Martial Peak

Chapter 2003, Golden Crystal Grass

Five days after entering the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, somewhere in the first layer, Yang Kai landed indifferently from the air besides two other cultivators who were staring at the fresh corpse of a Monster Beast.

Unlike Yang Kai’s indifference, the two other cultivators were extremely excited.

These two cultivators, one wearing blue, the other white, were both men and Third-Order Origin Kings.

The group of three had not exchanged given names and only knew one another by their surnames. The reason for this was because they were just a temporarily gathered alliance.

After separating from Qin Yu, Yang Kai had been constantly searching for the entrance to the second layer, but after arriving at a certain spot, he had come across these two cultivators and heard an interesting story from them.

Yang Kai learned that the two of them had discovered some rare Golden Crystal Grasses, but these Golden Crystal Grasses were guarded by four Iron Arm Spirit Apes. Iron Arm Spirit Apes had extremely tough skin and amazing natural defence, so when the two of them had fought against these four previously, they were unable to gain any advantage and were forced to withdraw. As such, they were now looking for another helper to deal with these four Monster Beasts.

Yang Kai happened to pass by at this time, so the pair invited him to cooperate.

After listening to their story, Yang Kai immediately decided to join the group.

Although he did not know what Golden Crystal Grass was, since it could draw the attention of two Third-Order Origin Kings, it would certainly be of great value.

It was just four Monster Beasts, so it would not cost Yang Kai much time.

Furthermore, he did not put these two Third-Order Origin Kings in his eyes. Even if they were plotting something, Yang Kai felt that he could handle whatever they threw at him with his current strength.

After some inquiries, Yang Kai learned that the Golden Crystal Grass was actually a rare spirit grass that could aid one’s Body Tempering. Even if it was directly swallowed and refined, it could increase the strength and toughness of a cultivator’s body. If it could be refined into Golden Crystal Pills, the effect would be even better.

It was for this exact reason that the four Iron Arm Spirit Apes had decided to live where these Golden Crystal Grasses grew.

With their group of three, they launched an attack.

Of the four Iron Arm Spirit Apes, the largest one had a cultivation at the peak of the Tenth-Order, which was equivalent to a peak Origin King. If it was given a few more years, breaking through to the Eleventh-Order would not be a problem. As for the other three, they were equivalent to Second-Order Origin Kings.

If they were ordinary Monster Beasts, two Third-Order Origin Kings would have been able to deal with them somehow.

But Iron Arm Spirit Apes had astonishing defensive and offensive power. What’s more, they were a tenacious species that did not seem to fear death, so in the previous fight, the pair had suffered quite a bit but gained nothing in the end.

However, after Yang Kai joined, the situation was completely different.

Although Yang Kai held back, he still had no problem entangling the big Iron Arm Spirit Ape.

The other two teamed up to use their artifacts to kill the three small apes before joining Yang Kai and launching a concentrated attack, causing it to fall after a short struggle.

“Brother Yang’s methods are profound, tying down that evil animal with ease and emerging unscathed, this Zhao is impressed,” The man in blue smiled in a somewhat forced manner as he praised.

“En, this slightly longer Iron Arm Spirit Ape made Brother Zhao and I almost suffer serious injury before. I didn’t expect Brother Yang would be able to deal with it for so long. This Sun is ashamed of his inferiority,” The man in white also spoke.

“Two friends are too polite, this Yang’s Movement Skill is just a bit more flexible. Although this beast is indeed strong, as long as I could distract it while not letting it hit me, its strength doesn’t mean anything,” Yang Kai said lightly.

The men surnamed Zhao and Sun looked at each other and didn’t say anything, instead just laughing awkwardly and glossing over the matter.

After all, when the three of them teamed up to deal with the last Iron Arm Spirit Ape, they had witnessed Yang Kai’s performance up close and knew that it was not just his Movement Skill that was extraordinary…

At this moment, both of them felt a little fear towards Yang Kai.

“Now that these four beasts are dead, we should first harvest their Blood Essence, fur, and fangs. All of it is good material that should not be wasted,” Zhao Peng suggested.

“Indeed, especially their pelts, they can be used to refine high quality defensive artifacts,” Sun Qian continued happily.

Saying so, the trio did not waste any time and used their own methods to process the four Iron Arm Spirit Apes.

Not long after, the three showed looks of satisfaction. Splitting the materials amongst themselves, they only left behind some useless pieces of meat and bone.

“Now, it’s just the Golden Crystal Grass left. I don’t know how many there are, but I hope there are many,” Zhao Peng looked at a nearby cave with a fiery gaze.

“We’ll only know after we take a look,” Yang Kai smiled slightly and took the lead as he walked towards the cave.

The men surnamed Zhao and Sun exchanged a glance before hurriedly following.

The cave was dark and damp, and there was a foul smell in the air which made people want to vomit. The bones of many other Monster Beasts were piled up near the entrance of the cave that when stepped on made an unnerving crackling sound.

The four Iron Arm Spirit Apes had obviously made this place their home for some time now.

After a short walk, the trio arrived at the back of the cave.

In front of them, there was a stone block roughly twenty meters across on top of which there were a dozen or so small golden blades of grass about the size of a finger that exuded a metallic lustre.

Three Divine Senses swept out and after confirming that there were no hidden dangers, the trio approached the stone pier.

“Haha, there are thirteen stalks!” Zhao Peng said with clear joy.

“We can’t divide them evenly though,” Sun Qian frowned as he thought of another matter.

Yang Kai just chuckled, “Since there are thirteen stalks, we can each take four then convert the last one into Source Crystals. The one who wants it most can take out those Source Crystals and compensate the other two.”

“En, Brother Yang’s suggestion is good,” The men surnamed Zhao and Sun naturally had no reason to refuse and nodded quickly.

The trio split twelve Golden Crystal Grasses amongst themselves before discussing an appropriate price for the last stalk. Yang Kai eventually bought it for five thousand Source Crystals.

Everyone was happy.

“It has been a rewarding cooperation, I hope there will be another chance in the future,” The man surnamed Zhao smiled and said to Yang Kai, cupping his fists politely.

“Yes, Brother Yang is very capable. I do hope we can work together again,” The man surnamed Sun added.

“If there is a chance,” Yang Kai said in a perfunctory manner. “Since our business is concluded, I will take my leave.”

“May we meet again, Brother Yang!” The men surnamed Zhao and Sun quickly cupped their fists and replied.

Yang Kai nodded and turned to walk out of the cave.

When he reached the entrance, however, he turned around and asked, “Aren’t you two going to look for the entrance to the second layer?”

Zhao Peng chuckled and said, “Naturally, we are planning to do that, but during the previous battle, this Zhao expended quite a bit of strength, so he is going to restore himself first. Please do not mind me, Brother Yang.”

The man surnamed Sun nodded, indicating he would do the same.

Yang Kai showed a look of understanding before nodding and turning around to leave while the other two sat down and took out some restorative Spirit Pills from their Space Rings and stuffed them into their mouths, closing their eyes to adjust their breathing.

For a time, the cave was silent.

Only after a long wait did the man surnamed Sun suddenly open his eyes and whisper, “He should be gone now.”

“It’s been so long already; do you think he’d linger around?” The man surnamed Zhao commented.

“Brother Zhao, why did you tell me not to act rashly just now? Golden Crystal Grass is extremely rare, so letting him just take five of them away is really not worth it. Also, judging from the way he bid for the last one, he seemed to have a lot of Source Crystals on him. If we could kill him…”

“Do you think the two of us are his opponents?” The man surnamed Zhao heard this and coldly snorted.

“Why not? Although his performance just now was quite good, and he was probably still concealing some of his strength, isn’t it the same for us? With the two of us acting together, why would we need to fear him?” The man surnamed Sun looked unconvinced.

“That’s only because you don’t know how terrifying he really is!” The man surnamed Zhao scoffed, “Remember how I told you before that I encountered the Soaring Dragon Altar? During that incident, I saw a man kill Kui Sha with a single strike, with Kui Sha being unable to put up any kind of resistance.”

“Kui Sha? Kui Sha of the Blood Transformation Sect?” Sun Qian was startled.

“En, how do you think we compare to Kui Sha?”

“Naturally, we’re not as strong. Although Blood Transformation Sect isn’t a powerful Sect, it is still on par with Raging Fire Temple. Even I have heard of Kui Sha as he is a young talent with a promising future.”

“That’s why I didn’t let you act just now. I didn’t remember where I had seen that guy surnamed Yang at first, but after watching him fight, I remembered that he was the one who killed Kui Sha! Even if both you and I acted together, we would definitely not be his opponent and our end would be disastrous.”

“So that’s how it is! Many thanks, Brother Zhao, for your prompt reminder. Otherwise, if I had torn face with him…” The man surnamed Sun shivered slightly as sweat dripped from his forehead.

“Forget it, let’s not talk about it anymore. Fortunately, this person seems to be a bit ignorant, not even knowing the details about Golden Crystal Grass, even going so far as to ask us about its uses.”

“En, he’s a strange one. With such great strength, how could he not know anything about Golden Crystal Grass?” The man surnamed Sun wondered.

“It’s best that he knows nothing, it allows us to pick up a bargain. Since he did not know about Golden Crystal Grass, he naturally wouldn’t know that Golden Crystal Grass will only grow above rare ore deposits. In other words, there is definitely some valuable ore vein below here!” The man surnamed Zhao smiled slightly.

“Alright, now that he’s left, we should get to work. If we can find a piece of Emperor Grade ore, you and I will become rich.”

“How could Emperor Grade ore be so easy to find? It is rumoured that Emperor Grade ores only appear above the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda’s third layer while we’re still just on the first, but… a piece of Dao Source Grade ore is still quite good.”

After the two spoke, they no longer hesitated and each began using their own methods to excavate the area beneath the stone pier. It was not long until a big hole was blasted open in the stone and the pair began using different methods to dig down into the ground.

“Sure enough, they hid something!” Not far away, using his Secret Technique Nihility to conceal himself, Yang Kai coldly snorted.