Chương 234: Story 11 - How to Save a Sect in Six Simple Steps (Part 12)

I stepped on the north side of the formation and sent my spiritual energy into it. The circular node glowed as my energy passed through each part, even lighting up some hidden sections. Then it suddenly went dark as it reached a portion on the east side of the circle. I frowned. This node design was definitely from a formation called the Irrepressible Gossamer Shield Isolation and Defensive Formation.

The good news was that the shield it produced was powerful enough to protect this sect from the Leashed Claw and Harmonious Sound disciples for as long as it had the energy. Unfortunately, the formation design was very inefficient. The fucking thing drained spirit stones like water even after supplementing it with the natural energies of the environment. I didn't know how the opposing sects found it — maybe they were just lucky — but this exact node was the life gate for the whole fucking thing.

As long as it didn't work, the Irrepressible Beast Blood sect would be out of luck. Thanks to my actions, I'd saved most of it. Much of the important material and design underneath was still intact. But a good portion of the top had been scratched. But most was not all. Those infiltrators had cut out a portion that the node couldn't do without. Basically, it needed to be fixed. And the only person nearby who had a high enough accomplishment in formations to repair this thing was me.

It was time to start step two in saving this damned sect: repair the fucking defensive formation so we don't all die. The junior sect leader and the fin-eared elder with blue hair dropped down next to me. They gave each other questioning glances. [Image Link]"Temporary Elder Linlin?" Wild Hoof said. I grinned.

"I thought that was just for the one meeting?" He smiled like a boss who was about to tell his employees that they'd have to work overtime.

"You wish." He gestured to the node.

"How does it look?" I stomped on a section of the circle. A terrible sound echoed through the lecture area. A thin line traveled from my foot to the portion that had been carved up. They stared at me with wide eyes. Wild Hoof looked like he wanted to grab my shoulders and shake me. The line I created slowly closed as if it hadn't been there at all.

"Massive high-ranking formations like these have self-healing spiritual materials added to them. They're also designed to work with a few cracks." Using my spiritual energy, I pulled out the chunk that the infiltrators cut out.

"This one has been too damaged in just the right place for that self-healing effect to fix it." Wild Hoof struggled, then turned to the fin-eared elder.

"Elder Vengeful Siren, what do you make of it?" He touched his chin in thought.

"This is troublesome. A traveling Immortal Bone Creation expert installed this for us. The sect leader paid ten years of our sect's income for it, too. This node appears to be the life gate, so if we can't get it up and running, we won't be able to turn it on." I could have told them that.

"You're the most knowledgeable formation master in the sect. Surely you can fix it." Vengeful Siren's face turned blank, and he hid his shaking hand behind his back.

"I still have a lot to do to prepare for the war. It would be better to call over a formation master from the guild." So he was too arrogant to admit that he had no fucking clue how to fix it. Typical. Wild Hoof raised a brow.

"Do you think they would send someone knowing our situation?" He sighed.

"No." The junior sect leader squeezed his shoulder.

"You're the last hope we have. I need you to delegate whatever tasks you have to another elder and work on this. We need to get the defensive formation up as soon as possible." Vengeful Siren stared at the node like he wanted to run away. Goddamn it.:: Elder, I can fix it.:::: Elder Linlin?:::: Just don't ask questions, provide the materials, and take all the credit.:: His eyes darted to me, then back to Wild Hoof.:: How do you know how to fix it when I don't?:::: No questions!:::: How can I trust you?

:::: How could you not when I helped Senior Noxious Fangstrike create the treatment plan for the beast blood contract bath?:: He struggled for a bit. A bead of sweat dripped down his forehead.:: Deal.::"You can count on this elder!" Wild Hoof handed him a token.

"Get whatever you need from the treasure pavilion and hurry. I doubt these teams were the only ones infiltrating the sect, so I have to make sure we have enough disciples protecting the other nodes."

"Junior sect leader. Before you go." With a wave of my hand, I pulled out the bodies and the head.

"Do you recognize any of these people?" He grimaced.

"They were both originally from the outer sect and only became inner sect disciples a few weeks ago. To think the orthodox faction had been planning this for so long. The last thing we need right now is to suspect every member of the sect of being a spy."

"Then don't." Fuck, I wouldn't hold up to scrutiny either.

"All powerful sects have a few spies. You shouldn't worry about getting rid of them at this point. It's already too late for that. You just have to be careful who you tell your strategies to. Only give them out to your most trusted subordinates and at the very last second." Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

"That... sounds like a lot of micromanaging."

"What? You can't do it?" This was a fairly small sect compared to the Indomitable Will sect. It should be possible for someone like Wild Hoof.

"If you can't, then find someone who can. Someone who isn't me."

"I wasn't planning on delegating that to you, but now..." I scowled.

"Don't you dare!" He held up both hands.

"Fine." With a huff, I clasped my hands behind my back.

"If you really want to get rid of your spies, you could also try leaking a series of false strategies to different people to see who leaks what, but that would still require micromanaging later when you inevitably reveal the real plan to those involved." Either way, this guy was doomed to micromanage. He waved his hand and brought the bodies into his storage bag.

"I'll consider your advice, Temporary Elder Linlin." Then he left. Vengeful Siren desperately turned toward me.

"Quick, what supplies do you need?!"

"It's not that simple."

"What do you mean by that?" This young elder needed to learn so he would know how to explain it if he were ever interrogated.

"Formation Sages need to learn forging techniques to make long-lasting sect-sized defensive shields. They also need to use the highest ranked materials possible so their advanced formation will run efficiently." I pulled the large stone shard over using my spiritual energy and pointed to the several layers within it.

"The expert who built this... cut corners!" Elder Siren swallowed.

"The Sect Leader must have been ripped off because he was part of the unorthodox faction."

"Yes!"

"Does this mean it won't work?"

"No. It will protect us perfectly, just not as efficiently as it should."

"But we were still ripped off?"

"In this case, it's a good thing!" I grinned.

"We can repair it using the same cheap ingredients. If that scammer used the expensive ones like they should have, we'd have no hope of repairing it in time."

"Wouldn't the right materials have remained intact?"

"Nah. The node still would have broken. The infiltrators used a device that was specifically designed to carve those." He nodded.

"Alright, what do we need to fix it, then?" I pointed to one of the visible layers in the chunk that broke off.

"The bottom material is Ignition Red Stone." Apparently, the original author really liked Minecraft... or he did what he always did and just stole from a convenient source like the unoriginal bastard he was.

"The gray layer is Deep-State Deepslate."

"What?" Oh, shit. That was my joke name for it.

"I said Deep-Steel Deepslate." Next, I pointed to the thin blue layer just under the stone exterior.

"And the very thin layer near the top is Diamond Granite." He frowned.

"Isn't that very expensive?"

"The sage probably used this to claim that the best materials were used throughout to help with their con." Like handing someone a suitcase filled with money that only had a few real hundred-dollar bills on top. Elder Siren's face turned red, and a vein bulged on his forehead. I held up my hand.

"We're not done yet." I pointed to the sections between the main layers where the most important part of the formation was.

"The sage at least used excellent materials for the actual symbols. Other than the materials I listed, we'll need at least three high tier spirit stones, three handfuls of the highest purity Golden Defensive Steel Powder, and an elder who has a strange flame that produces extreme heat." He coughed.

"That can't be too much." I'd already said the minimum items necessary since I knew this was a poor sect.

"No, no. I'll just have to ask a friend of mine to help out." Not trusting him completely, I put a list together along with the exact quantities I would need on a jade slip and handed it to him.

"I will collect these immediately, Elder Linlin." I crossed my arms and nodded.

"Good. Do it as fast as possible!" He stepped away as if he was about to leave, then paused.

"By the way, I appreciate you taking over my treatment while Poison Master Noxious Fangstrike is..." He gestured to the cloud where my in-name disciple was still fighting for his life. Wait, what?!

"Didn't he tell you? He said he gave you instructions to take over for him when it came to the elders who are currently having their treatments done. I'm one of them." Oh shit! I pulled out the jade slip he handed me and put it to my temple. That motherfucker! Did he really give his master assignments? I glared at the massive spiral cloud. A red and gold figure fell from the sky and landed with a crack that echoed like thunder.

His impact formed a crater that threw a massive deluge of dust and detritus into the air. I held my breath until he flew back up to keep fighting. Well, I guessed I could help him out this one time. He was my secret in-name disciple, after all. I couldn't be too petty. Also, wasn't his tribulation lasting a little too long? Shouldn't it be done by now? I saw flashes of purple lightning rain down on top of the red-robed figure. It covered him entirely.

I had to turn my poor Foundation Establishment eyes away before it blinded me. When I was certain the lightning had vanished, I turned back. The spiral clouds slowly dissipated. The gray skies that surrounded the sect began to clear and show a brilliant blue. A circular rainbow shimmered between where the two clouds were vanishing.

"I'll run your bath only after I've finished with this node," I said before pulling out my flying sword again and using it to move high into the air. There! That fucker Noxious survived! He lives! Muahahahaha! A heavenly light fell from the center of the cloud, illuminating Noxious. This was the energy of transformation. It allowed the cultivator who reached the Immortal Bone Creation a chance to change their body the way they wanted it. I was curious to see what my secret disciple would do.

A similar energy also descended onto Resentful Shadow Snake. Fuck! He lived as well. At this point, it was a race on who could form their first immortal bone. Without one, they weren't considered true Immortal Bone Creation Experts. Damn it. Maybe we should have poisoned the fucker before his tribulation? No, that could have easily been traced to Noxious and me. And that would have made us into this sect's worst sinners. When I looked at Noxious again, his light beam started vanishing.

I sent my divine sense out to take a better look at him. Good! He resolved the internal issues I'd mentioned. Excellent work! Of course, I also noted that he'd grown a few inches, his shoulders had widened a bit, and his jawline was definitely sharper. Ha! I knew he wouldn't be able to resist! In my past life, my previous cultivation technique, while powerful, had still left a lot of impurities. If I wanted to reach Immortal Ascension, I had to repair them during my transformation light.

There had also been a few lingering injuries I had to correct thanks to Bloodsword's fucked up wives getting me into trouble during my excursions to secret realms. I would never forgive those bitches for that. Anyway, thanks to those fixes taking up all my damn time, I didn't get the chance to make those cosmetic changes that I'd wanted to. For example, I wasn't able to decrease the size of my twin peaks with no equal.

I remember cursing the author for months when the light cut off just before I got to the good stuff. I turned toward Resentful Shadow Snake and examined him with my divine sense. He looked much younger and stood straighter, as if he were back in his late twenties. His fine beard had burned off him thanks to his fight with the tribulation, so he'd had the light shave it off. Frankly, if I didn't know it was him, I would have thought it was an entirely different person.

While the two new Immortal Bone Creation experts were separated by an entire mountain, they still turned towards each other briefly, as if sharing a conversation. Then they appeared to vanish. In reality, they just went into hiding while they created their first immortal bone. The best thing I could do to help that damn disciple of mine was to get the defensive formation up fast. He'd need all the protection I could give him. [Image Link] [Image Link]