Chapter 180 (Patreon)

He stood there, motionless, his eyes shut and his fist clenched. He had a woman leaning up against his chest, her heart rate erratic, her pants echoing throughout the closed of space. 

'I push away all negative distractions, allowing me to find clarity in my actions. To find peace of mind in this time of need..."

He chanted a mantra to calm himself down, but to no avail, his lower half had decided to stand up like a pillar pointing towards heaven. He couldn't just push Feng Liena away so he waited like a gentleman would, with his rear end pushed back in an awkward way.

"Oh, this feeling... Senior Brother, this is wonderful!"

She finally recovered and looked up, the coast looked to be clear as she didn't notice the trouble brewing down low.

"Ah yes Sister Liena, this increase in cultivation should help you reach the nascent soul level in no time! I think you should find yourself a peaceful spot here and cultivate, no one will bother you."

Feng Liena finally noticed that she had gotten really close to Zhang Dong. Her body was pressing against his which made her blush slightly, but then she noticed that something was off. Something was poking her, her thighs in particular. She moved her gaze down wanting to see what the large thing that was poking her was.

Zhang Dong sprung to action a glint in his eye. He could see her moving her gaze down for a peek, he quickly placed his hands on both her shoulders. This made Liena change the trajectory of her gaze and look up to meet Zhang Dong's eyes. By grasping her shoulders he picked her up from the ground, then she was spun around and placed down in one quick move.

"I think you should really start cultivating... I set the Dimensional Regalia to let you both out whenever you wish... so I'll be seeing you two later..."

He moved back and before Liena could turn around he was gone. She blinked a couple of times before heading out to find a spot where she could digest the new cultivation method.

Matt appeared outside, the treasure item next to him and the coast clear.

"Think she didn't notice anything..."

He glanced down, his little brother looked quite angry and ready for some action. For some reason, he wasn't calming down even though he was activating his tranquil mind technique.

'D-did I overuse that technique or something... why won't it go down...'

He leaned down as standing up straight was becoming a bother, luckily after some time passed he started calming down. He almost thought that he would have to give himself a punch as the last result. Maybe his little brother noticed his intentions and decided to give up this time around.

'Whew... okay enough of this I need to cultivate my physique and reinforce the formation!'

There was barely enough space for Qiang and Liena in the Dimensional Regalia so he decided to progress his body in his crafting abode which could block out his aura as well. He slipped inside and was greeted by a familiar sight of scattered ingots and smelters. 

'I should clean this place up once in a while...'

He had obtained some weapons from the nascent soul elders that he fought so he didn't need to fashion his own this time around. He decided to keep Wu Ming's sword as his own had broken down during that fight. The other weapon that he had procured from that battle could be used though.

He took it out, it was a large black glaive. It was nice and long and had some strange patterns of the bent bladed part at the end. Matt spun it around above his head a little bit while having some fun.

'Hm, maybe I should have gotten some glaive related techniques... this one looks nice...'

He chuckled and places the weapon down while he himself sat in a lotus position. He had absorbed a vast amount of weaponry by this point but after the sacred ground event, he was rusty. The strange cube pushed his bodily cultivation to the apex of core formation at that time.

"It should be fine, let me get this over with..."

He placed his hand on the large sharp-bladed part of the glaive and activated the technique. His Qi resonated with the metals that the weapons was made of this making it glow with a reddish light. He could feel the particles and the Dao of what this item was made of slowly moving towards his digits. The sensation went further in going through his arm and then to his chest the feeling was slightly similar to goosebumps. 

"This is going to take a while..."

He had to spend an hour or two when he was absorbing core formation items, but this one was at the nascent soul level. He could feel the Dao getting absorbed by his physique but this was a whole new metamorphosis. He couldn't rush it, getting a cultivation backlash or regressing was not something that he could afford.

....

While Matt and the others were preparing for their next battle the news of what happened in Jade Grass City was spreading throughout the Dark Palm Sect area.

The main sect area wasn't located in a city, in particular. It was a removed area that was surrounded by ten large peaks. These were named the Harmonious Peaks and each one of them was owned by a Grand Elder of the sect. The Death of one of these elders caused a big scandal, this elder was Wu Ming.

Wu Ming wasn't the only elder that got hit though, Elder Zhu that was crippled also suffered bringing the number of peak masters down to eight. There were ten grand elders and ten Harmonious peaks, but now two of them were gone which brought the all-around battle prowess of this sect down a peg. 

Four from the group of people that were chasing Zhang Dong had returned back to their own peaks by this point and awaited further instructions from the sect leader. This man was living in a huge building in the central part of the sect. The Harmonious mountain peaks stood all around this place acting as barriers.

"Lord Guanyu, this all information we have on the matter, the Grand elders have returned after failing to apprehend the mastermind."

A core formation master was reading something down from a large scroll while looking at another man that was sitting on a large throne-like chair. The man's name was Yang Guanyu and he was the Dark Palm Sects leader. Just as his son Yang Kai he had a gem embedded in his forehead. It was even larger than the one his son had, it was pulsating with a deep purple light.

"Call those idiots over!"

The man grumbled while leaning back. He was quite lanky, his whole face covered with wrinkles. He had a topknot of white hair coming out from behind his head, the front part shiny and bald. His hands were large, the digits long with sharp fingernails that looked like they could rip someone's throat clean off. Even though he looked like a skinny old man, the aura he was giving gave everyone the chills. 

"So my stupid son is dead, his killer still alive..."

The man that was in the room was gone, Guanyu looked in a certain direction of this meeting room his eyebrows furrowing.

"Tell the council members that I will handle this myself, there is no need for them to act!"

The shadowy figure that was sticking close to the walls didn't reply, vanishing the moment the sect leader spoke out.

"Those old bastards, only whining when they feel threatened."

He leaned on his chair and supported his chin with his hand as he sighed. He was the sect leader, but there were other people close to his level in this sect. This was mostly called a sect 'reserve'  a hidden group of old monsters that had been long forgotten by the world. 

This was something that every sect did, when an old sect master or grand elder retired they would go into hiding. They would spend most of their life cultivating and trying to prolong their life, waiting for a time when they would be needed by the sect. They were old monsters all at the nascent soul level, but they were all running low on life energy.

People like this would never leave the main sect area of their given sects. They would be there acting as the last defense if any other powers decided to attack. This was also a big reason why fights between other powerful sects didn't lead to anything. It was hard to tell if those hidden elders were still alive which prevented takeovers from happening.

Yang Guanyu couldn't deny these elders, he had to resolve this situation before the body count increased. In the past years they have been suffering setbacks. First, the secret ground fiasco where they lost one of their grand elders. Now another one was dead, the second one crippled and useless. Even worse than the dead elder was someone that was at the middle stage of the nascent soul which was hard to reach. 

"We greet the Sect Leader!"

The grand elder's starter arriving one by one, soon four of them were here as one of them remained back at the border region to keep watch. In total there were eight active grand elders, three of them were placed at strategic locations at the borders with three other powerful sects.

"Everyone listen, you all got the reports, the relation between this Zhang Clan and this mysterious cultivator is very probable."

"That clan's sin is high and it must be eradicated along with all of its allies. It is unlikely that the hidden master will come to aid this clan, but a small chance exists."

"The other large sects are watching our movements so we must be swift, as we speak a new teleportation formation is being created at Jade Grass City."

"It will take a weak before it is finished. Select two grand elders to bring that clan to justice."

The sect leader started talking, the grand elders just kept listening not seeing many holes in the plan. Thanks to the teleportation gate they would be able to return to the main sect if something happened while they were away.

"Sect leader."

One of the elders raised his hand as he asked for a question, only continuing after Yang Guanyu gave him a nod.

"What if that master appears at that Zhang clan location, he defeated Wu Ming on his own, two grand elders might not be enough to contend with him."

Guanyu just nodded and snorted.

"The other elders will wait by the teleportation gate, if that cultivator appears you will  wait for me to arrive, I will take care of him personally..."

The man squinted with his eyes and looked at the four people that trembled slightly. They knew how powerful their master was, if he made a move then there was no reason to fear the enemy.

"The council will guard the main sect and activate the defensive array if something happens, it is highly unlikely that the other sects will react."

"But... keep an eye out for the Demonic Subduing Sect, their movements have been strange...this is all!"

The grand elders nodded at their leader and moved out. They would make preparations of their own in the wake of this battle. They knew that this Zhang Clan and its allies were good as dead and that strange master would probably not appear. It was something that needed to be done though, rumors were already spreading as the citizens of the city and even their sect members were left alive to tell the tale.

The most likely answer for Guanyu was that this nascent soul cultivator was long gone. Apparently he reacted only when his so-called disciple was being attacked, the following destruction was probably something he did in a fit of rage. He even tried to push the Demon Subduing sect into a fight with them. Probably to gain some time and cover his tracks, which worked out for him in the end. The sect couldn't find him anywhere and had to be wary of the other powers.

"After we finish eradicating those bugs we will find that man and show him why the Dark Palm Sect shouldn't be trifled with!"