The battle was over and the victorious Huo Qiang rose up from the watery depths. The gravitational area that reached up to a hundred meters shrunk down to a tiny air bubble that only encompassed his body. He was certainly drained and any further fighting would result in injury. Luckily he wasn’t alone here and Zhang Zhi was quick to appear next to the victorious Qiang.

“Senior Qiang, leave the rest to me.”

“Ha, I shall do that, I don’t want to admit it but that took out more from me then I expected… nevertheless, senior brother Dong is truly unfathomable.”

“That he is, without the Patriarch the sect truly would have been lost.”

“That is true…”

The two warriors exchange meaningful glances while the man they were discussing was listening to their conversation. He wasn’t sure how he should react and while it didn’t affect him when people outside of his friend circle praised him, it was different when someone like Qiang did.

‘Those two will make me blush if they continue and they should really find a better moment to praise me…’

While Huo Qiang had been victorious and the general had turned into a fish, this was not over. The army of mermen and their sea beasts was still there. Their leader agreed to surrender if he lost but it didn’t seem that the rest agreed with him. The next in line wasn’t having it and the battle was underway.

‘Both the leaders are out but Qiang shouldn’t take that long to recover and I can boost his recovery rate.’

With the help of the improved faction system and the prestige unit function, he could insert spirit points to recover Qiangs and Zhi’s lost Qi. To not let this fight drag on too much and to minimize the loss of life, he decided to use some of those spirit points that were gained by Qiang to recover his lost stamina.

It was quite fun to see the grown man be surprised by the sudden alleviation of Qi depletion. With him back to full health and the vastness of his army the battle continued. His side had an advantage but not to the point of not suffering any damage. However, thanks to Qiang’s returned vigor victory was assured and in a few hours, the entire area was filled with the corpses of sea creatures.

‘I can really leave it up to my troops with this one…’

Zhang Dong’s biggest issue in the past was the weak state of his clan and sect. Without him around to take out several of the top cultivators they never had a chance of winning anything. Now on the other hand his people had caught up and could finally count themselves among the truly powerful. Even the forces from the invading Empire couldn’t count them out anymore.

‘This system is truly a tremendous help, without the enhancement to the faction system this wouldn’t have been possible…’

Everyone that was in his faction and around the Golden Palace was receiving a large buff to their power. Every time a battle took place his forces would be given it. The more his faction grew the more points he would receive and the more he could spend on improvements. It was like a snowball tumbling down a cliff, it had grown to a size that it could not be stopped anymore.

‘I should have the two clear up any of the enemy armies in the sea to get more points, then distribute them accordingly…’

Two of his prestige units were now working almost full-time to get him more spirit points. With how many of the clones the Cerulean Empire produced this came easy. There were also a lot of those turtle islands left over that could be now reclaimed. His scientists were also working on adapting the cloning technology to their beasts. If they could produce battle tigers or dragons to aid them further then he could stop worrying about losing human lives as much.

‘Maybe I should dump some points into the tamer side of things, I’m not sure if we can quite copy the way these sea people are controlling their armies.’

He believed that the armies of the Cerulean Empress were controlled either by her or some other powerful cultivator. They were like one unit and never bickered over anything, the only person he saw with a glimpse of self-thought was that one general. Perhaps the control she had over her people dwindled depending on their power level.

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‘Maybe those generals are like my prestige units and she can only control a set number of them at a time…’

This somewhat made sense as with the cloning technology that those people possessed there was no reason not to make more high-quality soldiers. That is if there weren’t any drawbacks, one of them could be limited control and another lack of proper materials. Either the general-level mermen required rare treasures to produce or the more there were of them the harder it became to keep them in check. The one Qiang faced seemed to at least have his own ego.

Thus after the battle was won he continued to only monitor the situation while sending out orders here and there. Instead of being directly involved in the battles, his people were more than eager to show their worth. After seeing the increase in power that Zhang Zhi and Huo Qiang went through, everyone was motivated.

Words of the massive victories that his forces were achieving reached the furthest reaches of the Azure Empire. This coupled with the passive approach of the Azure Emperor and the Heavenly Crane Sect put more faith in the Golden Dragon. Would this however be let to continue or would someone try to break this rise to power?

…

‘That about does it… but is it a bit, what’s the word… risque?’

What he was looking at was a thin dress that was made for his wife. This thing took a lot more time to make than the sword for Zhi or the armor for Qiang. One reason was the various rare materials that it was made from and another was the design. He could not decide on one over the other but could also not ask his wife for input as it was supposed to be a present.

The end product was very flowy and would make Liena look like a dancing nymph if she flew around in the sky. At first, he wanted to add a window for her chest but decided that his wife’s parts were meant for him and him alone. This dress could change forms as well, if Liena was forced into close-range combat she could quickly transform into a more fitting appearance.

Then there were the two emerald battle fans. The right one was jade green and had a phoenix image on the back. The other one was someone more golden and had a dragon to represent himself. Together they would combine his and her Daos to help her achieve a similar level of power as Huo Qiang.

‘She had trailed a bit behind him but with these, they should be about equal. If I give it to her now, however… there might be a problem…’

While the treasures were ready and he just needed to spend the ever-increasing spirit points to make Liena part of his prestige units, he was a bit afraid. He feared that his wife would see the power increase as a chance to use it. His intention was to protect her and his children but in this case, she would endanger her own life.

“It’s still better if she is stronger and a closer part of the system…”

There was a little theory he was working on. If it came out true then having Liena be one of his prestige units was a good move. This he would only figure out after the Overseer confronted him again. Thus after contemplating again he activated the teleportation function and appeared back at his home, New Spirit Spring City.

“Hah, haven’t been here in a while…”

His original home where he spent his early marriage days had been destroyed by Wang Long. For a short time, he had to move his family to a separate villa but now his old home had been restored. The whole city was back to the way it was and it was as if the attack never happened.

In fact, the number of citizens had been steadily increasing. Even though just recently the whole place had been almost flattened everyone quickly returned to rebuild. Then after the consecutive victories against the demi-humans and merpeople, the fame of the city continued to increase.

Everyone wanted to be a part of the new world order that his sect was shaping up to be. Merchants crowded to be the first ones to trade in the new wares. Young martial artists were preparing for the coming sect trials for outer disciples, everyone wanted to be part of this new faction that was shaping up to overtake the old powers.

The teleportation spot was in the secret room he appeared while Wang Long was terrorizing the city. This structure that was used as a flying fortress had been buried under his home yet again but this time around his wife had access to it. Even now he remembered her chewing him out over the development. Luckily she let it slide due to the fact that he managed to actually survive and come back.

“Everything seems peaceful and everyone is moving on with their lives…”

When straining his senses just a bit he could hear the citizens going about their days. Everyone was busy living their life as best as they could. New relationships and goals were forming even as he walked through these spacious halls. His home was large but not many people were allowed to come in. He liked the silence, no one besides some personal maids and servants were allowed to be here.

Just like before his home was raised up into the sky. Perhaps after all of this was over he would replace his old home with the Golden Palace. At least for now he preferred this place as it did have more memories. The sound of his daughter's voice entered his ear which made him stop and smile.

“When is daddy coming back home?”

‘I guess I shouldn’t keep them waiting, no telling when I will need to leave again.’

With a spring in his step, he moved toward the room where both his children and wife were staying. When opening the door the sight on their faces brought nothing but joy and reminded him why he was doing all of this in the first place. Those bright smiles were the reason he could move on and would surely be victorious in the end.