When Curo reappeared, he was inside a luxuriously furnished small room. However, he wasn’t alone in there. Besides him, there were three other people: His Master, the Nascent Soul Elder from the Branch and middle aged man. This man didn’t have any distinct features, he only had a slightly robust body, short brown hair with greying temples and a slightly tanned skin.
He looked like any other mortal man. However, that same seemingly mortal man was the person Curo was most vigilant towards in this room. When Curo arrived, he gave a small bow towards the man and said, “Disciple greets Lord Founding Ancestor.” Hearing this, the man nodded slightly as he sat at the highest seat of honour in the room.
The man then said, “We are all friends here little one. You are my Brothers smallest Disciple and this lady is my youngest Disciple. No need for superficial ceremonies in this room.” Curo then nodded his head as he bowed a little and sat down at the small table. Seeing Curo sit down, the man nodded before he started talking, “I guess you have already discovered it but a hundred kilo meters beneath this City lies The Seven Devils Sect’s Vault.”
Curo nodded his head. The man then continued, “This is no ordinary Vault but rather one of the 9 Minor World Great Vaults.” Hearing this Curo’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked towards the man. The man then elaborated, “We have traced the Seven Devils Sect’s roots back to an Upper Worlds Devilish Dao sect The Nine Demons Sect. Since the chaos they have caused over the years has bled us neutral Sects a lot, we decided on an alliance.” As the middle aged man stopped, Curo lowered his head and fell into thought. The next thing the middle aged man said made Curo sigh heavily.
He said, “Each of the nine Sects in the alliance secures and locks down one of the Minor World Great Vault. Our Sects Vault is under here and you have been chosen as the Warden for this Vault.” Hearing this Curo sighed heavily and asked with a heavy voice, “You guys honestly don’t expect me to hold down this City with only me and a few other Disciples when the Seven Devils Sect comes knocking at full force?”
This startled the three of them as the middle aged man glanced at Curo’s Master. The Master gave a wry smile as he asked, “What is it that you are trying to say little one?” Curo sighed more heavily as he said, “I have been travelling the Worlds for 9000 years constantly bickering and massacring one another’s forces with this Seven Devils Sect. Once they discover all of the Great Vaults have been locked down, they will turn to this one because it will have the lowest defence.” As he stated so matter of factly, the middle aged man smiled mysteriously as he said, “But this place will be the last one they will try to take over Demonic Death God.”
Hearing this name, Curo’s eyes turned cold as he looked at the man on the main seat. The man continued, “Even though you are currently in Foundation Establishment, I do not believe that you would not be able to hold your own even if a Mortal Saint arrived here.” Hearing this, the Nascent Soul Elder from the Branch Sect was flabbergasted. Curo glared at the man a bit before sighing and saying, “It seems like you have truly done your research…. I am not going to hide it then, I truly do have the means to hold my ground here even if they gathered every Foundation Establishment and up Disciple or Elder. However, the consequences would also not be something trivial. At best, I would cut off my path of Cultivation, at worst, I would lose my cultivation and fall captive.” As Curo said that, the man on the main seat was a bit surprised.
Before he could ask, Curo clarified, “I have been an enormous headache for these guys for the past eight and a half thousand years, do you honestly think that if I fell into their captivity that I would have a comfortable life?” As he asked that, with a tinge of mockery, the three in the hall couldn’t help but glance at each other. Although the Nascent Soul Elder had no idea of Curo’s feats across the worlds, the other two were extremely familiar as they had seen them all with their own two eyes. What Curo said was true, if he was to fall into captivity, then every known and unknown torture method would be used on him to get back at him for all the problems he had caused them over the thousands of years.
The man then turned serious as he asked, “What do you need to securely hold your ground here?” Curo shook his head lightly as he said, “Since I know you wish to relocate the Branch Sect here to another place and pull back all the forces stationed on the Continent, I only want to turn this Fortress into an extension of the Branch Sect and into an independent force.” Hearing this, the Nascent Soul Elders’ face changed as she could help but cry out, “But then what would happen once the Sect is attacked?” She had been hoping for Curo to stay as a deterrent for the other Sects when she left.
Curo turned to her and stated, “If they are attacked, I will do everything in my power to go to their rescue. However, since I will be permanently stationed here until I have no other choice but to ascend to Sainthood, I need to make sure that the Vault is locked down. Also, I need to make sure to grow a strong force to protect the Vault after I Ascend.” Curo then said, “If I have to deal with the inner squabbles and infighting of a Sect, it is something very hard to achieve.”
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Hearing this, the middle aged man and Curo’s Master didn’t even change expressions as they had already thought it through and they had already expected this. Ever since his Master had first passed the Nine Rebirths Art to him, the two had kept a close eye on him. Every trial, every fight, every celebration…. They had witnessed them all and due to that, they had a very accurate estimation on his true strength and also on his character.
The main reason his Master hadn’t hauled his ass to the Main Sect to cultivate diligently under his protection and care was due to Curo’s unique character. He relied on his own strength, not the backing of someone else. He had never used anyone else’s name as a deterrent. Neither had he waited for the things he owned to fall onto his lap, he had fought tooth and nail for every single thing. Over the years, the two had guarded him from the shadows but the amount of times they truly had to interfere could be counted on one hand.
They had high hopes for Curo in the future to become one of the pillars that broke through the Shackles of Saints and ascend to Godhood. For this reason, although they doted on him, they didn’t raise him to be paper tiger. “The Cultivation Art he created along with all the Battle Arts…. They complement one another without leaving a single weak spot however, due to that, it is dozens of times harder to cultivate than a Heaven Grade Art….”
As the middle aged man thought that to himself, he looked at Curo with praise and pride in his eyes. Although their Sect wasn’t the strongest in the Realm, they were in the top three. No matter how strong you are, there is always a sky beyond a sky. Although they were ranked as one of the top three forces amongst the ones in this Realm, the vast Cosmos held countless other Realms bigger and smaller than theirs. Amongst those Realms they were mediocre at best. The Nascent Soul elder then sighed heavily as she thought over Curo’s words.
He wasn’t wrong, the inner fighting and squabbles were no laughing matter. Also, Curo has a very important mission to guard the Great Vault. She could find no fault in Curo for not wanting to also have to deal with all the Sect troubles and problems in addition to all the other problems he is sure to face. Although she had no idea how strong Curo truly is, for the two Founding Ancestors of the Main Sect to praise him for his strength, it should not be any laughing matter.
With a heavy heart she sighed and stayed quiet. The middle aged man internally sighed a bit as well seeing this as he understood what his new Disciple was going through. Trying to reroute the topic he asked Curo, “What are your plans from now on?” Curo crossed his hands on his chest as he lowered his head in thought. After a few moments of silence he started explaining, “For now, reorganize the City. Since I am going to go as an independent force, I need to give them all an option of going to the Sect if they want. Those that don’t and want to stay, I need to start grooming them.”
He then took a breath before continuing, “I also need to slowly start expanding my area of influence and upgrade my own strength.” Hearing this, the middle aged man nodded his head and asked, “You need any resources or any help?”
Curo thought for a moment before saying, “No, I don’t need it. I have more than enough resources on my own to turn this City into a Top Grade Independent City.” With this, no one asked any more questions. They talked a bit about the move of the Sect and how it was going to affect the continents balance. After talking for nearly half a day, the three people left.
Curo then released the information regarding Fengdu becoming an Independent City. Although he didn’t mention the true reason behind it, he was surprised that very few people put in a transfer request in the following month. Only approximately a hundred people wanted to go the Sect while the rest stayed. When Curo thought that most of the people had been born, raised and bled for generations here, he didn’t find it all that odd. To them, it didn’t matter who exactly was at the helm of the City, was it a Sect or someone else, as long as their home was here, this was where they stayed.
After that month, great changes happened on the Continent that turned it upside down. The Drifting Wanderers Sect had moved their Sect to the Endless Heavenly Seas and withdrawn all of their Disciples from the Continent. All that remained was the City of Fengdu but that City had become an independent force. Several of the Nascent Soul Elders wanted to go and make Fengdu submit to them now to appease their anger a bit but they could do nothing but leave even angrier than when they arrived at the City.
The person in charge of the City didn’t give them any face at all and even worse, he directly activated the Guarding Formation of the City to beat the crap out of them. Every one of them managed to escape with only a hairs length from death. Great fear rose in their hearts when they were beaten back but they no longer had the luxury of hatching more plans but they had to come together to deal with the other places that the Aboriginals had taken over now that the Drifting Wanderers Sect had abandoned their outposts and fortresses.
Great changes turned the previously peaceful continent upside down and blood flowed like rivers as the Sects that previously sat back now had to get off their asses and start to pull their own weight in defending their positions on the Continent.