Martial Peak

Chapter 2668, Suspicions

Translator: Silavin & Danny

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

"Brother Yang!" Du Xian cupped his fists excitedly, even though he was not as emotional as Ye Jing Han.

As long as Yang Kai had come, they would have an opportunity to leave here, and would not need to be trapped in Emperor Heaven Valley all their lives. Although the Thousand Leaves Sect was destroyed without reason and the enemy was strong, as the Eldest Senior Brother of the younger generation in the Thousand Leaves Sect, he had the responsibility and obligation to seek revenge.

To get revenge though, he first needed to improve his strength, and secondly, he needed to find a way to leave this place.

Improving his strength was something he could do on his own, but he could only rely on Yang Kai to leave here.

"Sister Ye, Brother Du…" Yang Kai nodded lightly, sighing, "My deepest condolences."

He did not know what else to say. It was understandable for anyone who suffered the destruction of their own Sect to be emotional, so he tried to be considerate of Ye Jing Han's distress.

The clueless Thousand Leaves Sect disciples watched the three of them exchange a few sentences, and seemed to have an inkling of his identity. Soon, the crowd below burst into discussion.

Ever since they took refuge in this place, Du Xian told them not to be discouraged and not to give up lightly, for they still had a chance to leave here and avenge their Sect, as long as a person named Yang Kai arrived.

Now that he was here, many Thousand Leaves Sect disciples rejoiced and looked at Yang Kai eagerly.

"Is everyone here?" Yang Kai glanced around, but was a little disappointed that the people he hoped to meet were nowhere to be seen.

There were not many here, at most only five hundred Thousand Leaves Sect survivors gathered in this mountain valley. The cultivations of this group were uneven, and less than ten of them were Dao Source Realm.

"Young Master Yang, let's continue inside!" Ye Jing Han recovered a little, wiped the corners of her eyes, and gestured.

Yang Kai nodded and walked towards the cave. Ying Fei followed closely behind with his aura hidden from the others.

The cave appeared to have been inhabited for a while. Ye Jing Han, Du Xian, and the others had lived here for more than a year, working hard on cultivating with the motivation that one day they would be able to seek justice for their Sect.

There was no furniture in the cave, so the few of them sat on the floor. It seemed that Ye Jing Han and Du Xian held the highest cultivation and status among the few remaining Thousand Leaves Sect disciples.

"What happened exactly? I only heard that the Thousand Leaves Sect was destroyed by the Flowing Shadow Sword Sect. Is that really the case?" Yang Kai asked.

Ye Jing Han and Du Xian looked at each other, and the former nodded slightly while the latter answered, "Brother Yang has heard correctly. The ones who destroyed our Thousand Leaves Sect indeed came from the Flowing Shadow Sword Sect."

"It was also rumoured that the Heaven Grade Puppets were the reason the Flowing Shadow Sword Sect attacked. Is that true?"

Du Xian raged, "The Flowing Shadow Sword Sect cultivates the Sword Dao and has always focused on swordsmanship, so they wouldn't be tempted even if our Thousand Leaves Sect had Heaven Grade Puppets! There must be a mastermind behind this matter!"

Yang Kai raised his brow, and probed, "Why do you say this?"

Ye Jing Han and Du Xian looked at each other again, hesitant to speak.

Yang Kai persuaded them, "It's okay. Since I am here, I naturally have to investigate this matter clearly. I have friends in the Thousand Leaves Sect too."

Hearing this, Du Xian spoke, "Brother Yang… Do you remember Hua Qing Si?"

Yang Kai frowned, "Sister Hua?"

How could he not know Hua Qing Si? From the sound of Du Xian's words, the destruction of the Thousand Leaves Sect seemed to have something to do with Hua Qing Si, causing his suspicions to increase. Moreover, he had not seen Hua Qing Si after their separation in the Shattered Star Sea.

Yang Kai did not know where Hua Qing Si had gone.

Sister Hua knew a lot of his secrets, especially about the Sealed World Bead, but he trusted her and had returned her freedom to her, even gifting her a lot of valuable resources such as the Extraordinary Treasure Pill.

Du Xian continued, "After the Shattered Star Sea closed, Hua Qing Si suddenly came to the Thousand Leaves Sect and said that she had an agreement with Brother Yang to wait for you here at the Thousand Leaves Sect."

Yang Kai nodded and confirmed, "Yes. We did make such arrangements."

When he was separated from Hua Qing Si in the Shattered Star Sea that day, Yang Kai had said that if she could not find him before it closed, she could wait for him at the Thousand Leaves Sect, because Chi Yue and the others were still in the Thousand Leaves Sect and he would return there one day.

Now, it seemed that Sister Hua had indeed kept her promise and came to the Thousand Leaves Sect after leaving the Shattered Star Sea.

Du Xian asked with a solemn expression, "Does Brother Yang know her true origins?"

Yang Kai simply replied, "She's a Star Soul Palace disciple."

This was not a secret as he knew it a long time ago. Hua Qing Si was ordered by her Master to go to Maplewood City to trace the death of an exiled disciple of Star Soul Palace, Han Leng. There, she encountered Yang Kai, who turned her into a Soul Slave and sent her into the Sealed World Bead after a series of twists and turns.

Du Xian was surprised, "Brother Yang actually knows?"

He thought that Yang Kai was clueless about this. He did not know that Yang Kai's mind was clear as a bright mirror and assumed that Hua Qing Si had used Yang Kai, so he was a little bit hesitant to talk about it, but now it seemed that the situation was not what he had thought.

Now he was confused.

Yang Kai frowned, "Brother Du, you can be honest. I trust Sister Hua. The tragedy the Thousand Leaves Sect suffered should not have anything to do with her."

If he did not trust her, it would have been impossible for Yang Kai to set her free, he would still be controlling her life through her Soul Brand.

Du Xian grunted before continuing, "Brother Yang, when the Senior Hua returned to the Thousand Leaves Sect, she was already an Emperor Realm Master, but she said that she had an appointment with you, and she would wait for you at the Thousand Leaves Sect, so Honoured Master cordially invited her to stay in the Sect. During that time, she was very close to Chi Yue and the other Honoured Guests."

Hua Qing Si was aware of the relationship between Yang Kai and Chi Yue and the others, so there was nothing suspicious about them getting close to each other. Hua Qing Si had apparently also broken through to the Emperor Realm during her stay in the Shattered Star Sea, not putting the Extraordinary Treasure Pill that Yang Kai gave her to waste.

"It was peaceful at that time since our Thousand Leaves Sect had regained its long-lost inheritance and had an Emperor Realm Master in the Sect as a guest. Everything seemed to be going well." Nostalgia flitted across Du Xian's face as he reminisced the short period of his thriving Sect, "Unfortunately, those times did not last. Suddenly, one day, a very powerful Master came to the Thousand Leaves Sect to find Senior Hua. We could not see the cultivation of that person but he was obviously an Emperor as well."

"No one knew what the person said to Senior Hua, but it was also at that time that we came to learn that Senior Hua was not just a disciple of the Star Soul Palace, but the direct Disciple of a Star Soul Palace Elder."

"After that person left, our Sect Master went to see Senior Hua, but Senior Hua was nowhere to be seen. No one knew where she went, but since Senior Hua was from Star Soul Palace, and also an Emperor Realm Master, we believed that no one would dare to hurt her, so we did not take this matter to heart. But just one month after that incident, the Flowing Shadow Sword Sect suddenly attacked our Thousand Leaves Sect for no reason, seemingly determined to exterminate us."

Yang Kai listened for a while, and then concluded calmly, "So, you are guessing that this matter has something to do with Sister Hua? How is it related?"

Du Xian explained, "It's not just a guess, because when our Sect was under attack, the Master who had come for Senior Hua was there too. I witnessed that man from afar before, so although I couldn't see his face clearly, I definitely could not mistake his figure. That person is definitely a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master, that's the only explanation for why he could suppress all of our Heaven Grade Puppets!"

Ye Jing Han nodded from the side and added, "Yes, I saw that person too. That person subdued most of our Heaven Grade Puppets personally, which was why we weren't able to resist the Flowing Shadow Sword Sect!"

Yang Kai's face turned ugly when he heard this and finally understood the reason why the Thousand Leaves Sect was not able to resist even with the help of their Heaven Grade Puppets. It turned out a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master had intervened in this matter, but… why?

If that Second-Order Emperor Realm Master was from Star Soul Palace, he should only have been interested in finding Hua Qing Si who was also a Star Soul Palace disciple. She did not betray her Master Sect, but instead just failed to complete the task assigned by her Honoured Master. It was unreasonable to use the hands of others to wipe out the Thousand Leaves Sect just for that.

Yang Kai could not help smelling a waft of conspiracy.

Looking up at Du Xian, Yang Kai pondered, "The mastermind mentioned by Brother Du before, is it …"

Saying so, he pointed his finger at the sky.

Du Xian smiled bitterly and shook his head, "I don't know, but the Flowing Shadow Sword Sect had no reason to attack our Thousand Leaves Sect. There had to have been someone else inciting them."

He previously suspected Hua Qing Si and Star Soul Palace, but now when he thought about it carefully, if Star Soul Palace really wanted to deal with the Thousand Leaves Sect, why would they go through so much trouble to do so? Star Soul Palace was the overlord of the Southern Territory, a Great Emperor Sect, it could crush Thousand Leaves Sect upfront and with little to no effort if it wanted to.

For a moment, there was silence.

"Young Master Yang, since you came in from the outside, did you hear any news about my father?" Ye Jing Han looked at Yang Kai a little nervously.

Yang Kai shook his head, "I only returned to the Southern Territory a short time ago and don't really know the whole situation. Did Sect Master Ye not perish?"

Ye Jing Han's eyes grew wet again as she whimpered, "I don't know. My father sent us into the Emperor Heaven Valley that day and destroyed the Space Array outside. We don't know what happened afterwards."

Du Xian recounted, "Honoured Master wanted to send in Chi Yue and the other Honoured Guests too, but they refused, insisting on remaining behind to help defend the Sect with other disciples. Now… it's unknown if they're alive or dead."

Yang Kai nodded lightly, Chi Yue and others were overlords back in Heng Luo Star Field, so although they were a little restricted after coming to the Star Boundary, they were well taken care of in the Thousand Leaves Sect, so when the latter fell into danger, with their personalities, they would not stand idly by.

"You don't need to worry about them. Since they acted of their own accord, they are responsible for their own fate," Yang Kai sighed loudly. It could only be confirmed now that Ai Ou was still alive, but his worry for Chi Yue, Gui Zu, and Gu Cang Yun's lives could not help deepening.

Yang Kai next stood up and suggested, "In one month, Flowing Shadow Sword Sect will hold an auction in Flowing Shadow City. The auction items are the Heaven Grade Puppets from your Sect. Would you like to take a look?"

"What?" Ye Jing Han and Du Xian were both shocked.

Yang Kai sneered, "This auction is the key. The truth will be revealed as long as we attend."