——(POV Li Huang, a few minutes later)——

"What do you think, junior uncle?" Hu Anjing asked me after the leaders of the White Moon sect disciples left the tent to inform their fellow disciples about the tasks assigned to them.

"This is great that we are now twice as big, this way we can attract other holy lands easier…" I told her. Ye Ling also nodded to my words.

"That is true, but you know I wasn't asking about that…" Hu Anjing said and hinted with her eyes to the outside of the tent.

"Well, she is a spoiled brat, to say the least. Although she is like that, we don't need to like each other to work together in a situation like this…" I told her. He Junli was really the personification of what a 'young miss' from a powerful clan would look like, she is not someone that is fun to interact with but I would rather occasionally have some small talks with her and fight beast hordes easier than to not having her and her fellow disciples around and fight the hordes with more difficulty.

"You are right. Don't worry about her, I will handle her." Hu Anjing said. She had no intention of letting that girl get close to Li Huang. She started by asking him to fight her for his father's 'debt' today, who knows what she might come up with next…

"Thank you for that." I couldn't be happier about it. When Hu Anjing is keeping her in line I don't have anything to worry about.

"Take these scrolls and formations. Now that we have more manpower, I think we have to start laying some formations all over the place." I said as I put a couple of storage rings on the table. If a horde of gray worms attack the fort, the ground would have so many holes that the whole fort would crumble. By using formations we can strengthen the ground so that no such thing can happen, the scrolls are mostly used to repel beast attacks to a part of the buildings, secondary to the formations that are protecting them.

"…Junior uncle, isn't it too much?" Hu Anjing said. She wasn't talking about the amount that Li Huang gave them, she was talking about the cost of these items and how much Li Huang is spending for this trial. Although it was to save their lives, it was all coming from Li Huang's pockets.

"Don't worry about that. We can not hide that it was someone from our sect that created this mess to begin with, so when I do this it can be seen as our sect giving a hand to others. I am sure that I can get some sort of compensation from my grandpa." I told her. When we get out of here, if we do, the grand elders would surely check everyone's minds to see how this happened so We can't hide this for long. Me using my resources here not only improve our survival chances, but it also improves the sect's reputation in the minds of other participants.

Hu Anjing nodded as she understood what I was talking about.

"Okay, let's get back to work as we have a lot to do." I said as I stood up.

I got separated from Hu Anjing and Ye Ling and went toward where the new members of the guard team were gathered.

As I got closer to the meeting place, I could see four female disciples waiting there.

A few moments later I got in front of them and as they recognized me, they cupped their fists toward me.

I also did the same.

"I am Li Huang, chief disciple of the heavenly sword sect. As we are going to work together from now on, I think it would be better if we introduce ourselves first." I said and looked at them. As our group would only get larger over time, it is essential to have good chemistry between us.

The girls looked at each other for a second and then one of them stepped forward to introduce herself.

"I am Lang Yingmin , core disciple of the white moon sect." She said as she cupped her fists again. Lang Yingmin is a tall woman with long black hair and black eyes. Her build does suggest that she has experience in body cultivation.

She went back one step and the girl by her side come forward to introduce herself.

"My name is Tao Zhou. I am an inner disciple of the white moon sect." She said and cupped her fists like the one before her. She had average height with neck-length dark blue hair.

"I am called Cao Shuren and I am a core disciple of the white moon sect." The next girl said with enthusiasm. She was younger than others and was shorter too. She had light gray hair. From what I could guess, she was about 12 years old.

"… Wei Yimu, outer disciple of the white moon sect." The last girl introduced herself shyly. She also had an average height and had long black hair.

"Good, now I have only one question. Can anyone of you produce weapon Qi?" I asked them, if they can not use the weapon Qi to cut stones, I have to let them cut trees as the stones need to be cut precisely.

"I can but I am not very proficient with it yet." Lang Yingmin? raised her hand and said. Saying that I was surprised was an understatement. The fact that she is this powerful and isn't among the three leading figures of this group is really a mystery in itself.

——(POV third person)——

"Great! We have to gather wood and stone. For wood we don't have much to do other than cutting down the tree as most of the work will be done back here but for stones, we will use weapon Qi to cut them in a consistent size and shape." Li Huang said and the girls nodded to him but were confused a little because he said that he is using his weapon Qi to cut stones. Lang Yingmin? who said that she can use the weapon Qi now was shocked because she couldn't do such a thing with her weapon Qi.

"Okay, let's go toward others in this team as we have to get materials fast." Li Huang said and started running toward other members of the guard group. As he was wary of Jin Fen trying to get close to them when he was meeting with White Moon sect's disciples, he was monitoring them with his Qi sense all the time.

'As they say, fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.' Li Huang thought. He didn't have any plan to let Jin Fen walk away from this trial alive as he would clearly create more problems for him and the sect in the future.

It didn't take Li Huang and four disciples from the White Moon sect to reach the guard team who were fighting a small beast horde of monkeys.

Li Huang also attacked the monkeys as he got closer, using his sword Qi he finished off the majority of them from a distance. Disciples from the white moon sect now understood what he meant when he said he is going to use the weapon Qi to cut stones.

Lia Xinyue, Mo Hui, and Dai Bao turned and greeted Li Huang.

""Senior brother."" Even Dai Bao learnt a lesson on humbleness during this trial so he wasn't faking his respect to Li Huang.

Li Huang also greeted them and then pointed toward the four new faces.

"These four are our friends from the white moon sect. They will join our guard team to help and speed up our work." Li Huang explained and after a short greeting from both sides, they started moving to a location that they could collect wood and stone in a relatively close proximity.

As they started working, Lang Yingmin? walked to Li Huang.

"Young master Li, I am not at a level that I can do as you do, what should I do?" She asked Li Huang who was cutting multiple stones at once.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Just do it at your own pace and if you needed some help just tell me." Li Huang answered her.

"Yes, I will." Lang Yingmin? said and nodded.

…

Time passed like that and only half an hour later Li Huang could feel a new group getting close to him and other members of the guard team.

"HAHA, Li Huang, you didn't think you would see me this soon, did you?" Cai ZhenKang said with a big grin on his face as he and his fellow disciples from the Blue Bulls sect got closer to Li Huang and others.

Li Huang stopped and turned to face Cai ZhenKang.

"Cai ZhenKang, I can't say I missed you but it is good to see you." Li Huang said with a smile of his own.

"Are you here to join us?" Li Huang asked him straight.

"At first I wanted a rematch but now I think I will fight alongside you." Cai ZhenKang said. He didn't come to this decision arbitrarily. After he saw on the way that the beasts were acting strange, he knew that this alliance was the way to go. Even if he could survive this so-called 'punishment' by himself, his master would kill him because he failed to get others out alive so he will definitely go with this option.

Li Huang couldn't help but smile. Who would have thought that when they had problems wanting to work with their ally, the White Moon sect, they could work with their enemy, the Blue Bulls sect, with no problem?

"That would be a first for our sects." Li Huang said with a smirk.

"And the last I hope." Cai ZhenKang said as he too was smirking.

Li Huang and Cai ZhenKang both laughed and after a while, Li Huang explained to him their plans briefly.