Martial Peak

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Translator: Silavin & Ashish

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGan

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

One day later, Yang Kai walked out of the cave with the wound on his chest fully healed. He had also changed into a new set of clothes, as the scent of blood might attract some unnecessary trouble for him.

Upon hearing some noise, Zhang Ruo Xi, who had been keeping watch at the entrance of the cave, quickly stood up and was relieved to see that Yang Kai's complexion had already regained its vigour.

She was well aware that Yang Kai's injuries were anything but serious, but she still couldn't help but worry over him.

Upon exchanging a glance, Yang Kai nodded at her, while Zhang Ruo Xi said, "Sir, I noticed something peculiar."

"What?" Yang Kai asked in bewilderment.

Zhang Ruo Xi quickly recounted to him what she experienced during her cultivation, then looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to dispel her doubts.

Yang Kai had no clue about this though, but he found it embarrassing to admit his ignorance to Zhang Ruo Xi, so he put on a pensive look and mulled over it for a moment, then spoke, "Better safe than sorry, you should stop cultivating in the Ancient Lands, and if you need to recover your strength, you can just use Source Crystals or Spirit Pills. If worse comes to worst, then you can just enter the Small Sealed World."

Zhang Ruo Xi heeded his instructions without the least bit of hesitation, but shortly after, she questioned him, "Sir, what about you?"

Yang Kai said with a smile, "It's fine, the Wild Force can't harm me."

Zhang Ruo Xi was pretty surprised and she looked in veneration at Yang Kai with stars almost sparkling in her eyes. She couldn't help but inwardly praise, [Sir is really amazing. I have heard that even a Great Emperor will be affected by this land's Wild Force, yet Sir hasn't suffered any harm.]

Yang Kai coughed and said, "Let's leave..."

Saying so, his expression suddenly changed and he turned his head towards a certain region and shouted, "Who dares hide there!"

Zhang Ruo Xi was startled by this as she had been keeping guard here all along and didn't notice anyone approaching them. Yet, Yang Kai had shouted at someone shortly after coming out. Yang Kai wouldn't raise a fuss over nothing, so there must surely be someone here.

She turned her head around to have a look and followed Yang Kai's gaze to a large tree, one that looked peaceful and serene without any peculiarities. Even when she swept it with her Divine Sense, she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

Yang Kai snorted coldly and spoke, "Still trying to die? Do I have to pull you out myself?"

After he said so, a rustling noise echoed out from the tree, shortly followed by a head poking out of the dense leaves of the canopy. Said head swayed around, its bright eyes then casting a glance at Yang Kai and Zhang Ruo Xi, giving them a silly smile.

Zhang Ruo Xi's expression darkened, having been caught off guard by this; after all, someone she had failed to notice approaching her was now smiling dumbly at her in this damned place.

"Hmm?" Yang Kai exclaimed in surprise as he observed this human-looking face carefully. It could be seen that it had quite dishevelled hair, as if this individual hadn't washed it for many years, leaving a nought but a tangled mass.

This person's face was dark with indistinct features, but it had a pair of bright eyes and pearly white teeth.

It was definitely a woman!

Even though Yang Kai couldn't get a clear look at her face, he still recognized with a glance that it belonged to a woman.

All women cared a lot about their appearance, yet this one was a total mess, even more so than the Bustling World Great Emperor in Maplewood City. Who knew what this woman had suffered and gone through in the Ancient Wild Lands?

It wasn't limited to appearance though, as Yang Kai could clearly tell that this woman hanging upside down from the tree was mentally impaired. Her gaze was pretty bright, but it still looked chaotic and erratic.

However, what Yang Kai cared most about was this woman's concealment technique.

If she didn't suddenly let out some noise from the tree earlier, then even Yang Kai wouldn't have noticed that she was hiding there.

Just who was she?

Upon sweeping her with his Divine Sense and detecting the faint energy fluctuations emanating from her body, Yang Kai discovered in surprise that she was a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master!

While doubts were still flooding Yang Kai's mind, the woman suddenly giggled and spoke, "Come and catch me!"

Having said this, she jumped off the tree, but she turned around in mid-air and rushed into the forest, quickly disappearing, leaving only a peal of laughter behind her, "Come catch me, catch me!"

[Who the hell wants to catch you!?] The corners of Yang Kai's mouth twitched. He was now certain that the woman had a mental impairment.

If that wasn't the case, why would a solemn Second-Order Emperor Realm Master do such a ridiculous thing? She wasn't just in a dishevelled state, her speech and words were also a mess. Yang Kai was dumbfounded. He had just come into the Ancient Wild Lands and ended up running into a crazy woman. He obviously wasn't in the mood to play hide and seek with her.

"Sir, her attire..." It looked like Zhang Ruo Xi had noticed something, and she covered her rosy lips with her hand, looking in shock at the region where the crazy woman had disappeared.

"What about her attire?" Yang Kai furrowed his brows.

"Sir, didn't you find what she was wearing familiar?" Zhang Ruo Xi asked back.

When the crazy woman had jumped off the tree, Yang Kai swept her with his gaze. Her clothes were also worn out and in a mess like her, revealing her skin with every little movement. He didn't know what her real skin tone was, but it was currently completely grey, as if she hadn't taken a bath for many years.

Yang Kai was surprised and bewildered by Zhang Ruo Xi's words.

"Those were the robes of Ice Heart Valley!" Zhang Ruo Xi said anxiously.

"Are you certain?" Yang Kai widened his eyes.

Zhang Ruo Xi nodded, "I have seen many disciples of Ice Heart Valley the last time we were in the Northern Territory's Ice Moon City. They were all clad the same way as her. Her clothes were torn and worn out, but they still had an ice crystal symbol over her chest."

"Why would a disciple of Ice Heart Valley come here?" Yang Kai was pretty stunned.

Ice Heart Valley was located in the Northern Territory, while they were now in the Eastern Territory. There was a large distance between the territories and ordinary people wouldn't ever travel so far, much less come to a place like this. But, upon giving it more thought, he recalled that all Masters of the Star Boundary eyed this treasure land.

He could also be counted as a disciple of the Southern Territory, yet, he had come here, so it wouldn't be strange for the inhabitants of the Northern Territory to come here; after all, all Masters of the Four Territories converged here.

But, he was still bewildered by something. From the moment Ice Heart Valley was founded by its Martial Ancestor Bing Yun until this day, they didn't have a lot of Emperor Realm Masters. So, how did a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master end up here? Worse, in a chaotic mental state.

Upon mulling this over, Yang Kai's eyes suddenly lit up and he recalled something.

In the past, when Bing Yun returned from the Solitary Void Sealed World to Ice Heart Valley, its current Valley Master, her First Disciple, An Ruo Yun, made mention of a certain event.

When Bing Yun had gone missing, her Third Disciple went out to look for her, yet she didn't find her trail and had also gone missing in the end. Three thousand years had already passed since then, and it was pretty much unknown whether that disciple was still alive or not.

When An Ruo Yun had reported this to Bing Yun. Yang Kai had been there to hear this and he had also sighed over it as he thought that this Third Disciple had most likely died in some unknown region; after all, the Star Boundary was fraught with dangers, and if she was still alive, then she would have at least contacted them over the past three thousand years.

However, those were private matters, so Yang Kai didn't really care about them.

But upon getting Zhang Ruo Xi's reminder, Yang Kai suddenly realized that this woman was most likely Bing Yun's Third Disciple. A Second-Order Emperor Realm cultivation also fit the criteria, as the First Disciple An Ruo Yun and the Second Disciple Sun Yun Xiu were also in the same realm, so the Third Disciple would likely not be any worse than them.

Upon thinking of this possibility, Yang Kai looked at where the crazy woman had disappeared to, but he couldn't catch even her shadow. She had already escaped from him.

Yang Kai could guess why this Third Disciple was here. In the past, she had left Ice Heart Valley to look for Bing Yun and she surely wouldn't miss the famous Ancient Wild Lands. She must have come here to seek Bing Yun.

As for why the woman was now in a state of mental chaos? Yang Kai had no ideas about this, but he could still imagine that she must have suffered a lot here, else, why would a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master end up so demented with no regard to her own image?

However, all of this was obviously just Yang Kai's guess, and he still did not have confirmation that the crazy woman was Bing Yun's Third Disciple. She could have just killed that Third Disciple and stolen her clothes.

If Yang Kai didn't get to see this, then he wouldn't have bothered with it, but since he had already become involved, he couldn't just ignore this matter; after all, it was related to Bing Yun and Ice Heart Valley.

"Sir, Old Ban once said that an Emperor Realm Master had gone missing in the Ancient Lands Passageway more than ten years ago... And it was a woman... Could it be her?" Zhang Ruo Xi suddenly asked.

This possibility didn't cross Yang Kai's mind, but upon giving it more thought, he realized that it was pretty likely the case. She must have gone crazy because she got lost in the Ancient Lands Passageway for more than ten years.

Old Ban had said that the woman was a First-Order Emperor Realm Master, but Old Ban was just a First-Order Dao Source Realm, so he surely couldn't distinguish between the First and Second-Order Emperor Realm and must have just made an assumption.

"Let's go after her and investigate," Yang Kai waved his hand, enveloping Zhang Ruo Xi with his Emperor Qi, then rushing in the direction where the crazy woman had disappeared.

Along the way, he couldn't find any trace of her, and even though he completely released his Divine Sense, he couldn't detect even a wisp of her aura. He did, however, notice a lot of Monster Beasts.

It was as if that crazy woman had vanished into thin air, the same way she suddenly appeared.

"Where did she go?" Yang Kai was pretty vexed. If he had known earlier that the crazy woman was linked to Ice Heart Valley's Third Elder, then he would have made a move to intercept her and not allowed her to run away. Now, it was extremely difficult for him to find her.

After Yang Kai spent most of the day searching for her in vain, he found himself forced to give up and stop. Running around the Ancient Wild Lands aimlessly was nothing short of insanity; after all, he might end up catching the attention of a powerful Monster Race.

If he couldn't find her, then so be it, he would just give up for now, then, take a trip to the Northern Territory after dealing with his affairs here and pass the crazy woman's news to Bing Yun, leaving her to deal with this herself.

Yang Kai took out a jade slip and checked it, only to discover that he had already ventured a lot deeper into the Ancient Lands in his half-day-long pursuit. If he continued further, then he would end up in a gathering spot for Monster Beasts, which had a Twelfth-Order Monster Beast presiding over them.

Yang Kai didn't want to attract trouble for no reason as he had come here just to seek Xiao Xiao, so he would surely try to avoid danger as much as possible.

When Yang Kai had just put away the jade slip after deciding to make a detour around this region, a peal of laughter reverberated in a large tree near him, shortly followed by a dark face poking out of the tree's leaves. She grinned at him, revealing her pearly white teeth, and she beckoned to Yang Kai, "Come catch me, hurry up and catch me!"

[This crazy woman!] Yang Kai was almost driven crazy with rage at this moment when he realized that all this time he was unable to find her, she had actually been hiding nearby to mess with him.