Martial Peak
chapter-5602

“The Head Manager has ordered that once you come out of your retreat, you have to immediately go and see her,” the disciple from High Heaven Palace said.

[The Head Manager…]

A woman’s image flashed across Fang Tian Ci’s mind. If he remembered correctly, the Head Manager was standing beside the Dao Lord at that time. It seemed that the Dao Lord valued her.

Understanding this, Fang Tian Ci wouldn’t dare to be negligent as he extended his hand, “Please lead the way.”

Soon, they arrived at a Grand Hall where Fang Tian Ci saw the Head Manager of High Heaven Palace, Hua Qing Si. This woman was fairly powerful. Just like him, she was in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm; nonetheless, it must have been quite a long time since she achieved her ascension, for she had an ample heritage and robust aura.

Fang Tian Ci saluted her, “Greetings, Head Manager.”

Hua Qing Si responded with a smile and caringly asked him about his retreat. When she learned that he had stabilised his cultivation, she set her mind at ease.

Over the years, when the Open Heaven Realm Masters who came from the Void World ended their retreat, they would be led to this place to meet her; then, she would assign them to different Great Territory Battlefields.

After all, it was Yang Kai’s order, so she had to meticulously execute the task.

However, because these Open Heaven Realm Masters, who came from the Void Dao Temple, were not familiar with the outside world, Hua Qing Si had compiled some information to be given to them before they set off.

“Palace Master has ordered that once all of you are done stabilising your cultivation, you are to deploy to the Great Territory Battlefields for training. This is the information about those Great Territories. Take a look at it. If there’s any particular place you want to go, you can tell me about it,” as Hua Qing Si spoke, she fished out a jade slip.

Although she had the right to send them to any place she wanted, she would always discuss the matter with these people first. Yang Kai only told them to get some training, but he didn’t specify where they had to go. As such, Hua Qing Si’s action was reasonable.

Fang Tian Ci took the jade slip and thanked her. As he infused his Divine Sense into it and went through the information, he soon had a better understanding of the 3,000 Worlds and the situation that the Humans were in. The information he saw astounded him. Back then in the Void Dao Temple, he had heard Liu Jing Shan mention that in the world where the Dao Lord lived, the Humans were fighting the Black Ink Clan, a powerful and malicious enemy.

However, he had never expected that the Human Race was in such a perilous situation.

Suddenly, a sense of urgency rose within him. The Human Race had been forced to retreat to a mere 15 Great Territories. Once the Black Ink Clan occupied these Great Territories, the Humans would no longer have a place they could call their own in this expansive Universe.

Nevertheless, when he read that the Black Ink Clan had taken the initiative to strike a peace deal with the Humans after the Dao Lord applied pressure on them, which helped alleviate the Humans’ situation, he couldn’t help admiring the Dao Lord, who seemed able to achieve anything.

Although there were many Eighth-Order Masters, the Dao Lord was still in a league of his own.

At that moment, Fang Tian Ci felt honoured and secretly decided that when he ventured into the outside world, he must not tarnish the Dao Lord’s name. After all, they came from the Dao Lord’s Small Universe, so they were different from the other Open Heaven Realm Masters.

When Hua Qing Si saw him lowering the jade slip, she asked softly, “Is there any place you’d like to go?”

Fang Tian Ci replied, “I’ll let you make the decision, Head Manager.”

He didn’t have a particular place in mind as he felt that it made no difference where he went; after all, wherever he went, he would be fighting the Black Ink Clan. After spending 2,000 years to build his current heritage, he had the confidence that even if he came across a Feudal Lord, even if he couldn’t win, he would be able to escape. He was confident but not conceited. Although he had never exchanged moves with the Black Ink Clan before, he was different from the newly promoted Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who were impulsive in their youth.

“Before that, I’d like to see the Dao Lord. I have some doubts that I’d like to consult with him about.”

“You mean Palace Master? He…” Hua Qing Si appeared to be in a tight spot. She was aware that Yang Kai had returned to the Star Boundary and opened a cave mansion in the World Tree clone to recuperate. As such, they shouldn’t disturb him at this point. After giving it some thought, she asked, “If there’s anything you’d like to know, I can tell you.”

Fang Tian Ci shook his head and said apologetically, “I can only tell the Dao Lord about it.”

Hua Qing Si hesitated for a bit. Since this man appeared serious, she knew that it must be something important. As such, she rose from the chair and said, “Come with me; however, I can’t guarantee that the Dao Lord will see you.”

[If the Palace Master is recuperating, he might not respond to us.]

“Many thanks, Head Manager.”

They then left the Grand Hall and shot into the sky.

A moment later, Fang Tian Ci looked at the gargantuan tree in the distance and fell into a dazed state.

In fact, when he ascended to the Open Heaven Realm 10 years ago, he had seen this tree while following Hua Qing Si back to the Star Boundary. However, he was preoccupied with the joy of having achieved an ascension and also confounded by the mysteries surrounding his circumstances, so he didn’t ask her about it. It wasn’t until this moment that he asked, “What tree is that, Head Manager?”

Hua Qing Si replied with a smile, “It is a clone of the World Tree.”

She then related to him the clone’s background. A myriad of expressions flashed across Fang Tian Ci’s face as he subconsciously placed his hand on his abdomen.

He initially thought that it was just a large tree that had lived for a very long time, so he was surprised to learn that the tree was the Human Race’s very foundation. It was thanks to this tree that the Star Boundary could continuously produce prodigies, who were the Humans’ hope for opposing the Black Ink Clan.

If not for this tree, the Human Race’s future would’ve been bleak.

Furthermore, such an enormous tree was only a clone. Fang Tian Ci wondered how majestic the real World Tree must be.

“What about the other one?” Fang Tian Ci took a look at the other tree beside the World Tree clone.

The tree was significantly smaller than the clone, and its tree crown wasn’t as expansive; however, there was no denying that it was gigantic as well. From a distance, the tree even looked somewhat translucent and immaterial. One could hardly tell if the tree really existed in this world.

Just then, a curvy figure flew down to the tree and disappeared the next moment.

“That is the Immortal Parasol Tree,” Hua Qing Si explained patiently, “It is a Sacred Treasure that belongs to the Phoenix Clan. You should keep your distance from it if you’re not required to approach it. Phoenix Clan members are very proud people, so they may attack you if you intrude into their sacred ground.”

“The Phoenix Clan…” Fang Tian Ci fell into a dazed state. Although he had never met a Phoenix before as he came from the Void World, he knew that the Phoenix Clan members were some of the most powerful Divine Spirits in existence, second only to the Dragon Clan.

Just then, another curvy figure appeared from the tree before leaping into the air. The next moment, a dazzling light exploded as a high-pitched Phoenix cry reverberated across the sky.

Fang Tian Ci instantly saw a stunning and glorious Phoenix with a very long tail manifest before him. The figure soon disappeared into the Void, but the after-image lingered for quite some time.

[How beautiful…]

Fang Tian Ci couldn’t help feeling awed. He wondered who would be capable of winning the favour of such beautiful and noble creatures.

While he was lost in his thoughts, Hua Qing Si suddenly said, “I’ll let you in on a little secret. One of the Palace Master’s Wives is a Phoenix Clan member.”

Fang Tian Ci wasn’t surprised one bit, for he thought that the Dao Lord totally had the right to marry a noble Phoenix Clan member.

Soon, they arrived at the bottom of the World Tree clone.

Instantly, Fang Tian Ci felt many Divine Senses probing him from all directions, each one of them at least as powerful as his own. There were also several Divine Senses that were especially powerful which Fang Tian Ci believed belonged to the Eighth-Order Masters.

After giving it some thought, he realised it was only natural that some formidable Masters were protecting such an important place.

Hua Qing Si looked up at a particular spot on the clone and turned to Fang Tian Ci before sending him a Divine Sense transmission, “Don’t disturb the others.”

Hearing that, Fang Tian Ci bent his back as he spoke, “Disciple Fang Tian Ci requests an audience with the Dao Lord.”

He didn’t use a Divine Sense transmission, nor did he dare to speak too loudly. If the Dao Lord wanted to see him, he would naturally hear it, if not, Fang Tian Ci wouldn’t dare to be insistent.

Fortunately, not long after he finished speaking, the Dao Lord’s voice was heard coming from that direction, “Come over.”

An elated Fang Tian Ci turned around and saluted Hua Qing Si, “Many thanks, Head Manager.”

Hua Qing Si responded with a smile and waved her hand, “Go on.”

Fang Tian Ci leapt into the air and traced the source of the voice before arriving at a huge tree cave. The instant he stepped inside, he saw the Dao Lord looking smilingly at him.

“Dao Lord,” Fang Tian Ci hurriedly saluted him.

“Have a seat,” Yang Kai motioned for him to sit down and raised his hand to reactivate the cave mansion’s restrictions, ensuring that no one could see or hear them.

Fang Tian Ci took a seat as he was told. When he noticed how pale Yang Kai looked, he exclaimed, “Are you hurt, Dao Lord?”

Finally, he realised why the Head Manager appeared hesitant when he requested to see the Dao Lord, for the latter seemed to be in the middle of recuperating.

At that moment, Fang Tian Ci felt guilty and apologized, “I shouldn’t have disturbed you, Dao Lord. Please forgive me.”

Meanwhile, he was shocked that even a powerful Master like the Dao Lord had been so heavily injured. It seemed that the Humans were indeed in a perilous situation.

There was an awkward expression on Yang Kai’s face as he said gently, “It’s not serious. I’ll recover in no time. What are you here for?”

Fang Tian Ci replied respectfully, “There’s something I need to ask you about, Dao Lord.”

Yang Kai looked meaningfully at him. Without asking him what the matter was, he said, “Everyone has their own secrets. Some secrets can be shared with others, but some are best kept to oneself. You have to know that Humans are born with greed and selfishness. Sometimes, you think you’re just being frank, but such qualities may make your relationships difficult to handle.”

Fang Tian Ci was surprised by the insinuation in his words, [Does the Dao Lord know already? That’s impossible, even I didn’t notice it at all in the past! It wasn’t until I started focusing on stabilizing my cultivation these past few years that I realised it. Although he’s the Dao Lord, he can’t possibly know everything…]

“Dao Lord, you’ve given me everything, so I trust you,” Fang Tian Ci said solemnly.

Yang Kai felt speechless, [What’s going on with my Human Self? He’s way too honest and upright. He doesn’t have any of my shrewdness or caution.]

After pondering for a moment though, he realised that the trust Fang Tian Ci had in him was a kind of virtue and courage. Furthermore, the disciples from the Dao Temple all had some blind admiration for him, so it was only natural that Fang Tian Ci trusted him.

At that moment, Yang Kai put on a gratified expression, “I’m glad that you think so.”

However, he felt awkward in secret, for in reality, he was having a chat with himself. Probably no one had experienced such a strange situation before in history.

Nonetheless, his Human Self was oblivious to everything.