Chapter 432: Chapter 199: A Young Hero, Holding His Own
THUD! CRUNCH!
A massive hole was torn into a boat from the Shuiyu Gang’s shipyard. The Turkic merchant vessel was large and tall, and the point of impact had been modified, fitted with an iron rod. Not only could it punch a huge hole in an ordinary merchant ship, but it could also capsize it.
With a gaping hole in its hull, water flooded the cabin. The already listing vessel quickly flipped over onto the water’s surface.
SPLASH!
"It’s the Turkic people."
Countless people from the merchant ship fell into the water.
"My brother is still in the cabin!"
"Those bastards."
"Where are the men from the Shuiyu Gang?"
The merchants were wailing in despair. Some couldn’t swim and thrashed about in the water; a few were rescued, but others sank beneath the waves.
"HAHAHA!"
"GURGLE GURGLE!"
The giant Turkic merchant vessel sailed triumphantly downstream, its crew letting out victorious cries.
Chu Lingguang’s cultivation had just reached a critical moment when the tremendous crash violently interrupted him. Qu Qingcheng had told him that the Turkic Merchants were arrogant and domineering on the Canal, but he never expected them to ram and capsize a Shuiyu Gang boat in broad daylight.
He steered his small fishing boat to pull several non-swimming merchants from the water, and other passing boats also rushed to help.
In the end, there were no casualties, but the merchants had lost a ship and a full cargo. The value of it all would require compensation in silver taels. Some of the goods floating on the surface could still be salvaged, but everything that sank with the ship into the Canal was a total loss.
"Sir, the Turkic people blatantly rammed your boat. Is there really nothing you can do? Is reporting it to the Government Office useless?"
Chu Lingguang asked.
"Useless? It’s fucking useless!"
The man spat fiercely, his voice filled with righteous indignation. "Reporting them just gets them brought in for questioning. They’ll just insist it was an accident, that they accidentally rammed our cargo ship, and they’ll get away with paying us a pittance in silver taels.
A buddy of mine has been doing business on this Canal for over a decade. He ran into them not long ago, and they capsized his boat. He took everyone to the Government Office to handle it, but—ha!—those people have special privileges. They insisted their ship had lost control. Not only did they pay him next to nothing in silver taels, but they even tried to turn the tables and accuse my buddy of intentionally ramming them to extort money.
My friend, his entire family... everything they had saved up over ten-plus years was wiped out overnight."
"Now even the Shuiyu Gang can’t deal with the Turkic people. If we want to survive on these waters, I’m afraid we’ll all have to buy Turkic boats from now on,"
one merchant lamented.
"My third uncle made a point of asking. The Turkic boats cost three times as much as the Shuiyu Gang’s. And they aren’t even made by the Turkic people! The Turkic lands are surrounded by mountains—where would they even have a shipyard? They’re just colluding with some powerful figures in South City, passing off our own boats as if they were made by them."
"I’ve been a merchant for many years, but when it comes to treachery, I can’t even hold a candle to them,"
a drenched old man sighed.
"We all paid the Shuiyu Gang. We bought the boat from their shipyard. Now the Turkic people have capsized it, the Government Office won’t give us justice, and we won’t get much compensation. So let’s go demand justice from the Shuiyu Gang! If this keeps up, they can forget about having any of their boats sailing on this Canal."
"Let’s go!"
"We can’t deal with the Turkic people, but you think we’re afraid of the Shuiyu Gang?"
"I want them to compensate me for my cargo!"
"My silver taels and silver notes all fell into the river!"
...
Filled with righteous indignation, the crowd eventually turned their anger toward the Shuiyu Gang.
Chu Lingguang silently watched them go. ’They’re the weaker party. The Government Office won’t stand up for them or make the Turkic people pay reasonable compensation, so their only recourse is to confront the Shuiyu Gang. After all, the Turkic people were mainly targeting the Shuiyu Gang when they rammed the boat. Not only did these merchants buy their boat from the gang, but they also paid them protection fees for safe passage. Who else would they go to?’
Chu Lingguang rowed the oars, and his small fishing boat once again moved to the middle of the Canal, heading upstream against the current.
By now, his control over Potential Power had progressed to the point where he no longer needed his Spear Technique or a Long Spear. With a gentle wave of his hand, he could sense a power like scattered lotus leaf fragments surging toward his body, integrating perfectly with his Zhenyuan Technique.
Within his Dantian, his Qi Sea roared. A black hole materialized once more, drawing the Wind and Wave Power toward Chu Lingguang. It entered his body, where it was absorbed and refined by the vortex.
Through his senses, he could feel his Qi Sea expanding. At this rate, Chu Lingguang’s power might successfully break through to the Qi Sea Perfection realm within the next day or two.
The encounter on the Canal had filled Chu Lingguang with a deep loathing for the Turkic people. Furthermore, Qu Qingcheng had sought him out under Mo Shan’s guidance. Chu Lingguang wanted to help, but he couldn’t implicate Guo Wei. He could only rely on his own strength to push things along from behind the scenes.
That evening, after eating with Guo Wei and the others, Chu Lingguang sat on the roof, attempting to use his Sea of Consciousness Power to control the Wind and Wave Power around him.
Chu Lingguang could now merge the Wind and Wave Power with his own body, but he still couldn’t control it with his thoughts alone. Moreover, the force he could project from this merged power paled in comparison to the Potential Power he could summon while performing his Spear Technique.
WHOOSH!
Guo Wei was practicing with his spear in the Central Courtyard. His use of Potential Energy had several forms; he could draw upon the Canal Power, and even in the courtyard, he could tap into the Wind and Wave Power.
In his perception, countless lotus leaf fragments surged with the movements of Guo Wei’s Spear Technique.
Chu Lingguang noticed that the lotus leaf fragments near him were being irresistibly drawn toward Guo Wei’s spear practice.
’Anyone who masters Potential Power obtains it from a point of Unity of Heaven and Man. Master’s Canal Power was also grasped from a point of Unity of Man and Gun. Through cultivation, one gradually lets go of the Long Spear and the Spear Technique, allowing the body and even the mind to resonate with heaven and earth. That is how one can obtain even more Potential Power.’
