Four years passed and the Southern Continent had changed drastically. Where once there were factions dividing up land and resources to hoard for their own, now complex towers and formations were aligned along the coasts.

Bridges extended through once wild country to allow ease of movement for major resources. They connected massive ravines or over powerful rivers all over the land.

There was no unified power but there was a unified purpose. The experience of facing the Fiends had proven they had put too much hope in a single battle.

While effective at killing them, the rules had been shattered and a single battle was far more likely to go against them. Lind’s weapons were simply too limited as well. They could kill Fiend’s with ease yet broke down far too quickly.

They also required very high grade materials to withstand his Forging process. There was simply not enough of any of the materials to supply the weapons needed for their current foe.

The Fiends were doing something in the wasted Eastern Continent but the greater worry was the Great One. He had seemingly vanished after the final flare of his aura.

Lind had worried about that but had to focus. Instead of relying on power, he would rely on his knowledge. Harmonies were a weakness to Fiends but only from the 6 elementals. The Master Tiers’ sheer power allowed them to win most fights and they always treated the harmony as an aspect of their cultivation tier.

In other words, they never truly mastered them. They had not even realized all the possibilities outside of pure cultivation alone.

Thus, Lind opened up the doors with his long fought path of cultivation. The results were already evident and just had to be updated for the Divine Realm. The time spent laying low and traveling from the Fiends and their allies was used doing just that.

Now, the Master Tiers worked miracles to transform the Southern Continent into a fortress. What would normally take millennia was done in a handful of years.

The power of Master Tiers was fully demonstrated by that result.

What Lind then did was assign Harmonic Dragons or other 6 elemental cultivators to each tower in teams.

The arrays carried the power of harmonies to create an instant response to any Fiend Qi. They were coming and they had to be aware instantly when they came.

The next phase of the war was always looming over them all.

Lind was currently back in the Blessed Crimson Range. It remained the heart for the army and its operations despite being so far from the coasts. The main reason was because it was a natural haven from the Fiends.

The other was that frankly, they were spread thin on resources.

Even with all Grand Maesters going all out, it had been rough to get the network built in so little time. Each day felt like the war could resume but even the Fiends could not cross the Void Ocean without a lot of support.

He recalled the century between attempts to steal the princess before she was born. The distance was not as great but it was as intense. Estimates at a full decade was the quickest anyone had done between continents but that a solo endeavor with a lot of resources to speed them along.

With the teleportation network dismantled, everyone was on their own.

The Northern Continent was damaged but the last scouting mission showed no signs of it getting worse. The Western Lament was in actual better shape than anywhere else.

The disruptive forces there were turned into an advantage by Sun. He had only enhanced it now that he was a Master Tier and had help from Lind.

It was not as secure by far compared to the current Southern Continent, but it was far safer. The Fiends would have to travel much farther to get to the first island. Thus, the Southern Continent was the focus.

The majority of survivors were moved there as well that could be found. While the upper echelons were decimated, the Immortals and below were still in the trillions.

They were the hands and feet of the transportation network they needed. Lind had vast experience setting those up for his former sects and empire.

The Frey Clan had not done so much, but had more of the trade caravans come to them as their services were in demand.

Their hard work had been key to getting the Grand Maesters what they needed so quickly.

Lind was now monitoring one of many artifacts he had helped Forge for various command centers across the Southern Continent.

They were rather simple in that they reported a breach in the barrier set up around them. He also had placed a few floating relays in the air in cloud cover.

The barrier was high but not a dome. There was simply not enough power for such a thing, but it could be extended the instant Fiends are detected. It was only for a few days but it would become as close to a dome as possible.

The barrier’s function was to buy time. It could not defeat the Fiends all on its own.

The artifact was a large display that had several smaller crystal meters attached. The meters gave him a rough estimate of how long the barrier could last for a given reading.

Simple controls to switch to more localized details were on a slanted stone panel. Compared to other things he created, it seemed far simpler but was complex internally.

The idea of radar just did not exist for them let alone networking. Arrays used flags to perform various functions but because they relied on the clunky system due to its simplicity, complex systems essentially had to be Forged every time.

The smaller artifacts being built to integrate with others like his ships just seemed a waste to the average cultivator. The fact he had proven how much power and resilience his ships had over pure artifacts had shifted hearts a little.

Still, the resource intensive aspect was not something many could spare for research.

Lind was simply cultivating when a red tint drew his eyes. The barrier in the north east had triggered!

He was about to flick the crystal switches when more alarms came in from the east and south east as well!

A small force arriving ahead of schedule was one thing but the worst fear may have come to pass.

The Fiend army had arrived!

He quickly narrowed the focus to get details. The display showed a much more detailed map of the local towers in the north east. The shimmering multi-colored barrier was rising against a dark cloud that made Lind frown.

It was Fiend Qi but not Fiends. What was going on?

More alerts came through from northern, southern, and western barriers?!

He kept it zoomed in on the first barrier and saw tiny flecks in the cloud striking the barrier. They flared up like fire flies until he realized what he was seeing.

Insects! Some kind of Fiend Art that made a swarm of insects!

The Fiend army was still coming but had gotten close enough to send an attack! They had expected the turtling arrays!

Lind paled as he swiftly slammed his palm on the central control panel. Emerald light flared and the barriers across the Southern Continent suddenly flared with his power.

As expected, once the emerald light touched one bug, it spread like an inferno to make a gigantic emerald firewall around the entire Southern Continent.

Lind nearly collapsed as he had held nothing back to be safe. The damage, however, was done.

The various resource reserves of all directions had been harshly drained! Worse, an Art might need catalysts but they could easily be resumed again!

He had felt no connection to a Fiend in the swarms. It was a conjured Art that acted on commands and had no need for active control! That was very bad!

Lind was about to relay what he learned when he felt the wall of emerald flames increase! More swarms!

[All be aware, we are under attack by an insect Fiend Art. Reinforce the barrier and emergency resource reserves need to be activated in all directions!] Many confirmed what he said but his last order was very bad.

They had just barely gathered enough resources to hold off the Fiend army for several days. The swarm would exhaust the entire barrier they spent 4 years building!

Lind hoped the Fiends had been arrogant as the Art would feed his flames for some time. Still, any gap would resume the attack.

He tried to analyze the one aspect he did not understand, how was it coming from all sides?

If it was just the east side, even the southeast, he could understand, but all sides?

He felt his western flames almost go out before a conflagration leapt to life. His eyes narrowed as he did some quick calculations.

If a single swarm attack was sent out, it would take time to cross the distance from origin to the coast. There was also a delay and variance in the intensity to the other directions.

He quickly realized what was happening.

[Focus on the northeast! The caster is in that direction sending a swarm cloud!] Those orders were easy to grasp. Lind realized the swarm was slamming into the barrier and spreading at incredible speeds to enshroud the whole continent.

It was a massive swarm! The fact that in the time it took to realize that, a third wave had started but there were holes in the emerald flame wall.

They were going to get through!

The war resumed with them on the back foot!