Chapter 377 (1/2)

While Zhang Dong was concentrating on the battle he almost didn't notice that he had a visitor. His wife appeared in the middle of what used to be his home. While he was a bit preoccupied with what he was doing and this was not the place for a family reunion, the moment she started shouting his emotions got the better of him.

While this place he was in was not really made for more than one person, he could squeeze in one caramel beauty in. It was a little funny to see her panic when she was submerged in the special fluid but soon he found himself opening up his arms to catch her.

It took a moment for it to sink in. Watching the people through the screen wasn't the same as actually being right next to them. He could feel her body pressing into his which made him instinctively move them around her back. It was as if he feared that she would just vanish into tiny soap bubbles if he didn't hold her tightly.

Soon he could tell that sight had returned to his wife. She could finally see him and it was clear that she was unable to mutter a word. A tiny moment passed between the two where they just kept looking at each other without saying a word.

If it was any other time he wished that this moment could continue to eternity. But fate was cruel and the sight of explosions and the chaos outside brought Zhang Dong to his senses.

”It's been a while…”

He called out to her, Liena looked at him with even more intent before giving an answer.

”Is… is it truly you?”

”Who else could it be?

She narrowed her eyes and he could feel that she was using her spiritual sense on him. He was glad that she was not being too gullible as he could have truly been some other entity taking the form of her husband.

”It is truly you… but... ”

”Yes, my cultivation has changed slightly but I wouldn't consider myself much weaker than what I was before, I just need some time to recover.”

He quickly replied to at least alleviate some of the questions. While his cultivation level had decreased, the improved version of the core formation realm was close to what his old nascent soul level was. If he managed to break through into the great circle he might actually be slightly stronger than before.

”Truly my husband has returned?”

”Yes, that's what I… is something wrong?”

Soon he could see his wife's eyes closing. If this wasn't inside of a special pod filled with liquid he would be seeing her tears streaming down her face. She suddenly slung her arms around his neck and gave him a big hug. Her voice started getting more muddled as she started to sob.

Without being able to do much, he just returned the hug and started to rub her back. The embrace lasted for a few moments but soon he felt some resistance as she started pushing herself back. When she did he could see that her face was devoid of sadness which was now replaced by anger.

”Where were you?”

”Well… that's going to be hard to explain…”

”You better have a good explanation!”

”My dear wife, I don't think this is a good time to be arguing. I think we have more important matters to attend to…”

Zhang Dong backed away while trying to soothe his angry wife. It was understandable that she was angry as her husband just popped out of nowhere and seemed mostly fine. If he was in her shoes he would also be quite livid if a family member appeared out of nowhere after being seen as dead.

She looked back and could also see what was happening outside. While the automatic cannons could shoot at the invaders the other cultivators couldn't. Without attuning their techniques to match the barrier they could just sit there and look at the enemies.

The biggest problem was the large number of nascent soul elders protecting their ships. Along with their soul beasts, they could protect those battleships from the cannon fire while also attacking the barrier.

It was turning into a battle of attrition, would the barrier give out or would the nascent soul experts run out of juice first? While Zhang Dong didn't really know what the end plan of these attackers was, they certainly did seem like they were in a hurry.

The force that they brought over was quite large for something like this. It was excessive for going against a middle-sized sect. Either the Soaring Dragon Sect had a lot of resources to spare or they wanted to get it over with fast.

The best way to do such a thing would be to overwhelm their opponents with firepower. With ten late stage nascent soul elders and one at the great circle realm, they could steamroll any normal middle-sized sect.

They were out of luck with this one as with the system's help and Zhang Dong's knack for crafting they were in for a prolonged siege. That was also not counting in all the buried escaped tunnels that blocked out spiritual sense from coming in. They would be in for quite a chase if they ever wanted to get to every last sect member that was here.

”I hope that you have a plan.”

”A plan…”