Chapter 287: Reinforcements From The Demonic Clans
Chapter 287: Reinforcements From The Demonic Clans
The moment those from the Mystical Sky Yard retreated, the people from the Jade Pearl Pavilion retreated as well. The Thousands Desire Sect naturally stayed behind alone, with the large group of them returning from where they came from. When they entered, the thirty-six of them were bunched together with a majestic and insufferably arrogant aura, inciting the fear of everyone present. But when they exited, they were like the rats on the streets.
Not only did they have to suffer from the attacks of the Thousands Demon Sect and Ancient Sword Sect, there were some other sects who joined in the fun as well. All of these people were those who suffered a loss when they entered previously. Now that they saw an opportunity to enjoy some benefits, they would naturally step out to hit the enemy when they were down. Thankfully, those from the three sects were all experts this time. Together with the aid of six YuanYing cultivators, they managed to fight their way out eventually. However, of the thirty-six who went in, less than twenty of them managed to leave, more than half of them perishing.
Those who went in were not ordinary disciples; they were all JinDan disciples! So many of them dying would be a huge blow to any sect. Failing their mission while suffering such heavy losses, all of the YuanYing cultivators wanted to burst out crying, but no tears came out.
This was not what gave them the biggest headache. The thing which frustrated them the most was the cultivators who chased after them from behind. They were all there to kill Song Zhong and stop the Gold Dragon ship from flying further, just how did they end up fighting with others for no reason? Not only were they unable to complete their mission and waste time, they were even chased out like dogs by the other sects! This was far too embarrassing!
Actually, Daoist Lecher, Daoist Huo Long and Huo Qing Yun were even more depressed than they were. The three had obviously sent the team to destroy the flying formation of the Gold Dragon ship, but they instead brought back a whole squad of people chasing after them. How would they be able to endure it?
Despite how frustrated the three of them were, they just could not ignore the cultivators they sent in. Thus, the three of them quickly brought their subordinates along to save the miserable looking Wind and Cloud Witches. Then, they tried to stop the other party and resolve the misunderstanding.
After pulling apart both the parties, they wanted to reason things out with them. However, the skies above the Eastern Ocean changed and the originally sunny sky was suddenly filled with dark clouds. Furthermore, numerous black clouds became to gather from all directions, looking as though it was about to rain. A thunderstorm wouldn’t be considered a big deal as the weather of the Eastern Ocean was just that unpredictable. However, the problem was the fact that this rain was just too suspicious and it was laced with a trace of demonic Qi. Everyone present was an expert of the JinDan level at the very least, and immediately realized that this rain was probably related to the demonic beasts.
As they realized that the demonic beasts were the ones creating trouble, their faces changed and they lost all mood for a confrontation. Instead, they began to observe their surroundings with caution. After all, the strength of the demonic beasts was vast, and the human cultivators chose to band together in face of this crisis.
Right at this moment, the Gold Dragon ship which had been operating at full speed suddenly flew down towards the surface of the ocean. The flying ship which was originally in the air became a huge ship in the ocean.
Looking at this scene, everyone present was puzzled. When the flying ship was in the air, the speed of the ship would be unleashed to its fullest. If it was in the water, unless it had water movement spells, the speed of the flying ship would be greatly reduced. Furthermore, the Gold Dragon ship did not possess any water movement spells and would only have a speed of about 1000 mph in the waters. The twenty-plus ships chasing after it were far faster than that and they would be able to surround the Gold Dragon ship easily. As such, everyone present just did not understand why Song Zhong did not attempt to make use of the chaos brought from the demonic beasts to escape, but chose to land on the surface of the water instead. However, this question of theirs was quickly answered. They suddenly saw numerous figures appearing from under the water, with all sorts of demonic beasts appearing. There were black sharks, giant squids, gigantic turtles, humongous lobsters, etc.
Due to the fact that these demonic beasts were too weak, they were unable to fly and thus unable to reach the Gold Dragon ship which was in midair. Obviously, to receive their aid, Song Zhong landed his Gold Dragon ship on the surface of the ocean. As for speed to escape, hehe, was that still necessary?The Gold Dragon ship was the vessel of the ruler of the Eastern Ocean Empire. It was just that the Empress felt that it required too many resources and so she did not operate it much. As such, the human cultivators were unaware of it. However, while the human cultivators were unaware, the demonic beasts were extremely clear about this. Furthermore, they were extremely clear that the Empress had already given this Gold Dragon ship to the Crown Prince a few years ago.
Thus, the Gold Dragon ship was quickly spotted when it arrived at the Eastern Ocean. Seeing the vessel of their Crown Prince being chased by so many human cultivators, they were all startled. Without any delay, they reported the matter up.
Of course, the hinterlands of the Eastern Ocean Empire was still a great distance away and a long time would be required for the experts from the empire to rush here. However, the Eastern Ocean Empire was created to deal with the harassment of the Eastern Ocean Alliance. Along the borders of the Eastern Ocean, there was still the Eastern Ocean Surveillance Corps.
After receiving the news, despite knowing that there were many YuanYing cultivators and flying ships present, they came to Song Zhong’s aid without delay.This attack was from the actions of a few members of the Eastern Ocean Surveillance Corps. Following their arrival, a large amount of demonic beasts began to enter the insides of the Gold Dragon ship from the ocean. While there were a few who went out to chase after the Jade Pearl Pavilion, Mystical Sky Yard and Thousands Desire Sect, there were still plenty of them left in the Gold Dragon ship.
When Song Zhong was alone, he did not have any means to deal with the cultivators. But with the aid of the demonic beasts, the situation was turned around immediately.
In the water, the strength of the demonic beasts was greatly amplified while the human cultivators were restricted. Apart from the Water-type cultivators, the others were greatly affected by the water. Despite the strength of the human cultivators being much higher than the demonic beasts on average, they just could not win against the sheer numbers of the demonic beasts!
With just a few ambassadors of the Eastern Ocean Surveillance Corps taking action together, their subordinates alone amounted to more than a hundred thousand. While they were weak, their numbers were just too frightening. They all entered the Gold Dragon ship through the damaged portion of the ships and were like waves of ants, densely packed and all over the place. In every single room and passageway that was filled with water, they would definitely be present. At the very most, there were only a few thousand human cultivators. Facing more than ten times the amount of enemies in such a small space, and water which came out of nowhere, they were unable to endure it regardless of how strong they were.
However, the deck of the Gold Dragon ship wasn’t peaceful at this moment as well. Most of the demonic beasts had a certain amount of ability to fight on land as well. Seeing that they wouldn’t be able to squeeze their way into the Gold Dragon ship anytime soon, the demonic beasts at the back grew impatient and jumped right onto the deck of the Gold Dragon ship. Most of the demonic beasts who jumped onto the deck were a type of gigantic crab called the Red Demon Crab. The appearance of the Red Demon Crab was similar to an ordinary crab, but they were at least five feet in size. The ones which were stronger could even be as huge as thirty feet. The large pincers they had were as huge as doors, and the most frightening part about them was their defenses. Their red outer shell helped them to easily block the attacks of a foundational cultivator. These Red Demon Crabs did not have any long ranged attacks and had a slow speed, allowing cultivators to avoid them easily and slowly wear them down to death. But, the size of the deck was limited and the numerous crabs did not even have the space to stand on the deck. Just how would the cultivators be able to avoid them to wear them down?Thus, those cultivators on the deck had no choice but to fly into the air. As such, the Red Demon Crabs and the other demonic beasts easily occupied the deck and began attacking the insides of the Gold Dragon ship. In a short blink of an eye, the 3000 foot long Gold Dragon ship was filled with demonic beasts all around, crawling about like ants on a cube of sugar. As such, the cultivators in the Gold Dragon ship were in grave trouble. Below them, the demonic beasts entered the ship through the ocean. Above them, the gigantic Red Demon Crabs had occupied the deck. The human cultivators faced pressure from all directions, being surrounded by enemies all around them.
Of course, the few ambassadors of the Eastern Ocean Surveillance Corps and their subordinates were still insufficient to challenge the powerful human cultivators. Despite being caught off guard, the human cultivators only panicked for a short while. Upon realizing that their opponents were weaker than them, they calmed down quickly and began retaliating.
Since the cultivators in the Gold Dragon ship knew that they wouldn’t be able to escape, they found a place with an appropriate terrain to defend against the demonic beasts with all their strengths, fending off the many attacks of the demonic beasts.
The countless demonic beasts were slaughtered as their blood filled in the insides of the Gold Dragon ship. However, the demonic beasts just couldn’t do anything to the human cultivators. As for the cultivators on the outside of the Gold Dragon ship, their job was even easier. The cannons of the two dozen flying ships were fired together, and explosions could be seen on the surface of the ocean. The demonic beasts hiding underneath the water were massacred as their bodies floated up and blood dyed the ocean red.
The dense demonic beast army was very quickly seriously injured. Their originally ferocious attack also began to slow down from their deaths. The human cultivators were elated as they saw that, and began to seize their advantage. A few high grade cultivators summoned a strong gust of wind to blow the rain clouds above them away. After the black clouds disappeared and the light began to shine, the human cultivators let out a cry of delight. However, after their praise lasted for a short while, they all began to stop as they stared afar with dumbfounded eyes.
From afar, a black dot suddenly appeared, and quickly turned into a gigantic bird. From the east, tens of thousands of lightning eagles surrounded by lightning appeared. From the west, there were a hundred thousand black rain sparrows, with each of them having a wingspan of ten feet. They were only slightly slower than the lightning eagles and were at the second grade. However, their numbers were overwhelming, covering up the sun as they flew over majestically.
From the north, there were only ten thousand large golden rocs which had a wingspan of seventy to eighty feet. Their bodies were clad in golden feathers, shining in the sunlight like a golden suit of armour. These golden rocs were all at the fourth grade and were even stronger than the lightning eagles. From the south, there were plenty of flying type demonic beasts as well, tens of thousands at a single glance. The huge group was made up of the most useless kind of demonic beasts called the big-headed bird. While they were all extremely big and over forty feet in size, their combat prowess was negligible with their only strength being their huge size.
However, while they were not powerful, they brought a large group of reinforcements with them. Every big-headed bird was holding onto a land-type demonic beast. There were fire wolfs, demonic bears, and more. Each of these demonic beasts were all of the fourth grade. However, they did not know how to fly and were extremely slow. Usually, they stayed on the larger islands of the Eastern Ocean and it would be impossible for them to come and aid the battle. As such, they used the big-headed birds as their couriers.
Realizing that a few hundred thousand demonic beasts had appeared, the human cultivators naturally lost all their will to cheer. While the human cultivators were strong, their numbers were far too small. From the original four thousand of them, more than a thousand had died from their internal struggle and less than three thousand cultivators were left. They were obviously unable to fight against the hundreds of thousands of demonic beasts.
Besides, they were in the territory of the demonic beasts presently. In such a short time, so many demonic beasts had appeared. Who knew how many more would turn up later? Thus, all of these cultivators could not help but grow fearful and have intentions to retreat.
Finally, a YuanYing cultivator said with a frown, “The demonic clans are too powerful and it is best for us to make a temporary retreat!”While the others did not say a thing, they all nodded in agreement.
However, Daoist Huo Long was unwilling to give up so easily. He said quickly, “Fellow daoist, you are wrong. After paying such a heavy price, we have finally damaged the Gold Dragon ship to such an extent. Are we really going to give up like that? Can all of you bear to do so?”
“This...” As everyone heard that, they all began to hesitate. Truthfully, while they had snatched many things from the Gold Dragon ship, it was insignificant after splitting it amongst the few thousand of them present. Furthermore, none of them had managed to find the warehouse of the Gold Dragon ship, where the treasures were definitely plentiful. Together with the value of the Gold Dragon ship itself and Song Zhong’s two spiritual artifacts, all of the cultivators present were extremely tempted. Facing this mountain of gold which was right in front of them, none of them wanted to give up so easily.
Seeing the crowd tempted, Daoist Lecher also added on, “Everyone, do not forget that Song Zhong is not dead yet, and the Gold Dragon ship has not been destroyed. If you give him some time, he will definitely make a comeback. Based on that brat’s vengeful character, he will probably go knocking on all of your doors!”As he said that, he stroked his beard and sneered, “If my Thousands Desire Sect wasn’t able to block Song Zhong, I wonder if the rest of you will be able to do so?”
Hearing that, the faces of everyone present began to change. Indeed, while they could withstand the allure of the treasures, they could not ignore the threat posed by Song Zhong. While this brat was still a newbie, his abilities were too frightening. He first wiped out the Jade Pearl Pavilion and then destroyed the Thousands Desire Sect. These two sects had been present in the Vast Mountains for over ten thousand years! But, they were all destroyed by him single-handedly. This was akin to a miracle!Now that they had all surrounded him and almost crippled his Gold Dragon ship, chasing him for thousands of miles, how would he not bear a grudge? If they were to allow him to recover, they would be in grave trouble when he came to collect his debts!
Thinking about this, a ray of killing intent shot out from all of their eyes, obviously persuaded. A YuanYing cultivator from the Thousands Demon Sect then snorted, “If that’s the case, then let us settle this matter for good. Let us all take action together to destroy the Gold Dragon ship!” As this suggestion was voiced, everyone’s eyes lit up as they thought that the plan was a feasible one. However, Huo Qing Yun quickly interjected, “We must not do that. There are still many of our fellow daoists in the Gold Dragon ship. If we were to launch an all out attack, their disciples would definitely disagree to it!” As she said that, she looked at the flying ships around her.
Everyone quickly understood what Huo Qing Yun meant. If they were to ignore the seniors of the other sects, the disciples from those sects would definitely disagree to it. At that time, those disciples would definitely command their flying ships to launch an attack for sure. Due to the fact that there were more sects inside the Gold Dragon ship presently, those who were outside would definitely be on the losing end.
Furthermore, in such a critical moment, they definitely could not afford internal strife. If they were to end up fighting amongst themselves, who would be left to deal with the demonic beasts? Perhaps, all of them would end up as lunch for the demonic beasts. If things were to really develop to such an extent, all of them would have been killed by their own stupidity. Understanding this point, no one said another word and silently agreed with what Huo Qing Yun said.
Seeing that no one was talking, Daoist Huo Long said to Huo Qing Yun, “Elder sister, what do you think we should do?”
“We don’t have any other choice but to fight to the death. If we gather all of our flying ships together, it wouldn’t be a problem to deal with the flying beasts. The three of our sects can be in charge of dealing with the demonic beasts on the outside. As for the fellow daoists from the Thousands Demon Sect and Ancient Sword Sect, all of you fight your way back into the Gold Dragon ship again. This time, there is no need to search for the flying formation. Instead, you guys should create as much destruction as possible to force Song Zhong out! As long as he appears, our plan will be a success!” Huo Qing Yun said solemnly. “Alright!” the YuanYing cultivator from the Ancient Sword Sect nodded without hesitation. “You can count on us!” As he said that, he flew down with the other cultivators following after him.
Under the lead of a few YuanYing cultivators, they all fought their way into the Gold Dragon ship again. Due to the large amounts of demonic beasts being killed by the flying ships, the demonic beasts in the Gold Dragon ship lost their reinforcements and this reduced their combat prowess. As such, after these people flew in, they began to gather the others to search for Song Zhong.
At this time, all the human cultivators knew that they would have to be united. Even if the demonic witches tried to sow discord, the chaos would be quickly suppressed. Helpless, the demonic witches could only give up on their sneak attacks and command the demonic beast’s attacks. With the Crown Prince talisman of Song Zhong, the demonic beasts would naturally listen to the demonic witches. With the demonic witches all being sly old foxes, they had fought in many battles before and had a wealth of experience. Together with their familiarity with the insides of the Gold Dragon ship, they had the absolute advantage. Under the command of the demonic witches, the demonic beasts were actually able to fight the human cultivators to a draw.