“Young master, we might have to retreat, for now, I must remind you that this is a critical moment for our sect, our time should be used elsewhere. The elders that had come with us will be needed for the coming…”

“Be quiet Tong, that can wait but this can’t!”

Elder Tong looked at the young master that had a peculiar expression on his face. This was the face of a man that was consumed by something. It was an uncommon thing to see this young master striving for something but the timing could not have been worse.

Tong could somewhat measure the defensive and offensive capabilities of the sect they were facing. They were more or less at a stalemate, they were somewhat at an advantage as the United Element’s sect was stationary.

If they kept at it long enough the defensive formation would falter but it would falter later than sooner. This elder feared that it would take up too much time and cause their enemies to go through some plans of their own.

The ten late stage nascent soul elders that they were using here was not a small number. The group here could more or less conquer the middle sized sects if they attacked them one by one all by themselves.

Tong feared that their resources could be spent elsewhere and after they were done with their main plan they could honor the young masters' conquests. Thus he decided to report this to the Patriarch, maybe he could convince the true leader of the sect to force this unruly grandson to back off for now.

They were giving a certain time window to clear things up, while this window had not passed yet he feared that they would not meet the deadline. But before he could grab the communication jade he noticed something, the barrier started faltering.

“Hm? Isn’t that a bit too early?”

The protective barrier that had stood like a solid wall of energy started flickering as if it was running out of energy. He could even see some of the spiritual bullets that were being fired from their own ships penetrating into it and some damage being caused to the buildings below.

“Hah you see that Tong? I knew that the bastard was using some tricks, the system can’t be beaten! This is our chance, everyone attack! Remember that we take the women!”

Some of the cultivators that were manning the ships shouted out in unison. Tong knew well why those people were quite ecstatic at what the young master had said.

This was not the first time that something like this was happening. There were some other lesser-known sects that were flattened by this Wang Long. Every time he would capture the women and kill the men.

Then the ones that were deemed not beautiful enough he would give away to the other sect members. They would be free to do with them as they wanted, which led mostly to a life of slavery and misery. Consumed by lust and egged on by the young master the sect members were more willing to do things that they wouldn’t normally do.

“Young master please wait, doesn’t this all feel strange? Would this grand formation just fail almost instantly right after being reactivated?”

Tong tried to reason with Wang Long as he was afraid that they could be going into a trap. While he believed that they would be able to punch through this barrier in time, it was too soon. There was also that large thing that was floating about and raining cannon fire on them.

At first, it looked like a giant castle that was situated on a giant boulder but now he could see strange metallic parts under it.

“Strange? Nothing is strange, they probably used up the remaining energy to restart the formation while trying to scare us off. They clearly failed as I called their bluff, just follow my lead old man, and let's get on with this!”

Tong was ignored and while he had his reservations what the young master said could have been true. After the reactivation of the barrier, he noticed that his young master was talking with someone.

Even without him telling the elders to act they were moving forward. He was the strongest person here but he was not the one with the most prestige. Everyone here knew that the young master would be the next sect leader, thus they were afraid to get on his bad side.

He would really need to put his foot down and threaten them if he wanted them to go against the young master’s wishes. He was nothing more than a costly bodyguard and his only mission was to keep Wang Long safe.

Thus he kept his eyes open while advancing slightly behind the other ten elders. The people from the United Element’s sect were seen by him and they were escaping to where their main sect was located.

The nascent soul elders from their side were using their soul beasts as shields while everyone else backed off. The flying fortress in the sky had also halted its advance as it started to back away slowly.

“Look at them flee, don’t let them escape, they probably have a secondary protective formation deeper!”

The cannons that were firing at them were quickly picked off by the ten nascent soul elders and their soul beasts. Along with their flying ships, they started decimating the Spirit Spring city.

It seemed like the obvious conclusion of this fight, why the Patriarch from the United Element Sect had decided to fight was unclear to Tong. The logical conclusion was to hand over his wife and be glad that they didn’t need to give up more.

To this old man, the survival of the sect far outweighs the survival of his own family members. If he could offer them up in exchange for long-lasting prosperity to his faction, it would be the greatest honor.

His hesitation was slowly fading away as it seemed that the others were just backing off and ready to make their last stand. Now he was only concerned about them all running away and them having to chase them down. It would be quite a headache if they needed to play a cat and mouse game and chase after them.

Thus he was ready to give the ten elders the order to quickly encircle the main sect and not give them space to escape. Before that could happen a flash of blue caught them off guard…

…..

Back in the flying fortress Zhang Dong and Liena were looking at the advancing enemies.

“They really took the bait as you said.”

“It looks that way, It’s time for phase two of the plan!”

Just as one of their enemies expected, this was just a ruse. There was enough energy to run the barrier for weeks even if they continued to pelt each other with spirit bullets.

Zhang Dong knew that they had a fighting chance as long as they fought at the location of his faction. He wasn’t sure about his enemy but his system did present him with a buff whenever he was at his faction’s main location.

With him present, he could activate a buff that would cause people that he had high affinity with to be stronger. This mostly included people from the old Zhang Clan like his grandfather and Zhang Zhi but also people like Huo Qiang.

Thus the problem was to keep the enemies around this specific location. This they could only achieve by entrapping them here. The barrier had not faltered and there was enough energy to activate it yet again. When the bulk of the enemy ships and all of the nascent cultivators were at the right spot, Zhang Dong sprung his trap.

The formation was reactivated and its blue light shone strongly as it encompassed the bulk of the Soaring Dragon Sect inside. The key locations of the barrier were hidden away under the rubble. It would be possible to deactivate it if their enemies managed to gain information about their locations.

Luckily this was a forceful approach with not much planning behind it. The Soaring Dragon Sect clearly wasn’t prepared for any deviations to their plan. They were assured of their own might being enough to push them through any adversity.

“Are you ready Qiang?”

“I was born ready!”

“Good, this might feel funny…”

Zhang Dong moved into his faction window and activated the buff that would enhance the strength of his faction members. Depending on their loyalty it could go all the way up to 50%.

The faction system that he had upgraded with time did not suffer as much as his crafting system. Thus it kept most of its functions with one in particular which he would need to win this battle.

He was able to select a champion from his faction, this would allow this person to gain even further enhanced capabilities along with the factionwide buff. With Qiang being the strongest person now, even outperforming Zhang Dong due to his lowered cultivation level this choice was obvious.

Huo Qiang was outside and gaining speed, he could feel his muscles twitching in anticipation of the fight he would be having. Zhang Dong had contacted him not so long ago and tasked him with holding back the nascent soul master that was at the great circle level.

At first, he thought that he would be sacrificing his life for the cause but it seemed that this wasn’t the case. Soon he realized that newfound power was entering his body, he felt strong and powerful as he exploded into a fiery inferno.

His body went through a strange transformation. It felt like he was burning up from the inside and all of his flesh was turning dark as coal. Soon it all caught flame and he felt as if he broke through into the late stage and maybe even beyond.

The change was quick and to the point. His body was covered by a dark red firmament of flames which made him look like a fire elemental. This new form gave him the feeling of being able to destroy anything in his path, even his soul beast that was right behind him expanded in size.

The fire Ifrit started looking like a devil made from molten rock. Its horns and tail expanded in size and were black as obsidian. The temperature around it caused everything that was in close proximity to instantly melt or evaporate.

He wasn’t the only one suffering from a change to their being. Zhang Zhi, who was dressed in a white robe and was wearing a snow-white katana on his side, could feel his muscles contracting. With sword in hand, he charged at one of the late stage masters, not afraid of losing.

“United Element Sect, Attack!”

Zhang Dong’s voice was heard from the flying fortress and soon the fight commenced. With the formation keeping anyone from leaving, only when the last enemy was dead would this battle end.