Fortifying the city

Before going Long Chen explained all of the formations he would be embedded in the city.

The First formation was the Dragon Tiger formation it covered the entire city.

It could call upon a barrier covering the city while it unleashed killing moves in the form of tigers and dragons.

It was a peak black grade formation and its strength would depend upon the wielder.

If a group of late essence gathering realm cultivators wields it.

It would be able to stop 2 or 3 early soul transformation realm martial artists.

The second formation was called Skyfall it covered only the city lord estate. It made use of the arrow mechanisms, Long Chen implanted it all over the city lord estate.

It was to be yield by qi condensation martial artist to send arrows to distract the enemy.

It also generated fog and illusions to disrupt the senses.

Although it might seem unimpressive and weak, it's might could not be underestimated especially when it targets a small group of cultivators.

Lastly was the NetherFiend formation. It made use of some of the fiends, he transferred them to a special stone.

All of them had to make an oath to protect the city.

These fiends would be used as mindless beasts to devour all threats the city is presented with.

The fiends selected for this endeavor were all the underperformers.

It would be used as a last resort trump card.

In addition to that Long Chen also upgraded all the artifacts used by the soldiers.

He used his newfound wealth to make some bulk purchases from the Huang Clan for this.

Making use of their newfound wealth Long Chen armed everyone to the teeth.

After 2 days Long Chen was dead tired with all of this.

…

A girl is running while panting and moaning.

Her chest is heaving like a furnace and her legs have almost gone jelly.

Tears are welling up in her eyes and she is gnashing her teeth in hatred.

Turning back she sees 3 people, one youth and two elders riding on a chariot. The elders have an indifferent expression whereas the youth has a lascivious smile on his face.

"Xia Qinguye!, you better accept your fate being with this young master is your blessing"

"Fuck off Liang Chen, I know you are lusting over my yin meridians. If word gets out my father will kill you"

"As if an ordinary elder could do anything to me. Bitch you have been playing me for too long"

At the end of the sentence, Liang Chen started gnashing his teeth.

"You have been awfully generous in accepting my pills, artifacts, and whatnot, and now you have the audacity to flirt with Jiang Chen. You are courting death !"

Saying that the youth made a gesture, seeing which the elderly increased the speed of the chariot.

…

After a night's rest, Long Chen called all of his friends including Ding Hu.

"Everyone let's go to Emerald City for a vacation before the tournament begins"

"Yes" "Yeah let's go"

Xiao Bai and He Mao looked at each other and started jumping.

Everyone except for Ding Hu had a smile on their faces.

"Young master is a vacation the only reason," Ding Hu asked after a bit of hesitation.

"Nah the elder that betrayed your clan is still living right, let's give him a surprise to" Saying that Long Chen smiled.

"Long Chen we should go to the stone tower in that city. I heard we can ask for wishes there"

"Yeah we should also try the evergreen restaurant"

"Big brother will we get new types of meat there"

"Boss we must try the lusty leopard's brothel there" As soon as

Fang Qian said that he got hit in the back of his head.

"Ouch"

"Damn fatty" Fang Qingmei berated and everyone let out a chuckle.

The rest of the evening was spent discussing the minor details of the trip.

Long Chen informed Long Aotian and Cheng Hao to take hold of all the negotiations for himself.

The next day the group took off riding on a giant carriage with 3 flame arcane wolves dragging them.

Both the wolves and chariot were gifts they received in the banquet.

Long Chen was lying his head on Bei Youer lap with He Mao and Xiao Bai lying on his stomach and all 4 of them looking out the window, just feeling the breath of nature.

Fang Qingmei was sitting beside them pouting slightly while playing a guqin. Everyone was enjoying the music, maybe except for Fang Qian who was stuffing his face.

Ding Hu was sitting in a corner meditating, but even he had a peaceful smile plastered on his face.

Long Chen felt very free at the moment, unrestrained by his earthly desires just living in the moment.

They traveled for half a day like just relaxing and having fun when all of a sudden Long Chen's ears perked up.

They were about to reach a small town called Black Sand town.

It was a small town made up of around 15000 people and it was surrounded by black sand which could be refined to make various condiments.

Thus making the city a good tourist destination.

Entering the town Long Chen and the gang saw the town to be much more dilapidated than the city.

The city was ghost quiet and it felt almost haunted.

"Is this how a town is supposed to be ?" Fang Qingmei dumbly asked.

"No something is wrong I have been here before. It's a lot more lively" Fang Qian instantly corrected.

"The people are inside their homes. Their breathing is steady but shallow, they seem to be scared of something"

"Young lord, should I interrogate some of them ?"

"No need, we can get the information at the local inn"

Long Chen's carriage slowly made its way towards the local inn under Fang Qian's navigation.

Despite the carriage and beasts being as showy as possible, they got no reaction from others. No one so much as peeped outside of their homes.

About 30 minutes later they reached their destination, The Heavens Fall Inn.

In stark contrast to the humble town, the Heavens Fall Inn was flamboyant as it could possibly be.

Its board was embedded with shiny stones, making the board just pop out of there.

It had 4 floors and was very large in size normally it had a steady stream of people going in and out, but right now forget the people even the guards were missing.

Parking their carriage outside, Long Chen and gang made their way inside the inn, where they found a single person.

A fat, bald middle-aged man was sitting on a desk, timidly raising his head to keep an eye on the entrance.

Seeing Long Chen and gang come over he hurriedly made way to welcome them.

"Greeting Lords, how may I help you ?"

"Why is the city so ghost quiet today," Fang Qian asked.

"Lords some people from a sect are hunting for a wanted criminal today"

"Really do you have any other details ?"

Bei Youer chimed in.

"This humble servant only knows that they are at a very high cultivation level. We have been ordered to stay in our houses"

"Interesting get us 4 rooms" Long Chen muttered before settling everyone in their homes. He took He Mao with him outside.

"You can track them right", He Mao nodded in response.

"Perfect let's go"

Without wasting any time they rode on one of the arcane wolves to track the disturbance.

About an hour later they made it to the edge of town.

"Shit, they just left" Long Chen grumbled getting off his wolf.

He Mao got top of his and started rubbing her head and against his.

"You mean there is something worthwhile in chasing them…. well if you say so let's go"

…

A badly bruised girl is leaning on a tree, while an almost destroyed formation is protecting her.

2 older men are relentlessly attacking the formation and a youngster is leaning back with a smirk on his face.

"Xia Qinguye give up, no one can save you today" Liang Chen muttered while eyeing Qinguye.

"Shut up, you a piece of shit I will die rather than be with you. Let's see how you explain my disappearance then."

Xia Qinguye shouted but her eyes turned a little red.

"Bitch don't think I won't kill you"

"You guys certainly made me wait a lot" A voice drifted out of nowhere, making the older guys jump back and shield Liang Chen.

All of them noticed a man and a cat leisurely making their way towards them.

'He doesn't look old and his cultivation base is also at the 2nd layer of essence gathering. Is he related to someone important ?' as Liang Chen was pondering all of that Long Chen had his own thoughts as he assessed Xia Qingyue.

'Yin meridian body that too at spirit level!'

"Young master we must kill this man lest this incident get leaked"

"All right let's do it" Liang Chen agreed and all of them unleashed their auras.

The 2 older men were at the 5th layer of the essence gathering realm and Liang Chen was at the 4th layer of the essence gathering realm.

The pressure from their cultivation bases made Long Chen step back a little, but his eyes widened with pleasure and he clenched his fists in excitement.

He Mao timely backed out.