Martial Peak

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Translator: Silavin & Ashish

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGan

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

"Silly child, hurry and pull our honoured guest up. Just what is all this?"

An elderly voice suddenly spoke up from the front. Although the voice was deep, it also seemed gentle and friendly, so that one couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity and comfort.

Xiao Xiao suddenly shook. It seemed like he was really respectful of the owner of this voice. He hopped up and skipped back over to Yang Kai's side, pulled the latter up, and looked at him with a silly expression.

Xiao Xiao had calmed down now that he had vented.

Yang Kai looked forward and paused in surprise at what he saw.

Numerous Stone Spirits as tall as humans walked out of the forest. At a rough count, there were eight of them. It was evident that they had gathered here after noticing the commotion since their round eyes were all looking at him with curiosity.

One of the Stone Spirits was particularly attention-grabbing. It wasn't because he was very stronger or taller than the rest; in fact, he was even shorter in comparison to the other Stone Spirits. He wasn't short due to his height, but rather because his back was somewhat hunched.

This Stone Spirit would give others the first impression of being ancient.

His bent back was supported by a stone staff, and the stone skin on his body was also cracked. These were all natural traces of the weathering of time upon his body. His pointy chin actually had some small pointy stone pillars that seemed like a beard; however, his eyes were particularly bright as they shone with the light of wisdom.

Those of the Stone Spirit Clan were naturally born lacking intelligence, but for some unknown reason, Yang Kai could see the image of a wise Elder when he met this elderly Stone Spirit's eyes.

Yang Kai instantly assumed a respectful demeanour as he knew that this old Stone Spirit had likely lived for many tens of thousands of years already. He also realized who this elderly Stone Spirit was, so he cupped his fists, bowed, and greeted, "Junior Yang Kai greets Elder. Please don't mind how I came over to bother you without asking first."

Zhang Ruo Xi heard this and realized that this Sir was someone of exceptionally noble status, so she hurriedly bowed and greeted the Elder as well.

The Elder chuckled with a hearty sound, "It's no bother at all. We of the Stone Spirit Clan have been waiting for you for a long time, and today, you have finally come."

"Waiting for me?" Yang Kai was surprised, but he soon thought of something as he turned to glance at Xiao Xiao who was standing next to him. Yang Kai smiled slightly and patted Xiao Xiao on the shoulder.

Yang Kai thought that it was because of Xiao Xiao that this Stone Spirit Elder had said he had been waiting for Yang Kai.

"Honoured guest, you have come from afar, and it must have been a tiring journey. Please come with this old one to rest. Our Stone Spirit Clan hasn't had a guest for countless years now." After the Elder said this, he turned to walk deeper into the forest without waiting for Yang Kai to agree.

Although he appeared rather elderly and used a staff, he still seemed quite agile, not being one bit slower than the other Stone Spirits.

After he left, the other Stone Spirits followed closely after him, although they all glanced at Yang Kai with curious expressions before they left.

Xiao Xiao pulled on Yang Kai's hand and whined as he dragged Yang Kai away.

Yang Kai could only helplessly call Zhang Ruo Xi to follow him.

Not long after they started walking, everyone arrived at a place encircled by ancient trees. Each of these ancient trees was so wide that it would take ten people to hug them, and among the tree roots, there were numerous tree caves that had become natural homes with clear traces of someone inhabiting them.

Yang Kai felt that this was a fresh experience. He also realized that these tree homes were likely where the Stone Spirit Clan lived.

This seemed to be only natural since they were capable of transforming into several tens of metres tall, so no ordinary house would be able to handle them. These natural tree homes would actually be the best place for them to rest.

The Stone Spirit Clan had been here for an unknown number of years already, so all of the tree caves had traces of experiencing numerous tens of thousands of years of time.

After arriving, the Stone Spirit Elder went directly into a tree cave and disappeared.

Another Stone Spirit walked over and greeted Yang Kai with one hand across its chest, "Elder says that the honoured guest should go rest first, and come talk to him when it's nighttime."

Yang Kai glanced at the Stone Spirit, but he couldn't tell if this Stone Spirit was the one that Xie Wu Wei had previously captured, since they all looked the same. No ordinary person would be able to differentiate them unless that person lived for a long time together with the Stone Spirits.

Yang Kai copied the Stone Spirit's behaviour and placed one hand on his chest as he politely responded, "Many thanks."

Although he didn't know why he was supposed to wait until nighttime to talk, he had come here to find Xiao Xiao, and his wish had been achieved, so Yang Kai didn't mind anything else. In fact, Yang Kai didn't even need to consider if Xiao Xiao was going to leave with him or not.

Naturally, Yang Kai would be happy if Xiao Xiao was willing to leave with him, but if Xiao Xiao was unable to abandon his own kind and chose to stay behind, Yang Kai wouldn't force Xiao Xiao to leave.

Every living being had their own clan, and Yang Kai was truly happy for Xiao Xiao since the latter was able to find his kind and was no longer alone.

"Treat the guest well," the Stone Spirit told Xiao Xiao, who scratched his head before nodding.

The Stone Spirit glanced at Xiao Xiao and slightly sighed before he left. It seemed to feel rather helpless about Xiao Xiao, who was still just a child. Still, Xiao Xiao was the only one in the entire Stone Spirit Clan who was still just a mere child, so it couldn't be helped if he was somewhat naughty and willful.

After the Stone Spirit left, Xiao Xiao dragged Yang Kai beneath a huge tree.

This tree also had a tree cave underneath and evidently, it was where Xiao Xiao lived.

Yang Kai and Zhang Ruo Xi followed him in, but Xiao Xiao suddenly looked all around and then darted outside. It was unknown what he had gone to do.

A moment later, an angry roar could be heard from within a nearby tree cave, "Little One, you're being naughty again! Do you think I'll not report this to Elder so that he will punish you!?"

*Honglonglong…*

After the earth shook for some time, Xiao Xiao returned a moment later with two stone chairs on his shoulder. He tossed the stone chairs on the ground and kept shouting something as he looked at Yang Kai.

Ruo Xi couldn't help but cover her mouth and smile, since she understood that Xiao Xiao had likely run out to steal these two stone chairs from another Stone Spirit.

Even Yang Kai couldn't keep a straight expression as he exchanged glances with Ruo Xi, flicking his sleeves and sitting down with a smile.

He glanced around and found that this tree cave was completely empty inside. While it wasn't small at all, and was in fact even larger than an ordinary home, it didn't have any decorations inside. There weren't even any tables or chairs.

However, a few stone sculptures did attract Yang Kai's attention.

These stone sculptures seemed rather rough, and it was evident that the sculptor wasn't skilled; however, it was still possible to vaguely tell that these sculptures were all of a single man.

From left to right, the sculptures became better and better in quality. The last sculpture even had clear facial features.

Ruo Xi looked at them for a while until she had a sudden realization as she exclaimed, "Sir, these are sculptures of you!"

Although even the last sculpture didn't resemble Yang Kai in the slightest, Zhang Ruo Xi still acutely sensed that this sculpture was based on him.

Xiao Xiao kept jumping up and down as he ran over to the best-looking sculpture and picked it up. He then ran over and placed it in front of Yang Kai, as if he was offering a treasure. Xiao Xiao pointed at himself and then pointed at Yang Kai.

Yang Kai's heart was rather moved as he looked at the sculpture with a stunned face. He didn't hold back on the praise as he exclaimed, "What a wonderful sculpture, it really looks like me!"

Xiao Xiao instantly jumped a metre high and backflipped in midair when he received praise. He ran over to the other stone sculptures and viciously smashed them to pieces in a rampage for seemingly no reason. It seemed as if he was fine with only having the sculpture that Yang Kai praised, with the other sculptures not mattering at all.

Xiao Xiao made some 'wu wu!' sounds as he kept waving his arms and gestured frantically.

Yang Kai arched his eyebrows, "You learned all this by yourself?"

Xiao Xiao nodded vigorously again and continued to gesture.

Zhang Ruo Xi quietly watched from the side with a faint smile on her face. She suddenly discovered that this was quite a warm scene. She couldn't understand what Xiao Xiao was gesturing or saying, but Yang Kai was clearly able to understand Xiao Xiao without any mistakes.

The Human and Stone Spirit kept communicating with each other in the cave with their special means. Although they were simply chatting about trivial matters, they seemed to have a lot of fun.

The battles of the outside world seemed to be matters of the distant past here in this primaeval forest far away from all hustle and bustle. It was as if nothing from outside could possibly invade this place.

Ruo Xi could tell that Yang Kai had an excellent relationship with the Stone Spirit in front of him, named Xiao Xiao. Ruo Xi had never seen him being so patient before, as he was treating Xiao Xiao like his own child while being filled with generosity and magnanimity.

It would be quite nice if things could always remain like this. If Sir was willing to stay here, she would happily stay here as well, even if she had to live secluded from the rest of the world.

The sound of laughter kept coming from the tree cave as time swiftly passed.

Soon, it became nighttime as the sky gradually darkened.

A Stone Spirit walked in from outside as it placed its hand on its chest, "Honoured guest, Elder is inviting you to a banquet."

[A banquet?]

Yang Kai paused in surprise. Although Elder had told him during the day to come at nighttime to talk, Yang Kai hadn't expected that they would actually prepare a celebration to welcome him.

He felt like he was being somewhat spoiled as he hurriedly got up and said, "Elder is truly thoughtful. I shall come immediately."

The Stone Spirit nodded and turned to leave.

Xiao Xiao no longer gestured at Yang Kai and instead pulled on his hand to drag him outside.

"Xiao Xiao, do you guys have any rules here I should be aware of?" Yang Kai asked as he walked.

The Stone Spirit Clan counted as an ancient species that had always been living in the deepest portion of the Ancient Wild Lands. This was Yang Kai's first time here, so he was afraid that he would accidentally break some taboo and make them angry, so he naturally wanted to ask so that he could be aware of and follow the customs here.

However, Xiao Xiao only shook his head without saying anything else, as if he was trying to be mysterious. Yang Kai felt rather helpless about this.

They exited the tree cave's entrance then and Yang Kai and Zhang Ruo Xi raised their heads to see a sight that caused a light to flash across their eyes.

"How beautiful!" Ruo Xi couldn't help but exclaim in astonishment. The night sky at this Ancient Wild Lands was so beautiful that one could get addicted, and the ancient trees in the area had fireflies flying between them, spreading a colourful glow everywhere they went. It seemed as if mystic beams of light were flying around and illuminating this place like the so-called 'fairy realm'.

Ruo Xi's eyes were shooting stars as she now really wanted to just live here and never leave again.

Little girls typically had very little resistance against such beauty.

Yang Kai had also stayed many nights in the Ancient Wild Lands already, but no place had been as wondrously beautiful as this place where the Stone Spirits lived. He couldn't help but exclaim over the miracles that nature could create.