Sun Yuan swiftly spun the wheel and changed course, approaching the source of the raging fire that was sending a black plume of smoke high into the air.
“What do you think it is?” Yu Chen shaded his eyes as he asked, squinting as he looked into the distance.
“A fire this deep in the river?” Sun Yuan replied, his tone grim. “There’s only one thing that could be.”
The other boy took a hand off the wheel, digging into his robes to find his spyglass. He pulled it out, expanding it with a quick flick of his wrist as he brought it to his eye. He was silent for a moment as he observed the fire in the distance.
“There’s two vessels tethered together, and both of their sails are on fire.” The navigator said as he stared across the water. “There’s a third one as well, but it’s further back. Pirates, I think. They must have found some easy prey.”
Yu Chen cursed under his breath, exchanging a quick glance with Sun Yuan before leaping off the quarterdeck and running below to fetch the others. It only took a few moments to gather them, and soon they all stood atop the quarterdeck together.
Yan Ziqi’s impassive face gave no hint towards what he was thinking as he stared at the fire, but Serbo au Serbo’s brows were drawn into a tight frown, clenching his fist as they relayed the news.
“What should we do?” Sun Yuan asked, chewing his lip as he looked towards the fire.
“We help, yes?” Serbo was the first to reply, and Yu Chen nodded, agreeing with him.
The three of them turned to look at Yan Ziqi, who seemed to consider it for a moment. Yu Chen watched a flash of something cross his face. It wasn’t quite fear, but more a sense of inevitably, the look of a man who’d faced down death and knew that it wasn’t a matter of if, but of when.
He didn’t let it phase him, whatever it was he thought.
“Of course we help. Come on, let’s go find out what these pirates are made of.” Yan Ziqi strode to the mast after saying so, busying himself with activating the formations aboard.
Sun Yuan held the wheel in a white knuckled grip as he pushed the vessel harder, moving them closer to the embattled ships.
The four of them prepared for the upcoming battle in their own ways. Yu Chen cracked his knuckles, shaking out his arms to loosen them up for the fight to come, as he watched Serbo au Serbo pluck his bowstring, bringing it up beside his ear as he listened to it hum.
He was filled with anticipation for the upcoming fight. Pirates were an endless scourge on the river, and he was more than happy to put them down when they appeared. He didn’t feel too worried either. He felt as though their little group was more than strong enough to face down most others on the river. The presence of a Golden Core cultivator was about the only thing that could really threaten them.
Even then, so what? They possessed two powerful Foundation Establishment experts of their own now, and they’d already faced them down before. Yu Chen believed that even in the worst circumstances they’d at least be capable of escaping with their own lives.
The sound of fighting greeted them as they arrived, desperate shouts rang out above the crash of hardened metal, coming from men who fought for their lives in a frantic melee that took place aboard the deck of one of the tethered vessels. Pirates leapt from the deck of the black ship that had lashed onto it, hooking it in place.
The crew fought and died, doing their best to hold back the tide of black robed pirates invading their vessel.
The third vessel appeared as they neared, just visible in the distance behind the two that were lashed together.
Yu Chen turned his head as he heard the distinctive noise of the hornbow being flexed. The layers of horn and sinew groaned in protest as they compressed and stretched, pulled taunt in Serbo au Serbo’s unyielding grasp.
The man’s perfect form showed as he pulled the bowstring to his ear. Each and every muscle stood out in an unbroken chain that ran the length of his body, from his forearms through his arms and further still, through his shoulders and his back as well. It was all one solid mass of muscle that appeared rock solid as he held the string tight for the short moment it took to find a target.
And then he released, sending an arrow soaring across the river like a jagged bolt of blue lightning to strike a pirate dead, piercing through his body and pinning him to the deck.
His fingers flickered and more arrows flew forth, each one cutting through the space between them to take a pirate's life as they swarmed across the decks of both ships.
The other ship had come closer, bearing down on them as they intervened in the fight. Yu Chen heard a cough sound out from the vessel, and turned, watching as a burst of fiery qi shot forth from the single spirit cannon that had been installed in the front of the ship.
The fiery ball of energy struck their shimmering shield, but it barely caused a ripple. The single attack was incapable of doing much against something that could hold off the blows of Golden Core cultivators with ease.
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As long as it had enough energy.
The other ship began to turn, attempting to bring the majority of its artillery to bear, but Sun Yuan was savvy and followed suit, spinning the wheel in a hurry as he turned the ship counterclockwise to avoid being caught broadside. The quick maneuver had brought them closer to the other ships, near enough for Yu Chen to see the terror in the eyes of the crewmen being ruthlessly slaughtered by the invading pirates.
“Go!” Serbo au Serbo shouted towards him, gesturing towards the two ships lashed together before turning around and bringing his mighty bow to bear on the unmarred vessel. “We take this one, yes?”
Yu Chen nodded as he looked towards the two ships. He couldn’t sense anyone aboard the other vessel who was particularly powerful. At the very least, no one had shown up to block Serbo’s arrows.
He backed up as Sun Yuan approached as near to the entangled ships as he could. Taking a deep breath, he cycled his movement technique to the maximum and ran to the edge of the deck where he pushed, leaping off the ship.
For a brief, eternal moment he floated across the river, watching the yellow waters fly by beneath him at an unbelievable speed. It was the closest he’d ever come to flying himself, and he let out a laugh of delight as he felt something, the barest hint of a Concept he couldn’t grasp brushing the edge of his mind.
A feeling washed over him, possibilities swirling through his mind as his movement technique broke through to a higher level.
For a while now, Yu Chen had felt as though he’d mastered the technique, but it appeared as if there were still some secrets he had yet to unlock. It only made sense that it was soaring through the air that had shown him what he was missing. The technique had been created after mimicking the movement of a spiritual beast after all, one that was incredibly powerful and had a penchant for flight.
Before he knew it, he arrived at the tethered ships, landing gracefully on the deck of what appeared to be a merchant's vessel. He took a step back as two men passed nearby, swinging their blades at each other in a deadly storm of steel.
To Yu Chen’s eyes it was clearly the black-robed pirate that had the advantage. He was the one that was pressing the issue, ruthlessly chopping his sabre down in blows the other man tried desperately to guard. With a shout of triumph, the pirate slammed the merchantman’s blade to the side, before drawing back his own in a bid to impale the man.
It would have been a clean victory, if Yu Chen hadn’t been there.
He pivoted, lashing out with a fist that used every ounce of his force as perfectly as he could, honed through endless fights against Serbo au Serbo. It took less time for him to condense his qi into the points of his knuckles than it took for his heart to beat, the exact same amount of time it took for him to swing his tempered arm forward, into the side of the pirate’s head.
It wasn’t a pretty sight.
Yu Chen had tempered his body to a level most would never reach, even among those who tempered their bodies. He hadn’t realized it yet, but the strange density his fourth tempering had imbued him with had turned his physical form into something that was more than a match for a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Combine that with the impressive level of control he had over his qi, and his ability to condense it into the tiniest points of his body…
Well, the pirate's head simply didn’t survive contact.
The truth was, most cultivators didn’t bother tempering their body in the first place, unless they came from a powerful background, or were inner members that belonged to a strong sect. Their actual bodies weren’t so much stronger than that of a mortal, aside from the qi that imbued their form.
Against foes like that, He was the proverbial fox in the henhouse.
A wolfish grin crossed Yu Chen’s face at the same moment the merchant before him blinked, his face warring between relief and horror as he stared down at Yu Chen’s gore slicked hand.
Yu Chen ignored the man, exploding into motion. He crossed the ship like a whirlwind of death, and wherever he passed pirates fell, to never move again. His strength was a terror to behold. Now, even a grazing blow broke bones, and may the gods have mercy on those he struck with a solid hit.
They were like wheat before the scythe, and he was the one who’d been called upon to harvest the reaper’s due.
Another pirate took a kick to the chest, tumbling across the deck to smash into the quarterdeck. Yu Chen spun instead of following up, swinging his fist around in a hard backhand that caved in the face of a pirate who’d ran up to stab him from behind, screaming like an idiot.
Yu Chen turned, looking for his next victim. His eyes landed on a pirate that was gleefully hacking away the corpse of a man lying on the bloodstained deck. He went to leap forward but right as moved a baleful aura rose up from behind him, followed by a sharp pulse of qi.
Yu Chen hit the ground instinctively, hurriedly ducking into a roll. Leaping back to his feet, he turned to see a piece of the mast, all tangled up with burning sails, crash down right where he’d been standing. A wave of heat billowed out from it, spreading across the ship.
Smoke rose from the fire, filling the air with particles that obscured their vision. Yu Chen frowned as he peered through the air shimmering with heat, looking up towards the quarterdeck where he saw another cultivator staring down at him, a baleful look in his eye.
Seeing he’d caught his attention; the man shoved his sabre deep into the gut of the merchant he was holding before throwing him to the side. The merchant hit the floor, moaning in pain.
A frown crossed the pirate’s face as he looked down at Yu Chen, his face curling into a snarl.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” The man spat out as he raised the sabre towards Yu Chen, blood dripping from its tip to land on the deck beneath him.
“This is my prize. You think you can just leap aboard and steal it from me?!” The man was practically foaming at the mouth as he shouted. “Bring forth your mother, I want to see which bitch gave you the balls!”
Blood rushed to Yu Chen’s face as his heart kicked into high gear, pounding beneath his skin in agitation. He’d never been so insulted in his life. He didn’t hesitate, although the aura coming off of his opponent indicated he was a full realm above him.
He slammed a hard foot on the ground, and leapt forward, the space between them practically disappearing as Yu Chen suddenly appeared in the pirate’s vision. The man began to hastily backpedal but it was too late, he was already within range.
Blood sang in Yu Chen's ears as he spun into motion, punching out in a rapid series of motions that exploded across the pirate’s body, sending him reeling backwards.
A wave of shock crossed the pirate’s space as Yu Chen beat him, but he paid it no mind. Slamming a hard fist into man’s side with enough force to bend him over, before following it with a kick that sent the pirate crashing to the ground. The man coughed, before spitting out another curse as Yu Chen brought a foot down, mercilessly stomping his opponent.
It seemed this was too much for the pirate to bare. His aura exploded, igniting a fiery pulse that pushed Yu Chen backwards and created some space. The man leapt to his feet, raising a hand up to wipe away the blood that was leaking from his mouth.
“Good! Very Good!” The pirate shouted, as he glared at Yu Chen. “I'm going to gut you like a fish, boy.”