Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Danny

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

However, the scorching heat was a little too severe, and the discomfort could only be resisted by exerting some power. No wonder the people in the Worker's Room would hide inside their houses every time they came back to rest. Yang Kai initially thought that they were just cold, but it was not the case; they were just too tired from working in the orchard, and they really needed to rest and recuperate.

Because the few newcomers knew nothing about the orchard, Zhou Zheng guided everyone. First, he explained the details of caring for the Fire Spirit Fruit Trees, which Yang Kai was provided by Die You previously, and the information was more or less the same and actually even more detailed than Zhou Zheng's.

Judging from the doubtless expressions of the other people, it was obvious that they had all gathered this information beforehand.

Zhou Zheng even brought them around to observe and emulate how some other people took care of the fruit trees, even pointing out some details that needed attention.

After wandering around for a long time, Zhou Zheng led the few people into the depths of the orchard and assigned them to different places.

Yang Kai was allocated three acres of land, which was planted with a total of thirty Fire Spirit Fruit Trees. Before leaving, Zhou Zheng handed him an Access Token, and left Yang Kai instructions to take good care of it, and then continued to lead the others away.

Standing in the middle of the small orchard plot, Yang Kai took a deep breath which scalded his stomach and lungs, but also filled him with energy. He was going to live here for a month. It was never fun to work for others, but what piqued Yang Kai's interest was the Fire Spirit Fruit Trees themselves.

If he had an opportunity, he could take one into his own medicine garden, and it would certainly bring him a lot of convenience when refining Open Heaven Pills in the future.

Each fruit tree had a fluffy crown, and red fist-sized fruits hung all over the branches of each of these ten meter tall trees. Yang Kai circled around his allocated three acres of land with his hands behind his back.

Die You mentioned that every Spirit Fruit in the orchard was recorded precisely, and even missing one would be a big deal. Naturally, he had to keep count carefully.

It only took a short while to finish the job, and the number was consistent with what was recorded in the token. Yang Kai stood under a fruit tree, glanced left and right to make sure that there was no one around, before stretching out his hand and pulling a branch towards him. There were three Fire Spirit Fruits hanging on the branch. He took a sniff and the invigorating scent rushed to his mind, immediately sending a shock to his senses.

[So this is how a Fire Spirit Fruit smells like... I wonder what it would taste like,] Yang Kai smacked his lips, suddenly feeling a little hungry.

However, according to Die You, it would take several dozen years for a Fire Spirit Fruit to ripen, and these fruits in front of him looked like they were still a little short, which meant that it would be a few years yet.

Due to his unfamiliarity with the task, Yang Kai was only allocated three acres of land. Other elderly Workers had at least several dozen or hundreds of acres of land, or even more.

There were at least a thousand people living in the Worker's Room in the entire Fire Spirit Land, so with some calculation, the estimated area of this orchard was clearly quite extensive.

And that was just Fire Spirit Land. Seven Wonders Land also had six other Spirit Lands.

Gently loosening the branch in his hand, Yang Kai sat cross-legged under the fruit tree, holding the Jade Token Zhou Zheng handed over to him, refining it silently.

This Jade Token was the key to taking care of the fruit trees. There were various Arrays in the Fire Spirit Fruit orchard, and these Spirit Arrays were controlled by this token. Nothing could be done without it.

One even needed to use the token to enter or leave the orchard.

To the Workers of Seven Wonders Land, this token was more valuable than their lives. Once lost, the consequences would be disastrous.

While he was refining the token, he suddenly heard the sound of rustling footsteps. Yang Kai opened his eyes to look, surprised by the arrival of the visitor, "It's you!"

The newcomer too, widened his eyes, and looked around in amazement, "Is this piece of land assigned to you?"

"En," Yang Kai nodded, got up and smiled, "Why are you here?"

The person turned around and pointed with a laugh, "My land is beside yours."

Yang Kai laughed too, "What a coincidence. We are neighbours in the Worker's Room, and we are also neighbours here. It's fate, Old Sir."

The visitor was none other than the old man who stayed one house away from Yang Kai. He was the one who asked for rewards when Yang Kai wanted to inquire information from him previously. Yang Kai ignored him and left, and they did not talk to each other for the next few days. Who knew that their orchard plots would actually be next to each other too.

The old man looked up and down at Yang Kai, his expression a little weird, and then he shook his head and sighed.

Yang Kai asked with a scowl, "What does Old Sir mean?"

"By the looks of it, you still don't know what's going on, but you're facing imminent disaster!" The old man pointed at Yang Kai with a heartbroken expression.

Yang Kai laughed angrily, "Old Sir, you and I have only met once before, and we don't know each other that well, yet today you came here to my site and make such an alarming statement. Does Old Sir think I'm an easy target to be bullied just because I am new here? Or have I offended you in some way?"

The old man shook his head, "You didn't offend me. Even if you offended this Old Master, what can this Old Master do to you? Everyone is a Worker in the Worker's Room, and no one is better than anyone, right?" He sighed again, "You didn't offend this Old Master, but have you offended someone else?"

Yang Kai was speechless, "I've only been here for three days, who can I offend?"

The old man wondered, "Then why were you assigned to this land? Out of so many places in the orchard, why this land plot?"

Yang Kai frowned, "Is there anything wrong with this land?"

"There's something wrong, something very wrong!" The old man remained in his position with his hands folded behind his back. He looked left and right, then lowered his voice, "To tell you the truth, the Worker for this piece of land has been replaced three times in the past ten years, you are the fourth person."

Yang Kai frowned, "Why did they change people?"

"The trees died!" The old man pointed in a certain direction, "Haven't you seen it? A few fruit trees over there are newly planted seedlings."

Yang Kai nodded in agreement, "I have. There are indeed a few new seedlings over there."

Yang Kai noticed that during the inspection before that three Fire Spirit Fruit Trees were obviously different from the others. It seemed that they had just been planted a few years ago. Based on the old man's statement, he understood that the fruit trees before had died.

The old man laughed, "As Workers, losing a single fruit is already a big deal, not to mention the occurrence of a dead tree. All of these happened within the past ten years."

Yang Kai was startled, "What was the punishment for the three people before?"

The old man shook his head, "I don't know, I haven't seen them since the fruit trees died."

Yang Kai's face suddenly darkened, "Do you know what caused the fruit trees to die?"

"How would I know that? Although my plot is nearby, this place is not under my management. If you want to know the reason, you have to work hard to investigate, and you have to be fast, otherwise, you might just follow in the footsteps of the previous three." After speaking, the old man shook his head in a sigh, and cried out as he walked away, "Fate!"

As he watched the old man leave, Yang Kai had lost all intentions of refining the Jade Token. Zhou Zheng's figure flashed across his mind, and he gritted his teeth and cursed.

He suddenly recalled Ah Sun asking him if he wanted to send Zhou Zheng a gift when she visited him last night; after all, he was the Manager of the orchard, and Yang Kai would be working as his subordinate. A gift would help to form a good relationship, and she even mentioned that several others from their group seemed to have done the same.

Yang Kai did not take it to heart at the time, and Ah Sun did not insist.

Now it seemed that sending a gift was not a bad idea after all, at least this particular plot had not fallen to the other newcomers.

He thought of Die You's evaluation of Zhou Zheng again and had a sudden realization. It indeed was necessary to guard against others. Yang Kai had only met Zhou Zheng twice, and there was no conflict between them, yet this terrifying piece of land was assigned to him.

Although the old man did not say what happened to the three previous owners of this plot, since the fruit trees died, there was no doubt about what happened to them.

It was probably too late to go to Zhou Zheng now, and the only way out was to save himself.

At the very least, it was necessary to find out why the fruit trees were dying in order to find a solution.

Thinking of this, Yang Kai sat down cross-legged again and continued refining the Jade Token. Only after refining Jade Token could he connect with the orchard's Grand Array to find out everything about his small plot.

The token was not difficult to refine fortunately and half a day later Yang Kai was finished. He wanted to try to care for the fruit trees by watering, fertilizing, and providing World Energy for them, but was afraid that he might not do it correctly, so he simply got up and headed out.

After a short while, he came to a thatched hut. Yang Kai raised his hand and knocked on the door.

The door opened, and the old man who had gone to Yang Kai before looked at him with a stunned expression, "Is there something wrong, Little Brother?"

Yang Kai cupped his fists and expressed, "I have come to ask Old Sir for guidance on caring for the fruit trees. This is my first time and it's never bad to be careful. I'm afraid that something will happen. It would be better if Old Sir could teach me carefully."

The old man said, "I can, but what benefit could this Old Master get?"

"None!" Yang Kai shook his head.

The old man laughed, "Why would this Old Master do something that won't benefit him? The warning earlier was already a kind gesture from this Old Master. Don't take it for granted! Do leave." He waved his hand continuously.

Yang Kai grinned, "There's no benefit to guiding me, but it's definitely bad to not guide me."

The smile on the old man's face suddenly disappeared, "Little Brother, are you threatening this Old Master? After living for so many years, this Old Master is not afraid."

Yang Kai shrugged, "Then it's up to Old Sir. If any tree dies on my small plot, I will come here first and destroy one of Old Sir's trees, if two of mine die, I will destroy two trees, three for three... In any case, if something happens, the consequences will be disastrous, so it would be good to have someone to accompany me in my fate."

Yang Kai turned around and left as soon as he finished!

"Stop!" The old man yelled.

Yang Kai turned around and looked at the old man with a smile, "Old Sir, what else can I do for you?"

"You, you…" The old man pointed at Yang Kai, his beard shaking with anger, "I have never met someone as unreasonable and shameless as you! You really irritate this Old Master!"

Yang Kai replied with a snicker, "Life is hard, and I have no choice!"