Chapter Twenty-Nine: Conquest and Annexation

Deep in the jungle, at another warriors’ encampment.

Bang!

Outside the spiritual wood palisade, two massive sea serpents, each several yards long, were violently ramming against the barrier. The tremendous impact sent dull reverberations through the palisade, causing it to shudder fiercely.

Zheng Yiqing gripped his sword, his eyes fixed on the serpents swarming outside the barrier, an expression of alarm on his face.

“Your Lordship, these two sea serpents are too powerful! We can barely hold them off!”

More than a dozen warriors inside the palisade were panicked, hacking desperately at the serpents with their swords through the gaps in the wood.

Their blades, thrust through the spaces between the palings, struck the blue-black scales of the sea serpents, leaving only shallow wounds that failed to seriously injure the beasts.

Fortunately, the spiritual wood palisade was sturdy enough, and for the moment, even these two colossal serpents could not break through into the camp.

“He An, think of a way to kill these serpents! The palisade won’t last much longer. If they break in, there will be heavy casualties for certain.”

Zheng Yiqing’s voice trembled with fear.

Standing beside him was He An, the renowned first warrior of Zheng, as well as Steward Cao and Master Hou, both experts of the post-body-forging stage.

“These two sea serpents each possess the strength of a warrior at the ninth level of body forging. Dealing with one would be manageable, but facing two at once is extremely risky. We will need Steward Cao and Master Hou to hold off one of them to have any hope.”

He An furrowed his brow and glanced at the pair. “Steward Cao, Master Hou, can you hold one of the sea serpents?”

Both men, though formidable in their youth, were now advanced in years and their strength had waned.

“Haha! Even if it costs me these old bones, I’ll hold that serpent back. He An, you focus on the other one,” Steward Cao replied with a laugh.

He and Master Hou immediately charged forward, swords raised, to engage one of the serpents.

He An launched himself forward in a blur, vaulting over the palisade with a leap, descending upon the second serpent. Three overlapping arcs of dense black light, each carrying nearly a thousand pounds of force, erupted from his great black sword.

With a sickening crack, the black light cleaved into the serpent’s skull. A torrent of thick green fluid gushed from the wound, splattering on the ground. The massive head thrashed wildly, gaping maw snapping at empty air, desperate to bite anything in reach.

In mid-air, He An turned effortlessly, gliding back into the camp with the grace of a great roc spreading its wings.

“A triple strike! Nearly a thousand pounds of force—the very limit of a warrior’s destructive power.”

“He An truly deserves his reputation as Zheng’s greatest master. To wield such terrifying might with such ease!”

The surrounding warriors gaped in awe, completely stunned by his feat.

The other serpent, frightened, lost its will to fight. It turned and fled toward the shore. The remaining smaller serpents, some followed in its wake, while others still tried to wriggle into the camp.

The warriors fought desperately, cutting down every small serpent that tried to breach the camp, swords and blades flashing. All around the palisade, the ground was littered with writhing serpent remains.

...

By dawn the next day, as the sun began to rise, the tide of sea beasts finally receded.

Only then did the island’s warriors breathe a collective sigh of relief, and peace gradually returned to the camps.

“I don’t want to spend a single day more on this cursed island! It’s bad enough we can’t eat or sleep properly, but now these sea beasts attack us every few days. If He An hadn’t turned the tide last night—if he hadn’t slain that giant sea python with a single strike—who knows how dire the consequences would have been! I still haven’t found the Immortal Village at sea, nor avenged my exile from Zheng. How can I die on this wretched island?”

Zheng Yiqing was in a foul mood. “Master Hou, you always pride yourself on your cunning and wit. Think of a way for us to leave this island and find the Immortal Village!”

Master Hou’s face grew even darker at the mention of his “cunning,” and he found little favor in the young lord’s bluntness.

“My lord, there is a way to leave the island quickly,” he began slowly, casting a meaningful glance at the distant forest.

“Oh? What is it?” Zheng Yiqing asked eagerly.

“To escape, we must build a great raft! Not just any raft, but one of large, sturdy spiritual wood—only then can we set sail again. There’s plenty of spiritual wood on the island, suitable for building such a raft. We’ll also need to stockpile enough food for more than a dozen of us to survive for three to five months, enough to last until we find the Immortal Village.”

“Spiritual wood is extremely tough and hard to fell. With only our small group, building a great raft and amassing enough food would take far too long. In the meantime, the sea beasts attack relentlessly—we simply don’t have enough manpower to build and stockpile in peace.”

“Now, the largest tide of sea beasts is due in a fortnight. Until then, their assaults will grow stronger. If we are to leave before the end-of-month great tide, we must complete the raft—and to do so, we need to increase our workforce as much as possible!”

Master Hou spoke with a grim tone.

On hearing this, Zheng Yiqing’s mind raced. “Increase our workforce? You mean to conquer the other stranded warrior bands on the island and force them to help us build the raft and gather supplies?”

“Precisely! By my estimate, there are at least fifty or sixty warriors on this island. Only by uniting them under our command can we amass the manpower needed to build the raft and stockpile food swiftly. If you truly wish to leave, you must act at once.”

Master Hou nodded with a sinister gleam in his eye.

“That’s an excellent idea! As expected, you always have a plan, Master Hou!” Zheng Yiqing’s face lit up, wholly agreeing.

“He An, what do you think?” he asked, knowing full well that such a conquest would require the full strength of Zheng’s greatest warrior, or else it would amount to nothing.

“Very well,” He An replied coolly.

He owed the elder lord of Zheng a great debt, which was why he had agreed to escort young Zheng Yiqing in search of the Immortal Village. He had no fondness for Master Hou and his schemes, but saw no better alternative. If this was what it took to set out on the path of immortality once again, so be it.

“Good! We’ll begin at once—conquer every warrior on this island! Jiang Yingwei, report what you’ve observed these past few days.”

“Yes, my lord!”

A lean, one-armed warrior stepped forward—it was the man whose arm Ye Mo had crippled. He spoke respectfully.

“These past days, while searching for herbs, I also scouted the movements of other warrior bands. In the southwest, no more than five or six miles away, there’s a camp of seven or eight warriors—wanderers from Yan. Two of them are at the post-body-forging stage and have some strength. I suggest we start with them, then swallow up the others one by one, forcing them all to serve you, my lord!”