The weather changed incrementally with the speedy passage of time, months went by without any news-worthy or major incidents occurring in the capital. It was like all the major nobles had mysteriously retreated from the public's eye.

Autumn was now in full effect, the high heat and long days of the summer months were quickly fading away, replaced with the stunning orange and pink seasonal sunsets of the fall.

The days grew shorter, the nights got cooler and the leaves uniformly started to change colour.

Constant noisy clangs bellowed out across the western hills.

A proud white flag with an embroidered black bear stood on its hind legs, flapped in the brisk wind on the highest spire of the manor.

Hundreds of builders busily weaved up and down the length of the western hills, hard at work paving, digging or building.

Open wagons made of wood rumbled and creaked up and down in both directions. Dragged along by sturdy wild-beasts, some wagons were bringing materials and equipment, others ferrying workers, water or food to where they were needed.

Stones cut to precise measurements were being banged in place by masons, the foreman's loud orders could be heard from a mile, the ground was being cleared and flattened, dust flying everywhere and paving stones were being neatly laid all around.

Repairs and construction were progressing quicker than anyone expected amidst the organized chaos at the entrance to the western hills.

With the addition of many skilled workers from the flatlands and the gradual decrease in temperatures, the productivity of the workforce had increased the speed of work greatly.

All craters and pits left behind by Hartley's battle with the saint were filled in, grass was even beginning to grow back across the wounded landscape.

A cobbled road directly joining the manor to the entrance of the western hills was almost fully paved.

Standing above the narrow roads was now a sturdy stone wall, built to protect the manor and create a bottleneck for invading forces.

After navigating the winding uphill roads, one would then be greeted by a huge metal gate sandwiched by stone walls before even getting a glimpse of the manor.

The residential district for the miners and workers had many more stone buildings erected, the houses extended in neat rows towards the east forest, taking the shape of a bustling little town.

Qin Li had to stop the influx of new residents, the population of the western hills had swollen so quickly that it would become problematic if the streams of people weren't stopped.

They did not possess an unlimited budget and for the time being Hartley was paying the cost directly, finding food and accommodations for so many people would become a challenge if the situation was allowed to deteriorate into overcrowding and sanitation issues.

Those who made it to the western hills before the population cap was enforced, celebrated like they'd reached the promise land.

The surrounding nobles were quite irritated and pissed off, most of the skilled commoners residing on their lands abandoned them in droves, taking refuge at the western hills in search of better treatment.

To the point that the nobles had to start treating the remaining commoners like decent citizens, even paying them better wages to keep hold of their services.

Who else would harvest their crops? If they lost their labour force to the western hills, their crops would rot in the fields and they would forego every gold coin invested.

The greedy nobles were furious with the rise in wages paid out and the fall in profits received, they had to hold their complaints internally though, not one dared to voice their unhappiness with the devilish ruler of the western hills.

All they could to do was bide their time, things would change soon if King Yulan ascended the mortal realm.

As soon as that happened Hartley would surely find problems with the major nobles eyeing the western hills' quick progression, leading to his definite demise.

After which the commoners in the west would be back under the feet of the nobles once more.

These thoughts kept the disgruntled nobles quietly enduring the ignominy of conceding terms and money to the useless commoners.

Gnashing their teeth every time they thought about the leverage the commoners had gained with the prominent rise of the western hills.

Elsewhere in the capital the major nobles were preparing their forces for the aftermath of the king's second attempt at ascension.

One had to be prepared in this high stakes game of chess to grab as much power when the opportunity presented itself.

Making the right alliances and striking down the most fearsome foes in a time like this was crucial.

The peace and calm in the capital was only the interlude before the chaos.

***

In these busy times for the western hills, Hartley and Zhi Ruo continued to remain low key and out of sight.

Zhi Ruo spent her time lounging, indulging in comforts as if she was making up for lost time.

Qin Li had recently broken through to the sixth layer of the xiantian realm, he would have been proud of this if not for the discovery that Zhi Ruo had overtaken him. His confidence took a kick to the teeth, but he was happy for a stronger western hills.

Fu Qian was busy training the new recruits that would be added to his forces, helped out by Fu Jiannu and Shao Law who were still on a program of intensive training.

Alrick came to record data on some days but otherwise stayed locked in his lab, still pursuing his perfect formula.

Hartley spent his free time consolidating his cultivation and getting familiar with his new found strength at the saint's realm.

...

Sat peacefully in the lotus position, crackling blue lines of elemental power sparkled around Hartley's body, looking like bolts of dancing electricity in a lightning storm.

With eyes closed and his white robe flapping around without the presence of any wind.

He sat like a god lauding over the world, with a bright-blue glow radiantly lathering the space all around him.

Perched on the highest stone peak overlooking the lands below him. His hands calmly rested on his thighs and his hair wriggled across his face, fluttering around wildly .

The gigantic surrounding area had lush green mountains, vast crystal-like lakes, fertile flatlands and a prominent blue star as big as the sun dominating the vast sky, showering down its blue light onto the huge uninhabited continent.

This was Hartley's vastly improved inner world. Since becoming a saint his inner world had expanded to the size of a whole continent.

Flashes of blue lights shone like laser beams then faded away as Hartley's eyes flicked open, he stood up with the lines of elemental powers still crackling around him.

Dust billowed out and every rock on the mountain peak floated freely in the air around him.

Hartley stood statue-still as he exerted his complete control over one of the most important and fundamental forces in physics.

Gravity!

This was his second domain and Hartley was in complete control of the gravity in a ten thousand mile radius.

***

A single man stood under the large blue star, basking in the glow that coloured the world blue around him.

His tall and thin frame had been rebuilt from the inside out with blue star essence. Wiry muscles wrapped taut around his physique as if he was bounded with rope, the power concealed within was more than he could imagine.

No one below the saint realm could leave a scratch on his body, he felt as if he was made from reinforced steel.

Inhaling sharply and looking over the magnificent and diverse swathes of land facing him.

The floating rocks fell to the ground, a sudden movement caused the air to ripple, thrusting his left hand to the side leaving fuzzy after-images, three simple finger gestures were executed quickly.

His right hand plunged forward as if ripping space apart, whipping up his robe violently, the black energy lining the seams of the world came cracking and sizzling to life..

With the black energy under his control swirling in a conical pattern around his right arm, the air rippled faster.

Right hand stretched fully forward, the spiralling cone shaped black energy swirled forward compressing itself to the size of a tennis ball.

Hartley immediately used his mastery over gravity to apply a pocket of high density gravity around the black energy.

Bang!

The sound made the ground tremble, a mini black hole burst into existence like a raging beast, spinning counter clockwise and ravaging everything in sight.

It was like an inverted tornado sucking in all materials on the rocky peak.

The maelstrom of destruction lasted a few seconds until it fizzled out and everything evaporated in a puff of black sparks..

Everything was scorched and the rocky peak seemed like a mammoth monster had taken a bite out of the stone mountain. Multiple coils of black smoke swirled into the sky.

Stood in place with a wry smile and satisfied with the results of his simulation, Hartley tried to will his inner world back to its former condition. That's when his smile reversed to a frown.

The damage inflicted on the landscape by the black hole was irreversible, even Hartley, the god of his inner world couldn't recover the materials devoured by the black hole.

It was a lucky thing he wasn't too reckless....

As Hartley trained and experimented in his inner world, the fortifications of the western hills continued at break-neck speed.

The days continued to roll by without any significant happenings in the capital.