Sage didn’t need the assistance of the coachmaker. He was pretty sure the best craftsmen from the Holy Flame Sect could easily overshadow them. That said, Sage didn’t have access to the best craftsmen. If they were to take their time building vehicles they’d be making the highest quality Flying Ships, they wouldn’t be wasting time on Sage’s cheap airships. The quality level of Pristine Fortune Coaches was quite similar to the best he could take advantage of from his sect, additionally they were locals and that would give him an ‘in’ for the market. His airships essentially targeted the same customers as expensive coaches.

Extravagant vehicles for very rich mortals or the mid-ranges of cultivators to utilize. The most powerful would be using Flying Ships or even flying under their own power. They might also purchase Tamed Demonic Beasts to use as a mount. There were also a few that used such beasts to pull extravagant coaches. His market would be these same people that liked to travel in style and comfort, but weren’t powerful enough to be using true Flying Ships. Well, that wasn’t his only customer base. He also planned to create high speed, long distance airships to be used for merchant and messenger services. There were more than a few areas where the roads were long and circuitous to avoid dangerous or impassable terrain; perfect for an airship route.

Given that he basically just walked in off the street without any prior reputation, it was surprising they gave him as much leeway as they did. Sage only intended to open a line of communication, and that task was accomplished. For a few moments he entertained the idea of approaching the Chong Clan, but since one of the factions just tried to kill him he refrained. All he had was a City Lord title, so the only reason to approach them now would be to beg for handout or pick a fight. With his current strength there were probably only a dozen or so people in the Chong Clan that could beat him, but that didn’t mean he was foolish enough to just strut in and show off.

Sage explored the city for the rest of the day and spent the night in the Universe Ring. The ‘kids’ got too excited so he only called them back together the next afternoon. They returned to Lionheart Town through the Merciful Mollusk, spending five hundred Spirit Stones per person for the privilege. Sage didn’t want to draw too much attention, or else he would have just thrown them all into the Universe Ring and paid the fee for one. Unfortunately, they’d already been seen exiting and around town so he didn’t want to invite trouble over a few thousand Spirit Stones.

After facing the vicious attack from the Wu Faction, they left town for nearly a week. The corpses of the attackers and their bugs were simply left in the City Lord’s Manor to rot during that time. They’d informed some of the guards that they were going out to hunt and then disappeared. The other powers that were eager to take Sage’s position had the pile of dead Core Formation Cultivators as an example to deter them. Many broke into the City Lord’s Manor and took a look up close at the aftermath. They also realized that all the wealth of the place had already been stripped clean. The only resources remaining were in the city treasury itself and most were not foolish enough to go after them. A large portion of those resources would be tithed to the County, the Province, and the Kingdom. Nobody wanted to call down the wrath of the Royal Family, so without knowing exactly what was going where it was better not to get involved.

When they returned, things seemed much the same as before, though there were far fewer attacks. Over the next couple weeks, there was one more assassination attempt, but the prospective killer was never seen again. Sage already felt they’d drawn out a big enough fish and the further attempts upon them were met with overwhelming force. Upon receiving word from the Information Network, Sage stopped messing around and brought forth his armies.

Thousands of Dragoons were released into the Lang Clan lands. He brought them forth from the Inner World deep in the forest, treating them like a hidden force. They weren’t as resourceful and cunning without human cultivators to guide them, but Sage didn’t care about that anymore. He would make up for their lack of intelligence with sheer numbers. In the past he’d controlled their numbers to match up with the humans he’d recruited, assigning a human babysitter to each squad of ten. This time, he quite simply assigned a full Legion to each of the Tiankong children and kept a couple more for himself.

In fact, over the many decades the Hoplites were slowly phased out. They were given Dragoon children and partners to pass down their trades and crafts to. Soon enough, the Hoplite Beetles were mostly replaced. With revenge in mind, Sage had prepared hundreds of thousands of Dragoons. They were armed with weapons produced by the Arborist Ant colonies and armor woven from their own Steelsilk. Their equipment was lacking in comparison to the Hoplites of the Jade Horde, but their numbers would make up for it. Sage had already confiscated all the equipment from the Hoplites he placed on a prison island, but counting the reserve weapons in Lionheart Town there were only enough to equip around five thousand.

Without access to more Storage Bags and Cloudsteel, Sage couldn’t produce Stumblebows, Arrow Guards, or Horde Halberds. Only the Formation Armor was standard issue for the Dragoons. Their other equipment consisted of wooden shields covered in woven silk, and with formations to improve toughness. Their weapons were spears with stone tips made from the Stonesap Tree and enhanced with sharpness and toughness. Their gear was cheap and simple, using easily replenishable resources and relying on formations to make them serviceable for their rank. He saved the better equipment and planned to hand them out to the ‘elites’ once the Dragoons started seeing action.

The nearly ten thousand Dragoons swarmed over the Lang Clan land and rapidly constructed simple buildings using the lumber from the mountainous forest. Sage brought the new ‘commanders’ together and told them to get familiar with their new legions. They all declined bringing their mothers outside with varying excuses based around them enjoying their homes and not needing any excitement in their old age. Sage knew it was nonsense as most Demonic Beasts could live many times longer than a human of the same rank, but he didn’t want to spoil their fun.

The inhabitants of Lionheart Town were astounded by the sudden appearance of so many new soldiers. They looked like a variation of the Hoplites they were used to, except they had wings and called themselves Dragoons now. The swarms of hundreds flying through the air were far more intimidating than the blocks of troops used to be and the other local powers were terrified. Had those troops merely been waiting outside Lionheart Town all this while? Where did they come from?

Most were still trying to come to terms with the sudden appearance of a vast army when they were surprised yet again. Thousands of Dragoons flew off towards the south. They were gone for a few days only to return escorting huge oblong spheres floating through the air. As they got closer, the people below realized they had passengers and realized they were Flying Ships! Only, they looked like they were upside down and a bit too round.

Sage smiled as he saw the convoy of dozens of airships, trailing through the sky like a great bird migration.

They’re finally here.