Reincarnated as a Ginkgo Tree: I Create an Eternal Divine Kingdom - Chapter 149

“The one steering the Dragon Bone Divine Boat this time is Elder Luo Jiannan of the Divine Machine Pavilion,” Su Yao informed.

“Elder Luo Jiannan of the Divine Machine Pavilion?” Su Mu replied with a calm tone. “I remember this person. He had attacked the Misty Army during the Nanzhao Kingdom battle, and he was involved in the recent attack on the Ancient Wilderness Mountains. The one who almost killed the Ironback Ape was also the Divine Machine Pavilion’s master.”

“Indeed,” Su Yao affirmed. “Within the Divine Machine Pavilion, Luo Jiannan is a close confidant of the pavilion master, Zhu Huang.”

“Excellent,” Su Mu concluded, his decision firm.

Nanzhao Bay.

A massive fleet approached the edge of Nanzhao Bay.

The fleet consisted of nineteen enormous ships.

Eighteen of them were each 1,280 feet long and 360 feet wide, carrying two thousand cultivators each.

The central ship was even larger, 3,000 feet long and 880 feet wide, carrying five thousand cultivators.

This fleet, composed of 41,000 naval soldiers, demonstrated how seriously the Great Xia Empire was taking the situation. The cause for this large-scale deployment was the unusual changes occurring in Nanzhao Bay.

Nanzhao Bay was a crucial maritime route for Great Xia’s merchant fleets, connecting them to other nations. Recently, however, all Great Xia merchant fleets passing through Nanzhao Bay had mysteriously disappeared.

This threat to Great Xia’s maritime interests demanded immediate action.

“Furthermore,” Luo Jiannan continued, standing on the deck of the central giant ship, “if we land from Nanzhao Bay, we can launch a surprise attack on the Sect of the Other Shore. Behind the Sect of the Other Shore lies the Misty Forbidden Zone. Destroying the Sect of the Other Shore is tantamount to weakening the Misty Forbidden Zone.”

Currently, the Sect of the Other Shore had split into two factions.

The faction led by the Holy Maiden Ruan Huian was now called the “Sect of the Divine Shore.”

The original faction retained the name “Sect of the Holy Shore.”

Behind Luo Jiannan, the cultivators of the Dragon Bone Navy were filled with battle intent.

They had heard of the Misty Forbidden Zone’s reputation. However, the Dragon Bone Navy had never faced a worthy opponent on the sea since its inception. Moreover, no matter how powerful the Misty Forbidden Zone might be, its influence did not extend to the sea.

They felt no fear.

“My lord, Nanzhao Bay lies ahead.”

“But why is there such a dense fog over the bay?”

“This is strange. I’ve sailed these waters many times, and there has never been a fog like this before.”

Some naval soldiers voiced their observations.

“With the world’s spiritual revival, anything unusual is no longer surprising,” Luo Jiannan replied. “Our Dragon Bone Navy has faced everything the sea could throw at us. What is there to fear?”

“My lord,” a young officer behind Luo Jiannan interjected. “This fog looks remarkably similar to the fog from the Misty Forbidden Zone.”

The young officer’s name was Wang Cheng, Luo Jiannan’s aide. He had been following Luo Jiannan closely, participating in both the Nanzhao Kingdom and Ancient Wilderness Mountains campaigns.

Luo Jiannan glanced ahead and responded calmly, “Indeed, it does resemble it, but the Misty Forbidden Zone is over 1,300 miles from here. How could its fog reach this far?”

“Hahaha.”

The surrounding officers laughed.

“Wang Cheng, you’re still scared of the Misty Forbidden Zone!”

Another aide joked.

Wang Cheng scratched his head, realizing he might have been overthinking.

The fleet continued forward.

The white fog grew thicker.

Wang Cheng, who had relaxed earlier, started feeling uneasy again.

Crash!

Suddenly, massive waves rose in front of them.

“Sea monsters!”

The Dragon Bone Navy’s soldiers, experienced in such matters, quickly noticed large black sharks hidden behind the waves.

In the ocean, black sharks were considered top predators. However, the soldiers of the Dragon Bone Navy were not afraid. On the contrary, they seemed excited.

“Let the hunt begin,” Luo Jiannan ordered with a cold smile.

The soldiers of the Dragon Bone Navy moved swiftly, starting their hunt for the black sharks.

Black iron nets and iron chain arrows were common tools for capturing sea monsters. Before long, several black sharks had been pierced by the iron chain arrows, dragged close to the ships, and finally captured by the black iron nets.

After hunting a few black sharks, the naval soldiers burst into loud laughter. Capturing such apex predators so easily made them believe nothing in the sea could stop them.

“Something’s wrong,” Wang Cheng muttered, feeling tense. “These black sharks are fleeing.”

“Fleeing?”

“This is the black sharks’ territory. Who could possibly be chasing them?”

The other soldiers scoffed.

“Quiet!” Luo Jiannan suddenly shouted, sensing the unusual situation.

Then, more black sharks appeared from the distance.

There were over a hundred of them, swimming at extraordinary speed and appearing somewhat frantic.

This strange occurrence immediately heightened the tension within the Dragon Bone Navy.

About thirty breaths later.

The naval soldiers saw countless flying fish and shrimp crabs following the black sharks.

The shrimp crabs were not particularly notable, but when they saw the flying fish, Luo Jiannan and Wang Cheng’s pupils contracted.

“This…”

Wang Cheng’s face turned pale.

Flying fish?

Weren’t these creatures from the Misty Forbidden Zone?

And this was only the beginning.

Behind the flying fish and shrimp crabs, numerous sea ships appeared.

These ships could not compare to those of the Dragon Bone Navy.

They all belonged to Nanzhao Kingdom.

Naturally, Nanzhao Kingdom’s navy was no match for the Great Xia Empire’s.

But for Luo Jiannan and Wang Cheng, what mattered most were the figures on those ships.

Giant apes, giant bears, snow minks…

The silhouettes of the Misty Forbidden Zone’s commanders stood on each ship.

“The Misty Army? How is this possible!” Luo Jiannan nearly lost his voice.

“What?”

“How could the Misty Army be here?”

The other naval soldiers were equally shocked.

Although they had never directly confronted the Misty Army, they knew Luo Jiannan wouldn’t lie.

“What’s there to fear?”

“The Misty Army is formidable on land, but this sea is our territory.”

The soldiers of the Dragon Bone Navy shouted, brimming with confidence.

Hearing this, Luo Jiannan calmed his racing heart.

Yes.

If this were on land and they encountered the Misty Army, he would have immediately retreated without hesitation.

But they were on the sea.

Most of the Misty Army’s beasts were terrestrial creatures whose power would be greatly diminished on water.

On the other hand, he led Great Xia’s most formidable naval force.

They even had the Dragon Bone Divine Boat.

Even against the Misty Army, he believed he had a good chance of victory.

If he could defeat the Misty Army here, his prestige in Great Xia would soar. Luo Jiannan’s eyes burned with fervor.

Since ancient times, crisis and opportunity have always coexisted.

The unexpected appearance of the Misty Army was indeed a crisis, but it was also an unforeseen opportunity.

“Charge!” Luo Jiannan commanded decisively, leading the nineteen ships toward the Misty Army.

Each ship had been equipped with a killing formation.

The formation on the Dragon Bone Divine Boat was the ancient Dragon God Formation.

The formations on the other Dragon Bone Navy ships were modeled after the “Flood Dragon Formation.”

Instantly, the formations on the Dragon Bone Navy ships activated.

Fiery flood dragons formed and charged at the Misty Army.

The Misty Army’s ships also had formations, but they were nothing compared to those on the Dragon Bone Navy’s ships.

Within half a cup of tea’s time, the Misty Army’s ships were already battered and broken.

“Hahaha, the Misty Army isn’t that great after all,” one of the Dragon Bone Navy generals laughed disdainfully.

This was met with a chorus of laughter.

But then, a sound came from ahead.

The naval soldiers of the Dragon Bone Navy saw a branch appear in the sky.

“Impossible!” Luo Jiannan’s face turned pale at the sight of the branch.

Wang Cheng’s face drained of all color.

How could it be?

How could that creature be here?

This was over 1,600 miles from the core area of the Misty Forbidden Zone.

Wang Cheng found it incomprehensible.

The other Dragon Bone Navy soldiers had not yet grasped the gravity of the situation.

“A branch?”

“Lord Luo, Deputy Commander Wang, what’s wrong?”

Some were confused, others unconcerned.

“That seems to be a ginkgo branch,” one naval officer observed.

“A ginkgo branch? Could it be…”

The realization finally dawned on the onlookers.

The ruler of the Misty Forbidden Zone was rumored to be an ancient ginkgo tree.

Then, the ginkgo branch hovered above the Dragon Bone Divine Boat.

“So what if it’s the Misty Ruler!” Luo Jiannan’s fear turned into rage.

He stared fiercely at the ginkgo branch above. “Activate the Dragon God Formation to its fullest! Monster tree, today I will break your branch!”

Buzz!

A blinding light erupted from the Dragon Bone Divine Boat.

The light coalesced into a massive five-clawed red dragon.

The dragon was ten thousand feet long, its flames so intense that they turned the clouds red.

It charged fiercely at the approaching ginkgo branch.

“The aura of this red dragon is not just at the fifth-tier; it’s likely at the fifth-tier upper grade,” the Misty commanders thought, feeling a chill.

No wonder the Great Xia’s Dragon Bone Divine Boat was so feared. The power it unleashed was truly terrifying.

Thankfully, the Divine Tree Lord had intervened.

Otherwise, they would have certainly lost today.

The red dragon soared through the air. The sea within a hundred miles began to boil. Countless fish could not withstand the heat and were scalded to death.

This showed just how fearsome the red dragon was.

Yet, the ginkgo branch in the sky remained undeterred.

Crack!

It whipped down.

Rip!

The ginkgo branch struck the red dragon’s back.

The red dragon’s back cracked open, and sparks flew.

That was the first strike.

Then came the second.

The red dragon’s body trembled, its flames fluctuating wildly.

Finally, the third strike!

A faint, mournful dragon’s roar echoed in the sky.

The red dragon’s body completely shattered, turning into countless flames that scattered in all directions.

Boom!

The flaming barrier that had enveloped the Dragon Bone Divine Boat also shattered as the red dragon’s body disintegrated.

The Great Xia soldiers aboard the Dragon Bone Divine Boat were all terrified beyond belief.

Moments later, the ginkgo branch descended onto the deck of the Dragon Bone Divine Boat.

Staring at the branch, the soldiers on the Dragon Bone Divine Boat could barely breathe.

Elder Luo Jiannan of the Divine Machine Pavilion began to tremble uncontrollably.

“Luo Jiannan of the Great Xia Empire, greets the Ruler of the Mist…”

Cold sweat poured from Luo Jiannan’s forehead as he struggled to control his fear, bowing toward the branch.

The ginkgo branch, however, seemed like the hand of a deity, devoid of human emotions.

It neither sensed fear nor showed any reaction.

It cared not for human humility, nor did it boast of its victory.

Puff!

Before Luo Jiannan could finish speaking, the ginkgo branch suddenly thrust forward.

Luo Jiannan’s body was instantly pierced.

The ginkgo branch withdrew from Luo Jiannan’s body, blood dripping from its tip, then swiftly extended.

In a matter of moments, it had wrapped around the entire Dragon Bone Divine Boat.

The Dragon Bone Divine Boat was lifted by the ginkgo branch.

The soldiers aboard the Great Xia Navy’s divine ship fell into the sea one after another.

All they could do was watch helplessly as the Dragon Bone Divine Boat was carried away by the ginkgo branch, disappearing completely from their sight.