NOVPUBThe ship sailed across the endless sea surface, heading toward the distant continent that was rising and sinking.
Snow had stopped falling for several days now.
The weather cleared up, and the temperature began to rise.
Some layers of ice forming on the sea surface also started to melt.
The ocean was endlessly blue, with the setting sun hanging on the far horizon.
The twilight stained half of the sky red, with clusters of Fire Refining Cloud reflecting on the firmament.
From afar, it looked as though the entire sky was ablaze.
......
In these past days, Xu Zimei had stayed inside his cabin, rarely going out.
That day he was in seclusion when a series of knocks at the door interrupted him.
He opened the cabin door to find the ship’s guard standing outside.
This ship was controlled by a family clan known as the Ning Family.
To guard against the possibility of encountering maritime creatures and to maintain order,
there were many guards from the Ning Family on the ship.
"Is something the matter?" Xu Zimei inquired.
"The second elder of our Ning Family has requested that everyone gather on the deck for an announcement," the guard replied indifferently.
Xu Zimei nodded slightly and followed the guard to the deck.
When he arrived, he found almost all of the ship’s passengers gathered there.
Standing at the forefront was an elder in a large red robe.
The elder had a short, brown beard.
His hair was thinning, but he had a ruddy, portly appearance.
Once all the passengers had assembled, the elder slowly turned around
and, with a loud laugh, said to everyone,
"Let me introduce myself; I am the second elder of the Ning Family.
Most of you should already know this."
"Elder Ning, why have you called us all here?" someone asked, puzzled.
"It’s nothing serious; it’s about the previous incident on that Floating Island that I want to discuss with everyone," the elder in the red robe replied with a smile.
"That Floating Island, it goes without saying that since it was discovered by our Ning Family’s ship,
it should belong to our Ning Family.
It seems somewhat unreasonable for everyone to go to the island and take things, don’t you think?"
Upon hearing Elder Ning’s words, those present furrowed their brows.
A man dressed in black stepped out, displeased, and said,
"What do you mean by that, Elder Ning?
We were allowed to land on the island by you and given three days’ time.
Moreover, the Floating Island has always been a major feature of the Endless Heaven Sea.
Since when did it become property of your Ning Family?"
Upon hearing the man in black, the elder in the red robe smiled and said,
"Don’t get worked up just yet.
Our Ning Family is not unreasonable.
Everyone, just bring out everything you found on that Floating Island.
We don’t need the items we are not interested in; you can take them for free.
If there is anything we fancy, we will trade for it with something of equivalent value.
How about that?"
After hearing the elder in the red robe’s words, people below began to whisper among themselves, some wavering.
"Think of this as making friends with our Ning Family, how about that?" the elder in the red robe continued.
......
"I object," said a man in a green shirt, stepping forward at this moment.
This man carried a wide sword on his back and had very long hair,
almost covering his cheekbones, with a black band tied around his forehead.
His eyes were sharp, like those of a hawk.
"I don’t care what they do," the man in the green shirt said indifferently.
"But the item I found is exactly what I need.
Therefore, forgive me, but I cannot trade it."
"It seems that you have not yet understood one thing," the red-robed elder replied indifferently.
"I’m not discussing this with everyone; rather, I’m offering a better choice."
As the words of the red-robed elder fell, he clapped his hands.
Nearly a hundred guards ran out from one side of the deck.
They surrounded the entire deck in a tight formation.
The cultivation of these guards was not high, being merely around the Empty Vein Realm.
But what moved the onlookers was that these guards had trained in a combined strike formation.
What is a battle formation?
It is similar to common formations, but also fundamentally different.
Common formations use Spiritual Energy to condense Array Seals.
However, in a battle formation, each person is treated as an Array Seal.
The battle formation is unified!
Move one part and the whole is affected!
At this moment, the movements, expressions, and momentum of these guards were almost identical.
Even their breathing was in the same rhythm.
When these people gathered all their momentum together,
An indistinct silhouette of a White Tiger appeared above them.
This White Tiger was colossal, almost a hundred meters in length.
It was semi-transparent, roaring in mid-air.
Its evil Qi was overbearing and ferocious.
Although each of the nearly hundred guards possessed only the strength of the Empty Vein Realm,
But now, they could even stand up against an Emperor Pulse Realm warrior without being outmatched.
This is the terrifying aspect of the battle formation; it can concentrate strength together.
However, the use of battle formations is not widespread.
Mostly, they are used in wars between empires.
After all, they have significant limitations.
......
Xu Zimei took a quick look at the situation. Most of the ship’s passengers had strength between the Empty Vein Realm and Esteem Vein Realm.
Only a few were of the Emperor Pulse Realm.
And this Ning Family’s second elder was a genuine Saint Vein strongman.
As for the Ning Family, Xu Zimei had not heard of this force before. no𝚟𝚙u𝚋.c𝚘m
But he knew that there were many such forces in the Eastern Continent.
Occupying a territory and being a so-called local overlord.
Perhaps their overall strength was not much, but in a small scope, they were pretty decent.
The situation at the moment was still at a standstill.
But most importantly, not all of the passengers agreed in their hearts.
Some opposed the Ning Family’s proposal, but others were willing to accept it.
At this moment, the red-robed elder looked confidently at the situation in the field and said, "How have you all considered?"
"I agree," someone said, already taking out everything they had gathered on the Floating Island.
Others remained silent.
Seeing these people starting to compromise, the red-robed elder was in no rush.
At this time, a one-armed old man emerged from the crowd.
This elder leaned on a walking stick, hobbling along as he walked.
He was not only one-armed, but his legs also seemed to have difficulty moving.
What’s more, he was blind.
"You all do your thing; this old blind man won’t get involved," the old man said, chuckling while walking out of the crowd.
As the one-armed elder walked away,
The battle formation guards were about to take action but were restrained by the red-robed elder.
"Could the senior be the Blood-drinking Mad Blade?" the red-robed elder asked earnestly, filled with respect.
"What Blood-drinking Mad Blade, I’m just an ordinary old man," the one-armed elder laughed, shaking his head.
"There’s no need to deny it, senior," the red-robed elder replied.
"In this Endless Heaven Sea, your fame is even louder than that of the Great Emperors."
Upon hearing the words of the red-robed elder, the one-armed old man’s figure paused slightly.
He said nothing more and quietly continued towards the distance.
