“Master, are you still going to use that move?”
At the Pavilion Master’s command, the Jiange disciple’s eyes lit up.
“Yes, that move again!” Su Qinian’s eyes narrowed, his lips curling in a cold sneer. “The skies above my Sword Pavilion are sacred and inviolable! After a year of glorious success seizing twelve flying boats, someone still dares to fly one above Jiange?”
“They’re courting death!”
With a wave of his hand, he gave the order:
“Go. Prepare.”
“Yes, Pavilion Master!”
“Qingran, I’ve got a bad feeling…”
Yue Qianchi had always trusted her intuition. More than once, it had pulled her back from the brink. But here, in the very heart of Jiange’s territory, what could possibly go wrong?
Li Qingran’s eyes lingered on the towering Jiange peaks ahead. She whispered, “Senior Sister, Master might not know we’ve brought a flying boat. Back in Lingxi Valley, when we barged in with it, the locals already thought it rude. Maybe Jiange has the same taboo? Could they… attack us?”
Yue Qianchi’s expression darkened. “Not good!”
In an instant, she realized the source of her ominous premonition.
The Sword Pavilion had its own style. An unfamiliar flying boat crossing into their skies? They didn’t waste time with investigation, warnings, or polite negotiation.
They just attacked.
As for familiar flying boats?
Of course, Jiange had none.
Flying boats were little more than luxuries for pampered clans. Compared to the flying sword, their worth was pitiful. Even if Jiange somehow got its hands on one, they’d strip it for parts and sell them for spirit stones.
So even if a flying boat had “Jiange” stamped on the hull, no one in Jiange would believe it. Not the disciples. Not the Pavilion Master. Not the elders.
Just as Yue Qianchi realized the danger—
Buzz!
The mountain gate’s great formation came alive, spiritual light surging skyward. Clouds billowed, birds scattered in panic.
“Oh no! They’ve activated the sect’s formation!”
Her chest tightened. She rushed to the bow of the flying boat, trying to send a message. But they were still too far from the mountain gate; her voice couldn’t reach the disciples.
She could only hurry back.
“Junior Sister, we need to abandon ship now! That guy is coming!”
“That guy?” Li Qingran blinked.
The next moment—
A long, drawn-out wolf howl split the skies.
Behind Jiange.
Su Qinian stood before the activated sect formation, facing the yawning mouth of a pitch-black cave.
Inside, crimson eyes glared back. Even without seeing the full form, the sheer size told all: a massive beast.
Yet neither Su Qinian nor the disciples behind him flinched.
“Do well today—take down that flying boat—and I’ll find you a wife next year.”
Su Qinian raised his hand. The disciples opened the gate.
From within, a wolf’s howl pierced the heavens.
Boom-boom-boom! Heavy footsteps pounded like thunder.
Then a whirlwind of black fur erupted into the sky.
The Jiange’s guardian beast—the Howling Moon Wolf King, Daha.
Late-stage Demon King. Equivalent to a late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator.
Thick-skinned, gray-furred, three fire-marks burning on his face. Handsome, ferocious, and absurdly destructive.
His flaws? Endless energy, a single-minded nature… and a passion for demolishing things.
Sending Daha to dismantle a flying boat was Su Qinian’s specialty.
After all—
If a guardian beast wasn’t sensible, what fault was there in tearing apart a boat?
If a flying boat intruded on Jiange’s skies, wasn’t it natural for the guardian beast to “defend” the sect?
A flying boat could be repaired. Could a guardian beast’s feelings be repaired? No! If it got injured, compensation was owed!
This was Jiange’s annual “income stream.”
But in recent years, fewer flying boats had passed overhead.
Most belonged to pampered young heirs. Powerful families. Dangerous to plunder too much. For the sake of appearances, Su Qinian usually left them with their underwear.
Now, though—this one was huge. Luxurious.
A whale-sized cash cow.
Su Qinian’s mouth twitched in glee.
Spirit stones gleamed in his mind’s eye.
First, he’d restock the sect’s resources. Then, finally replace Yue Qianchi’s bent flying sword. And some spirit wine—he couldn’t keep mooching Xu An’s stash forever.
Maybe even toss some spirit stones to Daha. Let the poor beast blow off steam instead of bottling it up.
Yes, Daha was their best flying boat dismantler.
Reliable. Efficient. Ruthless.
This boat would be theirs before the intruders even knew what hit them.
Su Qinian couldn’t hold it in anymore. He clutched his hips and cackled to the sky:
“Hehehe!”
“Master, don’t attack! It’s Qingran and I!”
The voice rang in his mind.
Su Qinian froze mid-laugh, his grin cracking.
He snapped his gaze toward the sky.
Far in the distance, the faint speck of a flying boat.
And next to it, a larger black shadow, wings outspread—Daha.
“Oh no! Yue Qianchi and Li Qingran are on that flying boat!”
As a late-stage Spirit Transformation expert, he could sense the source of the voice transmission instantly.
No need to question it. Yue Qianchi would never fake this.
The surrounding disciples were dumbfounded.
“How could that be?!”
“Since when did Senior Sister Yue and Junior Sister have a flying boat?”
“That’s not the problem—who’s going to stop Daha?!”
Boom! A hurricane blast toppled the disciples, sending robes whipping.
Before the noise even faded, Su Qinian shot into the sky.
【Dismantle the boat! Breed! Dismantle the boat! Breed!】
Daha’s instincts howled.
Even if Yue Qianchi was aboard, what did it matter?
Illusions! Lies! Fake, all fake!
No one would stop him from tearing this boat apart!
ROAR!
The wolf king dove, massive frame twisting midair as it slammed toward the formation surrounding the flying boat.
“Evil beast! Halt!!”
Su Qinian’s face turned green.
But he was a step late. No—ten steps late. He could only watch as Daha crashed into the ship.
“It’s over!”
Just then—
The air rippled.
A white-haired monk appeared before the flying boat.
He didn’t lift a finger, didn’t chant a word.
Just one casual midair kick.
BOOM!!!
The void shattered, then slowly mended under Heaven’s law.
Shockwaves blasted the clouds apart, hurling the flying boat hundreds of meters back.
The wolf king’s massive body blurred past Su Qinian, faster than it had charged.
It vanished over the mountainside—
BOOM!
A hill split and collapsed.
Su Qinian swallowed hard, scalp prickling, as he stared at the white-haired monk standing tall before the boat.
He opened his mouth—
But the monk’s cold snort struck first.
【This is a warning.】
【If you try again… I don’t mind cooking dog meat.】
