Chapter 144: I Don

Bai Lang quite enjoyed hearing such martial‑world news, so he asked the ship captain to explain in detail, "The Huai River stretches four thousand li; this four‑hundred‑li stretch near Jiangyin is under the jurisdiction of the Huai Gang, which is one of the seventy‑two water forts along the Huai River, and of course there is a chief above them." Bai Lang didn't ask who this chief was, because the captain seemed afraid to mention it. He also had no intention of finding out exactly—was it necessary?

Bai Lang didn't want to cause trouble on the river, and since the other side could command a four‑thousand‑li river, they must be at least a generation‑level master, likely above the Innate level, so there was no reason to provoke them.

"The cultivation of this martial art… to nurture the White Tiger Killing Aura, there's no method except killing people. Moreover, if the aura must be pure, it's best to kill on a battlefield—then there's no lingering resentment; on the battle formation, killing and being killed are without grudges… a city‑wide slaughter probably won't work." Bai Lang thought of this; there are many such auras, but to feed the White Tiger, only the killing aura of a war formation seems suitable.

As for the mechanized, flowing killing‑massacre camp in Bai Lang's memory, its terrifying killing aura is ten thousand times denser than that of a battlefield, but it likely can't be used to feed the White Tiger's war‑formation killing aura; forcing it would only breed a monster… "In sheer power, it's probably not even below the Western White Tiger, but the problem is I don't like it." Bai Lang muttered—when he recalled the sun‑lit camps he had seen long ago in documentaries and movies, the feeling was bone‑chilling.

Given that his White Tiger Killing Aura had made some progress at this moment, the thought still sent shivers down his spine; the terror of that aura need not be described—but Bai Lang also thought that if anyone in the world knew such an aura existed, someone would surely try to cultivate it.

Blending into the fleet, Bai Lang sat on the ship unnoticed; the captain even hoisted a water‑fort flag to show that protection fees had been paid, so Bai Lang was even less inclined to cause trouble. He wasn't a merchant, so he wouldn't be charged for cargo protection. However, the Huai Gang's ships seemed to have their own enemies—Bai Lang now leaned on the second‑deck railing, watching a Great Yan Navy vessel pull its sails and row toward the Huai Gang's ships.

The merchant and cargo vessels scrambled to avoid the front of the battlefield, while the Great Yan Navy formed a tight formation, pressing against the Huai Gang's ships that were more than a circle smaller. The Navy's main force consisted of tower ships a little over thirty zhang long, much smaller than the hundred‑zhang tower ships, but these warships were far more agile and sturdy. The hundred‑zhang tower ships were almost all for transporting goods and people, clumsy to the extreme, and no one seemed likely to use them as warships now.

The Huai Gang's vessels were fast boats a few to ten‑plus zhang long; they collected protection fees, not a military force. On the Great Yan Navy's ships, crossbows and ballistae had already begun firing. "In a world of martial arts, are these crossbows and ballistae useful?" Bai Lang wondered. From an Innate cultivator's perspective, whether crossbow or ballista, the bolts and stones they launch have limited speed; Bai Lang's spiritual sense could see the trajectories clearly, making evasion easy.

"I think those bolt heads aren't made from special anti‑spirit materials, so against a master of transverse training they'd probably be hard to break through," Bai Lang thought, and he knew some ships also had oddities, such as different materials that might even have talismans, or a supreme master whose true qi could coat the hull, naturally stopping bolts and stones. "Maybe there's something else truly meant for war?" Bai Lang said, looking bored.

The Huai Gang's ships immediately scattered, fleeing in all directions, sometimes using hundred‑zhang warships for cover. The hundred‑zhang ships also steered aside to avoid becoming targets—the navy didn't discriminate between Huai Gang vessels and civilian boats. Bai Lang's ship was still quite distant, and the captain had begun edging toward the shore to slip along the coastline. At that moment, several fast boats a little over two zhang long came alongside.

These were Huai Gang boats; after closing in, a few men without hesitation tried to board Bai Lang's ship, while a small navy boat—under ten zhang long—drummed and chased the vessels. "If they jump aboard, that'll be trouble," Bai Lang muttered, hand on the railing. The Huai Gang men were all big grown men, their skin flushed red—the result of long‑term water activity, wet then dried, leaving that mark.

Sure enough, those who collect protection fees on the water wore faces of mischief. Bai Lang's keen eyes saw the Great Yan Navy troops approaching; they, too, looked like bandits, not benevolent people. "What a hassle," he thought. He felt the navy probably enjoyed watching these men board his hired ships; after all, they could later claim it was a pirate raid, leaving the ship plundered.

Feudal soldiers, what good could they be? Though Bai Lang didn't want trouble, when the moment came he had no desire to play the turtle. "It's just killing, after all," he muttered, then leapt lightly from the second floor.

His foot hit the deck, and Bai Lang laughed, a feeling indescribable yet pleasant bubbling from his core; it made him smile, and as his body moved, his fist already struck the first Huai Gang member who leapt onto the ship.

An Innate Expert possesses what's called innate momentum; each person's cultivated martial art differs, naturally displaying different momentum—at this stage, they can fully reveal the outer manifestation formed by innate Vajra qi. When one day those manifestations can cover hundreds of miles of sky and earth, that would be a step beyond innate. Becoming a Buddha or ancestor, that step is decisive.

Beyond Bai Lang's body, a fierce tiger with a white coat and black stripes materialized naturally—he intended to kill, so the Golden Bell Shield's Vajra qi need not manifest; the White Tiger Killing Aura was the appropriate choice. The gang member struck by his fist suffered a dismemberment, Bai Lang's killing always swift and decisive, the punch splattering flesh and blood. Riding the momentum, he clawed again, and, as before, a hulking man had his entire front chest and ribs torn away, the blood flowing down in a gruesome, unbearable sight.

Bai Lang casually tossed the rib he held, "Probably not a death‑worthy crime, but who has time to judge?" He then extended his palm like a blade, thrusting straight into the chest of a Huai Gang member before him, and when he withdrew he grasped a heart… These three men could not be called low‑level; being able to operate at the protection‑fee level of the Huai Gang—far larger than the Chang Le Gang—meant their skill was certainly higher than when Bai Lang first worked as a thug.