Martial Peak

The days aboard the Starship were quite uneventful.

Time passed by as Yang Kai quietly cultivated in seclusion.

One day though, a disciple came to knock on the door and reported, “Sect Master, we’ve arrived!”

“We’ve arrived?” Yang Kai opened his eyes, a hint of excitement flashing across them, and his figure flickered, leaving his room and entering the hall.

At this time, the Starship was quietly moored a million or so kilometres outside a Cultivation Star.

When the disciples in charge of controlling the Starship saw Yang Kai appear, they all turned to him, waiting for his orders.

Without Yang Kai’s order, they didn’t dare act rashly.

However… was this Cultivation Star really the Sect Master’s homeland? Why did it seem so… desolate?

When the disciples looked at Tong Xuan Realm, they all felt puzzled.

When Yang Kai’s eyes landed on Tong Xuan Realm, however, his expression dimmed slightly.

In the past, his vision had not been profound enough, and he had never witnessed the wonders of the Star Field, so he wasn’t able to judge Tong Xuan Realm accurately. On the contrary, he used to think Tong Xuan Realm was a rich cultivation land.

But now that he had returned from the Star Field after several dozen years of cultivation and exploration, he could see what was wrong with Tong Xuan Realm at a glance.

It was old!

An aged, desolate, and somewhat melancholic air lingered about this star, with a hint of grey in its aura, showing that it was clearly weakening.

Yang Kai’s heart clenched.

He never knew his homeland was in such a state before, or perhaps he just never realized it was a problem until now.

It seemed that on Tong Xuan Realm, the Saint Realm being the peak of the Martial Dao was not without cause.

This was different from Shadowed Star. Shadowed Star’s World Energy was abundant, but cultivators were unable to comprehend the mysteries of the Origin King Realm due to the invisible suppression of its World Principles.

Tong Xuan Realm, on the other hand, didn’t have this kind of World Principles suppression, but… the World Energy here was so thin that it simply couldn’t meet the requirements for cultivators to advance to higher realms.

The Saint Realm was its limit.

At this moment, Yang Kai gained insight into the source of Tong Xuan Realm’s deficiencies.

“Sect Master, shall we…” The disciple to his side turned to him and respectfully asked his opinion.

“Take us down,” Yang Kai waved lightly.

Receiving these orders, the disciples controlling the Starship prepared to descend to the surface.

The hundred-metre-long Starship passed through a grey layer into the atmosphere of Tong Xuan Realm, loudly arriving on this seemingly backwards Cultivation Star.

Yang Kai’s Divine Sense expanded like a tide and instantly enveloped the surrounding hundred-kilometre radius to determine their current position.

The aura here was weak, but it was filled with Demonic Qi.

[The Demon Land?] Yang Kai’s brow rose.

Tong Xuan Realm was divided into three separate domains, the Human Territory, Demon Land and Monster Domain, each ruled over by one of the Three Clans. Among these three regions, the Human Territory had the largest area, occupying almost seventy percent of Tong Xuan Realm, followed by the Demon Land, and then the Monster Domain.

Unexpectedly, upon his return to Tong Xuan Realm, Yang Kai actually came directly to the Demon Land, a somewhat surprising result.

Leisurely, Yang Kai raised his head and looked in a certain direction.

When he sent out his Divine Sense, he had detected several life auras at the edge of his perception, one of which had a Third-Order Saint Realm cultivation and also seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t immediately remember who it was.

Few were capable of possessing a Third-Order Saint Realm cultivation in the Demon Land, the most likely candidate being one of the Demon Generals.

The Demon Race originally had four Demon Generals, all of whom were Third-Order Saints.

The other party had apparently noticed the Starship’s arrival and were hurrying over to investigate.

Thinking it would be best to simply ask this party for information, Yang Kai lightly ordered, “Wait here. I’ll go meet them.”

Saying so, his figure flickered and he arrived outside the Starship to wait for the approaching party’s arrival.

A distance of a hundred kilometres could be crossed in an instant by the current Yang Kai. After having cultivated the Dao of Space for so many years, Yang Kai could ignore space and cross The Void with ease.

However, for a Third-Order Saint Demon General who did not have a suitable flight type artifact, even if they went all out, it still took a cup of tea worth of time to cross this distance.

A short time later, a large mass of black Qi appeared in Yang Kai’s vision. This black Qi was filled with a violent and bloody aura and several figures were hidden inside of it.

The black Qi billowed and soon came to a halt about a thousand metres in front of Yang Kai.

As this black Qi dispersed, the figures inside were finally revealed; a sturdy-looking man with a stern look on his face, holding a spear-like artifact, stood at their fore.

At this moment, this man was staring forward in trepidation, his red eyes filled with shock.

He wasn’t looking at Yang Kai, but rather at the Starship behind Yang Kai. As a Demon General, he naturally knew that there was a similar existence buried deep beneath the Demon Capital.

That was a vessel that the Bone Race had used to arrive on Tong Xuan Realm many millennia ago, a special flight type artifact which seemed to be called a Starship.

Unfortunately, that Starship had been thoroughly destroyed by Great Demon God, leaving only a pile of broken metal behind. Even so, its very existence was a top secret and it had been sealed tens of thousands of metres below the Demon Capital.

Could someone from beyond Tong Xuan Realm have arrived here again? Thinking so, this Demon General was taken aback.

The last time this happened, Great Demon God had sacrificed himself to save Tong Xuan Realm, a fact that the Demon Race took immense pride in.

But now, who would be there to hold up the sky and save Tong Xuan Realm?

Perhaps that Human Race boy from back then might have this ability; after all, when the Bone Race reappeared, Tong Xuan Realm’s Three Clans had united under his leadership to defeat them.

But it was said that he had left Tong Xuan Realm more than thirty years ago, and so far there had been no news from him. Whether he was even alive or dead was unknown.

A lot of distracting thoughts flashed through this Demon General’s mind, but having faced many great storms before he quickly composed himself, displayed the warlike nature inherent to the Demon Race, and shifted his eyes solemnly towards Yang Kai.

The next moment, however, he showed a dumbfounded expression, as if he had seen a ghost, opened his mouth wide, and pointed to Yang Kai, “You…you…”

He couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Demon General Meng Ge, haha, it’s been many years. How is Brother Meng doing?” Yang Kai grinned at him.

“Are you Holy Master Yang?” Meng Ge’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He had never expected that the person who came here aboard this Starship would be the Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land.

This boy was none other than the Human Race youth who had disappeared more than thirty years ago.

When the Bone Race resurfaced, the Three Clans had joined forces, and Meng Ge had fought side by side with Yang Kai, so he remembered his face, and now hearing Yang Kai’s voice, he immediately became certain of his guess.

There was no doubt this person was that boy.

This was nothing short of shocking. This boy hadn’t been heard from for several dozen years, yet now he appeared here, owning a Starship like this. Where did he go all these years? It was rumoured he left Tong Xuan Realm to enter the Star Field. Did he succeed?

Thinking so, Meng Ge could barely contain his shock as he trembled slightly and his eyes glazed over.

“Yeah, it is this Yang. Does Brother Meng not recognize me?” Yang Kai chuckled.

“How could that be?” Meng Ge shook his head, “Although I’ve not seen you for many years, this Meng will never forget Holy Master Yang’s face.”

“Good, how has Zhang Yuan been doing in recent years?” Yang Kai asked again.

“You mean Sir Demon Commander?” Meng Ge frowned, a trace of dissatisfaction appearing on his face. Zhang Yuan was the Demon Commander of the Demon Race and a top master on Tong Xuan Realm. Even though Yang Kai was strong, and the Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land, in the end, that would only put him on par with Sir Demon Commander in terms of status. Proper etiquette would be to refer to Zhang Yuan by his title, rather than just his name.

This boy’s tone was simply too rampant, speaking as if he was an Elder addressing a Junior, naturally causing Meng Ge some discomfort.

Replying in a flat tone, “Sect Master Yang need not worry, Sir Demon Commander has been in good health and has been in retreat in the Demon Capital in recent years.”

While speaking, he released his Divine Sense to probe Yang Kai, wanting to know how much the cultivation of this human youth had grown after several dozen years.

If he remembered correctly, this boy should have been a First-Order Saint when he left, so after several dozen years, it was likely he had reached the Third-Order Saint Realm at most.

However, after a brief sweep with his Divine Sense, Meng Ge’s expression changed drastically.

He discovered that he could not sense Yang Kai’s depths at all, and the moment his Divine Sense swept across him it was like throwing a stone into the sea, unable to create the slightest ripple.

[How is that possible?] Meng Ge’s expression immediately became dumbfounded as his eyes bulged once more.

With his Third-Order Saint Realm cultivation, even if Yang Kai had also reached this height, he wouldn’t be able to hide his cultivation from his Divine Sense exploration.

Not even a Saint King, the realm Great Demon God had reached, could achieve this.

Could it be that… this boy had reached this level, or possibly even higher?

When this thought crossed his mind, Meng Ge’s shivered from head to toe and his eyes filled with horror, hoarsely asking, “Holy Master Yang… what realm are you now?”

“What realm?” Yang Kai raised his brows. Meng Ge’s movements were not missed by him, but Yang Kai didn’t mind. The Demon Race were all like this, straightforward and rebellious by nature. Pondering for a moment, Yang Kai replied, “What realm I’ve reached would mean nothing to you right now, but you’ll find out soon enough. En, I’ll have to trouble you to go to the Demon Capital and ask Zhang Yuan to come to Nine Heavens Holy Land to see me. I just came back, so I need to hurry back to Nine Heavens Holy Land.”

Meng Ge gulped hard, the confusion and fear on his face gradually receding, like a cornered beast that was surrendering.

This time, he didn’t care about Yang Kai’s arrogance, faintly guessing that Yang Kai had reached a height beyond his imagination. This speculation made him shocked and terrified, and at the same time also some excited.

“Holy Master Yang may rest assured, I will return to the Demon Capital immediately and inform Sir Demon Command of this news,” Meng Ge quickly said.

“En. Right, one more thing,” Yang Kai scratched his cheek awkwardly, “Which direction is Nine Heavens Holy Land?”

Meng Ge was stunned for a moment before pointing a certain direction.

“Thanks,” Yang Kai smiled lightly before his figure flickered and disappeared. A moment later, the pitch-black Starship slightly trembled before shooting off and disappearing from Meng Ge’s vision.

“Sir, who was that little human brat? He was so arrogant he never even put Sir into his eyes,” A Demon Race man who followed Meng Ge called out in dissatisfaction.