The cultivators of the Heavenly Dao Alliance and the Demonic Heaven Alliance found the island region, shrouded in a dense blue mist, quite troublesome. Although most of these cultivators had experience battling the Tu Clan strongmen, they lacked any practice in dealing with tribes hidden within such an expansive veil of blue fog.
The limited visibility in this smoky expanse was a significant disadvantage in combat. Ye Qin stood with his arms crossed, cautiously observing the surrounding azure sea, his spiritual sense sweeping across the waters for over ten li.
He recalled Bai Xiu’er mentioning that the Sea Plundering Tribe specialized in naval warfare and was the strongest among the ten great Tu Clan tribes. However, just how formidable their sea combat truly was, cultivators who hadn't experienced it firsthand couldn't truly grasp; being extra cautious was certainly the right approach.
Just as the cultivators began to murmur amongst themselves, discussing whether to charge straight in, several dark, rapidly moving ripples appeared on the sea ahead. Then, with a "Splash!", several large waves surged up from the sea deer-shaped rocks.
Several Tu Clan members, clad entirely in black fish-scale armor, each riding a sea beast, burst through the water. Beneath their feet were Golden Spear Demonic Fish, each several zhang long, all being Third or Fourth-tier Demon Purifying Beasts.
Leading them was a gaunt Tu Clan man, bent slightly at the waist, standing steadily barefoot on the back of a Golden Spear Demonic Fish. In his right hand, he held a heavy bird-iron long spear, and in his left, he gripped a cyan-colored rope tether, which passed through the Golden Spear Demonic Fish's spine, firmly securing him atop the beast.
The Tu Clan man, riding his sea beast clear of the water, looked up at the dense black mass of cultivators in the sky. Surprise immediately flashed across his face, which he quickly suppressed, his expression turning gloomy.
He shouted in broken Middle Earth language: "I am a patrol squad leader from the Jing Clan branch of the Sea Plundering Tribe. Greetings to all esteemed Immortals.
This Blue Mist Archipelago is the ancestral territory of my Jing Clan. Outsiders may not trespass without an invitation from our tribe.
I ask that all of you Immortals depart immediately!" Yu Weifeng, flying in mid-air, glanced at the Tu Clan patrol leader. Tu Clan members lacked spiritual power, so judging their strength merely by appearance was impossible.
However, seeing that the patrol leader's sea mount was a Fourth-tier demonic beast, his strength likely wasn't very high. To a Golden Core cultivator like himself, such a figure was utterly beneath notice.
"The Heavenly Dao Alliance issued a relocation order to your tribe a year ago, demanding you vacate this island cluster. Yet, not only did your tribe refuse to move, but you also seriously injured one of the Heavenly Dao Alliance's Golden Core Immortals.
The Heavenly Dao Alliance now formally declares war on your Jing Clan. Produce your chieftain, surrender to the Heavenly Dao Alliance, offer an apology, and immediately evacuate these islands, and this Immortal Lord might consider sparing your lives." Yu Weifeng spoke dismissively to the Tu Clan patrol leader.
"This is the ancestral land of my Jing Clan; on what grounds should we simply move out? You Immortals occupy such a vast territory in the Eastern Sea Archipelago; must you seize this small cluster of islands belonging to my Jing Clan?" The Tu Clan man tugged the reins of his sea mount, questioning back with uneasy anger.
"A mere Tu Clan patrol leader—why waste so much time on him, Brother Weifeng?" Yan Hao, the great leader of the Demonic Heaven Alliance contingent, was extremely impatient upon seeing Yu Weifeng engaged in a debate with the patrol leader. Without another word, he casually manipulated a top-tier flying sword, which grew several zhang long, golden in hue, and with a single gesture, the golden light slashed down toward the Tu Clan man.
Seeing the danger, the Tu Clan man immediately stomped his Golden Spear Demonic Fish and plunged into the seawater. One Tu Clan patrol soldier couldn't escape in time and was cut down by the golden light.
The remaining patrol members frantically followed him into the water. Given their meager strength, they wouldn't even be worthy of chewing on the teeth of this large contingent of cultivators.
The Golden Spear Demonic Fish dove tens of zhang deep, gave a few powerful tail strokes, and vanished into the vast expanse of blue, misty seawater behind them. Yan Hao didn't pursue these mere underlings.
He retracted his flying sword quite casually, revealing a bloodthirsty sneer. "Brother Weifeng, since this tribe refuses to leave, they are courting death.
We can hardly be blamed for showing no mercy. How shall we fight this battle?
What are your thoughts?" Yu Weifeng considered carefully before speaking. "This Blue Mist Archipelago has poor visibility, and we don't know how many strongmen the Tu Clan tribe harbors within.
To be prudent, we should advance cautiously, clearing island by island from the periphery. Once we've purged every island, they will have nowhere left to hide." Yan Hao glanced at Yu Weifeng and found his extreme caution amusing.
"Brother Weifeng, you are still so careful in your methods. Your approach is too troublesome.
There must be hundreds of islands in this cluster. If you slaughter them one by one, how long will it take?
It might take a year or more to finish. There must be a main island among this cluster, the tribe's primary stronghold.
Let's head straight for their main island and eliminate their leader; the Tu Clan tribe will surely surrender." "Brother Yan, the strength of the Sea Plundering Tribe's Jing Clan is likely not inferior to ours. Charging rashly into the depths of the islands like that is probably very unwise.
I still insist on the method of gradual advancement to subdue this Jing Clan tribe," Yu Weifeng cautioned. "Enough!" Yan Hao felt a slight displeasure at Yu Weifeng's suggestion.
"Since our opinions differ, let us each take our team and launch an attack simultaneously from the north and south directions of the archipelago, dividing the assault on this island cluster. Whoever captures the most territory in the central islands after the battle gets to keep it!" After speaking, Yan Hao did not wait for Yu Weifeng's reply and directly led the large contingent of Demonic Heaven Alliance cultivators southward toward the Blue Mist Islands.
Yu Weifeng stared at the retreating figures of the Demonic Heaven Alliance cultivators, his face stiff and somewhat displeased. "That fellow Yan is too arrogant.
Brother Yu, what should we do? Should we attack immediately and rush to the main island?" "We cannot lag behind the Demonic Heaven Alliance, or they will seize the first credit, and we won't have the face to meet that Yan fellow again!" Several Core Formation Immortal Palace leaders nearby strongly disapproved of Yan Hao's attitude and urged Yu Weifeng on.
"Ignore him. We will proceed in our own manner.
Once they stumble, they will realize that the Sea Plundering Tribe is not so easy to deal with," Yu Weifeng waved his hand, stopping the Core Formation cultivators from saying more, and stated coldly. Although Yu Weifeng disliked Yan Hao's arrogance, he had his own concerns and would not alter his plan just because Yan Hao looked down on him.
This expedition against the Tu Clan was specifically ordered by the Heavenly Dao Alliance high command for him to lead—it was a test that related directly to his future standing within the Alliance. He could not afford any mistakes, lest he disappoint the higher-ups, making it difficult to lead another expedition in the future.
He would rather advance slowly but strive for absolute certainty; defeat was not an option. Otherwise, even Sect Master Yu would find it hard to shield him.
Yu Weifeng led the Heavenly Dao Alliance cultivators to the northern part of the Blue Mist Archipelago, gathered the captains and vice-captains from the twenty Immortal Palaces, and laid out the plan of attack. Although the strategy was gradual advance, to avoid being too far behind the Demonic Heaven Alliance in claiming islands, Yu Weifeng adopted a formation where the cultivators from the twenty Immortal Palaces advanced in a single line simultaneously.
This way, they could claim more islands. Furthermore, if any Tu Clan strongmen appeared, the cultivators from the various Immortal Palaces could provide timely mutual support instead of being isolated.
After Yu Weifeng made the arrangements, the Immortal Palace cultivators began to move. "Brother Ye is likely inexperienced in matters of conquest.
This junior sister once accompanied the Palace Master on an expedition, so perhaps I should take command instead. What do you think, Brother Ye?" Zhou Yao passed by Ye Qin, paused momentarily, and spoke with a trace of arrogance.
Perhaps she felt it necessary to clarify things to prevent chaos during the battle. After all, Ye Qin was the true captain holding the Purple Sword Palace Token.
If, during combat, Ye Qin suddenly presented the token to oppose her command, causing trouble at a critical moment, the Purple Sword cultivators might hesitate to disobey, leading to confusion and making the battle impossible to fight. She looked at Ye Qin plainly, expecting him to verbally agree to relinquish command.
"I am unfamiliar with military matters; all actions will be arranged by Miss Zhou." Ye Qin touched his nose, thought for a moment, and did not object. These Purple Sword Palace cultivators were all members of the Zhou family.
If casualties occurred during the battle, it would be difficult for him to account for them. If Zhou Yao personally commanded, then however many died would have nothing to do with him.
He also had no interest in fighting for command authority. "Let's go!" Zhou Yao, hearing Ye Qin explicitly promise to yield command, nodded in satisfaction and led the twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Purple Sword Palace, first transforming into a streak of red light, charging into the blue mist.
Ye Qin smiled faintly, cast a water-element body-protecting shield onto himself, and urged his magical artifact to follow. The forty Core Formation and four hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Heavenly Dao Alliance plunged into this blue mist sea area.
The blue mist in this sea area was extremely dense. Even Core Formation cultivators, concentrating their spiritual power in their eyes, could only see objects within a range of two to three hundred zhang.
The vision for Foundation Establishment cultivators was even smaller, less than a hundred zhang. This blue mist was peculiar; spiritual sense detection was severely limited, only reaching a few li at best in any direction.
Moreover, spiritual sense could not distinguish between Tu Clan strongmen and ordinary Tu Clan people. Within a short time, the Purple Sword Palace cultivators had advanced several li into the blue mist.
They discovered a small island, several li in size. On this small island, they saw some low stone houses constructed by the Tu Clan, a simple docking area, and a small number of damaged and discarded boats, along with scattered fish spears, nets, and dried meats near the vessels.
Ordinary Tu Clan people had resided on this island, but they had clearly evacuated in great haste. An island of this size held no strategic value worth defending.
Seeing the deserted island, Ye Qin frowned slightly. It seemed the Tu Clan had already discovered that these cultivators were launching an expedition here and had already made countermeasures; otherwise, they wouldn't have evacuated so completely.
Zhou Yao, finding no Tu Clan members on the island, furrowed her delicate brows. She entered a common stone dwelling, pushed open the door, and was surprised to find the firewood in the stove still warm, suggesting the evacuation had not been long ago.
"Move!" She immediately tossed out her flying sword and led the Purple Sword Palace cultivators to continue flying forward rapidly. Ye Qin followed behind the main body of cultivators, sweeping his spiritual sense into the distance, a look of worry crossing his face.
Zhou Yao seemed eager to claim merit, flying the Purple Sword Palace cultivators extremely fast, leaving the cultivators from the Treasure Gathering Palace and Guangyu Palace on either side far behind. The Guangyu Palace cultivators on the left, led by Liao Xiaoji, seemed to be advancing somewhat slowly, wary of an ambush.
The Treasure Gathering Palace cultivators on the right, led by the fat man Jin, were also flying quickly, but not with Zhou Yao's reckless urgency. It appeared the Purple Sword Palace contingent was currently the fastest advancing force among the Heavenly Dao Alliance forces.
Ye Qin even regretted allowing Zhou Yao to take command, but he found it difficult to speak up now. He had already agreed to let her arrange all movements and couldn't suddenly object.
The Purple Sword Palace cultivators flew for a short while before spotting three or four large ships, nearly fifty to sixty zhang long, appearing in the blue mist sea area within sight. These ships were laden with thousands of Tu Clan members.
A large number of Tu Clan people stood on the decks. Upon seeing the group of Immortals descending from the sky, they immediately panicked and scrambled about, shouting loudly in the Tu dialect.
The sailors frantically rowed the boats forward, cutting through the waves. "Splash...!" From the seabed around the ships, dozens of Sea Rider Strongmen from the Jing Clan burst forth, mounted on various Third and Fourth-tier sea demonic beasts, swiftly gliding around the vessels.
They brandished bird-iron long spears, glaring furiously at the Immortals in the sky. It seemed they intended to prevent the Immortals from approaching the ships.
However, they could only maneuver on the sea. Despite their astonishing divine strength, the throwing range of their long spears was limited, posing a threat to the Immortals only at close range, perhaps a few dozen zhang away.
They could not attack the Immortals high in the sky. "Attack!
Kill all the strongmen!" Zhou Yao exclaimed with delight, finally encountering a small group of Sea Rider Strongmen from the Sea Plundering Tribe. Following her command, the twenty-plus Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Purple Sword Palace all launched their flying swords and magical artifacts, charging toward the Sea Rider Strongmen surrounding the large ships.
The operating range of Foundation Establishment cultivators' artifacts was also limited to a few dozen zhang; spiritual sense could not control them effectively from farther away, requiring them to close in for melee combat. Swish, swish...!
Seeing the Immortals descending, the Sea Rider Strongmen immediately threw their long spears with full force. Dozens of dark-colored lights formed a scattered forest of spears, shooting skyward to engage the cultivators' magical artifacts, sparking a dense chorus of clashing artifacts and bird-iron long spears.
Zhou Yao did not make a move. Ye Qin also watched coldly from mid-air.
As the leading Core Formation cultivator, he didn't need to contend with these mid-tier strongmen. After watching for only a short while, he secretly shook his head.
The strength of these several dozen mid-tier Tu Clan Sea Rider Strongmen was simply too poor. After throwing one round of bird-iron long spears, they didn't even have time to draw the second spear from their waists before they were overwhelmed by the fierce assault of the Purple Sword Palace Foundation Establishment cultivators.
They collapsed completely, several strongmen being cut down in an instant, staining the sea a horrific red. A Tu Clan strongman, apparently their leader, shouted something in the Tu language, after which the remaining Sea Rider Strongmen frantically urged their sea beasts and dove into the deep seabed, abandoning the ships they were guarding and fleeing wildly in all directions.
It was extremely difficult to pursue the Sea Rider Strongmen once they submerged. The Purple Sword Palace cultivators stopped their advance directly.
After assessing the results, they had killed seven mid-tier Sea Riches Strongmen. Among the Purple Sword Palace contingent, only one mid-tier Foundation Establishment cultivator suffered a superficial wound to his abdomen when his protective shield was pierced by a spear; it was not serious.
"The Sea Rider Strongmen of the Sea Plundering Tribe are said to be formidable, but it seems they are overhyped! This expedition should proceed smoothly," Zhou Yao said to Ye Qin with a beaming, charming smile, unusually devoid of her usual icy demeanor, seeing the easy victory of the Purple Sword Palace cultivators.
"Miss Zhou's command was effective," Ye Qin replied casually, though he inwardly gave a wry smile. It was expected that cultivators would win against Tu Clan members.
Furthermore, these were only mid-tier Tu Clan; the main force of the Jing Clan had yet to appear. If they encountered high-tier strongmen, it likely wouldn't be this easy.
"Martial Aunt Zhou, how should we handle the ordinary Tu Clan members on these ships?" A young male and female cultivator flew over on their swords. The woman reported the battle results to Zhou Yao and inquired about the fate of the vessels.
"Forget these broken boats. Qian Zhitian, Chu Ting, gather the disciples and continue pushing forward!" Zhou Yao showed no interest in the mere vessels.
"But, Martial Aunt Yao, since the Jing Clan dispatched dozens of strongmen to guard these few ships, I suspect there might be more than just ordinary Tu Clan members inside; perhaps some valuable goods are stowed away. Should we send personnel to search the boats, to avoid missing anything?" The man, who appeared gentle and refined, looked at Zhou Yao with an expression of indescribable admiration mixed with extreme deference.
Zhou Yao was always the object of adoration for the younger disciples in the Purple Sword Palace. However, the vast difference in status between Core Formation and Foundation Establishment prevented him from overstepping.
"Hmph, what valuable goods could possibly be on these few ships? Send one cultivator to inspect each ship," Zhou Yao said, slightly puzzled, then ordered them to board and search.
"Miss Zhou, there are too many Tu Clan people on these ships. If there are Tu Clan strongmen mixed in, Foundation Establishment cultivators might not be a match for mid-tier Tu Clan strongmen at such close quarters," Ye Qin warned, his brow slightly raised, unable to stop himself from interjecting.
He didn't want to see any Purple Sword Palace cultivators die needlessly due to a minor accident. "Martial Uncle Ye is worrying too much.
Quite a few disciples are carrying Artifacts of Containment. As long as they are careful, there shouldn't be a problem," the man immediately replied, dismissing Ye Qin's concern.
"Go, but remain highly vigilant," Zhou Yao decided after a moment's thought to let them search the ships. Since these cultivators were here to conquer the Jing Clan tribe in the Blue Mist Archipelago, if they could gain extra benefits, they wouldn't refuse them.
The major spoils would certainly be taken by the Core Formation cultivators; the Foundation Establishment cultivators could only fix their sights on smaller fortunes to earn some hard-earned money and not have made the trip in vain. Although Zhou Yao was the young mistress of the Zhou family in the Purple Sword Palace, she understood these unspoken rules and wouldn't let her subordinates suffer losses.
Seeing this, Ye Qin said no more. "Yes!" Qian Zhitian and Chu Ting happily accepted the orders and left.
The few ships had stopped, drifting on the sea surface. The numerous ordinary Tu Clan members on board, having witnessed the intense battle just moments ago, were all pale with fright, practically slumped over the decks, afraid to move lest they provoke these suddenly arriving Immortals.
Several cultivators flew out from among the twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Purple Sword Palace. They cast protective shields and activated defensive artifacts like the Diamond Ring and the Emerald Umbrella before descending onto the large ships one by one to inspect the cabins.
The other Foundation Establishment cultivators remained outside, holding their artifacts, vigilantly watching the movements of the ordinary Tu Clan members on the ships. A short while later.
"Ah—!" Suddenly, a dull thud followed by a scream echoed from the cabin of one ship. Immediately after, violent impacts and sharp shouts erupted from the other few ships as well.
The few Foundation Establishment cultivators who entered the cabins were almost simultaneously ambushed. Then, those sounds vanished in an instant.
The expressions of the Purple Sword Palace cultivators instantly changed drastically. Before they could react, the cabin doors exploded outwards, and dozens of mid-tier Tu Clan strongmen charged onto the decks.
These ships were hiding over a hundred mid-tier strongmen—easily several times the number of their Purple Sword Palace cultivators. Faced with such a large group of mid-tier strongmen, they would not be at a disadvantage in a direct confrontation.
However, Ye Qin did not look toward the ships. Instead, his heart lurched violently, and his spiritual sense rapidly scanned the surrounding sea area.
He saw hundreds of ripples across the sea for several li, rapidly closing in from all directions toward the ships' location. With a "Splash," hundreds of sea beasts, carrying the Sea Strongmen of the Jing Clan, leaped out of the water.
Among them was a massive sea beast, dozens of zhang long. A powerfully built high-tier strongman stood imposing on the giant beast's head, gripping a massive cyan ancient halberd in one hand, his eyes flashing with terrifying divine light.