Martial Peak

In the same hall as before, Xue Li was waiting, but An Ling’er did not appear this time.

Yu Mo brought Yang Kai here, bowed respectfully, and then stood to the side, staring at the latter coldly.

Xue Li nodded lightly, lifted her eyes and swept Yang Kai, calmly saying, “I’ve kept you alive until today, are you ready to create some value for me?”

Yang Kai frowned, “What are you referring to?”

Xue Li laughed lightly before slowly standing up and continuing, “I told you before, my Sand City does not raise wastes! Since I allowed you to live, naturally I have a use for you. Good, a First Order Transcendent, it’s not easy to acquire such cultivation at your age. You should be a Core Disciple of some big force, yes?”

Yang Kai neither confirmed nor denied.

“Well that doesn’t matter to me. I don’t care which force you are from, since you’ve fallen into my hands, you have no choice but to obey me. If you dare to defy my commands… you know the consequences…”

Saying so, her beautiful misty eyes flashed a cold light.

“What do you want me to do then?” Yang Kai asked calmly.

“Kill! Or being killed!” Xue Li giggled and said, “Yu Mo, explain to him carefully, it’s time for him to make his debut.”

Sitting her perfectly shaped bottom back down on her luxurious chair, Xue Li assumed a lazy positing while staring at Yang Kai faintly.

Yu Mo straightened his back and spoke to Yang Kai next, “The land around Sand City is barren, and the other places governed by Mistress Xue Li are not any more bountiful, even the World Energy is thin in her lands! Moreover, because this place is close to the vast desert, hardly any traders pass through here, so it is reasonable to say that General Xue Li’s territory should be very poor.”

“Could it be that it isn’t?” Yang Kai tilted his head and asked.

Yu Mo grinned and continued, “Not only is it not poor, on the contrary, the richness of Sand City is unmatched by any city in the Demon Land. The wealth that flows in and out of this place every year is simply incalculable.”

Yang Kai raised his brow, somewhat surprised.

Yu Mo looked at Yang Kai proudly, thinking this little brat would ask why, but after waiting for an awkward amount of time and seeing him not have any such intention, Yu Mo grew annoyed and said, “Because Sand City has something that can attract all of the Demon Land’s people. This one feature has made Sand City the most popular among all the Demon Land, even the other three Demon Generals have temporary residences here!”

“Oh?” Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling somewhat interested, “What kind of place can attract so many people?”

“The Death Arena!” Yu Mo grinned, “Simply put, it is a stage that allows cultivator within the same round to engage in life or death contests. Masters from all over bet Crystal Stones or materials on the competitor they fancy, and if that person wins, they can gain a certain amount of income. The odds are all different for each contest and the gains are not fixed. If your luck is good enough, you can win a dozen times what you initially bet!”

“Isn’t that just gambling?”

“En!”

“And the banker is your Sand City? If that’s so, you will profit either way,” Yang Kai grinned.

“We also need to cultivate, and that requires materials and supplies, but this territory is too poor, so we can only find ways to gain profits from those wealthy people’s pockets.”

“So you want me to fight, right?”

“Good. Recently in the fights, we’ve had a string of bad luck and have lost quite a few Crystal Stones. You are a First Order Transcendent, so although you’re not much to look at, if you play your role right, we should still be able to recover some of our losses,” Yu Mo nodded slightly.

“Are there any benefits in it for me?” Yang Kai asked.

“You actually want benefits?” Yu Mo snorted.

“Of course, you want me to fight with my life on the line, don’t tell me there aren’t any benefits for me in this at all?” Yang Kai replied as if it were only natural.

“Interesting. Mistress, what do you think?” Yu Mo looked over at Xue Li and asked.

“Give him a little something.”

Yu Mo nodded his head in acknowledgement, turning back to Yang Kai and saying, “Since Mistress has said so, as long as you can let us win, we’ll give you a share of the profits.”

Yang Kai nodded lightly, “Good.”

He then turned to Xue Li and asked, “If I can collect enough money this way, will you let me buy my freedom?”

Xue Li’s opened her eyes slightly, stared at Yang Kai coldly, and then closed them again before saying, “That will depend on my mood. If you behave well, I might consider it, but if you dare try to bargain back and forth or raise any fuss, I’ll immediately kill you. Yu Mo, test his ability. He better not just be trash that can only talk big.”

As soon as she spoke those words, a terrible pressure burst from Yu Mo’s body and engulfed Yang Kai.

Yang Kai’s body bent and his knees sank, almost falling to the ground in that instant. Realizing the tyrannical force this aura contained, Yang Kai’s expression changed greatly as he madly circulated his True Qi to resist the pressure coming from Yu Mo.

“Hm?” Yu Mo was also greatly surprised by this development. From the moment he had laid eyes upon him, he had not liked Yang Kai, so he wanted to take this opportunity to teach this human boy a harsh lesson and have him beg for mercy. Yu Mo had wanted to let Yang Kai fall to the ground and eat dirt, crushing the always indifferent look on the latter’s face, so he was quite surprised when this little brat actually withstood the pressure he applied.

His eyes flashing a cold light, Yu Mo increased the pressure he was emitting again.

Yang Kai let out a grunt and his body once again began sinking, his knees bending further as his face turned red, clenching his teeth as he glared angrily towards Yu Mo.

*Kacha…*

The white jade floor suddenly shattered and cracks spread out from the position Yang Kai was standing, causing the hall’s walls to creak slightly from the load.

Xue Li also finally opened her eyes and stared deeply at Yang Kai, a look of anticipation appearing on her pretty face, as if she wanted to see just how the latter would resist Yu Mo.

Under Yu Mo’s terrifying aura, Yang Kai’s body quivered and blue veins began appearing on his skin, but after ten breaths of time, he seemed to have adapted to the pressure and his body slowly began straightening up again.

Yu Mo’s look changed upon seeing this. He was clearer than anyone about how much power he was using. Under such pressure, forget a First Order, even a strong Second Order Transcendent cultivator shouldn’t have been able to put up any kind of struggle, only a Third Order would barely be able to resist.

But this little brat had actually managed to do just that, although it was obvious it wasn’t easy for him to do so.

Coldly snorting, Yu Mo’s increased his power for the third time.

*Ka…*

Yang Kai’s legs sank into the ground all the way to his knees this time.

At that moment though, Yang Kai made a move, his body lifting off the ground like an arrow shot from a bow, True Yang Yuan Qi gathering in his hands as rapidly approached Yu Mo. The True Yang Yuan Qi conjugated to summon out a large golden sword in his hands, and before he could reach Yu Mo, Yang Kai had already swung it down.

Murderous intent flashed across Yu Mo’s eyes and his own Demonic Qi took on a dangerous aura.

“Enough!” Xue Li lightly said, her voice echoing throughout the hall.

Like an invisible shockwave hit him, Yang Kai’s body suddenly came to a halt and the Profound Heavenly Sword held in his hand shattered into pieces and disappeared into the wind.

Yu Mo’s quickly took back his strength before frowning towards Yang Kai who was standing nearby, coldly asking, “Boy, were you trying to kill me just now?”

Yang Kai only grinned back at him fiercely.

“Yang Qi, an annoying Qi as always!” Xue Li frowned, seemingly unhappy.

Although with her cultivation there was no way Yang Kai’s True Yang Yuan Qi could have any kind of suppressive effect on her, it was still repulsive to her, like fire and water. The Demonic Qi within her body was naturally rejecting Yang Kai’s True Yang Yuan Qi.

“Your strength isn’t bad, this King has apparently been looking down on you,” Xue Li nodded lightly. Being able to persist for so long under Yu Mo’s pressure and even daring to fight back at the last moment, trying to kill the latter, this human boy’s combat power and willpower far surpassed what his present cultivation realm suggested was possible!

As a Saint Realm master, Xue Li’s vision would not be mistaken on this point.

“Mistress, we can make good use of this,” Yu Mo swept Yang Kai indifferently, a sinister glint flashing across his eyes.

“Good, it’s time we made those bastards bleed,” Xue Li smiled coldly, “Arrange a match for him tomorrow, I want him to obtain victory after a difficult struggle!”

“Yes!” Yu Mo snickered as he looked at Yang Kai like a wild wolf eyeing a lamb.

“I have another request!” Yang Kai cracked his shoulders and quickly added before Xue Li could get angry, “This is the last one!”

“Say it!” Xue Li said unhappily.

“Give me an artifact that can change my appearance. I don’t want my true face to be seen by too many people, or there will be a lot of you demons chasing me in the future,” Yang Kai said.

Xue Li was startled for a moment but quickly recovered, grinning as she said, “You think quite far ahead.”

As long as Xue Li managed things properly, Yang Kai could bring her a great deal of wealth and all the Demon Race powerhouses she scammed wouldn’t dare direct their anger at her, so naturally their grievances would land on Yang Kai. That meant that even if he were to gain his freedom from Xue Li, he wouldn’t likely be able to escape the Demon Land alive.

Yang Kai already had such an artifact, the one Du Wan gave him.

However, he didn’t dare to use it; after all, that was the artifact he had used to change his appearance when he harvested the medicinal liquid of the Thousand Year Demon Flower. Once someone recognized that, it would bring him even more trouble, so he could only ask Xue Li for something similar.

“I don’t have an artifact like that,” Xue Li shook her head, “But I can give you a mask, just use that to cover your face.”

“Good enough!” Yang Kai nodded.

“Take him away! Have a good rest tonight, you better not die tomorrow!” Xue Li laughed.

Yu Mo brought Yang Kai back to his room again but before leaving used several seals on his True Qi. In an instant, Yang Kai felt as if his True Qi flow had slowed several times over and even his movements were somewhat sluggish.

“Do you know why I did this?” Yu Mo asked.

Yang Kai gently nodded, not putting up any resistance. From what Xue Li had just said, it was easy to infer that she wanted him to fight a desperate battle tomorrow in order to fool the eyes of those rich Demon Race masters, causing them to misjudge his strength. That way, in the future, they underestimate Yang Kai’s strength, bet against him, and lose their money, allowing Xue Li to profit.

Without Yu Mo applying these seals, Yang Kai was likely to expose some of his strength mistakenly. The Demon Race powerhouses that were betting weren’t blind, so even a slight upsurge of strength would cause them to realize that something was amiss.