Martial Peak
chapter-2368

Yang Kai had not been sitting in the room for long when a knock came at the door.

Liu Xian Yun looked at him and only opened the door when she received a nod.

The scar-faced man that was on the deck earlier appeared outside the door with a flattering smile on his face and immediately began fawning over them, “Greetings, dear guests. I’m not disturbing your cultivation, am I?”

Liu Xian Yun asked, “What is it?”

The scar-faced man laughed, “Big Sister instructed me to come over and see if our guests are in need of anything. If you do need anything, we will do our best to fulfil your needs.”

Liu Xian Yun was bewildered. She had no idea why this guy was being so polite all of a sudden. A saying came to her, ‘one who is unaccountably solicitous is hiding evil intentions’. This man’s behaviour made her a little wary; after all, when she and Yang Kai arrived here, they weren’t even sure of the specific circumstances of this place, so it was natural for them to be cautious.

The scar-faced man then continued, “This is some food prepared by the brothers for the two of you. We have nothing else to offer on our ship, I hope you won’t mind it.”

Only then did Liu Xian Yun notice that the scar-faced man was holding a tray with two plates of dishes and a jar of wine. She had no idea what sort of strange meat the food was made of, but it did smell quite good.

[It couldn’t be poisoned, could it?] Liu Xian Yun’s face turned strange in an instant. She wanted to refuse him, but since he took the initiative to bring it over, it seemed a bit inappropriate to turn him away at the door. So, not knowing what to do, she could only look back at Yang Kai and wait for his opinion.

“Come in and talk inside.” Yang Kai did not seem to care.

When he heard this, the scar-faced man suddenly revealed a happy expression, “Pardon the intrusion.”

Liu Xian Yun then moved aside to let the scar-faced man enter the room. The latter put the tray on the table and looked towards Yang Kai with an eager face, the fawning smile on his face never disappearing.

Yang Kai smiled, “Is the food free or is there a fee?”

The scar-faced man grinned meaningfully, scratching his head as he said, “This is a little token of appreciation prepared by the brothers for our two guests, so naturally it’s free of charge. But… Heh heh… I’m sure you understand, friend.”

Liu Xian Yun let out a light snort and looked unhappy. She was thinking that all these people in this ship were all money-grubbers. To think they actually had the gall to charge for two plates of some unknown dishes and a jar of old wine that looked to be of poor quality.

She wouldn’t even have bothered to spare such dishes a glance if she was served them in the outside world.

But Yang Kai had his curiosity piqued by this behaviour and asked, “Are Source Crystals hard to acquire here?”

Instantly, a bitter expression appeared on the scar-faced man’s face, “Friend, if you live here for a little time, you’ll learn just how precious Source Crystals are in this place.”

If this wasn’t the case, why would he be so thick-faced as to try and find a way to ‘earn’ some Source Crystals from Yang Kai like this?

“Can you not mine Source Crystals here?” Liu Xian Yun asked suspiciously.

The scar-faced man shook his head and replied, “No, the Disruption Force is present all throughout the Solitary Void Sealed World, and once exposed to it, Source Crystals will dissolve and lose all the World Energy. So, there are no Source Crystals to mine in this damned place at all. This is also the reason why the World Energy is so dense in this Solitary Void Sealed World.”

Liu Xian Yun had also seen how the Source Crystal melted rapidly earlier, so she naturally understood when she heard the scar-faced man say this. With that, her disdain for the cultivators on this ship lessened a little. She understood now why all of them were so money eager for profits.

The scar-faced man sighed, “The Source Crystals in this Solitary Void Sealed World are all brought in by outside cultivators. There’s no chance to even find a single piece in here.”

Yang Kai nodded as it was just as he guessed. When he saw the Source Crystal dissolve earlier, Yang Kai already had some vague guesses, so when the scar-faced man explained this now, he instantly affirmed that his guesses were correct.

Source Crystals truly were valuable treasures in this damned place.

“What do we call you?” Yang Kai asked.

The scar-faced man quickly responded, “Jiao Yi. Big Sister calls me Old Jiao. Please feel free to call me however you please!”

“Please sit, Brother Jiao, I have some questions to ask you,” Yang Kai motioned to him while taking out a bag of Source Crystals from his Space Ring at the same time, placing it on the table and pushing it towards him.

Jiao Yi’s eyes lit up in an instant like a starved ghost seeing food. He pulled the bag to himself, opened it up, and was almost blinded by the lustre of the Source Crystals inside. Hurriedly, he stuffed the bag into his Space Ring and replied happily, “Ask away, friend! Old Jiao will even tell you what the colour of my underwear is!”

“Bleh…” Liu Xian Yun spat, face blushing slightly.

Yang Kai smiled, “To tell you the truth, my Junior Sister and I just arrived here and we know nothing about this place, so…”

“We already know. Who else besides newcomers would dare to take out Source Crystals in the open here in the Solitary Void Sealed World? As soon as we saw that, we all knew you weren’t familiar with the rules here, friend.”

He was referring to Yang Kai’s earlier attempt at making a deal with Ling Yin Qin above deck.

Yang Kai also knew he was definitely outed, so he didn’t try to hide it either. In any case, he wanted information and had Source Crystals, so he figured trading one for the other was a good deal.

Jiao Yi sighed, “Just live here for a year and you’ll know how precious Source Crystals are. Let Old Jiao give you some advice. No matter how many Source Crystals you have, use them sparingly or you’ll use them up before you know it. Thinking back then, I used to have several million Source Crystals in my Space Ring. I was quite rich back then! But now, haa…”

He had a pained look, as if regretting how he squandered his money.

“How long have you been here, Brother Jiao?”

This question seemed to poke at Jiao Yi’s sore point. He poured himself a cup of wine and downed it in one gulp before wiping his mouth and speaking, “I never really counted, but probably about sixty years, maybe seventy?”

“Sixty or seventy years!?” Liu Xian Yun’s pretty face paled in an instant.

Jiao Yi looked over to her and revealed, “What do seventy years count for? Some people have been stuck here for hundreds or even thousands of years.”

“Is there no way out?” Liu Xian Yun asked.

Jiao Yi frowned, “I’m not sure about that. Maybe there is, maybe there isn’t. As for me, this Old Jiao’s strength is too low, so obviously, even if there is a way out, I wouldn’t be able to reach it. If that wasn’t the case, those few peak-level powerhouses in Clear Sky City would have already left. Why would they stay here and suffer?”

Yang Kai said, “Then, did you come in from Solitary Void Mountain Range too, Brother Jiao?”

“Solitary Void Mountain Range?” Jiao Yi was befuddled at these words. After thinking for a while, he realized what he was saying, “Oh, that Solitary Void Mountain Range at the intersection of the Southern Territory and the Eastern Territory, right? No, I came in from the intersection of the Western Territory and the Northern Territory.”

“Are there a lot of points this place can be accessed from?”

“En, it seems to be so, since people from all four major regions are living on Clear Sky Island. Just on this boat alone, we came in from at least a dozen different places.”

“That many? How can that be?” Liu Xian Yun was amazed.

Jiao Yi shrugged, “I don’t know either.”

Yang Kai said thoughtfully, “The entrance of this Solitary Void Sealed World is either mobile, or there are many entry points. Brother Jiao, what’s the situation on that Clear Sky Island you mentioned?”

Jiao Yi replied, “Clear Sky Island is just that, it’s Clear Sky Island. All the cultivators in this Solitary Void Sealed World live there. The great forces on the island are complicated, so when we get to Clear Sky Island, Old Jiao advises you to join one of the more powerful ones. Otherwise, it will be difficult to survive here, especially for newcomers. Many people have their eyes on newcomers. I’m sure you know why, right?”

“Source Crystals?” Liu Xian Yun quickly asked.

Jiao Yi nodded, “That’s right, newcomers will more or less be carrying Source Crystals with them when they come here. Men die for wealth, birds die for food. That’s the immutable truth.”

Yang Kai asked, “Are there any Emperor Realm Masters staying on the island?”

“There are. More than a few actually,” Jiao Yi responded, “There are probably over a dozen, with the most powerful one being Clear Sky Island Lord who is a Third-Order Emperor Realm. I heard he’s been here for over a thousand years!”

“Even a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master is trapped here?” Liu Xian Yun’s pretty face paled, feeling like escape was becoming more and more hopeless.

Jiao Yi grinned meaningfully, “What’s so strange about that? If you can’t find a way out, then you won’t be able to leave. But after being trapped here for so long, I heard the Island Master’s cultivation has regressed a lot, possibly even dropping to the Second-Order Emperor Realm, but I don’t know if that’s true or not.” He sighed, “But I think it’s true. How could one keep their cultivation from dropping after living here for so long? Old Jiao used to be Second-Order Dao Source Realm, but I’ve already fallen to the First-Order after all these years.”

Yang Kai frowned, “If you don’t have Source Crystals, how do you cultivate here?”

Jiao Yi said, “With Spirit Purifying Arrays. The grade of the Spirit Purifying Array in this room isn’t very high, so the results aren’t that good. The higher the grade of the Spirit Purifying Array, the better. Once you reach Clear Sky City, I suggest you rent a secluded home with a high-grade Spirit Purifying Array. It will slow down the regression of your cultivation to the greatest extent. But of course, you can also take Spirit Pills besides using the Spirit Purifying Array, but Spirit Pills are ridiculously expensive here. There aren’t many Alchemists on the island, and the best ones have all taken refuge with the Island Master. A single Spirit Pill can cost more than ten times what it would cost outside here.”

“Then how do you live?” Liu Xian Yun couldn’t help but sympathize with Jiao Yi. The environment truly was harsh in this Solitary Void Sealed World, making survival anything but easy.

Jiao Yi smiled bitterly, “We go out to hunt sea beasts and look for other raw materials to trade for. The Monster Cores of sea beasts can usually go for a good price. This time, we’re out looking for something called Grey Feather Coral.”

“What is it used for?” Liu Xian Yun asked.

Jiao Yi answered, “It’s an important ingredient in refining Spirit Purifying Arrays. If you want to survive on Clear Sky Island, a Spirit Purifying Array is essential, so there is a large market for Grey Feather Coral.” When he spoke up to here, Jiao Yi’s expression changed. “Are you two interested in joining us? If you are, I can go talk to Big Sister. I don’t think she’ll refuse you. As for the share, you’ll get the same as us. The more you contribute, the more you get.”

Yang Kai and Liu Xian Yun were both newcomers, so they were still in peak condition, especially Yang Kai. If they could drag him, a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, into their group, then it would certainly help them return with a full load.