Moqi Feng had been interrupted so many times that he had lost all his temper.
"So, I will give you a chance. If you can formulate a viable battle plan tailored to tonight's situation that is better than Moqi Song's tactics—and write a proposal titled 'How to Rapidly Expand and Prosper Following a Successful Seizure of the Island'—and hand it to me before tomorrow morning, and if I review it and deem it workable, I will let you all leave the island in one piece to make your own way in life."
An addiction to stumping people with difficult prompts was apparently not exclusive to Master Sun.
"Ah... what?" Moqi Feng froze, dumbfounded. Only after a long pause did he stammer, "A-are you serious?"
Make him write a plan?
He Lingchuan smiled. Did this kid even have the right to doubt him?
Moqi Feng collected himself. "Thank you, Island Master He."
Island Master He had just unleashed a relentless torrent of criticism, tearing him to shreds. He had assumed the man would surely make some inhumane demand. Yet here he was, asking him to write?
He understood battle plans well enough, but what in the world was a development proposal?
He Lingchuan sighed inwardly. Alas, if not for his dire need for a ready-made, battle-tested force, why would he show Moqi Feng such an amiable face?
When subduing the pirates of the Yangshan waters in the past, He Lingchuan had been decisively ruthless and swift as thunder. The Second Channel pirates had been hacked through by him and Qiu Hu, while the Third Channel pirates had suffered over thirty percent casualties on the spot.
To this day, whenever those former pirates looked at Island Master He, their eyes held both fear and respect, with fear coming first.
Yet He Lingchuan's approach to subduing the Bailong people was markedly gentler. After an entire battle, only a handful of Bailong were dead, a dozen or so wounded, and neither member of the instigating Moqi uncle-nephew pair had lost their lives.
Both groups had attacked Island Master He, so why the stark difference in treatment?
The difference lay in the fact that He Lingchuan's method for subduing pirates was "establishing authority";
Whereas winning over the Bailong people relied on "showing grace."
Having dealt with bandits frequently, he knew that whether water bandits or sea pirates, as long as they were not colluding with foreign enemies, they were bullies at heart who preyed on the weak and feared the strong—stragglers and loose bands with simple, lax organizational structures.
All He Lingchuan needed to do was make them cower before his might and submit.
On the other hand, the Bailong led by the Moqi uncle and nephew were battle-hardened warriors who had tasted blood on their blades. Establishing authority through slaughter would not break their spirits; instead, it would only ignite a thirst for vengeance.
Otherwise, they would have surrendered to the Ya Kingdom long ago.
To rein in a force like this, the key lay in winning over their leader—namely, Moqi Feng.
Different objectives demanded ever-shifting tactics.
Before long, braving the howling gale and torrential downpour, the group arrived at the southwest beach.
Several towering barrier reefs stood here, well suited for concealing boats.
This was the rendezvous point predetermined by the Moqi uncle and nephew. Had their seizure of the island failed, the Bailong were to rally their remaining forces near Ding Lake and then retreat here to board the vessels.
With Moqi Feng present, the Bailong guards hiding in the coastal sea caves were surprised, but they surrendered meekly without offering much resistance, allowing Min Tianxi and the others to escort them away.
He Lingchuan also verified Moqi Feng's claim: he indeed wielded extraordinary sway over these six hundred-odd people, so much so that the Bailong were willing to be bound and taken captive on his word alone.
Such loyalty and cohesion were in themselves a reflection of combat capability.
As for the boatmen hiding here, several had sharp eyes and recognized He Lingchuan as the man in charge. They immediately began begging: "We were tricked into coming here by Old Yu too!"
"Old Yu offered a high price to have us ferry people here. We didn't know anything! Have mercy, My Lord!"
Moqi Feng spoke up from the side: "Old Yu is the contact sent by Bailie. He was also the one who brought the Beijia people to Heiye Island to seek our cooperation."
Zhu Erniang's eyeball spiders had indeed monitored that scene, but He Lingchuan had been swamped with too many matters at the time to bother with such a minnow.
Hearing this, he asked the boatmen, "Do you know Old Yu's full name?"
Now that the rebellion had been quashed, it was time to settle the final balance. He was a petty man who insisted on reconciling every single account down to the last copper.
The boatmen, already bruised and battered from the guards' rough handling, replied truthfully, "His name is Yu Rong. He's from Baijiao Village and usually lives in Blade Harbor."
"Is that his real name?"
"Y-yes," one boatman replied. "He found us through a fellow villager from Baijiao Village."
"What is his specific address?"
"W-we don't know, but he loves to gamble."
"Gamble?" An idea stirred in He Lingchuan's mind. "Do you have any of his belongings or anything he has handled?"
The men racked their brains for a long while before shaking their heads. "N-no!"
He Lingchuan did not press them further. He ordered Min Tianxi to take both the Bailong men and the boatmen into custody and lock them in the warehouses near the Suoding Island wharf for later handling.
Fortunately, the recent expansion of Suoding Island had added over a dozen large warehouses; otherwise, they truly wouldn't have had room for so many captives!
"As for you," He Lingchuan said, looking at Moqi Feng, "squeeze in with Dong Rui for tonight."
These were extraordinary times, and endless matters awaited him tonight. He Lingchuan didn't have the bandwidth to oversee prisoners, so he separated Moqi Feng from the Bailong captives for now.
Dong Rui had no objections. He would just confine Moqi Feng within the snail-toad's shell world and keep an eye on him while he wrote his little composition—er, treatise.
It was an enclosed space, and without Dong Rui's permission, generally no one could get out.
With these matters settled, He Lingchuan headed once more toward the Hot Springs Retreat.
As he passed Ding Lake, the massive silhouettes of the spider demon sisters emerged from the woods.
Behind them followed hundreds of spiders of all sizes, thousands of legs skittering across the ground in a rustling chorus.
No matter how many times one witnessed this scene, it still sent chills crawling up one's scalp.
He Lingchuan hopped down from the carriage and stepped forward to greet them. "Congratulations on your triumphant return!"
His ability tonight to thoroughly humiliate Yu Zecheng and teach Moqi Feng a lesson had all been built upon the spider demon sisters and the raging ape defeating the Beijia team.
Otherwise, none of it would have been possible.
By now, the ghost ape had returned to Dong Rui's side, no longer serving as an attendant to the two spider queens.
The spider sisters also needed to hurry to the Suoding Island wharf to coordinate with He Lingchuan's next plan.
Tonight, every player had their assigned role; no one could slack off.
As soon as Zhu Daniang saw him, she said, "This is part of the spoils too."
With that, she spat out three sparkling objects shaped like large red dates, completely transparent and devoid of any impurities.
He Lingchuan caught them in his hands, looked at them, and couldn't help exclaiming, "Profound crystals this large?"
High-grade profound crystals were rare, let alone three of this size, and red to the point of turning purple!
"The Beijia people brought in a wooden demi-immortal named Perfected Lord Musu, whose true form is the Nine-Death Resurrection Grass."
A demi-immortal? He Lingchuan's expression shifted, but fortunately Zhu Daniang continued, "The Nine-Death Resurrection Grass's true self couldn't come, so only an avatar showed up, powered by these profound crystals."
She said smugly, "We split that hunk of wood wide open and gouged out the crystals."
He Lingchuan put on a look of concern. "Neither of you was hurt, were you?"
He had known the Beijia people possessed deep reserves; this was far beyond what a mere captain like Yu Zecheng could produce. To apprehend Zhu Erniang, National Preceptor Shuangye had truly upgraded his arsenal.
Zhu Erniang said, "Nothing serious."
Yet at that moment, a third colossal figure emerged from the trees—none other than the spider demon molt.
Seeing its petrified, wood-like body and the pale green nodules in its eye sockets, He Lingchuan felt a chill run down his spine. "The Woodification Art?"
"It seems to be a type of divine art that relentlessly wears away physical vitality," Zhu Daniang said smugly. "Fortunately, my tactics were sound: I used my sister's molt to bait out their opening attack."
Yes, this strategy for handling the Beijia team had been devised by her.
Her sister was competent at other things, but fell far short when it came to combat experience.
The Beijia troops had ambushed the Burrow Spider Queen, hoping to catch her off guard. Their opening offensive was bound to be the most ferocious, hurling their signature killer moves as if they cost nothing.
So, using the spider molt to draw their fire was the ideal choice.
He Lingchuan tapped on the molt and found that the bristles on its body felt much like wooden splinters, producing a duller thud rather than their former crisp sound. "Can this recover?"
"Yes," Zhu Erniang explained. "It's already much better than when it was first struck. It will clear up in an hour at most."
The molt was not worn by either sister and lacked vitality, so the Woodification Art took longer to wear off.
Zhu Erniang then produced three plants resembling withered chrysanthemums. "This was the wooden immortal's body, already ruined. We believe it is merely an avatar. Dong Rui wants to study it, so we'll leave it to him."
He Lingchuan naturally had no objection; his attention remained fixed on the profound crystals.
"The Beijia people truly are filthy rich to pull out treasures like this so casually. This clarity, this color... tsk tsk, magnificent."
Beijia was vast and bountiful, home to dozens of profound crystal veins, making it far easier for them to acquire profound crystals than ordinary nations.
In the current spiritual energy environment, only top-grade profound crystals could sustain the immense expenditure of a demi-immortal in battle.
After some thought, He Lingchuan stowed away two of the crystals and handed the last one to the spider sisters.
The battle had taken place on the eastern side of the island; He Lingchuan had not witnessed it firsthand, and had the spider sisters kept the crystals for themselves, he never would have known. That Zhu Daniang brought them out demonstrated her uprightness.
Zhu Daniang started to demur, but Zhu Erniang took it. "Consider it an advance payment for the burrow's yield."
Ultimately, tonight's plans and fighting on Suoding Island had all been for the sake of the two sisters. As the supreme commander, He Lingchuan held the right of first distribution over the spoils.
Zhu Erniang had no quarrel with his distribution, and the sisters also needed profound crystals for cultivation.
Besides, she had an agreement with He Lingchuan: the products from her burrow were not sold for silver, but converted into profound crystals for her.
This was truly a win-win for everyone. To ensure the wind-warding barrier under the Wind Lion Lord's rear could run properly and withstand the hurricane, He Lingchuan had expended quite a few profound crystals this time. Just as he was nursing his financial wounds, Beijia had sent him compensation.
There was even a surplus.
Yu Zecheng truly was a generous benefactor!
With such treasures, he could recharge massive formations that possessed immense power and equally massive energy consumption, or perhaps extend the operational time of the golden-armored bronze generals and divine generals... In short, their uses were boundless.
Zhu Daniang lowered her head. "Hop on. I'll give you a ride."
He Lingchuan jumped onto her brow, letting her carry him as they dashed toward Bailang Villa.
After this battle, he could distinctly sense that the spider demon sisters trusted him far more. Zhu Erniang in particular spoke to him with a tone and demeanor that was noticeably warmer, her favorability shooting up.
Chapter 1006