Alex's group then continued to destroy the second branch. It did not really have much difference from the first branch other than the participation of the city lord. Inside the next town, the city lord had a peaceful family life. He really loved his wife, so he did not really have any attachment to the brothel.
In fact, he hated the brothel to the bone. The brothel had misled his son, turning him to a regular customer there.
Unfortunately, he could not do anything because he could not go against the Joyful Union Sect. When he saw Alex's group, he pretended to help the brothel.
Stina could feel that he did not fight seriously at all and went along with him, making a fake fight. This way, she would not use much power while the City Lord could see the brothel crumble to pieces.
If the Joyful Union Sect asked him to do account, he could just say that the enemies were too powerful as an 8-Star Martial Emperor stopped him.
The reason he joined the fight was also because of his son. Seeing how he went through the motion, his son would be convinced that he had fulfilled his job as a father, he just could not stop them.
It was a win-win situation for him, so he did not care about anything else. He even thanked Alex's group inwardly after he destroyed the brothel.
Unlike the brothel from the last town, this town's brothel openly took advantage of his son, making him spend numerous resources. If he did not give his son freedom, they would threaten him by using the Joyful Union Sect.
Because of the situation, they finished earlier than Alex expected.
The next day, they continued destroying the third and fourth target, leaving no time to react. Luckily, it would seem there was no Memory Mirror that let them communicate through the long-distance as it was a peak rank 7 item.
It was understandable if the influence in Heavenly Continent used it, but it was too expensive for Joyful Union Sect.
Luckily, the situation was also under control. Alex used his array to block every exit and kill all of them.
After destroying their target for the day, they rested in a forest near them.
…
In the same meeting room as yesterday, the sect master of Joyful Union Sect discussed the general situation of the sect until a disciple rushed in.
"Sect Master, I have bad news."
"Bad news again? Sh*t. Is God playing us recently? What is the bad news? Did another influence, especially the Blackwade Clan, decide to attack us?" He snorted.
"No. It's about Elder Tian. After checking the Life Room, we have confirmed that Elder Tian, along with all the disciples in Iron Branch, died."
"What did you say?!" He stood up, roaring, "Who dared to do it? You won't say it was Spirit Nest, right? They just destroyed two branches yesterday and they needed at least three days before arriving at the nearest branch!"
"I… I don't know." The disciple kneeled, sweating profusely. She just came here to bring the bad news, not knowing anything other than that.
The elders' expression also darkened. If Alex was here, he might even laugh at them, saying, "There is no telephone here or my spirit cards, so you won't know anything if you don't have time."
"Sect Master, what should we do?"
"Do they have a bigger force than us?"
"Do you mean they have split their force into three and attack us simultaneously?"
"Shut up!" Before they started debating amongst themselves, the sect master silenced him with a shout. "Can you-"
The same as what he did, he was stopped by a disciple who suddenly came like the first one. He clasped his hand and kneeled down, "I bring bad news, Sect Master. Elder… Elder… Elder Rene has died together with all the core disciples."
"Hiss…"
No one would dare to speak again after hearing this news. The sect master walked toward the disciple, grabbing his neck. "What did you say…"
The cold killing intent spread through the room as a fierce 10-Star Martial Emperor's aura slowly filled the tension.
"Sect Master…" The disciple could not breathe, begging the sect master to put him down.
Unfortunately, before the sect master put him down, he grabbed his head, shattering his skull with his grip alone. He threw away the disciple like throwing a broken toy before slamming his hand on the ground, cracking the whole room.
"Those bastards! Since they want war, I will give them war!"
The roar was echoing through the entire sect, startling all disciples.
He looked at an elder, giving his order, "Tell all elders to stand by inside the sect and all disciples to train inside the sect. From today, all missions shall be suspended until further notice.
"Tenth Elder will oversee the sect until I come back. As for the other elders, try to use your connection to buy as many pills as possible."
"Sect Master, are you going to…"
"Yeah. It's time to wake that person up from his cultivation." He stared at them coldly, telling them not to mess up.
They clasped their hands, assuring him. Unfortunately, with how the Blackwade Clan monopolize the pill market, it would be a hard challenge for them to buy the pills because a bit far away from the room, there was a little black dog, hearing all their conversation.
And it would immediately contact Alex, who was recovering his strength after destroying the fourth branch.
[Host, Anya is calling you.]
Alex took out Anya's card, confusing the others. "Do you need me for something?"
"Get Njomo's card in the Inventory as he has information about the Joyful Union Sect."
"Alright. Thanks." He opened his inventory, taking out Njomo's card. "What's up?"
"Woof Woof Woof. Woof Woof." As expected, he still could not understand what he was saying.
"Njomo said, the sect master of the Joyful Union Sect has left the sect. He does not know where he is heading, but it seems he is going to wake someone up, and this person is powerful."
"Woof Woof Woof."
"He also said the sect had shut their gate and prepared for war. The elders need to buy as many pills as possible." Anna translated him before realizing something. "If they want to buy a pill, we have two options. First, we can use this opportunity to sell our pill, but it would strengthen our enemy. The second option would be informing Song Yu about this, asking her not to sell any pills to Joyful Union Sect."
"Woof Woof."
"What?" Anna was startled by the next information, even the others who knew the language opened their mouth in surprise.
"What is it?" Alex furrowed his eyebrows, confused by everyone's reaction.
"Our course of action has been decided. It will be either I die or you perish."
"It will be hard to move Senior Sister, but I think it is worth it. Seeing how Blackwade Clan hate Joyful Union Sect, I am sure she would be convinced." Alex nodded. "Since he wants a war, then I will give him war."
"Woof."
"He said the same thing as you."
"..." Alex was speechless. "I think you don't need to translate the last thing."
Everyone chuckled, brightening the mood. Alex then asked Anna, "Who is the one responsible for the Blackwade Clan?"
"It's Nicole."
Alex nodded. "Anya, give me Nicole's card."
"Alright." She put Nicole's card in inventory. The Inventory system had become a very good system.
He grabbed Nicole's card and said, "Nicole. Tell Senior Sister that I am going to war against the Joyful Union Sect. It will be best if they don't sell anything to Joyful Union Sect.
"I know it will be a good deal for them to get money from this, but if they are truly helping them, it is the same as making it hard for me.
"If you can't convince her, tell her that I will bring three million Spirit Gems worth of Medicinal Ingredients. With my VIP card, they should buy them from me twenty percent more, making it six hundred thousand Spirit Gems. Tell her she only needs to prepare three million Spirit Gems and use that six hundred thousand to ban the Joyful Union Sect."
"Understood."
He then tossed the card inside the Inventory again. "Sigh… it will be chaotic from now on."
"Ah, I wish to have that peaceful environment from my world…" Stina sighed.
"Well, you have been warned." Alex shrugged.
He looked at Anna, "Do you have the information about that sect with you? Like their number and such."
"There is nothing much I can tell you. From our information, they had an old Martial Monarch as their sect guardian a few hundred years ago. Suddenly, that person vanished from everyone's sight, making them think he has died.
"However, judging from the sect master's reaction, that person might haven't died and would fight against us. We should prepare for a Martial Monarch, 2-Star or 3-Star as our opponent this time.
"As for the elders, their elders range from 6-Star to 9-Star Martial Emperors with the sect master being a 10-Star. There are a total of 72 elders with seven elders being 9-Star Martial Emperors.
"Their core disciples are around 1-Star to 5-Star Martial Emperors. In total, they have around 500 disciples. The rest would be Martial King or lower. They have around six thousand Martial Kings and more than twenty thousand Martial Lords. We can ignore the rest."
"Hmm… This will be a bit hard, I guess." Alex looked down, speculating the war. Since they were the attacker, they would invade someone's home, unaware of their terrain and such. "We need more information about their sect, terrain, people, and relation.
"As for the fight, I think I would ask for Senior Sister help." Alex sighed. "Since the Blackwade Clan wants to destroy his sect, she should agree with this."
"When are you telling her?"
"We are going to war right before the Strength Plateau event and after the auction, since I am going to increase my cultivation as high as possible. Hopefully, I can reach 4-Star to raise Leoz to 4-Star Martial Monarch. I will tell Senior Sister one month before the auction." Alex replied.
"If we are going to war at that time, I suggest we employ Guerilla tactics for a while. Their branches even extend to the western part of this continent, so we can strike them first and reduce their number. I know you are going to cultivate after this, so only us, spirits, will go this time. I will take the command while Anya will handle the battle plan. As for Sherry, Kyle, and Stina, I suggest cultivating in the meantime, especially Stina. I hope you can reach the 10-Star Martial Emperor before our fight against the Joyful Union Sect."
Sherry and Kyle nodded. "We will reach at least 5-Star or 6-Star Martial Emperors within this time."
"It should be possible with Master's resource and gathering array. I am close to 9-Star anyway." Stina accepted the requirement.
"Good. The spirits are 5-Star right now. After destroying all the branches, I hope we can become 6-Star or even 7-Star Martial Emperors. Leoz and Stina alone won't be enough. We, at least, need two more people to reach 10-Star though I would welcome more. For now, our mission will be to destroy all branches in this continent and get Gacha Tickets as many as possible." Anna ordered the spirits.
"Gahaha… I will destroy their sect." Leoz raised his sword, looking forward to the battle.
"Indeed. They dare to make war against our Master. They deserve death." Jeanne smirked. "If only I can torture that sect master…"
"Uhm, as expected of Sister, you are only second to Master." Jean praised Jeanne.
"It's not like we are doing it for you, alright? It's just because they target us." The couple acted as usual.
"I am Master's knight, so I shall wield this blade to claim my enemy's life. Besides, that sect is evil, I shall purge them with my own hand." Artur released his righteous aura.
"I am just a shield and I will ensure everyone's safety all the time," Greg said with his reliable tone.
If only Nelson were here, he might say he would assassinate the sect master and that mysterious old man.
After discussing the plan, they waited for the next day to come.