Zhang Dong’s travels continued. They went through the old Dark Palm Sect area that was now occupied by the other middle sized sects. The further they traveled the thicker the residual Qi in the air became. It was no wonder why people fought over these lands. As they wanted to move towards the giant spirit vein that was in the middle of the Empire.
The two largest sects along with the Long clan were surrounding that spot from all sides. It was rumored that the three powers built giant walls that reached up into the heavens. These walls were reinforced with some special materials and couldn’t be damaged by anyone. Not even the top experts. The sects split the most sought after resource between themselves and the walls were there so that fights wouldn’t break out between the factions.
The spiritual energy that was rising did a lot for plant life. The trees were thicker and larger. Even the regular herbs had more Qi in them than the high quality ones in the lower regions. The whole ecosystem looked more lively and lush, Matt could only imagine how the scenery would look like in the middle of the empire.
Zhang Dong wasn’t flying next to his ship anymore, he had moved down to his private cabin and was now looking at a large screen. The screen split into many smaller ones and he could see the scenery around the ship from its many cameras. He had successfully brought this technology to this world. He hoped that some talented people would soon pick up on it and make some interesting movies or TV shows that he could enjoy later in his free time.
He tried introducing another marvel of technology which was the internet not too long ago. This didn’t go through that well as the cultivators didn’t see a purpose for something like that. They already had communication jades to send information, why would they need an archaic system like the internet for a similar task.
They also didn’t really understand the whole graphical aspect of the whole thing. Maybe if the new TV system went through well, they would open up to the other one. At least that was what Matt was hoping for but he didn’t think he could get a carbon copy of the internet he had back on his homeworld.
There were no computer games for one and he didn’t think that the cultivator nuts here would spend their precious time playing Tetris. This was unless there was some cultivation aspect that the games could provide. He didn’t know how to do such a thing, it would be nice if he could design a machine that increases your strength while playing games. Doing it might not be impossible but the cost would probably outweigh the gain.
While looking through the live feeds on his screen he could see the other sect watching them. They had many soldiers looking at their ship constantly, he could even zoom in and see the greed in their eyes. He clearly knew that if they weren’t afraid they would try ransacking his flying fortress.
‘Damn greedy bastards, will they never understand that strength and power isn’t all that is to this vast world?’
Matt lamented in his thoughts. He wanted to change the mindset of these people but he really didn’t see how. The only way he could think of is world domination and having the biggest fist around. But if he forced everyone to see it his way, would he be any better than the rest? An empire like that would probably crumble the moment he died or someone stronger than him appeared.
The only other possible way was slowly changing the thought process of the people living here. Generation by generation, maybe he could soften their views and get them to see the bigger picture. Even that approach required a massive amount of prestige and strength. This was something he was still somewhat lacking.
He felt that it wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities though, with his immortal grade techniques he was convinced that he could take on the world. That is if the other sects weren’t hiding similar assets. He wasn’t foolish enough to believe that strong cultivation would always come out on the top. He almost was done in by a well placed trap formation even though he was strong.
This was also why his sect was important, he needed help from others. Luckily he wasn’t alone, he already had some good friends and a loving family. This also gave him the motivation to move forward.
He smiled a bit after thinking back to his little cinnamon roll of a daughter. While deeply in thoughts he got interrupted by a little red blinking light. This was an indicator that showed that the ship’s captain wanted to talk to him. He received the call while lazily sitting down on his overly soft couch.
“Glory to the Patriarch!”
Was the first thing that he heard, he rolled his eyes instantly. He knew that he would never get used to this, something deep inside his very soul was not allowing him to feel superior to others. He was just a random guy that was wished away here and got an overpowered body and a system. He felt closer to common people than young or old masters and this would probably stay with him till he died.
“You may speak.”
He had to prompt the captain to have him speak as the last time he didn’t reply the man kept quiet for over a minute.
“We will be arriving at our destination soon. The ship will dock outside of the city as the other sects have instructed and we will be waiting for your return. The banquet is scheduled to start after two days of our arrival.”
Matt sighed out, he needed to wait for even more before the whole thing started. This get together would last for more than one day and he would need to attend it all. His introverted personality had never gone away and he hated forced parties like this. Back in his own sect, he could leave at any time without explaining himself. Here on the other hand he needed to keep up appearances. He couldn’t just leave during a boring conversation, he needed to remain and keep nodding his head.
“Inform the other elders, we will be leaving as soon as we arrive.”
He heard a clicking sound as the captain disconnected. Matt rose from his seat while looking at the monitors. The scenery was flying by fast and he couldn’t see the city they would be arriving just yet.
He decided to move outside. The deck was under a protective formation so even if a regular person was standing on it they wouldn’t feel a breeze. He hovered upwards leaving this protective barrier while putting up his own that made him glow in a golden hue.
He inserted some of his Qi into his own eyes. They flickered with golden electricity before he saw the effect. His vision was enhanced and he could see a massive city in the distance. Even from here, he could tell that it was highly populated.
This city’s size was vastly larger than any other one that he had been in. Even his New Spirit Spring City wasn’t this big. There were probably tens or even hundreds of millions of people living in it. There were multiple checkpoints along the way that surrounded the land by massive walls.
He could even see some flying ships floating in the air with the Yinglong company’s rain dragon flag. They were expected to arrive so they were let through without a problem. Though he noticed that people were quite interested in his large ship that was dwarfing everything that they had seen.
The closer they got the more of the large city he could see. The architecture was similar to every other metropolitan he had seen before. Large pagodas and buildings with traditional slanted roofs were everywhere.
The structures at the front were smaller but everything rose up the further you looked. Right in the middle was a giant pagoda tower which was probably the main palace. It reached up into the sky and you could see some magical beasts flying around it along with some sword cultivators.
‘That banquet is going to take place there. I’m supposed to meet Xu Qing the Dragon Gate’s Patriarch tomorrow.’
Xu Qing was the name of the man that brought him over here. Most people would see this as an honor or a privilege. He on the other hand felt like it was a hassle. Still, what needed to be done had to be done. He floated back into the warmer climate of his ship and went back inside after checking out the surroundings.
He met up with Feng Maling with the rest of the old man group. When he entered the large meeting room everyone gave him the usual bow.
He didn’t really know most of these people Zhang Kuo had gathered. Some of them were even his relatives from his side family. There was a small group of old women that looked like baked potatoes similar to Feng Mailing. He didn’t think that any of the old masters or the younger ones would be interested in starting a feud over them.
The old men weren’t lookers either and he could already tell from the way they were repeatedly bowing that they knew how to kiss ass. He was glad that he picked an oldie squad like this, with them around they shouldn’t be offending other people.
They might lose some face due to only bringing over old men and women. With him around, he hoped that they wouldn’t try to start fights. There was a certain threshold that he wouldn’t cross until he would act. He hoped that this gathering of the middle-sized sects would go smoothly.
There were even sects that were in a weaker position than he was. He at least was considered to be equal or stronger to some of the sect leaders due to his fight against Yang Guanyu all those years ago. Zhang Dong was considered to be one of the rising stars in the senior generation and some eyes were on him. This was at least what this spy network had dug up. Still, his power was unproven in the eyes of most of these masters.
“We will proceed as discussed, you will conduct yourself accordingly and keep a low profile during this assignment.”
Zhang Dong gave his group of elders the last talk before they left outside. They were to mostly keep to themselves, not offend anyone and call him over if it got out of hand.
“That is all, they will probably assign us some kind of hotel or mansion to stay at, so you will probably spend some time there.”
Apparently moving in the city wasn’t such a good idea if you weren’t in good faith with the city lord. The man that owned this city was an old master that was in the great circle of the nascent soul. There were also various other monsters hiding in the background ready to pounce at anyone that didn’t follow their laws.
The seniors nodded, they were still surprised that their young leader chose them to tag along. This was quite an honor to be allowed to witness this mythical city. This was something that they didn’t think they would be able to accomplish in their lifetime.
The Yinglong Pavilion company was the most famous one in the whole empire. Being able to come to their main city was something to die for. They would be even allowed to look at the sights later on or go to the exclusive auction house. It was the biggest one in the whole country and even the Long Clan members went there to bid for treasures.
“United Element Sect, move out!”
Zhang Dong moved outside and the elders were right behind him. They were all core formation experts as being someone below that level would be too shameful for even them. Even though they were old with the help of the improved techniques, these old men and women would give a good fight to anyone in the same realm as they were. They would probably come out on top in most cases.
The time to mingle with the crowds had arrived and the welcoming party was already waiting for them.