Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Ashish

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Yue He sneered upon hearing this, "The danger depends on the number of Powers the person who consumes it has already condensed. The fewer Powers gathered, the smaller the risk. If one has only condensed a single Element, the chances of success is basically 50%."

"50% after condensing just one Element?" Yang Kai couldn't help but turn pale, "What if one has gathered four?"

Meng Hong just said that he had already condensed four Open Heaven Realm Elements, so the chances of success were probably much smaller.

"About 10%," Yue He replied in a solemn voice.

10%!

Yang Kai was horrified. It really was akin to courting death.

Yue He looked at Meng Hong with a sneer, "Even so, are you really going to do this?"

Meng Hong clenched the jade bottle in his hand and calmly nodded, "I have already made up my mind!" He paused for a moment before continuing, "Brother Yang, please don't try to dissuade me, I have been thinking about this for a long time, I just didn't have the courage to go through with it until now. Furthermore, even if I had taken the risk before, there was no way for me to acquire enough precious materials with Great Moon Province's strength. But it's different here. We are in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, which is a vast treasure trove. Brother Yang, you might not know, but in the few months you were in a retreat, I frequently heard stories of people finding Fourth-Order, Fifth-Order, and even Sixth-Order materials. This is my opportunity. If I don't give it a try, I will regret it for the rest of my life!"

Yang Kai remained silent. If Meng Hong was just acting on impulse because of Chen Yue, then he might try to dissuade him; after all, it wasn't wise to take such a big risk right now. However, Meng Hong just said that he had been contemplating this course of action for a long time, but he just didn't have the courage to go through with it.

This time, everything that had happened had just given him the push he needed to make up his mind.

After pondering for a while, Yang Kai gave his encouragement, "Since you have said as much, then I can only wish you all the best."

He then turned to Yue He and asked, "What will happen if he fails?"

Yue He solemnly replied, "Tai Yi Soul Cleansing Water cleanly strips the Power of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements from one's Dao Seal. If one fails, their Dao Seal will shatter. What do you think would be the consequences of that?"

If one's Dao Seal got shattered, what else could happen? One would either lose their life or have their cultivation permanently crippled.

"I'm a little curious, where did you get Tai Yi Soul Cleansing Water? Although it's not rare, it's not something you can get your hands on as an Emperor Realm cultivator. Tai Yi Soul Cleansing Water is basically as valuable as a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm material." Yue He furrowed her bow.

Meng Hong replied with a smile after hearing this, "I accidentally acquired it many years ago and decided to keep it. I wasn't willing to sell it as I thought that I might need it someday."

It was quite apparent that Meng Hong's decision wasn't on a whim, he really had been planning for this for a long time.

Yang Kai stated, nodding, "Brother Meng, since you have already made up your mind, I won't try to dissuade you. If there is anything I can help you with, feel free to speak."

Yue He scoffed, "You can't help him with anything except for finding him a quiet place."

Meng Hong requested, "Brother Yang, I request you to keep this a secret from my Junior Brothers. If I am successful, I will explain to them in person. If it doesn't work out… then I ask Brother Yang to burn my corpse and hand over my remains to my Junior Brothers to take back to Great Moon Province."

Meng Hong had just handed over his will; obviously, he too didn't have much confidence in himself.

Yang Kai suddenly wanted to dissuade him, but he had no idea how to start. [If I was in Meng Hong place and I had such an opportunity, how would I have chosen?]

[I'm afraid even if I knew that there was just a 10% chance of survival, I would still have gone through with it!]

"When are you planning on starting?" Yang Kai asked.

Meng Hong replied, "There is no day better than today."

He was very resolute, so Yang Kai had no choice but to find him a secluded cultivation room. He then arranged a powerful isolation Array together with Yue He so that Meng Hong would not be disturbed by the outside world during his ordeal.

The Great Moon Province disciples had no idea why Meng Hong suddenly decided to enter retreat, but they thought it might be related to Chen Yue's incident, causing them to hate her even more.

Outside the cultivation room, Yang Kai and Yue He got busy and finally managed to arrange everything.

Yue He softly sighed, staring at the secret room, "It's pointless to worry, so don't bother. It will take him anywhere from three days to half a month to complete the process; when the time comes, you will know the result."

Yang Kai nodded and stated, "Let's hope for the best."

Suddenly he remembered something and asked, "How did you deal with Chen Yue?"

Yue He replied, "I decided to let her stay. We can't drive her away, can we? She is weak, and if we drive her out, she would get devoured till not even her bones were left within a few days."

Yang Kai failed to stifle his laughter, "You're quite kind."

Yue He coldly snorted and stated, "You can easily tell that Meng Hong still has feelings for that Chen Yue girl. If we drive her away, how could Meng Hong rest at ease? We can only leave her for Meng Hong to deal with."

Yang Kai nodded his appreciation, "Good job."

Yue He sweetly smiled and elegantly bowed, "Many thanks, Young Master, for the compliment!"

"What's gotten into you?" Yang Kai flicked his sleeve and left with his hands crossed behind his back, leaving Yue He giggling.

Before leaving, Chen Tian Fei said that he had left some people in the mansion for him to use. Yang Kai soon met the Commander of these people, a man called Guo Zi Yan.

Yang Kai was now Scarlet Star's Sixth Manager, so they had to allocate a little manpower to him, even if just to keep up appearances.

In Scarlet Star, Guo Zi Yan was also a Great Commander-level figure. He was a Second-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, so he wasn't weak. In the outside world, he might not even pay any attention to Yang Kai, a trivial Emperor Realm Junior. Unfortunately, they were in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary now and Yang Kai had the strength to kill Du Niang Zi and Gan Hong. Guo Zi Yan had no choice but to lower his head, even though his cultivation was higher!

After a few questions and answers, Yang Kai had a slight understanding of Guo Zi Yan's character; in short, he was a rather taciturn person. Originally, he was Du Niang Zi's subordinate, but since Du Niang Zi was already dead, the resources under her were naturally divided among the other Managers, leaving Guo Zi Yan for Yang Kai.

Guo Zi Yan didn't have many subordinates, but they weren't few either. He had a total of hundred or so people under him. The entire team was under Yang Kai now. Ignoring loyalty, at least he could order around these people.

Needless to say, Yang Kai went to see his hundred new subordinates with Guo Zi Yan.

The reason why Yang Kai wanted to join Scarlet Star and take the position of Manager was because he wanted to use Scarlet Star's resources and manpower to search for the Open Heaven Realm materials he needed. More people would lead to more information. The Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary was filled with high-quality precious treasures, but it would be difficult for him to find them all on his own. Scarlet Star was different. With this Star City as their base, their influence spread in all directions rapidly. Nothing within a radius ten thousand kilometers now could remain hidden from Scarlet Star's eyes.

Scarlet Star was itself a relatively loose organization, with all kinds of people of varying strength and temperaments. As such, many of its members had unruly personalities.

When they heard that the new Sixth Manager was only an Emperor Realm Junior, they didn't pay much attention to him. The hundred or so people stood in their positions, completely relaxed. But when Yue He, who was with Yang Kai, arrived, everyone instantly paid attention to her. After all, Yue He was a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Such a Master could be considered a hegemon in the 3,000 Worlds, and all cultivators had an instinctive awe towards the strong.

Yang Kai didn't care too much about this, and after a few words, he ordered Guo Zi Yan to take these hundred or so people out and gather intel. He ordered him to report any news about high-Order materials to him right away!

Guo Zi Yan naturally complied.

The next few days remained uneventful.

Yang Kai took Dragon Blood Pills everyday to purify his Dragon Vein while spending his time comprehending his Wood and Fire Elements. He had learned an Innate Dragon Technique from the Dragon Bead he refined, but Yang Kai vaguely felt that he still could not bring out the full might of his Wood and Fire Elements.

From the energy gathered from the Immortal Tree essence and Golden Crow's True Fire, he should also be able to produce powerful Divine Abilities! If he could successfully comprehend the mysteries of these powers, then his strength would definitely increase by leaps and bounds and he would be able to deal with more powerful enemies in a more relaxed manner.

Every day, Yang Kai would go and check up on Meng Hon. Unfortunately, since he entered retreat, Meng Hong's cultivation room had remained completely silent. With the Array blocking everything, Yang Kai had no idea what was going on inside.

The Great Moon Province disciples were completely oblivious to what Meng Hong was doing; as such, they didn't show much concern either.

Today, Yang Kai went to check up on Meng Hong in his spare time, but he saw Yue He coming over as well.

When their eyes met, Yue He shook her head.

Yang Kai stated with a frown, "It's been eight days."

Yue He heaved a soft sigh, "I'm afraid he was more unfortunate than fortunate."

"Isn't there any way to help?"

Yue He replied, "Once he took the Tai Yi Soul Cleansing Water, it became solely up to him whether he lived or died. Outsiders can't interfere. Even if you go in, you will only be disturbing him, causing him greater danger."

Yang Kai sunk into silence. Since Yue He said as much, he couldn't provide any help even if he wanted to.

"Wait two more days, if he still doesn't come out, it means he has failed. Then we will have to collect his corpse." Yue He brushed her hair back behind her ear.

Just as she was finished speaking, Yang Kai suddenly looked up, staring at the secluded room's heavy door.

With his Divine Sense, he seemed to sense some subtle movements inside the cultivation room.

Yue He too had noticed it by now and turned her head to look at Yang Kai in surprise.

After a while, the Array arranged around the room was slowly deactivated. Yang Kai raised his brow and went forward, opened the door, and walked in.

Yue He followed close behind.

There was a strong scent of blood in the air, and everything inside the room was in a mess, as if several violent energies had fought chaotically within.

A figure was sitting cross-legged in the center of the cultivation room, his head drooped as his black hair was hanging loose, covering his entire face. Meng Hong was in an extremely miserable state at the moment, his entire body covered in dried blood.

By the looks of it, he had suffered a lot.

Furthermore, his aura was quite weak. Yang Kai couldn't tell whether he had succeeded or failed.

A little worried, he stepped forward and called out gently, standing right before Meng Hong, "Brother Meng?"