Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Raikov

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Inside the rock cave, Gong Yue busied himself, standing in front of the giant blood-coloured door and constantly making gestures with an occasional change in his expression.

The rest of the group was sitting down and meditating, but Yang Tai seemed a little restless. He would walk back and forth and occasionally turn to the giant blood-coloured door to take a look, but he didn't dare to interrupt Gong Yue's work.

Wu Kuang Yi beckoned him to sit down, but Yang Tai declined with a smile.

"Senior Brother Yang, is there anything else that seems out of place?" Hua Yu Lu quietly asked through her Divine Sense.

Yang Kai's eyes remained closed as he responded, "Let's wait and see."

He did not see anything worth getting suspicious about so far, other than the previous suspicion he had about Gong Yue's identity; however, that was just a suspicion in the end. He was not really sure, so he naturally couldn't give Hua Yu Lu any definite answers.

Whether this suspicion would become reality or not would depend on how Gong Yue acted next.

While resting, he immersed his consciousness into the jade slip that Nanmen Da Jun gave him, once again studying its contents and memorizing some key points in his mind.

Half a day later, Gong Yue suddenly stepped back, and looking at the giant blood-coloured door, he smiled and called out to everyone, "Everyone, please come."

When the group heard this, they all got up and headed over, especially Yang Tai. He rushed over to Gong Yue's side eagerly and asked, "Brother Gong, were you able to figure anything out?"

Gong Yue stroked his beard with a smile, "A little."

"Good, very good! As long as we have a direction," Yang Tai's face flushed with excitement.

"But if we want to break the array, it will require everyone's help."

When he heard this, Yang Kai's heart could not help but thump and he narrowed his eyes, the suspicions in his heart growing stronger.

Wu Kuang Yi followed up, "May I ask what Old Patriarch Gong needs us to do? Most of us are not proficient in the Dao of Spirit Arrays. Only Brother Fang has some insight in the matter."

Gong Yue smiled, "Proficiency in Spirit Arrays is not required, you just have to coordinate with this Old Master, and also place your trusts in this Old Master unconditionally!"

All of them looked at each other, but none of them knew what level of trust this man expected of them though, so Yang Tai said, "Since we asked for Brother Gong's help, we will naturally trust you."

"That's good, then." Gong Yue smiled, "I will teach everyone a set of techniques. Once you're all familiarized with it, we can arrange the Spirit Array together that will be able to break this seal."

"Then what are we waiting for? I'll be troubling Brother Gong to teach us," Yang Tai said eagerly.

Smiling, Gong Yue took out several blank jade slips, engraved some contents into them with his Divine Sense, then handed them out to everyone.

Yang Kai accepted his and swept his Divine Sense over it, looking through the contents thoroughly before sighing in his heart.

Even though he did not know what was branded in the jade slips of the others, it was obviously going to be different from his own. Arranging a joint array like this would involve each person having different tasks. At times like these, a centre point was required to coordinate the powers of everyone into one, and this centre point was undoubtedly going to be Gong Yue.

The centremost position controls the most delicate part of the Spirit Array, and as the core, Gong Yue would be able to control the others in the formation to a certain extent once the Spirit Array was formed. Of course, as the array had the ability to interfere directly with a person's life, this sort of control was not easily accepted by Emperor Realm Masters.

That was why Gong Yue had said that everyone had to have unconditional trust in him.

Without trust, the joint array would not succeed.

Yang Kai did not look too closely at the jade slips' contents, the reason being that he had already seen this before.

After all, these instructions were recorded in the jade slip given to him by Nanmen Da Jun.

That day, he asked Bian Yu Qing to bring back information about the ancient Spirit Array to High Heaven Palace and ask Nanmen Da Jun to carefully formulate a plan to crack it. And, as expected of the Emperor Array Master, Nanmen Da Jun was able to come up with three solutions in just a month's time.

One of them was a method to break the array using another array, like what Gong Yue was trying to do now, but if they really tried to do that, then they would be falling into someone else's trap. To completely break the ancient seal on the giant blood-coloured door this way, another factor was needed, an extremely wicked one.

Yang Kai was going to help Hua Yu Lu and the others break the Spirit Array using a different method Nanmen Da Jun came up with and then search around to see if there was anything good inside, but he didn't expect to meet Gong Yue halfway through this plan.

With such an Array Grandmaster in the team, there was no further need for him to step up.

But Gong Yue's actions made him suspicious. If he was only a little suspicious of Gong Yue's identity before, then he could now conclude that there was a problem with Gong Yue. It was very likely that there was a problem with Yang Tai as well. As for the last individual, Yang Kai wasn't sure yet.

When he raised his head to glance at Yang Tai, he saw a focused expression on his face. He seemed to be reading through the contents of the jade slip, but his Divine Sense was actually focused elsewhere, secretly communicating with someone else.

Yang Kai understood at once.

Seemingly having noticed his gaze, Gong Yue suddenly looked at him and smiled, "Little Brother Yang, do you have any questions?"

"I do!" Yang Kai declared in a particularly loud voice that echoed back and forth in the rock cave, interrupting the concentration of the others, causing Wu Kuang Yi and the others to frown with displeasure.

Gong Yue was slightly taken aback, but still asked calmly, "What does Little Brother Yang not understand? Maybe this Old Master can explain."

"Only one thing…" Yang Kai looked at him with a piercing gaze, narrowing his eyes slowly, "Who are you?"

Gong Yue's smile stiffened slightly, while the other Emperor Realm Masters also looked over in surprise. They had stunned expressions on their faces, and even the contents of the jade slip didn't matter to them anymore.

After being dumbfounded for a moment, Hua Yu Lu immediately moved over to Yang Kai's side, as if to seek a sense of security.

There was a long silence in the rock cave with only Yang Kai's aggressive gaze that looked as if he wanted to cut open Gong Yue's head and expose the secrets hidden within it.

"What are you trying to imply?" The first one to question him was not Gong Yue, but rather Wu Kuang Yi. He seemed to be the more straightforward type that would ask any questions he had in his heart without reservation.

"I mean exactly what I said!" Yang Kai responded bluntly.

Wu Kuang Yi frowned and was secretly annoyed with Yang Kai's attitude, but there were no problems with Yang Kai's answer, he was just taken by surprise.

"What grudges does little brother have against me? Or is it a grudge against my Gong Family?" Gong Yue asked, the faint smile from before returning to his face.

"I have no grudge with you or the Gong Family at all," Yang Kai shook his head.

Gong Yue smiled, "If there is no grudge between us, then why does little brother question my identity time and time again?"

Yang Kai had already questioned him once when he arrived, but it was Fang Zhuo verifying Gong Yue's attainments in the Dao of Spirit Arrays that convinced everyone of his identity as the Gong Family's former Patriarch.

It was now the second time, and even a stoic man would have some fire in him. As the former Patriarch of the Gong Family, and a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master, not being angry despite being questioned in such a way was enough to show how well he had tempered his patience. If it were someone else who had a hotter temper than his, he would probably have made a move against Yang Kai already.

"This Old Master is this Old Master, Gong Yue, former Patriarch of the Gong Family who stepped down two hundred years ago." Gong Yue suddenly raised his voice, even straightening his back up somewhat, asserting his identity loud and clear.

"Please desist, Little Brother Yang Jiu. This Old Master guarantees with his life that there is absolutely no problem with Brother Gong's identity." Yang Tai stepped out to smooth out the situation, but there seemed to be a touch of worry between his brows, which was extremely obvious, as he urged, "Now is not the time to dwell on this. We should find a way to break the ancient seal first before anything else."

"If the problem is not solved and we can't work together, how will we break the array?" Yang Kai turned to him and asked.

"You…" A trace of anger emerged on Yang Tai's face, clearly directed at him.

"This Brother Yang is right," Chen Bing Ru who had been silent the whole time suddenly spoke up.

Yang Tai turned his head to look at her in surprise, "Lady Chen, even you…"

Chen Bing Ru was the helper he invited, and the two shared a close personal relationship; however, he never would have expected her to be the one to stand on Yang Kai's side at this time, which inexplicably hurt him.

Chen Bing Ru smiled, "Quell your anger, Brother Yang. Through the bumpy journey of our cultivation up to this point, who would not be careful in the face of danger? It's just like walking on thin ice. Without constant care and balance, I'm afraid we would all have returned to nature just like the masses of people before us. So, I would like to hear what this Little Brother Yang has to say, and what he wishes to convey."

She turned her beautiful and elegant eyes to Yang Kai, who nodded in regard to her.

She didn't trust Yang Kai, but since there was a problem, they naturally had to listen. It wouldn't take up much time anyway.

Wu Kuang Yi hesitated for a long time, but he still spoke out at this moment, "What are you suspicious of? Let us hear it!"

Yang Kai said, "I've already said it before."

Gong Yue sighed, "Your suspicions are baseless."

Yang Tai turned to Hua Yu Lu, heartbroken, "Palace Master Hua, this is the helper you found? If he does not want to help, then why must he come to destroy our unity and stability? Now look, we are having internal problems before we even attempt to break this Spirit just because of one nonsensical statement."

Hua Yu Lu blushed slightly, hesitated a moment, then declared, "I… trust Senior Brother Yang."

Yang Tai's face went dark as he bellowed at Yang Kai, "Little brat, if you're unwilling to participate in cracking this array, then you can leave now. You are also an Emperor Realm Master, so you should remember the way. Just go! This Old Master won't force you to stay!"

Yang Kai smiled, "If I go, then how will the Spirit Array be completed?"

Yang Tai grunted, "As long as Brother Gong is here, what would it matter if you were gone? Brother Gong alone could break the array!"

Yang Kai turned to look at Gong Yue, a smile covering his face, "Then you should ask the 'Former Gong Family Patriarch' whether five people can complete the Six Points One Centre Array!"

Gong Yue looked shocked at these words, while Fang Zhuo, who had not spoken a word this whole time looked at Yang Kai with a stunned expression on his face.

Yang Tai's mouth was wide open as he stared dumbfoundedly at Yang Kai.

This behaviour allowed the others present to immediately understand that what Yang Kai said was not without merit.