Martial Peak

The way the young woman called Yang Kai 'Big Brother' tugged at his heartstrings. Every time he returned to his home, a little girl would call him that in the same clear voice, which could easily make him feel joyful.

Yang Kai trusted his own feelings. The young woman before his eyes shared the same bloodline as him, and this kind of familial bond couldn't be faked by anyone.

Therefore, he was absolutely certain that the woman before his eyes was the one that would always ask him to play with her whenever he came home, and would always see him off with tears and stare at him longingly whenever he had to leave. She was his one and only Sister, Yang Xue!

Yang Kai put on a smile, which affected his wounds, so his smile looked uglier than if he was crying before he asked in shock, "Why have you…"

He wanted to ask her why she had grown up all of a sudden, but he soon recalled what had happened to Wind Lord. He had practically stepped into the Flowing Time Temple right after Wind Lord, but when he arrived at this place, Wind Lord had already stayed here for a hundred years. During this period of time, Wind Lord had fully recovered and partially refined the Infinite Hourglass.

Judging from Wind Lord's case, it seemed that Time Principles affected the flow of time itself in the palace, making them different from those in the outside world. Perhaps it was due to the palace's own power, or a mysterious Secret Technique was involved.

Since it had happened to Wind Lord, how long had Yang Xiao and Yang Xue stayed here? They had only entered this place a few years ago from the perspective of the outside world, but in here?

Yang Kai decided to ask in a different way, "How old are you now?"

Yang Xue continued sobbing as she replied, "I don't know, but we've been cultivating here for five hundred years…"

[Five hundred years…] Yang Kai felt speechless when he heard this. It was no wonder that the little girl had turned into a woman all of a sudden and she immediately teared up upon seeing him.

Five hundred years were long enough for her to grow up. She had left home as a child and cultivated in isolation for five hundred years, which was why she couldn't stop her tears from sliding down her face when she saw her dearest family member. Although Yang Kai frequently left home, and sometimes he'd be held up in the outside world for a long time, the longest he had ever been away for had not exceeded fifty years; hence, the idea that Yang Xue had stayed here for five hundred years was inconceivable. In fact, it had only been over a hundred years since Yang Kai started cultivating.

"Stop crying," Yang Kai lifted his hand to wipe the tears off her face, but his attempt was futile as her tears just wouldn't stop streaming down her face, "You're already five hundred years old, why do you still behave like a child?"

He suddenly pulled a funny face for her.

This was what he always did for the little girl back then and it always brought a smile to her face.

As expected, Yang Xue burst into laughter while her eyes were still drenched in tears. Those were tears of joy. Torn between laughter and tears, she said, "I'm no longer a child. I'm even older than you…"

Staring at Yang Kai's aged face and grey hair, she realised that he was probably several thousand years old now, so she was still younger than her Big Brother. As a result, she started bawling again.

Yang Kai stroked her head and shifted her attention by saying, "Since you've already grown up, is that Xiao'er over there?"

After that, he turned his head and pointed in that direction.

Certainly, he had seen the young man appear just now, but he didn't have any special feelings at that time. He was just shocked that there were other people in this palace; however, Yang Kai was in an awful state, so he didn't have the heart to care about such things at the moment. He was simply elated to see that the young man had gone over to deal with Wind Lord.

Now that Yang Xue's identity had been confirmed, it was apparent who the young man was. Yang Xiao was a White Dragon and he was born with a head of white hair. This feature would never change, so this young man must indeed be the boy Yang Kai knew.

Without turning her head, Yang Xue stared at her Big Brother and replied in a choking voice, "En en, he's Xiao'er."

Yang Kai chuckled, "Both of you have grown up."

Suddenly recalling something, he snorted as his face twitched.

Across from them, Yang Xiao kept kicking Wind Lord until the latter spat blood and became limp on the ground. As a Pseudo-Great Emperor, Wind Lord had never been humiliated in such a way before. He wanted to resist, but he was powerless to do so. He had used up all his energy in his battle against Yang Kai and the hourglass had been taken away from him. Even a Dao Source Realm Master would be capable of defeating him with ease now, not to mention that the one beating him was Yang Xiao.

Although Yang Xiao acted ferociously, he made sure not to kill Wind Lord directly, which was why the latter wasn't at risk of losing his life despite the fact that he was completely battered.

After Yang Xiao finished beating Wind Lord up like a thug, he turned around and sported a solemn expression before cupping his fists at Yang Kai, "Greetings, Adoptive Father. Xiao'er cannot express his joy at seeing you again in this palace."

A gratified Yang Kai nodded repeatedly, "En, good son. Come over and let me have a proper look at you."

Yang Xiao batted his eyes and replied hesitantly, "Yes…"

He then slowly shuffled towards Yang Kai.

Following that, he bowed and said, "Adoptive Father, just tell me what you want me to do. Xiao'er is a man now so he will do his utmost to be of assistance."

Yang Kai examined him and nodded his head repeatedly with a gratified expression, "Good, good. Both of you have grown up splendidly. I am glad you are both well."

Although he was certain that it was a great opportunity for these two children to have entered the Flowing Time Temple, Yang Kai was still worried because Flowing Time Great Emperor's inheritance was involved. Seeing that they had grown up to be fine young adults, he could finally put down his worries.

Yang Kai could also cast away the worries of the two Elders from the Dragon Clan and his own parents.

Upon hearing Yang Kai's caring words, Yang Xiao felt his eyes reddening as he was moved. In a loving voice, he called out, "Father…"

Although he was a member of the Dragon Clan, he was actually hatched by Yang Kai. After that, he also left Dragon Island with him. Compared to his own parents, he found himself closer to Yang Kai.

Leaning against the wall, Yang Kai beckoned to him and said in a weakened voice, "Come closer."

Yang Xiao took a few steps forward and leaned closer to Yang Kai. While he was unsuspecting, Yang Kai directly landed a fist on his head, which prompted him to cover his head and stagger backward. With an aggrieved expression, he asked, "Adoptive Father, why did you hit me?"

Yang Kai snorted, "Why do you think?"

Yang Xiao darted his gaze around and grinned, "En, Adoptive Father must be thinking that my cultivation is not good enough, so you decided to encourage me to work harder! Don't worry, Xiao'er will remember Adoptive Father's teachings and will strive to not disappoint you!"

Certainly, Yang Xiao knew why Yang Kai had hit him. Before he showed up, he had cursed at the people in the hall, so even though he didn't mean to, he had also cursed Yang Kai. It was unforgivable for a son to curse his father. That was why right after he showed up, he went over to deal with Wind Lord and why he was hesitant when Yang Kai told him to come over. It was also the reason Yang Kai had hit him.

Given the state Yang Kai was in, there should have been no way he could hit Yang Xiao. It was just that Yang Xiao didn't dodge it. The punch basically served as a lesson for Yang Xiao and the matter was thus over. Certainly, he understood that.

After taking the punch, Yang Xiao put on a smirk as he had set his mind at ease. Then, he asked, "Adoptive Father, how did you come in? Old Qiong said that no one else could come in besides him. He's so unreliable! By the way, who is that guy over there? He seems powerful but he had only spat some blood after he was beaten up. His cultivation and figure…"

"Shut up!" Yang Xue shot him a glare.

Yang Xiao immediately shut his mouth and did a zipping gesture as though he had stitched up his mouth using an invisible force.

"Big Brother, I'll heal you now." Yang Xue supported his weight and made him sit up before brushing away the tears on her face. After she was interrupted by Yang Xiao, she stopped crying, but her eyes had still become swollen.

Yang Kai waved his hand with a smile, "I'm fine. You don't have to help me."

The damage he had suffered was no ordinary injury. His life had been drained away, so ordinary methods would be of no use to him. If he wanted to live longer, he had to save himself by achieving a breakthrough in his cultivation. Only by doing so could he hope to lengthen his life.

He could also look for some treasures that could extend his life. Given High Heaven Palace's power, it wouldn't be so difficult to collect such items, but there was a limit as to how many years could be added to his life using those treasures. Now, all Yang Kai could hope for was to try to break through to the Pseudo-Great Emperor Realm during his limited lifetime.

Yang Xue, however, shook her head and declared, "Big Brother, don't worry. I can heal you."

Yang Kai was stunned, but seeing the look of confidence on her face, he didn't have the heart to turn her down. So, he simply nodded, "Good. Show Big Brother what you've cultivated in the past five hundred years."

Yang Xue flashed a smile at him and declared, "I won't disappoint you."

After she finished speaking, she sat down with her legs crossed in front of Yang Kai and held the hourglass in her left palm. Then, she performed different hand seals with her right hand as her Emperor Qi surged.

Yang Kai arched his brow, "You're already a First-Order Emperor!?"

It took Yang Xue five hundred years to reach the First-Order Emperor Realm, which while it couldn't be considered the fastest as Yang Kai had reached the same realm much quicker, it was already much better compared to most Emperor Realm Masters.

The next moment, Yang Kai's expression was transformed by shock as Yang Xue exuded a very familiar Principle Strength. Under the influence of this Principle Strength, his perception became blurred again.

"Time Principles?" Yang Kai widened his eyes in disbelief.

He wouldn't have been so surprised if it was Yang Xiao who exuded this Principle Strength as in the past, Yang Xiao had showcased an innate talent for Time Principles, which was why Qiong Qi took the initiative to bring him to enter the Four Seasons Realm so that Yang Xiao could receive Flowing Time Great Emperor's inheritance.

However, Yang Kai was shocked that Yang Xue had also cultivated Time Principles. Moreover, it appeared that her mastery of Time Principles was outstanding!

Not just anyone could cultivate Time Principles as it was even more esoteric than Space Principles. In a sense, it was actually more difficult to cultivate Time Principles than Space Principles. Yang Xiao had some kind of bloodline talent for Time Principles, but why was Yang Xue also able to cultivate them as well? Whatever the reason, both of them had taken advantage of their own opportunities in this palace over the past five hundred years. This was something others couldn't even ask for or be envious of.

Yang Kai felt a little lost in his heart, not because the little girl had turned into a woman and her cultivation had become powerful, but because he realised that he really hadn't taken care of his Little Sister and protected her as a Big Brother should. When Yang Xue was still a child, he hadn't even spent a lot of time by her side.

In the blink of an eye, not only had she grown up to be a mature young lady, but she was also able to heal him and support him now.