Martial Peak

This mountain peak was exceptionally beautiful, with crystal clear streams that flowed towards towering waterfalls that cascaded down into the valley down below. The mist which scattered about shimmered in the sunlight like bright stars in the night. Everything here exuded a feeling of natural harmony.

Fei Yu brought Yang Kai past the lower streams and stopped just below one of the great waterfalls, landing atop a wide plateau in front of a cave halfway up the mountain.

Yang Kai took a deep breath in and felt his body and mind relaxing before quickly discovering that there was actually no one else around at all.

“This is Serene Resplendent Peak, the place where I live. Each of us four Protectors have our own peak. Their places are always lively but I prefer peace and quiet, so I live here alone. Come with me.” Saying so, she led Yang Kai towards the cave.

The interior of this cave was spacious and clean. Inside the belly of the mountain, a number of stones rooms were excavated and all the walls were lined with brilliant stones that gave off a gentle light.

Here, there was not even a whiff of foul odor, instead; there was a just a touch of alluring fragrance.

Yang Kai gazed around in appreciation and surprise. He had thought a woman like Fei Yu who was so addicted to alcohol would definitely not have a dwelling that could be described as ‘feminine’, but the truth was her home was actually filled with elegance and refinement.

“Little Martial Nephew, if you’d like, afterwards you can live here with me. Martial Aunt has grown somewhat bored with the constant loneliness,” Fei Yu commented suddenly, perhaps cracking a joke, or perhaps not, Yang Kai wasn’t sure.

“Me, live here?”

“En, I arranged a place for you in the valley before because I didn’t know your origins, but now, since you’re my Soaring Heaven Sect’s disciple, you are free to choose a mountain peak to live on, and since you will be often studying Alchemy, you will need a quiet and comfortable environment, right? My place is perfect then; Cang Yan and their side is crowded every day so there will definitely be more people there disturbing you.”

“The conditions here really are excellent,” Yang Kai nodded earnestly.

“Think about it, Martial Aunt’s offer is serious,” Fei Yu smiled with a healthy glow upon her face like that of a fully ripe fruit.

After touring around the mountainside for a while, Fei Yu led Yang Kai to a large open space.

Fei Yu had been grumbling earlier that Cang Yan, Li Wan, and Fei Jian were just a group of bastards after her Thousand Safflower Wine, but the moment she arrived here she still began enthusiastically arranging tables and chairs before taking out a few bottles of her specially brewed Thousand Safflower Wine as well as some fragrant spirit fruits.

Just after she finished setting the table, there was a rush of footsteps approaching from afar. In the next moment, Cang Yan, Li Wan and another man with a tall, thin build, appeared.

“I seem to smell some delicious wine!” Li Wan’s two thick eyebrows bounced in a wretched manner as he sniffed the air in an exaggerated manner.

Cang Yan beside him carried some Monster Beast Yang Kai had never seen or heard of before on his back with a valiant expression.

After seeing the bottles on the table, both of them showed an understanding smile as they licked their lips and complimented, “Fei Yu is truly a generous lady.”

Fei Yu’s complexion became cold as she snorted loudly, “One bottle per person, quickly drink it down then get the hell out!”

“Enough, enough!” Li Wan nodded quickly before reaching out and grabbing the bottle, apparently quite reluctant to let it go.

Meanwhile, Yang Kai was quietly taking a look at the third newcomer. This man should be the last of the four Protectors of Soaring Heaven Sect, which meant he should also be a Third Order Transcendent powerhouse. Yang Kai quickly became aware that the aura this person gave off was quite different from Cang Yan’s oppressiveness, Fei Yu’s softness, and Li Wan’s insidiousness; this person seemed to give off a feeling of sharpness.

The opposite party also seemed to be observing him and after a moment, suddenly grinned, “Is this our newly arrived little Martial Nephew?”

When he grinned, Yang Kai almost couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

Because this person’s smile was actually so crooked.

Originally, Yang Kai had felt that Li Wan had a wicked enough appearance, but compared to this person, even Li Wan’s looks seemed somewhat soft.

These two masters from Soaring Heaven Sect were seriously distinctive.

“Junior Yang Kai greets Martial Uncle!” Yang Kai cupped his fists respectfully.

Fei Jian nodded lightly before suddenly assuming a posture of nocking an arrow and drawing a bow.

*Weng…*

The world seems to shiver as the surrounding World Energy suddenly stagnated.

Yang Kai eyes instinctively shrank; at that moment, he suddenly felt a sense of crisis, like he was being stared at by a poisonous snakes, unable to dodge or evade the coming strike.

Cang Yan, Fei Yu, and Li Wan all remained silent, just watching Yang Kai with interested smiles.

Fei Jian’s index finger twitched and suddenly, an invisible attack shot straight out towards Yang Kai.

Yang Kai’s eyes bulged as he frantically pushed his True Qi and sent out a punch towards the incoming strike.

*Hong…*

A burst of energy erupted as waves of True Qi rippled through the air, but Yang Kai still stood tall, not falling back a single step.

The four Protectors all smiled brightly.

Fei Jian grinned and nodded, “En, not bad, Cang Yan told me that your strength was much stronger than an average Peak Immortal Ascension cultivator, but I didn’t believe him at the time. It seems I was mistake, my Soaring Heaven Sect has indeed added an outstanding talent.”

“Does Martial Uncle specialize in archery?” Yang Kai’s eyes flashed.

Fei Jian nodded frankly, “Yes.”

Fei Yu came over and whispered into Yang Kai’s ear, “This guy is a real sinister fellow, he never fights people from the front but instead hides in the dark. No one can hide from his arrows. If you want to learn the ways of sneak attacking and assassinating your opponents, you should ask him for advice.”

Yang Kai nodded. He understood that Fei Jian’s attack just now was only a test and had no hostility or malice behind it; however, even then, his strike had almost been beyond Yang Kai’s ability to resist.

Each of Soaring Heaven Sect’s four Protectors was not to be underestimated.

“It’s a matter of one’s heart,” Fei Yu suddenly smiled and said with profound meaning.

“Hey, stop spreading nonsense,” Li Wan muttered unhappily.

“Alright alright, enough. I’ve waiting for this Thousand Safflower Wine for fifty years, so let’s drink already,” Cang Yan stepped forward and picked up a bottle, popping it open and taking a big swig, his face instantly blushing red as he praised loudly, “Good wine.”

Seeing Cang Yan’s ardent reaction, Li Wan and Fei Jian couldn’t help rushing over and joining him.

Yang Kai also sat down and picked up a spirit fruit, slowly eating it while he watched these four masters straightforward and unrestrained behaviour, suddenly feeling a touch of warmth inside.

These four Martial Seniors were clearly a close knit group, and their occasional disputes only seemed to serve as catalysts to enhance their bonds as brothers and sisters.

After three rounds of wine, no one was able to keep up appearances anymore, all four of them not showing any of the majesty Transcendent Realm masters should have.

Fei Yu, whose skin was now a dyed a health shade of red, suddenly shot Yang Kai and drunken look and threw him the bottle of wine she had been drinking and grinned, “Little Martial Nephew, you have a drink too.”

Yang Kai took it, glanced over at her suspiciously, but still didn’t hesitate to gulp down a mouthful.

Oddly, there was no strong taste of alcohol, instead only a rich yet mellow fragrance lingered on his tongue, but before Yang Kai had time to offer his praises for this concoction, a burning sensation erupted from the pit of his stomach and began spreading like a raging fire.

Yang Kai expression changed dramatically as he suddenly felt like his entire physique and all of his meridians were trembling, like a fierce, invisible torrent was flooding through every part of his body. In an instant, Yang Kai could no longer control himself, his body going stiff before he keeled over onto his back and passed out.

Fei Yu’s had moved faster than the eye could see and snatched the bottle from Yang Kai before it hit the ground.

The four Third Order Transcendent masters all exchanged glances before suddenly bursting into laughter together.

After a good laugh, the four of them began drinking again, none of them paying any attention to Yang Kai anymore.

…..

When Yang Kai woke up again, his surroundings were quiet, Cang Yan and the others had already left, leaving behind only a mess of dishes and bottles. As for Fei Yu, she was lying sloppily on a chair nearby, her head resting comfortably atop her jade arm as she stared at Yang Kai with a drunken look.

“You’re up?” Fei Yu smiled lightly.

Yang Kai’s face was still dyed red but he managed to nod slightly.

He hadn’t expected the so-called Thousand Safflower Wine to be so overbearing, he had only drank a mouthful but the energy it contained was still massive.

“How do you feel?”

“Very good, apparently,” Yang Kai examined himself quickly and soon discovered that his True Qi was now flowing faster and smoother than before and that his physique and meridians had become tougher and more resilient.

“That’s good. That bottle of Thousand Safflower Wine I gave you earlier, you can only drink a mouthful of it three times a month, if you drink any more, it’ll do more harm than good. I’m going to sleep for a while, feel free to make yourself at home,” Fei Yu said, still maintaining her gorgeous smile, pausing for a moment before adding, “Right, I told Cang Yan and those two that you’ll be living here on Serene Resplendent Peak. Later, they’ll send you some spirit herbs for you to practice Alchemy.”

“Got it,” Yang Kai responded lightly.

The next moment, Fei Yu closed her beautiful eyes and her breathing became slow and even. Apparently she had spent quite a bit of energy guarding Yang Kai while he was passed out.

After meditating for a while to completely absorb the residual medicinal efficacies left in his body, Yang Kai got up and began cleaning up the surrounding mess.

Two hours later, Fei Yu gradually woke up and without caring about her image, bent and stretched herself freely in front of Yang Kai, yawning as she inadvertently showed off her lithe body and exquisite curves.

“Follow me, I’ll take you to a place you can cultivate,” Fei Yu beckoned to Yang Kai before turning around and walking off.

The deeper the two proceeded into the mountain, the denser Yang Kai felt the World Energy became.

Not long after, a stone chamber illuminated by brilliant light crystals appeared in front of Yang Kai.

This stone room’s walls, floor, and even ceiling were completely inlaid with Crystal Stones. These Crystal Stones seemed to be arranged in the form of some kind of Spirit Array which caused the surrounding World Energy to continuously gather towards the stone room. Yang Kai felt particularly comfortable in this environment and even without consciously circulating his Secret Art, he could feel World Energy pouring into his body through his pores.

This was, quite simply, a cultivation Holy Land.

Yang Kai released his Divine Sense and soon found that this stone room did not just have a single layer of Crystal Stones, but at least a dozen or so, making each node of this Spirit Array at least half a meter thick.

Using so many Crystal Stones to create such a stone room, this expenditure was nothing less than astonishing.

Looking around the stone room in front of him, Yang Kai was thoroughly shocked.

“What do you think?” Fei Yu asked.

“Is this the place where you usually cultivate?” Yang Kai noticed some certain traces throughout the stone room. These traces were naturally left behind by someone who regularly sat here in meditation year after year. “If I use this place, what about you?”

“I have no use for this place temporarily,” Fei Yu smiled and said, “Perhaps when I can realize the mysteries of the Saint Realm I’ll have need of it again.”

Fei Yu and the other three Protectors had all reached the peak of the Third Order Transcendent Realm but were stuck comprehending the mysteries of the Saint Realm. Before they reached a high enough level of understanding and overcame this mental barrier, they would be unable to break through to the Saint Realm.

If all four of the Protectors could break through to the Saint Realm, the strength of Soaring Heaven Sect would increase dramatically!

“You don’t need to have any psychological burden, this stone room is idle in any case,” Fei Yu smiled and said.

Yang Kai nodded, “Then I won’t polite.”

“Here, you don’t have to worry about anything, just cultivate in peace. If you feel bored, you can come out and look for me, I’m usually around Serene Resplendent Peak. If you can’t find me, you can go seek out one of those three, they should be able to teach you many things,” Fei Yu urged him gently before quickly disappearing.