Chapter 1222: Chapter 1222 - 1207: Sky-Breaking Dragon-Slaying Crossbow

To be honest, if Princess Jie Youu didn’t appear to be extremely shrewd in certain aspects and did not look like an idiot, Ye Zhen would be unwilling to land on this merchant ship with her.

Even if it is gigantic.

Out of a habit of caution, Ye Zhen is not used to entrusting his life on unknown people or things.

However, the excited expression and determined demeanor on Princess Jie Youu’s face made Ye Zhen feel that this woman wouldn’t be foolish enough to gamble with her own life, right?

As they approached within a hundred miles of the merchant ship, the fleet had already noticed the commotion over here, and the movements of the sailor guards on the flagship were incessant.

"They seem not to welcome us?" Ye Zhen frowned and said.

"The Great Zhou’s decree, if encountering humans being hunted by the two clans of demons and monsters, and failing to rescue them is forbidden; merchants will be exiled as slaves, soldiers dispatched, nobles will have their titles stripped!" Princess Jie Youu said lightly with her red lips.

This decree caused Ye Zhen to frown again. Observing that merchant fleet, it didn’t look like they intended to rescue anyone.

Princess Jie Youu swiftly took out a small seal, red at the top and blue at the bottom, and quickly stamped it on a blank purple jade talisman, then crushed the seal-bearing purple jade talisman into pieces.

The purple talisman light suddenly exploded into the sky, and in the light, a small seal, red at the top and blue at the bottom, shone with divine light, distinctly visible.

Even Ye Zhen could see the engraved words on the seal, reading ’Jie Youu’ and ’Commandery’, surrounded by various embossed icons symbolizing authority, gender and more.

Ye Zhen had some basic knowledge about the seal; the four words ’Jie Youu’ represented the title while ’Commandery’ denoted the level, and those feminine beast engravings likely contained complex information, like gender and more.

Simply put, Princess Jie Youu directly revealed her identity.

With this revelation, the semaphore on the merchant ship’s fleet below began to flash incessantly, the sailor guards on the deck made new moves, and this time, Ye Zhen could see clearly, it was obviously a defensive stance.

Several giant crossbows over ten meters long were uncovered, beginning to shine with the brilliance of spiritual power.

Seeing Ye Zhen taken aback by this series of changes, Princess Jie Youu smiled triumphantly, "Didn’t I say it? We are saved!" With that, Princess Jie Youu immediately rushed towards the merchant ship below.

Actually, when telling Ye Zhen about the Great Zhou’s decree earlier, Princess Jie Youu omitted some details, as the decree wasn’t as simple as she had stated.

When they landed on the merchant flagship named Red Maple Ship, the deck was already full of people, with an elder in brocade clothing standing at the forefront, surrounded by at least a thousand sailors and guards.

"I am Guo, the Grand Steward of this merchant fleet. So it was you who sent the rescue talisman communication, right? Please present your identity jade talisman once more for us to verify!" The elder in the garb of a butler said.

Upon landing on the deck, Princess Jie Youu stood elegantly with her hands hidden in her long sleeves, her chin slightly raised, her delicate face void of emotion, exuding a noble aura that made many sailors dare not look directly.

"I am Princess Jie Youu of Xitian Commandery." As she spoke, the red-top-blue-bottom seal she had just taken out flew out, radiating a gentle light, and in the light emanating from the back of the seal, the figure of a woman in royal dress emerged, suddenly merging with Princess Jie Youu’s silhouette.

A breath comparable to that of a primordial beast burst from the princess seal, and a majestic voice arose, "Appoint Liang Clan Biyu of Xitian Commandery as Commandery Princess, title Jie Youu!"

The majestic voice and the beast-like aura vanished as quickly as they appeared, but the expressions of the sailor guards opposite became extremely solemn, including Chief Guo of the merchant fleet.

Then, led by Chief Guo, over a thousand sailors and guards knelt down in unison.

"We pay respects to Princess Jie Youu!"

In the chant of hills and seas, a smile appeared on Princess Jie Youu’s pretty face, a hint of intoxication flashing through her eyes.

Even being above many others in Xiansheng Water Mansion could not compare to the prestige of being a princess among humans.

Ye Zhen’s expression showed some shock as he hurriedly stepped aside.

Because Ye Zhen discovered that of the thousand people kneeling before Princess Jie Youu, over twenty were Dao Entrance Realm martial artists, including Chief Guo in front, who was also in the Dao Entrance Realm.

Over twenty Dao Entrance Realm martial artists, just on this one flagship, counting the other six ships, the number of Dao Entrance Realm martial artists could well exceed a hundred, right?

Moreover, under Ye Zhen’s dispersing Divine Sense perception, he found there was another extremely subtle aura on this merchant flagship, very powerful, already reaching the level of Ye Zhen’s Mirage Dragon Pearl and Demon Marshal’s Essence Orb aura.

In other words, this merchant fleet had a Divine Communication Realm presence overseeing it, though likely as a tributor.

The terrifying Divine Communication Realm presence’s Divine Sense merely brushed over Ye Zhen before fading away, not even making an appearance.

What surprised Ye Zhen, however, were these kneeling Dao Entrance Realm martial artists.

On the True Profound Continent, as long as one’s cultivation reached the Soul Sea Realm, one didn’t need to bow to kings; cultivation reaching the Vein Forging Realm equated to prince or duke status; if cultivation broke through to the Establishment Realm, one was nearly on par with ordinary secular emperors.

As for those in the Dao Entrance Realm, secular emperors had to bow to them.

But here, on the Primordial Continent, all these Dao Entrance Realm martial artists were kneeling before Princess Jie Youu, a mere young woman, and appeared to be doing so very naturally.

Suddenly, Ye Zhen realized that on the Primordial Continent, the value of a noble title seemed extraordinary.

Even just a commandery princess could make numerous Dao Entrance Realm experts obediently kneel, and the noble title of Princess Jie Youu’s father was merely the Earl of Xitian.

Then what about those conferred as Marquises?

Suddenly, Ye Zhen realized that Ming Tang, the Marquis of Yellow Wind, might be even more powerful than he imagined.

Another thing, Ye Zhen also took note of.

In the bounty papers presented by Princess Jie Youu, the most valuable might not be those hundred Psychic Spirit Pills, but the title of Golden Cavalry Guard.

The Golden Cavalry Guard is the third rank of the Great Zhou Empire’s noble titles, with the first and second ranks being Iron Cavalry Captain and Silver Knight respectively.

As long as one obtains the title of Iron Cavalry Captain, throughout the Great Zhou Empire, they are considered to have left the realm of commoners. As for the Golden Cavalry Guard, that is a bona fide official status, with many privileges reserved for nobles.

Originally, Ye Zhen didn’t care about the noble status, but after witnessing the imposing aura of Princess Jie Youu today, his mindset suddenly shifted.

"Alright, everyone rise. Chief Guo, Jie Youu still relies on you all for rescue today!" Relaxing her mind, Princess Jie Youu lazily stretched, her voluptuous figure causing many sailor guards to eye her brightly, but soon they lowered their heads in fear.

Hearing this, Chief Guo, who had risen, looked at the tens of thousands of Water Demons surging toward the fleet on the sea surface and suddenly let out a sinister, fierce laugh.

"I wonder where these ignorant Wild Demons come from, daring to collide with a fleet flying our Great Zhou’s black flag, courting death!"

As he spat out the words ’courting death’, Chief Guo suddenly waved his hand and said, "Lads, this is a rare opportunity, let’s test its power!"

Just as Ye Zhen was puzzled, a tall Martial Artist standing over two meters beside Chief Guo, with a shiny bald head, grinned wickedly, a flash of light from his storage ring revealing a massive crossbow cannon, over a hundred meters long and more than fifty meters wide, appearing on the deck space.

Made entirely of an unknown metal with a complex structure, it gleamed with a cold brilliance, and every part was inscribed with incredibly intricate and mysterious carvings and talisman patterns.

That shiny bald head grinned once again as a massive crossbow bolt, over a hundred meters long and as thick as Ye Zhen’s waist, was mounted onto the crossbow cannon.

Likewise, this gigantic crossbow bolt was also inscribed with extremely intricate talisman scripts and carvings, and the moment it was installed, each talisman pattern began to sparkle!

Even though he was several dozens of meters away from it, Ye Zhen’s heart could still feel an indescribable, fear-like dread.

Just the aura it emitted was that terrifying!

"Fire!"

Boom!

With a vicious grin, that shiny bald head held a massive iron hammer and smashed it heavily onto the crossbow cannon.

Whoosh!

A dazzling beam of light suddenly shot through the sky, resembling a thunderbolt, striking the Blue-Robed Water Demon who was chasing fiercely and gnashing its teeth, cursing at Ye Zhen.

Ye Zhen seemed to see the fear on the Blue-Robed Water Demon’s face.

The blinding light cluster flickered in the void for a moment and then vanished!

Everything within a kilometer radius around the Blue-Robed Water Demon disappeared without a trace.

That’s right, completely vanished.

Whether it was the other two Dao Entrance Realm Grand Demons following closely on either side of the Blue-Robed Water Demon, or the hundreds of Mid to Late Establishment Realm Water Demons flying in the air below, everything disappeared!

All this left Ye Zhen dumbstruck, utterly shocked.

The sailors and guards on the Red Maple Ship looked at this scene and burst into wild laughter, watching Ye Zhen’s utter shock with delight.

The very next moment, the surviving Dao Entrance Realm Grand Demons and thousands of Establishment Realm Water Demons screamed madly, darting towards the depths of the sea, disappearing instantly.

A few breaths later, the sea surface had returned to calm!

"Chief Guo, this should be the Sky-Breaking Dragon-Slaying Crossbow, right? This power exceeds my expectations." Princess Jie Youu said calmly.

Chief Guo cupped his hands, "Your Highness, when trading fleets reach a certain size and have patrons, they can rent a Sky-Breaking Dragon-Slaying Crossbow from the military departments of the provinces. However, the Sky-Breaking Dragon-Slaying Arrows we purchased are of the lowest grade, of course, they’re sufficient to deal with these Wild Demons."

Speaking, Chief Guo flipped out a Jade Book from his palm, chuckled quietly, and handed it to Princess Jie Youu, "Today, to save Her Highness Princess Jie Youu, we’ve used up several Sky-Breaking Dragon-Slaying Arrows. Please, Your Highness, affix your seal!"