Scarface never anticipated this kind of move, and now he was utterly stunned.
“You despicable!”
Scarface, caught up in his battle with Long Xuan, glared at him with a murderous look, nearly exploding with rage.
The five hundred men remaining here were the last of the Black Dragon Pirates’ forces. If they all perished here, the Black Dragon Pirate Crew would be all but destroyed. How would he explain himself to the captain if he returned?
He watched with bloodshot eyes as members of the Black Dragon Pirates fell one after another, their heads severed, accompanied by relentless screams behind him.
“Die!”
Scarface’s killing intent surged as he intensified his attacks on Long Xuan.
If he could kill him and seize the Heart of the Ocean, it would be worth any number of deaths.
“Well, aren’t you the one who likes using numbers to bully the few? Sorry, I like that too. Enjoy yourself here—I won’t be staying around.”
Seeing that quite a few Gu cultivators were rushing in to besiege Scarface, Long Xuan retreated with a smile, leaving this clearly formidable opponent for the others. He wasn’t about to take the risk himself.
Seeing him shamelessly retreat, Scarface froze, nearly spitting blood in anger. He was about to pursue when he was intercepted by the incoming Gu cultivators.
“Sorry, but I have a use for your head,” Luo Hongchen laughed, swinging his sword at Scarface’s neck, aiming to decapitate him to exchange it for a Sea Converging Pill.
He needed the Sea Converging Pill too. Originally planning to stand by and watch the commotion, he couldn’t stay idle any longer; the bounties on these pirates’ heads were too tempting. He feared that if he delayed even a second, all the heads would be taken.
“You’re asking for death!”
“You want death? Fine, I’ll grant it to you all! Die!”
Scarface, enraged and desperate, completely lost his rationality. No longer bothering to hide his trump cards, he unleashed all five of his strange Gu.
These strange Gu were comparable to Spiritual Sea-level Gu cultivators and far beyond the capacity of any Marrow Cleansing-level Gu cultivator to resist.
Despite his fallen cultivation level, his Gu beasts had not fallen. With five strange Gu unleashed, they could crush any Marrow Cleansing-level Gu cultivator, and no ordinary Marrow Cleansing-level Gu cultivator could hope to counter them.
This was the confidence Black Dragon had in sending him; no Marrow Cleansing-level Gu cultivator stood a chance against a fallen Spiritual Sea-level Gu cultivator. It was supposed to be a foolproof plan, but he could never have expected such an upset.
Man proposes, but heaven disposes. He would never have dreamed that someone in this world would study the Big Cauldron Alchemy Technique and produce large amounts of Sea Converging Pills, making it easy to hire Gu cultivators across the entire island.
This is the power of a powerful alchemist; provoke one, and it’s like stirring up a hornet’s nest.
When the five strange Gu burst forth, everyone on the field was stunned. The strange Gu charged into the crowd, killing swathes of Gu cultivators, leaving bodies and blood in their wake.
Luo Hongchen tilted his head slightly to avoid a sneak attack from one of the strange Gu. He touched the scratch on his face, his expression changing dramatically as he exclaimed, “This is a fallen Spiritual Sea-level Gu cultivator! The Black Dragon Pirate Crew intends to play dirty!”
With the strange Gu unleashed, two other fallen Spiritual Sea-level Gu cultivators from the Black Dragon Pirate Crew glanced at each other, nodded, and finally revealed their own trump cards, unleashing all their strange Gu as well.
Quickly, chaos engulfed two more battlefields, with large numbers of Marrow Cleansing-level Gu cultivators falling dead in pools of blood under the assault of the strange Gu.
Seeing this, Long Xuan’s face twitched repeatedly.
He finally understood what kind of scheme the Black Dragon Pirate Crew had in store for him: they had hidden three fallen Spiritual Sea-level Gu cultivators among the crowd—truly a sinister plot.
Luckily, he had been skillful enough to call upon a group of disposable allies to fight those people, leaving the outside fighters to absorb the damage.
He’d also been cautious enough to retreat from his fight with Scarface in time; otherwise, he wasn’t sure if his own Gu could have withstood the strange Gu.
If they had unleashed those strange Gu against him and his crew, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
He felt a wave of lingering fear, patting his chest to calm his racing heart.
He shouted loudly to the crowd, “The Black Dragon Pirate Group has broken the rules, sending three fallen Spiritual Sea-stage Gu cultivators to kill Marrow Cleansing-level Gu cultivators here in the ruins.”
“We can’t let them enter Sky Island’s ruins! Defending justice is everyone’s duty. Whoever brings me the head of one Spiritual Sea-stage pirate. I will reward with thirty Sea Converging Pills!”
The crowd erupted at his words, everyone’s eyes red with greed.
Thirty Sea Converging Pills would be enough to push even a pig into the Spiritual Sea-stage.
Taking the head of any one of these three would guarantee them a breakthrough to the Spiritual Sea-stage.
Even those who had been standing by now joined the fray.
These three were merely fallen Spiritual Sea-stage Gu cultivators, not true Spiritual Sea-stage ones, their strength far inferior to actual Spiritual Sea-stage.
The Gu cultivators surged forward as one; taking down these three pseudo-Spiritual Sea-stage was no problem at all.
Even if they were real Spiritual Sea-stage Gu cultivators at their peak, they would have no chance against this many Marrow Cleansing-stage Gu cultivators attacking en masse.
No matter how powerful their strange Gu were, could they defeat a hundred spiritual Gu at once?
The three men couldn’t intimidate the Gu cultivators, already drunk with greed.
At this moment, even those who usually held back because of their status couldn’t sit still any longer and eagerly joined the fray.
The three people who were fighting had only dropped to the Spiritual Sea stage; they weren’t true Spiritual Sea-grade Gu cultivators. Compared to genuine Spiritual Sea cultivators, their strength was much weaker.
All the Gu cultivators charged together, so taking down these three fake Spiritual Sea-stage Gu cultivators posed no problem at all.
It wouldn’t matter if they were genuine Spiritual Sea-stage cultivators or not. Even if they hadn’t dropped in level and were truly at the peak of the Spiritual Sea stage, they couldn’t withstand an onslaught of so many Marrow Cleansing-stage Gu cultivators.
No matter how strong their rare Gu were, could they fight off a hundred Spirit Gu at once? Thus, these three could hardly intimidate the Gu cultivators who were now overcome by greed.
It was easy enough to encircle these three with sheer numbers.
Leng Yan quickly sent a soul transmission to Long Xuan, saying, “Hey! Are you crazy? How can you make such reckless bounties? Where are you going to get that many Sea Converging Pills?”
“How many wives does your master really have, anyway?”
“If all the Black Dragon Pirates are killed, you’ll need to provide a thousand Sea Converging Pills!”
Leng Yan suddenly looked at the Integrity Gu resting on Long Xuan’s shoulder. Seeing that the Integrity Gu was cheerfully watching the chaotic battle without any response, her scalp tingled.
If the Integrity Gu didn’t react, it meant that Long Xuan’s bounty was genuine. But where was he going to get so many Sea Converging Pills? Does his masters really have a hundred wives?
Long Xuan transmitted back, “Relax, I have plenty of masters’ wives and an abundance of senior brothers and sisters who can easily refine over a thousand Sea Converging Pills.”
“And I don’t need to hand out so many pills immediately. I specified that they’ll be paid within a year, and most of these people will die in the ruins anyway, so it becomes a void promise.”
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“I’m betting that very few will survive the Sky Island ruins, so I won’t have much work to do. I’m practically using this trick to make a fortune with nothing at risk, haha!”
“With minimal effort, I just obliterated the Black Dragon Pirates. What do you think, impressive?”
Hearing Long Xuan’s eerie laugh, Leng Yan stared at him blankly. For some reason, she began to doubt the Integrity Gu itself. Could it really be trusted? Was Long Xuan truly trustworthy? She wasn’t sure anymore.
By this time, the battle had already shifted. Gu cultivators who controlled Gu beasts beyond their own level were risking backlash from the Gu beasts themselves.
Even these Gu cultivators, who had dropped in level, weren’t exempt.
Due to their level drop, the Gu beasts of these three people could backfire against their hosts anytime, depending on whether the Gu beasts were willing to turn on their masters.
At that moment, all three faced backlash.
As they could no longer hold out against the assault from the entire island, a dead end awaited them.
Their Gu beasts weren’t stupid; they didn’t want to die with them and so turned on their masters, forcefully breaking their blood contracts before escaping.
Not only did their external Gu flee, but even their internal Gu broke out of their bodies to escape.
The consequences of losing all their Gu were predictable. The three spat out blood, no longer able to withstand the Marrow Cleansing-stage Gu cultivators' assault, and soon had their heads cut off, their bodies hacked to pieces.
Their storage pouches, which belonged to Spiritual Sea-stage Gu cultivators, were frantically looted.
And there was an even bigger frenzy over their heads, causing more deaths among Marrow Cleansing-stage Gu cultivators than the three had managed to kill.
One head even exploded in the scuffle, making Long Xuan laugh uncontrollably.
The battle didn’t last long. The 500-plus pirates were instantly overwhelmed by the frenzied crowd and quickly killed to the last man.
The deceased pirates all had their heads cut off by the crazed crowd and eagerly brought to Long Xuan for their reward.
Bear in mind, Long Xuan had only made empty promises. All Sea Converging Pills were to be paid within a year, and how many would survive the ruins was not his concern.
Long Xuan cheerfully exchanged contact talismans with them; with the Integrity Gu in place, everyone believed he would keep his word.
Long Xuan had no intention of reneging. Anyone who managed to survive the ruins would indeed receive the Sea Converging Pills.
He could only refine a few King-Breaking Pills for Spiritual Sea-stage Gu cultivators, but he could produce Sea Converging Pills for Marrow Cleansing-stage Gu cultivators in large batches.
The big cauldron alchemy technique worked perfectly for Sea Converging Pills.
Last time in Starsea City, he and his clones easily produced hundreds of Sea Converging Pills.
Even if everyone survived the ruins this time, refining a thousand Sea Converging Pills would only take a few months, so he had no reason to renege.
The ship’s crew was still in disbelief. Five hundred pirates had been wiped out with a wave of the captain’s hand?
They didn’t even need to lift a finger, as their captain had won the fight bloodlessly, which they could hardly believe.
Just a moment ago, they had been prepared for a desperate fight, but the captain had resolved the crisis so effortlessly they were still in shock.
As the crowd gradually dispersed, Long Xuan exchanged contact talismans with roughly five hundred Gu cultivators and returned to his fishing.
This time, no one dared provoke him. Who would dare challenge someone who would, without hesitation, put a bounty on their head with vast amounts of Sea Converging Pills? Everyone was afraid of him.
After all, if he died, then who would give the bounty claimants their Sea Converging Pills? He now became the one they all wanted to protect, as attacking him would be like poking a hornet’s nest.
Since he was the closest to those on the Golden Treasure Ship, the majority of those who managed to claim pirate heads came from there, including the distinguished geniuses Cai Shao and Luo Hongchen.
These two had impressive backgrounds and definitely didn’t want Long Xuan dead.
So the people on Golden Treasure were indeed safe for him.
This made Long Xuan immediately decide that he must stay close to them for the upcoming Sky Island ruins expedition.
They were like his talisman; if something happened to him, they certainly wouldn’t stand idly by.
With only a hundred crew members, he was still vastly outnumbered. He needed a powerful ally.
And the Cai Clan's Golden Treasure faction fit perfectly.