“What’s troubling you, I know that look.”

“Oh sorry, I spaced out for a moment. It’s just… It seems too easy.”

“I agree, the mighty Long Clan should have done a better job at defending their borders….”

“Hey, what are you two worrying about? Our Sect is just this strong, this is the obvious result! Now let’s go pull that little emperor out of his castle!”

Zhang Dong along with his wife Zhang Liena looked to their friend Huo Qiang that interrupted their conversation. All of them were standing on a large golden balcony and before them was a wide mountain range. The size of the mountains was truly tremendous as they pierced the clouds.

There was one opening exactly a kilometer in width. A giant gate stood there, its columns made from azure jade. Two large eastern dragons were etched into the columns with their mouths open and pointing at the potential visitors. It was a one-of-a-kind entrance through which their sect wished to traverse through.

“Gramps, what do you think?”

“I think that we need to be careful but…”

“But?”

“I also think that Elder Qiang isn’t wrong, our sect is strong and we have already gone through many hardships to arrive at this point.”

“So, you are feeling confident.”

Zhang Jin nodded while looking with the others at the giant gate being pulled apart. Many large cables were attached to it and on the other end they connected to massive flying ships. Ten of these ships were pulling slowly from each side and the gate started to open. A strange current was exposed and filled the area with spiritual energy.

“They really like to monopolize that spirit vein, don’t they?”

He commented while feeling a substantial increase in this energy. It was the most universal power source in this world and caused countless massacres. The old text proclaimed that the Long Clan had settled down here many thousands of years ago. This mountain range along with the gate was said to not have always been there. It was created to separate the central-most region from all the others.

The Heavenly Crane Sect and the late Soaring Dragon Sect had limited access to this bountiful resource but they were not allowed to cross the mountain path. The same vein crossed into their lands but its power was diminished. The United Element Sect had recently been able to claim the vein for themselves but something was wrong.

A spirit vein should not have been able to try out. They were like natural power plants that circulated spiritual energy from the entire world. When energy was spent by a cultivator it would return to the world. After transitioning through the planet it would soon be attracted to the vein that spat it back out into the environment. It was a renewable process that would continue as long as there was life in this world.

Yet something went wrong and the spirit vein that previously belonged to the Soaring Dragon Sect had started to be drained fast. It was as if something or someone was redirecting the energies elsewhere and after opening this gate, Zhang Dong had an idea where it all went.

‘They always had the capabilities of limiting the spirit vein output. There could be a few reasons for it…’

Zhang Dong knew about the logic behind spirit energy returning to the world and being constantly recycled. However, this could potentially be all hogwash. The laws governing this world were created by a superior being and they could probably also be changed at a drop of a hat. It was possible that the Long Clan had lied about the true form of the main spirit vein that they were monopolizing. If it was a natural phenomenon then they should have been unable to halt it.

‘Either it’s not natural or that Overseer got involved…’

One of the reasons he decided to continue with the push was the drying up of spiritual energy. At this moment the concentration just went down by a couple of percent which wasn’t yet noticeable. If it continued, then they would probably be playing into the Long Clan’s tactic.

Spiritual energy was used to perform all sorts of techniques and to make treasures work. The more the concentration fell the longer it would take anyone to cultivate and recover. A Cultivator converted spiritual energy and circulated it around their body to make it stronger. The more enhanced their bodies became the better they got at absorbing the ambient energy from the world. If it suddenly vanished then their power would start to decline and this was probably the next plan that the Long Clan came up with.

‘They really don’t want to leave their region. They offered up all of their cities and branch families for slaughter and never moved. This is some sort of obvious trap…’

The fact was brought up to the other elders but the consensus was the same. It was better to push in now while the spiritual energy was high before it was too late. Even though they had their own spirit vein to allow their main city to prosper it would not be enough for all the other sects. The more they waited the more the public opinion would start to shift. They had to use the temporary unity of all the sects to their advantage and finish this quickly, if they waited too long the rope around their necks would start to constrict.

“There is no one to welcome us? Well, that’s boring.”

“I for one welcome boring, ho ho.”

Huo Qiang was ready to charge in instantly as the gate had opened but to everyone’s surprise, there was no counter armada of ships waiting for them. It was actually quite silent with nothing in view.

“It’s just an empty plain? Where are all the beasts or animals?”

Liena wondered while trying to peer through the threshold of the gate. Even when everyone craned their necks and strained their eyes there was nothing to see here. The grass was long and bountiful but something was lacking. It was as if someone forgot that they needed to customize this area for something.

“It is indeed strange, I don’t like it… I can feel something, a formation. The moment we go inside we will be under it.”

“A formation? What kind?”

“I’m not sure, it’s hard to understand but… it has some similarities to the one we saw in the ocean…”

“Is it a space-warping formation?”

“I might be…”

Zhang Dong wasn’t sure. When they all visited the Cerulean Empress’ domain they had been transported to a new area without even knowing. When they entered the chasm they were already under the influence of a formation and the fish that swallowed them was just the icing on the cake. When taking that into consideration, it was possible that when they crossed this area they would arrive at another location or perhaps in a pocket dimension like before.

“It doesn’t seem to be a trap, the formation won’t kill us but I have no idea where it will take us…”

“If it’s the same, then we must have the warriors retreat to the palace.”

Zhang Jin nodded and quickly gave the order for all the outside soldiers to gather together. Some went into the large flying ships that were capable of producing a large protective shield. Others awaited the golden palace that had become a floating stronghold of massive proportions.

They had been preparing for many months for this push but Zhang Dong was not sure if they were going into it for the best reasons. He was just trying to protect his family and friends while also discovering the truth about this world. If his brother gave him a good offer then he would probably ask for a ceasefire. Yet all the attempts to get in touch with him didn’t work and the war just continued.

“Everyone is waiting for your word.”

“... I don’t think this is a good idea…”

“You wish to stop the advance?”

He was unsure of what was to come. Everything here looked like another trap, it was one thing if he pushed in by himself but another if he got the people here killed. Before going in he had to be sure that it was safe.

“No, but I want to test something, Bahamut.”

The large golden dragon had shrunken down to his cute form and quickly reacted to his master's call. His body shot up into the sky and he quickly transformed into the massive winged form that everyone knew him by. Bahamut was a special being, he originated from a part of his soul and would not die unless Zhang Dong perished with him. His death would also not cause a giant backlash as it did when a soul beast was defeated.

Everyone nodded and looked at the large dragon flying toward the opened gate. His frame was quite large but even he looked like a small lizard with wings when compared to the giant columns and gate before him. His speed started increasing the closer he got to the threshold and finally, as he was before it a strange phenomenon started.

“Bahamut, he vanished?”

Liena leaned forward as she saw the large dragon just vanish into nothingness. The air around the gate rippled a bit as if a rock was thrown into water. It took a few seconds for it to calm down but one thing became clear, what they were seeing before them wasn’t real.

“So as expected, it’s some type of portal.”

“Is it a massive teleportation gate? But our sensors didn’t detect anything…”

Zhang Jin was the next one to ask the question. Zhang Dong on the other hand brought up his system window to see where Bahamut was being taken to. What he witnessed was somewhat interesting as instead of the dragon’s location just changing to another one, a path was seen. His speed was much faster to what should be possible by the rules of this world which only made sense if one thing was true.

“It’s not a portal gate, it’s a formation that warps space around it.”

While rubbing his chin he continued to monitor Bahamut’s location. When focusing he could actually see what his familiar was witnessing through his eyes. The space around him was quite queer as it was lighting up in various colors but just after a few seconds had passed some type of exit appeared through which Bahamut was able to come outside.

“Why is that room all white… and is that a person there?”

His dragon appeared in a spacious room with nothing in it and in front was a platform. There he could see a person sitting on something that looked like a throne. His clothes were blue and his face was quite familiar.

“Is that the Azure Emperor? What is he doing … ”

Before he could answer that question himself a red window popped up.

Error, Forced Teleportation initiated.