THE MARTIAL KING VOLUME 2 - Season 10 Episode 53

The turbulent waters of the sea constantly lapped against the reefs on the shore. The Chaotic Ocean of Stars had been raging for most of the year, as it had been like this for centuries.

There were countless fierce beasts lurking in this sea. Even the known warriors didn’t dare to recklessly enter this sea, let alone ordinary fishermen. Only the really strong warriors dared to explore this sea. After all, there were many treasures hidden in the Chaotic Ocean of Stars, along with the countless corpses of warriors who died in the sea every year.

The Fish Dragon Sect was a third-grade sect. As it was located in the proximity of Chaotic Ocean of Stars in the far east, this sect had a much greater understanding of it than any other sects.
This sect had pinpointed several sea areas near the continent. They knew very well that although the Chaotic Ocean of Stars was very dangerous, it was relatively safe in the several sea areas they had circled. At least, seldom did powerful beasts appear out of these few sea areas. Every year at the onset of spring, the Fish Dragon Sect would send multiple disciples to the surrounding areas to improve their strength through a vigorous training.

The mission of the training was to kill a certain level-four beast in the water called “Black Cyan Clam”. Although it wasn’t very strong in terms of attack, its defensive power was terrifying. It wasn’t an easy task to break the shell of the Black Cyan Clam.

After killing the Black Cyan Clam, the warriors would get a chance of discovering a treasure called “Black Spirit Pearl”. It was a very precious material to refine pills, very popular in the markets of the Central Region. Its demand usually exceeded the supply. It was also one of the main sources of income for the Fish Dragon Sect.

In addition to the Black Spirit Pearl, the meat of the Black Cyan Clam was also a popular delicacy. After it was caught, it was dried and sold to the Central Region at very high rates due to its exclusivity.

Today was the day the disciples of the Fish Dragon Sect were starting their training. Over ten thousand disciples in the Illuminating Soul Realm flew along the sea level.

“Barnard! Our mission is to discover at least ten Black Spirit Pearls. If we don’t complete the mission, we will be punished.” The one who spoke was a man dressed in black from top to bottom. There was a black scorpion tattoo on the man’s right cheek, granting him a gloomy aura.

In the surrounding seas, there were many dangers even for Illuminating Soul Realm warriors. This was why they always traveled in groups of three or four while entering the Chaotic Ocean of Stars.

The man who had spoken was among a group of five people. Finally, they began to hunt for the Black Cyan Clams.

Compared to the other disciples of the Fish Dragon Sect, these five seemed to have a much stronger and malicious aura.

“My luck isn’t so bad today! I think I’ve found something,” said the warrior named Barnard, his eyes lit as he dove into the water below. The other two men looked at each other, then pulled out some water-avoiding pills from their pockets and took them at the same time. Soon, an invisible membrane formed all around their bodies to protect them from the sea water when they dove in. But this membrane was only effective in regions of shallow water. Its thin surface would be immediately folded and wrecked by the deep waters.

Plop!

Plop!

The water splashed as the two Illuminating Soul Realm warriors rushed into the sea, one from the left and the other from the right.

The division of labor was clear in the group, which was why they worked closely and with good cooperation. In fact, these five warriors were originally independent warriors. They were once pirates who roamed the east side of the Central Region. More than a hundred martial artists had died at their hands!

Right now, the situation in the entire Central Region was so rapidly changing that it was unpredictable. There were many sects that were acting in concert against independent warriors. Life for them had become very difficult, especially due to the presence of the bigger sects, who could kill them any time.

Forced into a corner, the five of them finally decided to whitewash themselves and go ashore to join the Fish Dragon Sect.

The Fish Dragon Sect was rather weak among the third-grade sects, as it was located in a remote area, and had not been able to develop much in the past few years. Due to this change of situation in the Central Region, a large number of independent warriors had come to join it of late.

At the same time, accepting too many independent warriors did not guarantee any good to the sect. These independent warriors did not have any loyalty to the sect as they didn’t belong to it originally. If something unfavorable happened, these independent warriors would be the first ones to betray the sect.

However, the independent warriors had already known some martial arts and had some cultivation basis, so they didn’t need the sect to put great efforts on training them. Because of their skills, they could help the sect to acquire immaculate wealth. So, Fish Dragon Sect chose to turn a blind eye to any negative consequences and accepted all the independent warriors who came to them, except for some extremely notorious ones.

Precisely because of this reason, the number of disciples participating in this year’s training at the sea had increased by several times. The increase of disciples had brought great benefit to the Fish Dragon Sect.

Facing the combined efforts of the five Illuminating Soul Realm warriors, the Black Cyan Clam under the sea had nowhere to hide. Even the strong defense it was so proud of had already been easily broken through.

One of the warriors used his long sword to open the Black Cyan Clam. With an overjoyed expression, he said, “Barnard! Today really is a lucky day. We found a Black Spirit Pearl in the first black cyan clam we captured!”

“Um-hmm,” Barnard made a sound, nodding his head lightly, showing no sign of joy.

As far as he was concerned, the Fish Dragon Sect wasn’t a good place. By taking advantage of the turbulent situation in the Central Region, they unceasingly recruited independent warriors. On the surface, they were recruiting disciples, but in reality, they were using independent warriors as laborers. What nonsense was this training at the sea? It was just an excuse to blackmail and exploit them.

When the independent warriors had been deterred by the danger of being killed, the Fish Dragon Sect was the one who provided them a place to protect themselves. Now they offered them this so called chance of “Training”, which was nothing but a disguised way of charging them a protection fee!

They were required to hand in ten Black Spirit Pearls to the Fish Dragon Sect every day, which was a very laborious and heavy task. But it was still better than being killed by the masters of other sects in the Central Region.

They continued to head further into the depths of the sea after finding the first Black Spirit Pearl. The coastal waters weren’t very dangerous, yet they were very careful. After all, they were once pirates and were aware of all kinds of strange things that could happen in the Chaotic Ocean of Stars. No one could say when a powerful, fierce beast would appear near the shore. But if that really happened, they would be doomed.

Just as they were moving forward carefully, an explosive sound from the sky filled the air. It was what they called a bolt from the blue.

Pah!

Everyone was shocked!

“What, what is that!” One of the warriors of the Illuminating Soul Realm said in a trembling voice, his face fearful.

They saw an object dive into the sea at an incredibly fast speed a few miles away. The impact was so powerful it caused waves as high as dozens of feet!
Barnard’s eyes widened in a flash. “A rare treasure seems to have appeared!” he said.

Legend had it that lightening would strike and thunder would roar with other abnormal phenomenon in the sky when a rare treasure appeared in the world. It was possible that what had just happened was one of those times! They had seen something crash into the water with their own eyes. This was no folklore.

“Really? Are you sure, Barnard?” Another warrior asked excitedly.

“Yes…there’s a possibility that it might be the case. Let’s go take a look!” Barnard was a very experienced warrior. He vigilantly looked around to confirm that there were no other warriors in the surrounding sea before he flew over to the suspicious area. To be safe, he took out a water-avoiding pill and gulped it in an instant before diving deeper in the water.

They were all skilled divers. With the help of the water-avoiding pill, they sank to the bottom in no time.

Their faces were remarkably shocked once they reached the bottom and saw what was in front of them. They had thought they’d be met with a rare treasure, but what they found was an actual person!

“How could this man descend from the lightning?” A martial artist said through his life vitality.

Barnard stared at the man, shaking his head, trying to make sense of what he saw. Suddenly, his eyes landed on the space ring that hung from the man’s chest. Immediately, a hint of greed appeared on his face. “He seems to be injured. How weird is it that he chose to meditate and heal in the water. Shall we…” said Barnard, exchanging glances with the others.

All their lives, they had survived by looting and killing in the surrounding seas. This wouldn’t be the first time they would brazenly rob someone if they decided to do it.

Even though they were now disciples of the Fish Dragon Sect, it wasn’t a big deal for them to occasionally go back to old habits and trades when no one was around. Moreover, even those large sects in the Central Region who prided themselves on being righteous were not completely clean and had done quite a few nasty things. It was a sad truth that the world of warriors was a cruel one.

“But his strength…” a warrior started to speak, staring at the man meditating at the bottom of the sea. Hesitantly, he continued, “Barnard, this man is a martial artist in the Virtual Tribulation Realm!”

Barnard’s face too displayed hesitation and reluctance. Virtual Tribulation Realm warriors were not people they could fight against. Even though the man in front of them was severely injured, it would be a piece of cake for him to take the lives of all these Illuminating Soul Realm warriors in no time.