Seven World Martial God

Chapter 29: New Captain

Translator: Aristophaneso Editor: Caron_

New Captain

“Uncle Feng, you…”

Ye Tian paled, his eyes locked onto Ye Feng’s stump and his brain blanking. Ye Feng was his master, his first teacher in the Martial Dao.

He still remembered their first meeting. Ye Feng had smiled down at him, asking: “You’re Ye Meng’s kid? So? Do you want to be my student?”

At that time, Ye Tian had been discovered sneakily watching Ye Feng teaching the other children Martial Arts.

Ye Tian had flushed with embarrassment as he nodded.

From that day forward, Ye Tian was Ye Feng’s shadow, hounding him as soon as he returned from hunting, begging him for guidance.

Ye Feng was his teacher and his friend and in the entire village, in Ye Tian’s entire world, the man he most respected wasn’t his father, wasn’t the Village Chief, but this solemn man of few words and burning heart who was now mangled.

“Ye Tian, don’t be sad. It’s just an arm—I’m not much weaker,” Ye Feng said, a small smile on his pale face.

He was filled with joy. His favorite student was flourishing with strength. An arm? Even if he were to die on these grounds, he would have no regrets.

 “Ye Tian, you better carve this into your soul—the Captain lost his arm trying to save you. You can never forget!” Ye Meng shouted, no longer able to hold back his emotions.

Ye Tian’s mind exploded and tears fell uncontrollably down his face. His nose wrinkled as he cried out while weeping, “Uncle Feng!”

 “Ye Meng!” Ye Feng scolded him, glaring at the offender as he put his hands on Ye Tian’s shoulders. He smiled at the young man. “Don’t cry. Men only shed blood, never tears. Don’t think that I can’t beat you with just one arm.”

“Uncle Feng!” Ye Tian cried out, unable to say anything else as he fell to his knees.

Tears fell down everyone’s faces as the villagers turned away one after another, hiding their sadness.

Village Chief Ye Shi and the other elders could only sigh.

All the villagers knew about Ye Feng’s dream to join the Scarlet Guard. With his strength, he had long ago qualified for enlistment, but he had chosen to stay to protect his family and home, trapping himself in this poor and remote backwater.

The old men sighed quietly. They all knew that their village had held Ye Feng back. Otherwise, he would’ve broken through to Martial Master long ago.

And now that Ye Feng had lost his arm, he would never be able to join the Scarlet Guard. They never accepted amputees.

Ye Feng’s dream was dead and his lifetime of toil was snuffed out!

Ye Tian couldn’t imagine Ye Feng’s pain, but the strong man carried the burden of his fellow villagers. He spared their pain while bearing his own, gritting his teeth and forcing a smile, acting as if he didn’t care.

At this thought, a new wave of tears bubbled forth, the flood resuming.

“Don’t cry. Today’s a happy day, truly!” Ye Feng said.

Ye Tian stirred.

“I’ve always dreamed of strength, to grow powerful and break through to Martial Master! You all thought my dream was to join the Scarlet Guard? None of you understood—the Scarlet Guard was only ever a means for strength. Only with strength would our village be able to leave these barren grounds,” Ye Feng explained as Ye Tian nodded, trembling.

The other villagers were all listening closely, paying attention to every word.

“Shen Zhou Continent is vast and boundless; even the powerful Blood Jade City is just an ordinary small city in the Da Yan Empire. Beyond White Cloud Town lies bountiful, fertile soil; if we could leave this place, we wouldn’t need to risk our lives hunting for our survival. This was my true dream,” Ye Feng continued, his eyes locked onto Ye Tian.

Ye Tian gazed up at the incredible man standing before him, seeing in Ye Feng’s eyes the light of emotion.

“Ye Tian, do you understand? Today is a joyous day!” Ye Feng spoke slowly, his eyes filled with admiration and emotion. “You’re only sixteen but you’ve already advanced to Level Seven Martial Artist, and not only do you have a powerful Martial Spirit but your Martial Skills ability is peerless. You’re a genius—a world-class genius—and when I look at you, I see hope. I see the future of Ye Family Village.”

“Yes! Ye Feng is right, Ye Tian. You must remember that even if we all die, as long as you live, our Ye Family Village will one day leave this poor land,” Village Chief Ye Shi echoed, his eyes filled with yearning as he stared at Ye Tian.

Every villager shared the same emotion, turning to Ye Tian with bright eyes.

A sixteen year old Level Seven Martial Artist? In the history of White Cloud Town, in the many centuries of the Ye Family Village’s heritage, they had never produced such an unimaginable talent.

In a decade or two, what heights would Ye Tian reach?

“Hu!”

Ye Tian let out a heavy breath, standing and turning to the skies, his gaze firm.

“Let’s go home!” he finally said.

“Yes! Homeward!” Ye Shi and Ye Feng smiled gratifyingly as the villagers received Ye Tian’s command.

“Brothers, bring back all the wolves. After this, we can rest for half a year!” Ye Ba cried out loudly.

They had killed over a thousand Howling Moon Wolves, and a harvest like this would last them over half a year, allowing the village to rest for a long time.

“We must bring back our dead brothers. No one will be left behind!” Ye Feng called out, taking charge.

The villagers turned to their tasks, eyes red with sorrow. They retrieved their fallen brethren, tied together the wolves for transport, and brought everything home.

They had really killed an incredible number of wolves today. The corpses could easily form a small mountain. Ye Tian moved around, his Level Seven Martial Artist strength allowing him to drag upwards of a hundred Howling Moon Wolves at a time.

The villagers were obviously incredibly curious as to how he had jumped to Level Seven Martial Artist so rapidly. Although everyone had kept their silence while they were fighting, now that they were trekking back, many of the villagers couldn’t help asking.

Ye Shi, Ye Feng, and the other elders and experts were also curious.

Ye Meng was even narrowing his eyes, jokingly scolding his son: “You naughty brat—when did you break through to Level Seven Martial Artist? You really kept me in the dark.”

Ye Tian turned to meet the curious gazes of the villagers, smiling quietly as he replied, “I was really just a Level Four Martial Artist, but after eating the Treasure Beast’s heart, I suddenly broke through to Level Seven.”

This was the excuse he had prepared.

“Treasure Beast’s heart?” Ye Shi repeated with confusion.

Ye Feng explained, “Chief, we found a Treasure Beast earlier today and took it down. When the wolf pack came, I had Ye Ba and Ye Meng take Ye Tian and the heart away.”

“Tsk tsk, you actually found a Treasure Beast? The last one was thirty years ago!” Ye Shi replied with amazement, but his confusion wasn’t settled. “But even eating the heart should’ve only let Ye Tian break through to Martial Artist Level Five. How did he jump three levels?”

“Well… I don’t understand either!” Ye Feng replied, shaking his head as he turned to Ye Tian.

“Speak, kid. Answer honestly!” Ye Meng scolded.

All the villagers turned to Ye Tian again.

Ye Tian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, holding up a hand in surrender. “I also don’t understand. After I ate the heart, I felt an incredibly strong energy and broke through three levels. Maybe it’s because of my Yellow Martial Spirit!”

All the villagers were still stunned, but eventually, they had to accept his explanation.

Ye Shi sighed in admiration. “The Treasure Beast’s heart contains its entire essence. Since it can help a Level Nine Martial Artist break through, it clearly contains a huge amount of energy. Perhaps we could only use it to break through one stage before because our Martial Spirits are low grade and unable to absorb all the energy, but Ye Tian has a higher grade Martial Spirit capable of absorbing more energy. It makes sense that he could break through more than one level.”

After the Village Chief spoke, the confusion was basically settled and all the villagers believed it. Ye Tian secretly let out a breath of relief, having successfully bluffed his way through once more.

“Chief, now that I’m missing an arm, I imagine it will take a while for me to recover. The snake cannot function without its head—the Hunter Team cannot be without a leader.”

Ye Feng brought this up to Ye Shi as they headed homeward.

He hadn’t spoken quietly, so the villagers all jolted with surprise.

“What do you mean?” Ye Shi replied, shocked as well, stopping and turning to face Ye Feng.

Ye Feng’s face was calm, a small smile on his pale face. “Chief, Ye Tian might only be a Level Seven Martial Artist, but his strength is equivalent to Level Eight. I have decided to resign and yield the position of Captain to Ye Tian.”

“I cannot!”

Ye Tian immediately cried out, cutting off any other response, his voice hurried as he continued: “Uncle Feng, how could I lead the Hunter Team? I’m only sixteen! If we’re talking about strength, it should be Uncle Ba!”

Ye Feng didn’t reply to Ye Tian, turning instead to Ye Ba and asking, “Ye Ba, what do you think?”

“Eh…” Ye Ba stirred from his stunned daze, turning to look at Ye Tian and nodding. “I agree with the Captain’s decision. Ye Tian is advancing a thousand miles with every step. Sooner or later, he must lead the Hunter Team. Having him take on the responsibility now will be good for his future.”

“Uncle Ba, you…” Ye Tian’s eyes fell wide open. He had always thought that Ye Ba was eagerly awaiting the Captain position.

Ye Ba chuckled at Ye Tian’s astonishment, explaining: “Strength earns responsibility. If I were a Level Nine Martial Artist, I would definitely take on the responsibilities of Captain.”

“But I’m not a Level Nine Martial Artist either!” Ye Tian replied.

“But you have the talent. How many months has it been? You’re already a Level Seven Martial Artist, and when you break through to Level Eight, your perfected Thundering Palm will give you the strength of Level Nine. Your leadership will bring more safety to the hunter team,” Ye Ba explained.

“I…” Ye Tian began again, but his father cut him off.

“Brat, don’t refuse. Do you think this is a gift? This is your responsibility,” Ye Meng scolded him.

Ye Tian fell silent, turning from Ye Feng to the other hunters around him, nodding seriously.

“Then I declare that from this day forth, Ye Tian will be the Captain of the Ye Family Village’s Hunter Team!” Ye Shi announced.