Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Danny

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

"Otherwise, why do you think this Old Master is willing to work so hard on catching worms?" The old man continued disdainfully.

Yang Kai rubbed his chin, "No wonder!"

As a Worker, one would receive three Open Heaven Pills every year. Although Yang Kai did not know how significant these three Open Heaven Pills were, he could infer from Die You's tone and attitude before that it was a rather insignificant amount.

Now he learned he could get Open Heaven Pills easily if he could please Ruler of the Dawn Great General. Who would not pursue such a good thing? No wonder the old man was so happy to hear that there were worms on the tree just now.

Yang Kai's eyes could not help following the worm squirming in the box in the old man's hand.

"What are you planning to do?" The old man covered his treasure box, his beard flapping as he stared at Yang Kai, mainly because he had been threatened too many times by this bandit today. He already knew that the young man in front of him was nothing good. He could guess what Yang Kai was up to with just a look on his face.

"Old Sir…" Yang Kai reached out his hand and patted the old man on the shoulder, "There's something you don't know, I promised Ruler of the Dawn Great General two days ago that I would catch five Jade Fire Silkworms for him within a month, but you already know the situation of my land, there are thirty fruit trees in total, how can I get that many worms…"

"Scram!"

"If you don't want to give me the worms, you could at least give me a set of worm-catching tools. That incense seems to be somewhat useful, and this box seems to be specially made too."

The old man was silent, which confirmed Yang Kai's guess.

"Old Sir, you don't want me to haunt you day and night about this, do you?"

The old man sneered, "Do you really think you really can threaten this Old Master?"

Yang Kai quickly responded, "I wouldn't dare. You are a respected Senior, and I'm nothing but a newcomer, how could I be so daring as to be rude to you? But I really don't have any tools to capture worms, and I don't know where to acquire them. We're all in a foreign land, so we should help each other, no?"

The old man's face remained dark and unmoved.

Yang Kai continued, "It's not a big deal, I'll just buy a new set and return it to you in the future. Is that good enough for you?"

"I only have this set! I don't have any extra, so I can't give it to you even if I wanted to." The old man's expression softened a little.

"Then let me borrow it first…" Yang Kai snickered and pointed at the box in his hand, "Lend me that worm too. I'll give you any Open Heaven Pills if I get them."

The old man was moved, "Really?"

Yang Kai put his arm around the old man's shoulders affectionately, "We are neighbours, and we'll see each other regularly as we work together in the future. What's the benefit of me lying to you? It's because I made a promise to Ruler of the Dawn Great General, and I'll be in trouble if I can't complete the task within a month."

"Seems you're at least a bit sincere…" The old man pondered for a while, "If that's the case, this Old Master can lend you this."

Yang Kai quickly noted, "I should mention this, I can't guarantee that Ruler of the Dawn Great General will give me any Open Heaven Pills."

"Naturally." The old man nodded, "I also want to remind you that it is difficult to even catch five Jade Fire Silkworms within a month. We might not get that number even if we combined the worms of both our orchards."

"Even five is difficult?" Yang Kai was stunned.

"There are not many Jade Fire Silkworms to begin with, and we also need to leave some behind to help nurture the Fire Spirit Fruit Trees, so we can't capture them all."

Yang Kai chuckled, "We just have to work hard together for one month. When the time comes, I will be able to complete the task and the Open Heaven Pills will be yours when we are rewarded by Ruler of the Dawn Great General."

"Deal!"

Yang Kai reached to grab the box, and the old man did not refuse this time, and the box went directly into his hand.

Yang Kai extended his hand again, "The incense."

The old man handed over the incense fragments.

Yang Kai asked while examining the object, "Where did you get this thing? I'll have to prepare a set for myself in the future."

The old man replied, "You're new, so of course you wouldn't know. You can buy it at the shopping district when we go back."

Yang Kai nodded. Die You did mention that she would take him to the shopping district in the future. It looked like this trip to the shopping district was a must.

Yang Kai became much more enthusiastic when he received the new tools. He checked the trees one by one, searching for Jade Fire Silkworms, but as the old man said, there were not many, and some needed to be left behind.

He did not manage to find any worms that day, but Yang Kai had now gotten a hang of caring for the fruit trees.

The days went by smoothly as Yang Kai worked hard in his little plot of land as well as the old man's under the latter's guidance. In their free time, the two of them would play games together.

The old man was excellent at chess, and defeated Yang Kai many times, but Yang Kai was not discouraged. Since he was not able to cultivate for the time being, it was a good way to kill some time.

After getting along for more than ten days, their relationship had become a little more cordial.

On the stone table next to a thatched hut under a fruit tree, black and white chess pieces were deployed in formation. Yang Kai sat on the stone bench, staring right in front of him dauntlessly, "Old Fang, it's your turn."

After more than ten days of getting along, Yang Kai learned that the old man's surname was Fang, but he did not know his full name. The old man did not disclose it, and he did not seem to mind when Yang Kai repeatedly addressed him as Old Fang either.

On the opposite side, Old Fang smiled when he heard the words, picked up a chess piece, and taunted, "Smelly brat, you play chess too aggressively. Your killing intent is too strong!"

He placed the chess piece down, and the encirclement that Yang Kai had worked so hard to set up fell apart in an instant, allowing the black dragon to open up a bloody path.

Yang Kai could not help gaping.

Just when he was thinking hard, he heard a pop, and a figure appeared next to him.

Old Fang immediately got up and saluted respectfully, "Manager Zhou!"

The visitor was Zhou Zheng.

Yang Kai also stood up and cupped his fists, "Greetings, Manager Zhou."

Zhou Zheng glanced at the two of them, and frowned, "What are you doing here when you're supposed to be tending the fruit trees?"

Yang Kai replied, "I have already taken care of them. I have nothing to do, so I came to spend some time with Old Fang."

"You're done taking care of them?" Zhou Zheng smiled, "How can you be so confident as a newcomer?"

Yang Kai explained, "Although I am a newcomer, I have benefited a lot from Old Fang's teachings, and already learned how to take care of the fruit trees. If Manager Zhou is doubtful, I can accompany you to inspect them."

"There's no need. This Manager is in charge of the entire orchard, and I don't have the time to investigate each and every plot of land, but I want to remind you that a few fruit trees have died in your land over the past few years. You'd better pay more attention. If something goes wrong, no one can protect you!"

"Many thanks for Manager Zhou's reminder!" Yang Kai sounded grateful, but in fact, he was disgusted. Why did he not inform Yang Kai at the beginning when he was assigned to such a piece of land? However, Zhou Zheng's seemingly kind expression did not allow him an opportunity to complain about it. Furthermore, Zhou Zheng was the Manager of the orchard, and he was only a Worker. It would only put him at a disadvantage if he really started a conflict with him.

Zhou Zheng nodded and continued, "Be more diligent in your work. The Fire Spirit Fruit will mature in three years. It will benefit us a lot if we can complete the tasks assigned by Venerable." He pointed at the chessboard, "You better not do such activities anymore, if the Chief Manager calls for an inspection and sees it, you will be in deep trouble."

"Yes!" Old Fang nodded respectfully.

Without another word, Zhou Zheng took off into the sky. It seemed that he was going to visit other places.

When he was far away, Old Fang finally sighed, "Get an opportunity to send something over to him. It seems that you really offended him."

Yang Kai wondered, "Why do you say so?"

Old Fang explained, "This is not the first time he has seen me play chess with others, but he has never said anything about it before, only today. Why do you think he did that?"

Yang Kai found it funny and infuriating at the same time, "I'm a newcomer, what do I have to give him? This person is really too petty." He wondered what happened to Ah Sun as she probably did not send him anything either.

Old Fang pointed at him and lectured, "Smelly brat, if you want to live a good life, you can't be stingy, you know? We are his subordinates after all."

Yang Kai did not want to continue the topic, so he changed the subject and asked, "He mentioned a Chief Manager, who is that?"

"The orchard in each Spirit Land has a Manager just like him, but there is also a Chief Manager above them, who reports directly to Heavenly Monarch. The Chief Manager is Heavenly Monarch's right-hand man, so even Venerables have to pay him respect."

Yang Kai nodded in acknowledgement.

"By the way, what's wrong with your land, have you found anything yet?" Old Fang asked again.

"There's no problem!" Yang Kai frowned, "I have checked the entire land inside and out more than ten times, but there's nothing wrong with it! You can see how healthy the fruit trees are now. If there is a problem, the fruit trees would be the first to react to it."

Old Fang sighed, "Actually, Manager Zhou also checked the place himself, but he found nothing, yet still the trees died somehow. You better pray for yourself."

"Let's not talk about this, what matters now is the five Jade Fire Silkworms. What do you think will happen if I fail to fulfill the requirements of Ruler of the Dawn Great General?"

"It certainly won't be good."

"Could he have forgotten about it? After all, he's just a chicken!"

"Great General may forget other things, but he certainly won't forget about Jade Fire Silkworms."

"That's troublesome…" Yang Kai frowned.

Since he caught the first Jade Fire Silkworm that day, he had not found a second one. Although Old Fang's fruit trees did have Jade Fire Silkworms, they couldn't be removed. Old Fang told him that a number of worms must be left behind as if all were caught, it would definitely have an undesired impact on the fruit trees, and a matter that affected the fruit trees was a matter of life or death to Workers.

Yang Kai believed that if he insisted on capturing the worms, Old Fang would go all out with him.

His eyes flickered, and Yang Kai immediately lowered his voice, "Do you think I can go to someone else's orchard to search for the worms…"

Old Fang smiled wryly, "No one in their right mind would agree with you doing that."

Yang Kai patted him on the shoulder, "So Old Fang, I'm counting on you to help."

Old Fang exclaimed, "What can I do to help?"

Yang Kai bent his fingers and motioned for the old man to lean over, and whispered for a while.

Old Fang's face became increasingly darker, and before Yang Kai could finish speaking, he burst out, "Scram! I can't believe you could come up with such a terrible idea! If we get caught, both you and I will be finished!"

"Don't exaggerate things," Yang Kai was stunned, "I just want you to help me distract them."