Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

"Ning Chang!" Xue Yue was dumbfounded and frozen in place from shock. She never expected that things would turn out like this. She initially thought that it was caused by Xia Ning Chang's excitement over Yang Kai's return; however, that did not seem to be the case. This situation was not that simple.

Yang Kai sat sideways on the bed and pulled Xia Ning Chang into his arms so that she was lying in his embrace, he then began sending pure energy into her body.

He had sealed his cultivation and could only draw out power equivalent to an Origin King Realm Master at their peak, but even so, the essence of his Emperor Qi had not changed by much. Emperor Qi was two realms higher compared to Saint Qi; hence, pouring even a small amount into her body had a miraculous effect on her condition.

The speed that the seven black spots were spreading out over her body distinctly slowed down. They even looked to be slightly suppressed. Additionally, the Black Qi on her body that had been churning wildly calmed down too.

Yang Kai kept this up diligently for a quarter of an hour, working carefully and not daring to let his guard down in the slightest. Even so, he could only suppress those seven 'black ink stains' to the size of a fist. That was the extent of what he could do.

Besides, he knew that these 'black ink stains' on her body were just manifestations of what was actually happening. The damage the cultivators from Grand Desolation Star Field were causing to Tong Xuan Realm was the most fundamental reason for these 'black ink stains'.

If his guess was correct, it was the effects of the Spirit Arrays that were surging with Yin Qi. Xia Ning Chang's fate was inextricably intertwined with Tong Xuan Realm's. If one suffered, both suffered. Therefore, to solve her current problem, he had to first deal with the crisis that was affecting Tong Xuan Realm. In other words, these 'black ink stains' could not be removed unless the Spirit Array was completely rooted out.

It was not a difficult task to get rid of the Spirit Arrays and he only needed to go out for a while to do so; however, he had to stabilize her vitality first. The Black Qi and 'black ink stains' covering her body were continuously devouring both her and Tong Xuan Realm's vitality. As she already had a weakened constitution, this immediately caused her condition to worsen. Thus, she would be at risk of death if her vitality was not stabilized immediately.

Yang Kai lifted his hand and tossed quite a number of jade bottles to Xue Yue, "Take out those pills and feed them to her."

Xue Yue took those jade bottles and opened them without any hesitation. Taking out some of the Spirit Pills within, she pinched Xia Ning Chang's small mouth open and stuffed those pills into Xia Ning Chang's mouth. Then, she placed one hand on Xia Ning Chang's chest and poured some Saint Qi in to help her absorb the medicinal effects.

Unfortunately, the results weren't promising. These Spirit Pills were only Dao Source Grade, which could only bring about a limited result. Although Yang Kai had many Emperor Grade Spirit Pills on him, he couldn't give Xia Ning Chang any due to her current cultivation. The effects of one such pill would be enough to cause her body to explode from the potency.

All of a sudden, Yang Kai slapped his palm to his forehead and cursed at himself for being a fool.

[How could I forget about that at such a critical moment?!]

He plunged his Soul Avatar into the Sealed World Bead in the next moment and soon after, a green leaf appeared in his hands. There was a drop of milky white sap on that leaf. That white and flawless sap contained an unimaginable amount of vitality in it, as though it was the source of life itself. The same went for the leaf.

The leaf and sap were both from the Immortal Tree and were incredibly precious. They were treasures that anyone in the Star Boundary would kill to obtain. Nevertheless, Yang Kai took them out without hesitation. If it could resolve the current critical condition that Xia Ning Chang was in, he wouldn't even mind letting her refine the entire Immortal Tree. Unfortunately, he had yet to find a method of refining the Immortal Tree itself. Besides, one leaf and one drop of sap was the limit; her body could not withstand any more than that.

Opening her mouth, Yang Kai placed the leaf and the sap inside. Then, he gently patted her on the back. Both items slid down her throat and entered her belly. His Emperor Qi circulated as he embraced her gently, like he was holding an exquisite and delicate porcelain vase in his arms; after all, the slightest negligence and carelessness could cause the woman in his arms to suffer.

The leaf and the sap of the Immortal Tree slowly melted, causing the effects of the Spirit Pill she had taken previously to spread out as well. A moment later, her body emitted a faint green light which melted into the Black Qi and diluted it.

Xue Yue cried with joy when she saw that. She did not know what Yang Kai had done or what he had fed Xia Ning Chang, but the scene before her undoubtedly showed that the latter was getting better.

[A family really can't function perfectly without a man in the house.] There was nothing much she could do to help at the moment, so she continuously called Xia Ning Chang's name softly in hopes of waking the other party up.

The green light gradually became denser and Xia Ning Chang's dried-up vitality slowly recovered. At the same time, the Black Qi shrouding her body was restrained by the green light. The two colours intertwined continuously around her body and gradually reached a balance.

The effect of the Immortal Tree was so powerful that if it were any other person, they would already be jumping around energetically by now even if they had been at death's door just a moment ago. However, Xia Ning Chang's situation was different. The reason being that the problem she was facing was not an internal one that could be solved solely by treating her.

Xia Ning Chang groaned softly, her eyelashes fluttering. Then, her eyes slowly opened slightly.

Xue Yue exclaimed, "Ning Chang! Ning Chang!"

"Elder… Sister Yue…" Xia Ning Chang's eyes were still a little dazed. Her thoughts gradually returned to normal when she saw Xue Yue's face; however, she soon noticed that she was lying in a broad and comfortable pair of arms. Moreover, her nose was filled with a nostalgic scent. Leaning her head back to rest against Yang Kai's shoulder, she looked at that side profile and smiled bitterly, "Junior Brother!"

[I didn't want him to see me like this, but in the end, he still saw me in this state. I must look extremely ugly right now.]

"Call me 'husband'!" Yang Kai lightly touched his forehead against hers.

Her pale face blushed slightly before disappearing a moment later. Lowering her head, she called him again softly.

He laughed in response, "It's bad enough that Su Yan calls me Junior Brother, but I can't have everybody calling me that, right? I am the head of the family. How can I hold my head up high in the future?" He turned to look at Xue Yue, "What about you?"

Xue Yue shyly replied, "Save Ning Chang first."

Xia Ning Chang added, "I'm feeling much better now." During that short conversation just now, her complexion had truly gotten much better. Even her voice sounded stronger and she no longer felt as lethargic as before. The green light wrapping around her body gave her a warm and comfortable feeling, so much so that she wanted to lie in her man's arms until they grew old together.

Xue Yue said frustratedly, "Ning Chang, how can you do this to me?!"

Xia Ning Chang smiled.

Then, Xue Yue snapped, "Husband!" She glared at Yang Kai with an expression that seemed to say, 'are you happy now?'

All of a sudden, a person came into the room. It was Meng Wu Ya, who looked very anxious. He and the others had been waiting outside the great hall just now, so they were unaware of what had happened here. At this moment, he saw Xia Ning Chang lying shyly in Yang Kai's arms, smiling again. For some reason, that made him calm down as the heavy weight that had been pressing down on his heart for a long time lifted.

Yang Kai and Xue Yue exchanged a glance with each other and immediately came to an understanding. Putting Xia Ning Chang down again, Yang Kai said, "Rest well. I'm going to kill some people and avenge you."

When he turned around, he felt something pulling on his clothes. Xia Ning Chang, who was lying on the bed, was looking at him with a horrified look. That gaze was extremely distressing to see. She was scared; she was petrified that he might leave and never return, just like last time; she was afraid she might not hear from him for several dozen years again. More than that, she was terrified that what happened just now was nothing more than a dream. If that was the case, she would rather not get revenge. She would rather he stayed by her side forever. She never wanted to let him leave again.

Knowing how she felt, Yang Kai patted her hand gently and comforted, "Don't worry. I'll be back soon. Here, why don't you count to a hundred? I'll reappear in front of you by the time you reach a hundred."

"What if you don't come back?" She asked.

"I will definitely come back!"

Upon hearing those words, she nodded gently, let go of her hand, and closed her eyes.

Yang Kai signalled Xue Yue and Meng Wu Ya with his eyes, and they walked out of the room together. Liu Yan was happily standing outside the door. She looked up at him when he came out. He patted her head, "Stay here and take good care of her."

She nodded obediently.

Meng Wu Ya frowned slightly, wondering why Yang Kai asked a little girl to guard this place. Furthermore, he could not understand the relationship between those two. [Could she be Yang Kai's daughter?] He had to admit that Liu Yan's appearance could easily cause such misunderstanding. [Even if she is Yang Kai's daughter, she doesn't seem to have cultivated before. What can she do even if she stays here?]

A short while later, they walked into the outer palace. Meng Wu Ya anxiously spoke up, "Those rats seem to be fleeing from Tong Xuan Realm. Yang Boy, what should we do?"

It was precisely because he had sensed the signs of Grand Desolation Star Field's cultivators fleeing that he hurriedly approached Yang Kai to discuss countermeasures.

During that conversation, they arrived outside the palace. A group of people were standing there and looking at something in the sky. Following their gazes, Yang Kai saw streams of light flying out in all directions and fleeing into the Starry Sky. Many of those lights were huge Starships. Just as Meng Wu Ya had reported; the cultivators of Grand Desolation Star Field were retreating from Tong Xuan Realm.

The corners of Yang Kai's mouth lifted into a smirk. [Trying to escape? Where can you run to? I planned to deal with you after meeting with Xia Ning Chang and Xue Yue, but I did not expect you to flee so quickly like frightened rats. Still… Did you really think you'd be able to escape death that easily!? You still need to pay for all the suffering Little Senior Sister went through several hundred times over!]

Everyone looked at Yang Kai, waiting for his orders, as even though he had just returned, the moment he stood there, he became their backbone. He reached out, pointed toward the sky, and ordered in a low voice, "Engage them. There's no need to fight; just don't let them escape easily."

Everybody acknowledged those words as soon as they heard them.

"Wait!" Somebody shouted all of a sudden. Everybody turned to look in the direction of the voice. The speaker was none other than the current Sect Master of Purple Star, Zi Wu Ji.

Yang Kai glanced at him but did not recognize him, so he frowned in response.

"Greetings, Brother Yang. I am…"

He interrupted Zi Wu Ji, "If you have anything to say, hurry up and spit it out."

A flash of displeasure flitted through Zi Wu Ji's eyes. He knew that Yang Kai was powerful. Yang Kai had already been in the Second-Order Origin King several dozen years ago and at that time, he had supposedly journeyed to a mysterious place. His cultivation was probably much higher than it had been back then. Even so, Zi Wu Ji was the Sect Master of Purple Star. He might be under the shelter of somebody else at the moment, but his strength wasn't to be scoffed at. With such a powerful enemy in front of them, every little bit of strength was precious. For that reason, everybody, including Xue Yue, Xia Ning Chang, or Meng Wu Ya, had been rather polite to him for the past few years. It was inevitable that Yang Kai's forceful attitude rubbed him the wrong way.

Putting such thoughts aside though, he warned, "The cultivators from Grand Desolation Star Field greatly outnumber us. As far as I know, there are several Third-Order Origin Kings among them as well. Now, they even have several dozen Starships escorting them. If we charge at them recklessly with our numbers, it wouldn't be any different from walking into a lion's den."