Martial Peak

Chapter 1025, Time Is Running Out

This unintentional discovery shook Yang Kai’s mind greatly. Whether or not the strange mass of energy he found was this continent’s Star Source, Yang Kai couldn’t say for sure, and under Gui Zu’s strict surveillance, he didn’t dare investigate it further right now and simply set the issue aside.

However, that didn’t stop Yang Kai from contemplating this situation. If it really was the Star Source of this continent, it must have been formed in the last thousand five hundred years, or it was capable of concealing itself from Gui Zu’s senses. Otherwise, there was no way Gui Zu would be ignoring it.

Yang Kai didn’t retrieve his thread of Divine Sense, allowing it to remain where it was and receive nourishing from the strange energy mass.

He intended to wait for a chance before sneaking over and examining it further.

Leaving a thread of his Divine Sense there would allow Yang Kai to know the accurate location of this energy mass.

Yang Kai made sure to act quietly so as not to draw too much attention from Gui Zu.

As time passed by, Yang Kai’s comprehension of the Dao of Space continued to increase, his Divine Sense was now able to spread out across half of the continent with ease and even jump across space to any particular point in this range to quietly investigate it.

He then began repeatedly exploring the seven coloured sky, constantly experimenting by sending out countless threads of Divine Sense, losing many of them in the chaotic domain but finally gaining some confidence in his ability to leave this place.

He maintained his composure though and didn’t disclose this fact, instead continuing to explore and test his surroundings, striving for perfection.

Every day, Yang Kai would make a progress report to Gui Zu, but he didn’t explain the entire truth, so Gui Zu knew nothing about this.

One day, when Yang Kai returned from exploring the seven coloured sky, he landed on the flat region of the central mountain and smelled a faint bloody scent in the air.

His face changed slightly and he quickly spread out his Divine Sense, soon discovering that something wasn’t right.

Everyone who was still alive on this continent had gathered together, the atmosphere around them heavy as they were immersed in deep discussion.

“What happened?” Yang Kai flew over and asked.

“Someone died!” Shen Tu said with an ugly expression.

Yang Kai was stunned as he turned to see a cultivator lying on the ground, his vitality gone. It looked as if his body had suddenly been exposed to great pressure which caused it to burst open, making for a terrifying scene.

“What side did he belong to?” Yang Kai asked.

“Ours!” He Zao replied dispiritedly.

He Miao and Yue Xi also wore sad and indignant expressions. Even Lu Gui Chen revealed a look of consternation.

When they first arrived here, there were more than a hundred cultivators from Purple Star and Sword Union, but after spending one year here, there were now less than a dozen of them left alive. There had been a brief reprieve for the last couple of months, but now, someone else had died.

No one even knew how he died.

“Who killed him?” Yang Kai looked around and asked.

No one dared to answer, all of them just wearing helpless looks.

Yang Kai immediately understood. In this place, besides Gui Zu, no one else had the guts to kill another.

The old monster’s mood must have been particularly bad, otherwise, he wouldn’t have killed a Junior for no reason.

“Yang Kai, can you talk to Senior Gui Zu? We swear we won’t rebel against him, so can you ask him not to kill us again?” He Zao bit her lip and pleaded to Yang Kai.

This time, it had been a cultivator from Sword Union, the next time Gui Zu decided to kill someone, who knew who would be targeted?

Maybe it would be someone from their side, maybe it would even be them!

Besides Yang Kai who was able to sit back and relax, everyone else was now completely on edge!

Also, once Gui Zu killed everyone here and could no longer see any hope of leaving, he probably wouldn’t let Yang Kai keep his life anymore. He would strip Yang Kai’s Soul from his body then search his memories in order to obtain his insights into the Dao of Space before seeking a way to leave himself.

“Yes, Yang Kai,” Shen Tu also spoke, “Only you can talk to Senior Gui Zu… I don’t want to just inexplicably die.”

Everyone else stared at him eagerly, as if he was their last hope.

Yang Kai gently nodded, “I’ll talk to him, but whether he’ll listen to me, I can’t guarantee.”

“It’s enough if you can put in a word with him,” Shen Tu smiled bitterly.

“He Zao, He Miao, help me bury him,” Yue Xi whispered.

“Yes,” The only three remaining members of Sword Union collected their dead companion before walking off to find a place to bury him.

Yang Kai flew to the mountain cave and after a few twists and turns, came to the stone room where Gui Zu lived.

Yang Kai knew that this stone room existed and that Gui Zu lived here, but it was actually his first time coming to it.

This stone room was very different from all the others and was filled with a thick, seemingly endless darkness. There was no trace of light anywhere and phantasmal wraiths swam about wherever one looked. Upon arriving outside this stone room, Yang Kai felt his whole body shiver as this gloomy scene appeared in front of him and a series of eerie shrieks drilled into his ears.

From the darkness, a few spectres with hideous green auras rushed out and brushed past his body, circling around him as they seemed to harass his mind, trying to pull him into the deepest depths of purgatory, never to return or reincarnate.

Yang Kai went stiff and couldn’t move.

At that moment, a cluster of Demonic Flame suddenly erupted from his body, making it look like he was on fire.

Having done this, he managed to break free from this illusion.

In his ear, Yang Kai heard Gui Zu’s wicked cackle before he asked, “Little brat, what are you doing here?”

Yang Kai frowned, allowing his Demonic Flame to continue burning, dispelling the influence of the various ghost while looking for the right words, eventually deciding to get straight to the point, “Did Senior kill someone today?”

Gui Zu chuckled, “What’s the big deal about killing someone? You wouldn’t be looking for this old master just because of such a minor issue, right?”

“Everyone else outside is very nervous, afraid that they’ll be the next to die,” Yang Kai quickly said.

“En, they should be anxious,” Gui Zu seemed to be very happy, “This place has nothing to do for entertainment, so this old master decided to make his own fun, this old master most likes seeing people on edge and extremely uneasy.”

“Just because you’re bored you decided to kill someone?”

“What of it?” Gui Zu coldly snorted, the dark stone room suddenly brightening and returning to its original state, revealing Gui Zu’s figure sitting at its centre, his pair of gloomy eyes staring straight at Yang Kai while he maintained a malevolent grin, “Did you come here to ask for leniency for them? Were you really such a person? Even if this old master killed all of them, I think you wouldn’t care at all.”

“Senior must be joking, Junior has several friends among those people, naturally I don’t want to see you continue killing them.”

“Friends?” Gui Zu was startled for a moment before bursting out into wicked laughter, “You may be able to deceive others, but you can’t lie to this old master. En, you have some friendship with a couple of those people, but nothing to the extent that you would disobey me for them. If there’s some advantage to it, you’ll be good to them, but if you were to face a crisis, you wouldn’t hesitate to abandon them. You’re not so stupid to not understand what the consequences of disappointing me are!”

Yang Kai remained silent, allowing Gui Zu to continue.

“What you’re afraid of is that once this old master has killed all of those people, he will kill you too!” Gui Zu yelled.

Yang Kai nodded calmly, “Yes, Senior is well aware of Junior’s concerns!”

Gui Zu gently nodded, “If you really have such concerns, you should work harder to find a way to leave this place as soon as possible so we can all leave here before this old master kills all of them and kills you. I believe that you still aren’t trying your best in this matter.”

“Junior has already found some clues,” Yang Kai frowned.

Gui Zu’s body trembled as his eyes lit up, grinning as he said, “Good good, a clue is good. En, this piece of news makes this old master very happy, happy enough to not become bored for a while; you should continue to work hard to not let this old master down!”

“Junior will take his leave!” Yang Kai cupped his fists and quickly withdrew.

The moment he turned around, Yang Kai’s expression became dignified.

He understood that Gui Zu had killed that person not because he was in a foul mood, but rather as a warning to him and to put pressure on him.

Gui Zu should be wary of him concealing something; otherwise, he wouldn’t have suddenly decided to kill someone.

However, Gui Zu didn’t know what Yang Kai was hiding, and it wasn’t convenient to simply come out and ask about it, so he had used this method instead.

He was telling Yang Kai that his patience was limited and that if he couldn’t satisfy him, his fate would be the same as the man who had just died!

Yang Kai understood this so he had spoken a few words to calm Gui Zu down.

However, this small bit of comfort wouldn’t last for very long, the next time Gui Zu became impatient, he may really kill him.

Yang Kai’s face was incredibly ugly and he couldn’t help feeling a deep sense of weakness.

He had always planned to sneak away after finding a way out, not paying any attention to Gui Zu, leaving him here to die in this cage!

However, the difference in strength between them was far too vast, causing Yang Kai to constantly be on the defensive at every turn.

He was aware that his thoughts were somewhat unrealistic.

Even if he really found a way out of this place, before he could escape safely, he would certainly be stopped by Gui Zu.

Yang Kai pondered over the issue incessantly, wondering if he should believe in the oath that Gui Zu made before and take him out of this place, satisfying everyone.

This was undoubtedly very risky, and Yang Kai wasn’t certain if Gu Zui would really honour his word.

All kinds of thoughts flowed through Yang Kai’s mind and his expression became more and more serious.

Back inside his own stone room, Yang Kai sat down cross-legged and began restoring himself while continuing to ponder.

Outside his stone room, light footstep sounded and Bi Ya soon walked in unsolicited, circling around to Yang Kai’s back before pasting her tender body onto him while gently massaging his shoulders.

She then whispered lightly into his ear, “Master, when the day comes that you can leave this place, can you also bring your slave with you?”

“Naturally,” Yang Kai said casually.

Bi Ya wore a forced smiled and continued moving her hands as she spoke, “You don’t need to keep up appearances around me, I know you never planned on leading me out of this place with you… After all, I was rude and disrespectful to you from the moment we met, and I know I’m not a good person.”

Hearing her suddenly admit to her own faults like this, Yang Kai felt confused and didn’t know what kind of scheme she was up to.