Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain

It didn’t take long for Yang Kai to reach the end of the path where he discovered a small house.

Figuring that since he had come all this way he might as well see things through to the end, Yang Kai stepped into the small stone house.

Now he is certain that this path and everything he had encountered before was artificially arranged because it was clear that they were here to protect this stone house.

When he entered, Yang Kai raised his vigilance, condensing his strength in case he needed to quickly react, or in case he countered someone or something inside the stone house that was against him. But soon, Yang Kai found that this stone house was actually empty, and there weren’t any decorations much less treasure, besides a stone table in the centre of the house, there was literally nothing else.

Yang Kai frowned slightly and searched the stone house carefully a few times but ultimately failed to discover anything worthy of note. It was as if after breaking the Bewildering Array and walking through the stone path, one’s only option was to enter this stone house and wait for death.

Using his Demon Eye of Annihilation again still yielded nothing.

In the end, all Yang Kai found inside the house was a small seed which was laid upon the stone table.

Reaching out and picking it up to have a closer look, Yang Kai found that this seed was blood red and contained a strange aura inside it. This aura was quite similar to the one possessed by the rioting weeds outside.

He didn’t know how many years this thing had sat here, but Yang Kai could still clearly feel a rich vitality coming from it. If he were to plant it somewhere, it should be able to sprout and thrive.

After thinking about it, Yang Kai tossed it into his Space Ring. Having paid the price of two drops of Golden Blood to break through the weak spot in the Bewildering Array to arrive here, he couldn’t just leave empty-handed.

This seed provided a modicum of comfort in that respect.

Next, Yang Kai checked once more around the stone house before finally determining there was no way out.

Was it necessary for him to go back the way he came and delve deeper into the Bewildering Array to find another way out? When thinking about the self-restoring function of the Bewildering Array, Yang Kai wanted to curse.

Although reluctant, Yang Kai had to accept this cruel reality and dejectedly walked out of the stone house.

But as soon as he stepped out of the stone house, a flash of light appeared in front of his eyes and the weeds and stone pavement disappeared, leaving behind only an empty red expanse.

In the air, there was a constant flow of flame auras and nothing but reddish-brown dirt stretched out beneath his feet.

Flame Area!

Yang Kai was shocked and, out of fear he had fallen into another illusionary Spirit Array, he quickly used his Demon Eye of Annihilation for the third time. After confirming that he hadn’t been sent into another Bewildering Array, Yang Kai scanned his surroundings carefully but was unable to find any trace of the stone house. All he could see were barren hills and plains, as if everything he had encountered before was just an illusion.

However, Yang Kai knew that it was not an illusion, because that fiery red seed was still inside his Space Ring.

In any case, after finally coming out of that damned place, Yang Kai secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

If he had been trapped back in that Bewildering Array again, his only option would be to find another weak link and blow it open. If it had been any other Saint King, once they fell into that trap, only if they were extremely proficient in Spirit Arrays would they stand a chance of survival, otherwise their only option would be to sit there and wait for death.

Word about this Bewildering Array had never spread out, probably because anyone who fell into it didn’t have the ability to escape and died inside. If that was the case, it made sense why no one knew about it, and since this Bewildering Array could even isolate space, blocking messages from being sent out wouldn’t be a problem.

Therefore, Yang Kai estimates that the great forces on Shadowed Star were completely unaware of this Bewildering Array’s existence.

Yang Kai hoped Wei Gu Chang, Dong Xuan’er, Chang Qi and Hao An hadn’t travelled the same way as he had, otherwise they would undoubtedly fall into this death trap.

Just as Yang Kai was secretly feeling thankful, he suddenly discovered a few figures travelling at great speed a few kilometres away from his position. It seemed these people were in a rush to get somewhere.

Yang Kai gawked for a moment before suddenly remembering that he had been trapped by the Bewildering Array for a number of days, so the lead he had managed to obtain with his Wind and Thunder Wings may have already disappeared and elites like Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er should have already overtaken him.

Taking out his Yuan Magnetic Compass and checking it, Yang Kai found that the direction this group of people was travelling wasn’t towards the Treasure Area.

Now, there was no meaning in rushing ahead. Yang Kai had been planning to arrive at the Treasure Area first so he could search for treasures before anyone else arrived, but after being delayed for so long by the Bewildering Array that was no longer possible.

This group of people must have found something good, otherwise, they wouldn’t be in such a hurry.

Yang Kai thought about it for a while before deciding to follow after this group of people.

Following others inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field was quite easy because there wasn’t much vegetation here. Except for barren hills and cracked earth, there really was nothing else, so although Divine Sense was greatly suppressed here, the distance one could see with their eyes was quite far, so there was no need to worry about losing sight of someone.

The further he went, the more cultivators Yang Kai discovered travelling in the same direction as him. It was as if everyone had gotten news about something and were converging towards a certain place.

Yang Kai became more curious. If something valuable hadn’t been discovered, it would be impossible for some many cultivators to gather together; after all, when many people came together, there would naturally be conflicts.

Not far away from where Yang Kai currently was, there were two cultivators at the Second Order Saint King Realm. These two wore matching uniforms, but Yang Kai didn’t recognize which force they belonged to. Thinking these two didn’t look particularly vicious or wicked, Yang Kai immediately turned towards them with the hope of inquiring about what was happening. If there wasn’t something good up ahead, he wouldn’t bother going.

This pair noticed Yang Kai’s actions and quickly raised their vigilance, a middle-aged man among them frowning as he swept his eyes over Yang Kai, but after discovering he was just a First Order Saint King, he relaxed.

There was no need to fear a single First Order Saint King so the vigilance on his face quickly converged.

“Two friends,” Yang Kai rushed to them, cupped his fists, and smiled, trying to look as friendly as possible.

The pair didn’t turn Yang Kai away, simply nodding lightly as they continued running forward, the middle-aged man asking, “Is there something wrong?”

“I just wanted to ask why everyone is running this direction. Have you found something good?” Yang Kai asked bluntly.

The middle-aged man was slightly surprised but still smiled and replied, “We’re not completely clear about the situation up ahead and only heard some rumours, but those rumours say that someone found some Brilliant Fire Crystal. Whether it’s true or false we can’t say.”

“Origin Grade High-Rank Brilliant Fire Crystal?” Yang Kai’s eyes brightened.

“Right, it seems that friend has a clear understanding of the grade of this material,” The middle-aged man looked at Yang Kai with some surprise.

“En, I heard about it from a Senior before,” Yang Kai replied casually. Brilliant Fire Crystal was indeed a good material, not only could it be used for Artefact Refining, it could also be used by those who cultivated Fire Attribute Secret Arts and even as a material in some special types of Spirit Arrays.

Yang Yan should be interested in these things. Yang Kai himself didn’t care either way, but since he was already here, it was fine to take a look. If there really was some Brilliant Fire Crystal, he wouldn’t mind collecting some; after all, Origin Grade High-Rank materials were hard to find and often couldn’t be purchased even if you had money.

Yang Yan had often complained that the grade of materials she had to arrange Spirit Arrays was too low and although the materials sent by Qian Tong were all Origin Grade, there were too few at the High-Rank. As for Origin King Grade materials, there were even fewer.

“Although there may be good things up ahead, one must have the skill to obtain them,” The middle-aged man spoke somewhat ambiguously before stating clearly, “There are many people rushing over to that side now, so its likely conflicts will start occurring soon. Friend, are you sure you want to go?”

He seemed to think that Yang Kai’s cultivation realm was too low so he was trying to persuade him against taking such risks.

This man spoke without any malice or ill intent, he was simply acting out of goodwill.

This middle-aged person had an upright character, Yang Kai thought secretly, but without stopping he simply chuckled, “Naturally I must go take a look, even if I can’t obtain anything in the end, gaining some experience shouldn’t be too hard.”

Seeing Yang Kai insist on this, the other party didn’t say anything anymore. He had simply met Yang Kai by chance and spoke to persuade him out of good intentions, but since the other side paid it no heed, why would he waste his breath?

None of the three gave their names, seemingly not planning on associating with each other for long.

Within a short time, the trio finally arrived at the place they were searching for and began looking around.

In front of them was a giant hill, at least a hundred meters tall and several thousand meters in diameter. At this moment, there were at least thirty cultivators scattered across the hill, all of them seemingly have received word of there being treasure here. These cultivators were all digging around the hill currently.

Every now and then, someone would let out a laugh after digging up a chunk of red crystal.

Yang Kai could clearly see that it was indeed Brilliant Fire Crystal.

This hill was quite inconspicuous, but it actually contained a deposit of Brilliant Fire Crystal. It was really a wonder who the first person to discover this place was and also how word about it leaked out.

However, it was clear that the excavation work had been going on here for more than a few hours. The hill was already full of pits and caves, with the figures of cultivators moving in and out of them.

Some people wore happy expression while others wore sad ones. Some cultivators found nothing in the spots they were looking and would change location frequently.

Although the scene was lively, there were no conflicts. Everyone coexisted in peace. They each found a place to look for Brilliant Fire Crystal and went about their task in a relaxed manner. The great fight Yang Kai had imagined occurring over these Brilliant Fire Crystals was nowhere to be seen.

“Let’s go to that side!” The middle-aged man who arrived with Yang Kai suddenly pointed to an empty spot and quickly moved towards it with his fellow Sect Brother, the two of them summoning out their artefacts and actually using them like shovels to dig through the dirt.

Yang Kai sighed slightly and walked over as well, looking for a place that was empty to try his luck.

If the Stone Puppet was here, Yang Kai wouldn’t need to do anything, he could simply release it and all the Brilliant Fire Crystal hidden in this hill would surely fall into his hands.

However, Yang Yan needed the Stone Puppet for various important tasks so Yang Kai had not brought it with him.