Martial Peak

Every artifact Chang Qi and Hao An possessed, whether it was offensive or defensive, was Origin Grade High-Rank, and the pills they used were of a quality that filled Ning Xiang Chen with envy.

Having spent most of his life poor, Ning Xiang Chen had scraped together to purchase a single Origin Grade Low-Rank artifact, and in order to repair it, he had to search for a year to find the appropriate materials.

Chang Qi had even given him a few pills to help him restore his strength just now, but he had been unwilling to eat them and had instead quietly stored them away.

Thinking he might soon be able to own such things, Ning Xiang Chen felt more confident that his choice today was right.

As these laughs and cheers were ringing out though, Yang Kai suddenly frowned and his expression sank again.

Chang Qi noticed this and quickly asked, “What happened?”

“A lot of honoured guests have come to visit, we should go out and greet them together,” Yang Kai sneered.

“Honoured guests?” Chang Qi and the others exchanged a confused glance but soon understood, immediately frowning as they followed Yang Kai outside.

The dense fog covering Dragon Cave Mountain tumbled again and soon revealed a passageway to outside the formation. A moment later, four figures, led by Yang Kai, emerged from this opening.

In an instant, countless eyes fixed on their group of four, and after noticing that Yang Kai and the others were completely unscathed, everyone was startled, and their expressions changed to ones of surprise, suspicion, and disbelief.

Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu, however, just raised their brows, their reactions differing greatly from all the others. Both of them let out nearly imperceptible sighs of relief as they nodded to Yang Kai, not greeting him openly.

“Such a grand lineup!” Ning Xiang Chen stood behind Yang Kai and exclaimed as he swept his eyes around.

Outside Dragon Cave Mountain’s Mountain Defending Array, countless masters were hovering mid-air or rapidly approaching, all of them observing the situation curiously. Even without mentioning Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu, Ning Xiang Chen recognized a number of these masters such as Mo Xiao Sheng of Heaven Battling Union, Thunder Typhoon Sect’s Cheng Peng Xuan, Jin Shi of Demon Blood Temple, Myriad Beast Mountain’s Old Woman Feng, Coloured Glass Sect’s Gong Ao Fu, as well as Elder level characters from Grand Fire Temple, Clear Sky Sect, Twin Heart Valley, Sea Temple, and others. Even Yan Pei and Ren Tian Rui, the Black-Faced Master and Disciple duo from Treasure Trove Pavilion, were here.

These masters each brought disciples from their respective Sects and had formed a kind of loose encirclement around Dragon Cave Mountain, exerting a crushing sense of pressure from their mere presence.

In terms of Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters, there were around twenty, while Second-Order and First-Order Origin Returning Realm masters were even more numerous.

It was as if Dragon Cave Mountain had suddenly become a delicious piece of meat everyone wanted a piece of!

Ning Xiang Chen could not help drawing in a sharp breath as he felt quite terrified in his heart.

The masters who were gathered here right now could represent essentially all Shadowed Star’s great forces.

Of note were Jin Shi and Old Woman Feng, who were staring at Yang Kai angrily, as if they wanted to burn holes in his body with their gaze alone.

After all, many of their Sect’s disciples had participated in the attack on Dragon Cave Mountain this time, including two Second-Order Origin Realm masters. Yang Kai being able to appear here safe and sound while their own subordinates were nowhere to be seen made it easy to guess what kind of fate had befallen them.

However, did Dragon Cave Mountain really have such great ability? Could it really have killed all the enemies which intruded just now?

Not only did Jin Shi and Old Woman Feng have their suspicions, everyone present was thinking about this issue. But if those people weren’t dead, how could Yang Kai be standing in front of them right now?

What had happened inside Dragon Cave Mountain’s Mountain Defending Array? Everyone was confused, and although each of the people who had come here was a master, none dared to underestimate Dragon Cave Mountain again. Nevertheless, no one could resist directing fiery eyes towards Dragon Cave Mountain’s Mountain Defending Array and the subsequent Spirit Arrays it was concealing.

This was only natural as the profoundness of these barriers and Spirit Arrays was truly astonishing. If they could find an opportunity to snatch up the master responsible for arranging these Spirit Arrays and bring them back to their Sect, they would surely be able to greatly improve the quality of their own Sect’s Spirit Arrays.

“Junior Yang Kai greets the many Seniors!” Yang Kai shouted aloud, his expression neither humble nor overbearing, “So many Seniors arriving today is quite unexpected, causing this Junior’s reception to be somewhat lacking. If I have been negligent in my hospitality, please forgive me.”

The masters from the various great forces either narrowed their eyes or raised their brows, but no one answered. After all, not many people had a friendship with this Dragon Cave Mountain or Yang Kai. Most of them had come here simply because they were curious, while a few had their own concerns about the situation.

As for Yang Kai, a trivial Saint King Realm Junior, none of them paid him any attention.

Only Qian Tong chuckled and said heartily, “There’s no need for you to concern yourself with us, we old folks were simply idle and bored, so we’ve come over to see what was happening here.”

Qian Tong’s one sentence swept everyone up into this category, causing many masters to glare at him fiercely.

“Oh… So it’s like this,” Yang Kai grinned and said indifferently, “Then I’m afraid I must disappoint several Seniors. Dragon Cave Mountain is but a small humble place with nothing of interest to see.”

Such an obvious eviction could be heard by a deaf person as Yang Kai was essentially telling them all to leave.

However, since these masters had taken the trouble to come here, how could they just walk away now? Others might not care, but Jin Shi and Old Woman Feng would not be willing to give up and leave. At this point, most of the cultivator’s eyes fixed on Jin Shi and Old Woman Feng, waiting for them to reply.

In this situation, Jin Shi and Old Woman Feng were naturally unable to back down, so the former coldly snorted and with an aloof look questioned Yang Kai impatiently, “Boy, this old master must ask you. Where are those people who entered your mountain before?”

“So it is Senior Jin Shi!” Yang Kai said, as if he only noticed him just now, putting on a respectful look, but saying in a casual tone, “Does Senior mean the group of people from the Xie Family?”

Jin Shi lightly coughed, “Yes, this old master is referring to the Xie Family people, where are they now?”

Although everyone knew that cultivators from Demon Blood Temple had participated in this siege, Jin Shi was not stupid enough to admit this because this time’s incident was a simple dispute between Dragon Cave Mountain and the Xie Family on the surface. In other words, those who participated in this battle all belonged to the Xie Family disciplines, there were no outsiders.

“If Senior cares so much about those Xie Family people, I’m afraid I must disappoint you,” Yang Kai’s mouth curled upwards.

“Why do you say so?” Jin Shi’s heart sank.

“Heh heh, why does Senior Jin Shi insist on asking a question he knows the answer to? Since those people dared to break into my Dragon Cave Mountain, intent on finding trouble with this Junior, naturally this Junior has sent them to their deaths; after all, Junior is not a mild-tempered person,” Yang Kai’s expression gradually turned cold.

Several gasps could be heard as everyone’s expression filled with shock.

Although everyone had such speculations before, secretly thinking that the group that had broken into Dragon Cave Mountain must have suffered a disastrous fate, when this was confirmed by Yang Kai himself, they still found it difficult to believe.

Even Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu almost had their eyes pop out of their sockets, their expressions not much calmer than the other masters present, as if they had all seen a ghost.

Among the group of people who had participated in the raid just now, there had been more than thirty Origin Realm masters, including three who were Second-Order, as well as some two hundred Saint King Realm cultivators. Such a force had invaded this tiny Dragon Cave Mountain, yet had been completely wiped out?

How could that be?

Did Dragon Cave Mountain really have such hidden power? If that was the case, then this small hill could already be considered a second-class force.

“With just your pitiful strength? Hmph, shameless boasting,” Old Woman Feng’s temper had always been short, so seeing Yang Kai act so rampant, a trace of anger emerged on her old face as she stamped her dragon-head walking stick mid-air. Obviously, she didn’t believe Yang Kai and instead thought he had used some kind of Spirit Array to trap the invasion force.

“Senior Feng doesn’t believe me?” Yang Kai cast a sidelong glance towards her.

“Ignorant boy, this old woman’s life has been long but she has never before heard such a terrible joke,” Old Woman Feng had barely finished her words when her face changed wildly because she saw Yang Kai suddenly take out an ominous looking one-handed hatchet and casually play with it.

“Grandmother, that’s…” The face of Feng Yan, who was standing beside Old Woman Feng, also changed dramatically because she too recognized this Origin Grade Mid-Rank one-handed hatchet artifact as the most prized weapon of the old man who had led Myriad Beast Mountain’s forces here. Considering that the old man was reluctant to even show others this artifact, other than him being dead, what other explanation could there be for Yang Kai now possessing it?

It seems that the old man had really died!

If even a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master had died, there was no hope anyone else had survived.

With the facts laid bare in front of her face, Old Woman Feng was no longer able to deceive herself.

Yang Kai simply sneered and declared coldly, “Although my Dragon Cave Mountain isn’t some great force, it is also not a place that can be casually bullied. Since several Seniors are here today, Junior will bravely say this, if any blind fool dares have ideas about my Dragon Cave Mountain in the future, they will share the Xie Family’s fate.”

“Boy, are you threatening us?” Jin Shi stepped forward and asked fiercely.

“Old Ghost Jin!” Qian Tong coldly snorted, “Did you hear Yang Kai threaten you? He only referred to blind fools seeking trouble with him. Or what, does your Demon Blood Temple have a policy of using strength to bully the weak?”

Qian Tong could naturally see that Jin Shi wanted to use Yang Kai’s words as a pretext to launch an attack, so how could he give him the chance? Even without mentioning that Qian Tong always stood on Dragon Cave Mountain’s side, Shadow Moon Hall’s current embarrassing situation had caused him a stomach full of grievances, so now that an opportunity to ridicule and vent had come up, Qian Tong planned on taking full advantage of it.

After hearing these words, Jin Shi glanced over at Qian Tong and frowned, but didn’t press the matter any further; after all, this was still technically Shadow Moon Hall’s domain so it wasn’t wise for him to stir up too much trouble.

“You certainly are bold!” On the other side, Old Woman Feng grit her teeth and shouted, “Sure enough, heroes emerge from the younger generation, it seems this old woman has greatly looked down on your courage.”

Yang Kai grinned, “Many thanks for Senior Feng’s undeserved praise. Many people have said similar things in the past, but this Junior still has yet to figure out where the limits of his courage lie.”

*Puchi…*

A stifled laugh rang out from nearby as Dai Yuan of Coloured Glass Sect was unable to hold herself back.

In response, Gong Ao Fu shot her a stern glare.

Yin Su Die also wore a displeased look as she muttered, “Hmph, just some meaningless self-satisfaction, just looking at this little brat’s lawless appearance it’s clear that he’ll meet a terrible end sooner or later. Senior Sister, it’s best if you don’t involve yourself with him any further.”

“Junior Sister need not concern herself with my affairs, just attend to yourself,” Dai Yuan replied flatly.