Martial Peak

Black Crow City couldn’t be compared to that kind of super city, so even though Chen Fan Lei was only a Saint King Realm disciple of Extreme Path Sect, he has some personal relationships with a Senior responsible for guarding the city’s Space Array. Having once been entrusted by that person with a certain task, that Senior now owed Chen Fan Lei a favour and would have to give him some face. Learning this, Yang Kai calmed down as he understood that gaining access to the Space Array shouldn’t be a problem, unlike back in Demon Blood City.

In general, moving about Shadowed Star was a hassle. Even just being able to use the Space Arrays in each city was a headache.

Fortunately, Yang Kai had good luck and was able to obtain help from others to use these Space Arrays twice.

Yang Kai began wondering if there was some kind of token or pass that would allow him to use any of the Space Arrays on Shadowed Star at will. If there was such a thing, it would undoubtedly make his life more convenient.

Of course, Yang Kai didn’t expect such a convenient item to exist, but after casually mentioning it to Chen Shi Tao, he learned there really was such a thing! This surprised Yang Kai greatly and he hurriedly asked her for more details.

Chen Shi Tao seemed to know what he was thinking so she freely shared everything she knew.

After listening to Chen Shi Tao’s explanation though, Yang Kai could only smile bitterly and shake his head.

Although this kind of access pass existed, and would be recognized and accepted by about eighty percent of the forces on Shadowed Star, obtaining it was akin to trying to ascend to the Heavens. There were two ways to acquire this pass; the first was to perform some kind of meritorious deed that brought great benefit to all of Shadowed Star. While this condition sounded simple, it was essentially impossible to complete.

There were as many forces on Shadowed Star as there were hairs on an ox, and although many of them would cooperate with each other, there was also no end to the conflicts and struggles between them. Something that was beneficial to one party would undoubtedly be detrimental to another. Trying to accomplish something that improved everyone’s lives was nothing short of a fool’s dream.

The second method was actually much simpler than the first method. One simply needed to receive the joint approval of ten first-class Sects. With that, they could get this free entry pass to all of Shadowed Star’s Space Arrays!

Although this second method was simpler, that was only compared to the first method. There were only about twenty first-class Sects on Shadowed Star, so collecting the support of ten of them was basically impossible.

Yang Kai had a fair amount of contact with Shadow Moon Hall, Clear Sky Sect, and Coloured Glass Sect, which were all first-class Sects, but only famous Elders of such Sects could act as guarantors for the pass.

Either of these methods could be used to obtain the pass Yang Kai wanted, but after listening to Chen Shi Tao, he extinguished such thoughts completely as he couldn’t achieve either of them with his current abilities.

Chatting along the way, time passed quickly and five days later, the group of six arrived at the outskirts of Black Crow City. After paying some Saint Crystals, the guards allowed them through the city gates without incident.

After entering the city, Yang Kai looked around and saw many wide and narrow winding roads, all of them lined with many shops on both sides. Although Black Crow City couldn’t be called crowded with people, it was still quite lively and bustling.

“Little Brother Yang, are you planning to stay here for some time or are you anxious to depart?” Chen Shi Tao suddenly looked back at Yang Kai.

Yang Kai thought about it for a moment before replying, “If possible, I naturally want to leave here quickly, as there are still some things I have to attend to.”

After acquiring so many materials and Saint Crystals, and with the Stone Puppet having stolen so much Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass, Yang Yan was naturally eager to continue her Artifact Refining, and from what Yang Kai heard from her it seemed she would be refining a truly shocking treasure this time. As for what she was working on specifically, Yang Yan insisted on keeping it a secret, making Yang Kai helpless.

On top of Yang Yan’s desire to return, the fact that the Stone Puppet and Artifact Spirit were currently wounded left Yang Kai unwilling to remain outside. Only after he returned to Dragon Cave Mountain would he be able to provide his two assistants with a safe environment to recuperate.

Hearing this, Chen Shi Tao’s eyes flashed with some disappointment, but she didn’t insist anymore and said, “Since that’s the case, Fan Lei will go to the Space Array now to see if that Senior is in. If everything goes well, before the night falls, Little Brother Yang should be able to leave.”

Yang Kai naturally had no opinion and simply thanked Chen Fan Lei politely before finding a spot out of the way to wait quietly with Chen Shi Tao and the others.

In the meantime, Chen Shi Tao tried to invite Yang Kai to participate in the Clear Sky Sect recruitment trial once more, but Yang Kai still politely refused. Seeing this, Chen Shi Tao chose not to pester him about the issue and instead began chatting with him about other topics with a smile.

After about an hour, Chen Fan Lei returned.

However, the look on his face was a bit awkward, as if he had failed to accomplish the task he had been assigned.

Upon seeing his expression, Yang Kai couldn’t help clenching his fist slightly, secretly wondering whether the other party was unwilling to bend the rules. If this was the case, then he could only choose to take two or three months to fly back to Dragon Cave Mountain from here.

Chen Shi Tao obviously also had similar speculations and after her little brother arrived, she hurriedly asked, “Fan Lei, did things not go smoothly?”

Chen Fan Lei smiled mirthlessly as a guilty look appeared on his face, shaking his head as he said, “Things really didn’t go smoothly.”

“What happened?” Chen Shi Tao asked.

“The Senior I know just happens to be out of the city. From what I heard from the others, it seems he was assigned some kind of task outside the city.”

“He’s out of the city?” Chen Shi Tao stunned, “How could he be out of the city at this exact moment? Could it be they were just trying to deceive you?”

“No, no!” Chen Fan Lei quickly waved his hand, “I found some others to ask about this matter and confirmed that the Senior I know is indeed on a mission. He just left the city a few days ago and it seems the soonest he’ll return is in three days.”

“Three days…” Chen Shi Tao murmured, turning her head to look at Yang Kai and smiling apologetically, “Little Brother Yang, I’m sorry, it seems that things won’t be as easy as I anticipated.”

“It’s fine, accidents are bound to happen,” Yang Kai replied faintly.

Seeing that Yang Kai didn’t show a displeased look, Chen Shi Tao calmed down and said, “But that Senior will be back in three days at the soonest, can you wait that long? You may rest assured, as soon as that Senior returns, we will definitely arrange for you to leave here.”

“It’s not a problem, even if I have to wait ten days it’s still fine; after all, it’s better than taking two or three months to fly back by Star Shuttle. But Brother Chen, are you certain that Senior won’t be delayed too long? If he doesn’t return for some time, it may not be worth waiting.”

“There’s no need to worry!” Chen Shi Tao smiled brightly, “If that Senior hasn’t returned after three days, we can go to another place, whether it’s Extreme Path Sect’s Gale City or Clear Sky Sect’s Black Sea City, both are only ten to fifteen days from here and both have Space Arrays which are directly connected to Heavenly Fate City. Here we have to rely on my personal connections, but in Gale City or Black Sea City we will have full authority to access the Space Array.”

Hearing this, Yang Kai’s eyes lit up slightly as the last trace of concern faded from his mind, nodding as he agreed to Chen Shi Tao’s proposal.

Since they had decided to wait for three days here, it was necessary to find a place to stay. Fortunately, there were many inns in Black Crow City, while both Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying were wealthy Young Ladies worth more than a million Saint Crystals each, so the place they chose naturally wasn’t bad.

A short time later, the group of six arrived at a top-level inn called Flying Spirit Palace.

Flying Spirit Palace was a well known establishment in Black Crow City and was among the highest quality lodgings available. Generally, the cultivators who stayed here were either rich or held extremely high status, as a single night would cost three thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals.

This kind of price was quite exorbitant. One had to know that the best rooms at an average inn would only cost hundreds of Saint Crystals a night, making the price of this Flying Spirit Palace over a dozen times higher.

If it weren’t for Yang Kai helping them out twice, one of which could be counted as a life-saving grace, Chen Shi Tao wouldn’t have spent so lavishly. After all, although she had a lot of Saint Crystals now, she had never been one to waste it on frivolous luxuries. This time could only be considered her borrowing Yang Kai’s favour as an excuse to spend somewhat freely.

Although the price was ridiculously high, after seeing their accommodations, everyone felt it was a worthwhile cost.

The reason was simple, every guest staying here was given a separate three-story loft. The first floor was for entertaining guest, the second for meditating, and the third for Alchemy or Artifact Refining.

Each floor was equipped with at least seven or eight different Spirit Arrays that not only shielded against outside Divine Sense intrusions but also provided other types of protection.

On top of that, each loft came with two beautiful young maidservants. These maids were also cultivators, but their cultivations weren’t high, most of them just True Element Boundary or even Separation and Reunion Boundary cultivators; however, all of them had received careful training to greet and entertain guests. Of course, some excessive requests wouldn’t be met.

According to the cultivator who received Chen Shi Tao’s group, Flying Spirit Palace was actually the private industry of the City Lord and several other powerful Elders from the city, so safety was guaranteed as no one would dare come here to make trouble.

The cultivator who welcomed them seemed to unintentionally reveal this news, which was obviously meant as a subtle warning for Yang Kai and the others to not underestimate the background of this inn, or worse, try to stir up trouble themselves.

A group of six people, of course, didn’t need six whole lofts, so Chen Shi Tao only booked three, one she would share with Lu Ying, one that Wang Yu Han and Chen Fan Lei would stay in, and one for Yang Kai and Yang Yan.

After all the arrangements were complete, everyone dispersed to their respective loft.

The loft where Yang Kai and Yang Yan were staying in had an ornate design and a very impactful name, the Floating Snow Moon Pavilion.

Seeing this building, Yang Yan licked her lips happily while Yang Kai held no opinions of it. The two of them quickly chose a room for themselves before sitting in meditation to rest.