The chaotic battle continued to rage as the ship slowly left the Black Fog again.
When sunshine reappeared, the chaotic battle instantly came to a stop.
A black glow danced around Yang Tiecheng's body, making him appear as if he were a demon god from hell. An overwhelming aura radiated from his body as he swept his gaze over the surroundings. The two barriers of sailors had already collapsed into a moaning heap of pain and agony.
Fortunately, they were only injured, not killed.
He breathed a small sigh of relief, yet killing intent instantly flashed across his face.
Two people were lying face up with blood gushing from their chests. Pools of blood had already formed under their bodies.
The mysterious assassin had appeared again!
It was evident that the assassin's target was Ling Han. After disposing of the two people who were in the way, they—
… Huh?
Everyone was stupefied. Ling Han stood unscathed in the same spot as before. Shui Yanyu stood beside him, and both of them appeared incredibly calm. There wasn't the slightest hint that they had participated in the battle just then.
This was absolutely mind-boggling. All of them were marked in some way or another due to the chaotic battle beforehand, yet the target of everyone's attacks, Ling Han, was somehow completely unharmed?
Looking closely, the cuffs on Ling Han's hands and feet were still firmly locked into place. This left them at a loss for words.
Ling Han smiled, and said, "That, um… Can you remove the cuffs now?"
These cuffs could only suppress their power, and were completely useless against their divine sense. Thus, they were naturally able to enter the Black Tower to enjoy the heated sounds of battle again.
Yang Tiecheng removed Ling Han's cuffs, and his expression became livid as he turned to look at the two dead sailors. He remained silent for a long time.
His eyes were filled with eerie killing intent as he swept his gaze over every single person, and he said slowly, "Regardless of who the culprit is, I'll definitely weed them out and rip them to shreds!"
Apart from Ling Han, everyone else was a suspect.
"Report!" shouted the sailor responsible for keeping a lookout on top of the mast. "Enemies spotted! Enemies spotted! There are pirates sailing over!"
'Pirates!'
Ling Han was slightly surprised. They hadn't come across pirates in the past few days, yet they actually encountered them at such a sensitive time.
"Prepare for battle," Yang Tiecheng said coldly. He knew that the person who had killed his sailors was still on his ship, yet he was completely helpless as he didn't know who the culprit was. This made him extremely angry.
Now that there was a pirate attack, he finally had somewhere to vent his anger.
12 small boats appeared before them. These boats were genuinely small, with each only being able to hold five people. The people on these boats were all rowing rapidly, causing their boats to shoot forward like arrows. There had been over two kilometers between them, yet this distance was quickly cut down to less than a kilometer.
At such a short distance, they could already clearly see the sinister and cruel faces of the pirates.
"Cannons!" Yang Tiecheng commanded.
"Understood!"
Boom, boom, boom!
The cannons fired, yet the pirates were evidently experienced at dealing with such scenarios. They didn't panic as their boats nimbly dodged the attacks from the cannons.
It was almost impossible to dodge a shot that had been fired, as these cannons fired beams of light, not cannonballs. These destructive beams of light were formed by the complex formations that consumed True Origin Stones.
However, the sailors needed to aim before firing a shot, yet the small boats traveled along random, zigzagging paths. As a result, they were able to completely avoid the cannon fire.
"Prepare for close-quarters combat!" Yang Tiecheng was also unfazed as he continued to issue commands.
"Hahahahaha!" The pirates laughed uncannily as they leaped onto the ship one after another. This was a mental tactic used to frighten their opponents and make them lose morale.
"This trip was completely worth it. There are so many beautiful women!"
"These are beautiful women at the Mountain River Tier. Each of them commands a high price!"
"Hehe, we'll play by the old rules. Kill all the men and take all the women!"
"Okey-dokey!"
60 pirates boarded their ship in no time, and an all-out battle instantly erupted.
Although they had engaged in numerous mysterious battles in the Black Fog before, and although many people had died, they had only had one common enemy back then—Ling Han. The eight people from the Black Five Gang and the two sailors had merely been unfortunate victims.
However, the situation was completely different right now. The pirates wouldn't talk about justice with them, and they would kill or kidnap the passengers regardless of what the latter did. In the pirates' eyes, women were wealth, and men were enemies.
"Die!"
Everyone knew that this was no time for infighting. Otherwise, they would all become corpses under the pirates' ruthless weapons. Although the beautiful women wouldn't be killed, it was very likely that their fate would be far worse than death.
Ling Han drew his sword with a chuckle, and said, "Wife, let's have a competition to see who can kill the most pirates!"
"Why not!" Shui Yanyu wasn't one to admit defeat, so she quickly accepted Ling Han's challenge.
Ling Han laughed, and said quietly, "If I win, let me embrace you when we sleep tonight. If you win, I'll let you embrace me when we sleep tonight."
"Damn pervert!" Shui Yanyu chided, but didn't forget to slash her sword at the pirates as she spoke.
A pirate rushed over with his saber, and said, "You two are fairly lovey-dovey with each other, huh? However, this brat must die! Girl, don't worry, we'll all become your men in a while. We'll definitely 'feed' you until you're full!"
Ling Han humphed, and unleashed his Seven Kill Subduing Soul Technique, immediately sending the pirate who threatened them into a daze. Shui Yanyu followed up with a deadly strike that pierced through the pirate's heart.
In the next instant, the pirate's corpse had already been stored into Ling Han's Spatial Spirit Tool.
How could they prove that they had completed the mission if they had no corpses to show for it? Spatial Spirit Tools were widely available in the Immortal Realm, and it wouldn't be surprising if everyone had more than 10 such tools.
"B*tch couple!" Another pirate charged over. He was more powerful than the previous pirate, and his cultivation level had already reached the high extreme. Black light fluctuated as his saber slashed over with an ear-piercing screech that almost caused blood to flow out of one's ears.
Ling Han unleashed his Seven Kill Subduing Soul Technique again, yet the pirate only faltered for a short moment. Shui Yanyu's attack missed its target as it was parried by the saber of the pirate.
If Ling Han activated his Black Tower, he could naturally absorb the pirate with ease. However, it would definitely cause a commotion if someone were to suddenly disappear into thin air. Although everyone was engaged in intense battles, Ling Han knew that many people still had their eyes locked onto him.
He humphed as he lashed out with both his sword and palm. The Mysterious Three Thousand and Earth Overturning Seal bore down toward his opponent at the same time.
"You're merely at the early stage of the medium extreme… You're not worthy of being my opponent!" The pirate laughed loudly as he slashed his sword at Ling Han's waist.
With a thought, Ling Han activated his divine patterns of gravity. The pirate let out an astonished groan as the saber in his hand suddenly became a dozen or so times heavier. He hurriedly tightened his grip as the saber started to slip from his hand, yet he couldn't prevent his strike from deviating off its target.
The pirate was completely dumbstruck. 'What kind of secret technique is this? How is it so powerful?!'
One had to realize that he was at the middle stage of the high extreme, which was more than one full minor level above Ling Han. He had a decisive advantage over Ling Han in terms of power, so how could he have been affected?
As these thoughts flashed through the pirate's mind, Ling Han's sword and palm had already struck over again.