Chapter 30: Joining

“Retreat!”

Cries of despair could be heard echoing across the surface of the waters.

All of the boats simultaneously retreated as a few of the more powerful Origin Qi Scholars took flight and began to unleash attacks at the Sea Beasts below.

However, there were simply too many Sea Beasts emerging from the waters. Their oppressive aura surged high into the sky as their attacks came one after another. This was nothing short of a miniature Sea Beast Wave.

"How did this happen?" Lin Xiao felt his heart tremble as he watched the situation unfold.

The Sea Beasts in the Abyss always acted individually without the leading of a Sovereign. Why would things suddenly change?

He didn't understand, but the situation was worsening by the second.

Even though the boats were retreating at top speed, wanting to escape from the ferocious Sea Beasts that had gathered without suffering any losses was probably going to be impossible.

One of the Subdued Sea Branch's boats, Long Sky, was slightly behind the rest of the group. Dozens of Sea Beasts were already swarming in its direction. If it was surrounded, it was probably going to be impossible for it to escape.

"Point those Sun-Cleaving Cannons in that directions!" Lin Xiao yelled.

"Captain, there's no time to fire the cannons. We're better of leaving," his subordinates said.

"Get out of my way! Am I going to just watch them die? I am the captain of this entire hunting party. I refuse to leave my men behind just to save myself!" Lin Xiao roared with anger. "Fire the cannons!"

The Sun-Cleaving Cannons installed on the aft of the boats began to fire.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Streaks of Origin Energy light began to slam into the targets around Long Sky, tearing them to shreds.

"Let's get out of here!" the soldiers on Long Sky yelled.

They attempted to use the gap opened by the Sun-Cleaving Cannons to escape, but the Sea Beasts' pursuit was fierce. The cannons alone were incapable of resolving the issue; they had merely alleviated the pressure for a moment. Not only was Lin Xiao unable to save Long Sky, but now his own boat was also beginning to lag behind.

As they watched the Sea Beasts close in, one of the Boundless Sect's disciples cried out, "Captain, if we don't go now it'll be too late!"

Lin Xiao glanced at the people on Long Sky, and then at the ever-increasing number of Sea Beasts present. One of the jellyfish's tentacles had already wrapped itself around the boat. Lin Xiao's heart trembled, and he shut his eyes with pain as he cried out, "Go!"

This cry was filled with despair, hatred, and unwillingness.

But just as he issued the command, a huge column of water suddenly shot into the air.

This column of water was obviously different from the turbulence being created by the Sea Beasts. It shot through one of the Sea Beasts like a streak of white light, connecting with the Heavens.

Then, a few people actually stepped out of that column of light.

At the very front was an old man. His appearance wasn’t much to look at, yet it was obvious that this column of light and water was created by him. He gestured casually, causing the column of light to quickly dissipate. But instead of disappearing, it quickly turned into a net of light that began to descend on the surface of the sea.

Any Sea Beasts caught in this net all cried out in pain. The razor-sharp wires of the net began to slice open the Sea Beasts. In an instant, the net passed through them, ripping the Sea Beasts to shreds.

Fresh blood covered the surface of the ocean.

“Well done, old man!”

Behind the old man stood three people - one female and two males. The person who had just spoke was the woman.

“Fenghan!”

“Chang He!”

There were people on the boats who recognized the two of them, and they called out to them.

The old man, naturally, was Lin Zuiliu.

Lin Zuiliu was indeed an Ultimate Emperor Realm cultivator. A single attack of his was enough to wipe out a large proportion of the Sea Beasts. He was just strutting around when he suddenly noticed another large wave of Sea Beasts charging in his direction. “What are you all waiting for? Get out of here! These guys aren’t going to stop coming, and I don’t have the time or energy to waste on them.”

As he spoke, he began to generate a violent wind that blew against the sails of the boats, sending them shooting off into the distance.

Lin Zuiliu also brought along his three followers aboard.

Lin Xiao bowed to Lin Zuiliu and said, “Lin Xiao greets you, sir. May I ask, sir, what your name is……”

Ye Fenghan said, “This is Lin Zuiliu.”

Upon hearing that this person was Lin Zuiliu, everyone was stunned.

Su Chen had been looking for this old man for a long time, but none of them had expected him to appear in this place.

Lin Xiao was just about to say something when Lin Zuiliu’s figure flickered, reappearing next to Lin Xiao. Lin Zuiliu sized him up before suddenly grabbing his arm. Everyone was shocked, thinking that Lin Zuiliu was about to do something, but Lin Xiao stopped them.

Lin Zuiliu squinted his eyes. “Yet another person without a bloodline…… A Spirit Burning Realm cultivator without a bloodline. So this Su Chen guy has pushed the limit to the Spirit Burning Realm already?”

Lin Xiao replied, “This is the Flying Immortal Cultivation Techniques.”

“Flying Immortal Cultivation Techniques…… Haha, how arrogant! Is that enough to consider yourself an immortal?” Lin Zuiliu chuckled as he let Lin Xiao go.

The Boundless Sect’s disciples all frowned when they heard this.

Su Chen was basically like a deity amongst the Boundless Sect’s disciples. He was the one who had given all of these people without bloodlines an opportunity to become Origin Qi Scholars, fulfilling their dreams. Lin Zuiliu’s disdain of the Flying Immortal Cultivation Techniques caused Lin Xiao to immediately say, “Sir, even though you have saved my men, I will not accept your disrespect towards our Sect Master.”

“So what if you can’t accept it?” Lin Zuiliu said lazily.

Everyone was taken aback.

Yes, so what if they couldn’t accept it?

He had just saved them. There was no way they would fight just because of a few sentences.

And even if they did fight, they would probably lose.

Suddenly, Night Demon did something.

She walked forwards and grabbed Lin Zuiliu by the ear. “Hey, you old man, can’t you be a little nicer when you speak? Why do you always sound like you’re trying to offend someone? Do you think you’re all that just because you were able to save them?”

Unexpectedly, Lin Zuiliu didn’t even try and defend himself. All he said was, “Aiya, aiya, let go! I was just kidding, okay? I am very impressed that he was able to push the bloodline-less cultivation techniques to the Spirit Burning Realm. However, I also have my own studies. He studies the bloodline-less techniques, while I study mixing bloodlines. I’m not weaker than him, okay?”

Night Demon said with a frown, “Psh! What is there to treasure about it anyways.”

She let go and stood to the side.

Lin Zuiliu rubbed his ear. “Aiya, how come I’m so unlucky? You demonness, you don’t even understand the basic principle of respecting your elders.”

However, his tone wasn’t unhappy at all. It appeared that he quite enjoyed being mistreated by Night Demon.

Lin Xiao said, “King of Chaos, it’s good that you came this time. Sect Master has already asked us to look for you, but unfortunately we were never able to find you. I never thought that you would be fated to meet today.”

“What fate?” Lin Zuiliu said calmly. “That little girl was annoying me to no end, which was why I agreed to come all the way out here. Otherwise, I was quite happy doing my research. Why would I have cared to come all the way out here at all?”

Lin Xiao was taken aback. “But don’t you want to talk with our Sect Master”? Sect Master is one of the most knowledgeable people on the whole continent……”

“So what if he’s knowledgeable? Am I obligated to talk with him? He is going down the bloodline-less path, while I am going down the mixed bloodline path. There is no intersection between the two,” Lin Zuiliu said bluntly.

At that moment, a voice suddenly spoke. “My apologies, but I have actually gone down the mixed bloodline route a little as well.”

“Hm?” Lin Zuiliu’s eyes glittered. Suddenly, without saying an extra word, he turned around and unleashed a palm strike behind himself.

Boom!

A profound, mystical depiction appeared in the sky. The microcosm formed by the seven Desolate Beast Bloodlines manifested itself yet again, its majestic aura spreading in all directions.

Lin Zuiliu's palm strike had actually been blocked.

"Sect Master! Sect Master is here!"

All of them began to cheer with excitement.

Lin Zuiliu slowly turned around to find a person floating loftily in the air. If it wasn't Su Chen, who else could it be?

Su Chen had shown up so quickly because of Light Shaking Phantom. As soon as he got wind of what was happening, he had immediately teleported over to handle the situation.

He did not, however, expect to find Night Demon and the others here, along with the King of Chaos that he had been searching for this entire time.

The first thing that this King of Chaos did when he saw Su Chen was to unleash a palm strike in his direction.

This palm strike was targeted about a hundred feet before Su Chen. Even though it didn't hit him directly, it was still strong enough to force out his Seven Bloodline Microcosm Aspect. The violent clash of energy sent shockwaves through the area.

Su Chen appeared quite calm, but his heart was pounding violently.

The Origin Energy that had washed over him was as vast as a sea.

Lin Zuiliu was an Ultimate Emperor Realm cultivator alright. The only reason Su Chen had been able to withstand this palm strike was because of the powerful Seven Bloodline Microcosm Aspect, but even more because Lin Zuiliu hadn't used his full strength.

Lin Zuiliu turned around slowly. “You are Su Chen?”

“Yes, that’s me.” Su Chen smiled slightly.

Lin Zuiliu chuckled. “You can actually take a palm strike with twenty percent of my strength? Not bad, not bad. Hm? This is……”

His jaw suddenly dropped as he saw the Seven Bloodline Microcosm Aspect around Su chen and said, “This is Windbite’s aura, along with Dream Beauty’s aesthetic? And…… Luo You’s power! You were able to combine the powers of the seven Desolate Beast Bloodlines!? No, wait a second. Those aren’t bloodlines!”

Lin Zuiliu’s mind raced as he leapt back and forth between the different possibilities.

Whoosh!

The Aspect faded.

Su Chen chuckled. “Your perception is truly impressive, King of Chaos. These are indeed not bloodlines, but they are borne out of bloodlines. I call them Aspects."

"Aspects? How are they different from bloodlines?" Lin Zuiliu asked immediately.

“The power of a bloodline comes from an outside source, while the power of an Aspect can be cultivated.”

“So Aspects can be obtained by cultivation? What does it have to do with a bloodline then?”

“They are an extension of bloodlines. The essence of the bloodline is captured, and then the bloodline is discarded.”

“So how do you capture the essence of the bloodline while discarding the bloodline?”

“That’s complicated. If you are interested in knowing, why not sit down with me and talk about it?” Su Chen said with a slight smile.

Lin Zuiliu tilted his head back and howled with laughter. “Haha, I have no objections. But I think that Commander Zhong might have some objections, won’t he?”

Lin Zuiliu had been exiled by Zhong Zhenjun all those years ago, so the kind of poor relationship they had was obvious.

If Lin Zuiliu was to join the group, Zhong Zhenjun would definitely not be happy about it.

Lin Zuiliu appeared to already understand the general situation of the fleet, which was why he was able to say something like that.

Unexpectedly, Su Chen smiled slightly and said, “As long as the King of Chaos is willing to join, Commander Zhong won’t have any problems with it.”

“Hm?” Lin Zuiliu stared at Su Chen in shock, only to find that Su Chen was confident and at ease, seemingly with no worries about having to do things by force.

So even Zhong Zhenjun was subjugated by him?

Lin Zuiliu almost immediately realized this point.