Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Jon

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Yang Kai decided to start nurturing Dragon Blood Flowers straight away. After he told Zhu Qing about it, she was joyful, but at the same time, she was worried.

She was joyful because if Yang Kai was able to accomplish Fu Zhun's request, then the Dragon Clan had no reason to make things difficult for him anymore, and Fu Zhun wouldn't have any excuse to stop him from entering the Dragon Temple.

At the same time, she was worried that it might be unbearable for Yang Kai's body. Since he had to nurture Dragon Blood Flowers, a lot of blood would be drawn out of him. Although his cultivation was fairly high, it would take an enormous amount of blood for the flowers to grow.

Therefore, she decided to dissuade him from doing so; however, Yang Kai was determined to compensate for the losses and start cultivating the flowers. After a futile attempt, Zhu Qing just let him do whatever he wanted. Nevertheless, on the same night, she set aside her pride as a female Dragon and did whatever to make Yang Kai happy in bed, thus making him completely content.

The next morning, Yang Kai flew towards the Spirit Island where Dragon Blood Flowers were nurtured on his own. Zhu Qing wanted to follow him, but Yang Kai stopped her.

After all, when cultivating Dragon Blood Flowers, he would have to constantly withdraw blood from his body. Zhu Qing might be heartbroken by watching him by the side, which was why he didn't want to bring her with him.

He was familiar with the route leading to the Spirit Island; after all, he had been there once with Fu Ling as the guide.

Fu Ling had to keep watch on the entrance as a punishment, so the person who was guarding the Spirit Island now was a Sixth-Order Green Dragon, Fu Qi.

In the past, it was Fu Qi who came to Half-Dragon City and took a few hundred Dragonborn back to Dragon Island. At that time, he was arrogant and boorish; however, on this day, Fu Qi had been waiting patiently on the beach for a long time.

Seeing that Yang Kai was flying over, he immediately moved forward and put on a smile, "Brother Yang!"

Yang Kai sized him up and smiled faintly, "Brother Fu Qi, why are you here?"

Fu Qi replied, "I've received the order from the Elders to guard Dragon Blood Island, and I'm also here to welcome you." He paused for a moment, "I heard that Brother Yang was going to nurture Dragon Blood Flowers here to restore the number of spirit flowers we used to have on this island."

An embarrassed Yang Kai replied, "En."

All of a sudden, Yang Kai was regretful of his decision. He was the one who had stolen Dragon Blood Flowers, but now, he had to restore everything on his own. It was akin to lifting a stone and then dropping it on his own feet. It was a joyous experience to steal the flowers, but he hadn't expected that he would come back here one day to make himself suffer.

However, there was no turning back as he had made the promise. If he went back on his word now, it would be like slapping his own face. Regardless of the outcome, he had to give it a try. If he couldn't do it in the end, there was nothing else he could do.

Fu Qi became energetic and said, "Brother Yang, you're indeed a righteous man. This Fu thanks you on behalf of all the Brothers and Sisters of my clan." His ranking was low among the Dragon Clan; after all, he only had a Sixth-Order Dragon Vein, so consuming Dragon Blood Flowers was very useful for him. Some time ago, when he heard that Yang Kai had stolen all the Dragon Blood Flowers, he was really resentful of him. As a Sixth-Order Dragon, it would be akin to reaching for the Heavens if he wanted to upgrade his bloodline without the help of Dragon Blood Flowers. Although his bloodline would indeed purify as time passed, that would take thousands if not ten of thousands of years, which was an unbelievably long time even for a member of the Dragon Clan.

So, when he heard that Yang Kai was coming over to nurture Dragon Blood Flowers, he was over the moon. As long as Yang Kai could restore the flowers to their original scale, the grudges between them wouldn't even be worth mentioning anymore.

Yang Kai raised his hand, "I can't guarantee that it'll be successful, but I'll do my best."

Fu Qi said, "Great Elder has said that all the Dragonborn in Half-Dragon City are at your command. If you need them, I can bring them over right now."

"What would I need them for?" Yang Kai pursed his lips. The Dragon Blood Flowers on Dragon Island had been cultivated using the fresh blood from the Dragonborn who lived in Half-Dragon City for tens of thousands of years now, but the results were poor at best, and it would take the flowers a long time to mature using such a method. Yang Kai knew that fully well. If he did the same, he could certainly restore the flowers to their original scale, but he wasn't even sure how long it would take for him to achieve that.

As his gaze darted around, he asked, "Did Great Elder say that all the members of the Dragon Clan are at my command as well?"

A shocked Fu Qi questioned, "Brother Yang, you…"

Yang Kai said, "Since Dragon Blood is needed to cultivate Dragon Blood Flowers, the blood of Pureblood Dragons is definitely much better than that of Half-Dragons. Hmm, I can see that you're energetic and there's a radiant glow on your face, so I think it's fine to draw out some blood from you. Why don't we start with you?"

Upon hearing that, Fu Qi was flabbergasted as he stepped backwards and looked vigilantly at Yang Kai as he waved his hands frantically, "No, no!"

"Why not?"

A flustered Fu Qi explained, "The reason we want to consume Dragon Blood Flowers is to improve and purify our bloodline. If we draw our blood to cultivate the flowers though, it will cause our bloodline to regress, which is counterproductive."

"Really?" Yang Kai was shocked. If that was true, his bloodline would regress as well after he withdrew some blood. Now, when he used his Dragon Transformation Secret Art, he could transform into a 300-metre-tall Half-Dragon. After a regression, his Half-Dragon figure might shrink.

At that instant, Yang Kai had the intention of going back on his word. He indeed wanted to compensate for the Dragon Clan's losses to shut Fu Zhun's mouth; however, if his own interests and power were at stake, he naturally wasn't willing.

As if seeing through his mind, Fu Qi said, "Brother Yang, you don't have to worry about your bloodline. Great Elder has said that you are different from the other members of the Dragon Clan."

Yang Kai shot him a look, "How is the Great Elder so certain about it?"

Fu Qi smirked, "That's what he said, I'm not sure how he came to this conclusion."

At that instant, Yang Kai was extremely worried. It was expected that Zhu Yan would say such things to make him at ease; after all, he wasn't a Pureblood Dragon, so whether or not his bloodline would regress had nothing to do with the Dragon Clan.

Zhu Yan might appear to be benevolent, but it seemed he was actually as untrustworthy as Fu Zhun.

Seeing that Yang Kai's expression had turned gloomy, Fu Qi knew that things were going south. If Yang Kai decided to give up at this point, everything would be over; hence, he immediately said, "Brother Yang, if you're still worried, why don't you give it a try first? If there's really any decline in the purity of your bloodline, you can just stop. Given how sharp your senses are, you will definitely be able to monitor the state your bloodline is in."

Yang Kai's expression turned milder when he heard that, then he nodded, "You're right. Let's not waste any time. I'll give it a try."

"Brother Yang, this way please."

And so, the pair entered Dragon Blood Island together. Dragon Blood Island was one of the Spirit Islands where World Energy was most abundant in the entire Dragon Palace; after all, it was the place where Dragon Blood Flowers were nurtured, so the World Energy had to be ample.

The entire island appeared to be eerily red, as though it was covered with fresh blood. The faint smell of blood permeated the air as well, but it wasn't an unpleasant smell; instead, it exuded a kind of strange yet aromatic scent.

Different Spirit Arrays could be seen everywhere. These arrays were here to draw out the Blood Essence from the Dragonborn. In the past, after Li Jiao was brought to this place, he was confined to one of the arrays, and after it activated, his Blood Essence began leaving his body, and he was unable to stop it. His Blood Essence was then sprinkled around to nurture the Dragon Blood Flowers on this island.

Fortunately, Yang Kai managed to rescue him in time; otherwise, Li Jiao's cultivation would have regressed due to the blood withdrawal. With that said, Li Jiao had obtained some Dragon Blood Flowers and restored his cultivation afterwards, so his bloodline had even improved because of that. The gains were greater than the loss in the end.

Standing to the side, Fu Qi stared fixedly at Yang Kai and said, "There are only about a hundred Dragon Blood Flowers on the island now, and most of them are still immature. Some of the mature ones are Low-Rank. It will no doubt take you some effort to restore everything."

In his heart, he was still somewhat unhappy with Yang Kai. The culprit who had caused the losses was right in front of him, but Zhu Yan had sent him a message to tell him to assist Yang Kai as much as possible.

Just what was the Great Elder thinking?

Upon hearing that, Yang Kai nodded but didn't appear embarrassed, as if he wasn't aware of any of that.

Immature Dragon Blood Flowers were those still in their growth phase, so it wouldn't be beneficial at all even if anyone consumed them. It would just be a waste of these flowers. Only mature Dragon Blood Flowers were able to help improve the Dragon Clan members' bloodline.

They were graded into Low-Rank, Mid-Rank, High-Rank, and Peak-Rank. Naturally, Peak-Rank flowers were the rarest. Previously, Yang Kai had picked two Peak-Rank flowers. Fu Ling told him that they were reserved for Zhu Yan and Fu Zhun as the Elders wanted to consume the flowers later; however, no one could have expected that Yang Kai would be the one who consumed the flowers first.

Moments later, Yang Kai stopped in his tracks and rolled up his sleeves before saying in a hushed voice, "Let's begin."

He wanted to find out whether his blood would have any amazing effects on the Dragon Blood Flowers.

Yang Kai opened his palm and a Dragon Blood Flower appeared on his palm with a thought. He had fished it out from the medicine garden.

Previously, Yang Kai had stolen numerous Dragon Blood Flowers, but he didn't have the time to consume all of them, so he only used up all the Peak-Rank, High-Rank, and Mid-Rank flowers before transplanting the Low-Rank ones into his own medicine garden.

The flower appeared to be scarlet, as if it had been pulled out from a pool of fresh blood, and at the same time, it exuded a faint yet pure Dragon Pressure.

Fu Qi caught his breath and exclaimed, "A Mid-Rank Dragon Blood Flower!"

A startled Yang Kai parroted, "Mid-Rank?"

[Why is it a Mid-Rank one?] He remembered that he had consumed all the Mid-Rank Dragon Blood Flowers; furthermore, he didn't even refine them into pills as he just gulped them down as he was lacking time and adjuvant herbs after refining all the High-Rank and Peak-Rank flowers into pills. Yang Kai was certain that all the Mid-Rank and above flowers were used up, and he was only left with Low-Rank ones.

However, upon closer inspection, the colour and the size of the flower in his hand clearly indicated it was Mid-Rank. After giving it a thought though, Yang Kai quickly understood the reason behind this.

His own medicine garden was basically a paradise for growing Spirit Herbs. With a rich amount of Heavy Earth which provided nutrients, plenty of Earth Vein Crystals for rich World Energy, and the Immortal Tree which constantly exuded unlimited amounts of vitality, just growing Dragon Blood Flowers in the garden for one year was akin to them growing for more than dozens of years in the outside world.

More than ten years had passed since the last time he left Dragon Island.

In other words, these Dragon Blood Flowers had actually grown for the equivalent of several hundred years in the outside world, so it was no wonder that they had gone from Low-Rank to Mid-Rank.

"What's so surprising about it?" Yang Kai scoffed, "Haven't you consumed Mid-Rank Dragon Blood Flowers before?"

Fu Qi smiled helplessly, "I'm only a Sixth-Order, so it's more than enough for me to consume Low-Rank flowers. Once every few dozen years I may get one of the Mid-Rank ones. I guess something embarrassing like this would make Brother Yang laugh."