Martial Peak

Chapter 2323 , I’ll Kill You

Translator: Silavin & frozenfire

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

“Being too hasty during cultivation might have the opposite effect,” Yang Kai smiled faintly, having also realised the pressing issue that plagued Hua Qing Si.

“As if I don’t know that. You’ll know how I feel only when you reach the same realm as me,” Hua Qing Si gave a sigh before waving her hand. “Forget about it, let’s not talk about it. What is this place and what did you summon me for?”

“This is Thousand Leaves Sect.”

“Thousand Leaves Sect?” Hua Qing Si raised her brow, sinking into silent thought for a while before saying, “Are you talking about the Thousand Leaves Sect that gained their name through their Puppet Arts?”

“Does Sister Hua know about this Sect?” Yang Kai asked in shock.

Hua Qing Si replied, “Although Thousand Leaves Sect isn’t a first-class Sect, they are still quite famous within the Southern Territory, so how could I have not heard of them? In the past, I was even quite interested in their Puppet Arts and did a little research about them for a while. Nevertheless, it’s a pity as I heard they’ve already lost their inheritance and have been in decline for quite a few years. Currently, they can’t even control the puppets left within their Sect.”

“En, that’s about right, from what I’ve heard.” Upon hearing her reply, Yang Kai immediately knew that Hua Qing Si had quite a good understanding of Thousand Leaves Sect.

“Why did you come to the Thousand Leave Sect? Are you coveting their Puppet Arts?” Asked Hua Qing Si in curiosity.

“I’m here to help on someone’s behest.” Yang Kai smiled faintly and gave a brief explanation of the matter.

Surprised by the development of events, Hua Qing Si asked, “There’s actually a Sealed World within Thousand Leaves Sect? That’s the first time I’ve heard of this matter; so that’s why Thousand Leaves Sect entered a decline. It’s also very plausible that their Sealed World’s entrance has been sealed. Reasonably speaking, it would not be a hard task for you to use your knowledge of the Dao of Space to repair that connection.”

“I’ll have to give my all,” Yang Kai shrugged.

All of a sudden, a crafty smile appeared on Hua Qing Si’s face, “Young Master Yang, if you are able to find the Thousand Leaves Sect’s inheritance within the Sealed World, would it be possible for you to make a copy for me to take a look?”

“That doesn’t seem like a great idea…” Yang Kai cast a sidelong gaze at her, “After all, it’s their inheritance. What are you trying to do by trying to comprehend it?”

Hua Qing Si curled her lips, “You make it sound like you aren’t interested in it at all. All right then. In any case, it won’t take me long before I break through to the Emperor Realm, so I don’t have any time now to comprehend it anyway.”

Yang Kai gave a meaningful grin, “I can give it a try.”

Hua Qing Si replied, “That’s more like it. I’ve heard that the puppets of Thousand Leaves Sect are classified into four grades, Heaven, Earth, Profound and Yellow. As of now, the members of this Sect are only able to control puppets of the Profound Grade and below, as the controlling method for puppets of Earth Grade and above had been lost over time.”

“That’s right. There are over thirty Earth Grade puppets present on their main peak, but Ye Hen and the others were incapable of controlling them. From the looks of it, they also have quite a few Heaven Grade Puppets.” A look of pity appeared on Yang Kai’s face as he recalled the deep shock that he had felt in his heart upon seeing those strange little mountain peaks that greeted him when he had first entered Thousand Leaves Sect.

Hua Qing Si smiled, “Do you know that there’s also a Spirit Grade Puppet, which is a grade above Heaven Grade Puppets?”

Yang Kai’s eyes snapped wide open as he gasped in shock, “Spirit Grade Puppets?”

Hua Qing Si nodded her head and replied, “I don’t know if those puppets actually existed or not, as I obtained the information on them from a few ancient books kept in Star Soul Palace’s library. The information there wasn’t complete either. You should know that being overlord of the Southern Territory, Star Soul Palace has conducted some research on the Secret Techniques of the various major Sects across the entire Star Boundary.”

“En…” Yang Kai’s interest was immediately piqued.

Hua Qing Si replied with a solemn tone, “Every single one of the Thousand Leaves Sect’s Heaven Grade Puppets was said to be able to display a combat strength rivalling an Emperor Realm Master. The strongest of the Heaven Grade Puppets weren’t even inferior to Third-Order Emperors. This was the reason why they were able to become a top Sect within the Southern Territory. But regarding Spirit Grade Puppets… they seemed to have already gained spirituality, were capable of independent thought, and possessed their own consciousness. They were said to be capable of cultivating Secret Arts and Techniques, allowing them to continuously increase their combat strength, just like… your Big Stone!”

The Big Stone she was talking about was naturally his Embodiment.

Yang Kai was so shocked by Hua Qing Si’s words that he shot an utterly dumbfounded look at her.

Puppets were called puppets because they lacked sentience and required cultivators to control their movements. If they were able to possess their own consciousness and were even able to increase their combat strength through cultivation, how could they still be classified as puppets? Those were clearly the benefits only living creatures possessed.

Hua Qing Si smiled faintly, “I don’t know whether they actually exist or not. In any case, that is how they were described in the ancient books I’ve read. During those years, although Thousand Leaves Sect had achieved universal acclaim for their mastery of the Dao of Puppetry, they didn’t seem to have too many Spirit Grade Puppets in hand. Furthermore, no one knew where those Spirit Grade Puppets had disappeared to over these years.”

Yang Kai remained silent for a long time.

A puppet with sentience; just the idea of it seemed so outrageous; however, upon deeper thought, it did not seem to be utterly impossible. With how vast this world was, and the endless myriad of strange and peculiar things present within, even an Artifact Spirit, Liu Yan, was able to assume human form; so why would it be impossible for a puppet to gain sentience?

The only problem was the incredible amount of conditions and coincidences that had to align for this to happen.

“Oh, by the way, why did you summon me? If there isn’t anything else, I want to go back and cultivate.” Hua Qing Si could not help but ask after seeing Yang Kai staying in a daze for a long time.

Coming back to his senses, Yang Kai replied, “Sister Hua, I need you to stay here temporarily, as I have something I need your help with.”

“What is it?”

“During this trip to Thousand Leaves Sect, I managed to find some of my old friends; however, Thousand Leaves Sect’s Vice Sect Master doesn’t seem to have a good impression of us. I’m afraid that he might try to do something nefarious to them when I’m not around.”

Yang Kai needed to repair Thousand Leaves Sect’s Space Array, and if the opportunity presented itself, he even wished to take a look at the interior of the Sealed World. When that happened, it would naturally be impossible for him to be next to Chi Yue and the others.

At this moment, Chi Yue and the others were only First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivators, while Shi Cang Ying was a Third-Order Dao Source Realm Master. There was a rather big gap in their cultivations, so if Yang Kai was not by their side, Chi Yue and the others would be utterly incapable of putting up any resistance should Shi Cang Ying choose to move against them.

As such, Yang Kai had summoned Hua Qing Si with the intention of having her secretly protect Chi Yue and the others.

After explaining his intentions to Hua QIng Si, she immediately accepted, “That’s not a problem. You should just worry about your own matters, Young Master Yang. It’s just a Third-Order Dao Source Realm. If he really wants to seek death, I don’t mind assisting him in doing so.”

As she said those words, a chilling glint flashed across her eyes. Clearly, she was feeling extremely unhappy and frustrated at that fellow for causing interference with her cultivation.

Although Hua Qing Si and Shi Cang Ying had the same cultivation, their backgrounds were completely different. Shi Cang Ying was just the Vice Sect Master of Thousand Leaves Sect; how could his Secret Arts and Secret Techniques rival those of Hua Qing Si, who originated from Star Soul Palace?

If the two of them were to engage in a life or death fight, there was absolutely no possibility for Shi Cang Ying to obtain victory.

“Then I shall trouble you, Sister Hua,” Yang Kai replied with a grin.

Shooting an annoyed glare at Yang Kai, Hua Qing Si said in a gloomy tone, “After handing my Soul Imprint to you, your ‘Sister Hua’ has already resigned herself to her fate. The only thing I hope is for you to treat your Sister Hua well in the future. As long as you don’t resort to beating or scolding me, that will be enough.”

Following her words, she rubbed the corners of her eyes, all while looking as if she was suffering from a cruel fate.

Cold sweat erupted from Yang Kai’s body as he hurriedly wiped his forehead and warned, “Sister Hua, you better not say those words in front of Chi Yue. If you do, I’ll be dead for sure.”

A bitter look blanketed Hua Qing Si’s face as she pursed her lips, “Young Master Yang, are you not satisfied even after having this Sister Hua, Ruo Xi and Liu Yan? You even went out to harass other women!? How are we sisters inferior to others?”

Torrents of cold sweat dripped down from Yang Kai’s forehead as he replied in embarrassment, “Stop fooling around. If not, I’ll kill you.”

Hua Qing Si let out a peal of enchanting laughter and moved towards the door with a twist of her body, turning around as she smiled, “Seeing how afraid Young Master Yang is of that woman, it looks like she has some kind of upper hand against you, huh?”

“What are you going to do!?” Yang Kai cried out in shock, “Are you going to look for her?”

Hua Qing Si replied, “Rest assured, I’ll protect them in secret. There’re so many rooms here, I’ll just find one to sit down in.”

After saying that, she opened the door and disappeared from view with a deft move.

Apprehension filling his face, Yang Kai sent his Divine Sense out. Only after sensing that Hua Qing Si had really found a room to cultivate in, did he finally relax.

…

The next day, Ye Jing Han came over to find Yang Kai; however, to his surprise, she did not ask him about the matter of repairing the Space Array. On the contrary, she had come over to pass him some herbs.

He had requested these herbs from her as they were the ingredients needed to detoxify Chai Hu.

Although obtaining these few herbs weren’t too difficult, they were not that simple to find either. Therefore, Yang Kai did not expect Thousand Leaves Sect to have collected all of them in just a day’s time. Nevertheless, since he already had all of the herbs in hand, Yang Kai naturally started to refine the Coagulation Pill for Chai Hu.

After saying a word of thanks to Ye Jing Han, Yang Kai immediately took out his furnace to start the refining.

Within half a day, the Coagulation Pill was successfully refined.

Upon hearing the news, Chi Yue and the others gathered in Chai Hu’s room, everyone shooting anxious gazes at him.

Present in Chai Hu’s hand was a jade bottle with six spherical Spirit Pills inside. Seated on the ground, Chai Hu appeared to be somewhat absentminded as he clutched the bottle.

“Yang Kai, are these the Coagulation Pills that you spoke of?” Chi Yue turned her head towards Yang Kai and asked.

“En,” Yang Kai nodded his head and replied in a serious tone. “Senior Chai needs to consume one pill now, and I need you all to assist him in refining the medicinal efficacies. Every three days after today, he will need to consume one more pill. In this way, the Monster Beast’s poison will be dispelled in half a month.”

A tremor shook through Chai Hu’s body upon hearing these words. Raising his head to look at Yang Kai, he gulped hard, “After the poison is dispelled, my cultivation…”

“Will still be in the Third-Order Origin King Realm,” Yang Kai replied with a faint smile.

Chai Hu couldn’t help but feel depressed upon hearing his words. The rest of the group also turned gloomy as they assumed that Chai Hu would forever remain at this cultivation realm, with no possibility of regaining his former strength at all.

Yang Kai continued, “However, if he continues to cultivate, he’ll quickly be able to regain his former cultivation.”

Chai Hu’s eyes instantly burst forth with radiance as he shot a burning gaze at Yang Kai, “What Young Master Yang is saying… is that I’m able to restore my former cultivation?”

Yang Kai replied, “Naturally. Senior Chai’s cultivation has only been suppressed due to the poison. Since it has not been too long, it did not harm your foundation. As long as you work hard, you’ll regain your cultivation.”

Gui Zu spoke out anxiously, “Are you sure, Sect Master?”

Yang Kai smiled and replied, “Do you think I’d joke about something like this?”

“That’s great!” Chi Yue immediately felt relieved, as though a large stone had been lifted from her heart. If it had been truly impossible for Chai Hu to improve his cultivation any further, everyone, including her, would definitely be tormented by it for the rest of their lives; after all, Chai Hu had suffered such a consequence because he stayed behind to buy time for them to escape.

Therefore, they were elated to hear from Yang Kai that there was no obstruction in Chai Hu’s cultivation path.