Martial Peak

Half a month later, a one hundred metre long Starship was suspended quietly in mid-air outside the Flowing Flame Sand Field while Chang Qi, Hao An, Wu Yi, and Qian Yue were anxiously waiting inside.

After the Emperor Garden’s sudden change that day, Yang Kai and Yang Yan had left the Starship and disappeared, not returning even until now.

No one knew where they had gone, but after this Starship arrived at the Flowing Flame Sand Field smoothly, Chang Qi and the others did not dare to rush in and could only stop outside and wait.

Fortunately, after the battle half a month ago, Dragon Cave Mountain’s reputation had become famous, so even if the Starship was just floating here and was incredibly eye-catching, no one dared to try finding trouble with it.

After the disappearance of the First-Layer Flame Area of the ​​Flowing Flame Sand Field, many cultivators had been attracted to this place, so rather than being deserted like normal, the region around the Flowing Flame Sand Field had become quite lively.

Now that such a Starship had suddenly appeared here, it naturally attracted much attention.

Chang Qi and the others had been waiting here for three days now but still had not seen any trace of Yang Kai or Yang Yan. Just as they were becoming anxious though, the buck-toothed Ge Qi suddenly raised his brow and with a joyful look shouted, “Martial Ancestor is back, she’s just three thousand kilometres away!”

“Oh?” Wu Yi was overjoyed, not doubting him in the slightest as she quickly said, “Since Senior Ye is back, Yang Kai and Big Sister Yang Yan must be back as well.”

Saying so, she immediately ordered the Starship’s main hatch to be opened as everyone gathered around respectfully.

Sure enough, a moment later, a stream of light from the horizon shot over and arrived in front of the Starship. When this brilliant glow dispersed, a very small Starship appeared in its place, looking like a shark which had leapt out of the sea. Naturally, it was the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle refined by Yang Yan.

Yang Kai, Yang Yan, and the woman surnamed Ye all flew out from inside before Yang Yan quickly took back the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle.

Floating mid-air, Yang Kai released his Divine Sense all around and could not help frowning.

He noticed that there were many cultivators lingering nearby the Flowing Flame Sand Field when he and the others arrived, most of them showing curious looks as they stared towards them and whispered amongst themselves.

Standing on the spot and pondering for a moment, Yang Kai suddenly circulated his Saint Qi and shouted, “From today on, the region ten thousand kilometres outside the Flowing Flame Sand Field belongs to Dragon Cave Mountain. Please leave quickly. Those who intrude upon this range after today will be considered enemies of Dragon Cave Mountain and will bear the consequences!”

With just these words, countless people went into an uproar.

Although Dragon Cave Mountain had won an awe-inspiring battle half a month ago, causing many masters from various great forces to suffer heavy losses, in the end, this was all just rumours and hearsays. Whether it was true or not, no one here had been able to confirm, so when Yang Kai made such a declaration it was no different from him carelessly poking a hornet’s nest.

This could not be helped though; after all, with the strange disappearance of the First-Layer Flame Area of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, the Second-Layer Treasure Area had been exposed. Although the cultivators who had come here had not found many precious herbs, they were able to occasionally discover some rare ores.

It was even rumoured that there was an incredibly rich Saint Crystal lode in the Second-Layer Treasure Area where countless Saint Crystals could be found, enough to allow a small Sect to rise to the level of a first-class Sect.

Saint Crystal lodes were scarce on Shadowed Star, and although all the great forces had Saint Crystal lodes under their control, none of them had an abundance and their mining efficiency was not very high.

Most of the cultivators who came here did so with the idea of looking for that Saint Crystal lode, so how could they bear Yang Kai simply trying to drive them out?

All of a sudden, the crowds became indignant and began noisily clamouring, shouting out things like ‘the law does not punish the public’, that ‘the Flowing Flame Sand Field was one of the Three Great Forbidden Zones and thus belonged to all of Shadowed Star’, and so on and so forth.

Listening to all this noise coming from all directions, Yang Kai’s expression remained indifferent and unmoved. In the future, he would regard the Supreme Profound Sect ruins inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field as his new home, so it was naturally impossible for him to allow irrelevant people to loiter nearby.

“Shut up!” Before Yang Kai could speak again though, the woman surnamed Ye suddenly shouted while using her Peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation in combination with a profound Soul type Secret Technique. As a result, although her shout had not been too loud, it instantly caused all of those who were clamouring just now to become dizzy and their faces to fill with shock.

The scene immediately fell silent.

Sweeping her beautiful eyes around, the woman surnamed Ye declared coldly, “You have one day to comply. After that, if this Queen sees you still here, don’t blame this Queen for being impolite.”

As these words fell, a powerful coercion suddenly spread out, as if the surrounding space had suddenly solidified. All the nearby cultivators were instantly wrapped up in this invisible power and were shocked to find that not only could they not move or speak, even their Saint Qi no longer circulated.

Under this kind of pressure, it was as if they had all become tiny ants.

This was the power of a Shi that had reached the grand accomplishment stage, so how could these stray cats and dogs resist? Even if a top Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master fell into the Shi of this woman surnamed Ye, they would feel like they had become stuck in a quagmire, their mobility and strength greatly suppressed, let alone these stray cultivators.

“A Third-Order Origin Realm master!” Suddenly, someone with sharper judgement realized what kind of cultivation the woman surnamed Ye possessed and cried out in terror.

Powerhouses were respected, this was a truth which never changed. The woman surnamed Ye only needed to reveal a bit of her strength and everyone who had just been arguing doggedly shut their mouths obediently. After she withdrew her Shi, these terrified cultivators hurriedly summoned their Star Shuttles and began fleeing.

The Second-Layer Treasure Area of the ​​Flowing Flame Sand Field truly had many benefits and opportunities scattered about, but one needed to keep their life to enjoy such things. What did it matter how great the benefits were if they lost their lives in the process?

Although they were unwilling, it was truly unwise to remain here and provoke this kind of powerful existence with their lives at stake.

After the first batch of cultivators escaped, more and more people quickly left, and after half a cup of tea’s worth of time, everyone who had been loitering nearby had disappeared.

The woman surnamed Ye saw this and just coldly snorted before turning around and nodding to Yang Yan, respectfully reporting, “Madame, the idlers have been removed.”

“En,” Yang Yan responded faintly before turning back to face the flame barrier blocking before them and flicking her wrist, sending out one of her Three Blazing Flame Rings and merging it with the Flowing Flame Sand Field.

In the next moment, a gap large enough for the Starship to pass through opened in the flame barrier mysteriously.

The Third-Layer Flame Area of ​​Flowing Flame Sand Field was originally one of the Three Blazing Flame Rings, an Emperor Artifact, so as the Soul Clone of the Great Emperor, Yang Yan was naturally able to manipulate it to a certain extent, even if she could not completely recover it yet.

After opening a path, Yang Kai and the others entered the Starship and it slowly proceeded into the Flowing Flame Sand Field with a light hum.

They were able to move here freely!

Sometime later, in what was once the fourth layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, in front of the Supreme Profound Sect ruins, Yang Kai and the others stood before the great Sect Defending Array, gazing up at the expansive mountains covered in rolling fog.

Amidst these fog banks, they were able to make out the outlines of various pavilions and palaces as well as palatial mountains and spirit springs, an absolutely beautiful and majestic scene to behold.

Standing here, Wu Yi and the others breathed in the air exaggeratedly, their expressions flushed with excitement.

Earlier, when Yang Kai said that he had a new place for them to settle down that it was hundreds, if not thousands of times better than Dragon Cave Mountain, all of them had felt great doubt and thought such a paradise could not possibly really exist. Standing here at this moment, they no longer had any doubts at all.

Just standing at the perimeter of this place, they could already tell just how rich the World Energy aura was here, so if they really entered, just what kind of scene would they be able to see?

It truly was not an exaggeration to say that this place was hundreds of times better than Dragon Cave Mountain!

Moreover, if they could really establish themselves here, with the protection of the flame barrier of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, no one would be able to pose a threat to them ever again. This place was truly a paradise that anyone and everyone would desperately covet.

Inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, did such a place really exist?

However, this Sect Defending Array seemed impregnable, at least many times stronger than the one which protected Dragon Cave Mountain, so whether they could destroy it and gain access to this place was highly questionable.

Just when everyone secretly worried about this issue, Yang Yan turned to look at Yang Kai, stretched out a hand towards him, and mouthed something to him.

No one heard what she said but Yang Kai wore a look of understanding on his face, wiped his Space Ring, and took out a token-like object before tossing it over to Yang Yan.

“Emperor Token…” The woman surnamed Ye had a sharp eye and at a glance naturally realized that this was a Star Emperor Token, but thinking about how she had actually taken out the Star Emperor Token that had been passed down through countless generations of Sect Masters of Star Emperor Mountain in order to exchange for a healing pill, she couldn’t help growing slightly anxious.

This Star Emperor Token was something she had once possessed and was a treasure that the Great Emperor had personally gifted to her ancestors, so although the Divine Ability sealed within it had already been used, it wasn’t something that should have been taken out and bartered with. Thinking like this, the woman surnamed Ye became uneasy, wondering if the Madame would blame her for this action.

Fortunately, Yang Yan did not seem to have any intention of pursuing this matter, simply holding the Star Emperor Token in her hand and pouring her Saint Qi into it, causing it to send out a ray of light towards the Sect Defending Array barring their path.

With a burst of light, the seemingly impregnable golden Sect Defending Array flashed as streams of profound and complex runes swam across its surface, and then, with a low hum, accompanied by strong energy fluctuations, the Supreme Profound Sect’s Sect Defending Array suddenly split open a gap, revealing a path that lead directly to the inside.

Although he had a hunch that this would happen, when Yang Yan opened the light curtain in front of him so easily, Yang Kai could not help smiling bitterly.

When he arrived in the fourth layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field last time, Yang Kai saw the cultivator from Star Emperor Mountain called Leng Qing attacking this light curtain, but no matter how hard Leng Qing tried, he was not even able to shake this barrier.

At that time, Leng Qing had invited Yang Kai to help him, but Yang Kai had swiftly rejected his proposal.

Now, Yang Kai realized how wise his decision back then had been. Although this Sect Defending Array had remained unattended for countless years, it was not something a mere Saint King Realm cultivator could break with brute force.

“Let’s go,” Yang Yan’s expression became a little complicated, seemingly almost recalling something but unable to form a clear picture in her mind. This was only natural, however, as she was not the true Great Emperor. Although she had inherited some of the memories of the Great Emperor, they were by no means complete, so this Supreme Profound Sect must seem familiar and unfamiliar to her at the same time.