Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Jon

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Luo Hai Yi asked Yang Kai whether he hadn't brought enough money with him, not whether he didn't have enough money, which was a very considerate question that had significantly lessened his embarrassment.

In response, he nodded his head, but just as he was about to put down the Universe Chart as he had decided to buy it at a later time, he heard Luo Hai Yi asking, "Sir, how much do you still lack?"

"Not much. About 20,000." Yang Kai scratched his face.

After giving it a thought, Luo Hai Yi said, "Sir, if you don't mind, I can lend you the money first and you can repay me at a later time."

Yang Kai turned to look at her in shock as he hadn't expected that she was such a bold person. It had only been two days since they met each other, and their relationship was nothing more than a client and his local guide. Furthermore, she wasn't from a rich family and must have worked for many years to accumulate 20,000 pills.

One had to be truly bold to lend so much money to a stranger; after all, she wasn't even sure who Yang Kai was. If he ran away with her money, there was no way she could find him.

Met with his gaze, Luo Hai Yi said in a small voice, "I trust you, Sir."

Since she had said as much, Yang Kai figured it would be disrespectful to refuse her goodwill; therefore, he nodded, "Alright then, just regard it as me borrowing money from you that I will repay in the near future."

Luo Hai Yi said, "I'll settle the bill."

After that, Yang Kai passed a Space Ring to her and watched her and the maidservant walk towards the counter. In his heart, he thought that Luo Hai Yi was indeed a thoughtful woman. By just helping him make the payment, she had allowed him to avoid a major loss of face. By having her pay, he didn't have to take the pills from her and let others find out he didn't have enough money to pay as she could now just secretly transfer her pills to Yang Kai's ring.

Just a moment later, she returned and said, "Sir, it's done."

After a nod, Yang Kai stuffed the Universe Chart into his Space Ring and left the shop with her.

"Sir, do you need anything else?" Luo Hai Yi asked.

Yang Kai burst into laughter, "I'm basically broke now. What else can I buy?"

In an instant, Luo Hai Yi became bashful as she realised that she had phrased her question the wrong thing, so she hurriedly changed the topic, "Are you going back to take a rest then?"

Yang Kai shook his head. Recalling his experience the previous day, he decided not to go back to First Inn. He had intended to look for an inn to take a rest, but it wasn't possible now; after all, how was he going to get a room at an inn when he didn't have any money?

Luo Hai Yi must have realised this, so she suggested, "Sir, do you want to go to my place?"

"Is that alright for you?" Yang Kai appeared hesitant.

Luo Hai Yi smiled lightly, "It's not a problem. There's no one else in my home as I'm the only…" All of a sudden, she realised that what she had just said might make him misunderstand her. It was as though she was trying to seduce him, which was why her face reddened.

Fortunately, Yang Kai didn't seem to mind it as he lifted his hand, "Let's go, then." It wasn't like he could roam around the city for the entire night as it would be too boring. Moreover, he had just borrowed a significant amount of money from Luo Hai Yi. If he was so eager to part ways with her now, it would make him look like he was trying to avoid repaying his debt; therefore, he decided to take her offer at face value and go with her.

"Then please follow me, Sir," Luo Hai Yi directly led the way for him.

As they moved forward, they slowly left the lively downtown and entered an area that was slightly dilapidated. It seemed to be in the outskirts of the Star City as they were pretty far from the central district now. Houses had been erected everywhere in a disorderly manner, and there wasn't even a single proper road.

From time to time, people could be seen moving around, but their cultivations were all quite low. Most of them were in the Emperor Realm like Luo Hai Yi, but there were still a large number who were even inferior to that.

Yang Kai came to the realisation that this must be where those at the bottom of the social hierarchy lived. Fortunately, even though this place was somewhat dirty and disorganized, it was still within the jurisdiction of the Star City; therefore, no one would dare to make a fuss here.

Apparently, many of the locals knew Luo Hai Yi, so as the pair walked along the streets, a number of people greeted her. When some women saw that Yang Kai was following her, a meaningful look appeared on their faces, which made Luo Hai Yi feel bashful.

Soon, they arrived at a house. Luo Hai Yi stepped forward and turned off the house's barrier; then, she opened the door and stepped aside, "Sir, please come in."

Upon entering the house, Yang Kai looked around and realised that even though the house was small, it was tidy and neatly arranged. There wasn't a yard as there was only a hall and a bedroom in the house. A pleasant scent permeated the air which could make anyone feel at ease.

Luo Hai Yi invited Yang Kai to have a seat as she prepared a pot of tea and said with an apologetic look on her face, "This is a small place. Please don't mind it."

Yang Kai chuckled, "I come from a small town as well, so I'm used to living in poverty."

An amazed Luo Hai Yi said, "Sir doesn't look like you used to be poor."

"What do I look like, then?"

After giving it a thought, Luo Hai Yi replied, "Sir looks like you've been in a position of authority for a long time, wielding great power and wealth."

In response, Yang Kai guffawed.

Luo Hai Yi shook her head, "Sir, please do not think that I'm just flattering you. I've been making a living in this city for over a thousand years, so I'm quite confident in my ability to read people. Why do you think I had the courage to lend you all my savings? That's because I believe you're a trustworthy person. You might become destitute for a short period of time, but you'll eventually rise to great heights."

Hearing that, Yang Kai stopped smiling and carefully examined her. He hadn't expected that this woman, who had been so cautious when they first met, had such an acute understanding of the world.

Luo Hai Yi covered her red lips with her mouth and said apprehensively, "I've said too much. Sir, please forgive me."

Yang Kai waved his hand, "Let's talk about you instead of me. Although your cultivation is not powerful, it's not weak either. Have you never thought of joining a great force?"

With a bitter smile, Luo Hai Yi replied, "Even if there aren't ten thousand people in Star City just like me, there are at least eight thousand, all of us with no backgrounds and connections, so no great force will accept us. What can they do by taking us in? It's not like they'll gain anything from nurturing us." She paused for a moment, "In the past, there was a great force that had come to the city to recruit disciples, but they wanted children who were mouldable. I didn't have such luck."

Hearing that, Yang Kai nodded his head. He was also a Sect Master, which was why he understood this kind of mentality. A Sect would rather spend the time and resources to nurture a disciple from a young age than take in a stranger who had already advanced far on their Martial Dao. This had a bit to do with establishing a proper foundation, but the main purpose was to foster a sense of loyalty to the Sect.

"My only wish is to earn enough money to buy a few Grand Dao Pills to see whether I can condense my Dao Seal. If I can one day reach the Open Heaven Realm, my life will be worth it."

"Are Grand Dao Pills that expensive?"

"Each pill is worth at least 10,000 pills; moreover, it seems that it's difficult to make these pills, so the output is limited. Whenever these pills go on sale, they are snatched up in an instant."

Yang Kai nodded as this was indeed a thorny issue in the Outer Universe. There were probably many people at the Peak Emperor Realm who were unable to condense their Dao Seals, which was why Grand Dao Pills were so sought after. It wasn't hard to imagine that besides people at the bottom of the social hierarchy like Luo Hai Yi, all great forces needed to stock such pills; therefore, the chance for people like her to get even a single such pill was slim.

"How many Grand Dao Pill do you think you'll need?"

"Three pills at the very least." Luo Hai Yi smiled meekly, "My aptitude is somewhat weak, so without three Grand Dao Pills, I'm not confident in condensing my Dao Seal."

Yang Kai nodded as he wondered what Grand Dao Pills were made from. If he had enough ingredients and the pill recipe, he should be able to refine them as well.

After they chatted for a while more, Yang Kai said, "Take a rest. You've worked hard for the entire day."

Luo Hai Yi replied, "I'll do that, then. If there's anything you need, just call out." She didn't reject him as, despite her boldness, she still thought it would be inappropriate to let a man rest in her bedroom.

While she was shuffling towards her room, she suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned around. Then, she hung her head low and asked in a small voice, "Sir, do you need someone to… keep you company at night? I can summon one of those people around here…"

Yang Kai shot her a stiff glance before shaking his head, "There's no need for that."

"En," Luo Hai Yi visibly heaved a sigh of relief, then she entered the room and closed the door.

Yang Kai was left alone in the living room with a helpless expression on his face. He had never expected that he would have to stay overnight in the house of a woman he had just met one day. He decided that he had to get some money the next day to pay Luo Hai Yi back. If there was no other way, he could just sell one of his Sun's True Fires.

A Fourth-Order Sun's True Fire should be worth 150,000 Open Heaven Pills, which would be more than enough to repay Luo Hai Yi and still have plenty left over for him to use. He had 6 Fourth-Order Sun's True Fires and 3 Fifth-Order ones, which were all obtained from the Golden Crow Divine Palace.

A Fifth-Order material was worth on average 1.5 million Open Heaven Pills, and if it weren't for him not being able to pay off his entire debt at once, he would have sold them all so that he would break free from the Proprietress' grip.

When Yang Kai thought about it like that, he realized once more just how much of a massive haemorrhaging the 200,000 pills Wei Que had given him must have been for him. That amount of pills was enough to purchase a Fourth-Order material while Great Moon Province was just a Third-Class force without even a single Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.

After swimming in his thoughts for a bit, Yang Kai fished out Seven Faces and pasted it on his face to continue refining it. At the same time, he took out the Universe Chart and infused a bit of his Divine Sense into it.

He was trying to look for the Star Boundary in the Universe Chart.

It was only a moment later that Yang Kai became astounded as he realised there were over 1,000 Great Territories that had been discovered in the Outer Universe, and these were just the ones that had been charted. There were still unknown Great Territories that had yet to be explored far beyond the borders of the 3,000 Worlds.

Each of the 1,000 Great Territories had a varying number of Universe Worlds as well as Spirit Provinces that were headquarters of different great forces. The location of every Territory Gate and where it led was also indicated in the Universe Chart.

The chart was worth the 450,000 pills Yang Kai had to pay for. It would take tens if not hundreds of years to compile all this information considering the vastness of the Outer Universe, and the chart could still be updated. It was totally worth the price.

On the other hand, anyone with enough money would be willing to buy a Universe Chart, so Four Seas Workshop clearly must earn a massive amount of money from this product.

All the Great Territories had their own names, but Yang Kai soon realised that these names had something to do with the strongest great forces in the respective Territories. For example, the Great Territory where Seven Wonders Land was located was called Seven Wonders Territory. That was because Seven Wonders Land was the most powerful great force in that Great Territory.