With half a game of chess, I vanquish all demons!

On the high seas, a merchant ship sped along. A short man stood on the deck, raised his hand and slapped himself, his face full of remorse.

"Damn it."

How could I forget to leave him a name card?

He was indeed frightened by Zhao Yao, to the point that he lost his ability to think normally for a period of time.

Another sea area.

A small jade boat, with a clear destination, sped away at high speed.

Zhao Yao stood at the bow of the small jade boat, touching his eyes, and looked down at the spatial ring the short man was trading with.

Through the spatial ring itself, he could see a fragment of space, within which ten assassin guns and a large amount of gold and silver were clearly visible.

puff~

Outside the jade boat, fish leap out of the water and frolic in groups.

He lowered his hand, his gaze piercing through the seawater, revealing the fish, corals, and barnacles on the rocks in minute detail.

This is the ability to see through objects.

wow~

The fish leaped out of the water.

With another thought, an invisible pressure emanated from his eyes, causing the seawater in front of him to slightly sag, and the fish to scatter in fright.

This is the might of the dragon!

After the nine pairs of pupils obtained from the demon dragon's eyes were integrated into his own, his eyes gained these two additional abilities.

Zhao Yao nodded in satisfaction, withdrew his gaze, and the small boat continued forward.

……

Three days later.

On the sea, a huge multi-story ship appeared ahead.

The ship was a hundred feet long, with a black hull and a large roc with outstretched wings carved on its bow. Its sails were like clouds, towering high.

The ship bears three large characters: Fengping.

Zhao Yao looked at the ship and raised an eyebrow.

He had seen this ship at the dock before, but he never expected it to be a vessel under the command of the Heavenly Dao Division.

Moreover, the ship wasn't this big when it was at the dock.

He observed carefully and found that the Windward was moving at an extremely slow speed and was gradually shrinking as it moved forward.

His gaze passed over the Wind Float and looked ahead at the ship, where he discovered that it was actually a deserted island dock.

The dock was small and there weren't many people. If this large ship wanted to dock, it would have to shrink to its normal size.

Currently, the Windward is in the process of shrinking.

"Sizes up to your liking... Could this large ship also be some kind of wondrous object?"

After thinking for a moment, Zhao Yao steered the small boat quickly onto the island.

huh~~

He steered the small jade boat swiftly from the sea into the island, just before the boat was about to crash onto the hard ground...

bang~

He jumped off the boat, landed on the island's ground, waved his hand, and put away the jade boat.

He strode toward the dock, then suddenly stopped and saw a very conspicuous sign.

Zhao Yao turned to look at the sign, and softly read the words on it:

"The Wind-Calming Ship is not open to those who have not reached a certain level of cultivation... Boarding is free, but accommodation is at a cost... Accommodation conditions vary depending on the level of cultivation..."

Ordinary people are not allowed to board the ship?

So, there are no ordinary people on the Fengping?

As he gazed at the approaching Fengping, he immediately had a thought and merged into the primordial energy miniature.

Buzzing buzzing~……

His bones grew and his flesh swelled, and in the blink of an eye he transformed into a ten-meter-tall demigod warrior.

That wasn't all. He then channeled the power of a type of demonic blood within him, causing it to circulate around his body and paint streaks of gold on his skin.

—This is the method of sealing height and body shape that he learned from Yin Bingtie and the others.

As the gold paint was applied, the ten-meter-tall body gradually compressed, becoming a height of over three meters 33 centimeters, while retaining the red hair and red eyes of the demigod warrior.

Zhao Yao felt his new physical condition and moved his hands and feet.

That should do it.

A demigod warrior of the second realm, once on board, should have decent living conditions.

pat~

Once the Fengping reached the shore, Zhao Yao leaped and landed steadily on the deck.

He stood there, scanning his surroundings. The deck was bustling with people of all kinds. There were strongmen towering over ten feet tall, warriors in flowing robes, swordsmen carrying longswords, and wealthy merchants.

I couldn't tell there were so many people from the shore just now.

Looking at the suddenly bustling scene, Zhao Yao inwardly grumbled.

His sudden appearance didn't attract much attention. A demigod of the second realm wasn't exactly a rare sight on this ship.

Ok?

Zhao Yao's gaze fell on one person, and a thought struck him.

It was that gaunt, middle-aged man.

He had seen this gaunt man before when he fought Yun Chi; he was one of the people on the dock who were unaffected by the dragon's might.

At that moment, the gaunt man stood upright on the ship's railing, gazing at the sea, lost in thought. Twelve children, both boys and girls, huddled around him, timidly watching the crowd on the deck.

After glancing at the man twice, Zhao Yao walked over to a sailor leaning against the ship's railing, gestured towards the gaunt man, and asked in a low voice:

"Brother, I have a question for you. Do you know who that person is?"

The sailor followed his gaze, a strange expression on his face—a mixture of sympathy, sigh, and disdain.

"Him? He's Protector Xie of the Chenlong Sect."

"The Dragon Cult?"

Zhao Yao raised an eyebrow slightly.

Yan Rouyun and the Mad Protector are both members of the Chenlong Cult.

"What kind of person is this Protector Xie?"

Zhao Yao asked softly.

The sailor shook his head:

"This Protector Xie is a good person, but unfortunately... he has bad luck."

"How so?"

Zhao Yao pressed for an answer.

The sailor lowered his voice:

"His teacher was that crazy protector. When he was choosing a martial art for him, he was out of his mind and chose a technique that was completely incompatible with his own characteristics."

And the result? After wasting more than a decade, he's still in a state of half-dead.

"Brother, you're not from around here, are you? This story has spread quite a bit..."

The sailor glanced at Zhao Yao, gestured towards the twelve children with pity, and then said:

"See those twelve children? They are all his disciples."

The cultivation technique was also chosen by that mad protector, who had the same problem as Protector Xie: their traits didn't match.

These children will waste at least ten or eight years of their lives, and if they're unlucky, their lives will be ruined.

Mad Protector...

Zhao Yao recalled his first encounter with the Mad Protector and his seemingly irrelevant but actually very useful reminder.

He paused for a moment, then said:

"Do you think there's something more to this?"

"Who knows..."

The sailor shook his head, got up, and walked away.

Zhao Yao stood there, gazing at that gaunt figure.

Protector Xie was squatting down to talk to a child, who looked up at him with eyes full of dependence.

Zhao Yao withdrew his gaze and was about to walk into the cabin...

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"

A gruff voice came from behind.

Hearing the voice behind him, Zhao Yao turned around and saw the person. He quickly stepped aside.

Call ~

A black iron warrior, nearly five meters tall, walked past him with a gust of wind.

The burly man was all muscle, with a horizontal scar across his face, running from his forehead to his chin like a centipede. He wore a worn leather armor and had a large knife hanging at his waist. He walked with a swagger, and the people on the deck gave him a wide berth.

Is a first-level warrior really that impressive?

Zhao Yao was puzzled.

As the burly man walked past Zhao Yao, he suddenly stopped and glanced down at him.

His gaze swept from top to bottom and then from bottom to top, as if he were looking at a piece of merchandise.

His nose twitched twice, as if he had smelled something disgusting, and he said with a look of disgust:

"Another one."