Martial Peak

Chapter 2414, Centre of the Restriction

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

“Love is the hardest thing to forget in this world,” blurted out Yang Kai, looking as if he’d experienced something similar.

Zi Yu smiled, “Senior Brother Yang, are you recalling someone?”

Yang Kai said embarrassedly, “Junior Sister Yu, please continue.”

Zi Yu became happy when she heard him call her ‘Junior Sister Yu’. She continued, “Generally speaking, every woman that attracts the attention of a disciple from Seeking Passion Sect is doomed. After being influenced by that Seeking Passion Supreme Art, the woman will no longer have any interest in cultivating, the only thing on her mind would be that disciple, as if he was her entire world. This is also the reason the difference between the two of them keeps increasing.”

Yang Kai nodded, “Compared to the man, who seems pretty much unaffected, the woman falls in the abyss of love, unable to extricate herself.” After a short pause, he looked at Zi Yu and asked, “Junior Sister Yu, since you’re telling me this, does that mean that someone from Seeking Passion Sect took a fancy to you?”

Hearing his words, Zi Yu’s expression darkened and she sighed, “Senior Brother Yang’s guess is correct. The one eyeing me is Seeking Passion Sect’s Young Sect Master, Feng Xi!”

“Feng Xi?” Yang Kai frowned. He remembered that Zi Yu had mentioned this name when he first came here. She asked him if he was Feng Xi, which he denied. Now, it turned out that this Feng Xi was Seeking Passion Sect’s Young Sect Master.

“My Ice Heart Valley and Seeking Passion Sect are both top Sects in the Northern Territory, and the disciples of the two Sects occasionally have the opportunity to meet face to face. Feng Xi and I had heard of the other despite having never met in person, but a few years back, I accidentally met him while I was outside. Since that day, he hasn’t stopped pestering me. I was fed up with him and rejected him several times, but it was of no use.”

Yang Kai sneered, “That guy sure is shameless!”

Zi Yu continued, “Actually, Feng Xi and I are an appropriate match from a social point of view, and you could even say that I’m the one in the lower position. Although Ice Heart Valley is still considered one of the top Sects in the Northern Territory, everyone knows that it has somewhat fallen from grace. Its strength is no longer comparable to Seeking Passion Sect’s. Feng Xi failed to get his hands on me personally, so he shamelessly asked the Seeking Passion Sect to put pressure on Ice Heart Valley, promising great benefits if they accepted. Under this pressure, some of the Sect’s leaders agreed to the marriage. Now, I am to get married to Feng Xi in two days.”

“Ice Heart Valley’s Elders agreed?” Yang Kai’s face darkened.

Zi Yu said in low spirits, “This cannot be blamed on them as we are in a weaker position compared to the enemy. In the past half a year, our Sect’s industries were targeted one after another, and my Junior and Senior Sisters were attacked whenever they got out. Some even died. To protect the Sect, they could only agree.”

Seeing her helpless expression, Yang Kai sympathized with her. After a short moment, he asked, “What about your Honoured Master? What is her position in Ice Heart Valley? Did she also agree?”

Zi Yu forced a smile, “My Honoured Master has managed Ice Heart Valley ever since our Ancestral Founder left. She’s the current Valley Master and has always treated me as if I were her own child, so she naturally did not agree to this marriage. The reason I could escape last time was also thanks to her assistance; however, her hands are tied right now, and she can’t help me.”

“Since you managed to escape, how did they capture you again?” Hearing that the current Valley Master didn’t agree to the marriage, even going as far as to help Zi Yu flee the Sect, Yang Kai felt that Ice Heart Valley’s higher-ups weren’t completely hopeless.

Zi Yu said dejectedly, “Seeking Passion Sect’s Vice Sect Master, Yao Zhuo, came personally. He’s a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master, and I had no way to resist him.”

“Yao Zhuo!” Yang Kai engraved this name in his mind, guessing that after separating from them a few days ago, Zi Yu must’ve bumped into Yao Zhuo, who captured her and brought her back to Ice Heart Valley, getting locked up in the Restricted Area.

“Right, both he and Feng Xi are staying as guests in Ice Heart Valley. Senior Brother Yang, they didn’t see you when you came here, right?” Zi Yu asked anxiously.

Yang Kai finally understood, “I see, so those two were Yao Zhuo and Feng Xi!”

On his way here, he bumped into two men, with one of them being in the Second-Order Emperor Realm. Back then, he was curious as to why those two were in Ice Heart Valley, but it turned out that they were Seeking Passion Sect’s Vice Sect Master and Young Sect Master.

It seemed that Zi Yu’s previous escape made them vigilant; after all, the wedding was in two days, and if the bride was nowhere to be found by that time, it would be too much of an embarrassment. To prevent Zi Yu from escaping again, Yao Zhuo and Feng Xi had personally come to Ice Heart Valley, standing guard here.

After becoming clear about the situation, Yang Kai said, “On my way here, I did sense their presence; however, they didn’t see me. Junior Sister Yu, no need to worry.”

Zi Yu was, once again, surprised.

Yang Kai had the same cultivation as her, but he managed to sense Yao Zhou’s presence without getting caught by the latter. How did he achieve this? However, after recalling the scene where he defeated Cao Yang with a single move, Zi Yu realized that Yang Kai wasn’t a simple Dao Source Realm cultivator.

“Now that even my Honoured Master is powerless, only Ancestral Founder can save me!” Zi Yu looked at Yang Kai anxiously and begged, “Senior Brother Yang, you have to inform Ancestral Founder as soon as possible and ask her to save me from this crisis!”

If Yao Zhuo managed to bring her back to Seeking Passion Sect, she was doomed to become Feng Xi’s plaything. Very few women could resist the effects of the Seeking Passion Supreme Art, and Feng Xi was someone who had captured the hearts of countless women while cultivating. Zi Yu didn’t want to become one of the numerous concubines in his harem.

She had a bright future ahead of her, so how could she be willing to become a man’s cultivation tool and never advance further on her Martial Dao?

“Don’t worry. Senior Bing Yun won’t just sit back and watch. I came here because she requested me to check Ice Heart Valley’s situation. She’s in Ice Moon City at this moment.” Yang Kai smiled.

Hearing these words, Zi Yu was overjoyed as she muttered, “That’s great… That’s truly great!”

If the Ancestral Founder was in Ice Moon City, she could definitely save Zi Yu from this predicament.

At the same time, Zi Yu recalled another thing. When she met Yang Kai a few days ago, she also met some girls who claimed to be disciples of Ice Heart Valley. Back then, she thought that they were working for the Master Sect’s higher-ups, so she hurriedly fled.

But in hindsight, she’d never seen any of those girls. Moreover, their cultivations were quite uneven; they obviously didn’t belong to the batch of disciples that grew up with her.

[Is it possible that they are disciples that Ancestral Founder took in? That would explain why they said they were from Ice Heart Valley. Since they were on that ship, does that mean that Ancestral Founder was also there at that time?]

Considering all this, Zi Yu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She was actually so close to the Ancestral Founder but missed the opportunity to meet her. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, Yao Zhuo captured her and brought her here. She truly became a victim of her own cleverness!

If she had stayed with the Ancestral Founder, she wouldn’t have had to go through so much trouble!

“Senior Brother Yang, you should quickly return to Ice Moon City. If you stay here for too long, someone might see you,” urged Zi Yu after returning to her senses.

“Aren’t you coming with me?” Yang Kai asked.

Zi Yu forced a smile, “This is the Sect’s Restricted Area, and there are countless barriers and Spirit Arrays outside, how am I supposed to leave this place?”

Yang Kai chuckled, “How do you think I got here?”

Zi Yu was dumbfounded for a moment before she looked at the token in her hand, “Are you saying that…”

Yang Kai nodded, “Senior Bing Yun gave me this token, it can bypass all the barriers in the valley. Since I’m already here, it’d make no sense to go back empty-handed. We should head back to Ice Moon City together so that you can explain things to Senior Bing Yun personally.”

“Senior Brother Yang, can you really bring me back with you?” Zi Yu was delighted.

“Of course,” Yang Kai smiled and nodded, “However, you’ll need to wait a moment.”

“Why?” Zi Yu asked in puzzlement before Yang Kai brushed past her and headed toward the island’s centre.

There was something akin to an altar there, and on this altar was an ice-blue bead exuding cold air.

The bead was longan-sized and seemed to be the source of the cold here. The more Yang Kai approached it, the more he could feel the terrifying power inside this bead.

Zi Yu followed and explained, “That is a treasure the Ancestral Founder left behind. We don’t know its name, nor where Ancestral Founder obtained it; however, Ancestral Founder managed to draw out some of its power, creating this ice lake Restricted Area. When disciples cultivate here, they can clearly feel the power of the Ice Principles. According to my Honoured Master, this bead’s background must be extraordinary, but not even Ancestral Founder is completely clear of its true purpose.”

While explaining, she watched Yang Kai closely, unsure as to why he was so interested in this bead.

She saw him tremble all over from excitement, just as if he’d seen something incredible.

“Senior Brother Yang, you shouldn’t approach further or you won’t be able to bear it,” urged Zi Yu. However, she soon realized that she’d said something stupid. If he couldn’t bear the cold, he wouldn’t have approached in the first place.

She was amazed because even someone like her, who cultivated profound Ice Attribute Secret Arts, couldn’t get too close to the bead. Yet, Yang Kai was able to do so.

[Is Senior Brother Yang the personal disciple of Ancestral Founder? If not, how was he able to get so close to her? Even so, why would the Ancestral Founder accept a male disciple?]

While she was lost in thought, Yang Kai had already arrived at the altar. He couldn’t proceed further as if his whole body was freezing. Even pushing his Source Qi wildly was useless against this bone-chilling cold.

Frost had started to form on his head and face, yet he wasn’t scared, his eyes shining brightly as he stared forward.

With a flick of his wrist, Yang Kai suddenly summoned a red bead into his palm.

Zi Yu was dazed as she looked at the scene, because aside from the colour, the bead Yang Kai took out was identical to the one on the altar.

Moreover, when Yang Kai took out the red bead, the ice bead on the altar trembled along with the one in Yang Kai’s hand, clearly signifying a resonance between the two beads.

“The Bead of Winter!” Yang Kai called out, his excitement palpable, “This really is the Bead of Winter!”

Silavin, Original Title – Bead of Winter