‘That should do it…’

It wasn’t easy and he wasn’t sure if his cover wasn’t already blown but the formation was prepared. He had placed a backdoor into the whole system that would allow him to destroy the formation even from outside. This should be enough to catch the Chaos Sect members off guard and shift the tide of battle if the need arises.

‘It is still too dangerous to contact the others at this stage.’

His system was still being blocked by Wang Long’s own faction zone. Unless he got out of it it wouldn’t be possible to inform everyone of his feat. If he spent enough points it would be possible but it would also alert his enemy to his presence. After that happened all hell would break loose and he put himself at a disadvantage when being inside their main camp.

‘I need to save all the spirit points for the battle, I don’t know what might happen'

Zhang Dong had managed to remain unseen by his enemies that were probably too busy with the new sect management. It was still possible to make his way out of here through the same way that he came in. Even if the fake Phantom Demon was discovered it might not be traced back to him. It was smooth sailing if he made it out into the outer city, from there were many escape routes that he had saved within his mapping system.

This whole thing reminded him of the time he was building up the new sect city. At that time he had chosen to remain there to monitor the situation. With the help of his system, he was able to easily discover spies before they could even make it in. His counterpart Wang Long didn’t seem to have the same worth ethic.

It seemed that he liked to rest on his laurels and indulge in the carnal pleasures of the flesh. Probably if his enemy took it seriously then it would have been impossible for this infiltration mission to go this smooth. Yet there still existed a small possibility that when he went outside troops of nascent soul masters could be waiting for him.

‘It still could be a trap so I should keep vigilant…’

With that in mind, he raised his awareness to its maximum while escaping from the underground spirit vein. Yet just like before not much had changed, the path was already open and with some knowledge, he was able to close everything behind him to make it look like he was never there, to begin with. Soon he found himself back outside with no one being the wiser.

His expectations of finding an elaborate trap with twenty or so nascent soul masters trying to lead him into a trapping formation didn’t come through. It really seemed that Wang Long was not expecting anything to happen. Perhaps he overestimated who he was going up against or the person grew complacent with the amount of power and prestige he received. Perhaps he was so convinced of his own superiority that he didn’t even see Zhang Dong as a proper opponent.

‘He might also have convinced himself that even if he loses he could just start over somewhere else.’

With the help of the system, it was possible to teleport out to another part of the empire. Wang Long probably still had a save point to the old sect he destroyed. No one could really follow him there if he decided to escape. With the new demonic cultivation and the system, Wang Long could continuously level up at a rapid pace. Zhang Dong, on the other hand, could only turn to resources like spirit stone and his faction and even then he would fall behind, thus his best bet was to end it here before everything got out of hand.

‘It was good that I kept this robe and token, I just need to sneak out.’

The appearance of the servant Liu Chen was kept. He had not delivered the pills that he was supposed to but this wasn’t important now. It was unlikely that the sect would be looking for a runaway servant. The young master that Liu Chen was serving was probably too busy to even care.

That is what he was hoping though but finally, his luck was about to run out. When he was making his way from the core sect area and through the training ground he noticed a commotion. A circle around two shouting people was forming and he was going straight through it. Even though he was hiding his face behind his robe someone called out to him.

“Hey isn’t that Liu Chen?”

“I think it is him!”

For some reason, the disciples turned in his direction. The place was filled with what looked to be teenagers that were mostly at the higher points of Qi condensation. In the middle of this circle were two snotty-looking brats. With one glance he could tell that they were prestigious young masters.

One of the young masters wasn’t alone. A brutish-looking man that looked like some kind of battle-hardened warrior was standing behind him. From what Zhang Dong could tell the man was hiding his power level. On the outside, he seemed to be a foundation establishment late stage practitioner but in reality, he was a half-step core formation expert.

“Liu Chen, where were you?”

“I…”

“Never mind you idiot, get over here!”

“Hah, so your dog actually showed up? At least he got a spine, not like you Yichen!”

“Shut your mouth Haoyu, I know you did something to keep him away but your rouse didn’t bear fruit, don’t think you can weasel out of the bet now!”

“Hah, you always had a vivid imagination Yichen, do you think my battle slave would ever lose to that servant of yours? “

“We will see!”

‘What the hell is going on here…’

Zhang Dong had seen the commotion from a mile away but he expected it to work in his favor. While the kids were cursing up a storm he would just slip past them and be out of this sect in no time. Only now was he able to hear the names of the young master in question being mentioned. It was of course the one that he was supposed to deliver the pills to. Perhaps the delivery was just a pretext to get him over to fight this mountain of muscles.

“Liu Chen what are you doing, get over here!”

“Ah yes young master…”

He had to quickly get into character as he bowed before the sixteen-year-old. The youths here were probably related to the nascent soul masters to be able to be in the inner sect area at this age. It was clear that Liu Chen’s young master had a feud with the other guy. Yet Haoyu was pulling a fast one on him. The servant he was using was far above the level of Liu Chen who was a late stage foundation establishment warrior.

‘This Haoyu is grinning too much, I bet he planned this thing out and got a fighter to win the bet.’

It was probable that the servants were limited to a certain level. Liu Chen was a true late stage foundation establishment practitioner and the man behind Haoyu was faking it. He was wearing some kind of treasure that was masking his true level. Not many people would be able to detect the ruse.

After going through the audience he could see that more people were on the side of this Haoyu fellow. When comparing the two young master’s cultivation they were around the same. They were probably unwilling to go against each other directly. One of them would probably not get out of it unharmed, either dead or crippled.

Perhaps this wasn’t the first time the servants were forced to fight for their young masters. The bet probably involves the transferring of cultivation resources and would leave the loser with a hit to their pride. To many this was still the harshest punishment they could receive, being mocked and disrespected.

“I…”

The group turned to the open field where the usual training ground was. There were teachers here but they didn’t seem to care. He could even see some of them placing their own bets. This was probably not the first time the disciples cleared out disputes between each other like this.

‘This Liu Chen must have had a hard life…’

The unhealed wounds on the man he replaced now started to make more sense. It was not that he was getting beat by the young master but instead he was forced to battle other servants. Perhaps he had been on a winning streak that convinced Yichen of his own superiority.

‘Should I win or lose?’

There was nothing that he could really do. If he started running now the whole sect would be on to him. It wouldn’t be hard for him to win in this situation but it was also risky. The other side might have been cheating but if he showed more power than he was supposed to then he could also get into trouble.

‘I think I’ll have to sweat for this one…’

There was no escaping his fate, the disciples were already gathering around them. Luckily no nascent soul masters were paying attention. Going back to foundation establishment level martial arts wouldn’t be so easy. However, constricting his power levels would just be proof of his control.

“Don’t you dare lose, Liu Chen!”

“Master Yichen’s servant looks so weak compared to master Haoyu’s.”

“I’ll bet my bloodstones on young master Haoyu’s servant!”

“Me too, that Liu Chen is barely standing up!”

The other disciples clearly knew of Liu Chen’s recent bouts. It could have been the case that other people from Haoyu’s faction had tried to weaken Liu Chen with other fights. Even when they lost if they managed to injure the only battle slave Yichen had, it would be enough. This Haoyu had clearly prepared the stage for a decisive win.

“You have my apologies but I must follow the young master’s orders.”

The large man spoke up to him as if he was assured of his victory. He was probably ordered to either kill or cripple Liu Chen in this fight. It was supposed to be a show of might for the other side. There was no animosity in the tone of his voice and Zhang Dong couldn’t fault the reasoning. The man was only doing things to survive and if he failed his life would probably be in danger.

‘I guess if this sect falls it won’t be such a bad thing…’

When looking at the young children here he could see that they were already too far gone. Their morals were skewed by the years of infighting and a massive superiority complex. It would be hard to straighten them out at this point but if he could then he would like to give them a chance.

‘Okay, let’s get this over with…’