save lives.

Was he a saint or was there some other reason that he was doing this? The people from the Divine Fist Sect were skeptical but they couldn’t really do much about it. They weren’t in the position to complain nor could they ask the other sect about their true motives.

“Are you sure Elder Heng? We could let another elder from the information pavilion do it instead? ”

Wuying wasn’t really keen on having one of his remaining nascent soul elders being the guide. He would rather use one of the core formation sect members instead. They were a bit more disposable. He wasn’t sure how this undertaking would work out and he had to look at the bigger picture here. Losing someone like Elder Heng would be a big blow to the sect’s future.

“I understand sect leader but our sect has a debt to repay to this man. I would like to aid him in this crisis, it is the least I can do.”

The old sect leader looked into Heng’s eyes and could see that the man had made a decision. It would be impossible to change it now as he knew that look well.

“I see that you have made up your mind Elder Heng…”

Zhang Dong stayed to the side and waited for the two old men to make up their minds. He didn’t care that much about who would guide him there but it would be better if it was Heng doing it. The man owed him one and was also a strong nascent soul cultivator that practiced divine arts. He would probably be a nice addition to his fighting force against the demonic beings.

“Are you finished?”

“Yes Senior Dong, I will guide you towards the ruins. I just have one more favor to ask of you…”

“Is it about Meili?”

Fang Heng nodded at the question. Zhang Dong knew more or less what the man wanted to ask about so he just spoke up first so that they wouldn’t beat around the bush for too long.

“If you are worried about her well being, don’t worry. We will open the gate and if you wish she and more of your family members can leave towards my sect. They will be safe there.”

Fang Heng just clasped his hands as a sign of gratitude. Zhang Dong and he discussed some things before the old man went away to inform his family. He and Meili would have some catching up to do.

The girl was hanging out with Zhang Xue in the background and the two were in the middle of contending with some red-haired youths. He recognized one of them at least, they all looked similar to his sect brother Qiang.

While the evacuation and healing were underway Zhang Liena moved over to Zhang Dong.

“Little Xue has it tough, the spawns of that idiot are always swarming around her.”

It looked like Liena wanted to go over there and deliver a few smacks with her fans to those boys. Zhang Dong just smiled before moving over to his wife to calm her down.

“Xue can take care of herself, they wouldn’t dare to do anything drastic, probably wouldn’t even be able to. Our little Xue is quite strong.”

Liena moved a bit closer, bumping her shoulder into Zhang Dong’s chest while the two looked at the youths messing around. They could see Liena’s younger sister moving into action and shouting at the young males. Liu was hanging in the background, Zhang Dong knew that the youth had given up on the notion that he would ever get rid of Nuana by this point.

Probably the fact that she was the little sister of the woman his master was married to only made it more difficult for him to deny her advances. He wasn’t one to interfere in their relationship as it wasn’t really his problem. He also got a chuckle out of how the little girl was overzealous and always seemed to cause chaos around her.

After a moment he looked to his own wife but before he could move his hand around her waist a sect member walked over to make a report.

“Sir, the gate is ready for activation. We are just waiting for your order. The preparations for departure are also underway, we should be ready within the hour. ”

He had to move away from his wife that turned away to the side, one emerald fan covering her face so that the interrupting sect member wouldn’t see the frown on her face. Zhang Dong was a bit worried about this sect member's future by how his wife was looking at him. He knew that she wouldn’t do anything drastic but he might find himself cleaning the beast stables, for a prolonged period of time.

“Begin the evacuation but keep it organized, we can’t have people panicking.”

He knew that some people would want to escape as quickly as they possibly could. Getting surrounded by strange mist and flesh-eating tentacle monsters would do that to you. Order had to be kept though and children came first, the adults would be last.

After wrapping things up here they would depart. More backup would be coming after the gate was opened in the form of his favorite battleship. It wouldn’t be able to fit through the gate on its own but with the spatial technology that this world had it wouldn’t have to. With it around, he could safely take more of his sect members to those ruins.