Chapter 169: Thunderous Sweep
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The voice echoed across the heavens, brimming with unyielding protection, shifting the expressions of all present.
The Black Shark Pirates' faces darkened, staring gravely at their leader, Hei Ao, who'd been blasted back.
Whoever could repel their hall master was no trifling foe.
In contrast, Hai Hong Sect's disciples' eyes sparked with hope, gazing eagerly into the distance.
"What arrogant brat dares speak so boldly?" Hei Ao struggled to his feet, retrieving his spiked mace, roaring in fury.
Shui Mo, nearly crashing onto the deck, was caught by several Hai Hong Sect disciples.
Ignoring his wounds, he looked skyward.
Behind the clouds, purple lightning crackled the force that saved his life.
"Three Thousand Thunderous Motions…" he muttered.
Finally, amidst countless curious gazes, electric arcs thundered. A figure cloaked in purple lightning streaked across the sky.
"Heavenly Halberd Art – Sweeping Heavenly Armies!"
The man's proud voice resounded, not rushing to attack Hei Ao but sweeping toward the Black Shark Pirates hovering above with lightning speed.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Eyes blurred. One by one, Black Shark Pirates were smashed away, blood staining the sky. Some were pulverized, dying gruesome deaths.
Ten, twenty, thirty…
In mere breaths, over thirty Nascent Soul pirates were flung from the battlefield by the figure wreathed in purple lightning.
Dead or gravely wounded, the scene was terrifying.
"This power…" Shui Mo's eyes widened, unsure of the newcomer's identity.
"Damn it, what is this?" Hei Ao roared, the purple lightning too swift, leaving only afterimages.
With a pirate's cunning, he realized the newcomer protected Hai Hong Sect. Gripping his mace, he lunged at the injured Shui Mo.
BOOM!
As expected, the purple lightning descended, blocking Shui Mo.
From above, it coldly glared at Hei Ao's ferocious face.
"I said, touch them, and die!"
The indifferent voice rang out. Everyone finally saw the newcomer.
No two figures.
A majestic beast, its white fur flowing heroically, wings spread wide in the sea breeze, limbs agile and robust. Its sharp eyes radiated killing intent, purple lightning crackling around it.
Its speed had outpaced their vision.
An invisible pressure choked many onlookers.
Purple Thunder Gryphon…
Atop it, a young man with devilish charm, long hair billowing. One white eye gleamed coldly, wielding the Dragon King Halberd like a war god.
Undoubtedly, he'd spoken earlier.
Shui Mo, suppressing his injuries, gazed at the man's back, standing valiantly before him atop the beast.
"He's younger than me…" he murmured, sensing the man's overwhelming aura, a trace of reverence in his eyes.
"Who are you? Daring to meddle with Black Shark?" Hei Ao growled threateningly.
Black Shark was infamous, with thousands of members, vast strength, and numerous island strongholds.
Led by a Void Refinement cultivator, Hei Ao was merely a hall master.
Thus, he boldly threatened Lan An.
But Lan An cared little for such posturing.
The Dragon King Halberd surged with destructive force, smashing toward Hei Ao's head from atop Little Lion.
"Courting death!" Hei Ao raised his mace to block, pushed back hundreds of steps, his arms numb.
"Full force, kill Hai Hong Sect!" he ordered the remaining pirates venomously.
"Little Lion, finish them!" Lan An leapt off, commanding softly.
ROAR!
Little Lion roared, transforming into lightning.
Wherever it passed, pirates fell like wheat.
Its razor claws and purple lightning overwhelmed all.
Hai Hong Sect's morale soared, fighting with renewed vigor.
With Little Lion's aid and prior pirate losses, the tide turned decisively.
"Peak Nascent Soul, yet you let your beast leave? Fool!" Hei Ao sneered, believing his plan worked.
He thought Lan An's strength stemmed from Little Lion, a Fifth-Tier beast.
By luring Little Lion away, he, a Mid Spirit Transformation cultivator, could crush Lan An.
His battle experience was cunning, plotting swiftly.
Sadly, his opponent was Lan An.
"Mountain-Breaking Mace!"
Hei Ao grinned, boundless Earth Spiritual Force converging. The mace's force could shatter mountains, smashing toward Lan An.
Close combat never fazed Lan An. With a faint smile, the Earth Spirit Cauldron spun rapidly.
ROAR!
A resounding roar. An Earth Bear appeared, a loyal guardian behind Lan An, glaring at Hei Ao.
Stepping forward, its massive arms struck the mace.
BOOM!
The clash's shockwave toppled weaker cultivators on the ships.
Against Hei Ao's Mid Spirit Transformation strike, the Earth Bear's arms shattered but pushed Hei Ao back.
Seizing the moment, Lan An vanished ghostlike, reappearing beside Hei Ao. His body cultivation and Wood Spiritual Force surged.
"Wood Form Fist!"
His fist, like an ancient tree, struck.
SPLAT!
Hei Ao flew like a rag, smashing through a ship's wall, his face battered.
"How? What technique is this?" Hei Ao stared in horror as the Earth Bear reformed, charging him.
Lan An didn't bother with banter. Phantom Charm Wander Step activated, the Dragon King Halberd thrusting domineeringly.
Hei Ao panicked, repelling the Earth Bear and fleeing skyward to evade Lan An.
A futile dream.
Speed Shift triggered, Lan An vanished eerily.
Hei Ao's hair stood on end, bellowing, "Earth Spirit Armor!"
Earth Spiritual Force encased him, hardening his body.
Lan An ignored it, appearing behind Hei Ao, striking his back.
BOOM!
Hei Ao, just airborne, crashed into the sea.
His Earth Spirit Armor shattered but saved his life, though bloodied and tattered, he was gravely wounded.
"Too strong… far too strong!" Shui Mo, witnessing the fight, felt his prodigy status paled beside this youth.
"Damn you, who are you? Since when did Hai Zhou Continent birth such a figure?" Hei Ao trembled, knowing death loomed without escape.
"You talk too much," Lan An said lightly, closing in with Phantom Charm Wander Step.
"Damn it!" Hei Ao roared venomously, mustering his final strike.
His mace swelled, a mountain's illusion forming behind him a powerful technique.
Pity his foe was a monster.
Facing the mountain-like mace, Lan An advanced.
"Sweeping Heavenly Armies!"
The Dragon King Halberd roared, its force crushing armies, clashing head-on.
Against Hei Ao, Lan An needed no complexity just raw, brutal force.
CRACK!
The mace shattered before Hei Ao's bulging eyes. The halberd pierced his heart.
"You… Black Shark won't spare you…" Blood trickled from Hei Ao's mouth, his eyes hateful.
"Why do the dead prattle?" Lan An twisted the halberd.
Hei Ao's chest caved, his Nascent Soul shattered by Sweeping Heavenly Armies' force.
"Soul Grasp!"
White Moon Spirit Grasp activated.
Since refining the Soul Warming Lotus, Lan An's soul power rivaled Late Nascent Soul.
However, souls from You Yuan Continent and the Third Trial were used to upgrade White Moon Spirit Grasp.
Initially a Low Heaven-Grade treasure, it absorbed numerous souls from those battles, ascending to High Heaven-Grade, enhancing Thousand-Star Perception and Weakness Pierce significantly.
This allowed Lan An to detect the assassin Lian's stealth previously.
Now, he devoured Hei Ao's soul completely.
Feeling a slight soul power boost, Lan An looked skyward.
From hundreds of pirates, only eleven remained.
Little Lion battled two Early Spirit Transformation pirates, taking time.
"Hai Hong Sect, retreat!" Lan An transmitted.
The disciples swiftly withdrew to their ship.
Nine Nascent Soul pirates stared in terror at Hei Ao's mangled corpse.
"Myriad Sword Barrage – Sand Vortex Tomb!"
Lan An sneered, raising his hands.
The Heavenly Wood Cauldron and Earth Spirit Cauldron hummed, forming rapidly.
"Flee, spare us!" The pirates, bloodless, scattered in panic.
But against wide-ranging techniques like a heavenly net, they were trapped in the forest and tomb.
"Explode!" Lan An uttered coldly.
BOOM! BOOM!
The forest and tomb detonated, forming mushroom clouds.
The nine Nascent Soul pirates, souls included, vanished.
Little Lion tore one Spirit Transformation pirate's head off, leaving one.
"Star-Piercing Finger!"
Lan An pointed, a domineering force like a star-piercing arrow shot forth.
The last pirate sensed the killing intent, fleeing in fear.
SWISH!
Star-Piercing Finger's speed was relentless, piercing his heart.
BOOM!
Little Lion spat purple lightning, reducing him to ash.
"Knock out the crew on the Black Shark ships!" Lan An transmitted softly.
Little Lion nodded, wings soaring to the ships.
"Spare us…"
"Mercy, we're just weak cultivators…" Hundreds below Nascent Soul pleaded, trembling before Little Lion's majesty.
ROAR!
A heaven-shaking roar, laced with thunderous soundwaves, answered.
Gryphon's Roar, Little Lion's innate attack.
The Black Shark crews fainted, some bleeding from their ears, but none died.
Finished, Little Lion returned, shrinking to perch on Lan An's shoulder.
Silence…
Utter silence.
Hai Hong Sect's survivors, young and old, stared at the scene, speechless.
Blood stained the sea, bodies littered about, hundreds unconscious.
All caused by one man and one beast.
Too shocking for words.
Suddenly…
"Hurrah, we're alive!"
"Alive, haha, alive!"
"Black Shark's death is just! Those murdering, thieving scum raped countless women, leaving them to die in despair."
"Exactly, beasts without humanity, good riddance!"
"Heavens have eyes, these monsters finally paid!"
"Aunt in the heavens, you protected us! Hei Ao, who defiled you, is dead!"
No Hai Hong Sect disciple pitied Black Shark. Without Lan An, they'd be dead, their female disciples defiled.
"Thank you, senior, for saving us!" Young disciples bowed respectfully to Lan An.
Lan An nodded, watching Hai Hong Sect weep joyfully, frowning inwardly.
He hadn't realized Black Shark's cruelty, defiling and killing countless women.
Yet, this world's rule was clear: the weak were prey to the strong.
Lan An refused to let himself or his women become victims, driving him to grow stronger.
Sighing in relief, he turned to leave.
"Brother! Please, visit Hai Hong Sect! Don't refuse!" Shui Mo, still prone, pleaded with all his strength.
Lan An paused. He'd saved Hai Hong Sect due to Great Flood Kick, a technique from their sect.
Having fought alongside it often, he held affection for Hai Hong Sect.
Moreover, the True Sea Water Art he'd bought for Liu Meng Meng of the Liu Clan also originated from them.
In a way, Lan An shared a bond with Hai Hong Sect.
Seeing his hesitation, Shui Mo's eyes gleamed with admiration, adding, "Brother, you're not from Hai Zhou Continent. You must need information. Hai Hong Sect can provide it all!"
Lan An nodded, no longer hesitating. "Then I'll trouble your sect."