Martial Peak

Half an hour later, Yang Kai exhaled lightly, stepped forward, arrived beside the fallen Monster Beast’s body, reached into its chest, and pulled out its heart and Monster Core.

A bizarre scent filled the air and, as Yang Kai sniffed it, he felt relaxed and comfortable.

This Monster Beast really did share a blood relationship with the Seven Coloured Elk, and even if it was not a direct descendent, it should be a close hybrid. Although its heart and Monster Core could not be used to refine a treasure like the Ten Thousand Year Incense, they could be used to refine some rare pills useful for resisting heart demons.

Such pills were extremely precious and almost every cultivator would want one on hand when they broke through to a new Great Realm; however, these pills were also incredibly difficult to acquire, even if one had vast financial resources. This heart and Monster Core landing in the hands of an Alchemist like Yang Kai meant it could play a huge role and bring him immense wealth!

For Yang Kai, the previous battle, although not too dangerous, was quite troublesome.

With his Space Blade alone, Yang Kai had no way to kill this Monster Beast as it was simply too fast. On top of that, it had tried to run away immediately after seeing it was at a disadvantage! Yang Kai naturally was not about to let this happen and immediately used the Spectral Cloud Array’s Array Plate, trapping it inside.

With the Spectral Cloud Array preventing this Monster Beast from fleeing, Yang Kai eventually managed to kill it.

The Spectral Cloud Array’s Array Plate was something Yang Kai obtained the last time he came to the Emperor Garden. At that time, after Yang Kai, Fei Zhi Tu and the others fell into it, they had suffered quite a bit. With Yang Kai’s current strength, his Space Blade, and Golden Blood Threads, this Monster Beast did not stand a chance.

The Monster Core and heart were the most precious parts of this Monster Beast, but the body of a peak Ninth-Order Monster Beast couldn’t simply be discarded, so after some thought, Yang Kai took out the Verdant Dragon Bone Sword and poured his Saint Qi into it.

The Dragon Bone Sword immediately transformed into a giant green dragon and proceeded to swallow the Monster Beast’s body into its belly before spitting out its bones after completely absorbing its vital essence.

Yang Kai smiled happily. His Dragon Bone Sword was an artifact that could continue to grow by swallowing the vital essence of enemies, so over time it would become stronger and stronger.

Putting it away with satisfaction, Yang Kai used his Saint Qi to withdraw the Spectral Cloud Array then retrieved the Array Plate. Turning his head in the direction the previous group of five had disappeared, Yang Kai summoned his Wind and Thunder Wings before shooting off, disappearing from this place in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, the five Origin Returning Realm masters who had previously fought with the Monster Beast were resting inside a natural cave about a thousand kilometres away.

This cave was apparently the den of some snake type Monster Beast, but it had clearly been abandoned long ago. Having found a dry, concealed environment, the five masters decided to use it as a temporary resting place.

They had also arranged some simple concealment Spirit Arrays outside.

“That mutant Seven Coloured Elk has not found us yet, probably because that boy managed to lead it away. Good, although that boy’s cultivation was not very high, he should have some kind of profound escaping Secret Technique,” The dark-haired old man who had been releasing his Divine Sense outside to monitor their surroundings said happily.

“But with his low cultivation, I’m afraid it will be difficult for him to escape with his life,” The petite woman with the lowest cultivation showed a trace of sadness on her face, apparently feeling somewhat guilty.

“What does that have to do with us? We believed this trip to the Emperor Garden would be filled with opportunity and pleasant surprises, but it turned out to be one accident after another. The five of us being able to survive this long is already quite lucky, how could we spare any care for a stranger?” The white-haired old man coldly snorted.

The other woman, who seemed middle-aged, added, “Yeah, I didn’t expect that the inside of the Emperor Garden would be filled with so many dangers. There were ten of us, to begin with, but now only five are left. If we had not withdrawn quickly back then, all of us would have most likely died.”

“Exactly!” The black-haired old man sighed and let out a somewhat self-deprecating laugh, “It’s really true that the older one gets the less courage they have. Although there are many crises in this Emperor Garden, there are also many benefits. If this old master was a few hundred years younger, he would certainly be unwilling to draw back, but now I cannot help acting overcautious and indecisive, far different from the recklessness of my youth!”

This sentiment seemed to resonate with the white-haired old man, who nodded in agreement, “En, back then, where did you and I dare not go? Even if it was a Dragon Den or Tiger Cave, we would still charge in, but now…”

He too let out a long sigh.

For a time, the cave fell quiet, with only the sound of the five individuals breathing echoing off the walls.

After about half a cup of tea’s time though, a shout came from outside, “This Yang greets several friends and hopes to ask you a few questions, may I have your permission to enter?”

This voice clearly passed into the ears of the five who were sitting cross-legged inside the cave, making their expression change dramatically, the white-haired old man immediately shouting out, “Who goes there?”

Someone being able to approach so close to them without being detected caused the white-haired old man’s heart to clench as he secretly felt thankful this newcomer had not launched a sneak attack. If this person had any malicious intentions, the five of them would likely have suffered greatly just now.

Outside, a hearty laugh rang out, “We met just moments ago, could it be you don’t remember this one? En, I should first introduce myself I suppose, this one’s name is Yang Kai!”

“Yang Kai?” The group of five all frowned, but when they released their Divine Senses outside, their looks of confusion soon turned to shock.

“It’s that boy from just now!”

“Not only did he not die, he even escaped from that Monster Beast? How is that possible?”

The five masters all exchanged dumbfounded looks, all of them very curious about how Yang Kai managed to escape from that terrifying Monster Beast; however, they had serious concerns as well. After all, when the five of them had escaped just now, they had clearly used Yang Kai as bait, so seeing him track them down now, they could not help worrying about his intentions.

“Brother Min…” The black-haired old man looked at the white-haired old man and hesitantly spoke.

“It shouldn’t be a problem; from his tone, it doesn’t seem like he’s here to seek revenge, and with his low cultivation, even if he was here for revenge, would he have the ability? Let him come in.” The white-haired old man said lightly. It wasn’t that this old man was blind, it was just that Yang Kai’s realm was really too low. With that and the fact that he was all alone, the white-haired old man was confident Yang Kai couldn’t stir up any trouble even if he wanted to.

The black-haired old man heard this argument and agreed, waving his hand to open a whole in the Spirit Array which was concealing them before politely calling out, “Little friend, please come in!”

“Many thanks!” Yang Kai smiled lightly, stepped forward, and walked into the cave, not showing any sense of wariness, startling the five inside slightly.

This boy acting so boldly either meant he had problems with his head and didn’t understand how brutal the world truly was, or he had something to depend on which allowed him to not place the five of them in his eyes.

The latter was unlikely, so obviously the former must be the truth!

This was indeed possible as Yang Kai looked quite young but was already an Origin Realm cultivator. So, him being the disciple of some great force who had spent his entire life in retreat inside the Sect, not having contact with the outside world, was probable.

Considering all this, the five people in the cave all calmed down greatly.

Such people were easy to deal with.

The cave was not very large, only a couple dozen metres across, and was pitch black inside. When Yang Kai walked inside, he glanced around lightly before nodding to himself.

Although the actions these five people took when they escaped earlier had made Yang Kai somewhat disgruntled, from what he could tell, they were not truly vile and wicked people. Otherwise, they would definitely have attacked him as soon as he stepped into the cave.

At least, for now, none of them showed any openly hostile intent. The younger woman even nodded lightly to him while the older woman wore a somewhat embarrassed look, seemingly feeling guilty about how they acted when they last separated.

Yang Kai also relaxed at this moment. Up until now, he had still been thinking that if these people did not know how to show some discretion, he would certainly not show them any mercy.

Now it seemed he would not need to trouble himself over this.

“Yang Kai greets several friends,” Yang Kai cupped his fists and chuckled slightly.

“Little Friend Yang is too polite!” The old man with white hair seemed to be the leader of this group and tactfully did not ask how Yang Kai managed to escape from the previous Monster Beast, instead introducing himself in return, “This old master is Vanishing Moon Island’s Island Master Min Sha, and these are this old master’s closest friends.”

He spoke in an easy-going tone, as if nothing had happened before.

“Vanishing Moon Island?” Yang Kai frowned, a black look covering his face.

However, since the other party called himself an Island Master, he was probably from the Limitless Ocean, so it was not surprising Yang Kai had never heard of him. After all, Yang Kai had never travelled to the Limitless Ocean, and the only great force he had any substantial contact with from there was the Sea Heart Sect.

Yang Kai came to his own conclusions to explain his lack of familiarity with these people, but the next words that came out of Min Sha’s mouth caused him to stare dumbfounded.

“En, Vanishing Moon Island is an island force on Azure Tree Star, it’s only natural little friend has never heard of it. May I ask which star Little Friend Yang comes from?” Min Sha asked.

“Azure Tree Star?” Yang Kai’s eyes widened as he stared towards Min Sha and the others in complete shock, his heart pounding violently for a moment.

However, Yang Kai’s mind was sharp, so although Min Sha didn’t say much just now, he was also to pick out some unexpected information and quickly asked, “Does Island Master Min mean that cultivators from more than one star have entered this Emperor Garden?”

As soon as the words came out, all five of the people here laughed.

Yang Kai scratched his head and stood there awkwardly, knowing he must have asked something obvious.

“Is the star Little Friend Yang hails from a remote place?” Min Sha speculated.

“What Island Master Min says is correct, the star this Yang comes from is indeed relatively remote, so…” Yang Kai nodded slightly.

“En, no wonder.” Min Sha said with a look of understanding, “Our Azure Tree Star is the same, its location quite remote with limited contact with the outside world. Originally, this old master and his friends had the same idea as Little Friend Yang, thinking that only Azure Tree Star’s cultivators were able to enter the Emperor Garden. It was not until we actually entered this place that we learned that all of the Star Field’s cultivators could come here. This old master also found someone to inquire about this situation and discovered that the Emperor Garden had appeared on every star in a kind of illusionary state, and as long as one held an Emperor Jade, they would be able to pass through the special Space Array and arrive here.”

“So it’s like this…” Yang Kai murmured before saying casually, “This Yang’s Shadowed Star is probably in a similar situation to Island Master Min’s Azure Tree Star.”

“Shadowed Star?” All five frowned, apparently never having heard of Shadowed Star.

However, it seemed that although Azure Tree Star was indeed quite remote and it was hard for them to communicate with the outside world, it was still far better off than Shadowed Star. Shadowed Star was essentially isolated from the rest of the Star Field, its cultivators unable to reach any other star no matter how hard they tried. Azure Tree Star was not such an extreme case.