Hou Jingshu did not feel like she had gotten nearly enough sleep. It felt like she had been forced to wake up seconds after her head hit the pillow.

With a heavy sigh, she climbed off the bed and stretched her arms as the morning light filtered in through the cracks in the window’s shutters. She tightened the sash on her nightgown and opened the shutters to look outside.

The sun was up but still rising. Most people were still asleep. Only people who needed to wake up early were getting a start on their day--the stall owners who were preparing their stands, the cooks who made steamed meatbuns to sell on the roadside. They were the few who were awake.

“Your highness, you should get ready so we can leave.”

“Right.”

Hou Jingshu turned away from the window and glanced at Zheng Yawen. She was already dressed in an all black outfit. The black pants and gi contrasted with her lovely pale skin. She had wrapped her breasts with bindings so they wouldn’t jostle if she moved suddenly. Hou Jingshu considered doing the same, but she knew beauty could be wielded as a weapon.

After quickly stripping off her nightwear, Hou Jingshu donned her pink martial arts gi, then threw her cloak over it. She stepped into her shoes just as someone knocked on the door.

“Your highness? It’s time,” said a voice from the other side.

“We’re coming,” Hou Jingshu called.

The people on the other side were Wu Yong and Yin Wuhan. They all traveled down to the tavern, where they grabbed several meat buns to go and ate while they walked to the pier.

The captain was already up, as were his men. They were loading cargo onto the ship, a five-mast junk that could carry up to six hundred people. She didn’t think there would be that many crewmembers. This ship’s crew was probably closer to three hundred to make space for the cargo.

“Good morning, lass! I see you’re ready to leave,” said the captain as they walked up to him.

“Good morning. We are ready to leave, but I have a question before we set sail,” said Zheng Yawen.

The captain looked at her curiously. “And that is?”

“I’ve heard there are pirates hiding out around here, and they attack ships that are leaving port. Do you know anything about them?”

“Aye, I know a bit.” The captain stroked his beard. “There’s a single pirate band who’s been causing some trouble within the past month or so. A missive was sent out not long ago requesting the military deal with this matter, but I doubt it’s arrived at the nearest outpost. It’ll be a few more days before we get a response. Longer if they decide to send people to deal with it.”

It took time preparing a force to move out. The larger the force, the more time it took. Supposing the army sent a force of about one hundred strong, it would take maybe a week for them to arrive.

“Do you know anything about the pirates themselves? Like what kind of ship they use, or what their numbers are like?”

“Hmmm. I don’t know much. There is a rumor that says their captain is at the ninth subrealm of the Anima Realm, but who knows if that is true. Oh! I do know they’re vessel is a kakam.”

“A kakam, huh? So they can’t have a very large force…” Zheng Yawen cupped her chin.

Kakams were the smallest type of vessel. They were designed primarily for local travel and couldn’t move far at sea. It also couldn’t hold more than one hundred and fifty people at most. A ship like that would have maybe one hundred sailors and fifty men at arms.

While kakams were not big and couldn’t carry much, they did have a speed advantage. They were fast for both upwind and downwind sailing. This was likely how they avoided conflict. They came in fast, hit hard, and retreated quickly if they were outmatched.

“Are you asking about them because you suspect we will be attacked?” asked the captain.

Zheng Yawen hesitated, so Hou Jingshu stepped forward. “We do. We were tailed by some pirates last night. We managed to kill four of them, but one got away. He probably went to tell his captain.”

“Haaaah. You’re too honest, princess,” Yin Wuhan said with a soft sigh. The captain couldn’t hear him, but Hou Jingshu could.

What do you expect me to do? I can’t lie to him.

“Hmmm. Well, it is concerning that you think we’ll be attacked, but I do not believe you’ll need to worry. Even if we are attacked, many of my men are cultivators, and I am at the eighth subrealm of the Anima Realm.” The man thumped his chest.

“You do not need to concern yourself with the pirates,” said Hou Jingshu. “If they attack us, I will personally deal with them.”

The captain raised an eyebrow. “You? Forgive me for speaking bluntly, but are you sure you can handle them?”

The captain might not have meant any harm, but Hou Jingshu felt her competitiveness flair up at being doubted. She released her cultivation base. Chi swirled around her like a typhoon. The amount of energy was so intense that the captain had no choice but to take a step back, eyes widening and face paling.

“H-half step Asura Realm?! You’re half a step into the Asura Realm?!”

Hou Jingshu smiled. “That’s right. Do you think I’m qualified to be confident now?”

The captain gave her a nervous smile as he pressed his left fist into his right palm and bowed. “It seems I had eyes but could not see. You are indeed qualified to speak with such confidence. We shall leave the pirates to you and provide a support role should it come to that.”

Now that Hou Jingshu had proven herself, the captain seemed more eager to get going--and to please her. He was quite accommodating as he led them onto his ship. He even went so far as to give them one of the larger cabins to stay in, though it was not the captain’s cabin.

The ship set sail as the sun reached its zenith. Hou Jingshu stood on the deck as the ship began moving. She grimaced only a little as the vessel swayed from side to side. To her left, Zheng Yawen was rubbing Wu Yong’s back as the man puked over the side. He’d become motion sick from the moment they stepped foot on this ship.

“Are you going to be all right?” asked Hou Jingshu.

“I’ll… urp… I’ll be fine,” muttered Wu Yong between vomiting. “Sorry for presenting such an… unsightly display--ugh…”

“It is fine. I hope you feel better. We’re going to need your strength,” Hou Jingshu said. Wu Yong couldn’t speak just then, so he settled for a nod.

The ship soon left port, and once the port town was out of sight, another ship came upon them. Hou Jingshu was not the first to spot them. It was someone on the crow’s nest who called down upon seeing it, but she looked in the direction indicated and found that, indeed, there was a small kakam traveling their way.

“That must be the pirates,” said Hou Jingshu.

“The best way to deal with them is to capsize their vessel and pick them off once they’re in the water,” said Zheng Yawen.

“Can I leave that to you?” Hou Jingshu asked Yin Wuhan.

The burly nodded placed his left fist in his right palm and bowed. “You may. I’ll flip that thing over if it's the last thing I do.”

While their group waited for the ship to come closer, the captain’s men readied their bows and arrows and fired them at the approaching vessel. This didn’t do anything. The wind rose up and formed a barrier that blocked the projectiles.

“Looks like they have a wind user on board,” Zheng Yawen observed.

Hou Jingshu looked at Yin Wuhan. “Can you still do it?”

“Just leave it to me,” the man thumped his chest.

The enemy vessel soon reached them. Yin Wuhan placed a foot on the rail, then leapt overboard. He fell toward the vessel like a cannonball. The pirates tried to stop him, but the crewmembers prevented it by releasing a hail of arrows. Thus, Yin Wuhan slammed into the kakam, striking it dead center with his fists.

The boat shattered.

Hou Jingshu and the others stepped back as a large wave rocked their ship. Broken fragments of the enemy vessel struck the deck as the geyser created by Yin Wuhan settled down.

“Let’s deal with them quickly,” Hou Jingshu said.

She, Zheng Yawen, and a slightly recovered Wu Yong rushed to the side. Most of the seamen under the pirates’ command were dead, having drowned. Their corpses floated in the water. But their primary force was swimming toward the ship.

Hou Jingshu thrust her spear forward, extending it like she had in the battle last night. Her aim struck true. It pierced the skull of a pirate. She yanked her spear back, the segments locked into place once more, and she repeated the process. Wu Yong was killing their enemies with blunt force trauma. He smacked them hard enough with his sash to break their necks. Sometimes, he would wrap his sash around their necks and simultaneously strangle and drown them.

The only one who couldn’t attack from a distance was Zheng Yawen, who focused more on stealth and close-range assassinations. She waited until the pirates were climbing up the ship to stab them through the skulls. Of course, this also left her open to assault.

Hou Jingshu’s attention was pulled away when something heavy landed on the deck. She turned around and found a man nearly twice her size, drenched in water, standing on the other side of the ship. He wore a red and black hanfu. He looked young. His long black hair was tied into a ponytail, revealing a youthful face that would have been handsome were his eyes not filled with arrogance and anger.

Despite the obvious anger he must have felt, he smiled at them.

“You must be the ones my subordinate warned me about. I did not think you would be this strong. You have destroyed my ship and killed my people. That has made me quite angry.”

Hou Jingshu snorted as she stepped forward to confront this man, slamming the butt of her spear onto the deck. “If you didn’t want us to kill your subordinates, you should have never attacked us. Those who attack others for selfish reasons should always be prepared to suffer. Karma won’t allow your unjust actions to stand.”

The pirate narrowed his eyes. “Hmph. Karma, you say? There is no such thing. Karma is a fantasy concept made up by people who wish to keep the weak-willed in line. There is only one law in this world, and that’s survival of the fittest. The weak die. Only the strong may stand at the top.”

This was indeed the law that many cultivators abided by. It was this ideal that caused many cultivators to believe the ends justified the means. They would murder, steal, and rape if it meant getting stronger.

Hou Jingshu was different.

“I don’t think you and I will agree here.”

“It seems not.” The pirate said as he reached behind his back and unsheathed a pair of cutlasses. “My name is Xu Yu. Remember it well. That is the name of the man who is going to kill you.”

Xu Yu attacked soon after announcing himself. Hou Jingshu backpedaled and swung her spear as the man tried to biset her with his swords. She parried each blow by rapidly spinning her spear around.

The strength he wielded was impressive. She could feel a tingling in her hands as she parried each blow, but that was all. This man was, fortunately, only at the eighth subrealm of the Anima Realm, just like the captain said. Not only did he have a weaker cultivation than her, but she had the advantage of possessing a Perfect Physique.

Hou Jingshu used her superior physical abilities to begin pushing Xu Yu back. The man’s eyes widened as he stumbled backward. She thrust out her spear. It was blocked, but she unleashed a powerful blast of chi that sent the man stumbling back some more. Xu Yu soon slammed into the ship’s rail.

“This is the end!”

With a roar, Hou Jingshu took a step forward to attack, but her danger sense screamed at her seconds later. She leapt back as Xu Yu slammed his foot into the deck. The wood broke and the area where she had been standing cracked. It wasn’t a large crack, but her leg would have gotten stuck if she’d kept moving.

This man knows how to use the environment to his advantage. In that case…

Hou Jingshu thrust her spear forward, this time disengaging the segments so she could extend her range. Her attack was swatted away by the cutlass in Xu Yu’s left hand. He took a step forward as though to close the distance, but he was forced back when Hou Jingshu swung her arm and made the spear attack from behind him.

“I see. You control this spear with your chi. What rank of weapon is this? Middle-grade profound earth? It’s quite strong,” said Xu Yu.

“You don’t need to know that,” Hou Jingshu said as she attacked from another angle.

The biggest advantage of her weapon outside of its reach was the fact that she could attack from whatever angle she pleased. The downside was that it took time for her weapon to move. Xu Yu had plenty of time to react.

That’s why she often supplemented her attacks with deceptive strikes.

Hou Jingshu withdrew the two hair pins from her hair and threw them with a flick of her wrist. Xu Yu saw them coming and swung his swords in an X-pattern. Chi erupted from the cutlasses, formed the shape of an X, and knocked the hair pins away. However, that single distraction allowed Hou Jingshu to cut her opponent’s arm. The man hissed as blood flew from his arm. He did not let go of his weapons, however.

“Tch. You really are powerful. I can see now that capturing you was never an option,” Xu Yu said with a growl.

Hou Jingshu didn’t bother responding this time. She was prepared to end this.

She dashed forward, then leapt into the air. Xu Yu laughed at her foolishness, but Hou Jingshu paid his words no mind as she thrust out her spear. It unlatched and extended once more. Xu Yu leapt out of the way, and her spear impaled the deck.

“What are you even doing?! Don’t you know how disadvantaged you are in the air?! Now you can’t dodge my attack!”

Yet even as Xu Yu mocked her, Hou Jingshu channeled chi through her spear. She was yanked forward as the segments retracted and locked into place. Now crouched on the ground, Hou Jingshu was directly inside her enemy’s guard.

“What?!”

Xu Yu’s eyes widened as Hou Jingshu let go of the spear. It would have taken too long to pull out. She channeled chi into her palms, stepped forward, and launched a double palm thrust at Xu Yu’s chest. An explosion of energy engulfed the man. It took the shape of a dragon. The sound of its roar echoed around the ship as the man caught within its grip was thrown clean off the deck.

The dragon made of chi kept a firm grip on the man. Its teeth had punched holes in his body. It curved up as the man screamed, then swooped down and slammed into the water’s surface. A geyser erupted. Hou Jingshu found herself being sprayed with water. Yet she ignored that and walked over to the ledge, looking down to see the body of her enemy floating on the ocean.

He was dead.

She turned to the pirates still fighting.

“Your captain is dead! If you don’t want to meet the same fate, lay down your arms now!”

Most of the pirates were only at the Hunger Realm. The moment they realized their captain had lost, they threw down their weapons.

Victory was hers.