Martial Peak

Not only were the onlookers fascinated, but they were also cheering for those who were striking the Sect Defending Array.

Three hundred metres behind the middle-aged Emperor Realm Master and the more than ten Dao Source Realm Masters, some young people were holding a red flag as it swayed with the wind. On the flag, the name 'Kai Shan' had been written in black ink. It wasn't certain who wrote it, but the person was obviously an expert in calligraphy. The characters were wavy as they looked as imposing as flying Dragons and dancing Phoenixes. The contrast between red and black also made the words look grand and overbearing.

At this moment, as the Sect Master and the Seniors were making a move, the young people, who were holding the flag, cheered for them by shouting, "Ancestral Founder Kai Shan! Unmatched beneath the Heavens!"

The hundreds of people behind them shouted in unison with fervent expressions on their faces. They seemed determined to make sure that everyone could hear them.

After the Emperor Realm Master brandished his sword for a while more, the people who were holding the flag yelled, "Demons from High Heaven Palace, come out and face death!"

The sword lights became brighter as the Emperor Realm Master wielded his artifact in an increasingly ferocious manner. As the sword waves intertwined with one another, his figure became hardly visible. The Emperor Qi around him surged and turned into violent energy waves.

The people holding the flag yelled, "Kai Shan will be the first to slay the Demons!"

The sword lights converged and became one as the Emperor Realm Master appeared extremely imposing. With a solemn expression, he pointed his sword at the array and bellowed, "Go!"

The sword light shot into the array and disappeared.

The people behind him started cheering again, "Kai Shan! Kai Shan! The third most powerful in the Star Boundary!" At the very least, they knew their place as they didn't claim to be the best or the second best.

Standing inside the array, Yang Kai was several dozen metres away from them as he looked at the front with an awkward expression.

[What a mess!] The sight before his eyes could only be described as a farce. Then, he turned to look at Hua Qing Si and asked, "Are the people who have asked for trouble over the years always as weak as them?"

The Head Manager coughed and replied, "En, most of them were weak. However, there were some that were actually powerful."

Although Hua Qing Si was only in the First-Order Emperor Realm, she originated from Star Soul Palace after all, which was one of the most powerful and established Sects in the world. The training she had received was much better than these 'rising stars'.

With the surge of the Star Boundary's World Energy, a lot of new Emperor Realm Masters had emerged; however, there were always some bad apples among them. The people who intended to make a name for themselves through disparaging High Heaven Palace were normally very weak, so Hua Qing Si wouldn't waste any time on them.

"You've all been very tolerant," Yang Kai sneered. Despite what he had said, he knew that it wasn't that those from High Heaven Palace were really tolerant. It was just that they had been in an awkward situation over the past few years. The Great Emperors had ordered them to seal off High Heaven Palace. Since Yang Kai wasn't around, no one dared to turn off the Sect Defending Array as they pleased. Furthermore, they were worried that Yang Kai's reputation would be damaged further if they acted ruthlessly, so they just let those people make a fuss.

Outside the array, the middle-aged Emperor Realm Master was in high spirits. He had cultivated for many years, but had been stuck at the peak of the Third-Order Dao Source Realm for some time now, and there didn't seem to be any hope for him to achieve a breakthrough. Seeing as he didn't have many years left to live, he thought that this was all that he could achieve, and he would never stand a chance to comprehend the abstrusity of the Emperor Realm. Feeling dejected, he stopped caring about everything and engaged in a life of excess and debauchery.

However, he couldn't have expected that after the Two Worlds' Great War broke out, a new phenomenon took place in the Star Boundary. Perhaps the Great World sensed it was in danger, which led to it trying to save itself by increasing the density of World Energy. It also allowed the cultivators to cultivate quicker and more easily.

One day, when the middle-aged man was wandering around a flower garden, a thought suddenly flashed across his mind as he started meditating. When he awakened, he realised that he had reached the Emperor Realm seemingly without any reason. At that instant, he was both elated and pleasantly surprised.

He couldn't believe that he was lucky enough to get such a windfall. Ascending to a new realm was like a rebirth. Upon pulling himself together, he found a serene place and cultivated in seclusion for three years to consolidate his foundation.

When he ventured into the outside world again, he founded his own Sect and named it after himself, Mountain Quarrying Sect!

However, the Great Worlds were at war presently. The Great Emperors had called upon everyone from all four territories in the Star Boundary to join the effort. Therefore, countless fervent cultivators had stepped into the Space Arrays nearest to them and headed to the battlefield in the Western Territory to engage in life-or-death battles with the Demons.

It was good news for the Star Boundary, but it was terrible news for the middle-aged Emperor Realm Master. It couldn't be helped. Since he had founded a Sect, he wanted to take in as many disciples as possible. In normal times, after an Emperor founded a Sect, even if he was just a First-Order Emperor, an innumerable number of people would apply to be his disciples, and a medium-sized force could be formed in no time.

However, all the powerful cultivators had headed to the Western Territory now, so it was difficult for him to recruit people. Those that were left for him to take in were mostly weaklings. That was the biggest frustration the middle-aged Emperor Realm Master had now.

For this, he had even paid a visit to one of his old friends. His friend was in a similar situation as he was. He had also been stuck in the Third-Order Dao Source Realm for a long time, and he had only achieved a breakthrough to the Emperor Realm recently. Nevertheless, after he founded a Sect, he easily took in thousands of disciples. Since then, he had become a Sect Master who could enjoy his life to the fullest. The female disciples he had were all curvy and alluring, which caused others to be envious of him.

After an inquiry, the middle-aged man learned that his old friend had brought his people to condemn High Heaven Palace before. The Sect Defending Array was incredible, so his old friend wasn't able to harm the palace one bit. Nevertheless, after word got out, countless people came to his Sect to apply to be his disciples.

Despite getting some guidance from his old friend, the middle-aged man was in a dilemma. He was aware of the situation High Heaven Palace was in. If he was confronted by such a humongous Sect, could he really retreat safely?

After some internal struggle, he still couldn't resist the temptation to get more disciples; hence, he led the hundreds of disciples he had to make a fuss in front of High Heaven Palace.

Then, he realised that just like what his old friend had said, those from High Heaven Palace wouldn't respond to him, and the Sect Defending Array remained shut. As he listened to the cheering of his disciples from behind, he became high-spirited and thought that High Heaven Palace didn't live up to its reputation. Following that, he guffawed and leapt into the air. With his hands tightly gripping his sword, he pushed his Emperor Qi as his terrific sword wave slashed at the array. At the same time, he bellowed in an overbearing manner, "Break!"

The sword wave penetrated the array and caused the fog to swirl as it had every other time he had used such methods; however, just then, a rumbling sound was heard as the fog separated to the sides, revealing a path that led into the palace.

The middle-aged man, who just landed on the ground, was astounded as he stared at the path with widened eyes. There was a doubt in his heart. [Why is it broken? How could that be?]

His old friend had told him that the Sect Defending Array of High Heaven Palace was personally arranged by Nanmen Da Jun. It was based on the Spirit Array of Seeking Passion Sect, then Nanmen Da Jun modified it from there.

Nanmen Da Jun was the best Emperor Array Master in the Northern Territory. The only person publicly known to be comparable in terms of arranging Spirit Arrays was Gong Zhen, who was from the Gong Family of Heavenly River Valley in the Southern Territory. Even a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master couldn't damage this array one bit, let alone a First-Order Emperor Realm Master.

However, the sight in front of him was clear. The array had been broken by his sword wave. He had only yelled earlier to make himself appear more imposing, but he had never expected to really break the array!

The middle-aged man knew full well that he wasn't capable of achieving this. After a moment of anxiety and bewilderment, he soon understood what was going on. It wasn't that he had smashed the Sect Defending Array, but that it had opened from the inside! At that instant, his face turned ashen as his forehead was beaded with cold sweat.

Although the reputation of High Heaven Palace had been tarnished in recent years, everyone knew that it was the top Sect in the Northern Territory. They had destroyed Seeking Passion Sect and joined forces with the other three Top Sects to unify the Northern Territory. As long as they gave the order, no one would dare to disobey them. There were countless Emperor Realm Masters within the Sect, so a newly promoted Emperor like him had no right to make a scene here. He was confident that they wouldn't respond to him, but now that they had opened up the Spirit Array, he wouldn't even dare to think about how he would end up.

The emotions in his heart undulated as he knew that he was in big trouble; however, the disciples behind him and the more than ten Dao Source Realm cultivators were unaware of the situation they were in. They just knew that after the Sect Master vowed to break the Spirit Array, it really split open.

The more than ten Dao Source Realm Masters turned to look at the middle-aged Emperor Realm Master as they appeared pleasantly surprised. They had just joined Mountain Quarrying Sect, so they were not certain about how powerful the middle-aged man truly was. Now, it seemed that his power was inscrutable. Besides them, the hundreds of disciples behind them shared the same thought.

The young people, who were holding the flag, fell into a dazed state for a moment before they shouted, "Ancestral Founder Kai Shan! Unmatched beneath the Heavens! Demons from High Heaven Palace, come out now and face death! Ancestral Founder Kai Shan! Unmatched! Demons from High Heaven Palace, come out and die!"

They were shouting at the top of their lungs to boost the morale for their Ancestral Founder. Their cheering, which was music to the ears earlier, now sounded ear-piercing. The middle-aged man had the urge to turn around and stitch up the lips of these fools.

The fog stopped swirling and revealed a several-dozen-metre-long path that led to the entrance of High Heaven Palace soon after. It wasn't until this moment that the middle-aged man had the chance to have a look at the magnificent gateway. The inscribed 'High Heaven Palace' looked so dazzling under the sun that he almost couldn't open his eyes.

However, he forced himself to widen his eyes as a group of people were standing before him.

At the front, there was a dignified and handsome young man who sported a faint smile on his face as he stared at the middle-aged man with a dispassionate gaze. He wasn't very tall, but the middle-aged man had the illusion that he was looking down at him from above like a god observing an ant.

At that instant, the middle-aged man couldn't help but hunch his back. There were some alluring and curvy women standing on the sides of the young man. Despite their different temperaments, they were all rarely seen first-class beauties. However, at this moment, so many of them had gathered in this place as they surrounded the young man like the stars cupping themselves around the moon.

Other than this lead group, there was also a large number of people standing behind them with unfriendly expressions. Some of them exuded the aura of Emperor Realm Masters, and although most of them were just First-Order, which was the same realm as the middle-aged man, their auras were much thicker than that of the latter.

This went to show that they were more powerful than the middle-aged man. At that instant, he realised that he had accidentally poked a hornet's nest as he felt his heart freeze over.