Martial Peak

Yang Kai didn’t react excessively, simply turning his gaze in the direction the beggar disappeared, lightly sneering before shooting off in pursuit.

In the sky above Fragrance City, the beggar rapidly sped along, turning his head back anxiously in the direction of the palace but failing to find any trace of the young man. While desperately looking around for a trace of the youth, he suddenly noticed another person flying right beside him, his eyes bulging in shock.

“You…” The beggar stared dumbfounded, his face going completely pale as if he had just seen a ghost. He couldn’t believe that someone could actually surpass his speed.

He was proudest of his instant acceleration and rapid speed and truly thought that no one in the world could match him. Even the Demon Lord, Yang Bai, who was acknowledged as the strongest cultivator in this world, had nothing but praise for his speed.

However, this young man, even after giving him a head start, had instantly caught up with him, and from the looks of it, he wasn’t even using his full strength.

How could he not be shocked?

“Shadow King, don’t waste your energy, it’s impossible for you to escape!” Yang Kai coldly snorted as a burning power erupted from his body and surged out like an invisible punch, slamming into the beggar’s body, sending the latter miserably tumbling through the air.

After managing to stabilize himself, the Shadow King stood mid-air, his expression fluctuation as he stared at Yang Kai with dread, a deep sense of unwillingness flashing across his face.

He hadn’t expected that not only would he be inferior to the other side in terms of speed, but also in terms of strength. The casual blow just now had made him painfully aware of the huge gap between them, causing his will to escape to dampen significantly.

It was just like the other party had said, in the face of absolute power, any resistance was futile.

The energy fluctuations that spread out alarmed all of Fragrance City’s cultivators down below, each of them raising their heads to see what was happening.

After catching sight of the two figures floating high up in the sky, many people called out in surprise.

“Hey, isn’t that the beggar who is always in front of the Demon Queen’s palace?”

“Yeah, he sits there in front of the door all day; I don’t know how Lady Demon Queen endures him.”

“If it was me, I would have driven him away long ago.”

“Looking at him now though, it’s obvious he’s no simple beggar… How could someone so powerful have fallen into such a destitute state?”

“Rather, who is that young man with him. Doesn’t he seem even more powerful?”

“…”

The exclamations continued as Fragrance City’s cultivators moved closer to the pair, wanting to see more clearly, and soon, the streets below and the nearby roofs were full of people. There were even some more courageous cultivators who flew up into the air and gathered around, hoping there would be a good show to watch.

Yang Kai turned a blind eye to this, the strength of these Fragrance City cultivators was nothing to him.

“Yang Family little brat, do you really insist on ruthlessly killing to the last?” The beggars face filled with grief and indignation as he sorrowfully shouted.

“It’s not that I want to act ruthlessly,” Yang Kai slowly shook his head, “I’m just curious why the Lightning Flash Shadow King, one of the six Great Evil Kings, is actually dressed up as a beggar and loitering around Fragrance City.”

“Lightning Flash Shadow King?” Many of the spectators called out in shock upon hearing this name.

“It couldn’t be, right?”

“That beggar is actually Lightning Flash Shadow King?”

“Now that I look at him, he does bear some resemblance…”

“It really is Lightning Flash Shadow King that disappeared more than ten years ago! We all thought he was dead but it turns out he’s alive and living in Fragrance City!”

“Oh shit, when I passed by him a few days ago, I actually spat on him… Isn’t that no different from killing myself?” One man shouted, paling with fright.

“I also kicked his foot once… Do you think Lord Shadow King will find me to settle accounts?” Someone else stuttered.

The nearby cultivators all cast these people sympathetic looks, as if they were paying tribute to the dead, causing those who had just spoken to become even more terrified.

“Fortunately, when I passed by him last time, I tossed him some money! It seems my charitable heart has finally won me some good fortune, hahaha!” While some people were panicking when the beggar’s true identity was revealed, others were actually celebrating, the peoples’ moods varying greatly among the crowd.

Lightning Flash Shadow King, together with Thunderbolt Beast King, Annihilating Poison King, Profound Yin Ghost King, Tyrannical Force King, and Beguiling Demon Queen were known as the Six Great Evil Kings.

Before the appearance of the Demon Lord, the entire Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land had been ruled by the six of them, with the Central Capital as their common enemy.

During the Central Capital’s catastrophe a decade ago, the six Great Evil Kings, led by Demon Lord Yang Bai, had turned out in full force to crusade against the Eight Great Families.

However, at the end of the battle, Yang Bai died and the Six Great Evil Kings suffered heavy losses. Besides Shan Qing Luo who managed to escape without a scratch, the other five Evil Kings suffered terrible losses, four of them dying while only Lightning Flash Shadow King managed to flee.

Since then, no one had heard anything about him.

Many people said that he had died from his wounds, while others thought he had secluded himself in some remote mountain to hide.

After all, the Central Capital had many powerful masters left, if he dared to show up, he would no doubt be targeted.

No one could have imagined that he had actually disguised himself as a beggar and hidden inside Fragrance City, enduring humiliation every day in order to live on dishonourably.

If Yang Kai had not come to Fragrance City today to find Shan Qing Luo, it was quite possible his identity would never have been exposed.

He might have been able to deceive others, but there was no way he could conceal himself from Yang Kai’s senses.

A Second-Order Transcendent was already the highest level of master in this world; it would have been strange for Yang Kai to not notice him.

“Yang Family little brat, I am already no longer the Lightning Flash Shadow King and am no longer an enemy of your Central Capital Eight Great Families. I only want to live out the rest of my life in peace, why must you act so aggressive towards me?” Shadow King shouted.

“If that’s true, why are you disguising yourself while sitting outside Shan Qing Luo’s palace? What exactly are you plotting against her?” Yang Kai coldly snorted.

“Plotting against her?” Shadow King gawked before grumbling, “Aren’t you misunderstanding things? The reason I can stay in front of her palace is because I reached an agreement with her. Why else do you think I would be sitting here?”

“She agreed to let you stay here?” Yang Kai frowned before waving his hand, sending out a golden rope that directly tied up the Shadow King, “Whether or not that’s true, we’ll soon see. If it turns out you’re lying to me, today you will die without a doubt.”

Shadow King tried to struggle, but quickly discovered that this True Qi rope was not something he could break; on top of that, his own True Qi was being sealed, causing him a great deal of panic, as if he hadn’t imagined that Yang Kai’s strength had already reached such a frightening height.

Realizing this, he urgently called out, “You won’t find her here, she’s no longer in Fragrance City.”

“Not here?” Yang Kai’s brow furrowed even deeper as he released his Divine Sense across the entire city, soon discovering there really was no trace of Shan Qing Luo’s aura, a hint of loneliness welling up in his heart.

“Where did she go?”

“There are still a few people inside the palace, you can ask them,” Lightning Flash Shadow King grumbled unhappily.

“Good!” Yang Kai nodded, pulling the Shadow King along as he flew into Shan Qing Luo’s palace.

Fragrance City’s cultivators were left dumbfounded by everything they had just witnessed and were unable to calm down for quite some time.

The Evil Kings were the greatest powerhouses of the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, each one of them synonymous with ‘supreme’; but now, some unknown youth that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere had actually defeated and captured one of those Evil Kings.

What’s more, he had accomplished this feat as easily as if he were pinching a turtle.

This made all of them feel as if they were dreaming, many cultivators rubbing their eyes or even pinching themselves to determine if all of this had been some kind of dream or illusion.

However, all they saw the gradually disappearing Yang Kai and Lightning Flash Shadow King.

Inside the palace, several of the maids had overheard the ruckus outside and rushed out just in time to see Yang Kai enter.

When they saw who this intruder was, all of them called out in shock.

The mature beauty Yun Li and the maid sisters Ruo Yu and Ruo Qing, the three Shan Qing Luo had sent to attend to Yang Kai, were the ones who had come out.

“Young Master Yang?” Yun Li covered her mouth and cried out.

Yang Kai smiled and nodded.

“Senior Shadow King… how did you…” Yun Li looked over at the distressed Lightning Flash Shadow King with a confused expression.

“I’ll have to trouble you to explain to this Yang Family little brat that it was your Mistress who agreed to to let me stay in Fragrance City,” Lightning Flash Shadow King grumbled unhappily.

Yang Kai turned to Yun Li and said, “You don’t need to fear him, just speak the truth.”

Yun Li smiled helplessly and nodded, “Young Master Yang, it was indeed Demon Queen who agreed to him staying here on the condition that he guarded the palace. Since Mistress left all those years ago, Senior Shadow King has been secretly guarding all of Fragrance City ensuring that no turmoil occurs. Outsiders don’t even know that Mistress Demon Queen is gone, all of them believe she is just in secluded retreat.”

Yang Kai was somewhat surprised and knit his brow, but since Yun Li had said so, it meant that Shadow King had not lied to him. Releasing the Imprisoning Heaven Chain casually, Yang Kai continued, “You said a moment ago that Shan Qing Luo left Fragrance City a long time ago, yes? Where did she go?”

Yun Li, Ruo Yu, and Ruo Qing all shook their heads, “We don’t know where Mistress went, but before she left, she seemed to mention something to Senior Shadow King, so he should have some idea.”

Yang Kai glanced over at Lightning Flash Shadow King indifferently.

Shadow King seemed to mutter a few curses under his breath before angrily reporting, “Shan Qing Luo said that she was going to look for you. As for what her exact destination was, she didn’t say.”

“Looking for me? She should have known I wasn’t in the Central Capital anymore, how did she intend to find me?”

“She didn’t go to the Central Capital to find you. Before she left she spoke some strange words, something about a higher level world, similar to what Yang Bai said in the past.”

Yang Kai trembled, suddenly remembering that when he had left he had told some things to Shan Qing Luo.

“When did she leave?”

“Two years after you disappeared. She said that you still had her Soul Seeking Seal on you, so as long as she could arrive in the world you had gone to, she would be able to easily find you.”

Yang Kai nodded, confirming that what Shadow King was saying was true.

Shan Qing Luo placing her Soul Seeking Seal on him was something only the two of them knew about, so the only way Shadow King could have learned about it was if Shan Qing Luo had mentioned it to him.

“What about Bi Luo?”

“She also left with Mistress.”

Yang Kai sighed helplessly.

He hadn’t anticipated that this seductress would actually leave the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land in order to search for him, even seeking a way into the higher world.

He didn’t know if she succeeded either. If she did, that would mean she was also in Tong Xuan Realm; but if that was the case, why hadn’t she come to see him after so long?

Yang Kai had completely lost any clues about her.

Understanding the depths of this devilish woman’s emotional entanglement with him, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling somewhat moved. At first, when she was constantly pestering him, Yang Kai couldn’t wait to shove her away, but now that he was actually unable to see her, he actually felt somewhat desolate.

At that same time, Yang Kai felt a sense of guilt towards her.

“There, I’ve told you everything I know. If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with,” Shadow King coldly snorted, seemingly resigned to his fate.