Martial Peak
chapter-4756

Yang Kai and Gu Pan returned to her private Spirit Province. An hour later, another person flew over. He was a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and Gu Pan’s Senior Brother with a brave and heroic figure. Moreover, he had an extraordinary bearing on him.

Gu Pan introduced them to each other, and Yang Kai learned that the other party was called Dong Peng.

“Junior Brother Yang, I’ll leave this to you!” Dong Peng handed a jade slip to Yang Kai and lowered his voice, “Honoured Master asks that you be careful, Junior Brother.”

Yang Kai nodded, “Many thanks for your concern, Senior Brother. I will act prudently.”

Dong Peng nodded and patted Gu Pan’s small head before he soared into the sky again.

Yang Kai poured his Divine Sense into the jade slip, but after studying the contents, he couldn’t help scowling deeply.

Gu Pan asked in concern, “What is it?”

“There’s quite a lot of names. Take a look for yourself,” He handed the jade slip to her.

The names inside the jade slip were divided into two separate lists. One listed the people who had a close relationship and frequent contact with Shi Zheng while the other was related to Zong Yu Quan. There were nearly 100 names in total. In addition, all of them were in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm and above. Even those in the Seventh Order numbered as many as eight.

It could be seen from these lists alone just how deep the heritage of the Cave Heavens and Paradises was. The two lists covered only a portion of the Masters in Lang Ya Paradise, so just how many Masters were there in Lang Ya Paradise?

Written next to each name was not just the information on their respective cultivation, but also the positions that they held in Lang Ya Paradise. Among them, there were more than a dozen who were currently not in Lang Ya Paradise. They were probably out on missions, so there was no need to consider these people for the time being. Even so, there were over 80 people left! Yang Kai alone couldn’t check out all 80 of these people one at a time. Doing so would be stupid.

The phrase ‘Black Ink Eternal’ was a convenient method to sound out those who had been corrupted by the Black Ink. As long as the other party was corrupted by the Black Ink, they would surely respond to those words; however, if he simply went up to somebody and said these words, wouldn’t it be awkward if the other party was not corrupted by the Black Ink?

Therefore, this investigation method could not be used too frequently.

On top of that, according to Li Yuan Wang, all the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Cave Heavens and Paradises knew about the Black Ink Clan. They would definitely react in some manner if Yang Kai were to speak those words to them, regardless of whether they were corrupted by the Black Ink or not. Just like how Li Yuan Wang had taken him by surprise and detained him inside the world of the painting!

If Yang Kai wanted to discover the identities of those who had been corrupted by the Black Ink, then he would need to come up with a different method!

Zong Yu Quan was indeed a breakthrough point. Nevertheless, Yang Kai felt that he should not be in such a hurry to contact Zong Yu Quan. It would be inappropriate if he seemed too eager.

Besides, from Zong Yu Quan’s point of view, he had already recognised Yang Kai as his companion, so he was bound to contact Yang Kai even if the latter did not contact him first. Yang Kai would be able to obtain more information from him at that time.

After making up his mind, Yang Kai settled down in Gu Pan’s Spirit Province. There was nothing to do over the next few days, so he went around with Gu Pan and enjoyed the wonderful scenery in Lang Ya Paradise. There were countless Spirit Provinces, each one with its own unique features.

Such a scene, where a man and a woman were inseparable from each other, created many rumours. Many people secretly speculated that Core Disciple Gu Pan had some sort of relationship with Yang Kai.

In the beginning, they did not know Yang Kai’s identity; very few people knew about his arrival here after all. It was just that Gu Pan’s status was special, so he received quite a lot of attention for always being by her side.

After making several inquiries, the general public learned that he was actually Void Land’s Lord. In other words, he was the one who won first place during Yin-Yang Cave Heaven’s Dao Theory Assembly, embarrassing many Cave Heavens and Paradises in the process.

That was too much! Although Gu Pan held a high status in Lang Ya Paradise, due to her short cultivation time as well as her petite figure, she was considered a Little Sister who never grew up in the eyes of her many Senior Brothers and Sisters; therefore, her many Senior Brothers and Sisters took great care of and doted on her.

It would not have been an issue if Yang Kai and Gu Pan were in love with each other; however, the key point was that Yang Kai was a Yin-Yang Cave Heaven Son-in-Law! He was bound to marry into Yin-Yang Cave Heaven one day. [Why is he not standing guard for that seductress, Qu Hua Shang, and waiting for her to come out of retreat to complete their marriage ceremony!? Why did he come to Lang Ya Paradise to flirt with Little Junior Sister!?]

What’s more, Gu Pan seemed to be very interested in Yang Kai. She spent all day alone with him, bringing him to this Spirit Province to check out the scenery or that Spirit Province to watch the sunrise and sunset.

For that reason, many Senior Brothers were on the verge of despair. They felt as though the delicate flower that they nurtured and raised with extreme care was about to be devoured by a pig.

By some strange circumstances, while there were no clues regarding those who were corrupted by the Black Ink, the undercurrents began moving beneath the surface of Lang Ya Paradise.

On a certain day, Yang Kai was again following Gu Pan to one of the various Spirit Provinces. He had heard that there was a shopping district for the Inner Disciples of Lang Ya Paradise where many good things could be found.

More importantly, the person overseeing this shopping district was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master whose name was on the list given to Yang Kai by Li Yuan Wang.

Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a little distressed. He had been waiting around for more than ten days now, but aside from confirming that Zong Yu Quan was one of those who were corrupted by the Black Ink, he did not have any other clues. The main reason for going to the shopping district was to see if there was anything wrong with the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master overseeing the area.

However, halfway through their journey, a stream of light sped towards them from an off-angle and blocked their path. This newcomer gave off the aura of a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and had a tough and sturdy build. As soon as he appeared, he rudely looked Yang Kai up and down with a scrutinizing gaze.

“Senior Brother Zhong Fan!” Gu Pan glanced at the person who came and gave a bow before she asked, “Can I help you, Senior Brother?”

Zhong Fan was born with a fierce face, so he did not look like a good person from his appearance alone. Be that as it may, he squeezed out a smile at Gu Pan that could make a child cry in his best attempt to appear gentle, “It’s nothing. I heard that you had a guest, Junior Sister, so I came over to have a look.” When he turned to look at Yang Kai, his attitude was no longer courteous. He growled, “Are you Yang Kai?”

“Yang Kai greets Senior Brother Zhong!” Yang Kai bowed, feeling a bit curious. [Why is this guy called Zhong Fan blocking our way? Not to mention, his attitude… does not seem friendly!]

Yang Kai quietly compared the name against the name list and discovered that Zhong Fan’s name was not on it.

Zhong Fan waved his hand and roared angrily, “Who are you calling Senior Brother? Stop trying to get close to me! Boy, eat my hammer!”

Yang Kai was totally confused! [What? Why is he taking out his hammer!?]

He looked up only to see two large sledgehammers appearing in Zhong Fan’s hands all of a sudden. These two sledgehammers resembled ordinary iron tools but under the surging of Zhong Fan’s World Force, the sledgehammers abruptly swelled and became as big as mountains.

Zhong Fan raised one of the sledgehammers high into the air and slammed it down towards Yang Kai in a ruthless move. A furious roar came from his throat, “This King hates unfaithful men the most! If you want to play with Junior Sister Gu’s feelings, then you will have to get through me first!!”

The blow was so heavy that even if there was a mountain in front of them, it would surely shatter into pieces.

Gu Pan’s beautiful face turned pale as she shouted, “Senior Brother Zhong, stop!”

Before the words could leave her mouth though, a gentle force pushed out at her. Yang Kai had stretched out a hand to send her out of harm’s way. Meanwhile, he dodged to the side.

Zhong Fan’s attack subsequently struck nothing. When he turned around to look, he saw that Yang Kai had already appeared at another spot without him noticing.

Yang Kai stared at Zhong Fan helplessly, “Senior Brother Zhong, is there some sort of misunderstanding between us?”

Zhong Fan shook his head and raised his sledgehammer to attack Yang Kai again, “Misunderstanding or not, we’ll talk after I teach you to show proper manners!”

Yang Kai dodged again. The techniques that Zhong Fan cultivated were simple and straightforward. His personality was probably similar in that aspect. The two sledgehammers that were as large as mountains contained great power, but he held them effortlessly in his hands. Even though the power behind his attacks was great, that only mattered if he could hit his target.

If it were ordinary Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, they might not come out unscathed in the face of Zhou Fan’s vicious barrage, but if Yang Kai, who was a Master of the Dao of Space, could not dodge these attacks, then he would have cultivated all his years in vain.

After missing repeatedly, Zhong Fan was livid, “Brat, you’re as cowardly as a mouse! How could a person like you even think to deceive Little Junior Sister Gu!? Junior Sister, you better open your eyes wide! You should never go after a man with so little courage!”

Gu Pan’s face flushed beet red as she stomped her foot and shouted, “What are you saying, Senior Brother Zhong!?”

“You’re blushing? You ARE blushing!” Zhong Fan’s rage burned even greater at the sight of the red hue on Gu Pan’s cheeks. His aura as a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master rose steadily, erupting out of him like a volcano as a roar came out of his mouth, “Ahhhh! I’ll fight you to the death, you bastard!”

“Senior Brother Zhong, the relationship between Junior Sister Gu and I is not what you think!” Yang Kai tried to explain. He had to investigate the Black Ink Clan at the moment, so how could he be in the mood to fight with others? Much less a fight as meaningless as this one.

Not to mention, this place was Lang Ya Paradise. So, what if he won against Zhong Fan? Things would end badly for him if he made an enemy out of all the Masters in Lang Ya Paradise.

Zhong Fan was even more enraged, “How dare you eat then refuse to pay!? I’m going to crush you to death with my hammer, you brat!”

The blush on Gu Pan’s face had already spread to her neck, “Senior Brother Zhong, please stop talking!”

His voice was so loud that half of Lang Ya Paradise would have heard him by now. If rumours spread about this, she would never be able to prove her innocence!

Yang Kai sighed. [This isn’t getting anywhere. This guy is so obstinate. How did he manage to cultivate until the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm!?]

Seeing as he could not get through the other party with words, Yang Kai decided not to explain with words. One of the sledgehammers was smashing down on him again, so he dodged and came to Gu Pan’s side. Reaching out to grab her by the waist, he manipulated Space Principles and instantly vanished out of sight.

“Where’d he go!?” Zhong Fan looked around wildly, but there were no signs of Yang Kai anywhere. After searching for some time, he confirmed that Yang Kai had escaped and roared at the sky, “You heartless thief! Come quickly and fight me to the death!”

In a remote Spirit Province, the figures of Yang Kai and Gu Pan reappeared.

Gu Pan looked at Yang Kai apologetically, “I apologise, Senior Brother Yang. Senior Brother Zhong has always been like this. I’m afraid he misunderstood after listening to some strange rumour. He does not have any malicious intentions.”

Yang Kai smiled, “I know. If not for that, I would not have held back just now.”

“Eh?” Gu Pan suddenly turned to the side, “Why are you here, Senior Brother Lin?”

Not far away, under a towering tree, a young man dressed in snow-white robes stood with his hands clasped behind his back. His back was facing them, and his head was slightly raised towards the sky. His posture was suave, but an air of melancholy lingered around him.

They heard him sigh softly, “The trees may prefer the quiet, but the wind refuses to stop!”

Yang Kai and Gu Pan exchanged glances with each other in confusion.

Senior Brother Lin continued, “I had no plans to participate, but since we encountered each other, it would be inappropriate to feign ignorance. In that case… Draw your sword, young man!”

After saying that, he stretched out his arm and a branch fell into his hand. In an instant, Sword Intent soared into the sky and the leaves of the towering ancient tree rustled noisily!