“So we are in agreement then?”

“Yes, Patriarch!”

“This is surprising, didn’t expect so many of you to agree with Leader Shen’s faction, did something happen in this one day?”

“No, we just saw the errors of our ways…”

Leader Zhong replied while thinking back to the various riches the Golden Dragon had in his possession. The pinnacle-grade heavenly palm art wasn’t the only technique he pulled out from his spatial ring. There was also a foot art, a fist art, and even a movement technique all above what they were used to. Everyone soon realized that if they hugged Zhang Dong’s thigh tightly enough they could profit greatly.

“This might have been the first time this sect council has been established that all factions agreed to something, unanimously. What did the Golden Dragon give you in return, is there something you wish to disclose?”

“Please Patriarch, what do you take us for? We wish nothing more than to let our sect prosper, a gift from someone reputable as the Golden Dragon would not move us in the slightest!”

“Leader Zhong speaks the truth.”

“I see that Leader Shen is a great man of true integrity, I’m glad that we were able to put our differences behind us.”

“I agree, Leader Zhong!”

The Patriarch narrowed his eyes at the two faction leaders that a day ago were at each other's throats. The Moon Lily Faction and the Sun Lily Faction stood divided for millennia now. Either they were offered something worth more than their pride or they were under the effect of some demonic technique.

He couldn’t feel any demonic energy around them and the protective formations didn’t pick up anything. Thus he concluded that they were offered something they couldn’t refuse and had the gall to not fill him in on the rewards the emperor’s brother was offering.

“... If there isn’t anyone against it, then we will accept Leader Shen’s proposition and allow the Golden Dragon access to our lands.”

The Patriarch proclaimed and everyone else nodded. With this Zhang Dong would be able to use all of their teleportation gates and be welcomed in all of their cities without any trouble. No elder or formation would stand in his way and offering him help would be required from everyone affiliated with them.

“While we agreed to this, we also need to understand that we do not know what the Golden Dragon wishes to accomplish, for all we know he could have discovered some immortal treasure in the deeper regions.”

“Could that be true?”

“It does make a bit of sense… why would he be so generous otherwise…”

“Now now, this is just a theory of mine without a basis, why are you losing faith in him this quickly? Why did you agree so easily to Leader Shen’s proposal??

The Patriarch narrowed his eyes once more but the other faction leaders just evaded his gaze. At this point, he was already convinced that in a day they had been bribed in some kind of way. The reward must have been nice if they were keeping him in the dark.

“Fine be silent, what I wanted to bring up was a guide for Long Dong.”

“A guide, Patriarch?”

“Yes, we can’t have a prominent figure like that wandering around our lands unsupervised. Someone will need to take a risk and go on this journey with him. We need to be aware of his movements, we can’t know what his true plan is… so which faction wishes to offer up their masters to go on this journey with him.”

“...”

“The Moon Lily has supported the honorable Golden Dragon from the beginning, it would be best if we continued with this support.”

“Hah, you just snatched him before any other from us could! I think the Sun Lily Faction should take over now, our masters are far more diligent than yours.”

“That is slander and you know it!”

“Both of you stop arguing, the sect doesn’t revolve around the Moon and Sun Lily factions, our Azure Lily faction has close ties to the emperor’s family and Long Dong is part of it so it’s best if we take care of this.”

“No, we will do it!”

“No!”

The Patriarch looked in astonishment as the people started bickering again. While this was not anything new there was a danger of fists flying between some of the leaders. He had no idea what Zhang Dong could have promised them but they were really trying to seek favor with the illusive master. This scene was even more troublesome as the two strong guardians that were his bodyguards were still injured. Even though they were here with him they would not really be able to fight with their usual strength.

…

‘They are really going at it…’

Zhang Dong was not with the faction leaders at this meeting. Instead, he was eavesdropping out of sight with the help of his system. It wasn’t hard to leave a little something on Sun Shen who was there and listen in. After yesterday's break, he disclosed the fact that he had many wondrous techniques that he could offer to these old men.

Cultivators were really hungry for more wisdom so dangling something that could make them slightly stronger or that could prolong their life would make them go berserk. They were now all seeking favor with him in hopes of getting their hands on some of that knowledge. He had it all, pill-making formulas, blacksmithing secrets, and formation arrays that they were all dreaming of. Each faction was guaranteed to find something they could use.

‘If what Sun Shi was telling was the truth then they could be arguing for days before coming to a decision…’

This was not an easy dilemma for the nascent soul masters. Everyone wanted to make a good impression and sending a guide was a good opportunity to do so. In reality, he would be fine with throwing a custom book at each of the leaders if it advanced everything faster. After all this was over he didn’t expect anyone to be able to go after him.

Since the seed appeared inside of his body he had become a lot stronger and even with these secret techniques his opponent wouldn’t be able to match him. There was also a difference in studying those arts at such an advanced age. His people had a better foundation to take in superior skills. They would have more time to study them and also more refined Qi to use them.

‘Can’t go overboard though, it will take some years until the nascent soul masters reach the later stages, that is if I don’t enhance them with my system.’

He didn’t want to keep using it but the system still remained the best tool for winning all of this. His whole sect was already reliant on it and whenever he vanished they were quickly driven onto the defensive. If he didn’t need to take care of this war as quickly as possible he would have loved to allow his people to do things at their own pace.

‘Sometimes taking time to think things over is a blessing. Can’t do much about it now, without the system they wouldn’t be able to contend with the sea creatures and I couldn’t be here either… I also didn’t expect that thing to be here, now what should I do with it?’

Zhang Dong waited for the elders to reach an agreement while also looking at an item that fell into his hands. The item he was holding was a silver bracelet, the design wasn’t anything special but it gave away some of its true nature. What he was holding was a very powerful defensive artifact, something that Argus and Lucius were looking for.

“What was it, the Aegis Shield or something?”

This bracelet was given to him by the old lady that thought that he was an immortal reborn. It was apparently something that her faction protected through generations and gave to their Matriarchs. At first, he wasn’t sure what he should make of it but after analyzing it slightly he remembered a similar weapon, the holy sword that the golden knights were looking for. Just like the sword, it reacted to his divine energy but like the other item, he couldn’t activate it.

If he injected a copious amount of holy energy into this thing he would be able to generate a radiant shield. It was fully golden and made from energy, the bracelet would change colors from silver to bright yellow when he activated it. However, within a few seconds, he would have drained half of his Qi reserves. It was not something he could actually use in battle as he could produce a better shield with his own abilities.

‘This just makes me think that that holy empire in the south is meant for another system holder instead of me, Bob can’t even do anything with this thing unless I feed in an astronomical amount of spirit points.’

While the item couldn’t be used there was still hope if he decided to use up spirit points. For the time being he didn’t have enough, even with the farm against the fish people continuing he would not be able to. It was to the point that he felt that his fortress could be upgraded a level further before he could even be able to work with any of these holy relics.

‘But considering that it can be accessed by the system there is a way, maybe it's similar to the fortress that was just given to me just thanks to having the system…’

This item could have just been late stage loot that was left for a given system holder. It might have been the same as the flying fortress that was left by the late Golden Dragon, a hidden quest reward for him transmigrating into this world.

‘No use spending so many points on it, I have other things I can spend them on. I’m sure Lucius and Argus will be ecstatic to get this but…’

While he didn’t need this item for anything it didn’t mean that he couldn’t use it for something. The Golden Knights were quite strong and perhaps even had an emperor-level combatant somewhere or some kind of magical ability that could bring something at that level out. Their power would be much appreciated when going up against the Emerald Phoenix Emperor.

‘They did help me with the demi-human emperor for the sword… now I’m sure they'll do the same for the shield…’

A smile crept on his face as things were going his way. After the Heavenly Crane Sect decided who to send him with he would depart to the east. Argus needed to be informed about the shield artifact and a deal needed to be made. It was almost time to tackle another Empire.