Martial Peak

Chapter 1086, Hiding True Strength

Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain

Yang Kai’s eyes moved between Gui Che and Di Ji for a time before he eventually pointed towards Gui Che, “I’ll go with you.”

Gui Che nodded in satisfaction.

Di Ji wore an indifferent expression on his face. Although failing to obtain a pawn to help explore the way was regretful, Yang Kai’s strength was so low that he didn’t really care either way. A mere Third Order Saint would undoubtedly die as soon as their groups encountered any real danger so he wasn’t of much use in the first place.

The only real regret Di Ji felt was that the Saint Crystals in Yang Kai’s Space Ring did not land in his hands, but with the richness of the World Energy aura in this place, it didn’t really matter if he could obtain those Saint Crystals or not. Letting out a snort, Di Ji shot Yang Kai a malicious glare, “Brat, your death will be very ugly, don’t blame Father here for not reminding you.”

“Following you will only make me die faster,” Yang Kai replied bluntly.

Of the people here, Yang Kai didn’t fear anyone. Even if he couldn’t beat them in a fight, couldn’t he just escape? The Third Order Saint King Gui Che’s desire to capture him was nothing more than a fool’s dream, which was why Yang Kai so easily compromised to explore the mysteries hidden here.

Since these two groups had been searching for this place all along, they clearly had a better idea of its layout and what treasures were hidden inside.

“Don’t worry, when this is all over I’ll collect your corpse for you!” Di Ji taunted Yang Kai before waving his hand and shouting, “Let’s go!”

Saying so, he led his group and flew off in a certain direction. After losing so many of their allies already, it was obvious Di Ji had no intention to continue fighting with Gui Che.

“We should also go,” Gui Che said with a smile, not making any attempt to stop Di Ji, turning in a different direction and flying off with his three remaining followers and Yang Kai bringing up the rear.

No words were exchanged along the way as Gui Che and his group didn’t seem to be in the mood for conversation. The previous battle had caused their group countless deaths and injuries and all of them were currently immersed in the sorrow of losing their friends and relatives, so they had no interest in making trouble a weak outsider like Yang Kai.

Yang Kai was also happy with the current situation and simply followed behind the group silently while observing his surroundings.

Among the people he was travelling with four, in addition to Gui Che being Third Order Saint King, a man with scars on his face was also a Third Order Saint King. Gui Che called him Gan Ji.

There was also a young woman with a pair of peach eyes and enchanting eyes as well as a slender youth who looked around the same age as Yang Kai. Both of these cultivators were Second Order Saint Kings but Yang Kai had yet to learn their names.

Against such a lineup, Yang Kai had absolutely no chance of defeating them face to face, but if he wanted to leave, Yang Kai was completely confident they wouldn’t be able to block him. Observing carefully, Yang Kai recognized the young man who was as thin as a bamboo pole as the one who had been searching around the asteroids before. The Space Array should have been found by him.

Along the way, the young man would take out a piece of old-looking animal skin with a number of strange symbols and patterns drawn on it from time to time.

Under the leadership of this youth, the group swiftly moved forward.

This world was rich in World Energy, so naturally the material wealth was also quite astonishing, spirit herbs and spirit grasses with medicinal ages in the hundreds and even thousands of years were everywhere. Yang Kai was delighted by this sight and spared no effort to collect these treasures.

Gui Che didn’t stop him and even helped to collect these herbs along with his team mates, stuffing various grasses, fruits, and flowers into his Space Ring.

Yang Kai gave them a few pointers, telling them how to harvest these herbs in order to maintain their complete medicinal efficacies, immediately earning him the attention of the four Saint Kings.

“Are you Alchemist?” The young woman couldn’t help asking.

“Yes,” Yang Kai easily admitted.

Alchemists were few in number and rarely seen out in public. In general, Alchemists focused on exploring the Alchemic Way and their cultivation realm was only a secondary concern, causing their combat effectiveness to be quite low. Hearing Yang Kai’s words, the four people’s vigilance towards him obviously relaxed a lot.

“What grade of pills can you refine?” The young woman asked curiously.

“Saint Grade High-Rank pills.”

“Not bad,” Gui Che interjected with a smile, “A Third Order Saint able to refine Saint Grade High-Rank pills. It looks like you’ll be able to refine Saint King Grade pills within a few years. Such an Alchemist would actively get snatched up by many forces, you best work hard kid.”

Yang Kai smiled and nodded.

“Can you explain something to me? Why is your body constantly absorbing World Energy? It’s quite noticeable; what pill did you eat?” The cultivator called Gan Ji looked at Yang Kai suspiciously.

Not only him, but the others in the group had also taken notice of this anomaly. Yang Kai’s was clearly not circulating his Secret Art to cultivate, but the World Energy around him was still continuing to flow into his body, improving his cultivation.

This not only aroused their curiosity but also their greed, naturally, they wanted to learn more.

“It’s not the effect of a pill, it’s because of this,” Yang Kai took the initiative to open his shirt and reveal his chest. The four pairs of eyes stared towards him and saw the gloomy baby face open its mouth and swallow a lot of World Energy.

“What is this?” The young woman reached out and touched it but was unable to discover anything about it.

“Heavenly Spirit Ghost Orchid?” Gui Che’s face changed slightly as he muttered to himself, apparently seeing through the identity of this item at a glance.

“Heavenly Spirit Ghost Orchid?” The other three called out in alarm, the slender youth’s eyes flashing with greed as his face filled with excitement, “That rare treasure that helps one cultivate? Did you really take a Heavenly Spirit Ghost Orchid?”

“En,” Yang Kai nodded calmly.

“Where did you get this thing?” Gui Che hurriedly asked, “Do you have any others?”

The Heavenly Spirit Ghost Orchid was such a rare and precious treasures that even Gui Che couldn’t suppress his desire to possess it. With this thing, he could save himself several years of cultivation time, allowing him to achieve twice the results with half the effort.

“No, this was a gift from a Senior,” Yang Kai said as he organized his clothes again. He wasn’t afraid to expose the existence of the Heavenly Spirit Ghost Orchid because once this kind of treasure was refined by someone, it could not be snatched by another.

Sure enough, upon hearing Yang Kai’s answer, all four of the others showed a pained expression, as if he was wasting the Heaven’s precious gifts.

A Third Order Saint actually using such an exotic treasure to assist his cultivation, moreover not entering secluded retreat but instead flying across the Starry Sky, it was simply the definition of waste. No matter which one of them it was, they were certain that if they were able to obtain a Heavenly Spirit Ghost Orchid, they would find a place with rich World Energy and seclude themselves until its medicinal effects were depleted.

For a time, the eyes of the four people stared at Yang Kai with clear resentment. Gui Che even trembled in anger, seemingly wanting to kill Yang Kai to vent his frustration.

“There are so many rare herbs here, perhaps one or two Heavenly Spirit Ghost Orchids can be found,” Yang Kai said casually.

The young woman just glared at him, “The environment required to breed Heavenly Spirit Ghost Orchids is extremely specific, how could it be so easy to find one? I’m afraid there is no such treasure in this place.”

“Enough nonsense, kid. Lead the way, if there is any danger that you can’t handle, speak up quickly,” Gan Ji was obviously dissatisfied with Yang Kai’s wasteful use of the Heavenly Spirit Ghost Orchid and was venting his anger by yelling.

Yang Kai nodded indifferently.

This place was a little different from the floating continent. Although both places had extremely rich World Energy and material wealth, there were clearly traces of the existence of Monster Beasts here, and these Monster Beasts were all high-order Monster Beasts. Occasionally, some Seventh or Eighth-Order beasts would appear and Sixth-Order beasts were a common sight.

Gui Che and the others clearly didn’t know much about this place, and although they possessed the animal skin that served as a guide, the drawings on it were quite vague.

Yang Kai explored the road ahead but did not encounter much danger. He could easily kill Sixth-Order Monster Beast but once he discovered any trace of Seventh-Order or Eighth-Order Monster Beasts, he would immediately turn back and inform Gui Che and his people about the situation.

Such cowardly behaviour caused the group of four to hold a very disdainful view of him, each of them feeling like this little brat was fearful and incompetent.

Yang Kai, of course, was consciously hiding his true strength, only displaying the capabilities of an ordinary Third Order Saint while helping to fight these Monster Beasts.

Gui Che and his team observed Yang Kai for many days, but found nothing suspicious and gradually relaxed their vigilance.

A mere Third Order Saint was no cause for concern to them. Gui Che had openly declared he would make Yang Kai explore the way when he invited him to travel with them.

But he had clearly overestimated how dangerous the place was, and until now the only threat came from the various Monster Beasts.

Time passed, and Yang Kai gained a great deal. In addition to the herbs he collected, the various Monster Beast parts such as their claws, fur, and cores also landed in his hands.

Gui Che wasn’t stingy, and after each Monster Beast was killed, he would distribute its valuable parts according to everyone’s contributions. Of course, Yang Kai was given the least.

Yang Kai had no complaints though.

He gradually got acquainted with this group of people, and although he knew they were harbouring ill intentions towards him, no one had made a move as of yet.

This group also didn’t seem to come from a single force. Although everyone treated Gui Che as their leader, it was obvious that Gui Che and Gan Ji were from different backgrounds while the young woman and the slender youth seemed to have come from the same force as they often supported and helped each other in battle.

Yang Kai didn’t understand why such a disparate group of people would come together to explore this place.

Yang Kai didn’t ask any question though to avoid drawing unwanted attention to himself.

After another battle that was slightly more challenging, Gui Che distributed the loot. The Eighth-Order Monster Beast’s Core was thrown to Gan Ji while the Monster Beast’s blood was collected into several jars and distributed amongst the group while its teeth, claws, and fur were all pocketed by Gui Che.

Yang Kai stuffed a jar of blood indifferently into his Space Ring.

Monster Beast blood was also very useful. It could be used for Alchemy or in laying out Spirit Arrays, and was even sometimes used for Artifact Refining.

After the battle, it was natural to take a break. The group of four had taken many Saint Crystals from Yang Kai without a hint of politeness, each of them obtaining two or three hundred pieces. Now taking out these Saint Crystals, they began to restore themselves.

Yang Kai was able to restore himself the quickest and it wasn’t long before he was back at his peak.

After an hour, the young woman also opened her eyes, put the unused Saint Crystals back into her Space Ring, then walked over to a small lake nearby to wash her face in the water.

Yang Kai glanced around and found that the other three were still meditating, so he walked over to the lake as well, crouched down beside the young woman, and took a sip of the clear water.