"Crack—"

The Spiritual Light of the Barrier flickered violently, showing faint signs of shattering!

Jin Mantang didn't hesitate, and crushed the Jade Talisman in his arms—

"Buzz—!!!"

A piercing alarm instantly resounded throughout the entire Flying Ship, the battle runes in each cabin lit up one after another, and guards on the deck took out their weapons, poised for action.

At the bottom of the cabin.

Five seated figures simultaneously opened their eyes, one of them sighed: "We still didn't manage to avoid it."

At the same time, Zhou Qing and Luo Lingling also sensed the anomaly.

"Quite a commotion." Zhou Qing frowned and handed the old hen in his arms to Luo Lingling, "I'll go and check."

Luo Lingling nodded: "Be careful."

Zhou Qing darted out, and as soon as he stepped onto the deck, he saw dozens of guards frantically controlling Spiritual Crossbows and talismans, blasting at the surrounding Cloud-Swallowing Giant Pythons.

Jin Mantang stood at the prow, holding a golden Array Disc, fully focusing on controlling the defense turrets on the Flying Ship to retaliate.

Seeing Zhou Qing and the others arrive, he urgently shouted:

"Everyone! We've been ambushed by Jieyun Thieves!"

"The Flying Ship is trapped by Spiritual Magnetic Chains, unable to move! And worse—" his expression turned grim, "the power array is damaged, weakening both our defense and attack!"

"The Knife-Beaked Hawk Eagle flock we encountered earlier was likely just a trial by Jieyun Thieves! Now with the array core malfunctioning, it needs to be fixed immediately!"

He gritted his teeth and growled: "Master Zou Lun is at the core area, please follow me quickly to assist!"

Zhou Qing, however, did not move immediately, but stood still, his gaze coldly sweeping towards the surging black clouds.

As he closed and reopened his eyes, scarlet Double Pupils quietly appeared.

Instantly, the thick darkness before him receded, revealing a suddenly clear field of vision—

"Hiss..."

Zhou Qing's pupils contracted sharply!

Amid the swirling black clouds, dozens of pitch-black warships were lurking, encircling the Cloud Whale like a pack of hungry wolves!

On the deck of each warship stood Jieyun Thief cultivators clad in black armor and wielding blades, emanating a murderous air!

Even more terrifying was that these warships were not stationary, but approaching in a mysterious formation.

The runes on the ship's surface flickered, evidently preparing some form of joint attack technique!

This was to completely block the Cloud Whale's escape route!

Then he quickly followed Jin Mantang and the other five Array Masters recruited for this voyage towards the core cabin.

As Jin Mantang led the group into the array core area and opened it with the secret key, everyone's expression drastically changed.

Inside, Zou Lun's figure was nowhere to be seen.

Even worse, the originally meticulously functioning array core was destroyed beyond recognition!

At the center, the Crystal Array Disc, meant to hover in mid-air, had its Spirit Patterns fractured, its luster dimmed, almost stagnant!

Surrounding them were twelve tottering bronze columns, all Top-Grade Spirit Stones having been rudely extracted.

"Master Zou?!" Jin Mantang's voice trembled as his gaze frantically searched the core cabin, yet there was no sign of Zou Lun.

"Shopkeeper! Look here!" a Array Master suddenly pointed at the wall.

Jin Mantang quickly looked over, seeing a line of scrawled characters carved into the hard Xuan Iron cabin wall with Spiritual Power, the strokes like knives, exuding unabashed mockery:

[Old Jin, sorry, they offered too much.]

Jin Mantang was struck like lightning, stumbling back two steps, his face turning as pale as paper.

Being a seasoned veteran in the commercial seas, how could he not understand what had happened?

"Zou Lun... colluded with those Jieyun Thieves!"

"It's over..."

His lips trembled, his body shivering coldly.

The array core was destroyed, the reserve Spiritual Source couldn't last long.

Moreover, the cargo being transported on the ship this time was extremely precious, if stolen, even ten lives of Jin Mantang wouldn't be enough to compensate!

Zhou Qing frowned deeply, his gaze quietly scrutinizing Jin Mantang.

Though this man was a Early-stage Divinity Transformation cultivator, his despair, anger, disbelief at this moment, all seemed terribly real.

"It seems the whole Cloud Whale was used as bait..."

"Including this Shopkeeper."

"Otherwise, this acting would be just too..."

As he pondered—

"Hahaha!"

A chilling, piercing laugh abruptly ripped through the black clouds, like the howls of a Nine Nether Demon ripping through the sky above the Flying Ship!

On the deck, all guards followed the sound, seeing a vague figure slowly emerge from the ink-like cloud sea.

The man stood in mid-air, black mist swirling around him, his face seemingly concealed by some Secret Technique, only a pair of scarlet eyes tightly fixed on everyone like a deadly serpent.

Jieyun Thieves' second-in-command—Faceless Ghost Owl—Mo Qisha!

"Cloud Whale, Jin the Shopkeeper, yes?" Mo Qisha spoke sinisterly, his voice laced with a cat-and-mouse kind of teasing, "I heard you have something incredible on this trip?"

"Especially that Nine Nether Demon Lotus..."

He slowly raised his hand, black mist condensed into a bizarre black lotus in his palm, its petals opened and closed, as if tens of thousands of vengeful souls were wailing.

"Why not... share a bit with me?"

——

The air in the chamber instantly froze!

Everyone turned to Jin Mantang in unison, eyes filled with shock and greed, even Zhou Qing's pupils constricted slightly.

Nine Nether Demon Lotus!

Once it matures, consuming its Lotus Seed and suppressing Obsession Spirits with its Power of Deathly Silence grants a twenty percent chance to break through to the Spirit Severing Realm!

This was a secret the Old Emperor revealed in his early years, driving countless cultivators mad.

But—

Such a heaven-defying Spiritual Object! Rumor had it that it only grew on the edge of the Nine Nether Purgatory, rooted at the convergence of myriad demon remnants and Essence Blood, taking millennia to have the slightest chance of breaking through the soil.

An Unparalleled Divine Medicine, sought after worldwide!

Yet now...

This ship concealed a single one?!

For a moment, everyone looked at Jin Mantang with greed on their faces.