Wei promptly notices my change in movement speed for the caravan.

A raise of the eyebrow and a few words come out.

“So. It is true that you can sense things at great distances. I’m guessing you already know what’s waiting for us up ahead?”

“Yeah, mostly.”

I don’t want to give away too much, after all. Keeping her guessing about how much I know should still be good.

Instead, I should push in another direction.

“Hey. When we get over there, go into the hospital, along with everyone else. I’ll take care of you and help you reach Foundation Establishment.”

She freezes a little, as I’ve pushed on one thing she wants. With a nod, she sits back a little.

That should settle things down on this front a bit. I should add one other thing, though.

“At some point, I want us to talk about setting up some intelligence operations. For now, I’d like you to expand what you currently have. You can use this as funds for what you need. You can have part of it for yourself, but I trust that you’ll use it responsibly.”

Contrary to her previous sitting position, the moment I bring out the superior spirit stone that I received from Long Chao, she sits straight up.

“Y-yes, Master! I won’t fail you.”

A bit flustered, but I’m not sensing that there’ll be any issues with leaving this to her. Both on setting it up and leaving her with a wealth of that amount.

After she sits back again, it becomes silent between us. This time with her deep in thought, rather than I.

Even as night falls and we rest on the path to the tower, she still seems to think through things.

But after some time, I can finally see the towers on the horizon.

With a variety of new structures surrounding them. The most clear being the massive hospital that has already been built.

With a style similar to the towers, it seamlessly blends in the red and gold coloring into the backdrop.

It's nowhere near the size of the Fortress of Healing's entrance building, ie the hospital area I was in, but it will still suit my needs.

After all, I’m not planning on having tens of thousands of patients at once.

…

…

Why do I feel like I just jinxed myself?

… Either way, the massive underground section below this can always serve as a secure backup area.

As I think this, Sister Nuan soars over to us on her sword, her face having a wisp of pridefulness on it. Immediately, Wei and I bow to her, which she quickly waves off and directs her words toward me.

“They finally acknowledged your position in the sect, Disciple James. The Patriarch actually had a small percentage of the sect’s construction staff come to set things up.

“With this, you’ll be able to stand alongside the four other leading core disciples of the sect.”

Right. As eager as I am about this, there are four others who have gotten a similar level of support from the sect to support their personal activities.

Yet, the sect's value on me is evident by the numerous core disciples apart from those four. And likely, Patriarch Tao Feng’s way of holding to his word of creating a path to being an Elder.

Now whether I want to be one is a different question.

I feel my eyes drift over to him, where he immediately meets mine.

Right away, I bow in his direction in deference. He nonchalantly gives a nod and goes back to overseeing the situation.

Normally, someone of his status would have already left, but I can already guess why he’s stayed.

“Disciple James, some of the construction personnel wanted to discuss the layouts of buildings and walls with you about what you would prefer. Hop on.”

With a quick nod, I leap onto her sword, which grew in size to accommodate me.

I promptly turn to Wei before I leave with Sister Nuan.

“Wei, make sure to transfer everyone here to the hospital. Like I mentioned before, you’ll be healed as well. With all the benefits that come with it.”

It only takes a quick affirmation before we fly over to a recently reinforced area of the road we were on.

Based on the massive amount of rock that now forms the foundational edge of this area and the huddle of what I can only assume is this society’s version of architects and engineers, they must be planning out the walls of the complex.

An elderly individual raises his eyes up to us and bows to Sister Nuan and I. We both bow back in courtesy, with Sister Nuan taking the lead in the conversation.

“Senior Pao, thank you for assisting in setting up my disciple’s section. With your help, he will have a good foundation.”

“Thank you, Senior Song. Your words are appreciated, but any foundation I create is only based on the solid one you’ve both already created.”

Praise and counter-praise go back and forth between the two for a little while longer, before this Senior Pao turns to me with his crucial question.

“Disciple Delinion. I’ve heard a great many things about your far-reaching knowledge. Was there any style or form you were looking for?”

Hmm… the question is, do I want to set this place up beautifully or defensively? I doubt anything significant will happen out here.

… But if it does, I’d rather be ready.

“Thank you for the praise, Senior Pao. Are you familiar with the star fort design?”

He looks a little confused, but thinks for a moment.

Almost all the wall styles I’ve seen have been in the traditional oriental style. Large curtain walls. Square with flat surfaces.

After asking for a writing tool, I draw out a few designs. With this area surrounded by ravines and in a world a cultivators, there’s a lot of differences between defense designs.

Of course, I use my scan to cover my bases with the most likely attacks.

“Hmm… a focus on ranged combat. And the potential for use with some sort of small-scale siege equipment.

“This might be expensive. Not on the structural side, but the formation aspect. Since it seems you are focusing on this being a defensive structure, with a focus on surface-based combat, you’ll need to fortify your foundations even further for underground attacks and create a powerful barrier for air-based attacks.

“That way, the ‘easiest’ attack method would be on the ground, on the surface.”

He seems to be deep in thought. Luckily, I have a positive answer.

“Thanks for that information. One of the seniors I know might be able to help with that aspect. With that said, where would you suggest…”

I go back and forth with the designer as we trade theories and ideas.

Of course, my abilities allow me to determine the ‘generally’ best option to pick for these situations, but as with many things, my scan works off the parameters I set. Speaking with an expert is helping me to tailor those aspects.

Soon enough, I finish my conversation with the Senior.

An extensive explanation of the star fort concept was unnecessary, as similar concepts exist in other countries. The only thing I truly needed to chat with him in-depth other than the defense aspect, was the placement of other buildings.

“I’m hoping to have this area be as self-sustainable in an emergency as possible. Can we have the main storage, growing, and production facilities nearest to the towers? Of course, auxiliaries can be scattered outside of that.”

“Of course, but with those areas separated, you will probably have a decrease in productivity in those areas. Is that acceptable?”

It only takes a moment of thought before I agree.

It’s really unlikely we’ll be attacked here. And if we do, we would be fighting much stronger foes that a place like this could handle. However, as it is said, ‘in times of peace, prepare for war’. Better to be sure that we wouldn’t have any gaps in protection.

Not only that, but I could also use the outer section as a testing aspect for new people that I don’t exactly trust. Ones who I wouldn’t have a contract with.

Because even though I would hope everyone that comes here would be under contract, that's surely not going to be the way things will go.

The last few changes are made and I end up with the following layout, starting from the innermost area:

Inner Section Main Storage Area Main Production Areas Main Growing Areas/Greenhouses Towers Inner Walls Surrounds the Towers, Storage Areas, Growing, and Production Areas Outer Section Additional Storage Areas Additional Production Areas Additional Growing Areas/Greenhouses Additional Towers (smaller) Miscellaneous Buildings Extra housing Visitor housing Outer Walls Surrounds the above areas Hospital Section Hospital Hospital Temporary Housing Hospital Walls Walls connected to the outer wall and with it’s own star section. Opens to the entrance road, that leads to the main road. Underground Area/Structures Original ravines that had jungles within them are now covered by stone and turned into an underground area. Completely surrounded by foundational rock on every side, thicker than even the walls. With formations and materials to sustain the parts of the jungle inside. Opens to the inner section.

At least we’ll be safe. Right?