Martial Peak

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain

Along the way, Chen Shi Tao finally remembered to inquire about Yang Kai’s background. As such, she learned that Yang Kai was not a Shadow Moon Hall disciple, or even the disciple of some big family force, but instead a lone cultivator who lived on a remote hill called Dragon Cave Mountain.

To put it simply, Yang Kai was a cultivator with no backing or support, someone who had to depend entirely on himself to continue advancing. There were many such cultivators in this world, and their path was always quite difficult. Firstly, they did not have any Elders or masters to teach them, so they would inevitably run into problems during their cultivation that they could not solve. Secondly, they often lacked good cultivation environments and resources, resulting in their rate of advancement becoming slow. On top of these issues, if they ever encountered bullying or oppression, they did not have anyone who would help them. So, these kinds of cultivators had grim futures and despite there being a great many of them, those who succeeded were incredibly few, and those who did achieve success were often recruited by major Sects and families.

A lone cultivator being able to reach the Second-Order Saint King Realm like Yang Kai was already quite impressive.

When she learned about this, Chen Shi Tao felt a great sense of admiration towards Yang Kai, but Wang Yu Han only showed disdain. Obviously, from his perspective, while Yang Kai might be able to reach the Third-Order Saint King Realm, it was definitely impossible for him to break through to the Origin Returning Realm.

Not only did Chen Shi Tao admire Yang Kai greatly, her younger brother Chen Fan Lei also became quite interested in him. This young man was very open-minded and good-natured. On top of that, even though he was injured, he still seemed quite energetic and would constantly keep asking Yang Kai about what had happened in the Flowing Flame Sand Field. Yang Kai chose some insignificant stories to tell but even these were listened to by the young man with relish, prompting him to ask even more questions.

The atmosphere was quite harmonious as this group travelled together. The four people from Chen Shi Tao’s group, with the exception of Wang Yu Han who inherently disliked Yang Kai, were relatively easy to get along with.

Half a day later, the group of six finally left Grand Burial Valley. Until now, Yang Kai had not noticed any trace of those special existences from the Corpse Cave, something that made him feel relieved as he concluded that this matter was over, at least for now.

Another day later, a small mountain range appeared in front of the group; and although the World Energy aura here was not too rich, it also was not too thin. Seeing this place, Yang Kai’s brow furrowed slightly and he quickly came to a stop and called out to Chen Shi Tao, cupping his fists as he said, “Friends, although I do not know where you plan on going from here, I believe we’ll have to part ways here. My companion and I have some things to deal with, so we’d like to stay here for a few days.”

“How long do you plan to stay?” Chen Shi Tao’s eyes lit up, “It just so happens we’re also in need of a few days of rest. As I am sure you can see, Fan Lei and Senior Brother Wang haven’t had an opportunity to restore themselves or treat their injuries properly, so resting here for a moment would be a good idea.”

“You want to rest here too?” Yang Kai frowned slightly.

“What’s wrong? Could it be Little Brother Yang doesn’t welcome us?” Chen Shi Tao shot Yang Kai a slight look of rebuke.

“Nonsense, this place isn’t my property, it’s just an unclaimed mountain, naturally everyone can freely rest here.”

“That’s good,” Chen Shi Tao smiled, “And since Little Brother Yang came from Heavenly Fate City, he must intend to return there, correct?”

“En, of course.”

“Hehe, this place isn’t close to Heavenly Fate City. If you fly by Star Shuttle, it will take at least two or three months, and if you encounter something along the way, it may take even longer.”

Yang Kai gave her a thoughtful look and asked, “Does Sister Chen have a suggestion that could save us this time?”

“I do indeed. Little Brother Yang might not know, but five days from here is a city called Black Crow City that has a Space Array which is directly linked to Heavenly Fate City.”

“Is there such a thing?” Yang Kai could not help turning his head to look at Yang Yan, only to find that she had a blank face. Obviously, she didn’t know this either.

“Do you think this Young Lady would deceive you about something so simple?” Chen Shi Tao smiled, “Black Crow City is a neutral city that doesn’t belong to any force, so the Space Array doesn’t have as many usage restrictions as other places. Of course, not everyone can use it, but… Fan Lei seems to know a Senior who is responsible for guarding that Space Array, so it shouldn’t be an issue to let Little Brother Yang use it if he acts as a guarantor. It would just be a matter of having enough Saint Crystals for the transfer fee then.”

“As long as we can use it, Saint Crystals aren’t a problem,” Yang Kai looked at Chen Fan Lei with a happy expression.

Chen Fan Lei grinned in response, “Brother Yang may rest assured, I helped that Senior who guards the Space Array with a small matter so he owes me a favour. It won’t be a problem obtaining his permission regarding this, not to mention, Brother Yang isn’t some unknown person.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll leave this matter to Brother Chen,” Yang Kai quickly thanked him before glancing down at the small hills below, “Then let’s stay here for a few days before continuing on to Black Crow City.”

Chen Shi Tao and her group naturally had no objections and quickly descended to the small mountain range.

Although Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying weren’t injured in the battle with the Silver Night Thunder Beast, they had consumed a great deal of their Saint Qi and had not had an opportunity to restore themselves until now, so even they needed some time to adjust their condition. As for Chen Fan Lei and Wang Yu Han, they needed to treat their injuries and restore themselves, so the four of them quickly found a small mountain peaks and soon vanished inside it.

Yang Kai and Yang Yan flew to another remote mountain.

After a while, the two arrived at their destination, and Yang Kai immediately used his Saint Qi to open a temporary residence in the hillside.

With Yang Kai’s current cultivation, opening such a cave mansion required little effort, and in just the time it would take a boil a cup of tea, he had carved out a simple hollow.

Entering this cave, Yang Kai’s face became solemn. Yang Yan also seemed to sense something and hurriedly followed him without saying a word.

After making their way inside, Yang Kai suddenly sat down cross-legged down.

“Is there something wrong with Xiao Xiao?” Yang Yan asked anxiously.

After swallowing the Sun’s True Essence, the Stone Puppet had been taken away by Yang Kai, so Yang Yan didn’t know what its current condition was, but she knew that Yang Kai suddenly wanting to rest here must be related to this matter.

“It’s not a major problem yet, but if we continue on like this, the Stone Puppet won’t be able to bear it,” Yang Kai sighed.

“I figured so. Even if you didn’t say anything, I would have asked you to find a spot and stop for a few days to process Xiao Xiao and the Sun’s True Essence,” Yang Yan commented before quickly taking out a few items from her Space Ring and arranging a simple Spirit Array inside the cave mansion.

She didn’t dare take the matter of the Sun’s True Essence lightly, so before letting the Stone Puppet come out, Yang Yan intended to arrange an Isolation Array; otherwise, once this supreme treasure’s aura leaked out, it would likely attract unwanted trouble.

With her mastery of Spirit Arrays, it was quite easy for Yang Yan to arrange a barrier to conceal all their auras. After half a day, the entire cave mansion was enveloped by an invisible barrier that even an Origin Returning Realm master would not be able to see through.

Only after this was completed did Yang Kai wave his hand and release the Stone Puppet from the Black Book Space.

As soon as the Stone Puppet appeared, the temperature in the entire cave mansion shot up. The Stone Puppet itself had become crimson red and the heat radiating from it was distorting the air around it. There were even signs of its body melting.

A look of unbearable pain filled the Stone Puppet’s face and its eyes had become extremely red.

The violent heat of the Sun’s True Essence was not something it could resist. The Stone Puppet even being able to persist until now was all thanks to its innate talents.

Seeing its situation, Yang Kai did not dare to hesitate and immediately took out the Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal, causing a profound chill to ripple through the cave mansion and restore the temperature to a somewhat ordinary level.

Yang Kai used his Divine Sense to communicate with the Stone Puppet who, having received these instructions, stood up unsteadily and opened its mouth. A moment later, the Stone Puppet spat the Sun’s True Essence Ice out on top of the Ice Jade Pedestal.

Seeing this, Yang Kai breathed a sigh of relief and beckoned to the Stone Puppet. After it arrived in front of him, Yang Kai began to carefully investigate its condition.

Fortunately for Yang Kai, although the Stone Puppet had suffered some damage, it was not too serious. As long as it rested for a while, it should be able to restore itself to its original condition. This made Yang Kai feel both relieved and optimistic about the Stone Puppet’s future potential.

Using his Divine Sense, Yang Kai told the Stone Puppet to refine the precious ores in its belly to repair itself before he took it back into the Black Book Space.

Previously, in the Corpse Cave, the Stone Puppet had devoured seven or eight hills of Saint Crystals and rare ores. Yang Kai did not know if Saint Crystals would provide the Stone Puppet with any benefits, but those rare ores would definitely be useful to its growth, so Yang Kai naturally would not be stingy with it. He also believed that after absorbing the mineral essence from those ores, the Stone Puppet would be as good as new, if not better.

Obtaining this piece of Sun’s True Essence was far more valuable than obtaining a few more pieces of ore.

Having processed the Stone Puppet, Yang Kai next turned to Yang Yan, “What should we do now? If the Stone Puppet cannot carry it for extended periods of time, how will we take it back to Dragon Cave Mountain with us?”

“It will be fine as long as I refine a special container for it,” Yang Yan seemed to have a plan in mind already and replied lightly.

“What materials do you want?”

“Naturally, I’ll need Ice Attribute materials, and that Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal would be best. Relax, I know what kind of vessel will be appropriate, the only problem is that refining it will be a bit troublesome. I’ll need at least ten days to finish.”

“Ten days… En, that shouldn’t be a problem. They won’t be able to heal themselves so easily,” Yang Kai smiled slightly before getting up and setting out. Before he left, he gave the four Space Rings he collected from the Corpse Cave to Yang Yan as he believed the materials inside would meet the requirements for the special container Yang Yan planned to refine.

Not wanting to disturb Yang Yan, Yang Kai walked to the outermost part of the cave mansion and sat down cross-legged.

After thinking for a while, he took out his Origin King Grade Artifact Refining Furnace and used his Divine Sense to inspect it, receiving a pleasant surprise as he did.

Before collecting the Sun’s True Essence, Yang Kai had used his Artifact Spirit to face the Fire Dragon it produced to protect itself; however, the Artifact Spirit had been unable to handle the Sun’s True Essence and was wounded in the fight.