In the waters about three thousand kilometres away from Shadowed Soul Island, a small ship sailed forth slowly, shuttling back and forth across a certain range while looking for precious Shadowed Heaven Lotuses.
There were few cultivators on the ship, only about two dozen, with a few of them standing at the edges of the deck looking out across the sea.
Most of the people onboard had gloomy looks on their faces as they mostly kept their heads down.
These people would sometimes make eye contact with one another, all of them showing looks of unwillingness and humiliation.
Pang Zhen from Sunrise Island and Qian Mo from Sea God Palace were among these people. Both of them were cultivators at the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, top masters on Shadowed Star, but after arriving on Shadowed Soul Island, they were amongst the weakest.
Of course, this was only in terms of physical strength. On Shadowed Soul Island, where the only indicator of strength was the quality of one’s physique, Pang Zhen and Qian Mo’s Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation was useless.
It had been some time since they had arrived on Shadowed Soul Island, and after so long, Pang Zhen and Qian Mo had gained a fair understanding of the situation.
An ugly-looking man with buck-teeth and monkey-ears suddenly walked up to Qian Mo, crossed his arms and stroked his chin as he swept his eyes over her beautiful body with a scrutinising gaze, not even trying to hide the obscene light in his eyes or the lewd grin on his face.
Qian Mo raised her head to meet eyes with this man and her pretty face immediately sank.
“Miss Qian Mo, have you considered carefully yet? If you obey me, I can ensure your safety from now on. Not only will you be allowed to join Shadowed Soul Island formally and not need to do this kind of dangerous work again, but you will also have a chance to obtain some Shadowed Heaven Pills. This is a great opportunity that will only be available for a limited amount of time. You should know that others aren’t as reasonable as me,” The buck-toothed man asked in a suggestive tone, his eyes fixing on Qian Mo’s rich chest as he secretly gulped in anticipation.
Shadowed Soul Island very rarely had newcomers, so its population had always been quite small, only about ten thousand in total.
There were even fewer women, especially beautiful women! Any beauty was a precious existence and could be regarded as rare goods that were worth a large amount of Shadowed Heaven Pills.
Qian Mo was undoubtedly such a beauty.
The buck-toothed man had taken a fancy to Qian Mo and was taking advantage of his position, using both coercion and temptation to try to force her to submit to him. Once he managed to obtain her, whether he used her for his own enjoyment or to exchange for Shadowed Heaven Pills, would be a great deal.
What frustrated him, however, was that no matter how he tried to persuade her, Qian Mo simply ignored him.
No matter what, as one of the leaders of Sea God Palace, even if she had fallen into this damned place, Qian Mo did not put this buck-toothed man in her eyes. If she had met such a man outside, she would be able to slap him to death with a casual wave of her hand.
As such, in the face of this man’s repeated efforts, Qian Mo only had a single word of response, “Scram!”
“You…” The buck-toothed man was furious and pointed at Qian Mo, raising his other hand as if preparing to slap her to relieve his anger.
*Hualala…*
Nearly half of the people on the boat stood up suddenly and glared at the buck-toothed man with indifferent glares, fierceness flashing across eyes.
These people were naturally the cultivators of Sea Temple and Sea God Palace who had arrived on Shadowed Soul Island recently! After being stranded here, they had abandoned their previous grudges and united, so when they saw Qian Mo about to be disgraced, they all stood at the ready, seemingly just waiting for the buck-toothed man to act before they swarmed him and tore him to pieces.
The buck-toothed man did not follow through on his slap in the end. Although the cultivators from Sea Temple and Sea God Palace weren’t enough to frighten him, and he was certain he would win if a fight broke out, Island Master Ming Yue had clearly ordered that no one on Shadowed Soul Island could kill another, and any violators would be punished with death.
This was not because Island Master Ming Yue was a benevolent leader who loved his people, nor was it out of generosity or kindness, but rather because of the limited number of people on Shadowed Soul Island.
The population on the island was small, and if people died because of casual disagreements, then it would not be long before he became an Island Master with no subjects to rule over, a rather unpalatable situation.
On Shadowed Soul Island, the only people who could kill at will were the Island Master himself and his closest confidants. As for the others, no matter who they were, or what positions they held, no one was qualified to decide the life or death of another person.
When Pang Zhen, Qian Mo and the others first arrived on Shadowed Soul Island, they hadn’t yet been officially recognised as residents, so they hadn’t been protected by these rules, allowing the lanky lead man an opportunity to kill a few people to serve as a deterrent as well as to relieve some of his personal stress.
Now the situation was different. Although most of the cultivators from Sea Temple and Sea God Palace had not officially joined Shadowed Soul Island, their names had at least been recorded in the island’s registrar, so this buck-toothed man did not dare kill them and offend the Island Master.
“Good, good, good!” The buck-toothed man sneered, “So be it! Since you dare offend Father here, Father will make you regret it for the rest of your life! Bitch, you surely look down on Father here, don’t you? Well when Father has you one day, Father hopes you can maintain that stubbornness right up until the end! Forcing a slut who can’t fight back is the finest of tastes, heh heh!”
At that moment, a Shadowed Soul Island cultivator suddenly shouted, “Sir, we’ve spotted an otter-type beast three kilometres out heading towards us.”
“Really?” The buck-toothed man’s eyes lit up and he turned his gaze towards the sea. Sure enough, an extremely ferocious looking sea beast with a body length of over a dozen metres was kicking up a splash as it rapidly approached.
A smug smile appeared on this man’s face as he glanced over at the cultivators who had just stood up to oppose him and said, “The biggest dangers when searching for and collecting Shadowed Heaven Lotuses come from sea beasts. En, this is the first time many of you have done this kind of work, so this will be a good experience for you. All of you besides Qian Mo are to get down and meet the enemy! Don’t disappoint me now!”
As soon as this statement came out, the faces of the dozen or so cultivators from Sea Temple and Sea God Palace changed drastically.
Outside, none of them would put this otter-type beast in their eyes as they could casually kill it without any effort, but on Shadowed Soul Island, they were not necessarily this beast’s opponent even if they all worked together.
This was their first time out at sea to search for Shadowed Heaven Lotuses and none of them had taken any Shadowed Heaven Pills to temper their bodies, so it was basically impossible for them to fight this otter.
The buck-toothed man was obviously using this opportunity to retaliate as no matter how blatant his actions were, they would not violate the Island Master’s orders.
“What’s wrong? Are you all deaf? Can you not understand Father’s words?” The buck-toothed man looked at Pang Zhen and the others triumphantly, his heart was filled with infinite pleasure before his expression turned gloomy and he shouted, “Fine. Throw all of them down! Without experiencing a few battles with sea beasts, they won’t understand how precious Shadowed Heaven Lotuses are.”
The subordinates of the buck-toothed man nodded, grabbed the various newcomers, and began tossing them into the sea.
Pang Zhen and the others fought back, but how could they be these peoples’ opponents?
Although the residents of Shadowed Soul Island had lower cultivations than Pang Zhen and the other masters, they had taken some Shadowed Heaven Pills over the years so their physiques were actually superior.
After only three breaths, Pang Zhen and the others were beaten black and blue.
The otter rushing over clearly smelled blood and became even more excited, increasing its speed as it targeted Pang Zhen and the others who fell into the sea, completely regarding them as nothing more than an easy meal.
“Slut!” The buck-toothed man stood on the boat as he admired the struggling posture of Pang Zhen and others while speaking to Qian Mo with a sneer, “If they die today, it will be all your fault. Hahaha, if you had accepted my offer earlier, this would not be happening now, however… it is not too late. I’ll save them, but only if you kneel down and beg me to take you. A trivial otter is no match for father here!”
Qian Mo’s face filled with grief and indignation as she clenched her teeth hard and glared at the buck-toothed man fiercely.
Pang Zhen did not have much friendship with her, and although the cultivators from Sea Temple and Sea God Palace had abandoned their previous grievances and decided to work together to overcome these troubling times, Qian Mo was not so noble that she would lower her head to save Pang Zhen’s life.
However, among those who were thrown into the water, there were also people from her Sea God Palace, including members from her own clan, so she could not just sit back and watch.
“Despicable!” Qian Mo scolded angrily.
The buck-toothed man showed not the slightest shame as he laughed happily, “So what if I am despicable? Do you think this is your Sea God Palace? Do you still think you are still a Sea God Palace General? Tsk tsk… All those years ago, when Father was living on the outside, he deeply feared your Sea God Palace. Anytime this Father here met someone from Sea God Palace, he would have to walk a wide circle around them so as not to provoke them, but now, a Sea God Palace General actually needs to kneel down and beg father here for his help, hahaha!”
Qian Mo’s tender body trembled as she clenched her fists so tightly her nails drew blood, too angry to even notice.
“You don’t have much time, if you hesitate, they’ll all die!” The buck-toothed man reached out and pointed forward.
Qian Mo turned her head to look and saw that the huge sea beast was only a few hundred metres away now, and although Pang Zhen and the others were doing their best to flee, how could they escape from the otter in its native territory? If the buck-toothed man did not intervene to save them, they would all be swallowed by the otter one by one.
A look of despair came over Qian Mo’s face.
“Kneel down!” The buck-toothed man shouted as he pressured Qian Mo again. He also noticed that Qian Mo was a little shaken so applying pressure at this moment was undoubtedly the best choice as it was a good opportunity to crush her spirit.
The other residents of Shadowed Soul Island all stood by and watched the good show while envious light flashed across their eyes.
Just how noble of an existence was a Sea God Palace General? Before, they could only look up to such a master, but now, they could torture and humiliate her as they pleased, giving them an incredible sense of satisfaction.
This was made all the more exciting when Qian Mo was a beautiful woman with such a hot figure. Just thinking about her kneeling down on the ground and begging them made this group of people feel that even if they died here and now it would be worth it.
Qian Mo’s figure trembled and her knees seemed to bend slightly, but soon she straightened up again, grit her teeth, and screamed, “In your dreams!”
The smug grin on the buck-toothed man’s face instantly went stiff as his anticipation turned into disappointment, and then into anger.
