Chapter 131: The Power Hierarchy of Peerless Island

"Wait..." Suddenly, as if struck by a sudden realization, Dugu Shang’s expression shifted from the pallor of death to a vacant stare.

According to the rules of Peerless Island...
According to the rules of Peerless Island...
According to the rules of Peerless Island...

He murmured the words three times. A flicker of hope ignited within his heart, followed by a surge of joy so intense it brought tears to his eyes—the overwhelming relief of surviving a desperate situation. "I can live!"

It was true. By the standards of Peerless Island, the strong could demand anything from those who offended them, holding their lives in the palm of their hands. The weak had no human rights, and for the vast majority of the island's inhabitants, the default solution was simply to kill. Dugu Shang had always viewed everything through the lens of these island rules. When he realized he had offended Zhou Yi, he had immediately used those same rules to project his own fate.

The result, naturally, was death.

But in reality, Zhou Yi could not be judged by these rules. Though he currently stood on the soil of Peerless Island, he was not truly a "man of the island." He had not yet struggled for survival here, nor had he been tainted by the desperate nature of an outlaw. At best, he was merely a wanderer of the martial world. And such wanderers did not possess that same innate bloodlust. While they still demanded the dignity befitting the strong, it rarely escalated to the point of life and death.

"So... all of this was just me scaring myself?" With his mind racing at lightning speed, Dugu Shang quickly grasped the situation, murmuring in a daze.

"What do you mean, 'scaring yourself'?" Zhou Yi, standing a safe distance away, asked loudly.

Zhou Yi had already mentally categorized Dugu Shang as a fool based on his bizarre behavior; he hoped it wasn't contagious and kept his distance. Though Dugu Shang had spoken softly, Zhou Yi’s hearing was sharp, and he had caught the words.

"You..." Dugu Shang looked up, seeing Zhou Yi standing so far away. He opened his mouth to reply, but the sight of Zhou Yi’s wary posture left him so deflated that he couldn't finish his sentence.

***

"Have they arrived?" On Peerless Island, in the same location, Leng Feng sat upon a stone stool. Before him stood a screen of light, though it was no longer singular. It remained a light screen, but it now displayed two separate scenes.

Each scene featured a protagonist: one was Zhou Yi, and the other was Song Hai.

***

Dugu Shang walked ahead, his heart brimming with joy. Having realized that Zhou Yi did not intend to take his life, he felt an immediate sense of ease. As long as his life was spared, everything else could be managed.

He was clever. Guessing that Zhou Yi was a newcomer to Peerless Island and would naturally be in need of firsthand information, he conscientiously shared everything he knew, detailing it all to Zhou Yi. Because of this, Zhou Yi was pleased. And when Zhou Yi was pleased, Dugu Shang was pleased. The survival rule of Peerless Island was simple: if your strength is lacking, play the part of a sycophant.

Beyond that, there was another method: find a backer.

Dugu Shang didn't expect to earn Zhou Yi's complete trust simply by providing some information, but at the very least, he had established a favorable impression. A favorable impression was like a key; once you had the key, could opening the door be that difficult? With this initial foundation of goodwill, Dugu Shang felt confident about the future.

Finding a backer on Peerless Island was no easier than surviving. Because of the environment, almost everyone was an outlaw who could barely look after themselves, let alone others. Furthermore, given their nature, everyone had a volatile temper. Gaining that initial spark of favor was incredibly difficult.

Now, with Zhou Yi—who was strong, new to the island, lacked a volatile temper, and possessed no outlaw tendencies—he had found the perfect candidate for a backer. Dugu Shang believed that with this bit of goodwill, as long as he didn't court death, he would no longer face the hardships he had endured in this third trial.

***

Dugu Shang walked ahead in high spirits, while Zhou Yi followed behind with a slight frown, contemplating the information he had just received.

Only after learning these facts did Zhou Yi understand the true identity of the "Gourd-men" he had seen earlier and grasp their origins. His impression of Peerless Island deepened.

Peerless Island was divided into six stages, mirroring one's cultivation level. Each stage only contained individuals of the corresponding strength. For instance, the first stage of the island was populated only by those at the First Stage of the False Core. This strength was independent of the path one chose to follow.

In other words, within the same stage, those who followed the path of "Aperture Growth" and those who followed "Aperture Infusion" were grouped together. Consequently, the weakest in any given stage were the practitioners of Aperture Growth, while the strongest were the practitioners of Aperture Infusion. After all, with a disparity of nearly three hundred times in mana, one had to be able to win a fight to hold the advantage.

However, this did not mean that those who practiced Aperture Growth held a low status. In fact, unless forced into a corner, those who practiced Aperture Infusion would never provoke them.

The reason was simple: Aperture Growth was a path of talent, and Aperture Infusion was also a path of talent—one was simply the path of the gifted, and the other the path of the mediocre. Anyone who dared to pursue the path of Aperture Growth possessed a level of talent that the Aperture Infusion practitioners could not compare with. Though they lacked three hundred times the mana, that was not an unbridgeable gap, especially on Peerless Island.

If pushed to the brink, an Aperture Growth practitioner could instantly convert to Aperture Infusion. That three-hundred-fold mana gap would vanish in an instant. Furthermore, due to the difference in innate talent, the purity of their mana and the sophistication of their techniques were far superior to those who had relied on simple infusion.

Therefore, in such a situation, the Aperture Growth practitioner could easily crush the Aperture Infusion practitioner. For this reason, no one was willing to provoke them unless there was an irreconcilable blood feud, because they possessed the ability to flip the table. Once the table was flipped, it was a matter of life and death.

Of course, unless absolutely necessary, no Aperture Growth practitioner would choose to do this lightly. While it would grant a massive surge in combat power, it would also sacrifice their future potential—the price was too high.

Thus, on Peerless Island, those who practiced Aperture Growth had low base strength but held a transcendent status, while those who practiced Aperture Infusion had overwhelming power but lacked the foundation and the status to match.

This was the hierarchy of power on the island. Zhou Yi had a rough grasp of this, but what caused him to frown were other matters—yes, matters, plural, not just one.