Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

As a mother, how could that woman let her daughter witness herself being tortured?

Unfortunately, the girl was completely stupefied. Her eyes were open wide and staring. At the same time, her tears flowed freely down her face. It could be seen that she had been frightened senseless.

"Wouldn't it have been better if you had agreed earlier?" The sinister and vicious-looking man coldly snorted. He ground his foot into her chest several times. The sound of bone being dislocated rang out, but he acted as if he did not hear anything. Lowering his body, he snorted, "If you agreed sooner, you wouldn't have to suffer like this."

The woman's expression was filled with pain. Even so, she gritted her teeth and refused to utter a single sound. She simply looked at her daughter and squeezed out a smile. It was too bad that that smile was uglier than if she had cried instead.

"You rotten wretch! You should be honoured that you caught my interest! How dare you refuse me?!" It seemed as though he had not tortured her enough and still wanted to vent his rage. More than that, he clearly enjoyed the feeling of trampling on this woman, his eyes filled with bliss.

Inside the teahouse, Yang Kai's gaze cooled slightly. He and Li Jiao had watched the entire scene unfolding before them, so they knew exactly what had happened.

Although it was his first time in Half-Dragon City and he was not very familiar with the situation here, he couldn't bear to continue watching the mother-daughter pair being tormented so badly under their noses anymore. Just as he was about to make a move though, Li Jiao stood up abruptly. Li Jiao was watching the woman being stepped on the ground with a shocked expression. There was a look of disbelief in his eyes and in the next moment, fury burned in him.

"It's too late to beg for mercy now!" The sinister and vicious-looking man was still trampling that woman underfoot, "Neither you nor your daughter can escape. You will both come with me!"

While speaking, he grabbed the girl with one hand and reached out to grab the girl's mother with the other.

At that moment, without warning, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him. An imposing Emperor Pressure descended from the sky, enveloping the sinister and vicious-looking man.

The sinister and vicious-looking man was utterly shocked. Kicking out with his feet, he flew backwards and yelled, "Who!?"

Li Jiao stretched out his hand to form a fist, slamming it straight into that man's face.

The sinister and vicious-looking man was horrified and hurriedly circulated his Emperor Qi to defend against the attack; however, the fist pressure became infinitely magnified in the next moment and smashed into his nose. Then, he was sent flying by that punch with a loud crack, sounding as if something had split apart. Concurrently, he lost his grip and the girl he had captured broke free from him.

A loud crash subsequently rang out as the man slammed into the shop behind him, breaking who knows how many things as he fell. Climbing up with some difficulty, he felt extremely dizzy and his mouth was filled with the smell of blood. He reached out to wipe at his nose, smearing blood all over his hand. It would seem as though his nose had been broken.

He was enraged as a result. Immediately rushing out of the shop, he fixed a cold gaze on Li Jiao and his murderous intent rose like a tide as he shouted through gritted teeth, "Impudence!"

Meanwhile, Li Jiao ignored him and instead he was focused on the girl he had rescued before turning to look at the woman who was still lying on the ground, saying in a low voice, "Go and help your mother up."

The girl remained motionless. She had probably been overwhelmed with fear.

On the other hand, the woman stared at Li Jiao in astonishment. She had not expected anybody to help them at this point; after all, that sinister and vicious-looking man was not somebody they could afford to provoke. That man's cultivation could not be counted among the best in Half-Dragon City and many others were stronger than him. Even so, he was not somebody that just anybody could afford to offend. Anybody who offended him would meet a terrible end and it had nothing to do with their cultivation.

When that woman saw Li Jiao's face clearly though, she couldn't help but widen her eyes and let out a soft exclamation in response. Their gazes met, and a look of pity and nostalgia flashed in Li Jiao's eyes; however, that woman immediately looked away and avoided his gaze.

Seeing her reaction, Li Jiao sighed softly and gave the girl a soft push. Only then did the girl return to her senses and step forward to help her mother while bawling her eyes out.

Li Jiao's arrogant attitude undoubtedly angered the sinister and vicious-looking man. It was strange to say that even though he noticed that Li Jiao's cultivation was higher than his by a whole Minor Realm, he was not the slightest bit scared. Rather, he glared at Li Jiao hatefully and snapped, "How dare you injure me?! I don't care who you are; you're dead!"

"You took those words right out of my mouth." Li Jiao turned back to look at the sinister and vicious-looking man, his expression completely indifferent, but the suppressed rage in his voice clear to all.

Inside the teahouse, Yang Kai narrowed his eyes, picked up a cup of tea, and took a sip. He gazed at the woman before shifting his gaze to Li Jiao. A moment later, his expression changed as if he had understood something.

On the other side, the sinister and vicious-looking man was stunned for a moment before he burst into laughter and said grimly, "You are pretty courageous. No one has ever dared to speak to me in that manner in Half-Dragon City."

"There's one now!" Li Jiao took a shallow breath and calmed the anger in his heart. He had never been so angry before. The rage burning in his chest threatened to explode right out and he could barely restrain himself from venting his anger and smashing this sinister and vicious-looking man into powder.

"You court death!" Similarly, the sinister and vicious-looking man was incredibly furious. His aura intensified, and the colour of the Dragon Scales under his neck deepened considerably. Simultaneously, a faint Dragon Pressure spread in the air.

Many of the Dragonborn within the crowd suddenly looked uncomfortable. It couldn't be helped as this was a form of bloodline suppression. The Dragon Clan bloodline of that sinister and vicious-looking man was purer than theirs; moreover, his cultivation was in the Second-Order Emperor Realm. If he used his full strength, not many Dragonborn within Half-Dragon City could stand against him. Even the Humans and Monsters who were not Dragonborn looked extremely uncomfortable and began to back away.

Meanwhile, Li Jiao's expression remained unchanged as he stood there as immovable as the mountain. He simply stared at the sinister and vicious-looking man coldly.

The expression of the sinister and vicious-looking man twisted slightly when he saw Li Jiao's calm and indifferent demeanour. He couldn't help thinking that something was wrong. Knowing that Li Jiao also had the Dragon Clan's blood flowing in him, that man dared to be so reckless because he was certain that Li Jiao's bloodline was not as pure as his.

Contrary to his expectations, Li Jiao's reaction to the overwhelming Dragon Pressure gave him a shock. [How is he unaffected?! How can this be?! Is the bloodline suppression not working?! That's impossible! There's only one possible reason for his indifference… His bloodline is not inferior to mine!]

At that thought, his expression changed drastically. His cultivation was incomparable to Li Jiao's in the first place, and if his bloodline gave him no advantages, then he was no match for Li Jiao whatsoever!

Upon taking a closer look at Li Jiao, a suspicious look flashed through his eyes. He realized that Li Jiao did not look even a little bit familiar, so much so that he had no recollection of ever meeting Li Jiao before.

Dragonborn might be common in Half-Dragon City, enough to number several tens of thousands, but not many Dragonborn were Emperors. There were only a few hundred in Half-Dragon City that were in the Emperor Realm in total, of which Humans and Monsters accounted for roughly eighty percent.

Totalling up all the Dragonborn in the Emperor Realm amounted to less than a hundred, so this man essentially had some recollection of all of them. Even if he was not close with them, he would have met them several times before. That was inevitable; they were all living in Half-Dragon City after all. The city might be big, but they would still run into each other over the years. In contrast, Li Jiao was a face he had never seen before. [Where did this guy pop out from? His cultivation is in the Third-Order Emperor Realm, and his bloodline is not inferior to mine… I've never heard of a guy like this before!]

At this point, he was utterly stunned! The woman was shocked too! Similarly, the surrounding onlookers were absolutely astonished! Everybody stared blankly at Li Jiao as though he had flowers on his face.

After a while, the sinister and vicious-looking man felt cold sweat beading on his forehead. He had the feeling that he had chosen a bad match.

"Disgraceful!" Li Jiao snorted coldly and activated his power too. In the next moment, a trace of Dragon Pressure that was obviously stronger than that of the sinister and vicious-looking man's covered the entire surrounding area. Following that, the man's Dragon Pressure disintegrated instantly like a bubble popping.

Muffled exclamations rang out from the surrounding onlookers as they suppressed their reactions.

"Third-Order Dragon Vein!"

"It's a Third-Order Dragon Vein!"

"Was there someone with a Third-Order Dragon Vein in Half-Dragon City?"

Li Jiao furrowed his eyebrows at those exclamations. He knew that his Dragon Clan bloodline was impure, but he did not know how to classify it. He had never had anything else to compare it with after all, let alone a standard he could measure against.

The classification of the Dragon Clan's bloodline originated from Dragon Island and the Dragon Clan, so it was not known to outsiders; however, judging by the exclamations from the crowd, the Dragonborn of Half-Dragon City seemed to have a clear idea of the standards of classification.

[So, I have a Third-Order Dragon Vein?] It was the first time Li Jiao had ever heard of that himself.

"Did we have a Dragonborn like that in Half-Dragon City?"

"Who is this person? How come we've never seen him before?"

"Look at his power! He probably has a Third-Order High Rank, right?"

"I don't think so. It's probably only Mid Rank."

"Someone is about to be in trouble."

"Don't joke around. It's not like you don't know that person's background, he might not necessarily be the one in trouble."

……

The expression on that sinister and vicious-looking man changed constantly as he cursed endlessly in his heart. [What the hell?! Where did someone possessing a Third-Order Mid-Rank Dragon Vein pop out from? I, myself, only have a Second-Order High-Rank Dragon Vein! There's a difference of two Minor Realms between us! My cultivation is not as good as his, and my bloodline is not as pure as his. How am I supposed to fight him?]

A wave of Dragon Pressure pressed down on him, and his expression became extremely troubled. The Emperor Qi in his body could barely respond, and the meridians in his body squirmed. At the same time, the throbbing from the depths of his heart made him panic.

It was also the first time Li Jia had experienced the benefits of bloodline suppression. In the past, he had always been the one being suppressed. He could only shrink in fear in front of Zhu Lie and Zhu Qing. This time, he was finally the one standing on top.

The rage in his heart had yet to subside though and raising his hand, he swept his palm at the sinister and vicious-looking man's face. The sinister and vicious-looking man wanted to resist; however, he did not have the power to do so. He couldn't even dodge aside when the slap came at him.

The crisp sound of a slap rang out. Consequently, one side of that man's face swelled and several of his teeth were knocked out. He spun around several times before crashing heavily into the ground; that was how much power Li Jiao's attack contained.

Afterwards, Li Jiao turned around. His cold expression disappeared immediately to be replaced with a kind one as he looked at the little girl, "He slapped you once, so I slapped him back. Was that enough to vent your anger?"

Meanwhile, the girl was in shock. She did not know Li Jiao. More than that, she did not know why he was helping her. All she knew was that she had been filled with grievances and fear when she and her mother had been harassed by that sinister and vicious-looking man. In contrast, she currently felt overjoyed to see that man receiving his just desserts. Hence, she had a good impression of Li Jiao, a person she had just met by coincidence, so she nodded repeatedly in response to his question.

He smiled, "If you think it's not enough, I can hit him a few more times."

The girl mulled over it for a moment and shook her head.

Li Jiao continued, "Good, then I'll help your mother vent some of her anger now."