Martial Peak
chapter-3390

Chapter 3390, Standing Close Yet Feeling Distant

After a while, Yang Kai helplessly looked up.

The defences of Yu Ru Meng’s Knowledge Sea were incredibly strong. Even when she was in a coma, Yang Kai couldn’t break through them. If he tried forcefully breaking them, she would most likely be awakened, so after trying for some time, he had no choice but to give up.

Yang Kai was at a loss. Yu Ru Meng was only a Second-Order Emperor, so how come her Spiritual Energy was so strong? Judging by the defences of her Knowledge Sea, the cultivation of her Soul was far stronger than an average Third-Order Emperor.

Since he couldn’t even break through her defences, naturally, he couldn’t pry into her secrets.

Yang Kai had no choice but to set this matter aside for now. He took out some pills, opened Yu Ru Meng’s mouth, and stuffed them inside. Next, he took out a few more pills and took them himself before calmly meditating.

Time slowly went by.

After an entire day and night, Yu Ru Meng finally let out a groan. She tightly furrowed her brow before her long eyelashes fluttered a few times as she slowly opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw was a smiling Yang Kai gazing at her. Yu Ru Meng blinked her eyes in a daze. Obviously, she still hadn’t returned to her senses as she smiled back at Yang Kai out of habit.

But very soon, she remembered everything that had happened before she fell unconscious and her pretty face couldn’t help but change, turning extremely cold. She immediately pushed Yang Kai away and tried to prop herself up from his lap.

Yang Kai’s previous arrogance and unprovoked insults had really hurt her.

Yang Kai, on the other hand, pursed his lips into a smile and pulled her back down again.

Yu Ru Meng struggled a few times but how could she compete with Yang Kai when it came to brute force. Eventually, all she could do was angrily shout, “Let me go!”

“It’s alright,” Yang Kai gently comforted her. “Don’t move about too much, you haven’t recovered yet.”

“I’m telling you to let me go!” Yu Ru Meng coldly glared at him.

Yang Kai scratched his nose before an earnest look appeared on his face as he apologized, “Ru Meng, I’m sorry, I was wrong before, so don’t be angry.”

Yu Ru Meng was caught off guard by his sincere apology and her anger completely dissipated right away, though she did become a little bewildered. Her brow furrowed and unfurrowed a few times before she asked with confusion, “What do you mean?”

[He was clearly acting stubborn before, like he would rather die than apologize. I even took a step back, but he didn’t compromise at all, and now suddenly, there is such a big change?] Yu Ru Meng couldn’t figure out what Yang Kai was thinking.

In fact, Yu Ru Meng was beginning to think that Yang Kai had something wrong with his head.

Yang Kai tenderly looked at her before he leaned down and kissed her without a word.

This was undoubtedly the most impactful gesture he could make.

Yu Ru Meng’s figure immediately went limp as she showed no resistance at all.

After a long time, Yang Kai finally let her go, a mischievous smile hanging on his lips.

Yu Ru Meng touched her lips and angrily pouted, “You bully!”

Yang Kai found her spoiled, innocent attitude quite interesting and he couldn’t help but break into laughter, “You can only blame yourself for all this. Who told you to plant that nonsense Heart Seal on me. If you had just bided your time, how would I have ever known that you are Yu Ru Meng.”

Yu Ru Meng rebuked with a snort, “You got me at a bargain and without any hassle. You will definitely laugh at the Heavens for your good fortune in the future.”

“Why do you say that?” Yang Kai raised his brow.

Yu Ru Meng pursed her lips into a grin as she triumphantly replied, “You will know when the time comes, but for now… don’t ask too much.” After a while, she added in a serious voice, “Don’t curse me like that in the future. I can’t accept it.”

Yang Kai repeatedly nodded, “I won’t, I absolutely won’t curse you in the future.”

Since he had already succeeded, naturally there was no need to cause trouble for himself.

After receiving his response, Yu Ru Meng finally relaxed into his arms with a contented expression. She was silent for a while before she suddenly looked up at Yang Kai’s side face in confusion. The next moment, the happiness and the smile on her face slowly faded away.

“What’s wrong?” Yang Kai asked, lowering his head.

Yu Ru Meng reached out and gently stroked his cheek, muttering, “I don’t know why, but I suddenly feel that you are very far away from me.”

Yang Kai tilted his head slightly and stated with a light smile, “I’m right here.”

Yu Ru Meng slowly shook her head. This feeling was unclear. Although Yang Kai was literally within arm’s reach, she still felt that he was extremely far away for some reason.

…

As night fell, the three Divine Spirits, over two dozen Monster Kings, as well as the nine members of the Stone Puppet Clan from the Ancient Wild Lands arrived. The cultivators of the various Sects of the Northern Territory were also slowly gathering at High Heaven Palace.

In the great hall of High Heavens Palace, hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters were gathered together once again in a noisy and chaotic scene. They had already learned about the appearance of Demon Qi in the Western Territory and the opening of the passage between the two worlds from Hua Qing Si. They knew that this time, even the Great Emperors had come forward, so although the Northern Territory was far away, they were unable to detach themselves from this situation. Not to mention, under High Heaven Palace’s call, they didn’t dare to feign ignorance. Everyone gathered the greatest amount of combat power they could at the fastest speed before hurrying over to High Heaven Palace.

But for most cultivators in this world, the existence of the Demon Race was too vague a concept. They were so far removed from this reality that many people had never even heard of the Demon Race before. The Masters of the Northern Territory were still a bit better off; after all, many of them had participated in the Southern Territory’s Orthodoxy Temple catastrophe with Yang Kai and had seen and experienced what those Demons could do first-hand. But they still didn’t know anything about the real Demon Race.

Finally, when Luan Feng, Fan Wu, and Cang Guo, leading the thirty-two Monster Kings of the Ancient Wild Lands into the main hall, the chattering subsided.

This was an extremely terrifying force. There were three Divine Spirits and thirty-two Monster Kings, each one comparable to a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. Such a force couldn’t be ignored, no matter where they went. Most of the Emperor Realm Masters in the Northern Territory were either in the First or Second-Order while Third-Order Emperors were a rarity. As such, everyone couldn’t help but fall silent under the pressure from the monstrous Monster Qi.

Although the main hall was large enough to accommodate hundreds of people, there naturally weren’t many seats. When Luan Feng and the others arrived, they just kept walking straight and the crowd immediately separated to the left and right, giving way to them. As for those people who had already taken a seat, they quickly stood up one after another and moved away.

The Ancient Wild Lands’ Monster Race team respectively found where to sit and sat down.

Luan Feng glanced around before focusing her gaze at Hua Qing Si and asking, “Where is Yang Kai?”

Hua Qing Si bitterly smiled, “Palace Master said that he will be arriving soon.”

Luan Feng nodded and didn’t utter another word.

After a while, a figure appeared at the entrance to the hall, and by the time everyone regained their wits, that person was already standing before them. When they looked up, they found that it was none other than Yang Kai.

Yang Kai swept his glance over everything and saw Li Jiao, Mi Qi, Bing Yun, Ji Yao, and many other familiar faces, including Su Yan, Shan Qing Luo, Chi Yue, Ai Ou, and Gui Zu.

Familiar and unfamiliar faces entered his eyes as Yang Kai slightly nodded and declared in a heavy voice, “I assume everyone knows why I have gathered all of you here today. If you have any questions, you can ask them now. This Palace Master will do his best to answer whatever doubts you may have without reserve. When we reach the Western Territory, I’m afraid you will not have the opportunity to ask anything, so ask now.”

Luan Feng was the first to ask, “Has the passage to the Demon Realm really opened in the Western Territory?”

This should be the issue that everyone was most concerned about, and even though Hua Qing Si had notified everyone about this already, it was still difficult to believe her. Was it really that easy to open the passage between two worlds? If it were, why hadn’t the Demon Realm already invaded? Why would they wait until today?

Yang Kai sternly nodded in affirmation, “It’s true.” He pointed at his own eyes and added, “I saw the passageway with my own eyes. Not only me, but Iron Blood, Serene Soul, and Martial Beast Great Emperor were also all present at the time. Even now, Martial Beast Great Emperor is still there watching over things to prevent any accidents from occurring.”

As soon as he said this, the atmosphere in the hall grew solemn.

When they came here, everyone was still hoping this was all just some kind of misunderstanding or mistake, but now, since three Great Emperors were also present at that time, all such faint hopes were dashed.

Even if Yang Kai could be mistaken, could three Great Emperors also have been wrong?

“How is the… strength of the Demon Race?” Fan Wu asked in a heavy voice.

Yang Kai pondered for a moment before replying, “Unfortunately, I do not have a clear idea either. I only know that there are existences on the Demon Race’s side who aren’t inferior to the Great Emperors. These Masters are called Demon Saints, but I have no idea how many of them are there. Under Demon Saints are the Demon Kings, which are comparable to our Emperor Realm Masters. And under Demon Kings are Demon Great Generals, below which are Demon Generals, and so on and so forth. These rankings correspond to our Dao Source and Origin King Realm respectively. As for the Demon Artifacts and methods… I cannot give you a proper estimate.”

Li Jiao then asked, “Palace Master Yang, Demon Qi is extremely virulent and corrosive. Even Emperor Realm Masters wouldn’t dare to get contaminated by it. If we are really going to go to war with the Demon Race, how are we going to protect ourselves?”

When he asked this question, it immediately received everyone’s attention. The last time they had gone to the Southern Territory Orthodoxy Temple, they saw many cultivators who were contaminated by Demon Qi turn into Demon cultivators. Many still shuddered when they thought back on that experience.

Yang Kai replied with confidence though, “Although Demon Qi is extremely fearsome, it is not almighty. In fact, it is very easy to resist as long as you have sufficient vitality. The stronger a cultivator’s vitality is, the stronger their innate resistance to Demon Qi will be. When we confront the Demon Race in the future, all of you should keep this fact in mind.”

Soon after, he added, “In addition, the Demon Realm is said to have a hundred clans, each one with its own unique Innate Divine Abilities. For example, the Sand Demon Clan are all masters of the Earth Escape Technique. Taking advantage of this Innate Ability, one of their favourite tactics is to conceal themselves and move to below your feet before launching a fatal sneak attack when you are unprepared. Then there is the Shadow Demon Clan, who are masters of stealth and assassination. When they show their weapons, it means that your life is already hanging by a thread…”

Yang Kai continued to speak, explaining the traits and characteristics of the various Demon Races he knew. Everyone in the hall attentively listened to him, not daring to miss anything; after all, perhaps something Yang Kai said today would become their life-saving straw tomorrow.

Luan Feng and the other Divine Venerables were amazed as they listened to Yang Kai’s lecture. She, Fan Wu, and Cang Guo had inherited some of the memories of their ancestors from their Sources, so compared to ordinary people, they knew more about the Demon Race, but their knowledge wasn’t nearly as extensive or comprehensive as Yang Kai’s.

Yang Kai’s knowledge of the Demon Race was as if he had been to the Demon Realm before and fought with them for many years. This puzzled Luan Feng and the others as they wondered how Yang Kai came to know so much.

Time passed by as Yang Kai kept speaking alone at the front of the hall. The hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters below the stage kept listening to him as if he was preaching the profound secrets of the Dao. Everyone looked extremely serious and focused.