Martial Peak

When they entered the Grand Burial Valley, because they were searching around and exploring, Yang Kai and Yang Yan hadn’t moved very fast and could only travel on foot, but now that they were simply trying to leave, Yang Kai had directly summoned his Star Shuttle, so naturally, they were travelling much faster.

Just as Yang Kai was hurrying along with Yang Yan though, he suddenly came to an abrupt halt and turned his head in a certain direction, letting out a slight expression of surprise.

“What happened?” Yang Yan asked curiously, wondering why Yang Kai had suddenly stopped.

“It’s nothing,” Yang Kai replied faintly, “I just sensed someone from that group we met before, but her condition seems to be a bit off.”

By some kind of coincidence, there was a figure who was rushing towards Yang Kai and Yang Yan’s position hurriedly, and under the pair’s observation, they quickly discovered that it was the young woman named Lu Ying who had been together with Chen Shi Tao.

However, at this moment, she looked quite panicked and her Saint Qi was fluctuating unstably.

Another strange point was that Lu Ying was by herself; Chen Shi Tao of Clear Sky Sect, and Chen Fan Lei and Wang Yu Han of Extreme Path Sect were all nowhere to be seen.

The other party had obviously encountered some kind of trouble. If it had been a stranger, Yang Kai would have immediately left; after all, he had just provoked all of the powerful monsters in the Corpse Cave not long ago, so how could he stupidly remain here?

But the one who was approaching in a state of distress was someone he knew, so Yang Kai could not just pretend like he never saw her. If he were to leave just like this, it would leave a bitter after taste.

On top of that, it was thanks to Chen Shi Tao that he had learned that this was Grand Burial Valley, so however minor it was, he owed her a favour.

After pondering for a moment, Yang Kai grit his teeth and flew his Star Shuttle down to meet Lu Ying.

Lu Ying was sweeping her eyes over her surrounding as she was fleeing, seemingly looking for something so when she suddenly noticed someone approaching, she could not help feeling a bit startled. However, glancing over and noticing that it was Yang Kai, she showed a joyful expression and the vigilance and panic on her face disappeared and she raced over to meet them.

Before she even got close, she shouted, “Senior Brother Yang!”

“Sister Lu Ying!” Yang Kai returned the greeting as he came to a stop in front of her before asking curiously, “Why are you so flustered?”

“Senior Brother Yang, please help me rescue Senior Sister Chen! She is currently being attacked by a Ninth-Order Monster Beast.”

“A Ninth-Order Monster Beast?” Yang Kai’s face sank, “How could there be Monster Beasts here? And a Ninth-Order one at that.”

Ninth-Order Monster Beasts were equivalent to Human Race Origin Returning Realm masters, but in this strange Grand Burial Valley, such a Monster Beast existing was quite unexpected.

“I don’t know, but it was indeed a Ninth-Order Monster Beast. Senior Sister Chen and the others were trapped by it, but they found a way for me to escape so I could look for help. Senior Brother Yang, I beg you, please come with me before it’s too late.”

“Sister Lu Ying must be joking,” Yang Kai didn’t immediately agree, putting on a frown as he said, “I am just a Second-Order Saint King, even lower than Sister Chen and Brother Wang. If even they were trapped by that Monster Beast, if I come with you, wouldn’t I just be seeking death?”

Hearing this, Lu Ying’s expression went blank as she did not know how to respond.

Just now, she had been incredibly anxious to find help, but with so few people in this Grand Burial Valley, when she finally met Yang Kai, she had immediately asked him for assistance. Now though, after receiving Yang Kai’s reminder, her beautiful face suddenly lost colour.

Lu Ying had experienced firsthand how powerful that Monster Beast was. Even with all four of them together, they had barely been able to resist it, so even if she brought Yang Kai back with her, with his low cultivation, what help could he provide them? Most like he would only wind up as another victim.

For a time, Lu Ying froze up as her thoughts were in complete chaos.

Although Yang Kai did not readily agree, he still asked, “What type of Monster Beast was it? How strong was it exactly?”

Lu Ying replied subconsciously, “It is a Thunder Attribute Monster Beast that has strength equal to a First Order Origin Returning Realm master; however, it was able to use the Thunder Pond where it lives to create a barrier and raise its strength, otherwise Senior Sister Chen and the others wouldn’t have been trapped and would have already escaped. Even if they could not defeat it, running away shouldn’t have been a problem.”

“Thunder Pond?” Before Yang Kai could say anything, Yang Yan’s eyes lit up as she called out in interest.

“En, there is a Thunder Pond here that not many people know of. This time, Senior Sister Chen’s younger brother, Chen Fan Lei, wanted to use that Thunder Pond to break through a bottleneck he was facing with his Secret Art, but that Monster Beast suddenly appeared,” Lu Ying quickly explained.

Yang Kai glanced over at Yang Yan only to have her voice reach his ear, “I want the Thunder Liquid in that Thunder Pond!”

Yang Kai sighed, knowing that this time he would have to take a detour. Without even mentioning that, in the first place, he had not intended to stand by and do nothing. Since Yang Yan was interested in that Thunder Liquid, it was definitely a good treasure she had an important use for.

His objections just now were just Yang Kai’s way of acting cautiously.

Having reached this point, Yang Kai no longer hesitated and said, “Sister Lu Ying should lead the way then. Although this Yang’s strength is not high, since Sister Chen is in danger, I cannot just remain indifferent; however, I cannot promise you anything, only that I will try my best to help.”

“Ah?” Lu Ying’s face turned from worry to happiness when she heard this. From how Yang Kai was speaking just now, she had assumed he was unwilling to get involved, but somehow, in the blink of an eye, his attitude had changed entirely. With great joy, she immediately nodded and led the way.

However, she did not seem to have much faith in Yang Kai’s abilities as along the way, she would release her Divine Sense from time to time, trying to see if there were any other more powerful cultivators nearby.

But to her disappointment, she found no one.

On the way, through a series of questions, Yang Kai also learned that the main purpose of Lu Ying’s group’s visit to Grand Burial Valley this time was the Thunder Pond. Originally, everything had gone according to plan; after finding the Thunder Pond, Chen Fan Lei entered it and began circulating his Secret Art to absorb the Thunder Attribute energy into his body while the other three stood guard. But a few days later, a Silver Night Thunder Beast suddenly rushed out from the depths of the Thunder Pond, causing Chen Fan Lei’s breakthrough to fail. This Silver Night Thunder Beast seemed to possess quite a high level of intelligence as it was able to stimulate an ancient Spirit Array around the Thunder Pond, activating a barrier that trapped their group of four inside. This Monster Beast was obviously intent on killing the four cultivators who had broken into the Thunder Pond it perceived as its domain.

Because Lu Ying had an artifact which was specially designed to help her escape, Chen Shi Tao joined forces with Wang Yu Han and Chen Fan Lei to forcefully tear open a part of the barrier and let her out.

Unfortunately, the barrier that was activated by the Thunder Pond could draw power from it to repair itself, so the other three did not have time to escape and were still trapped inside.

It had been a full day and a night since Lu Ying escaped to find help, so she currently could not tell what the situation was back there.

“After such a long time, I don’t think things are optimistic,” Yang Kai sighed slightly.

“No,” Lu Ying quickly shook her head, “Senior Sister Chen has a powerful defensive artifact, so even if they can’t defeat that Monster Best, holding out for some time shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Oh?” Yang Kai raised his eyebrows.

Lu Ying took the initiative to explain, “Actually, it’s all thanks to Senior Brother Yang. Last time, in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, we collected a lot of Saint Crystals, and after returning, we handed most of them over the Sect. As a reward, the Elders gave all of us some rare artifacts. Senior Sister Chen was given a Nine Palace Heavenly Silk Parasol, an Origin Grade High-Rank defensive artifact. Senior Sister Chen had long ago finished refining it so she can control it with ease. The escape artifact I used was also granted to me by the Elders, otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to flee with just my strength.”

“I see!” Hearing this, Yang Kai also relaxed slightly. Since she had an Origin Grade High-Rank’s defensive artifact, Chen Shi Tao should not have any major problems in a short span of time. If this were not the case, the only thing Yang Kai would be able to do when he arrived, would be to collect Chen Shi Tao’s corpse.

The Thunder Pond was not close to the position their group of three met, so it took some time to travel to it.

Yang Kai constantly kept an eye on their surroundings for fear that Corpse Soldiers or Corpse Generals would suddenly emerge to chase him down. After all, he could not be sure those creatures back in the Corpse Cave would simply let him go. Agreeing to rescue Chen Shi Tao involved a certain amount of risk.

When they approached to within ten kilometres of the Thunder Pond, Lu Ying pointed ahead and said with pleasant surprise, “It’s over there, and it looks like Senior Sister Chen and the others are still safe and sound!”

There was no need to remind Yang Kai of this as he could tell there was a disturbance up ahead. In front of them, there was a patch of blue clouds, and among those clouds, there were bolts of lightning flickering back and forth. From time to time, a bolt or two of lightning would crack, carrying with it amazing momentum. With the blue clouds covering the region, even with the glow from the lightning, it was impossible to get a clear picture of what was happening; however, judging from the sounds of battle, it was obvious Chen Shi Tao and the others hadn’t died yet. However, Yang Kai noticed that the three auras inside the cloud bank were somewhat weak, so even though they had managed to endure until now, they were likely approaching their limit.

Seeing this, Yang Kai said without hesitation, “Let’s move.”

In an instant, Yang Kai rushed out a distance of nearly a thousand metres while Lu Ying followed close behind. At the same time, she let out a sweet voice like that of a chirping bird. Each chirp contained information that outsiders couldn’t detect.

When she heard this voice, Chen Shi Tao, who was struggling to support herself beside the Thunder Pond, exclaimed, “It’s Junior Sister Lu Ying! She brought help, so we’re saved.”

Hearing this, Wang Yu Han and Chen Fan Lei’s spirits were roused and they began urging the defensive artifacts in their hands even harder to resist the lightning attacking them.

Thanks to the three of them cooperating, focusing only on defending themselves and not even counterattacking, they had managed to persist until now.

“Senior Sister Chen!” A moment later, Lu Ying’s voice came from outside the barrier.

Chen Shi Tao quickly turned her head and with a joyful voice called out, “Junior Sister Lu Ying, you found help?”

“En, I didn’t fail Senior Sister’s expectations. I brought Senior Brother Yang back with me,” Lu Ying nodded quickly.

“Senior Brother Yang?” Chen Shi Tao was stunned and looked behind Lu Ying to see Yang Kai standing there solemnly, observing the situation without saying a word.

“Little Brother Yang…” Chen Shi Tao did not know whether to laugh or cry, she had never thought that the helper Lu Ying found was actually Yang Kai. Although she recognized him as a man of great destiny, good luck would not help in the current situation. Relying on destiny and luck here would likely just end up with all of them dying.