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Synopsis
The journey to the Martial Artist is a lonely, solitary and long one. In the face of adversity, you must survive and remain unyielding. Only then can you break through and continue on your journey to becoming the strongest. Sky Tower tests its disciples in the harshest ways to prepare them for this journey. One day the lowly sweeper Yang Kai managed to obtain a black book, setting him on the road to the peak of the martial world.
A new day begins, and Yang Kai woke up. He cleaned up and took the broom lying in the corner of the small room and walked out. Standing at the front door, he stretched a little. He looked up at the touch of grey in the dawn sky and closed his eyes while taking a deep breath. He was enjoying this moment of peace, before reopening his eyes to start sweeping the ground; cleaning away the dirt and leaves.
Clad in simple black clothes that were easy to clean, it highlighted the youth’s loneliness and years of isolation here. Yang Kai, while wearing a meticulous expression, had his spine as straight as a javelin. Even though he was completing the lowest ranked task. His actions were very calm as he didn’t exert much force on the broom; his body, as though still, carried a certain sense of elegance. With only the rotation of his wrist, the broom moved effortlessly. When his body moved, the dust and trash on the ground seemed to magically accumulate in one place around him; as though they had grown a pair feet.
Yang Kai was High Heaven Pavilion’s Trial Disciple. For three years, he had trained in the Sect but managed to only reach the Tempered Body Third Stage. Yet, the other Disciples that had entered at the same time as him had long surpassed him and reached higher stages. They were all able to enter the main building, pay their respects and make advances towards their futures. While he can only lament about his inadequacy in the outer courts.
Achieving Tempered Body Third Stage in three years cannot be judged as good or bad; just really, really mediocre.
Helpless, Yang Kai could only continue to sweep out here in the outer court; working hard to support himself and working hard in training.
High Heaven Pavilion is a unique Sect. This uniqueness is seen through the ruthless competition between Disciples. In this Sect, the strong are like kings, while the weak are eliminated. The strong eat the weak; the law of the jungle, in the High Heaven Pavilion, this rule is actively followed by all.
In other Sects you might be able to school friendly competition, brotherly bonds and people working together to achieve the same goal. But in the High Heaven Pavilion, you will only be able to find false bonds – in order to use each other and rise in power. Stepping over each other’s bodies is the only way.
High Heaven Pavilion’s strict system as well-known throughout the entire Great Han Dynasty. Although the grounds were not that large, but due to the brutal nature of their Disciples, their might is second to none! This is also because each Disciples’ skill is akin to a tiger. When outside of the Sect, no one in all the rivers and lakes dares to provoke them.
In High Heaven Pavilion, there was one rule. That’s to fourteen-year-old Disciples, the first three years of their acceptance is considered the testing phase. In these three years, all of the Disciples food, clothing, and shelters are provided by the outer court. Disciples only need to focus on cultivating. If by these three years, they managed to breakthrough pass the Tempered Body Stage, then they will be able to enter the inner court to pay respects to the Elders and become their Disciples. Of course, you don’t need to have a teacher. You could practise on your own, but there is a huge difference between learning by yourself and having a teacher. In a way, High Heaven Pavilion’s rules do have some flexibility and freedom.
In those three years if you don’t break through, then you can either leave the Sect or be demoted to a Trial Disciple.
Yang Kai is currently a Trial Disciple! He is also known as High Heaven Pavilion’s shame!
Compared to Ordinary Disciples, their treatment is very different. Trial Disciples must provide for their food, shelter, clothing, for the Sect will no longer waste cultivating resources on these trashes. Once demoted to Trial Disciple, you basically can never advance. Unless you manage to increase your cultivation level quickly. Only then will the Sect allow an attempt to become an Ordinary Disciple.
The entire High Heaven Pavilion consists of three thousand Disciples, while what about the number Trial Disciple? You can count them on your ten fingers! But, Yang Kai has faith that he can eventually become an Ordinary Disciple!
For Trial Disciple who wants to survive in High Heaven Pavilion, it was akin to an attempt at reaching the heavens. Take Yang Kai for example, the current hut that he is living in was built by him, one log at a time. The holes on the small roof, he doesn’t even have time to fix them. When it rains, the water can’t exit properly and builds up in the room. He buys his own clothes and got collects his food himself. He is responsible for all of his own needs.
Yang Kai’s small hut is in the Sect’s most remote and most uninhabited location.
Generally, with such horrendous treatment, it is difficult to endure. That is the reason why the Sect only has a very small number of these Disciples. Most who couldn’t breakthrough the tempered body chose to leave, but Yang Kai stayed.
A few months before, when he was made a Trial Disciple, Yang Kai accepted a sweeping job to provide for himself.
Right now Yang Kai was both a Trial Disciple and the Sect’s little sweeping servant. But just by sweeping to maintain a living is hard. There are many times when he is cold or hungry but in this life, he had chosen this path. Even so, he didn’t play the drums of retreat; Because in this-this life, he had chosen this oath and must continue through it. That was what men did.
In Yang Kai’s mind, there was a concept of toughness; if you don’t hit into the brick wall, then you will never understand what it meaning to be tough!
The sky gradually began to light up as he swept. Cleaning the trails, sweeping dust from the space.
Even though sweeping itself didn’t use a lot of energy, but without food or drink since the morning and constantly moving, Yang Kai was drenched in sweat. This had nothing to do with strength, but his poor physique. Two out of three meals he was hungry. For anybody living like him, how could their physique be considered good?
Gradually a group of High Heaven Pavilion Disciples surrounded him. These Disciples had woken up early, not to cultivate but to look at him. They had great interest in Yang Kai, looking at him with avid gazes like they were staring at a naked beauty, a sweet fragrance like juicy meat bins seem to waft in from of them.
Among those High Heaven Pavilion Disciples gathered around Yang Kai, there was a tense competitive atmosphere surrounding them. Looking at each other warily all held an unfriendly look.
Someone in the crowd softly spoke out. “So many people, isn’t it a bit excessive?”
It was that moment someone else replied. “Do you think anybody can walk this path huh. Nobody wants you to stay.”
That statement made the person who spoke embarrassed. For everybody body knew why they were gathered here, why they were all looking at Yang Kai, all waiting for that moment to come. The deadline was about to arrive, leaving now was not a pity? If you can grab the funds, and today it is also a harvest.
Having commotion next to him, Yang Kai naturally understood; though his expression never changed. They will parade themselves every five days, six times a month. He has already gotten used to it, nothing to make a fuss out of. He also noticed the number of people in front of him had decreased, they probably had not all arrived yet.
As he was being discredited, he turned a blind eye to the people next to him and continued to sweep.
Following the passage of time, the people around Yang Kai gradually increased. There were now roughly thirty-forty people present.
Yang Kai suddenly stopped and sat down in the middle of the road. Slowly, he breathed in the early morning air to restore his own physical stamina.
At this movement, the people gathered around him all spread out and surrounded him, with Yang Kai at the centre. A tense atmosphere filled the air and made it hard to breathe.
No one looked at each other. Instead, they were all focused intensely at Yang Kai.
If people were to see this crowd, they would hold the misunderstanding that expert was in the middle. Or else, how could so many people surround one person like that? In reality, Yang Kai was only a Trial Disciple with that accomplished Tempered Body Third Stage. Any of the Disciples surrounding him were stronger than him.
“Yang Kai. No need to bother. Why don’t you just obediently lie down on the ground so I can beat you and save some time?” Seeing him like this, one Disciple spoke out in disdain.
“How much energy can a Tempered Body Third Stage restore? You are going to lose anyway, so why continue to waste time?”
“Come on and listen to me, Yang Kai. Please think about us Fellow Brothers feelings too. We are not like you, after this game we need to go and practise.”
The statement was to let Yang Kai quickly submit and let them beat him. Making the act of restoring his internal energy disrespectful to them. Though he just turned a deaf ear, like Buddha Lao.
Time continued to pass by, suddenly the melodious Tower bells sounded. It reached the ears of all the Disciples surrounding Yang Kai and himself, startling the Disciples. The bells tolled nine times, and from the East the Sun rose. It was a new day! Everyone’s breathing calmed down, helplessly looking at Kai Yang as he slowly got up. He took up his broom and glanced at the people encircling him.
“Choose me, Senior Yang!” Shouted a person. “I strike lightly, I can guarantee you no pain!”
“Rubbish! Choose me, I will be merciful. I will end it in one fist, and I promise not to waste everyone’s time.”
“Pick me……”
“Pick me…….”
It was very clamorous, just like in a marketplace where vendors were trying to sell their produce and competing on whose produce was fresher.
“Yang Kai, you can choose your own opponent!” Someone reminded.
Yang Kai chuckled; readily, he lifted his broom and threw it to the sky. The dozens of pairs of eyes looked up, full of expectation, waited for the broom to fall whilst praying, “choose me, choose me!” Time seemed to slow down; the broom turned a few times in the air and immediately fell on the ground with a loud boom, no longer moving.
The broom head pointed into the crowd to a burly teenager. A regretful sound, the crowd full of resentment and resignation. But that burly youngster laughed out loud and rushed out: “Fellow Disciples, this Brother has won this battle today, but hopes that you Fellow Brothers will not blame me.”
“Che, lucky bastard!” One jealously said.
“Why aren’t I chosen? I’ve been coming here a whole month! Yang Kai, you aren’t doing this on purpose are you?”
“Don’t mention it, I have already come for a full three months and not once was I chosen!”
“Brother, you are more miserable than me.”
“It’s not miserable, not miserable at all. At Least we will be watching a good, good show.” The two brothers looked at each other, smiling secretly to in their hearts.
In the courtyard, the others had already dispersed, leaving only Yang Kai and the burly teenager looking at each other.
“Trial Disciple Yang Kai, Tempered Body Third Stage!” Yang Kai introduced to his opponent.
“Ordinary Disciple Zhou Ding Jun, Tempered Body Fifth Stage!” The burly teenager introduced.
High Heaven Pavilion Disciples were ranked. From bottom to top, are the Ordinary Disciples, Lower Base Disciples, Elite Disciples, and Core Disciple. Zhou Ding Jun said that he was an Ordinary Disciple, which means he has yet to pay his respects and obtained a mentor. If the breakthrough of the Tempered Body Disciple had a mentor, then their status would be at the top of those Lower Base Disciples. And those Elite Disciple were those selected from the best Lower Base Disciples.
As for the Core Disciples, they were treated as the hope of the next generation of the High Heaven Pavilion and thus cultivated accordingly.
The awe-inspiring Disciple hierarchy, though it seems unreasonable it can stimulate the younger generation into the fierce sense of competition, which is the foundation of the brutal Pavilion’s regime. This is the main reason why Yang Kai fought countless people, another rule of High Heaven Pavilion, the Challenge Rule.
Martial Peak – Chapter 2, Dashing Towards a Wall Without Looking Away
In the Sect, there was one rule: All High Heaven Pavilion Disciples were allowed to be challenged once every five days. If they had a level difference of three, the weaker Disciple was allowed to decline. The winner will then be able to gain contribution points, while the loser will have points deducted.
In High Heaven Pavilion, contribution points were equivalent to money. If you have enough contribution points, you could exchange them for anything you want, armor, weapons and etc from the Contribution Hall. Points can also be exchanged for money – dollars, but generally speaking these contributions were so hard to earn, that the disciples were generally reluctant to exchange it for that.
There were also many different ways to obtain these points. You can exchange them through the treasure hunt, completing tasks, etc.
The most common way to earn contribution points was to challenge others! The duels were to test their strength against other disciples, and if they won they earned contribution points.
So early in the morning, the many people crowded around Yang Kai were all staring a ripe persimmon about to fall.
Within the Sect, Yang Kai’s name was extremely renowned. Not only because he carried the identity of a Trial Disciple, but also because he still remained in the courtyard. Not to mention, famous record of eternal loses.
Yang Kai naturally remembered what it the commotion was, today was the fifth day from the last challenge. They who didn’t challenge him previously, could now. Who isn’t jealous? It was basically free contribution points! Although the points gained were not large, it was still enticing, thus many people still came.
In position, Yang Kai shouted out two words, “Please instruct!”
That being said, anyone knew that Yang Kai was in for another beating!
Yang Kai was always the first to attack. Even with his thin body he would always put out an amazing fight, taking the step to Zhou Ding Jun, then punched to the chest. Afterwards a simple and direct attack, then a tiger fist, his attacks were strong and it felt like all of his energy were in his attacks.
In the Sect, all disciples had to learn the Shaolin Fist. This fist was well-known, a basic move to keep disciples in shape and start them off.
Zhou Ding Jun didn’t panic, because he was stronger than his opponent by two levels. Sadly, this battle didn’t hold any suspense. Yang Kai’s fist was seen coming and easily dodged by that burly body.
Grazing past his clothes, Zhou Ding was unharmed. Punching again, Yang Kai was easily countered and hit in his solar plexus.
Suppressing the pain, Yang Kai quickly retreated and avoided Zhou Ding’s third strike.
“Eh?” This surprised Zhou Ding, he had would not have thought that his Third Stage Brother, could actually react fast enough. With this, his future plans were disrupted.
But this small error didn’t affect the situation. Thinking quickly, Zhou Ding took to the occasion to catch Yang Kai unaware.
Unaware, Yang Kai suddenly kicked his right foot forward. Seeing the shadow rapidly approaching, Zhou Ding saw his indomitable spirit, whilst executing a Shaolin fist.
[Crap!] His heart jumped. Although he had higher cultivation, he was inferior to Yang Kai in terms of battle experience.
But what would it matter? Even if he couldn’t dodge, he would take it head on.
Two light chuckles were heard, then Yang Kai fell backwards, while Zhou Ding was still standing. If his opponent was at the same cultivation as him, the he would have been the one to fall down.
Others couldn’t see the fists, but they clearly felt it. This disciple was too fast, so in other words he first hit himself then the opponent.
But, it was only his fist that was powerful. This body and health were all too frail, skinny arms, legs and body. Malnutrition was very obvious, thus resulting in this ending.
“Senior, thank you for letting me win!” This battle left quite a bitter result in Zhou Ding Jun’s heart. Although he won, he didn’t feel as if he had won.
To the side, many whispers could be heard: “This person thought he won?”
“Ha ha. Doesn’t that mean he didn’t know of Yang Kai’s reputation and challenged him? ”
“This is really too hilarious.”
Zhou Ding furrowed his brow, for he really didn’t know of Yang Kai’s reputation. He had heard people talking about him. So today when he saw many people crowding around, he had decided to participate too and was super lucky to be chosen.
[Why can’t I win?] His own fist made him go flying, thus making him at a supreme disadvantage. According to the gate rules, he had already lost.
“Again!” After this thought, Yang Kai stood up again without the slightest hesitation but with even more intense spirit.
Without waiting for answer, Yang Kai charged over. Three feet away, he swept his foot towards Zhou Ding’s legs in an attempt to topple him.
A leg whip! The Sect had Disciples cultivate various Martials Arts. Yet Yang Kai’s application of them far surpassed his peers, even though he knew fewer techniques.
So you could use a leg whip here.
Then without notice, Yang Kai went flying away again.
With two realms apart, also the gap between physical fitness, Yang Kai was once again defeated. His attack to Zhou Ding’s leg had clearly wounded his own bones, making him falter slightly.
“Again!” He said while clenching his teeth with eyes full of determination.
“Peng…….” Yang Kai flew away again.
“Again!”
“Peng…….” Yang Kai flew away again.
Hearing these words, Zhou Ding felt real bitter. He hadn’t imagined that his opponent was such a crazy person.
So Yang Kai was sent flying another seven or eight times. His face was swollen, eyes were black, staggering around and breathing quite heavily. But he still continued to persist and continue fighting.
Finally, Zhou Ding exclaimed: “Are you crazy? Throw down the towel or you’ll die!”
Previous Chapter
Within the Pavilion Disciples’ internal struggles, every year there are many who die. Zhou Ding Jun seeing this unflinching and courageous brother, couldn’t help but feel a bit alarmed.
When he thought that, Zhou Ding Jun knew he couldn’t reach such a degree and was afraid that he would have to surrender.
Keep your cool, will then you will not be afraid to be burned. This is the way of life, to stubbornly follow your decision. This is perseverance!
Despite Yang Kai’s sorry figure, his eyes were becoming more and more powerful. Zhou Ding Jun knew that if he didn’t settle things now, then there will be no end.
Thinking of this, Zhou Ding Jun rushed forward to execute a palm knife to Yang Kai’s neck bone. Yang Kai with an imposing manner swiftly escaped. Then his eyes clouded and he fell limply to the ground.
Seeing this scene, tens of feet higher, a Disciple who was sitting on a tree branch took out a small book. Flipping the page she wrote: Trial Disciple Yang Kai vs. Ordinary Disciple Zhou Ding Jun, Zhou Ding Jun wins.
The person who was on the tree branch had a graceful figure, it obviously was a woman. It was just that black mask on her face, didn’t allow people to see her face. But those delicate eyebrows proved that this person was not old. The armband on her arm also indicated her identity, a High Heaven Pavilion Dark Hall Disciple!
High Heaven Pavilion‘s Dark Hall is a special sector; the Sect’s three main elders were responsible for governing and the Hall Disciples were responsible for to recording down all affairs of the Sect, no matter how big or small, all matters are recorded. This also included the results of duels between Disciples.
So for all battles within the Sect, you do not have to worry about not being able to prove your wins and earning contribution points. For in the shadows, Dark Hall Disciples will record them down for you, and summarise your monthly records.
This woman, after recording the outcome for this duel, took out another smaller book from her waist and opened up at May 7th century, 15 years old, Yang Kai’s 147th defeat.
Even if you remove this, above are numerous records of Yang Kai’s battles. From the first battle to the most recent, all had one word: Defeat!
One hundred and forty-seven battles in a row, and he had lost every single one of them. This simply can be said that since the Sect’s history, it was a unique record and was enough to be awe-inspiring. Though the owner of this record was lying on the ground, not knowing if they were dead or alive.
Yang Kai had never challenged others, so these 147 losses were from others challenging him. So to say, from being challenged once every five days, this had last for two years.
Looking at Yang Kai on the ground, she wrinkled her eyebrows. She didn’t understand how Yang kai could endure to this state. He had already become the Pavilion’s Trial Disciple, even his very survival was endangered, so why did he still linger? If he had left, then his life will certainly be better. This thin boy, what kind of dedication did he have? Even with 147 straight losses, he remains undaunted.
[Perhaps this is a man’s folly?] Taking notice of Yang Kai was also a moment’s coincidence. When Xia Ning Chang became a Dark Hall Disciple, she was placed in charge of monitoring this area. Yang Kai was challenged every time, not once, not twice, and every single time she saw him being beaten to near death. Xia Ning Chang, began to pay attention to this Tempered Body Third Stage youth.
She was really curious, with his strength, how long could he endure before finally leaving High Heaven Pavilion. This type of talent, this type of training speed, he really was not fit to remain here. The ordinary world is his place.
The people below had already long scattered, only Yang Kai was still there on the ground. Coming and going, time passed by.
Xia Ning Chang, disappeared from the branch in a flash.
When Yang Kai woke up, it was already three o’clock. There was nowhere on his body that didn’t hurt. Staggering, he stood up and looked up, only to be surprised. For the place in which he woke up from was under the shade of a tree and not where he fainted.
This was really surprising, was there a Fellow Disciple that was kind enough to carry him over? This had never happened before, causing Yang Kai to furrow his brows. He could vaguely remember there was a shadowy figure darting in front of him. But memory was too vague, thinking harder just made it more unclear.
But between his current position and the place he fainted, there was very distinct drag marks, clearly showing that he had been dragged over.
Once again he felt his back, immediately flaring hot pain spread out.
Yang Kai froze for a moment, becoming furious! The trace of goodwill he felt towards his benefactor had quickly disappeared. That person directly dragged him over, otherwise how could his back bled like this.
He might as just have left him there on the ground! Yang Kai thought to himself.
Being depressed, Yang Kai realised that in his right hand he was clutching something. Looking down in doubt, he was surprised to find a small, fine work of porcelain in his hand.
What is this? This was definitely not his, for the only things that Yang Kai owned were the clothes on his back and his broom. How could he have this?
The small porcelain bottle had a label. Yang Kai read it out: “Blood Clotting Cream”.
Blood Clotting Cream, Yang Kai knew of this.
This was the Sect’s cream to help heal wounds, although it was ordinary, its effects were very good. Generally, Disciples will carry one bottle around for emergency uses. this one bottle of cream in High Heaven Pavilion was very expensive.
Ten points of contribution per bottle!
How much contribution points can Yang Kai earn for sweeping for a month? He can only earn ten points, in other words, this one bottle’s worth was equal to one month of work for him.
Who was it? At this moment, the resentment Yang Kai had towards this person was reduced greatly, but as he moved, the pain flared up again. He had already come to this Sect for three years, three years. Within this time, Yang Kai had already gotten used to the lack of compassion between Disciples. But today, for this person to leave behind a bottle of blood clotting cream for him, greatly touched Yang Kai’s hearts.
Originally, he had thought all the Disciples were cold-blooded people.
Perhaps this bottle of cream was not worth much to them, but to Yang Kai currently, he desperately needed it.
Yang Kai was both grateful and tried to remember who it was. It was becoming harder to remember. He could only recall the thin strand of fragrance lingering around.
“Why is this medicine so fragrant?” Yang Kai pondered.
Calming down and straightening his clothes, he carefully put the bottle away. Yang Kai re-picked up his broom and commenced his work.
Inside and outside all were swept, then at midnight, his work was considered completed. Yang Kai dragged his tired and hungry body back to his hut.
The morning’s battle wounds had yet to be treated. Even when Yang Kai was starving, he could only endure. First treat the injuries then deal with the hunger.
Taking off his clothes, he then carried over a tub of water to wash his body. If someone were to be by his side and look at Yang Kai’s body, they would cry out in shock.
Yang Kai’s bones, along with his ribs were all clearly visible. It was clear that his body didn’t have much flesh on it and lacked nutrition. There were also bruises and scars littering his body everywhere. There was practically no place that wasn’t scarred.
Every five days he was challenged, every time he lost, every time he was knocked unconscious. When old injuries had yet to fade, new ones were added. Switching to any other person, they would be unable to tolerate this pain, but Yang Kai did. Not only did he bear with it, but he continued his daily sweeping, not letting those injuries affect him.
Previous Chapter
Once his body was clean, Yang Kai picked up the bottle of Blood Clotting Cream and sniffed it a little. He found that the medicine was quite refreshing and lost himself in it and then he shook his to clear it.
Yang Kai opened that bottle, and tried to smear the cream directly onto his injuries but stopped. He hastily went to fetch a new tub of water and then put some of the medicine into the water to dilute it. Stirring carefully, he began his treatment using the diluted formula.
Enough the effects of the Blood Clotting Cream was good, after diluting it, the effects were also reduced. But Yang Kai only had this one bottle, so naturally he would have to use it sparingly.
After the tub of diluted was used up, Yang Kai had also finished treating his injuries. However, it also left him some doubts. For the paste’s smell was not the same as it was previously and also slightly spicy.
Putting his clothes back on, he went to get the dark coloured sweet potato and wolfed it down. Yang Kai then plonked down on his bed, and soon fell asleep.
The holes in the small roof, allowed some light to seep in, lighting up the hut. The hut was extremely sparse, there was no table or chairs. Only one small bed with a deerskin blanket and square-shaped pillow. This was all of Yang Kai’s possessions.
The deerskin, was from a deer Yang Kai hunted previously. Although it was not thick, it was still warm. While his pillow was from his time outside the Sect when he was hunting, he happened to pick up.
The pillow was a square, a foot long and three fingers thick. It looked like stone, felt like one but didn’t bear the weight a stone should. Yang Kai didn’t know what it was, but used it as a pillow, and didn’t investigate further.
This blackstone pillow had already been with Yang Kai for a year already, yet he still didn’t know what it was. Nonetheless, it was a great pillow.
Fast asleep, Yang Kai dreamt of today’s battle. Time and time again he was hit flying away by Zhou Ding Jun. And time and time again he would stand back up, persevering and continuing with a blood crest on his chest.
As the dream continues the blood crest became more and more powerful. Yang Kai‘s sleeping face was clench up in pain, but you could see it was resolute. He only had one goal in his heart; to succeed. Even if he was ordered to cut off his foot or fry his body in flames, he would not cower in fear.
The unconscious Yang Kai didn’t take notice that the pillow below his had started to exclude a clouded light that corresponded with his moods. This light became more and more luminous.
In the dream, Yang Kai continued with his early morning encounter with Zhou Ding Jun; repeatedly getting knocked to the ground. At his thousandth time of getting knocked and getting back up, with his unwavering will suddenly broke through. He rushed mercilessly towards Zhou Ding Jun, who immediately fell to the ground. Zhou Ding Jun’s figure then became hazy and morphed into his own figure.
At this moment Yang Kai’s mind calmed down, though it wasn’t due to him beating his opponent, but he winning against himself. Winning against his inner fear and yielding heart.
A faint feeling gradually rose up, there is no longer anything under the sky that can make him submit to them.
In reality, the black pillow under Yang Kai’s head suddenly burst forth a black ray. This black ray emerged from the black stone and hovered in the air for a bit before drilling into Yang Kai’s head. Instantly, disappearing from sight.
At the same time, in an ancient and desolate place a strange presence descended. Like tidal waves, the collapse of snow, any person in front of him was insignificant that strange presence thought.
Yang Kai suddenly opened his eyes, his whole body sweating and bursting with fear.
He was awoken by that strange presence.
Calming himself, he forced a smile. When was dreaming, he could actually scare himself like that, it’s ridiculous. Rubbing his face, he looked up into the night sky to determine the time, and was annoyed. He had only slept for two hours, seeing it was quite dark outside.
Hurriedly he got up, folded up the deerskin blanket and re-positioned the black stone pillow. As he got up, he frowned and turned to look back at the pillow.
This feeling……his gut told him that it was not the same.
Under doubts, Yang Kai reached out towards the pillow and picked it up. He was correct, its weight had decreased a lot.
Strange, how can this block stone, suddenly become so light? Questioning this, more questions started to appear.
It was like a thick book was being thrown into the air, with the pages spread out as it landed. Yang Kai was flabbergasted, momentarily forgetting to catch it.
Pa, the black stone pillow fell to the ground and opened up like a book. He couldn’t believe it, even though it was spread out in front of him.
Wasn’t this a stone? How could it suddenly turn into a book?
The black stone pillow had been with Yang Kai for over a year already, he was very clear. Did he not previously find a black stone and not a book? Did an old turtle take off his shell and become a snake?
A while ago when he stooped down to pick up the book, and he immediately felt a connection with it.
Looking at it again, he really had to admit it was the pillow he was using. This thick book, left him speechless, though there were no words. It was empty. But the books pages couldn’t let him see through it. He gently tried to tear a page, but he couldn’t tear it at all.
It really makes him rethink. He had owned it for an entire year, and only just discovered its true colours.
But such an empty black book, what is its use? He inspected the book all over, and still nothing.
[How mysterious…] Yang Kai turned to the first page, and nothing. Staring at the blank book page.
With little effort, he still found little change to the page. Then he discovered there was a little change to the page. The strange presence that appeared in the desolate place of his dreamed had appeared again. A line of golden coloured characters had started to appear.
“Blood is cited, the golden body descends, not a miracle, but a golden immortal!”
This penetrated deep into the soul, which caused Yang Kai to slam the book shut, with his limbs shaking uncontrollably. Breathing deeply, he managed to calm his heart down a bit.
What secrets did this black book hide? He didn’t know at all, but he knew that this object he obtained from Black Wind Mountains contains great history.
After a long period of silence, he once again opened the black book. This time, he read the first line on the page.
Turns out………it wasn’t a dream.
Gradually, other lines slowly appeared.
“Proud golden body, rules the fence, indomitable spirit, will it descend!”
Eight lines and thirty-two words occupied an entire page. Giving one a dominating heavenly and earthly feeling, as if those words were imbued with domineering spirit.
Previous Chapter
Martial Peak – Chapter 5, The Proud Golden Skeleton
These thirty-two words’ meanings were very easy to understand. Naturally, Yang Kai understood.
But the black book’s history was unclear, thus he was a bit afraid. What if this was a trap of some sort? Thinking of this he laughed at himself, for currently, he was only a Trials Disciple of High Heaven Pavilion. Who would go to the effort of taking care of him?
From just looking at the last couple of lines and their meaning, the reason why the black stone pillow will turn into a black book was probably because of his dream tonight.
For over one year, the pillow didn’t change, then suddenly after that dream it turned into a book. They must be connected.
Is it because of his own change that also changed the black stone pillow.
Since it was I who led to the book’s birth, then this black book was born for me! Thus, I am this black book’s owner!
Thinking of this, Yang Kai hesitated no more. The writing clearly on the book clearly states that he must drip blood in order to lead. Thinking of this, he bit onto his finger hard and dripped a drop of blood onto the page.
Drip, drip. The blood went onto the page, but there was no apparent change. After a fair amount of time passed, from the page, black light started to emerge. His body immediately felt unwell, for the injuries from earlier today had started to sear in pain. His head had also started to hurt.
Biting down on his teeth, he continued to endure. His blood continued to flow, and the light on the book was becoming brighter and brighter.
After a large amount of time and effort, Yang Kai nearly fainted. But there had been substantial change to the book, and the black light had started to wiggle and contract. And from the centre of the page, a tiny vortex had appeared.
Following that, from within the vortex a golden swirl could be seen. Yang Kai put great effort to maintain a clear mind, staring intently to the transformation in front of him.
Within the black vortex, a small, round, shiny, black object gradually came out.
He was shocked, for there really was something in the the book. Even though while he was dripping his blood, he had some expectations, he didn’t think that is was actually true.
But right now, right in front of him, the thirty-words from before were not false.
With blood as offering, the Gold Body shall descend!
[What’s a Gold Body?] Anticipation covered his pale face.
After a while, after the shiny, round thing had fully appeared in front of him, he couldn’t help but swallow a mouthful of saliva. No matter how rich his imagination was, he wouldn’t have thought that the Gold Body would be like this.
This thing was about 30 cm tall Golden Skeleton, and to think the first thing that came out was this skeleton’s skull. The golden skull just floated on top of the book page, sitting crossed legged like it was mediating. Every piece of the bone managed to light up Yang Kai’s tiny hut.
The black vortex on the page slowly began to recede and everything reverted back to its tranquil state.
Yang Kai had watched this strange golden skull appeared, for a time did not know how to react. On page said only how to get the Gold Body out, but didn’t say what to do after it came out.
Looking at it, he thought there wasn’t something right. The Golden Skeleton in front of him had no eyes, but he felt like it looked like his own. It obviously didn’t have any mouth but was clearly mocking the weak master in front of it.
Thinking of this, Yang Kai was furious and went to pick it up.
This small, insignificant skeleton dares to be so arrogant!
He didn’t think that when he went to reach out for it, the Golden Skeleton flew out towards him. Flying past his hand and embedded himself on his chest.
This was a bit of a horror. With a skeleton smashing onto his chest, he cried out and then the skeleton started to emit a fluorescent light, and penetrated deep into the pores of Yang Kai’s limbs.
Suddenly, pain exploded all over his body, but the pain was not an ordinary pain, but the pain from the depths of the bone! He breathed in painfully; fell to the ground, his body bent like shrimp, with waves of cramps.
His whole body’s bones shattered at that moment, and he couldn’t even lift a finger, for he had no strength. This was not an illusion, if you could see into his body, then you can see his bones being crushed, and next to each crushed bone, there was a layer of gold wrapped around. Continuously repairing the broken bones, but far slower than the damage speed. When the repair was finished, it was crushed again.
Human bones wrap around bone marrow and bone marrow nerve. Any small touch to them can bring great harm. One can only imagine his suffering at that moment.
In his body, not a single bone wasn’t shattered.
Even for others, even if their strength of thousands of times higher than his, they would have probably fainted now. But with Yang Kai, he could only feel the pain a thousand fold right now.
Tragic cry came from the hut, not far away a Fellow Disciple was out for a walk was frightened by the cry and quickly ran away.
Form somewhere, he received a message that came from the Gold Body:
I will destroy your conscience and seize your body!
Did Yang Kai agree? Even if he was unable to move, but also struggled to maintain the awareness, he will never let golden body take over the magpie nest. The golden body felt fear, so over and over again crushed Yang Kai’s bones, tortured his nerves, so that he fainted thereon.
One is a proud golden statue, another with an indomitable spirit, who wins who loses; no one could foresee the outcome.
Yang Kai knew that right now it was really important, unlike the previous challenges with his Fellow Disciples. If this was the past him, then he would have given up but now he will not. Even if it hurts like hell will endure.
His consciousness, the Golden Body’s destructive power, both commenced a hard tug of war. And the battlefield is the Yang Kai‘s body, you pull, I pull, each not letting an inch go.
Over time, Yang Kai was surprised to find that the intolerable pain was slowly reducing, help lift his spirits and fill him full of energy.
It’s no wonder, after Yang Kai and the Gold Body clashed time and time again, the numerous crushing of his bones had strengthened them. With his bones becoming stronger and stronger, and the Gold Body’s powers began to become weaker and weaker, the pain thus naturally alleviated. The struggle will soon end.
With the scales tipping in his favor, the unbearable pain slowly became bearable. Transforming into light tickles, then becoming like splashes of cold water. This feeling was like applying cream, allowing his millions of pores to open and relax.
Aware of the Gold Body’s desperate struggle, made Yang Kai furious. Cursing loudly, he crushed that presence within him.
Inside his body, it had finally calmed down.
A sigh could be heard, a sigh full of comfort and trace of great relief.
Previous Chapter
Martial Peak – Chapter 6, A Mighty Stead and a Beautiful Woman Will Be Presented as a Gift to the Hero
He after quietly lying on the ground for more than an hour, Yang Kai stood up, although he had just used up all his strength.
An hour before, Yang Kai felt it was like a dream. He really could not believe this was true.
Quietly he punched himself and felt the pain.
“In the end what was it? I wonder what history this black book has…” He muttered to himself in helplessness.
Waiting until his heart stopped beating, he suddenly found himself somewhat different from before. For he couldn’t eat three, fulfilling meals a day, and every five days he would suffer beatings. Thus his body bones are weak, but now he clearly perceived that his bones were full of vitality. A surge of energy, filled with warmth, slowly circulated inside and outside, his body.
Moving slightly, the bones burst out a crystal-clear sound. Making it seem like a melody being played. And Yang Kai, who was hurt today, couldn’t feel that pain anymore.
Aware of this, Yang Kai quickly roll up his sleeves, and opened his clothes. Looking closely, he found that his body no longer had any bruises and injuries. They had all disappear! Even those old wounds were healed!
He felt as unblemished as a new-born baby!
Rubbing the places that previously held wounds, dead skin fell. This revealed the new tender skin underneath, like a baby’s but far healthier.
“I cry ……” He swallowed down a cold lump; thinking of that Golden Skeleton in his body had such strong recovery ability!
Then feeling his own strength and found that he was still at the Tempered Body Third Stage did no change. This discovery somewhat made him a little disappointed.
Rivers and allusions, with secrets known only to insiders, this type of story Yang Kai heard much during his childhood. He knew in world there are many men eligible to jump past the dragon gate, becoming powerful and famous.
Martial Peak – Chapter 7, Breaking Through Stages Feels Like Being Reborned
Editor – Ben
Although Yang Kai was only fifteen this year, due to his experiences these past three years, he is far more mature than his peers. It is also because of this, that he forged this unyielding character.
So when he calmed down, sitting on his bed he carefully started to read the first page.
After confirming there were no extra things popping out of the first page, he started to read the second page.
With his previous experiences, his actions seemed more natural and knowledgeable. And then Yang Kai’s eyes slowly widened as golden words emerged on the dark pages
“Proud Golden Body: Tempered Body Record!”
Previously his mood had dropped but now it soared. Sure enough, as he suspected, every page had something hidden
Almost without thinking, Yang Kai’s entire mind was focused on the second page of the book.
Abruptly, the golden characters flew off the pages like a fish and swiftly drilled themselves in Yang Kai’s brain. The glow enveloped the darkness around him and then disappeared. After it was gone, he felt as if his brain had gained new information. This had all come from the golden characters.
Calming his heart, Yang Kai closed his eyes and began to digest the information.
In fact, he didn’t need to digest and absorb the information. For when the characters imprinted themselves into his brain, he was already able to comprehend their meaning with ease. A full mastery in another sense.
“This is the Tempered Body Record.” Yang Kai muttered, for he found that it was a fist technique.
Though it may seem simple, in reality it was not. In order to perform it, there were strict requirements. For it is extremely profound. In order to cultivate it, you must be facing the rising sun, in the east, to learn it.
So at most, you could only practise for half an hour a day.
Currently it was night, so he had to wait at least five-six hours to start. This frustrated Yang Kai, for he had exerted himself all day and only ate one measly sweet potato. Nonetheless, he had obtained a priceless treasure, and was jubilant.
After trying to sleep for half an hour, he decided to analyse the third page of the black book.
But it just let him down, no matter how much he checked and flipped, there were no changes to the page. While doing this, he fell asleep.
When Yang Kai then woke up, it was nearly sunrise. The pre-dawn darkness was clouded and stillness covered the whole area, with the occasional insect and bird noises.
With his heart looking forward to what was going to happen, Yang Kai quickly leapt out of bed, and went to the front of the cabin. Standing there, he took a few deep breaths and let his body slowly relax.
A touch of grey dawn appeared, as he opened his eyes. The set of instructions on the fist technique was practised countless, hundreds of times.
His hands shaped into a palm. With a gentle, slow movement, pushing to the left, to the right, pushing forward. Embracing the world in his mind, everything in between the palm, the vast land, even the air covering the moon and stars.
Left foot forward, right next to the horizon, the right foot stepped powerfully like the king of the underworld. Between breaths, the world full was full of vitality, like spring flowers blooming.
The autumn wind blew, like a golden message. Then the cold wind whistled by, signalling the coming of snow, ice, cold snow.
Yang Kai’s look gradually deepened, slowly his fists pressed on the hefty rocks. In any case, the rock didn’t hint at opening any time soon.
With a burst of sound, Yang Kai with a pale face, suddenly staggered, nearly fell to his knees.
While exercising countless times in his mind, he discovered that this art was an absolute fist. Yang Kai never expected this record actually contained such mysterious Tempering Body Technique.
For just that short while, Yang Kai felt that the entire world was weighing on his shoulders. But he also felt that he could sense all things in the world, under this pressure.
This Tempering Body Technique was not the practise of fist techniques. It was the practise of worldly transformation and the fate of the world. This practice was full of ups and downs, joys and sorrows. A slow punch and kick in, could affect the power of heaven and earth, but also was full of secret rules.
When he launched six palms, it took three steps. This result wasn’t even one percent of the result recorded in the book. Just that, had been difficult to sustain. Then a crack emitted from his spine, making him believe that he broke his spine.
He quickly inspected it, but only found that his back was in some pain. It wasn’t anything big.
Steeling his mind, Yang Kai once again started to practise according to the Tempered Body Record.
Because he wasn’t psychologically prepared, Yang Kai‘s mind was in a trance. Feeling unclear, he held his breath to regain a clear mind. Accompanied by a slow dance of his fists, Yang Kai once again felt his mind had become clear and regained the atmosphere required to continue.
Then his body emitted several indistinct feelings, Yang Kai was uncertain as to what they were. Not only that; with the routine deployment, his fist was actually getting heavier, like being at the bottom of the ocean. With more hardships, there were more improvements.
*Kaka* could be heard. Yang Kai’s every action, made his bones explode like firecrackers. Excruciating pain permeated throughout his body, but he was unmoved. His tenacity at this moment vividly appeared.
In the blink of an eye, Yang Kai felt his hands and feet tremble like they were beaten to pulp. It was like heaven and earth both imposed themselves on his body.
Persisting, he didn’t falter.
Suddenly warmth surged, alleviating the pain within his body in this moment. Spirits lifted, he restarted practise. He knew that this must have been due to the integration of the golden skeleton. After all, both of these things came from the same place.
In front the sun rising, near a cabin in a remote place of the school stood a sweating young man. Diligently practising, slow fists and discovering his future.
Half an hour passed when Yang Kai suddenly felt light. He no longer felt the heavy pressure on his body. Right at this moment, he could no longer continuing cultivating this skill.
The record was very clear, you could only cultivate for half an hour every day at sunrise.
His effort seemed to have drained him. Thus Yang Kai fell to the ground in a heap and took a deep breath. A surge of purple gas accompanied his breath and disappeared. In an instant, he felt refreshed and energised.
Looking distracted, he couldn’t help but but be shocked.
Atmosphere sense! He had already developed a sense to the atmosphere. That is to say, he had broken through the Tempered Body Third Stage and was entering the Fourth Stage!
This news made him elated. Since entering High Heaven Pavilion, it took three years of practicing to reach the Tempered Body Third Stage. But, after thirty minutes of practising, the mysterious quenching body technique had allowed him to break through and enter the Fourth Stage!
The Tempered Body Boundary had Nine Stages. Until the Third stage, it really just enhanced one’s physical capabilities. But after the Fourth Stage, it would generate a presence within the meridians.
Only with the birth of atmosphere sense, are you considered a true cultivator.
Although at this time you will have the atmosphere sense, the body will still have no real strength. You could only wait for the seventh stage, where the body will develop its own strength, all the way until the ninth stage. That is when the body breaks through and opens / creates a door to strength to the Initial Element Stage. Only then will you truly have strength.
Initial Element Stage, is a cultivator’s true start.
Everything in the Tempered Body Boundary, was just laying the foundations for the future of the Initial Element Boundary. This foundation was not finalized, like with a man’s strength. For your bones, skin would grow continuously, until you reach the peak.
Yang Kai, had just having entered the Fourth Stage, and obtained atmosphere sense. To outsiders, this may not seem like much, but to him it was amazing news and progress.
Previous Chapter
Editor – Ben
Half an hour after he broke through, the results of quenching body record were evident. Although his own knowledge contributed, if not for that technique, he believed that he needed another three-four months before advancing.
With this, he breathed in deeply and exhaled out the impurities in his body.
From within his mouth, out came a pitch-black smoke. Filthy, as it tumbled to the ground. After expectorating this smoke out, his six senses all became more acute and sharpened.
Was this his body’s impurity? Yang Kai shook on the spot.
With the practise of cultivation you will reduce and drain the body of impurities each time. Yang Kai previously had experienced this, but never at this level.
Numerous ideas and joy lingered in his mind. Although he had successfully entered the Fourth Stage, he had made no real progress in the Tempered Body Record’s Fist Technique. His daily practise could only produce one percent of the total result, out of the 101 punches.
[Hasty men don’t eat hot tofu and with a hasty heart, you won’t be able to feel a hot butt.]
Thinking for a while, Yang Kai planned a bit of his future. Even though it wasn’t thorough, he could no longer be like how he had been, taking each step as it came. For after a while, you couldn’t help but become impatient.
Then after eating something he continued to sweep the area.
Although he was a sweeper, it didn’t mean that he needed to sweep the entire school. He was only responsible for one tenth of the school. Even though it was cumbersome, it would only take an hour or so.
Within the trees, Xia Ning Chang had started to monitor the Disciples and inadvertently saw Yang Kai sweeping away. To not have some emotions would be weird. Today, there was something different about him, but she wasn’t sure. For over half an hour, he hadn’t left that spot, sweeping it until it was shiny and spotless. It was so slick that if a mosquito were to go on, it would have a sprained ankle.
[This guy……..]Xia Ning Chang didn’t know what to do with him.
At that moment, Yang Kai was thinking about other things. Yesterday he had obtained a huge opportunity, so naturally he was considering his future. But no real options were found. He could only continue to practise at sunrise every day, for now.
While he was pondering, rapid footsteps approached quickly from behind. He quickly went to dodge, but didn’t realise that the other party was making preparations to avoid him too. So they crashed into each other.
Though he didn’t sustain any major injuries, when he crashed into that person, it felt as if he had crashed into a steel wall. With a cry, he fell to the ground and the place he bumped felt numb.
Yang Kai quickly recovered and apologetically asked: “This Fellow Disciple, are you okay?”
The young man was annoyed and when he looked up to see that it was Yang Kai, whose explosive anger dissipated. Holding anger for such person held no meaning and it was also his own fault.
Replying immediately while waving his hands: “It’s alright, it’s alright!”
While saying this and getting up, he then energetically ran away.
Yang Kai asked: “Fellow Disciple, where are you going to so hurriedly?”
The young man faintly shouted: “The Contribution Hall, where else?”
Listening to his words, Yang Kai realised that today was already the eighth day of the month. It was the day where the main gate distributed last month’s contribution points!
So every month of this day, the Contribution Hall would be crowded with Disciples flocking to collect their points. With these points they could exchange them for various cultivation pills, treasures and martial arts to improve their strength. So this day made all Disciples all excited.
Some were excited, while others disappointed. Yang Kai was of the latter.
Startled, he couldn’t help but frown. Each month, the amount of points he received was quite meagre.
Sweepers could earn ten points, but in the last month he was challenged six times, and each time he lost! With reductions after each loss, he was only left with four points.
This……this really made people cry.
Fortunately he was only a Trial Disciple. His status was the lowest, so if he lost, he would only lose one point. Ordinary Disciples lost two!
Thinking of this, Yang Kai was thankful.
But even a small mosquito has flesh. And with his savings, he will one day earn enough to exchange them for something worthwhile.
There had been enough delay today he thought as he continued to sweep.
When he had finally finished the job, it was noon. Time to go to the hall to collect his points.
After the morning’s bustle, the hall was now deserted and quiet. Thankfully he hadn’t come in the morning, or the wait would have been too troublesome.
Waltzing into the hall, you could clearly see an old man dozing away.
This old man was the treasurer of the Sect. He was about fifty with thin white hair and a kind face. Looking at him, he looked harmless to animals and humans, but Yang Kai knew he was a sly fox!
There was once an Elite Disciple who dared to act arrogant here and was then pushed out of the hall a few hundred feet. His life was almost taken. Yang Kai was present, so he knew this and also knew that his old man held unfathomable strength.
Stepping into the view of the old man, Yang Kai could clearly see the old man snoring away.
[This old thing! Don’t know which female High Heaven Pavilion Disciple he is dreaming about again!]
Holding a broom, he gently nudged the old man while softly calling: “Treasurer Meng!”
The old man’s surname was Meng, his first name Yang Kai didn’t know so he couldn’t call him that.
Tapping the counter a few times, the old man was finally awoken. He groggily opened up his eyes and saw that it was Yang Kai. Wrinkling his face as if he saw shit.
“What’s with that face?” Yang Kai asked indignantly.
Rolling his eyes: “Why didn’t you come in the morning?”
Confidently he replied: “There were too many people in the morning, and currently it’s peaceful!”
“Interrupting this old man’s rest. Do you know what respecting the elderly means?”
Leaning in, Yang Kai whispered: “Which young lady did you dream of?”
Suddenly full of energy Treasurer Meng replied to Yang Kai with eyes full of contempt and loudly proclaimed: “Your words just now, tarnished this old man’s reputation! Too outrageous.”
“Good body figure?”
“Great!” Treasurer Meng unconsciously leaked out.
(
Ben: GG I had high hopes but alas they were shattered.
)
“Supple legs, white skin and a beautiful, thin waist?”
“En, en, en…….” Immediately he nodded his head, immediately thinking Yang Kai as a friend.
“He, he……” Yang Kai sneered.
Treasurer Meng stammered and blushed as bright as a monkey’s ass. Full of shame, he just wanted to dig a hole and crawl inside to hide.
Previous Chapter
Editor – Ben
Throughout his years in High Heaven Pavilion, the only person Yang Kai really knew was Treasurer Meng. After all, he needed to go to him every month.
Treasurer Meng had a nickname which most people referred to him as, Bully Meng. Even though his position is a treasurer, he still liked to extort contribution points from other Disciples.
Take Blood Clotting Cream for example, usually it would be sold around ten contribution points. He will sell two bottles for the price of three. Also the amount of cream that should go in two bottles, was put into three. It’s very simple he said, buy it or get lost!
Of course Treasurer Meng doesn’t always do it, only occasionally. He only targets richer Disciples, for poor people like Yang Kai he doesn’t even bother.
Contribution points are hard to come by, so how can Disciples stand by and be exploited? Every Disciple that had been cheated by him would report him to the Elders Council. They have warned him numerous times, but he still continued, unmoved. Furthermore, his position is crucial, and there was no one who could replace him.
Due to this, all of the Sect’s Disciples hated him to the utmost limit.
That old man was ruthless to everybody, except Yang Kai, to whom he could do nothing. That was because one time, he was peeking at a Female Disciple, and was caught red-handed by him.
No respect for the elderly! What a scandal! He was caught, so Treasurer Meng could only lower his head in front of Yang Kai.
It was exactly because of this that Yang Kai became very familiar with the old man.
The lecherous old man, with thick skin quickly adjusted his attitude and said: “Same as always?”
“Yeah.” Yang Kai said earnestly while nodding his head.
Not saying a word, Treasurer Meng took out ten dollars from within the counter and recorded it down.
Taking the silvers, he asked: “How many contribution points do I have now?”
Rolling his eyes, the treasurer replied: “You earn four points each month and then use one point to exchange for 10 dollars. That leaves you with only three points to save, making a total of twelve points in your account. What, you want to exchange them for a bottle of Blood Clotting Cream?”
“No, I was just asking.” He replied while muttering: “Twelve eh.”
Such a small amount, even if you just wanted to exchange it for a small medicinal herb, it wouldn’t even be enough.
With a serious face, Treasurer Meng whispered to him: “Little Yang Kai, you want to save up and exchange it for a tempered essence pellet. But to save up for it, and then to rank up with your speed, how long will that take?
“Won’t I eventually reach it?” He replied chuckling.
This left Treasurer Meng speechless. He thought that with his speed, by the time he makes it, this old man will have already been dead for many years.
“But Treasurer Meng, there is one thing I don’t understand.”
“Speak!” The old man said while putting on a ‘I am in a good mood so I will tell you’ attitude.
“The Tempered Essence Pill is a very precious medicine, how could it appear here?”
“He he……..” Speaking with a proud face: “That is because this pellet is this old man’s treasure, others don’t know about it.”
“Ah, it’s yours?” This left Yang Kai stunned. He had always thought that this pellet belonged to the school. No wonder this old thing set such an astronomical price.
“Now don’t be angry.” He joyfully said, while taking a drink from the teapot. “I won’t bully you, as long as you bring enough contribution points to exchange, Old Meng will give it to you. For my word is not nothing.”
“I will collect it.” He said nodding.
With his face downcast Old Meng asked Yang Kai: “I heard that yesterday you got a beating?”
Immediately Yang Kai turned around and left.
From behind Treasurer Meng shouted: “Let this old man ask, don’t be in such a hurry to walk away.”
He said, but really he was gloating inside.
Seeing that Yang Kai had no intention to stop, he straightened up and yelled: “Little Yang Kai, you should hurry up and leave. High Heaven Pavilion is no place for you to be, sooner rather than later you will be killed.”
Pausing but without turning around Yang Kai sighed: “I have no place to return to.”
He was finished if he left.
After holding the teapot for a while, Treasurer Meng said: “Then why did you come?”
Tempered Essence Pill…….he he, this expensive treasure, how could this old man possibly own it? He only made up this lie to give you hope, he had never thought you would take it seriously.
Yang Kai then hurriedly went back to his hut and put the broom away, then briskly walked out.
He was going to the small village outside of Tang Lin to buy his food with his ten dollars, like he did every month.
For the first time this trip didn’t make him feel tired.
Previously, every time he walked down this path, he would get bad asthma attacks again and again. But this time, not only did this not happen, his body felt strengthened compared to before felt less strained walking down the path. Even if he walked a hundred miles, he felt that he wouldn’t tire.
Is it the Golden Skeleton? This made him think of something that happened this morning. While he was sweeping, another disciple had crashed into him, but on the contrary to what normally occurred he had held his ground very stably, while the disciple had fell to the ground.
Although this wasn’t much, in retrospect, it was unusual. With his weak physique, how could he not have fallen but the other party fell. It had always been him who fell.
Growing more and more excited, he thought about the changes the Golden Skeleton had brought to his body. Although these changes were small, gradually over the course of time they could culminate into great changes.
Thinking of this, Yang Kai recovered and soon walked to town.
Looking around, he went to the left hand side of the street. He was going to a rice shop. The shop wasn’t big and the owner is surnamed He, and was a local resident. He treated all customers the same this was one of the reasons why Yang Kai bought from him.
Such a small store could be found everywhere. The reason why Black Plum Village was very busy, was because in the surrounding area, apart them there was not only High Heaven Pavilion but also the Windy Rain Sect. The relationship between the two could not be considered bad. The various other small Sects couldn’t compare to these two main Sects for they didn’t even own their own land.
It was precisely because of these two main Sects that the village was able to sell many different weapons and maintain such a bustling environment full of many different wares.
Creating an environment just like the Han Dynasty’s Capital!
After walking around for a while, Yang Kai inadvertently walked past an alley where some people were gathered. He didn’t know what they were doing, but they were pretty suspicious and gave Yang Kai an extremely vicious glare.
Chuckling lightly, he just followed the principle ‘
if they don’t don’t harm me I won’t harm them
’ he just ignored them. But among those three there was one who dressed in a similar fashion to Yang Kai.
Previous Chapter
Editor – Ben
Yang Kai didn’t think much of this though, because they were in Black Plum Village, located close to High Heaven Pavilion, the sight of other Disciples coming down to the Village was quite common.
A little while ago, Yang Kai arrived at the line for rice. The line was quite long, the length of two stalls. The business was very prosperous but only has one waiter running around serving. The boss was calculating about money on an abacus at the counter, while the wife greeted the guests.
As more people finished ordering, the line gradually became shorter and Yang Kai joined the line.
“Madame” Yang Kai cried out, a 40-year-old looking lady looked up to see who it was. When she saw it was Yang Kai she suddenly smiled and said, “Ah, young man, you came to buy rice again.”
“Yes.” He walked to the front of the counter, and pointed a bag behind the counter and said “Give me one bag please.”
While the lady was tying up the bag with a string she said “Young man, you buy just one bag a month, is this enough for you?”
Yang Kai replied, “It’s enough.”
“You liar!” The lady retorted while looking at Yang Kai, “Look at you; such thin arms and legs. If you’re eating properly then why are your arms and legs so thin?”
Yang Kai smiled sheepishly, “I also go to the mountains to hunt, so therefore even with just one bag I won’t be hungry.”
While the boss concentrated on calculating the bill, he whispered to her: “Go fetch the old rice from the back and give it to this child.”
“We’ll listen to the boss.” Madame replied with a smile.
“How is this right? You are also trying to make a living here.” Yang Kai said out loudly.
The Lady immediately frown her face, “What use is old rice? Leaving it there will only provide a place for insects to grow. Anyways, people won’t eat it. But the owner said that this rice still has some nutrients although less. You wait here I will go get some for you take home.”
As she was saying this she had already started walking towards the back room.
Yang Kai ‘s heart swelled, for he did not know what to say. Every time he came to buy rice, the boss and his wife would always find various excuses to give him more. They say that insects will grow in old rice and the like, but in fact, it was always good rice they gave him not old rice. Their generosity gave Yang Kai hope in this sad world.
“Thank you Uncle He.” Yang Kai’s voice had a slight trembling to it.
The Boss smiled and looked up, “When living alone, don’t you have household problems? In the future, whenever you’re hungry just come to our shop, we may not have much, but we still have enough rice for you to eat.”
“Okay…” Yang Kai nodded his head; this world still had good people around.
Shortly, two enthusiastic people came to the rice store and kicked some people who were ready to order their meals from the line and away from the store front.
“Ahhhh…..” the Second Brother fell, landed on his butt, and flipped over. It was a big problem because after he fell to the ground he couldn’t get up again.
“What?” Boss He called towards the people who had kicked the little brother as he ran out from behind the counter and towards the two men. Yang Kai quickly helped Second Brother up whilst intently glaring at the two evil faced men. One of the men, looked pale and thin, was clutching his stomach, while the other one was built like a bear, supported the pale one. These two were the ones who kicked down the Second Brother.
“Who’s the boss here?” The man people shouted out.
“I am, I am.” Boss He quickly replied. He was only an ordinary merchant, yet the two men who called him out had such fierce looking faces. The swords at their waist and the fierce faces that showed they were not easily trifled with. Boss He wondered what had happened.
“Well, well. So you are the black-hearted boss! You even dared to sell poisonous rice to my brother. Look at him! Originally he was a strong man, but after eating your rice he became this sick. Normally he is as strong as a bear, but he can hardly stand now! You black-hearted person, worrying only about money and going as far as to take lives!”
At this outburst from the man, Boss He worriedly stammered out: “Ah, how could this be? How could it?”
The man then said: “How would I know? This morning my brother bought some rice from you, and made rice porridge, then he became like this after eating the rice he bought from you. I was lucky I didn’t eat any, otherwise I also would’ve become like him.”
Boss He’s forehead began to sweat, he took his sleeves and kept wiping his forehead and said “Respected customer, I fear there might be a misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding? Misunderstanding your mother! If it wasn’t for your rice, then what caused him to become like this?” The Han man roared.
Yang Kai sat down and pondered the situation while all eyes were on the commotion. Boss He is such a nice person, Yang Kai couldn’t believe that this person who gave him rice, would put poison in it. Not to mention the fact Boss He couldn’t possibly have a black heart in Yang Kai’s mind, a black-hearted businessman wouldn’t be so stupid as to poison his own rice.
[If these information spread how would he do business in the future? Who would dare come and buy his rice?]
The two men’s poor excuses were really unbearable, and they couldn’t even consider that it was something else.
Therefore, these two are definitely here to ruin others. But this move was a bit too evil, for they implied that the Boss needed someone to die just to earn some money.
Even though Yang Kai’s body was weak he was still a practitioner. And through these past years he had seen countless types of people, so he felt he could accurately judge Boss He. The man was also someone who he owed greatly and when Yang Kai witnessed this, it caused his face to fall. He stood up and said: “These two……”
“What?” One of the men threw him a glare, his anger evident.
Yang Kai didn’t speak, but Boss He immediately sprang in front of him. He slowly shook his head for Yang Kai to stop.
“Uncle He…..” Yang Kai was stunned.
“Even in bankruptcy, avoid misfortunes!” Boss He whispered.
Yang Kai just helplessly sighed. That fact that the boss said this signalled that he knew what the two Han men were on about. But in order to do business, one must have a good name. The earlier commotion had already attracted a lot of attention, if this continued, then the rice stand’s reputation would go down the drain.
Even if one knew what they said was false, one could only comply with them and hurriedly hope to end this fiasco before too much damage was done.
In desperation, Boss He faced the man: “Regarding your brother’s illness, all I can say is that it has nothing to do with me……”
After the two men heard this, one cried out in anger: “Even if it’s not related, I have already come to this rice stand. If I don’t make the truth clear, then my brother’s suffering would be in vain. He should be sent to the doctor immediately! But of course, if you are willing to shoulder the medical bills, then we are willing to drop the subject.”
After this statement, it was clear that they really wished for Boss He to go bankrupt to avoid misfortunes. If people really wanted to extort money, they would do it over a period of time. The demands that these two men were making were too short sighted, if Boss He agreed to pay them off now his rice stands reputation would still suffer. For nothing is watertight, and news of him selling poisoned rice would spread. This told Yang Kai that the men were either not interested in extorting Boss He for more money or that they had some other goal.
Who would have imagined that these two Han men had no intention of compromising: “You black hearted boss. Who do think we two brothers are, to be exploited by you so freely? We two brothers were really unlucky to have bought poisoned rice from you! Where is your guilty conscience?”
Martial Peak – Chapter 11, Do good and you will end up being sent to heaven
Editor – Ben
Suddenly the High Heaven Pavilion Disciple walked out to the crowd and circled around. His expression slowly turned to one of mockery and arrogance.
But the two Han men were not easily mocked and creased their forehead. “You little brat, walking around in circles has made this uncle dizzy. Do you want be the same?”
The youngster just snickered. Standing in front of the two men, watching the ‘poisoned’ man he spoke, “Your face is very pale. Looks like the poison you consumed isn’t so simple.”
“Of course it’s not.” He viciously responded: “If it were not, why would I be here and with my brother, instead of at the doctor’s. We’re here to reveal this boss’ black’ heart and his true colours! Hoping that no one will ever come back to buy from his store again, and have to suffer as we have!”
This made Boss He’s face pale, as he didn’t know what the aim of these two men was. If it was just extorting money then he would understand, but their motives were very puzzling and unclear.
Just when he was pondering, Yang Kai softly inquired: “Uncle He, did you offend anybody during this time?”
Thinking hard, Boss He miserably wailed: “No one.”
“Then could it be that your rice shop prevented someone from earning money?” Even though Yang Kai was young, he had experienced many things. So this thought was not impossible.
“This is just a humble job to survive, how could I prevent others from their income?”
[How peculiar!] Staring at the ground, Yang Kai thought hard, but was still confused.
Then, the High Heaven Pavilion Disciple sneered and asked the two men a question. They shouted out: “Look, trickery!”
While shouting, the man resorted to a trick, to open the black heart of the poisonous apple.
This surprised the people around, for the morning had been quite sluggish. The Han man was wildly hopping about, while his fists were clenched. Jumping, he went to expose the poisonous truth.
Moving like this, his once pale face became flushed and rosy.
This caused to crowd to gasp. Clearly they were shocked over this sudden change.
“Poisoned.” Looking that the two Han men, he sarcastically said: “Such skill. I respect them, respect.”
The two men couldn’t help but pale. Not only did the fallen man not turn white, he also looked like he wasn’t poisoned.
The surrounding people also started to boo. They weren’t stupid, how could they not be able to understand the situation? They didn’t know what motives these men had, but to slander Boss He’s Rice Stand was shameful. Luckily, that High Heaven Pavilion Disciple had uncovered the truth.
More and more people had started to despise the men and started to praise that young man. This young man was naturally easy to like and with this incident, his reputation sky-rocketed.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai was secretly confirming his suspicions that they were all acting. They were acting out the play of a honourable knight uncovering foul play and protecting the weak, in order to gain reputation! If he hadn’t seen them together earlier in the alley, he was afraid he would had also believed them.
[But why did they go to all that effort?]
The two Han men could no longer keep up the accusations. Staring fiercely at the young man they asked: “Brat, who are you to interfere in my brother’s issues!”
Gracefully he turned around and arrogantly replied: “I am High Heaven Pavilion’s Su Mu!”
Hearing those words, one of the men became afraid: “No wonder, you are a High Heaven Pavilion Disciple. A dragon is within here. Today, we two brothers admit defeat. If fate allows it, I hope we will meet again!”
This sentence felt like it was planned beforehand, making Yang Kai laugh.
Su Mu just laughed coldly: “Leave safely, for I won’t escort you!”
With the situation like this, and if it were indeed no accident like Yang Kai suspected. Then the two men would leave and ‘Su Mu’ would then seek out the audience’s praise. Especially Boss He’s.
But Yang Kai didn’t want Boss He to be fooled. Before those two men left, he quickly said: “You can’t let them go, they are too despicable. Today’s victim was He’s Rice Stand, but if we don’t teach them a lesson, they may target Liu Shi’s Clothes shop or Jiang Shi’s Grocery.”
Most of the crowd, who heard this, couldn’t help but notice that what he said was correct. How could they let these despicable villains leave so easily? If they let them go today then tomorrow they might target another shop and leave them destroyed. If it came to that, then they may not be as lucky as Boss He.
Thinking of this, the people started to block off the path in front of the two Han men.
From his position, Yang Kai could clearly see the panic in Su Mu’s eyes. This in turn, led Su Mu to source of the voice, to Yang Kai. While the two men exchanged glances and quickly readjusted their expressions.
Chuckling, Yang Kai added: “Fellow Disciple, there is a saying that goes; Good people follow through to the end. Just like how Buddha went to the west, why don’t you and I both arrest these two criminals?”
Seeing Yang Kai’s thin and fragile physique, Su Mu couldn’t help but burst out in annoyance: “Who’s your Fellow Disciple?”
Yang Kai replied: “I am also a High Heaven Pavilion Disciple. I entered the Main Gate three years ago.”
This made Su Mu speechless, for he really was a Fellow Disciple.
“Now, without further ado.” Yang Kai came forward and said: “Throughout the land, it is important to be reasonable. While one must also be chivalrous, so Fellow Brother, you must not let only me take the benefit. Let both of us arrest these two cowardly men and help Boss He claim justice, while also helping Black Plum Village. ”
With this statement, the surrounding people began to applaud. This filled Su Mu with anxiety, for he felt as if he was dragged upon a pirate’s ship by this unknown brother. Even he wanted to escape, he couldn’t.
Those two men were also glancing continuously at Su Mu looking for guidance/help/assistance. Looking at them, Su Mu couldn’t do anything for them.
“Brother, let’s go!” Pulling on Su Mu’s shoulder, Yang Kai rushed over.
[What is this!] Su Mu was in tears, wondering where did this Brother come from. [This really ruined my plans!] But it had already come to this point, so Su Mu could only charge over. While he was preparing to capture them, he was also signalling for them to look for an opportunity to escape.
The two men nodded, but Yang Kai saw the exchange and guessed what they were doing.
He was worried that Boss He would be tricked, so he took extra precaution and shouted: “Friends, fellow owners, don’t just watch. Come help us two brothers!”
Hearing this, Boss He also went to help. The rice stand’s youngsters joined in, their hands carrying empty rag bags. Boss He, who was previously abused by these two men, so naturally they would want revenge.
Seeing that Boss He had acted, the crowd couldn’t just watch and they all flocked towards the two men to capture them.
Previously the two men weren’t worried, but as they saw this scene, their faces paled. So they quickly yelled: “Don’t hit the face!” While protecting their face, they curled up on the ground.
*Bam, bang, boon, bang* the sound of the beating rang out. Even though the businesses on this street were run by ordinary people, they currently displayed powerful fighting spirit that left others flabbergasted. These merchants more or less did anything for money
and were generally detested by others. And now, when they were given to chance to release their stress, how could they be lenient?
This was especially true for Boss He’s Rice Stand’s waiter. With rag bags in his hands, he relentlessly beat down the men.
Furthermore, with so many people hitting these men, they couldn’t identify who was hitting them. So, these people didn’t have to worry about the consequences.
There is strength in numbers. Yang Kai only asked for their aid, but before he could even lift a finger, he was pushed aside by these merchants.
After a while, the beating gradually stopped and you could see the two men curled on the ground, bruised all over. The rag bag had also disappeared. Looking at the men, Su Mu’s heart cried out in pain, and his leg started to cramp. For the men were beaten bloody and their faces so swollen, that even theirs mothers won’t be able to recognise them.
This situation only occurred because the men didn’t have enough strength to protect themselves. Although they had swords, one could see that it was only for decoration. If they could use them would they suffer these attacks?
Though, would experts stoop so low as to perform such despicable acts?
Now, even though the beating was finished the merchants remained.
The two Han men with their horrendous faces, and hearts full of fear weakly called out with their hands trembling, “Su….”
Unfortunately, Su Mu’s expression changed and he loudly exclaimed, “What Su? You want this young master here, to give you *pasty bones?”
Seeing this, Yang Kai smiled and proclaimed, “You two scumbags! I don’t know have many others you have framed, but it’s extremely hateful!”
His words were an exaggeration, but for the merchants present, this seemed like the truth. That waiter who previously held the rag bag spat, *Pui!* “You trashes! You actually dared to act arrogantly at this rice stand!”
The waiter continued to let out his frustrations, but didn’t expect Yang Kai to expand on his statement. “Correct, These types of people should really die. Fellow Disciple, why don’t you and I each kill one. That will teach them to break the law again, and it will also be for the greater good.”
Hearing this remark, the two people on the floor started to break out in cold sweat and were terrified. They had never expected this frail boy to be so ruthless.
Su Mu just stared at him, trying to figure out whether or not he was joking. But Yang Kai’s face held no sign that it was a joke.
To tell the truth, although what the men did was cowardly, it wasn’t serious enough to die for. Undoubtedly Yang Kai’s punishment was a little too cruel.
Su Mu could only ask: “Brother, isn’t that a bit excessive?”
“Excessive?” Yang Kai just shook his head: “If their little lie were to succeed today, then Boss He’s life would have been ruined. How would he maintain a livelihood? They’ve already tried to push someone so close to the edge. So, how is this excessive? You know, for every being, every action that they commit, will always have consequences.”
Previously, when those merchant heard Yang Kai’s words, they had also thought this. But hearing his reasoning, they understood the sense behind his words and were conflicted. But the final decision wasn’t up to them, so they just stood on the side-lines. But when Boss He wanted to say something, he was stopped by a look from Yang Kai.
“This…..this may certainly be the case, but we can’t just casually go killing people.” Now Su Mu was really worried. He didn’t think that this Disciple in front of him was so ruthless and merciless. Originally, he had planned it out quite well; Firstly, those two men would go slander Boss He and then he would go and stop them, saving Boss He. Then, they would escape and he would receive gratitude from the Boss thus accomplishing his goal. But he hadn’t thought that such a vicious Disciple would appear, so easily choosing to kill them.
This was far from good.
Su Mu could see that the two men were pleading him to save them. Within those gazes, were signs of threats. How could Su Mu not understand their meaning?
It was like being tied to the body of a grasshopper. If we are to suffer a tragic end, then you would not come out unharmed. That was what they were trying to indicate to him.
At that moment, Yang Kai spoke, “Brother, there is no other method. Through my experiences, killing is a natural thing. Could it be that you haven’t killed before? Or you guys already know each other…….so you are unwilling to kill?”
This statement made Su Mu’s heart jump to his throat. Turning around to look at Yang Kai, he found a mischievous smile.
“Brother what do you mean?” With a cool face he questioned, while thinking whether or not Yang Kai saw through him. He hadn’t revealed any clues, so how could he know?
What he didn’t know, was that Yang Kai knew of his plan purely by coincidence. If not he would had also been fooled.
Boss He was also smart, he understood the hidden meaning in Yang Kai’s words and asked Su Mu: “Little Brother, what tune are you singing?”
Yang Kai had revealed a portion of Su Mu’s true colours, how could Boss He not be able to see?
Yang Kai just shook his head, he didn’t point out anything in particular but just continued to stare at Su Mu: “Brother, I think that you are a courageous person, but you are hesitating. Don’t worry; I am here to accompany you and the villagers too. So what are you afraid of?”
“What am I afraid of?” Su Mu laughed out loud, as if reassuring himself, he said: “What am I afraid of? Isn’t it just killing a person? Who hasn’t killed before?”
It was like he was unwillingly to admit he hadn’t killed before, in front of Yang Kai.
In the end, this person’s disposition shocked him. Su Mu hadn’t stepped down from the challenge.
Su Mu then directed a cold, ruthless intent towards the men lying on the ground. Looking into that young man’s eyes, those two men knew they were finished. This round, they were used too thoroughly.
“Brother, let’s do it.” Yang Kai continued to pour oil on the flame.
Breathing deeply, Su Mu slowly nodded.
Seeing this happen, the two men immediately knew their end was nigh. So how could they endure without doing anything? Jumping up, they pointed towards Su Mu and proclaimed: “Su Mu, you treacherous bastard. You asked us brothers for a favour, to slander Boss He’s stand so that you could come to the rescue and become a hero. But how do you repay us? Not only are we beaten like pigs, now we have to die for your crimes. You really are trash.”
“You liars!” Hearing his scheme revealed, Su Mu was furious.
“Hmph!” As if their injuries didn’t affect them, the men just sneered and the larger man shouted out loudly, informing all: “Everybody, young or old, today my brother and I came out and caused trouble for you. But this was all at the command of Su Mu. He had taken fancy to Boss He’s daughter, but sadly she rejected him. So he hatched a plan to obtain her.”
When this was revealed, something clicked inside the heads of the onlookers. Many people could not help but turn to look at Su Mu with disbelief in their eyes.
[So that was it!] Yang Kai was satisfied that he had guessed correctly, Su Mu really had an ulterior motive. Though he had thought it was something related to profit or reputation, he wouldn’t have thought it was actually for his own sexual desires.
He had also met the Boss’ daughter, even though she wasn’t outrageously beautiful, she was still a work of art. An alluring body accompanied with delicate features; a slim figure, which made her easily the most beautiful girl in the entire village at the small age of fourteen.
Such a young girl had unfortunately caught Su Mu’s eye, provoking such trouble.
“What utter rubbish!” Su Mu’s face was as red as a tomato, trying to deny the truth.
Sneering the man continued to say: “I have said no lies. Even though we two brothers have our faults, and done some criminal acts, slandering Boss He and poisoning his rice this is something we would never do. Fellow people, you should know that sabotaging others’ livelihoods is equal to sabotaging my own. So how can I survive? Everything was instigated by this little brat.”
This statement was very sincere, causing everybody to start laughing.
In a timely manner Yang Kai asked: “After this was over how much did he promise to give?”
“Fifty two silvers!” The man replied.
“Fifty two, that’s a lot.” Yang Kai softly said while nodding.
During this banter, Boss He was listening carefully. This made him understand the situation thoroughly, turning towards Su Mu he angrily said: “You despicable person. You actually dared to use such dirty methods to get my daughter. Thankfully she has eyes and saw your true face. Ah, how could High Heaven Pavilion have such a degenerate Disciple? You are ruining your Sect’s good name. You are vain and selfish! Completely opposite to brother Yang! I feel ashamed for your mother and father!”
Surrounding merchants also started to feel more contempt towards Su Mu’s outrageous acts.
Su Mu’s face was bright red, for he knew that he could no longer come back to Black Plum Village; for his mask had been taken away and his true face had been revealed.
And the source of all his misfortunes was in front of him…………this Disciple! If not for him, he would have been able to win the boss’ favour and further his reputation. That would have made it easier to curry the daughter’s love for him.
But all that planning had gone to waste. Not only had he failed to gain any reputation, he had also lost reputation he had previously for being a Disciple of High Heaven Pavilion.
Under that situation, Su Mu put on a calm face and turned towards Yang Kai and asked: “Brother, how may I call you?”
“You guess!” Yang Kai replied with a wink.
Taking a deep breath Su Mu said: “Though you may have chosen to withhold your identity, I will able to find out. For you have already entered the school for three years, yet you are not even an Ordinary Disciple! That means you are a Trial Disciple and within the entire school, there are only a few of you. Finding you will be simple.”
When he finished he immediately turned around and left. In the end, he did have some strength. For those who blocked his path, he pushed them to the side. Stomping away unhindered
When he had left, the people had only just remembered the two Han men. But where were they? There was no trace, for when Yang Kai and Su Mu were arguing, they had sneakily ran away.
The debacle had finally been resolved. Yang Kai was satisfied, for he had exposed the deceit, gained approval from the merchants and Boss He was especially grateful to him.
That waiter also looked at Yang Kai in worship.
After the crowd dispersed, the Boss’ wife also came out. Taking Yang Kai’s hand, the more she looked, the more she came to like him.
On the contrary, Boss He’s he was full of worry: “Virtuous nephew Yang, today you have offended Su Mu. I’m afraid that in the future, this will cause you ceaseless trouble.”
After this incident, Boss He’s started to refer to Yang Kai more intimately.
“Afraid?” Yang Kai just smiled. “The Main Gate has its own rules, so even if he hates me to death he can’t do anything.”
“Even so, you must be careful nephew. If because of your involvement in this matter you were to suffer misfortune then this Uncle would worry greatly.
“I will be careful.” He consoled.
Yang Kai was immensely grateful to the He couple for extending a helping hand. They even insisted he stay for dinner, originally Yang Kai wanted to, but was scared away by the boss’ wife.
“Little Yang, where are you parents? Where do you live? Have you married already?”
Looking at this, clearly the boss’ wife wanted to become his mother-in-law. Knowing this, Yang Kai hurriedly left.
When he left, he was carrying a bag of white rice, but it far surpassed the amount 20 silvers could get you. So for an entire month, Yang Kai didn’t have to worry amount his meals.
Originally, Yang Kai was worried that Su Mu would ambush him on his way back. For as innocent as Su Mu looked, he was a sinister and treacherous snake on the inside, this was not impossible. Though, even when Yang Kai returned, Su Mu hadn’t appeared.
He thought about it carefully, not attacking was the correct choice. Even though duels between Disciples often resulted in death, the Main Gate didn’t allow the needless killing of others. In short, if Su Mu had attacked on his way back to the Sect, then when things leaked out, it would have resulted in his own doom too.
If he wanted to deal with Yang Kai, then he would definitely come to challenge him, while making a fuss too. As for the matter of Yang Kai’s identity, there is no doubt that he would be able to find it. In the High Heaven Pavilion, as long as Su Mu inquired a bit, then naturally he would find his identity.
Su Mu’s true strength was something that Yang Kai could not full confirm, but he most definitely was at the peak of the Tempered Body Boundary. The only thing was, he didn’t know what stage Su Mu was in.
[I need to focus more on practicing] Otherwise, Yang Kai truly couldn’t continue staying at High Heaven Pavilion.
Knowing this, Yang Kai swiftly returned back to his hut to practise.
At this hour, he was unable to practise the Tempered Body Record, but he could practise the basic skills that the school gave. These basic skills were to establish the foundations for the Tempered Body, to achieve spiritual consumption beyond his own body. This was the aim.
Yang Kai’s previous usage of the Shaolin arts and the leg whip were all based around his foundation work. If not for this, then the skills couldn’t be considered true martial arts. They would only be considered as the basic of basic skills, essential for all to learn.
To the left of Yang Kai’s hut, was a wooden figure. This was made, from a century old tree, by Yang Kai to practise on. Small dents were littered over it; there were even traces of blood. These were all made through Yang Kai many days of diligent training.
Assuming his position, Yang Kai started to hit the wooden man. He infused all his might into each strike, beating the wooden man relentlessly. *Peng, peng* rang out as he struck the wooden man. However, after a few strikes, he felt that something was amiss.
It was his own fists and leg so he clearly felt that they were stronger than before. From the strike and the sound it made, all of them were stronger and more stable, incomparable to before. And over time, his hand and the bones started to feel numb and warm. This clearly indicated that he was stimulating his meridians, increasing his atmospheric affinity.
Reaching the Tempered Body Fourth Stage, gives birth to the atmospheric affinity, developing your meridians further and allowing you to sense the energy more clearly. This warm feeling was Yang Kai’s meridians developing.
Yang Kai practised until the sun set, only then did he stop. Even after this period of time, not only was he not fatigued, he even felt more alive. Ever since he merged with that Golden Skeleton, his strength seemed to skyrocket. Walking twenty miles today didn’t even tire him out; even with the added weight of the sack of rice he did not show the slightest trace of being fatigued.
It was only when he was cultivating his tempered body, that he would truly feel pressure. Thinking about that morning’s practise, Yang Kai couldn’t help but shudder. That pressure was like the heaven and earth were crushing him, absolutely horrifying.
But with strain/pressure come development. Without extreme pressure, how could you possibly advance?
Only then, would a person’s true potential show. And only then would your strength grow, step by step, each time breaking past your limits.
Though currently, even after throwing large amounts of punches and kicks out, Yang Kai has yet to feel any fatigue. He doesn’t feel strained, how can he force out his potential and improve?
This made things difficult and made him depressed. That skeleton also gave him extreme recovery, making the basic skills of the school useless. Did that mean that he could only practise for half an hour each day at sunrise?
Daylight had around twelve full hours, and yet he could only practise for half an hour. What would he do the rest of the time? Sleep? That was obviously impossible! Yang Kai immediately rejected the idea.
While he absentmindedly cooked, Yang Kai thought about how he should train to exhaustion. If anyone else knew of this, they would have laughed to death.
Other practitioners may have wanted to take it easier, but Yang Kai wanted to push himself to the limit.
In the end, he still couldn’t think of any good methods. Though the main reason was Yang Kai needed elixirs to help boost his training. There were also other methods, but in the end, all of these had one thing in common, they required money.
In High Heaven Pavilion, contribution points were the currency. Alas, Yang Kai was poor and only had a measly twelve points.
After the rice finished cooking, he wolfed down a few bowls. Although there were no side dishes, and he could only eat plain rice, Yang Kai was very satisfied. That was the only meal in the past few days, which made him full.
After dinner, he couldn’t go train, so he went to take a bath. After that he lay down and went to bed. Continuing his practise, there would be no result, so he might as well try to solve that problem. Consider the solutions, to hasten the work speed.
After thinking for a while, he suddenly remembered; the black book.
One of the pages had something inside, so Yang Kai figured that the other pages would be the same. So if he had enough strength, he could unseal each page.
The first page contained the Golden Skeleton, which was also the cause of his current predicament.
While the second dealt with the methods to cultivate the tempered body with Golden skeleton.
However the third page remained blank. He had already tried to decipher it, but Yang Kai concluded he wasn’t strong enough yet.
With the first and second pages unlocked, Yang Kai could start to study them. But after good half day he still couldn’t figure them out. Until he accidentally turned to the third page and went into a trance.
[Eh?] Yang Kai frowned as he started to read the third page.
Almost instantly, countless gold words started to appear on the page and jumped into his mind. Then a small whirlpool started to appear in the centre of the page. From it, arose an antique incense burner.
This turn of events left Yang Kai in shock, but quickly he started to rejoice.
[That’s right! didn’t I break through into the fourth stage this morning? Last night I was still in the third stage, but today I’m in the fourth stage! So that’s why I couldn’t access the third page before.]
Although it was only one level, it had still hindered his ability to comprehend the third page.
After he thought about this, Yang Kai couldn’t help but feel regret. If this morning he had discovered this, then he wouldn’t need to waste time now thinking about it.
Calming his beating heart, Yang Kai held the incense burner and carefully inspected it.
This burner wasn’t large in size, and was a common item used by people. But it was half sealed, with a lid on the mouth and a few holes. It was also antique and of outstanding quality, but it wasn’t attention grabbing at all.
He took a sniff, but after noticing there was no odour, he slowly lowered it.
[What is it made of?] Even after a while, Yang Kai still didn’t know but could only go on the information imprinted in his mind.
After a short pause, Yang Kai opened his eyes with a strange look in them.
According to the information in his mind, this incense burner could aid him during training. The burner itself has no special properties, however if you were to gather herbs and burn them in it, the fragrance released would aid you during training.
Different herbs were needed for different stages.
Unfortunately, Yang Kai had some doubts. The plants needed to aid him at his current level were the Three Leaved Destruction/Chaos Spirit Flower and the Dead Jedi Tree Grass.
According to his understanding, the values of these two herbs were not high but they were very hard to find. They also possessed small amounts of toxins. Inhaled over a short period of time, and these toxins will cause lasting damage to the body.
[Would these two herbs really be effective?]
These herbs were definitely available in the Contribution Hall, but with Old Man Meng’s personality, he would definitely charge high prices for them. And with only a few points in his possession, how could he spend them like that?
There was only one option left. He would have to venture into the Black Wind Mountains to look for them himself. Yang Kai had already hunted in there before, so was quite familiar with its geography and perhaps the herbs were there.
[I shall head off to the mountains tomorrow!] With his problems currently solved, Yang Kai slowly drifted to sleep. But before he fell asleep, he checked the fourth page so as to not repeat this morning’s embarrassing action. Unfortunately nothing appeared; it seemed that Tempered Body Fourth Stage was not sufficient for this page.
The next morning, Yang Kai got up early.
Yesterday’s practise had already had such a large impact on his cultivation, so naturally he would make full use of the short time he had to cultivate. Not to mention, he was not the kind to laze about.
While immersing himself in the purple eastern air/gas, that slow but with the might of heaven and earth infused, Tempered Body Record Fist’s might gradually unfolded.
While he was a stage stronger than yesterday, Yang Kai still didn’t make much progress on the fist. You could only perform it twenty times and when he touched his back, torturous pain responded. His back, hip and bones all ached, they felt like smashed beans.
Inhaling a mouthful of purple gas, his bodily senses as energy became clearer. His meridians all opened up and began to expel the impurities within his body.
Martial Peak – Chapter 15, Looking for Medicine inside the Mountain
With his daily training finished, he started his sweeping, which since absorbing the Golden Skeleton he had been able to complete in only one hour. After he finished sweeping he ran to the Contribution Hall.
Although Yang Kai had decided to go into the mountains to find the herbs, he had no knowledge regarding herbalism. He had only heard of the Three Leaved Chaos Spirit Flower and the Dead Jedi Tree Grass, and didn’t know what they looked like.
Most of his preparatory work for his journey into the Black Wind Mountain was done. To avoid an embarrassing situation, Yang Kai hurried to the Contribution Hall to write down the herbs’ appearance.
Originally he had planned to ask Treasurer Meng to teach him, he hadn’t expected Treasurer Meng to give him a book on herbs instead.
Looking at the book, Yang Kai found that it had an introduction to herbs and their medical properties, habitats and illustrations. Though it would give create a feeling of disappointment in those who read it. As it merely contained information on ordinary grade herbs and nothing on the herbs of a higher grade, but it was quite suitable for Yang Kai’s current needs.
Just as cultivation level had different ranks, so to were herbs, weapons and medicinal pellets. They were divided into, Ordinary Grade, Earth Grade, Heaven Grade, Mystery Grade, Spirit Grade and Saint Grade; and each grades were then divided into three levels – lower, middle and peak level.
Luckily the herbs that Yang Kai needed were both Ordinary Grade, Lower class herbs so they were in the book. And since they were such a low grade, their value wasn’t high.
After he left the Contribution Hall, Yang Kai went to the General Affairs Office. After all he was still a sweeper of High Heaven Pavilion and this roundabout journey to Black Wind Mountain would take more than a day. So he had to ask to be excused from his work.
The General Affairs Office didn’t make things difficult for him. They gave Yang Kai three days of leave, with his obligations taken care of he set off…
Black Wind Mountain was only twenty miles away from High Heaven Pavilion by foot. Since it wasn’t that far, Yang Kai frequently went there to hunt for his meals, making him quite familiar with the terrain.
In this mountain was a vast and diverse range of herbs. But since it was his first time collecting herbs, Yang Kai made sure to be fully prepared. Carrying his water, food supplies, a shovel and a bag, he hit the road.
Rushing over, Yang Kai came to Black Wind Mountain and surveyed the area. The Mountain was like a prehistoric monster, lying down between the heavens and the earth. Imposing, with no end in sight, the mountain with its lush forests, jagged edges proudly stood against the horizon. Standing there, Yang Kai felt a cool breeze blow through his hair.
Within Black Wind Mountain lived many ferocious beasts. Some high levelled ferocious beasts could even make martial practitioners flee with no chance of victory. So generally when people ventured into the mountain, they wouldn’t go too deep. The first thirty or so miles were classified as the safe zones; while the next ten miles were the dangerous zone. And the area beyond that was the life-threatening zone. Basically the deeper you went, the more dangerous it was.
Since Yang Kai was only looking for ordinary grade lower level herbs he didn’t need to venture too far in. So naturally, he didn’t have to worry about his safety as he would only be searching within the safe zone.
Currently it was still in the early hours of the morning and Yang Kai was trying to recall whether or not he had stumbled upon those herbs in his previous trips to the mountain. But it didn’t matter whether he had or not, as he was prepared this time to find them equipped with the knowledge from the book.
Thinking back, Yang Kai remembered that there were many potential places for herbs to grow in. In his current situation he didn’t even know the locations of the herbs he wanted to find.
But filled with anticipation, Yang Kai followed the familiar track into Black Wind Mountain.
After half an hour Yang Kai spotted his first harvest hidden within the thicket next to the track he, was a bunch of Li Chi/Sharp Teeth herbs. Harvesting them, Yang Kai put them into his bag and continued his search, thinking to himself this was a good start. Walking down the road, Yang Kai looked at the various vegetation scattered about, and memories of the forest came flooding back, informing him of his location. With his knowledge of the Mountain, gained from hunting, he could accurately create a mental map of where he was in relation to High Heaven Pavilion, preventing him from getting lost. By evening Yang Kai had collected four different types of herbs.
When searching for herbs it is naturally very hard, not to mention that many people like to come here to collect herbs, making it even harder to find them. Although Yang Kai only found four herbs, he was still pretty satisfied.
Unfortunately Yang Kai didn’t need these four herbs, to make matters worse their grades were only at Ordinary Grade, lower level too. Nevertheless, if he were to take them back, he could exchange them for contribution points, so they were of some value.
At this time the sun had already started to set. With much haste, Yang Kai finally arrived at an area which was suitable for the growth of many herbs.
This area was very strange, for all its bountiful vegetation it was devoid of any living presence. Especially for an area of thirty feet around the area of herbs the land was completely dead and nothing grew, not even weeds.
Though at the centre of this wasteland, there were three bunches of grass. They fluttered in the wind; Yang Kai saw that they were brown coloured, and thought that is was just necrosis. But this was just the grass’ natural colour.
After looking at it in more detail Yang Kai recognised them as a type of herb and with a sigh of relief, rushed over. With a wide grin plastered on his face, he quickly dug them all up.
A little while later, these three herbs were collected.
As he held these herbs, Yang Kai took out the herbalism book that Treasurer Meng gave him earlier and checked it to see where he had seen them before. They were indeed the Dead Jedi Tree Grass. The illustrations, growth and environment all matched up.
Dead Jedi Tree Grass grew from dead trees, which made it quite easy to find. Basically in the mountains, any place that had dead land, you could find it growing nearby.
Carefully, Yang Kai placed the grass in his bag and took out some water and food, then took out his water and food and looked for a place to eat and rest.
This time when he entered the mountains his main goal was to find the Three Leaved Chaos Spirit Flower and the Dead Jedi Tree Grass, now that he had found the Dead Jedi Tree Grass, he needed to switch his focus to the Three Leaved Chaos Spirit Flower. Not only did he need to find the Three Leaved Chaos Spirit Flower but he also needed a large quantity of it. Yang Kai decided he must double his efforts.
Though right now, it was already evening and the sun had set. This was naturally an inconvenient time to search for herbs so Yang Kai decided to find a spot to rest and continue tomorrow.
Previously when he entered/forayed into the mountains, he had never stayed overnight; however as the saying goes “Even
if you hadn’t tasted pork, you have at least seen a pig before”
. On that note, he naturally knew the dangers of the mountains at night.
After he found the nearest tree, Yang Kai climbed up and looked for a suitable place to sleep, after locating a place he immediately laid down and closed his eyes.
By one-thirty am, Yang Kai had yet to fall asleep, so he took out the black book and turned to page three. With a thought, the incense burner floated out.
This was also a little mystery that Yang Kai had solved about the black book. Anything that was stored inside could be called out and returned at will. It was after all a storage book, and the burner had obviously been placed in there before so this function didn’t come as a complete surprise.
What Yang Kai didn’t understand was that apart from the incense burner, other things could not be stored in the book. This made him wonder, was the black book a soul stone? Do soul stones normally have restrictions on what to accept and reject?
After only playing with the black book for a short while, Yang Kai fell asleep. He had just spent the entire day walking around the mountain, exhausting himself to no ends.
After a peaceful night, Yang Kai got up early the next morning and practised the tempered body record for half an hour. In order to gather a good harvest, he must work very hard for the next two days. He also felt that he was on the brink of a breakthrough, not only did he feel that his atmospheric sense was at the utmost limit; he also felt his body was as well. Yang Kai just needed a final push in order to breakthrough.
Martial Peak – Chapter 16, Tempered Body 5th Stage
The discovery that he was near to a breakthrough left Yang Kai in ecstatic. For it took him three years to make it to the Tempered Body Third Stage. But on the second day of obtaining this book, he had broken through and now once again, will break through again. This training speed also made Yang Kai somewhat scared.
Practising the Tempered Body Record consumed a large amount of stamina. So Yang Kai rested afterwards and slowly regained his stamina. After he had regained his stamina he ate some of the remaining food he had and continued his search for the herbs.
Yesterday he had travelled to all the places from his memory that could potentially grow his required herbs. Today he would have to rely on luck. Fortunately, the value of these herbs was not high, so the chance of finding them today was still high.
After an entire day of searching, Yang Kai had found a total of seventy-eight herbs and two Three Leaved Chaos Spirit Flowers. This time he had finally found the herbs he required to activate the incense burner, but the quantity he had was still lacking.
Time passed by, and soon darkness came. Yang Kai was still awake though, it was not because he wasn’t tired but rather that he was too hungry to fall asleep.
Originally he had planned to hunt some wild life, but had not even seen a single rabbit. Unfortunately, he could only find some fingernail-sized berries which were very sour. When he finished eating them, it only made him feel hungrier.
[Ah! If I knew that this was going to happen, I would have brought more rice balls!] Yang Kai repented. There is no shop in these desolate areas, where is he going to find food?
This hunger was a real embarrassment. Yang Kai then saw in the distance, a hint of a fire. Instantly his energy came back, picking himself up, he walked towards it.
They dared to light a fire in a forest; these people were either idiots or they had nothing to fear. This time, these people belonged to the latter.
When he approached, a person near the fire thundered: “Who!”
At that moment, Yang Kai felt his muscles tighten and his spine shiver. The two people by the fire were vigilant. One was tall and the other was short.
One had a burly physique and held a bow with an arrow notched, pointing the arrow at Yang Kai. The other was a young boy, aged about eleven and his eyes were bright and held no trace of fear. In this boy’s hand was also a bow, and he also had notched an arrow back, but it was much smaller.
Although Yang Kai was faced with the two arrows, he didn’t have the slightest intention to retaliate. Walking around, he acted as if their threats were nothing big.
“Take it easy. I only entered the mountain to collect herbs.” Yang Kai quickly said.
After they heard this, the two people looked at each other. The larger male, slowly lowered his bow and arrow down. He then signalled for the boy to relax and laughed: “I had thought that the fire had attracted a wild beast, but it was just a false alarm.”
“Sorry, I’m sorry.” Yang Kai said slightly embarrassed and laughed.
Touching his forehead, the burly man waved towards Yang Kai: “Come, the nights are cold and surviving alone here will not be easy.”
When he heard this, Yang Kai walked up and sat next to the fire. Beside him, the burly man kept looking at Yang Kai and couldn’t but feel pity when he saw Yang Kai’s thin, bony body.
Now that they were sitting together it would be natural to talk to each other. From this chat, Yang Kai learnt that this father and son pair lived at the foot of the mountain, and came here to hunt and earn a living. Although they weren’t rich, it was enough to maintain adequate food and clothing. The boy, although he was young, was a veteran at hunting. And along with his father, they had come to Black Wind Mountains many times to hunt. Thus their knowledge of the mountain was far greater than Yang Kai’s.
Yang Kai also told them a bit about himself. After he told them that he was a High Heaven Pavilion Disciple, the burly man was taken aback. While the little boy became more interested in Yang Kai and kept on glancing at him with his glossy, black eyes.
The Han man exclaimed, “My son also wanted to train to become a practitioner, but his talent was not enough and he was refused. So, he practically worships you people.”
This statement made Yang Kai recall the past three years and his experiences. Not only did it move him deeply, it also made him softly rub the boy’s head with affection.
When he was about to speak, Yang Kai’s stomach interrupted with a loud *grrr*. The little boy stared blankly and suddenly laughing out loud, from his bag he took out some dry rations and gave it Yang Kai.
This once again made him very moved, but he didn’t accept. Yang Kai looked at the burly man and he smiled: “Eat it. It seems that you did not eat anything today.”
This time Yang Kai didn’t reject the offering and quickly wolfed down the rations.
After chatting some more the three then went to sleep around the fire. Though Yang Kai didn’t dare sleep too heavily, if any danger were to approach the father and son, he would be able to react. He also considered this to be returning the favour for giving him the rations previously.
Fortunately, the night passed peacefully and nothing happened.
When the morning arrived Yang Kai didn’t wait for the father and son to wake before quietly leaving. But before he left, he left two herbs behind as a thank you for last night.
If these two herbs were crumpled they had a healing effect. Since they were constantly in the mountains, these herbs were bound to be useful to the father and son pair.
With the eastern purple gas increasing in volume, Yang Kai trained the Tempered Body Record for half an hour. When he finished his practise, Yang Kai took in a large breath of the purple gas causing his meridians to suddenly shake. A warm feeling then began surging through his body, with the energy in his meridians swirling endlessly
The Tempered Body Fifth Stage! His intuition was correct, he indeed broke through today. After practising for half an hour he really broke through to the next stage!
Yang Kai was extremely happy, and felt immense gratitude towards the Golden Skeleton within his body.
Although it had not been very long since he obtained the proud Golden Skeleton, he had broken through twice thanks to it and the Tempered Body Record. This speed was simply unmatched. And this was practising under quite a number of restrictions. If he could practise all the time, what speed would he reach then?
This thought left Yang Kai somewhat speechless. Though after all, the Tempered Body was only the foundation to becoming a true warrior. Training the early stages were easier, the higher the realms, the greater the difficulty to train in.
After a quick rest Yang Kai continued to search for herbs.
Today he had yet again gained quite a harvest. He had collected more than a dozen herbs and caught a plump rabbit, solving his food problems.
This was already the third day of his mountain journey and he had reached the end of the ten mile safety zone. Any further and Yang Kai dared not to enter inside, for with his current strength his only option was to become food for the beasts within.
Although he did not go too deep, his harvest was still quite good. He had collected more than twenty different types of herbs, and counting the previous two days he had forty different types making his journey here very fruitful. Unfortunately, the two main herbs that he needed were very small in quantity.
To find forty different types of herbs in three days was no small harvest. Even if they were all ordinary grade, lower rank herbs, he was still able to exchange them for a fair amount of contribution points. But this greatly reduced his training time, doing more harm than good.
Martial Peak – Chapter 17, Battle with the Demonic Beast
It was now the afternoon and Yang Kai had started to walk towards the track that would lead him back to High Heaven Pavilion.
Yang Kai was only given three days of leave, so he had to return before tomorrow morning, otherwise there would be harsh punishment awaiting him.
Yang Kai felt that he had plenty of time, and was certain that he could return before dark. After all, he was only 50 kilometres away, not a long distance.
Average walking speed is 5Km/H – which means it will take a NORMAL PERSON 10Hrs to walk that distance!
)
In his heart he held great anticipation with regard to the black book’s third page. Thinking about the results it would bring for him, made him delighted causing his steps to contain a bounce.
Halfway through his journey back, Yang Kai heard an unexpected, piercing cry not too far from his position, which was mixed with the cries from a child.
When he heard this, he stopped moving and strained his ears. Soon after, his face changed and Yang Kai swiftly ran towards the direction of the sound.
When he was listening to the sound, he recognised it as the sounds of the father and son pair from the night before. And that child’s crying sound was from the little boy.
Those two probably had encountered some sort of trouble, or why would they make such a ruckus. Last night they had given Yang Kai some of their rations, and even if were for their past kindness, how could he just ignore their trouble?
As he ran towards them, the father’s roaring became increasingly desperate and the boy’s voice grew softer and softer.
Yang Kai’s face gradually hardened as an ominous feeling arose from within him.
By the time Yang Kai arrived, the father’s roar could no longer be heard, and he only saw a dark cave in a high hill. To the side of the cave in the midst of some bushes, tangled between some spider webs was a silver bow. This bow the same one the little boy had been holding the previous night.
Without thinking, Yang Kai threw these possessions onto the ground, heightened his senses and plunged straight into that dark and sinister cave.
Although the light inside the cave was not bright, it was still enough to see.
When he looked around, Yang Kai was shocked to discover that the cave was covered in webs. On the walls and the ground, they crisscrossed each other and varied in thicknesses. Layer upon layer, the road ahead was blocked by the multitude of webs.
Not only that, the cave was damp. The water dripped down at a steady pace, and when Yang Kai took a step forward, his foot sank into the ground.
Steeling his nerves, Yang Kai walked to the sound of deep breathing. Only he saw a large human sized cocoon spun from a spider’s thread in a chrysalis-like state. At the top, it revealed a human face, which belonged to the burly man from the night before.
Worriedly, Yang Kai dashed over to the trapped hunter, his worry eased upon discovering that he was only unconscious.
Hearing Yang Kai calling to him, the hunter groggily awoke and called out feebly, “Save the child! He was dragged further inside. I beg of you! Please… save my child!”
“Got dragged inside?” This shocked Yang Kai, as he struggled to free the hunter from the web. Sadly the web was too strong for his current strength, being unable to break it he could only temporarily give up. Diving into the hole, he chased after the little boy.
From behind the hunter warned: “Be careful! That is a Demonic Spider Beast!”
When he heard the words, Demonic Spider Beast, Yang Kai’s heart thumped loudly. These Demonic Beasts were not like ordinary wild animals; they loved to slaughter. They were true ferocious beasts and Yang Kai was not a match for even the lowest among them with his current strength.
In the Black Wind Mountains, the reason why the first thirty miles were deemed a safe zone was precisely because there were no ferocious beasts. Unfortunately, it seemed one had appeared here. This was completely out of anyone’s expectations.
Now that he knew it was a ferocious beast, Yang Kai movements became more cautious and faint. Slowly, he groped his way through the tunnel and after about ten feet, he spotted the little boy.
The son was in a similar situation to his father, wrapped up in a cocoon which was suspended in mid-air by a larger spider web.
At the side of the little boy, there was an enormously, large Flower Patterned Spider sucking on a straw. The straw was inserted in the little boy’s arm, and you could clearly see the dark red blood streaming out from the straw and into the spider’s mouth.
On the ground of this hillside cave, were various bones of all different types of beasts piled up like mountains. One could only imagine the amount of time the Demonic Spider Beast had spent living here and the number of poor souls, humans and animals alike, that had fallen prey to it.
Yang Kai had no time to spare to think about this spider’s capabilities and form an appropriate plan. Every second he delayed, increased the chances of this little boy ascending straight to heaven. After a moments silence, he suddenly charged forward.
The enormously, large, Flower Patterned Spider did not expect to be disturbed at that moment. Shortly after Yang Kai charged forward, a large amount of force was applied to the side of the Demonic Spider, and a large hole was torn in the web. The Flower Patterned Spider fell alongside Yang Kai. The little boy also fell through the hole and onto the ground.
Being attacked so abruptly; caused the Flower Patterned Spider to turn furious. Its eight long, hairy legs stamped the ground, and all of its eyes focused on Yang Kai.
Before he even had to time to get up, he was pinned down by a single pounce from the Flower Patterned Spider.
Yang Kai snarled, a steel fist flew out and landed squarely on the throat of the spider. This momentarily stunned it; Yang Kai took the opportunity to kick the spider, sending it flying away.
With a single roll, Yang Kai got to his feet and crouched down, his eyes fully focused on the movements of that Flower Patterned Spider.
After that small confrontation, Yang Kai’s furiously beating heart had calmed slightly. For that Demonic Beast’s rank was not that high, otherwise he would even be able to struggle against it. It’s most likely just only a First Realm Demonic Beast.
However even if it was only a first realm Demonic Beast, given Yang Kai’s current strength it was still a difficult opponent.
As both sides were sizing up their opponents, the Flower Patterned Spider started to show signs of impatience, and it wasn’t just him Yang Kai began to exhibit them as well. It seemed that the little boy had lost too much blood, and was showing signs of poisoning. If the current situation could not be resolved quickly, then there would be no time to save him.
Suddenly, the Flower Patterned Spider opened its mouth to spit out a long, gem-silk thread. It spat the thread towards Yang Kai, signalling the start of its attack.
Previously, Yang Kai had learnt about this thread’s durability, so naturally he was wary to not be trapped by it. At once, he rolled to the side and narrowly dodged the attack.
The spider didn’t show much reaction to his dodge and continued to spit out other thread pieces. By the time Yang Kai noticed the spider wasn’t aiming at him it was already too late, the entire cave had been covered by in a web of these threads, sealing off his exits and trapping him inside.
“Are you forcing me to fight to the death?” Yang Kai laughed at that thought, any fear he had previously harboured was quickly expelled by the arrogance seeping out from his bones, pumping adrenaline through his body.
With the current situation, if he didn’t kill the spider, he would not be able to leave. Since it had come to that, he could only fight to the bitter end; either you die or I die.
With time ticking, Yang Kai could not afford to delay. Firmly planting both feet on the ground, he sprinted towards the Flower Patterned Spider. Out flew another strand of thread; fortunately, Yang Kai was on guard, so how could he not avoid it?
After dodging three of these threads in succession, he had finally closed the distance between them. But before he could throw out a punch, that Flower Patterned Spider raised its front two legs and drove them towards him.
Yang Kai could only lift up his arm to block, the spider’s forelimbs pierced through his arm.
Yang Kai roared out in pain, his blood boiled out. Not only was he not in a fearful panic, instead he had an indescribable feeling of excitement and anticipation in his heart. All of his bones clanking together caused a warm feeling passed through his entire body.
Martial Peak – Chapter 18, Good Men Will Be Rewarded
Throwing out a punch, Yang Kai’s fist whistled through the air and smashed into the eyes on the left-hand side of the Flower Patterned Spider’s head. The moment his fist hit, it pulverised two eyes.
The Flower Patterned Spider was horrified. Even with its limited intellectual capacity, it knew to fear that human, who now had blood dripping from his arm. When it went to retract its two legs that were lodged into Yang Kai’s arms, the spider found that the arm muscles had tightened around its forelimbs, causing the spider to be unable to pull them out.
Yang Kai’s second punch followed shortly after his first, pulverising another two eyes.
The Flower Patterned Spider screeched out in pain, incessantly trying to retreat, but its hind legs could only scratch the ground. In desperation, it lashed out at Yang Kai, leaving many shallow wounds on his arms. Although they weren’t deep, they still drew blood.
But, the pain only served to increase Yang Kai’s adrenaline, his whole body bubbled with overflowing strength. The corners of his mouth curved into a cold and merciless smile as his fists flew endlessly towards the spider’s forehead. Under the unceasing barrage of attacks, the Flower Patterned Spider’s forehead cracked open, and its bodily fluids oozed out.
A dismal whimper escaped from its mouth, the Flower Patterned Spider did not wish to sit and wait for its death. From its mouth, it spat out streams of its web, and at such close proximity, the web wrapped Yang Kai up.
However at that moment, the Flower Patterned Spider was in a horrible state; its head was disfigured so much that it had nearly burst. If it wasn’t a Demonic Beast, and had the tenacious vitality that is associated with it, it would have already died many times over.
Since this was the case, even though it had trapped him with its web, under Yang Kai’s relentless fists, it soon ceased all signs of struggling.
Yang Kai would have never imagined he could win a fight with a Demonic Beast. Furthermore, not only had he survived, he had also killed it.
Even though it was a First Realm Demonic Beast, it was still not something a cultivator at the Tempered Body Fifth Stage should be able to defeat. Although Yang Kai’s wounds weren’t considered light, he didn’t feel much pain from them; as if they nothing at all.
After certifying that the Flower Patterned Spider was truly dead, Yang Kai went to extract the leg that had pierced into his arm. When he pulled it out, a gush of warm blood followed.
Without even pausing to inspect his injuries, Yang Kai tore apart the spider web that was binding him and rushed to the little boy’s side; gently cradling his body he brought him out of the cave.
The little boy’s father had managed to finally escape from his web cocoon. And just as he was preparing to run further into the cave, he saw a blood-drenched Yang Kai carry out his son. He quickly inquired: “What happened to him?”
“He has lost too much blood and has also been poisoned.” Yang Kai replied.
After reaching the cave’s entrance, Yang Kai placed the little boy onto the ground and raced towards his fallen bag. Taking out some of the herbs inside, he began chewing on them. Without hesitation he called over the hunter: “Chew on these herbs to soften them, and then feed them to him.”
The hunter was already scared out of his wits, so when he heard Yang Kai’s orders, he didn’t hesitate. Swiftly, he placed the herbs into his mouth and began to chew them diligently.
In that moment, Yang Kai’s mind was all too clear; his understanding of each herb’s medicinal properties began to appear in his mind within his mind. Which herbs could detoxify, which herbs could help with healing, and which herbs could help staunch blood flow; the knowledge flowing through his mind was comparable to that of a veteran pharmacist.
After a short period of time, Yang Kai took out the herbs he had been chewing on and smeared them over the little boy’s arm. The hunter followed his actions and began to feed the chewed up herbs to his son.
Under the nervous gazes of the two people, colour gradually returned to the boy’s pale face and his breathing steadied.
The hunter could finally release the tension in his heart and fell on his buttocks. Crying out loudly he said, “Thank god nothing happened, Thank god nothing happened……..”
Yang Kai poured cold water on his new found hope: “Not yet, my herbs are only low levelled ones and can only alleviate his symptoms. You have to leave the mountain and find a doctor; otherwise, I’m afraid that the poison will become incurable. ”
The hunter could only listen to Yang Kai’s advice. Immediately he said: “Then I shall go take him to find a doctor now.”
“There’s no hurry.” said Yang Kai as he held out his hand to stop him. “Allow your son’s condition to stabilise first before moving him.”
“Yes… What you said is true.” With such a great catastrophe befalling on the hunter, he had long since lost his nerve. So whatever Yang Kai said, he would follow.
After replying, he remembered that his saviour was also injured. His injuries were not light, so he worriedly asked: “Saviour, do you not want to also treat your own wounds.”
Yang Kai replied: “No need.”
“But you have shed such a large amount of blood, how is that alright?” The Hunter looked at him in shock.
“I don’t know.” Standing up, Yang Kai jumped up and down vivaciously. “Even I don’t know, but I feel great.”
He not only felt great, but also excited. Yang Kai suspected all this was somehow related to his Golden Skeleton, but how could he explain it to a simple hunter? As he thought back to the recent fight, Yang Kai’s blood began to boil once again.
That was the very first time he had ever been in a life or death situation. But he had not experienced even the slightest amount of fear. Instead, he had only felt enjoyment at the feeling of blood splattering all around him; as though it was the most common occurrence.
“That’s right, please wait a bit and I will return soon.” As he picked up his bag, Yang Kai once again rushed into the cave.
The hunter thought he had gone to sort out the Demonic Beast’s corpse, but that was not it.
Although the Flower Patterned Spider was a Demonic Beast, its corpse didn’t hold any value; it was too low levelled.
Yang Kai’s goal was to pick up herbs growing inside the cave!
Before he had begun his battle with the Flower Patterned Spider, he had discovered a large amount of purple coloured flowers. Previously, he didn’t have the time to examine them, but now, once he got back to them, his spirits couldn’t help but rise.
If he didn’t see incorrectly, those purple coloured flowers were actually the Three Leaved Chaos Spirit Flowers that he desperately needed.
Three Leaved Chaos Spirit Flowers grew in dark and damp places with a lot of corpses; making this cave an ideal environment for them to grow in.
With his heart full of anticipation as he entered the cave, Yang Kai was so joyous that he nearly laughed.
Helping others will really reward you well. It seemed that this saying must be true! If he had not come to rescue the father and son pair, then he would never have found the herbs that he was looking for.
The vast expanse of purple flowers in front of him truly were the Three Leaved Chaos Spirit Flowers. Plus, there appeared to be a vast quantity of them; a quick count showed there were at least thirty to forty of these flowers. These small purple flowers, all bunched together, would make anyone who saw them feel delighted.
Without further ado, Yang Kai hurriedly took out his shovel and started to harvest these herbs.
While he busied himself, Yang Kai’s heart was more than contented. Just as he was preparing to leave the cave, Yang Kai discovered a red, mushroom like plant in the corner of the cave.
His curiosity piqued, Yang Kai walked towards it to carefully examine it. This thing was about the size of a bowl, dark red and was like a mushroom or fungus. Yang Kai didn’t recognise this thing, for it was not mentioned in the little book that Treasurer Meng had given him.
Could it be a priceless treasure? Rolling up his sleeves, Yang Kai went to pick the mushroom like plant. As for the matter of its identity, he could work it later; it didn’t take much space up in his bag anyway.
By the time Yang Kai exited the cave, his bag was filled to the brim.
“Let’s go, I will descend the mountain with you.” Yang Kai told the hunter, treating him like an equal.
“Many thanks saviour.” The hunter was moved to tears; for he knew that Yang Kai was worried they would encounter more danger on the journey out. That’s why he was following them.
“We just happen to be travelling the same path, no need to thank me.” Yang Kai replied humbly, and the three of them quickly descended the mountain.
By evening, they had already arrived back into town, and in the dark, they searched for the doctor’s home.
Martial Peak – Chapter 19 – Su Mu comes, looking for trouble
Even after settling the little boy, Yang Kai wasn’t in a rush to leave. After all, that night, the little boy had given him some of his rations. So, he had to stay until the boy opened his eyes; only after that, would his heart be at peace.
Inside, the hunter was paced around restlessly, worried about his boy. Before long, the doctor shooed him out — saying he was too noisy.
“Doctor Chu said it is fortunate we did some emergency treatment. Otherwise, my son would have truly lost his life. Saviour, your mercy and kindness I will be forever unable to repay. Even if I worked hard my entire life, I will be unable to repay you.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the hunter knelt down in front of Yang Kai.
Yang Kai did not help him up but smiled and said: “Big brother Zhang, men only kneel before gold. With you kneeling, you have harmed our good relationship; you do not need to kneel to me in the future. I also ate some of your child’s rations, if you are talking about owing, then I owe you too.”
After finishing his sentence, he went to help Hunter Zhang up.
Hunter Zhang was moved to tears: “Saviour, you truly are a good person!”
As they were speaking, the doctor walked outside and said to Hunter Zhang: “It is no longer dangerous, so you need not worry. But because he has lost a large amount of blood, he will be asleep for a while longer but once he wakes up, he’ll be fine.”
When they heard those words, Yang Kai and Hunter Zhang both let out sighs of relief.
Once he relaxed, Yang Kai felt a wave of exhaustion flow through his body. Today had been far too exciting; he had also received many wounds and lost tons of blood. Even with his previous energy, his body had still received damage, so when he relaxed himself, he fell asleep until the sun rose.
Early in the morning, at High Heaven Pavilion, many of the disciples woke up early, with high spirits. Together they gathered in a certain region, waiting in anticipation. Thirsty eyes, craned necks, and an unruly state of mind; these things were consistent throughout the crowd. Together they surrounded the house like a housewife who had waited many years for her husband to return home. Exemplifying their devotion and expectation.
With the passing of time, the number of people who gathered here gradually increased. It was like they were telepathically connected, everybody turned their heads at the same time to look at one place.
That place was the path that leads to the residence of Yang Kai – a small little hut.
Today was the day when they could once again challenge Yang Kai! This was equivalent to a free contribution point box, how could these Disciples give up this golden opportunity? Some people pitied Yang Kai’s predicament, for every five days he was challenged and beaten to a pulp. This was really a bit too brutal.
However, sympathy alone could not help Yang Kai. Even if they did not challenge him, many others would gladly take their place. In the end, he will still be beaten to a pulp, so they might as well do it themselves, at least they could take it easy on him. When they thought about it like that, they all came to try their luck.
[En, if he chose me, I will definitely hit lightly, so he will not be injured too badly.] Many people were making excuses like this in their hearts.
Typically Yang Kai was already awake and had begun to sweep the area by this time, but it was really strange today. Even after waiting quite a while, they still had not seen Yang Kai. Even when they tiptoed over to look around, they could not find him.
“What’s with Yang Kai? Did he oversleep? Why hasn’t he come out yet?”
“I don’t know, thinking about it, has anyone has seen him in these past few days?”
“Could it be that he has already left High Heaven Pavilion?”
“Impossible, it’s not like you don’t know about Yang Kai’s stubbornness. Even if you killed him, he would not leave. If he really wanted to leave, he would have left a couple months ago, when he was made into a Trial Disciple. Why would he wait such a long time just to leave in the end anyway?”
Surprisingly with all the discussion going on, no one knew that a few days prior, Yang Kai had asked for leave to enter the Black Wind Mountains and had yet to return. Though this was no surprise, for during normal days, Yang Kai did not interact much with others, and so naturally no one knew of his whereabouts.
While this group were making a ruckus, a person had started to walk towards this crowd. His face was flawless like jade, and his body also like jade, he really was a handsome youth. But no one knew why at that moment, this youth’s expression was very gloomy. As he walked, he was gnashing his teeth and cursing someone.
Following behind this youth, were a large number of High Heaven Pavilion Disciples. Surrounding him, they made him seem to be the centre of attention.
While the youth was surrounded he showed a very unpleasant face. He said in doubt: “Why is it? Why are there so many people here?”
In response to his request someone hurriedly came up to him and informed him in a lowered voice: “Master Su, today is the day we can challenge Yang Kai. So many Fellow Disciples have gathered here today to collect some contribution points.”
The youth that was called Master Su furrowed his eyebrows before laughing heartedly. “Looks like our Fellow Brother Yang is in an abyss of suffering.”
His words were fill with delight at Yang Kai’s misfortune.
“En. Basically, he is challenged every five days. Not only that, he will not admit defeat unless he can no longer stand properly.” The person who had spoken earlier further explained.
Master Su laughed again: “En, this young master feels that the resentment in his heart has decreased greatly. But this is not enough; I must make him leave High Heaven Pavilion. For as long as he is not a High Heaven Pavilion Disciple I can do whatever I please with him and no one can say a word.”
“Master Su is right. That brat dared to tarnish your good name; he really cannot differentiate between a noble and a horse. He doesn’t even bother to inquire as to Master Su’s identity. He is too arrogant!”
This ass-kissing made Master Su feel much better, causing him to repeatedly nod his head.
Master Su, whose reputation Yang Kai had tarnished, was exactly the same Su Mu he had met in Black Plum Village. It was the same Su Mu, along with the two Han men, upon whom Yang Kai had enforced justice. Because of this, Su Mu had flown into a rage, enquiring around High Heaven Pavilion on the identity of Yang Kai.
In the end, he had found out about the ins and outs about Yang Kai in less than a day. After all, he did have his own network of connections and channels. But under the iron rule of the Main Gate, he could not easily move his hand and had waited until this day to bring a bunch of people over to cause trouble for Yang Kai. Unfortunately he didn’t expect that so many other people would also come for Yang Kai.
This made Su Mu somewhat displeased, waving his hand, he said: “Make them leave. Tell that today, Yang Kai will only be mine today.”
This statement made Yang Kai sound like some sort of young girl, or like an available prostitute, ready to be brought.
The person next to him promptly walked into the crowd, cupped his hands and said: “Fellow Brothers and Sisters, today’s battle with Yang Kai, Master Su has already reserved it. So I ask my Fellow Brothers and Sisters to please line up at the door and watch. I am sorry any inconvenience.”
This announcement took many by surprise. They all turned to Su Mu in confusion and asked: “Why should we? Every time, Yang Kai would use his broom to choose the opponent, so for what reason should we allow you to fight him? Even if he did not choose, shouldn’t it be first come, first served?”
After that was said, someone pulled at the speaker and whispered to them: “That is Su Mu. Do you know who Su Mu is?”
“Who?” This person had just been accepted into the Sect, so he really didn’t know who Su Mu was.
“Idiot! There is an Elder who is surnamed Su, there is also a Core Disciple within the top ten surnamed Su. Why don’t you say who he is?” That person spoke.
Although the one listening didn’t nod his head in understanding, he still understood the meaning behind those words. He had been temporarily stunned by the information. When he heard that Su Mu had such powerful people backing him, how could he dare make another sound?
“Winning against Yang Kai will not even earn me many contribution points, so it’s best not to offend him.”
“Yes, yes, yes.” The person replied while cold sweat dripped down his back.
Amount till the next bonus chapter:
Su Mu was very satisfied with the reaction to his demand, but witnessing this made him snort softly in disdain.
Although today’s battle with Yang Kai had been secured by Su Mu, the crowd had yet to disperse. They didn’t know what Yang Kai had done to offend Su Mu, so of course, they wanted to stay behind and watch the show.
After waiting for some time, Yang Kai still hadn’t appeared. Su Mu impatiently asked: “Where is he?”
“I don’t know. Usually, he is already out sweeping the grounds by this time. So, I don’t why he has yet to come out. Master Su, should we check his hut?”
After thinking for a bit, Su Mu nodded and replied: “That’s a good idea. He is just a small and insignificant sweeper, yet he dares to make this Master Su painstakingly wait for him. I will make him pay for this!”
The location of Yang Kai’s residence was no secret, so the people around Su Mu swiftly lead the way.
The ones who had stayed behind to watch the show also followed, creating a grand procession of Disciples.
A short while later, the procession of people had arrived at Yang Kai’s small hut. When they saw the pitiful and wretched state of his hut, with holes littering the hut walls, they were not surprised. For no apparent reason, Su Mu lifted his hand pointed at the hut: “That brat lives here?”
“Yang Kai is a Trial Disciple, he all his own clothing, food, housing and training materials needs to be provided by himself. The Main Gate will definitely not provide them for him. This hut was probably built by his own hands.”
“Good, good, good.” Su Mu laughed happily. Thinking about how drenched Yang Kai would become on rainy days elevated his spirits.
Sighing, Su Mu controlled his smile and strode confidently, like a dragon or a proud like tiger, forward. With a loud voice, taking care to clearly articulate each word he called out: “Yang Kai! Get your arse out for this Master Su and prepare to receive a nice beating!”
That loud shout was powerful, like a storm and yet unlike a storm it was not detached and uncaring it was filled with utter hatred. The hatred and bloodthirsty desire, made everyone present shiver in their shoes. This clearly displayed the level hatred between Yang Kai and Su Mu to the crowd; evidently it was not a small grudge.
Su Mu stood there, exuding a majestic presence. At this moment, it appeared that not even the
eight winds
could move him. After he finished shouting, he waited expectantly outside the door for Yang Kai to coming running out, while pissing his pants, and crying to beg for mercy. The more he thought about it, the more arrogant be became.
But no matter how long he waited, there was not even a hint of movement within the hut.
Su Mu’s face was now full of rage, snarling he called out again: “Yang Kai, be a smart guy and get your arse out here. Otherwise, we will come inside and drag you out.”
Yet, there was still no reply.
Su Mu now felt there was something odd, for if Yang Kai was really inside, there should be at least sounds of him breathing. Could it be that he was not inside?
Su Mu signalled one the people around him exaggeratedly. That person promptly sprang forward, forcefully kicked down the wooden door and rushed into the small hut.
Not long after they had entered, that person ran out again and reported to Su Mu: “Master Su, there is no one inside. There is also a small accumulation of dust. Looks like this trash knew that calamity was approaching and had already fled.”
“Fled?” Su Mu nearly vomited blood in anger. He had racked his brains, scheming for many days all in preparation for this day, the day he would get to exact his revenge and make up for the shame he suffered at the hands of Yang Kai. He had even brought this many Disciples to come and watch the show, yet that Yang Kai had unexpectedly fled?
This was like a powerful punch had been let out, but landed on a piece of cotton. It made Su Mu feel gloomy and depressed.
“Speaking about it, for these past few days, we haven’t seen even a strand of hair from Yang Kai.”
“A wise man will submit to the circumstances. Since Yang Kai had offended Su Mu, he probably knew that all hell would break loose; forcing him to leave the Main Gate.”
“No wonder even after waiting such a long time, he had yet to appear.”
“Ah! Now that Yang Kai has left, we will no longer be able to obtain easy contribution points.”
The crowd muttered softly, none of their mutterings escaped Su Mu’s ears.
Although he was pleased by the respect they were showing him, he hadn’t been able to extract his revenge. Thus, Su Mu heart was still unsatisfied.
After thinking for a while, with a gloomy face, Su Mu could only accept the fact he would not get to extract his revenge on Yang Kai today. In a fit of rage he said: “That trash really got lucky, however my anger will not dissipate. Burn down this pitiful hut.”
This demand alarmed everybody present, even the people Su Mu had brought with him were stunned. One asked: “Master Su, is it a good idea to start a fire inside the school?”
“What are you afraid of?” Su Mu eyed him: “Even if the sky falls down, I will be there to catch it. Furthermore, it isn’t even important to the school. So what if it is destroyed, it wouldn’t be much of a loss. Also, leaving this ragged hut standing will harm this younger master’s eyes.”
Hearing him speak dispelled the concerns within their hearts. With the Master Su as backing them, burning this hut was nothing.
Before they lit the fire, some went to look for dry grass to use as kindling.
After a while, everything was prepared. Grinning, Su Mu lit a torch, its flames distorted his face greatly making him appear evil?.
“Yang Kai, I warn you never to let me see your face in the future. Otherwise, I will not let you live or die!” Su Mu said while grinding his teeth. Just as he was preparing to throw the torch into the hut, a person to his side tapped his shoulder and whilst releasing a bloodthirsty aura enquired of him: “What is this for?”
Su Mu didn’t even need to think before replying: “Burning a house.”
“Why are you burning my house?” That person’s voice carried a hint of anger.
“Your house?” Su Mu curled his lip ferociously and turned his head. As soon as he saw the speaker, he immediately jumped to the side like a frightened rabbit seeing a wolf. Then with an exaggerated movement, he assumed a defensive posture. His face was filled with alarm and the hairs on the back of his neck all rose.
It was because the appearance of the person who had spoken was too frightening. Not only were his clothes all tattered, his hair was messed up, with plants sticking out all over the place and dirty beyond compare. His body also displayed numerous bloody marks, his clothes were bloodstained and a bulging bag was tied around his back. God only knew what was in there.
A gentle breeze blew past, causing his tattered pants to flap revealing a strong and sturdy leg covered in leg hair.
The wind carried with it the stench from Yang Kai’s dirty filled body, which Su Mu was unable to stomach that smell. That appearance, coupled with the blood and smell made Su Mu want to vomit up his three meals.
That posture, that manner, was strangely familiar.
If he were to hold a broken bowl in one hand, then he would look exactly like a beggar.
But…….why did he feel that this horrifying person looked familiar?
Su Mu looked more closely, becoming more and more confused. After he thought for a while he cried out: “Yang Kai!”
If it’s not Yang Kai, then who could it be? Even though his body shape had changed and his face was covered in filth, how could Su Mu, who hated Yang Kai deep down in his bones, not recognise him? If he could he not recognise him then who could?
Yang Kai also recognised Su Mu. Grinning widely, he revealed a set of ivory white teeth. “If it isn’t Fellow Brother Su who brazenly tried to frame others in Black Plum Village?”
The voice that said so was full of ridicule, turning Su Mu’s white face a deep red. Stamping his foot Su Mu retorted: “Yang Kai, you did not choose to walk the path to heaven but chose to walk through hell’s gates! You are destined to die today!”
“You want to find issue with me?” With his brow creasing, Yang Kai asked.
“Nonsense!” Su Mu cried proudly. “You thought I came to see you?”
“If you have something to settle with me, come and find me. Why do you need to burn down my house?” Yang Kai questioned.
Su Mu promptly threw the touch away and rushed to step on it; like he was stamping on Yang Kai directly. Venting on the torch, after a while, the torch was finally stamped out.
This moment of pause allowed the people present to understand what was happening. They finally realised that Yang Kai had not run away from fear of Su Mu, but rather that he had only left to complete some business.
But what business did he have to complete which had caused his appearance to become so appalling? Such bloodiness, isn’t it a bit too much? Also, the tears in his clothes were obviously made by some sort of sharp weapon. Who did he go and fight with? And was it a life and death fight?
Amount till the next bonus chapter:
Martial Peak – Chapter 21, I Will Give You Three Moves
Sponsored By – Karen Nguyen
Those bloody wounds naturally came from the fight with the Flower Patterned Spider. Back then he didn’t have enough time to treat them, because he had to bring the little boy back to the village to see a doctor and then he had collapsed from exhaustion and immediately fallen asleep once he knew the child was safe.
Yang Kai had slept until the next morning without waking. And after he saw that the little boy was awake and well, Yang Kai had hurried back to the Sect. When he drew near, he saw a hoard of people surrounding his home. They all held torches and looked like they were going to burn down his home. But how could he allow this? Naturally, he would go and ask why they were doing this, but he didn’t expect it would be Su Mu who came to look for trouble.
Just as the owner of the house appeared, Su Mu who had intended to burn it down, did not even feel the tiniest bit guilty. Instead, he felt excited and pointed towards Yang Kai, “Yang Kai, don’t you dare say that this young master did not give you a chance. So …”
“Wait a moment.” Yang Kai lifted his hand to stop him, and then leisurely entered his hut.
“Hey…” With his words stopped halfway, Su Mu felt like he ate a fly; the ones that liked to appear before dung piles. He felt extremely uncomfortable.
“Master Su, this person doesn’t give you any face at all.” Someone cried out seeking justice for Su Mu.
*Humph!* Sneering Su Mu said: “Later, help me beat him up ruthlessly. I heard that this brat never surrenders. So, no need to be soft with your strikes. Today, I must teach him the consequences for offending this young master.”
“Yes.”
When he entered his hut, Yang Kai took off the bag on his back. Inside this bag were herbs, his precious harvest from the three days he spent on the mountain. If he didn’t secure their safety first, his heart wouldn’t be at rest.
When he put the bag safely away, Yang Kai exited his hut and said to Su Mu with a serious face: “What was it that you wanted to tell me?”
Su Mu looked at him, his face a picture of abhorrence. His face full of bitterness, like he was going to spit out a mouthful of blood.
Previously, before he could say his perfectly rehearsed lines, he had been interrupted by Yang Kai. But now that Yang Kai had asked him what he wanted to say, he couldn’t wait and yelled out: “Yang Kai, don’t you dare say that his young master did not give you a chance. So as long you are willing to kneel down and kowtow for me in front of all the Fellow Disciples present and call me your grandfather, I will spare your life! Or else… Haa, haa, haa…”
The message was very clear, explicitly implying the threat unsaid.
When he finished, Su Mu’s face was filled with his desire for revenge; it really showed how he felt about Yang Kai.
Slowly Yang Kai nodded his head; grievingly he looked at Su Mu.
“What?” Su Mu was unsure, for Yang Kai’s face was calm and composed. This made him somewhat restless, for he had been played around with by him before in Black Plum Village. He was still a bit traumatised from the experience.
“Unfilial!” Yang Kai sighed.
The crowd was stunned, Su Mu was stunned, they were all thinking how was this unfilial?
“What do you mean?” Su Mu viciously asked.
“Isn’t it clear? Let me teach you!” With a face of good intent, Yang Kai earnestly said: “Let me ask you, do you have Elders in High Heaven Pavilion?”
“Looks like you really do have eyes!” This made Su Mu’s tail rise up into the heavens.
Yang Kai smiled. For it was just like he guessed; Su Mu had someone to back him up. Otherwise how would he dare to act so brazenly as to burn his house.
“Your Elder must have no small amount of power within the Main Gate right?” Yang Kai asked again.
“He’s an Elder!” Su Mu snorted out. “I also have an older sister who is a Core Disciple! As long as she wishes for it, with a single finger she will be able to kill you!”
Yang Kai understood. He had a general understanding about the ins and outs of Su Mu’s character. Patting his back he said: “That’s right, so unfilial!”
“What is right or wrong?” Su Mu was furious. He was pulled around in circles by Yang Kai and now his mind was a mess. And he still didn’t know what he meant.
“Such an easy affair and yet you still don’t understand. How has your mind developed?” His brow creasing, Yang Kai looked at Su Mu pitifully and patiently explained: “With your older sister’s position, then she would be my senior. If I were to really call you that, then how would your older sister call you? Then what would that Elder call you? Unfilial. How unfilial! If I were that Elder, I would you lock you up in the Destitute Dragon Stream. So that in this life, you can’t even dream about leaving it.”
Su Mu’s entire body shook as his face turned pale. Destitute Dragon Stream is a region in High Heaven Pavilion that was the most frightening place in the entire Sect. In the hundreds of years since the school’s founding, any Disciple that was found to have broken rules or committed heinous crimes was thrown into that region and never seen again. As long as you were thrown in Destitute Dragon Stream, you were practically a dead man.
Destitute Dragon Stream; these three words were well-known within the surrounding thousand miles. Its infamy well known far and wide.
Su Mu wasn’t afraid of Yang Kai; however those three words struck fear into his very soul.
One of the people that Su Mu brought with him sensed something was off with Su Mu and hurriedly spoke, “Master Su, this brat’s mouth is very sharp, making him this confident. The reason why we came today was to help you vent your anger.”
*En* Regaining his senses, Su Mu shouted indignantly to hide his embarrassment: “Yang Kai, don’t talk about nonsense. If you will not kneel down and beg for forgiveness, then this young master will make you wish that you were never born in this life.”
His eyes glinting coldly, Yang Kai held up his fists: “Brother Su, why don’t you come and exchange some blows with me?”
Su Mu replied in contempt: “I would like to, unfortunately you don’t live up to my expectations. You are not qualified! This master is at the Tempered Body Ninth Stage!”
Hearing this, Yang Kai understood. The Main Gate rules state that if you want to challenge other Disciples, the level difference must not exceed more than three levels. Su Mu really couldn’t duel Yang Kai as their level difference was far too large.
This was also the reason why Su Mu had brought many people over with him, they weren’t just here to watch the show.
With a face full of loathing, a cold smile, Su Mu tilted his head towards Yang Kai, “Everybody, Brother Yang has reached the Tempered Body Third Stage. So which brother here is willingly to fight him?”
“Tempered Body Third Stage, what a high stage!” Everybody roared in laughter, for none of them had entered earlier than Yang Kai. Yet which one of them was not higher than him?
“Allow me to Master Su, for my cultivation is within the limit. Though I am only at the Tempered Body Fifth Stage, it should be enough to play satisfy Disciple Yang Kai!” A Disciple said while walking through the crowd and looking disdainfully at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai looked back at him laughing; their information was already long outdated.
If it were five days earlier, he really would be at the Tempered Body Third Stage, but it is now longer the same story.
But of course, these types of things Yang Kai wouldn’t publicise. To advance two stages in five days, this speed was far too strange; such a monstrous thing would only attract unwanted attention.
A person who had came here with Su Mu spoke, “Brother Yang, I am called Zhao Hu. You must remember who it was, that beat you today!”
“I’ll remember.” Yang Kai replied seriously.
Looks like that Zhou Hu was intentionally trying to give Su Mu face thought Yang Kai. Walking to face Yang Kai, he exaggeratedly waved his fingers: “Brother Yang, in order to not allow you to say I didn’t give you face, I will allow you three moves. As long as you can make me take one step back, it will be your victory. If not, please don’t think of this Disciple’s strikes as being ruthless.”
This act of provocation contained the red fruit of contempt. To Su Mu, who was watching this, his heartbeat quickened in anticipation. This boy, Zhao Hu, he really knew how to thoroughly humiliate others. His choice of words wasn’t bad.
Although the difference between the Tempered Body Third Stage and the Tempered Body Fifth Stage consisted of only two stages, there was a large gap between each stage. Between these those two stages, there was a gap as large as a river separating them. And the strength that could be released when comparing the two were on completely different levels, like heaven and earth for these low-level practitioners.
Besides, currently Yang Kai was in a very sorry state; with one glance anyone could tell that he had experienced some sort of tribulation. How much strength did he have remaining to fight? In addition, he was very skinny and malnourished to begin with; easily allowing others to look down upon him.
Practically everybody present believed that Yang Kai would be unable to escape the calamity today. Even Xia Ning Chang who was situated in a nearby tree felt the same way.
Xia Ning Chang, who had become a Dark Hall Disciple, had come once again to record the outcome of Yang Kai’s battle.
“How is this allowed? I cannot allow a Fellow Disciple of mine to be disadvantaged.” Yang Kai asked with slight hesitation.
“There is nothing to worry about.” Insisted Zhou Hu. “Since I became a Disciple, allowing you these three moves is something I should do! Ha ha!”
“Okay then.” Yang Kai replied, looking somewhat reluctant: “Since Brother Zhou insist, then this senior will not be impolite.”
“Bring it on!” Zhou Hu bellowed loudly, while he steadied himself and planted his two feet firmly into the ground. His body’s muscles bulged and his blue veins popped out all over his body.
On the other side, Yang Kai walked forward step by step, his thin arms and legs tensed. Zhou Hu sneered internally and thought: ‘Just with your weak physique, merely one breathe from me will be able to blow you away. So what how strong could your attack possibly be?’
Leisurely strolling forwards, Yang Kai walked up to Zhou Hu. He balled up his fist, slowly waved it in front of him. Smiling he cautioned: “Brother Zhou, I senior really hit you.”
“Come then!”
Just as those words came out, Yang Kai’s fist had already been released; striking right into Zhou Hu’s abdomen.
*Bang!* That sound rang out. However, none of the people present saw Yang Kai act; that fist which strangely hit Zhou Hu.
As his face paled, Zhou Hu couldn’t help but clutch his stomach and had to take a few steps backwards.
*Bang!* The second fist had already arrived before he could recover. It landed on his abdomen once again. Zhou Hu bent over clutching his stomach, as he felt his stomach acids rising up from his stomach.
*Pa!* Yang Kai kicked out and hit Zhou Hu’s chin. He cried out once, before falling to the ground, motionless.
[He won!]
A great silence ensued; it was so quiet that anyone could have heard a pin drop. One by one, everyone looked at Yang Kai, with shock plastered on their faces. Su Mu’s eyes were especially wide, so wide that they looked like they were about to fall out of their sockets.
Proofreader –
Bluerazbeary
News of this battle was soon a hot topic between the Disciples in High Heaven Pavilion. There were even others seeking out those present at the scene to hear the details. If not for Su Mu’s status, then the news would have long since been spread to the ends of the earth. However since Su Mu was involved, the Disciples could only hide it inside their stomachs and discreetly talk about it.
In Yang Kai’s small hut, the situation had finally calmed down.
Looking at the sky, Yang Kai became depressed. Because Su Mu had come to cause trouble, he had lost precious time to practice the tempered body record. It was truly regrettable.
Taking out his spare pair of clothes, Yang Kai then went to the small pond beside his hut. Taking off his tattered clothes, he prepared to take a bath. These past few days he had been wondering the mountain and then he had fought the Flower Patterned Spider, these two things combined had really made him stank.
Stealthily, Xia Ning Chang tip toed to the side of the hut, for she wanted to learn the true cultivation level of this Fellow Brother. Yet, when she turned around the corner, all that met her eyes were a pair of white buttocks. Yang Kai had already become stark naked, not a stitch of clothing remained and he was in the position to dive into the water.
Xia Ning Chang’s small face immediately flushed a bright red. Although her cultivation was very high, she was still an innocent female. Not even mentioning buttocks, she hadn’t even seen a male’s thigh. How could she possibly endure this scene?
[This is too much!] Xia Ning Chang’s heart had begun to thump erratically and she quickly hid herself.
[Why… why must fate play me like this?] Tears streamed down that pitiful girl’s face after she realized that there was no time to uncover his secret. Stamping her foot, she disappeared in a flash.
[That stinking Disciple! Those entrance examinations conducted by the teachers were too lax. Disciples stripping stark naked in broad daylight is simply too shameless. Far too shameless!]
In the pond, Yang Kai was washing his body and inspecting it.
He had discovered that ever since he started to practice the Tempered Body Record, his muscles had become sturdier and more robust. Although he was still thin, he was thin in the right places.
Additionally, the wounds from yesterday’s battle with the Flower Patterned Spider had already become scars. Only the arm wound from the flower patterned spider’s leg had yet to fully heal and still transmitted some pain to him.
After all, it had penetrated through his arm, so it couldn’t possibly heal that quickly. But it wasn’t as severe as he had imagined, give it a few days and it should be completely healed.
Thinking over that life and death battle with the spider, caused Yang Kai to be excited. Not knowing why, the more dangerous the situation he was in, the more enthusiastic and excited he became. He unexpectedly had this type of character, was he unconsciously a masochist and after living a bit more than ten years, he had suddenly awakened his desires?
When he thought of that, he promptly inhaled a large breath and submerged himself in the pond; only resurfacing after a while later.
Although there were many things for him to complete, Yang Kai still went to take a shower. After dressing himself, he began his sweeping.
After all, this was his assigned work in High Heaven Pavilion. And since he was assigned this job, he must complete it to the best of his ability.
While sweeping, Yang Kai clearly felt that the gazes from his Fellow Disciples were strange. They were full of doubt, for they were the ones who had witnessed his battle earlier in the morning. They didn’t understand how Yang Kai had been able to knock Zhou Hu out.
Yang Kai calmly and honestly continued with his work.
Completing his sweeping, Yang Kai returned to his wooden hut and opened his bag. From within, he took out the herbs he had collected, taking the Three Leaved Chaos Spirit Flower and the Dead Jedi Tree Grass out and placing the other extra herbs back into the bag.
These extra herbs were completely useless to Yang Kai, but he could at least sell them to the Contribution Hall for some contribution points.
Wrapping up the herbs, he left but quickly halted. Reconsidering, he went back and changed his clothes, wearing his tattered, blood-stained ones he also dirtied his face bit before leaving again.
In the Contribution Hall, Treasurer Meng was sitting behind the counter while holding a teapot, crossing his legs while sipping the tea he merrily hummed a tuned.
Suddenly a human figure could be seen at the hall entrance. Old man Meng spiritlessly lifted up his head to see, and just as he was about to scold that brat who dared to come here, his eyes widened. So early in the morning and someone dared to disturb his peace and quiet. Yet, when he saw Yang Kai battered and exhausted walking in. His tattered clothes which could no longer be considered clothes, his two legs were clearly seen, and so were his leg hairs.
The two female Disciples at the entrance saw this and shrieked out in shock at this vagabond, quickly retreating.
When one questioned Treasurer Meng’s self-control, they would realize that after he entered the mountain, and then descended into the seas, he would remain impassive. Even if there was a massacre that occurred in ten cities, would not be enough for him to bat an eye. Yet, at that very moment, he sprayed out his mouthful of tea.
“Little Yang Kai, what is with your appearance?” Old Man Meng nearly went into a frenzy, quickly standing up. Dumbstruck, he looked at Yang Kai.
Rushing to the counter, Yang Kai then inhaled a large gulp of air before replying: “I have returned!”
“Experienced many hardships right?” Treasurer Meng felt pity for Yang Kai. Just a few days ago when he had come to his place, he was still healthy, yet from a single trip to Black Wind Mountains, he had become like this. He was not like a human or even a ghost, this was too tragic.
“*En…*, I was in danger.” Nodding his head, Yang Kai didn’t waste any more words. Hurriedly he opened up his bag and pointed to the herbs inside: “But my harvest was not bad, Treasurer Meng, will the Contribution Hall accept these herbs?”
Looking at the herbs, Treasurer Meng’s eyebrows rose.
They were only ordinary grade lower level herbs and practically had no worth. These herbs were too plentiful in the Contribution hall, even if he accepted, there would be no place to put them.
Just as he was about to reject the herbs, Treasurer Meng saw the expectation in Yang Kai’s eyes and then looked again at his attire. Seeing this, his heart had softened: “Oh, we will accept. For every two herbs, I will give you one contribution point.”
“Okay, then please count them.” Without bargaining, Yang Kai pushed the bag forward.
Treasurer Meng went to count the number of herbs. There were thirty-two herbs, a total of sixteen contribution points. Immediately he went to record this into his account book.
“You were in Black Wind Mountains for an entire three days, yet you only found this much?” Treasurer Meng casually asked.
“Being able to obtain this is considered good.” Yang Kai said while carefully looking around.
“Keke, it’s not bad.” Treasurer Meng couldn’t bear to pour cold water on Yang Kai, after all, he knew of the difficulties he faced. Although this child’s natural aptitude was not good, he was willing to work hard. Nowadays, these type of hard working youngsters were a rare sight. It’s such a shame that his aptitude was so poor. It was the only fatal downside, for it destined him to have no major achievements.
As he was thinking about this, he saw how Yang Kai’s eyes were darting around and couldn’t help but asked curiously: “What are you looking at?”
Mysteriously, Yang Kai leaned forward and said in a low voice: “Treasurer Meng, in this trip to the mountain I seem to have found some incredible thing.”
Seeing Yang Kai’s cautiousness, Treasurer Meng also felt that this thing was something uncommon. He also became more serious and said in a low voice: “What thing?”
“I don’t know. I have brought it back to let you see it. You are experienced and knowledgeable, so you should definitely be able to recognize it.” As he said this, he went to touch his butt and took out another bag. Carefully he placed it on the counter.
Amount till the next bonus chapter:
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Treasurer Meng looked up and saw Yang Kai’s face held both anticipation and nervousness. He could not help but become cautious too. Softly and gently he opened the bag, squinting his eyes at the contents inside.
It was about the size of a bowl, dark-red coloured, shaped like a mushroom, like a fungus. It really looked unordinary, coated with a heavenly and earthly type aura.
*Ke…keke…* Treasurer Meng couldn’t help but cough a couple of times.
Nervously Yang Kai looked at him and questioned him: “What thing is this?”
Treasurer Meng looked at him queerly, and instead of replying, he asked: “Where did you find this?”
“Inside a cave in the mountain. There was also a First Realm Demonic Beast guarding it. But instead of me being killed by it, it was killed by me, so I took it with me.”
Treasurer Meng’s heart jumped out: “You met with a Demonic Beast? Didn’t I tell you not to go past the safety boundary?”
“I didn’t go past the safety boundary. I didn’t know why it was in the safe zone area around Black Wind Mountain either.” Yang Kai replied with a grievance.
Treasurer Meng sighed; he had thought something like this must have happened. It was just he was afraid that with this child’s strength, defeating a Demonic Beast, even one in the First Realm must have been a very arduous task.
[This pitiful one, at such a young age he has already suffered so many untold hardships while in Black Wind Mountains for only three days. And this work had only earned him sixteen contribution points. He even met with a First Realm Demonic Beast, an encounter in which he nearly lost his life. If he was to tell him that his thing was… this thing was…ah this is too wrong, just too wrong.]
[Anyway, this old man rarely does a good deed, just think of it as karma.]
When Yang Kai saw Treasurer Meng’s face changing, yet Treasurer Meng not replying, it made him somewhat anxious. Just as he was about to ask him again, Treasurer Meng picked up the teapot and drank from it. Afterwards, he squeezed out a smile and said: “You little brat, your luck isn’t so bad after all!”
As soon as he heard this, the worry in Yang Kai’s heart immediately dissipated. He was worried that when he went to ask, this thing would end up being worthless, that would have been embarrassing.
“Treasurer, what is this exactly? How many contribution points is it worth?” Rubbing his hands together in expectation Yang Kai asked.
“Oh………this thing is called a Blood Mushroom! It is a rare medicinal ingredient, it is an ordinary……..” Before he finished what he was saying, he looked at Yang Kai’s falling face and hurriedly went to correct himself. “No no no, it’s an Earth Grade, Lower Level herb. *En*, it’s really earth grade lower level! That’s right!”
Such a firm tone was used that Treasurer Meng nearly fooled himself into thinking that it was true.
“Earth Grade, Lower Level?” Yang Kai was pleasantly surprised: “Treasurer Meng are you sure you didn’t see incorrectly?”
Straightening his face, Treasurer Meng replied: “You must be joking. In this old man’s life, he has inspected many women…..keke, I mean… inspected many herbs. This pair of experienced and knowledgeable eyes, how could they possibly be wrong?”
“How many contribution points can it be exchanged for?” Yang Kai was only interested in this.
“Let’s make it twenty.”
“That’s so little.” Yang Kai was somewhat disappointed. Even though its ranks wasn’t that high, he thought it was at least high enough to make it worth at least twenty to forty contribution points.
“It’s not too little child.” Treasurer thought to himself that he had given him too much already. He then found a good reason for this: “Even though this Blood Mushroom that you found is an Earth Grade, Lower Level herb, it is too small and its age isn’t that high. So that’s why it’s only worth twenty contribution points.”
“Oh…” Without refuting he accepted: “Then twenty points it is.”
Nodding his head, Treasurer Meng recorded down the transaction down in his account book again.
This trip to the mountains had already satisfied his goal of obtaining the Three Leaved Chaos Spirit Flower and the Dead Jedi Tree Grass. Apart from that, it had earned him thirty-six contribution points. If he added his already obtained points, then he has a total of forty-eight contribution points. Yang Kai momentarily felt himself become rich and powerful.
Although this trip into the mountains earned him quite a number of contribution points from the herbs, it had delayed and wasted precious time to cultivate. He had also needed some luck to find the herbs and the whole trip had made him very tired. Yang Kai decided that other than as a last resort, he wouldn’t do it again.
The reason why he was collecting contribution points, was to aid him in his cultivation. Between those two things, contribution points and cultivation, Yang Kai still knew which was more important; he didn’t lose sight due to greed.
Now he has collected a decent amount of Three Leaved Chaos Spirit Flower. He had collected around thirty-forty of them in the cave. However, the amount of Dead Jedi Tree Grass he had managed to collect was very small. He only had around five-six of them. If he really wanted to cultivate with them, then he must exchange some points for them at the Contribution Hall; he was well prepared for this.
With his plan in mind, Yang Kai said: “Treasurer Meng, please give me ten Dead Jedi Tree Grass herbs.”
Old man Meng looked at Yang Kai and wondered why he needed these herbs, however he didn’t ask any questions. He only sat and stated: “Ten Ordinary Grade, Lower Level herbs, ten contribution points. Are you sure you want them?”
Scrunching up his eyebrows in suspicion, Yang Kai asked: “That’s not right. Didn’t you just say two herbs needed to be exchanged for one contribution point?”
“The buying price is the buying price, while the selling price is the selling price. They are not the same.” Treasurer Meng smile was especially wide; the demeanor of a businessman was coming out.
Furious, Yang Kai pointed towards Treasurer Meng’s nose: “You are completely trying to buy at a low price and earn a profit. To reap a profit, this is too shameless. Did you let a dog eat your conscience?”
Waving his hand Treasurer Meng replied: “It is not I who wants to reap a profit, but these are the prices assigned by the Main Gate. This is unrelated to me. All the prices within the Contribution Hall are unaffiliated with me; this old man is only in charge of selling and buying. How else do you think the Main Gate is able to provide for all three thousand of you Disciples?”
Yang Kai was stunned, for there was some sense in his words. After all, this was still a business, without any type of profit by High Heaven Pavilion, how could all three thousand Disciples in the Main Gate survive? Even if there one were suspicious that it was for a profit, at the end of the day, no one was forcing you to buy them. No one was forcing you.
“Then, do you still want the Dead Jedi Tree Grass herbs?” Seeing Yang Kai’s face full of pain caused Treasurer Meng’s mood to soar.
“I want them.” declared Yang Kai, as he clenched his teeth together. Sooner or later he will need to use these herbs and since he had decided not to go find them in the mountain, he can only buy them.
Turning around, Treasurer Meng went to the back hall and soon returned with the Dead Jedi Tree Grass. Yang Kai counted the number of herbs while Treasurer Meng recorded the transaction down.
*Humph!* After eating such a big loss, Yang Kai turned around and immediately left the hall unhappy.
“Please come again when you have time.” Treasurer Meng called out warmly from behind.
[Come often to be killed by you!] Yang Kai finally knew where Meng’s nickname came from.
Three steps, two steps, Yang Kai frantically rushed outside. On his way out, a figure rushing in; nearly crashed onto him.
These two people’s reactions were fairly fast, Yang Kai stopped immediately and so did the other person. A sweet and pleasant fragrance drifted over to Yang Kai.
Lifting his head, Yang Kai saw a pair of clear moon-like eyes staring at him, but he couldn’t see her face clearly. This was because this person had their face covered with a veil.
This was a female. Although he couldn’t see her face, judging from her skin’s condition, she wasn’t very old. She was probably his senior.
Nodding his head and apologising, Yang Kai then turned his body to the side; clearly signalling for her to enter first.
The opposite party looked distracted and suddenly turned red. Seeing this made his own gaze become evasive.
Seeing her flushed face, Yang Kai understood that this senior was quite shy. He swiftly averted his gaze, as to avoid offending her.
Xia Ning Chang was embarrassed to death.
She didn’t expect to bump into Yang Kai in front of the Contribution Hall. When she saw his face, she immediately thought of her……
And recalled his……..
Suddenly her face became red and her temperature rose. Hastily, she rushed into the hall without the courage to lift her head up.
Seeing this scene was somewhat laughable, for such shy females were quite rare. Although there are many Females Disciples in High Heaven Pavilion, they were martial practitioners and were therefore, more open-minded than normal. For someone like her to become red just from looking at his face, it was no wonder she wore a veil.
[That senior was quite cute… but why does her body’s fragrance smell so familiar? Just where have I came across her before?]
Martial Peak – Chapter 25, The Incense Burner’s Magical Effect
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Bluerazbeary
After she entered the Contribution Hall, Xia Ning Chang glanced back. When she saw that Yang Kai had already left, she let out a sigh of relief, for she still felt a little bit guilty due to the morning’s incident.
While her feelings were in a mess, she heard Treasurer Meng let out an *ai~yo* sigh from the counter.
“What’s the matter, master?” Xia Ning Chang asked.
“I was just pitying that child.” Treasurer Meng sighed out sobbingly. “He’s a good child; willing to endure hardships, he’s hardy, has a good personality, his character’s not bad…….”
When Xia Ning Chang heard the way her master was praising Yang Kai, she immediately grew angry. In her heart, she thought that he had yet to learn of Yang Kai’s actions this morning. Not only had he stripped naked, he had also sullied this Disciple’s eyes and given this Disciple of yours the worst fright of her life.
On and on Treasurer Meng went, causing her to be more and more infuriated. Unable to bear it any longer, she slapped her hand onto the counter.
*Pa!* the sounded resounded like something had been broken.
As he looked at her, his face contorted and he wailed out: “That was my Earth Grade, Lower Level blood mushroom worth twenty contribution points…”
“That was a Blood Mushroom?” Looking at the already powdered mushroom on the counter top, Xia Ning Chang asked herself whether or not her master’s eyes were failing. [How is this a Blood Mushroom?]
“It’s not… How could your master mistake it.” Treasurer Meng replied as he let out a soft breath. The powder on the countertop then floated outside, like an invisible hand had scooped it up and scattered in the wind.
“Oh, that’s right. Why did you come to find me today?” Fixing his face, Treasurer Meng showed a rare face of solemnity.
“I managed to break through.”
His expression changing, he went to inspect Xia Ning Chang’s cultivation. Soon after, he nodded: “Good, good. It seems like my eyes weren’t wrong, for only people of your physique are suited for this cultivation method. Come; eat this pellet to help stabilize your cultivation.”
*En.* After she took the pellet, Xia Ning Chang hesitated slightly before asking: “How is your injury?”
Laughing softly Treasurer Meng answered: “You don’t need to worry about your master. After so many years, it is not that big of a hindrance.”
Brimming with anticipation and excitement, Yang Kai returned home to his small hut.
Today was the day that he could use the Three Leaved Chaos Spirit Flower and the Dead Jedi Tree Grass that he gathered. Furthermore, the amount of each was also not small, so it should last awhile.
Now he had everything prepared, Yang Kai really wanted to verify, whether or not that incense burner could truly aid him in his cultivation.
The location of the wooden hut was in the most empty and desolate area of High Heaven Pavilion. Practically no one paid any attention to it. Since this was the case, Yang Kai didn’t worry about having his secret exposed. Walking inside, he called out the black book and turned to page three. Then he extracted the incense burner and placed it on the bedside.
He then took out the Three Leaved Chaos Spirit Flower and the Dead Jedi Tree Grass. Afterwards, he stuffed them into the burner and put the lid back on.
All of a sudden a faint scent, akin to a rare perfume started to disperse in the room. Breathing in deeply, Yang Kai began to analyze the perfume. Although the smell was a bit unique, there was nothing special about it.
However, from the holes of the incense burner, the perfume steadily poured out and entered Yang Kai’s nostrils. It was like small, snakes were purposely entering his body via his nose.
Within his body, it was like there was something more. In his flesh and blood, in his meridians and even in his bone marrow a feeling of numbness spread out.
Yang Kai didn’t dare tarry. Carrying the incense burner, he ran outside to begin his cultivation.
Stepping out of his hut entrance into the light took him by surprise. For his foot felt like it was made of lead, it was far heavier than normal. In combination with this step, Yang Kai felt his strength rapidly decreasing.
Taking another step, he began to feel dizzy and almost to collapse; perspiring madly, his muscles tensed. The recently cultivated atmospheric energy in his meridians bubbled about as his bones cracked.
Taking his third step out of his hut, his legs became soft and he fell to the ground. As he fell, Yang Kai’s hands released of the incense burner and it rolled far away.
Hands on the floor supporting his body; immovable like a mountain, he gasped for breath. His chest heaved up and down as he took several deep breaths, his body continued twitched uncontrollably. His tendons, organs, and bones expanded and contracted causing the pain to intensify as time passed. Although Yang Kai wanted to howl in pain, he kept his mouth tightly shut.
His current condition was one of excessive exhaustion; one he had experienced many times previously. Thus Yang Kai was quite familiar with it.
But, he had only walked three steps out of his hut, so how did could he possibly exhaust all his strength? Not only was his physical stamina gone, his mental strength was also exhausted. It was like he had not slept for many nights, even his eyes had started to feel drowsy.
At this point, his three energies were all exhausted to the limit, and he couldn’t even move a single finger.
By this time, the Three Leaved Chaos Spirit Flower and the Dead Jedi Tree Grass’s side effects had started to take effect in Yang Kai’s brain.
The toxicity of these two herbs wasn’t very strong. They were weak enough that normal people could resist them easily, but the prerequisite was that they were healthy. Given the hardships Yang Kai suffered daily combined with his current condition, Yang Kai had trouble withstanding them.
He was afraid that inhaling the incense burners perfume was the reason this type of situation had occurred. Though, regardless of the toxicity of the Three Leaved Chaos Spirit Flower and the Dead Jedi Tree Grass, such strong side effects were something they were unable to produce. The mystery originated from the incense burner; it was able to amplify those two Herb’s toxicity.
Ever since he had obtained the Golden Skeleton, every time he practiced he never became tired or exhausted. And since he was never tired, Yang Kai was unable to reach his limits. Being unable to reach his limits, he was unable to improve.
Though it appeared this was no longer the case anymore. He only took three steps, yet his all his strength had been consumed. But the effect of this incense burner was not as simple as enabling him to reach his limits at this stage, for in the future will there ever be any fear he wouldn’t able to train to his limits again?
Yang Kai always believed that a person’s potential was unlimited, and the important thing was how one uncovered it. Although natural aptitude could help a person mature, one’s own effort was crucial! So, after all these years, even when he knew his own talent was lacking, he diligently struggled and never gave up his drive to cultivate.
Thinking about this, Yang Kai’s spirit was greatly lifted!
Gradually and with much effort, he used his hand to push his exhausted body up; his thighs strained so much that his veins popped out. Gritting his teeth, he slowly pulled himself up.
Almost all of his physical strength had been drained; his consciousness had started to become fuzzy once again. Yet his heart refused to give in, giving him a ferocious burst of strength and energy. Out of his entire life, he had never been this adamant about anything, but he was adamant that he will beat this!
[Stand up! For the place you have fallen, will also be the place from which you rise!] If he stood up he would have broken through his limits, he would have won!
Time had never flowed as slowly as it did now; both his feet had already been planted firmly on the ground. Legs slightly bent, fighting against the trembling, his desire to stand had not diminished in the slightest, and he would do it even if it meant taking it as slow as possible.
Finally, Yang Kai bellowed/roared out, for he had finally stood up straight. Staggering forward, he steadied himself and anchored his feet to the ground.
Martial Peak – Chapter 26, An Insignificant Person Goes For Revenge All Day long
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Yang Kai smiled at that moment, which seemed odd; after all, both his physical and mental strength were exhausted and he could no longer see clearly. His ears were ringing and his head was throbbing very badly, yet he still laughed.
[I won! This sense of achievement that I feel right now is vastly greater than when I won against another someone else!]
Just when Yang Kai felt that he was going to faint, a warm comfortable sensation burst out from within his body. This warm feeling came from within his bones, like a spring rain that replenishes the fields after a drought; it blew through every part of his body – Throughout every inch of flesh, bringing with it a burst of vitality.
His exhausted strength was quickly replenished; even his mental energy was revitalized to a certain extent. Although his energy didn’t recover fully, it was enough to keep him from losing consciousness.
Yang Kai didn’t pause to revel in this feeling any further, but hurriedly sat down and analyzed his current condition. This led him to discover that the original numbing feeling from within his body had already disappeared without a trace. It left him with a comfortable feeling; it was so comfortable that it nearly made him cry out.
His body pulsed rhythmically, and along with this, it was clear that it had become more robust and contained more explosive power than before. The atmospheric energy within his meridian pulsated incessantly; his bones also seemed to have become a lot sturdier.
Just through this alone, his body had been strengthened by a large margin.
This made him contemplative.
Finally, the last bit of warmth from his bones had seeped out; this was most likely from that Golden Skeleton he had absorbed. After experiencing this several times already, Yang Kai had grasped the key information. Only when he had pushed his body to its limits, could he trigger the Golden Skeleton’s hidden powers.
Though if he surrendered when he was in a predicament, that Golden Skeleton would not give him any help.
[This must be the Golden Skeleton’s personality!] Yang Kai chuckled lightly. Right now, he had finally understood how this incense burner could aid him in his training.
The herbs that were put on the burner, their effects were multiplied hundreds of folds in strength. Then when he inhaled this incense, it made his strength rapidly decrease and also made him mentally tired – so much that he could only take three steps before he nearly faints.
Although these amplified herbal effects were tyrannical, they shouldn’t have any long-term negative side effects thought Yang Kai. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to the incense burner to assist in his training.
But only when he overcomes his limits, and arouses the Golden Skeleton’s regenerative ability, will he be able to really benefit. Only then will he be able to constantly surpass his limit and grow stronger.
The perfume that wafted out from the incense burner, served him well; just like the Golden Skeleton.
Though these were all just assumptions on Yang Kai’s part, given the previous events, he felt this should be the truth. Next up, Yang Kai needed to closely analyze the incense burner.
The perfume never ceased pouring out of the burner. Even when there was a gust of wind, the perfume would always float in Yang Kai’s direction.
He also discovered that if he stayed in the same spot and didn’t move, then the perfume didn’t have any effect.
After another half an hour or so, Yang Kai felt that most of his strength had recovered. Staggering as he stood u, once again, he began to take steps forward.
Since he had already been burned once, Yang Kai advanced slowly and cautiously monitored his body for the effects of the incense burner.
As soon as he put one foot down, Yang Kai discovered that his strength gushed out of him like a broken dam. His physical strength disappeared, and with it so did his mental energy; with no sign or reason.
As he took another step, what little strength he had remaining disappeared, causing him to nearly fall down.
Clenching his jaw tightly, Yang Kai’s stubborn attitude emerged again. Putting his life on the line, he advanced forward.
This time, he managed to take four steps. Furthermore, although he was mentally unwilling to give up, his body could no longer take it. Even when the warm feeling once again poured out from within him, it was not strong enough. So, he fainted again.
After repeating this process numerous times, all of his assumptions were confirmed.
Although the perfume that came from the incense burner caused people to become more worn out, it didn’t leave any negative side effects. While the Golden Skeleton, on the other hand, needed his will to fight, in order to be used. The stronger he felt about not yielding, the stronger the warmth it gave and the more his body benefited.
This type of training method was truly monstrous, so much so that it was unthinkable. Putting it simply, you were risking your life to increase your strength. If you were a little bit careless, then there would be drastic consequences. Luckily Yang Kai’s self-preservation sense was quite high. Every time he broke through his limits, he would concede and rest before continuing. So, after repeating the cycle many times, the results he reaped were bountiful.
A person’s potential was truly unlimited. But in order to become stronger, you must do things step by step.
After an entire day of training, his improvement was very clear. He could already walk a full ten steps, a large improvement from his initial attempt of just three.
But Yang Kai was still unsatisfied; even under the effects of the perfume, he was still only walking. Until the day where he practiced with his fists, this could not be considered training.
Quickly, Yang Kai found another disastrous problem.
This type of training used up his herbs far too quickly!
The Three Leaved Chaos Spirit Flower and the Dead Jedi Tree Grass could only be burned for about an hour. After an hour, he must once again put in more herbs for the incense burner to continue to produce the perfume.
Using his hand to calculate the herb consumption, Yang Kai’s face immediately became ugly.
There were twelve hours in a day. Ig he trained for about seven to eight hours a day. So that meant that he needed at least fourteen of these herbs, in order to practice under the effects of the incense burner for a whole day. With his current store, he would use up all his Dead Jedi Tree Grass in a mere two days! That was about fifty percent of his stockpile of Three Leaved Chaos Spirit Flower!
What would he do after he used up all his current herb stock? He only had thirty-eight contribution points. So, how many days would that last him?
Originally, he had thought he was quite rich, but reality struck him hard and showed him how poor he really was.
That night, he carried his worries to bed, with his head fill with contribution points and herbs. Even in his dreams, he dreamt of mining large amounts of Three Leaved Chaos Spirit Flower and Dead Jedi Tree Grass.
That night, Yang Kai didn’t sleep very well at all.
That night, Su Mu didn’t sleep very well either.
Thinking about how, overbearingly he had brought people over to cause trouble for Yang Kai, but had instead lost against him. This made Su Mu toss and turn restlessly in his bed. If it wasn’t for Yang Kai, then he would be happily engaged with Boss He’s daughter. If it wasn’t for Yang Kai, then he wouldn’t be here with a stomach full of resentment.
As he recalled the He family’s daughter’s vivid appearance, Su Mu’s heart fell into depression. In the future, he will no longer have the face to go and interact with her. As the saying goes, ‘You would rather destroy ten temples, then destroy one marriage.’ Yang Kai, you dared to destroy a happy couple, you are too daring.
There was another saying that went like this, ‘For a nobleman to take revenge, ten years is not long at all.’ An insignificant person, however, can go for revenge all day long.
Su Mu would definitely be classified as the latter, for after a few more days, he could once again challenge Yang Kai. But how could Su Mu wait until then? Su Mu wanted to go to Yang Kai immediately and beat him to a bloody pulp now. Only then would it satiate his inner hatred and resentment.
Tossing and turning, he couldn’t fall asleep such was his fury, so Su Mu got up. Not only did he get up in the middle of the night, he also made his underlings wake up too.
Author: 莫默 (MOMO)
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Description
The journey to the Martial Artist is a lonely, solitary and long one. In the face of adversity, you must survive and remain unyielding. Only then can you break through and continue on your journey to becoming the strongest. Sky Tower tests its disciples in...
Sio kila wakati / nyakati unataka kusikiliza voice message kwenye simu yako ya iphone. Tuchukulie uko sehemu yenye watu wengi alafu Ujachukua Earphones umetumiwa ujumbe wa sauti utaki watu wasikie unafanyaje?
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