Martial Peak

Yang Kai knew nothing about Fang Pang and Qu Zheng’s conspiracy. At this moment, he was still flying in the direction of Shadow Moon Hall, stopping by each city he came across, buying up pills and herbs like crazy.

The number of Saint Crystals in his Space Ring shrank at an extreme speed, but the number of cultivation resources increased at the same time.

His harvest was massive.

Three months later, Yang Kai stood mid-air, looking towards a city not far away.

Heavenly Fate City!

Glancing to the side, Yang Kai saw a small devastated mountain: Dragon Cave Mountain, which sat just fifty kilometres from Heavenly Fate City!

This small ruined mountain was Yang Kai’s first stopover on Shadowed Star and was where he had made many friends and enemies, and grown to his current height. It was a pity that this unique small mountain range managed by Wu Yi, Yang Yan and all the others had been destroyed in that great battle.

Only a little time had passed, but when Yang Kai looked at the desolate Dragon Cave Mountain, it almost felt like he could see his rapid growth over the past decade.

After a brief silence, Yang Kai slowly shook his head, collected his mood, and flew straight to Heavenly Fate City.

He had flown all the way here from the Flowing Flame Sand Field, and although it had taken him three full months, he hadn’t wasted his time on the road. Although cultivating on the move was impossible, studying the various gains he had from the Emperor Garden wasn’t an issue.

Yang Kai had fully grasped the second half of the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique now, so all that remained was for him to take the time to experiment and enhance his control over his Golden Blood Threads to increase their battle power.

He had also studied the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture from time to time, obtaining new harvests each time he did.

These three months had been quite fulfilling.

In front of the majestic City Lord’s Mansion, Yang Kai was stopped by the cultivators on guard. After taking a good look at Yang Kai though, the lead guard suddenly paled and solemnly cupped his fists, “Heavenly Fate City’s Chen Qi greets Sect Master Yang.”

“Oh? You recognise me?” Yang Kai smiled and looked at this man with some surprise.

The man called Chen Qi scratched his head and respectfully said, “When Sect Master Yang raised a big fuss in Heavenly Fate City, this Chen was able to see Sect Master Yang from a distance, so…”

“So that’s how it is,” Yang Kai gently nodded. Since this man knew him, that made things easier, “Is City Lord Fei here? I want to discuss something with him.”

Saying so, Yang Kai prepared to walk inside.

Chen Qi quickly stood in front of him though and wore an awkward expression as he said, “Reporting to Sect Master Yang. Sir City Lord is not in the city right now.”

“Not here?” Yang Kai was stunned. Unexpectedly, after travelling a few million kilometres, one of the people Yang Kai had come to see was out, causing him to feel somewhat depressed. After collecting himself, Yang Kai asked, “What about Elder Qian?”

“Elder Qian is not here either,” Chen Qi’s look became even more embarrassed.

“Uh…Where did they go?” Yang Kai was speechless. It hadn’t been long since the Emperor Garden had closed, yet these two old men hadn’t even bothered checking their gains before leaving once more.

“Great Elder and Sir City Lord went to Fallen Emperor Mountain together,” Chen Qi replied quickly.

“Why would they go to Fallen Emperor Mountain?” Yang Kai frowned.

Chen Qi asked back, “Hasn’t Sect Master Yang heard about Fallen Emperor Mountain’s mutation?”

“Mutation?” Yang Kai suddenly became interested.

Half an hour later, Yang Kai left Heavenly Fate City, summoned his Star Shuttle, and set out in the direction of Fallen Emperor Mountain.

From Chen Qi, he had learned something quite shocking.

The ruins of a large number of secluded homes and cave mansions of ancient cultivators had appeared in Fallen Emperor Mountain, and there was even a rumour that the ruins of a great Sect had been discovered! This news was simply unbelievable. After the news spread, it immediately attracted a large number of Shadowed Star cultivators who wanted to explore and treasure hunt.

Moreover, this was no mere rumour; it was all confirmed fact.

Some people had already managed to obtain Heaven defying Secret Arts and Secret Techniques from these ruins, along with other valuable artifacts and treasures.

It was even said that an Origin King Grade artifact had appeared.

Of course, this last point may have been an exaggeration. Regardless of which Cultivation Star one was on, Origin King Grade artifacts were rare treasures because too few Artifact Refiners were capable of refining such masterpieces.

But it was undeniable that Fallen Emperor Mountain had become the focus of attention for all of Shadowed Star.

Yang Kai had been to Fallen Emperor Mountain once before when he had joined Fei Zhi Tu’s group to rescue Qian Tong. The reason why this mountain range was called Fallen Emperor Mountain was precisely because of rumours that the Starry Sky Great Emperor had fallen there.

The omnipresent Emperor Pressure in Fallen Emperor Mountain added to the credibility of this rumour.

The deeper one went, the stronger the Emperor Pressure became!

Before the Emperor Garden manifested, Shadowed Star’s cultivators that had recently broken through to the Origin Returning Realm would enter Fallen Emperor Mountain to make use of the Emperor Pressure to condense their Shi.

Unfortunately, no cultivator could enter the depths of Fallen Emperor Mountain because none could bear the intensity of the Emperor Pressure there.

However, after the Emperor Garden appeared, the Emperor Pressure that pervaded Fallen Emperor Mountain disappeared.

The reason for this was obviously due to the Emperor Garden.

The Emperor Garden originally existed many thousands of metres below Fallen Emperor Mountain, which allowed Emperor Pressure to cover this mountain range. But when the Emperor Garden rose into the sky, the Emperor Pressure emitted by it no longer affected Fallen Emperor Mountain.

No one had ever been able to travel deep into Fallen Emperor Mountain before, so many couldn’t resist the temptation to explore.

Initially, just a few cultivators who were curious about what was inside Fallen Emperor Mountain had banded together to explore its depths, but some kind of falling out occurred after they discovered an ancient cave mansion and obtained many benefits, leading to word of the existence of treasures leaking out.

If it weren’t for an unequal distribution that led to infighting and even killing, news of this discovery probably wouldn’t have spread as quickly.

Previously, all of Shadowed Star’s cultivators were paying attention to the Emperor Garden’s movements, so no one paid much heed to the changes of Fallen Emperor Mountain.

But now, the world’s attention had shifted from the Emperor Garden to Fallen Emperor Mountain.

This focus only became more pronounced when word spread of a large number of secluded homes and cave mansions of ancient cultivators and even Sect ruins being discovered. Now, countless cultivators from all over Shadowed Star were rushing to Fallen Emperor Mountain.

This happened three or four months ago. Yang Kai had already left High Heaven Sect on a purchasing spree while immersing himself in the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture and Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique, so he had naturally not received word about this strange phenomenon.

It was only after arriving in Heavenly Fate City that he came to learn of this news.

Of course, Yang Kai was quite interested in these secluded homes, cave mansions and Sect ruins. Now that he knew of them, he didn’t mind taking a trip there to find Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu, saving him from wasting time just waiting in Heavenly Fate City for them to return.

After obtaining some relevant information, Yang Kai flew straight to Fallen Emperor Mountain.

Along the way, Yang Kai noticed that many cultivators were also travelling in the same direction as him, rushing towards Fallen Emperor Mountain. Apparently, the news of hidden treasures being found wasn’t groundless; otherwise, it would have been impossible to attract so many people.

Yang Kai naturally remembered the location of Fallen Emperor Mountain as it wasn’t too far away from Heavenly Fate City.

Ten days later, a streak of light arrived outside Fallen Emperor Mountain and came to a halt. When this light dissipated, Yang Kai’s figure appeared.

Looking at the countless cultivators down below, Yang Kai couldn’t help wrinkling his brow.

He hadn’t expected it to be so lively outside Fallen Emperor Mountain.

A rough estimate put the number of cultivators in the mountain range’s periphery at several tens of thousands with widely varying cultivations.

There were cultivators at the True Element Boundary, Immortal Ascension Boundary, Transcendent Realm, Saint Realm, etc.

There were even some Separation and Reunion Boundary cultivators who had yet to even reach the True Element Boundary.

[What are they doing here?] Yang Kai observed with consternation. With such strength and cultivation, rushing into such a dangerous place was courting death.

But after thinking about it carefully, Yang Kai suddenly understood.

Since they had chosen the path of cultivation, these people weren’t afraid of taking risks. Yang Kai had also passed through these Great Realms and deeply understood that the more dangerous the place, the higher the benefit it was hiding and the more those benefits could help a cultivator grow.

If these cultivators were lucky enough to find an unclaimed secluded home or cave mansion of some ancient cultivator, perhaps they would never have to worry about cultivation resources for the rest of their lives.

And now that there was no trace of Emperor Pressure remaining in Fallen Emperor Mountain, it could be said that even ordinary mortals who hadn’t begun to cultivate could enter without worrying about their safety.

Fallen Emperor Mountain was also different from other mountain ranges because the omnipresent Emperor Pressure that shrouded it in the past had made it impossible for any kind of creature to live inside. As such, there was no need for cultivators entering to worry about encountering vicious or powerful Monster Beasts.

The only thing one needed to care about was other cultivators.

Killing people and plundering their treasures was something that happened frequently, but as long as one didn’t venture too deep into the mountains, the risk of this happening wasn’t too high.

Various thoughts flashed across Yang Kai’s mind as he quickly came to an understanding of why these seemingly weak cultivators had gathered here.

Not only that, some cultivators didn’t even seem like they were planning to enter Fallen Emperor Mountain and were here to take advantage of this opportunity to do some business instead. In this crowded place, countless stalls and pop up shops had appeared, selling a dazzling array of goods and services.

The business at some stalls seemed to be pretty good, with many people gathering around and bargaining with the stall owners, making for a lively market atmosphere.

Seeing this, Yang Kai failed to stifle his laughter.

In the end, he didn’t need to care too much about other people’s affairs. This trip to Fallen Emperor Mountain was just a coincidental opportunity. What Yang Kai had to do now was see if he could find Qian Tong or Fei Zhi Tu while casually exploring.

If he had some gains, he would be happy, but if not, he wouldn’t care.

Considering all this, Yang Kai descended to the ground.

Just after he collected his Star Shuttle, several cultivators rushed over to him, all of them wearing flattering smiles as they greeted Yang Kai with cupped fists from afar.

Yang Kai frowned, not knowing what these people were up to, but he wasn’t about to just attack random people, so he stood in place and looked at them faintly while asking, “Do you have something you want to discuss with me?”

“Extreme Heaven Sect’s Wu Chang greets this friend,” One of the more astute looking cultivators quickly introduced himself.

Others followed suit.

Interestingly, these cultivators were all just Saint Kings.