Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

As for who would end up winning these precious few spots, Yang Kai believed that Wu Yi and Yang Yan would be able to handle it properly. With nothing else for Yang Kai to worry about now, he could focus on breaking through to the Origin Returning Realm!

After giving a brief explanation of things to Yang Yan, Yang Kai immediately returned to First Heavenly Palace and entered retreat.

Inferring from the rate at which the protective cover formed by the Emperor Jades was expanding, the Emperor Garden would open in roughly half a year. Breaking through to the Origin Returning Realm in half a year would be a bit rushed, but it shouldn’t be a problem.

This was the first time Yang Kai had deliberately entered retreat to achieve a breakthrough.

In the past, his breakthroughs had all occurred naturally and were never forced, but this time’s expedition to the Emperor Garden was extremely important. Therefore, with his strength slightly lacking at the Third-Order Saint King Realm, it was natural that Yang Kai wanted to try and raise his cultivation to the next realm.

Forcing a breakthrough was somewhat contrary to the meaning of cultivation, but this was not a big problem. Yang Kai had remained in the Third-Order Saint King Realm for some time now and had experienced several great battles, so he was not lacking in comprehension of his realm. There was also no need to worry about the purity, density, and amount of his Saint Qi, so all he was lacking now was some kind of opportunity to break through.

Inside First Heavenly Palace, Yang Kai sat cross-legged, his expression indifferent, not hurrying to enter a meditative state or accumulate strength. Instead, he calmly began taking out a large number of herbs from his Space Ring and summoned his Alchemy Furnace.

He was preparing to refine pills!

Alchemy was also a part of his cultivation. Through Alchemy, Yang Kai could stabilize his mood while tempering his Saint Qi and Spiritual Energy, something which had been of great benefit to him.

Few people knew he was an Alchemist. Besides Dai Yuan who had asked him to help him once, Yang Yan was likely the only one who knew this. Even Wu Yi wasn’t in the know. Yang Kai had told her once but Wu Yi hadn’t believed him at the time.

After all, a cultivator being able to reach the Third-Order Saint King Realm at Yang Kai’s age was already an incredible feat, so how could he have the extra time and energy to study Alchemy as well?

She had figured that Yang Kai was just joking with her.

However, Yang Kai was indeed an Alchemist, and an Origin Grade Mid-Rank Alchemist at that. Currently, Yang Kai could easily refine Origin Grade Mid-Rank pills, and occasionally, with good luck, he could even refine Origin Grade High-Rank pills.

If this information were to be leaked out, Yang Kai’s status would immediately soar and countless great forces would no doubt try to recruit him.

Even if this was a different Cultivation Star in the Star Field, an Origin Grade Mid-Rank Alchemist would still be a remarkable existence, not to mention in a place like Shadowed Star. But along with such lofty status, it would also cause countless masters to target him.

Yang Kai only used Alchemy as an auxiliary to his cultivation and did not intend to fully devote himself to the Alchemic Way, so how could he allow such sensitive information leak out knowing that it would only cause him trouble?

As he pushed his Conflagrated Spiritual Energy and wrapped it around his Alchemy furnace, Yang Kai began refining one spirit herb after another in an orderly fashion.

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was a month later.

At this moment, inside First Heavenly Palace, there was an array of big and small jade bottles in front of Yang Kai, each one filled with pills of varying grades, many of which had fine lines that resembled human meridians emblazoned across their surfaces.

Pill Veins!

These special lines dramatically increased the value of a pill. Pill Veins not only doubled the efficacy of a pill, they also ensured that its potency would not diminish over time if stored properly.

Pill Veins were thought to only be coincidental, and countless Alchemists spent their entire lifetimes trying to find a way to refine pills that formed Pill Veins only to ultimately fail. Yang Kai, however, had a different approach to forming Pill Veins by treating them as a special type of Spirit Array and arranging them thus. As a result, the pills stemming from his hand normally had a terrifying chance of forming Pill Veins.

On Rainfall Star, Grandmaster Zong Ao was thoroughly shocked by Yang Kai’s methods.

At that time, Yang Kai was just a Saint King Grade Alchemist while Zong Ao was already an Origin Grade High-Rank Alchemist, but the problem which had plagued Zong Ao for over a hundred years was something Yang Kai actually managed to accomplish with ease, so how could Zong Ao not be shocked?

Although the two made a deal and Yang Kai taught Zong Ao his special method of forming Pill Veins, the latter was still somewhat frustrated because he didn’t possess Yang Kai’s Conflagrated Knowledge Sea and could not easily use his Divine Sense during Alchemy to portray the necessary Spirit Arrays. However, carefully cutting rough stone into jade, Zong Ao did not leave empty handed from this transaction, and after so many years, Yang Kai wondered whether this old man had reached the rank of Origin King Grade Alchemist.

If Zong Ao was successful, he could be counted among the peak characters in the entire Star Field, enjoying admiration and worship from trillions of cultivators.

Putting away these miscellaneous thoughts, Yang Kai’s eyes swept over the results of his one month’s labour.

Tri-Clear Pill, Jade Spirit Pill, Saint King Pill, Returning Yuan Pill…

There were many types of pills laid out before Yang Kai and he had nearly exhausted his supply of spirit grasses and spirit fruits.

With a flick of his wrist though, a certain pale blue pill appeared between Yang Kai’s fingers, one that released a rich, stimulating fragrance. This pill was only the size of a longan and was densely covered with Pill Veins.

Origin Condensing Pill!

Saint Kings who attempted to break through to the Origin Returning Realm could use this pill as an auxiliary to promote their chances of success! Dai Yuan had gone to Dragon Cave Mountain some time ago specifically to ask Yang Kai to refine an Origin Condensing Pill for her; however, at that time, Yang Kai had not acted fully and only produced an ordinary Origin Condensing Pill without Pill Veins, causing it to be vastly different in value to the one he was currently holding.

Staring at this pill, Yang Kai revealed a thoughtful look, but after a long silence, he put it away again.

This was the fallback guarantee he prepared for himself, to ensure that he could break through to the Origin Realm!

If he could not achieve a breakthrough on his own before the Emperor Garden was scheduled to open, he would use this Origin Condensing Pill to assist him.

Breaking through to the next realm with the assistance of some special pills was not uncommon; in fact, ninety nine percent of cultivators would do so at some point, but doing so would result in a cultivator losing out on the insights and comprehensions they could gain by achieving a breakthrough on their own. This led to varying degrees of imperfection in one’s breakthrough.

It was difficult to say if this ultimately resulted in any disadvantages to a cultivator. Perhaps it would affect their future achievements negatively, or perhaps it would have no effect at all, there was even a chance it had some deleterious effects, but they were so minimal that they could essentially be ignored.

Yang Kai, however, had never used any pills to assist him in breaking through as he did not want any flaws to appear in his cultivation path.

Of course, this was simply a convention he had followed until now and Yang Kai was not so rigid that he would adhere to it at the expense of more urgent and important considerations. This Origin Condensing Pill that had Pill Veins was refined by him simply as a measure of last resort.

Now that he had finished adjusting his mood by refining so many pills, Yang Kai inhaled a deep breath and took out a fist-sized spherical white crystal from his Space Ring.

Saint Crystal Source!

This was a special product that the Stone Puppet could produce by swallowing and condensing Saint Crystals and was an existence above High-Rank Saint Crystals in terms of purity and richness of energy. It was the best auxiliary source of Saint Qi to use during a secluded retreat.

Below First Heavenly Palace, there was a Spirit Spring that constantly produced a steady stream of World Energy, making the aura here extremely rich. Together with these Saint Crystal Sources, Yang Kai’s cultivation speed could only be described as rapid, so with a five month buffer period, he was confident he could break through to the Origin Realm.

Just as he was preparing to enter a state of meditative cultivation, Yang Kai suddenly showed a look of surprise as he glanced outwards.

Someone had touched upon First Heavenly Palace’s barrier, causing Yang Kai to frown.

Before entering retreat, he had specifically told Yang Yan to not disturb him until the opening day of the Emperor Garden, so why after just one month had passed had someone come to seek him?

Could something important have come up in High Heaven Sect?

Thinking so, Yang Kai quickly got up and walked out, waving his hand to open the isolation barrier.

Not long after, Yang Kai arrived outside First Heavenly Palace and found Qian Yue waiting for him. Upon seeing Yang Kai walk out, Qian Yue saluted him quickly.

“What’s the matter?” Yang Kai asked while carefully observing her reactions but not finding any sign of tension on Qian Yue’s face. Obviously, High Heaven Sect had not encountered some kind of difficulty.

“Sister Yang Yan asked me to call you over,” Qian Yue replied softly.

“Yang Yan?” Yang Kai’s brow twitched when his suspicions were confirmed. In High Heaven Sect, no one would dare disturb him while he was in retreat besides her. Pausing for a moment, Yang Kai asked, “Did she say why she wanted me to see her?”

Qian Yue shook her head slowly, pursing her lips and smiling, “Sister Yang Yan just said she had something good to show you.”

“A good thing?” Yang Kai frowned before snorting and mumbling, “That woman’s head is getting a bit too big, disturbing me at this critical time and even calling me over to see her. If this good thing of hers isn’t worth my attention just watch how I tidy her up!”

Saying so, he flew off.

Releasing his Divine Sense around, Yang Kai quickly found Yang Yan’s location.

Hundred Flower Peak, the place where Yang Yan and Ye Xi Yun lived, a mountain covered in a profound Spirit Array that made the temperature feel spring-like all year round and was completely covered in all kinds of rare and precious flowers, making it one of the most elegant and beautiful places in High Heaven Sect.

Hundred Flower Peak was a dozen or so kilometres away from First Heavenly Palace, so with Yang Kai’s current speed, this kind of distance could be crossed in but a moment.

Soon, Yang Kai landed on Hundred Flower Peak and across the expansive fields of blossoms, he saw Yang Yan sitting at a stone table next to a small pavilion, one leg crossed across the other, drinking tea leisurely. Ye Xiang Yun actually stood behind her with a respectful and humble look upon her face, just like a humble maidservant.

The Stone Puppet was also here, squatting on the stone table in front of Yang Yan, its face completely blank, like a statue.

“Yang Kai!” Yang Yan shouted happily when she saw Yang Kai arrive.

“Whatever this good thing is, hurry up and show me,” Yang Kai appeared in front of her and declared, disinclined to engage in idle chatter. Time was short for him right now, so how could he have the mind to discuss any nonsense with Yang Yan?

“Why so anxious?” Yang Yan curled her lips, but still didn’t waste any time, wiping her Space Ring and taking out something that looked like an ore.

This thing was bronze-coloured and irregular in shape, roughly the size of a washbasin with its surface full of pits.

Looking at this thing, Yang Kai’s brow furrowed as he showed a look of confusion.

With his eyesight, he could naturally tell this ore was some kind of very high-grade material, but he could not tell what it was.