Martial Peak

Chapter 6115, Are You Insane!?

Author: Silavin

“And what of it? Aren’t you basically in the same state now? They’ve basically taken your life and used it as leverage. What’s wrong with doing the same thing as them?” Wu Lun answered in a callous voice, as though this should be as expected.

“It’s not the same. The only thing that is threatening my life is if she dies. Other than that, they have no control over my life. You can’t say that they are the same thing.” Yang Ji shook his head and rejected the offer, “And, I’m from High Heaven Palace. We do not accept slaves.”

“You say this despite knowing that your Father once took in a few of your Seniors as slaves?” Wu Lun rolled his eyes in ridicule. High Heaven Palace did indeed free its slaves, however, that was only after Yang Kai had become the strongest being. With that kind of strength, there was no need to keep their Divine Soul Brands. They would fall in line automatically.

After all, with the strength Yang Kai had, he basically owns the 3,000 Worlds. If he wished, no one could refuse him. In a way, the peaceful progression of the 3,000 Worlds had been mostly due to his Will for peace.

“That, I can sort of understand since they did cross my Father, and nearly got him killed. But, Hong Lan Tian technically has not done anything wrong to me. If anything, the one that needs to be punished is Hong Jun, not her.” Yang Ji continued to stand by his stance. “Father always said that in life, we must draw a line we do not cross. ”

“Why are you being so obstinate over this one issue? Your survival is at stake here, yet you are worried over turning the Little Princess of the Hong Clan into your slave? Are you kidding me?” Wu Lun would have forcibly stolen her Soul Brand and jammed it into Yang Ji’s Knowledge Sea if he could.

“Then, are you saying that I will die if I don’t do this?” Yang Ji frowned and waited for an answer.

“Yes.” Wu Lun gave a curt answer, which took no time for him to even think.

“Liar.” Yang Ji immediately snapped back.

“Huh?” Wu Lun’s expression changed once he heard this, though Yang Ji would not have been able to see it.

“You would not have allowed me to be bound to her with the Blood Binding Seal if she were to die so easily. What’s more, there would be no reason to turn her into a slave if she were to die so easily.” Yang Ji reasoned, and he pointed out, “Senior, though I do not know how you come to know so much to plan my route to the Pool of Revitalisation in such a straightforward manner, I still have my guesses. I bet you know this girl would survive through this, at least before I get the Blood Binding Seal removed. Otherwise, even taking her Divine Soul Brand would not do me much good.”

“…” Wu Lun remained silent for a while. [This kid is sharp at unexpected moments, and really naive in others…]

“Fine, fine. You’ve called out my bluff. So, what are you going to do then? Let’s just say things will work out better if you turn her into your slave.” Wu Lun sighed and did not want to argue anymore.

That was when Yang Ji had a bright idea. “You will definitely want to keep me alive, right?”

“What are you on about? That’s what I’ve promised, so I will do so.” Wu Lun rolled his eyes.

“In that case…” Yang Ji smirked and openly started operating the Technique Wu Lun had passed onto him.

It was frighteningly simple to operate, to the point Yang Ji even wondered just what kind of genius had come up with this Technique.

Of course, little did he know that the ease of doing this had been mostly thanks to the efforts of Wu Lun.

Like a master thief, Yang Ji’s Divine Sense entered Hong Lan Tian completely undetected. Not a trace of her Soul had been disturbed by this intrusion, as though his Divine Sense had completely blended as her Soul itself.

There was no rejection, no nothing. It was as though Yang Ji’s Divine Sense had originally been Hong Lan Tian’s from the very beginning. Even when it entered the deepest recesses of her Soul, and glimpsed into memories of the Soul, it did not face any rejection.

Of course, Yang Ji would not pry a maiden of her secrets. It was not about being gentlemanly, he just did not concern himself with them, since his only goal was to get her Divine Soul Brand.

With a quick ‘swipe’ the Divine Soul Brand within Hong Lan Tian’s Soul had been taken away, all without her noticing. However, in its place was another Divine Soul Brand…

Wu Lun, noticing what Yang Ji was doing, screamed at the top of his lung, “What the Hell Are You Doing!? Are you insane!?”

He could not fathom just what kind of idiot would swap out another person’s Divine Soul Brand and place theirs there!!! This was equivalent to merely swapping their lifelines.

Wu Lun already had plans on how to remove the Blood Binding Seal. However, he could not possibly plan on retrieving Yang Ji’s Divine Soul Brand if it were in someone else’ hand, which the boy himself had willingly given!

Yang Ji, already foreseeing such a reaction, kept Hong Lan Tian’s Divine Soul Brand within his Knowledge Sea, and had his Divine Sense slowly retreat. He addressed Wu Lun in a calm manner, “Look, this way, it would be fair. I will not make use of her, and she will not make use of me.”

“Are you an idiot? Why would you give your life away like this? You hardly even know her!” Wu Lun roared. “This is now the Lower Realm! We are in the Upper Realm! Even if she bears you no ill-intentions, If someone forces her to give her Divine Soul Brand, she would be giving away your Divine Soul Brand!” 

Yang Ji simply added, this time with a smile, “In that case, I’ll have to trouble you to keep us both alive. After all, if she falls, I would fall too, right?”

“Are you doing this just to enrage me?” Wu Lun pointedly questioned.

“Ha ha ha. No way. I’m not so petty. It’s just, I don’t want to make use of someone innocent. That’s a line I don’t want to cross. If she were my enemy, I’d follow what my Father says and act mercilessly. But, no way I can do that to someone innocent. Even within her Soul, even when I did not bother prying into her memories, I can tell that she’s not a bad person. She never bore me any ill-will.” Yang Ji stressed and refused to budge on this issue.

Wu Lun went silent for a long while. It was unknown if it was due to him trying to calm down, or him trying to plan out the steps ahead. Nevertheless, it took long enough for Yang Ji to have his Divine Sense retreat all the way back to his own room.

*Phew* Finally, Yang Ji could let out a breath of relief after having strained his Divine Sense for so long. Then, he directly spoke to Hong Lan Tian through his Divine Soul Brand. “Hello, can you hear me? Testing, testing.”

“Huh?” Hong Lan Tian was confused by this sudden change in attitude. She questioned, “Yes, of course I can hear you.  Heard you well enough before.”

“Ah, good. I’ve exchanged Divine Soul Brands with you, so it would not be an exaggeration to say that we both have control over each other’s lives. Also, with my Cultivation Technique, I can actually use my Divine Soul Brand to communicate to you at all times, so I no longer need to extend my Divine Sense all the way to talk to you now.” Yang Ji gave a quick summary and wanted to switch to the next topic. However, Hong Lan Tian was too flustered to basically even comprehend what had just happened.

“Eh?”

After all, she had just found out, through a casual mention by some unknown person, that her life was basically in his hand. How could she possibly calm down after knowing this?

“Hey, your heart rate is rising and your breathing is starting to get heavy. Are you worried about me doing something horrible to you? Well, you don’t have to worry about that. You have my Divine Soul Brand now. We can’t do anything bad to one another.” Yang Ji, keenly able to feel Hong Lan Tian’s condition through his Divine Soul Brand, quickly tried to calm her down.

Hong Lan Tian, never having experienced such absurdities, did not even bother to question how. She just directly asked, “Why?”

Yang Ji rubbed his cheek and explained, “I didn’t want a Master Slave relationship with you. Like I said, we are equals.”

“Equals… huh…” Hearing this for the first time, seeing his actions, Hong Lan Tian could not help but feel a little touched. When has someone else, someone who was not part of her Family nor Clan, who was obviously much stronger than her, ever said that they would stand as her equal?

If it were not so sad, if she were alone, Hong Lan Tian felt like she would have cried a little.

Here was someone, maybe of lower standing, but of far greater potential, viewing her as an equal for once. This was so different from the usual ridicule that she faced.

“Yeah. Since you didn’t do anything bad to me, it would be unfair of me to take your Divine Soul Brand and have you at my mercy. Besides, I think we–I might be able to help you get out of the situation you are in.” 

“We?” Hong Lan Tian questioned, and Yang Ji quickly added, “Erm, yes. The Sect backing me. We have a genius strategist. He is very smart… but has a foul mouth.”