fairy family

Chapter 243 Leading an Army Alone, Avici Demon Pearl

The Rakshasa Whale ship did not fly directly over Zhenjun Island. When it was about a hundred miles away, it flew to the sea surface and approached by skimming the surface.

Unlike Huangshan Immortal City, Zhenjun Island was the most important gathering place for the Tai Sui Dynasty's troops at sea.

Apart from authorized ships, any other ships that dare to fly directly over Zhenjun Island will be considered as an enemy attack, triggering the island's restrictions and causing a major battle.

As early as when the dynasty established this island, this kind of thing had caused no less than three hundred accidents, large and small.

As the nation's authority in overseas affairs has grown stronger, over the past sixty years, apart from a few petty villains who don't even know what Zhenjun Island is, no major power has deliberately provoked this matter.

On the high seas, surging waves crashed incessantly against the sides of the Rakshasa Whale ship. Even though the ship was ten feet above the sea, spray still reached the people standing at the bow.

Yu Que and Gong Dongxue had already come out of the cabin early on.

The two of them were invited out by the Rakshasa princess, who said that they would be staying on True Lord Island later and would need the two of them to help out.

Yu Que was on his first voyage and unaware of these details, but he chose to give the woman face. Gong Dongxue understood the Rakshasa Princess's meaning and nodded in agreement.

Soon, in everyone's sight, a large bulge suddenly rose up on the sea about three or four miles ahead.

Then the seawater splashed, a white expanse, and a huge Fujian ship emerged from the bottom of the waves.

It emitted creaking sounds that Yu Que and the others could hear clearly. Then, like a seesaw, the bow of the ship slammed heavily into the sea, creating an even bigger wave.

Boom boom boom!
Before the commotion had subsided, a thunderous drumbeat echoed from the Fujian ship, its sound as powerful as thunder and awe-inspiring.

There were soldiers on the ship; they seemed to be training troops.

Upon spotting the Rakshasa whale ship, and seeing that it bore no command flags or any markings, the opposing side immediately shouted:

"Who goes there? Quickly state your name and background!"

Princess Rakshasa did not rush to reply, but instead looked at Gong Dongxue who was standing to the side.

Gong Dongxue nodded slightly, and immediately took flight. Her true energy swirled around her, forming a huge Daoist talisman above the whale ship.

This woman cried out from afar:

"I am a disciple of the Xuantu Temple of the Huangshan Taoist Palace. I have come overseas on a mission at the behest of my master."

This ship belongs to the Rakshasa clan; I am merely borrowing it for a short while.

Upon hearing this, a powerful divine sense immediately crossed the sea and rushed towards them.

The other party's divine sense swept across the whale ship briefly, without examining it closely, before letting out a hearty laugh:

"So you are a disciple of the Huangshan Taoist Palace. I am the commander of the Xilin Army's sea patrol. I have been disrespectful to you, Taoist Master."

Gong Dongxue bowed and greeted him, saying, "It's alright, I've met this commander before."

After a brief exchange, shouts and curses erupted from the massive Fujian ship. The ship, like a fish, glided across the surface of the sea for a while before disappearing beneath the surface.

Gong Dongxue watched the other person leave, then landed back on the deck and transmitted her voice to Yu Que:
"This is a standard inspection procedure upon arrival on the island. We, the people from various local palaces, only need to truthfully state our identities."

As long as martial law isn't declared on the island, they'll let us approach. But the forces outside the Dao Palace are not so simple, so that Rakshasa woman hopes to use our identities to quickly enter the island.”

She added, "This is often the natural thing for us Taoists to do when we borrow their ships."

Yu Que's face showed a look of understanding.

No wonder the people in the Dao Palace can always find a boat to ride if they want to. For example, the Rakshasa Whale ship under his feet would even deliberately postpone its departure time and change its course.

As Gong Dongxue had predicted, after the initial inspection, although they encountered many more boats on the subsequent journey, no one came forward to inspect them again.

When they got close to Zhenjun Island, Yu Que discovered that the island was quite large, probably a hundred miles wide, with numerous ferry crossings.

The boats moored at the ferry dock were of all sizes and shapes, some made of gold and iron, some of bone, and some of clouds and mist, which broadened Yu Que's horizons.

Originally, there were more than a dozen ships queuing up to enter the port ahead of the Rakshasa Whale Ship, but with Yu and Que on board, the Whale Ship directly overtook the ships in front and sailed into the port alone.

As soon as they disembarked from the whale ship, people immediately came to greet them at the port.

Yu Que glanced at the passerby and noticed that he was wearing a Taoist robe from the Huangshan Taoist Palace.

The man immediately bowed to Yu Que and the others:

"Welcome, Senior Sister Gong!"

Gong Dongxue saw the visitor and smiled, replying, "Thank you for your courtesy. I'd like to trouble you to arrange two quiet rooms on the island so that Yu Zhenchuan and I can rest for a few days."

As for these people, they are princesses of the Rakshasa clan…

She looked at the Rakshasa Princess and the others.

Seeing this, the Rakshasa princess quickly smiled at the Dao Palace disciple and said, "Our clan has already gained a great deal by being able to borrow your palace's ferry. You don't need to worry about us. Our clan will rent a place to stay on the island and will leave after a few days."

Gong Dongxue nodded.

After the Rakshasa princess finished speaking, she greeted Yu Que and then led her group away from the ferry and headed towards the island.

Seeing Yu Que watching the other person leave, Gong Dongxue secretly transmitted her voice: "If you still want to take their ship to Rakshasa Island to search for evil energy, you can tell the disciples in the palace to stop the Rakshasa whale ship when the time comes."

Yu Que nodded slightly and replied, "I understand."

He hasn't decided yet where he should go next to search for evil energy.

However, Yu Que followed the Dao Palace disciple for a while and listened to the disciple's enthusiastic introduction of the situation on Zhenjun Island. He then made a preliminary decision in his mind.

This island is home to almost all the Daoist palaces in the Central Plains. There are 108 palaces on the island, and each palace has a Daoist army that houses disciples from various Daoist palaces for training.

These Daoist troops are different from the Daoist troops of the imperial court. They are private armies of Daoist temples in various places and do not obey the latter's orders. Even in wartime, they are at most responsible for cooperating with the Daoist troops of the imperial court.

Therefore, they looked quite different from the actual imperial army.

The Dao Palace and Dao Army are extremely disorganized. They do not conduct drills or have fixed tasks. Whenever they need to do a task, the disciples take it on their own, either in groups or alone.

If the task is not completed, there is usually no loss; at most, some paper money will be deducted. Moreover, even if it is completed, because there may be competition for the task, if someone else submits their work ahead of time, all the effort may be wasted.

Compared to the imperial army, the Daoist palace's army was more like a platform for hiring Daoist disciples to do their jobs. Participants had to bear their own profits and losses and did not receive a fixed salary.

Yu Que inquired and was surprised by this, and thought to himself: "No wonder my master told me on the one hand to remember not to be fooled into joining the army, but on the other hand, he also implied that I should come to Zhenjun Island."

This place is where I can both accept and post quests. Coming here first is extremely convenient for me to gather information about malevolent energy.

He questioned the disciple in more detail and learned that he did not need to sign up to join the Dao Palace's private army at all. Every Dao Palace member who went to sea was naturally a member of their respective private army.

Only those folk immortals who have no roots after going to sea must register.

"However, in recent years, in order to facilitate the exchange of tasks between Taoist temples in various places, and to make it easier for folk immortals to take on jobs, the private armies of the various Taoist temples in our Central Plains have all been mixed together."

The daily task distribution location has been moved from the various palaces to the island's training grounds. When ordinary cultivators arrive on the island, they can accept tasks without needing to join the private armies of any particular Daoist temple.

The disciple who was guiding the way said, "Only when the island needs to go out to sea for training will the disciples of the various Dao Palaces be clearly separated, stick together in groups, and form independent military formations."

Yu Que listened carefully and gained a general understanding of the power structure on Zhenjun Island.

Besides the numerous private armies of the Dao Palace, the imperial court also has a considerable number of troops, including the Tianzao Army, which was responsible for building the island, the Zhenhai Army, the personal guard of the Zhenhai General who was directly responsible for suppressing the island, and the Tiance Youth Army, which has been gaining prominence in recent years.

The imperial army was mainly composed of these three branches, in addition to dozens or even hundreds of other Central Plains troops that took turns serving on Zhenjun Island.

Soon.

Yu Que and his companion arrived at the Huangshan Taoist Palace's temporary residence on Zhenjun Island.

The palace was built on a hill, and its style was very similar to that of the palaces in Huangshan, only it was not as grand.

Before Yu Que even entered the palace, two lines of Daoist disciples filed out from both sides of the palace.

They all bowed to Yu Que, saying, "Greetings, Master Yu. We respectfully request that you be allowed to enter the main palace."

The commotion left Yu Que somewhat bewildered, and he subconsciously looked at Gong Dongxue beside him.

Gong Dongxue smiled and bowed to him, saying, "Master Yu, why don't you hurry up and take over the palace?"

Although she teased Yu Que, Gong Dongxue secretly sent him a telepathic message explaining the situation.

It turns out that the true disciples of the Dao Palace are on envoys abroad, which naturally makes them the face of the Dao Palace. On the True Lord Island, although there are two elders in charge, they have been in seclusion for a long time and their cultivation level is only at the Condensation of Evil Realm. There is not a single Refining Qi Master.

With Yu Que, the true disciple, arriving on the island, he naturally became the one in charge of the palace here!
Yu Que truly hadn't expected this situation.

So, with a wry smile, he was surrounded by the disciples of the Dao Palace and entered the palace, where he sat in a high position and took charge of the entire palace.

Although the master of the palace does not have much power because of the laxity of the disciples of the Dao Palace, he can still use the disciples in the palace to search for evil energy and even issue some semi-mandatory tasks.

Furthermore, as the master of the Huangshan Palace, when he speaks with the imperial army or other Taoist priests, their attitudes will be different.

In terms of protocol alone, Yu Que is directly equivalent to the commander of the three imperial armies: Tianzao Army, Zhenhai Army, and Tiance Army. Only the Zhenhai General, who is in charge of guarding this island, is half a head higher in rank.

Faced with such benefits, Yu Que undoubtedly felt the weight of the Dao Palace's true teachings once again.

He had no choice but to accept the position of master of the palace.

In the following days.

Yu Que was stationed in the imperial palace, managing the finances and provisions of the Huangshan Taoist Palace, and also sorting out the personnel on the island.

The joy in his heart faded.

Because he discovered that Huangshan Dao Palace's influence on the island was now at a lower-middle level. Apart from his true disciple and the two elders who were in seclusion, only Gong Dongxue, who had just arrived on the island, belonged to the sixth-rank immortal family.

As for those disciples who go out to sea every year to train and find evil energy or successfully condense evil energy, they will not stay on True Lord Island for long and will return directly to the palace to recuperate.

The strength of the imperial palace, placed in a county town at the foot of Huangshan Mountain, would only be equivalent to the strength of a mere ward.

However, compared to those palaces where even the Celestial Master of the Gathering Evil Spirits wasn't stationed, the Huangshan Palace was quite good.

Yu Que sighed softly:

"Fortunately, there are still two Ning Sha Elders on the island. The disciples of the palace have some confidence when training on the island and don't have to worry about being bullied by people from other Dao Palaces."

Soon, a coincidence occurred.

The Huangshan disciples on the island had not yet been bullied, but he, as a true disciple, had been directly targeted for trouble.

This day.

A group of people dressed in red Taoist robes flew to the Huangshan Palace with great fanfare and swagger. Holding command flags, they stood in a line in front of the palace.
After the Huangshan disciples walked out in surprise, he took out a pearl the size of a goose egg from his hands and had someone call out Yu Que.

The precious pearl, housed in a jade box, was entirely crimson and brimming with vitality; it was clearly extraordinary.

The disciples thought someone had come to deliver a gift, so they hurriedly called Yu Que out.

After Yu Que left, the previously well-behaved red-robed Taoists suddenly began shouting and yelling:
"Yu Que, Yu Que, a treacherous villain."

They stole the dragon plate and fled overseas.

"If you have the guts, challenge me to a duel!"

Upon hearing this chanting, Yu Que's expression remained unchanged, but the Huangshan disciples beside him were all filled with righteous indignation and immediately wanted to step forward and fight with him.

However, the red-robed Taoists were prepared. As they stood together, they subtly formed a formation and were not afraid of the Huangshan disciples' attack.

Amidst the commotion, one of the red-robed Taoists shouted:
"Hey you, surnamed Yu, we're here today on behalf of Protector Bai to challenge you to a duel."

If you lose, hand over the Dragon-Seeking Disc you stole; if you win, this Avici Hell Pearl is yours!

Upon hearing the words "White Protector," Yu Que frowned slightly. He had never offended any White Protector or Black Protector.

Just then, Gong Dongxue heard the commotion outside and came out as well. After the other party transmitted a message, Yu Que learned that the red-robed Taoist and his party came from the "Lotus Capital Taoist Palace".

This palace, also known as the "Red Lotus Palace," is one of the thirty-six immortal capitals of the Central Plains. Most of its disciples participate in the Red Lotus Cult. The position of "protector" is only established in some palaces. It is a position second only to the true disciple and is known as "half-true disciple."

More importantly, the surname of the White Protector mentioned by the group from the Red Lotus Palace happens to be related to someone Yu Que knows.

Yu Que narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking to himself:
"No wonder Bai Jiangliu, though not one of the nine great families in the palace, is actually slightly superior to Shi Lanzhi of the Shi family in terms of wealth and methods."

It turns out this person comes from a prominent family in the outer city of Liandu.

(End of this chapter)