Chapter 253 – Another one for the count!
The reinforcements for the Northern Sect fortunately didn't contain any Elders. It was weird that something so important that it could affect the whole continent was so poorly handled.
One would think that there would be an Elder in each ship, but it was just Core Disciples learning to fly them.
The Southern Sect felt that something was strange, it felt so odd that they would not send more Elders...
"Did they perhaps believe that they were the only ones to know about this?" The Strategist was confused. Surely the Cultivators from the North were not that dumb, surely!
He prepared all kinds of strategies to outwit them, but to his disappointment, none of them were all that powerful and they were able to hold their ground.
"Reporting! Our reinforcements have arrived, they have stopped the ships outside of the restrictions of the influence." An Advanced Reconnaissance Unit reported to the strategist.
"We have won?" The Strategist was confused. Sure, there still was the west and east, but they would back away eventually, right?
Well, the east was known for being always late to the party, so it might be possible that the only one he would have to deal with would be that wilful Young Master.
That was not as bad, since he could appeal to him even before fighting, since, unlike the Northern Cultivators, he was at least willing to talk before fighting.
...
The days they spent in stalemate were crushed by the Southern reinforcements. Everything was handled well and those Foxes even joined in the later fights.
They would sneak around and assassinate important figures from the Northern Sect.
"It seems like our Elders made the right decision..." The Strategist smiled. They also found a bound and injured male Fox, so they released and treated him. They would return him to the Foxes once he recovered a bit more.
The Strategist smiled. Everything went according to his plan.
...
"Reporting! The Young Master from the West has arrived and he will soon reach the restriction zone!" An Advanced Reconnaissance Unit reported once again.
The Strategist smiled, once he crashed too, he would be more willing to listen and accommodate them. He stood up and walked outside to watch the Young Master's expensive ship crash into the ground.
Everyone watched with glee, another ship would soon be added to the count.
*CREAK**CRACK*
A familiar sound that brought joy to the unfortunate souls. They smiled with glee watching the ship descend.
...
The Young Master was approaching his location. He could already feel the powerful energy emanating from the storm.
"Heavenly Disaster?" The Young Master tilted his head, no Treasure would cause that and the chance that a Beast was being born was even less.
"Someone is Evolving?" The Young Master smiled devilishly. "Another Beast for my collection... that is, if it survives this catastrophe."
Unlike the Heavenly Blessing that measured your strength and gave out the 'Blessing' accordingly. The Heavenly Disaster was the complete opposite. It never measured your strength and always gave out the harshest of punishments.
The Beasts who were able to survive this kind of abuse would be either Holy Spirit Beasts or Demonic Spirit Beasts. Moreover, they had to be at least Middle Rank to survive with a low chance or High Rank to survive with a high chance.
The Heavenly Dao never favoured the Beasts. That was a known fact for everyone. It would always discriminately strike Beasts the harshest, while caressing Humans the gentlest.
The dragon race that was naturally better at surviving the disasters, which was why they were the most powerful Beast one could tame.
The Young Master's flying ship approached the mountain, yet he felt a strangeness in the air.
*CREAK**CRACK*
His ship gave out unfamiliar noises. This never happened before which confused him. He looked around his flying ship to find the cause, but he was unable to pinpoint the cause of this.
Looking down to the ground he could see Cultivators smiling at him. He felt that was odd, so he looked again.
The Young Master was shocked that they would smile at him with glee. He could not understand why, but he also noticed that for some reason the ground was getting closer?
The Young Master's eyes shrunk. He immediately stomped his feet and used his [Ascending to Heavens Footwork] to keep the ship afloat.
A cold sweat slid down his cheeks as he realised the insane consumption of his Technique. That also never happened before!
"Ai Long!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. He would not be able to keep this flying ship afloat with his current skills, but crashing was not an option!
A huge dragon appeared out of nowhere, coiling around his Young Master's flying ship.
"I can't believe you are using me as a ship holder..." The Dragon, Ai Long, sounded very dissatisfied with his Young Master.
The Dragon was incredibly long, easily wrapping around the ship. It had two pairs of feathered wings. Its head was that of a dragon with two dull, but long horns. Its body was like a snakes', long and scaly, but those scales shined with multiple colours. Its tail looked like Phoenix's tail.
It was a majestic Beast of the Ancient kind: a Fei Long.
His Master's father gave him the name Ai Long, since they liked cute things.
The Majestic Dragon was indignant. It was still young and wild, untameable by nature and unrivalled. Yet, he encountered a Cultivator that easily crushed his wings and cracked his scales. Ai Long could only bear this shame and serve them in fear of more retaliation.
He could only wait till the Humans aged and died before he could escape, or by some kind of miracle, he might escape thanks to his family. That is if they can find him...
Ai Long snorted. "Why can't you use a Spirit Stone to fly this disgusting wooden toy?" Ai Long was indignant. He didn't mind as much when the Young Master rode him, but he did mind when he had to take care of his Young Master's garbage!
"Ai." The Young Master was concerned.
"What is it, Young Master?" Ai Long glared at him.
"We are still going down!" The Young Master panicked.
"That is impossibl-" Ai Long snorted disdainfully, but before he could finish.
*BOOM*
His body alongside the ship crashed onto the ground.
...
The Cultivators from South and North both prayed for this arrogant Young Master to crash.
The Young Master’s flying ship approached the mountain and all of them smiled.
The two Foxes just pursed their lips and hid in the dark to watch the show as another ship crashed.
They could see the always arrogant Young Master panic and they smiled with glee once again.
Suddenly they heard a stomp. The flying ship stabilised and they felt a heart-wrenching pain. There is no way he can keep this ship afloat in this place, right?!
Soon the ship started to descend once again, but they heard a terrifying name.
"Ai Long!"
The shout made all of their faces twist. The only person on this continent with a Dragon and that Dragon's name was Ai Long...
The Dragon wrapped around the flying ship and it stabilised once again.
The Dragon was pouting and berating its master.
Yet a moment later, the flying ship started to descend!
Everyone was shocked speechless, their mouths flew wide open as they stared in disbelief that even a Dragon was unable to fly in this place!
*BOOM*
The Dragon was shocked and he immediately looked around in disbelief. How could he, the Majestic Dragon, crash like that?!
"You clutz!" The Young Master shouted at his pet.
"How is that my fault?!" Ai Long could not accept that he could not fly in this place.
"Now we are stranded thanks to you!" The Young Master glared at this stupid pet.
Ai Long snorted. "Hmpf." He didn't say anything and acted like a child, smiling happily that his Young Master was on the receiving end of bad news.
Suddenly, an outburst of laughter spread, which startled the Strategist. So far everything went according to plan, but this... he did not plan for this! This kind of thing would surely sour their relationship and make the negotiations more difficult!
He sweated as he tried to stop them from laughing, but the laughter was highly contagious. Soon everyone was laughing happily at this no longer arrogant Young Master's misfortune.
The Young Master glared at them. He had never suffered like this before, even when he caught all those Princesses from the Beast races!
He slammed his fist on the railing using his Qi. The ship creaked from the pressure, but didn't get destroyed. The shockwave spread to the surroundings, making everyone shiver in fear and they stopped laughing.
"Finished?" The arrogant Young Master glared at them. "Why won't you laugh again, hmmmm?" He kept glaring at them, while also giving them questioning faces.
The Cultivators looked down and some even started to fight between each other once again to get away from his stare.
The Young Master snorted disdainfully. He didn't expect this turn of events, but that did not mean he suffered as much as the other fools!
Ai Long protected his flying ship's underside with his own body since he was too stupid, but this helped the Young Master to keep his flying ship in an undamaged state.
Once the Heavenly Disaster was gone, he would be able to easily fly his flying ship again. Meanwhile, the other fools would not be able to fly their ships and had to either repair them or wait for reinforcements!
The Young Master smiled with glee. Oh, how the tables turned.
He walked down from his flying ship returning Ai Long to his Beast Plane Storage.
Ai Long pouted, but still went inside.
The Young Master walked towards the daring Cultivators and everyone immediately avoided him, except the Strategist.
"It's good to see you, Black Devil." The Strategist offered his greeting with cupped hands.
The Young Master raised his eyebrow, which was hidden under his mask.
He was tall at 185 cm. His body looked slim, but none dared to underestimate him. His body oozed the vigour of a leader. He had long black hair, darker than the darkest night. It was tied with what looked like a golden hairpin. His eyes were light blue, which were gentle, yet piercing at the same time. His mask had a devilish shape and colours. It was mostly black with red tears and other decorations, thus everyone called him Black Devil.
"It's been a long time, Cowardly Strategist." The Young Master didn't reciprocate that greeting, as he was still upset at them laughing at him.
He would definitely get back at them later!
"Shall we have tea and discuss things?" The Strategist bowed with a somewhat ugly expression. Those fools ruined everything and he had to patch everything up!
