Before we could unlock the second ring under Dragon Gate, we needed a Peak Rank 4 fire body cultivator. Even with a cultivation technique in place and ample karmic energy being generated by our guilds and cities, this still took time.
But that was fine. We had plenty of other tasks that needed to get done in the meantime, such as populating the cities around Rosehill. Even with the council offering various incentives to get people to immigrate from the independent cities west of the Wastes, this was taking time.
I wanted to advance to Martial King, and the Martial Kings in my inner world wanted a chance to get out and stretch their legs, but we all understood the dangers of rushing.
Eventually, though, Peak Rank 4 body cultivators began to make their appearance, and we were ready to take the next step forward.
As Emperor Li had predicted, even though Lords could now enter our territory through our western border, none did. No armies appeared on the horizon, and none of the known spies within our cities advanced to Martial Lord. So, once everything was in place, we pushed forward and sent a team of metal cultivators to break the outer ring of the formation beneath Mount Jiang.
As we had known both the location and status of this formation for over a decade, we knew exactly what needed to be done to break it. Less than a day after the order was given, the task was complete.
After that, a team of formation specialists rushed in to shore up our defenses while the rest of us turned our sights toward the sects.
SuYin was stationed in the Verdant Fields Sect, and Cao MeiLan was in the Twin Mountains Sect. They had both advanced to Peak Grandmaster and become elders in their respective sects, but neither had been able to infiltrate their sect’s core leadership team. So, I called them back to Dragon Gate, gave them an infusion of karmic energy, and provided them with a manual for cultivating the Core of Fellowship.
Then, while Cao and SuYin studied this technique, I handed my System-purchased identity jades to a couple of Formation Grandmasters and sent them to find the main node of the sects’ Mountain-Protecting Formations.
These were Rank 4 formations, and I had only been able to send Grandmasters to study them, so I hadn’t expected them to be able to do too much. This was only intended as a preliminary investigation. At best, I was hoping that they would be able to produce a few extra identity tokens.
However, with only a glance, these Grandmasters were able to identify severe flaws in both formations. Without even needing my help, they were able to craft keys capable of permanently shutting down the defenses of both sects.
At first, this seemed strange. Why would the Mountain-Protecting Formations have such major flaws in them? But then, I remembered what had happened back when I was a Grandmaster in the Twin Mountains Sect. These flaws were intentional. They were there so that the parent sects could disable the formations whenever they chose. Unfortunately for them, it also allowed us to develop that same ability.
A couple of months later, SuYin and Cao advanced to Martial Lord.
After sending warnings to our people embedded in the sects, we simultaneously dispatched a team of body cultivators to both the Twin Mountains and the Verdant Fields. As both sects had already moved their fire seeds, the formation caverns beneath them held little danger. So, less than a day later, the restrictions stopping Lords from entering the sects’ territories dropped.
I worried that the formation might make things difficult for the man, but he grabbed the fire seed and stuffed it into the jade box without issue. Then, after closing the box securely, TongBin landed deftly on the other side of the cavern.
With the fire seed gone, the earth essence gathered by the formation was pouring upward toward the surface without interference. So, I reached into my inner world and pulled out a 5-meter-thick, 20-meter-wide slab of olivine.
I looked at the earth cultivator. “We need to attach this to the cavern’s ceiling so that it completely covers the formation. Since the formation will stop you from using your qi, you won’t be able to bond it in the center, so just focus on attaching the edges to the ceiling as firmly as possible.”
As a Martial Lord, moving such a large block of olivine shouldn’t have been too difficult for the man, but restrictions imposed by the cavern’s formation posed unique challenges. Also, as neither he nor I were body cultivators, we both had to be exceedingly cautious of the concentrated miasma that still lingered in the cavern.
Still, with a little assistance from TongBin, we were able to get the stone into position, and the earth cultivator melded it into the ceiling. From then on, all the essence pouring out of the formation would be stored in that slab of olivine. We would just need to come down and harvest it before it overflowed.
With this task complete, I nodded to TongBin. “Do it.”
He gave me a short bow and then raced to the edge of the formation.
After finding the five white gems embedded around its perimeter, he shattered each of them with only a single punch. This time, with his karma-infused muscles, he hadn’t even needed to corrupt them with fire wu.
When the last gem shattered, the cavern shook as a violent earthquake rocked the Wastes. We didn’t run, though. Our earth cultivator could protect us if the cavern collapsed, and I wanted to make sure that the quake didn’t damage the newly placed olivine slab.
A few minutes later, the shaking settled down, and I smiled at my companions. “Good job.”
With the second ring of the formation destroyed, Dragon Gate City became the center of the new Dragon Gate Kingdom. While the actual square footage of this kingdom was somewhat limited, we had been able to cram enough people inside of it to generate King-level karmic energy.
Before worrying about anything else, I first took teams to each of the formation caverns, removed the fire seeds, and attached minerals to the ceilings to capture all the gathered essence.
Because of this, neither the hole at the center of the Verdant Fields Sect nor the underground pools in the Twin Mountains Sect could be used to raise people’s affinities. From here on, the sects were completely under our control. Those who contributed to our clan’s growth would be given opportunities to raise their affinities. Those who didn’t would find their path cut short.
With this settled, I returned to a life of seclusion and study as the clan around me expanded at a rapid rate.
ShouLi’s priorities shifted to focusing on unlocking the secrets of Rank 5 body cultivation, and her lieutenants stepped forward to take control of our fledgling empire. Their main goal was to grow our population as quickly as possible. Without enough people to generate King-level karmic energy, there was no reason to unlock more of the Wastes’ formations.
At first, this was looking like it might take an interminable amount of time, but before long, the clan’s leadership stumbled upon a solution: the sects.
Asking people in one city to leave their homes and travel hundreds of kilometers just to live in a different city was a difficult proposition. Even when offered generous compensation, few people were willing to agree. After all, pies didn’t fall from the sky. If someone was willing to promise lavish rewards, there had to be a catch.
Sects, however, were different. Everyone knew that sects recruited and trained skilled disciples. So, when recruiters from the Twin Mountains Sect showed up, showcased their abilities, and stated that they were only willing to accept the ten most talented individuals from a town or city, people fought each other for the chance to join.
At first, we only sent recruiters to the independent cities west of the Wastes. However, when the strategy proved successful, we began sending recruiters to towns and villages across the entirety of the western half of the continent.
Most towns welcomed our recruiters. Usually, children from wealthy mortal families with low affinities and poor aptitudes could only dream of joining a sect. We were making that dream a reality. While most of these children might never return home, these families were still willing to send their children away in the hope that they would one day come back as talented alchemists.
However, while many were excited by the opportunities we offered, some forces were not exactly thrilled by stealing away their population base, so disputes would sometimes arise. The most vicious of these disputes was between the recruiters of the Twin Mountains Sect and the members of the Guild of Alchemists.
As a new power that had recently risen up in the southern empires, the Guild of Alchemists was fiercely protective of its reputation as the premier organization for the learning and study of alchemy. So, when an unknown sect popped up and started recruiting disciples out from under it, the guild was none too pleased.
This started a long-running feud, with members of both groups constantly challenging the other side to alchemy duels. However, instead of one side or the other being suppressed, this feud only helped the reputations of both groups grow. After only a few years, everyone in the southern empires was familiar with both the sect and the guild.
With the Twin Mountains Sect’s accomplishments as a guide, the Verdant Fields Sect also expanded its recruitment efforts. This, in turn, caused the Guild of Alchemists to assist in the creation of a Guild of Herbalists.
A few years later, the leadership council chose to transform the cities around Rosehill and Mount Jiang into the Rosehill Sect and the Mount Jiang Sect. The Mount Jiang Sect would focus on beast taming, and the Rosehill Sect would focus on refining.
As a sect focused on refining was anathema to nearly every empire on the continent, the creation of the Rosehill Sect stirred up a great deal of controversy, and its recruiters were unable to leave the Wastes without being killed or captured. When this didn’t make us back down, the continent’s various empires began targeting the recruiters from our other sects as well.
However, while this severely curtailed our active recruitment efforts, the notoriety of our sects continued to spread. Metal cultivators from around the continent traveled to the Wastes to study their craft in peace, and this, in turn, caused cultivators of the other elements to join them.
Eventually, the leadership council set up three more sects in the northwest, northeast, and southeast of the Wastes. These were focused on illusions, talismans, and formations. Their Sect Masters were my Revered Elders: Meng LuYao, Murong NaYun, and Shi YuLong.
This gave us a total of eight kingdoms slowly growing within the confines of the Wastes.