by Tony Tran
“Have you no shame? Greedily lusting over wealth that does not belong to you. What's the difference between you and a plain old bandit if you go through with what you're saying now?” A man with a head filled with white hair who had an air of righteousness around him said.
“Tenth Brother, I bid you remember that when we left the sect on this training exercise our sect master had specifically put me in charge. So, if I were you I would hold my tongue.” The Eighth Elder sneered, causing not only the Tenth Elder but a number of others present to look back at him with faces filled with disdain.
“Hmph, if you lot want to tarnish our sects name then count me out.” The Tenth Elder said before storming out of the tent with a few people following behind him.
“Don't mind that self-righteous bastard, with all of the essence stones we will gain our sect will be able to rise above the other sect within the Lunar Kingdom and reign supreme.” The Eighth Elder laughed.
“Assemble the disciples, we will show these country bumpkins what it means to not know one's place.” He added before the other elders present departed and began gather their disciples.
Soon enough half of the camp was assembled and awaited orders. If compared to the students of the Imperial Institute, the disciples of the Lunar Sect were much stronger as hundreds of level eight cultivators were mixed into their ranks that were filled with countless level six through seven cultivators. Even with only half of the disciples in the camp gathered, the sheer number of high level cultivators present was able to show off the power of the Lunar Sect.
Even with the elite guard included, Zhang’s forces did not have as many high-level cultivators as the group assembled in the Lunar Sect’s camp.
“My disciples, for today we shall go on a training exercise the likes of which none of you have taken part of before. Today we will show the might of our Lunar Sect to the fools that dare to look down upon us. Today we will bring glory to the sect by striking the fools that not only broke the rules set by the Council of Heavenly Saints but ignored my warnings and saw my show of mercy as an act of cowardice.” The Eighth Elder said, rallying his disciples and the disciples of the other elders who were on his side while the elders who were against him and their disciples stood watching from afar with looks of disdain present on their faces.
Like most sects there are both good and bad people, both the intelligent and the fools, simply said the Eighth Elder and his followers were mostly comprised of blind fools who were prone to causing problems for others, while those that followed the Tenth Elder were the righteous and peaceful folk who focused most of their attention toward furthering their cultivation.
Soon enough four thousand or so, disciples of the Lunar Sect charged into the woods and headed toward Zhang’s camp with ill intentions. However, things did not go as smoothly for them as one might think for a force consisting of so, many high-level cultivators.
As they soon found out, the forest near the location of Zhang’s camp was filled with hidden traps of all shapes and sizes. Pitfalls, tripwires, and a large variety of other trips littered the forest, much to the inconvenience of some of the disciples of the Lunar Sect who found them in a world of pain. There were also attacks from the Elite Guard who had been hiding in the forest to keep watch over the Lunar Sect’s camp.
“It seems they’ve made the decision for us.” Zhang said as his shadow expanded and the head of a massive serpent began to rise beneath his feet, lifting him into the air.
“Don’t kill too many of them, we do need people to excavate the land.” Yuying said with a smile.
In a flash, Zhang, could be seen unleashing his wrath down from the sky in the form of dozens upon dozens of red colored lightning bolts and the deafening roar of his mount.
“Attack! Kill him!” The Eighth Elder of the Lunar Sect roared as he jumped into the air and atop of his sword which began piercing through the sky. Joining him were a total of eight other level ten cultivators who began unleashing a storm of attacks at Zhang.
“A pest who do not know his own limits, relying on magical treasures.” The Eighth Elder mocked as he thought that Zhang’s current powers were the result of some magical treasure that allowed him to unleash a fury of lightning bolts.
“Who’s the pest?” Zhang said as he released a suffocating aura that caused the very air to quiver, an aura that only a saint could possess.
In the blink of an eye, the elders of the Lunar Sect realized their horrid mistake as they began to recognize the dreadful pressure released by a saint level expert.
“Ma-master… Please spare us. We didn’t know any better.” An elder of the Lunar Sect plead.
In next to no time at all, every single disciple of the Lunar Sect and every single elder stopped moving and either feel to their knees or stood in silence atop their levitating swords.
“Please forgive these fools for their stupidity.” A voice rang into Zhang’s ear as a dozen people atop flying swords shot into the sky from the Lunar Sect’s camp.
The Tenth Elder of the Lunar Sect soon appeared in front of a group of elders that tried to attack Zhang’s camp and began to plead for mercy.
“Very well since I’m feeling lenient today, I’ll spare your lives. However, I require you sign a contract with me, in which you agree to work an entire year’s worth of hard labor for me without pay. Of course, if you do turn down my show of mercy or ask for help then consider your lives all forfeit.” Zhang said with an evil grin as he continued to release a suffocating pressure upon everyone present.
“If that is all you require then we are here to serve.” The Tenth Elder said as he bowed while glaring at the Eighth Elder with hateful eyes.
“Good, if I’m happy with your work then I might even let you all leave early.” Zhang said, marking the beginning of his exploitation of the disciples of the Lunar Sect. Although he probably wouldn't need any more than a few weeks or a month or two’s worth of time to uncover the entrance into the treasure trove, he figured by forcing them into agreeing to slaving away for him for a year and then letting them go after a few months he would be able to at least cancel out some of their negative feelings about him with the sense of gratitude for allowing them to leave ahead of schedule.
As for the people that may come looking for them, Zhang figured he could force them into helping him excavate the land also. Since things had gotten to the point where he would have to otherwise kill them all because not only did they try to attack his people but they also could cause him a string of problems if they were allowed to leave. So, for the time being Zhang decided to keep them all under his watch and perhaps as his hostages if the need to do so, surfaced.
“Alright then let’s get things started.” Zhang said in a merry tune. Thus, by the end of the day, Zhang’s people were relocated to the camp of the Lunar Sect and the excavation project began.
Sadly, the Lunar Sect did not have any disciples who were high level earth mages who would bend the soil and minerals in the ground to their will, so, the excavation would mostly have to be done by hand. But this did not really bother Zhang nor the beauties a slight bit at all because they were simply exploiting free labor. So once the excavation began, low level earth mages moved one large stone after the other, water mages would channel water into holes and create mud that they would then move away through water magic while wind mages lived gravel and stones up into the air as fire mages were forced to do everything by hand.
Chapter 83: Pill of Rebirth
“To think elders of a prestigious sect like us would be stuck here moving gravel…” The Eighth Elder of the Lunar Sect complained as he could be seen carrying a large woven basket while his once pure white robes were stained with dirt and grime.
“Shut up… This is all your fault to begin with. Had you not thoughtlessly offended a saint level master then none of us would be forced to do this. Just play along and finish things so, we can continue our search for the ingredients to concoct the pill of rebirth...” The Tenth Elder said as he
glared at the one who caused the current situation.
“Hey you there! Quit bickering and get back to work.” Ai could be seen yelling from atop a platform with a few disciples of the Lunar Sect fanning her while a few others were holding trays brimming with fruit as Yuying sat not too far from her. Since Ai is already a princess, she was comparable to an empress who was gazing down upon her subjects. But of course, like usual there wasn't much of a serious demeanor surrounding her, instead, she was filled with dorkiness and silliness.
“Damn brat… Thinks she can order me around…” The Eighth Elder mumbled before continuing to carrying earth and gravel out of the massive hole that was dug out of the ground by the thousands of disciples of the Lunar Sect.
Although only a few days had passed, thanks to the hard work of the disciples of the Lunar Sect, a massive amount of soiled had been moved.
“Who did you just call a brat?” Ai’s voice could be heard once more.
“No one, your highness.” The Eighth Elder replied after being startled for half a second.
“Damn how can that brat have such good hearing.” He thought, not daring to speak again due to not wanting to invoke Ai’s wrath which in turn would invoke Zhang’s wrath.
“How is my earring so, good?” Ai’s voice once more echoed down from the platform she was on.
“What the…” The Eighth Elder though with a startled expression on his face before scurrying off and continuing what he was doing before without bothering to complain like he had done moments ago.
In the meantime, both Ai and Yuying burst into laughter as they saw the confused and startled look on the Lunar Sect’s Eighth Elder’s face.
“Sis how did you know what he was thinking?” Ai asked with a curious face as she looked toward Yuying.
“It is obvious that someone who regards themselves as a mighty elder of a great sect would inwardly mock us and complain when forced to do menial tasks like shovel dirt. But did you see the expression he was making?” Yuying chuckled.
So as the students of the Imperial Institute continued their adventures in the vast forest filled with demonic beasts, the disciples of the Lunar Sect continued to work hours on end either carrying out stone and dirt or digging away through the ground underneath them.
But for the most part besides the forced manual labor, Zhang treated them fairly well, giving them a thirty-minute break after every four hours of work and three meals a day. Besides this he also provided the disciples of the Lunar Sect with something most employers did not, motivation.
How did he do this you ask? Simply said every few hours Zhang would unleash his powers as a saint and send a suffocating pressure sweeping throughout the forest. This was to remind the disciples of Lunar Sect to not slack off not get any funny ideas because they were under Zhang’s constant watch and that he could slaughter them all at any waking moment if they disobeyed him.
“It’s time for lunch!” Hundreds of Zhang’s soldiers yelled as countless pots filled with food were carted into the massive crater that had been dug into the ground. Along with the pots were thousands of plates, bowls, pairs of chopsticks and spoons that formed small hills atop the wagons they were being transported in.
As if it had become a routine for them, the proud members of the mighty Lunar Sect stopped what they were doing, dropping shovels, axes, and baskets to form many neat and tidy lines. Before long everyone was given their share of food and water, which they quickly consumed while sitting on the ground resting.
“They are working quicker than I expected.” Zhang said as he gazed downward into the crater with Ling and Lingqi by his side.
“They'll be glad to be allowed to leave in a few days then.” Ling chuckled.
“What did you expect? They're all fairly high level cultivators, I'm amazed that we haven't found the entrance to the cave yet.” Lingqi said with a grin.
“Shouldn't be too long until the side of the of the mountain, that the cave cut into, is revealed. From there it'll take next to no time until the cave is unearthed. Then comes our final problem.” Zhang said.
“Final problem? You mean keep all of those people quiet until we collect our spoils?” Lingqi asked.
“You could either kill them all or let them all leave by the actual entrance into the cave is found.” Ling suggested.
“If we kill them then our enmity with their sect will come irreversible, but if we let them go then they might stir trouble before we can get what we came here for. Since liquid mithril isn't the easiest substance to transport, even with interspatial rings.” Zhang said with a sigh.
“I guess we can just have them go dig somewhere else once the side of the mountain is unearthed and then have our people find the entrance to the cave.” Zhang decided.
Like the past few days, after finishing their meal the disciples and elders of the Lunar Sect began to dig away at the ground once again until the sun faded beneath the horizon and they were allowed to rest for the remainder of the day.
As far as slaves were treated, it could be said that Zhang was only slightly exploiting this group of people and they were by no means being treated like slaves. If the group had to be class then it would be more accurate to call them, volunteers, of course, that's if no one pays attention to the part where they were forced or unwilling coerced into working.
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Across the Lunar Mountains and at the far corner of a city that sprawled over countless miles of land, a palace like a place with the words Lunar Sect hung above of its gates could be seen by hundreds of people who were walking along a busy street.
This palace-like place, of course, is the main headquarters of the Lunar Sect, one of the few places in Lunar City that few people dared to stir trouble at.
Through the awe-inspiring gates of the Lunar Sect’s countless people could be seen, with defined features and dignified presences these people were the students of the Lunar Sect, well the ones who had not been forced into hard labor.
Mixed into these students who were moving around the grounds of the Lunar Sect’s headquarters were dozens of intimidating looking figures, some more intimidating than others, who were all headed toward a large hall that had some distinct looking pillars shaped like crescent moons.
Within this hall at the far end of a long row of chairs were a throne constructed old of some sort of black colored metal that gave off a captivating red colored sheen. As hundreds of people of all shapes and sizes filed into the hall, some with feminine poise and others with heroic demeanor began to one by one fill in the vacant seats that line the center wake way of the hall.
Once the hall was filled with people and was covered in a babble of mixed voices, a young-looking boy who appeared to be no more than fifteen years of age enter with a team of beautiful maidens who followed closely behind him. The instant everyone caught sight of this boy, who looked so, out of place amongst a room filled with people who could only be called cultivation experts in their own right, they all fell to their knees and uttered two words.
“Sect Master Wang Dao!”
Only once the sect master of the Lunar Sect sat atop his metallic throne did he begin to speak.
“All of you rise.” He said in a voice that one could not possibly link to that of a child’s.
“I've called you all here today to discuss the matter regarding some missing disciples and elders. Ni Liu, tell everyone what happened.” Sect Master Wang Dao said in a tone that seemed to lack emotion.
“Roughly ten days ago, we lost contact with a group of elders who were leading a small group of disciples on a training exercise south of the Lunar Mountains. As you all know when an elder is leading students into the outside world he or she is required to report back to the sect headquarters every three days.” A middle-aged man dressed in white robes embroidered with a moon and a star on either side said as he appeared beside Sect Master Wang Dao.
“South of the Lunar Mountains? What were they doing south of the Lunar Mountains? To my k
nowledge, we do not have any training grounds anywhere south of the Lunar Mountains.” A beautiful woman with an ample chest, Snow White hair and velvet pupils who were mixed into the crowd asked.
“Elder Hong Xue, it must be because you were a disciple from a branch sect and have not been an elder for too long that you don't know about the gathering of the ingredients to create the pill of rebirth that happens once every century.” A young man with lightning bolt shaped earrings dangling from his ears said.
“Pill of rebirth?” Elder Hong Xue asked.
“The pill that is presented to our mighty sect master every century to further his longevity so, he could continue to lead us to greatness.” Someone mixed into the crowd said.