Martial Peak
chapter-4358

Chapter 43

Chapter 4358 – Tortoise Shell

On Dragon Sons’ Peak, Yang Kai and the Old Man Bi Xi sat facing each other with a chess board in between them. They played in turns, and Yang Kai, who did not know how to play this game too well, was soon defeated.

Xiao Hong stood behind him, watching nervously and clenching her little fists from time to time, while Xiao Hei sat beside him, mindlessly giggling and drooling all over the place.

“Boy, you are a little unfocused today, no?” Bi Xi said smilingly, and casually placed a piece.

Yang Kai rolled his eyes at him and dropped the piece in his hand onto the board, saying, “Senior, why do you ask?”

Void Land in its entirety was carried by Bi Xi on his back; thus, if he so desired, nothing in Void Land could escape his perception. Yang Kai had gone to Zhu Jiu Yin’s place and had almost made a big scene just a few moments earlier; thus, he did not believe that the old turtle had not noticed.

Bi Xi laughed, “You didn’t come to this Old Master to vent the anger you feel towards that little spider, right?” While saying that, he raised his hand to wipe the drool off the corner of Xiao Hei’s mouth before stroking his head with a doting expression.

Yang Kai said with a bitter smile, “This Junior naturally dares not to, but…. the future is looking very dim. That is why I came to Senior this time, to ask for advice.”

Bi Xi slowly tidied up the pieces and gently said, “This is an unsolvable game. This Old Master can’t do anything about it, unless you learn from this Old Master…”

Saying so, he shrank his neck and made a very vivid action, “…and became a shrinking turtle!”

Yang Kai said with a dark face, “Senior knows that is impossible.”

“Then you’ll have to go and die!”

Xiao Hong looked towards Yang Kai nervously, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Is there really no advice Senior can give me?” Yang Kai looked at him expectantly.

Bi Xi sighed, “This Old Master really cannot help much with this. This Old Master can still be of some use if something happens in your Void Territory, but this time, you have to travel far away. You know the size of this Old Master; I would never be able to pass through the Territory Gate unless I transform and shrink. But if I do that, your Void Land will definitely be torn apart. Do you want to give up on Void Land?”

Yang Kai slowly shook his head.

Void Land had hundreds of thousands of disciples living in it. If he really gave up on it, where would they go? But there would be no way to get through the Territory Gate to other Great Territories if Bi Xi didn’t shrink himself first.

So, from the beginning, Yang Kai didn’t really expect Bi Xi to follow him with his real body.

“Senior, what about your Embodiment…” Yang Kai stared at him, not moving for a moment.

Bi Xi replied, “This Old Master’s Embodiment is able to borrow power only when it is in the vicinity of my True Body. It cannot exert much strength when it is too far away. Outside this Territory, it will at best be on par with a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Do you actually lack Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm subordinates?”

Yang Kai was stunned.

Last time, when Bi Xi’s Embodiment had appeared, it easily blocked a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master’s strike; thus, Yang Kai had thought that the old man’s Embodiment was also extremely powerful. Now, he realized that the old man’s Embodiment was only able to do that by borrowing the power of his real body.

If Bi Xi’s Embodiment was really only equivalent to a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, its presence wouldn’t be able to make much of a difference.

Zhu Jiu Yin had rejected him with no trace of politeness, and now, he could not even count on Bi Xi. Yang Kai felt his future looked completely bleak.

After pondering for a while, he asked, “Does Senior know anything about the Shattered Heaven?”

Bi Xi said, “I know a little bit about it. The Shattered Heaven formed a long time ago, even before this Old Master was born. Apparently, the birth of an Innate Supreme Treasure triggered a bloody struggle amongst all the major Cave-Heavens and Paradises. It almost swept up the entire Outer Universe. That battle was fought for over a hundred years. I don’t even know how many High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters fell in that accursed place. Several Great Territories were broken to pieces, and the Shattered Heaven was formed from their remnants. The Cave-Heavens and Paradises that took part severely damaged their foundations. Even after recuperating for countless years after that battle ended, they still haven’t been able to recover completely. How could the current heritage of the Cave-Heaven Paradises even be compared to their former glory?”

Yang Kai was startled, “The Shattered Heaven was a result of a blood feud between the major Cave-Heavens and Paradises?”

“Indeed!” Bi Xi nodded, “Apart from a battle between the Cave-Heaven Paradises, what else could lead to the death of so many High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters in this world? It was enough to fill the Shattered Heaven with so many opportunities and dangers. This Old Master once travelled the Shattered Heaven when he was young, but I did not go too deep. So, the only advice this Old Master can give you about the Shattered Heaven, is to be careful!”

“This Junior will remember.” Yang Kai nodded, at the same time, he felt both guilty and touched. The Proprietress also knew that it wouldn’t be convenient for Yang Kai to go looking for a High-Rank Yin Element treasure by himself; thus, she took this matter into her own hands after they left the Blood Monster Cave Heaven. However, even though she was a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, finding a High-Rank Yin Element treasure would not be easy, with the Shattered Heaven as the only place she could think of.

Although she knew it was dangerous, the Proprietress still ventured into the Shattered Heaven boldly without any hesitation.

Nothing would have happened to her if it wasn’t for someone else’s hidden scheme, but someone wanted to use her to lure Yang Kai away from Void Land, and that was what got her into this mess.

Yang Kai also asked Bi Xi about what happened when he entered the Shattered Heaven, and Bi Xi told him everything he could. Unfortunately, he had only wandered around the outer edge so Yang Kai did not really get much information.

After half a day passed, Yang Kai got up to say goodbye.

Xiao Hong also stood up and said, “Young Master, I will come with you.”

Over the past few years, she had learnt to stop stuttering while speaking.

Xiao Hei sucked in his saliva and puffed out his chest, “I’m coming too.”

When Bi Xi heard them, he glared at them, “What are you two even capable of doing in a place like that right now? Be good and stay here with this Old Master!”

Xiao Hong replied, “Xiao Hei and I were brought out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary by Young Master. We are only able to assume Human Form right now thanks to him giving us so many Dragon Blood Pills. If it were not for Young Master, Xiao Hei and I would still be living in that dark cage, trapped and ignorant of the world. Now that Young Master is in trouble, how can we ignore him? Since you can’t go, Grandpa Turtle, Xiao Hei and I will go!”

“Nonsense!” Bi Xi rebuked. He had been alone for countless years, but luckily, now, he had two little babies who possessed Dragon bloodlines like him to accompany him. He was happier and more comfortable than he had been in millennia, so how could he sit back and watch them walk into danger?

Yang Kai rubbed Xiao Hong’s head, “I understand how you feel, but don’t come to the Shattered Heaven with me. I survived the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, so what’s the Shattered Heaven to me? You stay here, at home. This Young Master will be right back.”

Xiao Hong stubbornly replied, “No no no! I’m coming, I’m coming! If Young Master doesn’t take us, Xiao Hei and I will just secretly follow you by ourselves! We will live and die together with Young Master!”

Xiao Hei nodded vigorously, “Yes, we will live and die together!”

Yang Kai was dumbfounded and looked at Bi Xi for help.

Bi Xi’s face turned black with anger. It took a while before he grit his teeth and spoke up, “Little girl, you should just say it… If you want this Old Master to help, just say it openly, why do you have to beat around the bush like that!?”

Yang Kai was puzzled.

Bi Xi opened his mouth and spat out something, and handed it to Yang Kai with some reluctance, “Take it. It may save your life at a critical moment!”

Yang Kai reached out and took it, while curiously asking, “What is this?”

Bi Xi chuckled and said, “This was something this Old Master moulted in my early years. It has been refined by this Old Master. All you need to do to activate it is pour your strength into it.”

Yang Kai looked carefully and found that the object in his hand was a tortoise shell that was the size of a palm, and immediately lit up with joy while thanking, “Many thanks, Senior!”

Yang Kai has witnessed how strong Bi Xi’s defense was with his own eyes. Now that he had this tortoise shell refined by Bi Xi himself, Yang Kai had some capital to protect his life during this trip. He was only in the Half-Step Open Heaven Realm, and although he could compete with a Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master if he used all his cards, if he encountered a High-Rank Open-Heaven Realm Master, he still did not have enough power to fight back.

He did not need to fight and win in the Shattered Heaven this time. All he needed to do was protect himself. Right now, what Bi Xi gave him was akin to charcoal delivered in the frigid winter.

...

Xiao Hong stepped forward and started shaking Bi Xi’s arm with a smile, “I knew Grandpa Turtle was the best!”

Bi Xi said with a dark face, “Don’t play these kinds of tricks. I shouldn’t have let you see that thing last time. Little girls are really ungrateful wolves that can’t be raised well, they always side with outsiders instead of their own family!”

(Silavin: Talking about marriage, how the bride would marry into the groom’s family.)

Xiao Hong placed her head on Bi Xi’s arm and said coquettishly, “Grandpa Turtle, don’t be angry, when Xiao Hong grows up and becomes stronger, she will be filial to you.”

At those words, Bi Xi smiled with great joy and comfort.

Yang Kai cupped his fist and said, “Senior, this Junior still has things to do, so I shall leave first.”

After saying that, he turned around to leave.

“Kid!” Bi Xi suddenly shouted behind him.

Yang Kai turned his head to look at him, “What’s the matter, Senior?”

“If your life is truly in danger…” Bi Xi looked solemn, and took a long time before continuing, “You might as well reveal your Dragon heritage. If you do so, you may force your enemy to act cautiously, lest they incur dangerous consequences! But only expose it as a last resort. Even though the Dragon Clan is strong, it also has a lot of enemies, and it is very likely that exposing it will backfire as well.”

Yang Kai nodded to show that he understood, “This Junior will remember.”

...

Yang Kai vaguely felt that Bi Xi’s statement seemed to be somewhat familiar. Thinking about it carefully, he remembered that when he saved Mie Meng, she had said something similar to him.

Bi Xi also had the same advice, so, it seems that the Dragon Clan may have truly made quite a few enemies in the 3,000 Worlds.

But still, Yang Kai had gained something that was personally shed and refined by Bi Xi, which was at least something.

When he returned to the place Old Bai was currently recuperating in, Yue He spoke, “Young Master, I have thought about it for a while and I think you shouldn’t go to the Shattered Heaven. After Bai Qi recovers, I will go with him to save Big Sister Lan.”

Yang Kai shook his head and sighed, “If I don’t show up, Proprietress will never be able to escape from danger. This is a scheme purposefully aimed at me, and only I can resolve it. On the contrary, you shouldn’t go. Proprietress is stronger than you, but the person behind this still managed to subdue her. It’s easy to tell that your going won’t help.”

Yue He shook her head and replied, “Just like how Young Master has a reason to go, I also have a reason to go. Big Sister Lan treats me like her true Sister, and nurtured me from a young age. I’ve resented her for many years because of something in the past, but now, when she is in trouble, how can I stand by and do nothing? Young Master, you are not yet in the Open Heaven Realm yet you are risking your life going there for her, so how can I sit by and watch? Besides, the Shattered Heaven is full of dangers, so you must be accompanied by someone.”