Sage would have preferred not to make his public appearance as the leader the Jade Horde until after he’d formed his core. Having a leader in the fourth rank would not be nearly as prestigious as a Core Formation cultivator. When he arrived with subordinates that were more powerful than he was it would undermine his authority as a strong fighter. It sent the message that he was more of a figurehead or administrator and not a powerful backer for the team. They didn’t have time for him to attempt a breakthrough so he chose to go along with the assumption and brought along King, the Seven Stars, and a hundred Hoplites.

By this time, the Jade Horde was large enough that the Seven Stars no longer commanded a single squad of ten. Instead they were each in charge of a full century, commanding ten squads of ten. They were already making plans for a large expansion and the Seven Star’s centuries were going to be expanded into legions. It would still take them a few more years to build up a large enough reserve of Hoplites to fill out the legions. Normal cultivators made up only about ten to twenty percent of their forces and Sage wanted to keep it that way, if anyone wanted to rebel internally, most of their men would be out of their control and it would be very difficult.

Sage brought King along as his personal attendant, and also one of the only two fifth rank cultivators in the Jade Horde. Compared to the Holy Flame Sect, and the Kang Clan, having two rank 5 cultivators was almost like having none at all. As powers that ran whole provinces, they had many hundreds of them. In the Holy Flame Sect all the Core Formation cultivators would be granted the status of ‘Elder’ and the majority of them were sent out from the sect to project their power. Only a few people would be able to reach the sixth rank and those were the overlords of this world. Sect Leaders, Patriarchs, Ancestors, Supervising Elders, there were many names and titles for them, but their number was limited. A provincial power like the Holy Flame Sect only had a dozen or so, and it was likely the Kang Clan and others at the same level were similar.

Despite being so terribly outclassed, the fact that the Jade Horde had two Core Formation members was still a show of their strength. While they could easily be wiped out by the Kang Clan or another provincial power, it wasn’t the same on a local level. Most county level group would have only a dozen or so at the fifth rank, similar to the number of sixth rank members of provincial powers. In that regard, having two of them meant that their mercenary team was at least strong enough to take control of a city or two if they wanted to and that was enough to get them an audience with the Kang Clan.

Sage was actually quite impressed with the style of the Kang Clan. His group of nine arrived on Vulture Geckos, large silver geckos with feathers, wings on their backs and their lizard tails replaced by feathered ones. The mounts hadn’t been shown off in public yet, so this was a good opportunity to show the public the signature mount of the Jade Horde. They made a flashy landing by attaching themselves to the side of a building, then Sage, King, and the Seven Stars hopped down and walked up to the Kang Clan Hall.

The Kang Clan Hall showed off their sensibilities. Their martial tradition. Other groups might show off their wealth either with flagrant displays of expensive materials or by creating miraculous natural settings. There were no gold encrusted jewels, nor were there any floating waterfalls or glowing rocks. Instead the Kang Clan Hall looked like an enormous and imposing Martial Hall. It was like a martial arts dojo large enough to train a million man army. A huge hall with columns the size of redwood trees holding up the tiled roof that was a good three hundred feet tall. Around the outside of the hall were huge wooden shutters covered in protective arrays, ones that could be slid into place to turn the open air hall into a sealed building. Within the massive martial hall there was actually another set of buildings. The place was so large they built other buildings inside it.

They were being led by a group of guards, each of them bare chested and carrying various large weapons on their backs. They all had a big red sash around their waists, embroidered with complicated designs, which Sage recognized as their Clan Emblem and their formal uniform. The others in the Kang Clan they passed all dressed very differently, but everyone wore one of the thick flowing red sashes on their waists. Along the way they passed quite a few buildings that reminded Sage of places in the Holy Flame Sect. Skill libraries, special training grounds, and profession halls. The profession halls were nothing like those back in the Holy Flame Sect, but the number of special training grounds was astounding. The Holy Flame Sect had only the Sunfire Pagoda, and massive profession halls. The Kang Clan had a half dozen profession related areas, but it had so many special training zones that Sage had trouble counting them all.

There really is quite a difference between big sects and clans. Too bad I never got to peak at the actual Cult of the Woodlord headquarters.

The guards led them up to the doors of a hall within the hall. The name above the doors read ‘Greeting Hall’, and stepping inside they were met with a large conference room or auditorium sized space. It was already decorated as if for a feast and Sage smiled at how straightforward the Kang Clan was. He was expecting to be led into some sort of throne room and told to grovel in front of someone. The more he saw, the more he admired the way the Kang Clan did things. Sage walked in with King to his right hand side, Black Saber to his left, and the other six of the Seven Stars arrayed behind him like an honor guard.

There were rows of tables arranged to the sides of a large circular area that looked like a fighting stage and most of the people were spread out around it. Sage walked out towards them and almost immediately they parted to the sides. It was at that moment Sage noticed everyone in the center of the room were wearing red sashes. Those who weren’t wearing red sashes were all standing near the tables, ringing the outside of the room. They all seemed to be waiting for something. Sage wasn’t sure what would happen, but it seemed he’d stepped into the wrong place. Or so he thought.

A huge man stepped out from the crowd. Sage’s eyes widened, looking up at the man nearly ten feet in height. Not only was he tall, he was built like a bear, with a huge waist and his limbs were the size of tree trunks. Sage felt like one of this man’s legs had nearly the same size and mass as his whole body, if Sage was a little bit shorter it would probably be a pretty equal comparison. The man wore baggy training pants, and a fur vest, but little else besides a red sash around his waist. The guy was bare chested, showing off his huge well muscled gut and bare feet. The man’s stomach looked like he’d literally swallowed a full sized barrel, yet at the same time it was covered in well defined muscles. It was a supremely unusual sight.

Who knew that old joke about having a keg or six-pack abs could actually not be something mutually exclusive.

The big man seemed to be examining Sage just as much as he had been examining the monstrously size man. After what seemed like far too long, the man crossed his arms and spoke with a deep and booming voice.

“The Jade Horde finally makes its appearance! You must be Ling Sheng. You’re not quite as large as I thought you’d be, but nobody ever is.”

Sage seemed at a loss, merely bowing his head down and unsure of how to respond to this giant person. A far more finely dressed fellow stepped out from the big man’s side. He wore a classical Kung Fu uniform, clean and white with loose but not too baggy sleeves and pants. His shirt had black trim and the very iconic horizontal ties, instead of buttons, like huge stitches down the front of it. He of course also had on a big red sash. Stepping forward the man formed the classical salute of a clasped fist and bowed to Sage and his group, “Honored guests, my name is Kang Chin a Hall Master of the Kang Clan.”

Then the man indicated the huge fellow beside him, “This is the Kang Clan Patriarch, Kang Yung.”

Now understanding who he was dealing with, Sage followed the example of Kang Chin and clasped his hands. Saluting the Patriarch and Hall Master. Standing in front of them, he could tell they were both people in the sixth rank, and probably equivalent to the Peak Masters and Sect Leader of the Holy Flame Sect. Sage hadn’t been expecting for his tiny mercenary team to attract such attention and was completely taken aback. He had thought he’d only run into a low level manager and would only need to hand over a few bribes to make things smooth in the future. He was about to start pandering and praising the two people in front of him when he realized he didn’t know enough about their character. Instead he just stuck to humility.

“This weak and insignificant one is named Ling Sheng. It is an honor beyond words to be in your presence.”

At the sound of Sage’s words, a huge frown formed across the face of the huge man.