Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Amidst the quiet whispering, a brilliant light flashed from the Space Array to reveal Yang Kai's figure. Everybody turned to look at him, some of them having solemn expressions while others were filled with doubt. Not everybody had seen Yang Kai before after all, they only knew that he was the Palace Master of High Heaven Palace. Those that knew what he looked like naturally had solemn expressions. On the other hand, those who did not know could sense that this young man was very imposing, not one to be trifled with.

"Greetings, Palace Master Yang," A sparse smattering of voices rang out. Only then did the Emperor Realm Masters meeting him for the first time confirm who he was and hurriedly cupped their fists in greeting.

"Palace Master." Hua Qing Si stepped forward.

Meanwhile, Yang Kai glanced around with a harsh and penetrating gaze. Seeing that there were quite a lot of people, he seemed satisfied and his expression softened significantly before he asked, "Is everyone here?"

Hua Qing Si replied, "Those that could arrive within half a day have more or less arrived. Only the people from Dragon Tiger Sect and Profound Cloud Pavilion have not arrived yet."

There were only slightly more than 200 Emperor Realm Masters gathered inside this hall, and there were definitely far more Emperor Realm Masters across the entire Northern Territory than those present. However, Yang Kai had given them a deadline of half a day. For that reason, Hua Qing Si had only sent out selected notifications. Those who obviously could not make it to High Heaven Palace within half a day had been left out.

Even gathering this much manpower was only possible thanks to the numerous Space Arrays that Yang Kai had arranged across the entire Northern Territory, all of which connected directly to High Heaven Palace. If not for those Space Arrays, not even a quarter of this number would have made it here by now. It was only by relying on teleportation via those Space Arrays that they could gather more than two hundred Emperor Realm Masters within half a day.

"Dragon Tiger Sect and Profound Cloud Pavilion…" Yang Kai nodded indifferently before he waved his hand dismissively, "Those that haven't appeared don't need to appear ever again."

His tone was calm and indifferent, without even the slightest hint of malice in it; nevertheless, all the Emperor Realm Masters present could sense a feeling of animosity behind them and secretly sighed to themselves. [These two Sects will no longer be able to gain a foothold in the Northern Territory. They might even be eradicated by this madman…]

They couldn't help grieving for those two Sects and seething with a trace of hatred towards Yang Kai for his oppressive actions at the same time.

A Sect that emerged less than thirty years ago currently held control over the futures of all the cultivators in the Northern Territory, as well as the rise and fall of the various Sects. Nobody would believe it even if word got out about this. Unfortunately, there was nothing that they could do; the other party was extremely powerful. The annihilation of Seeking Passion Sect was evidence of what the other party was capable of. Therefore, they didn't dare to express discontent despite the resentment and anger in their hearts.

"Everyone, I'm sure you must be wondering why I summoned you to High Heaven Palace today. I will now tell you why. Firstly, it is to rescue people, and secondly, it is to kill!"

A middle-aged man cupped his fists and asked, "Palace Master Yang, who do you want us to rescue and who do you want us to kill?" With so many Masters gathered together, it could not be a small matter. Practically a fifth of the combat power in the Northern Territory had been gathered in this place, so he could not imagine what kind of situation would require gathering this much strength. Even the top four Sects had practically emptied their headquarters for this undertaking.

Yang Kai glanced over at this man. He did not know which Sect's Sect Master he was, but despite only being a First-Order Emperor, he had a righteous air about him and met Yang Kai's gaze without flinching.

Yang Kai nodded lightly and explained, "The people we are rescuing are the cultivators of the Southern Territory. Like everyone here, they are the Masters of the major Sects and clans."

"Cultivators of the Southern Territory!?" The inside of the hall exploded in a clamour of voices. They could never have expected that what was happening today would involve the Southern Territory. This was the Northern Territory after all and there was an enormous distance separating the two territories. As the saying went, 'Distant water could not quench an immediate thirst'. They were too far away to provide timely aid during a crisis, so why did Palace Master Yang muster the forces of the Northern Territory if he wanted to rescue the people from the Southern Territory?

Something else concerned them even more though, and that was what happened to the Masters in the Southern Territory that would require so many people to rescue them? Although they didn't live in the same Territory, they were all Masters and couldn't possibly be weak. There were undoubtedly many Emperors in the Southern Territory, and if even those Masters could not solve this problem, then what could we do even if they could travel there?

"The ones we are going to kill are Demons!" Yang Kai shouted, suppressing the clamour of discussion.

The entire great hall fell silent in an instant as everyone stared at him with wide eyes. Even Ji Yao's expression, which was generally cold and indifferent slightly changed.

Yang Kai couldn't care less about what they were thinking at that moment as he continued on, "Hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters in the Southern Territory have been caught in a trap set up by people who underwent demonification. They are currently trapped inside Orthodoxy Temple with no way to escape. They may be infected by Demon Qi at any time and are in danger of falling prey to demonification themselves. Right now, their only hope of salvation is us. That is why I need all of your help to breach the Sect Defending Array of Orthodoxy Temple, kill the Demons, and rescue everyone from the Southern Territory."

The words he spoke sounded unbelievably far-fetched, so much so that everybody was left reeling in shock and instinctively thought that he was joking. For one, who could know about what was happening in a place as far away as the Southern Territory?

Yet, Yang Kai's words were filled with certainty. The existence of something like Demons was too difficult to even conceptualize, and while it was rumoured that someone infected by Demon Qi would succumb to becoming a Demon themselves, where would so much Demon Qi even come from in the first place?

"That is the situation. I don't care whether you believe me or not. It doesn't matter anyway. You will understand the truth once you arrive. During this mission to the Southern Territory, however, you must keep one thing in mind. Protect yourselves well; do not allow yourself to be contaminated with Demon Qi. More importantly, you need to be on guard against Demon Spirit possession. If the former situation appears, this King may still have a chance to save you. But, if it's the latter… that will be your fate. Depart!"

Hua Qing Si was stunned for a moment but quickly came to her senses and immediately began leading the gathered Emperor Realm Masters onto the Space Array. The Space Array in High Heaven Palace was quite large and could transport twenty to thirty people at once, and with Yang Kai here, there was no need to power the Space Array with Source Crystals. He only needed to manipulate his Space Principles to activate the Space Array.

Following the flashes of light, group after group of people disappeared. Regardless of what they were thinking inside, they were sensible enough not to raise any objections here and simply followed the instructions given to them docilely.

A plain-looking woman and an elderly man stood together somewhere in the crowd. Both of them were Second-Order Emperors, and there were both Sect Masters of first-class Sects in the Northern Territory, which were only marginally weaker than the top four Sects including High Heaven Palace and Ice Heart Valley. The only difference between them was the lack of a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master and having a smaller number of Emperors in their Sects. Aside from that, their heritage was nothing to laugh at. The two of them stood together, secretly communicating with each other via Divine Sense transmission.

The woman commented first, "High Heaven Palace is too much. First, we were told to rush here within half a day, then this boy didn't even ask whether we agreed to this undertaking or not before demanding we risk our lives fighting against Demons just like that. How can such a thing be permitted!?"

The elderly man nodded, "En, it is indeed going too far."

Just recently, all of them had been forced to submit before the strength and prestige of High Heaven Palace, so they already held grievances in their hearts. And now, they were suddenly dragged into battle against Demons to rescue a group of Emperor Realm Masters from the Southern Territory that they didn't even know. It was inevitable that the resentment in their hearts considerably deepened.

The woman continued, "Does he really think that the Northern Territory belongs to High Heaven Palace now? If things are like this now, what will our futures be like?"

The elderly man smiled bitterly, "Life will become difficult. What else?"

The woman glanced sideways at him, "Do you plan to keep being suppressed with no power to resist like this?"

The elderly man was shocked, "Resist!? How do you plan to resist!? I advise you not to have any unnecessary thoughts. The heritage of High Heaven Palace is standing right in front of your eyes. Do you see those three Monster Race Masters? They're all Monster Kings, each one as strong as a Third-Order Emperor. How can we match up to them?"

The woman coldly snorted, "A just cause will gain public support, but an unjust cause cannot. High Heaven Palace terrorized the entire Northern Territory this time around, so which Sect doesn't hold some resentment towards them? Besides, who would willingly allow others to control them? If all the major Sects in the Northern Territory join forces and work together, what will happen to High Heaven Palace then?"

The elderly man thoughtfully said, "You want to recruit others…"

The woman explained, "That's the only thing we can do for the sake of our futures. If High Heaven Palace knows what's good for them, they will back down. Even if they refuse to accept reality, can they really fight back against the entire Northern Territory? It's impossible even with the help of the other three top Sects. The key point is whether the hearts of the people can be united."

The elderly man nodded lightly, "After this incident, I have the feeling that everybody will feel a sense of crisis and gain an awareness of how dire our situation is. They probably won't let a chance to fight back slip through their fingers; after all, the knowledge that their lives and their freedom are lying in the hands of somebody else will make them very uneasy."

"We should go around after this incident to gauge the willingness of the others. If the opportunity exists, it won't be too late for an in-depth discussion into the matter."

"Good. Let's not talk about this anymore for now. It's our turn, and we don't even know where we are being sent."

The woman and the elderly man mounted the Space Array with a few other Emperor Realm Masters and soon they were enveloped by a flash of light and a wave of dizziness washed over them. It felt like their entire being was passing through the endless Void. Despite how strong the two of them were, they were left with stars floating in front of their eyes and their Knowledge Seas had become somewhat choppy.

When they finally recovered from the dizziness, an uncomfortable feeling spread out throughout their bodies. There was a feeling of solid ground beneath their feet. The woman's complexion was a little pale, and her footsteps were a little unsteady, but she still clearly heard a shout entering her ears, "Don't just stand there blocking the way! Hurry up and get down! There are more people coming from behind."

Before checking who was talking to her, she hurriedly stepped aside while circulating her Secret Art to relieve the uncomfortable feeling in her head. However, the expression on her face was filled with doubt.

It wasn't as if she had never used a Space Array before; after all, she had arrived at High Heaven Palace today via teleportation through their Space Array. She also used this network to travel around in the Northern Territory before on multiple occasions; however, not once had she felt this kind of dizziness. It was her first time experiencing this kind of sensation. Logically speaking, that shouldn't be possible. She was a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master, so how could she fail to withstand the backlash of a single teleportation?

When her vision finally cleared up and she looked around, she was greeted by the sight of many familiar and unfamiliar faces that were all somewhat pale at the moment. They had apprehensive expressions and were clearly feeling rather uncomfortable. The elderly man was also standing beside her, and when their eyes met, they both looked at each other in confusion.

At that moment, a soft whisper came from the side. The voice was not loud, but everybody here was in the Emperor Realm, so who among them didn't have excellent hearing? Both the woman and the elderly man were shocked when they heard this voice and together with many others exclaimed in astonishment, "The Southern Territory!?"

[That's impossible, right!? Is this really the Southern Territory!? We were just in High Heaven Palace in the Northern Territory a moment ago! How did we arrive in the Southern Territory in the blink of an eye!?] Their first reaction was disbelief; however, an investigation of their surroundings with their Divine Sense revealed that the topography and climate in this place were hugely different from the Northern Territory. It seemed that they were truly in the Southern Territory.

Thinking back on the feeling they experienced during the teleportation just now and the records they had seen in ancient books, a sudden realization flashed across their minds. A thought that they could barely believe came to them as they all turned to look at the Space Array in unison, a scorching gaze burning in their eyes.

[A Cross-Territory Space Array!]