--Gate Guardian Tree--
A row of captives in formation chains was led into the small town at the foot of the giant tree. The outpost had been stomped out of the ground in a matter of a day by Karina, the dryad. While they had been waiting for the arrival of Minas Mar's First Wave, Master Mountain and his allies had taken action.
"Master, with this, we have captured any cultivators we were able to find in the vicinity," a disciple reported to Master Mountain. The Luminous Mountain Sect and the Soaring Falcon Sect, as the only sects officially acknowledged by Minas Mar on Urth, had worked together to clean up the surroundings.
Many sects had sent their elders and disciples to this new land to benefit from its raw potential and abundant power. While a few ventured further into the continent, most stayed close to the outpost that had formed in this place. Most people had been returned to the Cloud Continent upon the erection of the Gate Guardian, but some had not been present and roamed the vicinity.
"Good, lock the away for now, but don't be too rough. We will relocate them in due time," Yu answered, nodding. From his perspective, he actually did them a favor by doing this. Even if the captives may disagree, they didn't know the alternative.
With the erection of the Guardian Tree, Minas Mar was going to extend its influence here soon. They had no interest in showing mercy to pillagers any longer. Cultivators without documentation plundering Urth and running rampant, would not be shown mercy. It was best for them to return while the natives still intended to show mercy.
"Relocation" aka being beaten half to death and thrown back to the Voracious Cloud Continent, stripped down to the underwear, was the mildest sentence for undocumented trespassing. At least Master Mountain intended to return them with their clothing.
So far, they had caught hundreds of cultivators that had stayed at the now destroyed Verdant Twilight Gate, but had been outside gathering treasures at the time. The amount of precious herbs and earthly treasures they had collected in this place even impressed Master Mountain.
Although he didn't like this part of him, he couldn't help but look forward to the benefits of this alliance. He was really glad to have allied with Seth early on. As one of the only sects truly trusted by Minas Mar, they would be able to monopolize this trade between worlds.
He glanced at the small golden ring on his finger that he had received from Seth in the past. Even for him, without this, he would be helplessly squashed by the massive tree towering over him. Without an item that allowed passage, it would be impossible for people to cross this border.
It would be next to impossible for other sects of the continent to gain access to Urth, now that the rift was blocked by the Gate Guardian. The only way for unknown cultivators to gain entry was with their guarantee. The Luminous Mountain Sect and the Soaring Falcon Sect would grow tremendously in the future.
All thanks to Minas Mar and their mysterious means and his foresight. Xiong Peng really owed him big, thinking that he let him in on this relationship.
"Sir?" the disciple had returned
"Yes?" he asked, sitting up in his chair.
"The first delegation from Minas Mar has arrived," he said with a slight tremble in his voice.
"Already?" he asked, surprised. Idyllin Mo had only set off a couple of hours ago, but had already returned? Yu furrowed his brows at the disciples' behavior but didn't give it any further thought. He simply got up from his chair and followed to greet the delegation.
He only understood the disciples' reaction when he arrived at the place they planned to build the System Church. A troop of almost 300 Oath Guards, their armors dyed a shadowy dark gray, had assembled at the foot of the giant tree trunk.
They were exuding and tremendous aura and killing intent. Master Maintain could feel the air quiver by their mere presence. Each of them was comparable to a Nascent Soul Peak cultivator, or maybe even early Spirit Severing.
It was hard to imagine that these people were not Minas Mar's Strike Force, but their Covert Ops. Seth had said they were primarily assassins and thieves. Yu knew that this was about their class, not their profession. Still, the current picture made them look very much like a group of hitmen.
A much smaller and less conspicuous group of people was the priest. About 50 people in unique robes stood to the side, already inspecting their construction site and talking about the plans.
"Greetings," he said, clasping his hands in front of his chest and giving a small bow. The man at the helm of the Special Ops returned the continent's greeting.
"Good day, Master Mountain. I'm Carter, the mission operator," the man at their helm introduced himself. Their mission was the "peaceful" return of the people of Urth. Seth had called it an extraction of the known survivors.
Standing beside them was a third group. They were cultivators he recognized from the Great Tournament. The guides that would lead the way to the target locations for this so-called extraction. Then there was one sore thumb that stood out, by sitting down.
Idyllin Mo, the man responsible for the transportation of these people, was lying on the ground. A single person had transported over 300 people in one go, across half the world. Even if he was lying on the ground gasping, it was a tremendous feat.
It was only now, when looking at this scary collection of people, that he realized what it actually meant for Minas Mar to step into the continent. To say it with the words of Urth, Minas Mar had no chill.
...
---Chrona, Imperial Palace---
Sitting in his official office, Ponze Leon Chrona, the current crown prince, was reading reports with growing concern. Things were going well for. Although it was not within his expectation for Urth to resist Spatia, it had no effect on Chrona.
Although his elder brother had vanished, he had weeded out his people at the court. Things were going well, but there was some concerning news from Spatia reaching him through various channels. The catastrophe of the blue skies.
Across the worlds of Spatia, the atmospheres were turning blue. A deeper blue than they were supposed to be. People were falling ill for no reason at all, and healing magic could only help temporarily. They most suffered problems breathing.
The problem itself seemed minor, but Ponze saw a pattern. It was not a normal distribution happening in a natural way through a connection between worlds. The disasters seemed to appear mostly in the worlds of a specific lord.
Lord Byron was a member of Spatia's imperial family, but that was not all. Ponze happened to know that this specific royal also happened to be involved with the invasion of Urth. Maybe he was paranoid, but he couldn't help but suspect a connection.
Minas Mar had been quite vocal in the system community about their disapproval of Spatia's actions and potential retaliation. There were not many worlds that dared to pick a fight with the big empires like Spatia or Chrona. These worlds usually didn't stay independent for much longer.
Ponze scowled. But could this really be the action of a single, tiny world? No, he doubted they could pull it off, even if they used to be a technologically advanced civilization; he had not seen the potential these were supposed to have.
But what if he was wrong? If they actually went on the offense against Spatia, would Leana still shy away from taking action against him? If these rabid dogs went for Spatia, what stopped them from attacking Chrona?
Maybe he would have to put some preparations...