Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

“It’s precisely because of the Ancestor’s Legacy Inheritance that this Disciple was able to advance into the Earth Realm so quickly, learn the whereabouts of Ancestor’s Legacy Artifact, the replica True Void Sword!”

In reality, Yang Kai had noticed that something was hidden inside the statue when he saw it for the first time. Combined with the records of the ancient books in his memory, it was easy for him to infer that the hidden object was Void Spirit Sword Sect’s long-lost replica True Void Sword.

Gu Kang Ning nodded, “It seems that Ancestor has not abandoned us, incompetent Juniors. I am too ashamed to face the Ancestor.”

On the other hand, Su Chang Fa looked at Yang Kai with concern and asked, “You have indeed advanced into the Earth Realm, but do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”

Yang Kai’s advancement was too fast. It could be said that they had watched as he broke through from the Seventh-Step Mortal Realm to the Earth Realm in a matter of days. Speedy progress generally resulted in an unsteady foundation, so Su Chang Fa was naturally worried about this.

“Rest assured, Honoured Master. This Disciple does not feel any discomfort,” Yang Kai replied. Holding the True Void Sword with both hands, he took two steps forward and offered the sword up, “When the Ancestor first forged this sword, he sealed three mighty Sword Qi attacks inside of it. This Disciple activated one of those attacks a few days ago, so there are two left. But, since this sword is the foundation of Void Spirit Sword Sect, I think it’s best for you to safekeep the sword, Honoured Master!”

Su Chang Fa glanced at the True Void Sword but did not take it up. He slowly shook his head and said, “Since the Ancestor left his Legacy Inheritance to you and told you the whereabouts of the True Void Sword, that means the Ancestor values you. He believes that you can lead Void Spirit Sword Sect and bring back our lost glory. This sword… you should keep it.”

Yang Kai pondered for a while before he nodded, “En. By the way, Honoured Master, Ancestor’s Legacy Inheritance also revealed many shortcomings in our cultivation and even contained an improved version of the Void Spirit Art. This Disciple has tried the new Secret Art and can conclude it is far superior to our current Void Spirit Art. May I teach this Secret Art to the other Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters?”

“Oh?” Gu Kang Ning became interested, “The Ancestor improved the Void Spirit Art? Hurry up and explain…”

He was not only the Great Elder of Void Spirit Sword Sect, but also the Elder in charge of teaching cultivation in the Sect; therefore, he naturally took these things very seriously.

And so, Yang Kai began explaining to the three Elders everything about the Void Spirit Art that he had modified. The three Elders immediately gathered together to research the new Secret Art, and seeing their excited expressions, Yang Kai slowly exited the Main Hall.

This Void Spirit Art was something he modified and improved himself, and it was certainly much better than the original Void Spirit Art. He believed that the three Elders in the Sect would quickly teach the Secret Art to the rest of the disciples, allowing them to achieve twice the result with half the effort in their cultivation. Moreover, since it was an improvement made on the original foundation, there were no hidden dangers in replacing the Secret Art they were cultivating.

[But before that, the foundation of those Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters will need to be solidified first.]

“Eldest Senior Brother!” Wan Ying Ying was waiting outside the hall. When she saw Yang Kai coming out, she quickly shouted, “Everybody is waiting for you!”

“En.” Yang Kai nodded and walked forward with her.

It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the same square as before. All the disciples of the Sect were gathered there, but even so, the total number of people did not exceed 40. In addition, many of them were not completely healed from their injuries yet. Their complexions might be pale, but their spirits were surprisingly high.

“It looks like everybody is eager for greater strength!” Yang Kai smiled and looked around.

One of the Junior Brothers called out, “Eldest Senior Brother, what should we do now? Please teach us, Eldest Senior Brother!”

“Please teach us, Eldest Senior Brother!” The others echoed, their shouts reverberating through the skies.

Yang Kai nodded, “Even the grandest of palaces must be built from the ground up. What is the most important thing for cultivators like us? It is not an overwhelmingly powerful cultivation, it is an unshakable foundation! Without a strong foundation, everything else is meaningless! But if that is so, what is our foundation? Our foundation is our body! If our bodies are strong, then we can take in and circulate more Spirit Qi. If our bodies are strong, then we can exert greater strength! That is why we should train our bodies before we cultivate! If you can train your physique to its absolute limit, you can even crush cities and destroy nations without having the slightest Spirit Qi!”

While speaking, Yang Kai suddenly threw out a punch. A violent force burst out along with a deafening explosion that caused everybody’s ears to ring and their eyes to glow with excitement.

“I will now teach you a set of Body Tempering Techniques that you must all cultivate diligently from now on. Don’t slack off!”

“Yes!” They promised with vigour.

Yang Kai had mastered many Body Tempering Techniques and over the years, he had travelled far and wide, killing countless powerful enemies and gaining their Secret Arts in the process. Naturally, several Body Tempering Techniques were included among them. It was not a problem for him to teach these Secret Arts to the younger generation of Void Spirit Sword Sect after making some slight adjustments to them. As for how far they could go in the future, that would depend entirely on their own efforts.

After teaching the Body Tempering Techniques, Yang Kai summoned two Junior Brothers, wrote a prescription, and sent them down the mountain to purchase various medicines.

The cultivation of Void Spirit Sword Sect disciples in the younger generation was too low, so it was impossible for them to show significant improvement in a short period. They could only take their time to cultivate. Nevertheless, buying some herbs to concoct some medicinal liquid for Body Tempering would speed up the rate of their growth.

The two disciples accepted his orders and left. Then, he asked Wan Ying Ying to guide him to another place.

The name ‘Ash Mountain’ sounded extremely barren and desolate; however, it turned out to be a beautiful place. Inside one of the mining tunnels that stretched for several kilometres under the Ash Mountain, Yang Kai strode forward while Wan Ying Ying followed behind him with a torch.

The further they went, the more they could sense the dense Spirit Qi fluctuations. This place was a Black Jade lode that contained large amounts of Black Jade after all. It was not surprising to have such dense Spirit Qi in this place.

Void Spirit Sword Sect’s storehouse had been emptied out by Yang Kai, but he needed large amounts of money to develop the Sect and improve his own cultivation. The Black Jade lode was the only hope to quickly achieve this.

“This place used to be an ordinary mineral lode where ordinary mortals would come to mine for ores, but in the process they managed to dig up Black Jade one day. As this place is under the jurisdiction of Void Spirit Sword Sect, the news was reported to the Sect Master and the two Elders.” Wan Ying Ying explained from behind him. It was obvious that she knew that he had been so drunk over the past year that he was completely ignorant about everything in the outside world.

Yang Kai nodded lightly. When he tried to activate the Void Spirit Art, he immediately felt abundant Spirit Qi flowing towards him; however, it was not as good as using the White Jades to cultivate.

“This Black Jade needs to be mined,” he said.

She replied, “We can ask Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters to come here.”

Yang Kai however, shook his head, “Void Spirit Sword Sect is already stretched thin. Just relying on the others alone won’t be efficient.”

“How about hiring people to work this mine them?” Wan Ying Ying suggested.

“No need. I have an idea.” After saying that, Yang Kai turned around and walked out.

A short while later, the pair returned to Void Spirit Sword Sect. Yang Kai instructed Wan Ying Ying to cultivate on her own while he went to the stables and took out a horse before riding off into the distance. He soon arrived in the small city at the foot of the mountain. After he bought some herbs from the pharmacy, he spent half a day at an inn before he put away a small porcelain bottle and left on horseback.

…..

Tian Luo Hall’s Headquarters was located in a huge manor. As an Earth Realm great force, they had many disciples under their banner, as many as 600 in total. Compared to the few dozen people in Void Spirit Sword Sect, it was a whole world of difference. Besides, so many people gathering together in one place had made the Headquarters very lively and prosperous. Its existence was almost comparable to a small town at this point.

Tian Luo Hall’s Sect Master and eight Elders were gathered together in their Main Hall currently.

There used to be nine Elders, but Third Elder Zhan Bo Xiong was killed by Void Spirit Sword Sect, so only eight remained. Nevertheless, all eight of them were Earth Realm Masters. The weakest among them was in the Fourth-Step Earth Realm. In contrast, the strongest among them were Great Elder Li Zheng Qing and Palace Master Shu Wan Cheng. They were both in the Ninth-Step Earth Realm, only one step away from advancing into the Heaven Realm. Compared to Void Spirit Sword Sect where the strongest Master was only in the Third-Step Earth Realm, Tian Luo Hall had much greater strength.

At this moment, the Main Hall was blanketed in gloom and the atmosphere was absolutely depressing.

Palace Master Shu Wan Cheng quickly said, “I summoned all the Elders here today because of a major incident that occurred recently. I’m sure you’ve all heard about it. Third Elder Zhan Bo Xiong was killed by somebody from Void Spirit Sword Sect; moreover, the one who killed him was the Eldest Disciple of Void Spirit Sword Sect, a mere boy only in the Fourth-Step Mortal Realm!”

The Eight Elder scowled deeply, “Palace Master, I’ve also heard about this matter, but my information is not that specific. Was Third Elder really killed by a brat in the Fourth-Step Mortal Realm?”

Shu Wan Cheng nodded solemnly, “It’s the truth! This is information I received from Wan Tian He of Roaring Tiger Sect. He was present at the time, so he knows the situation best. In any case, the murderer apparently borrowed a power that was not his own. It was a Sword Qi attack left behind by the True Void Sword Lord. That’s why the Third Elder was killed without any power to fight back.”

“The True Void Sword Lord!” Several of the Elders looked terrified.

“The murderer was originally only in the Fourth-Step Mortal Realm, but he suddenly became a Seventh-Step Mortal Realm Master for some reason!” Shu Wan Cheng added.

The Second Elder stroked his goatee and narrowed his eyes, “To activate the Sword Qi left behind by the True Void Sword Lord with cultivation in the Mortal Realm… I’m sure that things will not end well for that boy either.”

There was no power in this world that could be gained for free; therefore, activating power far beyond one’s ability to withstand would surely come with a heavy price.

Shu Wan Cheng confirmed the fact, “According to Wan Tian He, the boy who activated the Sword Qi was severely injured. He will not live for much longer!”

The eyes of the Elders below him instantly lit up at those words.

“Palace Master, the reason you summoned us here…”

He explained, “Third Elder has contributed greatly to Tian Luo Hall. I cannot allow him to be killed by Void Spirit Sword Sect for no apparent reason. Otherwise, what would happen to Tian Luo Hall’s face if news about this incident were to spread? This Palace Master intends to dispatch forces to Void Spirit Sword Sect to avenge Third Elder!”

He swept his gaze over the people below him, “Which Elder is willing to take a trip to help relieve the worries of this Palace Master?”

The eight Elders all fell silent suddenly, with nobody saying a word.

Even a Seventh Step Earth Realm Master like the Third Elder had been killed by the Sword Qi left behind by the True Void Sword Lord. Not many among the Elders present here were stronger than the Third Elder, so they were not confident that they could defend against such a Sword Qi attack. Although the brat who activated the Sword Qi attack in the first place was bound to have suffered a disastrous ending, who could say if there was anybody else in Void Spirit Sword Sect who could activate more of the Sword Qi? It would be bad if they met the same fate as the Third Elder.

Acting as the vanguard was not a pleasant task and the slightest carelessness could put their lives at risk. All the Elders were worldly and experienced, so how could they not understand this principle?

When Shu Wan Cheng saw that all the people below him were playing dead, he felt slightly angry in his heart. [They always clamour to be the first when something good happens, but they hide away like turtles in their shells when something dangerous occurs. They are completely unreliable.]