Hua Ziyan shot off with Shen Min following her closely toward the army commander.
“Fairy Wei, I am going to ask you to look after Mingyu, will you do that for me please?”
Wu Long asked as he did not see any threats that could hinder Wei Lan here, meaning that Luo Mingyu would be in absolute safety if she was protected by her.
“Sure, leave it to me”
She nodded, taking out her long staff.
Wu Long kissed Luo Mingyu on the forehead, and she smiled as she knew that even if she did not participate in battles, she was still cherished. There was still a little frustration in her mind, but he could not alleviate it right now, so he only made a note to himself inwardly.
“Ling’er, I want to stay not far from Ziyan and Min’er just in case, but once the situation here gets out of hand the ones on the ship might try to take off with it. Can you please take care of the ship?”
“No problem”
Ye Ling nodded and sped off to the water. Once she stepped on the waves, ripples spread on the surface but her speed or trajectory did not change as she ran in a straight line toward the ship. Anyone who saw this widened their eyes until they almost became round, as such movement techniques were not something common. Only big sects had secret techniques like that.
Soon, a resplendent lotus bloomed on the ship. Unlike Wu Long’s Heaven Transcending Lotus which gave off a feeling of glorious majesty and cold supremacy, Ye Ling’s lotus was as if a tender flower was truly blooming, tranquil, and serene. But unlike its peaceful atmosphere, its lethality did not lose to Wu Long’s even a little. The lotus then burst into myriads of petals that flew in profound trajectories around the ship, dying it red with blood but not even scratching the surfaces of the ship itself. This was the fifth form of the Heaven Transcending Lotus, Lotus Scattering in the Wind. Once the petals made one arc in the air they dissipated, but this one attack was enough to wipe out everyone who was on the deck.
In the meantime, Wu Long went to clean up the officers in the Qi Manifestation Realm around the army commander as a chaotic battle ensued between the pirate loyalists and the army of the usurpers.
Hua Ziyan began with a barrage of attacks that heavily landed on the saber of the ox-tailed sword of the army commander. He skillfully deflected her attacks but still felt numbness in his arms from how heavy each fist felt. His eyes widened, and then rage filled them as he saw that his opponent was in the Qi Manifestation Realm. But he soon saw that Shen Min was closely guarding her, and eliminating any enemies that tried to approach. 𝒷𝒹𝓸𝓿𝓁.𝒸ℴ𝓶
Any attacks that exploited openings that Hua Ziyan exposed were stopped by Shen Min, so he gradually started to lose ground as he was not able to get through the two of them. Shen Min’s technique was incredibly tyrannical as she covered him in volley after volley of ten fist strikes almost continuously, but her attack trajectories were simple and did not vary from fist to fist, so with his experience, he was able to somehow hold on. Every time he found an opening, Shen Min’s chakram would arrive right before his nose so he had to either evade or block which gave Hua Ziyan time to adjust and start attacking again.
She gradually saw where he found openings and started mitigating them, as her fists were now having delays that increased the combinations of her attacks and made them less predictable, closing up the slight delay between the volleys as now the fists that were returning for the next volley arrived as the ones from the last were still being launched. She still could not manipulate each fist with its own separate trajectory, but there was now variation in the time at which they were launched.
Suddenly, six of her fists made a horizontal simultaneous attack which he had to duck to evade, while four struck from both sides, two from the left and two from the right. The army commander who was a little lulled into complacency because of the earlier simple movements was slightly late in evading, and one of the fists turned the side of his waist that it grazed into a bloody pulp. She used a variation of a move that was taught to her to be used against the Blazing Spine Serpent.
“Guaaargh!”
The army commander screamed as he held his side while Hua Ziyan sent a new volley of fists from the front.
He still managed to hold her attacks off, but he was now going down in combat efficiency little by little as his injury was making him use more Spiritual Qi and accumulate more fatigue. Shen Min still had to intervene from time to time but the frequency was gradually starting to drop. He could already see that he was losing, and Wu Long was already just standing at the entrance of the bay, killing off anyone who tried to escape. The ship was quiet as Ye Ling reappeared from within and stood on the deck, looking this way.
Cao Mei was leading her people in cleaning up the remaining army troops, a lot of whom were throwing their weapons to the ground and pleading for mercy which was not given to them.
She then arrived in front of the renegade crew members who were on their knees with blades to their necks, wailing and pleading for mercy. Invoking any memories of the time they spent together, swearing undying loyalty from now on, and begging for forgiveness. But after Cao Mei asked them about the situation and got her answers which they eagerly gave her, she mercilessly slaughtered them with her own two sabers.
“You… khuk… you’ve won”
The army commander said while coughing out blood along with some of his innards.
“No, I will be the winner once you are dead”
Hua Ziyan said, as the one lesson Wu Long made sure to repeat to her, was that an enemy that was alive was still a threat. The commander wryly smiled as it seemed this young lady was not so easy to fool. He made a last-ditch effort but was ultimately unsuccessful and in the end, Hua Ziyan crushed his head with two Spiritual Qi Fists from the sides.
The battle ended like this, with Hua Ziyan receiving an immensely valuable experience. Her opponent was higher in the realm and was vastly more experienced than her, but with Shen Min’s support, she was finally able to defeat him.
“Well done”
Wu Long came with open arms and a smile as he congratulated Hua Ziyan on this achievement. She excitedly ran into his embrace and hugged him back as he kissed her on the forehead, and then gave her a tender kiss on the lips.
He then properly thanked Shen Min who passionately kissed him in his embrace. Her bloodied face from the splashed blood of the opponents she slayed up close was beaming with excitement which brought chills to everyone who thought of her as that sunny lady who smiled so brightly to everyone during the feast in the village.
Wu Long then went on to also embrace and kiss Ye Ling who returned from the ship as she saw that he was giving out kiss rewards, and did not hesitate to run and claim hers. The child-like excitement on her face as she ran back on the water made Wu Long chuckle as he received her running into him at full speed. The inertia force that she was carrying was then transferred and a wave of sand rose into the air behind Wu Long.
Wei Lan’s first thought was that she would receive one too, but she quickly remembered that she was not yet in that relationship to get one of these enticing rewards. What she did get, was sincere gratitude from him for protecting Luo Mingyu. This did make her happy, but her confusion about her own feelings intensified.
Cao Mei shook her head as she watched him then hug Luo Mingyu and say something to her ear as she slightly nodded along to his whisper.
‘A ladies’ man sure is different, they’re so happy from his attention’
She wryly smiled.
‘Hm?’
She then noticed the slightly reluctant expression on Wei Lan and raised her eyebrow a little. Since she looked so natural in their company before this moment, it was not apparent that she was any different from the others. But now Cao Mei caught on to something.
She then looked at her remaining crew and almost started laughing, only barely stopping herself at a smile since she thought laughing in the current situation was not appropriate. After today’s events, not one of the men had any slightest thoughts of getting closer to Wu Long’s beauties. The faces they made were somehow comical to Cao Mei, although there was not even a hint of laughter in them.