Free Web NovelChapter 37: Chapter 37: Chaotic Star Sea
「More than ten days later,」
Gu Yun sat on the merchant ship, gazing out at the vast, boundless sea. A thought couldn’t help but flash through his mind:
Oh, great sea! You’re all water.
Oh, fine steed! You have four legs.
Oh, beautiful woman! You call yourself pretty, yet you have a mouth under your nose.
’What the hell am I thinking?’ he mused. ’Could you even call that damn thing a poem? If I said that out loud, I’d bring shame upon the entire Cultivation Realm.’
After mulling it over for a moment, he finally turned to face the sea and recited in a deep voice:
"Oh, sea, so vast and white without a shore; a steed gallops, its hooves pounding with spirited fury; a beauty’s eyes ripple with emotion, and her crimson lips stir the very soul."
With that, he returned to his cabin on the ship.
Gu Yun had been spending his days quietly on the vessel.
They were approaching Kuixing Island. According to the information Gu Yun had gathered, the Demon Fiend’s last appearance had been on Kuixing Island.
One day, Gu Yun was sitting on deck, enjoying a rare, mundane meal.
The atmosphere around him was quite lively. Listening to the other passengers’ conversations, Gu Yun found it rather amusing.
A beautiful Female Cultivator, discussing her strength with someone, said:
"You know my depth, and I know your length."
A young master in a white robe, reeking of alcohol and holding a fan, recited a poem before the crowd:
"I draw my sword and laugh to the heavens; my loyalty stays with my comrades, whether I live or die."
After speaking, he collapsed to the ground.
Gu Yun was taken aback when he heard it. ’This young master in white is quite talented...’
Night fell, silent and vast, with only the sound of the surging sea audible.
The merchant ship had stopped for the night, resting on the surface of the ocean. The Cultivators on watch were tired and drowsy.
Suddenly, the pirates attacked!
Figures shot out from beneath the water, sending columns of spray into the air as they burst from the sea.
They crossed a distance of several dozen yards to storm the merchant ship.
At the same time,
a ship bearing a pirate flag shot out from the darkness like an arrow, heading straight for the merchant vessel.
In an instant, a chaotic battle erupted!
The guards on the ship were jolted awake. They leaped into the air and, under the command of their captain, engaged the pirate Cultivators who had boarded.
Skirmishes broke out one after another.
Spiritual Qi flared everywhere. The violent collisions and shockwaves from the explosions of Spiritual Qi caused the entire merchant ship to rock violently, as if caught in a storm.
The sounds of battle filled the ship.
The ordinary people in the cabins trembled, terrified that a single stray blast would sink the ship, leaving them as food for the Demon Beasts at the bottom of the sea.
The battle had come without warning.
This was a low-grade merchant ship, not a well-armed warship. There were barely any Inscriptions for Defense Arrays on board; at most, it had some Low Level Arrays for protection against storms.
Against pirates, it was virtually defenseless.
Parts of the ship were shattered by powerful Spiritual Qi explosions. Flames erupted, and the fighting spread.
But Gu Yun had not yet made a move. The pirates hadn’t reached his cabin, so for now, he remained an observer.
’One Spiritual Martial Ninth Layer Peak Cultivator, three Spiritual Martial Ninth Layer Late Stage Cultivators, and about twenty others at the Spiritual Martial Seventh and Eighth Layers. This level of strength... for me, these pirates are pathetically weak. But I feel like there’s someone else who hasn’t made a move yet, someone watching from the shadows,’ Gu Yun thought.
Gu Yun felt that there was something strange and unsettling about this pirate attack.
Just then,
BOOM!
A figure appeared on the top deck of the merchant ship. A tyrannical aura instantly enveloped the entire vessel, causing its hull to tremble slightly.
"He Tongyuan, you dare to plunder the goods of my Peace Merchant Ship? Do you have a death wish?"
Everyone on the ship heard a powerful voice, booming like thunder!
It was the ship’s captain, He Qingyou.
"HAHAHA! He Pifu, who the hell do you think you are? You think you’re worthy of making me, He Tongyuan, feel threatened?"
"Now, all of you are going to die!"
He Tongyuan laughed maniacally.
With a wave of his hand, an iron hammer appeared in his grasp. The hammer was wreathed in a dense black aura. After spinning it once in mid-air,
he sent it hurtling down toward the merchant ship!
In that instant, the hammer descended with the force of a mountain, carrying an overwhelming Momentum that seemed to crush the very air!
"The Heaven-Shaking Hammer!"
Seeing its terrifying power, someone on the merchant ship recognized the weapon and cried out in alarm.
The Heaven-Shaking Hammer was He Tongyuan’s signature Magical Artifact. It was an Upper Grade Magical Artifact that possessed incredibly destructive power.
"All of you, with me!" He Qingyou roared, joining forces with the remaining fighters on the ship to counter the descending Heaven-Shaking Hammer!
BOOM!
The colossal explosion shook the entire merchant ship. The ensuing storm of Spiritual Qi activated the ship’s Array, which was designed to withstand giant waves and storms at sea.
A battle between Spiritual Martial Ninth Layer Peak Cultivators was already terrifyingly destructive.
Ordinary Spiritual Martial Seventh or Eighth Layer cultivators probably couldn’t even withstand the aftershocks of the fight,
let alone Cultivators of lower strength.
In his cabin,
Gu Yun was brewing and drinking tea,
his movements slow and elegant.
The ship outside was starting to collapse, yet his room remained perfectly stable, untouched by the danger, as if being inside it guaranteed safety.
Although Gu Yun was brewing tea, his mind was elsewhere.
His powerful Spiritual Sense, befitting his True Martial Realm cultivation, not only swept over the battle but also extended far into the surroundings, searching for that hidden power lurking in the dark.
But unfortunately, he found nothing.
Suddenly,
a powerful fluctuation of Spiritual Qi erupted from the deck above. The entire upper level was torn apart as if it were made of paper,
and shattered splinters of wood rained down like snowflakes.
The pirates who had breached the ship clashed with the Cultivators on the top deck, and the aftershocks from their colliding Spiritual Qi nearly ripped the cabins apart!
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The wooden structures on the deck above collapsed and splintered one by one.
The destruction was about to reach Gu Yun’s cabin.
Gu Yun drained his tea in one gulp.
’The tea is finished. It’s time for this farce to end!’
Since his Spiritual Sense couldn’t find the hidden power, Gu Yun decided to take action and seize the initiative.
A pirate on the deck above spotted Gu Yun, standing alone in his cabin, and let out a savage grin.
His blood-soaked broadsword cut long arcs through the air, tearing through the sky as he charged toward Gu Yun with chilling killing intent.
"Begone!"
Gu Yun spoke in a low voice.
The surrounding air vibrated. Before the attacking pirate could even react, he felt a boundless, majestic power shatter him.
Utterly powerless to resist, he was sent flying by Gu Yun’s single word, smashing through a wall and disappearing under a pile of collapsing debris.
Not a single sign of life remained.
Everyone fighting nearby was stunned.
A Spiritual Martial Eighth Layer Peak pirate had been killed by a single word?!
This young, white-robed Cultivator from downstairs possessed such heaven-defying strength! A glimmer of hope suddenly appeared in the once-grim situation.
Immediately after,
Gu Yun’s figure flashed.
He appeared in mid-air, looking down on everyone below.
The pupils of everyone on the ship, including the pirate leader He Tongyuan and Captain He Qingyou, constricted!
"A True Martial Realm expert!!!"
Gu Yun’s eyes were icy. He pointed his palm downward, channeled a sliver of True Yuan, and declared, "Earth-Bursting Heaven-Shaking!"
All the pirates were struck by a vast, powerful repulsive force and sent flying.
Their bones were shattered, and they all spat blood as they collapsed to the deck, their life force extinguished.
One move, a complete wipeout!
Everyone on the ship was utterly shocked!
"He’s... just too powerful!" a crewman said in shock, his pupils constricting.
"I, He Qingyou, thank you for your help, Senior!"
Ignoring the shattered state of his merchant ship, He Qingyou hurriedly cupped his fists and bowed to Gu Yun.
Just as the passengers and crew believed all the pirates were dead and the raid was over,
Gu Yun’s expression suddenly shifted as if he had sensed something. His face turned grim, and his gaze shot sharply toward the east.
There, high in the eastern sky, a figure had appeared at some unknown point.
He wore a long white robe, his face was chiseled and sharp, and his eyes held the confidence of someone who believed the entire world was in the palm of his hand.
The hem of his robe fluttered in the still air, and a faint black aura seemed to swirl around him.
It emanated a terrifying and soul-shaking pulsation.
An overwhelmingly powerful aura descended upon the ship, causing the entire vessel to sink lower in the water!
’So, the real mastermind has finally arrived?’
’I have been waiting for you for a long time.’
