Approximately 310 kilometers away from the crater, the first group of cultivators belonging to the 'Temple' had already set up camp next to a couple of mountains at the edge of a forest.
In the dark of the night, torches could be seen placed around a few hundred small tents.
Groups of 4-6 men sat around campfires cooking random things or just using them to keep dry and warm from the occasional drizzle coming their way.
Various beastly sounds echoed throughout the forest, keeping them alert and wide awake.
These were the local mortal warriors the temple would be using during the big fight. They had received basic combat and weapon training after being taken in.
They were also inaugurated on the cultivation systems and taught all basic information which made them vehemently respect all cultivators and treat them as some sort of superior beings.
Away from these tents was another larger tent set up that was lit up without any source of light.
Inside, about ten or so young men and women sat around a table in low spirits.
"This is bullshit. Why did I get selected for such a mundane task?" one of them complained.
He was a man of short stature that had two shortswords attached to his back. As soon as he spoke up, another one joined in as well.
"I heard Lord Stasa even took out the rogue cultivators to have some fun," he said with a deep sigh and obvious envy.
But then a loud voice interrupted their pity party from the side. A lady with light red hair shouted angrily.
"Quit your complaining! There are far more capable people here than you two and they haven't complained. What gives you the right?!" she glanced towards the other end of the table nearest to the door as she said this.
Silenced by her remarks, many of the individuals looked towards the person she was referring to.
It was a large man with four folded arms. He was sitting there with closed eyes, regulating his breathing.
This was of course Monk. He was already an elite warrior of the powerful Jia Clan before joining the temple and after receiving some training on his fundamentals, he progressed quickly and gained fame amongst his peers.
As is the case with most similar institutions, power begets acclaim and admiration and he deserved it, especially with the facade he put up.
Sensing the gazes on him, he stood up before opening his eyes.
"I will take the first watch," he threw out the words and walked out of the tent with large strides.
As soon as he left, the sound of bickering stopped as well. There was a sound suppression rune placed at the front of the tent which kept things quiet, thankfully.
With a deep sigh, he was about to walk towards the forest when some of the locals saw him and quickly got down to their knees in the muddy ground.
"Welcome master!"
"Welcome!"
Not to mention the other cultivators, Monk alone was several heads higher than everybody else and with his four arms and the massive spear on his back, he looked extremely intimidating to these simple-minded humans who didn't know better.
"At ease. I will keep the first watch, you people rest for now," Monk said with an emotionless face and jumped, disappearing into the dense forest.
The mortals looked at him as if looking at a god. Theis ignorant mindset of theirs helped keep them in line even when they outnumbered the cultivators 1 to a 100.
The thought of rebelling never even crossed their minds.
Monk jumped a couple of times before coming to a stop. He looked at his Spirit Band for a few seconds and changed direction.
It only took him a minute or so at the designated location.
He came to a stop on the other side of one of the small mountains where they had made camp.
There was a cave here, barely big enough for him to enter. He went in.
As soon as he stepped through the boundary, a couple of voices carried over.
"You're late," one of them said, prompting Monk to smile.
"Long time no see boss," he grinned towards Hao Xuan who was sitting next to another, black-robed figure.
Monk simply looked at Ensis once before ignoring him completely but Ensis didn't even bother to throw him a single glance.
Hao Xuan was facing the entrance with a Lightstone placed in front of him while Ensis and Monk had their back towards the entrance that also had a formation placed around it.
After sitting down, Monk looked at Hao Xuan carefully with furrowed brows.
"You feel a little different," he commented.
Hao Xuan waved his hand, "Too much happened. Tell me, what's happening with the Temple? Any big news?"
