Martial Peak

It was all laughs at the entrance of the Main Conference Hall.

Whether they were people Yang Kai knew or not, they all swarmed over to talk to him. This couldn’t be helped, because they all knew the reason they were gathered here. Yang Kai had received nine pairs of Marks from the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer and was about to give them out, so now they owed Yang Kai.

Moreover, the Divine Spirits were guessing that the Source Marks from the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer might not only allow them to summon Purifying Light, but it might also have the effect of purifying their bloodline.ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ Noᴠelꜰɪre.nᴇt

Before today, the Divine Spirits had gone through a selective trial because of the matter of who would receive the marks. In the end, it was these nine who prevailed.

“Stop chattering. Yang Kai, get inside.”

Xiang Shan’s voice came from the Main Hall, obviously knowing why Yang Kai was staying outside with no intentions of coming in.

With a bitter laugh, Yang Kai cupped his fist at the Divine Spirits and announced, “Let’s continue our conversation another day. Please make yourselves comfortable.”

The Divine Spirits didn’t object.

When Yang Kai stepped inside the Main Hall, he felt several dozen pairs of eyes instantly fall on him and look at him as if he was some kind of strange being.

Inside the Main Hall were all Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, with no exceptions.

There were a few that Yang Kai recognised, but more that he didn’t. Sitting upright at the end of the table was Xiang Shan.

Yang Kai didn’t feel nervous, because he was now an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master too, and all of them might not be his match when it came to strength, except for Xiang Shan.

He didn’t know how strong Xiang Shan was because they had never fought each other, but Big Head Xiang had climbed back up after having fallen once, so his ability might have increased even more. He could be considered one of the most powerful Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters alive today.

While facing the crowd, Yang Kai cupped his fist and greeted, “Junior Yang Kai greets Seniors.”

[That’s right. I’m just a Junior with abilities but no experience, so I can’t take up any huge responsibilities!]

His intentions naturally couldn’t escape Xiang Shan’s eyes. Big Head Xiang looked at him with a faint smile but didn’t make any comments.

Instead, one of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters burst out laughing, “Junior Brother, you’re too modest. You are now also an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and have the same cultivation as all of us, so you shouldn’t be referring to us as your Seniors but as Fellow Brothers!”

Another Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master nodded before adding, “We cultivators only care about strength, not age, unless you’re from the same Sect that is. But since you’ve already reached the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm at such a young age and even recently killed three Innate Territory Lords at once, I’m sure you’re going to have a very promising future!”

“Not bad for a person so young. We older ones have high hopes for you.”

Following that was a wave of compliments from everywhere. The only words that weren’t said were that Yang Kai was the future of the entire Human Race.

Yang Kai felt defeated and looked at Xiang Shan grimly. He wouldn’t believe it if someone said Xiang Shan hadn’t colluded with these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters to do this.

This group of Eighth-Order Masters had even begun spouting utter nonsense, so it was obvious that they had some kind of hidden intentions.

At that point, Yang Kai felt even more stressed.

After secretly sighing, he knew he couldn’t go against so many of them, so he complied and cupped his fist, “Senior Brothers, you are all too kind. It was just pure luck, so I can’t accept your praise.”

“Let’s continue exchanging pleasantries later. Yang Kai, find a seat and sit down.”

It was then that the crowd stopped chattering. Yang Kai looked around the room and saw Ou Yang Lie beckoning him over, so he immediately went and sat beside him.

Today was just another ordinary meeting between Human Race higher-ups. With over a dozen battlefields, the Masters at the Supreme Headquarters would personally head over to each battlefield and gather intel from time to time. When Profound Nether Territory was almost lost, the higher-ups at the Supreme Headquarters didn’t dare take the situation lightly; moreover, Xiang Shan personally coming here also had a sliver of such meaning.

All the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters sitting here were the mainstays of the Profound Nether Army, who were responsible for guarding this place. Therefore, they knew the Black Ink Clan in the Profound Nether Territory very well.

So now, they would proceed with reporting to Xiang Shan about the situation on the battlefield.

As time passed, all the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters took turns giving their reports, and Yang Kai now knew more about the situation in Profound Nether Territory.

However, what shocked him the most was that these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were extremely detailed, including how many battles each Army had gone through, how many enemies were killed, how many casualties they had, how many troops they had left, and where they had placed Arrays and other arrangements.

Yang Kai felt curious, [Shouldn’t these basic details already be known? Why do they need to report such trivial things to Xiang Shan?]

Turning his head to look at Xiang Shan, Yang Kai found him sitting upright while seriously listening to every word while nodding occasionally.

The Human Race needed leaders like Xiang Shan to be able to band together when fighting against the Black Ink Clan.

Although Yang Kai had decided to only listen but not speak, it turned out that there weren’t many opportunities for him to get in a word. He had recently arrived at Profound Nether Territory, where he would either spend time at the palace fooling around with his Wives, casting Purifying Light, fixing Warships, or patching up Spirit Arrays. There was indeed not much for him to say as he was fairly ignorant of the general situation. 

There was an infinite joy in the activities done inside the bedroom. After spending over 1,000 years in celibacy on the Black Ink Battlefield, 5,000 if the years in the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon were counted, Yang Kai felt as though he had finally been set free and returned to the time when he could do whatever he wanted.

All his Wives were constantly blushing every day and Ru Meng wouldn’t lose her temper that much anymore, behaving in a gentle and considerate manner most of the time.

“Yang Kai, do you have anything to add?” Xiang Shan suddenly turned to look at Yang Kai.

Waking up from his thoughts, Yang Kai shook his head like a rattle-drum, “No!”

“If so, why are you smiling so happily?” Xiang Shan frowned.

Yang Kai coughed lightly, “I was just thinking about something interesting…”

Feeling awkward, he gestured towards the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, who was currently speaking, “Senior Brothers, please continue.”

[Has Big Head Xiang come all the way here just to make things difficult for me? Can’t I even smile discreetly?]

The conference continued, and the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters narrated the comprehensive situation in Profound Nether Territory.

Half a day passed just like that, and the report on matters in Profound Nether Territory had finally ended. The group of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters felt like their mouths had dried up from all the talking.

It was then that Xiang Shan nodded and looked towards Yang Kai, “Have you understood the situation in Profound Nether Territory?”

Yang Kai was extremely shocked. 

[Why is he asking me that?] But he still nodded, “Yes.”

“Very good!” Xiang Shan got up and took a step forward before he boomed, “Star Boundary’s Yang Kai, come forward and receive your orders!”

Stunned, Yang Kai froze, so Ou Yang Lie yanked him to his feet and kicked his butt, causing Yang Kai to stumble forward. When he looked up and saw Xiang Shan’s stern face, he felt his heart sink as he cupped his fist and quickly said, “Sir!”

While looking at him, Xiang Shan quickly said, “Previously, during the critical battle of Profound Nether Territory, Yang Kai killed three Innate Territory Lords on his own and turned the tide of war, successfully saving Profound Nether Territory from its end, making a huge contribution to the Human Race. In the following battles with the Black Ink Clan, he led the charge in every battle and killed numerous enemies, which has won him many Military Merits and demonstrated the spirit our Human Race must follow to obtain victory in his war. Therefore, the Supreme Headquarters has decided to appoint Yang Kai as Profound Nether Army’s Army Commander. From now on, he will command the Profound Nether Army and stand guard over Profound Nether Territory to defend it against the Black Ink Clan!”

Yang Kai was shocked and gawked at Xiang Shan with a blank expression, seemingly wanting to see if the latter was pulling a bad prank on him.

Back when Yang Kai received Xiang Shan’s order to attend the conference between Profound Nether Army higher-ups, he had already mentally prepared himself, thinking that he was about to be assigned some formal posting; after all, he was also an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and according to the rules, he was capable of assuming the rank of Division Commander.

He was thinking of a way to get out of it despite knowing that the chances of that happening were slim, and he had almost accepted his fate and thought if he were appointed as a Division Commander, he could accept it. It was better to have subordinates than to fight alone after all.

However, he never expected that Xiang Shan would make such an enormous announcement.

The Profound Nether Army Commander was the person responsible for overseeing the entire Profound Nether Territory! It was a position completely incomparable to the trivial post of Division Commander!

If Yang Kai accepted the position of Army Commander, all the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters sitting here would become his subordinates. Moreover, Profound Nether Territory now had about 600,000 Human soldiers, a number that would increase in the future. How could Xiang Shan just leave all of them to him?

[No, it wasn’t Xiang Shan making this decision!] Yang Kai turned to look at both his sides of the room and saw the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters smiling as they looked at him, especially Ou Yang Lie, who was even winking like he was doing him some big favour!

This was the decision made by all the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters of the Profound Nether Army!

Without agreement from the ones actually leading the Profound Nether Army, it would be impossible for the Supreme Headquarters to implement such orders. It seemed like Wei Jun Yang and the other Eighth-Order Masters had long since agreed to ‘let’ Yang Kai become the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army!

At this moment, Yang Kai had no words to describe what he was feeling.

Back on the Black Ink Battlefield, the highest post he held was Squad Leader. He had never even experienced being a Battalion Commander, much less a Division Commander, but now, he was suddenly promoted to Army Commander… The difference was too big to fathom.

It now made sense why the Eighth-Order Masters here were being so detailed with their reports. Those matters weren’t for Xiang Shan to hear, they were for him!

They knew that Yang Kai had just arrived in Profound Nether Territory and wasn’t that knowledgeable about the army’s situation, so they used this chance to tell him in detail.

This was clearly a premeditated plot!

Xiang Shan using this chance to come here and appoint Yang Kai as Army Commander might be the real reason for his visit, while everything else was secondary.

[Bunch of old foxes!] Never would Yang Kai have expected that all these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had kept him in the dark about this until the moment they sprung the trap.

He was already a little reluctant to take up the position of Division Commander, but now he thought being a Division Commander seemed quite reasonable. Compared to overseeing the entire Army, looking after a mere Division seemed like a breeze.

Many thoughts flashed through Yang Kai’s head before he quickly declined, “Sir, this Junior is still young and has insufficient experience. The Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army is a critical position, and I’m afraid I might not be able to handle it, so please choose someone else, Sir.”

Xiang Shan replied calmly, “Although you’re still young and inexperienced, no one can compare to you in regards to Military Merits. What’s more, you have all the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master here today to support you, so what’s there to worry about? Unless… you’re unwilling to take up this role!”

That was indeed what Yang Kai was thinking, and he immediately nodded, “Sir, please understand. This Junior is unwilling to accept this position, and he does not dare to accept it!”

Once he became the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army, he would have to stay in Profound Nether Territory for a very long time, possibly until the war here was settled. He felt that his talent wasn’t in leading an Army or in devising battle tactics. His talent was in killing Black Ink Clansmen and relieving the pressure on the Human Race. That was something Xiang Shan knew, so why was he so insistent on having Yang Kai become the Army Commander?

Frowning, Xiang Shan asked, “Are you really unwilling to accept this position?”

“Yes!” Yang Kai nodded his head like a chicken pecking rice while looking at Xiang Shan with sincere eyes.

With a light sigh, Xiang Shan said, “You can’t force someone to do what they are unwilling to do. If you’re unwilling to take up that position, I won’t make things difficult for you. As for the Profound Nether Army… the Supreme Headquarters will have another discussion about it.”

Yang Kai cheered, “Sir is wise!”

[Why have I never noticed how easy Big Head Xiang is to speak with?]