After Di Li took a sip of the concentrated essence water, he proceeded to find a fairly clear spot to sit down and began meditating.
When taken in small quant.i.ties and when given enough time to be digested and distributed across one’s body, the concentrated essence water wasn"t very deadly at all, rather it was an extraordinary elixir that could aid even those with the poorest of abilities to quickly break through.
Of course, in this world there was nothing that was perfect and there was still a chance of failure and death, so Zhang had made sure to tell all of those who were present the dangers of over consuming the highly-concentrated essence water. If one’s path of cultivation did not include even a slight bit of danger, then one couldn’t possibly call one’s self a cultivator. Only when one was able to stride forward in the face of imminent danger could one step closer to immortality and to the highest reaches of the heavens.
In one way or another, the process of consuming essence water in itself could be considered a trial for Zhang’s subordinates, a trial that would not only test their bravery and courage but also help teach them self-restraint and modesty.
Although there were ways to make the consumption of essence water much safer, Zhang feared that this would invite unwanted complications.
When a powerless person is suddenly granted immeasurable power without having to put in too much effort, it is easy for them to lose their minds and become drunk on their new-found abilities, acting without restraint.
However, by keeping the element of danger when consuming essence water, Zhang’s subordinates would have their minds tempered and the chances of them acting out of line would of course greatly decrease also.
What Zhang needed least right now was his subordinates going out and stirring trouble, since there countless tasked still remaining for him to complete.
Even an army of saints at his beck and call, Zhang’s worries would still not be at an end. He had no idea how powerful the enemy he would be facing was, he did not know if they would show up with a few hundred full saints or with a few dozen half deities. Thus, he could not place all of his hope and Aurora’s fate within the hands of his future saint army.
So, as Zhang lead Di Li into the Dragon’s Lair, Yuying and the other beauties were each performing various tasks in different regions of the Aurora Empire.
Each accompanied by a team of a dozen or so saints, each of the beauties were hard at work, using their saintly powers to split tall mountains, divert snaking rivers and cut down ancient forests, leaving deep scars in the earth.
When looking at each of their activities alone, it would seem like the beauties were acting without purpose or venting their frustrations on the land, however if someone were able to look down from s.p.a.ce and see the entirety of the Aurora Empire, they would be stunned to see that gigantic formation was slowly taking shape.
As crazy and out of this world as it sounded, the beauties were actually constructing a ma.s.sive spell formation that stretched from the four corners of the Aurora Empire.
Although successfully completing such a monumental task was extremely difficult due to how precise and accurate everything had to be, if the beauties were able to do so, not only would Aurora gain another means to protect itself, it would also gain an immeasurable advantage over its enemies.
So, as the beauties were hard at work and while Zhang continued to strengthen his army on top of performing other various tasks, time pa.s.sed like heartbeats, and in what seemed like an instant a few months had flown by.
“Now we will see if all of our hard work has paid off or not.” Yuying could be heard saying as she could be seen levitating in the air.
“I hope this works or else all of the time we had spent was all for naught.” Ling said with a long sigh, hoping that all the hard work that she had put in would not be wasted.
“Regardless of whether or not this works, I never want to do something like this again…” Ai complained.
“I heard about your little encounter with some sheep.” Lingqi said with a chuckle while partially cover her mouth with her hand.
“I never want to see another sheep in my entire life…” Ai said as a frown appeared on her face, as she recalled a fateful encounter with a ma.s.sive herd of sheep.
A few weeks after the construction of the gigantic spell formation began, as Ai was hard at work, splitting apart the land, she had accidentally broken up a shepherd"s herd of sheep. Being kind hearted and feeling bad for the shepherd, Ai volunteered to help transport the hundred or so sheep that was stuck on the other side of the ravine that she had created.
With a bit of quick thinking, Ai had retrieved her Black Thorn Whip and latched it onto the opposite ledge before enlarging its size, creating a makeshift bridge.
At first this method had worked without a cinch, however before long, a few sheep had actually felt Ai’s presence and stumbled off of the Black Thorn Whip and fell into the deep ravine, forcing Ai to swoop in and save them as she cursed how afraid animals were when they were around her.
Just as Ai managed to grab two of the falling sheep, two more fell into the ravine and then two more and then two more. By the time, all the one hundred or so sheep had crossed to the other side of the ravine, her robes were in shambles, she was covered in dirt, and wool and her hair was a mess.
Believing her task was done and she had completed a good deed, Ai readied to take off into the skies once again, only to be stopped by the appearance of a ma.s.sive herd of sheep that numbered in the thousands.
Looking into the pleading eyes of the poor shepherd, Ai spent the rest of her day transporting sheep across the ravine and thus from then on, she vowed to never do as much as lay eyes on another sheep again.
“There was so much wool… There was wool in my hair, there was wool sticking to my dress and I was even coughing up b.a.l.l.s of wool a few days later…” Ai mumbled as a shiver ran down her spine.
“Enough teasing for now, let"s test out the formation and then get some rest.” Yuying said with a gentle smile as she gazed down at the Dragon’s Lair and the dozen or so lines that she and the other beauties had cut into the ground.
“Alright let"s finish up, then we can go back and rest for a bit. Afterward we still have to make sure that we distribute one of these talismans to every single citizen of Aurora.” Ling said while holding up a golden colored talisman as she levitated in the air beside Yuying.
Without any further delay, the four beauties each pointed their fingers in one of the four respective directions, releasing four beams of essence toward the ground.
Under the influence of the four beauties, these beams of condensed essence left deep cuts in the earth in their quake, drawing four straight lines toward the Dragon’s Lair, toward four large distinct looking towers that pierced into the clouds.
Surprisingly enough despite being able to split the earth, the rays of essence being released from the fingertips of the four beauties did not damage the four towers at all when the two came into contact with each other.
Rather than taking damage, the four towers actually began to resonate with the beams of essence, glowing magnificently while released invisible pulses of essence into the air.
While appearing ordinary at first glance, all four of these towers were actually connected to the dragon’s vein and were actually channeling ma.s.sive amounts of essence from the earth.
“Connect!” Yuying yelled the moment each of the lines intersected with a tower. In a flash, as a response to Yuying’s actions, the lines cut deep into the earth began to slowly light up while releasing a beautiful golden glow.
Like the shifting waters of a raging tsunami, bit by bit the ma.s.sive array lit up. From the heart of the Aurora Empire to far fringes of the eastern and western sea, the golden light shone ever so beautifully, drawing the attention of countless people.
“It works!” Ai cheered happily with jubilant eyes and a broad smile on her face as she watched the golden glow light up the entirety of the Aurora Empire.
“We did it!” Lingqi also cheered happily as she enjoyed the light show occurring in front of her eyes.
“With this, regardless of who or what comes to cause trouble, the Aurora Empire will never fall into their hands.” Yuying said in a rea.s.suring tone while her eyes shone brightly.
“Deactivate!” Yuying then said, causing the beautiful golden glow enveloping the land to fade away, returning the night was thus shrouded in darkness once more while the citizens of the Aurora Empire were left to wonder what they had just witnessed.
“Now we can rest while our subordinates distribute the talismans to everyone.” Yuying said to her sisters as she took the initiative to fly into the Dragon’s Lair where Zhang was currently residing.
Following after Yuying, the other beauties soon arrived at the very bottom of the Dragon’s Lair where a fairly large castle had recently been constructed. Flying into the innermost part of the castle without any hindrances, the beauties quickly arrived on a balcony situated at the very top of a large tower.
Peering in through a set of curtains, the four young wives instantly spotted their husband, sound asleep behind a desk br.i.m.m.i.n.g with papers.
Moving with light steps so they did not disturb Zhang, the beauties entered the room before draping a warm blanket around their husband’s shoulders and then gathering around the desk with mischievous looks on their faces.
“Are you sure this is fine? Won’t he be angry when he wakes up?” Lingqi asked in a soft voice while slightly giggling.
“He won’t get mad if he doesn’t know who did it.” Yuying softly chuckled while holding a long brush in her hand.
Thus, the beauties used their sleeping husband’s face as a blank canvas, before getting some well-deserved rest.