Martial Peak

Although Yang Kai had come to Tong Xuan Realm nearly four years ago, he was still relatively ignorant about its various traditions.

After listening to the waiter, he finally realized that the Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess journeying out into the world was actually a big event!

Also, he learned that the Saintess he met from Nine Heavens Holy Land did was not the only one!

There were, in fact, a total of four Saintesses, each of whom had sailed off in a different direction on a voyage that would take them across the entire Human Territory.

These Saintesses had grown up in Nine Heavens Holy Land since birth and after twenty or so years of dedicate cultivation, after undergoing a strict selection based on their innate talent and beauty, they would be groomed to become Saintesses of Nine Heavens Holy Land, training in a special Secret Art.

The purpose of their voyage was to find the next Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land!

The current Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land had grown old and would likely pass on soon, so these four Saintesses had gone out in a grand fashion.

As for what method they used to find the next Holy Master, the world’s populace didn’t know. Only each Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land and his Saintesses knew.

According to historical records though, the first nine generations of Holy Master, before being found by the Saintesses, came from a diverse background.

Some of them were famous youngsters while others had just been ordinary traders, some of them even had below average aptitude but once they had been found by a Saintess and entered Nine Heavens Holy Land, they had all undergone a dramatic transformation!

These nine people ranged in age from their early teens to over sixty years old when they had been discovered!

It seemed the Saintesses had some kind of unique vision which let them find these individuals amongst the crowd of people.

It was for this reason that when a Saintess of Nine Heavens Holy Land arrived, those who had dreams of ascending to the top of this world put on their best and carefully displayed themselves. After all, if they were really to be selected by one of the Saintesses, it would simply be the ultimate blessings of their nine generations of ancestors.

As such, there were so many shameless people now on the island deliberately trying to promote themselves.

None of them knew how the Saintess would choose the next Holy Master or when the Saintess or the masters next to her were even watching, so the only thing they could do was to act to the best of their ability at all times so as not to miss this opportunity.

Hearing all this, Yang Kai was dumbstruck, never had he imagined something so bizarre could actually be possible.

“Brother seems to know a great deal about this matter,” Yang Kai commented.

The waiter grinned meaningfully and replied, “I only know what everyone else knows, on this island, honoured guest is probably the only one who doesn’t.”

“Then you have no hopes regarding this matter?” Yang Kai turned to stare at him. According to this waiter, before he previous Holy Masters were found, many of them had been no better than average civilians, even an ordinary restaurant waiter should have a chance.

“Of course I do, why shouldn’t I?” The waiter nodded frankly, “But regarding someone like the Saintess, I naturally know I have no qualifications to attract her attention. If she happens to take notice of me, then it is this humble one’s blessing, if not, then that’s all there is to it. Given then, I might as well go about my business as usual rather than putting on a useless act.”

“Admirable!” This waiter’s composed and casual attitude really garnered a favourable impression from Yang Kai, the latter cupping his fists and nodding, “En, then I should wish brother waiter here good luck.”

“Then I’ll take advantage of honoured guest’s auspicious words!” The waiter smiled before attending to his work.

After eating and drinking his fill at the inn, and acquiring some useful information, Yang Kai left.

Now that he had nothing urgent to do, he wasn’t about to rush off again. The Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess looking for a new Holy Master was something he was also somewhat curious about, wondering just what kind of person that woman would take a liking to.

So Yang Kai decided to stick around for a while to watch the excitement.

The nearby twenty or thirty islands were all quite lively. Since the arrival of the Saintess, all the young men behaved like they had been fed some kind of stimulant and were shamelessly parading themselves around.

Yang Kai spent the next ten days touring around the entire island chain, experiencing the local customs while purchasing a large number of herbs, unfortunately he never found anything he needed or was particularly interested in.

After the Saintess arrived here, it was as if she had gone into hiding, much less searching for a new Holy Master.

Just as Yang Kai was finishing up his tour around the archipelago, in a grand palace atop one of the islands, the Third Order Transcendent Uncle Qian walked over to the Saintess in a respectful manner and hesitantly asked, “Young Lady, is there still no response?”

The Saintess slowly shook her head.

Uncle Qian sighed slightly and muttered, “This is already the eighth place we have visited but it seems the new Holy Master is not here either! After a few days, let us proceed to the next place.”

The Saintess nodded slightly and did not refute. From an early age, she knew what kind of responsibility she was shouldering and worked diligently towards that end. Between her and her three sisters, one of them would eventually find that chosen person among the boundless crowd who would become the next Holy Master.

“Uncle Qian, I have not left the palace since we arrived here, I’d like to go out today with Bei’er to see the scenery, is that alright?” The Saintess asked suddenly.

Uncle Qian paused for a moment before nodding, “Very well! But Young Lady has to disguise herself well!”

“Don’t worry, I know!” With Uncle Qian’s affirmative answer, the Saintess’ mood visibly improved.

After putting on a disguise, the two young women happily left the palace, two Second Order Transcendent masters quietly tailing behind them to guard against any kind of accident.

On one of the local islands, Yang Kai was searching for rare herbs in a medicine shop when he suddenly felt a powerful energy fluctuation sweep towards him from a distant place. A moment later, with a great bang, the entire island seemed to shake from a profound impact.

The faces of everyone on the islands changed greatly, none of them knowing what had happened. Yang Kai also furrowed his brow and quickly left the medicine shop, soaring into the air to see what the source of the disturbance was.

What he saw when he first flew up was a giant column of water shooting towards the Heavens before slowly falling back down, as if something incredible had emerged at the bottom of the sea.

Many people were also rushing over towards that side, each of them curious about what exactly was going on.

At the same time, Yang Kai suddenly noticed an aura that made him feel very comfortable!

A strong Yang Attribute aura! Obviously this aura had appeared as a result of whatever accident had occurred at the bottom of the sea.

His interest immediately being roused, Yang Kai also flew towards.

Above the sea, there would normally be a thick Water Attribute aura, so in general it was impossible for a strong Yang Attribute energy to be present, so whatever was generating this aura was definitely an extraordinary treasure.

Yang Kai very much wanted to know what kind of object was capable of emitting such energy.

However, before he could approach the area in question, he was stopped by a number of people. These people should be cultivators from the Seven Family Alliance, obviously this local overlord had formed a blockade around the area to stop anyone from getting to close.

Although there were a great many foreign cultivators present right now, no one took the initiative to stir up trouble so although the atmosphere was somewhat tense, no full scale battles erupted, most people choosing to stop somewhere close by and observe the situation before deciding how to proceed.

Yang Kai listened to the random chatter around him for a while but didn’t hear any useful information, only that whatever was happening was something completely unexpected.

Soon, a large group of masters appeared.

Yang Kai had seen these people before; they were the group that had been at the dock to welcome the Saintess when the big ship from Nine Heavens Holy Land ad arrived, the masters from the Seven Family Alliance.

This group huddled together and began whispering back and forth, all of them wearing dignified expressions as they occasionally shot glances at the surrounding crowds gathered nearby.

Yang Kai, who had chosen to take a wait and see approach, only noticed that the Yang Attribute energy aura coming from the depths of the ocean was becoming more and more intense, further stimulating his curiosity.

After waiting for half a day, while Yang Kai was debating whether or not to sneak into the depths when night came around, the Seven Family Alliance’s masters seemingly came to a decision.

A yellow faced Transcendent Realm masters emerged from their group and walked towards the crowd of foreign cultivators that had by now congregated together in one spot not far away and lightly coughed, “All of you gathered here now must be aware of the incident that took place earlier today, some of you probably even witnessed the fallout from it. My Seven Family Alliance does not intend to conceal anything here and hopes that, together with our foreign guests, we can work together in a cooperative manner. As such, I am here to inform you that down below, an Ancient Ruins has appeared!”

Cries of shock immediately burst out!

Yang Kai’s expression also changed greatly.

Ancient Ruins, these two words were like resounding thunder in everyone’s ears, dazing all of them.

The yellow-faced old man glanced around at the crowd’s reaction and nodded with satisfaction, smiling as he continued, “There’s no need for suspicion, there are truly Ancient Ruins down below. For some time now, my Seven Family Alliance has been aware of these ruins and has frequently been sending people to investigate the situation down below. The great disturbance earlier was a result of one of our investigation teams triggering some kind of restriction, this has been confirmed by the disciples who returned afterwards.”

“Old man, what kind of scheme are you plotting, do you want use to go down and help you explore the road so your Seven Family Alliance can reap the benefits while we face all the danger?” Immediately, some smarter individuals began to call out.

Listening to these voices, the crowd of foreign cultivators all became slightly wary, many of them turning vigilant looks towards the yellow-faced old man.

The Seven Family Alliance wouldn’t be telling them about such a big treasure trove without some ulterior motive reason, it was quite likely they were trying to temp these outsiders into exploring these Ancient Ruins so they could treat them as pathfinders and reduce the risk their Seven Family Alliance had to face.

The yellow-faced old man however smiled and unexpectedly nodded, “We indeed had such an idea, but that is not main reason we are telling you all this! My Seven Family Alliance knows its own strength, we know well enough that we cannot block all of you from exploring the situation here for long!”

“Old man, you indeed have some self-awareness!” Some people laughed.

Because of the appearance of the Saintess, there were currently many more outsiders here than normal, and although most of them weren’t that strong, it was really impossible for the Seven Family Alliance to blockade all of them.

Perhaps while they were seeking for treasures in front of them, someone would be sneaking up behind them.

The yellow-faced old man so frankly admitting everything had won a favourable impression from many of the foreign cultivators present.

“After some lengthy negotiations, my Seven Family Alliance has decided to make you all a proposal, I hope each of you will listen and consider it seriously!”

“Old man, if you have anything to say, hurry up and say it!”

“My Seven Family Alliance will coordinate an exploration of the Ancient Ruins down below. If any of you wish to join us, we will hold a registration and organize you into teams. If we discover any benefits down there, my Seven Family Alliance and all those who participate in the exploration will share them equally. This proposal has advantages for both sides and can also avoid any unpleasant results from us acting in an adversarial manner.” The yellow-faced old man then let out a snort as his tone grew colder, “But this old master must first remind you that the situation inside these Ancient Ruins is unknown. Where there are benefits, there are also risks, those friends who want to work together with my Seven Family Alliance should be aware of this point. If any of you suffers injuries or dies, that will be solely your responsibility!”