CHAPTER 793: DIFFICULTY

Although it was still far from completely breaking free, Meng Zhang managed to retreat about half of the cultivators with a little cleverness, which was a good start.

Of course, this was his limit.

Jade Sword Sect had estimated the approximate number of Gold Core or higher cultivators under various cultivation forces.

For instance, any cultivator from Taiyi Sect who had formed their core on their own territory, with a clear identity and background, would naturally be under the control of Jade Sword Sect.

At the Gold Core level, it was challenging to hide from Jade Sword Sect's notice or evade their conscription. As for Primordial Spirit cultivators, most cultivation forces had only a few at most, making it even harder to conceal their existence.

While Jade Sword Sect couldn't possibly have full knowledge of all low-level cultivators under every force, they had a rough estimate. When issuing conscription orders, they always tried to exploit the potential of major cultivation forces.

Meng Zhang's consistently good performance and his antagonistic stance towards the Dali Dynasty were the reasons why Jade Sword Sect was slightly more lenient towards Taiyi Sect, giving him the chance to preserve some of their strength using his clever methods.

If he had been reckless and continued to make other Gold Core Daoist Masters pretend to be seriously injured, the higher-ups of Jade Sword Sect might have come to inspect personally.

During the following period, as both sides were unwilling to start another conflict, the situation entered a temporary state of peace.

Ignoring what others were doing, Meng Zhang seized the time to start his routine cultivation.

The gains from these few times made him no longer worry about the Nine Heavens Refined Essence for the time being. He could even afford to absorb and refine pure jade inspiration luxuriously.

A group of elders from Taiyi Sect managed the entire sect and the alliance with the Hanhai Dao League efficiently, so he didn't need to worry too much.

His Fourth Rank Dao robe, the Rainbow Dawn Glow Robe, had fallen into slumber after the damage it suffered last time, and its tool spirit had not awakened since then.

Meng Zhang released his Primordial Spirit's power and slowly nurtured it back to health.

After this period of time, its condition had significantly improved.

A Fourth Rank magic tool like the Rainbow Dawn Glow Robe would suffer a considerable loss of power without the active cooperation of its tool spirit, especially considering the severe damage to the tool itself.

Fortunately, this magic tool had an automatic repair ability. The only problem was the tool spirit being in slumber, so its repair capabilities hadn't been fully utilized.

Meng Zhang's current task was to expend his Primordial Spirit's power slowly and help the tool spirit awaken as soon as possible.

Speaking of the tool spirit, Meng Zhang obtained a Fourth Rank flying sword from Marshal Wang this time.

The tool spirit of this flying sword was very resolute and hadn't submitted to Meng Zhang.

If the tool spirit didn't cooperate or even hindered him, even if he forcefully controlled the flying sword, he couldn't unleash its full power.

Taiyi Sect's heritage contained many methods to subdue tool spirits.

Some were gentle, others were forceful, involving coercion, lure, and deception, with a variety of approaches.

Most Fourth Rank magic tool's tool spirits, at best, had the intelligence of ordinary people, making them no match for the cunning cultivators.

The specific process didn't need to be elaborated, but Meng Zhang had indeed exerted quite an effort to subdue the tool spirit of this Fourth Rank magic tool.

The flying sword was named Thousand Troops, sharing the same name as its tool spirit.

Thousand Troops was crafted by the great master artisans of the Dali Dynasty using extraterrestrial meteorite iron and seabed golden steel, possessing both water and metal attributes.

The interaction of metal and water, two mutually engendering elements, greatly enhanced the flying sword's power.

When it was initially refined, the flying sword was only Third Rank.

Marshal Wang carried it with him, fought in different regions, and after a long period, gradually promoted it to Fourth Rank.

Among Fourth Rank flying swords, Thousand Troops wasn't particularly outstanding, just slightly better than an ordinary one.

However, any flying sword that could grow to Fourth Rank was undoubtedly no ordinary item.Previously, Meng Zhang didn't even have a Fourth Rank magic tool, but Xu Mengying gave him a Rainbow Dawn Glow Robe mainly for defense.

Now, he had obtained a Thousand Troops sword, finally possessing an offensive magic tool.

However, the only downside was that Marshal Wang personally elevated Thousand Troops to a Fourth Rank magic tool, and its tool spirit was also nurtured by him. The tool spirit, Thousand Troops, was too loyal to Marshal Wang, making it difficult to completely subdue. Although Meng Zhang appeared to have subdued it on the surface, he couldn't fully trust it.

Meng Zhang had to forcefully set up a restriction within the tool spirit to prevent it from rebelling. As a result, the tool spirit was restricted and unable to fully assist Meng Zhang in activating the flying sword, thus greatly reducing its power.

Nevertheless, having a Fourth Rank flying sword was better than nothing.

Due to abundant cultivation resources, Meng Zhang's cultivation speed hadn't slowed down much and was still progressing steadily.

To be honest, for most people in the Jiuqu League, including Meng Zhang, they all wished for this peaceful situation to continue, without having to fight and risk their lives against the terrifying Dali Dynasty army.

However, once this stability was achieved, many internal problems began to surface.

Jade Sword Sect, in need of war supplies, issued another recruitment order to forcefully collect various resources possessed by their subordinate cultivation forces.

Both manpower and resources had suffered significant losses during the previous great war for these cultivation forces.

Now should be the time to recuperate and recover, but Jade Sword Sect disregarded everyone's difficulties and forcibly conscripted, which was a bit excessive.

However, with Jade Sword Sect's formidable might and the support of Purple Yang Holy Sect, these cultivation forces had no means to resist and could only obediently empty their treasuries, draining their resources to meet Jade Sword Sect's almost endless demands.

Taiyi Sect couldn't escape this forced conscription either.

Although it was partially shared with their subordinate Hanhai Dao League, Taiyi Sect also had to deplete their treasury to barely meet Jade Sword Sect's demands.

Fortunately, for Primordial Spirit sects like Taiyi Sect, Jade Sword Sect left some room for maneuvering and didn't press them too hard.

A few truly rare spiritual items were secretly left behind by Niu Dawei under Meng Zhang's instructions. Additionally, he started moving precious items secretly to Maple Leaf Mountain City and sent a few children with good potential there.

Furthermore, Taiyi Sect's gains in Maple Leaf Mountain City were still unknown to outsiders.

If it weren't for the existence of Purple Yang Holy Sect, some cultivation forces might have secretly contacted the Dali Dynasty on this side of the Jiuqu League.

Jade Sword Sect's actions greatly harmed everyone's interests, naturally causing dissatisfaction.

After repelling the enemy and achieving victory, rewards and recognition should have followed, but instead, they faced increased exploitation. Even the most demanding landlords wouldn't do such a thing.

However, Jade Sword Sect had no other choice but to do so.

The high-ranking members of Jade Sword Sect also wanted clear rewards and recognition for merits, and they were also reluctant to continue increasing the demands and conscription.

However, the main force of the Dali Dynasty's army had only temporarily retreated, and they could return at any moment.

Jade Sword Sect had to collect resources, strengthen their defense, and be prepared for further battles.