Martial Peak

The greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment.

At this moment, Zhao Tian Ze finally understood why Qian Tong had said before that seeing he was someone who cannot be judged by his appearance, he was clearly referring to this!

However, what could a mere Second-Order Origin Returning Realm boy do? Even if he could fight others above his realm, he couldn’t change their current situation. His arrival wouldn’t help them at all! At most, he could barely be considered another helper.

Zhao Tian Ze’s mood suddenly deflated.

But at any rate, he was a City Lord, and he had a good relationship with Qian Tong, Lin Yu Rao, and the others, so he wouldn’t allow his disappointment to show through too obviously. With a forced smile on his face, he cupped his fists and said, “This Zhao greets Sect Master Yang, Sect Master Yang… en, is a young and promising man.”

The insincerity of this compliment was apparent to everyone.

Yang Kai replied politely as well, not taking any offence. Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao looked at each other and also didn’t bother to explain.

They clearly knew how powerful Yang Kai was. It could be said that Yang Kai being here was the same as having a peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master to assist them! This gave them enough confidence to remain here.

“Hah, it’s just a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm brat!”

“This boy actually managed to survive inside the Blood Prison for so long, his luck must be quite good.”

“However, his luck has just run out, I’ll bet he won’t survive the day.”

“Hmph, an ignorant boy who doesn’t know how to spell ‘death’, actually daring to come to Domain Stone Mountain!”

“This little brat must be an idiot. His arrival not only doesn’t help his companions but actually adds a weakness instead, they’re finished.”

Whispers suddenly sounded all around as countless cultivators focused their attention on Yang Kai, most of them wearing disdainful or mocking expressions while some just felt it strange.

Around Domain Stone Mountain, there were more than a hundred Origin Returning Realm masters, all of them at the Third-Orders.

Yang Kai was the only Second-Order present, making him stand out like a crane amongst chickens, so he became the topic of everyone’s attention and discussion.

Yang Kai remained perfectly calm, not caring about everyone else discussing him at all. Zhao Tian Ze’s expression, however, became more and more uneasy.

Originally, with just him, Qian Tong, and Lin Yu Rao here, even if some people were eyeing them with ill intent, they still had enough strength to maintain the status quo for a while, but the moment Yang Kai showed up, their location immediately became the focus of attention. Divine Senses swept toward them constantly as strong auras began pressuring them, causing Zhao Tian Ze to grow nervous.

The arrival of this young man named Yang Kai seemed to have made their situation more difficult.

Glancing around at their surroundings, Zhao Tian Ze began leaking sweat from his forehead.

“Yang Kai, those two over there have been eyeing us for a while now,” Qian Tong moved to Yang Kai’s side and whispered, gesturing towards a nearby spot as he spoke.

Following his gaze, Yang Kai quickly noticed two Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators who were constantly observing them. Seeing Yang Kai’s gaze, one of these two stared back and grinned maliciously.

The other person, holding a communication artifact in his hand, was still communicating with someone.

“I see,” Yang Kai nodded slightly, a trace of suspicion flashing across his face.

He vaguely felt that the robes worn by these two people were familiar, as if he had seen them somewhere before.

However, he had been living on Shadowed Star almost the entire time he had been in the Star Field and had rarely interacted with cultivators from other Cultivation Stars, so he couldn’t recall where he had seen such uniforms before.

[Was it in the Emperor Garden?] Yang Kai thought to himself as the Emperor Garden was the only place where he had frequently dealt with cultivators from other Cultivation Stars.

“By the way, what is this place and what is that huge Domain Stone? How come so many people have gathered here?” Yang Kai withdrew his gaze and asked the questions which had been bothering him since he arrived.

He had hurried over to this place after receiving a message from Qian Tong, but he still knew nothing about Domain Stone Mountain.

“This is Domain Stone Mountain,” Qian Tong replied, “We only know that this thing has always existed inside the Blood Prison, as for the specifics, you’d best ask Brother Zhao instead, he knows much more about it.”

“Then I’ll have to bother City Lord Zhao,” Yang Kai cupped his fists and bowed to Zhao Tian Ze.

“Sect Master Yang is too polite,” Zhao Tian Ze laughed dryly. Although he was still a little uneasy, it wasn’t a problem to explain about Domain Stone Mountain to Yang Kai.

Hearing what he said, Yang Kai suddenly became interested.

“So, the chances of Domain Stone Mountain appearing are very small?”

“Naturally, it has only appeared a handful of times when the Blood Prison Trial has opened in the past. Normally, it is surrounded by a terrifying Domain, making it impossible to approach,” Zhao Tian Ze nodded.

“And no one has ever thought of trying to take it away?” Yang Kai stared at the huge Domain Stone with scorching eyes.

Even Origin Kings would go all out to acquire such a large piece of Domain Stone, right? As long as they placed it in their Sect, it would become a core treasure that could produce many Origin Kings!

The gentle Domain aura it exuded was an incredible cultivation treasure.

“Sect Master Yang surely jests.” Zhao Tian Ze said as the corner of his brow twitched, “Without even mentioning how heavy this Domain Stone is, making it impossible to move, even if someone had the strength to carry it off, none would dare touch it arbitrarily.”

“Why not?” Yang Kai was startled.

“If one triggered a powerful wave of Domain, who could possibly resist?” Zhao Tian Ze spoke solemnly as he stared at Yang Kai with a strange expression.

He wanted to scold Yang Kai for asking such an ignorant question, but was too embarrassed to actually speak such words.

“So that’s how it is!” Yang Kai gently nodded, finally understanding the peculiarities of this Domain Stone Mountain. Staring at it earnestly for a moment, Yang Kai suddenly grinned, “But this is indeed a Heaven-sent opportunity! Since we’re here and occupy a good place, let’s not waste any time. We need to hurry up and cultivate, there are already many doing so apparently.”

“Uh, relying on just the few of us?” Zhao Tian Ze was astonished.

“Are we waiting for someone else?”

“We’re not expecting anyone else, but with so few of us, if we were all to sit in meditation and were suddenly sneak attacked while we were in the midst of some critical comprehension, the consequences would be disastrous…” Zhao Tian Ze worried, pointing to the group with the largest number of people in the distance, “Sect Master Yang, look over there. There are many of them so they can separate into two different groups, one to stand guard while the other meditates, but with just the four of us…”

“I’ll stand guard then, the three of you meditate,” Yang Kai said freely.

“This…” Zhao Tian Ze was stunned and showed a trace of gratitude. Although he was a little disappointed with Yang Kai’s arrival, Yang Kai offering to stand guard for them while they benefited was still a touching gesture.

Regardless of his strength, this young man had an upstanding character.

“Sect Master, I can stand guard,” Lin Yu Rao took the initiative to ask.

“No need, since I’ve said you can cultivate, just cultivate. Don’t waste time,” Yang Kai waved his hand and urged. “The earlier you begin, the more benefits you will get!”

“Alright,” Qian Tong pondered for a moment before nodding, “Since that’s your decision Yang Kai, we’ll go along with it. Also, we won’t sink completely into a meditative state, if there is any movement, we will be able to react immediately. When I’ve reached a good point to stop my comprehension, I’ll change places with you.”

“En.”

Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao exchanged a glance before sitting down cross-legged.

Zhao Tian Ze hesitated, however, and quickly approached Qian Tong to ask in a low voice, “Elder Qian, can we really do this?”

He did not feel assured leaving his safety in Yang Kai’s hands. He would rather Qian Tong or Lin Yu Rao stand guard as that would at least put him more at ease.

“When Yang Kai acts, you can rest at ease,” Qian Tong stretched out his hand and patted him on the shoulder, speaking seriously.

Zhao Tian Ze smiled bitterly. He really didn’t know why Qian Tong had so much confidence in Yang Kai, but seeing both him and Lin Yu Rao close their eyes to seek enlightenment, he too couldn’t help giving in to the temptation of Domain Stone Mountain, grit his teeth, and sat down cross-legged to meditate.

However, he didn’t dare to fully immerse himself in his comprehension, making sure he could still react to any sudden changes around him.

Seeing that all three of them had entered a state of comprehension, Yang Kai sat down cross-legged as well and observed Domain Stone Mountain with interest.

Earlier, he couldn’t have imagined that there was such a large piece of Domain Stone in the Blood Prison. He had entered several dozen Domain Vortices already but only managed to obtain four Domain Stones, all of which were only the size of a fist, and one of them he had given to Xue Sun.

If such a large piece of Domain Stone could be taken away…

Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling excited, his eyes sparkling as he grinned deviously.

Just as he was about to put his plan into action, however, Yang Kai’s expression suddenly changed and he turned his head to the side.

From a certain direction, a group of four people were flying over towards their position, and after a short while, these four people landed nearby, and paused to stare at Domain Stone Mountain with scorching eyes and looks of joy on their faces.

The appearance of Domain Stone Mountain was a rare opportunity for any cultivator!

“You’ve finally arrived!” Someone greeted these four while also complaining slightly.

Yang Kai looked over and found that this man was the one who had been eyeing him maliciously earlier. He and his other companion had been in contact with someone while paying attention to Qian Tong and the others since before Yang Kai arrived.

It seemed that these four who had just arrived were the ones this man’s companion had contacted before.

“We had some trouble on the road thanks to an enchantress!” The leading man replied in a deep voice.

“An enchantress?” The questioner’s brow rose.

“En, I don’t know where she’s from, but she was incredibly strong. If it weren’t for there being four of us, I’m afraid we wouldn’t have been able to repel her. Fortunately, with all of us working together, we managed to wound her, but unfortunately, she managed to escape after that,” The leading man replied angrily.

“That enchantress was so beautiful, Brother Cai. You didn’t see her, but if you did, I’m afraid you’d have trouble even walking straight,” Someone else from the newcomers commented.

“Aren’t you exaggerating a bit too much?” The man surnamed Cai curled his lips, obviously not believing them.

“It’s no exaggeration. That enchantress was definitely the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life, but the aura she gave off was a bit strange. She seemed to have Monster Qi and Saint Qi mixed together.”

“Forget it, don’t mention that enchantress anymore,” The leading man waved his hand and interrupted the chatter, “Brother Cai Feng, what’s the situation here?”

“Nothing serious,” Cai Feng shrugged, “You should be able to see that there’s only so much space around this Domain Stone Mountain. The innermost section has already been occupied by those who got here first, but in the outer region, there are still a few good spots.”