Ten days.

It turned out, we barely had ten days before Kartpa Valley could send a formation expert to the Kingdom of Zaim.

"They are asking you to return, Madam," I said to Aisnam, acting like I received a message rather than spying on the conversation of the two Kartpa Valley disciples. "Apparently, the formation expert to repair the gate is on the way."

"So soon," she muttered, looking tense.

I understood her concerns. She was about to fight against a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Fighting against someone of a higher major realm was not only a major challenge but stuff of legends. "Don't worry, I trust you," I said. "Your cousin will be underestimating you. You just need to goad him to deal you in melee. Once he does, he's finished. And, we don't know when he's going to arrive, so you might have a day or two to practice still. Focus on your tactics rather than improving your techniques further."

"You're right," she said.

"Don't worry, even if that fails, they won't let you die. Look at this place," I said as I waved my hand. "I don't know who our mysterious benefactors are, but it's clear that they are stronger than a minor sect. They still need you, meaning they won't let you lose."

She nodded. "I hope so," she said stoically, but not looking too convinced. I understood her lack of trust. From her perspective, a mysterious benefactor with equally mysterious objectives was hard to trust. She was afraid that she would outlive her usefulness at one point and be discarded.

Luckily for her, that was not the case. She was important to me, and not just because of all the benefits I was able to get from the System with her unwitting help.

Not that I was underselling the benefits. Ten days was not a particularly long time, but my setup, along with her assistance, allowed me to improve to an unbelievable degree.

The biggest improvement had been in the eight arts of combat, namely, sword, saber, spear, staff, bow, fist, palm, and kick. The palm techniques had shown the greatest improvement, with all of them reaching Major Integration — the highest I could reach without that weird gate thing — and the sword techniques were just a step behind them, ranging from mere Perfection to Minor Integration.

The sword control technique was in Major Immersion, but that, I received from my prisoner.

The other six weapon arts had smaller improvements, with no new technique passing Perfection. Of course, while it was below my standards due to my cheating nature, I had no doubt that, if I dared to say that to any other cultivator, they would have killed me out of jealousy. Others worked for years just to bring a technique to Perfection.

While my combat techniques had seen the biggest improvement, they hadn't been the most important ones. No, that honor went to my two expertise. Talisman crafting, and formations. Thanks to her talent in those two topics, she was able to make good progress in both techniques. And, once I replicated the methods I used for Sword techniques — inspiration from learning glow, calligraphy that embodied the concept of the art, and carefully hidden guidance — she made great progress in both.

And, her great progress meant even greater improvement for me. And, just like in weapon techniques, multiple different techniques addressed the weaknesses of each other, making my skill even stronger.

I even received two rewards I didn't dare to activate after what happened to Pearyin.

[145x Return - Nabata Formation Technique Lesson - Major Immersion, Dao Entry]

[145x Return - Verdant Talisman Crafting Technique Lesson - Major Immersion, Dao Gate Beginner]

Still, it was nice to have a name for the next stage. It was my first clue of what happened to her, and could prove invaluable once I dealt with the current crisis, and start exploring what happened.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

I wished that I could replicate the same with Forging and Alchemy. Unfortunately, without a basis, it would have taken months for Aisnam to even develop a beginner understanding.

We didn't have months.

The last benefit I received was the gate construction techniques. I managed to convince her to study the other techniques in a last-ditch effort to strengthen her cultivation. It didn't help her directly, but it helped me immensely. By mixing several gate techniques, I was able to reinforce my three gates to an absurd degree. I had no doubt that, even without cheating, I could rival Aisnam in raw power.

Too bad I lacked the ability to modify her gates directly. My medical knowledge was limited to martial arts.

"Are you going to come with me," she asked.

"No. I think they'll arrange another transport for me," I replied. "But I don't think it'll take more than a day." I kissed her. "Don't worry, I'll be there to celebrate your victory."

"You better be," she said before she stepped on the flying boat, and waved for once before the shield around the boat darkened, hiding the environment from her. I changed my disguise before joining her as some kind of silent warrior, and brought her back to the capital.

I hid the view from her as we traveled. Important, as the last thing I needed for her to realize the sacred land she had been practicing was in Markas. It would complicate things needlessly.

Once she went back to the capital through the tunnel, I packed the boat and went into the capital.

I needed to take down and modify the formation to a serious degree. I had no idea just how strong the formation expert visiting would be, but I couldn't afford him to realize the existence of my grand formation. I had already made some changes to the formation thanks to the improvements I had, burying it deeper into the landscape, nearly invisible.

However, it was easier to hide the formation that was on the outside, mostly because no one was looking for it. The same didn't apply to the formation at the capital, which was centered around the Spring Palace.

And, it was harder to hide something like that when there was an expert who would be significantly stronger than me as far as raw power was concerned. Particularly since what I feared happened and they sent a Golden Core cultivator.

I should have done it earlier, but most of my free time had been split between studying with Aisnam, and further developing the fake mystic land, both time-consuming activities.

With that in mind, I started working on the formation around the capital… But, as I worked on it, I started to use the connected formation to keep an eye on things. Markas was my focus as usual, but with its army out, fighting the other rebels, there wasn't much to pay

However, the said army had been moving faster than I expected, showing that Kartpa Valley wasn't the only one that was using a flying ship to deploy troops. And, with that deployment, the battles between the cities happened more and more frequently.

Cultivators stuck to their rules and didn't interfere with the fights, but only because every notable fight had multiple Foundation Establishment cultivators recording. It seemed that every sect was doing its best to catch the others violating the rules, making the ongoing war an even weirder journey.

I had been too busy to directly interfere with the battles of the Markas army. Luckily, it seemed that Entsa Pavilion chose to supply them with a lot of pills, because despite fighting constantly, the number of Connate Realm martial artists was increasing rather than decreasing.

I still visited Markas twice times during the ten-day period just in case, and secretly raised another squad of Connate Realm martial artists for Crane School, ready to defend the city in case someone decided to attack city.

With both the spirit vein and the Dao Field — which I decided to name the weird gate effect based on the System naming the skill level Dao Gate — in Markas, I was even more incentivized to keep everything in order.

A similar hidden army was in the capital, already numbering five hundred Connate Realm martial artists, ready to deal with any nasty surprises. Not that it seemed to be necessary. The loyalists were already making great progress dealing with Tiger Fist army and the rebellion, city after city accepting Aisnam's rule.

Though, I couldn't help but wonder how much of it was just about Kartpa Valley's confidence in the upcoming fight. Once Aisnam lost the duel, the other branch of the Verdant Family would have an easy time taking back the capital.

"It's probably why Markas is receiving such support," I decided. Since it was Markas army, led by Falnaher and Marana, that captured rebelling cities rather than the royal army, it would give Entsa Pavilion the ability to launch their own rebellion. No wonder they were supporting the army with so many pills.

"Too bad it's wasted effort," I said as I continued to modify the defenses of the capital, removing the surface defenses completely, and replacing them with hundreds of formations buried deep in the ground, ready to be activated by just a thought. It included everything I had developed.

The traps were ready. Nothing would happen to Aisnam.

Not even if a Golden Core cultivator decided to intervene.