——(POV third person, the fort)——

"We have to create towers here, here, and here. After that, we will create that side of the wall." Ye Ling explained to Yuan Yunyu their plan for the inner wall and the watchtowers as it was decided to let this new group of six handle one side of the wall and its towers to see how they work. The keep would be done in the time they are building the towers and walls so that the heavenly sword sect's disciples can join them and work on the walls so that they can build easier inside and also, fight the beasts easier.

"But why are we creating two-layer of walls?" Yuan Yunyu asked. She was thinking that it would be better if they were putting all their energy on one wall and strengthen that.

Ye Ling turned to face her with a deep frown.

"Are you testing me or is that really your question?" Ye Ling said as she was confused. Well, although she was confused her facial features showed anger and annoyance so Yuan Yunyu thought she felt offended by her question.

Yuan Yunyu knew that although they are allies they have created some tensions in the meeting and it is better to stop adding misunderstandings to it so she tried to explain herself.

"No, I am not well-versed in the art of war so I asked to know the reason, I didn't mean to offend you." Yuan Yunyu said.

'So she didn't want to test me.' Ye Ling nodded as she learned something new about social interactions. She then showed a map for the fort to Yuan Yunyu.

"Look at this map." Ye Ling pointed at the map. The map detailed every wall and tower that was to be built.

"We need this wall as our last resort, If I want to tell you in simplest of terms why having two layers of walls is necessary." Ye Ling said but frowned a little when even she could understand that Yuan Yunyu didn't get her point. She decided to give her an example, like how Li Huang explained to other disciples.

"Imagine that we have only one wall as you had in your mind. If the beast hordes attack from all directions, eventually there will be a side that is overwhelmed by the sheer number of the beasts and they can breach the wall." Ye Ling said almost word to word what Li Huang had said.

"If that were to happen, you would be surrounded by beasts from front and back, and just like that the fort is lost." Ye Ling used the map to show Yuan Yunyu what could happen.

"Now, if we have two walls, the inner walls can help us repel the beast quickly and with that support, we can fix the breach in our outer wall fast." Ye Ling said and she was proud of her memory that she could remember all this.

Yuan Yunyu understood it better now but something new came to her mind.

"Then why don't we build more walls?" Yuan Yunyu was now thinking that more walls mean more security.

"Because one, having more security might make us lazy when we lose one wall as we have many more walls and two, we don't have enough manpower to fill more than this so it wouldn't help in any way to have more walls and lastly, we don't have the time to do that." Ye Ling said the shorter version of what Li Huang said.

"Thank you, I understand it now." Yuan Yunyu said as she cupped her fists. With this, she reached enlightenment in the art of war.

"Good, now we can get back to work." Ye Ling nodded and said.

Now with twice the manpower, one can only expect at least twice the speed in building the fort.

——(POV third person, where Li Huang and Cai ZhenKang are working)——

"HAHAHA, Li Huang, you have to increase your speed." Cai ZhenKang said as he was cutting stones left and right.

"Cai ZhenKang, my speed is not the problem, you have to increase your accuracy." Li Huang said as he could see that some of the stones were not cut in the most perfect shape. Of course, Li Huang was nitpicking, but so was Cai ZhenKang.

Cai ZhenKang looked at the stones that Li Huang pointed at.

"Didn't you say you are building towers too? I was cutting those for the cornerstones." Cai ZhenKang said shamelessly.

"Is that so? Then my speed is lower than you because I'm detecting the cornerstones for future uses…" Li Huang said as he too could play the shameless part well.

"HAHAHA. Let's get all the stones that are around here before we get back." Cai ZhenKang said as he got back to cutting stones as fast as he could.

"Let's make it a bit more challenging. Let's finish this in half an hour." Li Huang also grinned and cut stones into big cubic shapes and then cut them into smaller sizes as he moved them with his Qi.

"Now we are talking!" Cai ZhenKang said and cut stones as if he was cutting butter.

The disciples who saw this couldn't help but be shocked by the gap between themselves and these two.

"They are terrifying opponents to have…" Dai Bao said as he looked at the duo.

"That I can confirm." the second in command of the blue bulls sect disciples, Kong Zexi, said as he had his fair share of spars with Cai ZhenKang.

Dai Bao and Kong Zexi looked at each other and sensed a sense of familiarity amongst one another.

All the disciples that were here had one thought in common, Li Huang and Cai ZhenKang are monsters. This was the first time that disciples from the heavenly sword sect and disciples from the blue bulls sect were unified on a subject.

…

Li Huang and Cai ZhenKang worked like a machine for the next half an hour. They worked so hard that no beast dared come near the group as the ground kept trembling because of how much Qi they kept blasting toward it. Other disciples were also working hard to show that they can keep up with Li Huang and Cai ZhenKang.

True to their words, they gathered all the collectible stones in the area in that half an hour.

"I think we have done it." Li Huang said as he looked around him.

"That felt good." Cai ZhenKang was happy that they could finish the work in time as he is very competitive.

"Yeah. Let's go to the fort so that we can deliver these materials." Li Huang said and walked toward other members of the guard team.

Everybody looked at him and greeted him and Cai ZhenKang who was also walking behind him.

"Good work everyone, we will go back for now." Li Huang said and collected the storage rings containing wood.

At the same time, Kong Zexi walked toward Cai ZhenKang and cupped his fists.

"Senior brother, we are not going to work with them, right?" he said with a low voice.

Cai ZhenKang turned to face him and smacked him on the head.

"Are you retarded Zexi? We have to prioritize getting out of here with all members to whatever the hell you are talking about." Cai ZhenKang left Kong Zexi there as he was shaking his head.

The group come together fast and ran to the fort's location. When they got there they could see that one side of the inner wall was almost built and the keep was already finished and even some of the formations were set around it.

Hu Anjing who saw Cai ZhenKang and other blue bulls sect disciples with Li Huang was surprised that they don't seem to be here to fight.

"Cai ZhenKang, did you come here to ask me for a spar?" Hu Anjing knew that they were probably here for the alliance but throw a jab at Cai ZhenKang anyway.

"Hahaha, no, no. We are here as an ally so that we can overcome this challenge together." Cai ZhenKang said while laughing nervously. Not only Hu Anjing was scary to him, but he had also used too much energy in the past hour so he wasn't ready in any shape or form for a spar.

"Good. Your sect contributes to the building process, is that alright?" Hu Anjing asked. She knows that they need to work faster as more and more beasts are coming together and form bigger hordes.

"I…uh, well I don't have a problem with that. It is only that I think I can work better in the guard team." Cai ZhenKang said as he really didn't want to work where Hu Anjing can boss him around and oddly enough, he really liked cutting stones with axe Qi.

Hu Anjing looked at Li Huang to see if he need him there.

"He is right. He is good at cutting stone with axe Qi." Li Huang said. It was easier to collect the much-needed stones with Cai ZhenKang around.

"Alright, then it is settled. Nine of you would work with the building team and you work with the guard team." Hu Anjing said and Cai ZhenKang nodded. He was more than happy to get a chance to get away from Hu Anjing, even if it costs him his fellow disciples.

Suddenly, everyone at the fifth stage of the Meridian formation realm and above felt a group of 20 people enter their Qi sense range.