The trident shot out with blistering speed, wrapped in a blue-green glow and shrieking through the air. With a thunderous crash, before anyone could react, it struck the shield of a White Jade Warship. The poor warship was exceptionally strong on defense, but after traveling such a long distance, they had left the shield only partially raised to conserve Spirit Stones. It was meant merely to fend off the hurricanes high above the sea.
A half-raised shield could hardly withstand such a devastating blow. The violent impact sent the ship rocking wildly. The shield shattered, and the trident's razor-sharp prongs punched straight through the hull's armor. It drove in a full foot before its momentum finally died.
Sima Jie's expression changed drastically. "Yaksha! All hands, prepare for battle!" At the same time, he called down in a courteous, resonant voice, "Brothers and sisters of the Yaksha Tribe, please don't attack. We only wandered into your territory by mistake. It was an accident, and we'll leave immediately." Sima Jie could only smile bitterly. This sea did indeed seem to belong to the Yaksha Tribe. But their waters stretched far and wide. The longer they ventured in, the greater the chance of running into Yaksha. To encounter them just after entering the territory was simply rotten luck.
Sima Jie's words seemed to have some effect. The Yaksha below had recognized that he was a powerful human cultivator—a Golden Core Cultivator. One of them slowly rose from the sea and stood atop the towering waves. He stood more than twenty feet tall, his body pitch-black and powerfully built. His face, as was typical of his kind, was hideous and savage. His shape was somewhat like a human's, but his lower body was a long fish tail. On closer inspection, his naked body was