Sect Leader's Rise to the top!

"That damned masked guy, forcing a beauty like myself to do labor-intensive work!". The female  disciple grumbled while she slowly raised another stone pillar into the sky.

The process used a lot of Qi and would slowly wear out her artifact, so her heart pained with each stone pillar she raised.

The only reason she had agreed was that Wu Xianhai approved of the plan which left her no room to argue. She looked over to Kai angrily, but said nothing.

Kai on the other hand walked around the enclosure and inspected each pillar to make sure it was sturdy. He then went off to speak to Hou Zhou regarding the next part of the plan.

"Who is that man?", Asked a cultivator who was busy fashioning make-shift ropes out of rags.

"Hm?, Isn't he the Sword Princess' lackey?"

"A lackey?. What nonsense are you spouting man?. Look around, he seems to be the guy in charge around here. Yet nobody knows who he is!"

"You have a point there...wasn't this whole plan his?..."

The hours passed as the people worked tirelessly. There were now over 50 stone pillars raised within the large enclosure. Wu Xianhai had shared Qi-restoration pills with the woman who had long since run out of Qi. This allowed her to continuously pump out the stone pillars. However, after a while, her artifact dulled in color and no longer worked, causing the woman to fall into despair.

"We're close. We just need to attach the remaining ropes..." Kai mumbled to himself while ignoring the woman's hateful gaze. At that moment, one of the sentries posted outside came running into the enclosure in a panic.

"The fog is flowing into the cave!". He yelled as he ran.

"Everyone, take your places!". Kai yelled then immediately jumped onto one of the makeshift steps that circled each pillar. He moved quickly and soon arrived at the very top.

Everyone followed his lead and quickly jumped onto their designated pillars. Each pillar had either one or two people on it. Right above the pillars was the rocky ceiling where hundreds of sturdy looking makeshift-ropes were hung at certain intervals. There were so many of them that the entire enclosure seemed to be covered with them.

Once everyone was on a pillar, the cultivators quieted down while a few of them placed their hands on the pillars' surface with their eyes closed. These were all cultivators with exceptionally good sensing techniques. Their job was to alert the group when even the slightest sound was heard.

The fog started to slowly fill the room as the cultivators watched with bated breaths. This time, the fog did not seep in through the ground but instead flowed through the entrance. Kai wondered if it had something to do with the unnaturally smooth rocks in this area, but didn't spend too much time thinking about it.

The entire room was quiet when the fog finally filled the lower part of the enclosure. The pillars they were on were at least 30 feet high so the fog would take a while before it rose to their level. The rise was slow but still visible to the naked eye and Kai surmised that it would reach them within 6 hours at most.

At that moment, one of the sensors raised his arm with a shocked expression then quickly jumped to grab one of the ropes and swung to another nearby pillar. The people around him also moved to other pillars while those watching from afar gulped in horror.

The pillar that the man had been standing on started to violently shake until it exploded into large chunks of flying rock. One chunk hit an unlucky soul, causing him to tumble off the pillar.

Left in its place was a massive black spire that almost touched the ceiling. Everyone standing close to the spire could feel the sinister aura emanating off it and instantly felt fear take hold of them.

"Don't run, we need to attack!". Kai yelled as he jumped to a closer pillar to get a better view. 

When he spoke, a woman holding a large spear hurled it towards the spire. The impact was loud, which was a testament to the power of the cultivator. However, to her surprise, the spear did not penetrate but instead bounced off the spire's rocky surface, leaving nothing but a small scratch. 

The other cultivators also launched their attacks but the results were similar. No matter if it was a physical or a Qi-based attack. They all bounced off the large rocky exterior and did nothing but leave small marks and scratches. Some of the more powerful cultivators left deeper gashes, but still nothing too noticeable. 

"Useless!...", Wu Xianhai yelled as she drew her sword. She concentrated a large amount of Qi into her sword and unleashed a stream of powerful Qi towards the spire. 

The Qi moved quickly and reached its target within seconds. A loud ringing sound was heard as pieces of the black stone fell off the spire, leaving a deep slash mark on the structure.

The people around could only look on in amazement seeing as their attacks had only left superficial scratches. 

Kai pulled out one of the red gems from his backpack. He used Qi-enhancement his right arm, causing it to release sparks of the sinister-red Qi. Kai then threw the gem with all high might, aiming at the mark that Wu Xianhai had left. The impact was loud and caused a booming sound that shook the spire.

When the smoke cleared, the small slash had turned into a small crater on the surface of the spire. Everyone cheered in excitement when they saw this, believing that with these two on their side, they would have a chance at winning.

However, Kai looked on with a frown on his face. He had put all his strength into that attack, and all he could do was create a small crater. This did not bode well for their chances, and so Kai decided to start putting his backup plan into motion.

"Don't get complacent! It will soon recover, keep attacking!". Wu Xianhai yelled. As if prompted by her voice, the small crater started to slowly close to the dismay of all those watching.

The people saw this and continued attacking in a panic, doing their best to slow the regeneration. Kai also kept throwing the small red gems which kept the crater from fully closing.

Kai looked down and noticed that every time the spire would regenerate, the rising fog would also slow down. Their attacks were essentially buying them extra time, just as he had planned. This was all thanks to the information that Wu Xianhai had provided which helped Kai come up with the idea. Their plan was not to defeat the illusion demon, but rather delay it for as long as possible.

Once the fog reached them, they would be exposed to the terrifying spikes.. So Kai wanted to do everything in his power to delay that for as long as possible.