Chapter 281: Five Major Competitors

281. Chapter 281: Five Major Competitors

The appearance of the Divine Dragon Ship gradually attracted the attention of the people on the island.

There were simply too many ships sailing here; it was normally nothing out of the ordinary.

But if the largest ship or the smallest ship appeared, that would be exceptionally conspicuous, enough to draw the attention of many people.

And the Divine Dragon Ship was undoubtedly the latter; it was clearly the smallest ship here, standing out prominently among a crowd of large vessels, so the gazes of a large group of people on the island subconsciously turned toward this small boat.

"Yo! Actually coming on such a small ship; are you sure such a tiny vessel can withstand the gravity of this Sea Region?" someone on the island immediately exclaimed in surprise and doubt.

"Heh! With a ship this small, I could flip it over with just one sneeze."

Laughter immediately erupted from the shore.

At this moment, near the shore where a Seven-Story Treasure Ship was docked, a handsome young man gazed at the person standing on the prow, his expression growing grave to the extreme.

"I advise you not to underestimate that ship; one cannot judge a vessel by its appearance," the handsome young man said. "A ship capable of safely crossing the Endless Sea Region without the slightest damage—how could it be simple? Do you know who that person standing on the prow is?"

Hearing this, the laughter from this group finally ceased, and they all turned to look at the speaker.

"Luo Hongchen, what's wrong, do you know that person? Judging by your demeanor, you seem very wary of him; could he be from your region?"

"I heard your Great Yin Dynasty lost that war, was driven back into your homeland, and only ended the conflict by ceding territory and paying reparations; could that person be from the faction that defeated you?"

Cai Shao, surrounded by a crowd, walked over and smiled at Luo Hongchen as he spoke.

Looking at this man dressed in luxurious clothing, Luo Hongchen said resentfully, "That was because the war dragged on for too long; the Emperor exhausted his Lifespan and passed away, leaving our country leaderless, causing all sorts of contradictions to surface."

"Furthermore, with the situation unclear, all parties chose to preserve their strength and no longer exerted their full power, which led to the failure of this war."

"Otherwise, the Western Lands would have long been incorporated into the territory of our Great Yin Dynasty."

Cai Shao smiled and said, "Defeat is defeat; why so many excuses? Launching a war rashly when the Emperor had little Lifespan remaining..."

"That itself was not the optimal time to start a war; since the decision was wrong from the very beginning, how could there not be defeat?"

"Tell me the detailed intelligence on that person; there aren't many who can make you, the First Heaven's Chosen of the Great Yin Dynasty, feel wary; even when you see me, you've never shown such an expression."

Gazing at the person on the prow, Cai Shao revealed a look of curiosity.

"I dare not accept the title of First Heaven's Chosen of the Great Yin Dynasty; the true First Heaven's Chosen of the Great Yin Dynasty was already killed by that Long Dan, whereas this person is far more terrifying than Long Dan."

Luo Hongchen showed deep wariness and said gravely, "I won't mention his other battle achievements."

"I will only tell you that this person once slipped into the Imperial Palace of a vassal state behind our lines when our troop deployment was sparse, beat Jun Zaitian to death with three punches and two kicks, then crossed a major Cultivation Realm to forcibly kill a Spirit Sea Stage Gu Cultivator of the Jun Clan before striding away triumphantly."

"How could I not be wary of such a figure?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire area instantly fell silent; everyone was greatly shocked, revealing looks of disbelief.

This was a Seven-Story Treasure Ship from the Cai Clan Merchant Association, filled entirely with people from the Western Regions; regarding the ruthless figure who had once swept through the Western Regions Thirty-Six Lands as the First Heaven's Chosen, how could they not know of him? His name was like thunder to their ears.

Yet such a ruthless figure was actually beaten to death with three punches and two kicks; just how strong is this person?

It would be one thing if he could kill Jun Zaitian, but to actually cross a major realm and forcibly kill a Spirit Sea Stage Gu Cultivator—isn't that a bit exaggerated? Everyone was terrified.

They simply could not believe their ears, doubting whether they had heard wrong; some even dug at their ears.

"You're not joking, right? You're saying this person not only instantly killed Jun Zaitian but also took down a Spirit Sea Stage Gu Cultivator across a major realm; are you sure you're not bragging? How is it possible for anyone to do that? Your words are too absurd!" someone immediately questioned loudly in disbelief.

"Hmph! This matter caused a huge stir at the time, and many people know about it," Luo Hongchen sneered. "I imagine there are many well-informed individuals on that ship who have heard of this incident; whether I am bragging or not, go ask them."

For a Cultivation Stage: Essence Refining Gu Cultivator to cross a major realm and forcibly kill a Spirit Sea Stage Gu Cultivator was truly Heaven-defying; with such a huge event, he did not believe no one on the ship knew about it.

"No need to ask others; our Cai Clan Merchant Association is the most well-informed regarding news; I know all about this incident, I just didn't expect the protagonist of this event to be him!"

Cai Shao narrowed his eyes slightly, gazing at that person with deep wariness, devoid of his earlier cheerful banter.

"The gap between a Cultivation Stage: Essence Refining Gu Cultivator and a Spirit Sea Stage Gu Cultivator is like a heavenly moat; this moat cannot be crossed," Cai Shao said thoughtfully. "I suppose he must have employed some extremely terrifying Forbidden Technique at the time!"

"Hmph! Young Master Cai, regardless of whether he used a Forbidden Technique, you only need to know that he can forcibly kill a Spirit Sea Stage Gu Cultivator, and that is enough."

"Moreover, looking at him now, he seems perfectly fine; the Backlash from the Forbidden Technique doesn't seem to have affected him much!"

Seeing that the person on the prow was clearly unharmed, Luo Hongchen was somewhat bewildered and said with great agitation.

Cai Shao said gravely, "That is true; regardless of what power he actually used, as long as he can wield such power at any time, that is sufficient."

"This person is absolutely not someone we can easily provoke; it seems we have encountered an extremely formidable competitor."

"Everyone on the ship, listen well! From now on, no one is to provoke that person; if you see him, stay far away from him; absolutely do not cause me any trouble!" Cai Shao suddenly shouted to the people around him.

Hearing this, everyone nodded; actually, even without his reminder, they had already resolved to detour around this person upon seeing him.

Were they fools, to dare provoke a ruthless person capable of forcibly killing a Spirit Sea Stage Gu Cultivator?

At this moment, the Divine Dragon Ship was already very close to the shore; Leng Yan, having sharp ears, heard the discussions from the bank and looked at Long Xuan with beautiful eyes full of disbelief.

"You actually forcibly killed a Spirit Sea Stage Gu Cultivator?"

At this moment, turbulent waves churned in Leng Yan's heart; this Captain truly was a master hiding his talents; she hadn't expected him to have such battle achievements; killing a Spirit Sea Stage cultivator while at the Marrow Cleansing stage was simply terrifying; was this the Captain's strength?

Leng Yan could no longer remain calm.

At this moment, it was not just her; among the rest of the people on the ship, how many could remain calm after hearing this? The entire group stared dumbfounded at this Captain.

Wu Yaoyao constantly complained in her heart: I knew it, I knew it, I knew this guy, who would eventually fight every single person who refines Forbidden Gu, was definitely a freak.

To be able to forcibly kill a Spirit Sea Stage Gu Cultivator at such a young age; what will he be like in the future?

Ghost knows to what level he will grow in the future; being able to exchange blows with guys who refine Forbidden Gu is truly not surprising.

Di Xin also looked at him with surprised eyes, her little mouth slightly agape, clearly shocked as well.

The corners of Yang Zhan's mouth twitched incessantly; this Captain was simply non-human; at this moment, he finally understood why this Captain was not afraid of him in the least.

Long Xuan had not expected his reputation to be so great in the Western Lands already, nor that his old secrets would be exposed, giving him a feeling of being exposed under the sunlight; he had never liked being high-profile, and this sudden turn of events caught him completely off guard.

"Keep a low profile! Keep a low profile! Those are old stories from years past, not worth revisiting, so let's not mention them again," Long Xuan said with a wave of his hand, smiling.

At this moment, the Divine Dragon Ship had already docked; Long Xuan spoke no more, threw down the Anchor, quickly jumped off the ship, and the remaining hundred-plus crew members followed closely behind.

Long Xuan roughly scanned the many Gu Cultivators on the island; the Gu Cultivators on the island came from different regions and different Cultivation Clans.

Gu Cultivator Clans from the inland lacked shipbuilding techniques and basically pooled resources to share ships to get here.

Therefore, the biggest competitor here entirely depended on whose ship was the largest; although the many factions on the ship did not belong to the Captain, since they were on his ship after all, the Captain still held a certain degree of authority.

And the largest ships here totaled three, one being the Qian Clan's Seven-Story Treasure Ship, the Money Ship.

The Divine Dragon Ship and the Money Ship departed at the same time.

But the Divine Dragon Ship ran into a Heavenly Wind and had to stop at Big Solitary Island, wasting a great deal of time, and also stopped in the Death Sea Region for a full month to dismantle the ship; too many accidents occurred during the voyage, so the Money Ship arrived one step ahead of the Divine Dragon Ship.

By now that enormous Money Ship had long since docked not far from the shore.

The Cai Clan Merchant Association's Jinbao Ship was the same model as the Money Ship, with roughly the same number of Gu Cultivators aboard, and their strength could be considered evenly matched.

It is worth mentioning that rivals in the same trade are enemies; the Cai Clan Merchant Association competed with the Qian Clan Merchant Association across many commercial domains, producing no small amount of friction and conflict, so these two Large Merchant Guilds were World-Enmities—clashing the moment they met.

This kind of relationship could actually be put to good use inside the Ruins.

The last great ship was a Red Demon Ship from the Red Demon Pirate Group.

The Red Demon Ship was actually an Eight-Story Treasure Ship, about the same size as the Candlelight Ship and the Jintao Ship encountered earlier, belonging to the same model.

These five ships were basically the largest ships here, and also his greatest competitors, requiring him to pay extra attention.

It's just that the Candlelight Ship and the Jintao Ship were mortal enemies, the Money Ship and the Jinbao Ship were mortal enemies, and only this Red Demon Ship had no one to keep it in check, which made Long Xuan knit his brow.

Beyond all doubt, this Red Demon Pirate Group must have come from some major power; its strength was bound to far surpass the Black Dragon Pirate Group's, and it was by no means easy to deal with, nor could it be offended lightly.

Leng Yan, seeing that pirate flag painted with a red demon, could not help but knit her brow and said gravely, "The Red Demon Pirate Group is a large pirate group originating from the Central Region; before the Red Demon Pirate Group, the Black Dragon Pirate Group is just a little brother."

"The Red Demon Pirate Group could casually dispatch a single Squadron and easily wipe out the Black Dragon Pirate Group."

"I never expected a pirate group from the Central Region to show up as well; the Red Demon Pirate Group is murderous by nature—wherever it goes, it is sure to commit slaughter."

"With this pirate group taking part in the emergence of the Sky Island Ruins, the danger level is likely to shoot straight up. Tell all the crew to be careful."

……(End of this chapter)