"Uncle-Master Ma, Uncle-Master Qi, Uncle-Master Cui..."
Seeing those familiar faces, Wang Ba hurried to greet them.
The men had been discussing something, but at Wang Ba's voice, they immediately stopped and turned toward him.
All of them were quite close to Wang Ba, and each smiled at his arrival.
They all called out greetings to him.
Wang Ba walked over to join them and said with a smile, "It seems I interrupted you, uncle-masters."
"Oh, what interruption? We were just discussing which of us, your Uncle-Master Ma or me, has a better chance of becoming Deputy Hall Master."
Qi Rulian spoke bluntly, without the slightest beating around the bush.
That was simply his nature.
Ma Shengxu and Cui Daqi both looked somewhat helpless at his words.
Ma Shengxu shook his head.
"Don't listen to his nonsense. We were mainly discussing the Tribulation-Crossing Treasure Raft."
Wang Ba asked curiously:
"The Tribulation-Crossing Treasure Raft?"
"Yes. Sect Master Shao and the Grand Elder are personally overseeing its construction. I hear progress has been quite swift. It might be finished in another twenty or thirty years."
Cui Daqi picked up the conversation.
"Twenty or thirty years?"
Wang Ba nodded at that. It really was not long. He asked curiously:
"With the Tribulation-Crossing Treasure Raft nearing completion, I wonder how things stand with the Great Flood now..."
"How else could they stand? Apparently, the coastline defenses along the Western Sea have already been raised three times, and quite a few more cultivators have come from the Three Continents. The Longevity Sect, Wandering Immortal Temple, Qin Clan, and our own sect have all sent Spirit Transformation cultivators to hold the line. Anyway, the fighting in the West Sea Kingdom has been fierce... He the Drunkard and I can barely keep up."
Cui Daqi poured out his