Martial Peak
chapter-1233

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain

A hundred kilometres away from the mountain valley, in a desolate but well-hidden place.

A group of four came to a stop. Naturally, it was Wei Gu Chang, Yang Kai, Dai Yuan, and Dong Xuan’er. After leaving the mountain valley, Wei Gu Chang had been monitoring their surroundings with his Divine Sense constantly, maintaining the highest degree of vigilance he could as they travelled a full hundred kilometres without detecting any signs of pursuit before finally relaxing.

From beginning to end, Dong Xuan’er, Dai Yuan, and Yang Kai had all said nothing and hurried along in silence.

It was only here that Wei Gu Chang stopped, rubbed his Space Ring unconsciously, turned back, and asked, “Brother Yang, what are your plans?”

Instead of Dai Yuan, he first asked Yang Kai, and Yang Kai immediately understood that Wei Gu Chang suspected that he had obtained a piece of the Red Candle Fruit. It was because the two of them were in the same situation now that he was asking.

Of course, Yang Kai didn’t reveal anything in his words or actions. Although he had a favourable impression of Wei Gu Chang, the Red Candle Fruit was too important so acting cautiously was for the best.

Thinking for a while, Yang Kai responded, “I have no definite plans, but I think I’ll try venturing further into the third layer to see if I can find something good.”

“Brother Yang plans to go even deeper?” Wei Gu Chang’s face changed slightly as he felt this idea was quite strange. According to this thought, if Yang Kai really obtained the last piece of the Red Candle Fruit, he would not want to take unnecessary risks like continuing further into the third layer, but Yang Kai actually said he had such intentions.

Not only did Wei Gu Chang find this strange, Dong Xuan’er and Dai Yuan also showed weird expressions.

Yang Kai saw this and knew what they were thinking in their hearts. Maintaining a composed look on his face, he simply said, “No one has ever entered the third layer Flame Area. Even the Heaven defying Red Candle Fruit appeared here, so perhaps further inside there are even better things.”

When Wei Gu Chang heard him say this, most of the suspicions in his heart disappeared and he thought that perhaps Yang Kai hadn’t obtained that last piece of the Red Candle Fruit, allowing him to act so uninhibitedly. Nodding slightly, he said, “Since Brother Yang has made such a decision, this Wei won’t say anymore. I’ll simply wish Brother Yang good luck and fortune! Xuan’er and I won’t remain here any longer, we will be leaving the Flowing Flame Sand Field as soon as possible.”

Wei Gu Chang’s choice didn’t surprise Yang Kai at all. The appearance of the Red Candle Fruit was too big of an incident, and anyone who had a piece of it on them wouldn’t be able to feel relaxed. Wei Gu Chang intended to bring it out from this place quickly and hand it over to the Elders of Shadow Moon Hall. Not only was Wei Gu Chang thinking so, Yang Kai assumed Fang Tian Zhong, Qu Chang Feng, Yin Su Die, and that brawny looking male were also planning on doing so. They wouldn’t even think of entrusting this task to others and would definitely take their pieces of Red Candle Fruit out of the Flowing Flame Sand Field personally.

This was also good news for Yang Kai. With the elites of these Sects leaving, there would naturally be far fewer people left in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, meaning he would face less competition from now on.

“Good, Brother Wei and Sister Xuan’er must surely be careful along the way,” Yang Kai nodded slightly.

Wei Gu Chang nodded before turning to Dai Yuan and asking, “Junior Sister Dai Yuan, how about you?”

“Me?” Dai Yuan smiled, “I didn’t obtain anything good since I came in, so naturally I’m not in a hurry to leave. I want to remain here and see if I can come across some good fortune in the coming days.”

“Since that’s the case, be sure to remain safe,” Wei Gu Chang would certainly not try to persuade Dai Yuan to leave with them.

Dong Xuan’er stepped forward and spoke a few more words to Dai Yuan before leaving together with Wei Gu Chang, both of them hurrying towards the outskirts of the Flowing Flame Sand Field.

After the opening of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, one could leave at any point they liked, but ordinarily, no one would do so. After all, even if one’s strength was low, as long as they could find some Fire Spirit Beasts in the first layer Flame Area and kill them, they could harvest some Fire Crystal Stones.

However, the appearance of the Red Candle Fruit this time forced the young geniuses from the most powerful Sects on Shadowed Star to leave in advance, an extremely rare event.

After the figures of Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er disappeared from view, Dai Yuan quietly turned to Yang Kai.

Like Wei Gu Chang, she suspected that Yang Kai had obtained the last piece of the Red Candle Fruit, but now that he had actually chosen to remain here and even travel deeper inside, she wasn’t so sure of her guess.

While thinking about it, she saw Yang Kai suddenly turn to her and say, “Since things here have ended, I’ll be taking my leave. I hope Ms. Dai Yuan is blessed with good fortune in the days to come.”

“Wait!” Dai Yuan called out anxiously; she had never expected that Yang Kai would try to part ways with her so abruptly.

“What’s wrong?” Yang Kai held no ill will or disgust towards Dai Yuan. Although this woman’s face was unsightly, she was intelligent and pure of heart. During their brief time together, Yang Kai’s impression of her was quite good, but he didn’t know why after he made his intentions to leave so clear she had actually asked for him to stop.

Dai Yuan bit her red lips and a hint of hesitation flashed across her face before she said, “Junior Brother Yang, I also want to continue deeper into the third layer. I wonder if we can go together?”

“You want to travel together with me?” Yang Kai was stunned.

Although he didn’t know much about Dai Yuan, from the first time he met her, he could tell that she was a woman who liked to act alone, possibly as a result of her appearance. As such, Yang Kai had never thought that she would ask to accompany him.

This request made Yang Kai feel a bit awkward.

The reason he wanted to continue deeper into the third layer was to find a suitable place to refine the Profound Yin Sunflower Water, so travelling together with Dai Yuan would interfere with his plans.

Seeing Yang Kai’s hesitant appearance, Dai Yuan also seemed a bit embarrassed, knowing that her proposal had put him in a difficult position; however, her instincts were telling her not to miss this opportunity to travel alone with Yang Kai.

What’s more, she really did want to venture deeper into the third layer. The third layer was very different from the first and second layers, and Dai Yuan wasn’t completely confident she could traverse safely on her own. If she went together with Yang Kai though, the two of them could at least look out for one another, increasing their odds of survival.

Therefore, even if she was embarrassed, Dai Yuan still gazed at Yang Kai with a sincere look while secretly praying that he wouldn’t simply reject her.

She couldn’t even remember the last time she was so anxious, she hadn’t asked anyone for anything in so long, it had always been her making her own decision regarding what she would do or where she would go. She had made up her mind to rely only on herself, but this time, she had to break her own rules.

After a while, Yang Kai’s furrowed brow loosened and with a smile, he nodded, “Alright, sure.”

Hearing this, Dai Yuan also smiled happily as gratitude flashed across her beautiful eyes.

“However, I must make some things clear,” Yang Kai’s expression became serious, “By now, I believe Ms Dai Yuan understands the situation of this third layer. If we really encounter some kind of trap or other danger I cannot handle, the two of us can only try to find our own solutions. If Ms Dai Yuan, unfortunately, falls here, don’t blame me for not helping.”

“Naturally,” Dai Yuan gently nodded, “If we really encounter inescapable fatal danger, it can only be said that this Dai Yuan’s luck is too bad.”

“En,” Seeing her readily agree, Yang Kai was satisfied and said, “One more thing, the reason I want to continue deeper into the third layer is that I have something I must do. When the time comes, I’ll have to separate from you, so we won’t be able to travel together until Flowing Flame Sand Field closes.”

Dai Yuan showed a hint of surprise, but quickly responded, “Does Junior Brother Yang want to use this environment to cultivate some secret technique?”

It was only natural for her to think like this because a similar environment to this place could not be found outside. Yang Kai needing to handle something here was naturally related to cultivation.

“That’s right,” Yang Kai nodded, “If you don’t have any objections, then we can go together.”

“Of course I have no objections,” Dai Yuan agreed. The two points mentioned by Yang Kai weren’t anything unreasonable so there was no reason for her to refuse.

“That being the case, I’ll have to ask Ms Dai Yuan to take care of me in the coming days,” Yang Kai grinned.

“It is this Dai Yuan who must thank Junior Brother Yang for his hospitality.”

After deciding, Yang Kai took out his Yuan Magnetic Compass, checked his directions, then headed deeper into the third layer together with Dai Yuan.

The heat of the third layer was fierce, and Yang Kai needed to constantly push his Saint Qi to resist the invasion of the ambient fire poison. Dai Yuan actually had it easier as her clothes seemed to be some kind of Artefact Armour, so she only needed to slightly activate it in order to create a faint blue halo around her body that would keep the surrounding heat and fire poison away from her.

Along the way, Dai Yuan was continuously shocked. Although from the first time she saw Yang Kai she knew that he had only been using his Saint Qi to resist the surrounding environment and was not wearing any Artefact Armour, witnessing it was still quite startling.

She didn’t know how much Saint Qi Yang Kai had squandered by acting this way, but even after so long he didn’t show the slightest fatigue.

Dai Yuan really wanted to know just how much Saint Qi Yang Kai had stored in his body that could allow him to spend so care-freely.

Fortunately, after walking for a day, Yang Kai proposed that they stop to restore themselves, making Dai Yuan feel he was at least somewhat normal.

Using Saint Qi in this manner yet not requiring a break to restore oneself would have truly been strange. Even though Dai Yuan was only slightly activating her Artefact Armour, she had lost a lot of strength, so even if Yang Kai hadn’t proposed a break, she would have taken the initiative to suggest one.

The two of them quickly found a quiet place and each found a suitable spot to sit in meditation.

Of course, Yang Kai didn’t need to meditate to restore himself. The Saint Qi he was using to resist the heat and fire poison was like a drop in the bucket to him, what he really needed was some time to properly process the Red Candle Fruit piece he had obtained.

Although in the mountain valley he had hastily crafted a Wood Attribute box to preserve the Red Candle Fruit piece, his work at the time had been rushed and somewhat rough so it could not completely ensure that the medicinal efficacies wouldn’t slowly leak. Yang Kai took this opportunity to re-process it.

Two hours later, after handling it properly, Yang Kai left the Red Candle Fruit in his Black Book Space before getting up and walking over towards the spot where Dai Yuan was meditating.