Additionally, other villages running away from the plague had also arrived in front of the castle without being invited. They were already looking for a haven when the news of the castle reached them. It was said that whoever got inside the castle would be safe. That nobody had died from the plague while inside the castle.

Most of them just wanted to stay in the castle for a while before Biyakis would investigate the cause of the plague and saved them from it. Their children didn't have the will to sleep one more day in their homes.

Because of all this, Abdin had thousands of people to recruit for free labor.

Inside the castle, Renga followed Abdin from behind with his head bowed. "Commander, this is the list you requested for."

Abdin turned around and accepted the document. After reading it, he said thoughtfully, "We don't have enough accommodations to house all of them. What do you think we should do?"

Upon hearing the question, Sulat who was walking a couple of steps behind came forward and cut in. He felt that if he didn't try harder, his rival would become Abdin's favorite and he would be left behind.

Abdin sighed inwardly. He was amused at how the two captives easily changed and were now trying to win his favor. He kidnapped them four weeks ago, but now they had become his self-anointed advisors.

Abdin associated the changes with two things: first, the rapid progress in their cultivation which they couldn't deny; second, the arrival of Will of San in front of the castle gate. If even a renowned cultivation sect had agreed to work for Abdin for ten years, who were they to refuse him?

"There are too many people from Wuran, your majesty. Allow me to reduce the burden and send some of them home." He was the chief of Wuran so it was only natural for him to deal with his people. At the same time, he was using the opportunity to curry favor with Abdin by making his work easy for him. He didn't know why Abdin was recruiting everyone but there were way too many people and some would have to go back.

Renga sneered. "Your majesty, I will also manage the people from Nanila. I want to apologize for the inconvenience, most of them were not invited by me."

Abdin didn't reply to any of them. He turned around and headed to the gate. "Let's go and see."

Even as they followed him, the two continued to glare at each other but didn't speak.

Before they reached the gates, a young guard approached them. He greeted Abdin and then turned to Renga and said, "My lord, over fifteen thousand people are waiting outside. More are still coming. There are one thousand strong men from Will of San. Seventy percent of them have already stepped into the foundation establishment stage. Even that Tairen is among them."

Toward the end of his speech, he turned to face Abdin. Probably it was the town head that signaled him to do so, or maybe he realized by himself that he was supposed to be explaining what happened to Abdin and not his town head. He was the eldest son of Renga and he was among the people guarding the gates.

Abdin nodded and strode ahead. He had been waiting for Will of San for the past three weeks. He didn't want the castle to expand before the sect arrived, so he stalled for time and gathered everyone around the castle.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

During the last couple of weeks, Tairen and his uncle had represented the sect in discussing their terms with Abdin. In the end, Abdin didn't want any disciple who wouldn't take the pol oath. And he wouldn't give them a single percentage of the castle.

Even he was surprised by their timely arrival, either they had surrendered or they'd come for war. Most sects would choose to fight if they found themselves in a similar circumstance. Whatever they chose to do, Abdin had been ready for them for a long time.

The guard opened the gates. A thousand men from Will of San forced their way through the crowd of people that had been sleeping outside the castle for three weeks.

"That's far enough," Abdin said. A thousand men had approached within one hundred meters of the castle. It wouldn't be wise to allow them any closer without knowing their true intentions.

The fleet stopped. Tairen, who was flying on his veil, alighted and walked to stand before Abdin. He bowed slightly. "Greetings, Commander."

Abdin nodded. "Greetings."

"These are the people we have agreed upon." He turned around and pointed at the soldiers. The leading man came forward and stood before Abdin with an army salute.

So they didn't come to steer trouble. That was good. "I'm happy you are here, but as you can see there are others before you. Go to the back of the line and wait."

Tairen frowned. He glanced at the throngs of poorly dressed villagers that had been looking at them with envy. Since when did a cultivator follow behind the common man?

The young soldier that just greeted Abdin wasn't happy either, he was already moving his hand toward his sword.

Tairen smiled and nodded. He turned around wordlessly and went back to his people. The whole fleet went back to stand behind the villagers. A moment ago, both he and Tairen had seen the young swordsman moving toward his sword, but they didn't comment on it. Although it was clear that both sides would be monitoring the soldier from now onward.

Abdin began assessing the villagers.

This time around, those that were assessed weren't allowed to enter the castle. Instead, they would wait by the side. Therefore, the oath taken wouldn't be rewarded by the castle just yet.

A long time passed before he was done with the villagers and turned to Will of San. He assessed them one by one. Every one of them swore a pol oath with their soul.

After everything was done, Abdin opened the gate and let them in together.

[15,432 invitations are successful. Congratulations, you have received 353 years. Your overall cultivation has risen to 549.]

After they were all inside the castle, he asked the guards to close the gates. He climbed to the top of the walls and asked Tairen, Renga, and Sulat to follow him.

He fired several bolts of lightning toward the surrounding forest. In just five minutes, he had fired a hundred bolts. Each bolt carries the might of five hundred years.

All the trees around the castle turned to ashes. The mountains nearby were leveled. From their position, they could see the outline of the small village called Duna.

Abdin smiled at them. It was an honest smile, but the three men didn't feel like that at all. It was more like the smile of a tiger before prey.

"We don't want the enemy to hide around us," Abdin explained.

Then without explaining any further, he turned around and headed into the castle. The voice of the castle could come at any time. Once the expansion happened, the hidden army belonging to Silver Mask would appear. The current inhabitants of the castle would then have to come together to fight their common enemy.

For now, let them just fear him. He would slowly turn fear into obedience.

In the evening, Abdin called for a meeting in his home. The four people in attendance were Renga, Sulat, Cemu, and Tairen.

Cemu wasn't a cultivator so he had his head bowed as the others turned hostile toward each other. He was the chief of a small village between Duna and Nanila. He was called to represent the ordinary people in the castle. The chair should have belonged to the chief representing Duna as the largest village in the area, but Abdin still remembered how they treated him in the past, so they were excluded.

Abdin couldn't help smiling as he looked at the four people in front of him. Building his kingdom had always been at the forefront of his goals. This meeting should have happened ages ago, alas, Laluri and co interfered with everything.