Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

"Let's go to the City Lord's Mansion then!" Li Jiao gestured with a wave of his sleeve.

Thus, Cai Shi quickly led the way.

A few moments later, they arrived in front of the City Lord's Mansion, the scene of a bloodbath. Many cultivators dressed as Wind and Cloud Pavilion disciples had died here and even the gates of the City Lord's Mansion had collapsed.

Cai Shi pointed somewhere and said, "They are right there, Sir."

Li Jiao swept his Divine Sense over the place and sure enough, he found the aura of Emperor Realm Masters inside. However, it was somewhat different from the information he had received. There were two people inside, not one like he had initially thought. Even so, the auras weren't that strong, both First-Order Emperor Realm.

"You all wait outside. I'll be right back!" Li Jiao snorted. He was not worried about the change in numbers and rushed into the City Lord's Mansion with a slight shift of his body.

Immediately afterwards, Cai Shi heard Li Jiao shouting loudly, "Fearless youngsters, how dare you insult Wind and Cloud Pavilion?! This Li is here to dispense justice! If you surrender without a fight, you may yet live!"

As soon as the words rang out, an extremely dense Emperor Pressure seeped into the air. With the City Lord's Mansion as the centre, the air spanning a radius of a thousand meters began to thrum.

Cai Shi's expression changed slightly as he revealed a look of admiration. A Third-Order Emperor Realm Master was indeed different. The power they wield is on a completely different level, incomparable to that of a First or Second-Order Emperor.

Now that he felt it for himself, Cai Shi realized that the Pavilion Master was not being modest when he said that this person was stronger than him. Li Jiao's aura was indeed noticeably denser than the Pavilion Master's.

[This is great. Nothing unexpected should occur with Senior Li around. It's just a pity that the Second Elder and many other disciples had died a tragic death at the hands of that unscrupulous young man and woman. If only Senior Li had arrived just a little earlier, things might have turned out differently.]

Cai Shi sighed as those thoughts crossed his mind. This was fate. His cultivation was not as high as the Second Elders', but he had survived in the end. It was simply a matter of luck.

Cultivation was a process meant to defy the Heavens; therefore, luck was also a form of opportunity and strength. Escaping from the clutches of death had given Cai Shi a faint trace of enlightenment, and the bottleneck he had been stuck at for many years now showed signs of loosening.

Upon realizing this, he was overjoyed. He was currently a First-Order Emperor Realm Master, so if he could break through, he would become a Second-Order Emperor. Such strength was enough for him to rank among the top three Wind and Cloud Pavilion Elders. Thus, he secretly made up his mind that once this matter was resolved, he would immediately enter secluded retreat and not come out until he ascended to the next realm!

*Hong hong hong…*

Just as Cai Shi was deep in thought, several thunderous explosions rang out from the City Lord's Mansion, clearly the sound of Emperor Realm Masters exchanging blows. The overflowing power seemed to invert the Heavens and Earth, causing great damage and destruction with large parts of the building collapsing as a result.

Cai Shi stared in that direction intently, his heart pounding wildly as his admiration for Li Jiao grew.

All of a sudden, the fighting stopped abruptly and the noise subsided.

[Is it over?] Shock washed over Cai Shi again. Wasn't that a little too fast? He had fought that young man and woman before, so he was well aware of how strong they were; he simply couldn't believe that Senior Li dealt with them so easily.

A figure flew out from the ruins of the collapsed City Lord's Mansion and headed in his direction in the next instant.

Cai Shi looked in that direction and wondered, [Isn't that Senior Li?]

Cai Shi stepped forward with a surprised look and cupped his fists, "Many thanks, Senior Li! Congratulations on your victorious return!"

Contrary to the smiling expression Cai Shi expected, Li Jiao was frowning deeply, as if he had encountered some huge difficulty. What surprised Cai Shi even more was the bruise mark around one of Li Jiao's eyes. It was obviously caused by a fist. Moreover, that punch was extremely heavy, so heavy that the corner of Li Jiao's eye was cut and the area around it was badly swollen. Heaven knows how long it would take to heal.

"Senior Li…" Cai Shi was a little confused and did not know what was wrong with Li Jiao.

"Haa…" Li Jiao sighed heavily, turning his head to look up at the sky, feeling choked with speechless tears. After a long time, he looked back down at Cai Shi and muttered, "Just who did I provoke in order to deserve this?"

"What?" Cai Shi looked at Li Jiao, confused, unable to comprehend what was going on.

"Did you say your name was Cai Shi?" Li Jiao asked.

"Yes!" Cai Shi nodded, the feeling that Li Jiao was acting strangely growing ever stronger. The arrogant attitude from before was gone; furthermore, Li Jiao even seemed depressed and despondent now, but what exactly could make a Third-Order Emperor reveal such an expression?

"I want something from you," Li Jiao looked at Cai Shi expressionlessly.

Cai Shi felt his heart jump and he instinctively felt uneasy, subconsciously taking a few steps back as he haltingly asked, "What is it that you want, Senior Li?"

"I want your life!" As Li Jiao spoke, he suddenly reached out his hand to grab Cai Shi.

Although they were both Emperor Realm Masters, there was a difference of two Minor Realms between them, and the gap between each of those Minor Realms was enormous. How could Cai Shi resist this surprise attack? He swayed slightly and felt something tighten around his neck before suddenly finding himself caught by Li Jiao's hand.

A stream of power that absolutely terrified him poured out from that large hand, indiscriminately flooding into his body and his meridians. It made his entire body convulse uncontrollably and left him in a disoriented state. He couldn't even summon the strength to resist.

"S-S-Senior Li, w-w-why are y-you doing t-this?!" Cai Shi struggled desperately, staring at Li Jiao in disbelief. Wasn't Li Jiao asked by the Pavilion Master to help them? He said as much himself, even saying to leave that little girl to him. Why did he change his mind in the blink of an eye and turn against them instead?

Cai Shi couldn't help feeling that everything was changing too abruptly.

"You can only blame your Wind and Cloud Pavilion for provoking someone they should never have provoked. That man inside… Even I cannot afford to offend him. Haa… Forget it, you have so many companions with you on your journey to the afterlife. I'm sure you won't feel lonely."

[Huh? What? The man inside is somebody even Senior Li can't afford to offend?!] Cai Shi wondered whether he had heard wrongly, but just as he was about to say something, a violent force pressed down on him from all directions.

With a loud boom, his entire body turned into a bloody mist, not even leaving behind any bones.

"Ah!" The rest of the Wind and Cloud Pavilion disciples were dumbfounded. They never expected something like this to happen. Their hope and saviour suddenly became their executioner instead. Even the Ninth Elder was crushed to death!

Not stopping to try to figure out what was happening, the survivors went all out to flee.

Before they could get far though, the wind raged around them and a gigantic green palm suddenly descended from the sky, covering a wide area and slamming into the ground fiercely. Several blood-curdling screams rang out, and those Wind and Cloud Pavilion disciples were all wiped out. Their cultivations could not be considered powerful, so they had no way of defending themselves against Li Jiao's attack.

*Wang wang!*

The sound of a dog barking came from behind and the indifference on Li Jiao's face disappeared immediately. It was instantly replaced by endless flattery as he turned around and bowed deeply, "Heh heh… Palace Master Yang, I have killed them all. You see…"

Where did all the prestige of a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master go? At this moment, the great Palace Master of the Northern Territory's Fire Dragon Palace looked no different from a dog wagging its tail.

"At least you know what's good for you!" Yang Kai scoffed.

Li Jiao sweated profusely as he knew that Yang Kai was still angry; thus, he hurriedly explained, "Palace Master Yang, I was deceived! I knew nothing about this matter. Had I known it was you, I would never have come here."

As Li Jiao tried to explain himself, he cursed Hua Xing in his heart over and over again. He had finally escaped from Yang Kai, Zhu Qing, and Zhu Lie, but he only managed to enjoy his leisurely life for a few days before he went and got himself caught again! There was nothing sadder in this world than this!

Yang Kai glanced sideways at him and said, "It almost sounds as if you wanted to avoid this Palace Master."

Li Jiao began sweating profusely at those words and anxiously declared, "No, no, no! What I meant is that, had I had known that Palace Master Yang was here, I would have come to welcome you! How could I dare to be your enemy? This is all just a misunderstanding. Yes, a misunderstanding."

"Enough," Yang Kai waved his hand dismissively, "I know very well what you think of me in your heart. Tell me, what is the connection between you and Wind and Cloud Pavilion? Why are you helping them?"

Li Jiao was extremely embarrassed and quickly explained. Meanwhile, Yang Kai looked over at Lin Yun'er while listening to the explanation.

The little girl was hugging the black puppy and playing with it. She opened her small mouth and playfully pretended to bite it. She even made soft baby growling noises from the mouth. The black puppy seemed to enjoy this childish game and played happily with her, shaking its tail and barking vigorously.

It was quite strange in fact. When Yang Kai and Lin Yun'er reunited a few days ago, she had not cared much for the black puppy; however, she couldn't bear to be separated from it anymore after spending some time together. Lin Yun'er would spend most of her time playing with Ah Wang now, but this was not surprising as the little beast was adorable and had always been well-received by women.

When Li Jiao finished explaining, Yang Kai summarized, "In other words, you are on good terms with the Pavilion Master of Wind and Cloud Pavilion."

Li Jiao hurriedly explained, "No no no, we only met by chance and are passing acquaintances. Besides, we have not contacted each other for over a hundred years so even if we had any friendship between us, it has more or less faded with time. Aha.. ha ha…"

Putting aside the fact that the friendship between him and Hua Xing was not that deep, even if they were sworn brothers Li Jiao would not dare to say otherwise at this moment; after all, he really could not afford to offend Yang Kai. Both of them lived in the Northern Territory as leaders of great forces, but if he really upset Yang Kai, Fire Dragon Palace would not survive. Besides, Yang Kai had an incredibly close relationship with the Dragon Clan, so what was his friendship with Hua Xing in comparison? If it wasn't for Hua Xing, he wouldn't have run straight into this trap and gotten caught by Yang Kai!

Thinking about this, Li Jiao now felt a bit resentful towards Hua Xing. [That guy is so dishonest, giving me so much false information. It's all his fault that I am now stuck under Yang Kai's despotic command again.]

"Palace Master Yang, this young lady is…" Seeing that Yang Kai was not saying anything, Li Jiao quickly found something to fill the silence and asked about Lin Yun'er.

This little girl was extraordinary! When she punched his eye just now, Li Jiao felt as if his head was about to explode. Fortunately, he had a trace of the Dragon Clan's bloodline within him, otherwise, this would not have ended with just a small injury. That punch had been enough to daze him momentarily, and in a life-or-death battle, a moment of disorientation was enough to make one lose their lives.

[This little girl is so powerful. Could she be another member of the Dragon Clan?] Li Jiao jumped in fright. At the same time, his admiration toward Yang Kai grew stronger. [He only just obtained a Ninth Order Red Dragon a short while ago. Did he get another one in just a few days?]

Malicious speculations sprung up in his mind at the thought. [If Zhu Qing and this girl meet each other, will they turn the world upside down? Who is stronger? Who is weaker? Yang Kai, Yang Kai… I'd like to see what becomes of you then!]

The images that accompanied such thoughts suddenly put Li Jiao in a better mood.