Martial Peak

“That’s great news.” After learning about Chen Shi Tao’s current situation, Yang Kai felt relieved.

“So what brings Sect Master Yang here?” Mo Yu asked Yang Kai curiously.

“The usual bad luck!” Yang Kai smiled wryly before giving a brief explanation of how he arrived in Black Sea City while Gu Zhen and Mo Yu nodded repeatedly.

Regarding this issue, Mo Yu and Gu Zhen actually had better luck than Yang Kai and emerged from the Emperor Garden relatively close to Clear Sky Sect, so they had no difficulty returning on their own.

“This expedition to the Emperor Garden was filled with unexpected surprises. With it opening to the entire Star Field, my Shadowed Star suffered heavy losses,” Gu Zhen sighed deeply.

“Oh? Which great forces suffered losses?” Yang Kai suddenly became interested.

“We’ve yet to get a full tally of the losses, but according to the news this old master managed to obtain since returning, it seems the Great Elder and Temple Master of Demon Blood Temple fell inside the Emperor Garden.”

Yang Kai gently nodded, his expression remaining perfectly calm.

The two Demon Blood Temple leaders were killed by him, so he wasn’t surprised by this news.

Gu Zhen and the others didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary with Yang Kai’s reaction and simply assumed this pair from Demon Blood Temple had fallen at the hands of a different Cultivation Star’s masters inside the Emperor Garden. Without any pause, they continued, “Besides them, Thunder Typhoon Sect’s Great Elder Cheng Peng Xuan also fell. Mo Xiao Sheng of Heaven Battling Union suffered heavy losses but managed to escape. Gong Xing He of Coloured Glass Sect also failed to return. All of the other great forces seemed to have suffered losses as well. My Clear Sky Sect being able to return unharmed is a stroke of good fortune.”

“Even Cheng Peng Xuan and Gong Xing He died?” Yang Kai was shocked.

“En, although the news has not yet spread, that much is certain,” Gu Zhen nodded sincerely. Yang Kai didn’t doubt this information because he knew that each of these great forces would place spies amongst the others, allowing them to gain some information that was not publicly known.

“What about Shadow Moon Hall? Are Qian Tong, Fei Zhi Tu, and Wei Gu Chang alright?” Yang Kai asked nervously.

“Sect Master Yang doesn’t need to worry, those three are all fine,” Mo Yu smiled lightly, “Old Ghost Qian is really quite shrewd; he seems to have insisted that they remain outside the Emperor Garden’s main palace during this trip.”

“So that’s how it is,” Yang Kai couldn’t help letting out a sigh of relief while secretly feeling impressed with Qian Tong’s intuition. Qian Tong was by no means timid and Yang Kai estimated that if not for Wei Gu Chang being with them, he and Fei Zhi Tu would certainly not have missed the opportunity to dive deep into the Emperor Garden’s main palace. However, since Wei Gu Chang was with them, the two old men must have decided to not take unnecessary risks.

It was precisely because of this caution that Qian Tong and the others from Shadow Moon Hall managed to avoid taking any losses though. Even masters like Cheng Peng Xuan and Gong Xing He had fallen inside, so no matter how strong Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu were, it was conceivable they might have suffered similar fates had they acted recklessly.

Although the opening of the Emperor Garden had resulted in many people obtaining great gains, it had also caused many Sects to suffer heavy losses. Before entering, no one would have thought that this trip to the Emperor Garden would be so dangerous.

If they had known about the risks earlier, perhaps there would have been fewer people rushing to enter the Emperor Garden.

“Compared with other Cultivation Stars, my Shadowed Star still has a noticeable disparity. Because of the suppression of the World Principles here, no one can spy on the mysteries of the Origin King Realm and all of us are only able to linger at the peak of the Origin Realm. In the end, we lack the guidance of an Origin King Realm master and our artifacts and pills are also inferior in grade and quality to those outsiders. Fighting with foreign masters under such circumstances is like trying to battle with an arm tied behind our backs,” Gu Zhen sighed in exasperation.

“Indeed, if only an Origin King Realm master could have risen on my Shadowed Star, this situation might not have happened,” Mo Yu nodded in agreement.

“Even so, how could it be that easy to break through to the Origin King Realm?” Lu Xuan wore a sad look and shook his head slowly, “In these past ten thousand years, no Origin King Realm master has appeared on Shadowed Star. The last time the Flowing Flame Sand Field opened, that Red Candle Fruit appeared, but although Old Ghost Tang from Floating Mist Palace obtained a piece of it and swallowed it, he apparently didn’t gain anything, completely wasting that good piece of spirit fruit.”

“Not just Old Ghost Tang, Coloured Glass Sect also obtained a piece of Red Candle Fruit which Gong Xing He swallowed and refined, but he too didn’t see any gains, otherwise he wouldn’t have fallen this time.”

“Actually, making a breakthrough to the Origin King Realm isn’t impossible,” Mo Yu seemed to say thoughtfully, “On Shadowed Star, we may be suppressed by the World Principles, but as long as we can leave Shadowed Star and go to another Cultivation Star that does not have such suppressions, we will have a chance to break through.”

Hearing this, Gu Zhen and Lu Xuan all were inspired.

Yang Kai glanced around at the three of them and couldn’t help laughing, “Three Seniors, there’s no reason to use such indirect language, if you have something to say, just say it directly.”

With Yang Kai being so straightforward, Mo Yu and the others couldn’t help feeling slightly embarrassed; even so, after a brief pause, Mo Yu lightly coughed and asked, “It’s like this, Yang Kai, we would like to know if your noble Sect plans to use its Origin King Grade Starship’s to conduct a long-distance voyage?”

[I knew it!]

Yang Kai smiled knowingly. Hearing these three old men muse on and on about the Origin King Realm, he was naturally able to guess what they were trying to imply. Now, after making a slight probe, it turned out exactly as Yang Kai suspected.

These three apparently intended to request he grant them passage on his Origin King Grade Starship to leave Shadowed Star and go to another Cultivation Star to spy on the mysteries of the Origin King Realm.

This was simply how humans are.

“And if I were to say I have such plans…?” Yang Kai smiled slightly.

All three of the old men’s expressions lit up as they could barely contain their excitement.

“Not only do I have this idea, but I might implement it soon,” Yang Kai added to everyone’s surprise.

“Is that true?” Mo Yu stood up, with Gu Zhen and Lu Xuan showing equal excitement.

“It is,” Yang Kai nodded seriously.

“Excellent! Excellent!” Mo Yu muttered twice before suddenly rubbing his big hands together and directing a look filled with expectation towards Yang Kai, “Sect Master Yang, since things have gotten to this point, this Mo won’t beat around the bush any further; dare to ask, how many people can travel aboard your Starship?”

“Several dozen people should be fine.”

Mo Yu’s eyes lit up as he grit his teeth and quickly said, “Could you grant my Clear Sky Sect two… no, one of those spots?”

On the other side, Gu Zhen and Lu Xuan also looked over expectantly, with Gu Zhen quickly adding, “Of course, we won’t occupy this precious spot for nothing. We can pay an appropriate price.”

“Is one enough?” Yang Kai asked them with some surprise.

“It is,” Gu Zhen nodded sincerely, “If possible, we certainly hope that more of us can leave Shadowed Star, but if all of Clear Sky Sect’s masters were to suddenly depart, there will be no one left to assume command, not to mention, breaking through to the Origin King Realm will obviously not be a simple matter, so having a quota to try for will be enough.”

“If that’s all, then I can agree,” Yang Kai nodded lightly.

Hearing this, the trio from Clear Sky Sect were overjoyed. As for who this quota would be given to, that was something for Clear Sky Sect to figure out, Yang Kai did not need to concern himself with it.

Afterwards, Yang Kai told them that when he finalized plans to use the Starship to leave Shadowed Star, he would inform them, so for now, they should just wait patiently. The three old men had no objections.

After a night’s rest, Yang Kai said his goodbyes to the Clear Sky Sect masters and brought Huang Juan and Lin Yun’er away.

Although Gu Zhen and the others wanted him to stay a while longer, they also understood that Yang Kai had just come out from the Emperor Garden and must have many things to attend to, so they didn’t try to stop him, instead just personally seeing him off from Black Sea City’s Space Array.

Yang Kai’s next destination was Demon Blood City!

Demon Blood City was a city controlled by Demon Blood Temple, and it was very close to the Flowing Flame Sand Field.

When Yang Kai first came out from the Flowing Flame Sand Field, he had encountered a Demon Blood Temple disciple named Deng Ning whom he obtained the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique from. Later, Deng Ning brought him to Demon Blood City to use its Space Array.

This plan was not wrong, but before departing, Gu Zhen had warned Yang Kai to act carefully as Demon Blood City was currently in a state of upheaval.

After arriving, Yang Kai discovered that Demon Blood City was in chaos.

When Yang Kai and his group of three teleported to Demon Blood City’s Space Array, they immediately noticed that the city seemed to be a little turbulent and that many people were currently fighting.

This couldn’t be helped though as the Great Elder of and Temple Master of Demon Blood Temple had both fallen in the Emperor Garden. Now that no one was currently in control of the temple, the various Elders were naturally fighting for the right to take over.

On top of that, Demon Blood Temple was a strange great force that encouraged infighting, so for this reason, all of Demon Blood Temple had become chaotic at this moment, with Demon Blood City following suit.

Even the hall where the Space Array was located was unguarded. All of Demon Blood Temple’s disciples were caught up in this internal strife so the city itself had become something akin to a battlefield.

After arriving in Demon Blood City, Yang Kai released his Divine Sense and quickly grasped the situation inside the city. Not discovering anything he felt warranted his concern, he simply wrapped Huang Juan and Lin Yun’er in his Saint Qi and flew towards the city’s edge.

Some people tried to block their path, but all of them were quickly subdued by Yang Kai.

With his current strength, even if he encountered a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm Master, he wouldn’t feel any concern, let alone these stray cats and dogs.

Soon, the disciples of Demon Blood Temple realized how tyrannical Yang Kai’s strength was and no one dared to court death by trying to stop him again. What’s more, Yang Kai seemed to just be passing through, so who would bother trying to stop him? Wouldn’t that be self-defeating?

As such, less than a dozen breaths later, Yang Kai’s group left Demon Blood City and flew straight towards the Flowing Flame Sand Field which was some hundred thousand kilometres away.

One day later, Yang Kai landed at a beautiful palace somewhere outside the Flowing Flame Sand Field and walked inside.

This was the first time Yang Kai had entered this palace. Naturally, this place belonged to High Heaven Sect and there was a Space Array specially arranged here by Yang Yan to make it convenient for the disciples of High Heaven Sect to pass in and out.

After all, the Flowing Flame Sand Field was simply too vast, and if they had to rely solely on flying, it would take at least a day or two to reach High Heaven Sect’s headquarters from this point. With this dedicated Space Array, however, the disciples could come and go freely and quickly.

At this moment, there were only two High Heaven Sect disciples inside the palace on guard duty. The cultivation of these two were not worth mentioning, only Third-Order Saints. Such strength was nothing special on Shadowed Star, but High Heaven Sect’s name was extremely loud right now and no one dared provoke it, so there was no need to worry about security issues here. Moreover, there was a powerful Spirit Array arranged by Yang Yan around this palace, one strong enough to stop anyone who wanted to invade High Heaven Sect via the Space Array. At the very least, it would provide enough time for the disciples on guard duty to retreat and destroy the Space Array.