Martial Peak

Chapter 1174, Chang Qi And Hao An

Chang Qi had spent far more time together with Yang Kai, so he was the first to adapt to this new situation, smiling as he asked, “You must have some questions, right?”

“En,” Yang Kai nodded, “Why did the Hai Ke Family send the two of you?”

It was also because he was curious about the situation that Yang Kai had brought these two over to chat.

Entering the Flowing Flame Sand Field was a rare opportunity that had not appeared for over four hundred years. The Hai Ke Family was a small family force so it should have been granted at most three quotas, so it would only make sense for such an opportunity to land in the hands of the family’s Elders or possibly even the Patriarch himself. Yet now, Chang Qi and Hao An, two Foreign Elders, had actually appeared here.

Chang Qi let out a sigh and said, “No one wanted to come! Otherwise, how could two old fogeys like us have picked up such a bargain.”

“How come no one wanted to come?” Yang Kai was stunned.

Hao An grinned and explained, “After the previous incident, the Hai Ke Family has become something of an eyesore to Shadow Moon Hall. Everyone, from the Patriarch to the common disciples is constantly on edge while all of the other Foreign Elders have fled, leaving just the two of us. Now, all of those direct family Elders are in secluded cultivation, not daring to go out easily and meet people.”

“Are they afraid of me?” Yang Kai suddenly understood.

“Essentially,” Chang Qi nodded, “Naturally they are afraid you’re just biding your time while plotting your revenge. Many of the Hai Ke Family’s industries have already been abandoned and Yi En is still working hard to shrink and consolidate the family’s strength. All disciples have been ordered to enter retreat. In addition, Shadow Moon Hall now finds us quite repugnant so life has only been getting harder for the family. Now, beside myself and Brother Hao, no one from the Hai Ke Family dares show their face in public.”

Yang Kai couldn’t help letting out a laugh.

He hadn’t expected Patriarch Yi En to act so timidly.

Even if Yi En had provoked him several times in the past, out of consideration for Wu Yi’s face, Yang Kai had dropped the matter entirely. Yang Kai had no plans to seek revenge on the Hai Ke Family, but it seems the opposite party still felt it was walking on thin ice and had decided to curl up and hide.

Ultimately, they were just getting what they deserved, so although Yang Kai wasn’t going to haggle over them, he also didn’t sympathize with them.

“Elder Qian was still kind enough to give two quotas to the Hai Ke Family to enter the Flowing Flame Sand Field, so Brother Hao and I rushed over,” Chang Qi continued, “If Brother Hao and I don’t break through this time, both of us will only have a few years left to live. The two of us are hoping to find some kind of opportunity in the Flowing Flame Sand Field to break through while at the same time complete the agreement we made with the Patriarch.”

“Agreement?” Yang Kai frowned.

“En, the Patriarch has decided to seclude the entire family, and there is no need for us Foreign Elders to remain, so as long as we can turn over half the benefits we obtain in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, he’ll allow us to leave the Hai Ke Family.”

Yang Kai’s expression immediately became cold, “He’s still trying to take bully you two?”

When all the other Foreign Elders had left, Yi En had not said a word, but when it was Chang Qi and Hao An’s turn, he actually demanded they hand over half their harvest from the Flowing Flame Sand Field. Yi En was really a crafty old miser.

Without having to risk any of his own people, he could potentially obtain many good supplies and precious treasures, a perfect example of taking advantage of honest men.

Yang Kai opinion of Yi En fell even further.

Chang Qi and Hao An were also somewhat strange. The other Foreign Elders had already left, so why had they stuck around? On top of that, they had actually agreed to Yi En’s unreasonable request.

Seemingly aware of Yang Kai’s doubts, Chang Qi explained with a hint of weariness, “Brother Hao and I have been Foreign Elders of the Hai Ke Family for many years, after all. We’ve received many benefits during that time so just abandoning the family now made us feel uneasy, that’s why both of us agreed to the Patriarch’s request.”

Yang Kai slowly shook his head. Although he didn’t agree with how they thought, the loyalty these two showed was worthy of admiration. If not for their sense of honour and duty, they would never have agreed to such conditions.

Considering all this, Yang Kai asked, “If the two of you can safely return from the Flowing Flame Sand Field this time, what do you plan to do?”

Chang Qi and Hao An glanced at each for a moment before slowly shaking their heads, “We’ve spent most of our lives in the Hai Ke Family, so after leaving it we really don’t know where to go. A Third Order Saint King cultivation isn’t too low, but the problem is that both of us are quite old, so it’s unlikely anywhere will be willing to accept us.”

Neither of them had children or relatives, so naturally, they had no place to turn for help.

Yang Kai smiled, “If the two of you don’t mind, how about coming to Dragon Cave Mountain to settle down? Wu Yi and Yu Feng often mention you and the disciples there all originally belonged to the Hai Ke Family. If the two of you were present to manage them, I’m sure those brats would settle down.”

Chang Qi and Hao An’s eyes brightened, the former calling out in disbelief, “Can we really?”

“Of course, it’s not like Dragon Cave Mountain is some Forbidden Zone. This Junior would be more than happy to welcome you,” Yang Kai laughed.

Both Foreign Elders’ faces flushed as their beards trembled, Chang Qi replying incoherently, “How... how would that be acceptable?”

From the looks of it, these two very much wanted to go to Dragon Cave Mountain. Today’s Dragon Cave Mountain was no longer what it used to be, its peaks were shrouded in mist and the World Energy aura rich enough to establish a small school or Sect. Best of all, as time went on, that aura would only become denser.

“There’s no need to feel embarrassed, none of us here are outsiders. I’d feel relieved if you two would come and help guide those young disciples in their cultivation.”

The two Foreign Elders exchanged a knowing look before simultaneously getting up and bowing deeply, “If that is the case, the two of us will not stand on ceremony.”

Chang Qi added, “If we can return safely this time, what’s left of our short lives will be entrusted to little brother.”

“Senior is too serious, the two of you staying alive is what’s most important,” Yang Kai quickly asked them to sit down before continuing, “Are two Seniors fully prepared to enter the Flowing Flame Sand Field?”

“We’ve made some preparations, but whether they’ll be enough is questionable,” Hao An sighed. “Brother Chang and I spent our entire life’s savings to purchase two Saint King Grade High-Rank Ice Attribute defensive artefacts along with some healing pills, but that was all we could afford in the end.”

This was the difference between people. A Saint King Grade High-Rank artifact ordinarily cost between thirty and forty thousand Saint Crystals, but because of the current situation, Ice Attribute defensive type artefacts had risen sharply in price, costing around fifty or sixty thousand now.

For these two Foreign Elders, that represented their entire fortune.

But to Yang Kai, such a small amount of Saint Crystals weren’t even worth mentioning!

After thinking about it for a moment, Yang Kai pulled out eight jade bottles from his Space Ring and handed them over, dividing them up evenly as he explained, “One bottle has healing pills while two have pills for restoring Saint Qi. The last one is to drive out the heat. Take them.”

The pills that could resist heat were the same Snow And Ice Pills he had refined, so after Yang Kai gave Chang Qi and Hao An these two bottles he had none left for himself.

The two of them were about to refuse when Yang Kai added, “I have a lot of these things, so don’t hold back.”

Chang Qi and Hao An glanced at each other before gratefully accepting the pill bottles, tears were even threatening to form at the corners of their old eyes.

At this moment, they couldn’t help feeling a little emotional. Both of them had served the Hai Ke Family for most of their lives and contributed much during that time, yet now, Yi En was intent on driving them away while at the same time forcing them to offer up compensation. In contrast, they had only just agreed to join Yang Kai yet the latter had handed them eight bottles of pills without even blinking.

The gap in treatment was as far apart as Heaven and Earth.

Chang Qi and Hao An suddenly felt that leaving the Hai Ke Family and following Yang Kai might not be a bad thing, the sadness and loneliness they had been feeling these days fading away greatly.

“Also, take these Saint Crystals, I heard that no one can circulate their Secret Art in the Flame Area to absorb World Energy as the heat itself is like poison; if one absorbs it, it will cause great harm. In order to restore one’s strength they can only rely on Saint Crystals and pills,” Yang Kai took out another Space Ring and tossed it over.

This time they didn’t try to refuse, but when Chang Qi accepted this ring and swept the contents with his Divine Sense, he immediately called out in alarm, “This is too much.”

The Space Ring that Yang Kai gave them was the one that was handed to him by Yin Jian a day ago, the one that had half a million Saint Crystals inside!

Chang Qi had never even seen so many Saint Crystals in his life and was so frightened he nearly dropped the ring.

Yang Kai however just waved his hand, “I still have more Saint Crystals. Hold onto those for now, consider whatever you don’t use up inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field as your hiring fee for agreeing to join Dragon Cave Mountain.”

An idea had suddenly emerged in Yang Kai’s heart a moment ago. Now with Qian Tong on his side, and Yang Yan arranging a grand Spirit Array, Dragon Cave Mountain could be considered extremely safe, but in terms of available combat strength, it was actually quite lacking.

Among all the people living there, besides Yang Kai himself who had abnormal combat ability, the others weren’t worth mentioning. Although Wu Yi and Yu Feng’s were both First Order Saint Kings, and their aptitudes weren’t bad, it would still take a long time for them to fully mature.

Chang Qi and Hao An, on the other hand, were both Third-Order Saint Kings, and if they could break through to the Origin Returning Realm, Dragon Cave Mountain would be able to add another strong layer of protection.

Any Origin Returning Realm cultivator was capable of using Shi, a power that could give even Yang Kai trouble.

Asking these two to join Dragon Cave Mountain, on the one hand, was because Wu Yi had a good relationship with them, as well as their upright and loyal characters; but that was not all. He also wanted to add some powerful cultivators under him.

These two Foreign Elders had remained in the Third Order Saint King for many years but had not been able to break through due to insufficient aptitude and resources. If Yang Kai provided them with an Origin Condensing Pill though, breaking through shouldn’t be an issue.

However, the Emerald Silk Grass required to refine Origin Condensing Pills was quite rare and Yang Kai had already used up his only two stalks.

It seemed that this time, Yang Kai would have to visit the Treasure Area of the Flowing Flame Sand Field to see if he could find some Emerald Silk Grass. If there was some, that would be best, but if there weren’t any, he could always just buy them. In any case, Yang Kai wasn’t lacking Saint Crystals.

After arguing back and forth for a while, Yang Kai finally convinced Chang Qi and Hao An to accept the Space Ring.

Yang Kai then began to explain to them everything he had heard about the Flowing Flame Sand Field from Wei Gu Chang.

Although Chang Qi and Hao An had also obtained some information beforehand, it was not as complete as what Yang Kai knew, so both of them listened attentively, not daring to miss a word.