Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain

Yang Kai looked up and found that the defences around here were far tighter than those around the hall where Heavenly Fate City’s Space Array was located. Around the perimeter, there were seven or eight Demon Blood Temple disciples wearing cyan Artifact Armour standing straight like spears, each one of them a Second or Third-Order Saint King. At the same time, from inside the palace, the unconcealed aura of an Origin Returning Realm master could be felt.

“Brother Yang, please wait a moment while I go inform the Elder in charge. When I’ve finished making the arrangements, I’ll come back to welcome Brother Yang,” Deng Ning said politely.

Yang Kai nodded before walking into the palace’s main hall under the eyes of the surrounding Demon Blood Temple disciples.

The seven or eight Demon Blood Temple disciple guarding this place seemed to be curious about the relationship between Deng Ning and Yang Kai, and after Deng Ning walked further inside, they continually glanced at Yang Kai, speculating about his identity.

However, that was all, none of them came up to question him.

About half an hour later, Deng Ning’s figure appeared from the inner hall, but at this moment there was a clearly pained and bitter look upon his face.

Yang Kai saw this and immediately understood that his previous guess was right. It was definitely not a simple matter to allow an outsider to use the Space Array of this Sect. Deng Ning had obviously paid a great price.

Seeing other party go so far, Yang Kai felt a little guilty; after all, just half a day ago, he had been thinking about whether to kill Deng Ning in order to silence all witnesses. Now though, Deng Ning had gone to great lengths to allow him to use this private Space Array. It seemed that making friends with this person from Demon Blood Temple wasn’t such a bad idea.

Yang Kai thought about such things silently.

Walking out of the inner hall, Deng Ning’s expression quickly returned to normal as he let out a big laugh and called out, “I’ve let Brother Yang wait. Please follow me, everything has been handled properly.”

“Alright!” Yang Kai nodded, his attitude much better than before. Since the other party had done him a favour, he secretly decided that if he met this Deng Ning again in the future, he wouldn’t mind helping him out.

Under Deng Ning’s lead, the two entered the inner hall without obstruction. A large circle-array that was essentially the same as Heavenly Fate City’s Space Array stood quietly in the centre of the inner hall. Several grooves at the base of this circular platform were filled with High-Rank Saint Crystals already, indicating that it was ready to be opened at any time.

Additionally, inside this hall, there were three Origin Returning Realm masters standing guard as well as a dozen or so Saint King Realm masters. The three Origin Returning Realm masters each looked like they had good strength, and two of them sat on opposite sides of the hall in meditation, completely ignoring the arrival of Yang Kai and Deng Ning.

One of the Origin Realm masters though, an old man with silver hair, stood beside the central platform, his falcon-like eyes staring at Yang Kai for a moment before he turned to ask Deng Ning, “Martial Nephew Deng, is this the person you wish to guarantee?”

“Yes, Martial Uncle Liu, this is a friend that Martial Nephew made before,” Deng Ning answered quickly and respectfully.

“A friend… heh!” The old man surnamed Liu wore a fierce grin, as if the word ‘friend’ touched one of his nerves, “You’re from Shadow Moon Hall?”

Yang Kai looked indifferent, knowing that this old man surnamed Liu had probably inquired about his information from Deng Ning already, so he didn’t bother denying and simply cupped his fists, “Greetings Senior Liu.”

Seeing Yang Kai understand proper etiquette, the old man surnamed Liu nodded slightly and said, “Although my Demon Blood Temple and Shadow Moon Hall don’t share any kind of relationship, since Martial Nephew Deng is willing to act as a guarantor, it’s permissible for you to use the temple’s Space Array; however, just what kind of ‘friendship’ do you have with Martial Nephew Deng that would make him willing to pay thirty contribution points to allow you to travel to Bluestone City? Those thirty contribution points aren’t something that can be earned without risking one’s life several times.”

Deng Ning’s complexion changed slightly as he quickly glanced over at Yang Kai, but seeing the other party not show any kind of reaction, Deng Ning just laughed and said, “Martial Uncle Liu’s curiosity is well-founded, but it’s actually quite simple. Martial Nephew owes Brother Yang a life-saving grace, so thirty contribution points aren’t worth mentioning.”

“A life-saving grace?” The old man surnamed Liu’s eyes flashed suddenly, a cold light creeping into them as he scoffed, “A Second-Order Saint King saved your life? Is your Third-Order Saint King’s cultivation fake?”

Deng Ning’s complexion turned white, as a lot of sweat began forming on his forehead.

“And as far as I know, you’ve had no chance to make friends with any Shadow Moon Hall disciples besides when you went to Heavenly Fate City to participate in the auction. Heh, could you have met at that time?” The old man surnamed Liu seemed to have a lot of doubts and asked several questions in succession.

Deng Ning didn’t know how to answer for a while.

Yang Kai saw that Deng Ning was being pressured by his Martial Uncle and couldn’t come up with a good explanation, so he stepped in and said, “Senior should not misunderstand. I did not become acquainted with Brother Deng in Heavenly Fate City but rather in the Flowing Flame Sand Field. While inside, I coincidentally saved him once. It had nothing to do with personal strength, Junior very much admires Brother Deng’s strength actually.”

“Flowing Flame Sand Field! You also entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field? Why didn’t you go back with Qian Tong then and instead stuck around here for so long?” The old man surnamed Liu was surprised.

“There were some small reasons that delayed Junior so he failed to return with Elder Qian,” Yang Kai replied lightly.

“Oh?” The old man surnamed Liu smiled meaningfully, “It seems that you had quite a good harvest in the Flowing Flame Sand Field.”

Yang Kai’s brow rose imperceptibly. Although he was vigilant in his heart, he wasn’t too nervous, thinking about it for a moment before saying, “Junior did have some gains, but I’m afraid they wouldn’t be able to enter Senior’s eyes.”

Saying so though, he waved his hand and took out five pigeon-egg-sized Fire Crystal Stones from his Space Ring before quietly delivering them to the old man, “This is Junior’s first meeting with Senior, but he has failed to prepare any appropriate gifts. In place of that, I hope Senior will accept these few small tokens of goodwill.”

When the old man surnamed Liu saw these Fire Crystal Stones, his eyes lit up and he felt that Yang Kai was truly a promising young man. He was making things difficult here to obtain some benefits from Yang Kai in the first place, so with the opposite party understanding his intentions so quickly, it made everything easier. Waving his sleeve, the old man surnamed Liu accepted the five Fire Crystal Stones and a big smile appeared on his face as he nodded, “Good, good, no wonder Martial Nephew Deng made friends with you. It seems you’re a generous and understanding young man with a promising future. Alright, since you are a disciple of Shadow Moon Hall, this old master won’t say anymore. The reason why I asked so much just now was simply in case you were using a false identity to cause trouble. You can proceed now.”

After receiving five Fire Crystal Stones, this old man’s demeanour instantly changed, as if he had become a different person.

“Many thanks, Senior!” Yang Kai cupped his fists politely.

On the other side, Deng Ning saw the old man surnamed Liu finally let go and couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief, carefully reminding in the next moment, “Martial Uncle Liu, make sure to give Brother Yang a temporary token, or else when he arrives in Bluestone City, the disciples of Grand Fire Temple won’t allow him to pass through freely.”

“You think it’s necessary to remind me of this?” The old man surnamed Liu coldly snorted, waving his hand to send out a crimson token to Yang Kai.

Yang Kai caught this token and saw that it had a somewhat gruesome and terrifying head stamped onto it.

The old man surnamed Liu explained, “This is a temporary token of my Demon Blood Temple. It’s proof that you can pass through the Space Array and will allow you to avoid being questioned by Grand Fire Temple. Of course, since it’s just a temporary token, it can only be used for three days, but three days should be enough for you to return to Heavenly Fate City.”

“Junior understands,” Yang Kai nodded.

“Great, step up and I’ll open the array,” The old man surnamed Liu waved at Yang Kai and Yang Kai immediately stood atop the circular platform.

Deng Ning stood aside and cupped his fists with a smile to Yang Kai, “I hope Brother Yang’s journey goes smoothly. If there is an opportunity for Brother Yang to come to Demon Blood City again in the future, don’t hesitate to look for this Deng to share a drink.”

“Sure, if Brother Deng ever comes to Heavenly Fate City, he should come find this Yang. This Yang will definitely do his best to entertain Brother Deng,” Yang Kai replied.

Hearing this, Deng Ning smiled happily, knowing that his efforts had not been in vain. Spending thirty contribution points had really made his heart bleed, but he felt it was all worthwhile to become friends with this person. In the future, he may very well need to seek help from Yang Kai.

After the two finished speaking, the Space Array gave off a dazzling light, and surrounding space immediately warped.

Yang Kai’s vision filled with white light and after a brief moment, he found himself inside another grand hall guarded by several cultivators.

In an instant, several tyrannical Divine Senses landed on Yang Kai and he heard the sound of clothes swishing all around him as several Saint King Realm cultivators vigilantly surrounded him.

Seeing this, Yang Kai didn’t panic and took out the temporary token from Demon Blood Temple and tossed it to the most powerful Origin Returning Realm master present. The man caught it as he remained unmoving.

The Origin Returning Realm master swept his eyes over the token for a moment before knitting his brow, “Someone from Demon Blood Temple!”

Saying so, he tossed the token back and said lightly, “This token is good for three days. If you don’t return here before time is up, this Space Array will not be open to you!”

“Junior understands!” Yang Kai nodded.

The Origin Returning Realm master simply waved his hand and the hostile aura in the room disappeared. The Grand Fire Temple disciples returned to their posts immediately, none of them caring about Yang Kai again.

Yang Kai was pleased with this result and, after leaving the palace, blended into the flowing crowds of Bluestone City.

He had no intention of staying here, and after an hour or so, a blue streak of light flew out from Bluestone City and disappeared across the horizon a moment later.

Yang Kai had gotten directions to Heavenly Fate City from Bluestone City and then set off because he didn’t have any contacts in Grand Fire Temple, so there was no way he could use their Space Array.

Fortunately, it was only one month from Bluestone City to Heavenly Fate City, which was several times closer than from Demon Blood City. This much of a delay was acceptable.

His Star Shuttle was extremely fast, so Yang Kai simply sat cross-legged atop it, controlling its flight easily while starting to inspect his harvest from the Flowing Flame Sand Field.

Since entering the Flowing Flame Sand Field, he had encountered many opportunities and obtained many good things, but how he should go about using all of them was something he hadn’t considered yet.

After some inspection, Yang Kai state of mind fluctuated as even he was somewhat startled by his harvest.

Finished with his harvest from the Flowing Flame Sand Field, Yang Kai began inspecting the Blood Fusion Pill he had just obtained.