Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 539: The Sea Tribe Emerges

A small boat was lowered onto the sea, and Zhao Changhe leaped onto its bow. Without any visible movement, the boat started gliding forward on its own, cutting through the waves as if some unseen force was steering it.

In the blink of an eye, the small boat had sped far off into the distance.

Back on the flagship, Tang En and the Tang Clan’s sailors watched in awe.

How is this even possible? First, he fasted in seclusion, and now he’s steering a boat without even touching it—is this the power of the King of Man?

For the first time, the crew of the Tang Clan truly felt just how close the ancient world of gods and demons was to their own. If the person ranked first on the Ranking of Man was already so powerful, what about those in the Ranking of Heaven? Had they been underestimating them all along?

In truth, they were actually overestimating Zhao Changhe... The display he was putting on was taking quite a toll on him, draining his internal energy like a massive hole on the bottom of a water bucket. His true qi was being depleted at a considerable rate. If it was not for the Six Harmonies Art making it so that his internal cultivation was vast and quick to replenish, he would not even dare try something like this.

But Zhao Changhe was not trying to put on a show by driving the boat with his internal energy. He was mainly doing it to see how much he had grasped of water control during his ten days of seclusion.

Forcing the boat forward purely by injecting his true qi would have worked too, but the cost would have been even more ridiculous. He would probably have ended up lying flat like a dead dog after just a few li. But by applying what he had learned from observing Hua Zhenming, he understood how to use the power of the water and follow the direction of the wind, thus making the task much easier and faster.

Of course, to the onlookers, it truly did look magical...

“Stop gawking,” Tang En was the first to snap out of his reverie. “Get ashore and bring all our brothers back. As for the islanders, tie them up and bring them onboard!”

The pirates probably never thought that one day their home would be raided by their own guests. With all their combatants rushing off to the main base, the only ones left on the island were the old, weak, and sick, along with brothel girls, tavern servers, and a bunch of people sleeping off their drinks. They were getting dragged onto the ships by the Tang Clan’s sailors without even knowing what was happening.

Wait, who really are the pirates here, us or them?

“Sir...” a young woman asked Tang En nervously, “where are you taking us?”

Tang En turned to look at the crowd of angered and frightened islanders who had been tied up, feeling overwhelmed himself. They were all glaring at him, and he felt a headache coming on.

He had no idea where they were even supposed to go... Half of his own men were still drunk and being carried onto the ships. There were not any other islands nearby...

As chaos spread, a sailor suddenly shouted, “What’s that?!”

Tang En squinted into the distance. Under the night sky, strange shapes began emerging from the sea, one after another. The creatures climbed and leaped onto Taiping Island.

The strange gurgling sounds the creatures made mixed with the sound of waves crashing, creating an eerie and horrifying scene.

It seemed that the creatures quickly realized that the island was devoid of people, and a sharp screech echoed among the creatures as they all turned in unison, their eyes seeming to focus on the distant lights of the ships.

The creatures let out frenzied roars. They then jumped right back into the sea and came surging toward the ships. Their heads bobbed above the waves, and the islanders finally saw what they were.

“Aren’t those fish heads?!”

“Have the fish of the sea turned into monsters?”

Countless fishmen closed in rapidly. The sight of so many massive fish heads in the water made even the most seasoned sailors feel a chill run down their spines.

Forget about Zhao Changhe looking like he was using some immortal art—we’re facing actual fucking monsters!

Tang En, being one of the elites that the Tang Clan valued, with over twenty years of sailing experience, was the first to regain his composure. He shouted, “They’re just a bunch of fish! They can’t fly, and they can’t control the wind and waves to flip our ships. They have to swim all the way here if they want to fight us up close. What’s there to be scared of?”

The crew quickly snapped out of it, too. Yeah, true... Just because they look like monsters doesn’t mean they’re all that strong. They still have to swim over!

“Line up the fleet! Ready the ballistae!” Tang En tried to suppress his nerves, forcing a fierce grin. “They’re just a bunch of fat-headed fish. Kill them all and bring them up to make soup!”

Whoosh!

A massive bolt fired out from one of the ballistae, piercing through the nearest fishman.

The sheer impact sent the fishman flying backward, carrying on through four or five more before finally stopping.

For a moment, the fishmen fell silent, leaving only the sound of the waves, as if the wind itself were howling in anger.

The morale on the deck, however, soared.

They really are just fat-headed fish! A single ballista bolt can skewer four or five of them at once! Their scales are nowhere near as tough as they look! Their defenses are far weaker than a human soldier wearing heavy armor! n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

By now, the distance between the two sides had closed significantly, and it was clear that their numbers were not as overwhelming as they had seemed from afar. It looked like the main force had gone to attack wherever the fireworks had gone off earlier. Zhao Changhe was probably heading there to help. Here at their side, only some minor forces were left behind to attack the island.

Tang En felt a surge of confidence and raised his hand, shouting, “Keep shooting! Ready the bows as well! Give these fat-headed fish a taste of human weapons!”

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

A volley of arrows flew through the night sky, blanketing the sea.

Even Xia Longyuan probably would never have imagined that the first battle between the Great Xia Empire and the Sea Tribe would be started by the Tang Clan.

* * *

Zhao Changhe sped along in his small boat, heading in the direction of the fireworks, racing at full speed. After about an hour, he finally arrived at the site of the main battle.

In front of him lay a cluster of islands, a complex environment. Judging by the water currents and what his true qi could sense beneath him, there were reefs below, spelling disaster for any larger ships. The entire area around the islands seemed to be filled with such hidden dangers.

This has to be the pirates’ true base. If a regular force came to root them out, these reefs alone could wipe out an entire fleet, assuming the pilots are unfamiliar with the terrain. Unfortunately for the pirates, the ones that came to attack them this time aren’t human at all.

Countless fishmen swarmed every island, engaging in fierce battles with the pirates left behind to defend the place.

The fishmen had no need for ships—they simply emerged from the water. No matter how advantageous the terrain might be, it became a joke against these creatures of the sea. There was no point in talking about terrain advantage when fighting fishmen at sea!

Most striking of all was a massive sharkman... Just imagine the pressure of seeing a shark standing upright—who could handle that?

An old man with a thick beard swung his saber against the shark. He was a huge man, but next to the sharkman, he looked like a toddler.

But human martial artists did not rely on size to win. Zhao Changhe could sense the explosive energy coming from the old man.

That old man’s strength is definitely at the second layer of the Profound Mysteries. He’s someone who should be ranked on the Ranking of Earth...

Wait, something feels off. This guy can’t be the legendary Dragon King, Hai Pinglan, right?

No matter how he looked at it, the elder did not seem to reach the level of the monstrous figures on the Ranking of Heaven that Zhao Changhe had met before. Thus, he concluded that it could not possibly be him. However, it really seemed as though this old man was the true leader of the pirates—not Lady Three, who had only recently appeared as their third leader.

Lady Three and Hua Zhenming’s fleet quickly approached the battlefield. Lady Three’s eyes were locked on the giant sharkman, her slender hand clenched, gathering a punch strong enough to split mountains. She was just waiting to get within range to unleash it.

The old man saw the fleet approaching and shouted, “Prepare to abandon ship and take to the water!”

All the pirates had floatation gear with them, but they had no idea what he meant until they felt the ships start to sway.

In the next moment, countless water spouts shot up into the sky, easily flipping all the approaching pirate ships.

Fortunately, the pirates had been prepared. As soon as the ships began to rock, they grabbed their gear and jumped into the water.

In the sea, fishmen were already waiting for them, and a fierce battle erupted instantly.

The only one without any flotation gear was Lady Three, who balanced on the slowly sinking mast, her gaze cold as she looked at a massive figure of water rising from the sea.

Zhao Changhe recognized this as one of the energy constructs Xia Longyuan had mentioned—the same kind as the one that had been behind Wang Daoning. According to Xia Longyuan, this thing could be considered an entity at the third layer of the Profound Mysteries. It was not fighting the bearded old man directly, seemingly focusing on cutting off any reinforcements instead. It clearly possessed a high level of intelligence, much unlike the other fishmen.

It could be considered a “caster,” a conduit of the Sea Emperor’s will.

The information Xia Longyuan had gathered through relentless effort, even at the risk of collateral damage, was indeed invaluable.

The water figure was surprisingly able to speak. “The third layer of the Profound Mysteries... A figure like you in a pirate crew... Hm, third layer, woman, water affinity... Could you be the Black Tortoise of the Four Idols Cult?”

Lady Three was certainly not about to let the Sea Tribe target the Four Idols Cult just yet. Their saintess was still out at sea, looking for something, and she had come out here to help, not to mess things up. She thus replied, “Is the mighty Sea God unaware that the Heavenly Origin Pirates have always had a hidden third leader?”

“So, you’re their rumored third leader,” the water figure said calmly, not pressing the issue. “Very well... The Sea God is still in need of a Sea Empress.”

Lady Three was instantly enraged. She kicked off from the mast and charged straight at the water figure.

Before she even got close, her punch was already on its way.

In an instant, storm clouds gathered, and the ocean howled in fury. The terrifying force of her punch whipped up a wave so colossal that it seemed to reach the heavens.

It was as if her single punch had triggered a tsunami!

Before her stood the massive water figure, while behind her raged the monstrous waves. Above, the stars corresponding to the Black Tortoise shimmered, and in their light, her graceful figure hovered, her wild and fierce beauty radiating. Zhao Changhe, arriving just in time to witness this scene, suddenly regretted not having a camera on hand—unable to capture this breathtaking moment. If he did, this stunning, otherworldly scene would have made the perfect wallpaper.