Martial Peak

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Yang Kai landed on a lotus leaf lightly, raised his head, and stared forward.

Only now did he have a chance to take a good look at his attacker.

Unexpectedly, it was an elderly man with a short stature. Even if he stood up straight, Yang Kai estimated that the man’s head would only come up to his shoulders. This old man’s complexion was dark, like the bottom of a pot, similar to Old Black Face Yan Pei of Treasure Trove Pavilion. However, perhaps because Yang Kai had picked most of his precious Ocean Lotuses, this old man’s face was even blacker than normal.

The old man was wearing a simple shirt made from some unknown sea beast’s skin and was quite worn and tattered. Noteworthy, though, were the rippling muscles Yang Kai could see through the holes in his robes that seemed full of explosive power covering this old man’s frame.

Other than being a bit short in stature, this old man had a very well-proportioned body, a physical manifestation of the quality of his physique.

The old man obviously did not expect that Yang Kai could take his punch head-on, and after landing, he frowned slightly before charging over at even greater speed while roaring, “Boy, today, you must either die, or this old master must perish!”

Yang Kai had picked two-thirds of his Shadowed Heaven Lotuses, which was worse than killing him directly, so how could he let Yang Kai off?

If possible, Yang Kai did not want to fight with this muddled old man, but seeing his manner and tone, Yang Kai knew that this matter could not be settled peacefully. As such, having encountered a rare opponent who could match him in terms of physical strength, Yang Kai set aside all other thoughts and let out a great laugh as he immersed himself in combat.

Mid-air, the two figures clashed once more, raising a thunderous boom as they collided.

In this second exchange, neither side took the advantage, but they rushed towards each other again without any time to breathe.

The little dolphin hid most of his figure in the island lake as its eyes filled with worry.

*Hong Hong Hong…*

Explosions sounded continuously across the entire island as Yang Kai and the old man gradually shifted their battlefield away from the lake so as not to affect the Ocean Lotuses down below.

Both of them had the same scruples, not wanting to destroy these precious Alchemy materials.

After a cup of tea’s worth of time, the battlefield had migrated to above the open ocean.

Not needing to hold back anymore, Yang Kai’s eyes flashed brilliantly as he exerted his physical strength to the limit, exchanging one fist after another with this unknown old man.

This savage fighting style stimulated an unprecedented vigour in Yang Kai as he laughed wildly, ignoring his injuries and fighting all out with the old man.

Neither side showed any signs of weakness!

The old man’s expression had long ago grown solemn as he was inwardly shocked.

It had been several hundred years since he arrived on Shadowed Soul Island and immersed himself in the unique cultivation method of this place. He thought he had high attainments in terms of physical strength, enough to allow him to rank amongst the top masters in terms of pure Body Tempering in the Star Field, but now, this unknown young man who had appeared out of nowhere was actually able to compete with him on even terms.

The strength of this young man’s physique was not inferior to his own!

The sound of broken bones rang out constantly and there was no shortage of blood splashing about.

The old man was surprised to find that the young man’s blood was not red, however, but golden.

This golden blood also clearly contained an astonishing vitality, comparable to the most precious of divine materials!

“Boy, your good luck ends today!” The old man’s eyes narrowed as he turned his wrist and suddenly summoned a hammer-like artifact into his hand. While blocking one of Yang Kai’s punches, the old man swung this hammer down towards Yang Kai’s head fiercely.

Although Saint Qi could not be used here, and he could not exert the full power of this artifact, with this old man’s great strength, this hammer strike was enough to shatter space.

If he was really hit by it, Yang Kai’s head would definitely burst apart.

Yang Kai didn’t expect this old man to be so cunning, and seeing the hammer close in, his pupils shrank slightly, and he swiftly swung his head to the side. At the same time, a five coloured radiance burst from his body.

The five coloured halo swirled and gradually took on a brown tone that covered all of Yang Kai’s body.

Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art, Earth Sword Qi!

The Earth Sword Qi cultivated by Yang Kai used Divine Nullification Sand as its source, a rare Origin King Grade material with extremely high resilience.

Under the control of Yang Kai’s Divine Sense, the Earth Sword Qi quickly condensed into a shield shape blocking the advancing hammer.

*Honglong…*

The brown Sword Qi shield was blasted away, and the hammer struck Yang Kai’s shoulder, causing his body to sink slightly, but after a brief adjustment, Yang Kai grinned fiercely and sent his fist straight towards the old man’s chin.

Having his defences shattered, the old man cried out and hurriedly leaned his head back, but he wasn’t in time to escape this Earth-shattering counterattack.

Struck on the chin by Yang Kai’s fist, the old man’s head flicked back violently, and if it were not for his incredibly strong body, this single blow would have been enough to reap his life.

Even so, the old man’s vision filled with stars and he nearly passed out.

The old man staggered back several dozen metres before finally managing to stabilize his stance. Shooting a fear-filled glance towards Yang Kai, the old man swiftly decided to escape!

Yang Kai frowned as he stood in place without giving chase. It was not until the old man’s figure disappeared from his vision that he rotated the shoulder which had been hit by the hammer just now.

With a few clicking sounds, the misaligned bones were set back in place.

“That old guy…” Yang Kai muttered to himself. From beginning to end, he had not been able to ask who this old man was or why he was living on this tiny island so far away from Shadowed Soul Island.

The little dolphin’s cries rang out from the inland lake at that moment, and Yang Kai quickly turned his head to find it watching him nervously, as if worried about whether he was hurt.

Yang Kai cast it a look of reassurance before casually walking back over to the lake.

Yang Kai did not plan on letting off the last third of the Ocean Lotus in the lake.

The old man had called these Ocean Lotus Shadowed Heaven Lotus just now, but Yang Kai was certain he had never heard of such a herb before, reaffirming his previous speculations that these were unique to Shadowed Soul Island and never appeared in the outside world.

After a while, Yang Kai collected all the Shadowed Heaven Lotus.

Sensing hostility, Yang Kai looked up and found the old man standing on a hill a few kilometres away, glaring at him with grief, indignation, and helplessness.

It was as if Yang Kai had easily snatched the woman he had been wooing and caring for over many years.

Yang Kai simply grinned back at him.

The old man’s blood boiled as he swiftly turned around and stomped off!

He could not beat Yang Kai, so instead of standing by and being humiliated, he would rather just leave. What the eyes do not see, the heart does not grieve.

Yang Kai found a simple wooden house nearby, obviously built by the old man’s.

Striding inside, Yang Kai occupied the house without any hesitation.

Three days later, Yang Kai was studying the Shadowed Heaven Lotus and the medicinal efficacies of the Body Tempering Pill, hoping to improve upon it, when he heard light footsteps outside the wooden house.

Yang Kai smiled slightly, put down what he was working on, and waited quietly.

Soon, the wooden house’s door was opened, and the old man stood about a dozen metres away from Yang Kai. Staring at this young thief with a very complicated look, the old man asked after a long silence, “Are you not one of Ming Yue’s people?”

Yang Kai frowned and asked, “Who is Ming Yue?”

A stunned look appeared on the old man’s face and he took a hard look at Yang Kai’s face, seemingly wanting to determine if he was lying.

Yang Kai’s eyes were limpid as he stared back inquiringly.

The old man nodded slightly and his attitude eased a little, no longer looking like he was facing his father’s killer or the man who stole his wife. Pausing for a moment, he followed up, “Since you don’t know who Ming Yue is, does that mean you only recently came to Shadowed Soul Island?”

“Old Sir is wise!” Yang Kai casually praised, “Indeed, I have only been here for about a month.”

“No wonder…” The old man squeezed out an ugly smile on his face, “Since you aren’t one of Ming Yue’s people, we can talk.”

“I was hoping for just that,” Yang Kai smiled lightly. If he had not wanted to hold a conversation with this old man, he would have already left the island.

Yang Kai was ignorant of the situation on Shadowed Soul Island, and he could not simply go there and ask about it, so now that he had finally met another person, and one who had clearly been living here for many years, Yang Kai was naturally going to take advantage of the opportunity.

“Can this old master come in to speak?” The old man asked in a depressed tone.

“Of course, this is Old Sir’s residence after all!” Yang Kai invited freely.

The old man’s brow twitched but still strolled in unhesitantly. Although he felt he was not Yang Kai’s opponent, if he had to, he was confident he could at least escape.

He also believed that Yang Kai was not foolish enough to try to fight him for no reason.

After the old man sat in front of him, Yang Kai asked, “Who is this Ming Yue that old sir just mentioned?”

The old man coldly snorted, “An evildoer!”

Yang Kai was stunned, thinking that this old man and Ming Yue seemed to have a deep hatred. Otherwise, this old man would not have ground his teeth at the mere mention of the other party.

“He is the current Island Master of Shadowed Soul Island!” The old man added.

“Ming Yue is the Island Master?” Yang Kai raised his brow. When he first came to Shadowed Soul Island, he heard the scrawny man mention an Island Master, but he did not know the name of this leader until the old man mentioned it.

“Yes!”

Yang Kai brow rose as he asked with a smile, “Old Sir said Ming Yue is the current Island Master of Shadowed Soul Island, so could there have been a previous Island Master?”

The old man glanced at Yang Kai in surprise, secretly admiring this young man’s sharp wit before proudly saying, “The previous Island Master was this old master!”

Yang Kai froze for a moment before cupping his fists and saying, “Seems like I’ve been disrespectful!”

“Hmph, I’m but a stray dog now!” The old man ridiculed himself unpretentiously and said, “Now, this old master can only hide here and live on dishonourably, so there’s no need to show me any respect. What’s more, this old master was defeated by you!”

“It was just luck!” Yang Kai said modestly.

The old man no longer dwelled on this issue and instead stared deeply at Yang Kai before asking, “Do you cultivate some kind of extremely profound Body Tempering Secret Art?”