For the past few days, Ye Wen had instructed the sailors to load a great deal of sand onto the large ships, keeping it prominently displayed. The heroes of the Righteous Path were initially puzzled by the decision to carry so much sand, until an old sailor explained: "To put out fires!"

"Can't we just use water?"

Ye Wen replied, "If the enemy throws fire oil at us, the sand will be useful!" The assembled heroes hadn't paid much mind until they saw the enemy catapults launching oil jars from those two warships, instantly realizing how correct Ye Wen's preparations had been.

"Try your best not to let the fire oil strike the ships!" Those oil jars were being hurled by the enemy’s siege engines. If a large ship were struck by fire oil, the enemy could then use fire arrows to destroy everyone’s vessels. At that point, the only likely end for the heroes would be to be swallowed by the fish, leaving them no other choice.

Fortunately, the ships carried many experts, each possessing unique skills. Moreover, the enemy’s catapults were few, only able to hurl two or three jars at a time, and they couldn't guarantee every shot would land. Thus, as long as these experts focused their attention, the oil jars wouldn't likely smash onto the main vessels.

Alas, these masters were accustomed to fighting opponents face-to-face. Dealing with such projectiles, they tended to become complacent. As a result, a third large ship was struck by a stray oil jar. Although it didn't immediately catch fire, it faced a greater degree of peril than the others.

Ye Wen ascended to a high vantage point and surveyed the scene. He saw that the large ships were still moving forward in neat formation, not scattering in panic due to the barrage of oil jars. He couldn't tell if the sailors were paralyzed by fear or simply maintaining an unnerving composure.

Just as he was observing, three more oil jars suddenly flew in from the side. These three were aimed with deadly accuracy directly at the ship Ye Wen occupied. Unfortunately for the enemy, Ye Wen noticed them in advance. His Innate Purple Qi began to circulate, and in the blink of an eye, a purple sword materialized.

"Go!"

He didn't need any hand gestures; a mere thought sent the purple sword streaking out. A blinding burst of purple light flowed and swirled, tracing a brilliant arc across the air. Before the three oil jars could reach their target, they were shattered, and the contents of each jar spilled harmlessly into the sea.

"Sect Master Ye's divine skill!"

Upon seeing the purple radiance, everyone immediately recognized it as the unique technique of Ye Wen, the Sect Master of Shu Mountain. Especially when the purple sword, after destroying the three jars, instantly curved in the air and flew directly back.

The people on the ship only saw a dazzling purple sword flying back and forth in the air, instantly recalling Ye Wen of Shu Mountain—the only expert besides the Nine Sword Immortals who truly mastered the art of sword control.

This was the first time Ye Wen had displayed his Sword Control technique in front of the heroes of the martial world since mastering it. Before this, only a select few, such as the Zen Master Huixin and True Man Tianyi, knew he possessed this skill. Others had never even heard of it, let alone witnessed it, so they naturally couldn't distinguish between a real sword and a sword of energy, assuming it was simply Ye Wen’s Sword Control displaying its might.

When the purple sword returned, Ye Wen stood at his high post. The sword revolved ceaselessly around him, and whenever an oil jar flew near, a flash of purple light erupted, reducing the projectile to fragments in an instant.

"Fire the arrows!"

Seeing that their oil jars were ineffective, the enemy warships ceased wasting their flammable liquid. Once the distance was sufficiently closed, the order to fire arrows was given! After all, the large ships were made of wood; even without the aid of fire oil, they could still be burned.

Furthermore, the order to fire arrows involved not just the regular soldiers on the ships but also the two large crossbows capable of launching spear-sized projectiles.

If one of these things struck a ship, it would make a hole; if it struck a crowd, it would impale a string of candied hawthorns. In short, no matter where they hit, they would cause terrible harm.

At that moment, the two enemy warships charged forward, unleashing a volley of arrows and bolts. A sky full of arrow shadows rained down like droplets, and the spear-like arrows from the crossbows possessed terrifying momentum. The crowd heard a piercing sound as the air was torn, and before they could react, the massive spears pierced right through.

This initial wave of arrows threw the heroes into disarray and killed many sailors, though the martial artists themselves suffered hardly any losses in this first assault. Most of the casualties were due to those giant crossbow bolts.

"This won't do!" Nangong Tinghai instantly recognized the danger and rushed to Ye Wen, saying, "We have no ranged weapons, and out here on the sea, we are purely on the defensive. If we don't figure something out, we won't even reach the Demonic Cult’s lair; we’ll all perish at sea!"

Ye Wen glanced around. The two enemy warships maintained a certain distance without closing in further, relying only on their crossbows and catapults to attack continuously. This distance also allowed the enemy archers to fire their arrows at a flat trajectory, hitting their side more effectively.

Ye Wen estimated the distance to be about fifty to sixty meters. This distance wasn't objectively large, but it felt like an impassable gulf to them.

His Purple Heaven Dragon Qi Sword could just about reach that far, but what good was reaching if the power was severely diminished? Moreover, he was only one person; he couldn't kill many foes by exhausting himself sending out sword Qi.

"Close the distance! We must engage in grappling combat (boarding action); otherwise, we will just continue to absorb their attacks!" Nangong Tinghai immediately urged, "But at this range, as soon as we approach, they will retreat!" Fifty to sixty meters was quite close in a naval engagement, but for these martial artists piloting modified merchant vessels, it still felt too far.

Ye Wen calculated for a moment, then decided, "I will charge over first. You seize the opportunity to approach their ships and absolutely engage in grappling combat!"

The words left his mouth, and he suddenly leaped to the edge of the ship, throwing himself into the air.

"Sect Master Ye is jumping into the sea...!" Before the words were even finished, someone beside him delivered a sharp rap to his head: "Nonsense! Sect Master Ye is going to deal with the Demonic Cult scoundrels!"

Before the two could finish their exchange, they saw Ye Wen, suspended in the air, spread his arms like a great roc spreading its wings, gliding a significant distance forward. In a flash, he reached the space between the two ships.

Normally, this moment—when the initial impetus fades before new force is generated—would be the limit for even powerful experts relying on their Qinggong; most would require something to push off from to travel much further.

Ye Wen was visibly sinking in the air. The enemy cultists watched this fellow jump from a ship into the air like an idiot, expecting him to fall toward the sea. They decided to ignore him, figuring he would drown on his own.

To their astonishment, Ye Wen suddenly paused mid-air, then shot upward again with a powerful surge. Utilizing some unknown application of Qi, he managed to climb higher into the sky. This maneuver was clearly the Cloud-Treading Steps (Tiyun Zong), a lightness skill that allowed for sharp turns and numerous variations in the air, growing exponentially more potent with the user's mastery.

At Ye Wen's current level of Qinggong, such a variation wasn't exactly shocking, but generally, this was the limit of what could be achieved. Unless Ye Wen could conjure some other trick.

Thus, although his sudden upward thrust startled the enemy cultists, the commander on the ship didn't pay it much mind, viewing it as a desperate last struggle. However, just in case the man had more tricks, he loudly ordered, "Stop watching! Fire! Turn that fool into a pincushion!"

"Yes!"

A group of soldiers cheerfully drew their bows. In an instant, the arrow storm arrived like a swarm of locusts, so dense that one could barely see anything beyond the mass of arrowheads.

Such a sight would cause anyone’s heart to tremble and their legs to shake. But Ye Wen remained utterly unfazed. Purple mist billowed around his body, instantly erupting into a splendid, dazzling purple radiance, much like a sudden, secondary purple sun appearing. Many people instantly felt their vision clouded in purple, unable to see clearly.

The commander of the Demonic Cult warship also experienced a sudden blur of vision. Then, he heard screams erupt nearby, followed by warm liquid splashing onto his face. The familiar, pungent odor immediately told him something was terribly wrong. He instinctively rolled to the ground, then felt a sharp pain at his waist, as if cut by a blade.

When everyone could see again, they witnessed piles of arrows transformed into fragments of broken wood floating on the sea. Moreover, the side hull of the Demonic Cult warship looked as if something had taken a bite out of it, with a massive chunk missing. The area around the breach was smeared with blood, and scattered limbs and body parts littered the surroundings.

And Ye Wen was now standing on the Demonic Cult’s warship, head held high, hands clasped behind his back, looking as casual as if he were strolling through his own garden. No one had seen exactly what had happened; they only remembered a flash of purple light, and suddenly Ye Wen was aboard the enemy ship, having slain numerous cult soldiers along the way.

The enemy ship's commander recovered his senses and saw Ye Wen standing not far away, surrounded by scattered limbs and body parts. The strong smell of blood made him feel as if he were already immersed in a brutal battlefield.

At the same time, the gaping wound at his waist bled profusely, impossible to staunch. He suspected he might bleed out momentarily. His survival instinct compelled him to raise his hand, intending to order his soldiers to attack and buy himself time.

But Ye Wen granted him no such opportunity. The young man in the purple robe said, "You managed to dodge that move; you are quite quick-witted. But that is where it ends!" With that, Ye Wen casually waved his hand in the man’s general direction. It looked as if the wave carried no force whatsoever, yet the commander felt a violent jolt in his forehead, and then there was nothing. He collapsed.

Ye Wen used the Cotton Palm technique to unleash an invisible palm strike, killing the clear ship captain. He surveyed his surroundings; the numerous cult soldiers stared at him with a mixture of terror and awe, momentarily forgetting to even fire their bows. It was only when a man who appeared to be a junior officer shouted, "Shoot him dead!" that the soldiers snapped back to attention, simultaneously raising their bows. A cascade of drawn bowstrings sounded, and dense arrows converged on Ye Wen from all directions.

To everyone’s shock, halfway to their target, the arrows abruptly froze in mid-air. From a distance, it looked like a massive cocoon woven from arrows. Yet, nobody found the sight amusing; everyone felt only profound strangeness.

"Is this... sorcery?" The moment this question was voiced, the morale of these cult soldiers, long used to operating overseas, plummeted. Especially when, the next second, those arrows suddenly reversed direction, their sharp tips now aimed directly at the men on their own ship.

"No! Quickly—"

A quick-witted man tried to warn his comrades, but the clumped arrows suddenly exploded outward, like a circle of soldiers simultaneously firing in every direction. Because the shattered arrows flew with extreme velocity, and the soldiers were standing so close, they had no time to react. Many of those standing near the perimeter were pierced through, bristling with arrows like human hedgehogs.

By this point, Ye Wen was the only person standing intact in the immediate vicinity. He still stood with his arms folded behind his back, a purple longsword slowly circling him, a slight smile playing on his lips, as if the entire preceding sequence had nothing to do with him.

Yet, the area was littered with bloodstains and corpses, and many near-death individuals groaned in agony. The scene was profoundly bizarre. If a suitable descriptor were needed, it would be like some bored Sword Immortal deciding to pay a casual visit to Hell.

Despite unleashing several major skills consecutively, Ye Wen felt only a momentary stagnation of internal energy, which vanished instantly. His whole being was flooded with abundant vigor, as if he hadn't exerted himself at all. "After reaching the Perfection of Innate Realm, my energy recovery speed seems to have increased significantly!"

He had successfully intimidated these petty Demonic Cult members. Now, standing there, no one dared approach within three meters of him.

However, one individual attempted a stealth attack from behind. This man's skill was formidable; his approach was entirely silent, and he reached Ye Wen’s nape in the blink of an eye. His strike was not only noiseless but savagely aimed. If the blade had landed true, Ye Wen would certainly have died.

Alas, he didn't know that Ye Wen’s surroundings were already laced with the Purple Qi Heavenly Net field. Anyone crossing into that boundary would alert him. Just as this attacker believed his stealth strike was about to succeed, the purple sword circling Ye Wen suddenly flashed blindingly, dazzling the assailant. Then, there was no 'then' for the attacker.

The purple sword flashed and sliced, and the man's head tumbled away, rolling amidst the broken limbs and corpses, indistinguishable from the wreckage.

This final act terrified the remaining cultists into absolute inaction. After Ye Wen waited a moment, he felt the deck beneath him shudder. The Demonic Cult members finally snapped out of their daze to realize that the Righteous Path heroes’ large ships had managed to pull alongside during their moment of fear. The two vessels crashed together, and a throng of figures leaped aboard the enemy ship, resuming the massacre.

Seeing this, Ye Wen lost interest in continuing his personal display. He instantly retracted his power, and the purple sword dissolved into nothingness in the air.

Many witnessing this assumed Ye Wen had utilized immortal techniques to recall his divine sword. In private, they praised him: "Sect Master Ye is truly an immortal among men. A divine sword that long, appearing and vanishing at will!"

Nangong Tinghai also pulled alongside, clasping his hands in respect: "Sect Master Ye's divine skill is truly unfathomable!"

Ye Wen returned the courtesy: "You are too kind! But be careful when fighting; try not to destroy these two ships!"

Having first provided numerous strategies for the Righteous Path and then demonstrated his power, no one now questioned Ye Wen's commands; their first reaction was immediate compliance. Nangong Tinghai was deeply impressed by Ye Wen’s prowess, thinking to himself, "Sect Master Ye's divine skill is far beyond my reach... perhaps only Elder Brother could compare to him!" Nangong Wentian, the patriarch of the Nangong family, was Nangong Tinghai's older brother, his role model, and the idol of his aspirations. For Ye Wen to earn such praise from Nangong Tinghai was quite significant.

Ye Wen stepped out from the crowd and leaped back onto the large ship where his own people were gathered. As for the remaining enemies on the captured warship, he left them to his disciples, seeing no need for further involvement.

"Master, should we cross over?" Yue Ning asked upon seeing his master return. Behind him stood Xu Ping and Guo Jing, while Zhou Zhiruo and Li Xiaoyao had already charged into the fray.

Ye Wen looked back. He could hear continuous screams, indicating that these Demonic Cult members only possessed skill in naval combat and formation fighting. While they might be troublesome if they maintained a battle array, facing the Righteous Path heroes in single combat, they were simply numerous casualties waiting to happen.

"No need. Let them have some of the glory!"

Besides, Zhou Zhiruo and Li Xiaoyao had already rushed over. Having already taken center stage himself, Ye Wen felt he should leave a bit of the spoils for others to gather, lest he be accused of hoarding all the rewards.

Turning back, he noticed Ning Ruxue and Huayi waiting obediently. Ye Wen casually inquired, "How are the other ships faring?"

His ship had destroyed one enemy warship and was now safe, but he was unsure of the situation on the other vessels.

Huayi replied, "My Lord need not worry; Li Xuan of the Tianshan Sect has already made his move over there!"

"Oh?" Ye Wen walked to the other side of the ship to look. He saw two large ships surrounding the remaining enemy warship, and the sounds of fighting could faintly be heard. Regardless, as soon as grappling range was achieved, the enemy soldiers on those two warships would certainly be no match for the martial artists. Seeing this was enough.

"It’s a pity I didn't get to witness Li Xuan make his move!"

He had roughly identified Li Xuan as belonging to the enemy camp, and Ye Wen always wished to gauge the combat strength of the Tianshan Sect Master. Yet, every time, he failed to fulfill this desire. This time, he had missed it again.

He turned and asked, "Did any of you see what it was like when Li Xuan attacked?"

Ning Ruxue approached him quietly. "Junior Sister saw a little bit just now." As she spoke, her expression shifted, as if recalling something horrifying. "That Li Xuan actually leaped from his ship, then walked across the surface of the sea—just as if he were walking on flat ground—before leaping onto the Demonic Cult warship." The rest of the events were already visible to Ye Wen.

"Walked... on the sea?"

Ye Wen pondered this, the thought growing increasingly terrifying. For Li Xuan to walk on water, his power must be formidable to an incredible degree. At that moment, he recalled a certain unreliable character in an animation, touted as one of the strongest, who also manipulated ice and could move freely across the sea. Could Li Xuan be using a similar method?

"Is Li Xuan really that strong?"