“How could senior sister do this, does she have a thing for old ugly men?”

“How about you shut up before Elder Lei Yinglo hears you, do you want to get crippled or something?”

“But… Senior sister Lei Fan… what is she doing with that man, this isn’t normal! He must have cast some kind of demonic technique on our fairy, we must set her free!”

“What do you mean with, our? Stop involving me with your delusions!”

“Ow, how could you hit me!”

Yang Rong held the lump on his head that appeared after his friend, Cheng Yun gave him a smack. Both of them came from the same little village and once were at odds with each other. After being recruited by the United Element sect they fostered somewhat of a bond with each other. Cheng Yun got the short end of the stick with this relationship as his friend usually got himself into trouble. This led him into multiple fights and demerits throughout the ten or so years that they had been in this sect.

“Listen to me Rong, if you go out there, you’re on your own, I’m not getting tossed down from this ship with you!’

“Don’t worry my friend, I won’t cause any trouble!”

Cheng Yun rolled his eyes while looking at his friend sprinting off somewhere. He wasn’t sure how that elder would react but at least Rong’s life should be secure. They were still part of the United Element Sect. The elders of this group were much more lenient than usual, if this Lei Yinglo was allowed to take part in this mission, then he had to be a man of at least some character. Most sect members knew how the recruitment methods worked and it was impossible for a demonic cultivator to become part of their group.

“Oh, Senior sister? I was about to… AGH”

“About to what? Get back in line and finish setting up our camp! You were supposed to be done by now, what were you all doing?”

Lan Fei appeared from behind a tree to deliver a kick to Yang Rong’s shin. The young man winced in pain and instantly dropped down to the ground. Even though tears were rolling down his eyes he seemed rather content after receiving the hit. Cheng Yun recoiled in disgust as his old friend had gained some weird tastes throughout the years. It seemed that he liked to be punished by their senior sister. He did seem quite happy whenever she decided to pull out her whip to discipline him.

‘Luckily after a while, she switched to punishing just him and not the entire squad… otherwise Yang would have probably never survived but not like he is the only one … ‘

The young foundation establishment practitioner that wanted nothing more than to just train had a hard time focusing within this group. It was populated only by men with senior sister Lan Fei being the only woman around. Some of the other brothers, just like Yang Rong, gained a similar taste to his. Though some preferred to be praised than punished, others loved getting assigned chores, it was quite a strange group of individuals.

‘At least we aren’t alone here, the elder is keeping watch over us so the others haven’t been causing any problems.’

Some time had passed since they left their sect. After arriving at their destination they set out to a nearby settlement. To not get the common citizens involved too much their sect decided to create their own outposts. If any Long Clan attacks arrived at this location, then they wouldn’t involve the city nor would any damage spread. They just required the city to provide some necessities but were mostly self-sufficient.

“Get a move on, spread out the pylons as you have learned.”

The group nodded as this was their main reason for being here. They didn’t possess much fighting power on their own but had learned a lot of new things. The pylons were strange rods that they just needed to assemble in the correct way. When connected together they would form the basis for their main structure.

It was quite the sight, after everything was connected the thick rods started shining. The light pushed to the side and produced floor tiles as well as walls. What they assembled was something akin to a framework. In the middle were the base materials that consisted of things like spirit iron and building blocks. When surrounded by these pylons it created a chain reaction.

“How did they create this technology…”

“No one really knows, it is rumored that it was thanks to our Patriarch…”

All of them stopped and looked as if the base materials disappeared before them. They filled out the empty spaces between the framework and connected to the thick rods. Soon a structure that looked like a large castle fort was created. The walls were made out of special stones and reinforced by metal. On the outside, it looked like a medieval castle surrounded by twelve large towers. Each one was occupied and assembled by another squad with their being the last one to finish their project.

“This actually worked…?”

“What do you mean, did you think they would send us out here for nothing?”

“Well… I thought it wouldn’t look as magnificent, it even has our sect’s symbol on the main gate!”

It was understandable for Yang Rong to doubt the procedure as during their training they only assembled smaller structures. No one wanted to waste many materials so they usually just practiced by assembling smaller walls. The person that was responsible for this technology was hovering above them and had the actual keys himself.

All of the people that were gathered here spotted them looking over from a distance. His form was shrouded in some type of dark veil that had expanded over the whole construction. It created a strange dark dome that didn’t allow any light to get inside.

Everyone was stunned at first but soon they realised that it was some type of hiding technique. Even if people were flying over them no one would be able to find them. This was confirmed after they spotted a few strange cultivators patrolling the skies.

“I know that symbol, it’s a branch clan associated with the Long Clan, they actually appeared!”

“Yes… but they really can’t see us here. This new elder must specialize in illusory techniques!”

“This is great, we won’t have to fight them!”

The soldiers cheered as they saw the group of people move along. Normally they would have probably attacked them and called for reinforcements.

“They must have been a scout unit, does this mean that they are trying to create their own base nearby?”

“It could be possible but they won’t be able to beat us!’

……

“It does look like a quick assembly in a strategy game… and that scout unit, I should use a tracking technique on them.”

While the castle was being assembled he performed a tiny technique that attached a symbol to one of the robes of the people that were scouting. With this, he would be able to follow after them to their own hidden base and remove any potential threats almost instantly.

After finishing up his technique he glanced back to what was being created. Everything was done through his faction system. The first requirement was the location, it needed to be close to a settlement and within the limits of his faction. The next one was the resources that needed to be placed within the range of the construction. Lastly, someone needed to create a hollow scaffolding for the large structure.

‘Thanks to Bob I don’t need to be there for the creation but it won’t be assembled without involving some spirit points.’

Thanks to his lands becoming really massive he was given a lot of passive spirit point income. This was a quick-build faction feature. It was actually possible to create a structure by only involving spirit points but the cost would skyrocket. By having his people perform the outline for creation everything was minimized.

‘Good, now the cities won’t get involved and the Long Clan will have no excuse to pillage them for resources.’

He nodded while flying down into the castle. Usually in wars like this people would use an excuse to rob others of their valuables. It was far less costly to fortify a position in an existing city which usually also had its own defensive formations. While he cloaked the whole castle with his darkness technique, he wouldn’t always be here.

The task of creating a proper defensive formation along with the power source belonged to the core formation experts and him. It would take at least a day until everything was done properly and he would see to it that it did. Thus the minutes turned into hours and he continued to work.

‘This is actually a bit more relaxing than I anticipated…’

After spending years cultivating without much else going on he had grown a bit weary. This was a nice change of pace, performing techniques and tasks that weren’t all that hard was a breath of fresh air. It actually felt like his mind was clearing out and perhaps if he managed to focus on the things here then his next cultivation session would offer him a breakthrough.

‘That about does it…’

“Everyone, please stand still and don’t move until the formation takes effect…”

“Yes, Elder!”

Everyone had gathered in the courtyard while the formation was activated. On the first run, it would scan everyone from this fort and input them into something like a database. Only the people from this company with the proper clearance would be able to leisurely traverse the barrier now. Everyone else would be forced to remain outside until someone from inside opened a path. This allowed them to protect themselves from potential spies or infiltrators that tried impersonating their own people. Even if they managed to imitate a clearance from another stronghold, they wouldn’t be able to just get into this one.

“Well then, I think that completes the main mission but a new special one will soon commence.”

“A special mission, Elder?”

“Yes, that scouting unit that was here the other day hasn’t moved much.”

“Does that mean?”

“Yes, you are fast to catch on Lan Fei, they must have a base there and we will attack it…”

He proclaimed while everyone nodded. Their eyes had a certain passion, all of them wanted to move and confront the boogieman of the empire. The Long Clan was a force that everyone knew and everyone wanted to beat. The chance for the young cultivators here to gain some glory had come and they would take it.