“Well then, I will excuse myself please keep your promise and I will keep mine.”

Zhang Dong was looking at Lucius, who had somewhat changed his tune. After having a life and death experience where he recalled a loved one he finally understood that perhaps rushing towards his death might not have been the wisest option. The man seemed to have a superiority complex that was shattered by Zhang Dong’s might but luckily he was taking it well.

After the battle was over Zhang Dong along with Argus and Lucius had a little talk. With a ceasefire being agreed on they could discuss future actions. His biggest victory was that they agreed to cease their further invasion for a month. This would give him some time to gather information about this Lightbringer.

While it was good that he managed to even bargain up for a month, it didn’t give him much time to search for it. This Empire was huge and if he traveled by flight it would take him days or weeks to travel between some locations. The month wasn’t much but it was a start, it would probably save a few lives of the cultivators that valued their honor above their own wellbeing.

“I must thank you.”

Argus bowed before him while his illusory figure started to vanish.

“It’s fine, just keep your word.”

“A knight always keeps their word!”

Lucius on the other hand didn’t have a very pleased look on his face. Losing to someone in battle was probably not something he was used to. Zhang Dong would not be surprised if this was the first time he lost to his peer. Luckily the man wanted to live and seemed grateful that he didn’t get his head chopped off.

‘I’m sure that he still thinks that I’m screwing with them.”

The trust between these two parties was very shaky. The only thing they could go off is him sparing the life of an enemy. But sparking or helping your enemy was a basic tactic of subterfuge. In their eyes, he could have just been aiming for a better opportunity to get into their stronghold.

This was the more believable option. They might even be expecting him to try teleporting his forces inside of their side if he was ever able to visit it. Thus he would need to converse with them at a distance, how long he could keep them from attacking the empire sects was debatable but there was also another option.

‘The Emerald Phoenix Empire should have their citadel north of where these guys are situated, perhaps they could aid us with them…’

The area was attacked from all sides but this didn’t mean that all the people coming here were on the same side. The Emerald Phoenix Empire and the Kingdom of Avalon didn’t have anything in common. If they met each other out in the open they would probably start battling which would help his cause immensely.

‘Should I lie and tell them that the Emerald Phoenix Empire has the Lightbringer?’

If he went with this option then he would be risking future peace. If the magical kingdom actually discovered the true location of their legendary sword they would feel used. They would probably resume their invasion once more and any future diplomatic talks would be impossible.

‘Would be nice if those guys actually had it, first I have to find it, and then I’ll make the decision.’

“How about you Bahamut, got any ideas?”

“GAO!”

“Is that so?”

While the small baby dragon didn’t know how to speak, his master somewhat knew what it wanted to tell him. The cute little sound it gave out was a resounding ‘No’. The fight was now over but the war was still continuing. He had made some new acquaintances that he was not sure about. Argus seemed like someone willing to communicate but it could also be a ruse.

Perhaps he only did it to help out Lucius and get more information about the sword. Then when Zhang Dong delivered the item or information about it he would be disposed of. Probably the next clash between him and the Knight Commander would go differently. Now he knew that he could not use that shield to block everything so he would alter his battle tactics.

‘I furthered my cultivation and got them to back off, for the time being, this does seem like a victory but will this be enough.’

Zhang Dong poked the seed inside of him with his spiritual sense. The thing didn’t seem to want to open itself up. Without his core formation cores now he was not sure what this realm could be called.

‘The seed realm? What will this seed turn into, a tree? Perhaps a flower?’

He was missing something and his system could not identify what he was transforming into. Feeding the seed spiritual energy through it was still possible but it would probably be a tremendous amount. This seed was composed of three Dao’s that he specialized in now, perhaps this was the true method of getting it to sprout.

‘Do I need to reach a higher understanding in the Dao of Heavenly Lightning, Holy Divinity, and Soul energy for it to react? Or perhaps combine the three into something instead?’

There were a few possibilities floating around his mind which leaned towards those two answers. The seed was filled with a lot of energy that just needed to be released. It wasn’t opening up because he didn’t understand what it fully was.

Getting enlightened would probably be the way out but for someone like him who once heavily relied on the system, this was no easy matter. There was no spirit point counter that he could just farm away and press a button. Everything was more vague and the roads led in many directions. It was no wonder why people spent hundreds of years cultivating as the guidelines were nonexistent.

‘If I had time I would lock myself in my cultivation chamber but I need to find clues regarding this Holy sword’

With that in mind, Zhang Dong opened up his system window to contact Zhang Kuo. His retainer would be tasked to use their spy network and find if there were any mentions of any holy blades.

“Yeah, anything related to holy swords of divine power… they could be sealed away, check out old legends that could be hundreds of thousands of years old. This blade should be on the level of a half step immortal or pinnacle heaven grade.”

“Yes Patriarch, it shall be done!”

Was the usual reply that he got but to his surprise, there was a question posed.

“Patriarch… if I may…”

“Speak.”

Zhang Dong replied while wondering what this was about. Normally all cultivators shied away from asking him questions as the social hierarchy was still something very real.

“T-the Matriarch has been asking for you…”

“Oh, she did?...”

“Yes, will you be returning to the sect soon?”

“Uh, I don’t think I will, for now, I need to find this old relic within the month, I’m not sure how long this will take but I’ll probably visit the Long Clan to check for some clues.”

“The Long Clan? … Could this Zhang Kuo make a proposal?”

Kuo asked the strange question that caught him from a leftfield. For some reason, the man was very chatty today. Was his wife causing trouble in the sect or something?

“Go ahead?”

“Then I would propose that you bring the Matriarch along, this will foster good relations with the Azure Emperor!”

“Good relations?”

Zhang Dong had to think, most of the time he just popped in and out of the Long Clan without talking to anyone. His standing there was quite shaky as the only person that he had a good relationship with was the Emperor himself. This was probably the only one he cared about besides the Queen that he might be inclined to get closer to as she did sway his brother’s decisions.

“Would she be willing to leave though, I’m not sure if…”

“She would be my lord and letting the young master and mistress meet the Emperor’s family would be a show of goodwill!”

“I see…”

Kou really seemed to want to get Liana out of the sect ground. But it would show that he trusted the Emperor if he actually brought along his kids for a visit. It would bring the two families together and perhaps the Emperor’s children whom he had ‘bonded’ with would like his own kids.

If they didn’t he could always give them a few smacks and with enough system points, he could always just teleport out of there if there was anything suspicious going on. Yet the capital city was probably the safest location in the entire Empire. It was protected from all sides and the Long Clan had many nascent soul masters patrolling the area.

Even the other empires would not be able to invade without sustaining many losses. The floating castle also could probably change locations at will. It was a safe zone that survived even through the previous war. He believed that it was something that the system wanted to keep even if all the other lands were destroyed.

“But wouldn’t the preparations take a few weeks? I’m not sure I have the time to wait…”

“Give me three… no two days Patriarch! With access to the Empire’s teleportation gates, we can transport a small force!”

“Ah… sure, then I’ll ask my wife if she agrees?”

“Don’t worry Patriarch, I already had my people do it, she is already getting ready for the trip!”

“Oh…”

Finally, the call ended while he was left in the desolate lands alone. For some reason, he had a suspicion that this was not Kuo’s plan and that someone was forcing him to ask about this visit. The only three people that would probably dare something like this were his grandfather and his wife. Huo Qiang was the last one but he didn’t really care about these type of things so it was between those two.

‘Big family get together huh?’

He could only recall things from his old life where he was dragged by his parents to visit. Most of the time he was left alone in the corner just hoping that he could leave after eating his share. Fostering relations with his new family would be beneficial to both sides. With how he dealt with the vampires and the golden knights he had some time to relax.

‘I guess now I don’t need to think about an excuse to meet my brother, I’ll ask him about the Lightbringer when we get there.’

With that thought in his mind, he decided to visit the nearby sect. There he would ask for some information about the relic before going back towards another location. While everyone prepared he would use the time to gather more intel and perhaps with some luck he could get the magical knights on his side.