Training Troops Along the Way! (Seeking Votes!)

On the turbulent sea, over a dozen small speedboats blocked the path of a merchant vessel, each carrying five or six burly men armed with weapons.

The leader was a tall, thin man with disheveled hair and a body covered in scars.

"Boss Hai, are you truly determined to protect the Xia Clan's brat today?"

The tall, thin man's left eye was covered by a black patch, while his exposed right eye glared at the bearded man standing on the merchant ship's deck, filled with ferocious killing intent.

"Back when I was in dire straits, it was the old patriarch of the Xia Clan who saved me," Boss Hai said in a deep voice.

"Now that the Xia Clan has been wiped out, I lack the ability to avenge the old patriarch, but if I can't even protect his only remaining bloodline, then I have no right to call myself a man."

As he spoke, he raised his Ghost Head Blade, pointing it directly at the pirate leader: "Boss Dulong, if it's money you want, you can have the entire cargo; I'll even sell my ship to compensate you. But if you want his life, you'll have to ask this blade of mine first."

"So, there's no room for negotiation."

Boss Dulong suddenly shouted: "Brothers, kill them!"

Instantly, the dozen speedboats unfurled their sails, carrying sixty or seventy pirates as they surged toward the merchant ship. Boss Dulong himself leaped from his boat, striding across the waves toward the vessel.

"Brothers, protect the young master and get out of here; leave this to me!" Boss Hai roared. He leaped off the merchant ship, swinging his blade to unleash several waves of sword qi at the approaching boats before charging head-on toward One-Eyed Dragon.

"Harboring the remnants of the Xia Clan—none of you will leave here alive today." Suddenly, a thunderous boom echoed from above.

A massive Azure Eagle plummeted from the high sky.

Two figures stood upon the eagle's back, and one of them tossed a stone toward the merchant ship below.

The stone grew continuously as it fell, transforming in the blink of an eye into a boulder roughly ten zhang in diameter. It whistled through the air, crashing toward the second-level cabin of the merchant ship like a falling meteorite.

"The Shang brothers?" Boss Hai's expression shifted. "Mo the Second, protect the young master!"

"Understood, look after yourself!" As the middle-aged man's voice rang out from the cabin, an umbrella unfurled, glowing with cyan light as it rose to block the space above the ship.

BOOM!

The boulder slammed heavily into the umbrella, the resulting shockwave nearly causing the merchant ship to sink into the sea.

Inside the cabin, the middle-aged man turned pale, taking a deep breath to suppress the roiling true essence within his body.

"Young Master, take this Breath-Holding Talisman. I'll have Little White take you away through the seabed." The middle-aged man pressed a Dao talisman into Xia Jie's hand and pulled him out of the cabin onto the deck.

At that moment, another massive roar echoed above the ship. The middle-aged man could no longer suppress his agitated true essence, and a mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips.

"Uncle Mo Er!" Xia Jie cried out in alarm.

"I'm fine," the middle-aged man said, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Boss Hai and I will hold them off here. Just hold onto Little White and don't look back; it will take you to Jade Dragon City."

"Alright." Xia Jie knew that staying would only be a burden.

He followed the middle-aged man to the stern, where a white, whale-like spirit beast was waiting.

"Go!" The middle-aged man pushed Xia Jie off the ship. The white whale leaped from the sea, catching Xia Jie in mid-air and letting him mount its back.

BOOM!

Another thunderous crash erupted above. The umbrella shielding the ship had reached its limit; the canopy tore open, its cyan light shattered, and it plummeted from the sky.

As Xia Jie turned his head while riding the white whale, he saw Uncle Mo Er coughing up blood, yet still raising his hands to launch two flying swords against the boulder Dharma Treasure in the sky.

"You Shang Clan scum! You wiped out my entire family just for an Earth Fire Vein, and now you want to finish us all off!"

Hatred surged in Xia Jie's heart as his reddened eyes locked onto the two Xiantian Lifeforms on the Azure Eagle's back.

He recognized both of them. The one who had thrown the boulder was Shang Li, and the other, wearing a cold sneer as he watched the carnage, was Shang Ren—the two sons of that old scoundrel, Shang Youde.

He had even called them 'uncle' in the past.

Yet, these very uncles had been so cruel and insane when slaughtering his kin.

His mother, his older brother, his younger siblings—all had been crushed into pulp by Shang Li's boulder Dharma Treasure.

"If I, Xia Jie, survive today, I will make your Shang Clan pay a thousandfold!" Xia Jie bit his lip until it bled, clutching the white whale spirit beast tightly as he took one last look behind him.

Just then—

A majestic, wide warship tore through the air, flying toward them from the distance.

The warship was filled with armored soldiers clad in cyan, each radiating a brilliant, extraordinary aura.

Surrounded by these soldiers stood a tall, thin youth in black armor.

He wore no helmet, his short black hair giving him a spirited look, and his eyes, sharp as lightning, gazed coldly at the slaughter below.

It was the Xiantian Lifeform from the First Squad of the Jade Dragon Army, who had just left Jade Dragon City to garrison Crouching Ox Island.

"Daring to pillage in the vicinity of my Jade Dragon City? Shangguan Yun, Shangguan Yu, lead your men into battle!" Zhou Hao commanded. "Kill all the Xiantian Lifeforms among the pirates, and capture the Post-Heaven ones to mine at Crouching Ox Island."

"Understood!" Shangguan Yun shouted. "Brothers of the first row, form the 'Flood Dragon Flying Sky Formation'!"

"Yes!"

Twenty-five Xiantian Lifeforms, led by the Shangguan siblings, saw the runes on their Green Jade Dragon Armor ignite simultaneously.

Driven by their Xiantian true essence, countless runes coalesced into a cyan flood dragon that roared out from the warship, flying toward the merchant vessel below.

The Jade Dragon Army had arrived in their Puppet Warship with great momentum, a disturbance the Shang brothers were the first to notice.

Shang Li's face changed drastically. "Big Brother, it's the Xiantian Battalion of the Jade Dragon City Green Flood Dragon Army. What do we do?"

"What else can we do? Leave first!" Shang Ren barked.

Strictly speaking, this was not within the sphere of influence of Jade Dragon City, but whenever the Xiantian Battalion went out to sea, they would immediately slaughter any pirates they encountered attacking merchant ships without a word.

While he didn't think much of ordinary Xiantian Lifeforms, their combined combat power was formidable once they gathered in large numbers.

Besides, could a warship capable of carrying hundreds of Green Flood Dragon Army soldiers possibly lack a Purple Mansion Cultivator?

The Shang brothers could no longer afford to hunt down the remnants of the Xia Clan; after all, nothing was more important than their own lives.

Flap! Flap!

The great Azure Eagle flapped its wings desperately, trying to accelerate away, but a green flood dragon suddenly flew out from the warship.

Before the dragon even arrived, two long ribbons shot out from its maw like dragon whiskers, coiling around the great Azure Eagle.

It was Shangguan Yu's magical treasure, the Flowing Cloud Ribbon.

Snap! Snap!

The Azure Eagle's wings were instantly bound, and the immense crushing force began to tear the skin beneath its feathers.

"A Dao Soldier Formation?" Shang Ren's expression turned even uglier. He raised his hand to release a flying boat, grabbed Shang Li, and leaped onto it.

He was actually prepared to abandon the great spirit beast, the Azure Eagle, in order to escape on the flying boat.

"A Purple Mansion Cultivator?" Zhou Hao's eyes lit up on the warship. "The eldest of the Shang Clan has actually stepped into the Purple Mansion realm?"

This was his first time leading a team out to sea, so he had naturally familiarized himself with the intelligence regarding the various island powers surrounding the Jade Dragon City maritime territory.

While the warship was still in the distance, Zhou Hao's keen divine sense had detected fluctuations of magical power. With a sweep of his sense, he heard the entire conversation between Boss Hai and the one-eyed pirate leader, revealing exactly who both parties were.

The Shang Clan and the Xia Clan were large island powers located one hundred thousand li away from Jade Dragon City. Because the low-lying center was submerged in the sea, leaving only two horse-shaped islands exposed, they were known as the "Twin Horse Islands."

The Shang Clan on Shangma Island and the Xia Clan on Xiama Island were forces no weaker than the major hegemon clans of the Great Wild Plains. Each family possessed several Purple Mansion Cultivators, and their patriarchs were at the peak of the Purple Mansion realm, not inferior to the two deputy commanders of their Green Flood Dragon Army.

The old patriarch of the Shang Clan, Shang Youde, and the old patriarch of the Xia Clan, Xia Yi, were collectively known as the "Virtuous and Artistic Pair."

However, according to the Green Flood Dragon Army's records, the Xia Clan's old patriarch, Xia Yi, was an upright man who often helped the weak and enjoyed an excellent reputation.

That Shang Youde, on the other hand, was a complete hypocrite. Not only did he secretly collaborate with pirate forces, but his own merchant ships played both sides, often engaging in illicit trade.

Shang Youde had five sons, and he had shamelessly named them "Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Wisdom, and Faith." In reality, they were all scoundrels who did no good and committed every evil imaginable.

It was only because the Xia Clan was entrenched on the other side of their Twin Horse Island lair that the Shang Clan had remained somewhat restrained; he just hadn't expected the Xia Clan to be wiped out by them anyway.

According to the intelligence, all five Shang sons should have been Xiantian Lifeforms, but seeing the flying boat Shang Ren released, Zhou Hao knew it was a Human-Rank Magical Treasure that could not be refined or controlled by anyone below the Purple Mansion realm. It seemed he had broken through at some point.

"Commander, should we have the two Venerables take action?" the deputy commander, Hu Yong, asked from the side.

Aside from their Fifth Squad, True Person Muxuan had also sent two Purple Mansion Cultivators from the City Lord's Hall of Venerables to accompany them to Crouching Ox Island for garrison duty.

"No need."

Thinking of those two Venerables—one was a rogue cultivator who acted as if his nose were pointed at the sky whenever he was around their group of Xiantian Lifeforms, while the other was so indifferent he was practically a wooden statue—Zhou Hao shook his head and smiled. "Just have the two Venerables steer the warship well."

"All soldiers, listen to my command! Form up! Join me in slaying the pirates!"

They had practiced the Dao Soldier Formation for five days; encountering a Purple Mansion Cultivator now was the perfect opportunity for live combat training.

Besides, wouldn't it be better for his own men to take the spoils and divide them among all the brothers?

Why give the benefit to outsiders?

Zhou Hao glanced at Hu Yong.

He looked like a sharp enough fellow, but he must have gone to the Emerald Cloud Pavilion so often that he'd played himself stupid...

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