Chapter Forty-Two: The City of Vengeance

There is strength in numbers, and more firewood makes for a higher flame.

This is an unshakable truth, valid everywhere.

With over ten thousand cultivators—at the very least all at the Body Refining Stage—working together under unified command, their efficiency was countless times greater than that of ordinary people.

Wang Li’s plan was to first establish solid defenses, leaving no chance for the earth howler packs to strike, then build a fortified city and hold their ground while they waited for the situation to become clear.

Since the Heavenly Selection was a test, there must be certain rules; it was impossible they would simply abandon everyone here without oversight.

What Wang Li needed to do was ensure, as much as possible, that his sect suffered minimal casualties before understanding the rules of this selection.

Building a stronghold and gathering everyone together was currently their best option.

Jiang Yu and Luo Heng forcefully took over responsibility for the defensive line, placing three thousand people at the front, while a thousand disciples at or above the second level of the Qi Refining Stage were stationed behind the mountain, establishing a rear line to prevent any enemy incursion from behind.

Jiang Yu was meticulous in arranging the defenses, never neglecting the small defense squads from each district. Until the camp was fully constructed, the twenty defense squads would stand guard on both defensive lines.

All remaining personnel were handed over to Hong Luan Peak and Ling Xiao to build the city walls and living quarters.

Construction of the city wall began first.

Cultivators build differently from mortals, and Wang Li had no intention of establishing a permanent stronghold, so the construction was simple and direct.

Disciples adept in wood-element techniques reshaped timber into towering columns, each two zhang tall, and used vines to bind the columns, forming the wall’s skeleton.

Once the frame was complete, earth-element disciples came in, using their arts to heap layers of soil and stone around the framework, fusing it into the main body of the wall.

Afterward, they used their arts to dig a moat two zhang deep and three zhang wide around the outside of the wall.

Then, metal-element disciples reinforced the walls and moat surface with their techniques.

Finally, water-element and earth-element disciples worked together, diverting all the nearby mountain springs into the moat. Before long, the entire camp would be encircled by a broad moat, further enhancing its defenses.

When the wall was finished, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

With this barrier in place, they no longer had to fear the earth howler packs unless a pack leader came to break the wall. Otherwise, they were confident in holding out and even destroying any invading enemies.

Once the wall stood, Jiang Yu immediately assigned defensive forces atop it and stationed Foundation Establishment disciples in the air above the camp to patrol the surroundings.

Next came the construction of living quarters for the disciples within the camp.

This was far simpler than building the wall.

First, many cultivators carried tents and similar items for possible wilderness camping, making setup easy.

Second, the camp’s location itself was a rocky mountainside, ideal for quickly excavating many caves to shelter the disciples.

In the end, Wang Li found a fortress-type spiritual artifact among the apologies sent by Master Liuguang. Although it was only of lower Profound grade, once deployed, it could accommodate two thousand people.

At first, Wang Li was suspicious of its origins, for such fortress artifacts were typically reserved for royal armies. But, recalling Master Liuguang’s ties to the Wei Dynasty, he let it go.

Perhaps this treasure was prepared for his personal guard back when Master Liuguang was a prince, and having no further use for it, he gave it away as compensation.

After a bit of refinement, Wang Li placed this artifact at the center of the camp, completing the construction.

Since everyone here was a cultivator, there was no need to consider infrastructure like roads or water, so the build was astonishingly swift—completed in less than a night.

Wang Li summoned the captains of all the squads to discuss the next steps. At that moment, Nan Qi, who had been searching the city for missing disciples, returned.

Seeing Nan Qi’s grave expression, Wang Li’s heart tightened. He quickly asked, “How is the situation in the city? How many disciples were lost?”

The earth howler pack had appeared so suddenly, and the disciples had been scattered. It wasn’t surprising that some had run straight into the beasts. If even Jiang Yue could be endangered, those of lower cultivation were unlikely to escape unscathed.

“Reporting to Steward Wang, I led the others to search the ruins and found over a hundred of our sectmates’ remains, but we only managed to save fewer than fifty alive.”

Nan Qi’s eyes were red as he continued, “Those remains we found were the lucky ones. Who knows how many were swallowed by the earth howlers, leaving nothing behind.”

“So many casualties... it’s truly tragic!”

Hearing of so many deaths, Wang Li felt a pang of sorrow but forced himself to remain composed.

With a cold face, he said, “Nan Qi, go find Hong Luan Peak and Ling Xiao, and tally up exactly how many people we’ve lost.”

Nan Qi, fighting back grief, replied, “But we don’t even know how many of our sect were transported here in the first place. How can we get an accurate count?”

Wang Li was taken aback—he had overlooked this problem.

Master Sheng spoke up, “Everyone here should be a cultivator under a hundred years old. If you check by those two criteria—under a hundred and a cultivator—though troublesome, you can get a reliable estimate.”

Wang Li wanted to ask why these were the criteria, but he trusted Master Sheng wouldn’t lie at a time like this, so he instructed Nan Qi to proceed as advised.

Once Nan Qi left and before Wang Li could ask about the true nature of the “Heavenly Selection,” the twenty squad captains arrived.

Composing himself, he addressed them: “The camp is built. For now, you needn’t worry about safety, but let me be clear—this so-called Heavenly Selection is far from safe. Nan Qi just returned; over a hundred of our disciples’ remains were found in the ruins. Don’t think you can let your guard down just because a camp stands. One careless mistake and people will die!”

“What? So many have died?”

“This isn’t a selection—it’s outright murder!”

“I wonder if the elders in the sect can find us...”

“So many lost... how will we explain this if we return?”

The crowd’s spirits were low, but more than anything, they were lost.

They didn’t understand why they’d been chosen for the Heavenly Selection, nor what purpose it served.

Death was not something they couldn’t accept—cultivation itself was a defiance of fate, and from the moment they set foot on this path, they were prepared for anything.

They simply didn’t want to die for no reason, or to perish in silence.

They needed a goal, someone to tell them what to do next.

Wang Li couldn’t fathom their inner turmoil, but he knew how to redirect their focus.

“Silence!” Wang Li barked, cutting them off. “Who here still remembers the oath you swore when joining the Pure Yang Temple?”

Someone replied, “Uphold justice, destroy evil, protect the Way!”

“Exactly,” Wang Li said. “To uphold justice and destroy evil—no matter where you are, you cannot forget your duty as disciples of Pure Yang Temple.”

“I don’t care about this so-called Heavenly Selection. All I know is those monsters in the city murdered our sectmates. We must avenge them!”

“Steward Wang is right! To hell with the selection. Our people died—it was the earth howlers. We must have our revenge!”

“Vengeance! We won’t let our comrades die in vain!”

Wang Li was unsure if motivating them with hatred was right, but it was better than letting them drift aimlessly.

He raised his right hand and clenched his fist. “Yes, we will avenge them! Therefore, I declare—we shall name our camp ‘Vengeance City!’”

“Vengeance City will be our starting point. With our swords in hand, we will slay every beast in this city!”

“Vengeance City!”

“Vengeance City!”

“Slay the monsters!”