Chapter 1702 - How did they disappear?
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.
