Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys\

By the time Hui Gu finished dealing with the subordinates that Shen Luo brought and looked up, he saw that the latter was in critical danger. Spear shadows filled the sky and transformed into a violent storm that enveloped Shen Luo from above; moreover, his body was covered in wounds of all shapes and sizes that were bleeding profusely.

Hui Gu’s eyes narrowed slightly. Even though he had already seen Yang Kai killing another Sixth-Order Heavenly Monarch before, witnessing the same scene all over again still gave him a huge shock.

It had to be said that Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were only one step away from entering the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm. They were considered extremely powerful existences across the entire 3,000 Worlds. They could even serve as Outer Elders in the Cave-Heavens and Paradises. Even so, such Masters seemed completely helpless in front of Yang Kai.

Shen Luo was not weak, only slightly weaker than Ju Xian; however, even Ju Xian was not Yang Kai’s opponent, so how could Shen Luo possibly defeat Yang Kai?

Knowing that it was time to show his value, Hui Gu did not hesitate. He joined the battle with a flash of his figure and cooperated with Yang Kai to besiege Shen Luo.

Shen Luo’s complexion immediately turned ashen. He was already in a life-threatening predicament just facing Yang Kai, and it was only a matter of time before he lost the battle and subsequently his life. Now that Hui Gu had joined in, his situation was becoming worse and worse.

“Damn you, Hui Gu!”

The entire process only took about a quarter hour in total. Following Yang Kai’s furious roar, the Azure Dragon Spear stabbed into Shen Luo’s head and caused it to explode. Fresh blood and brains splattered everywhere and a new headless corpse twitched violently before falling straight down.

A black light rushed out from Shen Luo’s wrist and plunged into Yang Kai’s golden wristband. Five new stars lit up instantly as Yang Kai looked down at his achievements and nodded in satisfaction.

Standing in front of Shen Luo’s corpse, Hui Gu stared at it silently with extremely complicated feelings. At this moment, he felt a little shaken. He was starting to doubt his own years of perseverance and cultivation.

The subordinates that Shen Luo brought had not been killed as Hui Gu had simply captured them alive and imprisoned them nearby. Yang Kai walked over and killed each person with a stab of his spear, gaining more achievements as a result. In this way, as many as 24 stars lit up the golden wristband.

“Clean up. I’m going back into retreat!” Yang Kai instructed as he put his spear away and returned to the tree cave.

Hui Gu silently cleaned up the battlefield. All traces of the battle here had to be removed completely, lest the next group of victims notice any clues that something was wrong. There was also the Spirit Array in the forest that needed to be repaired.

Lu Jing ran over to help. Fighting was not his forte, but something as trivial as this was well within his means.

Over the next two months, Yang Kai continued to linger in the tree cave. He refined Open Heaven Pills to enhance the heritage of his Small Universe while waiting for more fish to take the bait.

During this time, another three big fish were lured into the trap. These groups were all led by Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, and every one of them gave Yang Kai a bountiful harvest. In addition, there were many small fish that came too. At this point, Hui Gu’s forest home had become a bottomless pit where not the slightest trickle would leak out despite how many people were devoured.

At this point though, fewer and fewer people appeared in the forest. It was hard to say whether the strangeness in this place had finally been detected and people were becoming wary or whether Bai Mo failed to contact more criminals to lure in.

In any case, Yang Kai was feeling pretty good about his situation. The Dao Theory Assembly was said to be held over a one-year period, and while only three months had passed so far, he had already obtained nearly 60 stars. Among these 60 stars, 5 Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had contributed a total of 25. The rest of the stars were obtained from slaughtering those below the Sixth-Order.

Even Lu Jing had managed to mooch off some of the achievements, filling up two stars on his golden wristband.

There were no more than 20 or so Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters throughout the entire Prison Star, but Yang Kai alone had annihilated 5 of them. It was an absolutely horrifying number. With such achievements, he was certain that nobody else could defeat him. It had to be said that 60 stars were equivalent to the lives of 60 Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters or 12 Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Regardless of how hard the others tried, it was practically impossible for them to obtain greater achievements than him.

Be that as it may, one should always take precautions against all possibilities. Yang Kai had made such a bold declaration in front of Xu Ling Gong, so he could not afford to lose the Dao Theory Assembly. He secretly decided to wait in this place for another two months, and if no more big fish fell for the bait, then he would take the initiative to attack instead.

As time passed, the criminals who came to the dense forest steadily dwindled in numbers.

On a certain day, Yang Kai and the two others were cultivating in retreat inside the secluded home when Hui Gu suddenly opened his eyes. He seemed to have sensed something and cast a Secret Technique to investigate the situation. Then, he raised his eyebrows in surprise, “Sir, somebody is here!”

“Somebody finally came.” Yang Kai opened his eyes and cracked his neck to the side. Over the past half month, not even small fish had shown up. He was so bored that he was about to start growing mushrooms; therefore, he immediately became spirited when he heard that somebody had arrived. He turned to the side and asked, “How many people are there?”

“There’s only one person!” Hui Gu’s expression was a little strange, “Moreover…”

“Moreover, what?”

“Sir, are women allowed to participate in the Dao Theory Assembly? Wasn’t the Dao Theory Assembly for Yin-Yang Cave Heaven to choose a Husband for one of its Core Female Disciples?”

“A woman?” Yang Kai was astonished, but he immediately recalled something. Standing up, he strode out of the tree cave and it didn’t take long before he appeared in front of that person. With a big laugh, he called out, “Junior Sister Gu? What are you doing here?”

Not far away, a petite figure holding a paintbrush in her hand was studying her surroundings vigilantly. When Gu Pan turned to look at him, she immediately looked stunned, “Senior Brother Yang? Why are you here?”

Then, she glanced at Grey Bones Heavenly Monarch standing beside him and her expression became even more confused than before.

“It’s a long story. Why don’t you come inside first?” Yang Kai beckoned to her. He had a vague guess when he heard Hui Gu saying that their visitor was a woman; after all, Gu Pan was the only woman who joined the Dao Theory Assembly. Sure enough, it turned out to be her when Yang Kai came out to check on the situation.

A short while later, both host and guest were seated. Hui Gu served them some tea before taking a seat behind Yang Kai and next to Lu Jing, his demeanour completely subservient.

Yang Kai then briefly explained Hui Gu’s identity.

Gu Pan nodded, “You made a wise move, Heavenly Monarch. If Senior Brother Yang can take the top spot in the assembly, he might be able to make a request to Yin-Yang Cave Heaven and bring you out of the Prison Star.”

Hui Gu became excited when he heard those words, “Really!?”

He had originally been forced to sign the Loyalty List; thus, he surrendered himself to Yang Kai without thinking too much into the matter. Nevertheless, a great hope suddenly blazed in his heart upon hearing what Gu Pan just said. If he could leave the Prison Star, this miserable and barren land, then it would indeed be a wise move to submit to Yang Kai.

“I’ll do my best! I cannot say whether Yin-Yang Cave Heaven will agree to my request.” Yang Kai nodded lightly. [Hui Gu is restricted by the Loyalty List, so there is no need to worry about being betrayed by him. It should not be a problem if I discuss this matter with Xu Ling Gong when the time comes.]

“Many thanks, Sir! It’s enough as long as you have the intent!” Hui Gu said excitedly.

Gu Pan said, “Senior Brother Yang, your current achievements should be enough to put you way ahead of everybody else. As long as you can keep up your current rate of progress, it will not be difficult for you to win.”

The densely packed stars on Yang Kai’s golden wristband were visible at a glance; hence, she had noticed it as soon as she arrived.

“Junior Sister, your harvest isn’t bad either.” Yang Kai glanced at her fair wrist and smiled slightly.

Needless to say, her achievements could not compare to his, but even so, Gu Pan had obtained about a dozen stars of her own. These stars probably came from slaughtering criminals below the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm.

Based on her situation, the others were probably in a similar situation.

“Why did you come here, Junior Sister?” Yang Kai asked, changing the subject.

Gu Pan replied, “I overheard some of the criminals saying that something was strange about this place. Many Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had entered this forest only to disappear without a trace. So, I came to investigate the situation. I didn’t expect you to be here, Senior Brother Yang.”

It would now seem that all the Sixth-Order criminals who entered this place and vanished without a trace had been reduced to the stars on his wrist.

“Oh? Has the news spread out that far?” Yang Kai raised his brow upon hearing this. It was no wonder nobody came here recently. His actions must have been too glaring, which caused the criminals outside to become wary of this place. Thinking so, Yang Kai realized he couldn’t just sit around here anymore. The fish had been alerted to what’s going on, so there would be no more harvest. If he wanted more stars, he had to stop being passive and start attacking.

Having made up his mind, Yang Kai asked Gu Pan about Zhang Ruo Xi. He had not seen her ever since the collapse of the Blood Monster Cave Heaven.

He learned from Gu Pan that the Elders of Lang Ya Paradise had taken their disciples back to the Sect after the collapse of the Blood Monster Cave Heaven. In addition, Zhang Ruo Xi was accepted by one of the Outer Elders as a Disciple and she was currently training hard to prepare for her future breakthrough to the Open Heaven Realm.

Upon learning that Zhang Ruo Xi was doing well, Yang Kai felt very relieved.

She would not suffer any grievances with Gu Pan taking care of her in Lang Ya Paradise; furthermore, Lang Ya Paradise was one of the 72 Paradises with a strong heritage. The fact that Zhang Ruo Xi’s ancestor was a Lang Ya Paradise disciple also gave her a sense of belonging there, so staying was not a bad choice for her.

Yang Kai then chatted with Gu Pan for a little longer before she left.

The reason Gu Pan participated in the Dao Theory Assembly was not to win a bride, but rather because she was the only Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master that Lang Ya Paradise brought along on this trip. With no other choice, she participated as a way to train herself.

Yang Kai did not stop her from leaving. Since she was here for training, then it would be better for her to travel alone. Besides, she was a Lang Ya Paradise disciple, so her methods and cultivation were both extraordinary. Even if she encountered an enemy in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm on the Prison Star, she would have no trouble escaping even if she couldn’t defeat her opponent. Her life would be in no danger in this place.

When he saw her off outside the dense forest, she suddenly looked back and said, “Good luck, Senior Brother!”

He nodded, “Be careful.”

She nodded, “You too, Senior Brother. The criminals on the Prison Star… are heinous people. Every one of them has blood on their hands. Don’t trust them too much.”

He knew that she was warning him to be careful of Hui Gu. Unfortunately, it was inconvenient for him to explain, so he just smiled in response, “I know.”

“Also, I’ve heard rumours that the criminals on the Prison Star have recently established a force called Prison League. Most of the criminals have joined Prison League to hunt and kill the cultivators participating in the Dao Theory Assembly. Many people have already died at their hands, so don’t be careless if you meet them, Senior Brother. There are many Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Prison League and they are not people whom newly-advanced Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters like us can resist.”

“Prison League?” Yang Kai raised his brow, the news immediately piquing his interest.