Wang An paced back and forth in the cabin, the shrill howling outside rising and falling intermittently, occasionally punctuated by the dying screams that stirred a restless agitation in the heart.

"These ignorant fools!"

He cursed under his breath. His past successes had made him complacent, believing that under the banner of the Three Families Market, no one would dare to provoke them. Yet, he had forgotten that this was the North Wilderness, a place grounded in harsh reality yet never lacking in madness.

Outside the cabin, a chaotic battle involving at least a hundred people was unfolding... no, it was a damned robbery in progress. Those desperate souls, like ants, had breached the protective barrier of the Floating Cloud Boat, cramming the massive vessel to the brim. Combat erupted in every corner.

Wang An, however, was not worried about his own safety. He had that much confidence in himself and was well aware that this was a typical tactic employed by the Sand Bandits active on the surface of the North Wilderness.

The Sand Bandits rarely captured a vast Floating Cloud Boat outright, as offending a power like the Three Families Market and carting around such a conspicuous prize was akin to courting death. What the Sand Bandits preferred was to launch sudden attacks, breaking through the Floating Cloud Boat's defenses in the shortest time possible, swarming aboard to kill and plunder. They would disperse just as quickly before the boat's reinforcements or core defensive forces could respond, scattering into the wind. Once the heat died down, they would regroup and repeat their nefarious strategy.

In these raids, the core force of the Sand Bandits seldom exceeded ten, but the desperados they rallied often numbered in the hundreds. These mostly Divine communication cultivation level individuals, incapable of Manipulating Artifacts to fly, would ride rudimentary Flying Shuttles. Like a plague of locusts, they descended upon the ship to pillage from all sides. Only one in ten might achieve a significant bounty and escape successfully, but the rewards for such a feat were substantial.

The North Wilderness might lack many things, but never these desperados.

Some were driven by wealth, others purely for the thrill—the latter being the most troublesome, as such excitement was particularly contagious. Wang An could hear the increasingly intense cries from outside, a testament to the thrill reaching its zenith. The ship's guards were already suffering consecutive casualties.

On the Floating Cloud Boat, a storage compartment had been forcefully blasted open by them, resulting in a severe loss of goods. The boat's propulsion was also affected; such a state upon return would surely have the He Family elders flaying his skin alive!

With this thought, his gaze involuntarily swept to the other side of the cabin. There, a woman was propped up on her elbow, peering through the cabin window as if admiring the scenery. She appeared leisurely and composed, yet between her impeccably groomed brows was a detachment and mockery that suggested she was aloof from the affairs at hand.

Observing the delicate texture of the short jacket beneath her sheer shawl and the soft, beautiful curves it encompassed, a fire seemed to ignite in Wang An's chest, and it burned lower still.

Yoo Rui, this wily minx... He restrained himself!

The woman herself was nothing extraordinary, her status at the Initial Stage of the Golden Elixir was two ranks below his own as a steward. However, her lover was none other than Third Master He, a trusted confidant, and in the Three Families Market, she was known as an "Honored Guest Scholar." Her status, by association, had risen with the tide.

Such a woman should rightly be nestled at home like a canary, washed and perfumed, waiting for the favor of her man. Yet, she was restless, gallivanting about and even leveraging her lover's status to meddle in the most lucrative dealings of the Three Families Market, the purchasing affairs of the "Zhenhua Market." How could Wang An, a steward who had climbed his way up from the bottom, not be green with envy?

And yet she carried herself as if it was her due, full of the airs of a lady of high standing. Dammit...

Wang An's mood soured further. He had selectively forgotten that it was he who had been so enchanted by her beauty that he had personally invited her aboard. Alas, his subsequent advances had been met with a slap in the face, leaving him utterly humiliated.

Perhaps he should just let the Sand Bandits in, see if the minx would still put on airs then!

Such thoughts flickered through his mind, but Wang An was not foolish enough to act on them. Another look at the endangered cargo hold, and with gritted teeth and a stamp of his foot, he ordered, "Downwards, go downwards!"

The control core of the Floating Cloud Boat remained firmly in the grip of the Three Families Market. At Wang An's command, the massive vessel—nearly sixty feet in length and four stories tall—began to slowly sink, but its descent quickened. Merely a mile below loomed the vast expanse of the Black Sandstorm.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Moments later, the lower half of the giant ship had submerged beneath the surface layer of the Black Sandstorm. With the ship's main Patronus defense array already breached, it now relied solely on its own smaller defensive Forbidden Methods for protection. Under the assault of black sands capable of grinding steel to dust, the hull wore away rapidly, yet the sinking momentum did not wane.

Curses filled the air on the outer decks as the Sand Bandits' riffraff, like dumplings being dropped into a pot, leaped downwards to scramble into the rudimentary Flying Shuttles they had arrived in, scattering in escape. Others, taking a contrary approach, attempted to force their way into the cabins shielded by Forbidden Methods. They were thwarted by the guards of the Three Families Market, just as a "tidal wave" within the Black Sandstorm below surged, pelting several unfortunate souls with black sand, marring their faces and sealing their fates.

In an instant, the situation aboard the Floating Cloud Boat clarified. The guards of the Three Families Market gained an overwhelming advantage, and the outcome seemed all but assured. Yet, far from relaxing, Wang An grew even more tense.

"Lift us up," he ordered. "Old Liu, take the lead and purge the remaining enemies in the cargo hold. Everyone else, stay on guard..."

Before his words could finish, an intensely excited scream pierced the air as a fiery red Sword Light descended from the heavens, shearing off a corner of the already damaged Airborne Ship's top cabin. Inside, a Cultivator seeking refuge from the black sands was caught off guard and, attempting to resist, was decapitated with a single stroke.

The wielder of the crimson Sword Light was poised to press the attack into the cabin when another figure leapt up from the rear deck to intercept him. At their first clash, Golden Elixir True Fiends collided fiercely, and a large portion of the top cabin was blown away.

Wang An had anticipated this. The desperate ones were one thing—they were merely a nuisance. The real headache was the core combat strength of the Sand Bandits. From the earlier skirmishes, it was evident that this group of Sand Bandits included at least five Golden Elixir cultivators. They formed a nucleus, their attacks and defenses seemingly erratic but actually highly methodical. Since the battle commenced, they had slain more than ten guards!

But what mattered most...

With a thunderous boom, the entire Floating Cloud Boat shuddered, and Wang An's heart tightened. Without waiting for his command, Old Liu had already dashed from the cargo hold, clashing with adversaries on both sides. Amid the dull, rolling explosions, another part of the ship's hull collapsed.

Cold sweat beaded on Wang An's forehead; there were at least three more!

To encounter five Sand Bandits with Golden Elixir-level combat power was rare; the entire North Wilderness boasted no more than twenty. His current cargo was not excessively valuable, guarded according to the Class C Standards of the Three Families Market, with four Golden Elixir warriors. This count, of course, excluded himself, and did not take into account the temporary addition of Yoo Rui and her guards.

By all accounts, the Three Families Market's side still held an absolute advantage. However, the dynamics of offense and defense were not so straightforward. The Sand Bandits, adept at raiding tactics, were as swift as the wind and highly skilled at utilizing the harsh environment of the Black Sandstorm, rendering a simple numerical superiority almost useless.

Moreover, having been immersed in business for many years and out of touch with combat, Wang An could not be sure of his own prowess. Yoo Rui also seemed more for show than substance, and in a real fight, she might even be a liability.

"Ascend quickly!"

Wang An inwardly screamed. By plunging the Floating Cloud Boat into the Black Sandstorm, he had indeed driven off the riffraff, but he had also provided the core Sand Bandits with an opportunity. Weighing the pros and cons was difficult. There was a high chance of being held accountable afterward, and if something particularly valuable was lost, it could be the noose that strangled him!

Though the truly precious goods were safely in his Storage Ring, several large treasures had to be placed in the cargo hold due to their size. Among them was a massive beast's skull, naturally tempered by Heavenly Thunder over countless years—an exceptional material for crafting that was extremely valuable. He had already set up potential deals for it, and losing it would mean not only a loss of face but also a severe blow to his reputation!

The Floating Cloud Boat was in a state of disrepair, its propulsion no longer as robust as it had once been. And just at this inopportune moment, figures swooped down from the sky—two of them at once!

Such misfortune!

Wang An groaned inwardly. Among the Sand Bandits, three core combatants had initially been drawn away by two Golden Elixir Guards from the boat. Now, as they turned back, it was the two guards who were restrained by a single opponent, causing the situation to deteriorate rapidly.

Those two assailants were heading straight for the cargo hold. Wang An was so anxious he could have jumped out of his skin, yet when he glanced at Yoo Rui, the woman still wore an air of nonchalance, the mocking coldness in her eyes growing ever more intense.

Fine! Fine! Fine!

Wang An was so infuriated he could grind his teeth to dust, yet he lacked the courage to block their path. Instead, he swore vengefully in his heart, his target shifting: Given the chance, I will make sure this woman suffers a fate worse than death!

As he was swearing to himself, a buzzing vibration suddenly emanated from outside the cabin, stirring the Qi and Blood within one's body.

Wang An hurried to peer through the cabin's Water Mirror and saw, not far from the Floating Cloud Boat, a flying object—neither boat nor shuttle in shape—piercing through the final layer of the Black Sandstorm and leaping up into the void a hundred miles high. Around it, a ring of deep purple lightning twisted and coiled, shielding it from the wind and sand, leaving a profoundly deep mark in the sky.

The object approached too swiftly. One of the descending Sand Bandits instinctively unleashed a Magical Instrument in attack, but this only stirred up a hornet's nest. Provoked by the Magical Instrument, the lightning around the object surged outward, engulfing the Sand Bandit in an instant. By the time the lightning had passed, the bandit was charred black and plummeted down, straight into the Black Sandstorm. Even if he wasn't dead now, within a few breaths, he would surely be thoroughly dead.

Wang An rejoiced: "Heaven has not forsaken me!"

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I have also posted the following more chapters [All free]: https://https://www.readgates.com/article/74a39e