Martial Peak

“Brother Wei!” Yang Kai laughed as he cupped his fists to the young man. The ones who had come were amongst the few friends Yang Kai had made on Shadowed Star. They were Shadow Moon Hall’s top disciples, Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er.

“Brother Yang, long time no see!” Wei Gu Chang replied spiritedly.

“En, it’s been a few years since we last met, but I didn’t expect Brother Wei and Sister Dong would already have broken through to the Origin Returning Realm. Congratulations!” Yang Kai sincerely said.

After returning from the Flowing Flame Sand Field last time, Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er had entered secluded retreat in order to prepare to break through to the Origin Returning Realm. Now that Yang Kai was meeting them again, it was obvious these two had successfully arrived at the realm.

And from the momentum and Saint Qi fluctuations being emitted by these two, their cultivations had obviously been completely consolidated, otherwise, they would not have come out from Shadow Moon Hall like this.

Dai Yuan had also told Yang Kai she would be entering secluded retreat to prepare for her own breakthrough to the Origin realm, but for some reason, she had now appeared here. Recalling this, Yang Kai shot a glance over towards Dai Yuan but found that she was simply holding hands with Dong Xuan’er and chatting intimately. Because they were whispering, he wasn’t able to hear what they were saying. Dai Yuan’s face was clearly blushing as Dong Xuan’er smiled brightly and cast her eyes towards Yang Kai.

All of them, however, were completely ignoring the red-haired old man and the other Sea Heart Sect disciples as if they were nothing but air.

Receiving such treatment, the red-haired old man naturally became livid, but after observing Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er for a while and recalling how Yang Kai had addressed these two, his complexion changed slightly and he solemnly cupped his fists, “May I be so bold as to ask, is Your Excellency Shadow Moon Hall’s Wei Gu Chang?”

Hearing this, Wei Gu Chang glanced over and nodded lightly, “En, it is this Wei. What advice does Senior have?”

Although in terms of age, Wei Gu Chang was much younger than the red-haired old man, because their cultivations were the same, he didn’t need to act too polite so he only responded flatly.

“I wouldn’t dare!” The red-haired old man was stunned. Wei Gu Chang might have only recently broken through to the Origin Returning Realm, but if one were to ignore that, his name had become famous across Shadowed Star. With Wei Gu Chang’s aptitude and talent, he would no doubt become one of the dominant characters of Shadowed Star in the future!

Offending him now would definitely lead to trouble in the future.

After determining that the young man he was dealing with was Wei Gu Chang, how could the red-haired old man dare act dissolute? Just from the previous chatter he witnessed, the red-haired old man could tell that Wei Gu Chang and this boy who owned Dragon Cave Mountain were quite close. Realizing this, the red-haired old man knew it was impossible for him to avenge his disciple’s death, but simply choking down this insult made him incredibly uncomfortable, not to mention the damage that withdrawing here would cause to Sea Heart Sect’s dignity.

For a moment, the old man hesitated, uncertain of how he should proceed.

At the same time, he was violently cursing to himself. If not for Hai Zhen having eyes but failing to see and provoking such a person, how could he have been put in this awkward situation? If the one who had killed Hai Zhen was from some small family force, the old man wouldn’t have any scruples in killing the offender.

But now, there was essentially no hope for revenge, and whether he himself could withdraw from this situation unharmed was no longer in his hands.

“Brother Yang, what happened here? Why are there so many people gathered around?” Wei Gu Chang asked, “Is there going to be a fight? This Wei just broke through recently and hasn’t had an opportunity to test out his new strength. If you have such an opportunity available, why not allow me to take it?”

Wei Gu Chang’s remarks only caused the red-haired old man’s expression to become uglier.

“Haha,” Yang Kai laughed, “It’s no big deal, just some people coming here to requisition my Dragon Cave Mountain.”

“Requisition?” Wei Gu Chang raised his brow, a deep sneer appearing on his face, “Such boldness! Who are these people who want to take over this treasured land? I think they should first ask this Wei for his opinion.”

Saying so, Wei Gu Chang turned his eyes to glare at the red-haired old man, making no effort to hide his malicious intent.

The red-haired old man was startled by how rapidly the situation was deteriorating, but understanding what needed to be done, he quickly cupped his fists and said, “Nephew Wei misunderstands, this old man’s disciple simply misspoke before. There are no problems here, everything is just a misunderstanding!”

This old man knew when to advance and when to retreat, speaking such words without any sign of distress or resentment on his face. It was as if he didn’t care at all that his Sect’s top disciple had just been killed in front of him.

“A misunderstanding?” Wei Gu Chang, however, wasn’t prepared to just let things end here and swiftly pointed to the broken corpse on the ground, “This misunderstanding seems to be a bit big, how else could someone have died here?”

The red-haired old man’s eyes shrank and his face began twitching slightly as he said, “Nephew Wei may rest assured, that blind fool’s death isn’t worth pitying. This old master will have his disciples clean up this place so as not to stain this treasured land.”

Wei Gu Chang’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the red-haired old man, and only after a long silence did he chuckle and turned back to Yang Kai, “Brother Yang, what do you think?”

“Since it’s all a misunderstanding, there’s no need to take things any further; however, such a misunderstanding better not happen again, otherwise, there might be undesirable consequences,” Yang Kai stared at the red-haired old man with a smile.

“This old master will take Your Excellency’s words to heart and properly educate his disciples in the future,” The red-haired old man nodded. Seeing Wei Gu Chang and Yang Kai not show any intentions of further discussion, the old man instructed his disciples to clean up Hai Zhen’s remains before all of them cupped their fists and departed quickly.

Looking at this group’s disappearing backs, Wei Gu Chang frowned and muttered, “Brother Yang, be careful of this fox. Someone capable of enduring such humiliation will not give up so easily.”

“I know, I’ll deal with it when the time comes,” Yang Kai grinned, not caring about this incident in the slightest.

“This Wei didn’t intend to stop Brother Yang from acting just now, but you should know Shadow Moon Hall’s current situation. If some people were to use the conflict that sparked here as an excuse to make trouble for Shadow Moon Hall…”

“I know, Brother Wei doesn’t need to worry,” Yang Kai certainly understood what he meant. In fact, if Wei Gu Chang hadn’t arrived just now, Yang Kai would have certainly slaughtered everyone from Sea Heart Sect, even if he knew doing so would cause problems for Shadow Moon Hall. Any small conflict right now would certainly be blown up into a big conflict with all the great forces around engaging in shadowy intrigue. But since Wei Gu Chang had come and inserted himself into the matter, Yang Kai had to sell him some face.

“Enough about this, please come in first,” Yang Kai chuckled, waving his hand to open a channel in Dragon Cave Mountain’s barrier before leading Wei Gu Chang and the others inside.

As soon as they stepped inside and felt the rich World Energy aura around them, Wei Gu Chang could not help taking a deep breath and praised liberally, “Brother Yang, your Dragon Cave Mountain is truly an amazing place. The World Energy concentration here is so high that it’s comparable to best locations in Shadow Moon Hall atop the Earth Vein intersections.”

“Brother Wei is too polite. Dragon Cave Mountain’s territory and population are so small, how can they be compared with Shadow Moon Hall? The aura here is just right for helping a few dozen people cultivate.”

“The scenery here is also good. Senior Brother and I often talk about coming here to relax for a few days, I don’t know if Brother Yang would welcome us, though,” Dong Xuan’er pursed her lips and smiled.

“Haha!” Yang Kai laughed heartily, “Was that a subtle hint from Sister Xuan’er? If you were to come, how could I reject you? Dragon Cave Mountain’s doors will always be open to you.”

Dong Xuan’er heard this and her pretty face couldn’t help blushing slightly, spitting out her tongue playfully to cover her embarrassment in the next moment.

Just as Dong Xuan’er was feeling slightly awkward, she suddenly saw something and couldn’t help calling out in surprise.

Wei Gu Chang also spotted this strange phenomenon and asked curiously, “Brother Yang, you actually have a sapient tree here?”

What they saw was obviously the Yang Attribute Divine Tree. The Divine Tree had been living on Dragon Cave Mountain since Yang Kai brought it out from his Black Book Space, and although it didn’t possess traditional limbs, moving about wasn’t an issue for it. As a result, sometimes it would migrate from place to place, taking root in different locations to enjoy different sceneries. Using its roots as legs, the Divine Tree was able to walk around at a moderate pace and was currently in the middle moving.

On the thick trunk of the Divine Tree, there was a withered face, and although it was quite a weathered, old-looking face, its features were very distinct.

This was a clear sign it had gained a high degree of sapience.

Seemingly hearing these voices, the Divine Tree paused and looked over, rustling its leaves for a moment before extending two branches from its canopy over to Dong Xuan’er and Dai Yuan.

Held by these branches was a golden yellow fruit that gave off a lovely fragrance. The old face on the Divine Tree’s trunk smiled amiably as it offered these gifts.

“This…” Dong Xuan’er and Dai Yuan glanced at each other, both showing surprised looks, but soon reached out and accepted these fruits and offered their thanks.

Yang Kai was also extremely surprised by this scene. It was the first time he saw the Divine Tree doing such a thing, and while he was shocked inside, he was also extremely happy. It seemed the Divine Tree’s sapience was becoming more and more complete, which in turn indicated its evolution was going well.

After the Divine Tree sent out these two fruits, it continued its walk by slowly moving its roots forward.

Wei Gu Chang failed to stifle his laughter as he commented, “This sapient tree actually discriminates between men and women? Why do these two get a gift but I don’t?”

As soon as this remark came out, everyone burst into laughter.

In the end, this was just a minor interlude. Although the Divine Tree’s fruits weren’t anything special, since it was the first time Dong Xuan’er and Dai Yuan had received a gift like this, they naturally treasured it.

Yang Kai soon shook his head and continued leading this group of people forward.

At the same time, outside Dragon Cave Mountain, the Sea Heart Sect group, led by the red-haired old man, all wore extremely gloomy looks on their faces. They had thought that with the arrival of their Martial Uncle, they would be able to avenge the death of Hai Zhen, but things had turned out far differently from their expectations. Suffering such humiliation, all of them were naturally quite unhappy and the atmosphere around them was clearly quite depressing.

Suddenly, another Origin Returning Realm master appeared in front of them, rousing the red-haired old man’s anger. He had humbled himself in front of Wei Gu Chang, not daring to act presumptuous, but how could he not be upset now that someone dared block his path all of a sudden without so much as a word?

If he hadn’t noticed that this newcomer had no malicious intent, the red-haired old man might have directly attacked in his anger.

“What important matter does this friend have to go so far as to bar our way?” The red-haired old man forcefully held down his anger and asked in a cold tone.

“Please be at ease, Brother Cui, I’m a friend, not an enemy,” The man smiled slightly.

“You know my origins?” The red-haired old man heard this newcomer address him by his surname and could not help becoming somewhat vigilant.

[Silavin: For those that don’t understand what is happening, like why Yang Kai did not kill the other group. It is something akin to what happens in our own political world.

Someone suffers an ‘injustice’ and a ‘righteous’ country comes in to act as the so-called ‘heroes’. This way, they make a small problem large, potentially causing even more conflicts. Of course, the goal of said ‘righteous’ country is very dependent on what they hope to gain from the conflict.

Of course, this issue extends to groups and gangs as well. You can also see this in drama sho