The sun blazed down on the docks of Hanhai City, the sea breeze salty and damp.
Twenty piers, each hundreds of meters long, stretched out into the azure sea, a magnificent sight.
Hundreds of ships of varying sizes were moored on the docks, from simple fishing boats to massive ocean-going cargo ships.
The cacophony of voices, shouts, and the crashing waves mingled together, the air thick with the distinctive odors of fish, salt, and cargo.
This was the lifeblood of Hanhai City;the ocean held boundless resources and wealth!
Besides the merchant ships coming and going, loading and unloading, the open areas of the docks were teeming with all sorts of itinerant vendors.
One of them, with a particularly loud voice, shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to attract the attention of passing sailors and passengers:
"Top-quality fresh sea spirit beast meat! Nourishing soul power! Strengthening the body!
Come and see our accurate compass! It will prevent you from getting lost at sea!
Exclusive nautical charts! Covering thousands of miles of sea! Hand-drawn sea spirit beast encyclopedia! Recording the habits of thirty-seven common sea spirit beasts! An essential for sea spirit masters!"
The hawking was incessant, full of vitality, and business opportunities were surging.
Two people came to buy the charts.
"Hey buddy, how much is this encyclopedia?"
"Two gold soul coins a copy."
"Damn, is the cover made of gold or the ink?"
The vendor, instead of being angry, laughed: "Look at this, who has an encyclopedia as detailed as mine? Every sea spirit beast in it was personally investigated and sketched by me on the spot! You think it's too expensive? I think it's too expensive too!"
The young man nodded: "Then give me one."
"Okay!" The vendor rummaged in his bag, took out a new one, dusted it off, and asked, "How about this one?"
"Huh? Are you sure this illustration is genuine?"
The vendor seemed amused and retorted: "This is my line of work, would I sell you a fake illustration?"
"I'm asking you, are you sure this illustration is genuine?"
Upon hearing this, the vendor jolted, frowning at the boy: "Are you deliberately trying to cause trouble? Do you want it or not?"
The boy smiled: "If your guide is real, I definitely want it, but what if it's not?"
"If it's not real, I'll go with you to that soul beast's lair, are you satisfied now?"
Dongfang Jing unfolded the newly acquired sea chart and sea soul beast guide.
You have to admit, it's quite detailed!
He knew very little about the ocean, so he hadn't yet decided what kind of sea soul beast to hunt.
This guide was truly a great help.
The boy then unfolded the sea chart drawn on parchment, his gaze pausing slightly.
"What's wrong, brother?" Dongfang Yao beside him asked, looking up.
"Look," he leaned down to show the sea chart to his sister, "there are two large islands west of Hanhai City. One is Pearl Island, and the other is called Sea God Island."
Sea God?
Dongfang Jing remembered the "Tang God King" mentioned by his roommate in his previous life.
'God King. Sea God. Could it be that gods truly exist in this world?'
"Let's go," he said, gathering the scrolls. "We'll rent a boat."
Having a local guide was better than them blindly wandering around.
But no sooner had Dongfang Jing finished speaking than a commotion erupted nearby.
At the Hanhai City docks,the port, which had been bustling with activity and brimming with business opportunities just moments before,
was now engulfed in utter panic and chaos!
"Run!"
"Pirates are here! It's the Sea Demon!"
Screams, cries, and the sounds of tables and chairs crashing and overturning suddenly erupted.
Merchants and tourists who had been selecting goods dropped their items and stalls, desperately rushing towards the dock exit.
The scene instantly spiraled out of control, goods scattered everywhere, trampled by countless panicked footsteps.
Several passersby running towards Dongfang Jing and his sister, seeing that they were just two children standing there in a daze,felt a pang of kindness and shouted urgently as they ran, "Children! Don't stand there! Run! It's pirates!"
Before their words were even finished, they had already been pushed away by the panicked crowd.
Dongfang Jing's gaze narrowed slightly.
He sensed that most of these frantically fleeing people were ordinary people without any fluctuations in soul power.
He looked up towards the dock,and sure enough, a medium-sized pirate ship covered in iron-gray armor had already docked.
Dozens of scantily clad, muscular, and fierce-looking pirates skillfully jumped off the ship.
With a clear division of labor, they efficiently and quickly moved the various goods that the merchants hadn't had time to take.
A middle-aged man who looked to be in his thirties or forties, wearing a sailor's hat and a curved sword at his waist, was clearly the captain.
He stood on the ship's railing, watching his men loot, and let out a wild laugh: "Hahaha! Brothers, hurry up! It'll take some time for those city defense soldiers to arrive. Take as much as you can! It's all money!"
His gaze swept across the dock, and he quickly spotted Dongfang Jing and Dongfang Yao, who stood quietly in place, out of place with the fleeing crowd.
"Hmm? Two little kids?" A hint of doubt flashed in Captain Haider's eyes.
It was quickly replaced by greed and cruelty.
He casually pointed to one of his men: "You, go! Grab those two brats! They're tender and soft; they can be used as laborers or sold to slave traders for a lot of soul coins!"
"Alright, boss!" The pirate grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, and charged over with a savage smile, sword in hand.
However, just as he rushed towards the siblings,before he could even extend his arm
—*whoosh!*
A cold, crystalline light flashed through the air!
The pirate's sinister smile froze instantly, his charge halted abruptly.
The next moment, his head slid off his neck without warning, scalding blood gushing into the air, the headless corpse swaying before crashing heavily to the ground.
Dongfang Yao's face paled, feeling her stomach churning.
This time, Dongfang Jing didn't cover his sister's eyes;to become a Soul Master, bloodshed was unavoidable.
Haider, who was about to admire his subordinate's "harvest," froze on his face,then transformed into boundless rage!
"A Soul Master?! You little bastard! You dare kill my people!"
Haider instantly flew into a rage, three yellow Soul Rings rising beneath his feet, drawing his scimitar to personally charge forward!
But just then, a deep, resonant horn sounded from the sea.
Another, larger pirate ship, its sails adorned with an eerie purple pearl pattern, slowly approached with an oppressive air, forcefully docking!
The crew of the Sea Demon, who were unloading cargo below, looked up and were instantly terrified, their voices trembling: "It's the Purple Pearl Pirates!"
"What?!" Haider's forward momentum halted abruptly.
He glared fiercely at Dongfang Jing, as if trying to etch his image into his memory. But clearly, there was a bigger problem at hand.
Without hesitation, he roared at his men: "Stop unloading! Come back! Quickly! Set sail! We're retreating!"
On the deck of the Purple Pearl, a tall woman with short, neat purple hair stood there with her arms crossed, exuding a heroic air. She watched Haider flee in panic, a disdainful sneer curling her lips.
Her clear voice, brimming with domineering arrogance, echoed across the dock: "Haider! You're nothing but a cowardly coward who only knows how to bully civilians! If you don't want to die a gruesome death, you'd better leave the Sea Demon to me!"
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(End of Chapter)