Testing Each Other

Huo Yuanjia and Geng Liangchen had still overestimated the foreigners' sense of honor.

The current squadron division had not sent back any information.

The foreign commander issued the order to bombard the friendly ironclads ahead with remarkable decisiveness. For one thing, those few ironclads ahead were neither part of his core forces nor backed by a powerful mother country, so the foreign commander had no trouble selling out his allies. For another, they judged that the friendly forces ahead had been wiped out. Even if a few had survived, there probably were not many left. They urgently needed the bombardment to bolster their courage.

That was right—the foreigners were the ones who needed courage now!

Having one's ship annihilated by Spirit Cultivation Practitioners—even if the warship itself had not been inherited and only everyone aboard had been purged—was enough to make these officers, all veterans of countless battlefields, realize that their side was completely helpless.

Helplessness. How terrifying.

It seemed that aside from the naval guns...

They had no other effective means of dealing with those two monsters. The humanoid monsters created by the evil mage possessed more power than a steam engine, could withstand gunfire better than an automobile, and were faster than fleas on a cat!

If they did not fire their guns to bolster their courage...

Their morale might collapse outright.

Not to mention the soldiers who had already gone pale and caused accidental discharges—even the officers might lose their will to fight and simply choose to retreat to Yanjing to continue being members of the elite, rather than use the lives of the noble navy to grease their medals.

But the foreign commander did not want to retreat yet.

Ever since they had raised their cannons and blasted open Xinghan's gates, the foreign powers had hardly ever suffered defeat here. Even when they lost, they could continue pressuring the Qing Imperial Court until they achieved a dignified withdrawal. Before setting out, Severely Punish the Branch had publicized its intentions with great fanfare. They were determined to completely annihilate this Xinghan force in the Far East that had slipped from their control.

If they slunk back at a time like this...

Others might still be able to live in peace.

But the foreign commander's political career in parliament would certainly be over. Whatever he had extorted from the Far East over the years, he would have to spit back out to appease the fury of the powerful men above him. Even that might not be enough. His wife and daughters would most likely be unable to escape either. That was something he absolutely could not accept.

The uncontrolled ironclads spinning in place were sitting ducks.

After Geng Liangchen and Huo Yuanjia leaped into the water and swam nimbly for a short while, the ironclads that had originally resembled mountains of steel on the sea were instantly swallowed by roaring explosions, flames, and billowing black smoke.

The steel warped and groaned amid the flames and shock waves before tearing apart completely. No matter how hard the steel was, when faced with such destructive force, it warped as smoothly as cream under the violent strain. Then seawater poured inside, causing even more severe damage. After losing all power, the ships began to list.

Boom!!!

The exploding ammunition tore the lifeless ironclads apart from within.

One after another, these Titan-like beings—the industrial crystallization of their era—were set ablaze, blackened by smoke, and finally blown apart. Some listed like ghost ships, rolling on the sea; others tilted crookedly into the water and slowly sank with the rise and fall of the waves. The agonized cries of the soldiers aboard who had survived the mental attack but were not yet fully dead became the accompaniment to this scene.

This scene was truly a living hell.

Yet a hell like this...

Over the past dozen years...

It had appeared time and again across Xinghan's lands in this world. Martial artists had brought, damn it, fairness. Now hell had descended upon the enemy as well. Anyone who still tried to sanctimoniously and shamelessly claim that cannons and warships brought civilization and progress would probably have to weigh their words more carefully.

It was also a case of a blind cat stumbling upon a dead rat.

This round of bombardment had given the friendly forces a lavish funeral, but it had also successfully driven back the two Spirit Cultivation experts.

A person's mental strength was not infinite.

Even Lan Yi had needed the amplification of spiritual energy and Daoist arts to create such a huge commotion. Huo Yuanjia and Geng Liangchen possessed only Innate Qi. Although this was within the area that the Lei Chi Immortal Lotus could barely cover, recklessly squandering spiritual energy and activating their mental strength was simply too unrealistic.

After the bombardment, smoke spread across the sea.

The violent sea wind whipped up wave after wave, shattering them across the surface like jade dust. It scattered the jade dust and blew away the smoke as well. With the Punishment Fleet's squadron that had made contact completely wiped out, the scene fell into a strange, tense standoff.

Huo Yuanjia and Geng Liangchen had already returned to the Xinghan warship.

They were working hard to regulate their breathing and absorb spiritual energy, preparing for the battle that might erupt next.

It was like two frightened men facing a wolf, each afraid of the other.

The martial artists had underestimated the breadth and mobility of fighting on the open sea, while the foreigners had underestimated the martial artists' tenacity and overall strength. The battle had turned into this strange state, with both sides circling one another hesitantly.

Neither side wanted to retreat.

They were thinking instead about how to bring down the other.

The foreigners were not rigid NPCs.

After the bombardment, they observed the retreat of the two martial artists. Combined with the intelligence sent from every direction, they realized that, just like firearms and cannons, martial artists also needed some kind of energy to drive them before they could be so ferocious—even capable of creating illusions. If their energy reserves ran low, martial artists would grow weak, and it was not impossible for them to become ordinary people.

It seemed that in this regard...

Even the completely unscientific martial artists followed the laws of science.

"All forces, attack!"

Unwilling to slink back in disgrace, the foreign commander decisively chose to launch an all-out attack after his staff presented their conjecture.

He had no intention of conducting a landing operation either.

They could sink several ironclads, drive back this wave of Xinghan warships, and bring back a few corpses. The battle report had to be written truthfully: a strange force comparable to an empire had risen aggressively in the Far East, and this force had already begun taking control of southern Xinghan.

For the sake of the Empire's interests in China...

All forces had to be mobilized to interfere with this group.

If necessary, they could even call up an army from the homeland...

The foreign commander, deep in thought, could not help sighing.

Only by facing them personally could one understand how terrifying martial artists were. If martial artists were allowed to control vast stretches of land, integrate resources, and begin cultivating talent and raising armies, the Yellow Peril feared by white people would certainly sweep across the entire world.

Yet at this moment, the old empires of Europe were all rubbing their fists and preparing for a grand war that was about to arrive. The powder keg could explode at any time. At such a moment, how could they have the energy or inclination to call up an army from the homeland and interfere in Xinghan's upheaval?

Xinghan's luck was far too good.

Right at this critical juncture, an evil mage had emerged.

The people of this country must have died in such numbers that they had blood-sacrificed too many souls to Satan, summoning such a terrifying monster. For all they knew, that mage had already eaten several million people!

Just as the foreign commander was maliciously speculating...

His eyes narrowed slightly.

Then, puzzled, he raised his spyglass and looked toward the southern horizon.

Strange.

When had a bright white streak appeared at the edge of the sky? Had it been there just now? And that white rainbow... why did it seem to be growing larger and larger, curving around and extending toward them?