Molting the Mortal Coil

What had appeared to be a cornered foe, the lone Nascent Soul without even a physical body to rely upon, suddenly turned into a small army. Over a hundred Core Formation Cultivator’s appeared around him, their faces grim, yet with a curious glimmer in their eyes. Along with those hundred Cultivators, there were a dozen giant beasts. Nine of them were large birds, the five Tiankong Siblings along with the three of King’s wives that settled on the Inner World and a golden eagle covered in lightning. Wanqian Lei, Ruanfu’s mate, was not the most powerful of the beasts, but he was definitely one of the most eye catching. Along with the nine birds, there was the much larger White Hawk Drake, Ruanfu herself. Her body was shaped like a wyvern, with two wings, two legs, and a long neck and tail, but her outward features were all those of a Hawk. She had a beak, taloned claws, was covered in downy feathers, and had feathered wings, not leathery ones.

The last two giant beasts were contrasting opposites. One of them was as far from intimidating as could be imagined. A squirrel the size of a horse, with chestnut brown fur, big eyes, an equally big bushy tail, and its most unusual feature: a pair of wings. No, not the large flaps of skin used for gliding like a flying squirrel, it was a Winged Squirrel and had wings like a bird on its back. Fei Shu was a friend of the Tiankong siblings that they’d convinced Sage to put a Human Seal on and take to live with them on the Inner World. They also had a giant lizard and a pair of green furred minks as friends there, but only the Winged Squirrel had become a tier 5 Demonic Beast. In comparison to the large, but extremely cute squirrel with wings, the final beast was awe inspiring. The Swamp Genesis Spider cast a shadow over the small army that had suddenly appeared. Even with its posture that looked like it barely lifted its body off the ground, the underside of its abdomen was still two hundred feet in the air.

The hundred cultivators brought out various magic tools, which somewhat surprised Sage as he hadn’t spent much time examining what was going on in his Inner World. He’d given King’s wives a copy of his library of techniques to establish a foundation for civilization. He was quite happy to see that even supporting professions had sprung up and they not only knew how to make magic tools, but had the proper resources to support them. Sage had no idea how difficult a time the Blacksmiths had on his Inner World, but he was happy to see they existed!

The hundred cultivators he’d brought out were curious to see this other world they’d heard about, but knew nothing about. They marvelled at how it seemed just like their own and were curious to know the differences, but before they could spend too much time daydreaming they were shrouded in a dim red light. The restricting formation that the enemy had erected came to life. It was not a simple formation with only one function, it was worthy of protecting a Great Sect. Sage didn’t know if it was set up by the Violet Light Ancestor, Fu Clan Nascent Soul, or some other cultivator he’d never heard of, but that didn’t matter much at this moment.

A dome made of red light formed around this makeshift battlefield, covering a circular area a few miles in diameter. The red dome filtered the light from the sun and caused the whole battlefield within to be stained red. Even with the giant spider sheltering them from above, the hundred Cultivators felt their courage wavering. They felt like they’d entered a world of blood, yet the battle hadn’t even started yet. With so many of them gathered together they had been feeling indomitable, but before they’d even seen their enemy they were covered in a vicious red light.

“Stay calm! This is a mind affecting formation, don’t let it control you.”

Sage yelled the moment he recognized what was going on. He wasn’t familiar with this specific formation, there were an endless number of them after all, but he carefully observed both the energy of the formation as well as what it was doing to those around him. It was hard to be objective when examining one’s own state, but easier for him to gauge the changes of others, especially when they were weaker than him. Once he made it known to them, the other cultivator’s nerve seemed to strengthen. While they still seemed somewhat pale, they no longer seemed to be getting worse.

The barrier of red light around them suddenly shimmered and the Nascent Soul of the Fu Clan appeared, stepping through the barrier of light and entering the formation. His expression was obscured, but Sage could sense his annoyance, “Just because you’ve seen through our little trick doesn’t mean you have a chance. It’s a shame, I was hoping we could keep the casualties to a minimum.”

As he spoke, more and more cultivators started to appear at the border of the red light barrier. They stepped out of the red dome and entered the formation by the dozens. They entered from every direction and the varying styles of their dress showed that they were grouped into different factions. With everything cast in a red hue it was much harder to make out the different groups, but the different styles of dress still gave them away.

More and more of them continued to enter the formation and those on Sage’s side started to get uneasy. They knew they were going to be fighting for their lives, but seeing that insurmountable foe up close exerted far more pressure upon them. At that moment, one of the large birds with brown feathers and extremely long copper scaled legs leaned down and sent a message to Sage. He smiled and nodded, making the bird disappear. A few seconds later that bird, Baozhai, reappeared in human form. She threw a small amulet to each of the gathered cultivators on their side, which they promptly recognized and put around their necks. Each necklace held a crystalline sphere suspended in a wire cage. After putting them on, the spheres lit up and surprisingly the light they emitted wasn’t red.

In a world where everything seemed to be a shade of red, the marble sized blue lights hanging on their chests gave them a feeling of strength. Not only did it prove that the formation they were trapped in wasn’t invincible, but it also helped them to recognize each other. Baozhai had suggested the idea to Sage because she was worried about friendly fire and Sage happily agreed. He had no idea they had access to such a device, and since a second in the outside world was equal to about five minutes on the Inner World, it only took her a few seconds to retrieve enough amulets for everyone.

Unfortunately, that boost in morale was suddenly squashed by the rumble of the earth. The ground quaked and one of the cultivator’s couldn’t help but cry out in shock. The others quickly turned to see where he was looking and their jaws dropped when they saw what they were up against. Sage felt the mood shift and he waved up at the Swamp Genesis Spider. With the beast above them and out of their direct line of sight, most of them had forgotten about it. Sage had to make the Spider act earlier than he’d planned or his side might lose all hope. When they caught sight of the giant tortoise carrying a literal mountain upon its back they were shaken. Only by having the Swamp Genesis Spider move forward to occupy it could they recover from their stupor.

Sage had to once again raise their morale, calling out, “We are not so easy to defeat as they think. Remember, if we cannot stop them then everything you know and care for may be destroyed.”