Martial Peak

“It’s been hard for you these years,” Yang Kai sighed slightly, “Where is this person you spoke of?”

He didn’t see anyone here.

“She’s here,” Huang Juan smiled lightly before gently pulling out a small figure, squatting down, and saying in a coaxing tone, “Yun’er, come greet Sect Master Yang!”

Yang Kai looked down and couldn’t help showing a look of astonishment, “A child?”

He never expected the person Huang Juan wanted to bring along would be a child!

Seeing her appearance, this little girl was only six or seven years old. She was less than a metre tall, fairly thin, and had a somewhat pale-yellow complexion, a clear sign she was malnourished. The clothes she was wearing were also made from coarse linen, but despite their poor quality, they were neat and tidy, free of dirt and grime. Overall, this little girl had a young, somewhat naive look appropriate for her age, but her eyes were quite bright and energetic.

This little girl clearly was not Huang Juan’s child because the two had no similarities in their faces, and as far as Yang Kai knew, Huang Juan had never given birth.

So where did this little girl come from?

The little girl seemed to be a little shy but also somewhat curious, quickly hiding behind Huang Juan while looking towards Yang Kai with her wide sparkling eyes, not saying a word.

Huang Juan tried persuading her a few times to give her greetings, but this little girl stubbornly refused to come forward and simply kept shaking her head as she glanced towards Yang Kai vigilantly. This scene caused Yang Kai to frown slightly and a kind of bitterness to creep into his heart.

A child of this age should be completely ignorant for worldly affairs, but this little girl was actually showing wariness towards him, which could only mean that she had encountered something traumatic before making her not dare get close to any strangers.

“Please forgive me, Sect Master, Yun’er is still young and does not understand etiquette, I hope Sect Master won’t take offence,” Huang Juan stood up and apologized to Yang Kai with a forced smile.

“It’s fine,” Yang Kai slowly shook his head, releasing his Divine Sense in the next instant to examine this little girl, saying in surprise a moment later, “She’s already reached the peak Initial Element Stage? Were you the one who taught her?”

“En,” Huang Juan nodded lightly, “Yun’er insisted on learning so I directed her a little bit.”

“Not bad,” Yang Kai expressed his approval. A little girl like this reaching the peak Initial Element Stage was something impossible to achieve unless she possessed excellent aptitude. And considering Huang Juan’s financial resources, it was more than likely this little girl had not had any kind of decent cultivation resources or environment. In other words, the aptitude of this little girl was exceptional.

After hesitating for a while, Yang Kai withdrew his Divine Sense and asked, “Where are her parents?”

“They fell three years ago,” Huang Juan replied sadly.

Huang Juan then briefly explained about this little girl’s past.

The little girl’s surname was Lin, with her full name being Lin Yun’er. Her father was originally a wandering cultivator while her mother was a disciple from Sea Temple. Sea Temple was considered a great force on the Limitless Ocean, and its reputation there was equivalent to Heaven Battling Union or Thunder Typhoon Sect’s inland.

Lin Yun’er’s mother seemed to possess some status in Sea Temple, so she had several suitors as well as Elders who wanted to marry their descendants to her; however, love was not something one could predict or control. After meeting Lin Yun’er’s father, her mother fell deeply in love and was unable to extricate herself. In the end, the two confessed to one another and secretly swore to become life partners.

When this matter was discovered by the upper levels of Sea Temple, they expelled Lin Yun’er’s mother in a fit of anger.

Although she was technically banished, Sea Temple didn’t want to excessively embarrass her so they silently acquiesced to her living in Sea Side City. Since then, Lin Yun’er’s parents lived quite poor lives, but with their affection for one another, they did not have any complaints.

However, cultivators not only needed to live, but also to cultivate.

The two of them were both only Saint Kings, similar to Huang Juan, so without the support of a Sect, they could only go to sea to hunt sea beasts to procure Monster Cores and materials they could exchange for cultivation resources.

It was because of this that Huang Juan had met them and formed a small team with the husband and wife duo.

Unfortunately, on a hunt three years ago, the trio had encountered a peak Eighth-Order sea beast and Lin Yun’er’s parents had been killed, with only Huang Juan managing to escape back to Sea Side City. From that point on, she had taken it upon herself to raise Lin Yun’er.

At that time, Lin Yun’er was only three or four years old and had only just begun to form coherent memories.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that most of Lin Yun’er’s memories were of Huang Juan, and the knowledge she had was all taught to her by Huang Juan. The relationship between the two was essentially mother and daughter!

This situation was also related to why Lin Yun’er was wary of strangers. Her parents had borrowed some Saint Crystals from some unscrupulous individuals just before they died, so after the news spread that they had fallen, creditors came to their house and wanted to take Lin Yun’er away to pay off the debt. Fortunately, they were blocked by Huang Juan who had paid the debt for her.

In summary, Lin Yun’er’s life experience was incredibly miserable. At an extremely young age she had lost both her father and mother and if not for Huang Juan taking her in three years ago, it was highly questionable whether Lin Yun’er would even still be alive today.

This simple house was where Lin Yun’er’s parents used to live; after their death, Huang Juan had stayed here in order to take care of Lin Yun’er.

“So that’s the story!” After listening to Huang Juan’s narration, Yang Kai gently nodded with pity filling his heart.

It was at that moment that Lin Yun’er, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly said, “Are you here to take Yun’er away?”

This voice was crisp and pleasing to the ears and her eyes were crystal clear when she asked this question to Yang Kai, without the slightest impurity clouding them.

Yang Kai heard her words and said with a grin, “Yes, I’m here to take you away.”

Lin Yun’er unexpectedly didn’t show any fear, instead tilting her head and thought for a moment before asking, “Can you come back in a few years?”

“Oh, why?” Yang Kai was curious about how this child’s thoughts regarding this problem.

“Yun’er will grow up very quickly, then after a few years, she will be able to go out to hunt sea beasts, then she will be able to give you a lot of Saint Crystals. So many you won’t be able to spend them for your entire life!”

She obviously thought Yang Kai had come to collect debts again.

Yang Kai was taken aback and couldn’t help laughing.

Huang Juan’s expression also cramped up slightly as she watched.

“Hahaha, very good. She may be small, but her spirit is good,” Yang Kai nodded with satisfaction.

“Please don’t take Yun’er away, Yun’er doesn’t want to be separated from Aunty Huang now!” Lin Yun’er said clearly.

As soon as this statement came out, Huang Juan’s eyes immediately became wet. Although Lin Yun’er was not her real child, she already regarded her as her daughter after caring for her these past few years. Now that she heard such words, how could she not feel moved? Gently bending down again, she tenderly hugged the little girl.

“Hm, I’m not only here to take Yun’er away, but also your Aunty Huang, so what am I supposed to do?” Yang Kai put on a fake awkward appearance.

“Oh! You’re a bad person!” Lin Yun’er suddenly realized, lifting her little hand and pointing towards Yang Kai as she firmly declared.

In the eyes of children, things were either black or white, those who wanted to harm them were bad people.

Yang Kai just smiled and didn’t explain.

“Sect Master…” Huang Juan looked at him hesitantly.

“It’s fine. Of course, you can bring her with us,” Yang Kai smiled lightly as the situation was very different from what he previously suspected. Since it was just a child Huang Juan wanted to bring with them, he had no objections.

“Many thanks, Sect Master!” Huang Juan was overjoyed. Although she also felt that Yang Kai would agree to her request in the end, if Yang Kai had really refused her, she could only have chosen to stay here and take care of Lin Yun’er.

“Yun’er, quickly thank Sect Master,” Huang Juan unwrapped Lin Yun’er from her arms and pointed to Yang Kai.

“No, he’s a bad person, he wants to take Yun’er away!” Lin Yun’er insisted on her opinion. Not only did she not relent though, she even stepped forward and threw a fist towards Yang Kai.

Her form seemed good, but her figure was clearly a bit unsteady.

Yang Kai simply smiled and stretched out a hand, blocking this tiny fist.

Seeing this scene, Huang Juan also showed a helpless wry smile. She naturally understood that Yang Kai would not become angry over such childish words and would not hurt Lin Yun’er because of them, so she didn’t try to intervene.

*Peng…*

With a thud, the small fist hit Yang Kai’s palm.

Yang Kai’s brow couldn’t help rising at the moment on contact though, his expression filling with surprise as if he had discovered something incredible. Gently pushing Lin Yun’er back, he intentionally provoked her, “Too weak, try again.”

“Hmph!” Lin Yun’er was a newborn calf who didn’t know how to fear tigers yet, so she pursed her lips and punched again.

After a while, Lin Yun’er was exhausted and could only look up at Yang Kai with a gloomy face. This couldn’t be helped though; how could a little girl at the peak Initial Element Stage even shake Yang Kai? After throwing several punches, she had no choice but to accept this helpless reality.

Yang Kai, on the other hand, had bright eyes as he stared at Lin Yun’er as if he had found a treasure, his face was full of excitement.

“What’s wrong, Sect Master?” Huang Juan looked at Yang Kai suspiciously.

“Have you never tried her skill before?” Yang Kai asked instead of answering.

“No,” Huang Juan shook her head slowly, “I only taught Yun’er how to cultivate, I have yet to spar with her.”

“No wonder,” Yang Kai mused.

“Sect Master, Yun’er, is she… is there something wrong with her?” Huang Juan suddenly became nervous.

“There’s nothing wrong, you don’t have to worry about that,” Yang Kai slowly shook his head, the corners of his mouth slightly rising as he looked back at Lin Yun’er and said, “It’s just that this girl’s strength is very high.”

“Her strength is very high?” Huang Juan was stunned.

“Yeah, we can discuss this further when we return to the Sect, it’s not something that can be explained so simply, and I too am not certain about the specific reason,” Yang Kai didn’t intend to explain as he thought back upon his brief fight with Lin Yun’er. The power behind this little girl’s fists was somewhat unusual.

Although Lin Yun’er already had a peak Initial Element Stage cultivation, she was far too young to know how to use her Yuan Qi to fight, so her fists just now were only thrown with her raw physical strength.

However, each of her punches was almost comparable to that of an ordinary, full-grown brawny man who had never cultivated!

This was incredible. How could a six or seven-year-old girl with a thin, malnourished body have such strength? Was this some kind of innate gift? Unfortunately, Yang Kai wasn’t very knowledgeable about such matters and couldn’t immediately identify the cause. He was only able to press down his doubts and prepare to go back to further investigate.

“Yes,” Huang Juan naturally wouldn’t press the matter after receiving such a response and obediently nodded.

Although Lin Yun’er had instinctively judged Yang Kai to be a bad person, after Huang Juan carefully explained the situation, the little girl no longer resisted.

There was nothing to clean up or pack as the two women’s house could only be described as empty, so immediately after, Huang Juan took Lin Yun’er’s little hand and followed Yang Kai towards the centre of Sea Side City.