Before the proposed tournament, Arthur and Lucy started expanding the city and going through all unfamiliar important figures of the MoonStar Sect.

Fortunately, Sonia was quite thorough and careful in her recruitment so, even after using Appraisal, Arthur didn't find anything suspicious with the current elders.

In total, there were 4 elders, all were old men and their cultivation is between the Immortal and Divine Realms. Three originate from Astria and one from Green-Leaf.

The last one was a traveling cultivator who never associated himself with any of the sect but, somehow, the Vice-master of the sect managed to persuade him. Although he wasn't particularly strong, he was good in handling internal affairs and was very respectful to the parasite and his wife.

He looked like a kind grandpa with long white hair and a small beard. His name was Carl Bulong Arkis, he was over 200 years old and had accumulated a terrifying amount of cultivation books and artifacts, which most were put in the sect's treasury.

Even Arthur, who was in possession of an astonishing amount of books, was dumbfounded once he saw the amount of techniques the old man had. This made him curious about Carl, who remained humble despite his position and never went against Sonia's orders.

Strangely enough, he seemed to care for the young woman and took her side no matter what but it wasn't just the case of 'love at first sight', it seemed to be something more than that.

Anyway, after a quick interview with the four elders, Arthur went to upgrade the city's defense and make it more habitable while Lucy handled the recruitment process and dealt with Isadore to complete the preparation of the tournament in time.

The look that Isadore had on his face when he found out that he'll be dealing with the cold-faced Lucy was truly priceless. Though he brightly smiled, you could see invisible tears running down his stiffening face.

Unlike her husband, Lucy behaved strictly with people she doesn't know, moreover, her Yin power would bring the chills to anyone who stayed close to her. Unless they have a dense amount of Nether Energy, they can't resist the freezing Yin.

"Is this even necessary?"

The bespectacled Robin fixed her glasses and frowned while looking at the parasite, who raised both his hands in the air and caused a slight tremor to assault the city.

"Of course. We have to make sure the city stands even if powerful enemies attack. Better be safe than sorry."

In response to his words, Robin shrugged her shoulders. As for Rey, who matured a lot and looked more like a youth than a kid, stood closer to her. Though he still pales in comparison to Gutcha, Rey still achieved small mastery in Dark Magic and has enough prowess to contend against Divine Beings.

A sky-high wall made of solidified Dark Magic appeared around the newly built city. It was as tall as the one in Astria but stronger as Arthur didn't have time to reinforce the other one. In addition to the appearance of the wall, which already shocked the travelers and new habitants of the flourishing city, Arthur also put three formations, two of which are defense while the last is an offensive one.

Countless silver swords into the sky and shone brighter than the sun, they danced in a circle before exploding into countless silver particles which formed a dome that later turned invisible. This formation was backed by another one, which looked like three massive golden shields.

Last not but not least was a new skill formation he acquired after Makaze was completed. It's called [Dark Dragon Formation] and it is permanent.

*[Dark Dragon Formation](Active Skill): The user 'Arthur MoonStar' can combine his formation skill mastery and Evil Wind, Makaze, to create an offensive formation which deals damage to any hostile targets detected near it.

If the user is close to the formation, his stats will increase by 0.5%

Attack power +10%

Cost: 1000 Mental Power

Cost: 1m Mana/s

Cost: 2m Stamina/s

Cost: 2 Creation Points (permanent)

Cooldown: 20 hours.

Right after putting down the three formations, Arthur used his Nature Magic to fill the ground and the mountain surrounding the city with poisonous vines, though they will only react if the city is in real danger.

After ascertaining that everything was in order, Arthur proceeded to other tasks. His Creation stat, which is still hard to explain, has now a new function that is hard to come by.

In addition to being able to create modern weapons and clothes, Arthur now can use Earth Magic, Metal Magic, and Creation Magic to create sturdy and good-looking buildings, no different than the ones found on Earth.

Nevertheless, he didn't abuse this power and just created a sky-scraper which will be the new headquarters of this MoonStar Branch City. The other tower, which was fascinating as is, will be where the top disciples live.

This sky-scraper, which had an architecture so different than one found on worlds like Green-Leaf, caught the attention of almost everyone. It pierced the clouds and was made from black glass with a massive black dragon at its top, its two wings wrapped around its roof. This dragon was the Dark Dragon Formation, though it looks like a statue, the dragon will come to life when it senses danger.

…

After spending almost all day long upgrading the city, Arthur returned to his room and found Lucy still engrossed in paper-work, as usual.

"Rest a bit, will you."

Arthur sat on the bed and took out a moderately small napkin then proceeded to clean Makaze after unsheathing it. He doesn't know why but after the dark blade was 'reborn', he always got the urge to clean it everyday when night falls. It somehow helps him calm himself and collect his thoughts.

"I will… I'm just checking the current top and promising disciples. Look at this."

Lucy stood up and pushed her long silver-hair to the back while walking toward Arthur. Her wet clothes and hair, along with the sweet fragrance emitting from her was entrancing, to say the least.

Arthur controlled his urges and looked at the list presented by Lucy.

"What's this?"

"It's the list of the young cultivators that want to join our sects. Each person has to mention their real name, background, age, cultivation. Most are average but the ones in this list are rather unexpected especially this one…"

She pointed at the third one, which had a picture of a pretty girl with golden hair and breath-taking eyes. Arthur was able to recognize her immediately, after all, he met her on several occasions in the past.

This person was none other than Shu Ru, the top disciple of the Mirage Era Hall.