Martial Peak

Chapter 2786, A Hundred Years of Servitude

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Facing the middle-aged man's terrifying pressure, Yang Kai lightly stepped forward and pushed out his palm, instantly causing the intense aura pressing down on Hou Yu and Nanmen Da Jun to melt away like snowflakes under the scorching sun. Although Yang Kai's actions seemed simple and unremarkable, they also seemed to harmonize with the surrounding World Principles and with the Martial Dao itself.

The expression on the face of the middle-aged man that had approached them changed abruptly. He hastily curled his hand into a fist, gathered his Emperor Qi, and threw a punch out to meet Yang Kai's palm. When the two attacks met one another, the middle-aged man's aura deflated like a punctured sack and with a muffled snort he was forced back several steps before finally managing to steady himself.

On the other hand, Yang Kai remained motionless while his aura did not even fluctuate as a sea breeze blew against him, making his clothes sway and his hair dance in the wind.

Hou Yu was stunned and stared at Yang Kai's back in a daze. For a moment, she thought that he was amazing. [I didn't see wrongly, right? How can a First-Order Emperor Realm Master be so powerful? Da Jun and I are both First-Order Emperors too, but we could barely breathe under the pressure of that attack. On the other hand, Palace Master managed to repel the enemy with just a casual palm!]

"You…" The middle-aged man was shocked too. What he saw at that moment was not a palm, but rather a mountain slamming towards him. The aura of death had enveloped his entire body in that instant, and moreover, the attack had been unavoidable and unstoppable. Just as he was thinking that he would suffer grievous injuries even if he survived the attack, the other party simply broke through his defences easily and pushed him back. Surprisingly, that attack did not kill him nor even harm him whatsoever; all that person did was disrupt his momentum.

"Are you all one group?" The middle-aged man immediately recognized Yang Kai and Nanmen Da Jun; after all, he had greeted these two when they first arrived on the island just two days ago. [The other guy claimed that they were debt collectors back then, and I naively believed them. From the looks of it, they are not creditors but accomplices of that wicked woman!]

If it were any other ordinary First-Order Emperor, he would have thought nothing of them; however, this middle-aged man immediately understood Yang Kai's abilities after being beaten back with a single palm and was now feeling quite anxious.

[I might not be his opponent if it really comes down to a fight.] Changing his mind, he regained his composure and shouted, "No matter what, you need to pay up or pay with your life, woman!"

As soon as those words rang out, numerous figures appeared in all directions and gathered around the middle-aged man. These people were none other than the debt collectors that were loitering around on the island and searching for Hou Yu to claim payment. There were more than twenty people here, of which five were Emperor Realm Masters. Aside from the middle-aged man who was a Second-Order Emperor, the remaining four were just First-Order.

With so many people standing next to him, the fear the middle-aged man felt in his heart reduced slightly. He might not be a match for that young man on his own, but with so many people on his side, how could they be defeated? A lone tiger cannot defeat a pack of wolves, just as two fists cannot defend against four strikes. No matter how powerful the other party was, he was still just one man.

The moment these people appeared, they all glared at Hou Yu with hatred and anger, acting as if they had absolutely irreconcilable enmity with her. Even so, none of them spoke carelessly, making it clear that the middle-aged man was the ringleader.

"Friend, this woman owes me a lot of Source Crystals. If you insist on protecting her, please don't blame me for being rough." The middle-aged man fixed his gaze on Yang Kai, obviously extremely wary of the latter.

"Is everybody here now?" Yang Kai smiled slightly as he swept his gaze across the crowd before looking back to the middle-aged man. He then said unhurriedly, "Repaying one's debts is a matter of course. I will pay off all her debts on her behalf."

"You will pay on her behalf?" The middle-aged man was taken aback after hearing those words. He glanced at Yang Kai and asked with a furrowed brow, "Do you even know how much she owes?"

"I will pay it off no matter how much she owes!" Yang Kai said lightly.

Hou Yu swallowed nervously and nudged Nanmen Da Jun quietly, asking under her breath, "Is Palace Master rich?"

Nanmen Da Jun glanced at her and smiled deviously, "What does it matter to you? Palace Master is going to help you pay off all your debts this time and will then deduct it from your monthly salary in the future. In that case, you will probably be stuck in High Heaven Palace for the rest of your life."

When she heard those words, the expression on her pretty face changed abruptly. She clutched at Da Jun's arm and begged, "Da Jun, please don't abandon me! I joined High Heaven Palace because of you! If you ever think of leaving in the future, you can't go alone! You must take me with you!"

Nanmen Da Jun continued to smile coldly as he pulled his arm out of her grasp.

On the other side, Yang Kai's words were met with mixed reactions. Some looked happy while some looked suspicious. The amount of debt owed by Hou Yu was not small, yet this young man was saying that he would pay off however much she owed. However, did he have the financial resources to do so? This wasn't a matter of Low-Rank Source Crystals or Mid-Rank Source Crystals but High-Rank Source Crystals calculated in the tens of millions! Even Full Sky Sect and Fire Dragon Palace would have some difficulty taking out so much money all at once!

"May I ask who Your Excellency is?" The middle-aged man frowned as he stared at Yang Kai, "You have such impressive strength and even dare to boast so grandly; you cannot be an unknown character!"

"I'm just paying off some debts. Why are you asking so many questions?" Yang Kai smiled slightly.

However, Nanmen Da Jun cut in and introduced to the crowd, "This is the Palace Master of High Heaven Palace, Yang Kai. I'm sure you're familiar with the name, right?"

"What?!"

"High Heaven Palace's Palace Master?!"

"The High Heaven Palace that destroyed Seeking Passion Sect and occupied their stronghold?!"

"I heard that the Palace Master of High Heaven Palace is a young man; moreover, his cultivation is just First-Order Emperor Realm. From the looks of it…"

Murmur…

Upon hearing Nanmen Da Jun's introduction, this group of debt collectors was quite shocked. They drew in deep breaths of cold air while simultaneously re-evaluating Yang Kai. Meanwhile, the middle-aged man's expression turned dark and cold sweat began beading on his forehead. It turned out that this young man was none other than the famous Palace Master of High Heaven Palace, whose name had spread across the entire Northern Territory recently!

The annihilation of Seeking Passion Sect had caused a great stir, and consequently, the name 'High Heaven Palace' became famous even though it had only just been founded. Any person among the billions of cultivators in the Northern Territory that had access to even the slightest bit of information would be familiar with this grand name.

High Heaven Palace was capable of annihilating a deep-rooted behemoth such as the Seeking Passion Sect. From that alone, one could imagine who astonishing the strength of High Heaven Palace was. It was even rumoured that three Monster Kings were guarding the Sect. Furthermore, the Sect Master of Seeking Passion Sect, Feng Xuan, had also been killed without even the chance to resist.

Now, it would seem as if High Heaven Palace was not just relying on the power of the three Monster Kings to establish itself. Despite how young the Palace Master was, he was a formidable person too. He only had a First-Order Emperor Realm cultivation, yet he easily managed to suppress a Master one Minor Realm higher. This was not something many people across the entire Star Boundary can do. Fortunately, the conflict between them wasn't great; otherwise, he might have to escape the Northern Territory after this incident concluded.

The moment that thought crossed the middle-aged man's mind, his expression turned solemn and he quickly cupped his fists, "So, you are Palace Master Yang. I apologize for my discourtesy."

Upon seeing his actions, the others quickly mirrored him. They cupped their fists and greeted Yang Kai, not daring to show any disrespect.

In response, Yang Kai waved his hand lightly, "Xiao Hou is now part of my High Heaven Palace. I apologize for all the trouble she caused during this period. So… how many Source Crystals does she owe you? Please name your price. I will pay back everything on her behalf."

(Tl note: Xiao Hou is a more intimate way of calling Hou Yu. It's literally Little Hou)

Everybody exchanged glances with each other for a moment. It was reasonable of them to suspect his ability to repay those debts when they were unaware of his true identity; however, they were troubled by something else now that they knew he was the Palace Master of High Heaven Palace; they didn't know whether they should collect their debts from him.

Those debts were essentially gambling debts and not debts from righteous transactions. Hence, they would lose more than they gained if they offended High Heaven Palace over something like that. Even so, they could not bring themselves to refuse the repayment. It was not a small sum after all. For that reason, nobody dared to speak up even though Yang Kai sincerely offered to pay back the debts on Hou Yu's behalf.

Yang Kai observed the situation and immediately understood what these people were afraid of. Raising a brow, he turned to the middle-aged man and asked, "I recall Xiao Hou owes you twenty million High-Rank Source Crystals, right?"

"Uh… Yes, indeed!" The middle-aged man nodded in agreement. That was what he had told Yang Kai and Nanmen Da Jun two days ago.

"Please check if this amount is correct." Yang Kai casually tossed a Space Ring to him.

The middle-aged man caught the Space Ring and immediately knew that the number was correct upon sweeping its contents with his Divine Sense. Now that things had come to this, he could only nod, "It is twenty million, indeed."

With that, the remaining people no longer hesitated and enthusiastically reported the number of Source Crystals that Hou Yu owed them, one after the other. The number ranged from anything between one million to tens of millions of High-Rank Source Crystals. There were more than twenty people present, and it took Yang Kai seventy million High-Rank Source Crystals to pay off all the debts owed to them.

Everybody was happy that they managed to collect their debts. Among these people, the ones that arrived the earliest had spent more than a year on the island. They couldn't even locate Hou Yu before, let alone try to collect their debts from her; hence, they couldn't help being overjoyed by the unexpected blessing they received. Getting back their money meant that they no longer needed to suffer in this place.

"The money has been returned to you," Yang Kai clasped his hands behind his back and glanced at the crowd calmly. "So, now I have a small favour to ask of you, one I hope you all can assist me with."

The expression of the middle-aged man acting as the leader became serious as he cupped his fists and said, "Palace Master Yang, we admire your generosity. Please speak up if you have anything to ask of us."

The rest echoed his words in unison.

Yang Kai smiled and said, "I would like you to spread a message for me when you return home. If any Sect or person gambles with Xiao Hou in the future, High Heaven Palace will not forgive them!"

Everybody was shocked by this request while Hou Yu exaggeratedly shouted, "Palace Master, please just kill me now!"

[Who will dare to gamble with me in the future if word of this spreads to the public?!] She suddenly regretted joining the dump known as High Heaven Palace, which caused her to be deprived of the greatest pleasure in her life. A wave of despair washed over her as she felt she no longer had anything left to live for!

The middle-aged man let out an obvious sigh of relief and smilingly replied, "That's not a problem. Please rest assured, Palace Master Yang. We were not aware that this… lady was affiliated with your High Heaven Palace. If we had known…"

"There is no need to mention the past," Yang Kai waved his hand lightly. He had no intention of exchanging greetings with this group any longer. Thus, he turned to Hou Yu and Nanmen Da Jun and said, "Let's go."

Nanmen Da Jun immediately summoned his Emperor Artifact flying boat and the three of them entered. After that, the flying boat turned into a stream of light heading in the direction of High Heaven Palace.

Inside the boat, Yang Kai glanced at Hou Yu, who looked like she had just had a sword driven through her heart, and asked, "Do you still want to gamble?"

Hou Yu looked up, nodding repeatedly like a chicken pecking at rice.

"Pay off the seventy million High-Rank Source Crystals you owe me first." Yang Kai grinned, "It won't take long. I think a hundred years of servitude should be enough."

Hearing this, Hou Yu's eyes rolled back and she instantly fainted…