Martial Peak

“Elder Qian, have Elder Yang or Elder Mo responded?” Among the three, an elderly man wearing a brown robe looked around from time to time and continued to ask Qian Tong in a low voice.

“No,” Qian Tong slowly shook his head and replied anxiously, “I don’t know where they are, but the communication artifacts can’t reach them at all. What about Vice City Lord Ning? Have you been able to reach him yet?”

The elderly man sighed, “I can’t get in touch with him either. I don’t know where Brother Ning has gone.”

The two looked at each other and both saw the anxiety and helplessness in each other’s eyes.

The elderly man was Green Mountains Star’s Green Water City’s City Lord. When Yang Kai left Green Mountains Star and returned to Tong Xuan Realm, Qian Tong and his group of five stayed in the City Lord’s Mansion to prepare for the Blood Prison Trial, which would open a few years later.

The City Lord of Green Water City had an astute character, and after learning about Qian Tong and the others’ arrival, he had strongly invited them to serve as Honoured Guest Elders of Green Water City. Not wanting to cause any misunderstandings and in need of a good place to stay, Qian Tong and the others agreed.

Over the past few years, everyone had got along fairly well and there were no gaps or friction between them now.

As soon as the Blood Prison Trial started, they entered the Blood Prison with this elderly City Lord and Vice City Lord Ning.

All of them were Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters and entered the Blood Prison to comprehend the mysteries of Domain in order to touch upon the threshold of the Origin King Realm, so of course, it was impossible for all seven of them to travel together.

As such, everyone dispersed.

A few days ago, the elderly man heard about the appearance of the Domain Stone Mountain and immediately used his communication artifact to contact his companions, but only Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao had arrived so far while Yang Xiu Zhu, Chu Han Yi and Mo Yu from Clear Sky Sect were nowhere to be seen, nor was there any contact from Green Water City’s Vice City Lord Ning.

Seeing more and more people arrive here, Qian Tong and the others present naturally grew anxious.

Without an absolute advantage in strength and number, it would be impossible for them to keep the spot they currently occupied.

There was already a group of cultivators not far away who could not obtain a good position and were now eyeing them maliciously; however, because there were only two of them, they didn’t dare act rashly.

However, this pair was constantly sending their Divine Senses into their communication artifacts, seemingly contacting someone.

Once this pair’s reinforcements arrived, Qian Tong and their group’s situation would become precarious.

“Elder Lin, have you had any responses?” The elderly man turned his eyes to Lin Yu Rao next.

Lin Yu Rao slowly shook her head as a look of worry flashed across her beautiful eyes, “No.”

“What should we do?” The elderly man muttered anxiously and uneasily. Such a great opportunity lay in front of him but didn’t have the time or ability to take advantage of it, only able to stand in place vigilantly. This was nothing short of torturous.

“We’ll wait for another half a day, and after half a day. If Elder Yang and the others don’t come, we… we’ll leave!” The elderly man grit his teeth and decided.

Although the appearance of Domain Stone Mountain was a Heaven-sent opportunity, he did not want to lose his life here. The area around Domain Stone Mountain had been relatively calm so far, but it clearly would not be long before chaos ensued as many cultivators fought for better positions!

“To leave…” Qian Tong’s expression became cloudy and uncertain, filled with unwillingness.

Those from Shadowed Star, like him, had an incredible desire to spy on the mysteries of the Origin King Realm.

If it weren’t for Yang Kai bringing them away from Shadowed Star to this place, Qian Tong most likely never would have been able to shake off the World Principles shackles there his entire life, leaving him forever unable to seek higher levels of the Martial Dao.

Yang Kai had given him this chance, and now an incredible opportunity lay before him, so taking the initiative to leave it behind was naturally something Qian Tong was not reconciled to.

“Hm…” While in the throes of frustration, Qian Tong’s expression suddenly changed, and he poured his Divine Sense into his communication artifact once more.

“Did someone respond?” Green Water City’s City Lord asked Qian Tong joyfully when he saw this change in expression.

Lin Yu Rao’s beautiful eyes also glanced towards Qian Tong expectantly.

Qian Tong did not respond, however, as he was focused on the communication artifact. Only after some time did he laugh heartily, “Oh, someone has arrived.”

“Who is it? Elder Yang, Elder Chu, or Elder Mo?”

“None of them,” Qian Tong shook his head slowly.

“None of them? Could it be Brother Ning then?” Green Water City’s City Lord’s expression changed, nodding in approval. “Brother Ning is also good, his strength isn’t weak.”

“It’s not Brother Ning either.”

“Then who is it?” Green Water City’s City Lord was confused. Qian Tong and his party consisted of five people, two of whom were currently here while three were not. If none of them had responded, who had?

Lin Yu Rao also looked puzzled as she stared at Qian Tong curiously, not knowing what he meant.

Qian Tong chuckled, turned to Lin Yu Rao and said, “Yang Kai came!”

Lin Yu Rao’s beautiful eyes lit up as she asked with pleasant surprise, “Sect Master is here? Why is he here? Didn’t he return to his homeland?”

“I’m also confused,” Qian Tong smiled as a look of relief filled his face, “Perhaps he rushed back in time. When he left Green Mountains Star that year, didn’t he say that if there was enough time, he would return?”

“Elder Qian, are you certain? Are you sure the response you got was from Sect Master?”

“How could I be mistaken about such a thing?” Qian Tong shook his head repeatedly, “Although this old master is getting on in years, he hasn’t lost his faculties yet.”

“This is wonderful,” Lin Yu Rao nearly jumped for joy, “If Sect Master is here, things will be much easier.”

The two of them spoke in harmony, their words filled with admiration for Yang Kai. Although Green Water City’s City Lord did not know who this Yang Kai was, it was clear from Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao’s expressions that an amazing helper was on his way.

His nervous mood loosened, and he laughed, turning to Lin Yu Rao and saying, “Elder Lin, can you tell this City Lord a little bit about your Sect Master? This old master has never met him before and would prefer to not appear rude when he does.”

What Lin Yu Rao’s strength was, this elderly man knew very well. She was definitely stronger than himself.

Not only Lin Yu Rao, everyone from her group of five were far stronger than ordinary Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters! Their understanding of Shi was very profound, and their Saint Qi was extremely pure and dense.

At first, the elderly man didn’t quite understand why this was, but after associating with them for so long, he eventually learned that the Cultivation Star Qian Tong and the others came from had a kind of constraint which was related to its World Principles that prevented cultivators from breaking through to the Origin King Realm, forcing them to polish their Origin Returning Realm strength continuously.

It was for this reason that they had pushed their strength to the very peak of the Origin Returning Realm, surpassing the Origin Returning Realm masters of other Cultivation Stars.

Repeated tempering would lead to such results.

A man called Sect Master by a master like Lin Yu Rao should obviously be stronger than Lin Yu Rao, right? It was likely that this Yang Kai was already half a step into the Origin King Realm!

Green Water City’s City Lord took this as a given.

With the arrival of such a powerful helper, Green Water City’s City Lord was naturally overjoyed.

“How should I describe him…” Lin Yu Rao could not help showing a look of embarrassment on her face, seemingly finding it difficult to express herself clearly.

“Haha, I can’t tell you clearly, but after you meet him, Brother Zhao will understand,” Qian Tong smiled from the side, also feeling that any kind of explanation would be useless as Yang Kai couldn’t be described using common sense.

“En, very well!” The elderly man nodded lightly, not forcing the issue. In any case, he would soon be meeting this mysterious master, so there was not much point in asking about him now.

“However, Brother Zhao, this Qian will tell you in advance: Sect Master Yang cannot be judged by his appearance!” Qian Tong seemed to warn casually.

“Cannot be judged by his appearance?” Green Water City’s City Lord frowned slightly, wondering what Qian Tong meant.

“He’s here!” Qian Tong’s expression suddenly changed as he turned to look in a certain direction.

When the Green Water City’s City Lord heard this, he immediately refreshed his spirits and prepared to meet this powerful helper with full courtesy.

A figure flew over from that direction at extreme speed.

When Qian Tong first called out, this figure was still far away, a mere black spot that could barely be seen, but after three breaths, a brave and heroic youth appeared in front of Domain Stone Mountain.

“Yang Kai, over here!” Qian Tong shouted.

Around Domain Stone Mountain, countless cultivators glared at him.

Qian Tong could not help laughing awkwardly, realizing that he had acted a bit too eye-catching in his exuberance and quickly became low-key.

Yang Kai, who rushed to this place, first glanced at the huge Domain Stone Mountain, surprise flashing across his eyes as he did, before he turned and flew down to the spot where Qian Tong and the others were gathered and greeted them enthusiastically, “Elder Qian, Elder Lin!”

“Greetings, Sect Master!” Lin Yu Rao hurriedly saluted.

Yang Kai waved his hand, signaling for her to not be so polite, before asking in curiously, “Why are you two here? Where are the others?”

“We can’t contact them, so we don’t know where they are right now,” Qian Tong smiled helplessly. “Have you returned from your homeland?”

“En,” Yang Kai nodded.

“Just in time, just in time. I was worried that you wouldn’t make it for this Blood Prison Trial,” Qian Tong laughed.

“It was just a stroke of luck,” Yang Kai replied casually, not explaining anything.

It was indeed a lucky break for him to have made it here. He had gone to Monster Emperor Star to meet Shan Qing Luo but somehow wound up coming to the Blood Prison from there.

After exchanging greetings, Yang Kai turned to the unfamiliar elderly man and asked, “This is…”

“Oh, I forgot to introduce you. This is Green Water City’s City Lord Zhao Tian Ze. Brother Zhao, this is the Yang Kai I told you about.”

Zhao Tian Ze stared at Yang Kai blankly, his expression extremely weird.

Since Yang Kai appeared, Zhao Tian Ze had been examining him.

After all, from the previous conversation between Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao that praised Yang Kai’s strength and status, Zhao Tian Ze’s expectations of him had been set quite high.

He had expected a peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master!

He thought that the help who was coming would be stronger than Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao.

But as soon as they met, Zhao Tian Ze discovered that something was wrong.

The one who had come was a seemingly young man, which in and of itself was not a problem, but the aura fluctuations coming from this boy actually indicated that he was only a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator!

Zhao Tian Ze almost thought he had made a mistake and kept examining Yang Kai with his Divine Sense, but after three times, he was certain this boy really was just a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator…

Realizing this, Zhao Tian Ze nearly coughed up blood.