Chapter 138: Siren Reef

The Sea Demon Reef of the Ye Immortal Village was a cluster of reefs stretching across dozens of miles. Hidden reefs of every size covered the seabed, where great quantities of seaweed grew alongside shoals of fish and shrimp. Low-level sea demon beasts occasionally appeared there.

Ye Mo intended to turn this reef complex into a hunting ground for sea demon beasts, where wandering cultivators could hunt.

But today, Ye Mo and the Five Slave Guards were heading there to cultivate.

The moment Ye Mo and his companions left the harbor of Ye Immortal Island, a spy stationed there noticed and immediately sent the news back to Min Immortal Village.

Aboard a large sea vessel in Min Immortal Village, four city lords gathered together, excitedly discussing the latest intelligence.

“Ye Mo has taken several guards to the reefs. He must be going there to cultivate. This is the perfect opportunity to strike.”

“Exactly. Even if we seize a few of his outlying islands, we will not wound Ye Village’s vital interests. He can counterattack and reclaim them whenever he wishes. But if we capture Ye Mo, we can force him to sign a surrender agreement at the smallest possible cost and hand over all six outlying islands belonging to Ye Immortal Village. With our strength, dealing with Ye Mo and his five immortal guards will be effortless.”

“If you fail to kill a snake, you will suffer its retaliation. This time, we must win in a single battle and completely suppress Ye Immortal Village. We should not only seize the outlying islands but also force him to pay more than ten thousand spirit stones. We must thoroughly drain Ye Village of its potential for growth.”

“That plan is sound, but what about the three Golden Eagles of Ye Village? Although only one of them is large enough to ride, the other two are still quite powerful. Ye Mo may use the Golden Eagles to escape through the sky. We would have no way to intercept him.”

City Lord Chen spoke with concern.

“There is no need to worry. According to the intelligence, the three Golden Eagles were left behind in Ye Village. The spies even saw them flying above the immortal village.”

“It would take the three Golden Eagles some time to fly from the main island to the Sea Demon Reef. As long as we move quickly and capture Ye Mo before he can summon them, there will be no danger.”

“That depends on how swiftly we act. It is somewhat risky, but we must strike nonetheless.”

City Lord Min coughed twice before saying, “Everyone, remember that those three spirit eagles pose an enormous threat to us. Once they mature, none of us will benefit.”

City Lord Chen gave a cold laugh. “Obviously. This time, we will make that fellow suffer a crushing defeat. If we can capture him, then although the Immortal Alliance Agreement prevents us from harming him personally, we can still force him to sever his spiritual connection with the three Golden Eagles. The three birds will be mine.”

“Even if the spiritual connection is severed, will the spirit beasts not remain attached to the person who raised them?” City Lord Xu asked doubtfully.

“They will retain some affection, certainly. But without the spiritual connection, the spirit beasts will no longer be able to carry out their former master’s commands precisely. As time passes, the bond between master and servant will gradually fade, and they will obey the orders of their new master.”

City Lord Chen spoke with complete confidence. He seemed to possess considerable knowledge of spirit-beast cultivation. In fact, he himself owned a spirit beast—a second-tier Blackscale Crocodile well suited to naval combat.

“Haha, since Brother Chen is interested in those three Golden Eagles, then they shall belong to you.” City Lord Min raised his wine cup and said loudly, “Because I signed a nonaggression agreement with Ye Village, I can only watch from the sidelines this time. I will leave the trouble to the three of you.

“As compensation, all the spoils of war shall go to you. I will take nothing. I wish the three of you complete victory and hope you crush Ye Village in a single stroke. Come, let me toast you.”

City Lord Min wanted to avoid suspicion and stay out of the battle. After all, he had signed an agreement with Ye Village. If Ye Village seized upon any evidence and lodged a complaint with the Immortal City Alliance, City Lord Min would be unable to escape the consequences.

“Although Brother Min will not take part personally, he has contributed greatly through the communications and intelligence he provided. The three of us have only just arrived and truly need resources, so we will not stand on ceremony. Rest assured, once we win, we will give Min Village its share. We will not leave you empty-handed.”

City Lord Gong felt somewhat grateful to City Lord Min and spoke on his behalf.

The other two city lords were clearly satisfied as well. Ye Village possessed six outlying islands, and if they won, each of them could claim two. That would be a very respectable haul.

The four men quickly finalized their division of the spoils.

City Lord Min watched as City Lord Gong and the other two city lords led their prepared cultivator forces aboard three sea vessels and hurried toward the Sea Demon Reef of Ye Village.

“Ye Mo, Ye Mo… Your greatest mistake was offending me. Even if I do not act personally, I can still find others to deal with you. Hahaha! I am eager to see how Ye Village will be utterly defeated and have its future destroyed after you are captured.”

Standing at the bow, City Lord Min laughed without the slightest concern for his dignity.

“City Lord, that was truly a brilliant move. Because of the nonaggression agreement we signed with Ye Village, we could not seize Redfire Ore Island ourselves. But if that island falls into the hands of another immortal village, we can then take it from them without any difficulty.”

A purple-robed cultivator named Min Yingtang stood behind him, wearing the same sinister smile and expressing his deep admiration.

Ye Mo traveled in a small boat while the five Earth Slave Guards rowed swiftly across the sea.

Though the boat was small, it was not slow.

Ye Mo even stood at the stern practicing Wavebreaker Slash, using the force of his strikes to increase the boat’s speed.

After traveling several dozen miles from the main island, they saw a reef complex stretching across more than twenty miles ahead of them.

“Master, the Rocky Reef Islands are just ahead. There are forty or fifty visible reefs, more than two or three hundred hidden reefs, and dozens of underwater whirlpools. The boat can enter, but we must proceed with extreme caution and carefully follow the route.

“Strangers who enter this reef complex can easily lose their bearings. Fortunately, Chang Fei brought sailors here a few days ago. They marked the reefs in secret and recorded every navigable route on a nautical chart of the islands.”

A Shui lowered his oar and turned to speak softly.

Because they had another purpose this time and the mission was extremely dangerous, they had not brought any ordinary sailors with them.

“Sea vessels cannot enter?”

“A sea vessel drawing ten feet of water would easily strike a reef and sink if it tried to force its way into the reef complex. This Sea Demon Reef has always been under our control. The other immortal villages certainly do not possess detailed intelligence about it.”

“Very well. Row in slowly.”

Ye Mo stood at the bow and surveyed the surroundings.

In such a complicated reef system, even a hundred Qi Refinement cultivators would soon become hopelessly disoriented. For cultivators who had not yet learned to fly on swords, the complexity of the terrain remained an unavoidable factor in battle.

Those immortal villages nearby that had secretly dispatched spies were clearly plotting against Ye Village. The simplest way to deal with Ye Village was to capture its city lord.

Back then, Ye Mo had forced Min Immortal Village to sign a surrender agreement and pay ten thousand spirit stones precisely because he had trapped its city lord, Min Cong. Otherwise, Min Village would never have surrendered so easily.

This time, in order to lure the enemy into coming, Ye Mo had not even brought the three Golden Eagles. He had deliberately given the enemy hope.

The trap had already been laid. All that remained was to see whether the enemy would fall for it.

After another half hour, the small boat followed the waterway into the center of the reef complex and stopped beside a bare reef.

Ye Mo disembarked and leaped onto the reef. Crouching down, he carefully examined the unknown dark-green seaweed, which grew in fine, threadlike strands. Tiny spirit insects, slightly thicker than silk threads, clung to it.

Ye Mo had visited this Sea Demon Reef only once, when he first discovered it. He had not personally returned since then.

The five Earth Slave Guards, however, occasionally came here to hunt demon beasts.

They also jumped from the boat and began keeping watch over the surroundings.

“Master, sea demon beasts seem to enjoy licking the strange crystals secreted by the spirit insects living on this seaweed. These little insects spit out a pale-yellow liquid, which hardens into yellow crystals. Once they have expelled the liquid, they die.”

A Shui spoke after observing Ye Mo’s movements.

“It must be food favored by the sea demon beasts.”

Ye Mo clapped his hands and rose.

“You cultivate here. I expect the enemy to arrive within an hour. I will go into the water to practice my battle techniques. Once the enemy appears, notify me.”

With that, Ye Mo released the Little Fire Crow.

Although he had not brought the three Golden Eagles, he had brought the Little Fire Crow with him.

“Keep watch over the area.”

The Little Fire Crow immediately let out a cheerful cry and began circling around Ye Mo.

It was far smaller than a Golden Eagle, measuring only about two feet in length, but its strength was by no means inferior. It was already a second-tier Fire Crow, with strength comparable to that of a mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivator. Ye Mo worried that something might happen to it, so he rarely allowed it to participate in battles.

Here on the Sea Demon Reef, however, there was little danger in doing so.

The moment the Fire Crow took flight, it let out a sharp, mournful cry.

Several hundred yards away, it had spotted a sea demon snake coiled in the shadows beside a reef, apparently preparing to ambush some prey.

The Fire Crow immediately rushed over.

“Hiss!”

The sea demon snake suddenly raised its head and flicked its tongue toward the sky.

Its senses were exceptionally sharp. Although the Fire Crow was still far away, it had already detected it.

“Hiss!”

The sea demon snake drew its head slightly backward, bared its fangs, and coiled its body into an attacking stance.

The Fire Crow, however, paid no attention. With its second-tier strength, dealing with a first-tier sea demon snake was effortless.

From several dozen yards in the air, the Fire Crow spread its wings, traced a graceful arc through the sky, and dove toward the sea demon snake.

“Caw!”

When it had closed to within a dozen yards, the Fire Crow spat out a fist-sized fireball.

The fireball struck the sea demon snake directly on the head. The beast was nearly blasted senseless. Blood poured from its wounds as it writhed violently and turned to flee from the reef.

The Fire Crow beat its wings once, then its talons seized the snake seven inches behind its head.

The sea demon snake struggled furiously, opened its enormous jaws, and snapped at the Fire Crow.

But the Fire Crow took flight at that instant, causing the snake to bite nothing but air.

The Fire Crow repeated its earlier attack. Another fireball fell, while its talons tore through the snake’s scales and plunged viciously into its flesh. It swooped down and pinned the snake’s head beneath its claws, leaving it powerless to break free no matter how desperately it struggled.

After only a few exchanges, the Fire Crow’s sharp beak followed the ruptured wound deeper into the body. Before long, it emerged with a fist-sized, emerald-green gallbladder clamped in its beak, bringing it proudly before Ye Mo as though presenting a treasured prize.