“Huh?”

“They look malnourished, quickly bring over the nutrient pills, and after they are done bring them to the cafeteria for some real food.”

“Yes sir!”

“Also dim the light, their eyes aren’t used to it, remember to follow the Patriarch’s instructions!.”

A group of people that looked like walking skeletons were slowly walking into a grass-filled field. In the middle, there was a large gate filled with blue luminescent energy through which these malnourished individuals were stepping through. On the other end, they were greeted by people dressed in white robes with some golden dragon embroilments.

Just half an hour ago they had been dying of starvation in a cold mine. Then a strange person appeared, they couldn’t really tell who he was due their sensitivity to light but the warm glow he gave out seemed to melt all the problems away. Within a matter of minutes everyone started feeling better and were then ordered to walk through the shiny blue light.

They were all cultivators once while their dantians had been damaged they could recover faster than a regular human. Their eyes were quickly adjusting to the blue sky above and the people around them. Some of them were sure that they were being moved to another location to get killed or used for something else. However the people here looked kind and orderly, they didn’t not harm them nor did they bully them like their previous captors.

“What is the Patriarch thinking, could these people be of use to us? They look like common mining slaves.”

“Junior, you are out of line.”

“Ack.”

A young member of the physician unit of the United Element sect got smacked in the back of the head. It was a girl that didn’t look older than fifteen in a gray robe that differed from the bright white ones the other seniors were wearing.

“S-senior Ai, please forgive this junior.”

“I better not catch you calling to question our Patriarch’s will, you’ll be peeling potatoes for the rest of the year!”

“N-no nothing but that.”

“Very well, now take the other juniors and prepare the accommodations for these refugees.”

The woman moved her hands behind her back and quickly flew away on her sword toward the people that were gathering in the middle. The young trainee grumbled but quickly moved to the part where the other helpers were gathering. They were just outer sect disciples and were tasked to tend to the slaves from the mine.

“Haha, you should keep quiet around senior sister Ai about the Patriarch, she has a long history with him and is also part of the original Zhang Clan, you must have a death wish.”

When arriving at the group the other juniors started chuckling among themselves. The young junior girl that got reprimanded started pouting and turning red out of embarrassment. She felt slightly wronged as she only asked a simple question. It was known that the Patriarch was wise but for a new sect member like her, helping people that were punished to work in a mine was strange. These miners were usually criminals and in her mind didn’t deserve the help that they were getting.

“But they are criminals, why should our great sect aid such people?”

“Are they criminals? You are naive.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure where you came from but it’s normal for the poor to be thrown to those mines for small crimes like stealing rice.”

The juniors continued to whisper while moving towards a large rectangular building. From the outside, it didn’t look like much but it had all the important facilities. It was a similar dorm building that had been used by the Zhang Clan to test their warriors. The design was simple and thanks to it, the buildings could be quickly made and were perfect for large numbers of refugees.

“I didn’t know... the Patriarch must have seen them and shown mercy, he is trouly a generous master!”

“Yes but this is probably not the only reason, these people have interacted with the enemies of our sect, I’m sure they will be grateful for our aid and give us all the information they can!”

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“Ah, it’s like giving them a carrot while their lives were only ever filled with the stick?”

“Now you get it.”

“Hey you two, stop talking and get to work, I don’t want to be punished again for being slower than group C.”

The gray-robed junior helpers quickly started going through the rooms and making the beds. The rooms weren’t that big but they were able to fit three beds and some walking and sitting space. Compared to the cramped beds in the mines this was paradise.

“It’s the Patriarch!”

While everyone was busy doing their job a loud shout was heard from the area of the teleportation gate. Everyone that was in the building quickly clamored for the windows or to go outside. To them, the person called the Patriarch was a living legend, the strongest cultivator that was even rumored to eclipse the current Azure Emperor. They chose to believe the rumors as the number of victories under his belt was immeasurable and he never seemed to have lost a battle.

“Q-quickly we must go back, this is a chance!”

“But senior sister told us to prepare the rooms for the injured.”

“Who cares? It’s the Patriarch, we might not get another chance like this in our lifetime!”

The girls that made out the entirety of this small squadron of nurses didn’t know what to do. They had orders but their elusive leader was known for not showing his face out in the public often. Now he was at the teleportation gate they were near and it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see him from close up.

Even getting a whiff of that superior radiant Qi could help them push through a small cultivation realm, it was also a chance to have their role model see them in the open. Sometimes masters like him with a glance could tell someone's aptitude for things. There was a one in a trillion chance that they could become his disciple by just making their presence known and some would be willing to die for a chance like this.

“I… I’m going…”

“W-wait for me!”

Suddenly all the young juniors rushed out of the building and were followed by almost everyone that had gathered there. All of them rushed to the hill where the teleportation gate was to see their leader. Even the senior sect members were doing the same and when the juniors noticed this, all bets were off.

When the gray-robed juniors crossed over the hill they could see a mass of other people already kneeling down. They were in a large circle with their heads touching the gentle grass on the ground. They were momentarily stunned at the gallant appearance of their leader. Everyone had seen paintings, pictures, and even holograms of him but the aura he radiated could not be imitated by anything. It was as if a true immortal being descended from the heavens to grace them with his presence.

Instantly everyone that came dropped down to their knees to give him a proper welcome. They felt unworthy to look him in the eyes and felt like they did something bad by coming here. Only one person moved forward, her graceful form glided through the air before arriving before the man in question.

“Disciple pays respect to her master.”

Everyone wanted to rise their heads but no one below the level of the nascent soul had the gall to do it. Without the Patriarch giving them a clear order to raise up they weren’t allowed to. Anyone that was caught taking a sneak peek would be punished, perhaps even banished from the sect. No one was willing to go back to their old lives outside of this Spirit Spring City which was a paradise.

“Oh hey, good that you are here Xue, I need to unload a few prisoners, make sure that they go through the process just try not to break them. They are from the Emerald Phoenix Empire, I placed the cultivation-suppressing shackles on all of them, so even the elders that are on the nascent soul level shouldn’t give you a problem.”

The man’s voice sounded powerful but gentle and everyone held their breath in. To them, it was better to pass out instead of not being able to hear their leader’s words reach their ears in their full splendor. His quick speech was followed by a strange sound of something dropping on the ground. A strange energy was being produced that was akin to spatial techniques.

“Of course, Master.”

“Oh… and don’t tell her that I was here…”

“I will keep my lips sealed.”

In a matter of moments, the radiant presence that was there vanished, and the teleportation gate was closed. He was gone and finally, people started to raise their heads. They saw a large number of passed-out people wearing strange robes. Instantly they knew that they belonged to the new enemy in the east.

“So it was true, the Patriarch is working with the Heavenly Crane Sect?”

“But it hasn’t been long since, how could he apprehend so many?”

Not everyone was informed about the meeting in the east. They couldn’t let their enemies know what their leader was up to but now it was out. Some of the passed-out masters there seemed at the level of some of theirs. However, the chains around their bodies were hindering their Qi flow and rendering them as weak as Foundation Establishment practitioners.

“Hey, didn’t I tell you to prepare the rooms?”

“Forgive us senior sister but we had to greet the Patriarch…”

“... Fine, now get back to work!”

The group of juniors bowed and quickly returned to their work. Luckily their senior sister understood the glee in their eyes. They were finally in the presence of their glorious leader. The strong radiant aura that he was exuding was warm yet powerful. They wanted nothing more to go and cultivate while remembering that golden glow but first they needed to finish the order that was given to them.

…

“How did they get so many people there, that scared me…”

Zhang Dong removed the temporary teleportation gate and placed it back into his spatial ring. He had decided to return to his sect via it to dump off the prisoners he took captive during his travels. To his surprise, there were hundreds of his sect members there bowing their heads at him. Luckily he could quickly dump the prisoners onto his disciple before getting out of there.

“I guess time moves on and more people will be joining my sect, I can’t let them down…”

With newfound resolve, he delved back into the mine. There his plan of making a secondary force would finally begin…