Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Green Fish

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Seeing how collaborative Yang Kai was being, Fei Zhi Tu showed a look of approval. When observing the little brat earlier, he had thought Yang Kai was an utterly lawless rebel, but as it turned out, he was quite the perceptive fellow, so his efforts did not go to waste.

Even though many stores in the city were indeed burned down, those were ultimately replaceable and could be easily reconstructed afterwards. As for the people who died, most were disciples of the Xie Family, who didn’t have much to do with Fei Zhi Tu. In fact, even if everybody here died, it didn’t really matter much to him.

After a moment of thought, Fei Zhi Tu said, “I shall give you two choices. You pick one.”

Yang Kai immediately started acting as if he were listening attentively.

“One, use the Saint Crystals you obtained just now as reimbursement. I can’t simply let you go after all that destruction, but those Saint Crystals should be enough as a fine. What do you say?”

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the goateed old man and the rest immediately changed. Their worry was real, and City Lord Fei was indeed intending to let Yang Kai off lightly! Remembering the rumours that were going around the Hall, they seemed to understand something, and nobody dared to speak.

Yang Kai looked stunned for a moment, then tilted his head in thought for a while before replying with a confident smile, “That is a great suggestion, Senior, but I’m afraid I would like to reject it.”

“Hm?” Fei Zhi Tu narrowed his eyes, staring at Yang Kai in surprise. Honestly speaking, the only reason he would make such a suggestion was that he was the strongest of everyone here, and the City Lord on top of that, which meant that Ma Xin Yuan and the rest were unlikely to raise any objections. However, he didn’t expect the little brat to reject his goodwill entirely, making him slightly annoyed. While silently berating Yang Kai for not understanding the severity of the situation, he snorted coldly, “You dare reject it even before hearing the other option?”

Yang Kai replied seriously, “The reason why I came here today was to take back the Saint Crystals which were stolen. Now that I have them, there’s no way I will give them back. Please tell me what the second choice is, Senior.”

Fei Zhi Tu stared at him for a long while before saying, “Alright then. Since you’re set on it, this City Lord will not attempt to persuade you any further. The second choice is much simpler. Withstand a single move of mine without dodging. As long as you don’t die, I shall allow you to leave!”

“Withstand a single move without dodging!” Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed. Contrarily, Ma Xin Yuan and the rest were overjoyed to hear that.

Fei Zhi Tu was already at the peak of Third Order Origin Returning Realm, his strength almost comparable to Qian Tong’s. If he personally attacked, even if it’s just a single move, the arrogant brat would most certainly be gravely injured, if not outright dead.

As they rejoiced, Ma Xin Yuan and the rest even thought that they had misinterpreted Fei Zhi Tu’s intentions. So he didn’t plan on letting the little brat leave unharmed. It was only because of the difference in status and cultivation that made it difficult for him to act directly, but now that Yang Kai chose this himself, there was no more contention to be had. They looked towards Yang Kai in glee, waiting for the show to start.

“Chicken?” Fei Zhi Tu looked towards Yang Kai in mockery.

“Why would I be?” Yang Kai’s eyes were shining with anticipation. A Third Order Origin Returning Realm was too great an opponent for him right now, but a single move shouldn’t be too much to withstand. Even if he were to be hurt, it wouldn’t take long for him to recover with his current restorative abilities.

This was the perfect chance to test the difference between himself and a cultivator of that level.

On the Shadowed Star, the peak of Third Order Origin Returning Realm was the highest cultivation. If he could leave unscathed after a clash against Fei Zhi Tu, then he could re-evaluate his own strength.

“Little brat, you’ve got balls!” Fei Zhi Tu’s previously amiable expression suddenly grew fierce. He exclaimed, “I hope you don’t regret your choice!”

Yang Kai remained silent, a look of focus on his face. With a wave of his hand, the Firebird hovering above his head let out a shriek and morphed into a ball of flames, shrouding his body completely in what looked like flowing magma, causing the space around him to bend.

Yang Kai then summoned his Purple Shield and poured his Saint Qi into it. The sandstorm formed around him immediately, concealing his figure within.

The next moment, a shield formed of pitch-black flames appeared before Yang Kai. This was the Grand Heavenly Shield formed from his own Saint Qi!

No sooner were the three layers of defence put up before a frightening pulse of Saint Qi radiated out from Fei Zhi Tu’s direction. He took a step forward and, without anyone being able to see what happened clearly, appeared directly around thirty metres away from Yang Kai.

The roar of a tiger rang out from within his body, and a gigantic tiger head began to form right above his body. At first, it looked to be a mere illusion, but as Fei Zhi Tu started injecting his Saint Qi into it, it became more and more solid.

At the same time, an unparalleled aura of savagery spread out from the tiger head.

The onlookers turned pale and backed away hurriedly. Although Fei Zhi Tu was not directing the attack towards them, the waves of murderous intent spreading out from the tiger head felt like wind blades cutting into their skin, chilling them to the bone.

The City Lord was serious! Everyone watched on in joy.

“Be careful, little brat!” Fei Zhi Tu exclaimed as the tiger head floating above his own suddenly opened its mouth and pounced towards Yang Kai with immense force, much like a real tiger pouncing on its prey.

Yang Kai’s expression was grave as he mobilised his Saint Qi with all his might.

In the next moment, the tiger head came into contact with the Grand Heavenly Shield set up in the outermost layer. A series of loud cracking sounds rang out as the tiger head tore through several dozen layers of the Grand Heavenly Shield like they were paper mache as it headed unimpeded towards the second layer of sandstorm.

The enormous power of the sandstorm was generated by the force hidden within the Purple Shield. As the tiger head plunged into it, it slowed all of a sudden, and even seemed to show signs of stopping.

However, Yang Kai was shocked rather than elated at this, and his expression grew even graver.

Fei Zhi Tu laughed coldly. Activating his Divine Sense, the tiger head suddenly shot out a beam of dark light from its mouth, which exploded as soon as it appeared, tearing a gap in the sandstorm. Taking this opportunity, the tiger head pushed forward, and the sandstorm could do nothing to stop it.

In the blink of an eye, the gigantic tiger head had advanced all the way to Yang Kai, opening its mouth and biting downwards at Yang Kai.

Yang Kai didn’t dare be careless, and he immediately willed the defensive barrier which the Artifact Spirit Firebird had morphed into to start rotating, causing it to appear as if his whole body was being set ablaze, radiating an intense heat outwards.

The roars of the tiger and shrieks of the bird were unceasing.

Ma Xin Yuan and the rest craned their necks in hopes of seeing if Yang Kai was already gravely injured or dead, but their sights were completely obstructed by the sandstorm, and they could only wait anxiously for the result.

Nonetheless, a few people were able to infer from Fei Zhi Tu’s expression that Yang Kai wasn’t suffering any immediate dangers.

With a fwoosh, the sandstorm suddenly dispersed, converging once again into a shining Purple Shield as it flew aside. At the same time, Yang Kai’s figure backed away from within, his face pale. The Artifact Spirit Firebird which had been shrouding him had already disengaged and was now hovering once again above his head. While the colour of the tiger head had dimmed significantly, it was still chasing after Yang Kai, looking like it was still going for the kill.

Midair, Yang Kai’s expression grew fierce, and with a wave of both of his hands, several pitch-black Space Blades slashed out, heading towards the tiger head.

Seeing this, Fei Zhi Tu furrowed his brows, then shouted as realisation dawned on him, “Stop!”

As he spoke, he had already repositioned himself in front of the tiger head, absorbing it back into his body with a wave of one hand while the other summoned out the Blue Jade Bowl. A beam of blinding blue light shot out and headed towards the Space Blades.

Chi chi chi…

The blue light instantly dimmed, causing Fei Zhi Tu to show a pained expression.

The Blue Jade Bowl was a long-time artifact of his, and one of which he relied upon most. The blue light stored in it harboured some strange qualities, and had been able to save him many times in fights against enemies. However, just now, he clearly felt that some of that light had disappeared, and he couldn’t even tell exactly where to.

Possibly because of those mysterious blades giving out the pulse of Space Force, he realised as his pained expression grew.

The blue light that he had lost would take years for him to replenish, and he would even have to sacrifice some precious treasures for that purpose.

At this point in time, he was having serious thoughts about killing Yang Kai. He had not suffered such a loss even against opponents of the same cultivation, not to mention a mere Saint King Realm.

By the time Fei Zhi Tu summoned the Blue Jade Bowl, Yang Kai had already stopped his attacks, retreating to his shield and reclaiming it. He took a few deep breaths, finally restoring some colour to his pale face. Only after all this did he look towards Fei Zhi Tu with a slightly strange expression on his face.

“You…” Fei Zhi Tu looked at his Blue Jade Bowl, then at Yang Kai, his expression twisted to the extreme.

Yang Kai merely chuckled, “Senior, that’s the second move.”

Fei Zhi Tu froze, laughed bitterly, took a long look at Yang Kai, then finally waved his hand in exasperation, “Go on, get out. Don’t ever step foot within Heavenly Fate City ever again, or I will make you regret it.”

“Thank you for showing mercy, Senior. Um, if possible, I would like to ask Senior to return the ball of fire you absorbed earlier!” Yang Kai stared at the Blue Jade Bowl in his hands.

Fei Zhi Tu’s face twitched. He then sent a strand of Saint Qi into the Blue Jade Bowl, and a ball of fire flew out at once. The Artifact Spirit Firebird opened its mouth and sucked the fire in, hovering one last round before disappearing into Yang Kai’s body.

It wasn’t that Fei Zhi Tu was being extremely nice, just that he felt that something was off with the ball of fire that had been absorbed. It wasn’t something he could refine and, if sealed within the Blue Jade Bowl for too long, could not only affect the artifact’s power but also cause damage to it. Compared to that, he was more willing to do Yang Kai a favour.

“Goodbye!” Yang Kai cupped his fists. He took one last long look at Ma Xin Yuan and the rest, as if trying to commit their faces to memory, and let out a cold laugh before summoning his Star Shuttle and heading off towards the direction of Dragon Cave Mountain.