Martial Peak

For the past half a month, Yang Kai remained in Ice Sect, spending the entire time beside Su Yan’s bedside.

Meanwhile, in another ice room, Ice Sect’s Sect Master and the four Saint Realm Elders gathered together and were in the midst of a fierce argument. The four Elders each had their own opinions and were vigorously debating their point while the Sect Master, Qing Ya, sat silently upon her crystal ice chair.

One of the Saint Realm masters who had previously had his Knowledge Sea invaded by Yang Kai’s Soul Devouring Insects loudly shouted, “That boy is detrimental to us! We have no idea what kind of underhanded method he used to control those Exotic Ancient Insects and ruthlessly attack our Ice Sect’s disciples. We should expel such a vicious and cruel person as quickly as possible.”

The other Saint Realm master who had suffered a loss at Yang Kai’s hand nodded in agreement, “That is my opinion as well.”

Saying so, they turned to look at Qian Hao and asked, “What do Brother and Sister Qian think?”

“He must leave!” Qian Hao hesitated for a moment before declaring, “Our Ice Sect is a pure land, yet he wantonly intruded and stirred up such a mess. Such a scourge cannot be allowed to remain.”

Qian Yue didn’t say a word, but from the look on her face, it was obviously she wanted Yang Kai out of Ice Sect as soon as possible.

“Sect Master!” Qian Hao turned to look at Qing Ya, “Isn’t it time we asked him to leave? Him remaining in Ice Sect is highly improper.”

Qing Ya smiled faintly, “Why are all of you so anxious to force him out? Although his previous methods were indeed a bit too aggressive, from his perspective, he had no other choice, and even though he did threaten us by taking advantage of our disciples, in the end, none of their Souls were damaged and they only needed a few day of meditation to recover. We cannot simply dismantle the bridge after crossing it.”

Her beautiful eyes then flashes before she continued, “Moreover, he came here to find his Senior Sister, but now Su Yan is in a deep sleep that we have no idea when or even if she will wake up. If we now insist on driving him away, I am afraid it will only provoke a violent response from him, possibly even leading to him releasing those Exotic Ancient Insects again.”

“Then what are we to do? Are we supposed to just allow him to stay in our Ice Sect indefinitely?”

“We should just allow him to take Su Yan away!” Qian Hao suggested, “When that old fogey came here, he said that if someone came to find Su Yan, we should not block or embarrass him. Why not just drop this matter and let him leave with Su Yan?”

To this proposal though, Qian Yue couldn’t help frowning, “Big Brother, with Su Yan in that state, I don’t feel comfortable letting that little brat take her away.”

Although she hated Yang Kai, Qian Yue was still very fond of Su Yan; naturally she didn’t want to do anything to endanger the latter further and decisively shook her head, “I can’t agree to that.”

“Good,” Qing Ya waved her hand, “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. From what I’ve seen, that boy is someone who deeply treasures his personal relationships; as evidence, this entire time he has not left Su Yan’s ice room. I’ll go speak with him first to determine what he plans to do next; perhaps he already plans to leave Ice Sect of his own accord.”

Hearing this, the four Elder could only nod.

The three male Elders quickly left while Qian Yue stayed behind, quickly saying, “Sect Master, I’ll accompany you.”

Qing Ya gently nodded as the two of them got up and headed towards the ice mountain where Su Yan was.

A short time later, the pair came to the ice room and knocked on the door gently. Although they received no response, Qing Ya could feel some unusual energy fluctuations inside and couldn’t help wrinkling her brow, pushing the door open in the next instant.

At this moment, inside the ice room, not only was there a bone chilling cold, but also a burning hot energy flowing about. Looking around for a moment, Qing Ya couldn’t help covering her mouth in shock.

Both of Yang Kai’s hands were actually placed on Su Yan’s ice covered body as his True Qi madly surged.

“You fool, what are you doing!?” Qian Yue shouted, immediately rushing forward, raising her hand as if to slap Yang Kai away.

Yang Kai made no attempt to resist and instead simply turned his head to stare at her coldly.

Qian Yue’s heart jumped when she saw this, her hand stopping only millimeters away from Yang Kai’s body, grinding her teeth as she asked once more, “What are you doing?”

“None of your damn business!” Yang Kai snorted.

Qing Ya also hurried over and worriedly said, “Don’t do this, you’ll only injure Su Yan.”

“I know what I’m doing,” Yang Kai said faintly.

He was the one who least wanted to hurt Su Yan. Every time he tried something he did so with the utmost caution so there would be no unexpected accidents.

“Are you trying to communicate with Su Yan?” Qing Ya asked pensively.

Yang Kai nodded.

He and Su Yan both cultivated the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art and the Joyous Unification Art had a total of three stages. At the first stage, the two of them needed physical intimacy in order to dual cultivate, but once they reached the second stage, there was no longer any need for physical contact, they only had to be within a certain proximity to each other in order to form a cycle with their two True Qis, allowing them to purify and sublimate once another. Whether they were cultivating or fighting, this connected state was of great benefit to both Yang Kai and Su Yan.

Currently, Su Yan’s body was encased in a thick layer of ice, so obviously using the methods associated with the Joyous Unification Art’s first stage was impossible; this ice was condensed from the sum total of Su Yan’s True Qi, Yang Kai didn’t want to break it lest it cause unwanted backlash to her.

His only hope then was that by initiating the second stage’s dual cultivation method he could somehow communicate directly with Su Yan’s unconscious mind.

However, after trying for so long, he had not made any progress, Su Yan’s True Qi never responded to his own and so the two were unable to blend together.

“You don’t need to plow the air, I don’t know what kind of cultivation technique your Dual Cultivation Secret Art is, but the Ice Body Sealed Heart is one of my Ice Sect’s most profound core inheritance Martial Skills, once one displays it, they lose all sensation of the outside world. I doubt your Dual Cultivation Technique is comparable to the Ice Body Sealed Heart!” Qian Yue calmly declared, as if to throw cold water onto Yang Kai’s efforts.

Yang Kai of course turned a deaf ear to her and simply wrinkled his brow.

His efforts over the past half a month had yielded no results so now it seems his only hope was to try to initiate the Joyous Unification Art’s third stage method. If even that didn’t work, Yang Kai would have no choice but to give up and simply wait for Su Yan to wake up on her own.

He did not feel it was worth the risk to forcibly wake Su Yan up now. The Ice Body Sealed Heart’s frozen state wasn’t harmful to Su Yan and was instead actually benefiting her, so there was no need to act recklessly at this stage.

Yang Kai just wanted to be able to communicate with her and understand what she was thinking and feeling right now.

After experiencing all of this, if Su Yan didn’t want to stay in Ice Sect, Yang Kai would immediately take her away. On the other hand, if she told him she wished to remain, Yang Kai would respect her wishes. Ice Sect was a cultivation paradise for Su Yan and despite Tong Xuan Realm being so vast, it was still difficult to find an environment so perfectly suited to her Secret Art.

Seeing him sink into contemplation, Qian Yue just coldly snorted and no longer tried to irritate him.

Qing Ya sighed softly and said, “Yang Kai, there is a saying that the haste makes waste, you should not be too anxious.”

Yang Kai smiled, looked up at her and asked, “Since this is your Ice Sect’s Martial Skill, do you really have no way to lift it?”

Qing Ya shook her head helplessly, “Unless the one who used the technique voluntarily lifts it, there is no way for an outsider to interfere. It is precisely because the Ice Body Sealed Heart seals all consciousness it can provide such assistance to my Ice Sect disciple’s cultivation.”

“I understand,” Yang Kai nodded lightly.

“Yang Kai, I have something to ask you,” Qing Ya expression became somewhat awkward as she hesitantly spoke.

“You want to ask when I’ll be leaving?” Yang Kai revealed a playful smile, cutting directly to the point.

Qing Ya was slightly startled, not having expected this youth’s mind to be so sharp, quickly saying, “I don’t want to drive you away, but my Ice Sect usually does not accept outsiders. Su Yan is one thing, but your presence here really infringes on my Ice Sect’s customs.”

“Don’t worry, I have no intention of remaining here much longer, this frozen environment suppresses my Secret Art quite severely after all,” Yang Kai curled his lips, “But for the time being I don’t plan on going anywhere. I wish to retreat here for just a few more days and I hope that no one will disturb me.”

“Retreat here?” Qing Ya quickly picked up on his meaning and asked, “Do you want to try reaching out to Su Yan’s consciousness still?”

“Brat, I advise you to give up and leave,” Qian Yue said, making no attempt to hide her dislike of Yang Kai, “No one can get in touch with someone who has displayed the Ice Body Sealed Heart. Stop wasting your time, just leave Su Yan here, whether she chooses to enter my Ice Sect or not I’ll still take care of her, there’s no need for you to interfere!”

“There’s no need for you to take care of her,” Yang Kai glanced over coldly at Qian Yue before turning to Qing Ya again, “Sect Master, please accept this Junior’s request!”

“Very well,” Qing Ya nodded helplessly, “I will allow you to retreat for some time in my Ice Sect, but only this once. When you exit your seclusion, regardless of what Su Yan’s condition is at that time, you will have to leave. Whether you take Su Yan with you when you go or leave her here, my Ice Sect won’t interfere.”

“Many thanks, Sect Master Qian!” Yang Kai nodded slightly. Qing Ya was much easier to speak with than Qian Yue, on top of that, she was young and beautiful with a voice that was both warm and gentle, Yang Kai simply couldn’t imagine her being one of Treasurer Meng’s old friends.

Just imagining her and that perverted old man Meng Wu Ya standing together, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a sense of pity, like watching a fresh flower being planted in cow dung.

Thinking so, his expression became somewhat weird.

Seeing Yang Kai’s strange look, Qing Ya wrinkled her brow but didn’t ask anything, quickly taking Qian Yue and leaving.

After they left, Yang Kai took a deep breath and returned his gaze to the icy beauty sleeping in front of him, his eyes slowly softening.

After watching her for a moment, Yang Kai closed his eyes and laid his hands on the ice covering Su Yan’s body before fully releasing his Divine Sense.

The Joyous Unification Art’s third stage, the Union of Heart and Soul’s ultimate method was the blending of the two’s Souls.

In the past, Yang Kai and Su Yan had actually reached the Union of Heart and Soul stage, but they had never actually tried to blend their Souls in order to dual cultivate.

But now, Yang Kai could only use this method to try and relate to Su Yan.

While sitting directly in front of Su Yan, Yang Kai continuously called out to her with his Divine Sense, pouring his True Qi into the thick layer of ice surrounding her body, quickly penetrating it and reaching her meridians.

However, Su Yan remained completely unresponsive. Not only was there no physical response from her, even her consciousness showed no reaction at all.

At this moment, she seemed like a sleeping ice doll.

Yang Kai wasn’t discouraged though and continued again and again to try to contact Su Yan using this method.

He believed that the deep bond between Su Yan and himself had a high chance of overcoming the impediment of the Ice Body Sealed Heart and allowing their consciousness to resonate with one another.