When Sanhuang followed behind Cao Zhengchun into the room and saw Qin Yuesheng, he immediately smiled and bowed, saying, "Master."

"Is there some trouble at the Twelve Linked Rings that brought you here?" Qin Yuesheng asked.

Sanhuang originally intended to report his progress in practicing swordsmanship, but quickly changed his tone: "Yes, yes, something’s happened, there’s trouble at the Twelve Linked Rings. I heard from Uncle Zhao and Uncle Guo that a lot of the authorities’ ships have surrounded Twelve Linked Rings, and they’re saying if we don’t surrender, they’re going to start bombarding us."

"The authorities have made a move against Twelve Linked Rings?" Qin Yuesheng’s first thought was Liu Xian. Liu Xian controlled Yangzhou Prefecture, closest to the East Sea, and his navy was the strongest. There was no way that Cao Mengda and Wu Bao could cross Jiangnan so quickly to launch an attack from afar on Twelve Linked Rings.

"Liu Xian really is impatient, Jiangnan isn’t even pacified yet and he’s already going after sea forces." Qin Yuesheng said.

Now that Twelve Linked Rings was his turf, there was no way Qin Yuesheng would just watch as Liu Xian took it for himself.

"There’s no time to waste, we’re heading straight for the Twelve Linked Rings." Qin Yuesheng rose and, taking Sanhuang with him, headed toward his residence.

With the Celestial Demon Evil Blade and Snake Empress’s blessing in hand, Qin Yuesheng felt no fear of Liu Xian’s army—on the contrary, Liu Xian’s army would become Qin Yuesheng’s weapon for killing enemies. When the tables turned and they started slaughtering each other, it would be quite a spectacle.

With Celestial Demon Evil Blade, Dragon-Slaying Sword, Black Dragon Sword strapped to his back and donning his arm guards that hadn’t seen action in ages, Qin Yuesheng grabbed Sanhuang and leapt straight into the sky.

The situation was urgent; who knew if the fighting had already started at Twelve Linked Rings. Qin Yuesheng, pressed for time to get to the scene, didn’t even bother boarding a boat, planning instead to use Carefree Heavenly Travel Skill combined with Shrinking the Earth to swiftly cross the distance.

The moment they reached altitude, Qin Yuesheng unleashed Shrinking the Earth, and in a blink, the two were already a thousand feet away. Witnessing Qin Yuesheng’s godlike skills, Sanhuang was rooted to the spot in awe. He knew Qin Yuesheng was formidable, but never imagined he was this formidable.

The legends spoke of Ancestor Damo crossing a river on a reed, but now Qin Yuesheng would go over the East Sea, taking the sky as his path.

In just a few moves, the two of them vanished on the distant horizon.

...

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Iron balls the size of human heads crashed against the towering walls of Twelve Linked Rings, bursting the masonry across wide patches, wedging themselves deep, looking from afar like sesame seeds trapped in cubed tofu.

All these cannons wielded by Liu Xian’s army had been originally allocated by the imperial court, but when Liu Xian rebelled, the Gunpowder Bureau’s cannons became his siege weapons.

The possibility that the authorities might one day attack had long been anticipated by the masters of Twelve Linked Rings; that’s why years ago they’d ordered the walls built taller and thicker—so thick that even cannonballs couldn’t breach them. Only someone like Qin Yuesheng, with unreasonable destructive power, could shatter a stretch of wall with a few charged strikes.

"Damn it—Liu Xian, that old traitor, if he wants to rebel fine, but why’s he bringing trouble to us? Has he conquered all Jiangnan already?" Du Xiaoqing said, standing atop the wall, peering down at the sea teeming with ships below.

This attack on Twelve Linked Rings must have mobilized every ship Liu Xian could command.

Since Qin Yuesheng’s departure, Du Xiaoqing had taken charge of everything at Twelve Linked Rings. Zhao Quan and Guo Jiuqu, Qin Yuesheng’s earliest followers, were relegated to near-powerless nobodies upon arrival, hardly higher in status than the average water bandit.

After all, among water bandits, power determined rank. With no strength like Du Xiaoqing’s, Guo and Zhao were nothing compared to a whole crew of Twelve Linked Rings raiders.

"Master, we’ve got no cannons. Should we counterattack now?" one of Du Xiaoqing’s personal guards asked.

"Even with Liu Xian’s strength, out on the sea it’s all just for show. If a real fight breaks out, it’s up to us lifelong riders of the waves." said a bald, burly man standing nearby, copper rings hanging from his earlobes.

This man was bare-chested with defined muscles, clad in shorts, a snake tattoo obvious over his chest.

His name was Jin Haishi, one of the masters who’d surrendered along with Du Xiaoqing to Qin Yuesheng last time.

He took a deep interest in drilling his men; that’s why his water bandits were always top in naval battle among the Twelve Linked Rings crews.

"Old Jin, how about you take the lead? Show us what you can do." Du Xiaoqing grinned.

"No problem. I’ll bring back a few heads from those government dogs to liven up the mood." Jin Haishi immediately headed down from the wall to muster his men.

Qin Yuesheng could leave Twelve Linked Rings so fearlessly only because he’d planted the Life-and-Death Cold Ice Talisman on every water bandit leader; for the sake of survival, none would dare betray him.

"Heh heh, sir, this so-called Twelve Linked Rings is nothing but a bunch of rabble. The court only let them survive on the East Sea out of laziness; that’s how they grew to this scale. Now that you’ve led troops to attack by order, this place is as good as fallen already."

At the heart of the fleet, aboard a ship clearly larger than those surrounding it, a middle-aged man resembling a rat hunches behind a young man, laughing obsequiously.

"Don’t get cocky." The youth, though pleased with the man’s flattery, answered in a meticulous tone.

"Of course, sir."

This time, though Liu Xian hadn’t come in person, he’d sent his third son Liu Ming to oversee the campaign, hoping he’d earn military merits and build prestige among the troops.

Staring at the looming walls of Twelve Linked Rings, Liu Ming thought to himself, "These wretches are something else, to have carved out such an impressive base at sea. If we take it, we can build a maritime city for the Liu family—a foundation for power, and even if father never conquers the realm, we’ll have an escape route for the clan."

The twenty cannons Liu Ming brought fired ceaselessly at Twelve Linked Rings’ walls, just waiting for the moment a wall collapsed so he could order a full-scale assault.

No one noticed that from the island’s edge, ripples suddenly spread out, stealthily moving toward the Liu Army’s ships.

Though Jin Haishi’s men weren’t particularly strong, their swimming skills were unmatched. Their favorite tactic was to dive with short knives, sneak up under enemy ships, and carve holes in the hull, dooming them to a slow sinking death.

Out at sea, anyone without swimming skill who fell in would surely drown.

Yet, anticipating such sabotage, Liu Ming had prepared in advance: every ship’s underside had been armored with numerous thorny iron spikes to stymie water bandit tricks.

Faced with this, Jin Haishi’s men showed no surprise, switching tactics at once. Each produced a lump of black-mud-like substance from their shirts, smeared it over the iron spikes, and hacked at them with short knives—soon the spikes shed easily, exposing the wooden hull beneath.

Without hesitation, the water bandits began their work of destruction.

...

"We’re leaking! We’re leaking!"

Suddenly, shouts broke out from several ships—officials rushed to bail out water from the hull and called for rescue to surrounding ships from deck.

Hearing the commotion, Liu Ming immediately turned his head.

"Strange—I ordered plenty of iron spikes installed beneath the hulls. How did they manage this?"

There’s an old saying: for every move, there’s a counter. If Liu Ming could devise defenses, then the water bandits could devise ways to break them.

Liu Ming turned to the middle-aged man on his right: "Brother Zeng, have our best men deal with those water rats in the sea. They can’t threaten us, but their annoying harassment I can’t abide."

"Yes, young master." The middle-aged man nodded and went off to mobilize the troops.

Soon after, a group of men wrapped in Yellow Turban headbands emerged from below deck, lined up on the rail, and began to launch palm strikes at the water.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Waves several yards high exploded into brilliance, the force immense and unmistakable.

Soon, dead bodies began surfacing in the water—Jin Haishi’s men.

Clearing one area, these men quickly flashed their Lightweight Skill, leaping across other decks and unleashing further attacks on the surrounding waters.

In moments, a swathe of water bandits, caught off guard, were brutally killed on the open sea.

Watching their onslaught, Liu Ming grinned: "The Yellow Turban Immortal Sect is truly formidable—their random experts have such power. With their covert support, father will surely unify Jiangnan without a hitch."

Onshore, seeing only a handful of his men ever return, Jin Haishi’s face was ashen to behold.

Though not the strongest fighters, these water bandits had been painstakingly trained by him, elites in aquatic warfare—losing one meant a huge drain on his efforts.

"Master, these officials have many Inner Strength experts among them. Their palm force passed straight through the water and shattered our brothers." said one bandit, his hand smashed but miraculously alive.

"I understand. Retreat and rest for now." Jin Haishi nodded grimly.

If they couldn’t cripple the government’s ships before the battle, Twelve Linked Rings wouldn’t last long in an all-out fight—the only option would be to abandon the stronghold and escape with their lives.

"Where did Liu Xian get so many Inner Strength experts?" Jin Haishi couldn’t help but feel a sense of powerlessness.

After Qin Yuesheng’s massacre last time, the Twelve Linked Rings barely had any masters left; the overall strength had fallen drastically. If the enemy landed, all those Inner Strength experts rushing in at once, they’d have no way to fight back.

"We’re really screwed this time." Jin Haishi hurried into Twelve Linked Rings to report the situation to Du Xiaoqing.