Martial Peak

Leng Shan was a rising star of Ghost King Valley and although she wouldn’t claim her memory was infallible, those she had met she was still clear about.

This was especially so for this Senior. For someone so powerful, how could she possibly forgot about his existence?

However, Leng Shan simply couldn’t remember seeing him anywhere.

And this sense of familiarity wasn’t something like a memory, but more like a feeling.

If she had to describe it... the Senior in front of her right now gave her the same feeling as that Tian Lang Dynasty bitch Zi Mo!

Both she and Zi Mo had their Soul’s branded by Yang Kai, causing them to have an inexplicable intimacy, but why would this Senior also give her such a feeling?

This Senior De was powerful so he couldn’t have suffered the same Soul branding that Yang Kai had used on her, right? Leng Shan shook her head and immediately rejected this possibility.

Seeing her confusion, Senior De actually grinned towards her meaningfully and quipped, “Long ago this old master met you but at the time you have not met this old master.”

Leng Shan was now even more confused, but she knew it wouldn’t be prudent to ask any more.

“Come on, let’s talk while we walk. This place is only 800 kilometers from War City. If we leave now, we should arrive before dark!” Senior De waved his hand and took the lead.

The Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect people all glanced at each other somewhat hesitantly.

Wu Yan was even more awkward but after a short silence he bit his lip and nodded, “Follow him.”

This person was too powerful, and no matter what reason he had for helping them, the simple truth was if he really wanted to kill him, all of them would be dead in an instant.

It was a blessing not a curse, and if it was a curse it couldn’t be avoided. Right now, all they could do was obediently follow this Senior De. The truth of the matter would reveal itself when they reached War City.

Soon, a group of thirty people followed behind the terrifying Senior De.

From a short distance ahead, the middle-aged man suddenly turned around and beckoned to Leng Shan, “Little girl, come over!”

Leng Shan nodded and stepped forward, Chen Yi hurriedly whispering, “Senior Sister, be careful!”

“En.” Leng Shan replied, seemingly not worried, calmly walking over to the middle middle-aged man’s side and respectfully asking, “What is Senior’s command?”

“Heh heh,” The middle-aged man turned to look at her and grinned, “Relax.”

Leng Shan still doesn’t know what he was planning to do when suddenly she saw his hand grab towards her. In that instant, she instinctively wanted to resist, but before her True Qi could even condense, the middle-aged man took back his hand.

Hearing a series of howls and screams, Leng Shan’s eyes shrank, her expression changing greatly.

She found that the Ghost King Seal in her body had actually been caught by the middle-aged man and though it struggled fiercely, it had no ability to resist let alone escape.

The Ghost King Seal was a Martial Skill that Ghost King Valley was known for and all of its members cultivated it.

This spiritual body was something that was born from tormented souls and Ghost King Valley disciples would refine it with a special method inside their own bodies, raising it with their Spiritual Essence so it grew in strength along with its owner.

When they fought against a tough opponent, it could be used to launch and unexpected attack.

It could be said that when one fought a Ghost King Valley disciple, they were really fighting against two opponents.

However, Leng Shan and this group of disciples were still quite young and their Ghost King Seals hadn’t reached full maturity so the power it could display was still quite limited.

No one should be able to forcefully take out a Ghost King Valley disciple’s Ghost King Seal, but this surnamed De had done so with ease.

In fact, Leng Shan didn’t even notice until it was all over.

Just as she was preparing to ask his intentions, Leng Shan saw the middle-aged man spit out a black mist that immediately squirmed into her Ghost King Seal.

The Ghost King Seal, which had been struggling violently up to now, seemed to have received a great boost from this black mist and quickly became docile, not only was it no longer struggling, it even seemed to show some signs of intimacy, it’s distorted facial features expression becoming happy and joyful.

Leng Shan couldn’t help feeling startled, swallowing down the words she was about to speak.

“Here you go!” The middle-aged man smiled and released the Ghost King Seal which was quickly taken back by Leng Shan into her body.

“Junior Sister!” Chen Yi had witnessed the entire scene just now and was immediately filled with anger and indignation, rushing over to Leng Shan’s side as he glared at the middle-aged man.

“Your courage isn’t small!” The middle-aged man sneered.

Leng Shan hastily held him back though, “I’m fine, Senior Brother, you’re misunderstanding. This Senior has just helped me a lot!”

As she spoke, the excitement in her voice continued to rise.

“What do you mean?” Chen Yi asked curiously.

“My Ghost King Seal has fallen asleep,” Leng Shan explained.

“What?” Chen Yi’s eyes bulged out.

The Ghost King Seal would grow along with its host and just like a snake shedding its skin, every time it fell asleep, once it awoke its strength would noticeably increase.

Leng Shan’s Ghost King Seal had already undergone this process a total of three times, but the next evolution was supposed to occur when she broke through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary, by which its strength wouldn’t be any worse than an average Immortal Ascension Boundary master.

But now, this process which should have occurred at least a year or two later had suddenly occurred ahead of time.

Leng Shan even felt that after this evolution, her Ghost King Seal would undergo earth-shaking changes.

All of this was because of Senior De’s black mist.

“Many thanks Senior De!” Leng Shan thanked him wholeheartedly.

“No need to be polite, consider it a reward for coming to help Yang Kai. Nurture your spirit well. When it wakes up, it will have achieved sentience and will become your most loyal partner,” Senior De said in a scholarly manner.

“Achieved sentience...” The eight Ghost King Valley disciples jaws all dropped, unable to believe what they had just heard.

A Ghost King Seal achieving sentience wasn’t just a fantasy, in the Ghost King Valley’s records, this had really happened to one of the Sect’s Senior Elders hundreds of years ago when he had broken through to the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary.

The current Ghost King Valley Sect Master Gui Li hadn’t even achieved this step.

Everyone realized just how valuable this gift was!

Leng Shan’s eyes flashed with excitement, biting her thin lip, not knowing what to say, after a while softly whispering, “What is Senior De’s relationship with Yang Kai?”

“He’s my little... *ahem*, my Young Master!” The middle-aged man lightly coughed, almost blurting out something he shouldn’t have.

“So, you’re a Yang Family person?” Leng Shan tilted her beautiful head slightly.

“En, well, in a sense.” The middle-aged man answered ambiguously.

“Senior, Senior...” Chen Yi grinned and walked over, fidgeting nervously as he wrung his hands, “You see, like Junior Sister Leng, we’re all also going to help Yang Kai, so...”

The middle-aged man glanced at him and sneered, “Do you think it’s so simple to let that spirit evolve? Every time I do so it damages this old master’s strength!”

Chen Yi expression went black and blushed with embarrassment, though he was still quite reluctant to give up so he didn’t withdraw.

If he were to cultivate himself, even if he did so day and night without rest, the chances of his Ghost King Seal gaining sentience and becoming a legendary existence was basically zero. With such a great opportunity in front of him, if he didn’t at least try to grasp it, he would definitely regret it for a lifetime.

However, thinking about asking for such a big favour really made Chen Yi feel awkward.

But to his surprise, the middle-aged man suddenly grinned and continued, “Well, today this old master is in quite a good mood, so I’ll help you little brats!”

Chen Yi was so excited he nearly jumped up and cheered, quickly thanking Senior De before turning around and hurriedly waving his fellow Sect Brothers and Sisters over, “Everyone come here, come quick!”

The rest of the Ghost King Valley disciples all rushed over as well, their smiles reaching from ear to ear as they lavished this middle-aged man with praise, flattery and thanks.

Senior De was true to his words and swiftly took the Ghost King Seals out of their bodies and fed them a breath of black mist.

A short time later, the processing was complete.

The eight Ghost King Valley disciples all glanced around at each other and saw the vibrant excitement and expectation in their eyes. Just now when they had heard what this middle-aged man had said they half doubted half believed him, but when their Ghost King Seals were returned, each of them became keenly aware that this evolution would surely result in a qualitative leap, filling them with hope for the future.

This time, they had really benefited big, and they had yet to even reach War City to meet up with Yang Kai! To think they had already met this incredible master who delivered them such a big gift! Once they arrived at War City, if they could build a good relationship with this Senior De, perhaps he would grant them some more of his wisdom.

As they watched the Ghost King Valley disciples obtain such a great opportunity, the Treasure Instrument Sect people’s eyes gleamed.

Tao Yang even courageously rushed up and smiled widely, “Senior, Senior, we are also going to help Yang Kai, so could you perhaps... hehe...”

“What do you want?” The middle-aged man didn’t get angry, just turning a smile to him.

Tao Yang’s expression brightened as he asked, “Is there a way for Senior to improve the purity of our True Qi? It would be best if it could be improved by a grade or two!”

In order to be an Artifact Refiners or an Alchemist one needed to have very high purity and density of True Qi in their body. Tao Yang wasn’t a Ghost King Valley disciple so he couldn’t expect a similar benefit so he made this request instead.

Listening to his request, the middle-aged man sneered, “This old master can’t help you with that, such things all depend on one’s own hard work.”

“So there’s no way...” Tao Yang couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.

“But... I heard those people before say you were all from Treasure Instrument Sect, right?”

“Correct.”

“Then if it’s about Artifact Refining, this old master can perhaps give you a pointer or two, heh, that is if you’re open to hearing them.”

Hearing this, Wu Yan couldn’t help secretly sneering in disdain.

Although this middle-aged man was extremely powerful and possessed many strange methods, but when it came to Artifact Refining, no one in this world could match those from Treasure Instrument Sect, even if they were Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters.

So obviously he wouldn’t take this middle-aged man’s words seriously, thinking he was just trying to show off.

“Is Senior also familiar with Artifact Refining?” Tao Yang’s face brightened again.

Senior De gently nodded, “This old master knows a little, nothing profound but it should be enough to expand your horizons.”

This time, even Tao Yang’s face became slightly awkward, not knowing what to do next.

There was still someone who dared to show off their knowledge of Artifact Refining in front of Treasure Instrument Sect. Apparently, this world was filled with all kinds of people.

However, having witnessed the opposite party’s brutal methods, if he let him lose face, who knew if he would get angry or possibly even kill him? Clearly understanding this point, all Tao Yang could do was scratch his head humbly and ask for Senior De’s advice while doing his best not to show any disrespect no matter what he said.