Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Danny

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

"Is that a problem?" Yang Kai frowned. Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng were Open Heaven Realm Masters after all. The mission was just to chase down Fang Tai, and it was excessive of Du Ru Feng to have them serve as Yang Kai's protectors. Yang Kai was aware that they were keeping a lookout over him.

The man chuckled, "Didn't you feel something wrong when you killed that Fang Tai?"

"Wrong?" Yang Kai was getting more and more confused, and became impatient, "What does Senior want to say? Please be direct."

"Let me show you something first." As he spoke, the man formed a seal before his thumb slowly pressed down between Yang Kai's eyebrows. Yang Kai instinctively wanted to evade it, but when he remembered that his life was in the hands of another, he stopped resisting as it was futile regardless.

The moment the man's thumb was pressed on Yang Kai's forehead, an invisible force overwhelmed him. Yang Kai's body wobbled for a moment as if his Soul had left his body, and his vision was suddenly extended backward.

It was a notably strange feeling. He was still standing in the same place, but his perspective was now all wrong, and when he looked up, Yang Kai's face changed, because he could see a layer of faint Black Qi fluttering on the surface of his body like a mist.

Yang Kai was stunned, he had never noticed it before. It was obviously the work of the man's Secret Technique that allowed him to see some hidden things.

The man grinned meaningfully and slowly retracted his big hand, allowing Yang Kai to immediately return to his normal state. Yang Kai hurriedly asked, "What was that?"

He looked at his raised hands, but he could not see anything anymore. He scanned himself with Divine Sense, and found nothing abnormal. It was as if the black fog did not exist at all, but what he saw earlier was definitely not an illusion.

"That Fang Tai probably had some kind of tracker on him." The man snorted softly, "A Master implanted a seal on him, one that activated if anyone killed him, leaving behind a distinctive mark. This mark is very well hidden, and unless one's strength exceeds that of the one who made it, it would be impossible to identify. The reason why this King knew of it is because he saw you killing that Fang Tai."

"A seal…" Yang Kai was stunned.

The man sneered, "In this way, if that Master ever met you in the future, he would know that you killed his Junior, and he would not spare you easily."

After a pause, he continued, "With Seven Wonders Land's capabilities, why would they need to put in so much effort to kill a traitor? Why do you think they sent you to do the dirty job? Think about it."

Yang Kai's expression changed as many thoughts flashed through his mind and he quickly grasped the crux of the matter, "Seven Wonders Land has long known that Fang Tai had such a seal implanted on him?"

The grin on the man's face did not fade away, "This King can't say for certain, but that is the most likely answer. Seven Wonders Land probably did not want to provoke that Master, so they made you a scapegoat by sending you to kill that boy. Now, they'll surely find a way to eliminate you, and they will be able to avoid all calamities."

Yang Kai was taken aback, murmuring, "No wonder…"

Yang Kai had found the whole situation suspicious from the start. Seven Wonders Land was overlaid with powerful Grand Arrays, so how could a trivial Worker like Fang Tai escape? He thought it was Du Ru Feng's way to create a chance for him to contribute a merit by deliberately letting Fang Tai go, but now it seemed like he was released on purpose not for Yang Kai to make a contribution, but to not let Fang Tai die in Seven Wonders Land, so as not to be traced in the future.

No wonder he was promoted to be a Seven Wonders Land disciple so easily. It turned out that he was not appreciated by Du Ru Feng at all and was always intended to be a scapegoat.

Yang Kai did not doubt the words of the man in front of him as this man already had total control of his life or death. There was no need to lie to Yang Kai for something like this, and what Yang Kai saw with his own eyes was absolutely not wrong.

When he finally understood the big picture, Yang Kai gritted his teeth silently, [Good, Du Ru Feng. I helped you to harvest the Scarlet Clouds Golden Flame, but in the end, you chose to frame me like this? All the previous favours and promotions were just a show!]

Although he had no sense of belonging in Seven Wonders Land and held no real gratitude towards Du Ru Feng, Yang Kai was still a little annoyed at being used by others.

He suddenly recalled that when they were still in Venerable Protector Duan Hai's Small Universe, Fang Tai had once taken out a Faith Token and said that it was given to him by a Senior from Black River World. The seal on Fang Tai should have been implanted by that same Black River World Senior.

Although it was a vast universe, and there may not be a chance to ever meet the Senior expert of Black River World, one should always take precautions. There could be an unfortunate day when Yang Kai would bump into that Master. If that really happened, he wouldn't even know why and how he was killed. Yang Kai could not help asking, "Senior, how can I dispel this mark?"

The man smiled, "Unless one's strength exceeds that of the one who put down the seal, there is no way to disperse it."

"Can Senior do it?"

"Regardless of whether this King is capable of doing it or not, even if I am, why would this King help you?"

There was nothing wrong with what he said. The two of them had no relationship whatsoever. As unpleasant as it sounded, he was the man's slave now, so why would he bother to help Yang Kai to dispel that mark?

The man spoke again, "But don't worry, as long as you can help this King with his great revenge, then this King will satisfy you with whatever you want."

Yang Kai gritted his teeth, "Since they started this, I will respond in kind. Feel free to give me any orders, Senior."

"Very good!" The man laughed loudly. Although Yang Kai would definitely not dare to resist since he was subdued by the Soaring Black Centipede, it was still pleasing to know that Yang Kai was willing to help; otherwise, why would he tell Yang Kai these things?

"By the way, I still don't know Senior's honoured name!" Yang Kai cupped his fists.

"This King is surnamed Xu!" The man replied lightly.

"Then what is the grudge between Old Xu and Seven Wonders Land?" Yang Kai asked curiously.

Old Xu snorted coldly, "Don't ask what you don't need to know, just do your job properly."

"Then what does Old Xu want me to do? This Junior's cultivation is low, and I'm afraid that I am not capable of helping Old Xu. If I were to mess up Old Xu's important affairs, this Junior would deserve to die a thousand times."

Old Xu grinned again, "You can help me by just wearing this Seven Coloured Robe. Since you just received this King's Secret Technique, cultivate and rest for two days first; this King will come back and fill you in with the details after that."

Yang Kai could not protest, and although he was very curious, he could not ask anymore, so he cupped his fists and made another request, "Old Xu, Junior would like to make a request."

"Speak!"

Yang Kai pointed to the side, "I want to bury their bodies."

Old Xu looked at him coldly, "You are very affectionate and righteous."

Yang Kai shook his head, explaining, "These two were only ordered to supervise me. I don't think they knew anything about the situation, and they have also taken good care of me along the way. Now that they are dead, they should at least be buried properly."

"Do as you please." Old Xu did not seem to be fazed by Yang Kai's gesture and left the cave after responding with a flick of his sleeves, soon disappearing, completely unworried about Yang Kai trying to escape.

Yang Kai sighed, feeling downcast. It seemed like nothing had gone well since he came to the Outer Universe. First, he was brought into Seven Wonders Land to be a Worker and was soon involved in the dramas of others; now Old Xu had taken control of his life, turning Yang Kai into his pawn. Although he did not know how Old Xu wanted to take revenge, Yang Kai could tell he was at least a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Master, and what good could he get if he got himself involved in such a Master's scheme?

If Yang Kai did not come up with a solution, he might really end up dying soon.

The only fortunate thing now was Yang Kai still held some value to Old Xu, so he would not need to worry about his safety for the time being, though Seven Wonders Land would be difficult to deal with.

Since Old Xu wanted to use him, Yang Kai had to return to Seven Wonders Land by himself. How was he going to explain the death of Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng? It did not seem sensible that the two First-Order Open Heaven Masters died, but he was still alive.

Yang Kai's head began to ache, so he stopped thinking about it and instead walked over to the bodies of Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng before sighing, "You two have each other, and probably won't feel lonely on the road to the Yellow Springs. Hopefully you will bless this Junior Brother to turn misfortune into fortune."

Yang Kai did not have a bad impression on these two Senior Brothers. As he told Old Xu before, Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng must have been clueless about the arrangements of Seven Wonders Land. They were just ordered to supervise him during the mission and to make sure Fang Tai died at Yang Kai's hand.

The two of them had treated him well during the entire journey. Now that they were dead at the hands of Old Xu, Yang Kai had no ability to avenge them, so the only thing he could do was to give them a proper burial.

He took the bodies out of the cave, searched for a nice location that was close to the mountains and water, dug two large pits, and buried them.

Of course, Yang Kai had taken both of their Space Rings.

Not only theirs but also Fang Tai's.

The cave was too stuffy, so Yang Kai flew directly to a nearby mountain, sat cross-legged on a boulder, and examined the Space Rings.

After some inspection, he found that Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng were dirt poor. Apart from some artifacts, there were only a few hundred Open Heaven Pills in each of their Space Rings.

Hundreds of Open Heaven Pills were a huge number for a Worker, but not for an Open Heaven Realm Master. The fact that these two were First-Order Open Heaven Masters, but only had such minimal savings, proved that they were not doing well in Seven Wonders Land.

It made sense though. After they reached the Open Heaven Realm, they surely would find ways to improve their Order, and to do so, they would need to consume large quantities of Open Heaven Pills over a long period of time. They probably consumed most of the Open Heaven Pills they owned, and it was good enough that they even had a few hundred left.

The grade of their artifacts were also mediocre. Uninterested, Yang Kai took the Open Heaven Pills, and threw away everything else, including the Space Rings, so as not to be found out later.