Martial Peak

Chapter 1714, Difference

“Ming Yue, you didn’t expect that this day would come, did you? The enmity of these past hundred years, this old master has never forgotten, but that all ends today! Today, this will be your burial place!” Sha Hu shouted vigorously as he fought with Ming Yue, his fists leaving behind shadows as they wound past Ming Yue’s defences from impossible angles, striking his chest hard.

The red light which pulsed from Ming Yue’s body abruptly shook from this impact, but it soon stabilized and recovered.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ming Yue slashed a knife down fiercely. This knife hand was akin to a peerless blade, slashing onto Sha Hu’s shoulder, causing the latter to grimace in pain for a moment.

“To be honest, you being able to live up until this day is a true surprise to this Island Master,” Ming Yue spoke in a casual tone, a stark contrast to Sha Hu’s violent anger. “But what surprises this Island Master even more is that your strength has actually grown to this level. It seems that you’ve had many opportunities in the past hundred years.”

Sha Hu laughed loudly, “I haven’t had any opportunities at all, I only had the good fortune to meet an honoured friend!”

Ming Yue frowned slightly hearing this, and even while heavily engaged, he glanced over towards Yang Kai.

He was able to judge from Sha Hu’s words almost instantly that Yang Kai, a stranger he had never seen before, was this so-called ‘honoured friend’.

“Ming Yue, you are no longer this old master’s opponent! This old master will surely rip your corpse into ten thousand pieces!” Sha Hu continued to roar as his emotions ran wild with excitement. However, while outwardly he shouted with absolute confidence, Sha Hu knew better than anyone else that acting on impulse and instinct would not be enough to defeat Ming Yue. The vicious words he spoke were all an attempt to disturb Ming Yue’s focus.

“This Island Master will wait and see then!” Ming Yue’s tone was still indifferent, as if he did not put Sha Hu in his eyes at all.

The battle raged on, with fists meeting flesh and blood constantly splashing out. Even the sound of bones breaking could be heard from time to time.

This was a simple, brutal, fierce, and thrilling battle which made all the onlookers’ hearts clench. Even Ming Yue’s subordinates who were watching from nearby had never seen him use his full strength, so, at this moment, they were all shown that Ming Yue being able to become the Island Master was not some fluke, his true combat effectiveness was far greater than any of theirs.

Even Yang Kai watched with great interest.

Although he was confident his physical strength was higher than Ming Yue’s and Sha Hu’s, this was a good opportunity to sharpen his own combat instincts. Both Ming Yue and Sha Hu were powerful cultivators who had great achievements in body tempering.

There weren’t many opportunities for cultivators to observe and emulate such a battle up close.

Yang Kai studied the battle while inserting himself into it in his mind, allowing him to reap some gains.

The battle between Sha Hu and Ming Yue continued with staggering intensity and speed, seemingly still evenly divided with no one person achieving a decisive edge.

During the battle, the two combatants would occasionally stuff some Shadowed Heaven Pills into their mouths to make up for their expended vitality and physical strength, maintaining the red surge outside their bodies at its peak.

Ming Yue’s group of subordinates were secretly nervous, not knowing what would happen to them if Ming Yue was defeated. They wanted to help but did not have the guts, so their only option was to deal with Yang Kai instead.

However, Yang Kai instantly crushed two of their companions, wiping away all thoughts of attacking him from the other’s minds.

Between members of their own group, their strength was basically equal, so even if some were stronger than others, the difference was not that big.

After Yang Kai crushed two of their allies like ants, they would have to be blind to not be able to realize the gap between them.

The battle between Yang Kai and Ming Yue’s subordinates ended as quickly as it began, not having any effect on the battle between Ming Yue and Sha Hu, but after sensing the strength of Yang Kai, Ming Yue had to pay more attention to him.

Sha Hu seized this opportunity to launch a fierce assault, bombarding Ming Yue with his fists indiscriminately.

The situation that had been locked in a stalemate began to slowly lean towards Sha Hu’s side.

Sha Hu’s momentum increased further, having taken the advantage, and the red light radiating from his figure became even stronger, allowing him to slowly suppress Ming Yue.

Ming Yue’s situation was becoming increasingly dangerous.

The faces of the cultivators who have been standing nearby watching the battle also turned pale, as even they could see that things were looking unfavourable for Ming Yue. Although this change was subtle at first, if this trend continued, Ming Yue’s disadvantage would only become worse until ultimately, he lost.

Was Sha Hu really that powerful? They could hardly believe their eyes.

Yang Kai also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, the strength of Ming Yue and Sha Hu was equal, and at the beginning of the battle, even he could not judge who would emerge victoriously, but now, because of a small accident, Sha Hu’s victory was almost assured with Ming Yue’s chances becoming increasingly slim.

The situation played out exactly as Yang Kai expected, and as time passed, Ming Yue’s position became worse and worse, with Sha Hu becoming more dominant. In ten exchanges, eight of them were Sha Hu’s attacks while only two were retaliations from Ming Yue. Being on the defensive constantly, it was only a matter of time until Ming Yue’s strength was consumed and he was defeated.

Finally, after one of Ming Yue’s attacks failed to connect, revealing an opening, Sha Hu took the opportunity to close in and let out a loud roar, “Ming Yue!”

This shout seemed to contain all the anger he had pent up over the last hundred years. Sha Hu’s momentum surged madly as he dodged Ming Yue’s blow and thrust his fist towards his opponent’s heart.

Victory was within his grasp!

A grim smile appeared on Sha Hu’s face.

Ming Yue, whose life was hanging by a thread, was still not panicked, however, and as he glanced at Sha Hu indifferently from up close, a sardonic smile flashed across his face and he uttered coldly, “Sha Hu, it seems you still don’t understand how powerful this Island Master is!”

Sha Hu heart clenched as his instincts began screaming. Just as he was about to withdraw his fist, a burst of Saint Qi emerged from Ming Yue’s body, causing his already tyrannical momentum to soar. In the next instant, a Saint Qi barrier blocked Sha Hu’s blow, rendering it harmless.

Shi burst out as a follow-up.

Sha Hu’s movements instantly became sluggish as Ming Yue’s Shi enveloped and suppressed him.

Ming Yue’s palm shot out and struck the centre of Sha Hu’s chest.

*Wa…*

Sha Hu flew back through the air as he coughed up blood.

After staggering to his feet, the red light outside his body became extremely dim and his complexion was extremely pale.

Staring at Ming Yue who was simply standing in place aloofly, Sha Hu’s eyes shook as he called out hoarsely, “How can you…”

“Use Saint Qi?” Ming Yue smiled faintly, “Shadowed Soul Island has its own World Principles, and any cultivator that enters here is suppressed by those World Principles, making it impossible to use Saint Qi, but… This Island Master has overcome the World Principles here, which is why I am the Island Master, and you are not!”

“Impossible!” Sha Hu roared; his face filled with unwillingness.

“Nothing is impossible for this Island Master,” Ming Yue sneered towards Sha Hu, who was covered in blood, and as if to prove his words, he continued recklessly releasing power from his body.

Naturally, this power was in the form of Saint Qi!

The Saint Qi fluctuation of a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master filled the air.

Sha Hu was dumbfounded and stood stunned on the spot.

In terms of raw physical strength, he was comparable to Ming Yue. He was almost able to kill Ming Yue just now thanks to his hundred years of tolerance and perseverance, but if Ming Yue could use Saint Qi, then it was basically impossible for Sha Hu to be Ming Yue’s opponent.

Sha Hu opened his mouth but realized there was nothing he could say.

The continuous high-intensity battle had almost turned him into a dried-up oil lamp, and after sensing Ming Yue’s intense aura fluctuations, the momentum Sha Hu had built up collapsed and a feeling of exhaustion overwhelmed him.

At that moment, a palm was placed lightly on his shoulder. When Sha Hu turned his head dully, he found Yang Kai had at some point arrived by his side.

“Yang Kai…” Sha Hu’s voice was dry, “Sorry, this old master has brought trouble to you.”

He misjudged the situation badly. He had come here for revenge, but now not only would he die, he would likely also drag Yang Kai along to the grave with him.

Being able to use Saint Qi on Shadowed Soul Island meant Ming Yue was essentially invincible here; no one could resist him.

“Old Sha is too serious, just take a break and let me finish things up here,” Yang Kai smiled slightly, without any of the panic Sha Hu imagined he would have.

Sha Hu raised his brow suspiciously, not knowing what Yang Kai had to rely on in this situation or how he planned to face an opponent who could use Saint Qi and Shi in this place, but seeing him so calm and relaxed, Sha Hu’s spirits lifted somewhat. Nodding, Sha Hu took the initiative to withdraw a few steps.

Ming Yue didn’t try to stop him and instead focused his attention on Yang Kai with great interest. Seeing this young man stare back at him without any fear, Ming Yue smiled slightly, “Why not submit to me? I can let you be the Vice Island Master of Shadowed Soul Island, under one, above ten thousand.”

Several of Ming Yue’s subordinates immediately looked at Yang Kai with clear envy and even some eagerness, as if they were only waiting for Yang Kai to agree before leaping forward to flatter him.

Vice Island Master was an honoured position. On Shadowed Soul Island, although Ming Yue had been the Island Master for a hundred years, no one had ever been able to become the Vice Island Master. Ming Yue did not seem to have any intention of promoting one of his subordinates to such a position, with many of them even subtly probing about whether such a position would even become available, but never receiving a positive response.

These subordinates did not dare raise a fuss though, so after a few attempts, they let the matter drop.

But today, Ming Yue took the initiative to offer this position to Yang Kai, so how could they not feel envious?

“Not interested!”

To their surprise, however, Yang Kai did not even think about it before shaking his head and refusing.

How could Yang Kai put the trivial position of Vice Island Master of Shadowed Soul Island into his eyes? He was the Star Master of Shadowed Star! If Shadowed Soul Island weren’t an isolated space with its own World Principles, it would definitely be a part of Shadowed Star and be under Yang Kai’s complete dominion. Under these circumstances, was not becoming Vice Island Master of Shadowed Soul Island too much of a drop in status?

Ming Yue raised his brow and said lightly, “That is a little disappointing to this Island Master.”

Yang Kai laughed and snickered, “You’re about to be even more disappointed.”

“Are you going to oppose this Island Master?” Ming Yue looked at Yang Kai with clear ill intent.

“There’s nothing to discuss, we simply walk different paths.”

Ming Yue frowned and sighed, “In this case, this Island Master will grant you death!”

Yang Kai burst into laughter hearing this and sneered, “You don’t have the skill! Old Sha was right about one thing.”

“What?” Ming Yue and Sha Hu asked at the same time.

“It’s absolutely impossible that someone like you overcame the World Principles here,” Yang Kai sneered.