Daqin Zhentiansi

Chapter 653 Zhenhaizhou

Is this the East China Sea?
The vast sea and sky.

As the sunlight pierced through the clouds, thirty black iron warships were cleaving through the last wave of the river.

Fifty thousand soldiers in black armor held their breath.

As far as the eye can see, the arc where the sea and sky meet has a bluish-gray hue like bronze, and the foam on the crests of the waves is not the usual snow-white, but a dark gold tide carrying fine gold dust.

Nine towering bronze pillars loomed faintly in the sky, their bas-reliefs of coiled dragons bathed in the reddish-brown light of the morning glow, the trails left by their tails etched with winding fire marks in the clouds.

Upon closer inspection, the illusory figure appears to be nothing at all, as if it were merely a hallucination.

The sound of the waves suddenly fell silent.

New recruit Wang Cheng discovered that his shadow was being distorted and stretched by the seawater, and the sky reflected in the soles of his boots had an eerie glassy texture.

He reached out to grab a seabird that flew past the porthole, but the bird shattered into countless gold foils the moment it touched the halo of light, dissipating in the salty, fishy wind.

"This is... the East China Sea?"

Suddenly, a rainbow bridge rose on the left side of the fleet, with a misty, ethereal island hanging at the end of the rainbow.

Under the eaves of the twelve-story jade pavilion at the heart of the island hangs a bronze chime, its sound, ringing without wind, causing the three thousand flying swords of the Nine Yang Sword Sect to tremble in unison.

The blazing sun in the sky was suddenly swallowed up by the bluish-gray sea fog.

The 50,000 soldiers saw their shadows split into countless layers in the fog, each layer enacting a different legend.

A figure knelt beneath the bronze pillar, throwing a blood-stained jade disc into the vortex, and the ancient seal script "Yu Zhen Jiu Chuan" immediately appeared on the pillar.

A phantom figure rode a six-winged flying boat toward Rainbow Bridge Immortal Island, but was shattered into a bloody mist by the sound of bronze chimes the moment it touched the Jade Pavilion.
The clearest image is of a fleet of Qin naval vessels sinking in a storm, the wreckage of the flagship "Fubo" becoming the base of a new coral reef, with iron chains engraved with runes still wrapped around the rusted ram...

"Charge!"

Yu Wanjun's roar tore apart the illusion, and the blood and qi of the army condensed into nine phantom images of black tortoises. The patterns on the tortoise shells and the dragon reliefs on the bronze pillar phantoms echoed each other.

Suddenly everyone's mind cleared, and when they looked up again, the sea fog had dissipated, revealing nine bronze pillars shimmering in the sky like javelins thrown by a god.

Xue Dingyue suddenly laughed and looked at Yuchi Changshan, who stood upright with a tense expression, beside him: "Have you ever heard the saying that 'mirages are not illusions, but memories of the Sea-Suppressing Pillar'? These countless phantoms—are the memories of the East Sea for ten thousand years!"

Yuchi Changshan nodded, a hint of bewilderment in his eyes.

Having grown up in the Northwest, he had never seen such a sight.

The boundless sea made him unconsciously grip the gunwale of the ship.

Is this the East China Sea?
"Om-"

Pei Lie, an elder of the Nine Yang Sword Sect, ran his fingers along the spine of the sword, and the sword energy carved a smooth mirror-like surface for ten miles on the crest of the wave.

"Three hundred years ago, Senior Brother Wu Daoling comprehended the sword intent of 'A Line of the Vast Sea' here, saying that the surging tides of the East Sea corresponded to the trajectory of the stars in the heavens."

"Disciples, calm your minds and sense that the sword intent of heaven and earth is hidden within these waves!"

Pei Lie's voice came with the sound of the waves.

Heaven and Earth Sword Intent?

That was the supreme sword intent between heaven and earth, and also the greatest danger in the world.
The young swordsman Chu Zhaonan gripped his trembling sword hilt tightly, gazing at the swirling clouds ahead. "The ancient texts record that the seventy-two Sea-Suppressing Pillars can absorb sword intent; the 'Flowing Cloud Sword Immortal' exhausted his sword energy and perished here..."

"Grandmaster Pei, can our sect's 100,000 flying swords truly suppress the evil energy of the Sea Eye?"

Chu Zhaonan's words caused all the Nine Yang Sword Sect disciples around him to look up and grip their sword hilts tightly.

The disciples of the Nine Yang Sword Sect, residing in the Eastern Territory, had long heard many legends of the Eastern Sea.

Is this boundless East China Sea truly something they can conquer?

Moreover, their mission was to protect the 50,000 soldiers during their training and trials.

Of the 100,000 sword cultivators, how many could return alive from the East Sea?

Behind them, the 50,000 newly formed imperial guards gazed at the vast, endless sea, many showing fear on their faces. Who among them wouldn't be afraid of such an unfathomable expanse of water?
On the deck, Captain Qi Zhantang, clad in black armor, stepped onto the bow of the ship with one foot and pointed at the illusory bronze pillar in the sky, shouting.

"See the iron chain wrapped around the base of the pillar? According to the Ministry of Works' 'Illustrated Treatise on the Tribute of Yu,' that is the 'Sea-Suppressing Dragon Rope' used by King Yu of the Great to lock up the Nine-Headed Serpent. The bottom of the lock is where the spiritual eye of the East Sea's water vein is pressed down!"

Zhenhai Chains?

The soldiers looked up, their expressions shifting.

Does such a thing really exist in this world?
"Captain, I've heard that the East Sea is teeming with sea monsters?" The young man speaking gripped his spear tightly, as if only this could give him a bit more strength.

"My grandfather told me that there are bone-eating fish in the sea. When schools of these fish pass by, they can gnaw away the iron hull of a ship, leaving only wood chips..."

These words caused the eyes of the people around to tremble.

The old soldier with a full beard huddled in the shadows of the ship's side, his fingernails unconsciously digging into the cracks in the deck: "Twenty years ago, the Yun Cang Navy's three warships were wiped out, leaving not a single bone intact, man or sail."

At this moment, the dangers of the East China Sea sent chills down everyone's spines.

“Those bone-eating fish are nothing compared to the most terrifying creatures in the East China Sea: the giant sea monsters with bodies as large as mountains.”

Young sergeant Chen Shitou's Adam's apple bobbed as he gazed at the fluorescent jellyfish floating on the sea: "I remember the records from Sanmiao County, that the Nine-Headed Black Dragon could lift a hundred-foot sea wall when it turned over. Look at that bronze pillar phantom, it might be the one that's suppressing it."

A behemoth that can stir up waves hundreds of feet high with a turn of its head, wouldn't it be easy to capsize these warships that are only a hundred feet long?

On the deck, the soldiers looked pale.

Hearing the words of the crowd, Qi Zhantang gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, his fighting spirit surging and seemingly resonating with a wave a hundred feet away.

"In my opinion, this is a sea of ​​swords being forged!"

"The Marquis's Dragon Sparrow Blade has been nurtured here for three years, and it may be able to cut through the legendary Penglai Barrier."

"We will train here for three years. As long as we don't die, we will soar to the sky and become a battle blade in the hands of the Marquis that is comparable to the Dragon Sparrow."

Qi Zhantang's voice echoed on the deck, and the soldiers looked ahead, clenching their fists slightly.

On the second deck, beside Zhang Yuan, Yin Jiuyou smiled slightly as he looked down at the soldiers.

For these powerful individuals who had already reached the Grandmaster realm, the fear conveyed in the soldiers' words was like a child arguing about the heavens.

"I wonder if the Marquis's use of this sea to temper them is a calamity or an opportunity for them."

Yin Jiuyou sighed softly.

Zhang Yuan nodded, raised his hand and waved it, and the golden light transformed into a sea map about ten feet in size.

Zhang Yuan glanced at the nautical chart, then looked up and said calmly, "Send a message to Lu Tianshu and the others."

"We met at Donghuan Island and boarded the Zhenhai boat."

Yin Jiuyou bowed slightly and said, "Yes."

After speaking, he spread his hands, and a ball of bluish-gray divine soul power transformed into a soaring light and shadow, exploding in the vast sky.

"boom--"

Three hundred miles away in the sea, eighteen bronze pillars lit up with a blood-red light that shot into the sky.

Zhang Yuan stood on the deck, his left hand resting on the long sword Qiu Han, which resonated with the bronze pillar and emitted a dragon's roar.

The aura of the Qin Dynasty.

The emperor's personal decree.

The fleet turned and headed toward the bronze pillar.

"Besides the 100,000 disciples of the Nine Yang Sword Sect, has the Marquis arranged other methods?"

On the deck, the soldiers looked ahead with surprise on their faces.

(End of this chapter)