Chapter 1305: Counterattack

While Lu Ye could persevere, his crew could not. Their spiritual energy consumption couldn't be replenished quickly enough, even with the help of the "United by Spirit" formation disks.

So, upon realizing that the crew's spiritual energy reserves had dropped to a critical level, Lu Ye suddenly steered the Dragon Warship, turning it directly towards the enemy.

During the previous engagements, Lu Ye had confirmed one thing: the Dragon Warship's speed was inferior to that of the three pursuing enemy ships. This was to be expected; if it were faster than the enemy, there would have been no subsequent trouble.

Similar to his previous attempts at flying in space, the Dragon Warship's speed was the maximum he could control. Exceeding this limit risked a head-on collision, leading to the destruction of the ship and the loss of all hands.

Unable to escape due to their inferior speed, Lu Ye now wanted to know how durable these three enemy ships were.

However, he surmised their durability wouldn't be overly absurd. The Ghost Ship had its own set of rules, and within these rules, there was often a glimmer of hope. If the three enemy ships were so tough that the Dragon Warship couldn't break through them, then this wouldn't be a test or an opportunity at all, but rather a death trap.

In that case, no one would ever have passed this trial or reaped rewards from the Ghost Ship.

Therefore, Lu Ye believed the strength of these three enemy ships shouldn't be too outlandish; at the very least, they should be breakable by the current Dragon Warship.

As he turned the ship to collide head-on with the enemy, Lu Ye sent a telepathic message, relaying orders to Qin Zong and Xiao Jianming.

The Dragon Warship naturally possessed both defensive and offensive formations. Under Xu Qingwei's leadership, the regular crew members controlled the defensive formations, while Qin Zong and Xiao Jianming commanded the offensive ones. Powerful artifacts were embedded within these formations, capable of unleashing devastating attacks.

Although both were offensive formations, their types differed. The formation controlled by Qin Zong had greater power but required a longer charge-up time, preventing continuous attacks. The one controlled by Xiao Jianming, however, was slightly less powerful but offered a much higher attack frequency.

Lu Ye had long since ascertained these details and had witnessed his two "right-hand men" activating the formations in previous cycles.

However, previous counterattacks had been largely ineffective, primarily due to insufficient coordination between them.

This time was different. Lu Ye intentionally sought to test the durability of the enemy warships. As he charged towards the three enemy ships, there would be no wide-ranging evasive maneuvers, only small dodges. This would allow Qin Zong and Xiao Jianming to better aim their attacks.

Beams of light assailed them from the front, and the Dragon Warship unleashed its own fury. Although there was a speed disparity, in terms of offensive power, the Dragon Warship was not inferior to the enemy ships; in fact, it was stronger.

After all, facing three enemies required exceptionally powerful attacks to stand a chance.

The process of their mutual approach was a life-or-death calculation. Lu Ye's consciousness, connected through the warship, intently focused on the enemy ship being targeted.

This was the middle warship, which was also maneuvering and dodging. However, Xiao Jianming was clearly skilled at controlling formations, leveraging the high frequency of his own formation to continuously unleash its power, thereby blocking the enemy ship's escape routes.

Often, what appeared to be a random strike actually served another purpose.

Qin Zong, in perfect synchronicity and familiar coordination with Xiao Jianming, capitalized on every opportunity created, striking true with each blow.

Even though Lu Ye knew these two harbored ill intentions toward him, he couldn't help but inwardly applaud their performance at that moment.

It had to be said that some of the Ghost Ship's unique rules were quite advantageous for the cultivators who entered this place. For instance, at that moment, all crew members strictly followed Lu Ye's commands, without the slightest hesitation or deviation.

In the blink of an eye, they were less than ten li apart. For warships of such immense size, ten li was practically face-to-face.

By this point, the Dragon Warship's protective light barrier had become extremely dim. Even with Lu Ye controlling the ship with all his might, it was difficult to evade all incoming attacks during such a close approach.

Fortunately, thanks to the "United by Spirit" formation disks he had previously distributed, the crew members could continuously pool their spiritual energy to reinforce the defenses. Otherwise, the situation would have been much worse.

Observing the enemy ship targeted by the Dragon Warship's attacks, its protective light barrier was also precarious, though slightly better off than the Dragon Warship's.

After all, Lu Ye's side had to endure attacks from three enemy ships, while the enemy only faced one. The difference in attack intensity naturally led to a different response from the defensive formations.

Qin Zong and Xiao Jianming's coordination had achieved great success.

The two enemy warships on the left and right continued to unleash attacks, while the central warship began to maneuver, clearly attempting to avoid the Dragon Warship's collision.

But Lu Ye wouldn't let it escape. This time, he intended to find out just how durable the enemy ship was; without destroying it, he couldn't get a clear answer.

Immediately, he intensified the spiritual energy input, and the Dragon Warship's speed surged.

The next instant, the two warships collided. After a brief crunch, a massive flash of light erupted. Lu Ye felt a jolt through his mind, as if he had directly struck something solid.

During the process of controlling the warship, he was intimately connected to it. He could observe everything around him through the ship and control it flexibly. In essence, the warship was him, and he was the warship.

This was likely the fundamental reason why his connection with the warship grew increasingly stronger after each death.

Enduring various discomforts, Lu Ye quickly observed. In his perception, both the Dragon Warship and the enemy ship it had struck were badly damaged, their respective defensive formations having collapsed.

Before Lu Ye could observe further, beams of light from both sides engulfed his vision.

And then there was nothing. When Lu Ye opened his eyes, he had entered the seventeenth cycle! He muttered to himself, the enemy ship was so brutal it even attacked its own kind!

At the end of the previous cycle, his ship and the central enemy warship had essentially annihilated each other. However, the cultivators on board the enemy ship were still alive. Lu Ye had originally wanted to see what kind of enemies were on the enemy ship, but he had no chance to investigate before being blasted to smithereens.

With no time for further reflection, Lu Ye issued the same orders as before, simultaneously throwing out two more formation disks.

After each cycle, everything on the Dragon Warship would reset. All the formation disks he had previously deployed were gone. However, there was also a benefit: the spiritual energy previously expended by the crew members would be fully restored, leaving every crew member in peak condition.

This was also why Lu Ye had bravely crashed into the enemy ship at the end of the last cycle. At that point, the crew's spiritual energy was largely depleted, making further combat impossible. Given the circumstances, it was better to conduct a test and then restart.

Including this current one, he had four more chances. Lu Ye dared not be careless.

After the crew members followed his orders and took their positions, Lu Ye immediately steered the warship, turning it around and flying away.

Even so, at the predetermined moment, the menacing silhouettes of the three enemy ships still appeared in his vision. However, this time was different from all previous occasions: the Dragon Warship was no longer passively taking hits; it was actively attacking!

As they approached each other, probing attacks began, and as the distance between them closed, the intensity and frequency of the attacks increased.

With previous experience, Lu Ye found controlling the warship much more adept this time. He dedicated more energy to coordinating with Qin Zong and Xiao Jianming, which was what a competent captain should do, as only with his cooperation could their offensive formations unleash their maximum potential.

The effect was significant: in this engagement, the Dragon Warship only paid the price of its defensive formation's power being halved to shatter the defenses of one enemy ship.

A surge of joy filled Lu Ye's heart.

With one less enemy ship, the Dragon Warship would need to evade 30% fewer attacks, which would undoubtedly improve the situation significantly.

As long as he maintained this rhythm and destroyed the remaining two enemy ships one by one, it didn't seem like too difficult a task.

Just as Lu Ye was thinking this, he suddenly saw dark figures darting out from the disabled enemy ship, swiftly heading towards the other two enemy ships.

Lu Ye's expression changed, and he immediately ordered, "Kill them!"

The dark figures had no discernible faces or even concrete forms, but there was no doubt they were the enemy ship's crew.

Their own warship was beyond saving, so they had escaped early, making their way to their two allied warships.

This was not good news for Lu Ye.

Even though his orders were swift and Qin Zong and Xiao Jianming executed them perfectly, they still didn't achieve complete success. More than half of the enemy crew members successfully reached their allied warships and took refuge inside.

Subsequently, Lu Ye noticed a significant improvement in the remaining two warships, both in the power of their defensive formations and the intensity and frequency of their offensive ones.

This was undoubtedly the effect of the escaping crew members; with more personnel available, the warships' performance naturally improved.

This wasn't unique to the enemy ships; the Dragon Warship would also benefit. If his own crew had been twice as numerous, the situation wouldn't have been so dire.

Lu Ye's heart filled with bitter resentment. However, what was done was done, and he was powerless to change it. He could only continue to engage the remaining two enemy ships.

The enhanced enemy ships became even more formidable, and as time passed, his own crew's performance deteriorated. Everyone was heavily depleted, both in spiritual energy and mental fortitude.

Less than half a day later, caught between the two enemy warships, the Dragon Warship was blown apart.

The crew members on the warship did not abandon ship and flee like the enemies, as it would have been pointless. The enemies had allied support when they abandoned their ship, but Lu Ye's crew had no such backup and would only become targets.

In the eighteenth cycle, Lu Ye once again issued his orders, taking advantage of the brief moment before the enemy ships appeared to reflect on the gains and losses of the previous encounter.