Martial Peak

Chapter 2787, An Abnormality in the Dantian

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Three days later, the trio returned to High Heaven Palace. During this period, Hou Yu had tried to escape many times, only to be recaptured by Yang Kai. She was so furious that she couldn't get any angrier.

[I don't believe you can monitor me for a hundred years! I will have plenty of opportunities to escape the moment you look away!] She sneered in her heart. Unfortunately, this wishful thinking of hers was ruthlessly crushed no more than a quarter of an hour after they returned to High Heaven Palace.

"M-Monster Kings?! And there are three of them?!" She stared at the three terrifying existences standing in front of her with a look of shock. They were completely enveloped in dense Monster Qi and exuded an incredible strength from their very beings.

She had no idea that High Heaven Palace had such a sturdy foundation. Yang Kai was nothing more than a First-Order Emperor Realm Master after all, so how many Masters could the High Heaven Palace he established have? Besides, she had not had a chance to inquire more about High Heaven Palace during their return journey. For that reason, she was utterly caught off guard when she arrived.

With three Monster Kings protecting it, High Heaven Palace was powerful beyond imagination! It was unrivalled by any of the top Sects in the Northern Territory!

"This is the new Chief Artifact Refiner of our High Heaven Palace," Yang Kai introduced Hou Yu to the three Monster Kings, "Just call her Xiao Hou. En, Xiao Hou is a rather lively and active person; however, I hope she can be more anchored and dutiful in High Heaven Palace, so…"

Ying Fei immediately replied, "Please rest assured, Young Master Yang. The three of us will take turns watching her. We will not allow her to cause any trouble whatsoever."

Similarly, Xi Lei and Xie Wu Wei fervently expressed their agreement on the matter.

Meanwhile, Hou Yu's complexion instantly became deathly pale. She involuntarily staggered backwards and wailed, "How can this be?!" [I'm going to be watched by the three Monster Kings in turn?! How will I live out the rest of my days?! If that's the case, forget about escaping; I won't even have a single moment of privacy!]

"Very good!" Yang Kai gently nodded before turning to Ying Fei, "Bring her to Head Manager Hua and register her name into the Sect. After that, arrange a place for her to live in."

"Yes, sir!" Ying Fei replied, reaching out his hand to Hou Yu, "Sister Hou, please come this way."

"I don't want to!" Hou Yu gritted her teeth, spun around, and fled.

Ying Fei glanced at Yang Kai, to which Yang Kai nodded lightly in response. Chuckling slightly, Ying Fei transformed into a stream of light and chased after Hou Yu, capturing her in the blink of an eye. Holding her in his hand as if he were holding a tiny chick, Ying Fei leisurely flew away into the distance.

In the meantime, Xi Lei and Xie Wu Wei looked at each other for a moment before slowly following them. The sounds of Hou Yu cursing and yelling in the distance gradually became softer and softer until the sounds couldn't be heard anymore.

Taking out a communication artifact, Yang Kai left a message for Hua Qing Si before turning to Nanmen Da Jun and saying, "Complete the Mountains and Rivers Projection as soon as possible."

"Rest assured, Palace Master, the Mountains and Rivers Projection will be a simple matter with Xiao Hou's assistance."

"One more thing, please inform Head Manager that I want Xiao Hou to refine a flight-type artifact for me once she finishes with the Mountains and Rivers Projection. Cost is no issue, so I only want the best."

"Yes!"

Now that the matter regarding the Chief Artifact Refiner was done, Yang Kai was in a good mood. He returned to Azure Sun Temple via the Space Array a short while later. The moment he planted both feet on Spirit Sword Peak, Yang Kai's expression suddenly changed. Looking to the side, he saw a jet-black little beast in the mountain valley. It was looking in his direction curiously. Moreover, its beady eyes were shifting about, seemingly as if it were searching for something.

Fortunately, Yang Kai had concealed the location where the Space Array was with the power of Spirit Sword Peak's Earth Vein and arrays. Thus, there was nothing special about this place from what the little beast could see.

Yang Kai laughed softly as he recognized this small beast was the one he had encountered after the drinking party that day. It had a strange appearance, slightly resembling a puppy, and was probably a Monster Beast native to Spirit Sword Peak. It was just that it was not that strong, so Yang Kai hadn't detected any energy fluctuations from it.

When Yang Kai stepped forward and his figure suddenly appeared, the 'puppy' was visibly startled and warily crawled backwards. Its beady eyes stared unblinkingly at him, gleaming with humanlike vigilance; however, that vigilance vanished the moment it recognized who he was. Instead, it stuck out its tongue and panted continuously as if trying to act cute and friendly.

Yang Kai found this small beast's actions to be very amusing. Reaching out, he picked it up and petted its head with a laugh, "Are you lost? This isn't a place you can come and go as you please."

Although the cultivation realm of the Monster Beasts on Spirit Sword Peak was not that high, many of them were something this puppy could not handle with its strength. In particular, this mountain valley contained numerous powerful Monster Beasts. If it encountered any one of those powerful Monster Beasts, it would be devoured in a single bite. Therefore, Yang Kai was honestly very curious as to how that small black dog-like beast managed to survive here.

Meanwhile, the black puppy revealed an expression of delight while being petted. It closed its eyes in enjoyment as it quietly crawled into his arms before staying there motionlessly.

Yang Kai shook his head lightly at the sight. Shifting his body slightly, he arrived outside Spirit Sword Palace. He bent down to place the black puppy on the ground, but to his surprise, the little guy hugged him tightly and refused to let go. Yang Kai laughed wryly and flexed one of his fingers, flicking the little beast on the forehead.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred. The black puppy that had been calm and well-behaved all this while suddenly opened its mouth and bit his finger without warning. For a moment, the human and the beast stared at each other. Yang Kai was a little taken aback as an incident like this was completely out of his expectations. Immediately after that, he frowned as a twinge of pain came from his finger, and he concurrently felt a violent force causing a tremor in his Dantian.

His expression changed drastically, but before he could reorganize his thoughts, the black puppy ran away with its tail between its legs. It fled without looking back, whimpering endlessly. It was clearly shocked by what happened just now.

Lifting his hand, Yang Kai examined his finger with a look of disbelief. The skin on his finger where the black puppy had bitten him was broken. Moreover, there were distinct teeth marks and deep puncture wounds there, with golden blood quickly flowing out.

[It managed to make me bleed when it bit me? How is that possible?]

Yang Kai's constitution was so intrepid that he could be said to be one of the strongest Emperor Realm Masters in terms of body tempering in the Star Boundary. Aside from a few unusually gifted members of the Monster Race, Yang Kai was not afraid of being physically injured by anybody, let alone an unremarkable puppy. Even if an Emperor Realm Master were to bite him with all their might, it should be impossible for them to break his skin with their teeth if they did not use their Emperor Qi to reinforce their jaws. However, this black puppy had managed to do just that! Moreover, it looked like it had bitten him without any thought and didn't even put that much strength into it.

[Can those little fangs really be that sharp?] Yang Kai frowned. He had a strange expression on his face, accompanied by a vague feeling that the black puppy was rather unusual.

What shocked him the most though was that the Ancient Demon's Qi sealed in his Dantian had reacted when the black puppy bit his finger. The Ancient Demon's Qi had been sealed by the gold and silver power of the Firmament Tree and the seal was so strong that he had never felt any abnormality from it all this time. And yet, not only had it been triggered today, but it was triggered by a little black puppy at that!

What was going on?

Yang Kai carefully examined the seal in his Dantian and determined that there was no hidden danger. That sudden abnormality seemed to be an isolated event, but with such timing, it couldn't be a mere coincidence.

Spreading out his Divine Sense, he found the black puppy in a cave not far away. It was currently hiding and for some reason, had fallen asleep. It seemed to be frightened by something in its sleep and trembled uncontrollably in fear.

[Why is it showing such a wounded look after biting me?!] Yang Kai was speechless. He initially planned to capture it and investigate it carefully. Unfortunately, it seemed like that was impossible at the moment.

"What's going on?!" A cold shout rang out. Yang Kai looked up and saw Gao Xue Ting appearing atop Spirit Sword Peak, her beautiful eyes scanning the area, seemingly searching for something before she asked, "What happened here just now?"

Yang Kai's heart clenched but he quickly put on a confused look and asked, "What do you mean by 'what happened'?"

Gao Xue Ting replied, "I felt a familiar energy fluctuation, one that I deeply loathe and detest… Did anything strange happen here?"

"What strange thing could happen here?" Yang Kai fervently denied, "I was simply experimenting with my newly-trained Divine Ability just now." He had to admit, Gao Xue Ting's perception was extremely keen. The abnormality involving the Ancient Demon's Qi in his Dantian only happened for a moment, yet she still noticed it.

Back when he had been taken over by the Demon Qi for the first time and his body had undergone a kind of demonification, Yang Kai had fought a huge battle against three Emperor Realm Masters, namely Gao Xue Ting, Chen Wen Hao of Heavenly Martial Holy Land, and Feng Ming of Orthodoxy Temple.

At the time, Yang Kai had only been a Dao Source Realm cultivator; thus, the pressure of facing the three Emperors was unimaginably heavy. He only managed to escape their clutches after using a special trump card. Hence, he did not dare to come clean with Gao Xue Ting regarding this matter. If she were to learn that he was the Demon back then, who knows whether she would attack him with her sword.

"Is that so?" Gao Xue Ting frowned slightly, obviously still having some doubts about the truth. If Yang Kai had only been experimenting with his Divine Ability, then she would not have found it so hateful. However, that momentary fluctuation had instinctively filled her with utter disgust! Unfortunately, it was so fleeting that it disappeared before she could sense it properly. Therefore, she couldn't recall where she had felt it before.

"Of course," Yang Kai felt cold sweat pouring down his back. Even so, he kept his expression straight and changed the subject, "By the way, Purple Bamboo Peak is quite far from here. How did you arrive here so quickly, Senior Sister Gao?"

She responded, "I happened to be passing by. I was on my way back from visiting the Temple Master." Pausing for a moment, she added, "Now that I think about it, where have you been? Why couldn't I find you anywhere when I came here the day before yesterday?"

[I was in the Northern Territory the day before yesterday. It's only to be expected that you couldn't find me.] Yang Kai retorted in his heart, but what came out of his mouth was, "I went into retreat for a short while."

She looked at him suspiciously. His evasive answer made her a little suspicious, but even so, she had no intention of questioning him further if he did not want to talk about it. She simply nodded in response, "You can continue doing whatever you were doing then. I'm leaving."

"Senior Sister Gao!" Raising his hand, Yang Kai suddenly called out to her.

"What is it?" She paused and asked.

He replied, "You seem to be in a rush and look troubled about something. Did you encounter something difficult? I might be able to be of some help."

To which Gao Xue Ting replied, "This matter is related to the secrets of the Temple. As a High-Rank Guest Elder, you are not qualified to know too much. Well, if you are willing…"

"Senior Sister, please don't say more," Yang Kai hurriedly stopped her. He was half forced, half tricked into becoming a Guest Elder of the Temple, so why would he want to go a step further and get more deeply involved? When it came down to it, he was still a Palace Master of his own Sect.

"By the way, I am planning to go on a trip soon!"

"Go if you want to; nobody is going to stop you." Gao Xue Ting's voice rang out as she flew off.