Speed is paramount in war.
Out of two thousand men, only three hundred were left to guard the island.
After dark, a fleet of over a dozen ships carrying more than a thousand men set off for Xiazigou in a vast procession.
Chu Lingguang ordered the entire force to advance at maximum speed. He had to reach Xiazigou before dawn, seize its port, and get all his men ashore.
He prayed that the pirates of Xiazigou were busy killing each other over the gold and jewels.
That way, his army could take Xiazigou with ease.
Heaven favors the loyal and righteous.
The fleet sped onward.
In the pre-dawn hours, Chu Lingguang took a small boat with Xuanyuan Jinkang and sped toward the port of Xiazigou.
The larger vessels had to follow the channel through the trench to enter the port of Xiazigou.
Although Chu Lingguang had swum through the trench with Eunuch Liu and knew of the traps below, he didn’t know the safe shipping lane on the surface.
So, he used his Wind and Wave Power to pilot the small boat, taking the bloodshot-eyed Xuanyuan Jinkang to reach the port of Xiazigou ahead of the main fleet.
The scene he had imagined—of pirates in chaos, all on the mountaintop fighting over gold and jewels—had not come to pass. A group of pirates was patrolling the port, keeping a constant watch on the sea.
SWOOSH!
Chu Lingguang moved in a flash.
He snatched a patrolling pirate, lifting him as easily as a chick, and slammed him down onto the boat. Pressing his spear tip to the man’s throat, he demanded, "Tell me how to navigate the safe route through the trench."
"Mmmph, mmmph."
Chu Lingguang had his hand over the pirate’s mouth. The man gestured for him to let go.
The moment Chu Lingguang released his hand, the pirate’s mouth flew open. Chu Lingguang’s senses were sharp, able to catch every minute detail.
Seeing this, with a sharp CRACK, he snapped the pirate’s neck.
These men were vicious to the core and had committed every evil imaginable. Many were accustomed to matters of life and death and had little fear of dying. When faced with such people, Chu Lingguang didn’t waste his breath. Cooperate, and you might live. Refuse, and you die on the spot.
In all of Xiazigou, Chu Lingguang was currently the only one whose cultivation had reached the True Martial Realm.
After killing one pirate, Chu Lingguang subdued another, but he was just as stubborn.
Xuanyuan Jinkang had also captured two men to interrogate, but they both resisted, so he had no choice but to run them through with his sword.
"If none of them are afraid to die, then let’s just kill our way to the top!"
Xuanyuan Jinkang was desperate to avenge Eunuch Liu.
"I have an idea."
Chu Lingguang targeted a weaker patrolman. He moved in a flash, snatching him up like a hawk grabbing a chick, and injected his powerful Sea of Consciousness Power into the man’s body, sending it rushing toward his Sea of Consciousness.
The man’s body convulsed in agony, but Chu Lingguang clamped a hand over his mouth, muffling his screams. His eyes looked ready to pop from their sockets, and his head was drenched in sweat from the pain.
"Tell me how to navigate the safe channel through the trench!" Chu Lingguang warned. "Or I’ll make you wish you were dead!"
His Sea of Consciousness Power was already potent enough to form an attack, but he didn’t yet know how to apply it with any finesse—not like the Cloud Mist Flood Dragon, which could make its tentacles emit special fluctuations to create a powerful Consciousness Attack.
That kind of Consciousness Attack caused no backlash to the user and could even harm a master like Eunuch Liu.
Unfortunately, such a Skill seemed to be possessed only by Yuanchu Mountain.
Chu Lingguang could only resort to the crudest method: ramming the man’s Sea of Consciousness with his own. Fortunately, his target’s Sea of Consciousness was merely rudimentary and posed no threat to him.
"Mercy, warrior! Our boss is the one who knows the safe route," the man begged, his head drenched in sweat.
"Where is your boss?" Xuanyuan Jinkang asked.
"He’s just up ahead. The guy sitting in the corner, drinking," the man replied.
CRACK!
Chu Lingguang crushed his throat and immediately locked onto the target’s location. The pirate boss was in an area with several other men, and a team of ten or so more was patrolling nearby.
It would be impossible to subdue him without being noticed.
Besides, they were running out of time.
If they waited any longer, dawn would break.
So, after exchanging a look, Chu Lingguang and Xuanyuan Jinkang became like phantoms, hurtling toward their target.
SWOOSH!
Chu Lingguang took the lead.
"Who’s there?"
The pirates only heard the sound of something slicing through the air.
They couldn’t even make out his figure.
HUMMM!
Chu Lingguang thrust his spear, unleashing his Flesh and Blood Divine Power. The surrounding pirates felt their Qi Blood surge toward their hearts, hammering against their chests.
"Attack!" the leader shouted, forcing the word out through his pain.
One of his men tried to sound the horn.
THWACK!
The hand he had raised dropped to the ground. He felt a chill on his neck, and then his head was separated from his body. Xuanyuan Jinkang had dealt with him easily.
"Attack!"
Unfortunately, with dozens of pirates patrolling the port, it was impossible to kill them all without a sound, even for someone as powerful as Chu Lingguang—an exceptional expert even among those in the True Martial Realm.
Their cover was blown.
So they struck with even greater ruthlessness.
Every thrust of Chu Lingguang’s spear claimed a life.
These pirates were utterly vicious; their deaths were nothing to be mourned, and Chu Lingguang showed no mercy. As for Xuanyuan Jinkang, even less needed to be said. Consumed by his desire to avenge Eunuch Liu, he wouldn’t just run a pirate through; he would slice horizontally or twist the blade repeatedly, ensuring every single one died in agony.
Eventually, word that intruders had breached Xiazigou spread rapidly toward the mountaintop.
The pirate leader was finally subdued by Chu Lingguang and Xuanyuan Jinkang.
SHLICK!
With a flash of his blade, Xuanyuan Jinkang sliced off the leader’s ears in two swift strokes. He then pressed the tip of his sword to the man’s nose and snarled, "If you don’t want to die by a thousand cuts, you’ll cooperate and guide our ships to the port. Otherwise..."