The old man who appeared on the pier first looked at Wu Long with hate as their youngest sibling was struggling to stand up, but was impeded by the flow of Spiritual Qi running along the chain and through his body. The other side of the chain was still tangled around the crescent blades of the halberd, as Wu Long held it with one hand and expressionlessly looked at the two.

“Eldest brother, third brother is…”

The one Wu Long dragged out of the water after, who was under the bridge before, said while gnashing his teeth in frustration. They were unable to see any way to save their youngest brother, so he hesitated.

“There’s not much we can do, he can’t be saved”

The oldest one looked at the struggling old man and coldly declared and the other one’s face was first contorted by shock, but he then gritted his teeth and looked at Wu Long with even more intense hate.

“You won’t have a good death, kid”

He said as he shot to the side at the same time with the oldest, who took out another chained scythe, and their scythes sent out Chained Scythe Qi out, projecting a net of cuts that was designed to not give Wu Long any space to dodge.

Wu Long span around in place and the struggling old man at the end of the chain flew right at the center of the net, blocking it. As Wu Long was finishing the movement to spin his body, the leg that moved landed on the bridge, sending a wave of Spiritual Qi around that broke the bridge while he used the impact to launch at the younger of the surviving siblings. The older sibling lost his footing so he scrambled to grab at the nearest pillar that supported the bridge while the younger one while doing the same was caught off guard by Wu Long’s halberd, losing his head. ｂ𝚍𝚘𝚟ｌ.ｎｔ

“Second brother!”

The old man on the pillar exclaimed as he was a step too late to come to the rescue. He then gnashed his teeth at Wu Long, his eyes filled with rage and hate.

“Damn you! Die!”

He then shot from his pillar straight at Wu Long, who now stood on the pillar the slain middle sibling was at before, but since there was still a chain scythe entangled around Wu Long’s halberd, he used it to stop the old man’s advance mid-air, making him a perfect shooting mark for his Halberd Qi as the old man’s face contorted with unwillingness and resentment in the last moments before he was crushed and torn apart.

Wu Long ran Halberd Qi through the chain to break it and collected the three spatial rings, after which he sped off to the port, disappearing from the views of the bewildered people who witnessed the fight both from the water where they jumped to and from the shore.

When Wu Long arrived, most of the attackers were already wiped out by the combined power of his beauties who pincered them with the pirates. Ye Ling dispatched the main forces that were supposed to deal with the Pirate Queen, and the rest were not that tough to deal with since they were local mercenaries, so under Wei Lan’s supervision Shen Min and Hua Ziyan scattered and pulverized them as well.

He smiled and praised his beautiful ladies. He was also happy to see that this time there was no shadow of a dejected expression on Luo Mingyu’s face, but a fire of eagerness in her eyes instead, meaning that she had completely and stably moved on from lamenting to preparing for her own time to shine.

The ship loaded the remaining spiritual stones and other supplies and sailed off in the direction of the Wood Spirit Continent.

In the evening,? Wu Long was passing by a room on the upper levels of one of the ship towers when he heard familiar voices.

“…I understand your reasons… I-I just need some time to think”

“Mei’er…!”

Cao Mei went out of the room, and without turning sped off into the direction Wu Long was going, not even noticing him behind her. He looked to the side where he saw Cao Xiang standing with her hand still raised as if she wanted to hold on to her daughter’s hand to stop her from leaving.

She was still looking at the door when she noticed Wu Long and put down her hand, clearing her throat.

“This is a little embarrassing, my apologies you had to witnes that”

“You don’t have to apologise since I was just passing by”

Wu Long shook his head, noticing a tiredness in the Pirate Queen’s eyes again. Cao Xiang wryly smiled, shaking her head and sighing. She approached a cabinet, and took out a large sealed porcelain bottle which looked quite old. Wu Long’s eyes flashed with interest as he saw quite high-level formations on the cork.

“Care to join me for a drink?”

Cao Xiang said unsealing the bottle.

“Hehe, I am afraid I mus… hm? Is that a Spiritual Wine?”

Wu Long first chuckled, intending to decline but upon hearing a nostalgic aroma of a high-quality Spiritual Wine, made a surprised expression and asked with a note of interest. Cao Xiang smiled, but was also surprised at his knowledge.

“It is indeed Spiritual Wine, I am surprised, as I was told not many know of it”

She said and Wu Long entered the room, which turned out to be the office of the Pirate Queen. The upper levels of this tower were mostly such rooms including Cao Xiang’s living quarters, so the guards were stationed at the lower levels, and not individually at every room of importance. Wu Long and his beauties were also given rooms not far as this tower had the best rooms on the ship.

“Then I will not be polite and take you up on this offer”

Wu Long said with a smile and sat opposite of the Pirate Queen as she sat at a small table near the window. The window looked in the same direction as the door, so when she opened it the open corridor and the sea on the other side were in clear view.

She took out two porcelain wine cups and poured the fragrant wine into them. They made a silent toast, and drank the wine. Wu Long savored the aroma and the slightly sweet taste of the wine, taking some time to enjoy the aftertaste as well.

Normal wine was not able to intoxicate cultivators, and the taste was also to a certain degree diluted, but Spiritual Wine was different. It was a wine made by cultivators using profound wine-making techniques, that incorporated use of Spiritual Qi and was made of ingredients utilized by cultivators. A good quality Spiritual Wine had to be made by someone with great proficiency and high achievements in the Wine Dao, was able to help one ponder on the Dao and was a very valuable commodity even in the Seven Boundless Worlds, so Wu Long was quite surprised to find it in the possession of Cao Xiang.

“Good wine”

He said as he emptied the cup and she smiled at him, nodding in agreement.

“I am surprised that you know of it, I was told that I would hardly find anyone who knows of Spiritual Wine”

“Heh, I was surprised you have it as well”

“Well, I have my ways”

“If you have a few more bottles or know where I can buy some I would buy them at a high price”

“I still have some left, and although I cannot tell you where, I do have ways to get more, so I will send some to you in the morning”

Cao Xiang said and Wu Long did not pry. They drank in silence for some time, savoring the taste. Gradually rosiness started to appear on her cheeks and her gaze became a little introspective as she looked at the moon hanging above the night sea.

“Haa~… have you ever felt like you are a failure?”

She suddenly asked, as if to no one in particular, but with a vivid tiredness and helplessness in her voice and the deep sigh she made.

“Many times”

Wu Long replied looking at the scenery as well, and she looked at him with surprised, widened eyes and then smiled.

“Hmph, no need to comfort me, how many failures in your life could you have”

She said with a slight self-deprecation at being comforted by a young man her daughter’s age.

“Many, some of them which would be considered far too many even with one”

Lights of numerous emotions flickered in his eyes that also reflected the moon he looked at. Cao Xiang looked at him, slightly dazed by this view.

“Heh, I guess you’ve seen the world a bit as well”

She shook her head and poured more wine for both of them. As they drank her posture gradually became more relaxed.

“I never thought I would be leader of a rebellion you know”

She said, as the weight of her responsibilities and failures all seemed to suddenly pressure her at once until she had to find an outlet. Wu Long silently listened as he became slightly intrigued as well.