CHAPTER 663: CHAPTER 120: ENCOUNTERING MERCENARIES AT SEA

Long Rui’s voice rang clear and resonant. Desiring to impress the crowd, her Dark Power erupted, cascading like enchanting flute notes carried far into the distance.

The audience, upon hearing her, realized Long Rui was no mere delicate flower; indeed, the National Guardian General Residence was full of heroes.

Long Rui was, at the very least, at the Dark Earth Great Success stage of Cultivation. As she shouted commands, she directed the Lake King Dragon to approach the fishing boat.

After hearing her shout, the wind-driven fishing boat quickly stirred to life.

From the bow emerged several figures, who, at a glance, were not dressed like ordinary fishermen but wore battle armor and held weapons like swords and crossbows, seemingly more akin to Dark Practitioners.

Seeing the colossal Lake King Dragon, the fishing boat instantly erupted into chaos.

"Who approaches? Do not come any closer to the fishing boat, or don’t blame us for being rude," surprisingly, upon seeing the Asian Flying Dragon and Yue Jinghua and the others, those Dark Practitioners not only showed no intention of rescue but began to drive them away unreasonably.

"Who are these blind fools daring to shout at me?" Ji Yun lost his temper, mounted the Flying Dragon, and without a word, darted toward the fishing boat.

"Ji Yun, don’t be rash," Yue Jinghua and Long Rui tried desperately to stop him.

Ji Yun was unstoppable; his Bat Dragon’s giant wings flapped, shooting him like a cannonball bursting forth toward the fishing boat’s deck.

The Dark Practitioners at the bow prepared for battle.

Only to hear "swoosh, swoosh, swoosh", several dark shadows flew out from the fishing boat.

These shadows, entwining like strange snakes, wrapped around the Bat Dragon and Ji Yun. Ji Yun felt a sticky sensation on his hands and body, as though a layer of slime enveloped him. The attacking creatures from the fishing boat were ink-black and slippery, much like eels.

No sooner had the creature wrapped around his wrist than he felt a piercing, tingling pain on his skin.

Shortly after, that tingling pain spread rapidly from his wrist throughout his body. "This is bad, it’s poisonous," Ji Yun exclaimed in shock. His weapon had already been tightly entwined by the ribbon-like creature, and the Bat Dragon below tried furiously to struggle.

Yet, the more fiercely the man and dragon fought, the tighter the mysterious creature bound them.

"Retract," a darkly sinister voice ordered from the ship.

The several hundred-pound Bat Dragon and Ji Yun, like an uprooted scallion, were plunged from midair directly into the sea.

A spray of seawater splashed up, startling Long Rui and the others.

Ji Yun, with his Dark Earth Cultivation, along with the Asian Flying Dragon, found himself completely powerless to resist.

Ji Yun and his group, accustomed to acting arrogantly in the Imperial City, hadn’t truly experienced skirmishes outside. Now, they got a thorough lesson from a few mysterious Dark Practitioners, feeling extremely aggrieved.

After a frantic rescue, though still wanting to fight back fiercely, he exclaimed, "What bandits dare ambush the Southern Expedition Army? If we do not teach them a lesson, they will think the Imperial Dragon Knights are all pushovers."

"Those who are not afraid of death, charge forward. Those people wield mysterious Dark Power, and it’s unclear which type of spirit wood they are using. You claim to be from the Southern Expedition Army, but do you have any letters or tokens to prove it? Don’t forget, this is Fandi Port, not the Imperial City. Without your father, you are nothing," Yue Jinghua said coldly, instantly deflating Ji Yun.

Everyone in this transport, besides their own Asian Flying Dragons, had their tokens and documents all carried by Long Jiuzun.

Claiming to be from the Southern Expedition Army hastily not only fails to convince others but might also invite criticism.

Yue Jinghua had already clearly observed the situation of the battle; the few people on the boat were obviously not fishermen, and their Cultivation might not be higher than Ji Yun’s, but they seemed able to control spirit wood.

Yue Jinghua, with her sharp eyes, spotted the leading person on the bow of the boat, wearing a Four-star Mercenary Badge.

After witnessing Yue Chen and Ye Zi controlling spirit wood to attack enemies, Yue Jinghua understood that, on the continent, there are many with strange and unique abilities. It would not exclude the existence of others outside the Senming Realm who can manipulate spirit wood.

Yue Jinghua’s guess wasn’t wrong; the few people on the boat were not ordinary fishermen.

This large fishing boat departing from Fandi Port had over a hundred fishermen and sailors on board. The three people at the bow were not accompanying fishermen but were local Four-star Mercenaries from the Mercenary Guild of Fandi Port, the Manduo Brothers.

Speaking of Cultivation, the Manduo Brothers were not outstanding within the Mercenary World of the continent, but they had this unique ability, naturally able to control a type of spirit wood called Mandala Seaweed.

This spirit wood, a large type of seaweed that parasitizes on the sea floor, a mature Mandala Seaweed can grow over a hundred meters.

Mandala Seaweed appears similar to a Mandala snake, dark and slippery, and its surface secretes a special toxin with anesthetic effects. Once it contacts blood, it spreads immediately. Even the fast-moving Vanti Emperor Shark, upon entering a group of Mandala Seaweed, would be trapped and eventually die of exhaustion. It is one of the most fearsome spirit woods in the southern Fan Di Sea.

Ji Yun, underestimating his opponent earlier, suffered a great loss.

Seeing that asking for help didn’t work, Yue Jinghua first had Long Rui order the Lake King Dragon Queen to retreat, then bowed respectfully towards the fishing boat and said, "Esteemed brothers on the boat, seeing your demeanor, you are surely experienced mercenaries. Just now, it was our fault. We too are mercenaries, affiliated with the Five Saints Mercenary Branch of Xuan Beast Ridge. I am the team leader of the July Mercenary Team, Yue Jinghua, and behind me are a few of my brothers. We accepted a task to go to Fandi Port but encountered a Transmission Array malfunction on the way and ended up at sea. Please allow us to come aboard and return to Fandi Port with you. We will surely express our gratitude on another day."

Having said that, she used Dark Energy in her hands and forcefully threw the Mercenary Manual onto the boat.

The Manduo Brothers, hearing that the other party was also mercenaries and constantly addressing them as seniors, eased their expression slightly.

Mercenaries on the continent, although affiliated with different branches, always promote mutual benefit and exchange.

Upon opening the manual and verifying it, the brothers were startled to see Yue Jinghua’s identity.

"The July Mercenary Team? Isn’t that the recently active July Mercenary Team on Xuan Beast Ridge? They are a Five-star Mercenary Team. It’s said they also participated in the last event at the Sky Dragon Palace on Xuan Beast Ridge," as the saying goes, ’fame brings trouble as fattening brings slaughter.’ Yue Jinghua and her team didn’t realize how active Qin Dongting and Feng Buhui had made them in the Mercenary World.

Added to this was Luo’s colleague promoting and publicizing, the July Mercenary Team unknowingly gained a bit of fame in the Mercenary World.

However, the Manduo brothers never expected the July Mercenary Team’s leader to be so young.

"Captain Yue, we apologize for any offense earlier, please forgive us," Man San, the oldest of the Manduo brothers, bowed to Yue Jinghua and handed back the Mercenary Manual, "However, you can’t board this ship for this trip."