Martial Peak
chapter-4848

“Yes, I’m awake.” Qu Hua Shang snuggled up to Yang Kai with a joyous expression, “Thank you, for everything.”

Yang Kai slowly shook his head and ran his fingers through her hair.

Then, Qu Hua Shang lifted her head and looked over his shoulder before asking in puzzlement, “What’s going on with Xiao He?”

Since her Heart Barrier was shattered, her memory was also restored. Certainly, she had recalled everything that had happened in the rounds of reincarnation. Since the sixth life, Xiao He had always appeared in the Samsara Worlds that were built upon her Heart Barrier, which concerned her.

She didn’t remember anything about a woman named Luo Ting He. Supposedly, such a person shouldn’t have appeared in her Samsara Worlds.

“I have no idea either; however, I think we’ll find out about it after we leave this place.”

Qu Hua Shang nodded and lifted her head from the man’s embrace before looking at him with a sly gaze, “Well… I’ll see you in the next life then!”

Yang Kai was flabbergasted upon hearing that and in a half-panic asked, “There’s a next life!?”

Without replying to him, Qu Hua Shang winked at him in a cheeky manner. Just then, everything around him started dissipating like a burning picture scroll.

Yang Kai watched his own figure disappearing into the void as his consciousness seemed to have set off on a long journey.

When he came to his senses, he realised that it was pitch-black around him.

Soon, a light tore through the darkness and expanded as the view inside the Samsara Pavilion came into his sight.

Yang Kai was startled for a moment before realising that there wasn’t a next life. Nine lives was the limit in the Samsara Pavilion, which was also the number of lives Qu Hua Shang had set up for her Heart Barrier. She was just pulling a prank earlier.

He slowly shook his head as he was torn between tears and laughter. After stepping out of the tree cave, he looked up at the sky.

Although he finally returned to the real world, Yang Kai still found it to be surreal. The experiences and hardships he had gone through in the nine lives were so vivid that it was as though they had just happened the day before.

The experiences felt so real that it could be said they had actually happened.

Yang Kai could clearly feel that after nine rounds of reincarnation, he was now in a much calmer state. Only a bit more than 100 years had passed after nine rounds of reincarnation, but it was equivalent to 1,000 years of training for his mental state.

The Samsara Pavilion was indeed a place where hearts were trained and tempered.

If a person’s cultivation had progressed too quickly while he was in an unstable mental state, he would gain a lot of benefits by training inside the Samsara Pavilion.

Without the need for any reason, Yang Kai started walking in a particular direction. Although there were no clear indications, he was certain that Qu Hua Shang was in that direction.

Their hearts were now connected after nine rounds of reincarnation.

While he was on his way, he saw an alluring woman moving towards him.

As their eyes met, Qu Hua Shang put on a smile and shuffled over.

Yang Kai extended his hand and said, “Let’s go. Martial Aunt Yu must be worried about us.”

“En,” Qu Hua Shang obediently placed her hand in Yang Kai’s.

A lot of people were moving around outside the Samsara Pavilion.

It had been about 130 years since Yang Kai entered the Samsara Pavilion. To an ordinary mortal who had never cultivated before, this was a period of time that was longer than their lifetime; however, to an Open Heaven Realm Master, it was no more than a short, secluded cultivation session.

When Yu Xiang Die had some free time recently, she would come here to wait outside the Samsara Pavilion.

Unfortunately, after she waited for many years, Yang Kai and Qu Hua Shang were still nowhere in sight. On the other hand, Chen Xiu’s two disciples had walked out of the Samsara Pavilion not long after they entered it.

During the past ten-plus years, Yu Xiang Die had spent more time waiting in this place. That was because according to her estimations, if Yang Kai could successfully bring Qu Hua Shang out of the Samsara Pavilion, it would happen around this time.

Waiting wasn’t something that felt boring to her. She had been waiting for a particular man to notice her for many more years, so she was already used to the feeling.

When two familiar figures stepped out of the Samsara Pavilion hand in hand, Yu Xiang Die let out a long breath as the worry in her heart over the years finally abated.

“Martial Aunt Yu!”

Yang Kai and Qu Hua Shang saluted her at the same time.

Yu Xiang Die darted her gaze between the two of them with an amiable smile before nodding with satisfaction, “I’m glad that both of you are back. You must have suffered a lot.”

She had received training in the Samsara Pavilion before, so she knew what they would face inside. Contrary to her initial assumptions, the Heart Barrier that Qu Hua Shang had set up must have been extremely difficult to overcome, so the hardships they had gone through must be more intense than her own experiences in the past.

“Many thanks for your concern, Martial Aunt,” Yang Kai said.

Yu Xiang Die shook her head, “It’s nothing. In any case, both of you must be exhausted. Go get some rest now.”

“There’s no hurry.” Yang Kai shook his head and turned to look in the Samsara Pavilion’s direction, “Let’s wait a while longer.”

A puzzled Yu Xiang Die asked, “What are you waiting for?”

Qu Hua Shang knew what Yang Kai was waiting for, but just when she was ready to ask Yu Xiang Die whether the latter knew someone named Luo Ting He, Yu Xiang Die widened her eyes in disbelief as she looked over their shoulders.

At that moment, a powerful aura could be felt rapidly approaching them.

Qu Hua Shang turned her head and saw Xiao He descending from the sky with a smile. She soon landed on the ground.

Yang Kai and Qu Hua Shang traded glances as they had already expected it.

Xiao He had always appeared by their side since the sixth life; therefore, they speculated that she must be a powerful cultivator from Yin-Yang Cave Heaven who for some reason was swept into their Samsara Worlds.

Now, they had gone through nine rounds of reincarnation and left the Samsara Pavilion. It must be the same case for Luo Ting He.

The person Yang Kai was waiting for was naturally Luo Ting He.

Judging from Yu Xiang Die’s expression, it was apparent that she knew Luo Ting He. Moreover, they seemed really close.

“Senior Sister Luo…” Disbelief was written all over Yu Xiang Die’s face as she spoke in a shaking voice, clearly on the brink of breaking into tears as she asked, “Is that really you?”

[Senior Sister Luo…]

Upon hearing how Yu Xiang Die addressed the woman, Qu Hua Shang realised something. Luo Ting He and her Honoured Master were supposedly from the same generation, but she had never heard of her before.

“Xiao Die!” Luo Ting He called out with a smile.

The next moment, Yu Xiang Die crashed into Luo Ting He’s arms and hugged her tightly as her shoulders trembled.

Luo Ting He’s face twitched as she gazed at Yang Kai and Qu Hua Shang with a helpless expression. She patted Yu Xiang Die’s back and said, “There, there. You’re an adult now, so why do you still love to cry just like when you were a child? Where’s that good-for-nothing boy? Did he bully you?”

While hugging her tightly, Yu Xiang Die shook her head.

A helpless Luo Ting He muttered in a small voice, “They’re watching you.”

It was only then that Yu Xiang Die started flushing as she bashfully moved away. Then, she turned her head to glower at Yang Kai and Qu Hua Shang.

One of them quickly looked up at the sky while the other gazed at the ground.

“Why haven’t you saluted her yet?” Yu Xiang Die spoke in a stern voice in an attempt to restore her authority.

Yang Kai and Qu Hua Shang quickly cupped their fists, “Greetings, Martial Aunt Luo!”

Luo Ting He waved her hand, “Stop calling me that. It’s not like we’re strangers. Just call me Xiao He as usual.”

Yang Kai’s forehead was covered in cold sweat, “This Junior wouldn’t dare.”

In their ninth life, he had always called his crazy and muddle-headed personal bodyguard ‘Xiao He’. Since he was aware of her true identity now, Yang Kai wouldn’t dare to be impolite.

A perplexed Yu Xiang Die gazed at Luo Ting He as she had no idea why her Senior Sister and Yang Kai seemed to be so familiar with one another.

Just then, Luo Ting He frowned as though she was bothered by some kind of difficulty, “We’ll catch up later. There’s something I have to do now.”

Yu Xiang Die quickly asked, “Do you need any help?”

With a smile, Luo Ting He stroked the other woman’s head, “My Internal Qi is surging and my Small Universe is trembling now. I’m about to achieve a breakthrough. How are you going to help me?”

A pleasantly surprised Yu Xiang Die asked, “You’re about to achieve a breakthrough?”

Yang Kai and Qu Hua Shang were shocked as well.

Luo Ting He’s aura had been conspicuous since she stepped out of the Samsara Pavilion, and the fluctuations she gave off indicated that she was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Yang Kai initially thought that she was unable to curb her aura after staying in the Samsara Pavilion for too long.

Apparently, that wasn’t the case though. The reason behind it was that she was about to achieve a breakthrough.

Since she was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master now, naturally she was going to ascend to the Eighth-Order.

An Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would be considered a Supreme Elder or Ancestor in any of those Cave Heavens or Paradises.

It wasn’t that Yang Kai had never seen Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters before, but it was the first time he was about to witness a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master ascending to the Eighth-Order. His interest had been piqued.

If nothing unexpected happened, he would make it to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm one day as well. If he could observe the process now, he might gain something from it that would help with his breakthrough in the future.

Qu Hua Shang shared the same sentiment, so she stared fixedly at Luo Ting He.

The next instant, Luo Ting He leaped into the air and said to Yu Xiang Die, “Wait for me. I’ll be right back.”

Certainly, Yu Xiang Die would wait for her return.

Luo Ting He didn’t head to a faraway place, stopping at a spot that was 1,000 or so kilometres away from the Spirit Province where the Samsara Pavilion was located as she sat down with her legs crossed and formed a hand seal. The World Force swirled around her as the illusory phantom of her Small Universe flickered behind her back.

Yang Kai and Qu Hua Shang stared fixedly at her.

All of a sudden, Yu Xiang Die turned around and saluted the two of them, “Thank you!”

A flabbergasted Yang Kai stepped aside and asked in puzzlement, “What do you mean, Martial Aunt Yu?”

Qu Hua Shang also had no idea what was going on. She didn’t understand why Yu Xiang Die saluted them as they were her Juniors.

Yu Xiang Die said, “Thank you for bringing Senior Sister Luo out of the Samsara Pavilion.”

Yang Kai exchanged glances with Qu Hua Shang, then shook his head, “You’ve got it wrong, Martial Aunt Yu. We didn’t do anything. Instead, Martial Aunt Luo helped us a lot. It is we who should thank her.”

Yu Xiang Die put on a smile, “Do you know how long Senior Sister Luo has been trapped inside the Samsara Pavilion?” Before they could reply to her, she went on to say, “It has been 2,000 years. 2,000 years.”

Yang Kai and Qu Hua Shang were astounded upon hearing that.

Although they had speculated that Luo Ting He was a powerful cultivator from Yin-Yang Cave Heaven who had barged into their Samsara Worlds, they hadn’t expected that she had been trapped inside for 2,000 years.

The Samsara Pavilion was a place where Yin-Yang Cave Heaven disciples trained their hearts. Although the place appeared serene, it was paved with danger.

Regardless of whether they cultivated the Heartfelt Dao or the Heartless Dao, Yin-Yang Cave Heaven’s disciples had to fall in love at some point in order to advance.