Inside an extravagantly decorated hall...
Besides Xu Shaogui, Blue Demon, and White Snake Fairy, two other cultivators were present. One was a short, hunched alien cultivator dressed in black robes, with a pale, narrow face, a nose as sharp as a bird's beak, and a head of yellow hair...
The other was a slender, beautiful alien female cultivator with fine fur on her face, a pair of large ears, and a long, thin white tail behind her...
The cultivators sat in the hall, talking...
"Fellow Daoist Xu! With only the five of us, won't we be a little short-handed?" The alien female cultivator glanced around and murmured.
"Indeed! Didn't Fellow Daoist Xu say he had invited quite a few fellow daoists?" the yellow-haired alien cultivator chimed in, his soybean-sized eyes showing some displeasure...
"Hehe! Rest assured, you two. There's still time. Some of our fellow daoists are probably still on their way!" Xu Shaogui chuckled, though his expression was somewhat awkward. He had invited quite a few fellow cultivators over the years, but once they heard they would be heading to the perilous Ten Thousand Isles Continent and the Illusory Formation Sea, most had beaten a retreat. There were not that many Mighty One Stage cultivators on the Sacred Lord Continent to begin with. Excluding those he considered beneath him, those he did not know, and those with whom he had grudges, gathering five cultivators was about the best he could manage. Most likely, no one else would come...
"That would be best. If only the five of us head to the Illusory Formation Sea, we'll still be far from strong enough!" the yellow-haired cultivator said.
"Indeed!" Xu Shaogui could only agree. After a pause, he continued, "However, we've made very thorough preparations over the years. Even with fewer people,