Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

After Hou Yu said that, the three Monster Kings finally noticed Yang Kai's presence and hurriedly cupped their fists and saluted him, looking extremely embarrassed.

Ying Fei nimbly and swiftly put the dice cup and the dice on the stone table away.

All three Monster Kings and one Emperor Artifact Refiner were not doing their jobs properly. Instead, they had gathered here to gamble and were caught red-handed by Yang Kai. It truly was too outrageous.

"En, I sensed that you were all here, so I came to see what was happening," Yang Kai replied nonchalantly.

Xi Lei hurriedly asked, "Young Master Yang, do you have any instructions for us?"

"Nope!" Yang Kai did not mention anything about their gambling as he reached out his hand and captured Hou Yu who was trying to sneak away.

"Palace Master… I won't do it again…" Hou Yu was being held like a chicken in Yang Kai's hand. Hence, she forced an ingratiating smile on her face, "Please forgive me just this once. I will go back to Artifact Refining immediately. Didn't you bring back many precious materials for me recently? Don't worry; you can leave it all to me."

Yang Kai released her and asked, "What do you do when you encounter a bottleneck in your cultivation and cannot break through?"

"Huh?"

"A bottleneck?"

"What bottleneck?"

The three Monster Kings stared at Yang Kai in puzzlement. They had not expected him to ask such an off-topic question out of the blue.

Ying Fei replied, "We never encounter bottlenecks."

Yang Kai stared at Ying Fei in surprise, "Not even once?"

Xi Lei chuckled, "Young Master Yang, we of the Monster Race are dependent on our bloodline and our Sources. We are different from Humans. Our bloodline and our Sources basically determine the height we can achieve in our lives. Of course, there are some outliers and unexpected opportunities, but generally speaking, those from the Monster Race do not experience bottlenecks in their cultivation."

"Indeed," Xie Wu Wei nodded in agreement, "The cultivation of those of the Monster Race are basically based on our innate talent. It's different from the Secret Arts cultivated by Humans, so the term 'bottleneck' doesn't hold any meaning for us."

"Right, I forgot that part about the Monster Race!" Yang Kai nodded before glancing at Hou Yu, "What about you?"

"Me?" Hou Yu had yet to recover from her panic and fear, so when she saw Yang Kai focusing on her, she smiled in embarrassment, "Palace Master, I am an Artifact Refiner so I don't pay much attention to my cultivation. I don't even know how I managed to become an Emperor Realm Master… So, this question of yours… is a little out of my realm of expertise…"

"So, you've never encountered a bottleneck before?" He glanced at her incredulously.

"No, I have, I think…" she dived into her memories for a moment before nodding, "En, I did."

"How did you break through?"

"I just waited, I guess. I practised Artifact Refining or gambled… When the time was right, I naturally broke through to the next realm."

Yang Kai groaned in response before nodding lightly.

"Young Master Yang…" Ying Fei looked at Yang Kai and hesitated.

"It's nothing. You can continue," Yang Kai smiled before he flickered and instantly disappeared out of sight. Just like how he had appeared silently, he left without a trace either.

"Did Young Master Yang encounter a bottleneck in his cultivation?" Xi Lei murmured thoughtfully.

"Probably," Xie Wu Wei nodded, "I heard that he has been cultivating in retreat over the past few days, but his cultivation remains unchanged, so it might be true that he has encountered a bottleneck."

Ying Fei remarked, "Humans have Secret Arts and Secret Techniques to help in their cultivation so their strength generally increases much faster than we of the Monster Race; however, they might not be able to move forward if they encounter a bottleneck that is very difficult for them to break through. I hope Young Master Yang will not be stuck in the First-Order Emperor Realm."

Xi Lei added, "He is still young. It's not a big deal for him to encounter a bottleneck. Besides, who doesn't suffer from setbacks in life? With Young Master Yang's talent and fortitude, he would surely make it through this ordeal."

"Hopefully."

"Are we still gambling?" Hou Yu glanced at the three Monster Kings pitifully, clearly itching to continue.

Xi Lei glanced sideways at her and asked, "What else do you have that you can afford to bet?"

Hou Yu considered it for a moment but found that she had no answer to that statement.

…..

Medicine Pill Peak was one of the Main Peaks of High Heaven Palace. Both the landscape and the World Energy were not inferior to that of High Heaven Peak. It was also the place where Ji Ying, the Fifth Disciple of Wondrous Pill Great Emperor and the Chief Alchemist of High Heaven Palace, lived.

Yang Kai heard a gentle voice when he arrived. It sounded like somebody was preaching the Alchemic Dao. Glancing over, he saw a person who was speaking eloquently and passionately while sitting cross-legged at the top of the peak. In front of that person sat more than ten cultivators of different realms. They were listening attentively with pensive expressions.

These cultivators were disciples of Thousand Leaves Sect who were interested in learning the Alchemic Dao and who had come here to study the craft from a true Master. It was too bad that Ji Ying's status as one of the few Emperor Alchemists in the Star Boundary made it impossible for him to teach them. Even if he had the heart to do so, chances were they wouldn't understand what he meant.

At this moment, the person giving the lecture was a disciple of Ji Ying. Yang Kai greeted him, knowing that he was a Dao Source Grade Alchemist with a solid foundation.

"Brother Yang, you're here! Please come in quickly!" Ji Ying's voice suddenly sounded in Yang Kai's ears. It was obvious that he had noticed Yang Kai's presence.

Yang Kai smiled slightly and walked into a large hall that was filled with heat waves from a Pill Fire that was burning brightly. Ji Ying was standing next to an Alchemy Furnace that stood in the middle of the hall with a smile on his face. When he saw Yang Kai approaching, he cheerfully exclaimed, "Brother Yang, you came at just the right time! I was looking for you recently, but Manager Hua told me that you were cultivating in retreat and I didn't want to disturb you."

"Do you need something from me, Brother Ji?" Yang Kai asked curiously.

"It's like this. I'm preparing to refine the Nine Heavens Good Fortune Pill, but there are some obscure elements regarding the condensing of the medicinal liquid and the engraving of the pill arrays, and I wanted to ask you for some advice."

"The Nine Heavens Good Fortune Pill?!" Yang Kai was surprised to hear what Ji Ying said. Needless to say, he knew of this Emperor Grade Pill. It was one of the most difficult Spirit Pills to refine, and even if an Emperor Alchemist went all out, they might not succeed. Although Ji Ying was the Fifth Disciple of Wondrous Pill Great Emperor, he was obviously not on the same level as his Master; thus, he was not certain he would succeed in refining such a difficult Spirit Pill. Yang Kai was the only person he could discuss such topics with in the entire High Heaven Palace.

"I don't dare to give advice, but I happen to have some time on my hands. Why don't we study the problem together?" Yang Kai said modestly.

"I was hoping for that. With your help, Brother Yang, refining this Spirit Pill shouldn't be a problem," Ji Ying was overjoyed.

Three days later, Yang Kai walked out of Medicine Pill Peak looking tired, but his eyes were extremely bright.

As he walked off, his expression suddenly changed into a wry smile. [I came here to ask Ji Ying about the way to overcome a bottleneck in cultivation but instead got dragged into studying the refinement process of the Nine Heavens Good Fortune Pill. I can't believe I even forgot about what I wanted to ask…]

Ji Ying had already started the Alchemy process, so it wasn't convenient to bother him at this point. Besides, he might not have an answer even if he was asked about this matter. Ji Ying's situation was similar to that of Hou Yu's after all, where his focus was not his realm, but the Alchemic Dao. Neither of these two probably thought much of it even if they did encounter a bottleneck during their cultivation, so they would not have much experience in this area.

Sighing, Yang Kai raised his gaze and looked around. [Even though High Heaven Palace is so large, I don't have anybody I can talk to.]

At that moment, several beautiful figures flashed across his mind and a wave of loneliness washed over him.

A long while later, he stepped forward and vanished from the spot. When he reappeared, he had already arrived at the Space Array.

"Greetings, Palace Master!" The disciples guarding the Array quickly saluted him.

He nodded in acknowledgement before stepping onto the platform.

One of the disciples asked, "Palace Master, are you going out? When will you be back? The Head Manager might ask about this."

"I'm going to Ice Heart Valley," Yang Kai answered before pushing his Space Principles, after which a bright light instantly wrapped around him.

Yang Kai's figure appeared at Ice Heart Valley's Restricted Area, the Ice Lake, in the next moment. As soon as he appeared, a feminine voice rang out, "Are you from High Heaven Palace?"

"Yes!" Yang Kai replied.

This Array was only connected to Ice Heart Valley and High Heaven Palace, making it quite easy to travel between the two places. Therefore, only the people of High Heaven Palace could use the Array to teleport here. Even so, the disciples of Ice Heart Valley guarding the Array had to verify this fact upon seeing the Array being activated.

After confirming that it was somebody from High Heaven Palace, the disciple stepped forward, but when she saw his face, she blurted out, "P-P-Palace Master Yang?!"

Yang Kai looked at her but did not recognize her. She was a young girl with a babyface. Although she looked only eighteen or nineteen years old, her cultivation was in the First-Order Dao Source Realm so she was clearly older than that.

At this moment, the young woman looked very surprised and her beautiful eyes flashed with a strange brilliance, almost as if she was welcoming home a long lost family member.

"Do you know me?" Yang Kai cocked his head to the side and asked.

The young woman explained excitedly, "Everybody in Ice Heart Valley knows you!"

Her response made Yang Kai sweat slightly, but thinking about it, it wasn't that surprising; after all, when Ice Heart Valley was besieged by Seeking Passion Sect, he had brought the Monster Kings here and turned the tide of the battle. Many Ice Heart Valley's disciples had seen him in that battle, and even if they did not witness it themselves, they would still hear some information about it from their fellow disciples.

"Palace Master Yang, did you come to speak to Ancestral Founder? Or, did you come to find… Martial Aunt Ji Yao?" Everyone in Ice Heart Valley knew that Yang Kai and Ji Yao had a close relationship; moreover, the only reason their missing Third Martial Aunt was able to return to the Sect was that Yang Kai had brought her back. It was rumoured that she had experienced a lot of hardship outside the Sect over the years.

"I'm here to meet Senior Bing Yun," Yang Kai said politely.

"I'll relay your request then!" The disciple hurriedly took out her communication artifact and poured some Divine Sense into it. A moment later, she beckoned, "Palace Master Yang, please follow me."

"Many thanks!"

While following this disciple, Yang Kai encountered many Ice Heart Valley's disciples along the way. Their cold yet alluring nature was simply beautiful. Indeed, it was as this young woman guiding him had mentioned, all the Ice Heart Valley's disciples recognized him. Most of them bowed deeply at the sight of him while others gathered from afar to point at him and murmur among themselves. Yang Kai did not know what they were saying, but from the way they were acting it was obvious they weren't making malicious remarks.

Ice Heart Valley was a female-only Sect. Only women could be found here and men were basically not allowed to set foot in this place. That was to say, only Yang Kai would receive such courteous treatment in this place. If it had been any other man, they would have been cut into ten thousand pieces a long time ago.

The scenery in the valley was stunning, and the World Energy was dense. Combined with the countless beauties around, any man would wish to linger in this place.

The female disciple leading the way seemed to be very proud of the fact that she was the one escorting Yang Kai and occasionally chatted with him along the way, arousing the envy of many within the Sect.

After a short walk, they came to a great palace where that female disciple stopped walking and said, "Palace Master Yang, please go inside. Ancestral Founder is waiting for you."

"Many thanks!"

The female disciple hurriedly waved her hand in dismissal, "Palace Master Yang, please don't be so formal with me. It was not trouble for me at all."