Over the western seas of Red Sand Flame Island, a small passenger ship carrying a dozen people was sailing away in the distance.
Aboard the ship, by the deck and railings, people dressed in the yellow-brown robes of the Quicksand Sect were chatting casually, appearing relaxed.
"This task went smoother than expected, especially when capturing the girl. Master Ma caught her with one move."
"That girl was just at the Bronze Middle Stage. No matter how strong she is, how strong could she be?
Master Ma is at the Silver Middle Stage. It was a piece of cake for him to capture a Bronze Middle Stage girl!
If you ask me, the risk of this task was in the infiltration and the escape.
Fortunately, although the archipelagos on the South Sea belong to the Great Flame Territory, there are no official personnel stationed there due to various reasons, so it was quite a smooth journey for us."
"Anyways, now we just need the ship to reach the shores outside the western border of Great Flame. This task would be perfectly completed. Hehe, the rewards that Master Yan Song promised are quite substantial this time!"
In a dim storage room on the lower deck of the ship, with only a bit of light, Xia Yue slowly woke up.
Seeing her body tightly bound to a chair by a black rope, after a moment of confusion, Xia Yue suddenly woke up.
"I've been captured!"
Xia Yue looked around. The dim storage room was filled with various maritime supplies, and the space beneath her seemed to be undulating.
Not far away, a young man with blond hair, responsible for guarding, was dozing off. His body faintly emitted Star Power Fluctuations at the Silver Early Stage!
"I was captured from Red Sand Flame Island and am now on a ship, unsure of where I'm being taken!" Xia Yue quickly understood her situation.
Realizing this, Xia Yue couldn't help but feel stunned.
The scene of being captured kept replaying in her mind, and she had no idea what awaited her next.
Feeling the sharp pains from her face and back, Xia Yue suddenly had a growing sense of fear in her heart.
Xia Yue instinctively wanted to cry out, but she forcibly swallowed the sound into her throat.
Looking at the dozing young man not far away, Xia Yue took several deep breaths, then secretly tried to mobilize her Star Power to destroy the ropes binding her.
But at that moment, Xia Yue discovered she could hardly mobilize any Star Power from her Star Power Vortex.
There was a kind of green energy within her, causing her Star Power to become dormant and unresponsive.
Xia Yue's heart sank, realizing she likely fell victim to some skill that sealed Star Power.
In fact, it was almost as she thought. It was a form of magic known as the "Sleeping Curse."
It not only made Star Power dormant but also had a continuous hypnotic effect.
Xia Yue could wake up because her Spiritual Talent was high, temporarily waking up driven by her survival instinct.
Realizing Star Power was useless, Xia Yue attempted to break free from the black rope binding her.
However, this black rope was no ordinary rope; it was a Green Grade Star Device. A Bronze-Level Star Card Master, let alone a Silver Stage, couldn't break it by sheer physical strength!
After several futile attempts, Xia Yue gradually fell into despair.
Sealed Star Power, a Green Grade Binding Rope, and a Silver Stage guard.
How could she escape?
Even if she managed to sneak out of the room, then what?
She was on the sea, with nowhere to flee!
Though a talented Star Card Master, Xia Yue was still an 18-year-old girl. Realizing this, her eyes inevitably turned red.
"No, I can't give up!"
Xia Yue slightly tilted her head, blinking back the tears that welled up, determined to rethink her escape plan.
At this moment, a scorpion-shaped green mark on her forehead suddenly glowed, signaling the Sleeping Curse's effect reactivating.
Xia Yue felt her head getting heavier, and she bit her tongue in a desperate attempt to stay awake.
Unfortunately, it was useless. Her consciousness quickly blurred, and Xia Yue blacked out again...
High above the passenger ship.
With a flash of silver light, a young figure in a black combat uniform appeared.
After executing multiple long-distance teleports, Su Yuan felt quite fatigued.
But he had to catch up soon. Otherwise, it would be more troublesome to return once the ship sailed further away.
Su Yuan looked down at the passenger ship from above. His eyes glinted with silver light, quickly locating Xia Yue's position through the Spatial Perspective trait brought by Instant Movement.
"Luckily, it's not that Silver High Stage personally guarding her..."
Su Yuan nodded to himself, forming several seal techniques with his hands.
A faint wave spread around him as Su Yuan closed his eyes, seeming to communicate with something.
Opening his eyes again, Su Yuan summoned the Dragon Armor Saber to his right hand. With a flash of silver light, he disappeared from the spot.
In the dim storage room, a silver light suddenly lit up, revealing Su Yuan's figure.
Seeing the situation before him, Su Yuan couldn't help but smile faintly.
"Sleeping soundly, huh..."
At this moment, only two people were in the storage room: the dozing blond young guard and the bound Xia Yue.
Su Yuan quickly approached the blond guard. Dark light flowed on the Dragon Armor Saber as he swiftly slashed at the guard.
At the brink of death, the blond guard suddenly sensed danger, waking up with wide eyes.
However, it was already too late. Before he could utter a word, he felt a cold sensation in his neck.
As blood sprayed, Su Yuan's saber decapitated the guard, whose head hit the floor with a few "thud" sounds.
"Breathing Method is indeed useful..." Su Yuan couldn't help but sigh.
He had just achieved Entry-level Breathing Method. Under the Concealing Breath effect, even the Star Power Fluctuations from Instant Movement were largely masked.
From entering the storage room to approaching with a saber, the blond guard hadn't detected anything until struck by Space Cut.
Of course, this outcome partly resulted from the guard's carelessness.
Being on the sea, amidst numerous sect masters, the blond guard never imagined someone could quietly infiltrate the storage room.
And with Xia Yue bound by the Iron Binding Rope and under the Sleeping Curse, how could there be any disturbance?
To the guard, how could there be any mishap?...
Su Yuan walked to Xia Yue, seeing her right cheek swollen significantly. He patted her left cheek gently and whispered, "Xia Yue?"
But she didn't respond.
Su Yuan checked and realized she was under some magic.
Meanwhile, footsteps approached the storage room door, likely a female, judging by the steps.
Su Yuan swung the Dragon Armor Saber with the Space Cut Enchantment, slicing through the Iron Binding Rope, and reached out to lift Xia Yue.
Simultaneously, the storage room door opened.
"Zhou Hu, what are you..."
Ding Lan stopped mid-sentence upon seeing a black shadow rush towards her. A flash of black light followed, and a long saber cleaved her way.
Ding Lan gasped, instinctively crossing her arms to block with her Great Success Stage Iron Sand Arm.
Despite this, she was horrified to see the black-glowing saber cut into her left arm as if slicing through tofu.
"Damn it, who are you?!"
Ding Lan screamed, terrified.
Su Yuan remained expressionless, applying force, continuing to press down with the Dragon Armor Saber.
In less than a second, Ding Lan's arms were severed, and the saber slashed down uninterrupted.
Ding Lan's body shuddered as blood spread from her forehead to her abdomen.
Su Yuan retrieved the saber, swiftly passing by Ding Lan, leaving behind her split body.
"Enemy attack! Master Ding Lan is killed!"
Ding Lan's shout had alerted the other Quicksand Sect members on the ship.
Yan Song leaped out from the luxury cabin on the second floor. Spotting Ding Lan's body and Su Yuan fleeing with Xia Yue, he was furious!
Yan Song formed several seal techniques, ready to release a skill to take down Su Yuan. But suddenly, the Quicksand Sect members were thrown into chaos.
"Meteorite? There's a meteorite!"
"Not good, Master Yan Song, look at the sky!"
"Run! Jump into the water!"
The people on the ship screamed in terror. Yan Song looked up, his pupils shrinking.
Above, a huge boulder engulfed in billowing green flames was crashing down from the sky!
The Quicksand Sect members had little time to react as the Hellfire-transformed meteorite trailed flames and smashed onto the ship!
Flames exploded, green fire surged!
Accompanied by an incredibly bright flash, the entire ship was shattered to pieces in an instant!