"Dong!... Woo!"

The sun shone coldly, the north was desolate, it was the perfect season for martial prowess. The Tiantai Sect’s customs ship fleet cut through ten soaring waves, advancing like fierce wolves towards the camp on the shore. Then, at a hundred-step distance, the ten customs ships agilely turned sideways, presenting their flanks.

"Swish! Swish swish!"

A fierce rain of arrows shot out from the arrow slits on the sides of the customs ships, flying towards the ship barriers guarded by the Kingdom. Through the narrow crevices, two rows of crossed monk soldiers could be faintly seen, firing one volley after another.

"Swish! Swish swish!"

"Thud! Thud thud thud!"

Within moments, the ship barriers of the Kingdom by the shore, from the ship’s hull to the middle of the ship, from the ship’s side to the elevated shield, were filled with many long blue and white arrows. The Warrior Chief Tamikusa quickly pulled out a long arrow to inspect, pupils contracting.

"?!... Iron-tipped sharp arrowheads, wooden long arrow shafts, and even evil runes engraved on them?..."

Clearly, the Tiantai Sect fleet spared no expense for the "Shandan Gold Capture." Even the feathered arrows fired were the rare "iron-tipped arrows" from the northern nomadic tribes. The blue-white arrow shafts were also engraved with small "Ten Thousand Character," possibly even blessed by a Great Monk!

"Chief Divine protect! Fire! Shoot!"

"Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh!"

The Kingdom’s bow and arrows, influenced by the Rokube Shandan Hunters and Jurchen Tribe archers, used tendons as bowstrings, producing a sharper sound. Two to three hundred sharp feathered arrows rose from the shore, nailing into the side panels of the customs ships, resembling white fur. However, hitting the monk soldiers inside from the narrow custom shooting holes was as difficult as the monk soldiers breaking through the ship barriers’ shields and hitting the armored warriors of the Kingdom.

"Swish! Swish swish!"

"Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh!"

Over the more than a hundred-step sea, the customs ship fleet of the Japanese and the Kingdom’s ship barriers shot back and forth for nearly ten rounds. Both the customs ships at sea and the oar-sailed longships on the shore became porcupines, filled with arrows. Sporadic screams occasionally echoed from the warriors on both sides, with a combined casualty count of probably fewer than ten.

"Chief Divine protect! Stop! Don’t shoot anymore! Raise the shields above your heads, and defend tightly!"

Arrows crisscrossed and struck everywhere, resembling the borrowed arrows on the straw boats. Tower Master Tamikusa, responsible for commanding, frowned, observing the nearly invisible casualties on the customs ships, and called "Stop."

Continuing this futile shooting would mean not knowing how long the Tiantai Sect’s iron arrows would last, while the Kingdom’s arrows would certainly run out first. After all, with the Tiantai Sect backed by Japan’s Kansai region, with its cheap and plentiful arrow-making craftsmen, and the devout labor of believers, the Kingdom only had over a thousand tribesmen, primarily warriors. Their arrows falling into the sea were hard to recover. It was better to let the Tiantai Sect’s fleet exhaust their arrows shooting towards the shore, and then collect the arrow shafts and heads—at least thousands of iron arrows!

"Swish! Swish swish!"

"Swish! Swish swish!"

The deep-throated Japanese bows fired fiercely several rounds, even precisely nailing onto the cloth armor of the warriors through the shield’s gaps. However, since it was a shore-guarding ship barrier instead of a naval battle, layers of heavy armor could be donned as much as possible. Trying to injure the heavy armored warriors holding the great shield with bows and arrows was not that easy!

"Dong!... Woo!"

The Dharma conch sounded once more, the Tiantai fleet halted their shooting and neatly turned their ship bows. The Shiba Official, commanding the Japanese fleet, also seemed to sense something. Since the first strike of this "Gale Arrow Rain" had not been effective, then there was only one option...

"Creak! Crack!"

The ten customs ships simultaneously turned their ship bows, with their sterns facing the shore. Low humming of the stringing sounded in turn, pausing tensely for a few seconds before a series of muffled buzzing followed!

"Buzz!"

"Bang! Crack!!..."

Ten heavy crossbow spears shot towards the shore, looking slow. Immediately followed by a spine-chilling sound of wood penetration and breaking wood. Those heavy iron spears directly broke through the side of the longship, even knocking down and killing two of the Shandan archers behind the side panel on the spot!

"... Pierced through the ship planks and the shield?!"

Witnessing this astonishing scene, Zuwaro’s eyes widened instantly. He grabbed Ryuzoji Temple Jia Hong beside him and urgently asked sharply.

"What is this? Hong! What is this?!"

"Ah! Lord Priest! This is what I mentioned before... Tang Crossbow... a bed crossbow requiring four people to string together!"

"Damn it! How does this Japanese Temple fleet have such powerful weapons?! I’ve never seen crossbows in the Kaozaki Family’s army, let alone such large bed crossbows!"

"Uh! Lord, how can the Kaozaki Clan at the head of Ezo compare to the Tiantai Sect in Kansai? Just like these bed crossbows made by Korea craftsmen, the Kaozaki Family has never even seen them..."

"?! How are these Korean Tribe craftsmen involved again?"

"Chief Divine witness! No choice, their technology is good and easy to get. Such sophisticated ship weapons are crafted best by craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty and Korea. We can’t possibly cross thousands of miles of sea to find craftsmen from the Ming, they wouldn’t come anyway..."

Ryuzoji Temple Jia Hong grinned, once again making a warrior’s joke at the easy-to-bully Kingdom of Korea. But Zuwaro didn’t laugh, he remained grim, observing the slight chaos on the ship barriers. For the second round of bed crossbows had fired again, continuing to kill another Kingdom archer and wounding two more.

"Bang! Crack!!..."

"Lord Priest! No need to worry, Lord Priest!"

Noticing Zuwaro’s tension, Ryuzoji Temple Jia Hong’s eyes flickered, and he quickly approached. He pointed at the bed crossbows at the stern of the customs ships, smiling.

"Lord! The bed crossbows on this ship are indeed powerful, but they’re not meant to be used like this! Their true purpose is during naval battles, to break through the opponent’s hull, create chaos on the ship, cause their naval forces to fall into the water or their ships to lose balance and capsize... However, shooting at the shore with bed crossbows looks fierce but won’t cause much damage!"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"Chief Divine protect! Because these bed crossbows have a fatal flaw, which is that their force is too great, and their structure is intricate, so the iron and wood components inside easily break!"

Ryuzoji Temple Jia Hong smiled as if he was a wise strategist, just missing a swaying feathered fan.

"Watch closely! No more than ten or twenty rounds, these bed crossbows won’t be able to shoot anymore and will have to return to find skilled craftsmen for thorough repairs!"

"Really?"

"It’s absolutely true, it’s absolutely true!"

"Buzz!"

"Bang! Crack!!..."

With the sterns of the ten customs ships facing the shore, they fired consecutively for sixteen or seventeen rounds before dying down. About ten shooters on the ship barriers were casualties, and the initial chaos from seeing bed crossbows for the first time quickly settled. Warrior Chief Tamikusa quickly adjusted, instructing the warriors to crouch behind the ship side and stack another layer of shields.

"Buzz!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!!..."

Then, ten customs ships agilely turned to face the shore again, using the bed crossbows at the bow to shoot for another dozen rounds. This time, the warriors on the ship barriers were prepared, stacking two shields and one armor, resulting in only four or five injuries. When the bed crossbows stopped, having exhausted their "As Forest Heavy Spear" second strike, the ten customs ships noticeably paused for a moment.

It wasn’t until a more abrupt Dharma conch sounded that the Tiantai fleet turned once more, aligning the shooting side with the shore. It was not until half a quarter later that no feathered arrows flew out.

"Jia Hong, what are they doing?"

"Lord Priest, they are lighting the fire..."

Ryuzoji Temple Jia Hong squinted at the faint flames behind the customs ships’ shooting holes. He already anticipated what this third "axe" of the Tiantai fleet was! It truly was the real trump card, though this was not a naval battle, but an invitation into a trap on land...

"Whistle! Whistle whistle!"

Another half quarter passed before countless fire arrows suddenly shot out from the customs ships’ sides, screeching sharply as they flew towards the ship barriers on the shore, even shooting further into the Shandan Camp! Zuwaro suddenly widened his eyes, impossibly staring at the whistling fire arrows, gripping Ryuzoji Temple Jia Hong’s wrist tightly.

"! Gunpowder arrows?!"

"Even the Japanese from the Western Sea Continent have gunpowder arrows?!"