Forge your destiny and become an immortal, starting with hunting demons in the deep sea.

Chapter 13: Raising a thankless wretch!

Squeak~~

The door is pushed open.

Gong Lin was worried about the damage to the Cangyun and didn't even notice the crew member who came to inform him of the news. He hurried towards the lower deck.

But they hadn't taken more than a few steps.

"Um?"

Gong Lin paused, suddenly realizing that something was amiss.

Li Hongnian was mainly responsible for managing the crew members on the ship, while the repair of the damaged treasure ship was handled by the Gong family members who were familiar with the structure of the Cangyun. Li Hongnian usually did not interfere.

"Wait, you said Manager Li is...?"

Just as Gong Lin was about to turn around, a blinding blue light suddenly shot towards him.

"How dare you!"

Gong Lin roared angrily. He was a member of the Gong family and had worked on ships for nearly twenty years. He had seen too many things and immediately realized that there was a mutiny among the crew.

However, this azure light was truly too sharp, extremely fast, and angled cunningly, aiming to take his life the moment it struck.

The moment Gong Lin turned around, the weapon had already pierced his chest!

Pfft!

"Damn it!"

The sharp blade pierced through Gong Lin's chest in an instant, and the frenzied spiritual energy surged wildly into the wound. However, as a cultivator at the sixth level of the Spirit Gathering stage, even if he was suddenly severely injured, Gong Lin was not completely powerless to resist.

He gritted his teeth, endured the excruciating pain, and unleashed a mid-grade magic sword, slashing fiercely at the man's head and neck!

"clang!!"

However, when this sword strike, delivered with almost all its might, landed on the mutineer crew member, it did not produce the expected scene of blood and flesh flying everywhere. Instead, it produced a crisp, ear-piercing metallic clang.

A flash of golden light appeared on Zhou Heng's body, and Gong Lin's dying sword was deflected by a force.

"Damn old man, thank goodness I activated a Golden Body Talisman in advance."

Zhou Heng cursed, not expecting that Gong Lin would still have the strength to fight back after being seriously injured by him first.

puff!

Zhou Heng pulled out the blue short spear that was stuck in Gong Lin's chest, and in a fit of anger, kicked Gong Lin away with force.

Bang!

Gong Lin's limp body crashed into the wall and slid down, the scarlet blood seemingly staining the entire wall red.

"Duan...Duan Heng...why...?"

Before he died, Gong Lin recognized the mutineer crew member, but at that moment, his pupils reflected Zhou Heng's cold, blood-splattered face.

"Pfft!"

Zhou Heng remained expressionless as he thrust his spear through Gong Lin's brow.

"Brother Duan... no, Brother Zhou's strength is indeed formidable. This old guy's cultivation was a level higher than yours, yet you killed him like slaughtering pigs and dogs."

Several independent cultivators and crew members walked over with smiles on their faces. Although they had made up their minds to follow Li Hongnian in rebelling against the Gong family, actually taking action was another matter entirely.

They were only relieved after witnessing Zhou Heng's strength and seeing him kill Gong Lin with his own hands.

"Enough with the nonsense, all of you come with me to the cargo hold to support Li Hongnian."

Zhou Heng shook the blood off the tip of his spear and said coldly.

In his view, the death of Gong Lin was nothing; his only concern was Li Hongnian's side.

According to their plan, they would need to face Gong Lin and Gong Chengyuan separately.

Although Gong Chengyuan's cultivation level was only one level higher than Li Hongnian's, it should be noted that this was the difference between the mid-stage and late-stage of the Spirit Gathering realm.

Even though Gong Chengyuan had already been seriously injured, Li Hongnian would not have found it easy to kill him.

"However, with the top-grade Flame Blade Talisman I gave him, and that Spirit-Dispersing Incense, there shouldn't be too many problems..."

Zhou Heng murmured to himself, then led a group of rogue cultivators straight to the lowest cabin of the Cangyun Ship.

Meanwhile, in the lower deck cabins...

"Li Hongnian, how dare you betray the Gong family!"

Gong Chengyuan clutched his bloodied and mangled shoulder, his eyes brimming with shock and anger.

Just now, Li Hongnian suddenly approached him, saying that the lower cargo hold was leaking and that Manager Gong Lin had gone down to check it out, and asked him to go over there as well.

Gong Chengyuan didn't think much of it at the time. After all, Li Hongnian had been a member of the Gong family outside the clan for nearly twenty years and had been the steward of the Cangyun ship for six or seven years. He had long since gained Gong Chengyuan's trust.

But to his surprise, when he arrived at the lower cargo hold, he found no leaks at all, and Gong Lin was nowhere to be found either.

Just as Gong Chengyuan became wary, Li Hongnian launched the first attack, directly using a Flame Blade Talisman. If Gong Chengyuan hadn't dodged quickly, that blade would probably have severed his head!

Facing Gong Chengyuan's anger, Li Hongnian remained calm. Since he had already taken action, there was no turning back. He said indifferently.

"I advise you to hand over the array plate that controls the Cangyun. Out of consideration for our past relationship, I can spare your body. Also, don't try to stall for time. The effects of the Spirit Dispersing Incense are enough to prevent you from using any magical artifacts, including the Vortex Blade Wheel, for several hours."

As Li Hongnian spoke, he pointed to the incense burning quietly in the corner of the cargo hold.

This incense isn't actually a very powerful weapon. Its only advantage is that it's colorless and odorless, making it easy to be caught off guard. Furthermore, it only works on cultivators in the Spirit Gathering stage.

Once the secret is broken, the spiritual energy within the body condenses into liquid, and then it has no effect at all.

As for why Li Hongnian was unharmed?

It's very simple. He activated the Turtle Breathing Technique in advance, completely avoiding the absorption of the Dispersing Spirit Incense.

"Haha, I really didn't expect that!"

Gong Chengyuan suddenly burst into laughter, as if he had gone mad.

"My Gong family raised you from an ordinary fisherman into a cultivator, imparting techniques to you and assisting your cultivation, only to end up raising a heartless wretch!"

"Alright, alright, didn't you want to control the array plate? Here you go!"

Gong Chengyuan paused, then suddenly threw his storage bag into the distance.

Just as Li Hongnian instinctively reached out to catch it, Gong Chengyuan flashed and quickly darted into the cargo hold!

The cargo hold is different from other compartments.

This contains various cultivation resources collected by the demon-hunting ship during its nearly six-month voyage. It is equipped with separate frost arrays and protective arrays to prevent the crew from stealing them.

But who could have imagined that today it would become Captain Gong Chengyuan's refuge?

As soon as he entered the cargo hold, he immediately took out the cargo hold's individual control token from his pocket.

This kind of formation does not require the use of spiritual power to activate; it can be activated simply by using divine sense.

With a thought, a pale blue light shield instantly enveloped the entire cargo hold, and at the same time, the temperature inside the cargo hold dropped rapidly.

That's right, the two arrays in the cargo hold are connected. Either neither of them is activated, or both are activated together!

Looking at the cargo hold, which was now enveloped by the magic array, Li Hongnian shook his head with a cold smile.

Did he really think he didn't know what Gong Chengyuan was planning? He just didn't want the good stuff in the cargo hold to be wasted by those rough, unskilled cultivators.

Moreover, which is more valuable: offering a living core member of the Gong family or an ordinary demon-catching ship?

You should know that Gong Chengyuan has a lot of secrets about the Gong family...