Chapter 137: The Alliance of the Four Villages

The Lord of Min City was immediately embarrassed. He thought to himself that this fellow Hong was certainly no easy man to deal with.

He quickly gave a hearty laugh. “It is not easy for any of us to come to the Aolai Archipelago and establish a new Immortal Village. We ought to support one another and share what we have. The Ye family alone occupies six spirit islands—more than twice as many as any of us. Given enough time, they will surely become a grave threat. Brother Hong, surely you have an opinion on this?”

Lord Hong lifted his teacup and took a sip before replying unhurriedly, “Of course I have my views. The Aolai Sea is closest to Qingyun Immortal City, so those City Lords from Qingyun have taken considerable advantage. Red Sand Immortal City is far too distant and arrived a step too late. It is rather regrettable. I have been busy building my village lately and have had no time to concern myself with anything else.”

Lord Min was deeply dissatisfied with such an irrelevant answer.

Still, he could see that Lord Hong had no intention of joining forces with him. Otherwise, he would not have brushed him off so perfunctorily.

Lord Min wisely stopped bringing up the matter.

The two chatted idly for a while. Finding the conversation dull, Lord Min soon took his leave. Only after boarding his own sea vessel did he spit into the water and curse, “Spineless fool! The Snow Eagle was wounded by Ye Mo’s spirit eagle, yet he can remain completely unmoved.”

“City Lord, why did you not join forces with Lord Min to avenge the Snow Eagle’s injury?” one of Lord Hong’s trusted cultivators asked in a low voice.

“What are you in such a hurry for? Did you not see that Lord Min is looking everywhere for people to deal with the Ye family? Even if I refuse, he will find someone else. Why should I rush to make a move?”

Lord Hong shook his head and sneered. “We will finish building our Immortal Village first and wait patiently while they fight among themselves. The struggle in this part of the Aolai Sea cannot be decided in a month or two. Once they have exhausted themselves, it will not be too late for us to act. Only an Immortal Village that endures to the very end will have any hope of rising into an Immortal Town.”

He had once been enraged by the Snow Eagle’s injury as well, but he had calmed down long ago. Building the Hong family’s Immortal Village was the matter of greatest importance.

The Min family’s Immortal Village had already been completed and was operating smoothly. Lord Min had many subordinates, as well as an old steward skilled in managing Immortal Villages, so he had plenty of free time.

Min Cong visited more than a dozen newly established City Lords in the surrounding area. Although most of them rejected his invitation, he still managed to find several who were eager to deal with the Ye family’s Immortal Village.

Besides Lord Gong, he found two more City Lords who coveted the resources of the Ye family’s Immortal Village.

The four families discussed how to seize the spirit islands belonging to the Ye family’s Immortal Village. To that end, each of their villages dispatched cultivator spies to monitor the Ye family’s spirit islands and its six subsidiary islands, searching for an opportunity to strike.

The only thing that displeased the other three families about this temporary alliance was that Lord Min, who was responsible for maintaining contact, had once signed an agreement with the Ye family and could not attack or become enemies with them.

This point earned him considerable resentment from the other three City Lords.

Nevertheless, the three City Lords remained full of confidence in their ability to defeat the Ye family’s Immortal Village. If the three families joined forces, each contributing roughly half their strength and dispatching three or four sea vessels, they would possess an overwhelming advantage over the Ye family.

One day, Ye Mo and Chang Fei arrived at a shipyard in the harbor to inspect Mo Yun’s progress in constructing a light-armored warship.

The shortage of sea vessels had already become Ye Mo’s greatest concern.

The shipyard lay some distance from the Immortal Village. Compared with the heavily defended Ye family’s Immortal Village, the shipyard at this coastal harbor was poorly protected.

To ensure the safety of the shipyard, a spirit-wood wall had been built around it. If sea demons attacked, the site would be abandoned temporarily so that all efforts could be devoted to defending the valley village.

In the early stages, this was the only strategy available.

Only after the Ye family’s Immortal Village expanded and had sufficient manpower would the shipyard be incorporated into the village’s overall defensive system and receive more thorough protection.

More than thirty shipwrights, arranged by Mo Yun, were working on different parts of the warship.

Each shipwright was responsible for producing components of a different shape—the keel, deck, rudder, anchor, masts, or sails. Some concentrated on polishing the finished pieces and smoothing away their sharp edges.

Mo Yun held the warship’s blueprints and oversaw the entire project.

Li Zhao and Hao Yan, the two shipbuilding apprentices, were responsible for assembly.

Inside the shipyard, the framework of a light-armored warship several dozen yards long had already taken shape.

The central hull, rudder, and transmission mechanism had all been installed.

When Ye Mo arrived, several high-level martial artists were following a cultivator’s instructions as they mounted the masts and hung the sails.

This was a light-armored sea vessel with four masts. Its several sails would allow it to reach the limits of its performance.

“City Lord Ye, this light-armored warship will be ready for its sea trial in three days,” Mo Yun said from the side. “Once a bronze cannon is installed, the ship will be complete. Wang Hu will deliver the cannon in two days. As for training the crew and sailors, that will have to be arranged by you, City Lord.”

Ye Mo and Chang Fei boarded the vessel together.

Chang Fei carefully inspected every part of the hull before nodding to Ye Mo. He was clearly very satisfied with the ship. He did not know how to build vessels, but he knew how to use them and naturally understood their strengths and weaknesses.

Even in the eyes of Chang Fei, an old captain, the ship’s performance was astonishing.

His former pirate vessel had been built at enormous expense by shipwrights from the Donglai Kingdom on the Nine Provinces Continent. Although it had also been made with exceptionally durable ironwood, it was ultimately inferior in strength to second- and third-grade spirit wood.

Seeing how pleased Chang Fei was, Ye Mo felt relieved and left the shipyard.

“Chang Fei, how do you intend to arrange the captain of this new ship?” Ye Mo asked.

Most of the sailors in the Ye family’s village were veteran crewmen trained by Chang Fei, with more than a decade of sailing experience in the Eastern Sea. No one knew better than Chang Fei how to assign the manpower.

Once the new ship was launched, it would require a captain and a crew of ten to twenty men. Even the smallest sailing vessel needed dozens of people to operate it.

This was especially true of a warship known for its speed. When there was no wind to drive it forward, the sailors had to propel it by rowing stroke after stroke.

Ye Mo had once read about high-flying sailing vessels powered by spirit stones. But for a small Immortal Village with limited strength, such vessels were beyond imagination.

“The captain has already been chosen,” Chang Fei said. His dark face showed both delight and worry. “He is an old companion who has followed me for many years and possesses abundant experience. Sailing between our several islands, across a range of several hundred miles, should not be a problem for him. After he gains more experience, he should even be capable of long-distance voyages.”

“However, the number of warships in our Ye family’s Immortal Village is growing quickly. We are seriously short of veteran sailors and urgently need to recruit a new batch. For now, the old crewmen can only take the newcomers along and make do while traveling between our islands. The farthest destination is just over a hundred miles away, which is barely sufficient. We should begin recruiting sailors as soon as possible and train them. Experienced sailors generally already have fixed ships and will not change employers lightly. Our newly established Immortal Village does not hold much attraction for them. I have already asked people to make inquiries, but it is truly difficult to recruit enough men.”

“Train them within the village first,” Ye Mo replied. “Transfer some martial artists to serve as sailors, and use Essence-Gathering Pills to attract martial artists from Qingyun Immortal City to settle in our village.”

Ye Mo had no better solution.

Ordinary cultivators and martial artists were generally reluctant to come upon hearing that a place was a newly established Immortal Village. The risks were too great. Following an unreliable City Lord could be even more dangerous than encountering sea demons.

Just as he had done when recruiting shipbuilders, Ye Mo planned to have Lu Tong help him find people.

At that moment, the earth-slave guard Ashui arrived with an important report.

“You may go and attend to it,” Ye Mo said to Chang Fei.

“Yes, City Lord.”

Chang Fei looked surprised but did not ask any questions. After pausing briefly, he returned to the pirate ship and began arranging the transport of supplies and provisions between the islands.

The Ye family’s main island and its six surrounding subsidiary islands had to be visited in rotation every two days.

“You mean cultivator spies from other Immortal Villages are watching our village and each of our subsidiary islands?” Ye Mo asked gravely after returning to the City Lord’s residence.

“Yes, Master.” Ashui knelt halfway to the ground and nodded. “Over the past few days, the five of us guards have patrolled the main island and the subsidiary islands on golden eagles. We have discovered at least four or five spies observing activity in various places. However, we still do not know their intentions or objectives. I did not dare alert them and drive them away, so I came to ask for your decision.”

“Where on the main island did you find a spy?”

“Near the harbor. A Qi Refining cultivator skilled in water techniques is concealed there. He can use water-element concealment spells. He is probably monitoring the movements of our sea vessels.”

“Very well.”

Ye Mo waved for Ashui to withdraw.

After thinking for a while, he summoned the Fire Crow.

With a sharp cry, the little Fire Crow shot swiftly into the distance.

Before long, a fiery-red shadow descended from the sky and landed on Ye Mo’s shoulder, flapping its wings and cawing loudly.

Strictly speaking, the little Fire Crow was also one of the artifact spirits within Ye Mo’s ancient painted scroll.

Its intelligence, loyalty, and abilities far surpassed those of the several spirit birds, including the golden eagles.

Although it still could not speak like the little Azure Fox and the Earth Phoenix, it could understand Ye Mo’s intentions.

Inside the bedroom, Ye Mo called out the little Azure Fox and asked it to interpret the Fire Crow’s meaning.

As he listened to the report, his expression grew increasingly grim.

The Fire Crow had searched the entire area around the harbor. Sure enough, it found a water-element Qi Refining cultivator hidden among the dense sea grass, watching the movements of the Ye family’s Immortal Village.

Water-element invisibility was useless against the Fire Crow, which naturally possessed the ability to see through concealment with its fiery eyes. It was equally ineffective against the golden eagles, whose golden eyes could pierce illusions.

“Master, what are they trying to do?” the little Azure Fox asked in surprise.

“They are probably looking for an opportunity to strike at the Ye family’s Immortal Village. But they are being very cautious. They are monitoring both the main island and all the subsidiary islands at the same time. It seems they do not intend to seize just one or two islands. They want to wipe out all six of our subsidiary islands in a single operation.”

Ye Mo stroked its little head and spoke calmly.

“Master, let us kill all these spies—or capture them and interrogate them to find out who sent them!” Ali said excitedly, her eyes shining as she waved her little paws.

“Heh, there is no need for interrogation. Apart from the several Immortal Villages nearby, no one else would be interested in our Ye family’s village. This time, I will have a proper contest with them.”

Late that night, three golden eagles flew out under cover of darkness, avoiding the spies who were keeping watch.

They flew to the various islands and quietly transported the main cultivators stationed there, including Gao Jian, back to the Ye family’s Immortal Village without anyone noticing.

There was no need to bring back the ordinary martial artists.

The following day, Ye Mo took the five slave guards and traveled by a small boat to one of the six subsidiary islands—the Sea Demon Reef.

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