Luckily, there was no problem with gaining the help of all the earth mages in the city, especially when they learned that their efforts could prevent more women from sharing their fate.
It also helped when the elders told them that this was a request from Paul, as most of the ladies wanted to gain his attention, and this was a perfect opportunity to do just that.
The women who were not earth mages were a bit disappointed and jealous of their friends, but it turned out that Paul had tasks for all of them as well, which instantly made them happier.
Since they wanted to bury the portals, he decided to fill the whole portal room with fine gravel before collapsing the ceiling and the whole building on top of it.
So he asked the other ladies to gather as much gravel and stone as they could fit into their spatial devices, before giving the instructions to the Qi warrior ladies, to smash the larger stones and pieces of rubble into smaller fragments, before they started filling the big room.
With so many people working hard, the room was filled with gravel before the sun went down, burying the portals.
While that was being done, Paul and more than twenty earth mages went around the building on top of the portal room and inscribed many spells, designed to rupture the walls and make the building collapse on itself.
-Do you plan to collapse it now, or wait till tomorrow?
Anna asked Paul once they were done with everything.
He called his ladies over to help with burying the portals, as it was important to everyone, and it also helped them to be accepted by the ladies in the city when they saw them working alongside them.
It helped even more when Paul's ladies distributed bottles of cold water mixed with honey to other ladies during the work.
-The spell is active already, and within a few minutes, this building will go down.
Paul answered, as they were now outside resting, after a full day of work.
Then he turned to everyone.
-Ladies, let's move further away. This place will collapse in a few minutes.
He shouted to make sure everyone heard the warning.
The ladies didn't need to be told twice, and immediately everyone relocated to a place a hundred and fifty meters away just to be safe.
A few minutes later, the building started to shake, and cracks appeared on its walls, as the rupture spells did their work.
Within two minutes, the whole building collapsed in on itself, raising a dust cloud, as the portals got buried under it.
To make sure that they succeeded, Paul used his search magic to take a look at the portals.
Three of the portals were destroyed completely, after the ceiling dropped on them, compressing the rubble they were buried under and crushing their frames.
The rest survived but were now totally useless, as they were buried under thousands of tons of gravel and rubble.
-With this, no portal will be able to connect to any of these.
Lord Sei said, materializing, to the surprise of all the gathered women.
-Weren't we supposed to stay hidden?
Lady Peacock also materialized, asking this question.
-There is no need, since there is no one here from the higher realms, and it'll be quite some time before anyone here can ascend, not to mention that they have no clue who we are.
Sei answered with a slight smile on his ghostly face.
-Thank you, senior, for helping us deal with this matter.
Lin Mei said, approaching Paul and his group with the rest of the elders.
-You are welcome.
The soul smiled.
-Now, since that's done, I'm going to rest, as for the matter of escaping from here.
Paul already knows how to do it, so I'll let him explain the details.
Sei said and disappeared once again, leaving Paul with the questioning gazes of all the ladies who heard the soul's words.
-I'll tell you later, since it'll take any of us a lot of time to leave this city anyway.
Paul said, not feeling like explaining it right now.
Additionally, he was certain that most of the ladies would not like the idea he had in mind.
On the other hand, the moment they returned to their district, Paul took out four wine barrels from his storage space.
-Ladies, this is a token of my appreciation for all your help today.
He said, with a smile, seeing as all the ladies were happy seeing all that wine, he had just gifted them.
This was also a good way to distract them, as he made his exit, not wanting any part in the party that was about to ensue, as he suspected how that could end.
-I sure hope that these bastards from the Wild Claw sect won't learn about our involvement in this matter.
We have more than enough enemies in the higher realms as it is.
Irine said, a bit worried when they returned to their mansion.
-I doubt that.
Paul shook his head.
-In the end, they already got the results of the experiment, and even if they wanted to get back here, it would be hard, if not impossible, since we destroyed the portals, and coming from outside would force them to face the creatures they had created.
Paul explained his doubts.
-All in all, when everyone leaves this place, and with no additional women trapped here, the creatures will most likely die out within ten to twenty years, since they are so unstable.
As for the city, it will most likely be discovered again at some point, but I doubt it will happen anytime soon.
He added.
According to what Lady Peacock said about the culprits, they would not risk placing the city anywhere near human settlements.
In addition to the fact that any of the cultivation realms was many times bigger than Earth, and they got bigger the higher the realm was, and added to the fact that there were not that many people exploring the wild regions of these worlds, as most people focused on cultivation.
Paul was almost certain that this place would not be discovered for at least a few more centuries, if not even millennia.
Regardless of when it would be discovered, Paul planned to leave a message for anyone who might wonder in to this place, detailing what happened here, who was the culprit behind it, and how they escaped.
-Let's hope you're right.
Irine said, hoping that this would indeed be the case.
-By the way, what is the escape route Lord Sei was talking about?
Natalie chimed in on the conversation, curious about their way out of this place.
-It's quite simple, but I doubt you will like it.
Paul smiled at her.
-The plan is for me to cultivate as much as possible and to ascend once I reach the ascension stage.
However, before the ascension, I'll need to make all of you my slaves for a while, so that you will all be able to come with me.
-Is that all?
The girl asked, not understanding which part of the plan she would not like, as she was certain ta the moment they ascended, he would free them again, and with his magic marks, they would not need to be branded, to no harm done.
-You never were a slave, so you have no clue how it feels.
Anna said, approaching them.
-Believe me, you won't like it one bit, despite knowing that it's only temporary.
She added, not happy at all about that part of the plan.