Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Raikov

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

"You, too?" Yang Kai was shocked, "Were you also captured by a Divine Spirit?"

"The Divine Spirit who captured me is Zhu Yan, and is very powerful. What Divine Spirit were you captured by?"

Yang Kai muttered, "The Heavenly Moon Demon Spider..."

After a brief exchange, Yang Kai learned that Xu Zhen had been transported to an unknown place after being separated from him, and on his way back, encountered Zhu Yan and was captured.

Yang Kai wondered, "What is it that these Divine Spirits want? The Heavenly Moon Demon Spider only said that she needed my help, but she was unwilling to reveal more when I asked. What is this Bearer thing you mentioned before?"

"Haiz!" Xu Zhen breathed a heavy sigh, "That is the reason I sent you a message. The Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary has existed for countless aeons, and the number of Divine Spirits who live here are plenty; however, these Divine Spirits are born and raised in this world, and are also bound by this place. No matter how strong they are here in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, it will still be difficult for them to display their full strengths!"

Yang Kai nodded at his words. The World Principles in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary were indeed strange. He thought that it was the Grand Ancient Ruins Rolling Fog that suppressed and sealed the Small Universes inside the bodies of the Open Heaven Realm Masters, limiting them from displaying their full strength, but now, it seemed like that may not be the case. Even the Divine Spirits were being suppressed, not to mention trivial Low-Rank and Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm cultivators.

Though Zhu Jiu Yin and Kun Sha fought a fierce battle, they were far from presenting the true strength a Divine Spirit should have.

In terms of rankings among Divine Spirits, both the Heavenly Moon Demon Spider and the Leviathan Shark were ranked on par with Mie Meng, but how terrifying was Mie Meng's power? The power that Zhu Jiu Yin and Kun Sha displayed before was not even one percent that, which made one feel as if they were not worthy of being called true Divine Spirits.

This must be due to the suppression of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary's World Principles, rather than the Grand Ancient Ruins Rolling Fog.

Xu Zhen's Divine Sense rippled out from the communication bead, delivering his message, "These Divine Spirits are living in a huge cage. If you were them, Brother Yang, what would you do?"

Yang Kai was secretly surprised, but after some thought, he responded, "Naturally, I'd try to escape!"

Any Great Expert would not be happy being in such a situation and would try to change it. The easiest way to do that would be to leave the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary.

"Exactly. That is what the Divine Spirits are thinking, too. They also hope to escape from this cage and free themselves of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary's restrictions, restoring themselves to their full glory! But they are beings of this world, so how could it be so easy to free themselves from it?"

"Is this related to that Bearer thing you mentioned before?" Yang Kai asked.

"Exactly!" Xu Zhen responded, "The Divine Spirits have no way of leaving the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary by themselves, so they have to find someone to bring them out, and these people are the Bearers that they are seeking!"

"Someone to bring them out!?" Yang Kai's heart jumped, "These Divine Spirits can be brought out of here?"

If that were truly the case, then would his Six Fated Paths Bag not be a great treasure? When they are about to leave, he could just stuff Zhu Jiu Yin into the bag and take her outside.

"Yes, but each Bearer can only bring one Divine Spirit out! And it also requires a special opportunity to succeed." Xu Zhen seemed to be able to guess what Yang Kai was thinking, "I know that Brother Yang has a treasure that is able to hold living beings, but that is of no use. Even if you put a Divine Spirit in that bag, it will still be intercepted by the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary without the opportunity when you leave. The reason why the Divine Spirits are seeking out these Bearers is so that they can grab hold of the opportunity to free themselves from this place."

"So, what is this opportunity?" Yang Kai asked eagerly.

"I'm not sure. I only saw the records written in the ancient books by my ancestors. Back then, an Ancestor of Divine Cauldron Cave Heaven also fell into the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, competed against others of that period, and left behind some information about this place."

"And he succeeded?"

"He failed." Xu Zhen sighed, "The glory of that period belonged to a Senior from Xuan Yuan Cave Heaven. He brought a Divine Spirit out from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, and in return that Divine Spirit served as his Protector for a thousand years before leaving Xuan Yuan Cave Heaven."

"A Protector!" Yang Kai was astonished.

"A bodyguard, a thug... something of that sort." Xu Zhen grinned meaningfully, "If we have to put our lives on the line for the sake of those Divine Spirits, then we have to ask for some compensation, right? And that Senior from Xuan Yuan Cave Heaven did just that. He negotiated with that Divine Spirit and had him act as his Protector for a thousand years, and that Divine Spirit had no choice but to accept. Brother Yang, I am also planning to negotiate with this Zhu Yan from my side. Tsk tsk, how impressive would it be if I manage to bring a Divine Spirit out of here?"

Yang Kai was speechless. Can such conditions even be proposed? If he ended up provoking a Divine Spirit, then he truly would not know how to write the word 'death'.

"Many thanks to Brother Xu for this information. It will be of great use to me," Yang Kai transmitted a word of thanks to him. He had been wondering what sort of help that Zhu Jiu Yin needed from him, and why she wanted him to improve his strength, but he finally understood why after hearing this story from Xu Zhen.

Obviously, Kun Sha had chased him all the way here not only because of the Ice Soul Moon Pearl that he stole from him, but also to use him as a Bearer; otherwise, he would not have left this place without asking about the Ice Soul Moon Pearl's whereabouts.

"It's no big deal. You would have found out about it eventually even if I did not tell you. But if both you and I become Bearers, then there might be a time in the future when we are forced to fight. For the interests of my Divine Cauldron Heaven, I will not go easy on Brother Yang when the time comes."

"Rightfully so!"

"And, there is still Ning Dao Ran and the others. I estimate that they will not be able to escape the same fate. The Divine Spirits have been watching quietly all these years, most likely to observe those of us who fell into this world so that they can choose a suitable Bearer. Now, as Zhu Yan and the Heavenly Moon Demon Spider have both already made their moves, the other Divine Spirits must not be able to sit still either. I'm guessing Ning Dao Ran and the others have all also been captured by the Divine Spirits, and it is only a matter of time before we will be forced to fight amongst ourselves... But let us not talk about that right now. Zhu Yan is back. I will talk to you again when I have the time!"

Speaking up to this point, Xu Zhen cut off communication with him.

Yang Kai silently put away his communication bead and digested the information told to him by Xu Zhen. Bearers, the opportunity to break free from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary's shackles, the recruitment of a Protector. All of this was information that he had never heard of.

And, there was still Lin Feng.

In this case, Lin Feng should not be in any danger. He was, at the very least, a disciple of a Cave-Heaven with an extraordinary heritage. He was definitely one of the Bearer candidates, so Kun Sha should not have killed him. There was a very good chance that he might choose him as his Bearer.

With that, some doubts could finally be cleared from his mind.

The reason why Zhu Jiu Yin did not kill him or trouble him in any way, even asking him to cultivate properly was very clearly because she wanted him to help her grab hold of her opportunity to leave this place.

[The Spirit Seizing War, was it?] Yang Kai recalled what Kun Sha said as he left. Even though he had no idea what the Spirit Seizing War was, it was obviously related to the opportunity.

After a moment of silence, Yang Kai headed for the main hall.

Inside the main hall, Zhu Jiu Yin was sitting on a chair while Lu Xue and Yue He were busying themselves. The floor was littered with all the things they bought from the Star City, mostly women's accessories.

Yue He stood in front of Zhu Jiu Yin, holding a mirror, while Lu Xue was putting the accessories on Zhu Jiu Yin. Looking left and right, she kept the ones she liked and tossed the ones she didn't aside.

When Yang Kai came in, he felt a bit speechless to see Zhu Jiu Yin admiring herself in the mirror.

Yue He turned to look at him, with an aggrieved look on her face.

Yang Kai pretended not to have seen it and stepped forward, cupping his fists, "Senior."

While fiddling with the ornaments in her hair, Zhu Jiu Yin said without even looking up, "What are you doing here rather than cultivating?" Glancing sideways, she asked Yue He, "How does this one look?"

Yue He answered, "Beautiful."

This was not mere flattery, either. She indeed looked beautiful; after all, she was the Heavenly Moon Demon Spider. With her beautiful face, she would look good in anything.

"A bit too gaudy," Zhu Jiu Yin shook her head and took off the hairpin, tossing it aside.

Yang Kai took this opportunity to interject, "Senior wants me to cultivate, and I also want to cultivate. Unfortunately, I am unable to continue."

"Why?" Zhu Jiu Yin looked up at him.

"Without appropriate materials, I am unable to condense my Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements Powers." Yang Kai lowered his gaze.

"Nonsense!" Zhu Jiu Yin snarled, "You think I don't know that you stole Kun Sha's Moon Essence from him? That thing comes from the Primordial Land and is the very core essence of a Moon. It is enough for you to refine for a long time."

"Primordial Land? Moon Essence?" Yang Kai's body shook, "Senior is talking about the Ice Soul Moon Pearl?"

"What Ice Soul Moon Pearl!" Zhu Jiu Yin said with disdain. She waved her hand and motioned for Yue He to step aside before turning to look at Yang Kai, "This Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary used to have both a Moon and Sun, but as too much time has passed, the Sun has gone out and the Moon crumbled. A piece of Moon Essence fell into the Primordial Land long ago, where it was later brought out and fell into Kun Sha's hands."

Yang Kai was dumbfounded.

Even though he knew that the Ice Soul Moon Pearl was an Innate Supreme Treasure, he never thought that it would actually be a piece of Moon Essence. It was no wonder why it glowed like the moon and felt bone-chilling to the touch.

As for what the Primordial Land was, Yang Kai had no idea. But obviously, it must be a secret place in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary.

After calming his heart down and suppressing his excitement, Yang Kai went on, "Even so, it will not work. Senior should know that I have now only gathered my Wood, Fire and Earth Element Powers. The next Element I must refine is Metal before I can gather Water. The Moon Essence will work as my Water Element material, but I still lack a suitable Metal Element treasure. Without that, this boy cannot do anything even with a Water Element treasure."

"What are you trying to say?" Zhu Jiu Yin looked at him with a smirk.

"If Senior can offer a Metal Element Treasure to me, then nothing would be better. Senior is a long-time resident of the Grand Ancient Ruins, and with an abundance of treasures in these lands, Senior should have many Metal Element treasures in her possession, right?"

"So, you've come to seek benefits, I see." Zhu Jiu Yin smiled and propped up her chin with her hand, looking lazily at Yang Kai, "Very well. Let us hear what sort of treasure you seek. If I have it, then I will give it to you."

"No matter what treasure it is, as long as it is of the Seventh Order or higher, then this Junior's requirements aren't too high." Yang Kai rubbed his palms together and smiled flatteringly.

Zhu Jiu Yin's face turned dark in an instant, "Your requirements aren't too high, anything above the Seventh Order will do?"

Seeing this, Yang Kai's heart thumped. He wondered to himself, [was my request too excessive?] But he steeled himself and nodded.

Silavin: Another real mythical beast. 朱厌 - Zhu Yan. It is a flaming ape.