Martial Peak

“It’s that boy!” Hearing Liang Yong’s question, Dan Ying pointed his hand and ground his teeth, “It’s him, he’s the one who doesn’t put our High Heaven Sect in his eyes at all! This Dan told him clearly that Blue Wave City is under the jurisdiction of High Heaven Sect and that this Dan is City Lord Liang’s subordinate, but this little brat arrogantly declared he does not believe me. Please teach him a lesson, City Lord Liang.”

After speaking, Dan Ying turned to stare at Yang Kai triumphantly, his eyes filled with expectation.

He was looking forward to seeing Yang Kai kneeling down and begging for mercy, allowing him to vent the anger he felt.

But to his disappointment, Yang Kai did not show any panic at all. He still stood there calmly, with his hands crossed in front of his chest, an inexplicable sneer on his lips as he stared arrogantly towards Liang Yong.

[This boy’s courage knows no bounds! Even with City Lord Liang here, he still showed no fear.] At this moment, Dan Ying could not help somewhat admiring Yang Kai.

However, this boy acting so defiant would only further anger City Lord Liang, making his ultimate end even worse.

Dan Ying sneered in his heart before sneaking a glance towards Liang Yong only to see the later stride forward towards Yang Kai quickly.

Dan Ying could not stop grinning, secretly looking forward to the good show.

Liu Fei’er and the others also clenched their sweat-filled palms as panic threatened to overwhelm them. The countless cultivators who also stood behind and supported Yang Kai just now saw how angry Liang Yong was and couldn’t help stepping back unconsciously, opening a little distance between them and Yang Kai for fear that the fire at the city gate would affect the fish in the moat.

Some even began to regret acting so impulsively just now.

All of them had heard Liang Yong’s name before.

Since Heaven Battling Union was destroyed, he had become the City Lord of Heaven Battling City which was directly managed by High Heaven Sect.

Although High Heaven Sect had gained a loud reputation in recent years, it continued to act in a very low-key manner. No one had ever heard of any High Heaven Sect disciple appearing in the outside world, so Liang Yong had become the external representative of High Heaven Sect almost by default!

Now that he was here, no matter what his strength was, what he represented was the behemoth High Heaven Sect!

Even if the one here was an ordinary mortal who had never cultivated, no one would dare to attack him, much less Liang Yong who was a peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master whose strength far exceeded Dan Ying’s.

This boy was finished!

Many people look at Yang Kai with a hint of sympathy on their faces. No matter what kind of backing this young man had, no one would dare to avenge him if he died tragically today.

The hundred-metre distance was narrowed in an instant as Liang Yong rushed up to Yang Kai; then, without pause, he actually knelt on one knee and lowered his head, “Subordinate Liang Yong greets Sect Master!”

This action was performed smoothly and neatly, as if it had been rehearsed countless times.

Yang Kai’s expression remained cold, however, as he looked down at Liang Yong condescendingly, the same sneer he had before never leaving his face, making his thoughts impossible to read.

Everyone’s eyes bulged.

All the people who saw this scene had their jaws drop, many of them thinking they were seeing things or that they had been caught in some kind of strange illusion.

The scene fell silent as a chill seemed to shroud the front of the City Lord’s Mansion, causing many to shiver unconsciously.

Dan Ying was also shocked as he stared towards Liang Yong in a daze.

He suddenly noticed that fine lines of sweat had appeared on Liang Yong’s forehead and were rapidly condensing into beads that dripped down onto the ground.

*Dida, dida…*

Dan Ying’s body shook and a thought flashed across his mind, suddenly remembering some details he had once heard before.

It was rumoured that Sect Master Yang Kai of High Heaven Sect was a young man, and the description of his appearance was indeed somewhat similar to the troublemaker in front of him…

Then there was what Liang Yong called him just now, so…

Dan Ying felt his heart clench as he nearly fainted from shock.

“Subordinates greet Sect Master. We did not know Sect Master had come, if we did, we would have come to welcome you immediately! Please forgive us, Sect Master!” The cultivators who were brought by Liang Yong shouted after recovering from their initial shock.

Liu Fei’er went sluggish again as he stared at Yang Kai foolishly, only after a long silence seemingly comprehending what was happening, at which point a strange brilliance flashed across her beautiful eyes.

“Liang Yong…” Yang Kai called out faintly.

“Reporting,” Liang Yong replied quickly, his voice trembling somewhat.

“I’ve not seen you for a few years, but it seems life is treating you well,” Yang Kai sneered.

“Certainly not!” Cold sweat on Liang Yong’s forehead kept dripping down, as if his whole body had been dunked into a river, his clothes soaking wet as he heard the clear dissatisfaction in Yang Kai’s voice. Anxiously, he called out, “Subordinate has been negligent in his duties, making Sect Master exhaust himself. Please mete out punishment!”

“Good, your punishment will come soon enough, but before that, this Sect Master has something he is curious about; when did you join High Heaven Sect? This Sect Master did not admit you, so who did?”

Liang Yong’s body shivered as he shot a hate-filled glare over at Dan Ying from the corner of his eye; the anger and rage in his heart were hard to describe in words.

He had just received information in Heaven Battling City about a disturbance here and hurriedly brought a group of people to this place through the Space Array, but how could he have expected that the moment he walked out of the City Lord’s Mansion, he would see the person he feared most in this life.

Liang Yong wanted to chop Dan Ying’s corpse into ten thousand pieces for being so stupid and blind.

“Sect Master please do not misunderstand! Subordinate has witnessed just how powerful the Sect is and earnestly wishes to pledge his life to it; unfortunately, Subordinate has not had an opportunity to realize this wish. Now, Subordinate only hopes to improve his usefulness to Sect Master as the City Lord of Heaven Battling City by gathering enough commodities and supplies. However, Subordinate and his supporters are, in the end, survivors of Heaven Battling Union, making it difficult to convince the public to obey, so outwardly we were forced to declare a different status. Vice City Lord also knows about this matter,” Liang Yong quickly explained after a moment of thought.

“Oh, Xiao Qi, is this true?” Yang Kai raised his head and looked towards a certain buck-toothed cultivator standing amongst the crowd.

The latter nodded.

“Alright, in that case, it’s fine,” Yang Kai gently nodded.

Hearing this, Liang Yong couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

But before he could truly relax, Yang Kai continued, “Now let’s talk about this Blue Wave City again.”

Liang Yong’s heart clenched up again, and an unpleasant premonition came to him.

“I heard that Blue Wave City is attached to Heaven Battling City, yes?” Yang Kai asked as he looked at Liang Yong.

“Reporting to Sect Master, that is the case. Not only Blue Wave City, but all the cities within a radius of a few million kilometres are now attached to Heaven Battling City. There are nine large and small cities in total!”

“Very good,” Yang Kai grinned.

“Many thanks for Sect Master’s praise, it is this one’s honour to serve the Sect.”

“So, all the actions in Blue Wave City are approved of by Heaven Battling City?” Yang Kai looked at Liang Yong with a smile.

Liang Yong wore a somewhat panicked look and quickly refuted, “That is not the case. Subordinate only ordered these attached cities to pay some materials or Saint Crystals every year as a tribute. As for the administration of each city, subordinate does not interfere, everything is decided by their respective City Lord’s Mansion.”

“A smooth answer,” Yang Kai smiled meaningfully.

“Sect Master…” Ge Qi looked at Yang Kai suspiciously, “Was there some kind of accident in this Blue Wave City?”

“I only arrived here today too, so I can’t say I am well informed, but if we wish to know more, we might as well ask these people,” Yang Kai motioned towards the countless onlookers.

Ge Qi’s brow furrowed slightly, vaguely feeling that things were not as simple as they appeared. Hastily walking out, he arrived in front of the crowd and cupped his fists, “Everyone, this one’s name is Ge Qi, Heaven Battling City’s Vice City Lord and High Heaven Sect’s disciple! If you have anything to report, please feel to speak with this Ge. This Ge guarantees by the Sect’s reputation that absolutely no one will embarrass you for stepping forward.”

The scene remained silent, with no one speaking, everyone simply staring at Ge Qi in a daze.

They were wary and afraid of Ge Qi, so they did not dare to expose the misdeeds of Blue Wave City’s City Lord Mansion.

Liu Fei’er opened her mouth, seeming to want to say something, but quickly swallowed them back down again.

“Fei’er, don’t hesitate to speak, with me here, no one will dare cause any harm to you,” Yang Kai saw this and comforted her gently.

Liu Fei’er seemed to receive courage from these words, took a deep breath, and declared loudly, “Fei’er’s Fourth Uncle was killed by the City Lord Mansion’s people two years ago because he was unwilling to pay them off with Saint Crystals!”

“And today, the benefits we obtained from our own hard work were taken away entirely by the City Lord Mansion. Not only that, but they also wanted to take Fei’er! If it were not for Big Brother Yang’s timely arrival, the consequences would have been disastrous,” Another young man stood forward and shouted.

Ge Qi’s expression instantly sank.

“Blue Wave City isn’t a place where people can live! Seventy percent of everything we make has to be turned over to the City Lord’s Mansion, it’s simply unbearable.”

“There is a register of names in the City Lord’s Mansion, and anyone one that has been registered is not allowed to leave Blue Wave City, or else they will suffer a painful death! Many who tried to flee were killed mercilessly.”

Sporadic shouts began emerging from the crowd, but it did not take long before almost everyone was voicing their complaints.

Ge Qi’s face became gloomier and gloomier, as did Yang Kai’s.

After a long while, when the clamours gradually subsided, Yang Kai and Ge Qi exchanged a glance, and both saw the anger in each other’s eyes.

The vile deeds which were committed in Blue Wave City were not the main problem. Shadowed Star was so big, and had so many people living on it, that such matters were bound to happen somewhere; what irritated Yang Kai, however, was that Blue Wave City was doing so by using High Heaven Sect’s name.

If not for this point, the City Lord’s Mansion would already have been razed by these countless cultivators.

The reputation of High Heaven Sect suppressed all the citizens of Blue Wave City, making them too afraid to resist no matter how bad things got.

This was nothing short of smearing mud on High Heaven Sect’s reputation. If things were allowed to go on like this, there would soon be no place for High Heaven Sect on Shadowed Star.

There were nine cities under the jurisdiction of Heaven Battling City, so if Blue Wave City was in such poor condition, what were things like in the other cities?

“Xiao Qi, you’ve failed at your job as Vice City Lord!” Yang Kai shot him a sharp glance.

Ge Qi lowered his head in shame.

He also did not expect the situation outside to be like this.

Since Yang Kai asked him to stay in Heaven Battling City as the Vice City Lord three years ago, he had essentially never left Heaven Battling City, often secluding himself in cultivation while only monitoring the situation in Heaven Battling City occasionally.

Over there, measures to win over popular support which were implemented by Yang Kai were strictly adhered to. Taxes were so low they were almost negligible, which attracted many cultivators to move and settle down. Today, Heaven Battling City could be described as overcrowded but thriving.

However, the situation seemed to be quite different for the cities under Heaven Battling City’s jurisdiction.

Under an attractive outward image, some people were secretly committing vicious acts which were causing public outrage.

Fortunately, Yang Kai had discovered this issue now. It could be considered early. Otherwise, if a few more years had passed, the consequences would have been difficult to estimate. When thinking about this, Ge Qi broke out in a cold sweat and at the same time became livid.