Martial Peak
chapter-4990

Meanwhile, in front of the Western Army’s Headquarters, the adjutant gulped and finally had the time to answer Ding Yao’s question.

After finding out about the bet between Yang Kai and Zhong Liang, Ding Yao then turned his head to look at the giant burning incense and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Such a large incense stick might take almost an hour or longer to burn through completely. Blue Sky Pass was not a small place, but with it as the boundary, even if Yang Kai, who just advanced to the Seventh Order, had his Space Secret Techniques, he might not be able to escape from the palm of Zhong Liang’s hand.

No wonder Zhong Liang agreed to the bet. If it had been him, it would have been difficult for him to refuse such a bet too.

Zhong Liang could have ignored this provocation completely, but Yang Kai was bound to not be convinced, and there would only be further disputes. Thus, it was better to take this opportunity to stop Yang Kai from having such thoughts and prevent any future problems.

However, the commotion had grown far too big, and the others in Blue Sky Pass were in turmoil at the moment as they didn’t know what had happened. Ding Yao thus issued a series of orders to control the situation.

Soon, the people floating around Blue Sky Pass came down and watched the show from the sidelines. It wasn’t a big deal for them as long as it wasn’t the Black Ink Clan’s invading.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the west of Blue Sky Pass, Yang Kai was running away in a hurry, pushing his Space Principles to the limit.

However, no matter how hard he fled, a Divine Sense was able to lock onto him from afar.

It was Zhong Liang!

If Yang Kai didn’t find a way to cut off this Divine Sense, no matter how exquisite his Instantaneous Movement was, he would never be able to escape from Zhong Liang. But with their difference in strength, how could he cut off Zhong Liang’s Divine Sense? Yang Kai’s repeated attempts failed to achieve his goal, so even as he ran using Instantaneous Movement, Zhong Liang followed close behind him.

Yang Kai knew that his two sneak attacks had pissed off Zhong Liang, and the Army Commander was now determined to teach him a painful lesson.

Instantaneous Movement was the pinnacle of escape techniques. There were thousands of Secret Techniques to increase one’s speed, but none of them could be compared to Instantaneous Movement.

Soon, Yang Kai’s figure could be seen in all corners of Blue Sky Pass, but he never stayed in one spot for more than three breaths because Zhong Liang, who was like a ravenous beast, was always hot on his tail.

With one chasing and one escaping, time gradually passed.

The incense in front of the Western Army’s Headquarters was now a third burned down.

Ding Yao and the others were now becoming a bit anxious!

Initially, they thought that Zhong Liang would capture Yang Kai on his own, but now it seemed that it would not be so easy. They had all heard how the Dao of Space was unparalleled when it came to escaping, but it was only now that they learned how difficult it was to deal with a Master proficient in it.

It was a good thing that this incense burned for a much longer time than a normal incense; otherwise, the time limit would have already been reached.

Even if Yang Kai was caught in the end, it would still be a hollow victory for their side.

On the other hand, seeing that he hadn’t captured the infuriating boy after so long, Zhong Liang was feeling quite annoyed. He intended for this to be a quick battle, but he did not expect that not only were things not going as he expected, but it was actually taking him so long to capture one little brat. Moreover, if he lost the bet, it would be a terrible conclusion.

Suddenly, Zhong Liang’s body stopped in mid-air.

Noticing that Zhong Liang was acting differently, Yang Kai quickly dodged away, but the Divine Sense locked onto him remained.

He didn’t know what Zhong Liang was up to, but he figured that the Army Commander was about to make some kind of big move, so he became alert.

As expected, a strong burst of Word Force came from Zhong Liang’s side, followed by ripples that started from Zhong Liang’s location and spread out in all directions. The speed of the ripples was not fast, but it wasn’t slow either. As the ripples passed through the air, the surrounding space was gradually undergoing a noticeable change. It was a Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Technique.

When Yang Kai saw this scene from afar, his face paled as he cried out in anguish, “Army Commander! You shameless cheater!”

Zhong Liang was preparing to spread out his Small Universe and envelop the entire Blue Sky Pass.

Yang Kai had no doubt that Zhong Liang had such an ability; after all, Zhong Liang was a peak Eighth-Order Master, so once his Small Universe was manifested, it could easily encompass all of Blue Sky Pass.

If that happened, the entire Blue Sky Pass territory would be inside his Small Universe. By then, Zhong Liang would be the master of this space, and Yang Kai would have no way of escaping! He would become a fish on the chopping block, at the mercy of Zhong Liang.

Though it was a superb tactic, it was more akin to cheating than a clever strategy. It also showed how determined Zhong Liang was to take down Yang Kai.

Hearing Yang Kai’s shout, Zhong Liang’s face did not blush, he simply laughed wickedly and declared, “In battle, there is no such thing as cheating! Why don’t you try shouting at the Black Ink Clan that they’re being unfair in battle and see if they will let you go!?”

As he spoke, his Small Universe’s frontier spread in Yang Kai’s direction. Yang Kai retreated in haste, but he was limited to the inside of Blue Sky Pass, so there was no place to hide.

He could only watch as the ripples swept past his body and enveloped him.

Yang Kai’s face suddenly turned blue.

Zhong Liang laughed loudly and approached Yang Kai in a flash. He looked at Yang Kai calmly with his hands behind his back, “Are you going to admit defeat voluntarily, or will I have to capture you first? Let me make it clear, if you willingly admit defeat, you will be spared from a beating, but if you make me come and get you… I’m currently in a bad mood, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to control my strength very well.”

Yang Kai immediately gritted his teeth, “You’re quite brazen, Army Commander, but I’m not beaten yet!”

Saying so, Yang Kai’s fists flashed and began blasting towards Zhong Liang.

Smiling, Zhong Liang thought that although Yang Kai was quite strong, such an attack was nothing to him. He was wary of the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel Yang Kai used it as a sneak attack, and if Yang Kai had brought it out here and now, he would certainly be wary of him, but this kind of haphazard flurry of punches wouldn’t cause him any harm.

“You’re too arrogant. It seems you won’t regret it unless you see your coffin. Good, I’ll let you understand the consequences of your actions!” As Zhong Liang spoke, the palm of his hand reached forward, transforming the world around them into a seemingly solid projection as he moved to capture Yang Kai.

However, in the next moment, Zhong Liang’s face changed dramatically.

The attack that seemed so unthreatening to him suddenly felt like a heavy hammer pounding on his heart, shaking his entire Small Universe.

“Huh? What the?!” When Zhong Liang cried out in dismay as the power of his Small Universe was greatly disturbed. For a moment, his strength became disordered and his head became dizzy.

An Open Heaven Realm Master would not easily spread out their Small Universe when fighting because their Small Universe was their very foundation. Once their Small Universe was damaged, they would suffer grave consequences.

The only time Open Heaven Realm Masters would choose to use this method was when they were truly desperate.

When Yang Kai besieged Zuo Quan Hui in the New Great Territory, Zuo Quan Hui laid down his Small Universe in the final battle as he had no other choice.

Zhong Liang was also forced to take a risk today because he had no choice.

But he also had his own considerations. With the heritage of his Small Universe, a newly advanced Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like Yang Kai should not be able to do anything to him in short order. In other words, as long as he took him down swiftly, there shouldn’t be any danger.

How could Zhong Liang have expected that Yang Kai’s seemingly ordinary punches would be able to shake his Small Universe? Once his Small Universe became unstable, his World Force stopped flowing smoothly, leaving him essentially defenceless.

Zhong Liang, who had been hovering in mid-air, fell headlong to the ground.

Although he was able to stabilize his body and withdraw his Small Universe in a flash, even a moment of weakness would be enough to determine life or death in a fight between Masters.

Zhong Liang’s face suddenly became blacker than the bottom of a pot, for when he looked up, Yang Kai had disappeared without a trace. Worse, because he was temporarily dazed, his Divine Sense lock had been cut off.

[This is bad!]

Feeling his heart clench up, Zhang Liang became worried because he was only able to chase after Yang Kai because he locked him down with his Divine Sense. Now that Yang Kai had escaped this lock, how was Zhong Liang supposed to track him?

Turning his head towards the Western Army’s Headquarters, Zhong Liang saw the incense stick in front of the door was already half-burned.

Also, Ding Yao and the others looked at him with intrigued expressions while standing before the incense burner, making Zhong Liang blush.

Up until now, he still could not understand how Yang Kai shook his Small Universe. Those seemingly ordinary punches were definitely not as simple as they seemed. They should be some kind of Secret Technique that was used to directly target Small Universes.

He was right. Yang Kai did have a Secret Technique to deal with Small Universes.

That Secret Technique had worked wonders since he first discovered it, and it gave Yang Kai the ability to fight against Masters above his cultivation realm. If he tangled with the enemy for long enough, he could trace the opponent’s Internal Qi back to their Small Universe, and then, using Space Principles, he could bombard it directly. That was the essence of his Cow Punch.

Originally, Yang Kai didn’t have the chance to use this technique because of the wide gap between him and Zhong Liang, making him unable to hold off Zhong Liang long enough to use Cow Punch.

However, Zhong Liang took the initiative to spread out his Small Universe, which allowed Yang Kai to skip over the entire tracing process, so he immediately used Cow Punch. In the end, he was able to hit Zhong Liang and escape from him. He even had the strength left over to cut off the Divine Sense which was locked onto him.

Once all of that was done, Yang Kai was like a tiger that had returned to the mountains. It would be difficult for Zhong Liang to find him again.

In a few moments, Blue Sky Pass flew into an uproar.

Zhong Liang’s vast Divine Sense swept through the entire Blue Sky Pass but could not find any trace of Yang Kai. He even ran to each Army Headquarters and personally searched the Purifying Black Ink Battleships in case Yang Kai was hiding in them.

But he ended up empty-handed again.

After a few more moments, he had searched every Warship in Blue Sky Pass.

Seeing that the incense was getting shorter and shorter and would soon be finished, Zhong Liang could not help but feel a cold sweat on his forehead.

He had turned the entire Blue Sky Pass upside down and searched everywhere he could think of, but there were still no signs of Yang Kai. Just where was that little brat hiding?

What if he had left the Great Pass? But that would be like admitting defeat, and Yang Kai would never do that.

As he thought about it, Zhong Liang suddenly thought of something and looked in a certain direction.

“That fool finally figured it out!” In front of the Western Army’s Headquarters, Ding Yao reached up and rubbed his forehead.

When Zhong Liang’s Small Universe shook just now, he was dazed and unable to maintain his focus, so Yang Kai took the opportunity to escape. Though Zhong Liang had no idea where Yang Kai had gone, Ding Yao and the others saw it all clearly. However, it wasn’t their place to give Zhang Liang any hints, nor could they do that.