Martial Peak
chapter-4636

Now, there was a crack that was the width of a finger and several dozen centimetres long on this Array Board that was as large as a house. That was because it had been overused previously.

After examining it for a while, Yang Kai fished out some rare ores and activated his Golden Crow’s True Fire in an attempt to repair it.

However, he was an amateur in Artifact Refining, so how was he supposed to repair it? A few days later, instead of being fixed, the crack had expanded.

Yang Kai scratched his head as he fished out another damaged Array Board and acted recklessly again.

A few days later, the crack on the second Array Board had also been enlarged.

It was then Yang Kai fished out the third one.

The person who was hiding in the void was unable to take it anymore as he felt that Yang Kai was doing more harm than good to such amazing artifacts. Fluctuations of Space Principles were suddenly felt coming from the Void, then a portal swirled into existence in front of Yang Kai.

The next instant, a big, illusory hand extended from the swirl and directly grabbed the Array Boards Yang Kai had fished out back into the Void.

Yang Kai didn’t have the intention of interfering as he took a glance at the portal and let out a sigh of relief. He then got to his feet and stepped into it.

The world seemed to spin around him, and the next moment, he arrived at a different space. Raising his gaze, he could see many Stars of different sizes hovering in the void while circling a single Great Sun. This was like a whole Great Territory.

When he came to this place for the first time, he was a weak cultivator without much experience, so he was unable to see anything special about this place. Now that he had returned, Yang Kai finally understood something.

This was obviously a sealed space. Some Great Expert must have used a stunning Divine Ability to pull this place out from Great Evolution Territory and isolate it from the outside world.

It could be said that this place was the foundation of Great Evolution Territory, the ruins of Great Evolution Paradise. That was the reason the Great Evolution Territory had never changed its name.

Those from Heavenly Martial Hall thought that they were the most powerful in Great Evolution Territory, but they were not aware that there was such an Isolated Territory within Great Evolution Territory.

Only several Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters working together would be able to pull out a section of Great Evolution Territory and seal it off, and not without the use of many profound and powerful Grand Arrays.

It was imaginable that Great Evolution Paradise must be truly glorious when they were at the peak of their power. Yang Kai wondered why such a top great force in the 3,000 Worlds had fallen all of a sudden.

He had asked Xu Ling Gong about it before, as the latter must be aware of something, but he never provided any details. Xu Ling Gong just said that fate was truly unpredictable. The Ancestors of Great Evolution Paradise were respectable as they had the bravery to face the impossible head on.

Yang Kai mentioned Senior Ma Fan while having a chat with Xu Ling Gong. That was how he found out some of the information about Great Evolution Paradise.

He followed the aura and saw a grey-haired old man who was seated on the ground with his legs crossed. In front of the old man were the damaged Array Boards as he examined them.

“Senior!” Yang Kai saluted him.

When he previously tagged along the Proprietress to see this Artifact Refining Grandmaster, he had a speculation that the old man was a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master. However, he was weak at that time, so he was unable to confirm it. Now that he had returned to this place as a Sixth-Order Master, he instantly realised that his speculation was right.

Grandmaster Ma Fan was a Seventh-Order Master, and one at the very peak of the Seventh-Order at that, only a step away from the Eighth-Order.

Yang Kai couldn’t help but admire him. Despite being a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master, he had to endure a life of isolation to guard his fallen Sect’s foundation. It must be an unimaginable burden. The old man seemed to have a permanent hunchback because of that.

“You knew that I couldn’t bear to see such a good thing being wasted, so you took them out to lure me out, right?” Grandmaster Ma Fan shot Yang Kai a glare.

Yang Kai put on a meaningful grin, “I wouldn’t dare to pull such a trick on you, Grandmaster.”

“Hmph!” Grandmaster Ma Fan pursed his lips, “You’re just like that little girl, Lan You Ruo. Both of you are intelligent in an annoying way.”

A bashful Yang Kai replied, “Many thanks for your compliment, Senior.”

“When she brought you here previously, I knew that I’d meet you again in the future. How troublesome!”

With a straight face, Yang Kai replied, “Have you forgotten that I owe you a favour, Senior? Of course, we’d meet again.” Grandmaster Ma Fan was previously asked to refine the Heavenly Executioner’s Sword and Heavenly Net Umbrella. However, instead of getting any reward, he made Yang Kai owe him a favour.

Since there was nothing he had to pay upfront, Yang Kai directly agreed to it.

Grandmaster Ma Fan appeared dispassionate as he said with a frown, “What’s the point of getting a favour back from a Sixth-Order Master? At that time, I saw that you had a pretty exceptional aptitude, so I thought that you could directly ascend to the Seventh Order. It turns out that I’ve made a loss.”

Yang Kai gritted his teeth as he finally realised why this Artifact Refining Grandmaster made such a demand back then. It was because the old man believed that he could directly make it to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm.

He certainly wanted to directly ascend to the Seventh Order as well, but things didn’t go as planned. In the end, he was forced to ascend to the Fifth Order in the Shattered Heaven. Although he had consumed a Mid-Rank World Fruit to make up for some of the losses, his limit would be the Eighth Order if there were no additional opportunities.

There were quite a number of Eighth-Order Masters in those Cave Heavens and Paradises. Even Grandmaster Ma Fan could possibly make it to the Eighth-order in the future.

It was true that Yang Kai’s favour was now useless.

“These three pieces aren’t the whole picture. There are more, right?” Grandmaster Ma Fan asked.

“Yes, there are. You do have sharp eyes, Grandmaster.” Yang Kai hurriedly buttered him up as he fished out the remaining Array Boards.

Since this Artifact Refining Grandmaster was interested in these hastily made things, Yang Kai would naturally satisfy him.

The sight of sixteen items as large as houses placed together was pretty magnificent. With a hunchback, Grandmaster Ma Fan placed his hands behind his back and took a walk around these Array Boards.

A moment later, he arched his brow and remarked, “Even though their refinement leaves much to be desired, the concept is quite ingenious. Did you make them?”

Yang Kai honestly replied to him.

Grandmaster Ma Fan nodded, “By flipping these Void Yin-Yang Mirrors, you can move things which are sealed by them across the Void.” He suddenly appeared solemn, “What were you moving that required such expensive artifacts?”

Yang Kai replied with a grin, “Some Dead Stars and Ore Stars.”

Grandmaster Ma Fan appeared slightly surprised, but he soon composed himself and said after a sigh, “Young people like you do like to dream and take reckless actions.”

He then waved his hand, “Take them back.”

Yang Kai was slightly disappointed that the old man didn’t help to repair the Array Boards; however, he didn’t come all the way here to ask this Artifact Refining Grandmaster to repair the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors, so he didn’t pursue the matter. He then quickly put away all sixteen artifacts and said with a straight face, “I have a request, Senior.”

Grandmaster Ma Fan repeatedly shook his head, “Go away. I’m not going to listen to you.”

Yang Kai was torn between tears and laughter, “Please let me finish my words at the very least, Senior.”

Grandmaster Ma Fan grinned with a shrewd gaze, “There’s nothing else I have, so the reason you’ve come all the way here is to ask me to refine an artifact. Suffering a loss once is enough. I’m not a fool, so why would I do it again?”

Yang Kai replied, “If there’s anything you need, Senior, I can get it for you. To be frank with you, even though this Junior’s cultivation is low, I am now fairly important in the 3,000 Worlds. So, I might be able to fulfill your wish.”

“Oh?” Grandmaster Ma Fan arched his brow, “How important are you?”

A guilty Yang Kai put on a smile, “That will depend on what you need.”

After giving it a thought, Grandmaster Ma Fan suddenly lifted his hand and a drop of darkness appeared above his palm, expanding out like a blot of ink.

A puzzled Yang Kai looked intently at it.

Seeing that the young man knew nothing about it, Grandmaster Ma Fan appeared disappointed. He then retracted his hand as the darkness dissipated. Turning around, he waved his hand, “Leave now. There’s no need to return my favour. If you come again, I won’t open the door for you.”

Certainly, Yang Kai wouldn’t listen to him. Since he had finally entered this place, he had to get his wish fulfilled. Before coming to this place, he had considered asking this Artifact Refining Grandmaster to become a Supreme Elder in Void Land, but seeing his attitude now, he knew that he shouldn’t even think about it. Still he had to get him to make a palace artifact for him.

Yang Kai then raced after the old man and persuaded him; however, Grandmaster Ma Fan just ignored him. Although he had asked Yang Kai to leave, he didn’t kick him out directly, seemingly determined not to even acknowledge Yang Kai’s existence.

That was indeed the case for the next six months as Grandmaster Ma Fan never replied to him regardless of how sincere and persuasive Yang Kai was. The Artifact Refining Grandmaster pretended that he didn’t hear him and never even spared him a glance.

This made Yang Kai feel dejected. Thinking that he could go by the old man’s interests, he started fishing out the rare items from his Space Ring and Small Universe to show him.

The old man never spared them a glance, with the only exception being the strange Purple Qi. Despite being obviously interested, however, he still remained silent.

In fact, Yang Kai still had no idea what this Purple Qi was. He simply snatched it from Luan Bai Feng some time ago.

On the other hand, Luan Bai Feng obtained it from the New Great Territory. After snatching the Purple Qi, Yang Kai put it inside his Small Universe and ignored it. If he hadn’t decided to fish out some things to attract Grandmaster Ma Fan’s attention, he would’ve forgotten about it.

Since Grandmaster Ma Fan appeared interested in the Purple Qi, Yang Kai decided to wear the Purple Qi around his fingers and show it to the old man every day.

Nevertheless, Grandmaster Ma Fan still ignored him.

Yang Kai was defeated in the game of patience with him. Over the past six months, the old man showed admirable determination and resoluteness.

Seeing as how stubborn the old man was, Yang Kai couldn’t help but consider quitting; after all, it was pointless to pester the old man every single day.

One day, Yang Kai was seated in a palace in the ruins of Great Evolution Paradise when he arched his brow and looked in a particular direction. The next instant, he dashed out of the palace.

Looking up, he saw a ray of light rapidly approaching. Judging from the aura, the person was a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.

Yang Kai was shocked by the arrival of a person in this sealed place; however, he soon realised that something was off. He could only enter this place after Grandmaster Ma Fan opened up the portal while others were unable to come in even if they wanted to.

Could it be that there were other residents in the ruins of Great Evolution Paradise besides the old man?