On the largest ship at the very center of the front row, Zhao Yusheng was setting up the formation array on the deck, with Qiao Mu and Jian Yi guarding him on either side.

With Xiao Yingtao’s help, Zhao Yusheng had finished preparing everything that was needed.

Holding a wooden sword, he stood in the center of the formation, gazing into the distance. “If I’m not mistaken, what lies ahead really is a Linked Formation.”

“Do you have confidence in this?” Qiao Mu asked in a low voice.

“If it really is the Candied Hawthorn Formation, then I’m fairly confident.” Zhao Yusheng replied softly.

Qiao Mu turned her head to look at Zhao Yusheng, her crescent brows knitting slightly. “The Candied Hawthorn Formation?”

Not only Qiao Mu — even Jian Yi turned his head at the sound of that name, looking at Zhao Yusheng.

“That’s right.” Zhao Yusheng met Qiao Mu’s gaze, nodded, and sat down. “That’s the name given in the book.”

“Zhao Yusheng, where did this book of yours come from? What does such a terrifying formation have to do with candied hawthorns?” Qiao Mu’s low voice rang out again.

“This book of mine wasn’t easy to come by. As for the ‘candied hawthorn,’ I think it just refers to things strung together in a row.” Zhao Yusheng nodded and looked away.

“It’s called the Linked Formation because it’s a chain of formations, one after another — that’s probably how the name came about.”

“Actually it has another name too, but one of the characters in it is too obscure — I don’t even know how to read it, so I just went with this latter name instead.”

“Candied Hawthorn is fine, though — easy to remember, and easy to understand.”

Zhao Yusheng glanced up at Xiao Yingtao and said softly, “Xiao Yingtao, go and have Xing Zizhou inform everyone.”

“Tell them they absolutely must hold the ships steady, no matter what. I’ll handle everything else.”

“Got it.” Xiao Yingtao nodded and turned to leave.

Qiao Mu stared at the strange sky ahead, no longer in the mood to dwell on the formation’s name.

Jian Yi hadn’t said a word the whole time. He merely glanced at Zhao Yusheng before turning his gaze forward again.

Soon, the wind shifted, and before long it seemed to blow from no direction at all.

The brothers standing on deck whose internal energy was a little weaker began to sway in every direction with the wind.

No one knew what lay ahead, nor how Zhao Yusheng’s preparations were coming along. They held only one conviction in their hearts: to hold the ships steady no matter what.

As long as they got through this, everything would be fine.

Ahead, a vast black mass of clouds came rolling in, and in an instant the world turned pitch black — so dark that one couldn’t see a hand in front of one’s face.

The powerful wind abruptly stopped, and the surroundings grew much quieter.

On the ships, apart from the brothers below deck who, by the dim lamplight, kept busy driving the ships forward, everyone else stood motionless on the deck.

“Brothers, get ready to break through the first formation — whatever you do, don’t let your guard down!” Zhao Yusheng shouted, looking ahead, then closed his eyes.

“Brothers, get ready to break through the first formation — whatever you do, don’t let your guard down!” the captain of the central ship shouted.

“Brothers, get ready to break through the first formation — whatever you do, don’t let your guard down!” Every captain outward from the center who heard the call immediately shouted it onward.

The captains’ voices, carried on internal energy, rang out powerfully.

Wave after wave of forceful, resounding voices passed the order along, and soon the brothers on all twenty-some ships had received it.

The brothers planted their stances firmly and used all the strength in their bodies to keep the ships steady.

The wind died down. The ships, steadier now than usual, picked up speed as they advanced.

In less than a quarter hour, a white hole suddenly opened in the sky ahead.

The opening grew larger and larger, white light pouring out of it, forming a stark contrast against the surrounding darkness.

Every brother on deck saw it all unfold before their eyes.

Even though none of them had ever witnessed such a sight before, not a trace of fear showed on the brothers’ faces.

Qiao Mu and Jian Yi continued to guard Zhao Yusheng’s side.

Xiao Yingtao stood behind Zhao Yusheng, holding a wooden sword.

The brothers on their ship encircled the few people within the formation, ring upon ring.

The opening in the sky grew ever larger, the white light pouring out of it growing ever stronger, until it was nearly blinding.

Suddenly a force pushed everyone forward, and even the ships’ forward speed increased considerably.

At some point, Zhao Yusheng had opened his eyes. He stared unblinking at the dazzling ring of light, calm and composed.

Seeing him like this, Qiao Mu felt the heavy stone in her heart ease somewhat.

The ring of light’s pull on the outside world grew stronger and stronger, but the brothers kept their heads held high, holding their ground without yielding.

Zhao Yusheng closed his eyes again, muttering an incantation under his breath.

At the same time, Xiao Yingtao raised her wooden sword and kindled a ball of fire.

Zhao Yusheng snatched up the silver sword before him and sprang to his feet, sending the flames swirling outward.

Within the formation the two of them had created, a beam of light suddenly flared up and shot straight toward the intense white light in the sky.

The light pouring down from the distant sky was bright but scattered, while the beam shooting up from within Zhao Yusheng’s formation was thin, yet it looked tremendously intense.

The intense beam shot straight into the great hole in the sky, and with a deafening boom, the hole burst open and vanished without a trace in an instant.

With the hole gone, the surrounding gloom cleared away entirely; in the span of a single breath the sky returned to normal, and the strange wind dispersed along with it.

Everyone on deck stood frozen in place, staring at the clear night sky with its bright moon and scattered stars, not daring to speak or move.

“We… we did it?” Xiao Yingtao, still gripping her wooden sword, turned her gaze away in disbelief and looked at Zhao Yusheng beside her.

Zhao Yusheng took a deep breath, turned to meet her eyes, and nodded.

Overcome with excitement, Xiao Yingtao threw down the wooden sword in her hand and flung herself at Zhao Yusheng.

“We did it, Zhao Yusheng, we did it, we really did it!”

Xiao Yingtao herself didn’t know where she’d found the courage to agree to help Zhao Yusheng break the formation together.

At the time, Zhao Yusheng had said she was the most suitable person for it, so she had simply nodded along.

Afterward, whenever she thought about how a single mistake on her part could have endangered so many of their brothers, she had been unable to sleep well for days.

It was only because she didn’t want anyone to worry that she had forced herself to act normal.

She hadn’t expected that her very first time taking part in breaking a formation would actually succeed.

Overjoyed, Xiao Yingtao completely forgot any notion of propriety between men and women, and threw her arms around the first person she saw.

Zhao Yusheng was glad in his heart too — at the very least, he hadn’t let Jiu’er down, and had successfully broken the formation.

He stood there, lost in thought as he gazed at a small face that seemed to surface in the moon, and didn’t immediately register that Xiao Yingtao had thrown her arms around him.

Xing Zizhou hurried over, meaning to give his little girl a big hug — only to find her embracing Zhao Yusheng instead.

“We did it, we—” Xiao Yingtao, still caught up in her excitement, finally came to her senses.

At the same moment, Zhao Yusheng also came back to himself, looking away and down at the woman embracing him.

Their eyes met, and Xiao Yingtao abruptly let go of Zhao Yusheng.

A clear, startled cry from Xiao Yingtao rang out across the great ship.