The Fu Clan Nascent Soul, now revealed to be named Fu Xidong, answered Lady Diyin with a solemn tone. He was pretty sure the reinforcements he called for couldn’t have arrived this quickly. At this point he had to hope that the Cloud Swallowing Thunder Eel’s words were a trick and that the Flying Ship belonged to a third party just passing by. Even while maintaining hope, he started to plot an escape, sending a message to the Fu Clansmen that were locked in battle. The many black robed and masked cultivators slowly backed out of the large scale battle, slowly gathering together and extracting themselves from the frantic combat.

The Swordsman didn’t seem to care, continuing to hold his ground and expertly deflect every attack that Ruanfu sent his way. She flew back and forth, constantly flitting away when she felt the danger increase. She could see the way the man was standing at the ready, like a coiled viper ready to strike the instant she got too close or let her guard down.

The Flying Ship was approaching rapidly, but this time the combatants were uneasy. The Violet Light Ancestor and Lady Diyin were not as nonchalant as the Swordsman and once they saw Fu Xidong carefully pulling his troops back, they immediately sent messages for their subordinates to do the same. In just a few moments the more than thousand Cultivators stepped back and relieved the tension on the fifty remaining Inner World Cultivators. More than half their number had already fallen. They had killed their enemy at an eight to ten times ratio, but since the battle began with them outnumbered twenty to one, they were still in dire straits.

As soon as the enemy pulled back, those fifty Cultivators started taking pills and brought out Spirit Stones to try and recover their energy. They had no idea how much of a reprieve they would get so they took advantage of every second to strengthen themselves. With the sudden end of hostilities on one battlefield, the matched up Nascent Souls paused their conflict as well. On Sage’s side, they were fighting for their lives after all, and if the enemy wanted to let them rest then they weren’t going to object! The Living Disaster on the other hand, didn’t seem to care about anything. It saw the Swamp Genesis Spider as a threat, given it was the only enemy that wasn’t a little ant in comparison to it. It saw the spider as a little runt, and had taken offense that the spider dared to challenge it.

With the earth shaking collisions continuing, the Swamp Genesis Spider was taking a real battering. It was also an unusual soundtrack for the Flying Ship’s arrival. Fu Xidong managed to pull the Swordsman back from conflict just in time for the Flying Ship to close the distance and descend to the ground. The massive lightning eel released a loud laugh and a wisp of electricity danced across its vague face like a tongue licking across lips, “Hahaha! You fellows are in trouble now!”

The side of the Flying Ship swung downwards, making the door on the side of the hull change into a ramp. At the top of that ramp, there was a large and burly figure that Sage hadn’t seen for many years. This figure was over seven feet tall and packed with muscle, and along with his bald head, his armored breastplate and bare bulging arms made him easy to identify. In his surprise, Sage called out his name, “Song Lu Tian!”

From the time of his first metamorphosis, Sage had been able to control his facial features and show as much or as little reaction or emotion that he wished. Unfortunately, without a body he didn’t have such fine control anymore. The incorporeal face of his Nascent Soul was far more affected by his emotions. What could have brought the burly man from the Song Clan here? Was it a coincidence or did the Song Clan send their Flying Ship to reinforce him? Since when did their relationship become so good?

Core Formation! I haven’t seen him for decades, of course he formed a core. He was the top talent of the Dou Kingdom after all.

For his part, the big man heard Sage and looked over to him. He smiled, but there was a little bittersweet tinge in his eyes, “There you are, Lang Sheng! You advanced to Nascent Soul before I did. You must have run into some very interesting things!”

“Yeah, interesting enough to kill me. I only became a Nascent Soul by a fluke, my meager talent is dwarfed by your own. No one at your rank ever stands a chance against you, and I’m sure that will still be true when you advance. Don’t forget me when you’re standing on top!”

The large man snorted and started to descend the ramp. At this point a group of six other rank five Song Clan Cultivators followed behind him in two rows of three. Sage was about to ask what had brought him here, when he saw another person emerge at the top of the ramp. It was a petite woman with a cute rounded face and pink cheeks. She was barely five feet tall, and quite thin, but she was eclipsed by the giant blade worn upon her back. It was mounted diagonally across her back and looked at least six feet long, with a blade as wide as her shoulders. Just the sheer size of the thing meant it had to be of a sizable weight, but she walked with a bounce in her step, completely unburdened.

“Kang Min?!”

It was another of the famous participants from the Thunder Mountain Bridge Tournament. One that Sage had also somewhat established a relationship. In fact he immediately recognized the sword on her back as the one he’d forged for her. Well, that’s what he thought at first. Upon closer examination he realized the rings were the same, and while the blade was exactly the same in shape and style, it was made of completely different materials. She didn’t bother to say anything, descending the ramp along with a dozen people wearing bright red waist sashes. Their outfits were all different, but that waist sash marked them all as Kang Clan Cultivators. Sage was about to greet her as well, but more people continued to pour out the ramp.

A fearsome beauty wearing flowery robes over a suit of black leather stepped out and sent a scathing gaze over the many assembled cultivators. Then she squinted a bit and her nose scrunched up for a moment and she carefully sniffed the air a few times. Suddenly the cute look was gone from her face and a furious stare turned towards the glowing red skull that was Hei Bai.

“Che-He-Hehe! I’ve found you! You’ll pay for what you did!”

Chong Xiezi! Sage was amazed. Another person who participated in the Thunder Mountain Bridge Tournament. Were they having a reunion and just so happened to stumble upon him? What sort of ridiculous coincidence would that be? Xiezi’s last statement also led him to believe that was an impossible occurrence, but what had brought these three here? She rushed down the ramp with a few dozen provocatively dressed women behind her.

The surprises didn’t stop there. If the first two beautiful women and their friends weren’t enough, an even more striking personage stepped out and if Sage still had a body his breath would have caught. He was knocked speechless, especially when another woman appeared beside the first.