Martial Peak
chapter-4978

The battlefield was dangerous, and even the best of plans could never keep up with ever-changing circumstances. Feng Ying arrived just in time to find Yang Kai, and with her watching over him, he had been safe.

Yang Kai himself understood this too, so when he met Feng Ying, he abandoned his initial plan and joined forces with her to defeat as many enemies as possible.

However, the Royal Lord’s location was unintentionally exposed by Yang Kai, disrupting the former’s recovery. As a result, the Royal Lord became annoyed and attacked the two of them.

It was a casual blow for the Royal Lord, but to Yang Kai and Feng Ying, it was a death sentence.

Facing certain death, Yang Kai had no time to think and could only go all out. It was only with the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel and Feng Ying’s Myriad Swords Dragon that the pair managed to barely survive and hold out until Zhong Liang arrived.

At the moment of critical danger, it was when under overwhelming pressure that something seemed to have shattered inside Yang Kai.

He didn’t notice it at that time, but when Yang Kai was back in Blue Sky Pass, safe from the ongoing war, he realised that the shackles that he had been trying to break through during his previous retreat snapped under the immense pressure.

It truly was a great fortune that was stumbled upon by accident.

Yang Kai would naturally not let go of this fantastic opportunity now that he had grasped it. When the battle was over, he returned with Feng Ying, informed her about his situation, and then entered retreat to break through.

Naturally, when Zhong Liang and others came to look for him, he was not available.

However, the four Army Commanders were overjoyed when they heard that Yang Kai was advancing to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm. Yang Kai’s existence was too important to the Human Race; so obviously, the greater the strength he had, the better. The Black Ink Battlefield had a lot of dangers, so if Yang Kai was stronger, he would have a better ability to protect himself. The fifth order was too low and the Sixth Order was the bare minimum. If Yang Kai advanced to the Seventh Order though, he could play a much larger role.

“Very good! If this little brat can break through, it will be good for all of us,” Zhong Liang nodded repeatedly.

Ding Yao and the others agreed.

But breaking through to the Seventh Order from the Sixth Order was a long and arduous task. The Proprietress took over 100 years in retreat in order to break through this same barrier.

Zhong Liang and others had also gone through this experience, so they were very clear about the process.

The four of them set aside their desires to win over Yang Kai after knowing that they could not see him for the time being. Then, Zhong Liang instructed, “You stay here to look after him. Notify me as soon as possible once he’s done.”

Feng Ying nodded.

“Let’s go,” Zhong Liang said. There were still a lot of post-battle tasks to attend to and each of them had their own responsibilities, so it was impossible to keep waiting here.

However, just as the four of them were preparing to leave, they heard a faint creaking sound.

Zhong Liang followed the sound and turned his head to look, “What’s that?”

“My seclusion chamber opened…” Feng Ying replied as her expression changed.

Zhong Liang and the others were startled at first, but that was soon followed by a change in their expressions.

The seclusion chamber was a place for cultivators to enter retreat and it wouldn’t be easily opened once sealed. If Yang Kai chose to enter retreat here at Feng Ying’s place, he would undoubtedly be using this room.

Unless the one using it chose to, opening a seclusion chamber could only be done through force, and obviously that was not the case here.

It’s just… why would the seclusion chamber open for no reason?

Yang Kai only entered retreat a few days ago, so could he have encountered an accident?

As they thought of this possibility, Zhong Liang and the others were no longer able to remain calm. They all strode over to the seclusion chamber in a hurry.

Soon after, Yang Kai emerged from the chamber, still topless, with many of his wounds from the previous battle not even healed yet. Of course, he seemed to have recovered significantly all the same.

Zhong Liang and the others suspected something went wrong with his retreat; otherwise, why would he come out on his own? But, when they laid eyes on him, there didn’t seem to be anything amiss. In fact, he seemed invigorated and revitalised.

There was something odd about his aura too. It was not a Sixth-Order aura, but rather a Seventh-Order one!

Having just broken through, Yang Kai seemed to be somewhat unfamiliar with the power of Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, and could not control his World Force adeptly, causing some of his aura and power to leak out.

Zhong Liang and the others immediately widened their eyes in surprise as they stared at him in shock.

Yang Kai noticed them as well and pondered why these four were here. Still, he quickly composed himself and saluted, “Greetings, Seniors.”

Zhong Liang and others remained silent, their four pairs of eyes examining Yang Kai from top to bottom.

Yang Kai was feeling uneasy when these four were scrutinizing him in such a manner. It felt like there was something odd with their gaze but he could not understand what it was. As such, he cautiously asked, “Seniors, what brings you here today?”

“Don’t move!” Zhong Liang commanded in a deep voice, took a step forward and reached out to Yang Kai’s dantian, touching it with his palm before investigating it thoroughly.

Ding Yao and the rest stood back and waited quietly.

A few moments later, Zhong Liang withdrew his hands; his expression odd.

“So?” Ding Yao asked.

“Strange. He’s reached the Seventh Order without a doubt!” Zhong Liang shook his head and glanced at Ding Yao and the others.

Under his inspection, he confirmed that Yang Kai had indeed advanced to the Seventh Order, which was completely unbelievable.

“You’re sure you’re not mistaken?’ Liang Yu Long inquired, agitated.

Zhong Liang rolled his eyes, “You can check for yourself if you don’t believe me. His foundation doesn’t even seem to be unstable.”

“Interesting,” Shen Tu Mo grinned.

Yang Kai became even more confused, turning to Zhong Liang and asking, “Senior, what happened?”

“If you ask me, who am I supposed to ask?” Zhong Liang turned to face him, “How did you advance to the Seventh Order?”

Yang Kai furrowed his brow for a moment before replying nonchalantly, “I sensed an opportunity to break through, so I entered retreat for a while and broke through.”

The way he spoke about it was like he had been hungry, decided to eat, and was now full.

Feng Ying finally pulled herself together and commented, “That’s the problem.”

“What’s the problem?” Yang Kai frowned. This advancement had gone unexpectedly well, so he didn’t suspect anything was wrong.

Feng Ying sighed and said, “Let’s put it this way. It took 40 years from the time I sensed the opportunity to break through to the Seventh Order until I finally succeeded. Not only me, but every Seventh-Order Master experiences something similar. It takes a long time to break through because the Seventh Order is a massive watershed where one’s Small Universe must undergo the process of materializing. This is an extraordinarily long and difficult process that cannot be completed overnight.”

As she spoke though, Feng Ying abruptly came to a realization, “Ah! Your Small Universe had already materialized, so you could skip over that step in your breakthrough… Still, it all happened so fast, and there were no major signs of a breakthrough as well.”

It had only been a few days, yet Yang Kai actually broke through to the Seventh Order. If they had not witnessed it themselves, they would never have been able to believe it.

Zhong Liang recalled this fact once Feng Ying reminded them.

They had all checked Yang Kai’s Small Universe before, and unlike other Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realms Masters, his Small Universe had already transformed from immaterial to material; therefore, Yang Kai did not have to go through arduous process of materializing his Small Universe to advance to the Seventh-Order.

What concerned Zhong Liang the most before, was Yang Kai feeling his opportunity for a breakthrough on the battlefield. If he did, he would be forced to break through while in battle, which would sap him of all his strength during the transforming process, which would place him in a precarious state.

Fortunately, that did not happen.

After hearing Feng Ying’s explanation, Yang Kai finally understood everyone’s earlier odd reaction.

He also had some idea of what happened when others advanced to the Seventh Order; still, this realization took him aback. But since his special Small Universe had saved him a huge amount of time, as far as he was concerned, it was something to celebrate.

This time, his retreat went rather smoothly. After a few days of effort, his bottleneck was shattered, and he naturally advanced from the Sixth Order to the Seventh Order, moving up to join the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters. Additionally, he was now just one step away from his upper limit, the Eighth Order.

“Your circumstances are unique,” Zhong Liang stated after some thought, “Please pay more attention over the course of the next few years. Make sure you report to us if you sense any abnormalities.

“Yes,” Yang Kai replied, then asked again, “So, what brought you here today, Seniors?”

“The Old Ancestor wants to see you!” Zhong Liang turned serious.

When the Old Ancestor returned, Yang Kai was already in retreat, but the former had been greatly intrigued by the existence of a person like Yang Kai in the Inner Sanctum. So, he instructed Yang Kai to pay him a visit as soon as possible.

“When?” Yang Kai asked. He also desired to meet with the Old Ancestor, but previously, the Old Ancestor was in the midst of recovering from his injuries, so he could not meet him.

The issue of the Void Corridor had to be reported, but in accordance with Meng Qi’s instructions before his death, Yang Kai never disclosed the issue to anyone else, only planning to explain everything when he met the Old Ancestor.

Zhong Liang suddenly turned awkward, “Maybe in a few years. The Old Ancestor should be recovering right now. Although he instructed you to meet him, nobody expected you to be out of retreat so quickly.”

According to the Old Ancestor’s previous estimation, Yang Kai would need at least a few dozen years to advance to the Seventh Order. By that time, he would have completed his recovery and could meet this interesting Junior.

Who knew in just a few days, Yang Kai had already successfully advanced to the Seventh Order.

Besides, the Old Ancestor hadn’t fully recovered from his previous injuries when he went out to battle the Royal Lord again. They really should not interfere with him this time when he returned to recover.

Yang Kai nodded without objections.

“Good. Get some rest. We’ll take our leave,” Zhong Liang said as he signalled to Ding Yao and the others.

Yang Kai and Feng Ying bowed and watched them leave.

After exiting the courtyard, Liang Yu Long suddenly asked, “Brother Zhong, what are you up to?”

The four of them hurried over here, hoping to recruit Yang Kai into their respective Army, but no one spoke about this matter, and Zhong Liang even motioned them to leave quickly. Of course, Liang Yu Long wanted to ask why.

Zhong Liang then replied, “I considered it thoroughly. We old fogies should not trouble the little ones. How do you want him to choose if all four armies try to recruit him? It’s not appropriate for him to promise any one of us. We are all part of Blue Sky Pass anyways, so let’s let things drift for now and we can talk about it after he has become more familiar with things here.”

Ding Yao answered with a nod, “Good. It will indeed make things difficult for him if we force him to choose now. The future is still far, so let’s not be in such a hurry.”

Since they had said so, Liang Yu Long and Shen Tu Mo could not object either, thus the subject was put on hold for the time being.