Chapter 48

The spirit ship came to a halt, and the four young people in the cabin straightened up. The one who had fallen to the floor returned to his seat, though he looked uneasy, wanting to go to the window to see what was happening outside. However, seeing that the other three remained seated, he didn’t dare move.

Lin Du put away the repaired map and fidgeted with the floating life fan in her hand.

Yan Qing unsheathed his large blade and began slowly wiping its broad surface with a piece of small beast hide.

Ni Jin Xuan’s eyes were fixed on Lin Du, her hand unconsciously playing with the long whip at her waist.

The cabin was warded, and the sounds from outside were faint and unclear.

After a while, Yuan Ye couldn’t contain his curiosity any longer. “Junior Uncle, aren’t you curious?”

Lin Du remained silent. The cultivators of the Qin Heart Realm had a limited spiritual sense range, not extending beyond the large cabin.

“What if there are thieves outside?” Yuan Ye stood up. “What if Uncle Ju Yuan is in trouble?”

“If there are petty thieves outside, we don’t need to go out; Senior Brother can handle them alone. If there are vicious criminals, we definitely shouldn’t go out. If Senior Brother can’t handle them, we certainly can’t.”

Lin Du spoke up, “What we can do is avoid adding to the chaos.”

She lazily spun her fan. “If necessary, it’s best to be able to protect ourselves.”

“We’re using a spirit ship marked with the sect’s insignia. Not only in Zhong Zhou but throughout the entire Dongming Realm, few would dare provoke the Supreme Sect.”

Yan Qing flicked the back of his large blade, feeling a bit of pain in his fingers. He silently curled his middle finger into his hand, maintaining his calm demeanor.

The Supreme Sect was a symbol of strength in Zhong Zhou.

Whether it was the almost reclusive Jiang Liang or Ju Yuan outside the cabin, both were prominently listed on the Chongxiao Rankings.

Another jolt shook the ship. The four of them looked out the window and saw that claws had struck the defensive formation, producing intense sparks.

Lin Du suddenly stood up and walked over to a beam next to the cabin wall. “Yuan Ye, the hidden compartment.”

Yuan Ye went over and opened the hidden compartment, revealing the core of the defensive formation, which had several chessboard-like components intersecting each other.

Lin Du threw a spirit crystal inside and then adjusted several parts.

“Junior Uncle, what are you doing?”

“The ship’s formation was created by my master,” Lin Du explained briefly. “It’s just that Senior Brother and the others don’t know how to use it and think the defense formation only has one layer.”

Yuan Ye let out a sound of understanding. Although he didn’t understand it, he thought it was impressive.

The sounds of spiritual power scraping and colliding outside grew louder, and the spirit ship rocked back and forth. Lin Du frowned slightly. “Are these people prepared? Could they be Cloud Pirates?”

But how would Cloud Pirates dare to rob a Supreme Sect ship?

Yan Qing also stood up. “We’re about two hours away from the sect.”

Ni Jin Xuan was anxious. “Will Master be alright?”

Suddenly, the pressure of spiritual energy exploded, making the four inside the cabin groan in unison. The pressure on their shoulders felt like countless mountains, making it difficult to lift their heads or straighten their backs.

“Junior Uncle!” Ni Jin Xuan noticed blood dripping onto the floor nearby and was startled.

When gods fight, mortals suffer.

This body was too weak. Lin Du cursed inwardly, wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, forced herself to swallow the iron taste, and said, “The situation isn’t good. Let’s go and see.”

At this point, it was too late to send a message to the sect leader. The sect leader was only in the Qian Yuan Realm and would take some time to arrive. Only cultivators in the Wuxiang Realm and above could arrive in time.

As Lin Du had anticipated, the situation outside the cabin was indeed dire.

Ju Yuan furrowed his brows, feeling the spiritual pressure from the opponent that was a whole realm higher than his own. A serious expression appeared on his otherwise composed face.

“You’ve collided with my ship and killed my beloved pet. You owe us an explanation.”

The spirit boat on the opposite side emerged from the darkness, completely black. On its deck stood a figure covered in a complex silver mask, dressed in a peculiar white robe that concealed their entire body. The voice that came out was that of an old woman.

The Supreme Sect’s spirit ship was large and a prominent target. At this moment, it was surrounded by dozens of people, all in white robes and masks.

They hovered steadily in the air, holding claw-like weapons commonly used by sky bandits. Even though they had used something to conceal their aura, it was still possible to guess that these people were all at least in the Tengyun Realm.

Only cultivators in the Tengyun Realm could fly through the heavens without the aid of flying artifacts.

Ten people surrounded the Supreme Sect’s spirit ship, shouting for retribution, with every move seeming aimed at either capturing or dragging away the ship.

Ju Yuan hadn’t expected anyone to dare openly provoke the Supreme Sect. “The spirit ship has an automatic recognition and avoidance system. How can you prove that we killed your beast by colliding with it and not because it was frightened to death by your own people?”

Xia Tianwu remained silent and released his strange fire (extraordinary fire), melting the claws in front of them one by one.

She was currently in discomfort because the opponent’s pressure was also weighing on her. Despite the protective clothing, mobilizing spiritual energy was still extremely difficult.

The white-robed leader sneered. “It’s obvious that your spirit ship was unmanned and collided with the rear of our boat. My beloved pet was standing at the rear to enjoy the view and was knocked off by the rebound force from your defensive formation. It must have died by now!”

Ju Yuan furrowed his brows in anger, about to retort, when suddenly a panicked young girl’s voice came from inside the cabin, “It’s bad! The pressure they released has crushed Junior Uncle to death!”

Xia Tianwu’s face immediately showed disbelief, and even Ju Yuan’s expression stiffened.

Lin Du was dead?

Then, a boy’s voice followed, shouting, “Master! Junior Uncle died so tragically! We must make these people pay with their lives!”

Ju Yuan cursed and summoned a silver spear. “I haven’t seen anyone die from the collision, but if our child is crushed to death by the pressure you released, then today, we will definitely make you pay for her life.”

Even if there were ten or more helpers at the Tengyun Realm or higher, no one would leave today.

These people were clearly here to provoke trouble. Ju Yuan knew this well but didn’t want to cause more trouble, especially with four children on board. The pressure from high-level cultivators could easily harm them.

“Oh, you want to fight now? Don’t want to haggle anymore?” The old woman’s voice had a strange, mocking tone.

Ju Yuan stood at the bow of the ship. “Damn it!”

The man’s long spear traced a luminous arc in the air, then pointed directly at the white-robed figure. His usually gentle eyes suddenly became sharp. “You want to fight, don’t you? Fine. Cowardly rat, unworthy of being my opponent.”

The white-robed figure let out a sharp laugh and fired a dazzling light from his hand, aimed directly at Ju Yuan, but it was deflected by the suddenly activated defensive formation in front of him.

The figure let out a soft “oh” of surprise as a sound of copper bells rang out from all directions.

The sound of the bells was heavy and gradually became more urgent, and the defensive formation began to tremble and shake.

The long spear flashed and created dozens of phantom images, resembling arrows leaving a bow, with immense force. They pierced through the barrier without obstruction, then converged and headed straight for the old woman’s face.

“Overestimating yourself. You clearly know my realm is higher than yours. How can you possibly compare to me?”

The figure calmly waved his sleeve, and the dozens of phantoms seemed to vanish into thin air, disintegrated by the spiritual energy in the blink of an eye.

Ju Yuan swung his spear, “So what if you’re stronger? How many in the Qian Yuan Realm haven’t made it onto the rankings? Do you think that’s how I made it onto the Chongxiao Rankings?”

He lifted his chin defiantly, stepping out of the cabin, missing the brief shout from inside, “Don’t go out!”

A silver light suddenly erupted behind the white-robed figure, causing the person to groan and leap into the air, “Are you playing tricks?”

Ju Yuan held his spear with both hands, ready for action. “It’s just a tactic. Where’s the trick?”

Xia Tianwu, who had been tense, relaxed slightly after the brief warning, turning to look at the cabin door.

The person who was supposed to be “dead” now reappeared in his cloak, frowning and looking serious, muttering, “This is a mess.”

Originally, it was a simple scam by the old lady—by traditional methods, a quick scam and lying side by side on the ground would have sufficed.

But these people, clearly part of a malicious organization, clearly intended to capture them all. Now that Ju Yuan had gone out, only the five Calabash Brothers of were left on the ship, and they could only be dealt with one by one.