Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain &Dhael Ligerkeys
Sha Hu laughed and waved his hand, “There’s no need for you all to act. None of you have Shadowed Heaven Pills to temper your bodies so you trying to help will only be courting death. This time, just Yang Kai and I will go. The rest of you… you can just hide and watch the show from a distance.”
“Sect Master Yang?” Pang Zhen raised his brow in suspicion and asked quietly, “Sect Master Yang is indeed a dragon among men. Disciple has exchanged blows with him once and was truly not his opponent, but… he also just arrived on Shadowed Soul Island, so how will he be able to help Martial Uncle?”
Pang Zhen was well aware of Yang Kai’s strength, but this was Shadowed Soul Island, not the Limitless Ocean. From his and Qian Mo’s experiences, it was obvious that even if a cultivator was powerful in the outside world, they may not be strong here.
As long as they were faced with a cultivator who had lived for some years on Shadowed Soul Island, anyone from the outside would easily be suppressed.
So, when Sha Hu said that he would only take Yang Kai with him, Pang Zhen was a little worried.
Sha Hu only flashed a wry smile and said, “What do you know? Even this old master is not his opponent here, so how could he not be of help?”
“Huh?” Pang Zhen’s jaw dropped, and his face filled with shock, almost suspecting that he had heard wrong.
Glancing back at Yang Kai, who was standing at the stern of the boat, Pang Zhen found the former just smiling harmlessly back at him, completely relaxed and carefree.
“There’s no need to doubt, that boy is indeed stronger than this old master. I exchanged blows with him one month ago and was repelled by a single palm, now…” Sha Hu did not continue, but Pang Zhen understood his meaning.
Since Sha Hu had been beaten back by Yang Kai a month ago with a single palm, it was obvious that the gap between them was even wider now.
Pang Zhen only became more shocked.
All of them had been sucked into Shadowed Soul Island together, but after two or three months, Pang Zhen and the others with him had not seen any noticeable increase in their strength, instead, they were pushed around like menial workers by the cultivators of Shadowed Soul Island. On the other hand, Yang Kai could defeat Pang Zhen’s Martial Uncle Sha who had lived here for three hundred years.
[Was this boy a monster?]
The boat was not big, but it sailed quite smoothly across the sea. The little dolphin also swam up to and around it a few times, not moving any slower at all.
Five days later, Shadowed Soul Island came into view in the distance.
“All of you wait here. When this old master is finished with his business, he will come pick you up,” Sha Hu gave Pang Zhen’s orders before tossing him a bottle of Shadowed Heaven Pills and saying, “One pill per person, refine them carefully.”
Pang Zhen accepted gleefully.
Since coming to Shadowed Soul Island, he had been coveting these Shadowed Heaven Pills. He knew that the cultivators here had more intrepid physiques because of these pills, but unfortunately, he had no way to acquire any.
They had to first officially join Shadowed Soul Island before they were eligible to receive some Shadowed Heaven Pills from the Island Master after performing certain tasks. This entire process was quite long and dangerous, with perhaps up to eighty percent of people dying for some reason along the way. Even if they did receive some pills, the quantity would be small and the quality would be very low.
But now, Sha Hu had tossed him a bottle filled with such pills.
Pang Zhen thanked him respectfully and without delay opened the cap and distributed the pills to the disciples of Sea Temple.
Qian Mo’s eyes flashed when she saw this scene as a complicated mix of jealousy and helplessness filled her. Suddenly though, out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed something flying towards her, stretched out her hand, and caught it.
Looking over, she saw Yang Kai smile at her and say, “There’s one inside for each of you as well.”
Qian Mo blinked once before snorting coldly, “This General will repay this favour in the future.”
“We can talk about it later,” Yang Kai grinned before following Sha Hu towards Shadowed Soul Island.
The little dolphin let out a long cry from the rear, seemingly telling Yang Kai to be careful.
Giving Qian Mo a bottle of Shadowed Heaven Pills was not just a whim for Yang Kai, but rather because he knew he would have to regardless. The little dolphin would obviously ask him for such a favour considering how close her relationship with Qian Mo was.
On top of that, the Shadowed Heaven Lotus in Yang Kai’s possession were almost all found thanks to the little dolphin’s help, so it was not an exaggeration to say that at least half of the Shadowed Heaven Lotus and in turn, half of the Shadowed Heaven Pills belonged to her. A bottle of Shadowed Heaven Pills for Yang Kai was nothing.
Sha Hu had slowed his pace, obviously waiting for Yang Kai to catch up.
After Yang Kai arrived at his side, Sha Hu’s face became solemn as he said, “Yang Kai, the purpose of this old master’s trip today is only to kill that bastard Ming Yue. On Shadowed Soul Island, Ming Yue is the strongest, but there are a few others who are not weak as well. When the time comes, I hope you can deal with them so they don’t interfere in this old master’s battle.”
“No problem,” Yang Kai readily agreed before asking. “How certain is Old Sha that he can defeat that Ming Yue?”
Sha Hu’s expression turned serious and he thought about it for a while before declaring, “At least sixty percent! Although this old master has not seen Ming Yue for a hundred years, his strength has certainly increased, but with those inferior Shadowed Heaven Pills, no matter how much his strength has grown, it can’t have been by much. This old master is confident he can emerge victorious in the end.”
“Then I wish Old Sha a swift and decisive victory,” Yang Kai smiled.
Sha Hu was in high spirits. Since taking the Shadowed Heaven Pills refined by Yang Kai, his strength that had stagnated for nearly a hundred years had been steadily increasing, and although not as exaggerated as Yang Kai’s, this rate of growth was already extremely tyrannical compared to others.
Compared with the Shadowed Heaven Pills refined by Yang Kai, Sha Hu completely felt the Shadowed Heaven Pills he used before were simply garbage! Not only was their quality extremely low, making them difficult to refine, the benefits to one’s physique were meagre. What’s more, taking those inferior pills came with many hidden dangers, and while these could be ignored in the short term, after taking such Shadowed Heaven Pills for an extended time, it would definitely cause problems for one’s body.
Since Ming Yue no longer had an advantage when it came to Shadowed Heaven Pills, Sha Hu no longer put him in his eyes.
The speed of the pair was extremely fast, and it was not long before they landed on Shadowed Soul Island. Looking up at the city in the centre of the island, Sha Hu sneered and accelerated, leaving behind only an afterimage where he once stood.
Yang Kai followed unhurriedly, not falling behind Sha Hu by far.
Specter City was the only city on Shadowed Soul Island. There were about ten thousand cultivators in the city. It was not known when this city had been founded, but its walls were covered with ancient carvings, showing the weathering of time. Almost every cultivator who had the misfortune of coming to Shadowed Soul Island would eventually live in this city.
In Specter City, the one with the highest status was undoubtedly Shadowed Soul Island’s Island Master Ming Yue, followed by his henchmen, who oversaw Shadowed Soul Island’s day to day operations as well as the flow of Shadowed Heaven Pill.
The cultivators who lived on Shadowed Soul Island had to submit to Ming Yue’s rule if they wanted to obtain Shadowed Heaven Pills.
At the gate of the city, five cultivators wearing armour were monitoring the people who were entering and leaving. Any cultivator returning from the sea would have to hand over half of their spoils before they were allowed to pass.
As for the most precious Shadowed Heaven Lotus, all of them had to be handed over. Any cultivator who dared try to keep Shadowed Heaven Lotus for themselves would receive extremely harsh punishment.
A line of exhausted cultivators who had just returned from the ocean lined up outside the gates, preparing to enter Specter City.
Many of these cultivators had injuries, and some were even lacking arms or legs, looking quite dishevelled. Obviously, these people were attacked by sea beasts when they went out and had suffered no small losses.
Just as the armoured cultivators were checking the harvest of these cultivators waiting to enter the city, they suddenly heard a loud ruckus coming from the crowd. The lead guard frowned and was about to scold the people, but seemingly sensing something as well, he turned his head to look into the distance.
From afar, two human figures were approaching Specter City as fast as lightning. Both figures left behind a long trail of afterimages and only after moving a thousand meters did these afterimages gradually disappear.
The lead guard was shocked and quickly signalled to the rest of his companions to prepare themselves. Taking out their artifacts one after another, these guards quickly blocked the entrance to the city gate.
When the two figures were only a few hundred meters away, the lead guard shouted, “Who goes there? Stop at once!”
“Scram!” An angry shout came in response as the two figures rushed through the city gate and into Specter City.
The cultivators who were waiting in line to enter the city instantly went into an uproar, all showing looks of surprise.
Order was strictly enforced on Shadowed Soul Island and there had not been a forced entry like this in many years, but today, they had witnessed such a scene with their own eyes. Many people could not help but pay silent tribute to the two who had forcibly entered the city.
Everyone felt that these two were as good as dead, and since they had provoked Ming Yue’s authority in Specter City, their deaths would surely be miserable.
However, before they finished their thoughts, the crowd heard a thunderous explosion and quickly turned their heads just in time to witness the lead guard explode into a cloud of blood mist, what remained of his armour and flesh scattering over a wide area.
The onlookers felt a chill from head to toe and all fell silent. None of them even noticed when the lead guard had been attacked.
At the same time, a roar that seemed to reach the Heavens suddenly echoed from the city, “Ming Yue, get out here and face this old master!”
This roar was earth-shattering and deafening, and many people could not help turning pale when they heard it.
However, there were also many whose only fear was that the world was not chaotic enough, and after a moment, their expressions became excited as they moved closer to the source of the sound. These people wanted to find out just who this reckless fellow was that dared to call Ming Yue directly by his name in Specter City.
The whole of Specter City boiled up as many cultivators rushed towards Sha Hu’s location, attracted by his booming challenge.
Quickly, more than two thousand people had gathered around, and the number was still increasing.
Sha Hu stood quietly on the main street of Specter City, his hands folded behind his back, his expression indifferent.
Yang Kai stood one step behind him, wearing an aloof expression as he scanned the surrounding environment.
Specter City looked fairly tidy, and although it was a little shabby, it was still a great achievement to be able to build a stronghold in this forsaken place.
There were even some shops lining the street buying and selling daily necessities.
However, at this moment, the people in the nearby shops had long ago closed up and left as none of them dared to remain nearby after Sha Hu let out his astonishing roar.
There were many whispering voices among the crowd as they pointed towards Yang Kai and Sha Hu, some taking pleasure in their misfortune, some looking forward to the show, others glaring coldly while still others looked on indifferently, a myriad of emotions entangling in this small square.
