The barrel from the Dragon-Turtle struck the Sun-Piercer’s shield eighty paces above the sea. The six-sided ward flashed white and took the blow. Then the barrel burst. Green fire ran down the ward and spread across the deck below. Black smoke rose over the wind runes and blinded the crews of the forward crossbows.
“Broadside!” the corsair captains yelled. “Clear those decks before they can charge again!”
All forty war junks fired. Burning casks and whalebone harpoons flew at the three white arks. The fire drew red and green streaks across the sky and made the sea shine like molten glass. One blast tore open an oar port on a smaller sect ark. Twenty Qi Gathering students died at their benches.
Above the burning deck, Elder Yu raised both arms. The heat lifted the red hems of his robes. His hands came together in the Nine-Palace Sword Seal.
“Unsheathe. Form the Nine-Palace Golden Crow Formation.”
Two hundred swords rose from the arks with a single high whistle. They passed through the smoke and came together in nine groups, each bright with solar qi. Elder Yu swung his right hand down.
The nine groups swept across the pirate line. One sword sliced through a mast four feet thick. It fell across the deck and took thirty men down with it. On another junk, a line of blades passed through the sailors on the raised deck. Eighteen men fell before the blades turned for another pass.
