Martial Peak

However, Yang Kai had just casually taken out a few of these Saint Grade artifacts, each one capable of starting wars, and haphazardly handed them over to Li Rong, causing the latter to calm up in shock.

Li Rong couldn’t help wondering if Yang Kai had looted the Treasuries of several great Sects…

How else could he have collected so many Saint Grade artifacts?

Recovering from her shock a moment later, Li Rong did not stand on ceremony and accepted the artifacts from Yang Kai, carefully storing them away.

She knew better than anyone that the stronger the Ancient Demon Clan was, the more help they could provide to Yang Kai! These artifacts would greatly enhance her and the other Great Commander’s combat power.

“En, let’s head back!” Yang Kai quickly determined his bearings and began flying back the way they had come.

Although there was nothing to use as a reference in the Starry Sky, Yang Kai’s senses were very keen so he did not become lost.

After some unknown length of time, the pair once again arrived at the entrance to the Void Corridor and dove in. In the blink of an eye, Yang Kai and Li Rong reappeared in the stone forest inside Shattering Mystical Palace.

The surrounding pillars still pulsed with mysterious energy and the ripples on the large pillar were still pulsing regularly around the entrance to the Starry Sky.

Reaching out his hand, Yang Kai disrupted the ripples of energy and the Void Corridor quickly faded, sealing the entrance to the Starry Sky once more.

The world around them was once again restored to silence!

“Master, this place is very important, should we put up some kind of barrier around it to avoid others accidentally discovering or damaging it?” Li Rong asked.

“You’re skilled in setting up Spirit Arrays?” Yang Kai looked at her with surprise.

Li Rong smiled lightly, “I have some small knowledge of the field, although it won’t compare to a Grandmaster’s work, I can at least arrange something better than the original barrier which was placed here.”

“Good!” Yang Kai nodded. A moment ago, he was debating whether to send some people to guard this place, so Li Rong’s proposal was just what he needed.

Receiving Yang Kai’s permission, Li Rong immediately got to work arranging a Spirit Array around this place.

Aside from those related to Alchemy, Yang Kai had next to no experience with arranging Spirit Arrays or barriers. The most he knew about them was how to break them open by force.

Li Rong setting up this kind of Spirit Array was an opportunity for him to learn something new, so Yang Kai paid special attention to her as she worked.

Noticing this, Li Rong made no attempt to hide what she was doing and even spent some time explaining to Yang Kai the steps she was taking, allowing him to benefit greatly.

A few hours later, a concealing and barrier type Spirit Array had been arranged around the stone pillar formation, hiding it so well that even standing right in front of it, Yang Kai was unable to sense anything with his powerful Divine Sense.

“Fierce! If you have time, I’d like to learn some more from you about this field,” Yang Kai praised liberally.

Receiving such praise, Li Rong seemed to smile more radiantly than before as she nodded, “Master is too polite, this is just some trivial skill.”

“Let’s go back first,” Yang Kai chuckled. He was quite curious about the strange long shuttle-like artifact and was eager to refine it as soon as possible so he could discover its purpose.

The pair immediately flew off in the direction of the Holy Land.

Yang Kai and Li Rong returned to the nine peaks from Shattering Mystical Palace in short order, but before they could enter the Holy Land, Yang Kai noticed a large gathering of cultivators who were making a lot of noise in a certain nearby location.

Frowning, Yang Kai let Li Rong over to see what was going on.

As the pair approached closer, the voices became clearer.

It seemed like a crowd of people were shouting, an obvious tone of resentment apparent in their voices.

All of them seemed to be accusing Nine Heavens Holy Land of bullying and oppressing with the occasional personal insult being hurled towards Holy Land Elder Shi Kun.

Realizing what was going on, Yang Kai picked up his pace, arriving beside the disturbance a moment later, his brow furrowing as he called out, “What’s going on here?”

When he heard Yang Kai’s voice, Shi Kun quickly turned around and saw Yang Kai walking over together with Li Rong. Shi Kun’s expression immediately became serious as he cupped his fists shouted, “Greeting, Holy Master!”

“Holy Master?” The cultivators who were making noise just now suddenly went silent, all of them turning their eyes towards Yang Kai, wanting to see just what this new Holy Master of the Nine Heavens Holy Land looked like.

However, the instant they turned their heads around, all of their eyes were immediately drawn towards Li Rong.

Excellent style, noble aura, a true beauty with not only a majestic air but also an enchanting figure.

Her skin as white as snow, like the purest of jade, exuded a porcelain-like lustre; when these people saw Li Rong, all of them couldn’t help staring.

Suddenly, they weren’t interested in making noise or complaining, simply standing there dumbly as if their souls had been stolen.

Li Rong’s brow furrowed slightly as she coldly swept her eyes over this crowd of boorish men and let out a snort.

An invisible pressure was released along with the noise Li Rong made, causing everyone to pale as they suddenly felt like the beautiful woman in front of their eyes had suddenly transformed into a terrifying beast baring its fangs towards them.

All of these cultivators involuntarily averted their eyes and trembled as cold sweat began dripping down their backs.

Yang Kai glanced over at Li Rong and chuckled wryly.

If she always took such great offence to such looks being directed towards her, her future would likely be extremely tiring.

All the world’s people, whether they were male or female, were naturally drawn towards beauty. Stealing a few glances towards a beautiful woman couldn’t be more natural a reaction.

Li Rong had lived her entire life in Demon God Citadel where all her clansmen treated her with the highest level of respect, never daring to reveal any kind of impropriety; however, now that she had come to the outside world, she was bound to experience situations similar to the one just now more and more frequently.

“You should try to get used to it,” Yang Kai quietly comforted, Li Rong’s face blushing slightly as she too realized she had acted a bit over the top, gently nodding her understanding.

With her cultivation and identity, it really wasn’t appropriate for her to lower herself to deal with such a group of people.

“What’s the situation here?” Yang Kai asked Shi Kun again.

Quickly composing himself, Shi Kun replied, “Reporting to Holy Master, these people are cultivators who have been loitering outside our Holy Land’s nine peaks recently. I had informed them of the three-day reprieve Great Elder had granted them to withdraw from our territory and had just come to remind them that the deadline was fast approaching; however, they have so far refused to leave and have instead been accusing us of abusing our strength to bully them. Subordinate tried reasoning with them otherwise but was helpless to convince them.”

Yang Kai nodded and asked, “What about Xu Hui?”

“Great Elder has something to attend to and left this matter to me to process.”

As the two of them talked, the group of foreign cultivators gradually recovered from the terror Li Rong had inflicted upon them and one man in a yellow robe suddenly called out, “So you are the new Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land?”

Follow his voice, Yang Kai did not show any great reaction, nodding lightly as he replied, “Yes, what advice do you have?”

“I wouldn’t dare offer advice!” The yellow-robed man snickered sullenly and continued, “It’s just that we are only here to search for treasure and have no done anything to provoke your Nine Heavens Holy Land, so why must insist on driving us away?”

“Why?” Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, “This is my Holy Land’s nine peaks, and you want to know why I want to drive you away?”

“We have not entered the nine peaks yet and have clearly remained outside your territory yet you still claim this land as your own? Aren’t you being too unreasonable?” The yellow-robed man sneered, “Although our cultivations are not high, do you think you can just bully us at will? I’ll tell you right now, no matter how lowly we may seem to you, we will not be intimidated by anyone!”

Saying so, the yellow robe man stepped forward and puffed up his chest, as if trying to make a grand display of his bravery.

His words provoked a lot of the surrounding people as well, causing the once quieted crowd to once again become rowdy, all of them denouncing Nine Heavens Holy Land’s tyranny and oppression.

Shi Kun shouted angrily, “If you don’t want to die, shut your mouths! How dare you act dissolute in front of the Holy Master?”

His words, unfortunately, were just like oil being poured onto a fire, causing the man in the yellow to shout even louder, “Do you see? This Elder of Nine Heavens Holy Land wants to kill us! Since ancient times, Nine Heavens Holy Land has always been a pillar of my Human Race’s forces. All the stories tell of the generosity and righteousness of Nine Heavens Holy Land, but now it seems those stories are nothing but lies! Unlike the recently passed old Holy Master, this new generation’s Holy Master’s disposition is cruel and unreasonable! If the upper beam is crooked, how could the lower beam not be too?”

“That’s right, I heard the new Holy Master colludes with Demons and has even brought a flock of those evil creatures into the nine peaks!”

These words caused another uproar as everyone began calling out and criticising Nine Heavens Holy Land, the looks they were directing towards Yang Kai turning more and more hostile.

The yellow robe man stood amongst the crowd and stared towards Yang Kai with a triumphant smirk upon his face.

Li Rong pretty face slowly filled with anger as she softly whispered, “Master, he seems to be challenging you!”

“Then he’s made a terrible miscalculation,” Yang Kai snickered before asking Shi Kun, “How long until the deadline Great Elder gave them?”

Shi Kun looked up at the sky and quickly said, “At most the time it would take to brew a cup of tea.”

Yang Kai nodded slightly before addressing the crowd, “I won’t speak any nonsense with you. If you don’t leave before the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, you die!”

See Yang Kai’s smiling face which didn’t look like he was cracking a joke, many people became afraid and couldn’t help retreating a few steps.

“What are you afraid of?” The yellow robed man shouted again, “They won’t dare to kill us! We haven’t done anything to harm their Nine Heavens Holy Land. Just because we’re nearby their territory they’ll kill us? If they really dare act so overbearing, the world will surely seek justice for us!”

“Good, this world is governed by principals and righteousness is on our side. How could they dare to kill us?” Someone echoed.

“If we retreat now, we will forever miss the opportunity to obtain those treasures! Clearly they want to drive us away so they can swallow all those treasures for themselves!”

…..

Yang Kai really didn’t speak any more nonsense and simply stood there with a calm smile upon his face, letting these people shout whatever they wanted to.

The cultivators who had originally intended to leave immediately fell into confusion, many of them halting in their tracks, preparing to wait and see what would happen before deciding their next course of action.

Subconsciously, many of them didn’t believe that a great force like Nine Heavens Holy Land would kill people without any justifiable reason, especially with the new Holy Master present.

“Holy Master, time is up!” Shi Kun suddenly said.

Yang Kai nodded and turned a teasing look towards the yellow-robed man as if he was staring at an imbecile.

Being stared at like this, the man in yellow robes couldn’t help feeling a chill shoot up his spine, feeling like he was under the gaze of a poisonous snake. Although fear was now creeping into his heart, he still tried to act strong and shouted, “What are you looking as you little brat? Don’t think that just because you are the new Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land you can do whatever you want, the only thing you have going for you is your luck! If father here had been taken a liking to by those Saintesses, he would no doubt be better than you!”

“Is that so?” Yang Kai’s mouth curled into a strange smile as she continued to observe this man for a moment before asking, “You seem to be quite certain I won’t kill you. I wonder, just who gave you such confidence that was the case?”

The man in yellow robes face changed as he shouted, “If you kill us here, what difference is that between those Demons of yours killing us? Once that happens, will there even be a place for you Nine Heavens Holy Land in this world?”

Yang Kai slowly shook his head, “That person told you that and you, like an idiot, just believed them?”

Saying so, Yang Kai suddenly showed an impatient expression as a cold chill flashed across his eyes, “A trivial First Order Transcendent, so what if you die? Do you think anyone will seek justice for a piece of trash like you?”