Martial Peak
chapter-5052

A moment later, the cultivator, who sent a message earlier, received a reply. After going through it, he looked up and said, “Martial Uncle Tang is not in the Inner Sanctum, Senior Brother Jing. It seems that he has some matters to attend to. Those from the Army Headquarters told us to help settle him in. Martial Uncle will be back in a few days.”

Upon hearing that, Jing An nodded, “In that case, we’ll just follow orders.”

He then turned to look at Yang Kai, “Please come with me, Junior Brother Yang.”

After he finished speaking, he led the way for him with Yang Kai following behind closely.

A short while later, they arrived at a small courtyard that was quiet and serene. This was supposedly a place where guests stayed. There was a similar place in Blue Sky Pass, but it was usually unused.

Even though the courtyard had been vacant for a long time, it remained clean.

“Please get some rest here for a few days, Junior Brother Yang. I’ll inform you when Martial Uncle Tang returns,” Jing An said.

“Many thanks, Senior Brother Jing.” Yang Kai cupped his fist.

Jing An replied with a smile, “If you get bored, feel free to walk around to kill time.”

After Jing An was gone, Yang Kai stepped into the room and sat down with his legs crossed.

He had received a Faith Token from Zhong Liang that was given by the Old Ancestor. It was to be used when someone asked about his identity; however, there didn’t seem to be a need for that thing.

On the other hand, he was surprised that Tang Qiu wasn’t in the Inner Sanctum. Apparently, something major had happened in Yin-Yang Pass, which was why Tang Qiu had to deal with it personally.

With that said, Yang Kai had other friends in Yin-Yang Pass.

He thus fished out a communications artifact and sent a message.

However, he didn’t receive any reply. It suggested that the person he wanted to contact was either not in Yin-Yang Pass or was cultivating in seclusion, thus cutting off all contact with the outside world.

Regardless, Yang Kai was unable to reach him for the time being.

He had sent a message to Xu Ling Gong, but since he was unable to reach him, Yang Kai decided to contact Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue.

Surprisingly, they also didn’t respond.

Yang Kai furrowed his brows. It seemed likely that they were not in the Inner Sanctum, which was why they didn’t reply to his messages. Su Ying Xue and Qing Kui were Xu Ling Gong’s Disciples after all. It was reasonable that they had headed out together if there was a task to perform. It was also probable that they had followed Tang Qiu.

Since Yang Kai was unable to contact any one of them, he decided to put this matter aside. The reason he was here was to sneak into the Black Ink Clan’s base in the Yin-Yang Theatre to gather information. Reuniting with his friends was a secondary priority.

Suddenly, he thought of the jade slip given to him by Zhong Liang before he departed. Since he had some free time, he decided to go through it.

There was some basic information about Yin-Yang Pass and its Theatre in the jade slip, which was given to Yang Kai to help him quickly grasp the situation in this place.

The powers of all the Great Passes were more or less the same, with even the structures and layouts being similar.

There were also about 30,000 fighters in Yin-Yang Pass. They were the brightest Open Heaven Realm Masters who came from different Cave Heavens and Paradises. This kind of scale was accumulated over many years. Over the aeons, countless people were killed on the battlefield, and more people were sent over from the 3,000 Worlds.

It could be said that 80 to 90% of all the elite Open Heaven Realm Masters of every generation from the Cave Heavens and Paradises were sent to the Black Ink Battlefield. Only a small number of them stayed in the 3,000 Worlds to maintain their operation. That was the reason Yang Kai felt that the Cave Heavens and Paradises didn’t live up to their names in the past.

Since most of the powerful cultivators had been sent to the Black Ink Battlefield, he naturally couldn’t see a lot of them in the 3,000 Worlds.

Just like Blue Sky Pass, there were four Armies in Yin-Yang Pass.

There were four Army Commanders, Tang Qiu, Wu Qing, Liu Zhi Ping, and Fei Yu Shan, who respectively led the Eastern, Southern, Western, and Northern Armies.

Yang Kai was startled for a moment when he saw the name Liu Zhi Ping, for it was clearly a woman’s name. It wasn’t that women were no match for men; however, there were indeed fewer women in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Moreover, the fact that Liu Zhi Ping was an Army Commander suggested that she was extraordinarily powerful, definitely one of the strongest cultivators in the Eighth Order. Perhaps she had even reached the peak of the Eighth Order, but due to the limits of her aptitude, was unable to ascend to the Ninth Order.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Black Ink Clan in the Yin-Yang Theatre was named Mu Guang Royal Lord. It could be said that this entire war zone was his territory.

Similarly, those from Blue Sky Pass had to deal with Men Xie in its Theatre.

There was an Old Ancestor who was in charge of every Theatre to deal with the Black Ink Clan’s Royal Lord.

Mu Guang commanded over 100 Territory Lords, which was a significantly higher number than the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Yin-Yang Pass, and this was just one Theatre. On the entire Black Ink Battlefield, there were countless formidable beings from the Black Ink Clan, which made things extremely difficult for the Humans.

There wasn’t a lot of information in the jade slip; after all, it was just some basic knowledge, so Yang Kai went through it quickly. Since he had some free time now, he decided to refine a set of Seventh-Order materials.

He stayed in the room for half a month.

During this period of time, no one looked for him, nor did Tang Qiu send anyone to summon him. This made Yang Kai worried as he wondered what had happened to Tang Qiu that the latter had been held up for such a long time. Jing An told him that Tang Qiu would be back in a few days, but half a month had passed since then.

Of course, Tang Qiu was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, so he should be fine.

It wasn’t the best idea for him to keep waiting in seclusion though, so after giving it a thought, Yang Kai decided to walk around and take in the sights of Yin-Yang Pass.

It was serene in Yin-Yang Pass as there were no signs of any war. That was because they had just fended off an invasion from the Black Ink Clan not too long ago. Just like the Black Ink Clan in the Blue Sky Theatre, Mu Guang and his subordinates were still recuperating.

There were not a lot of people that walked around the Inner Sanctum. After all, during a time of peace like this, it was the best chance to cultivate. Many Open Heaven Realm Masters had seized the chance to increase their heritage so that they would be prepared for the next round of war.

The layout of Yin-Yang Pass was similar to that of Blue Sky Pass, so Yang Kai soon lost interest after walking around for a bit; after all, he was not in the 3,000 Worlds where there were a lot of bustling places. Every Great Pass was practically a gigantic Mobile Palace Artifact where the soldiers gathered together.

The several tens of thousands of soldiers staying here, ready to face the Black Ink Clan at any moment.

As Yang Kai strolled around, no one bothered to probe him for his identity. There were thousands of soldiers in Yin-Yang Pass, so it was impossible that there was anyone who could recognise everyone else in this place at a glance. No one would pay attention to a stranger like Yang Kai.

Just when he was ready to go back to his place, Yang Kai’s expression changed as he listened attentively.

A moment later, he moved forward in a particular direction with an awkward expression. After taking a turn, he saw a street that was bustling with activity.

The street wasn’t wide as it could only allow two carriages to pass side by side; however, the street was filled with people who were chatting with each other.

It was also lined with shops on both sides. There were all sorts of products that were on sale, and merchants were heard shouting to attract customers.

Yang Kai even saw someone selling skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits.

Yang Kai was dumbfounded at the sight before his eyes. If not for the fact that he was aware that he was in Yin-Yang Pass, he would have thought that he had returned to a city in the 3,000 Worlds.

Countless people were streaming into and leaving the street like the fish in a river.

Yang Kai looked up and saw that there was a huge plaque above the street. The characters for ‘Marketplace’ were written on it.

The characters ‘Observing the World’ were written on the left stone monument while ‘Experiencing Prosperity’ was written on the right stone monument.

Yang Kai frowned as he had a feeling that this street was a little unusual. At the very least, he had never seen anything like it in Blue Sky Pass.

His curiosity had been piqued as he decided to look into it. After taking a deep breath, he stepped into the street and was instantly greeted with all sorts of noises as people were heard shouting.

“Delicious sugar-coated hawthorn fruits!”

“We have freshly made steamed stuffed buns!”

“It’s the first day of our business. You’ll enjoy a 30% discount on all the dishes. Limited seats. First come, first served.”

…..

Instantly, Yang Kai was overwhelmed by a sense of dizziness, as though he had just been punched by a Territory Lord. Even his Soul had become unstable.

The old man, who was selling sugar-coated hawthorn fruits, happened to be approaching him. The red sugar-coated hawthorn fruits over his shoulder appeared appetising. The hair and beard of the old man were all grey. He was clad in simple clothes, as though he was just an average old man. All of a sudden, he grabbed the collar of a young man who happened to pass by, “Brat, why don’t you get a skewer of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits?”

The young man sported a bitter expression, “Martial Uncle, I just bought some from you two hours ago.”

The old man, who was addressed as Martial Uncle, shook his head, “You bought those two hours ago, so it’s time for you to buy one more. Rest assured. I’m sure you’ll love the sugar-coated hawthorn fruits I’ve personally made.”

The young man appeared crestfallen, “Martial Uncle, can I not buy it?”

The old man extended his hand with a smile, “That will be 10 copper coins.”

Since it was useless to protest, the young man let out a sigh of defeat and fished out 10 copper coins from his clothes before passing the money to him.

The old man took out a skewer of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits and stuffed it into the young man’s hands.

Just when the young man was about to leave, the old man grabbed his collar again, “Why aren’t you eating it now?”

The young man was on the brink of breaking into tears, “Martial Uncle, must I eat it now?”

“Yes, right now; otherwise, it’s no different from looking down on my craft!” The old man glared at him.

The horrified young man took a bite of the sugar-coated hawthorn fruits. A myriad of expressions came over his face, but he still went against his conscience and praised the old man by saying, “You’re truly skilful in making sugar-coated hawthorn fruits, Martial Uncle.”

The old man guffawed, “Of course. Don’t you know who I am?”

Upon finishing his words, he released the young man. Yang Kai could see that as the young man shuffled forward, he kept eating the sugar-coated hawthorn fruits with a smile that was uglier than crying.

Yang Kai felt his face twitching as he couldn’t believe his eyes. If he wasn’t mistaken, the young man who bought the skewer of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits was a Seventh-Order Master, while the old man was an Eighth-Order Master.

[What’s going on?]

“Young man, do you want a skewer of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits? It’s a craft passed down from my ancestors. I’m sure you’ll not be disappointed.”

While Yang Kai was in a dazed state, the old man suddenly stood in front of him and looked smilingly at him.

Yang Kai took a glance at the old man and examined the sugar-coated hawthorn fruits over his shoulder. He reckoned that the sugar-coated hawthorn fruits were probably made from some kind of Spirit Fruit, which was why they could be sold here.