The banquet came to a close. The winner of the competition was a junior member from one of the ten greater sects. It was not the young master that went after Fang Meili’s life. After getting repelled by Zhang Dong as he was saving the girl one of the other young masters betrayed him.
This was something only natural, he got stabbed in the back during the whole commotion and no one even knew who was the perpetrator. He wasn’t dead but heavily injured and his battle prowess sunk low. If he wasn’t from one of the better off sects he would have probably ended up dead.
There of course was a fighting tournament that luckily ended within the day. With the help of pills, the junior members were able to recover their wounds and stamina. This was quite the opportunity for the young warriors but for Zhang Dong it was just boring.
On the third day, it was finally over. The other sects sometimes gave him strange looks but no one took him up on the offer for a fight. If it wasn’t for the people from the Divine Fist Sect then he probably would have coasted through this banquet with no incidents at all.
They did give him some valuable information about an old enemy though. He knew that the monster that he would fight wouldn’t just pose a threat to him but all the other people in this land. He didn’t think that the other sects would help out though. They would only get involved if their factions were directly involved and in danger.
He, on the other hand, saw the bigger picture, if the monster kept creating more abominations from the cultivators it slew then soon the whole empire would be overrun. He saw first hand how the monster could evolve by sucking energies from other living beings when he fought it the first time. He needed to go back to his sect and prepare, maybe even get some of his sect elders involved in the fight.
The senior members from his sect that he brought along didn’t get into any trouble. Some of them even managed to make some lesser connections. He left it to them to make some trade deals as they did have many materials they could trade for.
In his dimensional regalia, there were various high level spiritual herbs and even minerals now. The more spiritual energy they inserted into that immortal treasure the larger it became. Somehow all of that energy didn’t just dissipate but it combined into the land and created more. Even some pockets of precious metals started popping up for the sect members to mine and use for crafting.
“Well then, I will be off. You should be careful of the Yggdrasil sect, they might try something during your return, activate the beacon if something occurs and I’ll come aid you.”
Zhang Dong was in the hotel now and talking to Fang Heng. It was time to say their goodbyes.
“Senior Dong, you have already done so much it would be rude for me to demand even more help…”
The old man clasped his fists and did a small bow his granddaughter that was standing behind him did the same.
He was afraid that the old man would be ambushed during his return. The other factions were probably planning such a thing before he got involved. Their speculations didn’t mean that they would drop their old plan. However, it was likely that they would make some changes.
He needed them to get that teleportation beacon there. Without it, he would need to make the journey there himself. This would take him through enemy territory and if he was spotted could cause more trouble for him.
He couldn’t just transfer himself to places that he had never been to before. All of the teleportation gates he used had their own coordinates. These couldn’t be changed, if they were then a person going through one could end up dead.
People weren’t sure what exactly happened but they would sometimes get teleported to some random location. This could be inside of a wall or a volcano. If they were less lucky they would never return, lost within the gate, or just being disintegrated into particles.
Zhang Dong deliberated on lending his new ally his flying ship. It would probably be strong enough to protect them from any enemies. He didn’t want to endanger his own people too much though or lose a very important asset in enemy territory.
He also couldn’t make the journey himself with the old man. He was too worried about his wife and child. It was around that time and it could happen at any moment. He knew that the birth could be very dangerous for both of them, only if he was there to aid Feng Liena would he feel at ease.
“Fine then, take care on your journey and I hope you will make it safely back to your sect.”
“You too, Senior. I hope our paths will cross again!”
Fang Heng clasped his hands and turned to his granddaughter. She was next to the two while they were talking so she heard it all. The old man placed his hand on the girl’s shoulder and gave her a contemplative look before speaking out.
“Take care of yourself and listen to your senior uncle.”
The girl had tears in her eyes while looking at the old man that was slightly smiling. She didn’t want to leave and going with this man was a big risk. There wasn’t much that she could do though, she was just a lowly junior at the foundation establishment level.
“I… will I ever see you again grandfather?”
Fang Heng looked at his granddaughter and placed his hand on her head.
“Silly child, your grandfather isn’t so easy to kill and I’ve also made a promise with your senior uncle that I will reach our sect!”
He smacked his own chest with some force and then finally parted with Fang Meili. The girl watched as her grandfather flew away towards the ships from the Divine Fist Sect. The other members from her sect followed right after her.
“Young miss, we need to go…”
A female voice called out to Fang Meili. She turned to face this person and saw a girl close to her age. This was one of her maids, she and another one would be coming with her to tend to her needs.
Fang Meili just stood there and looked at the man that had saved her. She still had trouble processing everything that had happened.
The man called Zhang Dong looked at her back. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking from his facial features. He was quite the handsome man and if it was any other occasion she would have probably been head over heels for him.
This wasn’t the case, she was feeling pathetic for not being able to do anything. Soon her sect where she spent her entire life might not even exist. The only person that could aid them was standing before her. How far he would go to aid them was unknown, her grandfather was putting his trust in Zhang Dong. She couldn’t do the same; she was still skeptical of his true motives.
“Fang Meili was it? You’re going to glare a hole in my forehead if you continue like that…”
The chuckled slightly while the blond girl opened her eyes widely. She didn’t know when but she started rudely staring at him. The moment this fact was revealed one of her maids stepped forward.
“Please have mercy, my lord, the young lady didn’t know her place.”
She dropped down to her knees and started begging. Fang Heng that was of similar status as this man was now gone. Without him around the maids worried that their young miss could get into trouble by offending Zhang Dong.
The young lady in question started trembling slightly, would she get punished already. Staring at someone as established as this person would be considered a huge offense. Some people took things like etiquette very seriously. In some sects like that she could even be sentenced to death along with her maids.
“Please my lord anything but the young lady, punish me instead!”
“Yes great lord, punish us instead.”
She saw her two maids going down to her hands and knees with their heads lowered. These two were servants assigned to her when she was but a child. They were in their 30s and started out as teenage girls. The two girls were very loyal and were even trying to give their own lives away for her.
She couldn’t allow this, this was her mistake. Even though she didn’t trust this man, he was someone from the older generation. He was someone that her grandfather called a senior. He was clearly lowering himself before this man but she dared to stare at his face for so long.
“No please, punish me instead, my maids didn’t do anything wrong, it was my inexperienced senior uncle!”
She followed suit and was now kneeling down. Her head was down and she wasn’t even looking up.
Zhang Dong looked down at the girl that he was supposed to take care of. He was trying to ease up the tension with a small joke but the other’s took it the wrong way. He as always forgot how these people worked.
For them, it was impossible for someone from the elder generation to be joking around with a junior. Not unless they were related or had some kind master-disciple relationship.
He just stood there shocked at the display, soon the three girls were kneeling. The elders that were behind him didn’t help either as in their eyes this was an obvious offense. Some of them even looked like they were unwilling to let this pass.
“Such rudeness, is this how you should act around someone that saved your life?”
The one walking was Zhang Dong’s great grandmother and also his wife’s. She looked quite maddened by the fact that this girl had the audacity to stare at the sect leader with such irritation. The other oldies that were very much people that followed old traditions just nodded. From their point of view, the young woman would have to be punished in some way.
Before that could happen and this whole situation got out of hand Zhang Dong raised his hand up. A golden aura surrounded the three kneeling females and moved them all back to their feet.
“That’s enough. You lot should knock it off, we don’t have time for this and those are our guests. I promised her grandfather that I will take care of them, she is also my niece, so show some respect. Now let us depart!”
He surrounded everyone with his aura and started flying towards the Argonaut. He knew that if he let that continue for much longer that something bad could happen. One of the maids would probably try to end her life to appease the big bad elders from the United Element Sect. She would even think that her life would be well spent by offering it to the senior members.
“Relax, I have promised to your grandfather that I would protect you. You don’t need to kneel and I would like you to refrain from doing such things in the future.”
Zhang dong said while they quickly flew towards that giant battleship that was waiting for them. The three women could only stare at each other without being able to react. The Argonaut was still hovering outside the city grounds. It stuck out like a sore thumb due to its massive size and strange design. For the time being there was a shield around it as some people did try to enter it. They were promptly blasted away into the stratosphere.
“Also don’t worry about your grandfather, he won’t die so easily.”
It was time to return, if it would be smooth sailing on the way back it was hard to tell. For one thing, there was still the problem of the two sect armadas that had escorted him here. After the fiasco that happened back at the banquet, he wasn’t sure if they would just let him go back home that easily.