“Huh? What? I’m alive?”

“Oh, you are finally awake.” Please your wounds haven’t healed yet but thanks to the honorable Golden Dragon, all of the demonic Qi has been removed from your body.”

“Demonic Qi? Golden Dragon… now I remember…”

An old man rubbed his head that felt like it was on fire. Around him, he could see a few other familiar faces that had stood by him during the last battle. All of them were confused as they found themselves in an undisclosed location without knowing how they got here. The people around them didn’t seem too strong or like they belonged to any of their allies.

“I remember now, both the dragons fought each other and there was a large wave of spiritual energy, we must have lost our conscienceless at that time.”

“Elder, you managed to survive?”

“Yes… who would have known that the Emper… no, I won’t call him that anymore, that bastard tried to kill us all!”

Of the twenty or so nascent soul masters that were there, only four were in this room. It seemed to be some type of large hospital with some other survivors here and there. Some were walking around and chatting, while others were still sleeping. One thing that was of note, was that all of them were fine. None had any deep wounds and radiated strange divine energy.

“This spiritual energy…”

“I see that you have noticed, honored elder. It’s all thanks to the Golden Dragon.”

“Yes… it is very reminiscent of his energy, he must have used his healing arts on all of us…”

Soon the group of survivors started getting together. It didn’t take them long to realize that they were now in a nearby city, just a few hours of flight away from their old base. Apparently, after the battle was over, the angelic beings that were flying around with Zhang Dong carried them over to this city. They were all placed in the city hospital and finally woke up after a day or two had passed.

“This can’t be real… was the dynasty build on demonic practices?”

“It is the truth… I woke up half a day before you and made my way to the city. Nothing remains of it, it turned into nothing more than a giant hole…”

“This is indeed troubling, what should we do? Will the other branch families believe us?”

“What if they knew this?”

“You don’t mean?”

“I’m afraid that might be the case…”

The four let their heads down while trying to figure things out. It was possible that the other branch families were working together with the Long Clan and had left them all to die there. However, it was also possible that no one actually knew the truth. If nothing had gotten out for a hundred thousand years, it could mean that the Long Clan’s demonic background ran deep.

“Could Long Qing truly be immortal?”

“I don’t know but that form and demonic Qi, he must have lost his mind a long time ago… no one can live that long and retain their sanity.”

All of them nodded and also found themselves referring to the Emperor without his title. After what he had attempted to do, they wanted to distance themselves from him as much as it was possible. If what they saw was the truth then all of their clans were in danger.

“What should we do? That monster will probably silence our families, while both of the brothers are fighting, we must escape…”

“Escape where? Should we seek shelter in the West or the East?”

“I for one trust in the Golden Dragon…”

“I’m not sure, he might be the same as his brother but… at least it’s better than dying.”

“I’m not sure if the Heavenly Crane Sect can defend itself against something like that… the United Element Sect on the other hand…”

All of them started nodding and agreeing. When they needed help only one person reached out to them and was able to survive. They didn’t really judge Zhang Dong on the basis of his virtues but by his strength. With that amount of power that he had shown them, it was possible to fight against that monster. They were masters at the apex and couldn’t even lift a finger. To survive this along with their families they needed to hug the thighs of the only person capable of standing up against the evil emperor.

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“We must act swiftly.”

“Aye, I have some family in the West region, I’ll contact them and ask for a way in…”

“I don’t think they will allow us into their midst without a binding contract but that’s better than working with that monster.”

“I agree, we must depart!”

The four elders found all the survivors that belonged to their factions before departing the city. After discussing the situation they turned into streaks of blue light in the sky. The only thing on their mind was survival which could be only achieved by quickly leaving the middle regions.

“Are they finally gone?”

“Yes sir!”

“Good, we shall return to the extraction point, be sure to remove the traces of us ever being here!”

Unbeknownst to the elders that flew away, the hospital staff in the city started acting strange. They quickly exchanged their white robes for dark ones and their faces became covered by masks. Their leader removed a strange medallion from his neck which he pointed at the hospital area. It soon started glowing and within a flash, a group of passed-out people appeared.

They were wearing the exact same white doctorly robes this group was before. Without saying much they soon disappeared after their part of the mission was complete. Now that the nascent masters had taken away everyone that was involved in the illusory formation their job was done.

…….

“When you said to let those people go I wasn’t sure what to think of it, but now I understand. Will they not see through the illusion eventually?”

“Perhaps but a mind is a fickle thing, it will show us what we want it to show. As long as they believe that there is something unnatural to the Emperor’s power, they will not be able to see through the deceit.”

“It does seem so, their branch families are in an uproar, the spies that we planted are only fanning the rumors and the elders we released will just confirm it…”

“As long as it gives us some time, it’s enough the wall is almost finished and the attacks have ceased.”

“That is true but what should we do with the others?”

“We’ll have to have them stay in the Dimensional Regalia for now, we can’t have people that have perished from demons appearing again.”

“Haha, they did seem confused at first but after getting some free pills and accommodations they turned over a new leaf.”

“How reasonable.”

Zhang Dong chuckled while talking with his grandfather. Other elders were here as well and they were all discussing the recent event. After assembling the large illusory formation some things had changed on the battlefront. A lot fewer branch families from the Long Clan were taking part in the offensive. After word got spread that the Azure Emperor was a demonic cultivator and it was confirmed by some reputable elders all hell broke loose.

After the little trick he pulled on the nascent soul masters they did all the work for him. He had been able to judge their personalities with the illusory formation and also the system. They were in a way the most gullible and distrustful ones from the bunch. He was sure that they would start spreading rumors about Long Qing’s true demonic form.

At first, he wasn’t sure if it was a feasible plan but he made it into a possibility while avoiding too many deaths. Perhaps the residents of that city were now stuck inside a pocket dimension but it was better than getting killed in a war. He was able to reduce the size of his enemies and also spread discourse in their ranks.

Even if someone examined if these elders had their memories tampered with, no one would find anything. The illusion was so real that it was indistinguishable from reality. All of what they saw was real to them and this was enough to help spread the rumors. Some people were already rushing into the Western region after their belief was shaken.

‘There was no trust between them in the first place so this isn’t that strange.’

The branching families of the Long Clan didn’t really know their Emperor. He was like a god living on Mt. Olympus, there was nothing tangible in their relationship. They had been always treated as second-rate citizens by the main family. The only reason that they continued their alliance was due to the difference in power and the possibility of advancement. Now that they were offered nothing more than death, they could only turn to their recent enemy.

“What should we do with the refugees, some of them are powerful but I’m unsure where their loyalties lay…”

“As long as it's not with Long Qing it will suffice, we can’t just have them on our side unmanaged…”

“We will use the ankle bracelets to keep track of them.”

“Ah yes, the slave bracelets!”

Zhang Jin nodded at the mention of this device. It was similar to a slave collar but was placed out of sight on a person’s ankle. It would let the cultivators retain some amount of dignity. If they were forced to wear collars around their necks it could complicate things.

“Well then, things are progressing smoothly…”

“Is something wrong?”

“Not really but usually when things go too well…”

“You worry too much, after the activation there will be no way for those Long Clan bastards to sneak into our lands! This will give us enough time to reinforce our borders and finally, we will be able to go on the offensive!”

Zhang Dong nodded while looking at the map before him. The first part of the plan was almost over but this was just the beginning. Without having to worry about their borders they would be able to strike back. Amassing a greater force to conquer was the next step that he was not that willing to take.

Yet to end this conflict sooner he had to strike the iron while it was hot. The Long Clan was probably ill-prepared for an internal revolt that had now started. This was a chance for his side to take over, waiting too long would only allow his enemy to take control of the chaos, and this was something that he couldn’t allow.