Martial Peak

Chapter 1517, There Is No More Heaven Battling Union

“We would not dare!” Liang Yong was thoroughly frightened and hurriedly bowed his head, “We can swear an oath to the Heavens that in the future, we will only follow Sect Master Yang’s lead, go through fire or water, never refusing under any circumstances.”

“If such oaths were useful, Union Master Qu and Great Elder Mo wouldn’t have died here. On the day you joined Heaven Battling Union, didn’t you make similar oaths?” Yang Kai spat disdainfully.

Liang Yong’s expression became awkward and he grew noticeably more anxious. Now, he didn’t know how to gain Yang Kai’s trust and let him show mercy.

If Qu Zheng and Mo Xiao Sheng were still alive now, the Heaven Battling Union group might still be able to put up a fight, but now they were no different from fish on a chopping block, waiting for Yang Kai’s judgement. Liang Yong and the others didn’t have any ability to resist now.

“I’ll give you a chance to persuade me. If you can convince me of your usefulness, I may be willing to spare you, but if you can’t, don’t blame this Sect Master for not showing mercy. Elder Liang is also a cruel and ruthless person so I’m sure you understand,” Yang Kai’s impatient voice sounded and his eyes gradually became cold.

Liang Yong was startled and couldn’t help shivering as he knew Yang Kai that was not one to make idle threats, so he hurriedly tried to come up with a logical reason they should be spared.

Everyone else also stared towards Liang Yong eagerly, their hearts clenched up tightly.

Yang Kai didn’t urge them any further and simply stood there and waited.

After a while, Liang Yong’s nervous expression calmed down and he seemed to become confident, clearing his throat and cupping his fists before saying, “Let me first say that we neither had nor have any intentions of becoming enemies with Sect Master Yang. We participated in the incident that occurred in Fallen Emperor Mountain last time simply because we were ordered to do so. Now, Qu Zheng and Mo Xiao Sheng are dead and the Union’s forces have suffered massive losses. On top of that, the Myriad Ice Spirit Sealing Grand Array has been destroyed, crippling the Union’s core foundation! When we joined Heaven Battling Union, we took oaths simply to express our loyalty, but now we must take them in order to survive; after all, even if Sect Master Yang shows mercy and allows us to live, what awaits us is nothing but hardship. Without an established headquarters, we will all certainly become targets for our enemies. Hitting others when they are down is a truth we cannot avoid.”

“That’s none of my concern,” Yang Kai looked at him with a sneer.

“What this Liang wants to express by saying all this is that if we wish to survive, we must find someone or something which can support us! And Sect Master Yang is the best choice!” Liang Yong looked at Yang Kai solemnly.

Yang Kai gently nodded, grinning as he said, “En, keep talking.”

Hearing this, Liang Yong’s expression became spirited, knowing the other party had taken some interest in his words. “If Sect Master Yang wishes to kill us, it will not take him much effort, but Sect Master Yang doesn’t stand to gain anything from our deaths. However, if Sect Master Yang is willing to spare us, this Liang and his companions will definitely be able to bring many benefits to Sect Master Yang.”

“For example?” Yang Kai squinted at him.

“Haha, now that Qu Zheng and Mo Xiao Sheng are dead, and Second Elder Lu Feng has also fallen, this Liang should be the highest-ranking member of the Union. This Liang has no special talents, but he is willing to manage Heaven Battling City for Sect Master Yang, every year turning over all its profits in the form of tribute! As far as this Liang knows, Sect Master Yang’s High Heaven Sect is located inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, so while there is no fear of it being attacked, it also likely lacks all kinds of cultivation resources, as it is extremely inconvenient to trade with the outside world. With Heaven Battling City under Sect Master Yang’s control though, the disciples of High Heaven Sect will not have to worry about supplies in the future. Heaven Battling City has been a centre of commerce for thousands of years with tens of millions of cultivators living and passing through here with great frequency. I believe that with Sect Master Yang’s intelligence, he can imagine just how great the profits Heaven Battling City earns a year are.”

After speaking till here, Liang Yong stopped and waited for Yang Kai’s reply.

He was completely confident this argument would convince Yang Kai.

Sure enough, after a moment, Yang Kai nodded, “Elder Liang’s eloquence is exceptional, this Sect Master has indeed been moved by you.”

When these words fell, the Firebird flew back into Yang Kai’s body and the giant dark-green dragon transformed back into the Dragon Bone Sword again. Even the Stone Puppet, which was several dozen metres tall, shrank back down to its original size.

The heavy atmosphere suddenly disappeared.

Liang Yong was overjoyed and quickly bowed, “Many thanks for showing mercy, Sect Master Yang!”

The other survivors quickly followed suit, hoping to show their loyalty lest Yang Kai find them unpleasant to the eye and decide to kill them.

“From now on, there is no more Heaven Battling Union!” Yang Kai declared indifferently, “Heaven Battling City is now the exclusive property of High Heaven Sect. If anyone tries to invade, they will be enemies of High Heaven Sect! Liang Yong, your strength is good, so you will take up the post of City Lord and manage this city for this Sect Master!”

“Yes! Subordinate will definitely live up to Sect Master Yang’s trust!” Liang Yong replied solemnly.

“Alright! I hope you won’t disappoint me. Relay my orders: Tell your people to stand down, if they don’t, they will likely all die,” Yang Kai chuckled, his face filled with amicability, as if all the unpleasantness from a moment ago had never happened. Finishing issuing instructions, Yang Kai took out a communication artifact and poured his Divine Sense into it so he could tell Ye Xi Yun and the others to stop their assault.

After a quarter of an hour, the Inner City of Heaven Battling City became calm, but the dead bodies and blood all over the ground remained as evidence of the fierce battle which had taken place here.

From the underground hall, everyone else departed to calm the remaining Heaven Battling Union disciples and convey Yang Kai’s order, leaving only Liang Yong and Yang Kai.

“Where’s Heaven Battling Union’s storehouse? Take me to have a look,” Yang Kai ordered Liang Yong.

“Yes, please come with me, Sect Master,” Liang Yong did not dare to refuse and quickly led the way.

As a Sect that stood at the peak of Shadowed Star for thousands of years, the accumulated wealth of Heaven Battling Union was naturally unimaginable.

This was especially the case since it controlled Heaven Battling City! The wealth gained from Heaven Battling City every year was nothing short of extraordinary.

But now, all of these resources had become Yang Kai’s property.

It took a full two days for Yang Kai to organize the things in Heaven Battling Union’s storehouse and store them into Space Rings.

In two days, Liang Yong and the other surviving Elders unleashed a startling purge, eliminating all those who dared to oppose them as well as anyone who once strongly supported Qu Zheng and Mo Xiao Sheng, bringing what remained of Heaven Battling Union’s forces under their complete control.

News of the great battle had already spread. The tens of millions of cultivators who had withdrawn from Heaven Battling City had now returned, and although one of Shadowed Star’s great behemoths had fallen, these individuals’ lives didn’t change much.

High Heaven Sect’s Starship did not damage the outer city, so these people only needed to return to their original stores with their goods and they could reopen for business. The only real change was that their taxes would now be turned over to High Heaven Sect rather than Heaven Battling Union.

Not many people had thought that this was how things would end.

Heaven Battling Union had disappeared, and High Heaven Sect only relied on a single Starship to destroy this behemoth.

The tyrannical power of this Origin King Grade Starship was deeply rooted in everyone’s mind now.

Five days later, the pitch-black Starship flew out from Heaven Battling City and shot towards the horizon. In the main square of the Inner City, Liang Yong and the other high-level officials who once belonged to the Heaven Battling Union respectfully sent them off before letting out sighs of relief.

Although they had already surrendered and Yang Kai showed no signs of purging them, each day was one that they could not feel at ease. All of them were worried Yang Kai would go back on his word and kill them, and it wasn’t until this moment that they could finally put down this worry.

Yang Kai had left Ge Qi behind in Heaven Battling City to serve as Vice City Lord!

In name, Ge Qi was there to assist Liang Yong, but everyone knew that his real purpose was to monitor the latter.

Liang Yong had betrayed and stabbed Qu Zheng in the back to save his own life. Yang Kai would not leave such a snake without proper supervision, otherwise, it would be impossible to guarantee that he wouldn’t stir up trouble.

If it was anyone else remaining here, Yang Kai wouldn’t be able to rest easy, but Ge Qi was different.

Although Ge Qi only had a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation, he was raised by and grew up under Ye Xi Yun’s tutelage.

As long as Ye Xi Yun still lived, Liang Yong wouldn’t dare attack Ge Qi. Leaving Ge Qi behind to remind Liang Yong of his position from time to time should be enough to deter the latter from having crooked thoughts and ensure that the required tribute would be handed over to High Heaven Sect in full each year.

When the Starship left, not only did Liang Yong and his group see them off, the entire Outer City’s population gave them a resounding cheer as they waved towards the Starship with happy expressions.

The destruction of the Heaven Battling Union had made these cultivators, who were usually exploited and humiliated, cry out in happiness. On top of that, Liang Yong had ordered all taxes in the city to be lowered, so the general populace was happy.

From just this action, it was clear Liang Yong had some talent as a leader. Knowing that Heaven Battling City had changed ownership, it was precisely the time to buy people’s favour, therefore he took such action on behalf of Yang Kai to raise both of their images.

Inside the Starship, the Origin Returning Realm masters from High Heaven Sect were immersed in a joyful mood themselves as they counted their own gains, laughing and smiling the whole time.

Everything in Heaven Battling Union storehouse was packed into Yang Kai’s Space Rings, just waiting to be taken back to fill up High Heaven Sect’s reserves.

But the spoils Chang Qi and the others obtained from killing enemy cultivators were left to themselves.

Each of these people had killed countless enemies, so how could their harvest be anything but rich?

Even Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu both sat cross-legged on the ground, constantly pouring things from one Space Ring after another, taking whatever materials they needed while discarding the rest.

Yang Kai failed to stifle his laughter when he saw this and even Ye Xi Yun couldn’t help smiling to the side.

“Sect Master, since we were delayed for five days in Heaven Battling City, Thunder Typhoon Sect should have already received words of what transpired here. I’m afraid their defences will be far more difficult for us to breach.”

Suddenly, Ye Xi Yun reminded him.

“En.” Yang Kai is gently nodded. In fact, he also knew that speed was of critical importance in war, but he had no choice but to remain in Heaven Battling City for some time; after all, Yang Kai didn’t want to simply abandon such a massive industry. Today’s High Heaven Sect disciples were quite scarce and didn’t require so many materials, but what about in the future?

Yang Kai had to plan for the long-term.

“It’s fine, since Heaven Battling Union couldn’t stop us, Thunder Typhoon Sect shouldn’t be able to either. No matter how tough their defences are, they’ll still be useless as long as they can’t break the defences of our Starship.”

“Nevertheless, Sect Master should act carefully!” Ye Xi Yun cautioned. Although she was much older than Yang Kai and had far greater experience, Yang Kai was still High Heaven Sect’s Sect Master, so the final decisions for important matters would always rest with him. All she could do was advise him.

“En, have the disciples increase our speed a bit, Thunder Typhoon Canyon is a considerable distance away after all!” Yang Kai ordered.

A moment later, the Starship, which was already flying as swiftly as the wind, increased its speed further.

Thunder Typhoon Canyon was situated amongst a lofty mountain valley with an extremely wide area and rich World Energy aura.

It was the headquarters of Thunder Typhoon Sect. Unlike Heaven Battling Union, which made its headquarters inside a city, the headquarters of Thunder Typhoon Sect was situated far away from the crowded hustle and bustle. The World Energy aura here was wonderful and the nearby mountains provided excellent grounds for their disciples to go out for experience. It wasn’t an exaggeration to describe it as a cultivation paradise.