Chapter 4636 — Spirit Beast Pirates

The others nodded and voiced their agreement. The giant treasure ship's defenses were peerless, but no one minded adding another layer of protection—who knew, it might be the very thing that saved them from disaster.

"That works, but ordinary inner disciples on patrol won't accomplish much. After all, the sea fog almost completely blocks the spiritual sense of even Golden Core cultivators. We'd be better off having top-tier experts standing watch—only then can we be certain nothing slips through." Having said this, Wei Zhao turned to Gongyang Jun and Lan Tieshan. "Master Gongyang, Senior Brother Lan, the two of you are the strongest aboard this ship. The safety of everyone here rests on this, so I can only ask you two to take turns standing watch."

"Agreed." Gongyang Jun and Lan Tieshan nodded in unison. At a time like this they had no grounds to refuse—and besides, if the treasure ship really did run into trouble, they would suffer along with everyone else. Out here in this boundless ocean, no amount of strength would do them any good.

With these two great figures personally standing watch, everyone could relax a little. Yet all of them knew it was merely psychological comfort. A perception range of fifty zhang could only be called better than nothing. Fortunately, this was a floating fortress on the sea; barring some major mishap, they ought to be safe.

The weather was unpredictable, and the only danger spiritual sense could detect was sea beasts. The giant treasure ship's defensive formation was enough to block the attacks of the vast majority of sea beasts, and it also carried an illusion technique designed specifically against them, so under normal circumstances they would not be attacked at all.

The day passed without incident. Sure enough, no sea beasts came to trouble them—but as evening fell, a sudden turn of events struck!

"A ship is coming!" Gongyang Jun, who had been leaning lazily against the deck railing, abruptly tensed. His once-indolent air shifted in an instant, turning domineering and coldly aloof, warning all others to keep their distance.

Wei Zhao and the others happened to be nearby, and their hearts lurched at the words. This was the deep-sea zone—ordinary vessels did not dare enter, for they would easily meet their end in these waters. Could the newcomers also be a treasure ship?

"Not a treasure ship. They've got experts aboard. I don't know how they detected us, but judging by their heading, they're definitely coming for us!" Lan Tieshan appeared just then, his expression equally grave.

For an ordinary vessel to dare appear in a deep-sea zone like this, there were only two possibilities. Either the people across the water were fools, or they were masters of surpassing skill with nerves of steel. Given the present circumstances, it was most likely the latter.

Panic swept through the crowd, and one and all grew fearful and uneasy. Ill intent had come calling—that was the thought shared by virtually everyone present. True, they had experts like Gongyang Jun and Lan Tieshan standing watch, but the other side dared to show up here in an ordinary vessel and could even probe them through such thick sea fog. That spoke of no ordinary foe!

"Little Junior Brother, what do we do now?" Shangguan Lan'er could not help feeling nervous as well, and she turned to ask Wei Zhao.

Since Gongyang Jun and Lan Tieshan had sensed the other side, that meant they were less than a hundred meters from their own ship. If they simply stayed put and did nothing, the enemy would be upon them almost instantly. There was no room for hesitation now.

"What will be will be; what can't be avoided can't be dodged. Our opponents are formidable, but fleeing rashly would only put us in greater danger. Stillness is better than motion!" Lan Tieshan decided on the spot.

Yet the others still looked to Wei Zhao in fear and unease. With strength like Lan Tieshan's, he naturally had no reason to fear any powerful opponent—but the others did. They had come on this mission to West Island; plainly put, it was meant to be an easy, pleasant outing. Who among them had ever imagined they would lose their lives in this boundless ocean?

Wei Zhao could not help frowning at this. Lan Tieshan's words were not without reason, but the problem was that the presence on the enemy ship was troublesome even to him and Gongyang Jun. Just what kind of expert were they dealing with?!

Wei Zhao was still weighing the options when Ghost Thing's voice suddenly sounded deep in his mind: "Don't bother thinking. What's on that ship isn't human."

"Ga! Not human? Then are they ghosts?!" Wei Zhao's hair stood on end out of sheer reflex. Could this be the legendary ghost ship? The world was vast and held every wonder imaginable. In the past Wei Zhao had not believed in such things, but as his strength and experience grew, these bizarre, inexplicable existence no longer struck him as strange.

"You've got to be kidding—if it's not human, it must be a ghost? When did the wiring in your brain get so simple?" Ghost Thing was momentarily rendered speechless. "They're spirit beasts!"

"No wonder!" Wei Zhao was shaken. No wonder they dared come to these deep waters in an ordinary vessel; no wonder they could pierce the sea fog and detect his side. It was the spirit beast clan!

On that earlier journey to South Island, Wei Zhao had come to deeply appreciate the might of the spirit beast clan. Human cultivators did not dare traverse the ocean without a treasure ship, but a powerful clan like the spirit beasts had no such need. Just think—the Five-Poison Flood Dragon dared duel a giant electric eel in the sea. Even if these spirit beasts were far weaker than the Five-Poison Flood Dragon, creatures of that giant electric eel's caliber were not found everywhere, and ordinary sea beasts might not be able to do much against them.

And South Island was covered in miasma mist, a thing far more terrifying than sea fog. It not only hindered spiritual perception but, more crucially, carried extreme toxicity. Anyone who spent years traversing that miasma would find this sea fog child's play by comparison.

"Senior, what do you think we should do?" Wei Zhao had no choice but to ask Ghost Thing. He could not discuss this with Gongyang Jun, Lan Tieshan, and the others—otherwise he would invite suspicion. Besides, their understanding of the spirit beast clan was far inferior to that of Ghost Thing, this former Azure Dragon Elder. Even if he asked them, they would not get to the heart of the matter.

"Even if you ask me, it's no use. I haven't been an elder for ages—who knows what the spirit beast clan is like these days?" Ghost Thing gave a bitter laugh, then said helplessly, "By the rules the Spirit Beast King laid down in the old days, the spirit beast clan and the sea beast clan kept to their own waters and did not interfere with one another. So unless something major happened, every spirit beast was strictly forbidden from going into the sea. But now the Vermilion Bird is in power, and after so long in chaos, those rules were cast aside long ago. Perhaps some spirit beasts have run off to become pirates…"

"Spirit beast pirates?" Wei Zhao's eyelid twitched, and his expression turned rather odd. The phrase 'spirit beast pirates' had an odd ring to it no matter how one heard it, but if you really thought about it, spirit beast pirates would surely be far more terrifying than human ones.

Powerful human experts had wide connections and could live very comfortably by picking any path they pleased, so as a rule they did not turn to piracy. Spirit beasts were different. They were hard-pressed to be accepted by human society, and once a spirit beast was cast out by the spirit beast clan of South Island, piracy was essentially the only way left to it. (To be continued…)