Martial Peak
chapter-1040

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain

Yang Kai soon returned to Shen Tu’s palace.

Several guards who were silently protecting the entrance greeted him respectfully as he arrived.

“Did you come back, Brother Yang?” Shen Tu’s voice suddenly sounded from the inside and he soon walked out with a big smile and welcomed him.

“Did President Ai Ou finally set you free?” Yang Kai looked at him with a smile.

Shen Tu’s mouth couldn’t help twitching slightly as a look of annoyance appeared on his face, “Don’t mention this, this time I almost lost a layer of skin… En, come inside, we can talk more there.”

Enthusiastically receiving him, Shen Tu walked side by side with Yang Kai, asking about where he had gone during this time and how come he had not seen him for so long.

Yang Kai gave him a simple summary of his trip before suddenly frowning, “There’s an incident I have to tell you about.”

“What incident?” Shen Tu saw his expression become dignified and also put on a serious look.

Yang Kai first glanced around cautiously.

Jia Long, who had been following Shen Tu, quickly said, “Little brother may rest assured, there is no need to worry about what you say here leaking out, everyone within the palace is completely loyal to the Young Master.”

Shen Tu nodded, indicating that Yang Kai could speak without reservation.

Nodding, Yang Kai continued, “While I was out… I was forced to kill three cultivators from your chamber of commerce.”

“And?” Shen Tu asked.

“That’s all. After I killed them, I returned here.”

Shen Tu grinned, “Then there’s no problem, the Chamber of Commerce has so many people and there are always some battles on Water Moon Star. Every day many people die, if you’ve killed them then so be it, as long as they didn’t have some kind of extraordinary status, there won’t be any problems.”

“Their status shouldn’t be very high because their strength wasn’t.”

“Then relax, I’ll handle this for you. Brother Yang doesn’t need to concern himself about it any further,” Shen Tu thumped his chest confidently, not showing any concern about the three dead cultivators from the Chambers of Commerce.

“You should let me finish explaining first,” Yang Kai waved his hand, “I didn’t intentionally provoke this incident, I was only passing by a remote mountain valley when I came across a group of people. After I spotted them, those three chased after me.”

“A group of people?” Shen Tu was surprised.

“En, in that mountain valley, I saw a parked Starship about three hundred meters long as well as some supplies that your Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce’s cultivators were loading onboard. I was too far away to get a good look at what the materials were though. What I’m not clear about is why, after I discovered them, some youth who looked about our age instructed those three people to chase me.”

“They were trading supplies in a remote mountain valley?” Shen Tu’s face suddenly changed slightly, suddenly realizing that things weren’t as simple as he imagined, hurriedly asking, “Did those people have any distinguishing characteristics?”

Yang Kai thought about it for a moment before saying, “If we’re talking about characteristics, then the young man who was their leader stood out greatly, he was… beautiful, en, very beautiful!”

Even as he said these words, Yang Kai’s expression contorted somewhat, using the word beautiful to describe a man made him feel awkward, but he truly couldn’t think of a more appropriate word to use.

Listening to him, Shen Tu’s face grew uglier and uglier, he and Jia Long exchanged a glance as both of them had a bad premonition.

“Brother Yang… can you describe that young man in more detail…” His voice stuttered.

“I didn’t see his face clearly and only caught a glimpse of him, but I could tell that his skin was very pale and that there was a refreshing smile lingering on his face. En, right, there were also quite a few female cultivators around him, all of them having infatuated looks. He looked around our age. His hair was also quite long and hung down past his shoulders,” Yang Kai thought about it and relayed what he could remember.

“It can’t be,” Shen Tu suddenly let out a groan.

Yang Kai didn’t miss the distressed looks on Shen Tu and Jia Long’s face and couldn’t help but ask, “Do you know him?”

Shen Tu’s mouth twitched, and deep within his eyes, a look of fright and alarm was apparent. He remained silent for a while but eventually said, “Brother Yang, you’re not an outsider, so I won’t lie to you. That guy you saw… was probably my Third Brother Xue Yue!”

When the name ‘Xue Yue’ left Shen Tu’s mouth, Jia Long’s brow couldn’t help jumping slightly, as if he sensed danger from just this alone.

“Your Third Brother?” Yang Kai was startled.

“My Third Brother!” Shen Tu nodded heavily.

Jia Long smiled bitterly and explained, “On Water Moon Star, Young Master Shen Tu only fears two people: One is the President and the other is Young Master Xue Yue…”

Yang Kai was stunned but soon grinned, “Why would you fear your own brother?”

Shen Tu immediately began to complain, “If he wasn’t my brother, I would have already done everything within my power to eliminate him. Brother Yang, you don’t understand. Just mentioning my Third Brother causes me to shiver in fright… Fuck, that bastard left gave me so many childhood traumas, I can say in all honesty I fear him more than my old man.”

“This Young Master Xue Yue seems to be quite capable,” Yang Kai couldn’t help but feel interested in that strange youth. He had been together with Shen Tu for a while and knew that this guy was a fearless rogue. Making Shen Tu quiver at the very mention of his name, this Xue Yue was definitely someone to be reckoned with.

“Brother Yang, don’t make fun of me. If it really was him though, this matter will be troublesome.”

“Why?” Yang Kai asked curiously.

“If I didn’t guess wrong… Third Brother must have been engaging trading some scarce commodities with some influence outside the Chamber of Commerce in order to secretly gather money. This is a big taboo and is strictly prohibited. If word of this were to get out, he’d be in big trouble.”

“So when I passed by, he sent people to chase me down?” Yang Kai suddenly understood everything.

“Yes! Moreover, my Third Brother is the type to never relent until he accomplishes his objective. If he ever takes a liking to something, or someone, even if there are thousands of obstacles in his way, he won’t rest until he obtains it. On top of that, he tends to act on instinct and no one can ever guess what he is thinking. I remember one year, he and a senior executive of the Chamber of Commerce both settled on a certain maidservant at the same time, and although that executive eventually won possession of that maid, he disappeared inexplicably a month later and was never heard from again.”

Yang Kai’s expression sank upon hearing this.

Jia Long nodded and said, “I remember this since, as a result, the President flew into a rage for a while, but because no evidence was ever uncovered, the matter was eventually dropped.”

“Now, I’m afraid he’s going all out to find you, Brother Yang, because he must kill you to eliminate any chances of his actions being exposed!” Shen Tu declared.

Saying so, Shen Tu turned a look filled with concern towards Yang Kai.

“Am I supposed to hide then?” Yang Kai asked, frowning.

“Hiding may not do you any good. You don’t understand how much influence and power my Third Brother wields. He is the one my father most highly regards, and many people believe the next President will certainly be him. The entire population of Water Moon Star is his eyes and ears. If he wants to find someone, as long as they are still on Water Moon Star, he will definitely find them.”

“Then what should I do?” Yang Kai smiled bitterly. He had just gone out to have a look around, yet now he had actually gotten caught up in such a serious matter, his luck was really too bad.

“Brother Yang, don’t go out for a while, just stay inside the palace. I’ll help you inquire about this situation and see if there’s some way to resolve it,” Shen Tu sighed slightly.

“Good.”

After this incident, Yang Kai didn’t show himself in public again, simply remaining inside Shen Tu’s palace all day long, sitting in meditation, stabilizing his current realm or refining pills and studying the Star Chart in his Knowledge Sea to enhance his understanding of the Star Field.

Jia Long would pass him some news from time to time.

From him, Yang Kai learned that the Chamber of Commerce’s Third Young Master Xue Yue really had started a search for someone during this time, causing the entire Water Moon Star to become somewhat turbulent. Many people lost their lives as a result.

Yang Kai now thoroughly understood the brutal methods of Xue Yue.

At that time, he had passed by far from the mountain valley and had not clearly seen Xue Yue’s appearance, so Yang Kai estimated that the other party had also not clearly seen him.

Finding a single person you didn’t even know the exact face of was undoubtedly more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack. Even if Xue Yue had near-limitless resources at his disposal, it was very difficult to find Yang Kai.

As such, all cultivators with similar builds and strength to Yang Kai suffered.

Xue Yue would rather kill a thousand innocents than let him escape!

He was bolder and more decisive than his brothers and even President Ai Ou!

Yang Kai found it somewhat difficult to imagine that someone like Xue Yue could be so ruthless. When he saw him from afar, all he could feel from him was that he was devilishly attractive and had a unique warmth about him.

He was secretly startled and now fully realized one must never judge a person by their face. Xue Yue’s innermost murderous intent was completely masked by his appearance. Once Yang Kai fell into his hand, his end would no doubt be miserable, so he obediently hid inside Shen Tu’s palace and peacefully cultivated.

The fierce undercurrent lasted for two months, and more than two thousand people on Water Moon Star lost their lives because of it. Only after so much time had passed did things gradually subsided.

Jia Long also reported this to Yang Kai so that he could finally breathe a little easier.

After these two months passed, Shen Tu came to Yang Kai with a resigned look upon his face and openly admitted, “Brother Yang, although I really wish you would remain here and join me in my future endeavours, if you remain there will always be a day when my Third Brother discovers you. Once he does, even I won’t be able to protect you.”

“You mean?”

“You have to leave,” Shen Tu sighed, “The situation is a bit calmer now as Third Brother’s attention has shifted to other matters, so I can arrange for you to quietly sneak away.”

Saying so, he paused and said, “Of course, all of this depends on your own intentions. If you are willing to stay, I will be extremely grateful. My friends are not many and Brother Yang definitely counts as one, that was why I intended to recruit you in the first place, but if you do choose to stay, you can only hide inside the palace temporarily.”

“Then I’ll leave,” Yang Kai smiled faintly, “In fact, even if this matter hadn’t occurred, I wouldn’t have remained here indefinitely. Brother Shen Tu’s hospitality has been more than gracious, but I still have my own things to do.”

Shen Tu was startled for a moment but his expression soon relaxed and a smile appeared on his face, “It seems Brother Yang already had some long-term plans. It’s a pity. I originally wanted you to participate in the talent selection battle that the Chamber of Commerce will soon hold. With your strength, within the Saint Grade, you would certainly raise a great storm, but it seems that was not meant to be.”

Yang Kai smiled slightly.

“Then you should make some preparations, I’ll see if there is a suitable Starship that will soon depart and inform you when the time arrives.”

“Good!” Yang Kai didn’t have any opinion.

If he wanted to leave Water Moon Star, he had to take a Starship. Travelling by Star Shuttle not only took far too long, but it also consumed his own strength.

Yang Kai waited with peace of mind.

Ten days later, Shen Tu suddenly arrived in a hurry and told Yang Kai that everything had been prepared.

Yang Kai didn’t have any belongings to carry off so he simply stood up and followed Shen Tu out of the palace.