Chapter 2070: Prepared in Advance

"Now?" Wu Tiju kindly advised, "The yin sha is fierce, and besides, it's getting dark soon— the waters near Yangshan aren't easy to navigate. You'd better wait until tomorrow morning..."

Lu Qinglin strode forward, bumping into him, and Wu Tiju hastily dodged, causing his words to trail off.

Watching Lu Qinglin's figure advance through the circle of personal guards onto the pier, Wu Tiju's smile faded.

From the moment Lu Qinglin led troops into the Maritime Trade Bureau, Wu Tiju knew his position was low and his words carried little weight—he couldn't stop the unfolding situation.

The Qing Kingdom couldn't afford to offend the Mou Kingdom, and he himself didn't wish to offend Bailie.

But now, he had a chance to do a favor for the Xiaoyao Kingdom. The Flash Gold Plain was about to be unified, its area and potential both astonishing—Wu Tiju had even dealt with He Lingchuan before and knew He Xiaoyao's abilities were extraordinary.

Once the Yangshan Islands were occupied and the ships departed from his jurisdiction's Blade Edge Port, could He Xiaoyao let him off afterward?

So his strategy was to hedge his bets—offend neither side.

Just send a notice, a few sentences of intelligence.

Who said a minor commandant like him couldn't influence the bigger picture?

Wu Tiju clicked his tongue lightly, then returned to deal with those troublesome shipowners.

The port was already lined with heavy troops, all wearing Bailie's military armor. As for their origins, only Lu Qinglin knew.

"Set sail!"

Over forty large ships gathered around Lu Qinglin's flagship, sailing toward the Yangshan Islands.

Lu Qinglin stood on the bow, facing the hunting sea wind, his heart filled with hesitation.

Though the Lord of Yangshan Island had clearly humiliated the Lu family severely, when his father spoke of the Yangshan Islands, he initially gritted his teeth in hatred, then felt anguish, but lately had become expressionless.

Once one tacitly accepts that the power gap between the two sides is too great, even hatred cannot arise.

But Lu Qinglin refused to accept it. That little ruined household from the west, using schemes to buy the Yangshan Islands cheaply, had reduced the Bailie Lu family to a laughingstock—even if he managed the islands well, even if he could win over those few uncles in the clan, even if he made a name for himself on the Flash Gold Plain and even proclaimed himself the Nine Abysses Great Emperor, the Reincarnated Dragon God...

Lu Qinglin still felt an inexplicable dislike toward this "Island Lord He," a complete stranger.

He couldn't say why, but he just felt the He clan bore ill will toward Bailie and the Lu family.

So upon receiving the order to conquer the Yangshan Islands, he felt eager to try, his heart full of heroic spirit.

At that moment, someone walked up beside him and stood shoulder to shoulder.

"The wind at sea is much cooler than in Mou Kingdom."

"My lord Qi!" Lu Qinglin immediately turned and bowed to him.

This was Qi Chuanqing, a substitute official of the Hall of Assistants in the Mou Kingdom's Auxiliary Tribunal.

Besides the Grand Assistant, the Auxiliary Tribunal had twelve Hall Officials, each with one or two substitutes, also called deputy positions. When Hall Officials retired or stepped down, they would be replaced.

Don't think it's just a substitute—they often get to see the Mou Emperor, offer advice, and provide reference opinions to him.

Simply put, they are strategists, and thus enjoy high status and prestige among Mou Kingdom officials.

Qi Chuanqing was dispatched to supervise the operation, and Lu Qinglin treated him with extraordinary respect.

"Just as Lord Qi predicted, Yangshan has released killing qi to obstruct."

"This isn't my prediction—it's the Emperor's divine wisdom!" Qi Chuanqing bowed toward the northwest, then said, "Blade Edge Port has long been infiltrated by Yangshan into a sieve; our movements cannot escape its eyes and ears."

But it doesn't matter—whether Yangshan discovers our intentions or not, in the face of overwhelming force, the outcome won't change.

A fierce wind blew over, clouds and mist rolled across the sea, coming this way.

That gray mist made people feel uneasy, unwilling to approach.

This is the innate aversion of living beings to earthly killing qi.

The flagship sounded its horn, ships drew close together, the fleet tightened its formation, and advanced into the gray mist!

In an instant, the fleet surged into the killing qi mass.

But it wasn't swallowed by the killing qi, because a ship each at the front, rear, and middle produced a Punishing Dragon Pillar!

Instead, the killing qi was devoured by whales—within several li, everything became clear and bright.

"Indeed so." Qi Chuanqing nodded, "The Punishing Dragon Pillars have other wonderful uses. This is the secret by which He Xiaoyao can revitalize Yangshan!"

Lu Qinglin was also delighted. Having deciphered this secret, once the Lu family reclaimed the Yangshan Islands, they could manage them well.

At this moment, uninvited guests appeared on the sea:

A monster with a human body and fish tail poked its head out of the water, swimming around the ships, its face full of ill intent.

As soon as the fleet entered the Yangshan sea domain via the channel, they would launch merciless attacks.

This was the order of the Yin Viper King.

Lu Qinglin calmly said, "Release the Crimson Rosy Barrier."

The barrier's center was on the flagship, vast in area, and when deployed could cover the entire fleet.

Inside the barrier, even the air was a faint red; under sunlight it would be breathtakingly beautiful—hence the name "Crimson Rosy."

But in reality, the barrier's function is to maintain the cohesion of divine abilities and medicinal power within, preventing them from dissipating.

After deploying the Crimson Rosy Barrier, each ship began pouring green liquid into the sea—just two or three buckets could dye tens of zhang of surrounding sea surface green.

And because of the barrier's existence, this green liquid, as bitter as bile, wouldn't scatter but would always move with the fleet.

The barrier extended down to five zhang beneath the water.

Wherever the fleet passed, dead fish floated up on the surface.

This liquid is harmless to humans, but deadly to marine life—it invades through gills and skin, acts with astonishing speed, and its symptoms resemble those of humans ingesting arsenic.

It is equally effective against Yin Vipers.

Initially, seven or eight Yin Vipers entered the Crimson Rosy Barrier, trying to overturn the ships from below—only to die unluckily from poisoning.

Seeing this, other Yin Vipers dared not approach.

Only a few powerful elites, having wrapped themselves in barriers, were about to try again when ripples suddenly came from the distant depths.

That was the order of the Yin Viper King.

After receiving the new command, they also held their position, drifting far around the fleet.

The two major barriers of the Yangshan Archipelago, Shaqi and Yin Hui, are now ineffective against Lu Qinglin's fleet.

The fleet accelerated and rushed into the Yangshan Sea.

"From the intelligence we have, almost all of He Xiong's generals and troops are engaged in battle at Jinjin Plateau, leaving less than one-tenth in the Yangshan Archipelago," Qi Chuanqing said. "With your current forces, taking the Yangshan Archipelago should meet little resistance. The only concern is the Yin Hui King on Longji Island. But it is a spiritually aware ancient great demon; since it has spirit, it can be persuaded. Moreover, it seems never to have left Longji Island."

He patted Lu Qinglin on the shoulder: "If it refuses to see reason, we still have other ways."

Lu Qinglin respectfully replied "Yes," backed by the powerful Mou State, he will surely reclaim Yangshan!

At this moment, the lookout sailor suddenly ran forward to report:

"Two hundred zhang ahead, a large number of ships have appeared on the sea surface!"