Martial Peak
chapter-1059

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain

When they had approached to within thirty kilometres of the mountain valley, Ha Li Ka stopped and hesitated for a moment before saying, “Little brother, I’ll wait for you here. If it looks like this matter may not be, leave immediately. Don’t try to insist, Grandmaster Zong Ao most despises those who pester him and the consequences of annoying him are not something you can withstand.”

Yang Kai glanced over suspiciously and with an embarrassed look, Ha Li Ka explained, “Little brother, you are young, and your cultivation is low. Even if Grandmaster Zong Ao becomes angry, he won’t discard his face to kill you, but if I go with you…”

“I understand,” Yang Kai guessed his concerns and didn’t force the issue, holding on tightly to Xue Yue before flying forward.

Ha Li Ka stood still, stretching his neck as he stared forward anxiously, wondering whether Yang Kai’s trip would be smooth or whether he would be beaten by Zong Ao.

Yang Kai crossed the thirty-kilometre gap in the blink of an eye.

Landing right outside the small palace, Yang Kai shouted, “Senior, my family’s Young Lady has suffered disaster and has fallen into a coma, I have heard that Senior is the greatest Alchemist on Rainfall Star so I have come here to beg Senior to diagnose and treat her.”

From inside the palace, no response could be heard, but Yang Kai could feel that there was a life aura present so the Alchemist called Zong Ao was indeed here, he just refused to reply.

Yang Kai repeated his request three times.

In the distance, Ha Li Ka almost touched felt his heart leap up into his throat, secretly deciding that if Zong Ao rushed out in rage, he would immediately flee and not look back.

Outside the palace, Yang Kai also anxiously waited.

Powerful master always had unpredictable temperaments, this was something Yang Kai understood clearly, so he didn’t dare act recklessly. Even Ha Li Ka and Lin Mu Feng were wary of Zong Ao, so as a mere Second-Order Saint, Yang Kai knew well enough not to irritate this Grandmaster otherwise he would absolutely have a miserable end. As such, Yang Kai just held Xue Yue and stood outside respectfully, waiting for Zong Ao to reply.

Yang Kai also thought about what to do if Zong Ao refused to act.

Xue Yue remaining unconscious was not an issue Yang Kai could ignore, their lives were connected, once something happened to her, he wouldn’t be able to survive.

So Yang Kai was anxious to wake Xue Yue up and then release the Soul Chains’ binding, restoring his freedom.

Just as Yang Kai was debating what to do next, an aged voice suddenly came from inside the palace, “Come in!”

Yang Kai froze up, surprised that things were actually proceeding so smoothly. He had carefully listened to Zong Ao’s tone and found that this Grandmaster wasn’t dissatisfied or angry, so Yang Kai quickly collected himself and stepped into the palace.

The doors to the palace were wide open and there were no guards or servants around. It seemed that only Zong Ao lived here.

After walking through the palace’s corridors for a moment, Yang Kai arrived at a massive room from which a strong medicinal scent wafted. Walking inside this room cautiously, Yang Kai scanned his surroundings, his eyes narrowing slightly as he did.

This large room should be Zong Ao’s Pill Room.

Inside, there were several dozen large and small pill furnaces, each one still retaining some residual heat, apparently having just been used for Alchemy.

In one corner of this room, a large number of jade bottles were piled up, each one filled with different types of colourful and spectacular pills.

Yang Kai roughly estimated that there were two hundred jade bottles, piled up on the floor in a disorderly manner like they were trash waiting to be disposed of.

Yang Kai was secretly shocked, realizing that Ha Li Ka was not exaggerating before when he said the number of pills Zong Ao produced was phenomenal.

At this moment, Zong Ao was sitting on an animal skin chair, holding a jade bottle in his hand, seemingly examining something.

After a quick glance, apparently not finding what he was looking for, Zong Ao tossed the bottle he was holding onto the pile of jade bottles in the corner.

There were several jade bottles on the table in front of him.

After checking through them one by one, Zong Ao suddenly grinned and said to himself, “Another one, heh heh, not bad, it seems this old master did not exhaust himself in vain, en, pills are truly difficult to refine…”

Saying so, he took one of the pills out of the jade bottle he was holding and placed it into another one he had prepared.

Yang Kai observed carefully and noticed that all the pills in the latter jade bottle had formed Pill Veins.

This Zong Ao seemed to be only interested in keeping pills that formed Pill Veins, all others were discarded regardless of their grade or value.

While Zong Ao checked his pills, Yang Kai didn’t bother him, simply standing there silently.

After a while, Zong Ao finished, placing his bottle of Pill Vein pills into his sleeve, raised his eyes, and looked towards Yang Kai, chuckling meaningfully, “So it’s you, the boy who tried to steal the secrets of this old master’s Medicine Garden, right?”

Yang Kai blushed and replied embarrassedly, “Junior came to this place a few days ago and was attracted by the mystery of these Medicine Garden; unable to contain my curiosity, I stop to study them for a few days, if I have offended Grandmaster in any way, I humbly ask for forgiveness.”

No matter what the circumstances or intentions were, stealing a master’s secrets was a taboo, Yang Kai also understood that he was in the wrong here.

At the time, he had simply been too absorbed in studying the unique aspects of these Medicine Gardens and hadn’t thought much about it, but now that their owner was investigating the matter, Yang Kai had no way to defend himself.

“En,” Zong Ao was satisfied with Yang Kai’s frank admission, got up from his chair, and laughed, “Forget it, it’s not a big deal. Seems your luck is quite good, today this old master just finished performing Alchemy and had some positive harvests. Since you are a fellow Alchemist, this old master won’t hold you accountable.”

Zong Ao understood well that the secrets of his Medicine Gardens would only attract the attention of other Alchemists.

“What happened to your family’s Young Lady?” Zong Ao took the initiative to ask.

Yang Kai expression became solemn as he replied, “She has fallen unconscious, her vitality frozen, her consciousness scattered, and her Soul Avatar is nowhere to be seen!”

“You dove into her Knowledge Sea?” Zong Ao looked at Yang Kai in surprise.

Yang Kai nodded slightly.

Zong Ao suddenly let out a strange laugh, “Seems your relationship with this little girl isn’t simple.”

Saying so, he gave Yang Kai an ambiguous grin, seemingly a little more interested now.

Only those who were incredibly intimate with one another would dive into the other’s Knowledge Sea. If Yang Kai was really just Xue Yue’s guard, it would be impossible for him to have committed such an act.

Zong Ao was an old soul and could see the hidden meaning behind these words.

Yang Kai didn’t deny anything and instead simply said, “I hope Senior can lend his assistance!”

Zong Ao grinned and asked, “Ha Li Ka came with you as well, so this little girl’s status can’t be low. Were the other Alchemist on Rainfall Star helpless?”

“A dozen or so were invited to diagnose her condition, but they could not determine anything.”

“A bunch of wastes who know nothing other than Alchemy!” Zong Ao spurned without mercy, casually strolling over to Yang Kai while checking Xue Yue’s condition with his Divine Sense, a moment later his expression becoming dire.

Yang Kai clearly felt that Zong Ao’s Divine Sense strengthened, as if he had discovered something.

Seeing this, Yang Kai also held his breath and waited anxiously.

Zong Ao’s expression fluctuated, seemingly hesitant, seemingly excited, his eyes widening more and more, only after a long time asking, “Boy, was this little girl injured by Profound Yin Sunflower Water?”

His tone was somewhat uncertain, apparently even he didn’t dare to draw this conclusion.

Even so, Yang Kai couldn’t help but admire this old man. The dozen or so other Alchemists who had performed an extensive examination of Xue Yue before were unable to discover anything, but after only a quick glance Zong Ao was able to determine the root of the problem. It was obvious that Zong Ao’s skill and experience were far more profound. Yang Kai thus nodded sincerely, “Yes!”

“It really was Profound Yin Sunflower Water?” Zong Ao yelled, somewhat losing his self-control.

“En, Profound Yin Sunflower Water!”

“Ha!” Zong Ao old face shivered as he found it difficult to hide the excitement in his heart, letting out a riotous laugh, “Profound Yin Sunflower Water! It’s really appeared here?”

Dancing around excitedly, Zong Ao shouted continuously for a while before stretching out his hands and grabbing Yang Kai’s shoulders like an iron vice, his eyes flashing a startling light, eagerly saying, “Boy, where is that Profound Yin Sunflower Water? Quickly bring this old master to it!”

“Senior, please rescue my family’s Young Lady first!” Yang Kai remained unmoved.

“You dare discuss conditions with this old master?” Zong Ao’s expression became cold and a little displeased, focusing his gaze on Yang Kai and threatening, “If this old master wants to kill you, you cannot resist, yet you dare try to discuss terms with me?”

“Please forgive my insistence, Senior!” Yang Kai stood his ground.

Zong Ao was slightly taken aback, directing a strange look towards Yang Kai in the next moment and smirking, “Your courage isn’t small! No one has dared speak to this old master like this for many years. It seems that this little girl is truly important to you, is her life worth your own?”

Yang Kai frowned and declared, “If she dies, I die too!”

This was not a lie, so Yang Kai’s words betrayed no falsehood.

Whether it was his words or his expression, something about Yang Kai moved Zong Ao, causing him to withdraw his pressure, frowning thoughtfully for a moment before nodding, “Good, you follow me!”

Saying so, he led Yang Kai to another room inside the palace.

After a short while, the pair arrived in front of a certain room and Zong Ao instructed Yang Kai to place Xue Yue on the bed before he took out a brown pill and handed it to Yang Kai, “Feed it to her!”

Yang Kai reached out and pinched Xue Yue’s cheeks, intending to throw the pill into her mouth.

Seeing this, Zong Ao rolled his eyes, “Chew and feed it to her! She can’t circulate any of her strength right now, if you don’t help her refine the medicinal effects, how is she supposed to absorb them?”

Yang Kai stared at Zong Ao in amazement.

Zong Ao laughed wickedly, “Too embarrassed? If that’s the case, this old master can step outside for a moment.”

“No need.” Yang Kai shook his head, popped the pill into his mouth, chewed it, then fed it to Xue Yue calmly.

He had already touched and traced every part of Xue Yue’s body, seen everything there was to be seen, what shame was there in kissing her now?

Xue Yue’s red lips were cold but still quite soft, and after Yang Kai fed her the pill and straightened up, the experience provided him much food for thought.

“Step aside!” Zong Ao said without the slightest politeness, shoving Yang Kai away while holding a small kettle-like container filled with a bubbling turquoise liquid.

Yang Kai couldn’t identify what this liquid was.

However, upon seeing Zong Ao’s confident look, Yang Kai didn’t bother asking anything and just stood by and watched.