At a critical moment, Lin Jiaer clapped her hands together, capturing the luminous feather within her grasp.
A thunderclap echoed through the void as the luminous feather dissipated by more than half, but the feather’s core remained. It escaped from Lin Jiaer’s hands and shot into her chest.
Lin Jiaer let out a muffled groan, all color draining from her face as she was flung back several dozen meters before stabilizing. She stared at Qian Ye, enunciating each word, “So, the witch truly fell to your hand. I thought she was only feigning injury. Where did you learn this move?”
Qian Ye, naturally, would not tell her and remained silent.
Lin Jiaer’s gaze turned cold, “Very well, if you won’t say, then there’s no need to keep you alive!”
With a clear cry, she instantly appeared in front of Qian Ye. However, before she could make a move, she returned to her original spot even faster. Behind Qian Ye, the luminous wings shone brightly once more, and the short gun in his hand began to glow, with a luminous feather starting to form within the barrel.
Blocking the Primordial Spear, Lin Jiaer knew she couldn’t dodge it; it would hit for sure, and the only option was to block it. The previous strike had already injured her, and another one would inflict even more severe damage. In the void, this meant greater peril.
Qian Ye also understood her concerns and stood quietly, the Primordial Spear poised but not unleashed, facing off against Lin Jiaer.
Suddenly, Lin Jiaer’s eyes grew cold, and Qian Ye inwardly shouted, “Not good!” Without hesitation, he unleashed the intimidation once more. Lightning-quick, Lin Jiaer was struck again, her body freezing mid-air, unable to move, with her protective demonic energy weakening by thirty percent. Despite being prepared, the oppressive aura of the void beast was still beyond her ability to resist.
Seizing the opportunity, Qian Ye immediately fired the Primordial Spear, the luminous feather aimed directly at Lin Jiaer’s forehead.
This time, Lin Jiaer crossed her arms to shield herself, curling into a ball and spinning rapidly in the air. As she spun, her feet moved like lightning, striking the luminous feather multiple times. Yet, the feather’s core still pierced her body.
Lin Jiaer’s rapid spin abruptly stopped, and she plummeted straight down. She bounced off the ship’s hull, quickly rising again to a height of over a hundred meters, looking down at Qian Ye with eyes filled with uncontainable rage.
Seeing her position, Qian Ye smiled faintly, “Have you finally realized it?”
Lin Jiaer spoke coldly, “This ship is indeed extraordinary, and your control over it is peculiar. But the more powerful it is, the less you can keep it.”
“Regardless, it will never fall into your hands,” Qian Ye sneered.
“Is that so?!” Lin Jiaer’s voice rose, and she seemed ready to attack again.
At that moment, a distant, faint scream reached their ears. Lin Jiaer turned to see a demonkin struggling wildly in the void, screaming, but ultimately unable to resist the void’s erosion. His protective demonic energy suddenly collapsed, and he was instantly reduced to a horrifying, shriveled corpse.
Lin Jiaer recognized this demonkin, who was a capable subordinate. Unfortunately, his strength was insufficient to endure the void for long. Thrust out of the ship, without a lifepod and no strong aid, he eventually perished, forever drifting in the void.
Looking around, there were at least a hundred demonkin struggling in the void, many near their limits. A moment’s delay, and they would follow the same fate, turning into mummified corpses. Initially, Lin Jiaer, driven by fury, sought to kill Qian Ye at any cost. But now, seeing this, she could not remain indifferent.
She glared at Qian Ye again, realizing she couldn’t defeat him in a short time. With a huff, she coldly said, “Let’s see how long it takes for you to use that move again.”
With that, she turned and flew away, making several aerial maneuvers to gather several demonkin and deliver them to the floating lifeboats.
Qian Ye silently admired Lin Jiaer’s decisiveness and keen judgment. He indeed only had two Primordial Spears left. If Lin Jiaer didn’t leave, he would have been forced into hand-to-hand combat. However, fighting on the ground beetle, Lin Jiaer was constantly constrained by the residual will of the beetle, greatly reducing her combat effectiveness, while Qian Ye, with control, gained an advantage. Another battle would be drawn out, and even if she captured Qian Ye, Lin Jiaer’s crew would suffer at least several hundred casualties.
Admiration aside, Qian Ye would not let her rescue her subordinates so easily. Instantly, the Hall of Heroes turned, its giant tail swinging towards a nearby lifeboat crammed with over thirty severely wounded demonkin. Being hit by the beetle’s tail, they had no chance of survival.
Lin Jiaer, shocked and enraged, screamed and lunged forward, her body enveloped in demonic flames. She used her own power to push the lifeboat a hundred meters sideways, dodging the beetle’s tail.
“Leave here, all of you!” Lin Jiaer commanded, and all the lifeboats quickly turned and left the area. Several warships approached, half of them attacking the Hall of Heroes to draw Qian Ye’s attention, while the other half headed to the broken flagship to rescue the crew.
Ignoring the swarm of arrows, Qian Ye piloted the Hall of Heroes straight towards Lin Jiaer’s flagship. The attacks from the demonkin warships were ineffective against the Hall of Heroes. Like an ancient beast, it moved slowly and steadily, crushing everything in its path.
“No!” Lin Jiaer let out another pained scream as the Hall of Heroes rammed into the half-ruined flagship. With a loud boom, the side of the ship caved in, and flames erupted from the cracks. This section contained the engines and fuel tanks, which ignited upon impact. The engines began to explode one after another. The demonkin crew members still aboard the ship were clearly doomed.
For the demonkin, Qian Ye would show no mercy. Releasing even one demonkin now would mean adding a terrifying enemy on the future battlefield.
Several small assault boats suddenly launched from the approaching warships, using their speed and sturdiness to break through the Hall of Heroes’ defensive force field and land on the ship. From each assault boat, several to over a dozen demonkin warriors leaped out, surrounding Qian Ye.
Landing boats were the primary means of seizing control of an enemy’s large ship in fleet battles, usually used when the enemy ship had lost its resistance. If the Hall of Heroes were fully operational, its numerous cannons on both sides could turn these landing boats into living coffins for the demonkin. However, with the Hall of Heroes’ two remaining side-mounted crossbows destroyed, the demonkin dared to board.
Even Lin Jiaer, with her personal effort, couldn’t subdue Qian Ye. These ordinary demonkin warriors had even less chance of success. Still, the demonkin general sent them in, knowing they likely wouldn’t return. This desperate assault, if successful, would seize the Hall of Heroes, compensating for the loss of Lin Jiaer’s flagship many times over. Even if unsuccessful, it would distract Qian Ye, buying time to rescue the flagship’s crew.
The demonkin had a strict hierarchy, and those who could board Lin Jiaer’s flagship were far superior in talent and lineage to ordinary demonkin. To the high-ranking demonkin officers, a common crew member on the flagship was more valuable than an officer on other warships.
Dozens of demonkin warriors leaped and bounded, quickly surrounding Qian Ye. Before they could attack, they suddenly felt a heavy weight, as if carrying a mountain, making it nearly impossible to move. Then, crisscrossing bloodlines appeared before their eyes. They went black, their bodies weakened, and they fell one by one.
Under the influence of the Sea Power Domain and Life Devouring, these elite demonkin could not hold out for even half a minute, all collapsing around Qian Ye.
Qian Ye opened his eyes, looked at the bodies littering the ground, and sighed softly. As the power of the ground beetle’s bones recovered, his abilities on the Hall of Heroes had strengthened. The Sea Power Domain went without saying, and the range of the Life Devouring had extended to fifty meters. Anyone approaching Qian Ye would be nearly guaranteed to fall.
Having eliminated all boarding enemies, Qian Ye once again focused on controlling the Hall of Heroes.
The Hall of Heroes made a sharp turn, firing a giant crossbow bolt, hitting a demonkin warship. This sudden attack caught the warship, which had been trying to pin down Qian Ye, off guard as it unknowingly approached the Hall of Heroes. Since the initial attack, the Hall of Heroes had not fired its crossbows again, leading the enemy to overlook this capability.
Lin Jiaer ordered the damaged warships to withdraw, while the undamaged ones reformed their formation, covering the Hall of Heroes’ bow with firepower as they slowly retreated. At this point, the remaining demonkin in the void were all turning into corpses, with nothing left to rescue. Her flagship was completely destroyed.
In this fleet, Lin Jiaer brought along fast and long-range warships due to the expedition to the neutral territory, lacking heavily armored and heavily armed main ships. These fast ships relied on “Mist Concealment” for defense, but when this ability failed in front of Qian Ye, their weak armor was exposed, making them vulnerable to even a single crossbow bolt, and two or more could sink them.
Despite the pain in her heart, Lin Jiaer had no choice but to order the retreat. She stood in the void, her eyes filled with anger, gritting her teeth, “Qian Ye, I’ll see how long it takes for you to recover. You have only half a day. If you’re slow, just wait to die!”
“I’m waiting,” Qian Ye responded coldly.
Lin Jiaer turned and flew to the nearest demonkin warship, heading into the distance. Only when the warship vanished into the depths of the void did Qian Ye turn his gaze away.
Her threat was not empty; it indicated that within half a day, she would recover from her injuries or, at the very least, regain her fighting strength. Qian Ye had already used two Primordial Spears, and if he couldn’t condense a new one within half a day, he would lose the means to intimidate Lin Jiaer, and the next battle would be perilous.
Qian Ye closed his eyes slightly, the Black Book appearing in his consciousness. The recently landed demonkin warriors provided a large amount of refined blood. Though few in number, they were of extremely high quality, almost filling Qian Ye.
The Black Book now contained no refined blood. Qian Ye willed it, and the book immediately drew the refined blood from his body, stopping only when a small amount remained.
Just after drawing the refined blood, the Black Book produced a strand of refined, concentrated blood, ready for Qian Ye’s use. He directed this refined blood to the Primordial Wings, where the second feather on the left wing began to glow faintly.
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