Chapter 298. South Sea Dragon Gate (1)

Palm trees swayed in the wind along the golden sandy beach.

With its tropical climate, Hainan Island enjoyed summer weather year-round. However, they had no time to leisurely bask in the warm breeze or take in the island’s beauty.

“Captain, what are we going to do?” Chu Lian asked, drawing her sword.

"Hmm."

They hadn't just come to Hainan Island for no reason. They had planned to ask the Hainan Sword Sect, which was counted as part of the Righteous Faction, for help.

“What do you think, Lady Tactician?” Zhou Xuchuan turned to Zhuge Xiuluan.

She hesitated for a moment before answering.

“I think we need to figure out what’s going on. We should help if they need it, since we could both help and learn about the situation in Hainan Island and the surrounding area."

"Sounds good."

Zhou Xuchuan nodded and issued his orders.

"We'll be conducting reconnaissance with only the minimum required manpower."

They still needed someone to guard the ship.

Since they didn’t know what they were walking into, leaving only the sailors behind wasn’t an option. Thus, he left the warriors of the Gold Will Merchants that he had brought over from the Central Plains behind.

Since there were about eighty of them, there didn't seem to be any need to worry.

“Let’s go.”

***

The white sand was stained red with blood. Corpses lay scattered within the lush green palm forest.

The refreshing island breeze carried with it the thick scent of death, piercing their nostrils.

"Ugh!"

Henggouhe Channel, Nandu River.

Screams and the clash of metal filled the air along the river that connected the South Sea to the beach.

Squawk.

Seagulls circled above, drawn to the heaps of bodies.

Below, warriors battled fiercely.

“Damn it!”

Tian Shuiguo, a middle-aged martial artist of the Hainan Sword Sect, cursed under his breath.

Short but sturdy, his eyes burned with hostility as he glared at the enemy before him—a young man with water-colored hair.

All of the opposing warriors bore the same striking feature.

"South Sea Dragon Gate!”

"While the title of South Sea's Second Sword doesn't seem to be a false title, this is as far as you go. Within the South Sea, especially with the water by my side, no one can beat me, Dragon's Claw Chi Wu.”

Tian Shuiguo’s beard trembled in frustration.

To think we fell into a trap...

The Hainan Sword Sect and the South Sea Dragon Gate were enemies, no, they were at war.[1]

Tian Shuiguo had prepared for an attack after hearing about the hideout of South Sea Dragon Gate just a short while ago.

While he had led the elites of the sect to attack, he quickly realized that the information had been leaked intentionally.

Now, two hundred Hainan Sword Sect elites had been cut down to a hundred, while the enemy’s forces remained strong.

“You humans have angered the sea with your greed and ignorance, disturbing the Dragon Palace. For that, we will punish you severely.”

“Ridiculous!” Tian Shuiguo spat in anger.

"You hid yourselves like some mysterious sect, and only now—after our sect and the Returning Deer Gate have been weakened by battle—do you come out to blatantly mock us!”

“So you still haven’t come to your senses. How shameless.”

Chi Wu’s coral eyes flashed with bloodlust.

“Punish these foolish mortals in the Dragon King’s name.”

“Administer the Dragon King's punishment!” The disciples of the South Sea Dragon Gate shouted.

“Chi Wu!”

Tian Shuiguo charged forward.

"The claw of the dragon will soon become your penance."

Chi Wu also flew forward and clashed with Tian Shuiguo.

“Heup!”

Tian Shuiguo was the first to attack.

The techniques of the Hainan Sword Sect were defined by the way they swung their swords, held in their left hands at an angle, flicking them like lightning.

This technique was often described as insidiously poisonous, as every swing left a scar. The swords moved in a slippery, unpredictable manner, unlike any conventional sword techniques. Since it never failed to leave an opponent with lasting injuries, calling it ‘poisonous’ wasn’t an exaggeration.

Moreover, because they practiced Left-Handed Sword Techniques, which weren't common in the murim, and wielded their blades in such an unorthodox manner, there was a time when they were shunned, and accused of going against the ideals of the Righteous Path. Their techniques were simply too different from the accepted martial arts of the time.

However, through their unwavering commitment to righteousness and dedication to chivalry, they eventually earned recognition, rising to become a prestigious sect of the Righteous Faction.

Shing!

A dark blue light burst from Tian Shuiguo’s hand as he unleashed the Hainan Sword Sect’s technique. Despite being a quicksword technique, its momentum carried immense force.

It was the first form of the Hainan Sword Sect's sword technique, the Thirty-six Sword Forms of the South Sea, Roaring Sea Collapses Mountains, which meant the great waves of the South Sea pulverized mountains in an instant.[2]

As expected of the sword of the South Sea Emperor.

Even Chi Wu, despite his crazy attitude, couldn't help but admire Tian Shuiguo's sword.

Its dazzling speed was far from ordinary, and the sheer power of the qi radiating from him was overwhelming.

However, Chi Wu wasn’t an easy opponent. After all, it was he who had pushed Tian Shuiguo to the edge.

Chi Wu’s eyes split vertically like those of a reptile. The moment they focused, time seemed to slow.

Tian Shuiguo's sword emitted a dark blue light. The moment the swordsman used the Thirty-six Sword Forms of the South Sea's First Form, his blade became completely coated in qi.

"Heup!"

Chi Wu's hands moved faster than his eyes. His instincts, sharper than any beast’s, responded to the incoming quicksword technique, and he swung his hand vertically.

Clang!

The moment sword met flesh, a strange metallic screech echoed. Sparks scattered in the air.

Tian Shuiguo gritted his teeth as his sword trembled from the impact. His gaze locked onto Chi Wu’s hand.

It didn’t look human. Instead, under the light, crimson-tinted scales covered his wrist. His fingers ended in sharp tips, resembling the claws of the dragons depicted in murals.

Southern Dragon Claw Arts!

At first glance, it might have seemed like a variation of the Shaolin Temple’s Dragon Claw Arts, but it was something entirely different. It was a martial art of a completely different system.

While the exact principle behind the art was unclear, those who practiced the Southern Dragon Claw Art and reached the completion stage, one's hands would gradually transform into those of a dragon.

It wasn't just resembling the shape, as scales would grow, too. What was even more amazing was that the changes would only appear when one infused their hands with qi.

“Tsk!”

Tian Shuiguo clicked his tongue and swung his sword. At first glance, it looked as though he was swinging it in all directions, but imbued within the blade was an increasing aura of ascension. The Thirty-six Forms of the South Sea, imbued with Tian Shuiguo's life's cultivation, pressed down on Chi Wu with relentless force.

"It's useless!"

Chi Wu’s eyes darted rapidly, tracking every attack. The red aura on his fingernails deflected and blocked the incoming sword aura.

The clash between the South Sea's Second Sword and the Dragon's Claw was suffocatingly intense.

Bang! Bang!

Every time the two auras collided, shockwaves rippled outward. Palm trees swayed violently, their trunks groaning.

Even the sturdy coconuts hanging from them couldn’t withstand the force. They plummeted to the ground, shattering into pieces.

The spilled coconut liquid mixed with the blood on the ground and gave off a bad smell.

However, this fierce battle didn’t last long.

Aura was a condensation of a large amount of qi. As it was the weapon of the Absolute, the amount it consumed was enormous. Even the greatest among Harmony Realm Masters would quickly lose stamina if they used it continuously.

Before even fifteen minutes had passed, the limits of their qi reserves began to show. The first to get tired was Tian Shuiguo.

"Cough!"

Blood spurted from his lips as he staggered backward.

Due to the lack of qi, his sword aura had faded mid-blow and he had been hit with the aftereffects of Chi Wu's claw aura, suffering an internal injury.

The South Sea's Second Sword's face was pale. Even at a glance, it was clear that his condition didn't look good.

"Eldest Brother!"

The disciples of the Hainan Sword Sect cried out in alarm.

This is a disaster.

While he had avoided a fatal injury, his qi reserves had been completely exhausted. He could no longer fight Harmony Realm masters like Chi Wu.

This was a mistake.

Tian Shuiguo blamed himself and regretted his decisions.

He had made a rash judgment, believing that he could end the war with the South Sea Dragon Gate.

He had been overconfident, thinking that since they were among the best of sects, that they could do everything. No, he had fallen into the pitfalls of arrogance.

There's no future for the Hainan Sword Sect if we get annihilated here.

They had to retreat. But if that were possible, Tian Shuiguo would have done it the moment he realized it was a trap.

"It looks like you're searching for a way out, but it's pointless," Chi Wu said, easily reading Tian Shuiguo’s thoughts.

"The entire area is already under the control of the South Sea Dragon Gate's most formidable formation, the Sandbank Pitfall Formation.[3] Forget your reinforcements, not even an ant would be able to come near us even if they grew wings."

The Sandbank Pitfall Formation was a nature formation art that the South Sea Dragon Gate was proud of. Although it was limited to being used on a sandy beach, it was incredibly powerful.

When the Sandbank Pitfall Formation was activated, the surrounding area transformed into a massive sand pit, much like an antlion’s trap. A single misstep meant falling in, never to resurface.

The more one struggled, the deeper they sank. This meant that struggling would only result in one's demise.

Even a master of movement techniques would fall into this trap, as the longer one moved, the more one would get sucked in. There was no way to survive.

This was why they had been unable to retreat. Already, dozens of Tian Shuiguo’s fellow sect members had died because they had initially handled the formation poorly.

“How could this..."

“Ugh!”

“Are we going to die like this?”

The faces of the Hainan Sword Sect’s disciples darkened.

Tian Shuiguo’s expression was no better. He cursed his own foolishness for leading them into this trap. Despair weighed heavily on him.

Chi Wu clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking loudly.

“Pay the price, you foolish...”

“Excuse me!”

At that moment, everyone stopped at the sound of a voice coming from outside.

Both the Hainan Sword Sect and the South Sea Dragon Gate turned, their faces frozen in disbelief. It was as if they had seen a ghost.

The eyes of hundreds of warriors were focused on one place.

“...?”

It was the sandy beach where the Hainan Sword Sect’s disciples had been devoured just a few moments ago.

The problem was that there was a man and a woman leisurely walking over to them as if they were on a simple stroll.

"What...?"

Tian Shuiguo thought for a moment that he was dreaming.

He wondered if he was hallucinating because of how deep his despair was.

It was an unbelievable sight.

Among the two figures strolling toward them, the woman stood out the most. Her beauty was so striking that Tian Shuiguo couldn’t help but wonder if she might have been an immortal fairy. His doubts and suspicions only grew.

“You over there! Judging from your left-handed sword techniques, you must be from the Hainan Sword Sect, correct?”

“Yes? Yes, yes that's... that’s right...” Tian Shuiguo answered as if possessed.

No one commented on his dazed reaction. They all felt the same.

Some even suspected it was another of the South Sea Dragon Gate’s nature formations, but Chi Wu's attitude suggested otherwise.

In the first place, there was no reason to do something this troublesome in a fight that was already won.

"Maybe they've come to..."

"Young Master Zhou. From this point, it's seven steps to the right."

"Oh, yes. You over there, please just wait for a moment!"

The young man listened to the immortal fairy and then asked Tian Shuiguo for understanding.

“...?”

Chi Wu couldn't understand the situation.

The Sandbank Pitfall Formation was one of the South Sea Dragon Gate's best nature formations. It wasn’t something that just anyone could break through.

However, a man and a woman had appeared and were walking across it as if they were taking a stroll.

The sight was so bizarre that Chi Wu couldn't make sense of it.

The man and woman crossed the Sandbank Pitfall Formation.

Then, the man spoke.

“Do you need any help?”

“Yes—yes, we do, but...”

Tian Shuiguo barely managed to respond.

The man nodded, then pointed his sword at Chi Wu.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Zhou Xuchuan, and this is our Tactician, Young Lady Zhuge Xiuluan. We'll be crushing you all from this point on.”

1. For reference, Hainan literally translates to Sea South (South of the Sea), and thus, the respective sects are opposites of each other (Hainan vs Nanhai). ☜

2. The more modern translation of the first form would be Tsunami Landslide. ☜

3. Technically, Sand Sea, but it's referring to the beach along the sea, but beach pit formation is weird. ☜