Martial Peak

“Brother Chu is asking the wrong person, this Huang is just a lowly Law Enforcer like you, how could this Huang know something Brother Chu doesn’t know?” The other elderly man on the right shook his head slowly and smiled.

The short-haired man chuckled, “Brother Huang is too modest. Although we’re both Law Enforcers, Brother Huang is different from this Chu who joined the Union from the outside. I’ve long heard that Brother Huang and Great Elder Mo are related, so how could Brother Huang not have heard anything yet?”

The elderly man heard this and smiled proudly as he replied, “Although this Huang and Great Elder Mo have some relationship, it can barely be described as distant relatives, if the relationship really was close, this Huang would have long ago been serving as a Deacon in the Inner City, why would he still be out here as a Law Enforcer having to deal with lowly city merchants and trivial matters all day long?”

“That being said, Brother Huang still has more opportunities to visit the Inner City. With Brother Huang’s aptitude, if he remains in the Inner City for a few years, he will definitely break through to the Second-Order. This Chu is quite envious. One day, if Brother Huang rises to glory, he must not forget to help this Chu out a little.”

“Naturally, naturally. You and I have shared a friendship for several dozen years already and you’ve been quite good to me, so how could I simply forget about you?” The elderly man laughed, seemingly in a good mood. Looking around and seeing nobody else nearby or anyone paying attention to them, he turned his eyes forward unassumingly and lowered his voice to say, “Brother Chu, although this Huang is not sure what happened in the Union, when I went to ask Great Elder about a certain matter a few days ago, I accidentally overheard him talking to Union Master about that boy named Yang Kai.”

“Yang Kai?” The short-haired man frowned, faintly feeling that the name was familiar. After thinking about it carefully, a look of surprise filled his face as he muttered, “That High Heaven Sect’s Sect Master?”

“Exactly. The High Heaven Sect’s Sect Master!” The elderly man nodded lightly.

“Oh, why were Union Master and Great Elder talking about him? Could it be that this matter is related to him?”

“En, it seems that the last time Union Master and Great Elder took a group of the Elders out, it was to deal with him. Unfortunately, that little brat is a cunning fox and managed to escape. Before fleeing though, that boy uttered some kind of threat about retaliating against our Heaven Battling Union.”

“Hmph, a fool who doesn’t know the immensity of Heaven and Earth!” The short-haired man sneered, “The boy is a mere Junior, yet he dares say such things. He must be courting death.”

“This Huang thinks so too.”

“But… even if he was sure to get revenge, why are Union Master and Great Elder reacting so dramatically? Could it be that our Heaven Battling Union has some reason to fear him?”

“Don’t take the situation too lightly, Brother Chu!” The elderly man said with a solemn expression, “That little brat truly does not have much ability as he’s just a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, the same as you or I. Being able to cultivate to such a degree at such a young age proves he has a good aptitude, but if we were to fight with him, either of us could easily kill him. However, don’t forget that High Heaven Sect has an Origin King Grade Starship!”

Hearing this, the short-haired man’s face darkened and he nodded, “I’ve also heard the rumours saying High Heaven Sect has such a Starship, but whether they are true or not, no one will confirm. Even if he has an Origin King Grade Starship, what does that matter? Our Heaven Battling City is not some weak vegetarian, if he dares bring that Starship here, it will be no different from trying to smash a stone with an egg. The tens of thousands of elites of our Union will ensure he never leaves this place!”

“Haha, what Brother Chu says is true, it’s just a Starship, and it seems that it’s actually quite small as well, nothing worthy of fear. Union Master and Great Elder are simply being too cautious,” The elderly man laughed in a disapproving manner.

Suddenly though, his laughter stopped, and he fell silent.

“What happened?” The short-haired man looked at him suspiciously, not understanding why his demeanour suddenly changed.

The elderly man did not answer though, instead just staring towards the distant horizon, only after a long silence asking, “Brother Chu, look over there, is there something approaching?”

“Something approaching?” The short-haired man looked in the direction his partner was pointing and quickly spotted a small black spot quickly approaching Heaven Battling Union.

This black spot was originally quite inconspicuous, and because the distance between them was too far they were unable to identify what it was.

But soon, a vague outline of the object appeared in the vision of the pair.

It was actually a long, shuttle-shaped, black Starship.

In the blink of an eye, the Starship had arrived fifty kilometres outside Heaven Battling City and, in a flash, came to a halt.

“A Starship!” The short-haired man and the elderly man exclaimed at the same time.

A profound energy fluctuation pulsed from this Starship, and although it was not large, only a hundred metres or so in length, facing this smooth, black Starship, the two of them couldn’t help feeling like they were in the presence of a terrifying beast that caused a feeling of terror to well up in their hearts.

“The Origin King Grade Starship!” The short-haired man exclaimed again, “Could it be…”

He had just been gossiping about the Origin King Grade Starship of High Heaven Sect with his partner, but could it be the same one that now appeared in front of them? After all, with the limited ability of Artifact Refiners on Shadowed Star, no Origin King Grade Starship had ever appeared before. Let alone Origin King Grade, there were not even any Origin Grade Mid-Rank Starships.

Then there was only one explanation.

This was the High Heaven Sect’s Starship.

This Starship could be considered small, and suspended in the sky above Heaven Battling City, it only seemed smaller compared to the massive city; however, its sudden arrival had caused quite a stir.

Countless eyes were now cast towards this Starship, and countless people were now staring at it, wondering what it was and what it was doing here.

The next moment though, the answer to all these questions became clear.

A dazzling light suddenly appeared on the Starship’s hull and gradually brightened until it was as dazzling as the sun.

As the intensity of this light increased, sensational energy fluctuations also began radiating forth.

“A Crystal Cannon!” The short-haired man and the elderly man stared dumbfounded at this scene. Under the pressure of the massive energy buildup, both of them felt their bodies become heavy, their Saint Qi stop circulating properly, and even moving became difficult.

They could feel how much power this Crystal Cannon was building up. Such an attack, not to mention hitting them, even if it grazed them, they would instantly be vaporized, Soul and all.

But… there had never been anyone who used a Starship to attack the headquarters of another great force.

The Starships on Shadowed Star were at best Origin Grade Low-Rank. Such a Starship did not have extraordinarily strong offensive or defensive capabilities, and on top of that, it was massive, making it not ideal to use in a tangled battle between cultivators. If one found its way into a tangled melee, it would only become a massive target that would swiftly be destroyed before being able to play any significant role.

Today though, the tens of millions of cultivators living Heaven Battling City bore witness to this historic event.

A Starship arrived outside of Heaven Battling City and began charging its Crystal Cannon, announcing their malicious intent.

Just as everyone was still stunned, a bright beam of light blazed from the Starship and silently shot forth with a force that seemed to crush everything in its path like dry weeds and rotten wood, transforming a swath of buildings into dust while visibly distorting space in its wake.

*Hong long long…*

A moment later, sounds of explosions resounded inside of Heaven Battling City. The path the Crystal Cannon passed through was now devoid of any structures and violent energy still chaotically rampaged about. It seemed that even the World Principles could not repair the damage caused by Crystal Cannon in short order.

There were no casualties, fortunately, as this Crystal Cannon volley only destroyed a lot of buildings inside Heaven Battling City. Apparently, it was only meant as a demonstration.

“Not good, we need to return to the Inner City and report this to the Elders!” The short-haired man and the elderly man both dripped cold sweat as they shouted, neither of them daring to remain, using their Star Shuttles to rush at full speed to the Inner City.

The extravagant and boastful words the two of them had just been spewing were tossed from their minds completely as, in the face of such a powerful enemy, they could only run away.

There was no need for any kind of reminder from these two as, after the Crystal Cannon strike, all of Heaven Battling City had been thrown into chaos and countless people ran about in panic, some even being injured and trampled in the stampede.

A tender voice suddenly called out from the Starship in the next moment. This voice was not loud, but it was clearly transmitted to everyone’s ears, allowing all to clearly hear it.

“This Queen’s name is Ye Xi Yun and has the honour of serving as Great Elder of High Heaven Sect. On orders from our Sect Master, I have an announcement to everyone in Heaven Battling City. High Heaven Sect has no quarrel with the world and simply wishes to peacefully develop itself, but Heaven Battling Union trampled upon that simple wish with its treacherous means and attempted to bring harm to our Sect. Today, we are here to settle our grievances with Heaven Battling Union and do not wish to involve the innocent. Please withdraw from Heaven Battling City within a quarter of an hour if you have nothing to do with this matter. My honoured Sect and Heaven Battling Union’s battle will commence after that brief grace period, and anyone who remains will be considered an enemy and shown no mercy!”

With these words, the whole city flew into an uproar.

Basically no one had heard of Ye Xi Yun, and only some old Origin Returning Realm masters recognized her name and knew of her incredible strength.

But it did not matter who she was, her desire to attack Heaven Battling Union’s headquarters was incredible enough.

Was Heaven Battling Union a force that was easily bullied? Bringing only a small Starship to attack a behemoth like Heaven Battling City, were the people from this High Heaven Sect all fools?

Such boastful conduct was truly laughable.

Most people present thought that High Heaven Sect was simply overreaching themselves.

However, some well-informed people knew about the mysteries of High Heaven Sect and the tyrannical power of this Starship, so after some slight hesitation, they didn’t dare remain in the city, packing up their belongings and quickly withdrawing.

Regardless of what grievances there were between High Heaven Sect and Heaven Battling Union, and no matter who won or lost in the end, once the two sides fought, it would be a disaster. When the city was on fire, the fish in the moat would also be affected, so if they did not leave now, they would surely get caught up in the chaos.

For a time, Heaven Battling City became a flurry of chaotic activity as many cultivators flew outwards.

Most people chose to remain though; after all, packing up all their valuables was no simple task. Many people who had opened shops in the city had a massive quantity of supplies on hand, how could they just abandon them here?

These people also knew that Heaven Battling Union would not sit back and watch idly, so they took the mentality of waiting and seeing how the situation developed.

If this High Heaven Sect was just an embroidered pillow, imposing to behold but weak in true strength, then there was nothing for them to worry about. If they proved they could really compete with Heaven Battling Union though, it would not be too late to pack up and leave at that point.

Heaven Battling Union truly did not sit back and watch. With High Heaven Sect arriving and smashing their front gate, if Heaven Battling Union did not provide an appropriate response, wouldn’t their prestige take a fatal blow?

Immediately, more than a dozen streaks of light rushed out from the Inner City and arrived at the outskirts of the Outer City, stopping a thousand metres away from the newly arrived Starship.