Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

"Murong Xiao Xiao!"

"Here!"

"Yang Kai!" Qiu Ran looked at Yang Kai, along with the various gazes of other people, stunning him as he pointed at himself and asked, "I'm going too?"

Qiu Ran was sour-faced as he asked, "Were you not listening during our discussion just now?"

How could Yang Kai have heard anything? He had been chatting away with Murong Xiao Xiao. Azure Sun Temple probably sent Xiao Bai Yi and Murong Xiao Xiao to give them some experience. Although they had participated in the Martial Gathering before, they had participated as disciples. Now that they were Elders, the situation was no longer the same. Sending them out would allow them to gain more experience and get to mingle with those from other Sects. That way, they would not be caught unprepared should a situation arise where they needed to lead a team in the future.

[But, why do I have to go along with them?] Including Yang Kai, Qiu Ran had named a total of five people. [It's an event for those below the Emperor Realm. Is there a need for five Elders in the Emperor Realm to lead the delegation? Aren't they making a big deal out of nothing?]

High Heaven Palace was still facing many issues at the moment, and the disciples had yet to be completely settled in. Hence, Yang Kai was reluctant to join the Southern Territory Martial Gathering. He pondered for a moment and said, "Senior Brother, please forgive me. Unfortunately, I have something else…"

Gao Xue Ting cut in, "Don't forget that you are also an Elder of Azure Sun Temple. It's bad enough that you didn't bother showing your face around here for so many years. You should go on this trip if you can make it; otherwise, people might forget that an Elder like you even exists in Azure Sun Temple."

Emperor Realm Masters were the cornerstones of a Sect. They were a stabilizing force and a measure of influence. Thus, the number of Emperor Realm Masters in a Sect was directly related to the Sect's standing in the world. One more or one less would make a huge difference.

Gao Xue Ting obviously meant that he should make an appearance more frequently to remind others about the existence of an Emperor Realm Master like him in Azure Sun Temple.

Having this pointed out, Yang Kai could only nod in agreement, "Alright then. I will go on this trip."

You Kun laughed loudly, "Junior Brother, don't look so displeased. You should know that the Martial Gathering is where many Emperor Realm Masters from many Sects will gather. There will be various meetings and auctions held in private. You might even stumble across a cheap and rare find if you go. Why else do you think the Temple sends so many Elders there?"

Although that was certainly an aspect to be considered, Yang Kai was a relatively wealthy person who could afford to feed more than a hundred thousand disciples, so why would he need to stumble across a cheap and rare find? Nevertheless, he smiled and nodded, "Good, it is as Senior Brother says."

"Then, this matter is settled. You may leave to start your preparations early. We will set off in one month."

After finalizing several matters, everybody began to disperse.

Meanwhile, Yang Kai stopped Di Rong to inform him that he wanted to visit the Cultivation Technique Pavilion to copy some Secret Arts and Secret Techniques. Di Rong naturally agreed to the request and personally led Yang Kai there.

After working hard for the entire day and forking out some Elder Contribution Points, Yang Kai left the Cultivation Technique Pavilion feeling satisfied. He was in no hurry to leave though and instead called on several Elders that he was more familiar with and hosted a banquet on Spirit Sword Peak.

He did not dare to invite Gao Xue Ting over of course. It wasn't that he was disrespecting her, but after the drunken debacle last time, Yang Kai had been left traumatised. That woman was usually pretty upright and magnanimous, but she became a different person when she was drunk. It was an unbearable sight to behold.

After what happened last time, Qiu Ran even punished all the Elders involved by deducting a large sum of Elder Contribution Points. Only Yang Kai had gotten away scot-free since it was his first offence. How could he dare to invite her again after that? Yet for some reason, Gao Xue Ting showed up and sat down at the table. Everybody looked at each other and kept all the wine away in tacit agreement; thus, that meal was a rather bland affair.

Yang Kai remained in Azure Sun Temple for two more days, and on the third day, one hundred Dao Source Realm and four hundred Origin King Realm disciples gathered on Spirit Sword Peak to report for duty. When Yang Kai appeared before them, a loud mixture of voices greeted him as the disciples bowed respectfully, "Greetings, Elder Yang."

He swept his Divine Sense over them and clasped his hands behind his back, nodding in satisfaction. All five hundred of them were lively and spirited. In terms of cultivation, the Temple had done a thorough job selecting them. Whether they were men or women, each one of them was an elite. Rather, it should be said that the aptitude of the cultivators taken in by Azure Sun Temple was excellent to begin with.

Qiu Ran and Gao Xue Ting stood to the side, and after Yang Kai gave his greetings, he turned to the five hundred disciples and said, "I'm sure you've heard from the Vice Temple Master about this matter. I am inviting you to High Heaven Palace in the Northern Territory to become teachers. I hope you will do your best in your task and know that I will not allow your services to go unrewarded."

"Yes, sir!" Everyone promised.

Yang Kai turned his head to the side, "Do Senior Brother Qiu or Senior Sister Gao have anything to say?"

Qiu Ran stepped forward, "No matter what you are about to see later, you will take it with you to your graves. You are not even allowed to tell your fellow Sect members. If you are caught leaking information to others, you will not be forgiven."

"Yes!" The group of disciples couldn't help feeling suspicious. Why would Qiu Ran give them a warning like that?

On the other hand, Yang Kai knew that it must have something to do with the Cross-Territory Space Array. It seemed that the Temple valued this Cross-Territory Space Array more than he thought and were trying to keep it a secret. Yang Kai, on the other hand, couldn't care less about the matter as it had already been exposed after all. In any case, it would not work unless he activated it himself or they had one of his Transmission Tokens. Otherwise, nobody could even think about activating it.

"Let's go!" Qiu Ran waved his hand, leading the way. The rest followed behind him and it didn't take long for them to arrive at the cave at the back of the mountain. Yang Kai made all five hundred disciples enter the cave in groups of ten and stand atop the Space Array. There was no other choice as the space within the cave was too small, and the scale of the Space Array he arranged was not large enough. Teleporting ten people at a time was the limit.

Qiu Ran and Gao Xue Ting watched eagerly from the side. It was clear that they wanted to get a good look at how the Space Array worked. Yang Kai found it amusing and did not try to hide anything from them. Instead, he asked Gao Xue Ting to take out the token he gave her and actively taught her how to activate the Space Array.

Five hundred was neither many nor few, so it took just less than an hour to teleport all of them. When Yang Kai appeared in High Heaven Palace with the last group of people, the great hall was already full of people. Gao Xue Ting had also followed along. Not everyone could get the chance to teleport from the Southern Territory to the Northern Territory in an instant. Besides, she was very curious about the High Heaven Palace that Yang Kai had established. She wanted to come and take a look at the place in person.

Upon receiving the news, Hua Qing Si hurried over to greet Gao Xue Ting with Bian Yu Qing in tow. The two parties got together and talked for a moment before Hua Qing Si led the five hundred teachers away with her. They would soon be assigned to Spirit Peaks to alleviate the pressure on those teachers from Fire Dragon Palace.

Meanwhile, Gao Xue Ting did not leave immediately. Since she was already here, she decided to have a tour of the place. Yang Kai personally accompanied her and led her around High Heaven Palace. Although she seemed calm on the surface, she was shocked to the core inside. There were two main reasons. Firstly, the number of disciples in High Heaven Palace was exactly as Yang Kai had described, more than a hundred thousand in total. People were bustling about on every single Spirit Peak. It was hard to imagine where he managed to recruit so many people.

Secondly, she was shocked by the number of Masters inside High Heaven Palace. She could distinctly sense the aura of many Emperors, two or three among them were even in the Third Order. It was just that their auras were different from ordinary Humans. Their Monster Qi was extremely dense, clearly indicating they were Monster Kings.

She knew that Yang Kai had Monster Kings working under him as back when he brought Ying Fei to the Southern Territory, it had caused quite a commotion. She was just surprised to see that he had more than one Monster King working under him. Aside from those Monster Kings, the Head Manager and Second Manager that she met previously were both Emperors. Moreover, there were some other Emperor Realm Masters concealed on other Spirit Peaks too.

High Heaven Palace's heritage was clearly not something a newly established Sect should have. If it truly managed to train and raise all its disciples, who else but the Great Emperor Sects could compare to them?

Moreover, there were many natural Spirit Arrays in this place. She might not be proficient in the Dao of Spirit Arrays, but she was at least capable of identifying them. The Spirit Arrays covering the Spirit Peaks were extremely exquisite and were clearly arranged by a Grandmaster.

Curious, she questioned Yang Kai about it only to learn that he had an Emperor Array Master working under him! She was so shocked that her jaw unconsciously dropped. It would be interesting to see her reaction when she learnt that there was also an Emperor Artifact Refiner and an Emperor Alchemist working in this place as well. In particular, that Emperor Alchemist was a Legacy Disciple of Wondrous Pill Great Emperor.

Gao Xue Ting stayed in High Heaven Palace for two days before leaving. She had to admit that what she saw during her stay here had shocked her greatly. She initially thought that it was a ridiculous notion and waste of time for Yang Kai to establish his own Sect; thus, she had persuaded him to give up on his Sect and remain in the Temple instead. But now it seemed that she had been ignorant back then. High Heaven Palace was in no way inferior to Azure Sun Temple. Furthermore, being an Elder at Azure Sun Temple could not compare to the status of being the Palace Master of High Heaven Palace.

When Yang Kai saw her to the Space Array, Gao Xue Ting suddenly turned around and told him, "Junior Brother, I've thought about it. Since High Heaven Palace and Azure Sun Temple are connected by a Space Array, it's convenient to travel back and forth between both places. Why don't we exchange goods and supplies? If you can send the specialties of the Northern Territory to the Southern Territory, and vice versa, I'm sure we can profit by a large margin."

Yang Kai sneered in his heart. [I've been doing this for a long time. I don't need you to advise me.]

Nevertheless, cooperating with Azure Sun Temple wouldn't hurt since the existence of his Space Array had been exposed. Although Violet Source Chamber of Commerce was good, the Azure Sun Temple was not weak either. The ability of Azure Sun Temple to collect materials would not be too inferior.

Thus, he nodded, "I was planning to discuss this matter with Senior Brother Qiu. When you get back, you can briefly inform him about it and, if the Temple is interested, I'd be happy to cooperate."

"Senior Brother Qiu will definitely agree to a cooperation." Gao Xue Ting said, knowing Qiu Ran had no reason to refuse a win-win situation, "You should return to the Temple as soon as possible once you finish settling matters here. Then, you can discuss it with Senior Brother yourself."

"I got it."

She then warned, "You better not be late. Don't forget about the Martial Gathering."

"I know. I know."

She glared at him before activating the Space Array and leaving. After watching Gao Xue Ting leave, Yang Kai turned around to leave, but to his surprise, the Space Array behind him rippled and when he glanced behind him, he saw a new figure standing there.

"Brother Li." Yang Kai grinned. The person standing there was none other than Li Jiao who had probably come through the Space Array in Fire Dragon Palace. The two Sects were not that far apart, so there were no side-effects from the teleportation and Li Jiao was able to respond immediately upon hearing Yang Kai's voice, "Brother Yang."

"How did it go?" Yang Kai asked.

Li Jiao sighed in response, "I have done as you asked, but Mi Qi was unwilling to accept your suggestion."

Yang Kai's eyes brightened, "Unwilling? That's good. Very good!"

Li Jiao smiled bitterly. How could he not understand what Yang Kai meant? He had tried to persuade Mi Qi before so as not to give Yang Kai an excuse to make an example out of the latter. Unfortunately, persuasion was completely useless when it came to something like that. If Li Jiao had said any more, the situation would have turned hostile immediately so he just sighed again.

[Things are going to get very rough for Mi Qi soon. I hope Yang Kai doesn't go overboard.]