The cultivation master

Julian pushed through the clamor of sailors and stepped onto the lower deck. Rural families huddled in the corners of the ship, looking around with palpable anxiety. He cast his gaze over their worried faces before approaching a young woman among them.

"Do you know how that imprisoned sailor escaped?"

The woman's face was taut with fear as she trembled and averted her eyes from Julian's serious gaze. After glancing at the others, she focused intently on the wooden floorboards.

When she shook her head, the sobs began to bubble up but stayed quiet—only muffled sniffles could be heard, merging with the sound of crashing waves. Julian moved to the next person but was met with a similar reluctance.

[They don't want to give anything away.]

This could mean two things: they were either accomplices or simply afraid of him; there was no other option. Julian continued to contemplate, piecing together various scenarios in his mind. A flood of thoughts surged through him, leading him to one clear conclusion.

[They know who did it!]

As he revealed his aura, he took in their expressions in a single glance. Something intriguing captured his attention—they consistently focused on a specific direction whenever they were anxious.

[I've got them!]

When people wanted to conceal something and weren't skilled liars, they would easily slip up. Most were naive enough to be easily deceived. A select few who prided themselves on their cleverness were merely tricksters maneuvering from the shadows.

What did this imply? Quite simply! As long as luck was on Julian's side, he could effortlessly identify the culprit.

He traced the anxious eyes until he confronted an individual who was bundled up in a blanket. From the very beginning, Julian had instinctively felt suspicious of this person. While everyone else was gripped by fear and panic, this individual exuded an unsettling calm. It was clear they were a suspect from the start.

"You! Follow me."

Julian pointed at the mysterious figure, and as he turned toward the door, the person lunged at him.

"Ahhhh!!!"

Without thinking, Julian spun around, charged his sword with his aura, and plunged it into the attacker's abdomen. When he locked eyes with them, he found a sixty-year-old woman who dropped a knife that clattered to the floor.

"You all... killed my son... Theodore..."

Before Julian could reply, tears streamed down the woman's face. In an instant, she dissolved into smoke and vanished; although her blood remained on the ship's floor, that too would soon disappear.

Such was the reality of life.

When you killed someone, more would joined your list of enemies, but if you let your enemy go, you were sentencing yourself to death. Life offered no opportunities for heroism. In fact, the hero in one story was the villain in another.

Yet, Julian didn't grasp this philosophy, and even if he did, taking the life of an old woman overcome with grief was certainly against the code of knights.

Still reeling from his own actions, someone suddenly shouted, "Take cover!!!! Cannon fire!!!"

"Head toward the mist wall!!!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"Damn it!!! They were lying in wait for us!!! Arm the cannons. We'll rain hell upon them!!!"

The ship rocked violently, and the sounds of explosions and splintering wood echoed through the lower deck.

Julian quickly ascended to the upper deck, ignoring the panicked sailors running chaotically about, until he reached the deck above.

Before them loomed an impenetrable wall of mist, woven like countless spider webs stretching skyward.

Cyrus shouted, "Get ready!!! We're breaking through that damned wall!!!"

Then he cast a spell that intensified the winds in the ship's direction.

"Prepare for impact with the mist wall!!!!"

"Hold on tight to the ship!!! We're escaping this hell!!!"

Out of nowhere, dozens of cannonballs fired from behind the mist wall; many fell into the water, while a few struck the ship directly.

Boom! Boom!

"Don't surrender!! Full speed ahead!!!!"

The ship surged through the tumultuous waves, now frothing due to the magic at play.

"Prepare yourselves!!!!!"

"Now!!!!!"

And with that, the ship pierced through the misty wall.