Setting Sail

The vast East Sea rolled in endless waves, sea and sky merging into one. Within that boundless ocean lay not only splendor and grandeur, but countless hidden dangers.

That day, the sky was high and the clouds light, spring already deepening. Beneath the brilliant sunlight, the limitless East Sea shimmered with rippling waves, as though the surface were strewn with flashing azure crystals.

At an inconspicuous harbor along the East Sea coast, a newly built small warship lay moored. Heavy repeating crossbow bolts used by the Great Xia Dynasty military were mounted around its deck. Each was three meters long, as thick as an ordinary man's arm, with grooves cut into the arrowheads.

Once they pierced a prey's body, they could bleed it dry at the fastest speed. Even a gigantic whale that roamed the seas would face slim odds of survival after taking one of those repeating crossbow bolts.

On the bow's gangplank stood a young man in ordinary attire. He wore a square headscarf and a luxurious, costly purple robe, its sleeves fluttering in the wind. With his hands clasped behind his back, he stood at the prow.

He was tall and ramrod straight, like a spear that could pierce the vault of heaven. Even if the sky came crashing down, it seemed incapable of making him bend his waist.

Only upon looking closer could one see that his face was as fair as polished jade, his brows handsome and refined, with a gentle smile upon his lips. He was truly a rare beauty among men; his bearing and divine charm were unforgettable at a single glance.

His eyes were especially captivating. Their black pupils seemed deeper and vaster than the endless sea, while his aura was even more unfathomable than the boundless heavens.

Many of the boatmen