Martial Peak

“Has Sect Master exited retreat yet?” Atop Hundred Flowers Peak, Ye Xi Yun drank tea with a carefree expression while asking Wu Yi.

She had returned to High Heaven Sect three months ago and, not disappointing Yang Kai’s and anyone else’s expectations, Ye Xi Yun had successfully broken through to the Origin King Realm.

She had long been the strongest master on Shadowed Star and had stagnated at the peak of the Origin Returning Realm master for centuries. She had already touched upon the mysteries of Domain long ago but had taken the initiative to stay in High Heaven Sect to protect Yang Yan. If not for this, she would have left with Yang Kai the first time he sailed from Shadowed Star and broken through together with Qian Tong.

Wu Yi had also broken through to the Origin Returning Realm more than a month ago, and during the recent days, she had been accepting some guidance from Ye Xi Yun. Hearing this question, Wu Yi immediately replied, “No, since Sect Master returned two months ago, he has secluded himself in First Heavenly Palace and has not even met with the two Sect Madams.”

“En…” Ye Xi Yun nodded lightly and was just about to inspect Wu Yi’s recent cultivation when she suddenly raised her head and looked towards a certain direction, saying solemnly, “That’s… the direction of First Heavenly Palace?”

“Has something happened to Sect Master?” Wu Yi asked anxiously.

“It doesn’t look like some kind of accident, it’s just that World Energy seems to be gathering towards that direction. Could Sect Master be breaking through?” Even with Ye Xi Yun’s calm temperament, she felt taken aback by her own guess.

How long had it been since Sect Master broke through to the Origin King Realm? A year? Two? How could he have another breakthrough so soon?

“I’ll go and see,” As soon as her voice fell, Ye Xi Yun disappeared.

Outside First Heavenly Palace, a ghostly figure covered in black mist had already appeared. When Ye Xi Yun saw this figure, she stepped forward and quickly greeted, “Senior Brother!”

Gui Zu turned his head and smiled back, “Junior Sister Ye!”

Although the two had only known each other for a few months, they were both Origin Kings and belonged to High Heaven Sect, so addressing each other as Senior Brother and Junior Sister was only natural. After Ye Xi Yun broke through to the Origin King Realm, her title of Great Elder was automatically replaced by that of Supreme Elder, similar to Gui Zu.

In this sense, the two shared the same status.

“Junior Sister Ye also noticed the situation here and came to have a look?”

“En, judging from the movement of the World Energy, it looks like a breakthrough, but I remember hearing from Senior Brother before that Sect Master only reached the Origin King Realm a short time ago. Why is he having another breakthrough so soon? “

“Who knows,” Gui Zu shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t understand either. This boy… cough cough, Sect Master can’t be judged using common sense.”

Ye Xi Yun frowned, “Although Sect Master is indeed a genius that broke through to the Origin King Realm at an extremely young age, if he breaks through too frequently, I’m afraid that his foundation will become unstable.”

She could not help feeling a little worried about Yang Kai.

The Origin King Realm was not like the Great Realms that came before it. It was not unusual for geniuses to make successive breakthroughs in the lower realms, but once reached the Origin King Realm, if a cultivator wanted to make further progress, they needed to do so step by step in a steady fashion.

In the Star Field, many Origin Kings had been stuck at the First-Order their entire lives, unable to spy on greater heights in the Martial Dao.

But Yang Kai’s breakthrough speed was simply too fast, enough so to worry Ye Xi Yun.

Gui Zu frowned as he mumbled, “Sect Master isn’t the type who covets advancement at the expense of strength. Him daring to make a breakthrough at this time should be because he has complete confidence. In any case, it’s useless to worry about it now, this is a matter only Sect Master can handle. We just have to wait and see what the results are.”

“It is as Senior Brother says,” Ye Xi Yun took a deep breath and stared at the gate of First Heavenly Palace.

A large amount of World Energy had gathered around First Heavenly Palace, and although a breakthrough of a Minor Realm would not result in a World Energy baptism, it was still a magnificent scene to behold.

Almost all disciples of High Heaven Sect noticed the anomaly at First Heavenly Palace, and not long after, Yang Kai’s relatives and friends had gathered behind Ye Xi Yun and Gui Zu, all of them staring nervously ahead.

The rich World Energy poured into First Heavenly Palace and soon disappeared, as if it were being swallowed by a bottomless vortex.

This situation lasted for half a day until at a certain moment, Yang Kai’s loud roar rang out from First Heavenly Palace and an aura that seemed to be stronger than Gui Zu’s burst forth.

Everyone’s knees bent at that moment and many were almost crushed to the ground, but fortunately, this aura disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

Gui Zu’s eyes lit up as he whispered, “Freely releasing and taking back one’s strength! Haha, Junior Sister, it seems we were worried for nothing.”

Ye Xi Yun finally showed a relaxed look, but she still did not dare to be careless and said, “We should still wait for Sect Master to come out before we make a final conclusion.”

At that moment, the doors of First Heavenly Palace opened with a bang and Yang Kai’s figure was revealed.

Ye Xi Yun and Gui Zu immediately released their Divine Senses and inspected Yang Kai’s condition.

After a moment, the two exchanged a knowing smile.

The energy fluctuations coming from Yang Kai’s body were stable and there were no signs of his foundation becoming unstable due to a premature breakthrough. Finally confirming this, the two were able to put down their last concerns.

“So many people?” Yang Kai swept his eyes over the sea of familiar faces in front of him in amazement, cupped his fists, and said with a sheepish smile, “Sorry, I accidentally broke through and disturbed everyone.”

Accidentally…

Many people glowered at Yang Kai!

Although most of the cultivators present were Saint Kings, with only a few Origin Realm masters, all of them understood the power of an Origin King and how difficult it was for them to achieve even a minor breakthrough, so Yang Kai’s words just now slightly irksome to them.

“Congratulations, Sect Master,” Gui Zu laughed loudly. “Sect Master’s aptitude is astonishing, something this Elder has only seen once in his life.”

“Sect Master, why did you suddenly break through?” Ye Xi Yun asked curiously.

“There’s no special reason. I was already at the peak of the First-Order and recently comprehended something important, leading to a breakthrough,” Yang Kai replied with a smile.

The main reason for this breakthrough was the stimulation Yang Kai received from bearing witness to Yang Yan and Wu Sheng Feng’s extraordinary strength. Although he had long known that the Origin King Realm was not the peak of the Martial Dao, he had not thought much about it yet. Wu Sheng Feng’s appearance though had given Yang Kai a sense of crisis.

Sitting in meditation for a month, remembering the pressure Wu Sheng Feng put on him, Yang Kai finally had a breakthrough.

Just like what he said to Lin Yu Hao and Yi Zheng Kai in Nine Heavens Holy Land, a cultivator could only advance on their path when they comprehended where they were headed.

After the questions that lingered in his mind were sorted out, his realm had naturally improved.

“Everyone, please return. Everything is alright,” Yang Kai cupped his fists to everyone and said, causing the crowd to slowly disperse.

“Two Elders, please stay a moment, I have something to discuss with you,” Yang Kai called out.

Gui Zu and Ye Xi Yun paused and looked at Yang Kai curiously.

After everyone had left, Ye Xi Yun asked, “I wonder what Sect Master’s orders are?”

“I have something here for you, please take a look,” Yang Kai stretched out his hand and while speaking pointed towards Ye Xi Yun and Gui Zu.

The two of them did not try to dodge or resist, instead just allowing Yang Kai to reach out and touch their heads. The next moment, a package of information was transmitted to their Knowledge Seas, after which Gui Zu and Ye Xi Yun closed their eyes to inspect it.

After a while, Gui Zu’s body shook and his eyes shot open, “The Star Boundary? A realm that exists above the Star Field? That Senior really was the Starry Sky Great Emperor!?”

It was not until this time that Gui Zu understood that Yang Yan was really the rumoured Great Emperor, because the message Yang Kai gave him explained all of this.

On the other hand, Ye Xi Yun wasn’t too shocked; after all, she knew Yang Yan’s identity a long time ago, but regarding the other information, she couldn’t help frowning and saying, “Sect Master, according to the method Milady left behind, if you want to go to the Star Boundary, you must gather all nine Star Emperor Tokens as well as six Third-Order Origin Kings in order to activate the Void Corridor which connects to the Star Gate. Are you… planning to go to the Star Boundary?”

Yang Kai nodded and said, “Indeed!”

“Is it because of the Guardian issue Milady mentioned?” Ye Xi Yun asked.

“That’s not the entire reason,” Yang Kai shook his head with a contemplative expression on his face, “It is just that, as a cultivator, who doesn’t yearn for a higher Martial Dao?”

Ye Xi Yun’s beautiful eyes flashed a profound light as she nodded deeply.

“That’s right,” Yang Kai grinned. “Being satisfied with the status quo will only lead your path to its end. If I remain here, I will be able to reach the Third-Order Origin King Realm sooner or later and stand at the pinnacle of this Star Field, but so what? If another Wu Sheng Feng were to appear, he would be able to trample me under his foot.”

If Yang Kai was such an easily satisfied person, he would have stayed in the Central Capital or Tong Xuan Realm and there would be no High Heaven Sect now.

“But the conditions for opening the Void Corridor are too harsh, can they even be satisfied?” Gui Zu frowned, “Although collecting the nine Star Emperor Tokens won’t be too much of a problem for Sect Master, finding six Third-Order Origin Kings… Where would we even begin to look? I’m not sure there even are six such masters in the entire Star Field, and even if there are, all of them have secluded themselves from the world, disappearing without a trace.”

“Everything depends on our own efforts,” Yang Kai grinned and patted Gui Zu on the shoulder, “Elder, I’m counting you among these six!”

“Me?” Gui Zu was shocked and waved his hands quickly, “This old master knows his own ability best. Although this old master has hope to break through to the Third-Order Origin King Realm in this life, he has no idea when that turning point will arrive.”

“Ten years! Within ten years, Elder must break through to the Third-Order!” Yang Kai said with a solemn expression, “I will have Little Senior Sister fully cooperate with you and supply an unlimited number of Spirit Pills, but Elder still must not advance recklessly.”

“Ten years…” Gui Zu frowned, pondered for a while, before suddenly nodding, “Alright, this old master will enter retreat for the next ten years and he will definitely live up to the Sect Master’s expectations!”

Yang Kai smiled next at Ye Xi Yun and said, “You as well, if you can break through to the Third-Order within ten years, you can follow me to the Star Boundary.”

“I’ll try my best,” Ye Xi Yun smiled bitterly and nodded. Having said that, she also knew that this was absolutely impossible. She had only just broken through to the First-Order Origin King Realm, so how could she reach the Third-Order in just ten years? Only a monster like Yang Kai could achieve such a feat.

“Even if the three of us meet the conditions, where can we find another three?” Gui Zu worried again.

“I’m not in a hurry to find others just yet. I’ll collect the Star Emperor Tokens first,” Yang Kai smiled lightly. “I’ll be leaving Shadowed Star in a few days so I must entrust the Sect to the both of you.”

“Sect Master can rest assured, with Senior Brother and I here, not even blind fools would dare act presumptuous,” Ye Xi Yun smiled lightly.