Martial Peak

Chapter 1711, They Were Being Bullied?

Above the sea, Yang Kai listened to Pang Zhen’s story about what had happened after they entered Shadowed Soul Island.

On that day, roughly two hundred people from Sea Temple and Sea God Palace were unfortunate enough to be stranded in this place, and aside from a few who were killed by the lanky man as examples, everyone else was captured and brought back to the city.

The total population of Shadowed Soul Island had always been small, so with such a large number of people suddenly arriving, the rulers of Shadowed Soul Island wanted to force Pang Zhen and the others to submit.

People under the eaves must bow their heads, so even if it was insincere, Pang Zhen and Qian Mo could only compromise.

However, Shang Ao and the other Sea God Palace General had always been belligerent, so coupled with his honoured status and the respect it normally gave him, how could he willingly submit to others? His rebelliousness seemed to annoy the rulers of Shadowed Soul Island, so he was taken away alone and was probably being tortured even now.

In recent days, neither Qian Mo nor Pang Zhen had seen Shang Ao, and no one knew if he was still alive.

Besides Shang Ao, everyone else was divided into more than a dozen teams, led by different Shadowed Soul Island cultivators, and then taken out to perform various tasks.

Qian Mo, Pang Zhen, and the others here were tasked with searching for Shadowed Heaven Lotus out at sea. Some teams had been sent to mine ores while others performed chores on Shadowed Soul Island.

The Origin Returning Realm masters who had found themselves trapped here on Shadowed Soul Island had lived quite miserable lives since the day they arrived. Many people had died due to various accidents, especially amongst those who went out to search for Shadowed Heaven Lotus as this was a particularly dangerous task. Whenever these search teams encountered a sea beast that they could not fight, the final result was often complete annihilation.

No one cared about such losses though, as any cultivator who was new to Shadowed Soul Island had to experience fear of leaving the eaves, so they thoroughly recognized Ming Yue’s dominance over Shadowed Soul Island in their hearts. Only those who truly accepted this reality could officially join Shadowed Soul Island become qualified to obtain Shadowed Heaven Pills to enhance their strength.

Ming Yue being able to dominate Shadowed Soul Island was not only because of his great personal strength but primarily because he controlled the supply of Shadowed Heaven Pills!

“Sect Master Yang, every person in this damned place has incredible physical strength. It seems that all of them have taken these so-called Shadowed Heaven Pills to temper their bodies!” Pang Zhen saw Yang Kai’s leisurely expression and could not help reminding him about this as he glanced over towards the ship warily.

However, when Pang Zhen turned his head, the scene he saw shocked him.

He suddenly discovered that the old man who had just been casually strolling across the sea had at some point, boarded the boat and was now standing at its bow silently.

More importantly though, the domineering buck-toothed man and all his subordinates, who seemed invincible earlier, were all staring at this old man with pale faces and undisguised horror. Not only did they not drive the old man off the boat, but they didn’t even dare to breathe loudly in his presence.

What were the origins of this old man? Was there such a person in Sea Temple or Sea God Palace? Was he a friend Yang Kai met recently on Shadowed Soul Island? Pang Zhen was thoroughly puzzled.

“Old Sha, my friends here seemed to have been bullied by them just now,” Yang Kai called out to Sha Hu.

In truth, Yang Kai did not have any friendship with Pang Zhen, and he had only just now spoken to Qian Mo, regardless, since they were all cultivators from Shadowed Star, separate from the cultivators from Shadowed Soul Island, they were technically people under his care.

What’s more, Yang Kai still had plans for Sea Temple and Sea God Palace, so he couldn’t just let these people die here.

Sha Hu heard this and grinned, “They were being bullied? An easy matter to fix!”

As soon as he spoke these words, Sha Hu turned his head and threw a punch towards the spot where the buck-toothed man and his subordinates had huddled together.

This fist was sent from more than a dozen metres away from the buck-toothed man, but the pressure wave which came from it still instantly impacted them.

*Peng peng peng...*

With a series of muffled booms, the buck-toothed man and his subordinates exploded into clouds of blood, their hashed meat spilling out into the sea, none of them even having a chance to utter a word before they died miserably.

Pang Zhen, Qian Mo, and all the others were stunned.

The Shadowed Soul Island cultivators that they were unable to resist were all wiped out by this old man with a single punch. Just how strong was this old man? None of them could even fathom it.

Since becoming trapped on Shadowed Soul Island, Pang Zhen and Qian Mo’s perception of strength had completely changed. Here, there was a different standard compared to the rest of the Star Field, one that prioritized the power of one’s physique above all else.

The scene before them could only have a single explanation, this old man’s physical strength had reached an astonishing level.

“Sect Master Yang... this Senior... what is his background?” Pang Zhen asked weakly while Qian Mo also cast a concerned look towards him.

“Old Sha’s full name is Sha Hu, does that sound familiar to you?” Yang Kai looked at Pang Zhen with a smile.

“Sha Hu?” Pang Zhen frowned, a thoughtful look appearing on his face, as if trying to dredge up a long-forgotten memory, his eyes turning in the direction of Sha Hu and staring for quite some time before they lit up and he cried out, “My Sea Temple’s previous Second Temple Master?”

“Are you from Sea Temple?” Sha Hu looked at Pang Zhen.

Pang Zhen put everything else out of his mind and quickly rushed over, leapt out of the sea, and fell to his knees on the boat as he spoke haltingly, “Sunrise Island’s Island Master Pang Zhen, greets Martial Uncle Sha!”

“So you’re Sunrise Island’s Island Master!” Sha Hu had heard Yang Kai mention Pang Zhen before, but he did not know who he was until Pang Zhen announced his name now. Smiling lightly, Sha Hu motioned, “Get up, there’s no need for excessive courtesy here!”

“Many thanks, Martial Uncle!” Pang Zhen was so excited his face flushed. Rubbing his hand together, he continued, “Disciple has long admired Martial Uncle Sha’s resounding reputation but has not had a chance to greet him formally. It was said that Martial Uncle disappeared for no reason three hundred years ago, a truly tragic event, but seeing Martial Uncle here on this Shadowed Soul Island now is this disciple’s great fortune!”

Sha Hu laughed loudly and said bluntly, “Your flattery skills are quite good!”

Pang Zhen’s face blushed, but he did not seem too embarrassed, simply grinning happily as he pointed towards some of the remaining cultivators and said, “Martial Uncle, these are my Sea Temple’s disciples!”

Sha Hu glanced over the cultivators one by one and nodded lightly, “Good, good! After three hundred years, this old master has finally seen his Sect family again. You may all rest assured, as long as this old master is here, no one will hurt a single hair on any of your heads!”

The several Sea Temple disciples all wore excited looks as they had just found a powerful backer.

A moment ago, they were all worried about whether they would be able to survive and their futures were all bleak, but suddenly, their former Second Temple Master, who had been missing for three hundred years, appeared in front of them and killed the Shadowed Soul Island cultivators with a single powerful punch, saving them from their tragic fate and offering them shelter. How could they not be happy?

On the other hand, Qian Mo and Sea Clan wore complicated expressions, disappointed.

Fortunately, Pang Zhen did not forget about them. During this time, the Sea Temple and Sea God Palace members had formed a coalition, supporting one another, so now that Sea Temple had such a strong backer and did not need to worry about being bullied again, Pang Zhen naturally wanted to offer some aid to Qian Mo as well.

Quickly pointing to Qian Mo, Pang Zhen said, “Martial Uncle Sha, this is General Qian Mo of Sea God Palace. She and her clansmen arrived on Shadowed Soul Island together with Martial Nephew and we have received much care from them these past few days.”

Pang Zhen’s words of praise for Qian Mo and the other Sea Clan were not exaggerations by any stretch. The Sea Clan was born with stronger bodies than humans, which was why initially Shang Ao was able to beat several Shadowed Soul Island cultivators without losing. From this alone, it was obvious that the Sea Clan were better in terms of Body Tempering than humans.

“En,” Sha Hu nodded flatly. He was willing to shelter Pang Zhen and the others because they were from the same Sect, but he did not have a good impression of the Sea Clan. When Sha Hu was the Second Temple Master of Sea Temple back then, he had often had dealings with this arrogant race and his hands were stained with much of their blood.

He didn’t intend to care about the life or death of these Sea Clan, but after glancing towards the little dolphin swimming about below Yang Kai, he suddenly smiled and said, “Since that’s the case, we’ll all travel together. The grudges between the Sea Temple and Sea God Palace will be put down temporarily. If there is a chance to leave Shadowed Soul Island in the future, we can discuss things then.”

“Many thanks, Martial Uncle Sha!” Pang Zhen could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. He was afraid that Sha Hu would expel Qian Mo and the others, or worse. If that really happened, Pang Zhen would not be able to escape the charge of treachery, which would likely become a heart demon for him. Fortunately, Sha Hu was reasonable, so this concern became unnecessary.

Qian Mo’s expression became even more complicated, but she still quickly offered her thanks.

The Sea Clan and human cultivators all got onto the boat one after another, and under Qian Mo’s pointed glares, Yang Kai also followed suit, allowing the little dolphin to swim alone while following the boat.

Yang Kai suspected that if he continued to sit on the Sea Clan’s princess, Qian Mo would definitely attack him.

It was still a bit unbelievable to him that this little dolphin that only seemed to want to frolic, play, and eat Shadowed Heaven Lotuses was actually a princess of the Sea Clan. The contrast was simply too dramatic.

As if seeing his doubts, Qian Mo took the initiative to explain, “Princess is only five years old. According to your human standards, her mental development is similar to that of a five-year-old child. She cannot even assume human form yet and only thinks about playing all day long. She recently snuck out of Sea God Palace, but I never expected her to be drawn into Shadowed Soul Island.”

Yang Kai nodded.

“Regardless of anything else, this General offers her sincere thanks for bringing Princess back to my Sea Clan,” Qian Mo said suddenly.

Yang Kai gave her a surprised look.

Qian Mo, however, quickly followed up in a cold tone, “As for you insulting the princess’ dignity, this General will certainly not forget and will one day make you pay the price.”

“Do as you like!” Yang Kai was noncommittal.

On the other side, Pang Zhen was also asking about Sha Hu’s plans. Now that they had freed themselves from Shadowed Soul Island’s control, naturally, they didn’t want to return there only to face enslavement again.

But when he learned from Sha Hu that their destination was actually Shadowed Soul Island, Pang Zhen was at a loss for words.

“Scared?” Sha Hu turned to look at Pang Zhen and chuckled lightly.

Pang Zhen shook his head solemnly, “Disciple is not afraid, but with disciple’s current strength, he cannot provide much assistance to Martial Uncle either. However, since Martial Uncle has made such a decision, then disciple will put in his best effort. Even if disciple dies, he will still gnaw off a piece of those Shadowed Soul Island bastards before he falls!”