“Something seemed to happen to the angel units at this location, could there have been some demi-human stragglers?”

“At this location? They should not be able to reach that far and the elders should have chased every one of them down…”

“The Emerald Phoenix Empire?”

“Why would they start things now that their two Emperors are dead? And how would they even get here from the Eastern region, do you have a brain in that head?”

“My apologies Senior brother, but who would dare attack us?”

“I don’t know but that city, isn’t it located near the Central Area?”

“The central area? Could the Long Clan be involved? But why would they…”

“I don’t know but we have to report this to the elder immediately, go tell them that something happened in the Azure Basin City.”

“Leave it to me, senior brother!”

A man that looked to be in his early twenties clasped his hands before running out from the large room they were in. Inside a large map of the whole empire was visible in the background. It wasn’t the only one as many smaller ones were placed at booths with sect members.

This was something that was created by the elders and used to monitor the whole western region. The youths here were sect disciples and seniors that were working for their merits. The Empire as well as the Western region was gigantic and it required a lot of manpower to monitor along with the angelic automatons that could be ordered to take care of the situation.

When something was discovered a person here could send out one of those automatons or relay the information to the nearest sect location. It was similar to the police force with this being a command center. Thanks to this system a certain Patriarch could turn his brain off and focus on cultivating to reach the next level.

Thanks to this in place it was possible to intercept an SOS signal and one of the people that caught it was already running. The young man made his way to the elder's office which he sprinted into. His hand didn’t need to reach for the door handle as it was one that could slide open to the side. What he needed to do was to inject a specific spiritual energy pattern and it would perform the task for him

“Elder, I bring bad news!”

“Yes, bad news for you if you don’t explain yourself, how many times do I have to tell you juniors not to rush into my office like this!”

There was a lone man behind a large desk made of dark wood. On the desk, he had several marked communication jades through which he could call other sections of this large building. Due to him being responsible for the monitoring department whenever something bad happened, he was the first to know. Then if the situation was truly dire he would inform people in higher positions that could move a greater amount of people and even reach the one on top, the Patriarch.

“Of course, it’s dire news, three lesser anger units have been destroyed and we have lost contact with them.”

“Three whole units? Hm… that is bad but the weaker ones can be defeated by weaker cultivators, what were they doing before the signal was lost?”

“I have brought the report.”

The young man gave him a memory jade with the information. After plugging this item into the nearby monitor he could go through some of the footage that the angel units recorded. It was similar to policemen wearing cameras on their bodies. The image quality was limited and the framerate was bad but it was a necessity to conserve more information.

“This looks familiar…oh now, is it really… the Long Clan?”

The old man started squinting while going through the image. He couldn’t make the mistake as the situation was dire. Even though a lot of people considered their sect to be one of the great three, this man was a person that survived the old era of the Zhang Clan. He remembered the days of struggling and the meteoritic rise to power was only recent. The fear of the Long Clan had been ingrained since birth.

Even though he saw the youngsters being boisterous and proud, he was not of the same mind. The Patriarch was strong but even he sometimes vanished and faltered. His disappearance for five years was an indication of this. It was never really clear how well the greater elders were doing only during a full-scale war would everything become apparent.

“Are they finally making a move?”

“Making a move? What are you even talking about?”

“The Long Clan has remained silent for so long, there were rumors that they were just gathering their forces.”

“That baseless rumor?”

“Is it baseless elder? It seems that they have shown their fangs and attacked one of our cities. What will we do, should we notify the supreme elders or have the Patriarch…”

“You want to involve the great leader? Are you stupid or something!”

“Ow…”

The old man started frowning before smacking the youth over the head with his palm. If they sent out the nascent soul elders there then the Long Clan could respond in a similar fashion. This could lead to another war that could end very badly for their rising sect. The elder here knew of the dangers and was positive that the Long Clan was just waiting for an excuse to show themselves. It was strange for them to throw the first stone, there had to be something else to it.

“No, I will relay this information to the proper department, sending a small unit of experts should be enough. Nevertheless, this involves the Long Clan so I’m not someone that can make this decision, now get out and keep your mouth shut. If I hear that anyone is spreading rumors that a war with the Long Clan is upon us, I’ll come looking for you!”

“Yes, Elder…”

The youth walked out with a lump on his head while the elder contacted another department. Soon a lot more calls were going through as many people were trying to make the correct decision. Even though no one wanted this information quickly reached some of the supreme elders as the potential involvement with the Long Clan was a big risk.

“Hm… So the decision is mine to make… Very well, we will send a small force there with one nascent master which will be me. I haven’t had anything to do for a while. This might be a good occasion to stretch the old bones and see some new sights, this must be some type of misunderstanding. I can’t leave this up to the youngsters.

The word reached the ear of Zhang Jin, the Patriarch’s grandfather. After achieving the nascent soul level his complexion got better and he now looked to be in his fifties. Over a year had passed since his last involvement with the Golden Dong palace he was now at another location. He was now stuck tending to the main sect which was a boring endeavor.

With this incident popping out it was a good chance to do something about that boredom.

“Dong’er is in closed-door secluded cultivation, he must not be disturbed before it’s truly necessary.”

Zhang Jin rose up while dining a special robe with the United Element Sect’s emblem on the back. Around this Emblem, it had smaller different colored circles that represented the four base elements of fire, water, wind, and earth. With this appearance, he would have no problem showing where he came from.

“Gather up everyone, I want a team to assemble within fifteen minutes by the great teleportation gate, and prepare the middle-sized battle Crouser for transport.”

“As you wish, Supreme Elder.”

“Ah… life sure is great when your grandchild is so successful.”

Thanks to his current position there were a lot of resources at his disposal. With the help of the angelic automatons and lesser versions of them, a whole production line was created. Now these puppets were the ones making flying ships made of precious metal that he could order around. For this small expedition, he decided to take one of the fastest ships at their disposal. It had a sleek design and didn’t even use a sail as the models that came before it. Instead, the ship had its own spirit engine that generated thrust from the back as well as an anti-gravitational field.

“It should be able to even outrun a fully ascended nascent soul master unless the Azure Emperor decides to come out, there should be enough time to escape.”

While the other sect members made the preparations Zhang Jin examined some of the treasures at his disposal. This mission’s intent was not to start a fight but to prevent it. Cultivators loved pricey treasures so the spirit herbs, pills, and divine treasures that he had at his disposal could be used as bartering chips.

It didn’t take a long time for everything to be prepared. Everyone that was on his crew was someone that had previously participated in the war. They were all veterans and were good at using the tools that the Patriarch provided for them. With his status, Zhang Jin could make everyone else wait while he was allowed to initiate the teleportation gate.

“Let us head out! If everything goes well we will remain for the day and visit the sites.”

Soon Zhang Jin was seated on the captain's chair. No one commented on the latter part as they knew what kind of person he was. Normally they would all love to return to their jobs and homes as soon as possible. The old man on the other hand loved hanging out in new locations where new lovely beauties could be discovered. There he would try to entice them and without his wives being there, no one could stop him.

The large circular gate that could fit a massive battleship through it was activated. The Crouser which was made from the same material as the Golden Palace was quite eye-catching. It was a calling card to the sect and to its leader. With it, as a shield, no one in the Western regions would raise a tone.

The propulsion system that was on the back started glowing in a red light. Just as soon as the gate materialized the quick-flying vessel started moving forward. Before them was a juncture city through which they could arrive at the Azure Basin City within a day’s time. If they tried doing it from here it would take him a week but with this little shortcut, they would soon arrive at the answer to their question about the Long Clan and their true motives.