Writing Novels Will Make You Invincible

Chapter 33 : The Pillar of Strength

The Pillar of Strength

Chu Tianxing grabbed his bow and arrows and headed into the ship's corridor.

His steps were quick but steady, giving off this vibe like the sky could fall and he wouldn't even blink.

Watching his retreating figure, everyone in the hall couldn't help but feel their hearts skip a beat in admiration.

One classmate got so caught up in the moment that he started reciting poetry. "The wind howls cold over Yi River, when a hero departs never to—"

(TL Note: Return)

SMACK!

Before he could finish, Qin Ling sent him flying with a spinning side kick, plastering him against the wall like a mural...

CLANG!

Another thunderous crash echoed from the wall. The dent had grown, the fist-sized bulge now swelling to the size of a man's head.

Nobody dared take this lightly. They quickly pulled their attention away from Chu Tianxing and formed up behind Qin Ling, Xiao Hu, and Gao Yuan. They formed up and took a defensive stance before the spot that was being violently battered by the fish monsters.

CLANG!

Another massive impact.

Finally, the wall gave way with an egg-sized hole.

Then, a blood-red eye, filled with bloodthirsty malice, pressed itself against the hole and peered into the hall.

Seeing this, Qin Ling didn't hesitate. She thrust forward with her Imperial Guard saber and stabbed straight at the hole.

With a soft squish, the tip of the saber plunged deep into the fish monster's eye, driving straight into the skull.

The spying fish monster on the other side didn't make a sound before dropping dead instantly.

But Qin Ling's strike also pissed off the fish monsters on the other side of the wall.

Suddenly, the clanging crashes came non-stop as the hole in the wall kept getting bigger and bigger.

Qin Ling, Xiao Hu, and the others tried stabbing through the opening with their long sabers, but the fish monsters had learned their lesson. They wouldn't show themselves directly in front of the hole anymore. Instead, they hide on either side while using heavy weapons to pound the wall to make the opening even larger.

Qin Ling and the others had no choice but to guard the breach, watching helplessly as the fish monsters expanded the hole more and more.

Just when everyone was at their wits' end...

Chu Tianxing returned to the hall, still carrying his bow and arrows.

Seeing him looking like nothing had happened, Xiao Hu couldn't help asking in surprise. "How are you back already?"

Chu Tianxing replied: "Problem's solved, so obviously I came back."

"How'd you solve it?"

"Walked over, drew the bow, shot an arrow. Problem solved."

His calm and composed delivery made it sound like he'd just strolled over and taken a shot at a stationary target, leaving everyone speechless.

Just then, another loud crash echoed and the hole in the wall expanded enough for a small child to crawl through.

Of course, this size still wasn't big enough for the bulky fish monsters to squeeze through.

But some of the fish monsters couldn't hold back anymore and started showing themselves on the other side of the opening, baring their teeth and making threatening gestures at everyone in the hall.

They were smart enough about it, though. They made sure to stay far enough away from the hole so that Qin Ling and the others couldn't get to them.

Too bad for them, Chu Tianxing was back now.

Seeing the fish monster actually had the balls to bare its teeth and wave its claws on the other side, Chu Tianxing didn't say a word and just drew his bow and shot.

The whole sequence of grabbing an arrow, drawing the bow, and releasing the arrow took less than half a second, and he looked completely casual about it, like he didn't even bother aiming.

But when the bowstring's vibration rang out, the fish monster on the other side immediately dropped.

Only then did everyone see clearly that a feathered arrow had pierced its right eye. The shaft had penetrated almost its entire skull, leaving only a small section of the feathered tail outside its eye socket.

Seeing this scene, everyone finally understood what Chu Tianxing meant by "walked over, drew the bow, shot an arrow, problem solved."

Who needs to aim when you have this kind of godly archery? He just needed to draw and release his arrow, and there was simply no way the spellcasting fish monster and its elite guards outside could have reacted in time.

Seeing that their enemy now possessed a ranged attack, the fish monsters on the other side of the breach no longer dared to loiter in front of the opening. They camped up on either side of the hole and kept frantically hammering the wall to make the opening bigger.

There isn’t much Chu Tianxing could do about this situation. He could only put away his bow and arrow, draw his saber, and pick up a riot shield that a nearby classmate handed him and joined the frontline.

Xiao Hu never took his eyes off the breach, but shot Chu Tianxing a sideways glare. "You any good with that thing? Try not to take one of our heads off when the fight starts."

Chu Tianxing turned his head and looked at him with gentle eyes. "Don't worry. My saber skills might not match my archery, but I can still hold my own in a fight."

His saber techniques were just second or third-rate stuffs from the Legend of the Condor Heroes. Way below in caliber compared to the archery he learned from Jebe and Guo Jing.

But even those so-so saber skills were more than enough to handle this fight.

"Saber skills, divine archery, can handle a hundred-pound steel rod, explosive-type lightness skill that's shockingly fast, evasive lightness skill that's incredibly agile, plus that palm technique..."

Xiao Hu looked as if he was having an existential crisis. "Is there anything you can't do?"

Chu Tianxing smiled. "To put it modestly, there's still a lot I can't do."

"What about the immodest answer?"

"The immodest answer..." Chu Tianxing pretended to think for a moment, then put on a serious face. "Is there anything I can't do?"

Xiao Hu immediately looked completely defeated. "You must be a believer in the Lightning Sound Buddha, right? You must have chanted his name and received his blessing from afar, right? Right?!"

Chu Tianxing shook his head. "Sorry, I'm not a Buddhist."

Xiao Hu refused to give up. "Then how'd you get so damn good? There's gotta be a reason!"

Chu Tianxing put on a wistful expression: "Life can be pretty bizarre sometimes. I never expected that just taking a stroll around my neighborhood, I'd stumble across a Creation Pill made by Thunder God Yu Jiang... Maybe it's just fate!"

"You found a Creation Pill?!"

Xiao Hu looked like he was about to lose it. "How is that even possible? Who has that kind of luck?"

"Well, didn't Little Guo just stumble into a Jin Dynasty prince's mansion and end up drinking an entire precious snake's blood? Didn't he randomly meet some old beggar and learn the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms?"

"Hey, you read Condor Heroes too?"

Xiao Hu perked up. "What's your ID in the comments? Are you one of those eternal lurkers? Do you actually pay for the legit version? If you're broke and can't afford it, I can top up your account... wait, no, don't change the subject! That kid you're talking about is the main character of a novel! If the protagonist doesn't have some crazy encounters, how could he be called a protagonist?"

Chu Tianxing chuckled. "Then maybe... I'm the main character of this era?"

"..."

Xiao Hu was completely speechless.

While these two were bickering, the classmates arrayed for battle behind them and to the sides couldn't help but get drawn into their conversation.

Even though their eyes stayed glued to the constantly expanding breach in the wall, their ears perked up involuntarily to listen to their chat.

And hearing this seemingly joking conversation between Chu Tianxing and Xiao Hu, everyone's extremely taut nerves unknowingly began to ease.

They thought of Chu Tianxing's unruffled composure when he had gone to help the security team, of his nonchalant air when he returned, of his divinely accurate archery that had killed a fish monster in a single, casual shot, and of his question, "Is there anything I can't do?"

An inexplicable sense of security settled in everyone's hearts.

It was like they had found their pillar of strength. The fish monsters that could break through the wall at any moment now seemed far less terrifying.

Just then, two four-clawed iron anchors reached in from both sides of the hole in the wall, each using two anchor claws to hook onto the edges of the breach.

Seeing this, Chu Tianxing's expression sharpened. "Heads up! The monsters are about to charge in!"

The moment his voice fell, the two iron anchors pulled forcefully outwards to the left and right.

With an ear-splitting sound of tearing metal, the breach that had already expanded to a considerable size suddenly had its edges ripped apart by the two anchors, revealing a large opening that could accommodate several fish monsters charging through at once.

Then came the hoarse, guttural roars of the fish monsters, and several of them came pouring in, waving knives and spears.

"Brace yourself!"

Chu Tianxing shouted and stepped forward, using his left-hand shield to deflect a spear thrust aimed at his face while his right-hand saber smoothly followed through, stabbing the fish monster clean through.

Xiao Hu and Qin Ling, wielding their Imperial Guard sabers, didn't need to step forward. They thrust their long blades out like spears, each skewering a fish monster.

Gao Yuan, Chen Musheng, Xu Jing, Li Haiyang, and the others also raised shields and brandished their sabers, advancing from the flanks to guard the breach, using shield bashes and saber thrusts to hold every inch of ground. Through their coordinated efforts, the several fish monsters that had charged in were quickly left as corpses on the ground.

But this was just the beginning. More fish monsters immediately came trampling over their comrades' blood, stepping over their corpses, howling as they charged in.

At the same time, those two iron anchors that had torn open the dining hall wall started looking for good angles to hook in again, ready to repeat their trick and rip the wall opening even wider.

All the classmates with martial arts training were arrayed on the left side of the breach, while the sixty-something ship captain led his crew to guard the right side of the opening, ready for battle at any moment.

Meanwhile, the fighting continued in the ship's corridor.

Even after Chu Tianxing killed that red-scaled monster with the ice attack, the monsters kept coming as if driven by something.

This left the security captain and his men completely unable to spare anyone to return and support the dining hall.

A bloody battle was now unavoidable.

Below the cruise ship, above the sea surface.

A giant shark measuring ten meters from head to tail slowly surfaced.

Sitting on the shark's back was a massive fish-man standing a full three meters tall with grayish-white scales that glinted with faint golden light under the sunlight.

The bone spikes on its head had grown into the shape of a crown.

Across its chest was a thick breastplate, engraved with strange and arcane patterns that faintly shimmered with a mysterious light and showed not a single trace of rust.

In its hands was a three-meter-long trident with deep blue coloring on the prongs as water vapor faintly streamed around them.

It looked up at this ship that seemed exceptionally beautiful, sturdy, and magnificent compared to other vessels in this world.

It opened its bloody maw, and roared.

"SHIP, MINE! PEOPLE, ALSO MINE! ALL OF IT, A GIFT TO ME FROM GOD! ATTACK! SEIZE WHAT IS MINE!"

BOOM!

Waves surged up and a full five red-scaled staff-wielding fish monsters, along with dozens of blue-scaled elite fish monsters, rode the force of the surging wave to leap up and land on the cruise ship.

The giant fish monster planted its thick legs firmly on the great shark's back and jumped onto the ship's deck as well.