A New Village

Hong Zhao entered in through the newly reinforced walls of his home. As he did, he looked to the trees on his left and right and nodded. Out of placement, he could see the two sentries that were stationed within the trees. They nodded their respect as he walked through. He smiled through his mask as he looked around at his home. The one house had gained many more neighbors in the last seven months. Each one housed at least seven people, and there were thirty houses within the walls. He had ensured each one was modeled after his own.

Others with the same uniform nodded to him as he made his way to his own home. He returned the greeting as he opened his door. As he shut it behind him, he inserted some qi on the formation carved into the door. He then took his mask off and took a deep breath of fresh air. His dark brown hair fell past his shoulders as it was no longer held in place by the head piece.

Months ago, he had looked the mask over and found the formation within the cloth that rendered the garment invisible to qi. He tested it on his own house before incorporating the change everywhere within his makeshift village. He had Li Wei take her qi fan above his house and scan for him within the house. He sent Li Wuhan a kilometer out to see if he could sense him. Both came back to tell him what he had suspected. After the test, he ensured the door on each house they made had a qi blocking formation. He had already gotten many thanks from the villages that moved in, at least through Li Wen. With the formation, they were at least able to take off their qi blocking uniforms when they were not working.

Hong Zhao had considered how strange it would be for a ten year old to be giving instructions to the villagers on battlefield tactics as well as ability training, so he had decided just to train Li Wen in all he knew. As he did, Li Wen gave the orders as the second strongest cultivator within their encampment. He had taught a select few that had proven themselves adept students how to use eagle vision, qi shot, qi blast and qi sword. Those adept few spread out into groups of novices and trained them.

Hong Zhao had set up a patrol schedule for a ten man team in each direction of the village to fan out. They were to move swiftly and silently through the edge of the forest, stopping at each village that the previous envoys had gone to and offered support. The cultivators which the city lord had sent out had not been courteous to their hosts, which in turn gave them more people added to their cause.

Putting his mask in his storage ring, Hong Zhao went down the hall to Li Wen's office. It was the only room within the village that was allowed to be converted into a work space instead of a living space aside from the blacksmith he had picked up a few months back. "Hey." He said as he leaned against the doorframe.

Li Wen raised an eyebrow. "I suppose the patrol went rather well, if you are back already."

"There were five of them. They didn't put up much of a fight." Hong Zhao sighed. "Are Li Wei and Li Wuhan back from the forest expedition yet?"

"They aren't scheduled to be back for another two hours." Li Wen checked the sun through the trees outside the window.

When the cultivators were not sleeping or eating, they were either cultivating or out for patrols. If none were scheduled for a patrol, they would go on expeditions through the forest in order to clear out more of the wild beast population and gain strength. He had liked this newer development more than the others. It would allow the villagers to gain in strength through actual unit cohesion and combat experience instead of just sitting on their bed and cultivating the entire time. He knew the importance of rising through the ranks of disciple at a rapid pace, but if they were to rush through, they would be quite powerful, but they wouldn't have the experience necessary to use that power. Then they would just be over powered idiots who would just get in the way.

With the expeditions, Li Wei and Li Wuhan were able to bring along five others each and split up through the forest. They would watch over the villagers as they fought through shadow panthers, and then giant snakes if they were strong enough. When they returned, they would trade the beast cores to Li Wen for three gold a piece. Hong Zhao had supplied a large amount of gold from the treasure of the previous attackers, plus what he had found in the rings within the stone lion dungeon. He gave a portion of the beast cores to Shadow in order to increase his own cultivation, and then the rest to Li Wuhan to continue dishing more qi grasping pills and health recovery pills.

He had set up a medicinal pill shop for the Li family just outside the house as well. The gold that the cultivators gained from the trade went almost directly to the purchasing of more pills when Li Wuhan had time to increase his stock.

Those who didn't want to go on expeditions or patrols tended the gardens close by to the village walls. They had to wear the qi blocking uniforms while out of their homes, but the produce went well with the fierce beast meat that was brought back. In a short amount of time, the small village became self sustaining, without the need to trade within Yuan City.

"We are going to have to build a second village soon. We are running out of space to build more houses." Li Wen said as he took a drink of tea.

"I don't think that will be a problem."

"Really." Li Wen raised an eyebrow.

"The cultivators from Yuan City have become a little smarter. They are now sending runners back and forth from Yuan City with reports of the journey. I've seen them go like clockwork. I think sooner rather than later, the city lord will send much more weight on top of the previous threat. Our carefree days are numbered."