Martial Peak

Chapter 1699, Ocean Resources

These few cultivators were being controlled by the Insect Emperor via his Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insects. After Yang Kai arrived, he didn’t intend to kill these people since they were just victims, so he instead captured and suppressed them.

As Yang Kai waved his hand, all these captured cultivators trembled and their faces twisted, as if suffering immense pain. A moment later, all of them foamed at the mouth and collapsed to the ground; fortunately, they were still breathing, so their lives were not in immediate danger.

Pang Zhen stood to the side and observed closely, not daring to act recklessly like before.

Soon, accompanied by a few piercing squeaks, a stream of light shot out from the heads of all the collapsed cultivators.

Yang Kai stretched out his hand, grabbed these lights, and then motioned to Pang Zhen to observe.

In Yang Kai’s palm, there were a few oddly shaped, fingernail-sized black and red worms that were constantly struggling and resisting but seemed incapable of breaking free.

Pang Zhen stared for a long time in silence before gulping and asking, “These are the Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insects you mentioned?”

He had never seen an insect like this before, but he could still feel a trace of wild and ominous aura from them, as if they were extremely old. His instincts were also warning him these things were dangerous.

“En, if you are implanted with one of these Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insects, you will fall under the control of its master,” Yang Kai smiled lightly and confirmed.

“Can I have a closer look?” Pang Zhen felt curious and was somewhat interested in studying these Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insects. Although this thing was dangerous, if he could research it thoroughly and discover the method to control them, it would add a powerful Secret Technique to his arsenal.

Yang Kai looked at him with a faint smile and said, “If Island Master Pang is not afraid of them burrowing into his Knowledge Sea, I can give them to you.”

Pang Zhen paled, hesitated for a long time, then eventually shook his head, “Forget it. This Pang does not have the confidence to suppress them. I will have to trouble Sect Master Yang to dispose of these things.”

Yang Kai smiled lightly, flicked his wrist, and the several struggling Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insects were vaporized.

Understanding that the previous incident was indeed a misunderstanding, and Yang Kai was not here to kill innocent inhabitants of Sunrise Island, instead actually solving a huge future problem for him, Pang Zhen’s attitude towards Yang Kai became much friendlier.

Though, what he was more concerned about was Yang Kai’s strength.

No one in the entire Limitless Ocean could resist him.

Pang Zhen then strongly invited Yang Kai to his residence.

Yang Kai also intended to have some further discussions with him, so he did not decline.

Pang Zhen was the Island Master of Sunrise Island, so he lived in a palatial mansion built upon the best piece of land.

After entering the mansion, Pang Zhen immediately ordered a banquet prepared while having a dozen beautiful young women provide entertainment in the form of singing and dancing.

A group of Origin Returning Realm masters from the island also accompanied them.

The atmosphere was quite lively.

The chaos which had plagued the inland Sects was well known to Sea Temple’s leadership, but because it had never spread to the Limitless Ocean, Sea Temple was not completely clear about all the details.

The reason why Pang Zhen warmly invited Yang Kai was twofold. On the one hand, he was impressed with Yang Kai’s strength and wanted to make friends, while on the other, he wanted to use this opportunity to gain some information about the inland situation.

Yang Kai did not try to conceal anything.

When they learned that the Corpse Spirit Religion had been uprooted, everyone in Sea Temple exclaimed, and when they learned that Qian Tong had indeed broken through to the Origin King Realm, the faces of Pang Zhen and the others filled with worry.

An Origin King had not been born on Shadowed Star for more than ten thousand years and was more of a legend passed down from generation to generation than something real and tangible. This was an unattainable aspiration for all of Shadowed Star’s masters, so Pang Zhen and the others didn’t know how powerful an Origin King really was, but that did little to assuage their fears.

They were concerned Qian Tong would become ambitious and extend his clans towards the Limitless Ocean.

Although Sea Temple was a behemoth in the Limitless Ocean with massive influence, deep heritage, and numerous masters at its disposal, they were not confident they could withstand an Origin King.

Yang Kai naturally saw the anxiety in their faces and knew what they were worried about, but only felt it was something funny and did not offer them any kind of reassurance either way.

Forget about whether Qian Tong had such intentions, even if he did, he would not have the ability to subdue the Limitless Ocean. Shadow Moon Hall simply did not have such strength.

Pang Zhen and the other’s worries were superfluous.

“Island Master Pang, this Yang has a request to make, and I was hoping Island Master Pang could arrange it,” After drinking three rounds, Yang Kai suddenly said.

“Sect Master Yang, please,” Pang Zhen quickly raised his head and looked over.

“I want to meet with your Sea Temple’s Temple Masters,” Yang Kai smiled lightly as he took a sip of wine.

Pang Zhen was stunned and asked, “What does Sect Master Yang wish to discuss with the Temple Masters?”

Although Yang Kai naturally had the qualifications to meet the Temple Masters of Sea Temple, Pang Zhen still had to ask about his purpose.

The others also looked at Yang Kai curiously.

“It’s for a good cause.” Yang Kai smiled deeply, “This Sect Master wants to open up an exchange of materials between your Limitless Ocean Sect and those inland. Island Master Pang must know that many unique resources are produced both inland and here on the ocean due to their different environments. Cultivation materials that can be easily found here may be extremely precious inland, and vice-versa. If we can open a trade route to exchange the commodities we respectively need, it will bring great benefits to our respective forces!”

This was the primary reason Yang Kai had chosen to remain here, otherwise, he simply would have left after killing the Insect Emperor.

High Heaven Sect was not the same as before, with only a few hundred members. Originally, providing for these few disciples and Elders was a simple matter, but now, Yang Kai had brought over ten thousand of his friends and family from Tong Xuan Realm. An unimaginable amount of resources was being consumed every month, and even though he had accumulated much over the years, High Heaven Sect’s reserves would only last a few years if they weren’t constantly replenished.

However, during the war with Corpse Spirit Religion, all the inland Sects suffered heavy losses and were currently lacking all kinds of resources.

Yang Kai took a fancy to the difference between ocean and inland resources after spending some time on the Limitless Ocean, and if he could successfully establish a trade route between them, not only would it relieve his immediate worries, but he would also no longer need to worry about purchasing cultivation materials in the future, as wealth would simply pour in as time passed.

Although he was now the Star Master of Shadowed Star and could travel anywhere he wanted to at will, even force Sea Temple to submit to him by force, Yang Kai had no intention to do this.

Instead of waging war, he would rather allow the inland and ocean Sects to form a mutually beneficial relationship.

Now standing atop Shadowed Star as its Lord, he needed to consider the good of the entire Cultivation Star.

Hearing his proposal, Pang Zhen’s eyes lit up, but his enthusiasm soon dampened, “Sect Master Yang is not the first person to make such a proposal. Even some from my Sea Temple have mentioned this before, but because many resources require special preservation and transportation methods, and communication between the inland and ocean Sects is difficult, it has been logistically impossible to set up any significant trade between us except for in a few seaside cities.”

Seeing his demeanour, Yang Kai knew that the people of Sea Temple were interested in the inland materials as well, but establishing trade routes had proven too troublesome. If this weren’t the case, Yang Kai would not have been able to meddle in this matter, as it would have already been established long ago.

Another difficulty was finding an appropriate trading partner. With the size and scope of Sea Temple, there were very few inland Sects qualified to stand on equal footing, most great forces could only look up to them. As for the great forces capable of establishing trade, they held competitive relationships with Sea Temple, making them incompatible as business partners.

Yang Kai, however, just smiled and said, “And if I could solve those troubles?”

Pang Zhen’s expression shook, “Does Sect Master Yang really have a way?”

Yang Kai nodded sincerely; his expression completely serious.

Pang Zhen burst into hearty laughter and said, “If Sect Master Yang can do this, then this matter can be discussed! However, I cannot take responsibility for such a big endeavour and can only refer the matter to the Temple Masters for them to handle.”

“This Yang has long heard of Sea Temple’s reputation and knows that its Temple Masters are wise, so there should be no reason for them to refuse such a good thing,” Yang Kai laughed.

Pang Zhen was instantly put into a great mood and raised his glass again, “Then, a toast to the successful conclusion of this matter. When the time comes, this Pang will also have to ask Sect Master Yang to take care of me.”

If this matter could be negotiated successfully, then Pang Zhen would undoubtedly gain many benefits. If all went well, he might even be able to raise his position and status in Sea Temple, so he did not hesitate to become even friendlier with Yang Kai, treating him as the most honoured of guests.

In the middle of the night, after the banquet finally wound down, Pang Zhen arranged a luxurious courtyard for Yang Kai and ensured that a few beautiful young maidens were waiting for him when he got there.

Yang Kai immediately asked these young women to leave, of course, feeling quite awkward and embarrassed as they pouted resentfully while leaving.

Yang Kai thought that because the matter he proposed would be of great benefit to Sea Temple, they would be very enthusiastic to cooperate, but to his surprise, even after three days waiting on Sunrise Island, not even one of Sea Temple’s Temple Masters came to see him.

This reaction was quite confusing to Yang Kai.

It stood to reason that although Sea Temple’s territory was extremely vast, it should have Space Arrays on each of its main islands, so if one of Sea Temple’s Temple Masters wanted to, it should not have taken them more than half a day to arrive on Sunrise Island.

A delay of three days could only indicate that the other party did not believe what he said or was not interested in this matter in the first place.

But Yang Kai wasn’t in a hurry. Now that the hidden dangers of Corpse Spirit Religion had been thoroughly eliminated, High Heaven Sect did not need him around urgently to make decisions. With Ye Xi Yun overseeing things, it did not make much difference how long he was gone for.

As such, Yang Kai took this opportunity to savour the changes he had undergone after becoming a Star Master.

As the Lord of Shadowed Star, he could now travel anywhere on it in an instant. As long as he had enough Spiritual Energy and Saint Qi, he could cross hundreds of thousands or even millions of kilometres in an instant. However, the further and more frequently he travelled, the larger the burden he would experience, limiting him somewhat.

Nonetheless, crossing a few tens of thousands of kilometres in an instant was a simple matter.

This was just one of the small conveniences Yang Kai received after becoming a Star Master.

The biggest benefit Yang Kai found was his ability to cultivate more rapidly on Shadowed Star. World Energy here now flowed into his body freely, allowing his cultivation speed to soar to almost a hundred times what it had been before, something impossible for anyone else to achieve.

In battle, he could also mobilize Shadowed Star’s World Energy to effortlessly kill his enemies, a skill he had already tested and verified.

However, there was one thing that concerned Yang Kai quite a bit, and that was a vague, invisible power which seemed to engulf Shadowed Star. This power had the characteristics of a giant seal, like a series of shackles preventing Shadowed Star’s cultivators from comprehending the mysteries of higher realms

It was precisely because of the existence of this barrier that no Origin King had been born on Shadowed Star for over ten thousand years!