The lab was finished. The fusion generator was built. Automated manufacturing was almost complete. A vat of nanobots had begun multiplying. A local network of computers had been assembled. Sensors had been set up and monitors built. There was one autofactory operating and several more were being completed.
There was also a small war going on around the mountain.
Ben felt right at home. Assistants ran around the crowded workspaces desperate to produce the complex equipment being used just outside. Air canisters, rounds for air rifles and railguns, electric stones for railguns and new weapons poured out to desperate hands.
Ben ran from project to project. Here reinforcing a electrical connection on the fusion reactor, saying a quick word to Huoyun, there improving the mountain wide formation by adding another connection it to the main electrical conduit. Then he would run over to his 3D printer and take the motor there to install in the next piece of machinery. The laser bank finally grew large enough to be used for base defense and the emitters needed to be installed.
The whole mountain had become a bunker under fire while streams of elite troops poured out of it. Ben remained inside creating ever more powerful weaponry and defenses.
Automatic manufacturing made the small pieces that blacksmiths cleaned up and assembled into weapons. Alchemists attended to banks of flasks that mass produced explosives, air canisters and healing salves that were handed out freely to the defending disciples. 3d printers spat out ammunition for the guns at a rapid fire rate.
Ben had never been happier since leaving Earth. To see his products being used in such a frenzied manner made him feel like a factory owner whose goods were in the highest of demands. There was purpose in his actions and a deadline to fill. He was like a fish in water or a conductor to a deadly orchestra. His laughter and delighted screams could be heard across the battlefield and made both sides uneasy as such exclamations were usually followed by ever more destructive bursts.
This was the moment Ben had been waiting for. He had finally reached the same manufacturing capability he had back on Earth, no mean feat by itself, and there was also the havok and confusion of a confrontation between sects going on just outside. There was no one watching carefully over his shoulder or telling him he was doing something wrong. He had infinite issues to deal with and a war to fight.
The plasma cannon was almost finished. The laser banks were growing in number. A large swarm of nanobots was ready. Drones were prepared and loaded with munitions. Formations were built into everything and all his systems could he controlled directly by his A.I. chip.
Ben left his automated systems running and decided to make his appearance outside.
---
12 hours earlier.
Things were looking bad for the two defending sects. Four of the strongest six powers of the Setting Lands continent had gathered along with dozens of other sects to act against Saint Devil Sect. Millions of disciples and thousands of elders had come together to fight in a noble cause. The danger of a devil sect acquiring a new terrible weapon was something that set hearts ablaze and roused tempers. Not only did the task raise their bloodlust and greed, they felt righteous as they were riled up.
True Dragon Sect had rallied around its leader, Grandmaster Sen Gan. Incense Valley had come with their crowds of female alchemists, all directed by Master Alchemist Erica. Splitting Sky Sect had come down from Sword Mountain Ridge with their Grandmaster, Yuan Ping. Flaming Hammer Sect had come out of their caverns behind Master Smith Yugami. The only sect that was absent was Myriad Shoals Sect and their Grandmaster, Formation Master Lin Kuro.
Three of the four grandmasters were Heavenly Connection cultivators. There were dozens of practitioners of the Nascent Soul realm and hundreds at the Foundation Establishment realm. The force gathered here had not seen its equal in centuries.
Grandmasters Sen Gan, Erica, Yuan Ping, and Yugami were directing a summit of the hundred sects. What tactics to use, what sect was assigned to what task, how spoils would be allotted and other mundane matters were decided on.
“Is it really so dangerous, Brother Sen Gan?” The tall shapely form of Master Alchemist Erica asked.
“My Elder assures me that the weapon posed a significant threat. We need to capture the man who created it or he will distribute those terrible weapons to every band of bandits and murderer he comes across.” Sen Gan warned.
A tall man with broad shoulders and the sturdy attributes of a bear was the next to speak.
“I will see if that weapon can be used for peace. It’s a pity that the craftsman who made it has allied with the devils path. The Flaming Hammer Sect would welcome any such prodigy.” Grandmaster Yugami noted.
The remaining Grandmaster spoke up at this point. He wore unadorned blue robes, a simple looking longsword hung at his waist.
“There’s also the matter of the Sacred Ground. Our spies tell us that there are three spirits there. One is a flame of unknown origin, they are doing things to it that we can’t identify. The second is a sword, it’s aura was unmistakable. We have no clue regarding the third spirit. We know that any treasure must be at least a Heaven grade treasure before it can be called a spirit.” Yuan Ping, Grandmaster of Splitting Sky Sect spoke.
Three heavenly grade spirits! Sen Gan clenched his fist, such treasures could be counted on one hand on the Setting Lands continent. If only Elder Quan hadn't failed against a mid tier sect like Plague Devil Sect, there wouldn't have been anyone there to hinder his sects acquisition of the three spirit treasures.
“Our spies are also reporting on other major movements of the pair of sects. It's members are selling anything that can't be hauled off and disappearing. The lowest outer court disciples are scattering and retreating into hiding. The other disciples and elders are giving up territory and retreating into either the Sacred Ground of Saint Devil Sect or the new Sacred Ground.” Grandmaster Sen Gan spoke.
“We have three possible targets. The land itself or one of the two Sacred Grounds. Disciples will be given the tasks of freeing slaves and looting abandoned strongholds. A handful of elders will lay siege to the main palace of Saint Devil Sect and the larger force will assault the new Sacred Ground.”
“Our disciples have moved into the area and begun operations. Normally we would fight a series of skirmishes as they retreated back to their Sacred Ground, but there was a notable absence of resistance. We have a clear path to our main target.”
“Gather your followers. It’s best that we leave as soon as possible.” Grandmaster Erica agreed.
A spirit vessel appeared, it was larger and more grand than the one Elder Quan had used.
There were two familiar figures there among the masses. Jin Chao and Bai Lin were there looking up at the ship in the sky.
“I don’t feel good about this, Brother Chao. I feel like the same thing’s gonna happen.” Bai Lin warned.
“Really, Sister Lin? Look at all these sects. There are hundreds of people of the Foundation Establishment realm and higher flying in the skies right now.” Jin Chao felt right at home.
“Remember having Elder Quan? We felt sure that he would be our trump card.” She worried.
“You know just one of the grandmasters could defeat hundreds of experts as strong as Elder Quan? We have nothing to worry about. There are millions of cultivators at the same level as us, even if we lose, we can get lost in the retreat.” Jin Chao wasn’t worried at all.
The millions of cultivators were able to board the floating fortress in only fifteen minutes. Space bent inside the ship, allowing for whole dormitories to take the place of a broom closet. There were issues with sharing the common areas between sects, but private rooms were more than abundant.
The sects were quickly aboard and the vessel took off over the occupied territory of Saint Devil Sect. The journey to the new Sacred Ground only took a matter of hours.
There in front of the mountain several verbal confrontations took place. Grandmaster Zhouqi demonstrated his new cultivation realm and used the advanced railgun, he proved that a battle between the elites would only lead to a pyrrhic victory.
The Elders held their own against scores of enemies thanks to the mass produced railguns they held. The real difference in battle was due to the lowest disciples and their use of the airguns.
The airguns could be mass produced by the skilled blacksmiths working in tandem with machining tools. These guns were given to the weakest disciples and when used together could threaten even a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Volleys of shots would be fired from the many warriors with low cultivation as they stood behind their elders.
It was clear to the invading sects that there were many new and extremely dangerous weapons that had been made in a short time. This news was both good and bad. There was a new weaponsmith that could be a godsend to all the righteous sects, but he had fallen in with their enemies.
Jin Chao and Bai Lin got their first taste of the new weaponry in a traumatic fashion.
Their squad had been assigned to the west side of the mountain. They were in the middle of a wave of thousands cresting one of the many foothills in the area. There was a notable lack of corpses belonging to either Saint Devil Sect or Plague Devil Sect, Bai Lin found this more than a little disturbing.
They crested the hill and beheld a scene of horror. Corpses littered the ground before them, none of them wearing the black robes of the devil sects. They laid across each other in macabre parodies of mounds of earth that terrified cultivators hid behind. A scene of chaos played out before them where groups of disciples and elders would charge forward with evasion or defensive skills. Random members of these groups would jerk and fall, injured or dead, to join those on the ground until the group fell apart.
If someone had good eyesight they would be able to see the firing lines stationed further up the mountain. If they had very good sight they would be able to see the absolute field of mournful death the rounds left behind.
There was no chance for the genius to show off his skill here, a single hero would rise up and lead a charge forward, only to be cut down seconds later. There was no chance for the elder to run to the aid of their disciple, a older man would try to shield his only charge from the indiscriminate attacks, only to see her gunned down mercilessly. There was no chance to protect your brother, entire generations of families died under the onslaught. The bullet dealt death on a equal front. This war was not righteous or good. It didn’t temper one’s cultivation or allow for honor.
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What followed was a desperate bloodbath. Waves of disciples poured into killing grounds in a one sided massacre that had not been seen before. Never had there been such one sided slaughter.
Jin Chao and Bai Lin found shelter in a cold ditch and held each other. Bai Lin was wailing into Jin Chaos shoulder. One of his arms dangled uselessly from the socket and the other held on firmly to Bai Lin. They both were shattered mentally, it was clear that they would never willingly fight again. Any thought of peeking over the rise or turning around and running was impossible to entertain.
A curious scene also took place from time to time on the battlefield. A small white horned rabbit would occasionally be seen hopping from corpse to corpse, munching on various body parts. Sometimes the rabbit would gnaw on a ring or interspatial bag until the item broke open and spilled it’s contents over the battlefield for the rabbit to rummage through.
On the other side of the field a curious change was coming over the forces of Saint Devil Sect. Offensive skills were used only sparingly, disciples decided to preserve their Qi for defensive techniques and use their new airguns for attack. It didn’t make sense to waste Qi when you can just change the clip and air canister.
The disciples worked together to set up fields of fire and volleys against stronger targets. They used their rifles to cover one another from surprise attacks while keeping up a constant flow of fire on their enemies. Special runners shuttled munitions, new arms and potions from the depths of the production area out to the front line.
They started the battle with one variation of gun. It was a single shot rifle model. This looked similar to the mass produced soviet mosin nagant. It had a high power but low reloading speed. There was also the air cannon that fired large powerful sabot rounds, the shotgun that fired sprays of metal and the SMG that made their debut as the battle progressed.
Tactics emerged and changed as the battle wore on. There was a shift from the traditional slugfest usually seen to using airguns from cover. Cultivators who used support and defensive skills were much more suited to this kind of combat.
The four Grandmasters saw how the fight was going and threw everything they had at Grandmaster Zhouqi and his elders. This worked at first and they began killing off elders and pushing defenders back. Just as they reached a point where it seemed resistance would break, a new weapon would show its effects or the mountain wide formation would improve a grade. More trump cards would be revealed and the two sides would come to a stalemate once again.
The turning of the tide came when black glass globes similar to modern security cameras popped out of the ground. These began spraying out low powered lasers. There were hundreds of beams that swept over the faces of everyone with a line of sight to the mountain. Half of the time nothing would happen due to the cultivation of the target but for the other half it was a blinding or deadly blow.
The lasers passed over the crowds in a grid pattern. Disciples screamed as their eyes were permanently blinded and faces burnt beyond recognition. It only took a single breath for the attack to finish, leaving half the whole army incapacitated. This was the effect of a bank of thousands of lasers all being routed through the mountain to emitters placed in strategic locations. The lasers were left separate so their individual power was minimal.
Next the lasers started combining and grew in power. The shots were more infrequent but killed elder after elder with their concentrated photons.
The battle was coming to a close when Ben himself popped out of a tunnel with a large barrel in his hands. He hurried over to a open space where a formation glowed brightly. There he fiddled with the cannon while attacks rained down upon him.
The formation lit up and held together with a bright light. Ben pulled wiring up from the ground and brought out the base of the gun. He busied himself with building the cannon in the sight of everyone there.
It only took a few seconds and the plasma cannon was ready. Ben turned to gaze upon the four bedraggled grandmasters.
“Just give up. You’ll learn I treat my subordinates quite well.” Ben laughed at the crowd of bedraggled cultivators that had come to take him hostage.
Grandmaster Sen Gan gritted his teeth and brought out a curious looking tablet that he crushed between finger and thumb. A beam of light shot into the sky.
The beam of light traveled into the horizon for over thousands of miles. It shot over ridges and forests, It passed over a large ocean for much of it’s journey and arrived at a point on top of a mountain. A man sat in a large hall, he wore a long white robe with a blue dragon embroidered on the back. He sat there cultivating in peace when a tablet lit up across the hall.
The elders eyes opened slowly and he let out a breath in a slow, controlled manner. He stood up and stepped across the hall in a single move. He looked at the tablet that had lit up.
“Elder Chuan, please stand ready.” The elder’s voice rang out from the hall.
‘The Setting Lands? Is the True Dragon Sect about to meet its destruction?’ The elder nodded to himself and took out a sheet of the finest parchment. On the sheet was a profound silver and gold diagram.
The elder injected his Qi into the parchment. The engravings lit up in a dazzling rainbow that embraced the elder. Surrounded by the sparkling lights, his figure vanished.
Back on the mountaintop everyone had stopped to watch the light leave. There was a moment of silence as disciples watched elders and elders watched grandmasters. Ben stood still as well to see what would come. In a matter of seconds a light shot back and coalesced into the shape of a man.
The light dimmed and only the elder in the white dragon robe remained. He took in the whole scene with a flick of his eyes.
His gaze matched Ben’s. A sense of danger like never before overwhelmed Ben. It was the moment you turn your head while crossing the street only to see a delivery truck about to collide with you. It was the feeling of seeing the dull shape in the corner of your dark room move. It was the ancient terror in the night.
‘Shit.’ Ben thought. In the back of his head he was smashing a big red panic button. Capacitors underground discharged all their stored electricity into the laser banks, they in turn fired into the heart of the fusion reactor. Energy levels rose and the capacitors started refilling. The whole mountain began to shine from the rising power.
“I would think twice before making a mista-.” The white robed elder started to speak.
Capacitors were fully loaded. They discharged all at once into the laser banks and new plasma cannon. The lasers fired immediately and the cannon took only a tenth of a second to discharge its blast.
The lasers were concentrated all at once for the first time. The various mirrors all aimed directly at the mans throat. The firing of the lasers was instantaneous.
A curious phenomenon occured then. There was such a high concentration of heat in the same location that the air itself exploded in a superheated cloud. The lasers energy was absorbed by the expanding gases, leading to a larger explosion. This attack would kill any Foundation Establishment cultivator, but couldn't even penetrate the elders outer layer of Qi. This attack only served to delay the elder in the sky until the plasma bolt hit.
A fraction of a second later a beam of plasma struck the elder in his center mass. The stream of fire burned through the layer of Qi the elder had protecting him at all times and bore through into his chest. The elder fell from the sky while coughing out a mouthful of blood.
Ben shouted out in triumph. The capacitor bank filled up enough for another shot before the elder reached the ground. The second shot streaked through the air towards the falling figure.
Just before the second plasma bolt hit the elder, a light poured out of his interspatial ring and intercepted the attack. The plasma bolt dissipated like so much smoke. The strange light encapsulated the elder in a rainbow colored cocoon. The cocoon shrank down to the size of a fist then flashed away into the horizon.
“Was he the endgame boss?” Ben said aloud to himself.
The whole battleground was struck silent after seeing the exchange. The Elder had only been there a second before Ben attacked and the exchange lasted only a second longer.
The pinnacle fight between powerhouses that would rage overhead while each party brought out their trump cards never happened. Who would ever think that it would be over so quickly? A mortal would have only seen a series of flashes before the exchange ended.
Ben nodded to himself.
‘Looks like I’ve drawn too much attention, but it’s too late to stop now. Time to change tactics.’
“Grandmaster Zhouqi, I have some items for you. Have these delivered to the head of organizations and families, don’t leave someone out because they are an enemy or weak. There are some other directions there as well.” Ben handed the older man a interspatial pouch.
“Hand one over to each of those people.” He nodded at the fallen Grandmasters. “And let Erica go, you can send her a picture of your dick later.” He whispered the last part.
Grandmaster Zhouqi nodded and handed a black box the size of a brick to each of the defeated grandmasters as they stood in a daze.
Under the watchful gaze of the newly armed masses, the decimated sects retreated from the field.
“Why a gift?” Zhouqi asked. “That was a Heavenly Connection Ancestor. He must have been one of the strongest people in this world. If we can beat him, we have nothing to worry about.”
“We can’t fight the whole world. That’s something we learned back where I came from. You give the people an imaginary enemy and have them fight for you. When I was born it was poor people and ‘the gays’. It wouldn’t take too long before we have a hard time finding people to hate. Alright, back to work, people. Next up is human anatomy and modern medicine. We have some people who are willing to be used as subjects, let’s not keep the patients waiting.”