Although Yang Kai’s existence concerned Shang Ao a little, he didn’t spend too much thought on him.
The Sea Clan had always been arrogant, believing they were the noblest creatures in this world and that all other races should bow to them, especially the great masses of humans who infested the land.
The Sea Clan also had the qualifications to be arrogant. From birth, every Sea Clan clansman was innately proficient in Water Attribute Secret Arts and Martial Skills, unlike humans who the majority of which would never be able to cultivate and would die of old age or sickness before a hundred years had passed, forever remaining mortal.
This was Yang Kai’s first experience with the Sea Clan’s arrogance!
The glamorous woman standing next to Shang Ao looked down and lightly opened her lips, “Island Master Pang, this is not the first time this Mistress has met you, so we can reluctantly be considered acquaintances. Since that is the case, this Mistress will speak frankly. This time, an important person from my Sea God Palace has disappeared near your Sunrise Island and we have reason to suspect that the people of Sea Temple abducted them. As such, we have come here to ask Island Master Pang to return them to us.”
Although the woman tried her best to keep her tone stable, her slightly tense expression revealed her inner anxiety.
Pang Zhen naturally recognized this Sea Clan woman and frowned, “An important person from your Sea Clan? Who exactly?”
He was very curious about the identity of this missing Sea Clan clansman, and faintly felt that the other party’s status in the Sea Clan was definitely not low, likely a member of the royal family! Otherwise, Shang Ao and this woman would not have come here personally and displayed such an aggressive stance.
Regardless, he had to clarify the situation.
The woman, however, shook her head lightly and said in a pleasant tone, “Forgive me, but this Mistress cannot reveal this person’s identity.”
Pang Zhen sneered, “General Qian Mo, are you making a joke? Just based on your guess, Sea God Palace brings so many Origin Returning Realm masters to embarrass my Sunrise Island? Do you think my Sea Temple is so easy to bully?”
The woman named Qian Mo frowned and hesitated for a moment before saying, “It is not just this Mistress’ guess, Milady really did disappear near Sunrise Island, otherwise, we wouldn’t be here. “
Pang Zhen’s eyes narrowed upon hearing this response.
Qian Mo and Shang Ao were both among the eight Generals of Sea God Palace and had extremely high status. In the Sea Clan, there were not many people ranked higher than her, but she actually referred to this missing Sea Clan clansman as ‘Milady’.
Could it really be that a member of Sea God Palace’s royal family had gone missing near here? This was no small matter! Pang Zhen immediately realized the seriousness of the problem. If it was just some little-known Sea Clan clansmen that had disappeared, he could easily shirk responsibility; after all, he really wasn’t involved in this matter, but if the one who was missing was a royal, he had no choice but to handle things delicately.
If this matter was not processed properly, it would definitely trigger a war between the Sea Temple and the Sea God Palace! That was an outcome no one wanted to see.
After a long time of silent contemplation, Pang Zhen said with a solemn expression, “We have not discovered any Sea Clan near Sunrise Island recently, perhaps General Qian Mo is mistaken…”
Qian Mo quickly interrupted him, “If Island Master Pang will permit, this Mistress would like to search Sunrise Island. I wonder if you can accommodate this request!”
“Just a search?” Pang Zhen looked at her cautiously. Compared to the current situation, this request was not excessive. If the circumstances had been anything else, Pang Zhen would definitely not agree, but since this matter likely involved a member of the Sea Clan royal family, if he didn’t agree, it would likely set off the simple-minded Shang Ao and spark a great battle.
As such, Pang Zhen was debating making some concessions to ease the situation.
“Just a search!” Qian Mo assured, “This Mistress is very familiar with Milady, and if she really is on Sunrise Island, this Mistress will definitely sense her regardless of whether someone has tried to conceal her whereabouts!”
As she spoke these last words, Qian Mo’s eyes became cold and sharp.
It was conceivable that if things were as she guessed, Sunrise Island would run red with blood today.
Pang Zhen hesitated. With the other party acting so assured, he could not be certain of his judgment. Although he was the Island Master, with so many Sea Temple disciples living on Sunrise Island, if there really was some blind fool who secretly captured and brought back a Sea Clan…
“Alright, I accept your request!” Pang Zhen quickly decided. If this was a blessing, it was not a curse, and if it was a curse, it could not be avoided, so Pang Zhen could only pin his hopes on the Sea Clan being mistaken.
“Many thanks,” Qian Mo nodded, and in the next moment released her Divine Sense, spreading it out to sweep every piece of Sunrise Island.
Everyone waited quietly while hundreds of masters remained silent on the coast, even suppressing their breaths to the point where one could hear a pin drop.
Shang Ao wore a clear look of anxiety and the long scar on his face twitched noticeably, giving him an even more terrifying appearance. He glanced back and forth between Qian Mo and Pang Zhen repeatedly, his eyes wide open.
Only after a long silence did Qian Mo open her eyes once more.
Pang Zhen stared fixedly at her, waiting for her to speak.
“How is it?” Shang Ao also asked hastily.
Qian Mo showed a disappointed look on her face as she turned to Shang Ao and slowly shook her head, “She’s not here!”
“Impossible!” Shang Ao yelled, “She disappeared near Sunrise Island, how could she not be here! Something must be wrong… That’s right, could she have been transferred away by them? Sunrise Island has a Space Array and can connect to various Sea Temple islands…”
“Shang Ao, if you want to fight, just fight! Stop trying to make up excuses!” Pang Zhen exclaimed, this time, with much more confidence.
Shang Ao was already irritated, so when Pang Zhen’s words came out, they instantly set him off and he began to circulate the strength in his body.
Qian Mo quickly cut in, though, and said, “Island Master Pang, this Mistress and others were mistaken. I apologize for the trouble we have caused. This Mistress will definitely return to apologize in the future.”
Hearing her say so, a smile blossomed on Pang Zhen’s face.
The Sea Clan always looked down on Humans, so Qian Mo being able to make such an admission proved just how anxious she was, not even having the mind to keep up an air of arrogance. It did not really matter whether she came in the future to apologize, this concession alone was enough.
Pang Zhen was a worldly man and naturally knew how to take a win when he got one so he simply nodded and said, “Since that’s the case, this Pang won’t press this matter any further, you can see yourselves out!”
The Sea Clan did not say a word and quickly retreated, with only Shang Ao glaring back at Pang Zhen unwillingly before leaving, seemingly even more interested in fighting now so he could vent his frustrations.
After the Sea Clan retreated a few thousand kilometres, Pang Zhen deeply exhaled.
The other Elders on Sunrise Island also looked at each other and smiled bitterly as sweat dripped down their backs.
Regardless of their firm outward attitudes just now, and their refusal to back down, in truth, they all had their hearts up in their throats. With Sunrise Island’s current strength, it would not have been easy for them to resist two Sea Clan Generals and their subordinates.
Fortunately, this matter had been resolved perfectly, without any battle taking place.
“Island Master, what person did the Sea Clan lose? Why were Shang Ao and Qian Mo so anxious?” Someone asked from the side.
Pang Zhen silently signalled to the man, not immediately answering and instead turning to look at Yang Kai and saying with a smile, “Sect Master Yang, I’ve shown you something embarrassing. This Pang just received word from the temple’s headquarters that a representative will be here in three days. I hope Sect Master Yang will take a few days to enjoy the sights and scenes of Sunrise Island as he waits patiently.”
Yang Kai smiled lightly, “This Yang appreciates Island Master Pang’s hospitality, but from what I’ve seen, it seems your Sea Temple isn’t very interested in this Yang’s proposal.”
Pang Zhen opened his mouth but did not know how to explain.
Even from his perspective, Sea Temple’s response had been quite sloppy, so he could only let out a bitter laughter.
Fortunately, Yang Kai did not intend to embarrass him, so after saying a few casual words, Yang Kai simply returned to the courtyard Pang Zhen had arranged for him.
Since Sea Temple was not enthusiastic about his proposal, Yang Kai would not care about them and chose to instead focus on the Sea Clan.
Even Pang Zhen had to admit that the Sea Clan had an innate advantage when it came to collecting ocean resources and were able to acquire a larger amount of them than the Sea Temple. If the Sea Clan and High Heaven Sect could reach a cooperative relationship, it would certainly be more beneficial than one he could establish with Sea Temple.
However… it would certainly be difficult to work with the Sea Clan.
Unless he forced them to submit, there was probably no possibility of success.
In the middle of the night, Yang Kai opened his eyes suddenly and showed a thoughtful look as he stared off in a certain direction. Just now, he noticed that some of Sunrise Island’s masters, including Pang Zhen, had quietly left the island.
Immediately, he understood that Pang Zhen had gone to search for that important missing person from the Sea Clan!
If even Shang Ao and Qian Mo valued this individual so highly, their status must be quite extraordinary. If Pang Zhen could find this missing person first, it would undoubtedly become a great merit. At that time, it would be a simple matter to use this person to negotiate some kind of agreement with Sea God Palace, or simply ransomed for a large number of resources.
Yang Kai also knew that the masters from the Sea Clan had not left far from Sunrise Island, only moving about thirty thousand kilometres off.
They seemed to believe that their clansman had disappeared near Sunrise Island so they planned to conduct a thorough search of the area.
Yang Kai watched with interest, secretly wondering what kind of scene would appear if the two groups met one another.
However, this idea was obviously superfluous. Whether it was the cultivators of Sunrise Island or the cultivators from the Sea Clan, they both did their best to avoid one another.
Suddenly, an aura mysteriously disappeared from Yang Kai’s perception.
Before he could figure out what happened, another one disappeared, and then a third, then a fourth…
Within a very short period of time, dozens of auras disappeared strangely.
This was not anything like a cultivator’s aura fading after they died, but rather just completely vanishing in an instant!
Yang Kai was stunned.
He was now the Star Master of Shadowed Star, so it was not an exaggeration to say that as long as he wanted to, he could monitor the movement of any place he wanted to with perfect accuracy.
But now, he could not tell how dozens of powerful masters had disappeared from his view.
There did not seem to be any reason for their disappearance.
In fact, not even these peoples’ companions had noticed yet.
In the beginning, only those from the Sea Clan were disappearing, but then the masters of Sunrise Island also began to vanish one by one. By the time the remaining people discovered something was not right, it was already too late. Only a few of the original two hundred or so masters from both forces remained, and it was not long before these last few also vanished.
Yang Kai jumped to his feet and his figure flickered as he directly moved from Sunrise Island to the area where the strange disappearances had occurred. Floating mid-air, Yang Kai frowned as he spread out his Divine Sense, trying to figure out what exactly had happened.
Such an unusual event occurring in this region puzzled and shocked him greatly as the Star Master of Shadowed Star.
Even after a careful examination though, Yang Kai was unable to discover any clues.
The surrounding world seemed to be filled with a mysterious air.
Suddenly, Yang Kai’s expression changed abruptly, and he turned his head in a certain direction.
Over there, an island shrouded in shadows strangely manifested. This island’s outline was hazy, like a reflection in the water, making it difficult to discern. What’s more, no matter how Yang Kai probed with his Divine Sense, he was unable to grasp where this island was, or even if it was real.
It seemed to exist, yet not; seemed to be close, yet far; filled with an inexplicable aura.
A black crack silently appeared behind Yang Kai, and by the time he noticed it, it had already expanded like the giant maw of a beast and swallowed him whole.
In the next instant, Yang Kai disappeared.
A squall blew past, leaving faint ripples on the otherwise calm ocean surface, leaving no trace of any living aura within a ten thousand kilometre radius.
…..
The place where Yang Kai reappeared was a sandy beach filled with the damp smell of an ocean coast. Before he could figure out where he was, battle-cries rang in his ears, the voices behind them familiar to him.
Looking in the direction the voices came from, Yang Kai suddenly discovered that the Human Race and Sea Clan masters who had disappeared from his perception had also largely appeared on this beach.
Pang Zhen, Shang Ao, and Qian Mo were among them.
However, they were in an unbelievably bad situation and were being besieged by a group of unknown cultivators.
Although Sea Temple and Sea God Palace were by no means friendly with one another, even frequently having conflicts among them, they at least knew how to distinguish who their immediate enemies were. Suddenly finding themselves transported to some unfamiliar place, they abandoned their previous animosities and worked together.
There were not many people besieging them, only about thirty or forty.
But it was the masters from Sea Temple and Sea God Palace that were on the defensive! If it were not for these unknown cultivators not intending to kill ruthlessly, Pang Zhen, Shang Ao, and the others would definitely have suffered heavy losses already.
Yang Kai stared at this strange scene for a moment and soon noticed that no one showed any signs of using their Saint Qi, only using their physical strength to confront the enemy.
This was not only the case with the cultivators of unknown origin, but also for Pang Zhen and Shang Ao’s groups.
Shang Ao was both tall and muscular. As a member of the Sea Clan, his physical strength was quite intrepid, so even if he was besieged by four or five enemies, he was barely able to defend himself.
Pang Zhen, on the other hand, was a different story. In terms of overall combat effectiveness, he and Shang Ao were almost evenly matched, but without his Saint Qi, Pang Zhen’s strength plummeted, and he was obviously beset with difficulties right now.
The same went for the other human cultivators. They did not have the same powerful physiques as the Sea Clan, so not only were they inferior to the men like Shang Ao, but even to the women like Qian Mo.
Yang Kai observed thoughtfully for a moment before trying to circulate his Saint Qi only to discover he could not mobilize it at all. This strange place had completely sealed his Saint Qi!
This discovery surprised him greatly.
Next, Yang Kai tried to extend his Divine Sense and quickly found that the furthest away from his body he could get with it was fifty metres.
[What is this place? Why is there such powerful suppression of Saint Qi and Divine Sense here?] Yang Kai was puzzled.
Two nearby fellows, seeing Yang Kai lost in thought, could not help snickering and dashing over.
Yang Kai had yet to figure out the situation here, so he did not want to stand out too much; as such, while dealing with these two attackers, he secretly continued to observe his surroundings.
When it came to physical strength, Yang Kai could be considered a top-level existence. He had refined a lot of the Life Revitalizing Jade Cream he brought out from the Emperor Garden, dramatically increasing the amount of pure Golden Blood in his body. Coupled with the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art he cultivated, Yang Kai could say with confidence that he could take down an ordinary Origin King in a simple contest of strength without breaking a sweat!
He could be sure now that this was not Shadowed Star, it was some kind of separate world.
Even the connection between him and Shadowed Star had been cut off, and he couldn’t make use of his abilities as a Star Master, so Yang Kai was certain this was an independent, sealed space!
The battle was in full swing, with both sides heavily engaged, but cultivators from the Sea Temple Sea God Palace force were constantly being captured, tied up, and tossed to the side. However, Shang Ao and the others continued to resist, even managing to wound several enemies.
A tall, scrawny man who had been standing by and watching saw that his subordinates were unable to resolve this situation in short order and finally decided to step in, snorting loudly as he called out, “Having entered Shadowed Soul Island, you must learn the true difference between Heaven and Earth. Cease your resistance and follow this King to greet Lord Island Master obediently. As long as you are obedient, Lord Island Master Sir will not embarrass you.”
“Shadowed Soul Island?” Pang Zhen, Shang Ao, and Qian Mo exclaimed at the same time, each of their faces becoming extremely pale.
Even Yang Kai was shocked.
This was actually Shadowed Soul Island? He could not believe it.
Yang Kai had heard about Shadowed Soul Island before. Shadowed Star originally had Three Great Forbidden Zones: The Flowing Flame Sand Field, the Emperor Garden, and Shadowed Soul Island.
Needless to say, the Flowing Flame Sand Field was a place that opened once every few hundred years, allowing the younger generation of various great forces to enter and seek opportunities.
The Emperor Garden was also a famous place, the private residence of the Starry Sky Great Emperor. When it was opened last time, the entire Star Field sent its young talents to explore it and many obtained great benefits as a result.
However, Shadowed Soul Island was different from the first two. The first two were places where one could enter to seek opportunities, but Shadowed Soul Island was a death sentence!
Rumours had it that Shadowed Soul Island existed somewhere on the Limitless Ocean, but no one who had encountered it ever returned, all of them disappearing as if they never existed in the first place.
Many Shadowed Star cultivators doubted whether Shadowed Soul Island really existed because no one could provide any evidence it was real.
Shadowed Soul Island only existed in legend.
But now, this scrawny man actually called this place Shadowed Soul Island, so how could Pang Zhen, Shang Ao, and the others not be shocked? They had all lived on the Limitless Ocean their whole lives and were familiar with the rumours and legends about this place, so when they heard the name Shadowed Soul Island, all of them turned pale.
If this was really Shadowed Soul Island, it meant that the legends were true, which meant they would never be able to return to the Limitless Ocean and could only die in this damned place where Saint Qi and Divine Sense were all but useless!
The idea of being forced to obey the orders of some unknown Island Master was also intolerable to the masters here.
“Yes, this is Shadowed Soul Island!” The slender man was very satisfied with everyone’s reaction. He was also greatly troubled when he arrived here, but that was so long ago he had lost track of how many years it was.
Shang Ao and Pang Zhen exchanged a glance before shouting in unison, “Only a fool would believe you!”
“Hmph, stubborn fools!” The slender man coldly snorted, and not wanting to waste any more time, he stepped forward and an eye-catching aura began pulsing from his body.
Waving his hand casually, a few Human and Sea Clan masters who were blocking his path were beaten down, unable to even resist.
He did not use any Saint Qi, only relying on raw physical strength!
Shang Ao’s eyes shrank when he saw this, and a solemn expression appeared on his face. He could tell that this slender man’s body contained an unbelievable strength.
The lanky man only took a few steps to arrive in front of Shang Ao.
Intending to punish one to warn the others, he targeted Shang Ao, after all, Shang Ao was the most powerful person in this group.
There was nothing special about this scrawny man’s movements, even the punch he threw was quite crude, but even so, the air seemed to crack as sent his fist towards Shang Ao.
Shang Ao roared as he stood tall and clenched his fists before crossing his arms in a defensive posture.
*Hong…*
The slender man’s fists hit Shang Ao’s two arms, and the sound of bones breaking rang out. Shang Ao’s burly body was sent flying like a paper kite with a broken thread, landing heavily on the ground several hundred metres away.
When he stood up forcibly, his eyes and nose were leaking blood, which gave him a hideous look as he staggered, eventually falling back to the ground.
The crowd instantly went into an uproar as they showed terrified looks on their faces.
The Sea Temple and Sea God Palace masters who were still resisting stopped their actions all at once.
Since this thin man could knock out Shang Ao with one punch, it would naturally be easy for him to kill them all. Pang Zhen’s expression fluctuated a few times before he commanded the cultivators from Sea Temple to stand down.
In the face of absolute power, resistance became meaningless and would only serve to increase their casualties.
Upon seeing this, the lanky man showed a satisfied expression and laughed loudly, “A wise man will submit to the circumstances, very good! Rest assured, this King has no intention to slaughter ruthlessly, Shadowed Soul Island has not had fresh blood in a very long time, so your arrival here is quite timely. Also, the Island Master does not allow anyone to kill at will as long as they remain obedient. Perhaps in the future, we may even be comrades. Once you have stayed here for a while, you will understand what kind of place Shadowed Soul Island is.”
He grinned happily.
Meanwhile, the faces of the Human and Sea Clan masters turned ugly.
Yang Kai frowned slightly, his expression fluctuating a few times before quickly making up his mind.
He did not intend to leave himself at the mercy of this thin man! Regardless of whether this was Shadowed Soul Island or not, he needed to keep the initiative in his own hands.
Deciding so, Yang Kai dashed out of the encirclement and fled quickly.
This action finally caught the thin man’s attention, and seeing Yang Kai flee, his face sank and he coldly snorted, “A fool who doesn’t know when to give up. Go kill him for me!”
Yang Kai’s actions undoubtedly annoyed him greatly, so he directly ordered two of his subordinates to dispose of Yang Kai.
Having received orders, the two men chased after Yang Kai.
No one from the Sea Clan recognized Yang Kai, and only thought he was some disciple of Sea Temple, so after a quick glance they did not pay any attention to him, but Pang Zhen naturally was shocked as he wondered how Yang Kai had appeared here.
However, Pang Zhen could not even protect himself at this moment, so he did not have the luxury to care about Yang Kai’s affairs, choosing to stand in place with a gloomy look upon his face.
Upon the slender man’s orders, his subordinates immediately rushed forward to tie up the remaining cultivators from the Human Race and Sea Clan. Anyone who resisted was punched black and blue.
These people, regardless of their cultivation level, had much stronger physiques compared to the newcomers without exception, so any resistance from the Sea Temple and Sea God Palace masters was quickly suppressed.
The lanky man smiled and said with a malicious grin said, “Be obedient and there will be benefits for you, but dare to resist… heh heh, Shadowed Soul Island also has many who die every year, you should understand.”
Both Pang Zhen and Qian Mo’s faces sank as they both had bad premonitions in their hearts.
…..
A hundred kilometres away, Yang Kai frowned as he looked down at the two fresh corpses on the ground and sighed slightly.
Having just arrived here, he did not want to kill recklessly.
But these two who had chased after him were relentless in their pursuit, so Yang Kai had no choice but to act ruthlessly.
Without Saint Qi, the number of people in the entire Star Field who could compete with Yang Kai purely through physical strength could probably be counted on one hand, so how could these two lackeys possibly be Yang Kai’s opponents?
After only two or three exchanges, they lay dead at his feet!
Yang Kai quickly took their Space Rings before picking a direction and fleeing.
Half an hour later, another cultivator arrived, and after seeing the two corpses on the ground, his face changed, and he quickly returned to Shadowed Soul Island to report the situation.
By now, Yang Kai was already hundreds of kilometres away.
Inside a natural cave on the coast, Yang Kai sat down cross-legged. This cave was quite damp and unsuitable for living in, but Yang Kai could not be bothered about this right now.
Sitting on the ground, he tried again to circulate the Saint Qi in his body while also attempting to communicate with Shadowed Star; however, both endeavours failed.
This strange place was able to cut off the connection between him and Shadowed Star, eliminating his biggest advantage.
Yang Kai’s face turned a little ugly.
Fortunately, even though Divine Sense was greatly suppressed here, it was still usable, or he would not have even been able to take things out of his Space Ring, let alone use the artifacts stored in his body.
Whether it was using a Space Ring or an artifact, both required a certain amount of Spiritual Energy. Once one could not use their Spiritual Energy at all, these convenient boosts would become inaccessible.
This allowed Yang Kai to relax slightly.
After thinking about it, he took out the Space Rings of the two people he had killed just now and began to investigate their belongings.
With Yang Kai’s current wealth, he wouldn’t put the meagre treasures of these two ordinary cultivators in his eyes. However, he could still use the items they kept as a way to determine the situation here on Shadowed Soul Island, which was why he had bothered taking them.
The original cultivation of these two should not have been high, so it was no trouble for Yang Kai to break the seals on their Space Rings.
Looking carefully, Yang Kai found that these two guys were relatively poor, and besides some food, there were only a few Saint Crystals, some low-grade artifacts, a few Secret Art and Martial Skill manuals, and a few jade bottles.
Saint Crystals were completely useless here. Saint Qi could not be used, so what role could Saint Crystals play here?
Yang Kai also did not spare a glance at the artifacts or manuals.
Picking up the jade bottles, Yang Kai opened their caps and poured out some grey pills from inside.
With just a glance, Yang Kai snorted disdainfully.
With his current identity as an Origin King Grade Alchemist, he could naturally see at a glance that this pill was not even refined completely. Although it could not be considered a complete failure, it did not bring out the full effects of the raw materials used to refine it. On top of that, the refinement method was too rough, with the medicinal efficacies of the raw materials clearly not condensed properly.
This pill was little more than a ball of randomly mixed together ingredients, pressed together at will!
However, thinking that Saint Qi could not be used in this damned place, Yang Kai relaxed slightly.
Without Saint Qi, Alchemist would have no way to condense medicinal liquid and fully utilize herbs. It was probably for this reason that these pills seemed to be half-finished products.
Although Yang Kai did not put this kind of pill into his eyes due to his vision and skill, he was still quite curious about what their intended effects were.
None of the pills he had mastered so far matched the ones in front of him, which came as a bit of a surprise.
After observing for a while, he sniffed the pill again, and after confirming it was not a poison pill, he simply popped one into his mouth.
A moment later, Yang Kai raised his brow and showed a look of astonishment, muttering under his breath, “So that’s how it is. No wonder everyone here has such great physical strength, it’s because of these pills!”
After tasting it, he immediately understood the purpose of this pill.
It was a pill meant for body tempering!
After taking that pill, Yang Kai clearly felt heat flow from his lower abdomen to his limbs, tempering his five viscera, six organs, muscles, and tendons, developing his body in a positive direction.
Of course, this pill had an almost negligible effect on Yang Kai given his already incredible physical strength.
However, for those cultivators who had not specially tempered their bodies, it would no doubt provide great assistance. If one could take such pills for many years, their physiques would definitely grow stronger.
This was probably the fundamental reason why the cultivators living on Shadowed Soul Island were so much stronger than the average human or Sea Clan!
They should all have taken a number of these pills!
Saint Qi could not be used on Shadowed Soul Island, and Divine Sense was heavily suppressed, so the cultivators living here had found another way to strengthen themselves. Everything depended on one’s own efforts, so it was not an unreasonable course of action.
Yang Kai was also quite interested in this pill.
However, he did not know the pill recipe or the raw materials, so he could only set this matter aside for now.
Outside the cave, Yang Kai looked into the distance. He could vaguely see a city at the centre of Shadowed Soul Island, where the residents of Shadowed Soul Island should live. At the centre of the city was a very tall building that stretched up into the clouds, its top hidden from sight.
Yang Kai retracted his gaze and turned it towards the undulating sea. Without hesitation, he leapt into the water and began swimming forward.
Without his Saint Qi, he could only rely on this most primitive way of swimming.
He could now judge that Shadowed Soul Island was definitely an independent and enclosed space. Just like the floating continent he had been trapped on when he first entered the Star Field, this place had its own World Principles, which were separate from Shadowed Star’s.
Since it was a sealed world though, it should have a border, so Yang Kai wanted to see if he could find this edge and break through it to escape.
Even if he couldn’t, he could always just double back and come up with a new plan, such as entering the city and finding the so-called Island Master of Shadowed Soul Island to ask about the situation. Presumably, he would know a lot more than Yang Kai did.
The sea was cold, but Yang Kai’s speed was extremely fast.
Along the way, he encountered many brutal sea beasts, but all of them were killed when they tried to attack Yang Kai.
After several days, Yang Kai found that these sea beasts were different from the ones outside. The physiques of these sea beasts were quite a bit stronger than members of their species in the outside world. It took Yang Kai quite some effort to kill a number of these beasts in the water.
Yang Kai also occasionally noticed some ships travelling across the water, wandering around certain regions of the sea.
These boats were crewed by the residents of Shadowed Soul Island, and from the actions they took, it appeared they were searching for something.
Yang Kai did not want to expose himself just yet, so he avoided them as much as possible.
These ships only sailed around the coastal waters, not daring to travel too far from land; after all, the further out to sea they went, the greater the danger they would encounter. Even though these sea beasts were no match for Yang Kai, that did not mean they were weak.
Several more days passed, but Yang Kai had found nothing of note, and gradually he no longer even saw the figures of other cultivators, but he did not give up and continued his exploration.
One day, atop the vast ocean, Yang Kai suddenly discovered something out of the corner of his eye.
Up ahead, Yang Kai saw a few flickers of colour amidst the thin ocean mist.
Yang Kai immediately became energetic and hurried over to investigate.
For several days, all he had seen was endless ocean waves, which was quite grating on his mind, so Yang Kai welcomed any kind of distraction.
No matter what these colourful lights were, it had to be more interesting than the unchanging sea.
A moment later, Yang Kai arrived.
However, the sight that greeted him surprised Yang Kai.
Atop the sea, there was a floating lotus!
There were several dozen lotus flowers grouped up together, some pink, some cyan, some silver, and some gold, each one of them exuding a potent aura.
“Ocean Lotus?” Yang Kai frowned.
Obviously, these weren’t ordinary Ocean Lotuses, however, but precious Alchemy herbs.
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up as he swam up to one of the cyan Ocean Lotus. Plucking a petal, he put it in his mouth to chew.
Soon, Yang Kai’s eyes brightened, and he couldn’t help letting out a hearty laugh, “Turns out this thing is the main ingredient of that pill!”
He was very interested in that special body tempering pill from before, but unfortunately, he didn’t know what materials were used to refine it. He never thought that this trip out to sea would allow him to discover their main ingredient so easily.
Obviously, the ships he encountered along the way had come out to sea to find these Ocean Lotus.
Unfortunately for those people, they could only move around near Shadowed Soul Island, causing them to miss out on the true riches further out.
Yang Kai happily began picking these Ocean Lotus, preserving them properly, then placing them into his Space Ring.
After some investigation, he found that these Ocean Lotuses had different medicinal efficacies depending on their colour. Pink ones had the lowest potency, followed by cyan, silver, then gold.
The stronger the medicinal efficacy of an Ocean Lotus, the fewer of them there were. There was only one golden Ocean Lotus that floated at the centre of this cluster.
There were not many silver ones either, only six in total, making each one quite precious.
These materials could play a huge role in Yang Kai’s hands. With his current Alchemy skill, he would not have any difficulty deducing the pill recipe for those Body Tempering Pills by himself, after which, he could begin refining his own pills.
As such, he did not intend to let off a single one of these Ocean Lotus.
As Yang Kai was immersed in his joyful discovery, he suddenly heard a slight splashing sound coming from nearby. Turning his head, he fixed his sight on a small dolphin about a metre or so in length. Arriving in front of a cyan Ocean Lotus, this little dolphin opened its mouth and swallowed it down in one gulp.
Although most of its body was hidden beneath the sea, this little dolphin appeared both elegant and cute, even as it chewed happily on the Ocean Lotus.
Sensing Yang Kai looking towards it, the little dolphin turned to look at him as well, blinking a few times but showing no signs of fear, instead just slapping the surface of the water with its tail a few times before slowly wandering over to another pink Ocean Lotus.
Soon, the pink Ocean Lotus was also eaten by it.
The little dolphin seemed to be in a good mood and flicked its tail even faster.
Yang Kai originally wanted to drive it away, but after hesitating for a moment he eventually gave up such thoughts. Since entering this ocean, all the sea beasts he had encountered were vicious and bloodthirsty, all of them immediately attacking him without any exception.
This little dolphin, on the contrary, behaved harmlessly, and Yang Kai did not sense any danger from it, so he simply let it be.
One person and one dolphin acted separately and quickly collected all of the Ocean Lotus in this area.
The six silver lotus and the golden lotus were all picked by Yang Kai while the little dolphin only managed to collect a few of the lower grade lotus from the periphery, seemingly making it a bit upset. Swimming over to Yang Kai’s side boldly, it began circling around him and crying out in protest.
Yang Kai failed to stifle his laughter, and after the little dolphin arched its head towards him once, he relented and took out a cyan lotus from his Space Ring.
He could not bring himself to refuse the longing look of the little dolphin.
The eyes of the little dolphin instantly brightened, and it sent out a few more cries, like a baby begging for good.
Yang Kai brought the cyan lotus to its mouth and the little dolphin swallowed it down in one bite, its eyes narrowing into crescent shapes.
Once the cyan lotus entered its stomach, the little dolphin burped contentedly before swimming around Yang Kai more and more quickly, acting even more intimate than before.
Yang Kai grinned at this sight as he felt his heart warm after spending so many days in the freezing-cold water.
Suddenly, a disturbance on the surface of the ocean appeared nearby and rapidly began approaching the human-dolphin pair. Obviously, there was a sea beast that had sniffed out Yang Kai and the little dolphin and was coming to feed.
The little dolphin’s ability to sense danger was quite sharp and it immediately hid behind Yang Kai, only poking half of its head out to observe, an almost human-like look of panic flashing across its eyes.
Yang Kai stretched out his hand and patted its head to comfort it before narrowing his eyes and staring towards the approaching sea beast.
Soon, with a great splash, a terrifying-looking, shark-like sea beast leapt out from the water, opened its giant mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth, and bit towards Yang Kai.
The little dolphin’s tail flicked violently as it let out a series of anxious cries.
Yang Kai remained still, however, waiting until the sea beat was only a few metres away from him before suddenly throwing out his fist, striking its forehead like a bolt of lightning.
With Yang Kai as the centre, the ocean surface suddenly caved in and a series of strong ripples quickly spread out.
*Hong…*
The forehead of the giant sea beast visibly distorted, nearly collapsing altogether as its huge body was sent flying several hundred metres before crashing back into the water.
Soon, red blood spread out from the spot it landed and a huge, overturned sea beast floated up to the surface where it remained motionless.
The little dolphin was visibly stunned, and its two extremely energetic eyes stared towards Yang Kai, then towards the sea beast in the distance, then back towards Yang Kai…
It did not seem to understand how such a small Yang Kai had sent such a big sea beast flying; their two bodies were completely incomparable in size after all.
However, it did not spend much time thinking about this issue and instead just turned a look of admiration towards Yang Kai while making some joyful cries. It then swam around in front of Yang Kai and arched its head towards him.
Yang Kai glanced at it in confusion, not quite understanding what it was trying to say.
The little dolphin continued to arch its head in a beckoning motion…
Only after thinking about it for a while did Yang Kai finally understand and pointed to the little dolphin’s back while asking, “You want me to climb up?”
The little dolphin nodded strongly.
Yang Kai wore a strange expression as he looked over the metre-long dolphin and hesitantly asked, “I don’t think that’s a good idea, aren’t you too small?”
He was worried this little dolphin wouldn’t be able to move if he mounted it.
The little dolphin no longer bothered asking and instead dove under the water. The next moment, Yang Kai felt himself being held up by something and quickly floated up above the water’s surface.
Soon, half of the little dolphin’s body was exposed above the surface of the water, and after letting out some happy cries, it began swimming forward rapidly.
Soaring across the waves, Yang Kai could not help exclaiming, “Seems I underestimated you.”
The speed of the dolphin in the water was more than ten times his own. As it swam forward, it was as if the sea took the initiative to separate to its sides, not resisting it at all.
The little dolphin turned its head triumphantly and glanced back at Yang Kai, as if trying to say, “you can praise me more”.
Yang Kai laughed loudly as he sat atop the little dolphin and relaxed, allowing it to take him wherever it wanted.
Yang Kai did not know what kind of beast this cute little dolphin was, but from its performance just now, he was certain it must have great difficulty surviving in this environment. However, since it could understand his words and even respond to him, it showed that its sentience wasn’t low, at least not inferior to a seven or eight-year-old human child.
With the little dolphin as his own private mount, Yang Kai felt much more at ease, and he no longer needed to soak himself in the sea all day.
As for why it was so intimate with him, even actively asking him to ride it, obviously, it also understood how difficult it would be for it to survive here without his protection.
This could be regarded as a kind of cooperation, a win-win situation.
Yang Kai thought that the little dolphin’s only use was as a means of transportation, but he soon found that he was mistaken.
And greatly mistaken at that!
This little thing seemingly swam through the sea randomly and aimlessly, but it was not long before it brought Yang Kai to a patch of Ocean Lotus.
Yang Kai thought it was luck at first, but two days later, he discovered that this little dolphin seemed to have the ability to sniff out Ocean Lotus from thousands, if not tens of thousands of kilometres away.
Yang Kai reaped a great harvest!
In addition to the several dozen Ocean Lotuses he found at the beginning, he managed to obtain at least another hundred of them over the next few days.
Pink and cyan Ocean Lotus made up the majority of these while the number of silver ones was relatively small, and only three were golden.
These things were a specialty of Shadowed Soul Island and could not be found anywhere else. Using these Ocean Lotuses, Yang Kai could refine special Body Tempering pills in large quantities, not only allowing him to enhance his own strength, but also the strength of his friends and family.
As such, the more Ocean Lotus he obtained the better.
The little dolphin also ate until its stomach was stuffed! The Ocean Lotuses were found by it, so naturally, Yang Kai would not prevent it from eating its fill.
Time flew by, and half a month later, at least five hundred Ocean Lotuses were stored in Yang Kai’s Space Ring. Although he did not know the exact value of these Ocean Lotus on Shadowed Soul Island, just taking into consideration how many he had obtained over the distance he had crossed, he could judge that they were certainly in short supply.
Only if Shadowed Soul Island organized a group of powerful masters to explore further out to sea would they have a chance to reap a bigger harvest, otherwise, they would have to content themselves with a few Ocean Lotus which drifted closer to the island.
On this day, the little dolphin brought Yang Kai to an island.
This island was quite small, only a dozen or so kilometres in diameter, less than one percent the size of Shadowed Soul Island.
However, this was the first time Yang Kai had seen any other island than Shadowed Soul Island. Naturally, he was quite curious and looked around carefully, quickly discovering a small river that led to the interior of the island.
The little dolphin quickly swam up this river and entered the island.
Soon after, an inland lake appeared in front of Yang Kai. This lake was connected with the sea outside and seemed to occupy about a fifth of the area of the island. What was most important though, was that many Ocean Lotuses were blossoming in this lake. A rough estimate put the number of Ocean Lotus here at over a thousand.
Yang Kai’s eyes immediately lit up.
Even after the rich harvest he had these past few days, Yang Kai could not help grinning widely at this sight.
“Good job!” Yang Kai sat cross-legged on the little dolphin, stretched out his hand, and patted its head while offering his praise.
The little dolphin was also very happy!
After getting along these days, the little dolphin had become more and more dependent on Yang Kai, especially after Yang Kai easily killed so many sea beasts. It currently almost worshipped him.
Those sea beasts were all vicious giants that could swallow it in one bite, but Yang Kai was able to kill them all with just one or two punches.
Soon, one person and one dolphin arrived at the island lake and Yang Kai leapt off and swam between the multi-coloured lotus. Once Ocean Lotus after another was stuffed into his Space Ring. Not to be outdone, the little dolphin ate one Ocean Lotus after another until its belly became nice and round.
It then began swimming around the lake lazily, looking particularly carefree.
After an hour’s work, Yang Kai had picked more than two-thirds of the Ocean Lotus in the lake.
Just as he was turning his attention to the last remaining lotus, an angry roar reached Yang Kai’s ears. This roar was filled with righteous indignation and indescribable grief, like the one who was shouting was seeing the villain who had killed his parents.
“Bastard, you dare steal this old master’s Shadowed Heaven Lotus!”
As soon as these words fell, a figure rushed over from nearby, his bloodshot eyes glaring at Yang Kai fiercely as he leapt into the air.
The earth cracked under the impact of his footfalls.
Mid-air, this man threw a punch towards Yang Kai.
This fist was silent and seemingly without any strength, but Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed when he saw it approach and a solemn expression filled his face. Drawing a deep breath, Yang Kai gave a loud shout as he too leapt out of the water and sent out his own punch to meet the enemy’s attack.
When the two fists struck one another, visible ripples spread out through the air into the surrounding area.
Time seemed to freeze suddenly.
Soon though, a deafening bang erupted and a violent wave of force burst out, distorting the nearby space.
Yang Kai flew back while the unknown cultivator was also unable to stabilize his body, tumbling a few times through the air before landing back on the shore he had leapt from.
Yang Kai landed on a lotus leaf lightly, raised his head, and stared forward.
Only now did he have a chance to take a good look at his attacker.
Unexpectedly, it was an elderly man with a short stature. Even if he stood up straight, Yang Kai estimated that the man’s head would only come up to his shoulders. This old man’s complexion was dark, like the bottom of a pot, similar to Old Black Face Yan Pei of Treasure Trove Pavilion. However, perhaps because Yang Kai had picked most of his precious Ocean Lotuses, this old man’s face was even blacker than normal.
The old man was wearing a simple shirt made from some unknown sea beast’s skin and was quite worn and tattered. Noteworthy, though, were the rippling muscles Yang Kai could see through the holes in his robes that seemed full of explosive power covering this old man’s frame.
Other than being a bit short in stature, this old man had a very well-proportioned body, a physical manifestation of the quality of his physique.
The old man obviously did not expect that Yang Kai could take his punch head-on, and after landing, he frowned slightly before charging over at even greater speed while roaring, “Boy, today, you must either die, or this old master must perish!”
Yang Kai had picked two-thirds of his Shadowed Heaven Lotuses, which was worse than killing him directly, so how could he let Yang Kai off?
If possible, Yang Kai did not want to fight with this muddled old man, but seeing his manner and tone, Yang Kai knew that this matter could not be settled peacefully. As such, having encountered a rare opponent who could match him in terms of physical strength, Yang Kai set aside all other thoughts and let out a great laugh as he immersed himself in combat.
Mid-air, the two figures clashed once more, raising a thunderous boom as they collided.
In this second exchange, neither side took the advantage, but they rushed towards each other again without any time to breathe.
The little dolphin hid most of his figure in the island lake as its eyes filled with worry.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
Explosions sounded continuously across the entire island as Yang Kai and the old man gradually shifted their battlefield away from the lake so as not to affect the Ocean Lotuses down below.
Both of them had the same scruples, not wanting to destroy these precious Alchemy materials.
After a cup of tea’s worth of time, the battlefield had migrated to above the open ocean.
Not needing to hold back anymore, Yang Kai’s eyes flashed brilliantly as he exerted his physical strength to the limit, exchanging one fist after another with this unknown old man.
This savage fighting style stimulated an unprecedented vigour in Yang Kai as he laughed wildly, ignoring his injuries and fighting all out with the old man.
Neither side showed any signs of weakness!
The old man’s expression had long ago grown solemn as he was inwardly shocked.
It had been several hundred years since he arrived on Shadowed Soul Island and immersed himself in the unique cultivation method of this place. He thought he had high attainments in terms of physical strength, enough to allow him to rank amongst the top masters in terms of pure Body Tempering in the Star Field, but now, this unknown young man who had appeared out of nowhere was actually able to compete with him on even terms.
The strength of this young man’s physique was not inferior to his own!
The sound of broken bones rang out constantly and there was no shortage of blood splashing about.
The old man was surprised to find that the young man’s blood was not red, however, but golden.
This golden blood also clearly contained an astonishing vitality, comparable to the most precious of divine materials!
“Boy, your good luck ends today!” The old man’s eyes narrowed as he turned his wrist and suddenly summoned a hammer-like artifact into his hand. While blocking one of Yang Kai’s punches, the old man swung this hammer down towards Yang Kai’s head fiercely.
Although Saint Qi could not be used here, and he could not exert the full power of this artifact, with this old man’s great strength, this hammer strike was enough to shatter space.
If he was really hit by it, Yang Kai’s head would definitely burst apart.
Yang Kai didn’t expect this old man to be so cunning, and seeing the hammer close in, his pupils shrank slightly, and he swiftly swung his head to the side. At the same time, a five coloured radiance burst from his body.
The five coloured halo swirled and gradually took on a brown tone that covered all of Yang Kai’s body.
Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art, Earth Sword Qi!
The Earth Sword Qi cultivated by Yang Kai used Divine Nullification Sand as its source, a rare Origin King Grade material with extremely high resilience.
Under the control of Yang Kai’s Divine Sense, the Earth Sword Qi quickly condensed into a shield shape blocking the advancing hammer.
*Honglong…*
The brown Sword Qi shield was blasted away, and the hammer struck Yang Kai’s shoulder, causing his body to sink slightly, but after a brief adjustment, Yang Kai grinned fiercely and sent his fist straight towards the old man’s chin.
Having his defences shattered, the old man cried out and hurriedly leaned his head back, but he wasn’t in time to escape this Earth-shattering counterattack.
Struck on the chin by Yang Kai’s fist, the old man’s head flicked back violently, and if it were not for his incredibly strong body, this single blow would have been enough to reap his life.
Even so, the old man’s vision filled with stars and he nearly passed out.
The old man staggered back several dozen metres before finally managing to stabilize his stance. Shooting a fear-filled glance towards Yang Kai, the old man swiftly decided to escape!
Yang Kai frowned as he stood in place without giving chase. It was not until the old man’s figure disappeared from his vision that he rotated the shoulder which had been hit by the hammer just now.
With a few clicking sounds, the misaligned bones were set back in place.
“That old guy…” Yang Kai muttered to himself. From beginning to end, he had not been able to ask who this old man was or why he was living on this tiny island so far away from Shadowed Soul Island.
The little dolphin’s cries rang out from the inland lake at that moment, and Yang Kai quickly turned his head to find it watching him nervously, as if worried about whether he was hurt.
Yang Kai cast it a look of reassurance before casually walking back over to the lake.
Yang Kai did not plan on letting off the last third of the Ocean Lotus in the lake.
The old man had called these Ocean Lotus Shadowed Heaven Lotus just now, but Yang Kai was certain he had never heard of such a herb before, reaffirming his previous speculations that these were unique to Shadowed Soul Island and never appeared in the outside world.
After a while, Yang Kai collected all the Shadowed Heaven Lotus.
Sensing hostility, Yang Kai looked up and found the old man standing on a hill a few kilometres away, glaring at him with grief, indignation, and helplessness.
It was as if Yang Kai had easily snatched the woman he had been wooing and caring for over many years.
Yang Kai simply grinned back at him.
The old man’s blood boiled as he swiftly turned around and stomped off!
He could not beat Yang Kai, so instead of standing by and being humiliated, he would rather just leave. What the eyes do not see, the heart does not grieve.
Yang Kai found a simple wooden house nearby, obviously built by the old man’s.
Striding inside, Yang Kai occupied the house without any hesitation.
Three days later, Yang Kai was studying the Shadowed Heaven Lotus and the medicinal efficacies of the Body Tempering Pill, hoping to improve upon it, when he heard light footsteps outside the wooden house.
Yang Kai smiled slightly, put down what he was working on, and waited quietly.
Soon, the wooden house’s door was opened, and the old man stood about a dozen metres away from Yang Kai. Staring at this young thief with a very complicated look, the old man asked after a long silence, “Are you not one of Ming Yue’s people?”
Yang Kai frowned and asked, “Who is Ming Yue?”
A stunned look appeared on the old man’s face and he took a hard look at Yang Kai’s face, seemingly wanting to determine if he was lying.
Yang Kai’s eyes were limpid as he stared back inquiringly.
The old man nodded slightly and his attitude eased a little, no longer looking like he was facing his father’s killer or the man who stole his wife. Pausing for a moment, he followed up, “Since you don’t know who Ming Yue is, does that mean you only recently came to Shadowed Soul Island?”
“Old Sir is wise!” Yang Kai casually praised, “Indeed, I have only been here for about a month.”
“No wonder…” The old man squeezed out an ugly smile on his face, “Since you aren’t one of Ming Yue’s people, we can talk.”
“I was hoping for just that,” Yang Kai smiled lightly. If he had not wanted to hold a conversation with this old man, he would have already left the island.
Yang Kai was ignorant of the situation on Shadowed Soul Island, and he could not simply go there and ask about it, so now that he had finally met another person, and one who had clearly been living here for many years, Yang Kai was naturally going to take advantage of the opportunity.
“Can this old master come in to speak?” The old man asked in a depressed tone.
“Of course, this is Old Sir’s residence after all!” Yang Kai invited freely.
The old man’s brow twitched but still strolled in unhesitantly. Although he felt he was not Yang Kai’s opponent, if he had to, he was confident he could at least escape.
He also believed that Yang Kai was not foolish enough to try to fight him for no reason.
After the old man sat in front of him, Yang Kai asked, “Who is this Ming Yue that old sir just mentioned?”
The old man coldly snorted, “An evildoer!”
Yang Kai was stunned, thinking that this old man and Ming Yue seemed to have a deep hatred. Otherwise, this old man would not have ground his teeth at the mere mention of the other party.
“He is the current Island Master of Shadowed Soul Island!” The old man added.
“Ming Yue is the Island Master?” Yang Kai raised his brow. When he first came to Shadowed Soul Island, he heard the scrawny man mention an Island Master, but he did not know the name of this leader until the old man mentioned it.
“Yes!”
Yang Kai brow rose as he asked with a smile, “Old Sir said Ming Yue is the current Island Master of Shadowed Soul Island, so could there have been a previous Island Master?”
The old man glanced at Yang Kai in surprise, secretly admiring this young man’s sharp wit before proudly saying, “The previous Island Master was this old master!”
Yang Kai froze for a moment before cupping his fists and saying, “Seems like I’ve been disrespectful!”
“Hmph, I’m but a stray dog now!” The old man ridiculed himself unpretentiously and said, “Now, this old master can only hide here and live on dishonourably, so there’s no need to show me any respect. What’s more, this old master was defeated by you!”
“It was just luck!” Yang Kai said modestly.
The old man no longer dwelled on this issue and instead stared deeply at Yang Kai before asking, “Do you cultivate some kind of extremely profound Body Tempering Secret Art?”
When he was fighting with Yang Kai a few days ago, Yang Kai had suddenly used his Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art, so this old man was able to see some clues.
On Shadowed Soul Island, Saint Qi couldn’t be used at all, so the only explanation for the five-coloured glow was that it came from some kind of Body Tempering Secret Art. The force gained by cultivating a Body Tempering Secret Art was not related to Saint Qi, so it would not be restricted here on Shadowed Soul Island.
“Yes!” Yang Kai did not try to conceal the truth.
A fiery look flashed across the old man’s face.
Body Tempering Secret Arts, even considering the entire Star Field, were relatively rare, and profound Body Tempering Secret Arts were even rarer.
However, just because they were scarce did not mean Body Tempering Secret Arts were actually that precious.
Firstly, it was far more difficult to cultivate Body Tempering Secret Arts than ordinary Secret Arts. Even if it were just an ordinary Body Tempering Secret Art, it would be very difficult to cultivate to a high level. Secondly, all cultivators had a limited amount of time and energy, and for the most part, trying to cultivate a Body Tempering Secret Art was a waste of both.
The vast majority of cultivators relied on the strength of their Saint Qi and Spiritual Energy to survive, so even if many people knew the benefits of a strong physique, few pursued one.
However, everything was different on Shadowed Soul Island.
In this damned place where Saint Qi could not be used and Spiritual Energy was highly suppressed, Body Tempering was the best and only way for a cultivator to increase their strength!
For countless years, there had been cultivators trapped on Shadowed Soul Island, so a few Body Tempering Secret Arts had come to exist here as well. In fact, this old man cultivated one such Secret Art, but it was quite a basic one, completely incomparable to Yang Kai’s Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art.
The reason why the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art was so powerful, however, was not because of the Secret Art itself, but rather because of the materials required to cultivate it.
The old man still thought that if he could get hold of Yang Kai’s Body Tempering Secret Art, his own strength would definitely increase.
So, when he heard that Yang Kai had a profound Body Tempering Secret Art, his eyes naturally became fiery.
However, as an experienced master, and knowing that one could not ask for another’s Secret Art casually, the old man forcefully suppressed his greed.
“Allow me to introduce myself, this old master’s name is Sha Hu!” When he said these words, he had a sense of self-satisfaction, as if Yang Kai should have heard of this name.
Unfortunately, the results disappointed him, with Yang Kai just cupping his fists lightly and saying, “So it is Old Man Sha, this Junior’s name is Yang Kai!”
Sha Hu frowned and asked tentatively, “Have you never heard of this old master’s name?”
Yang Kai smiled lightly, “Old Man Sha was born on the Limitless Ocean, right?”
Sha Hu nodded and quickly understood, “Are you from the inland?”
“It is as you guessed!”
Sha Hu knew that on Shadowed Star, the ocean and inland cultivators belonged to two separate systems, and although everyone had some degree of interaction between them, it was quite rare to get involved in the other party’s affairs or territory, so it was not surprising that people from the inland didn’t know the names of masters from the Limitless Ocean.
Knowing this, Sha Hu’s expression relaxed and he chuckled, “This old master has been trapped here for more than three hundred years, but before then, he was Sea Temple’s Second Temple Master. How is Sea Temple now?”
“Old Sir is the Second Temple Master of Sea Temple?” Yang Kai was stunned and proceeded to explain, “In truth, this Junior came here from Sea Temple’s Sunrise Island. Sea Temple is now very powerful on the Limitless Ocean, well deserving of the title ‘strongest Human Race Sect’ and on par with Sea God Palace.”
Sha Hu listened quietly before nodding with satisfaction, “That group of boys aren’t bad, at least they haven’t disappointed our ancestors! Does little brother have some kind of friendship with Sea Temple? Why were you on Sunrise Island?”
“I just passed by accidentally, there’s no real friendship between myself and Sea Temple,” Yang Kai laughed.
Perhaps because he was able to learn how Sea Temple was currently, Sha Hu’s expression brightened significantly, and seeing that Yang Kai did not have the same overbearing aggressive streak that most young men possessed, he felt quite satisfied with him.
Both of them put aside the embarrassment of the previous battle and even began chatting in a friendly manner.
Yang Kai needed to know the situation of Shadowed Soul Island, and Sha Hu wanted to inquire about the current situation of Sea Temple, so as they took turns asking questions, the atmosphere gradually became harmonious.
After a long time, both got the intelligence and information they wanted.
Yang Kai frowned slightly after learning that this Shadowed Soul Island was an independent and enclosed space that no one knew how to leave. Even Sha Hu, as the Island Master of Shadowed Soul Island back then, could not leave this place.
As for Ming Yue, he was originally the Deputy Island Master under Sha Hu, and his strength was not inferior, but one day, Ming Yue’s strength suddenly rose somehow, and defeated Sha Hu after a fierce battle, forcing the latter to flee from Shadowed Soul Island and hide on this small island.
By rough count, that event happened almost a hundred years ago.
For a hundred years, Sha Hu had endured this humiliation in hopes of one day returning to Shadowed Soul Island to seek revenge.
Unfortunately, his strength seemed to have reached a bottleneck and he was unable to continue improving, forcing him to remain hidden here.
Fortunately, this little island was quite far from Shadowed Soul Island and most people could not reach it, allowing Sha Hu to live freely without disturbance. In fact, Yang Kai was the only one who had made it here in the past hundred years.
As for how big this independent space where Shadowed Soul Island sat was, even Sha Hu did not know. He once left this small island to explore, but the deeper he went, the stronger the sea beasts became, to the point where even he could no longer defeat them, so with no other choice, he returned here.
“Is there truly no way to leave Shadowed Soul Island?” Yang Kai frowned.
“Perhaps there is, but this old master has not found one,” Sha Hu shook his head. “As least, one cannot be found here.”
“What Old Sir means is…”
Sha Hu frowned and pondered for a moment, “This is just this old master’s guess. Whether it is correct or not, this old master cannot say for certain.”
“Senior, please speak.”
“If there is a way out of here, there should be a clue on Shadowed Soul Island. There is a mysterious place on that island, one this old master wanted to investigate, but couldn’t enter,” Sha Hu said without hesitation.
Yang Kai’s brow rose slightly.
Sha Hu laughed and said, “If the two of us join forces, we may be able to capture Shadowed Soul Island, but all of this is still just a possibility. Ming Yue was stronger than me back then, and now a hundred years have passed, so I don’t know how strong he is currently. Perhaps we would simply be walking into a trap.”
Yang Kai showed neither approval nor disapproval.
He did not care about this Ming Yue at all as he had not used his full strength when fighting Sha Hu. What’s more, he still had his Stone Puppet, Xiao Xiao!
In a simple contest of physical strength, who in this world could defeat Xiao Xiao?
As long as Xiao Xiao took action, on one on Shadowed Soul Island would be able to resist!
What Yang Kai was considering was the authenticity of Sha Hu’s words. Although this old man seemed straightforward and honest, who knew whether this was just a front? If, when the time came, it turned out Sha Hu was just using him, the gains Yang Kai made would not be worth the effort.
Yang Kai would rather be overly suspicious and pessimistic than regret it after the fact.
Seeing Yang Kai remain silent, Sha Hu smartly changed the subject, “Were you just studying the Shadowed Heaven Lotus and Shadowed Heaven Pill?”
Yang Kai took back his wandering thoughts and nodded, “Yeah, this thing is a specialty of Shadowed Soul Island, right?”
“En, Shadowed Heaven Lotus cannot be found in the outside world, only Shadowed Soul Island’s unique environment can produce it. All the cultivators who wind up here use Shadowed Heaven Pills to enhance their physical strength. Unfortunately, this old master does not know anything about Alchemy, and taking Shadowed Heaven Lotus raw cannot help me, otherwise, how could this old master have left so many Shadowed Heaven Lotuses in that lake?”
Saying so, Sha Hu showed a pained expression on his face.
That was a thousand Shadowed Heaven Lotuses! The thousands of cultivators on the entire Shadowed Soul Island running around for a few years may not be able to find so many, but they had all entered Yang Kai’s Space Ring.
Yang Kai suddenly asked, “Does Old Man Sha have the Shadowed Heaven Pill pill recipe?”
“Of course,” Sha Hu chuckled and said proudly. “Regardless of how he has ended up, this old master was still once the Island Master of Shadowed Soul Island, so he naturally has such a pill recipe…”
Saying so, Sha Hu’s eyes lit up and he pointed at Yang Kai tremblingly, “Are you an Alchemist?”
If Yang Kai wasn’t an Alchemist, there would be no need to ask about pill recipes.
Staring at Yang Kai, Sha Hu’s eyes burned extremely hot, as if he was staring at an amazing treasure.
Yang Kai chuckled, “I am!”
“Are you really an Alchemist?” Sha Hu immediately stood up.
Yang Kai nodded again.
Sha Hu was taken aback, then laughed loudly, “The Heavens have not forsaken me! Ah! This is simply too good to be true!”
The reason why his strength had stagnated over the years was that he did not have access to Shadowed Heaven Pills, and directly swallowing Shadowed Heaven Lotus had no effect on him. Only by refining Shadowed Heaven Lotus into pills could he strengthen himself.
So, when he learned that Yang Kai was an Alchemist, Sha Hu was so excited he couldn’t help losing some self-control.
But soon, he frowned, glanced at Yang Kai, and sighed deeply.
“What’s wrong?” Yang Kai was puzzled. Just a moment ago, Sha Hu was laughing happily, but in the next instant he became depressed, the contrast was simply too great.
“Even if you are an Alchemist, you can’t perform Alchemy without Earth Fire!” Sha Hu’s face turned gloomy as he sat down again. “Alchemists are extremely rare on Shadowed Soul Island. Out of around ten thousand people, there are perhaps only four or five Alchemists, and the levels of these Alchemists are quite varied; however, they all need to rely on Shadowed Soul Island’s Earth Fire to perform Alchemy. We simply don’t have any Earth Fire here.”
“I don’t need Earth Fire!” Yang Kai chuckled.
“Nonsense!” Sha Hu snorted, “How can an Alchemist perform Alchemy without Earth Fire? That may be true outside, but in the place, where one can’t use Saint Qi, Earth Fire is the only… uh…”
Sha Hu was suddenly struck speechless.
Because he clearly felt a scorching power spread out from Yang Kai’s body, but it was not Saint Qi but instead Spiritual Energy!
“Conflagrated Spiritual Energy?” Sha Hu’s face changed drastically.
Yang Kai just smiled back at him lightly.
Even in the outside world, he did not need to use Saint Qi to refine pills, because he would always use his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea instead.
What’s more, he still had Liu Yan with him. Since fusing together with the Heavenly Thunder Fire of Brilliant Flame Sect, Liu Yan had fully integrated with her natal Artifact Refining Furnace and gained complete sentience as well as a human form.
She was the highest quality Earth Fire there was!
Even if all else failed, Yang Kai could simply enter the Sealed World Bead and perform Alchemy. The Sealed World Bead had its own separate World Principles, so his Saint Qi would not be restricted there.
With all these methods at his disposal, Yang Kai didn’t need to worry about being able to perform about Alchemy. Nevertheless, he did not plan on revealing any more secrets to Sha Hu than necessary.
After learning that Yang Kai was not only an Alchemist, but also had a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, meaning he did not need to use Saint Qi or Earth Fire to perform Alchemy, Sha Hu was ecstatic.
This meant that as long as he forged a good relationship with Yang Kai, he wouldn’t have to worry about having Shadowed Heaven Pills to take in the future, and he wouldn’t have to worry about his strength being unable to grow! After languishing for a hundred years, he finally saw hope of revenge!
He unreservedly handed over the Shadowed Heaven Pill’s recipe for Yang Kai to study.
“When you’ve finished studying the pill recipe and start to refine Shadowed Heaven Pills, this old master has a request to make!” Sha Hu said with a smile, intending to get closer to Yang Kai, the wrinkles on his face became even more wrinkled, doing his best to appear kind and friendly.
Yang Kai naturally accepted and after seeing Sha Hu out, he immersed himself in studying the Shadowed Heaven Pill’s recipe.
He had some Shadowed Heaven Pills on hand and could infer the approximate configuration of this pill recipe, but now that he had a complete pill recipe, it made the process much easier.
What’s more, his Alchemy level was amongst the best in the entire Star Field, so with his insight and experience, not only could he understand this Shadowed Heaven Pill recipe, he could also improve it.
This wasn’t a surprise though, after all, the Shadowed Heaven Pill was something created by the Alchemists who became trapped on Shadowed Soul Island, and the level of these Alchemists wasn’t very high, so how could they have created a profound recipe in the first place?
At most, Yang Kai would only use this recipe as a reference.
Five days later, Yang Kai had formulated a completely new pill recipe, one that was undoubtedly countless times better than the one Sha Hu had given him, replacing many of the materials used to reduce conflicts and increase efficacy.
With the pill recipe complete, Yang Kai naturally wanted to begin Alchemy.
However, he still lacked a few auxiliary herbs.
The Shadowed Heaven Lotus’ medicinal efficacies were quite potent, and if one took it directly, while it may improve that cultivator’s physique in the short run, if it were not paired with appropriate herbs to neutralize and balance some of the effects, one would need to wait a long period before swallowing another lotus. If a cultivator tried to forcefully consume a second lotus in short order, they would damage their body rather than strengthen it.
Yang Kai quickly called Sha Hu over.
Sha Hu has been waiting outside the wooden house for the past few days, and hearing Yang Kai’s call, he ran into the room and stared at Yang Kai eagerly.
“Old Man Sha, I still need some Fish Seaweed…”
Sha Hu grinned knowingly and with a wave of his hand dumped a large amount of Fish Seaweed onto the floor, causing the entire house to fill with a pungent odour.
These pieces of purple seaweed, which were only about as big as one’s palm, were not unique to Shadowed Soul Island, in fact, they could be collected almost anywhere in the Limitless Ocean, making its value quite low. Most great forces like Sea Temple and Sea God Palace disdained to even collect them and simply let them grow wild like weeds.
However, this Fish Seaweed’s medicinal efficacies were perfectly suited to balance out the domineering efficacies of the Shadowed Heaven Lotus, allowing a cultivator to refine Shadowed Heaven Pills far more easily.
Seeing the big pile of Fish Seaweed in front of him, Yang Kai was stunned for a moment before turning to Sha Hu with a meaningful glint in his eye, “It seems Old Man Sha has come prepared!”
Sha Hu rubbed his hands and said, “Yang Kai, help this old master refine some Shadowed Heaven Pills. As long as he has enough Shadowed Heaven Pills, this old master can once again improve his strength and we will then have a better chance to return to Shadowed Soul Island and look for the way out!”
Yang Kai smiled slightly. Although he knew Sha Hu’s words were meant to tempt him into acting, he was not bothered by this little scheme and simply said, “I have no problem refining some pills for you, but do you have any Shadowed Heaven Lotus for me to use?”
The thousand Shadowed Heaven Lotus in the inland lake had already entered Yang Kai’s Space Ring, so he naturally would not use them to refine pills for Sha Hu.
“You look down too much on this old master,” Sha Hu smiled like a wily old fox and flipped his wrist, taking out seventeen Shadowed Heaven Lotus, all of which were silver grade.
Yang Kai was stunned.
Sha Hu chuckled, “How could this old master keep all his eggs in one basket? For the past hundred years, this old master has not just idled his time away on this island, he has often gone out to explore and made some gains in the process. There are more than just these few. This old master has also collected a lot of auxiliary herbs for refining Shadowed Heaven Pills, see if there’s anything here you need.”
Saying so, Sha Hu took out another pile of herbs.
Yang Kai nodded and did not refuse, picking out the useful herbs while leaving the useless ones behind before finally mentioning, “There is no problem refining some pills for you, but I can’t just do so for free…”
“Fifty-fifty!” Before Yang Kai finished speaking, Sha Hu directly made his offer, “What auxiliary herbs you need, just tell this old master and he will go help you collect them. As for the Shadowed Heaven Pills, this old master only wants half!”
“Deal!” Yang Kai no longer quibbled and nodded happily. With Sha Hu acting so straightforward, if Yang Kai were to refuse any further, he would seem too petty. The more Yang Kai got along with Sha Hu, the more reasonable and friendly he found him to be, their first meeting aside of course.
Seeing Yang Kai agree, Sha Hu smiled happily.
Immediately, Sha Hu went out to sea to search for various auxiliary herbs. Although Yang Kai had some materials on him, it was not enough to support a large number of refinements, so Sha Hu naturally went to procure what was missing.
After Sha Hu left the island, Yang Kai waved his hand.
A bright red flame shot out from his palm and transformed mid-air. The next moment, a glamorous woman with a fiery figure, revealing clothes, and an indifferent expression appeared in front of Yang Kai, her red hair flying behind her like burning flames.
She was wearing a fiery red armour that only wrapped around her most sensitive parts, exposing both her thighs to the lower abdomen.
A seductive neckline, flat stomach, and delicate belly button were all exposed to the air while two beautiful, snow-white legs and a pair of delicate jade feet were also on full display.
Like a dancing flame, she had a strange sense of beauty.
This was none other than the Artifact Spirit, Liu Yan!
Now, she could no longer be simply called Firebird, she had her own sentience and could assume human form. After having been given a name by Yang Kai, Liu Yan was now a kind of special existence that transcended what she once was.
“What are Master’s orders?” Liu Yan asked in a deep tone as soon as she appeared.
“I need to borrow your power to perform Alchemy. Coordinate with me.” Yang Kai answered lightly.
Liu Yan nodded, said nothing, and transformed herself into an Alchemy furnace. The shape of this Alchemy furnace was the same as her natal artifact, except that it was completely composed of flames, making it even higher quality than her original Origin King Grade furnace incarnation.
Yang Kai focused himself and after taking a deep breath began arranging the required materials one by one while using his Divine Sense to communicate with Liu Yan to control the fire.
The process of refining Shadowed Heaven Pills was not complicated, so it was naturally not a problem for Yang Kai to succeed with his current skill.
Within half a day, a pill fragrance filled the wooden house. Having arrived at the last stage of refinement, Yang Kai suddenly had a thought and poured his Divine Sense into the pill furnace to attempt the Pill Condensing Technique recorded in the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture.
A short time later, three bursts of flame shot out from the Alchemy furnace’s lid.
Yang Kai stretched out his hand and caught the three streams of light, after which he stored them into a jade bottle he had prepared in advance.
When the clinking sound from the jade bottle settled down, Yang Kai cast a glance inside and flashed a satisfied smile.
The Pill Condensing Technique recorded in the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture was incredibly deep and profound. If one used it well, they would condense more than one pill at a time, when normally only one pill could be condensed from one set of materials.
Over the recent years, whenever Yang Kai performed Alchemy, he had always tried to use this Pill Condensing Technique, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing, but each time gaining experience.
Now, condensing three pills at once was a minor breakthrough for him.
Taking out a single Shadowed Heaven Pill, Yang Kai popped it into his mouth and tasted it, slowly examining the medicinal efficacies contained within. After a while, he nodded with satisfaction and continued to devote himself to his Alchemy.
Half a day later, another furnace of Shadowed Heaven Pills was successfully refined, and this time, Yang Kai managed to condense four, one better than his first attempt.
As time went by and he became more and more proficient with the technique, the number of pills Yang Kai condensed increased. Additionally, the time it took him to refine a furnace of Shadowed Heaven Pills was getting shorter and shorter, from the original half a day to just an hour, a remarkable improvement.
As Yang Kai continually performed Alchemy, his mastery of the Pill Condensing Technique also improved.
This rare Alchemy experience allowed him to make another substantial breakthrough in the Alchemic Dao, an unexpected benefit which brought Yang Kai much joy.
Suddenly, a rustling sound rang out behind him, causing Yang Kai to turn around and suddenly discover that the little dolphin had at some point entered the wooden house. Flapping its tail, it swam freely through the air just like it was water.
Yang Kai was taken aback!
Saint Qi could not be used on Shadowed Soul Island, so even someone as powerful as him was unable to fly, and could only jump long distances using pure physical strength. However, this little dolphin did not follow this common sense and was able to swim through the air, in essence fly, even if it did not fly very high.
This little fellow was obviously attracted by the pills’ fragrance and immediately swam up beside Yang Kai, its nose inhaling deeply as it stared at the Alchemy furnace in front of it.
Yang Kai even saw that at the corner of the little dolphin’s mouth there were a few drops of saliva flowing down onto the floor.
Yang Kai immediately began examining it from top to bottom, trying to figure out just how it was flying.
The little dolphin then began letting out pitiful cries that were extremely hard to refuse while continuously nudging up against Yang Kai’s body, completely disrupting his Alchemy.
Yang Kai rubbed his temples and could only pass it a jade bottle full of Shadowed Heaven Pills.
The little dolphin took the bottle excitedly, circled Yang Kai a few times, cried out twice, then swam off with the jade bottle in its mouth.
Yang Kai continued his Alchemy in peace.
Three days later, Sha Hu returned to the island, bringing with him a lot of auxiliary herbs that Yang Kai needed, and waited quietly outside the wooden house.
Smelling the pill fragrance that permeated the wooden house, Sha Hu felt a hundred years younger.
“So many? Are these all for me?” Sha Hu stared at the jade bottles in front of him and asked in surprise.
“En,” Yang Kai smiled and nodded.
“Didn’t we agree to split them fifty-fifty? This…”
“This is fifty-fifty!”
Sha Hu was thoroughly astonished.
He had provided Yang Kai with a hundred silver lotus, which was almost all he had stored up.
He thought it would be great if he were able to get two hundred Shadowed Heaven Pills, but the jade bottles in front of him now told a far different story.
There were sixty-five jade bottles here, each one filled with ten pills, meaning Yang Kai had given him six hundred and fifty Shadowed Heaven Pills!
How had he managed to refine so many Shadowed Heaven Pills though? As the previous Island Master of Shadowed Soul Island, Sha Hu had often witnessed those inferior Alchemists refining Shadowed Heaven Pills, but a single Shadowed Heaven Lotus could at most produce one or two pills in the hands of those Alchemists, so how had Yang Kai managed to produce this many?
The only explanation was that Yang Kai’s Alchemy skills were countless times better than those Alchemists!
“Yang Boy, this old master can make a pledge to you!” Sha Hu turned to Yang Kai and said seriously, “If we can leave this place one day, this old master promises that the doors of Sea Temple will always be open to you.”
Sha Hu was moved by Yang Kai’s honesty in upholding their agreement, and he was extremely impressed with Yang Kai’s strength; such a person was worthy of making friends with.
Yang Kai chuckled, and said, “Since Old Man Sha has said so, it would be impolite for me to refuse.”
Being able to win over such an ally on Shadowed Soul Island was naturally something Yang Kai wanted to see. In any case, it was much better than wandering around alone; not to mention, Sha Hu was the previous Island Master of Shadowed Soul Island, so he would know much more useful information. Being allies had only benefits. No detriments.
Sha Hu laughed loudly, “Unfortunately, there is no good wine here, otherwise, this old master would share a drink with you! Forget it, this old master should first see if these Shadowed Heaven Pills are useful!”
He had not taken a Shadowed Heaven Pill for nearly a hundred years, causing his strength to stagnate for that long, a very distressing situation. Now that he had so many Shadowed Heaven Pills available, he could not wait to see what kind of effects they would bring him.
Picking up a jade bottle, Sha Hu poured out a pill and without hesitation shoved it into his mouth.
The next moment, however, Sha Hu shook visible as a look of utter amazement filled his face, “An Origin Grade pill? Yang Kai, you’re actually an Origin Grade Alchemist?”
This time he was thoroughly shocked.
When Yang Kai told him he was an Alchemist earlier, and would be able to refine Shadowed Heaven Pill, Sha Hu hadn’t had very high expectations, thinking Yang Kai only had some small accomplishments in the Alchemic Dao, but as soon as he swallowed this Shadowed Heaven Pill, Sha Hu realized he was greatly mistaken.
This Shadowed Heaven Pill refined by Yang Kai was completely different from the ones he had taken before, with the biggest difference being the grade of the pill!
Sha Hu was instantly able to judge that this Shadowed Heaven Pill was Origin Grade, and at least Origin Grade Mid-Rank at that, quite possibly High-Rank!
This proved that Yang Kai was at least an Origin Grade High-Rank Alchemist!
He did not dare to imagine that Yang Kai was an Origin King Grade Alchemist because that was just a legend on Shadowed Star.
The pill melted in his mouth and turned into a stream of heat that rapidly flowed towards Sha Hu’s lower abdomen, then spread out from his dantian towards his extremities.
Sha Hu’s old face instantly turned red; an obvious sign his vitality was being enhanced. His muscles bulged and the veins under his skin pulsed.
He had no time to talk to Yang Kai anymore and hastily sat down to absorb the efficacies of the pill.
Yang Kai smiled slightly and did not bother him anymore, instead just leaving the wooden house, finding a quiet place on the island, and taking Shadowed Heaven Pills as well.
The Shadowed Heaven Pills refined by Yang Kai were completely different from the ones he had looted from the two dead men earlier.
The Shadowed Heaven Pills Yang Kai obtained before were not refined properly, so the medicinal efficacies weren’t able to display their full effects, making it a defective product. However, on Shadowed Soul Island, such a situation was unavoidable. The level of the Alchemists here was low, and without being able to use their Saint Qi, they had to use low-quality Earth Fire. This resulted in the Alchemists of Shadowed Soul Island only being able to refine shoddy Shadowed Heaven Pills, wasting most of the Shadowed Heaven Lotus’ medicinal efficacies.
Yang Kai had fixed all the issues with the pill recipe and had no trouble refining them, so it would be stranger if the pills he refined were not far superior.
After these days of experimentation, he also concluded that the Shadowed Heaven Pills refined from silver lotus would be of Origin Grade, while the azure lotus could be used to refine Saint King Grade pills. As for the pink lotus, they could at most be used to refine Saint Grade pills.
Yang Kai had not used a golden lotus yet because the number he possessed was too small, only about ten in total.
However, he was fairly certain that refining a golden lotus would result in an Origin King Grade Shadowed Heaven Pill.
The medicinal properties surged through Yang Kai’s meridians and physique, transforming his body, enhancing his physical strength slowly but steadily.
The benefits he received were simply unimaginable.
Additionally, because Yang Kai had taken a lot of Life Revitalizing Jade Cream before, his body was already highly refined, allowing him to absorb the efficacies of the Shadowed Heaven Pills faster and more efficiently.
After just half an hour, the medicinal efficacies of an Origin Grade Shadowed Heaven Pill were completely absorbed by Yang Kai.
Without delay, he took out another pill, threw it into his mouth, and continued to absorb its effects!
Because they were unable to cultivate Saint Qi or Spiritual Energy here, taking Shadowed Heaven Pills to cultivate their bodies was the only method for Shadowed Soul Island cultivators to enhance their strength.
Three days later, a burst of laughter suddenly came from the direction of the wooden house. The little dolphin, which had been swimming in an inland lake, raised its head and glanced over before lazily swimming behind a lotus leaf and no longer paying any attention to the situation.
A figure soared into the sky from the direction of the wooden house and quickly ran over towards Yang Kai’s direction.
Soon, Sha Hu stood in front of Yang Kai, his eyes flashing with powerful light as his aura pulsed vigorously.
Yang Kai opened his eyes, took a look at Sha Hu, smiled and said, “Old Man Sha seems to have had a breakthrough.”
Sha Hu looked at Yang Kai gratefully and nodded, “En, after a hundred years of stagnation, this old master had finally advanced a level, and he feels there is still room for improvement! Yang Boy, this old master won’t forget this kindness.”
“Old Man Sha is too polite,” Yang Kai smiled slightly.
“Yang Kai, how about exchanging fists with this old master?” Sha Hu asked with a smile. He did not have anyone to compare notes with in this damned place, so he could only ask Yang Kai.
“Sure,” To his surprise, Yang Kai readily agreed.
Sha Hu did not hesitate, letting out a loud cry, kicking off the ground with both feet, and shooting out like an arrow as he threw his clenched fist forward.
Yang Kai remained sitting cross-legged in place, however, completely motionless, simply staring back at Sha Hu with a light smile, seemingly completely ignorant of the approaching earth-shattering blow.
Sha Hu was stunned and shouted angrily, “Yang Boy, are you underestimating this old master?”
“Old Man Sha doesn’t need to mind, just put your best into it!” Yang Kai responded lightly.
Sha Hu’s old face turned a bit unsightly. Although he was very grateful to Yang Kai, being looked down upon so blatantly was obviously uncomfortable. Hearing what Yang Kai said though, Sha Hu set grit his teeth and used his full strength.
The sound of air blasting out echoed as Sha Hu’s fist fell like a meteor, carrying with it, Heaven destroying might.
With this punch, even a thousand-metre high mountain would be smashed to dust.
But Yang Kai just stretched out his palm to block this punch, his face calm and serene.
In the next moment, one fist met one palm.
Yang Kai’s body shook slightly, but he remained seated in place, not moving back at all.
Sha Hu on the other hand was sent flying by the massive rebound and a red flush filled his face before slowly returning to normal.
Sha Hu’s expression changed dramatically, and the look of resentment completely disappeared from his face. Instead, he now stared at Yang Kai as if he was some kind of freak, falling silent for a very long time.
When he fought Yang Kai the other day, although he had been at a slight disadvantage, even after his strength had grown significantly, his full-powered blow was only able to shake Yang Kai’s body slightly.
The only explanation was that while his strength had grown, Yang Kai’s had as well, and at a much faster pace than his own! Otherwise, there was no way such a situation would have happened.
“How many Shadowed Heaven Pills did you take?” Sha Hu composed himself and asked hesitantly.
“A hundred or so,” Yang Kai thought for a while before casually replying.
Sha Hu sucked in a sharp breath as his eyes bulged, asking in amazement, “Your body withstood all of that?”
Over the past three days, Sha Hu had only consumed ten Shadowed Heaven Pills. The Shadowed Heaven Pills refined by Yang Kai were incomparable to those produced on Shadowed Soul Island, genuine Origin Grade Pills. Swallowing too many of these pills would put too much strain on one’s body, and the excess medicinal energies would damage the physique and meridians rather than strengthen them. In the most serious of cases, one’s body might even explode.
Ten pills in three days was already Sha Hu’s limit, but Yang Kai was able to take ten times that much!
“Why would I not be able to?” Yang Kai asked strangely.
Yang Kai did not even mention that many of the Shadowed Heaven Pills he took had formed Pill Veins, making them twice as potent as ordinary pills.
Sha Hu just stood up on the spot, shaking his head constantly as he muttered under his breath, “Monster, you are an absolute monster!”
He was certain he was no longer Yang Kai’s opponent now, and while he had confidence that he could escape from Yang Kai a few days ago, he wasn’t so assured anymore.
It was completely conceivable that the gap in strength between him and Yang Kai would only grow wider and wider as time passed.
[A good Body Tempering Secret Art is really enviable!] Sha Hu sighed to himself.
He did not know that the main reason Yang Kai was able to absorb the power of one hundred Shadowed Heaven Pills in such a short period of time was because of the solid foundation Yang Kai had formed by taking so much Life Revitalizing Jade Cream.
This was a feat Sha Hu could never replicate.
An Origin Grade Alchemist, a monstrous genius, and a great benefactor, if Sha Hu did not try to make friends with such a person, he would really be too stupid.
Sha Hu secretly made up his mind that regardless of whether he could escape from Shadowed Soul Island in the future or not, he would be Yang Kai’s most loyal ally!
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.
Qian Mo ignored his indignation and simply smiled back coldly, “With my status, cultivation, and beauty, if I offer myself to that Island Master Ming Yue, what are the chances he would accept? Once that happens, I’ll be able to use all the Shadowed Heaven Pills I want and you will have to listen to my orders. How do you think I’ll torture you then?”
The buck-toothed man instantly turned pale and began sweating profusely.
He could easily imagine such a scene, and he could also imagine that his end would be worse than death.
Qian Mo was dispatched to collect Shadowed Heaven Lotus because she refused to submit to Shadowed Soul Island’s control, but she was right. With her identity and beauty, if she offered herself, no man would refuse, not even Island Master Ming Yue.
At that time, Qian Mo’s status here would leap from labourer to Lady Island Master in a single bound!
That was a scenario the buck-toothed man could never allow. After offending the future Lady Island Master, how miserable would his fate be?
The buck-toothed man’s expression darkened as a flash of coldness and cruelty lit up his eyes, gritting his teeth as he cursed, “Cheap Slut, you’ve forced my hand.”
Saying so, he walked towards Qian Mo’s, a vicious expression filling his face.
He was obviously not willing to let such a situation occur, and the only way to ensure that it did not, was to have Qian Mo fall here! As long as Qian Mo died, he wouldn’t have to worry about anything anymore, so even though he felt it was a pity to lose such a woman, compared with his own life, what did she matter?
Qian Mo seemed to have expected this result from the beginning and did not appear the slightest bit flustered, instead just sneering, “There’s no need for you to act!”
As soon as she said so, Qian Mo jumped off the boat, preparing to share life and death with Pang Zhen and the others.
She would rather die than submit, and the only reason she said she would offer herself up to Ming Yue was in the hopes it would deter the buck-toothed man, but since her plan failed, she could only take the initiative to jump into the sea.
Falling into the cold water, Qian Mo and Pang Zhen looked at each other, nodded lightly, then prepared to flee in separate directions.
There was nothing else to do in this situation, only by escaping was there a chance to survive. Even if the chances of them being able to flee from the buck-toothed man and the otter-type sea beast were slim, they had to try.
Moving through the sea, the Sea Clan undoubtedly occupied a massive advantage, after all, they were a race born in the water.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
A muffled noise suddenly spread from afar, almost as if someone was slamming the water’s surface vigorously, causing a set of rhythmic explosions that echoed from a great distance.
At the same time, a series of regular ripples propagated across the water’s surface.
The booming sound was clearly getting closer as well, and the ripples also became more noticeable, almost covering the natural ocean waves.
Everyone was stunned for a moment and turned their heads in the direction of the sound, not knowing what had happened. Even the vicious otter beast seemed to perceive danger, stopped its charge, and waited with most of its body submerged beneath the sea.
A row of water columns soared up into the sky at an extremely fast speed, and in front of the water columns, there was a figure, with his hands crossed behind his back, stepping across the sea.
The booming sounds were a result of this figure’s feet impacting the sea.
Every time his feet fell, an incredible power was transmitted to the ocean’s surface, causing a great column of water to rise up into the sky like a dragon moments after he moved on.
This man was not young, appearing at least fifty or sixty years old, but his true age was definitely higher than that.
Both the buck-toothed man and the Shadowed Soul Island cultivators were dumbfounded as their hearts clenched in shock.
They knew just how difficult it was to walk across the sea’s surface like this with only pure physical strength. Although all of them could accomplish this, they would not be able to display such power or keep it up for long.
This old man, however, looked like he was out for a leisurely stroll through his courtyard, and apart from the noise he was making, it did not seem like he was the slightest bit fatigued or exhausted.
It seemed that as long as he wanted to, he could go on like this forever.
Just how powerful would one’s body need to be to move like this indefinitely?
Even taking all of Shadowed Soul Island into consideration, the number of people who could accomplish this could be counted on one hand.
Beside this old man, there was a young man. This young man was sitting cross-legged above the sea, seemingly even more relaxed than the old man. He didn’t seem to be doing anything yet was able to follow beside the old man without falling behind.
When this pair got closer, however, the buck-toothed man discovered that there was a sea beast carrying this young man.
“This…” The buck-toothed man was stunned. The cultivators of Shadowed Soul Island had tried to tame the sea beasts in this place before, but even after the Island Master acted personally, there had never been a successful precedent. The sea beasts living in the waters near Shadowed Soul Island, regardless of their strength, seemed to rather fight to the death than submit, causing Shadowed Soul Island to eventually give up on this idea.
Now, there was actually someone sitting on the back of a sea beast, which shocked the buck-toothed man even more than the old man walking across the sea.
The noise made by the old and the young pair naturally alarmed Pang Zhen, Qian Mo, and the others in the water as well.
“Ah, he is…” Pang Zhen carefully stared for a while before his eyes lit up upon recognizing Yang Kai’s figure.
On the other hand, Qian Mo was staring fixedly just below Yang Kai, a look of disbelief flashing across her beautiful eyes, but soon, she showed an ecstatic look, leapt up from the sea, and hurriedly ran across its surface towards him.
She was unable to leisurely stroll across the water like the old man and could not keep this kind of movement up for very long, so Qian Mo was only able to proceed a few steps before her strength was exhausted and she fell back into the water.
However, that did not stop her from excitedly approaching Yang Kai, her pretty face filled with a brilliant smile at this long-awaited reunion.
“Old Sha, do you know this woman?” Yang Kai, who was sitting on the little dolphin’s back, turned to look at Sha Hu and asked in confusion.
Sha Hu just laughed, “This old master hasn’t met with anyone for over a hundred years, how could he possibly know her? Isn’t this woman coming over for you?”
“For me?” Yang Kai smiled, “Of course not, she is a General of Sea God Palace. I’ve never even spoken with her before… oh, it really looks like she’s coming for me?”
As the distance narrowed, Yang Kai also found that something was wrong.
This woman named Qian Mo was really rushed towards him, constantly waving her hands, acting as if they were very familiar.
Yang Kai scratched his head in confusion and could not figure out how to respond, simply deciding to see how things played out.
The little dolphin he was riding on, however, suddenly uttered a happy and aggrieved cry then rapidly accelerated over to greet Qian Mo.
A moment later, Qian Mo arrived in front of Yang Kai, completely ignored him, and instead called out to the little dolphin in a trembling but relieved voice, “Princess!”
“Princess?” Yang Kai was stunned as he stared at this scene.
The little dolphin kept crying out excitedly while circling Qian Mo before soon diving into her arms, like a lost child who had finally found its mother.
Yang Kai had a full view of Qian Mo’s plump chest deforming beneath the little dolphin’s head, revealing a deep gully along with plenty of pure white skin.
Sha Hu stood quietly to the side, his hands folded behind his back as he looked back and forth between Qian Mo and the Little Dolphin before soon nodding, “So that’s how it is, she’s from the Dolphin Flood Dragon Clan, no wonder this old master felt like something was different about her.”
Yang Kai also suddenly came to an understanding.
Qian Mo had called the little dolphin Princess, and Sha Hu said the little dolphin belonged to the Dolphin Flood Dragon Clan, so Yang Kai immediately realized that this little dolphin he had accidentally encountered actually had a huge background. She was obviously a member of the Sea Clan’s royal family, the princess that Qian Mo and Shang Ao had been looking for and the reason two Sea God Palace Generals had stirred up such a fuss on Sunrise Island.
It seemed that Qian Mo and Shang Ao had not lied. The Sea Clan’s princess really did disappear near Sunrise Island, but she had not been taken captive by the people of Sea Temple. Rather, she had been drawn into Shadowed Soul Island.
Afterwards, Yang Kai accidentally found her…
Qian Mo was finally able to relax after finding her princess, no longer even caring about her own safety, allowing the little dolphin to play with her for quite some time before she finally raised her head and glared viciously at Yang Kai, “Despicable Human, what have you done to my race’s princess? How dare you ride on top of her! You deserve ten thousand deaths for this offence!”
Yang Kai looked down at her and chuckled softly, “What have I done to her?”
He did not get angry because of Qian Mo’s attitude. The little dolphin’s status is the Sea Clan was supreme, so it was only natural that Qian Mo would be so angry.
“Why haven’t you gotten down yet!?” Qian Mo scolded again.
Yang Kai curled his lips, “If she doesn’t want to carry me, I’ll get off. Well, what do you say, do you want me to come down?”
Yang Kai clearly spoke his last words to the little dolphin, and under Qian Mo’s man-eating glare he reached down and patted the little dolphin’s head.
Qian Mo’s eyes spat fire and she felt like her blood was boiling. Although the princess was still young and could not even assume human form yet, she was still a sacred and inviolable existence in the Sea Clan. Any Sea Clan who saw her would need to treat her with the utmost respect, but now a despicable human was actually riding atop her and even shamelessly patting her head!
What irritated Qian Mo the most, however, was how her princess had a look of extreme enjoyment when her head was patted, spitting out a few bubbles from her mouth and even flipping her tail happily.
“See…” Yang Kai spread his hands, “I haven’t forced her to do anything!”
Qian Mo took a deep breath, her plump chest heaving up and down as she felt the urge to punch Yang Kai to death.
The little dolphin suddenly cried out in a strange tone at that moment, causing Qian Mo to listen intently. After a long time, Qian Mo’s complexion improved slightly, though she still glared at Yang Kai with enmity and hatred as she declared, “I don’t know what kind of tricks or schemes you’ve used to make the princess so dependent on you, but mark my words: This isn’t over, I’ll remember this!”
Yang Kai just shrugged, ignoring her vicious words.
Pang Zhen also swam over to Yang Kai at this time, cupped his fists and greeted, “Sect Master Yang!”
“Island Master Pang, the world is really too small, we keep running into each other like this!” Yang Kai responded with a smile.
Pang Zhen lowered his head awkwardly.
Fortunately, Yang Kai quickly changed the subject and asked, “So why are you all in such a distressed state? Are the people on that boat not from your Sea Temple or Sea God Palace?”