“So that’s what happened?”

“Yes, I made a grave error…”

“It’s not your fault gramps, who could have expected the Long Clan to plot something like this.”

“I should have known that something was fishy after they delayed me so much.”

“They sure did their homework to keep you there… when will you grow up?”

“Hoho, can’t blame an old man for having some fun!”

“Sure I can!”

Zhang Jin gave out a sigh as he explained what had transpired after his arrival at Azure Basin City. After reaching the large castle he was escorted into a fine room and given some entertainment. This consisted of a group of beautiful women tending to all of his needs. It was obvious that while he was having fun people were working in the background to set up a trap for Zhang Dong.

‘Did they expect me to teleport there by myself? I guess my movements have become a bit obvious…’

It was possible that they took a shot in the dark. He was known for appearing out of the blue whenever his family members were involved. With strange powerful treasures existing everywhere, it was very probable for Zhang Jin of having some type of beacon to tell him his location. If he didn’t arrive alone they would have probably switched to a different ploy to get their way. Blowing up the city might have been that and would certainly take out almost everyone from his sect.

“Nevermind that, we need to get to the bottom of this.”

“Yes, what are those Long Clan bastards planning? If they decided to go this far, they might already have an army ready for deployment.”

“That could be true but I’m not sure if my ‘older brother’ had anything to do with it. The way that Grand Elder spoke about it, it seemed as if he was doing it on his own accord.”

“Could it be another faction within the Long Clan?”

“That’s a possibility and with this, we might have given them an excuse to hook in all the other factions from their clan.”

The Long Clan was as large as any sect and also had many branches all around the central region. In name, they were one entity ruled over by their Azure Emperor but in reality, they were divided just as any other large organization. It was the same with the United Element Sect who started out with three separate factions like the Zhang, Huo, and Feng Clans.

This event could give the faction that faked the events a reason to dirty his name. Long Yingjie during his last moments implied that Zhang Dong was part of a demonic sect. Orthodox cultivators that were on the surface just could use that as an excuse to attack. It wouldn’t be strange if they went even further than that and tried to pin all the atrocities that happened during this war on him.

“Yes… I’m sorry Dong’er this is all my fault, I knew that I was dealing with the Long Clan.”

“It’s fine, you couldn’t have known that they would go to such an extreme after such a long period of silence.”

He couldn’t really blame his grandfather for all of this. There were many ways for the Long Clan to find a justifiable cause for a counter-attack. It was known that Zhang Dong and his sect had already cleared out the northern demonic island. They were in the process of turning that place into something new and that was enough cause. The Long Clan didn’t necessarily need to get the people on their side but it would look better on their record. If they managed to win the new war then this would probably become the truth.

“We need to inform everyone, send an order to move closer to our teleportation gates.”

“Yes, Patriarch.”

At the moment both Zhang Jin and Zhang Dong were flying through the air in the golden cruiser. With his help, he was able to move it faster and they would arrive at the nearest gate to get back to the sect soon. Everyone needed to get informed about the new ploy, it was possible for a push from the Long Clan to occur at any moment. While it was not probable there could have been a force created to attack the cities bordering the central regions already. It was best to have his sect members retreat as they didn’t really have any high value besides the spirit points they generated.

‘So they intend to push into a new scenario where the ally becomes the new enemy…’

Zhang Dong expected something like this to happen after the war between Empires ended prematurely. He had control of all the bridges and no one could enter these lands anymore. He hoped that by not clearing out Argu and his people he would be granted at least a hundred years of peace. It was like saving one boss for later without having the plot advance further.

‘Not everything is lost though, the Long Clan is more of a defensive superpower, they might be unable to muster up the forces to push into our lands.’

From what he knew, the Long Clan had quite a stronghold in the middle of the empire. The playing city he visited had a defensive formation that even he wouldn’t be able to break through. Attacking them would not be easy and they had several strongholds down on the ground to make things a lot more difficult. Yet unless they decided to move that flying city out of the region they were entrenched in, he couldn’t see them posing that much of a threat. While their relations had perhaps been soured by this event, it might not lead to an all-out war just yet.

Thus along with Zhang Jin he finally reached the closest teleporter and got everyone home. When arriving back at the sect he showed off the recording of Long Yingjie’s last words that he made sure to save as evidence. While the Long Clan would deny those claims it didn’t really matter. They just needed to push their own narrative to get people to believe in their cause. If they didn’t defend themselves against the claims then their morale would plummet.

…

“The Golden Dragon is a fake and a demonic cultivator, this all makes sense, why would such atrocities suddenly befall our peaceful empire, we must stand with the Azure Emperor and defeat this villain!”

“What nonsense, the Azure Emperor is a coward. He remained in his little castle build on everyone's labor and left everyone to die! The only reason my sister is alive is thanks to the Golden Dragon, he should be the Emperor… no he is the real Emperor of this Empire!”

“How dare you!”

“I dare!”

A fight between cultivators erupted in a restaurant. Scenes like this played out throughout the whole empire after the news was dropped. People were on the fence and didn’t know who to believe in. On one side was the old Azure dynasty that survived through hundreds and thousands of years. They were the one firm pillar that allowed this Empire to survive to this day.

On the other was the United Element sect and the Emperor of the West. When people needed someone to save them, he arrived. Some saw him as the dawn of change and the new rightful owner who actually cherished their wellbeing. They denied all rumors about the demi-human attack being orchestrated by the United Elements sect. To a lot, this new upstart sect had been a beacon of light in the darkness of night.

Quickly factions were being created and sides were being joined. Back at a large auditorium a group of elders along with their leader Zhang Dong were analyzing all the data they received in the past month.

“This is surprising.”

“Is it my husband?”

“Yes, I expected a lot more people to take the Azure Emperor’s side than this.”

Zhang Liena smiled while watching the large map on the interactive screen. There as always, puddles of red were used as mapping points. Most of the Western region was covered in green and blue coloring to represent people that were on their side. Green with their support being massive and then switching to blue to areas that were more on the neutral side.

“Everyone knows that our Patriarch is magnanimous, no one with an inkling of intelligence would believe in that nonsense the Long Clan is pushing!”

“That’s right, the people aren’t dumb, they know that we are not with the demonic sects.”

Zhang Dong nodded while looking at the patch of red in the middle of the Empire. The concentration was quite high there. People were moving to their border cities in hopes of being on the winning side. To a lot the old Dynasty was a dragon that could never be beaten. Even if they disliked the way they acted, there was no way of competing with the strongest.

When it came to the Eastern region where the Heavenly Crane Sect resided things were a lot more colorful. There were dots and regions of orange, red, and magenta. Others were lime green, blue, and sapphire. It was clear that they were divided in an almost identical way and would probably stay away from the battle between the two.

Zhang Dong had no plans of getting the East regions involved and hoped that they would remain neutral for the entirety of this fight. The people that he had aided in the fight against the Emerald Phoenix Emperor were still grateful and delivered some aid in the form of cultivation resources. All of those were delivered through hidden means so that the Long Clan wouldn’t be aware of it.

“Has there been any movement from the Long Clan?”

“They have occupied the borders and destroyed many of the automatons that attempted to move in closer. We have managed to assemble a perimeter and transferred some of our manpower to counter any potential assaults.”

“Hm…”

He nodded while looking at the map. There was no immediate attack coming after the predicament at Azure Basin City. Everything had been somewhat anti-climatic and they had enough time to set up a defensive parameter on the borders. Even though the Long Clan forces had gathered together, they weren’t really attacking, just staying in their own region as if they were not allowed to leave it.

‘Could this be some type of limiting factor in their setting or are they planning something?’

There was no way of knowing but a decision had to be made. Was it better to just get this over with and move in or give his enemy time to strategize? There was a lot of things about the Long Clan that he didn’t know and perhaps twiddling his thumbs while they got ready for an offensive was not the best…