‘I need more resources…’

Zhang Dong was standing with his arms crossed in what he doubted the command center. It was the room with the new world map and a bunch of his own people. After leaving Liena to stomach her new rise in power he was off to strategize.

“Kuo, give me a report, how much did these invaders push into the Empire. Prioritize the areas with spirit stone mines.”

Zhang Kuo was also here, he was responsible for carrying out his orders while also informing him about the state of the Empire. Even though he had the world map in his system he didn’t have the time to constantly monitor it.

He gave his retainer a task to carry out. Kuo would need to monitor the map and inform him about areas rich with spiritual energy, mostly ones that possessed large pockets of spirit stones. The reserves were all spent and the mine that was in the old Dark Palm Sect area was almost spent.

Without the spiritual energy, he would not be able to create more nascent soul masters to aid him in the future battles. Perhaps he was rushing it but if he could get a strong foothold in some areas the enemies from the Empires would have a hard time progressing later.

There was a bridge in the southwest that was closer to his own sect and it was an important strategic location. The toothy monsters that he fought in the northwest area were there and he had already shown that he would be able to destroy their base.

This time around he would need some help from his own people as they had managed to set up their fortress. He wasn’t sure about its defensive capabilities but he expected it to be a harder nut to crack than having to kill off the half-dead monster worm before.

“Ah yes Patriarch, these are the locations closest to our position that have the properties that you listed, this region that belongs to the Shadow Phantom Sect has quite a potent area with vengeful spirits…”

Spiritual energy was not the only resource that he was looking for. Holy energy, soul energy, and lightning energy were the other three that he needed. Spiritual energy was just the easiest to come by but also the worst to work with. It needed to be transformed by the system to what he needed which would waste quite a bit of it in the process.

“Good.”

“Patriarch, can I voice a concern?”

Kuo looked at Zhang Dong and only when he replied did he resume speaking.

“You may speak.”

“Thank you, Patriarch, are you planning to head to these lands? Wouldn’t it be better if you remained at the sect if you fell in battle while wandering through the Empire…”

“I know, I won’t jeopardize my safety but I don’t think that we will get another chance to ste… I mean take the resources back from the invaders. They will be better of use in our hands than if they fall into theirs don’t you think?”

One of the main reasons that he wanted to go there now was that there would be widespread confusion. The middle sized sects were mostly weaker than the invading forces so they would be surely driven back towards their main cities where they would defend themselves.

Then there was the looming danger of Wang Long. What was happening in the northern-west reaches of the empire now? The area was also showing invader movement and they would surely go towards the demonic sect lands as well.

To his enemy, these creatures were spirit point machines. Many of them were at something similar to the nascent soul stage which would surely give him an opportunity to level up fast. In their next battle, he could be faced with many other strange techniques that he might not have an answer to. Thus the only way out, for now, was gathering as much of his own resources as he could.

Perhaps he would be draining the old sects from resources while they were in a state of panic but it was better if they fell into his hands than into the enemies. He was also not sure if the body refiners could even use any of the spiritual energy pockets that were here.

‘Spirit stone mines aren’t the only thing that can store Qi, there are many various herbs, pills, and natural phenomena with similar properties I just need to gather them up while I still can.’

The order was finalized and after saying goodbye to his children he was off again. The first area that he would be going towards was the previously mentioned Shadow Phantom sect.

They lived in a mostly desolate area with not many living creatures around. Instead, there were many ghosts and souls of the dead floating around near a certain location.

Apparently, it was some old battleground on which millions upon millions of beings had perished. The vengeful spirits then started to take shape and change the environment. The creatures there were changed, shifted into something more terrifying. It would be an ample source for soul energy.

Thanks to having a talk with the Dragon Gate Sect’s Patriarch earlier he was free to use their teleportation gates. With them, he was able to quickly appear closer to where the battles were taking place.

At the time being Huo Qiang was patrolling the lands with some of the other nascent soul masters. None of his people had died during the last attack but some had to return to the sect to be treated at the hospital. Their lives weren’t at risk but they would need a few weeks to get their full strength back.

To arrive at this next location he was also getting a shortcut thanks to his new title and connection. The Dragon Gate Sect mostly had good relations with other similar-sized sects. Thanks to this they could connect their teleportation gates to locations outside their own.

“The gate is ready for the Golden Dragon.”

An old man in a robe bowed before him while he looked at the blue water-like surface that the teleportation gates were known for. When he stepped through it he would arrive at the location of The Red Lotus Sisterhood, a middle sized sect that was composed only by women.

They had a trade agreement with the Dragon Gate Sect and thus he would be able to arrive at one of their trade cities. Of course, they already knew that he would be coming, his current name just carried that much weight. Yet without the connections that these middle sized sects had with each other, it would probably take a while to explain everything to them.

His vision blurred as he stepped through the gate. It was just a moment as he found himself on the other side. There he was greeted by quite the spectacle, jade beauties were everywhere and one was paler than the other. Their complexion looked like bright white paint which was even more accentuated by the red clothes and lipstick they were all wearing.

“What the…”

After getting used to the healthier complexion that his own wife and people around her had, their look gave him a scare. He even recoiled a bit after seeing the nascent soul elder that was in the front. She was an old granny that looked like a really shriveled-up white raisin with way too much makeup on. From the Qi flowing in her body, she must have been close to a thousand years old and at the twilight of her existence.

“We greet the glorious Golden Dragon, you have truly graced us with your fabled presence.”

The many women were quick to prostrate themselves before him. While he wasn’t sure if it was on purpose, many of them were wearing slimmed-down robes. These robes looked to be cut out in strategic locations to allow people to see some of the voluptuous curves of these ladies. If his wife was here, she would have probably given him a smack to the back of his head for taking in the sights after spacing out for a second or two.

“Ah yes, that’s me the Golden Dragon but you don’t need to trouble yourself with my presence ladies from the Red Lotus Sisterhood, as the Dragon Gate Sect has already informed you I will be only passing by, there is no need for this grand welcome.”

The vixens knew what they were doing. The moment he was there they were attempting to tempt him with their bodies. The smell of perfume was everywhere and thanks to his knowledge he realized that there were certain rare aphrodisiacs mixed into it all.

This world was cruel and uncertain, even more to the women. The easiest way of gaining power was getting a powerful husband and the backing of their family. Some Sects specialized in diplomacy more than anything else. While this Red Lotus Sisterhood was not particularly strong they had a wide range of connections by marriage. If they happened to be attacked by someone they would quickly gain the help of various powerful families in the area.

It was clear that they had set their manicured hands on this Golden Dragon. He was the new commodity in the Empire and with only one wife. Everyone was already aware that the Azure Dragon didn’t take in any more concubines but what of his younger brother?

This was quite the opportunity for any young lady, becoming the concubine of the younger brother of the Emperor would give power to their family. Perhaps they would even be able to carry the Long Clan name.

Long Dong was an enigma to everyone, with the war still not reaching the whole empire they were not aware of the reason that he was here. No one knew that the Shadow Phantom Sect would be soon getting invaded by a race similar to monsters. He had still many kilometers to fly through before he got there and would probably only get there as the fighting had started.

“Our Ancestors wouldn’t allow it, please let us welcome you to our lands. Our Sect is known for its hospitality.”

The old woman replied while he was thinking about ditching. If he was a single man or prone to cheating this would probably be a good place to have some fun. Yet he didn’t take much pleasure in mindless bedroom fun with other women than his current wife. Thanks to the connection with his wife he was able to keep it in his pants and decline the offer.

“No.”

He declared in a lower tone which caused the many ladies to panic slightly. They could feel his aura expanding everywhere to indicate that they were starting to cross the line.

“A-as you wish, Golden Dragon, we won’t hold you up.”

“You have my gratitude, I will excuse myself then.”

Thus he left before anyone discovered why he was starting to slowly lean forward, the next location being somewhat spooky.