Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

After meeting again after more than ten years, Yang Kai was now in the Second-Order Emperor Realm, the same as her!

Gao Xue Ting couldn't believe it. Nonetheless, she had no choice but to believe it. The Second-Order Emperor Realm's aura could not be faked. [Still… Isn't his cultivation speed a little too fast?]

She could still remember the first time she saw him. It was when the Four Seasons Realm was about to open and he arrived at the Temple with a Bustling World Token to exchange for an entry spot. At the time, Yang Kai had only been in the First-Order Dao Source Realm. Several years later, he returned from the Shattered Star Sea having broken through to the Emperor Realm. And now, only a few more years had passed since then, but he already experienced another breakthrough.

She was in the Second-Order Emperor Realm, hence she knew how tough it was to break through to the next Minor Realm in the Emperor Realm. There were many Emperor Realm Masters in Azure Sun Temple, but most of them were only in the First Order. On the other hand, there were only three Second-Order Emperors. Excluding her, the other two were Vice Temple Master, Qiu Ran, and Grandma You, who guarded the Divine Ascension Mirror.

Meanwhile, Yang Kai was a rising star who actually managed to catch up to them. Judging by the current situation, he would surpass them one day. It was only a matter of time.

The other disciples who started at the same time as Yang Kai, such as Xia Sheng, Xiao Bai Yi, and Murong Xiao Xiao, had only just stabilized their cultivation in the First-Order Emperor Realm, so who knows when they would be able to break through to the Second-Order? In comparison to Yang Kai, the so-called genius disciples were simply mediocre.

An old saying popped up in Gao Xue Ting's head at that moment, 'Every generation produced new talents, and the new generation would eventually replace the old'! The smiling young man sitting in front of her was a star that was gradually rising into the sky, one that would bloom with a dazzling light one day and cover the entire Star Boundary in its radiance as long as nothing unexpected occurred.

"Not bad," She praised indifferently. However, she thought differently in her heart. [How is that 'not bad'!? It's practically a miracle! I seriously have no idea how he cultivates or what kind of Secret Art and Secret Techniques he uses.]

"Senior Sister Gao, how many Elder Contribution Points can I redeem with these items?" Yang Kai asked.

Putting the Space Ring away, she responded in a detached manner, "Emperor Grade Spirit Pills are hard to come by. Converting so many Emperor Grade Spirit Pills into Elder Contribution Points should garner you a large profit but I don't know the exact amount. Senior Brother Qiu is in charge of this matter, so you will need to discuss this with him."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go see Senior Brother Qiu!" He stood up.

"You sure are in a hurry," She glanced at him suspiciously.

He quickly stated, "Not really. It's just that this is the first time I've contributed to the Temple. Of course, I want to know how valuable this contribution is. Motivation only comes after achievements, right?"

"Fine. I'll go with you to meet Senior Brother Qiu. Let's have him give us an exact number." She stood up as well.

"Senior Sister, after you!" He gestured with his hand.

Walking to the entrance of the palace, she suddenly paused mid-step and turned around to look at him in a mixture of confusion and suspicion.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?" Yang Kai asked in bewilderment.

"Something's not right." Gao Xue Ting shook her head slowly, "Tell me honestly. How did you return?"

"What do you mean by 'how did you return'? I returned like normal," Yang Kai's expression remained calm as he spewed nonsense with a straight face.

"If you returned like normal, why didn't the disciples on guard duty report anything? If you came from the outside, you would have needed to pass by Purple Bamboo Peak. Why didn't I notice anything?"

To which he promptly replied, "I am proficient in the Dao of Space. It only takes a few rounds of teleportation for me to arrive. That's probably why you failed to notice my presence."

"Is that so?" She glanced at him with a look that said she neither believed nor doubted him. Nevertheless, she did not question him any further and simply flew up into the sky.

Staring at her back, Yang Kai touched his nose absent-mindedly. [Did I mess up somewhere?]

He couldn't figure out what possible mistakes he had made. In the end, he could only fly after her, but to his surprise, he saw her making a turn and flying in a different direction before he could catch up to her.

"Senior Sister Gao, are you going in the wrong direction?" Yang Kai shouted from behind. Although he rarely stayed in Azure Sun Temple for long, he knew that Spirit Jade Peak, the place where Qiu Ran lived, was not in this direction. However, Gao Xue Ting ignored him as she flew towards a certain spot before landing in one of the mountain valleys.

Seeing where she landed, Yang Kai's heart clenched tight and his speed increased significantly.

Gao Xue ting silently stood in front of a Space Array inside a cave in the mountain valley. Walking into the cave nervously, Yang Kai called out softly but did not receive a reply; thus, he grit his teeth and exclaimed, "Wow! What is this? Why is there an array here!?"

She turned to look at him, "You still dare to pretend!?"

He innocently replied, "What are you talking about, Senior Sister Gao? Pretending? Me? About what?"

She sneered, "This is the back mountain of Spirit Sword Peak. Are you saying that you don't know about the things that are in your territory?"

He protested, "I don't know about this!" Looking at her, he continued, "Do you not believe me? I really know nothing about this. As you know, I rarely live here. How am I supposed to know about what happens in this place?"

"Do you really not know?" She asked.

"Yes, I really don't!" He maintained a serious face.

Then, she nodded and turned to look ahead, "It looks like a Space Array. Moreover, it hasn't been many years since it was arranged. We don't know who set this up nor where this connects. Junior Brother, please stand guard for me. I will inspect it."

"Uh…" He didn't know how to dissuade her, so he could only nod in agreement, "Okay. Be careful, Senior Sister."

She immediately walked onto the array and took out some Source Crystals. Placing them on the surrounding grooves, she released her Emperor Qi and activated the array; however, there was no response at all.

Yang Kai lowered his head guiltily. This was naturally the array he arranged and no one could activate it without his special token. For that reason, he was not worried that she might suddenly be transported to the Northern Territory.

Despite trying for a time, Gao Xue Ting failed to activate the array and in the end, she could only walk off it.

Yang Kai spoke up at that moment, "It looks like the array has been in disrepair for a long time. It probably lost its functionality, making it useless. We should just leave it be."

She shook her head, "There might be other activation methods that we don't know about. Besides, we don't know where this array leads to. This place is deep within the Temple so we cannot leave this threat lying here. If somebody uses this array to sneak inside our borders one day, we won't be able to notice their arrival at all."

*Zheng…*

A clean sound rang out, and a cold light flashed as Gao Xue Ting drew her sword and pushed her Emperor Qi.

Yang Kai's brow twitched in response to her actions and he called out, "Senior Sister, what are you planning to do?"

"What does it look like I'm planning to do? I'm destroying it, lest it keeps us on edge all the time." While speaking, she lifted her sword to cut the array.

"Wait!" Yang Kai shouted.

She turned to look at him, "What is it?"

Scratching his face, he anxiously said, "Don't be so reckless, Senior Sister. This is a Space Array after all. Although we don't know where it connects, it might lead to a vast source of treasure. If you destroy the array just like that, won't you also be cutting off all connection with that opportunity?"

"Then, what do you think we should do?"

He put his hand on his chest and bowed, "Although I am not talented, I am proficient in the Dao of Space. Please let me study this Space Array. I might be able to learn a thing or two about it."

"How long will you need to study it?"

"A month or two?"

"Hmm."

"Or, twenty to fifty years?"

"Hmm?"

He explained, "I can't really say. I can only say that I will do my best."

She waved her hand dismissively, "There's no need for so much trouble, let's just destroy it. Stand aside, Junior Brother, this array looks quite firm so I don't think I can hold back"

"Senior Sister Gao…" He pressed his palm against his forehead, feeling a little desperate to cry but unable to shed any tears.

"Do you have something else to say?" She looked at him with an expression that seemed to be asking if he had any last words. It was as though the sword was not about to cut the array but him.

He lowered his head, "Senior Sister Gao, do you know something?"

She scoffed, "That depends on what you want me to know."

"Haaa…" He sighed, knowing that he couldn't hide it anymore, "How did you find out?"

He believed that he had concealed the Space Array very well; moreover, Spirit Sword Peak could only be accessed by those that have enough authority. Unless they searched every inch of this place, it should have been impossible to discover.

Gao Xue Ting simply replied, "You have always been elusive and hard to track, so it's difficult not to become suspicious of your actions. Besides, our Temple Master is an idle and bored person. During the past ten years that you were away, he searched every last step of Spirit Sword Peak. Did you think a single Array could block his search? He has a more advanced Spirit Jade to control the Arrays in his possession. Speak. Where does this Array lead to?"

He lowered his gaze. His expression was wooden, "The Northern Territory."

"High Heaven Palace?" She raised her eyebrows.

He nodded at those words.

"As I expected! It's a Cross-Territory Space Array!" She coldly snorted, "Did you arrange it?"

He smilingly said, "Yes."

"Why did you have to be so sneaky about it?"

"I wasn't being sneaky about it. I was just waiting for the right time to tell you about it," Yang Kai declared.

Needless to say, she did not believe him. If she had not confronted him face-to-face like this, the 'suitable time' he mentioned would never have appeared. Even so, she could understand why he did what he did. The existence of this Spirit Array was too shocking and not something that could be leaked to the public easily.

"Why can't I activate it?" It wasn't the first time Gao Xue Ting had tried to activate the Space Array; in fact, both she and Wen Zi Shan had tried to activate it when he first discovered it, but nothing they did worked.

"It can only be activated if you have one of my specially refined tokens." Now that it had been discovered, there was nothing left to hide. Azure Sun Temple had always been generous to him. The main reason he kept everything such a secret was that he was afraid of being used as her errand boy.

The people of Azure Sun Temple knew that he was an Emperor Alchemist and had long wished for him to keep refining Emperor Grade Spirit Pills for them; however, he had no time to focus on Alchemy and would hide in High Heaven Palace to live a leisurely life. Unfortunately, Gao Xue Ting could come to him anytime and anywhere now that the Space Array has been exposed.

"What token? Show me."

"Is it okay if I don't show it to you?" Yang Kai looked at Gao Xue Ting weakly.

Gao Xue Ting stretched out her hand, indicating that she was not going to give up until he showed it to her. Thus, he had no choice but to take out a token. She quickly reached out and snatched it from him and began studying it. She did not sense anything strange about it, but it did seem to give off some subtle Space Principles. She vaguely understood that the Space Principles sealed within were the key to activating the Space Array.

After a while, the token was put away into her Space Ring.

Seeing this, Yang Kai's face twitched visibly, but he didn't dare to raise any objections.