Chapter 312: Freedom

"Yes, I have encountered him a few times," Xue Wei readily admitted. "He was the one who sent us to Yan Dalu when he promised to send us to the Demon Phoenix Continent."

"That's typical Lan," Tao Wu nodded his head, "he is a perpetually unreliable fellow that finds amusement in watching other people suffer."

Thinking about the task at hand, having to get his hands on the Thunder Flame Crown, Xue Wei could only sadly nod his head. It was indeed asking him to suffer to ask him to get it for him.

Tao Wu and Xue Wei did not speak for some time; they just sat by one another looking at different things. Tao Wu's eyes never left the King, while Xue Wei was busy observing Luoluo playing on the deck.

The ship was quickly following after the pirate ship belonging to Tao Wu, but while everyone on the blood ship was rather happy and excited, the members on the pirate ship were anything but pleased.

Tao Wu was known as the King of the Sea of the Enchanted. He was a revered person, a person who was high above the masses. He would slaughter fleets that came after him, he could raise the seas, control the weather, he was a god in their eyes, however, now this god had been tainted.

The King was unaware that the pirates were filled with hostility towards her, that they felt that she had tainted their god. She continued to cultivate onboard the ship.

She was indeed a creature blessed by the heavens; her talents were not only in the spiritual energy category, but she also had an outstanding talent for Qi cultivation and after they had built the blood ship her progress had been upgraded by leaps and bounds since she decided to focus on it, her body growing stronger by the day.

Xue Wei had given her some martial arts techniques so that she could continue to train skills alongside her cultivation base grew stronger, and she never slacked off.

She had decided to use a whip as a weapon, and this whip was a treasure that was specially crafted back in Yan Dalu for her. It was a whip that could be enhanced with both Qi and Spiritual Energy, maximizing her attacks.

Whenever she was training, she was like a dancer, who flickered across the deck, the whip was swirling around her like a ribbon, so fast that no one dared to get close.

Watching her dance like a fairy across the deck, the eyes of Tao Wu lit up with appreciation. It was clear that there was some affection between the two, but for some reason, the King behaved as if there was nothing.

As she finished her dance, Tao Wu looked at her red face, where a thin sheen of sweat was evident.

Her breathing was hurried, and her body was trembling slightly on the verge of collapsing.

She had been training the same technique for the last two hours, spending all the Qi in her body and tired it out completely.

Seeing her tired and exhausted countenance, Tao Wu could no longer hold back, and in a flash, so fast that Xue Wei only saw an afterimage, he was by her side. He took her into his arms and carrying her to the mast where he placed her against the thick main mast and found a gourd filled with spirit wine in his storage artifact.

Everything happened so fast that the King had no time to comment, but when she was seated next to Xue Wei and Tao Wu was trying to make her drink the wine, a bashful blush appeared on her cheeks.

"Drink," Tao Wu said gently, but the King was shaking her head, not willing to do so. She felt that it was too embarrassing being made to drink by him, she could also feel a lot of eyes on her, as if they were laughing at her and Tao Wu's relationship.

"Don't overthink," Xue Wei suddenly said by her side, making her look at him. "Life is precious, and as long as we live, we are moving towards the end. Why not let go and follow our dreams for once? Just give in and do what you want to do, don't think about others and their thoughts. You are no longer held back by the title of the King; you can do what you want to."

Listening to Xue Wei, the King was suddenly enlightened. She had been used to someone watching her every move and ensuring that she never stepped upon the wrong path.

She was a national treasure because of her five eyes, she had been decided as the King from the moment she was born, and all expectations had been placed upon her head.

She dared not act on her own impulses, she dared not do what she truly wished to do, but things had changed. She was no longer the King. She had never been given a name, from the time she was born, she had just been known as the small King, and after the old King passed away, she was the King.

Even now, everyone referred to her as the King, but she understood that this was something that no longer existed in her life. She was free!

Her eyes suddenly turned red, and she bit her lower lip while trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill.

"I want a name," she suddenly said, catching both Tao Wu and Xue Wei entirely by surprise. After thinking about it, they both understood her thoughts.

She wanted a new beginning in life, a fresh start to everything. Looking at her, tenderness overflowed from Tao Wu's eyes, and he reached out his hand and caressed her head. "You should be named Jiang Yingyue. As the moonlight reflects on the river, such a beautiful name only matches a beautiful woman such as yourself."

The King nodded her head, quickly accepting the name given to her by Tao Wu.

Watching the two of them together, Xue Wei smiled, but in his heart, he too was hurting. He could only sigh as he looked into the sky and wished for Wang Xiaoyun to be doing well. At least they were under the same sky, but it was so far away from her that he could not help but feel slightly sad.

After Jiang Yingyue accepted her name, she felt that it was indeed a new life, and she could do what she wished. Since she was free, why not do what she had always wanted to do?

Things had finally managed to make sense to her, and she reached out her hand and grasped Tao Wu's hand in her own. She tightened her grasp and smiled at him.

"When I found you at the beach those years back, and you were injured, I helped you because I was intrigued by your race," she suddenly began speaking, and both Tao Wu and Xue Wei listened curiously as to what she had to say.

"When I got to know you, you fascinated me. I started to see the world outside of Yan Dalu; I began understanding that there was something else than just doing one's duty.

"I understood that the lands were vast and that everyone had dreams that could be followed. I realized from the stories of your life that were my dream, to be free and unfettered on the ocean, traversing the seas and fighting with my life on the line every day.

"I knew that it was impossible for me, but the life of a pirate was the dream I often dreamt about when life got tough.

"When I was down and depressed, I would think about the high seas and the fairytale lifestyle.

"I never thought it would be possible for me to ever live like that, but Xue Wei is correct. I am no longer the King; I am Jiang Yingyue. I am no longer obliged to care about Yan Dalu. They will be just fine without me.

"I want to live life for myself now, I want to become a Pirate, but in all of this, there is one person who had supported me when life was tough. Tao Wu, you were my rock. My support. Please let me join your crew."

Tao Wu was utterly taken by surprise as he listened to Jiang Yingyue's words. He would never have thought that he meant that much to her, he would never have expected that they were possible to be together, but indescribable happiness bubbled in his heart.

"I want you to live life with me; I want you to be mine!" he exclaimed, and Jiang Yingyue smiled as she nodded her head.

After thinking for a bit, Tao Wu's face turned somewhat ugly, "We are different races though, so we can never give birth to children, are you sure that you still want to be with me?"

"I do," Jiang Yingyue did not even hesitate for a moment, she smiled at Tao Wu, her restless and worried heart had finally found its own harbor and place to nestle.

Seeing the two, Xue Wei snickered. He was happy for Jiang Yingyue. She was a good friend of his, and they had known each other for years now.

He knew it was hard for her to make such a decision, but now she was liberated from her chains, now she was finally free.

Like this, everything aboard the ship turned enjoyable. Every sailor and delegation member went to congratulate Tao Wu and Jiang Yingyue; even Luoluo congratulated them in her own way.

"Big sis, this uncle is scary, he has horns," she said when she saw them coming towards her, "but as long as big sis likes him, I will accept him as my uncle!"

Jiang Yingyue felt very guilty towards Luoluo. It was because of her and the other members of the Yan Dalu community that she had been forced into a toddler stage, but she never saw any discomfort on Luoluo's face, in fact, she was delighted with having a big sister like Jiang Yingyue.

Like this, a couple of days went by. Tao Wu took Jiang Yingyue to his own ship to introduce her to the crew, and those who previously had been unhappy with her did their very best to hide their displeasure, they understood better than to challenge their god.

After roughly a week, they suddenly saw an island in the distance; the island was different from most of the flat islands they had passed previously. It was a mountain in the middle of the island, with a jungle shrouding it, and amid the jungle was a big harbor city that took up almost a quarter of the island.

The harbor that was clear to see the closer they got was already almost fully occupied; there were quite a few ships docked.

Many looked curiously at the blood ship and the one belonging to Tao Wu. Tao Wu's boat was well known here on Treasure Island and in Treasure City, but the blood ship was wholly new and something they had never seen before.

Was it loot that Tao Wu had taken with him? Was it a comrade? Was it the beginning of a fleet? Everyone was curious, and slowly, they found two places to dock their ships.

As they docked, an official from the Treasure City arrived and requested a fee to use their dock. They had already been aware of this as Tao Wu had warned them, and the delegation leader from the Demon Phoenix Continent took out a few precious gems that he handed over to the official who smiled and left happily.

These delegations had a lot of treasure on them, and when others saw how easily they paid the high fee, they started getting interested in their treasures, not to mention the ship was so outstanding, as it was docked in the harbor everyone could feel how it was draining the heaven and earth essence towards the ship itself.