It was night.
The sea was calm and clear.
Only the moon hanging in the sky reflected on the sea, adding a touch of life.
Zhu Zhi's and the Sakura Country's ships were quietly anchored on the sea.
Neither side made any move.
The warriors on duty on the deck felt no abnormality.
But behind this tranquility lay a great crisis.
From the Sakura Country's ships, countless figures suddenly leaped into the sea.
They dove directly into the water.
A distance of three nautical miles was still quite far.
Coupled with the thick fog that had risen on the sea, it made it impossible to detect them.
Danger was quietly approaching.
Tomoyoshi Sanmyo, Matsushita Sahaku, and Honchuu Aiku each led a group of people and moved swiftly.
They soon reached Zhu Zhi's side of the ships. One by one, heads emerged from the sea, breathing in the air.
They had not been discovered from the moment they departed.
These people remained silent, and under the gestures of Tomoyoshi Sanmyo and the other two, they split up and acted.
Swish, swish, swish!
Figures suddenly climbed onto the ships. After all of them had infiltrated into position, they began a silent slaughter!
Instantly.
A scent of blood permeated the air!
By the time the warriors on duty realized the enemy attack, it was already too late.
"Ninjas..."
They whispered in their last breaths.
But it was all too late!
Soon.
All the warriors on the deck were slaughtered!
Tomoyoshi Sanmyo and the other two were overjoyed. While sending a message to Meichuan Neiku, they leaped into the sea.
Upon receiving the message.
Meichuan Neiku burst into laughter.
"Set sail! All ships full speed ahead, set sail!"
Meichuan Neiku gave the order.
Instantly, all of the Sakura Country's ships advanced towards Zhu Zhi.
Deep in the night.
Most people were fast asleep. Meichuan Neiku and the others' ships approached, and Zhu Zhi's side did not notice!
However!
Zhang Yang, who had been feeling uneasy, had not yet rested.
As he lay in bed, contemplating the manner in which the Sakura Country might attack, the giant python and giant crocodile on Zhang Yang's body instantly alerted him.
"Master, there's a smell of blood!"
"Master, the smell of blood outside is very strong, it seems something has happened!"
Hearing the reminders from the two fierce beasts, Zhang Yang leaped out of bed and walked directly towards the deck!
When he came out.
Seeing the corpses lying on the ground and the blood splattered across the entire deck, he knew immediately that things were bad!
"Quick! There's a situation, the Sakura Country people are here!" Zhang Yang shouted.
Instantly.
Everyone in all the ships woke up. They came out of their cabins and onto the deck.
Seeing that all the warriors on duty were decapitated, they also knew that things were bad!
How did these people die?
Who had approached them so silently?
Why had so many watchmen on so many ships not noticed anything unusual?
"Look! The Sakura Country's ships are approaching!"
Suddenly.
Someone discovered the Sakura Country's ships ahead and shouted.
Zhu Zhi and the others also knew that the situation was not good and quickly shouted.
"Wake everyone up and prepare to fight!"
"Quick! Organize yourselves!"
"All of you, stop sleeping and prepare to fight!"
Hu Hantian and Hong Tao, along with other generals, immediately went to organize the personnel.
At this moment.
Meichuan Neiku and the others had approached. Countless warriors from the Sakura Country's ships leaped over, raising their katanas and charging towards Zhu Zhi and the others!
"Hahaha, Zhu Zhi! You're quite quick to react, but it's already too late. Kill them for me!"
"Kill!"
Instantly.
Meichuan Neiku and the others charged.
In the hasty situation, the descendants of King Ming suffered heavy casualties.
Fortunately, Zhang Yang's warning was not too late. After sacrificing some people, they managed to stabilize their position!
"Hmph, you scoundrels, always doing sneaky things!"
Zhu Zhi was very displeased. He circulated his vast righteous energy and joined the battle!
Hu Hantian and the others led the descendants of King Ming and charged towards the Sakura Country warriors!
Zhang Yang and the others who came to help did not slack either, and they charged into the crowd.
After a period of fierce fighting, they finally managed to stabilize the collapsing situation.
But an accident occurred again.
The ninjas who had infiltrated the sea earlier reappeared behind the crowd. They held stone balls in their hands!
It was unknown what was inside them, but they were quickly thrown towards Zhu Zhi's side.
Bang, bang, bang!
The stone balls hit the deck and exploded.
A cloud of green mist billowed out.
Cough, cough!
The pungent smell directly incapacitated the descendants of King Ming, rendering them unable to fight!
"Damn it, it's ninjas! How can the Sakura Country have so many ninjas!" Zhu Zhi panicked.
He had not expected thousands of ninjas to appear behind them. This poisonous smoke once again broke the stable situation they had established!
"Haha, for the great Sakura Empire, kill them!"
"All the descendants of King Ming are poisoned, this is our chance, attack!"
"All of you must die! Leave no one alive!"
Instantly.
Tomoyoshi Sanmyo, Matsushita Sahaku, and Honchuu Aiku directly led the ninjas into the crowd from behind, forming a pincer attack with Meichuan Neiku in front, instantly trapping Zhu Zhi and the others!
Strong enemies in front, poisonous fog behind.
Zhu Zhi's side was instantly plunged into despair!
Screams echoed endlessly.
"Damn it!" Zhu Zhi was furious.
At this point, he knew he had fallen into a trap. He quickly gave orders.
"Bring all the ships together and retreat to the main ship!"
Currently.
Although the ships were close together, they were still fighting independently, divided into separate battlefields.
This way, they would always be attacked from both sides by the Sakura Country. The only way was to bring the ships together and reorganize the members!
Fortunately.
The descendants of King Ming were not to be trifled with. They quickly maneuvered their ships to gather together, and everyone slowly converged.
However, when they gathered, everyone's expression was extremely grim.
After the previous wave, they had lost nearly a third of their warriors.
Among them were two commanders of the same level as Hu Hantian. They sacrificed themselves to cover the ships' approach, and were surrounded and killed by Honchuu Aiku!
"Hahaha, this is exhilarating! Zhu Zhi, you are doomed this time!" Meichuan Neiku laughed heartily.
He and Tomoyoshi Sanmyo, along with the ninjas led by them, also regrouped.
The two sides stood facing each other like opposing armies across a river.
The surprise attack just now had not only wiped out a third of Zhu Zhi's forces but also killed two commanders.
It had even demoralized the descendants of King Ming, making it a triple victory!
Meichuan Neiku felt that victory was within his grasp!
"Hmph! You despicable Sakura Country scoundrels, do you really think I have no way to deal with you?" Zhu Zhi's expression was grim.
Then, he waved his hand.
He shouted, "Activate the formation!"
At his command, the gathered members of the descendants of King Ming wore solemn expressions. They stood in small teams at different positions.
Then, they began to counterattack!
Formations.
This was always what the descendants of King Ming excelled at.
This formation was left behind by King Ming himself, an offensive and defensive killing formation!
They advanced and retreated together, connecting everyone.
With the formation complete, Zhu Zhi and the others charged towards Meichuan Neiku and his men like a fierce tiger.
Upon seeing this.
Meichuan Neiku sneered.
"Hmph, mere trickery! Kill them for me!"
The Sakura Country warriors, not believing it, picked up their katanas and charged towards Zhu Zhi and the others.
"I don't care what kind of damn formation you have, it's useless in front of our Sakura Country warriors!"
After shouting, Meichuan Neiku took out the bow and arrow from his back, locked onto Hu Hantian, and intended to shoot him!
Swish.
In the blink of an eye, an arrow flew with extreme speed towards Hu Hantian, who was at the forefront.
Hu Hantian, who was focused on killing the enemy, did not notice.
However, the descendants of King Ming behind him saw it. Several people stepped forward and placed their spears in front of Hu Hantian.
Clang!
The spears instantly blocked Meichuan Neiku's arrow, shielding Hu Hantian from the sudden danger.
"Only know how to play dirty tricks? Hmph! Trash!"
Hu Hantian said disdainfully, gripping his great hammer and quickly smashing it towards the Sakura Country warriors in front of him.
The others also followed Hu Hantian's footsteps and charged forward!
For a time, the Sakura Country warriors cried out in misery.
Their killing moves were all blocked by the people behind Hu Hantian. And when their moves were exhausted, Hu Hantian's killing moves arrived, leaving them no time to defend, and they were heavily injured.
This scene.
It was not only happening with Hu Hantian but also in other places.
The Sakura Country warriors cried out in misery.
Zhu Zhi's battle formation was indeed quite something.
Zhang Yang and the others in the center of the formation didn't even have a chance to make a move, watching in stunned silence.
"The descendants of King Ming are indeed former rulers, they certainly have some skills," Huo Zhu sighed.
"Indeed, we don't have such formations now. It seems the descendants of King Ming have much deeper foundations than us."
"No wonder they could hold the central island and Linhai City for so long. With such an offensive and defensive formation, ordinary people really can't break it."
"Truly admirable, but training such a formation is not easy."
The ancestors of the six royal uncles' families also praised.
The most surprised was Zhang Yang. Zhu Zhi's formation truly surprised him.
At that time, in the far west, Zhang Yang had not discovered that they had this ability.
Therefore.
This might have been something Zhu Zhi trained after returning from the far west.
To have researched this formation in such a short time was truly remarkable.
Meichuan Neiku and the others' faces turned ashen.
Watching the advantage they had gained through the surprise attack being about to be nullified by Zhu Zhi, their expressions were extremely grim.
"Lord Meichuan, quickly think of a solution, otherwise we will still lose if this continues!" Honchuu Aiku said.
"Our trained ninjas are not suitable for such large-scale combat, and we have already suffered half our casualties," Tomoyoshi Sanmyo said in a deep voice.
"Lord Meichuan, don't wait, use that final move," Matsushita Sahaku urged.
Meichuan Neiku's brow was tightly furrowed.
The battlefield situation was completely one-sided, which was completely beyond his imagination.
In their previous encounters with Zhu Zhi and the others, they had never seen a formation.
This sudden appearance had caught them completely off guard.
"Alright, use that move!"
After much thought, Meichuan Neiku said.
This move was originally intended to guard against the Emperor, but now, for the sake of victory, it had to be used.
Otherwise, not to mention guarding against the Emperor, they wouldn't even be able to take the central island today!
"Yes!"
Instantly, Tomoyoshi Sanmyo and the other two were overjoyed.
Upon receiving Meichuan Neiku's approval, they took out their large banners.
The banners were adorned with strange skull patterns. The three of them waved them continuously, chanting incantations!
"Great ancestors of the Sakura Country, please bestow your power upon us!"
"We pledge our lives to the Sakura Country, please grant us divine power, Emperor!"
"We respectfully invite the Shikigami, Yamata no Orochi!"
The three of them prayed continuously, and finally, they knelt on the ground together, begging the heavens.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~
Instantly.
A strong wind began to blow on the calm sea.
With the wind came great waves!
The ships began to pitch and roll. In the already foggy conditions, the situation became even more eerie.
A heart-pounding, inexplicable aura appeared, making it difficult for everyone present to breathe.
Suddenly!
A terrifying creature surged out of the lake.
It was a giant snake with eight heads. It gazed at the scene before it and said in a deep voice.
"Who is it that has summoned this venerable one?"
Yamata no Orochi appeared.
Meichuan Neiku and the others were overjoyed and immediately knelt down!
"Lord Yamata no Orochi, it is we who have summoned you. Please help us resolve the crisis before us."
"Once we conquer this land, we will surely build a divine statue for you on this land and offer you millions of incense offerings!"
Meichuan Neiku and the others summoned Yamata no Orochi and immediately knelt down and made their promise.
"Hmm."
Yamata no Orochi's scarlet eyes revealed a hint of human-like expression. He licked his lips greedily and leaped out of the sea.
Its massive body occupied more than half of the space, even the ships were dwarfed by it!
As soon as Yamata no Orochi appeared.
The Sakura Country warriors all retreated, leaving the battlefield to Yamata no Orochi.
Upon seeing this.
Zhu Zhi and the others' faces changed greatly!
"This is Shikigami summoning! How can the Sakura Country possess such forbidden arts! This is bad!"
"Retreat! You all retreat quickly!"
Zhu Zhi shouted.
Shikigami summoning was a unique skill of the Sakura Country, capable of summoning great figures from the Sakura Country's past.
This Yamata no Orochi was the strongest Shikigami below the Nine-Tailed Fox at that time.
Even if they didn't know the realm of the Yamata no Orochi summoned by Meichuan Neiku and the others.
But no matter what.
Zhu Zhi knew it was time for him to act. It wasn't that the formation would be useless against Yamata no Orochi.
It was because Yamata no Orochi was so massive that once the battle began, their side would inevitably suffer heavy casualties.
This was not what Zhu Zhi wanted to see.
Instantly.
Hu Hantian and the others all retreated.
A long sword appeared in Zhu Zhi's hand, and vast righteous energy was reproduced on its blade.
Zhu Zhi himself also became extremely serious.
His aura instantly strengthened!
Yuan Fu Realm, Five Stars!
Seeing this realm, even Zhang Yang was surprised.
Zhu Zhi's strength had increased.
Much stronger than when he was in the far west!
"Yamata no Orochi, this is not a place for you to be arrogant. Retreat quickly! Otherwise, I will surely sever your divine position!" Zhu Zhi said in a deep voice.
Compared to Yamata no Orochi, Zhu Zhi's body was very small.
But he was full of confidence, not at all intimidated by Yamata no Orochi's aura.
At this moment.
Zhu Zhi was the guardian god of the descendants of King Ming, and he could not afford to lose!
Even if he faced the second-ranked fighter in the Sakura Country's power rankings, he could not back down!
"Hmph, ant. How dare you threaten this venerable one? Watch as this venerable one tears you apart!"
Yamata no Orochi snorted and charged directly at Zhu Zhi.
Instantly.
The great battle was about to erupt.