Martial Peak

Chapter 1988, Hateful Swindler

Maplewood City, Yang Kai’s secluded home.

Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi sat across from each other at the table.

After leaving the black market, Yang Kai took Mo Xiao Qi and fled back here in a hurry, deliberately checking to make sure no one was following them while also making several detours along the way.

After confirming they were not being followed, he returned to his rented secluded home.

“Big Brother Yang, you’re amazing!” Mo Xiao Qi held her cheeks in both hands and blushed crazily as she stared at Yang Kai with bright eyes, not even trying to conceal the look of worship and admiration on her face. “With just a few words, how were you able to frighten all those bad guys away?”

Yang Kai chuckled dryly.

If it had been someone else praising him like this, Yang Kai would definitely think that the other party was just spouting flattery, but coming from Mo Xiao Qi’s mouth, Yang Kai knew it was genuine.

“They just overthought the situation themselves,” Yang Kai casually said.

Today’s matter was indeed Flying Saint Palace letting their thoughts run wild, and also a result of the current situation in Maplewood City. If it weren’t for the current Maplewood City being a mix of hidden dragons and snakes, whether Yang Kai’s rhetoric would have been useful was really questionable.

But right now, in Maplewood City, there were representatives from many great forces, and although Flying Saint Palace was not bad, it was certainly not a top Sect, so Liu Yi Zhi had some scruples.

“But enough about that. Xiao Qi, you… how are you here?” Yang Kai changed the subject quickly.

“I’ve been here the whole time.” Mo Xiao Qi looked at Yang Kai curiously, wondering why he would ask something so silly. “Right, the secluded home I rented is very close to Big Brother Yang’s! En, but why haven’t I seen you around before now then?”

“I wasn’t living here before and only returned today.”

“Oh.”

“But what I wanted to ask was, Xiao Qi, how did you escape from Clear Jade Mountain last time…?” Yang Kai looked curiously at Mo Xiao Qi.

After all, when he came out of the Sealed World Bead, he had searched for Mo Xiao Qi but was unable to find any clues at all and assumed she had died without leaving behind even ashes.

But now, a month or so later, they had actually run into each other again in Maplewood City.

“That day… I used this thing to escape,” Saying so, Mo Xiao Qi took out an object from her Space Ring and placed it in front of Yang Kai.

“This is…” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes as he stared at what appeared to be a piece of animal skin that was exuding some subtle energy fluctuations.

These energy fluctuations were quite familiar to Yang Kai though as, surprisingly, they were Space Force fluctuations.

This animal skin was only about the size of two side-by-side palms and had a number of mysterious lines and runes drawn on it, forming a type of profound Spirit Array.

Yang Kai stretched out his hand to touch and examine it carefully.

After a while, he was shocked as he muttered aloud, “Does this thing have the effect of short-distance teleportation?”

Mo Xiao Qi heard this and looked at Yang Kai with a big smile, “Big Brother Yang really has cultivated the Dao of Space! He can even detect this.”

“You knew I cultivated the Dao of Space?” Yang Kai looked at her in surprise.

“En, when you fought with those people in Clear Jade Mountain, didn’t you use Space Force? I recognized it because when you used your power it gave a similar feeling to when Uncle Li fights.”

“Uncle Li?”

“En, Uncle Li Wu Yi. He also cultivates the Dao of Space and is very, very strong. This thing was made by him as a life-saving artifact for me,” Mo Xiao Qi didn’t have the slightest vigilance around Yang Kai and spoke about herself openly. It seemed that like how a leopard does not change its spots, one’s personality was difficult to change. Since Yang Kai had never done anything bad to her, she seemed to trust him implicitly.

Continuing on, Mo Xiao Qi explained, “Uncle Li said that this thing can open a Void Corridor at a critical moment, so it is very suitable for escaping. I originally had two, but since I used one back in Clear Jade Mountain, I only have this one left…”

Mo Xiao Qi expressed some reluctance as she spoke.

[This Spirit Array can open a Void Corridor directly?]

Yang Kai was stunned.

Although his attainments in the Dao of Space were extremely high, this was a feat he was absolutely unable to replicate at the moment. In terms of teleportation, he could use his Space Force to accomplish this, but if he received too much of a disturbance, he would be unable to execute his technique.

Once the surrounding World Energy became too unstable, Yang Kai’s teleportation technique would not be able to play much of a role.

This was related to his personal strength, his comprehension of the Dao of Space, and the World Principles of Star Boundary. The Star Boundary’s World Principles were countless times stronger than his native Star Field’s, so Yang Kai’s ability to teleport was greatly suppressed in the Star Boundary.

However, this Li Wu Yi was able to refine this simple-looking animal skin into a tool that could directly open a Void Corridor. Obviously, Li Wu Yi’s attainments in the Dao of Space far outstripped Yang Kai’s.

“Big Brother Yang, I’m sorry,” Mo Xiao Qi suddenly apologized with a look of guilt.

“Why would you apologize so suddenly?” Yang Kai looked over at her curiously.

“Last time, when we were in danger, I wanted to take you with me, but that Luan Feng’s attack came too fast, and I could only… I could only… Later, I went back to see if I could find you, but I couldn’t go too deep into the mountains and thought… you died.”

Hearing this, Yang Kai laughed.

It seemed that both he and Mo Xiao Qi had similar thoughts. Both of them thought the other party must have died under the World Extinguishing Black Flames while unaware they both had means of escape.

“Then Big Brother Yang, how did you escape?” Mo Xiao Qi asked.

“I’m proficient in the Dao of Space,” Yang Kai said vaguely.

“Oh, en, Uncle Li said that people who are proficient in the Dao of Space are the best at escaping,” Mo Xiao Qi suddenly realized.

Seeing the look on her face, that showed not the slightest bit of doubt, Yang Kai inexplicably felt a deep sense of guilt…

Next, the two chatted casually for a time.

However, under Yang Kai’s subtle probing, he discovered that the Li Wu Yi Mo Xiao Qi mentioned was an Emperor Realm master! He didn’t inquire about Mo Xiao Qi’s background though, as sometimes, the less one knew, the better.

Mo Xiao Qi’s origins were obviously extraordinary, this was something Yang Kai was well aware of.

“Big Brother Yang, if you have nothing to do now, would you like to go treasure hunting with me?” Mo Xiao Qi suddenly suggested enthusiastically.

“Treasure hunting?”

“En en!” Mo Xiao Qi nodded happily as she took out a piece of animal skin from her Space Ring and said, “I bought this treasure map today, and the person who sold it to me said it leads to the hidden treasury of Heaven Devouring Great Emperor! There might even be a record of the Heaven Devouring Battle Law in it!”

“Why does this thing… look so familiar?” Yang Kai wore a suspicious look as he picked up the animal skin and observed it carefully, the next moment his face turning black.

“How many Source Crystals did you buy this for?” Yang Kai looked up at Mo Xiao Qi.

“Seven thousand!” Mo Xiao Qi triumphantly, “Not expensive, right? If we can really find the Heaven Devouring Battle Law, we’ll have struck it rich!”

“That damn swindler!” Yang Kai couldn’t help cursing in a low voice.

“Big Brother Yang, what did you say?”

“It’s nothing,” Yang Kai lightly coughed, pondered for a moment before saying earnestly. “Xiao Qi, when you go out, you need to remember that people can be sinister and not everyone you meet is as honest and kind as you. You need to be careful around others.”

“I know, Aunty Feng used to tell me that.”

“In the Star Boundary, there is much intrigue, so not all people can be believed.”

“I know that too.”

“En, since you know, then… this treasure map, it’s fake,” Yang Kai sighed softly, having no way other than to state it bluntly as expecting this little girl to realize on her own was just asking to embarrass himself.

“What? How can that be? That old man vowed that this was really a map to Heaven Devouring Great Emperor’s treasury and was handed down in his family by a Great Emperor himself!” Mo Xiao Qi looked at Yang Kai with an incredulous expression and asked, “Could it be that a Great Emperor would lie?”

“I don’t know if a Great Emperor would lie, but the person who sold you this thing definitely lied to you.”

Mo Xiao Qi was taken aback, but after thinking about it for a while, she vaguely began to understand and cursed, “That hateful swindler, he dares to trick me! I have to go find him!”

“Forget it, that person must be long gone, where would you even start looking for him?” Yang Kai hurriedly stopped her.

Mo Xiao Qi suddenly pursed her lips and stomped her feet as she waved her small fists, “So vexing! That old swindler better not let me see him again or I’ll make him pay.”

After putting out a few ruthless words, her mood seemed to be much calmer. After pausing for a moment though, Mo Xiao Qi began taking out a bunch of animal skin maps from her Space Ring and asked, “Then Big Brother Yang, take a look at these things, are any of them fake?”

Yang Kai swept his eyes over these ‘treasure maps’ and couldn’t stop his face from twitching.

“Then what about this one?” Mo Xiao Qi took out another thing, a pitch-black stone.

“Haha…” Yang Kai gave a dry laugh.

“What about this peerless Secret Art?” Mo Xiao Qi threw something out again.

Yang Kai swept his eyes over it and his body shook.

This booklet indeed had old, yellowed pages, and on its front, the three words ‘Peerless Secret Art’ were written in a fanciful font!

It was as if the seller was afraid others wouldn’t know this was a ‘Peerless Secret Art’.

A single innocent girl had strolled through the black market and purchased so many useless things! If everyone in the world was as naïve as Mo Xiao Qi, wouldn’t all swindlers be wealthy by now?

Yang Kai’s silence made Mo Xiao Qi extremely depressed as she buried her head in her chest, a dark shadow seemingly looming over her.

Seeing her look like she had taken a devastating blow, Yang Kai sighed slightly and was just about to comfort her while also letting her take this as a lesson to not be swindled so easily in the future when suddenly, Mo Xiao Qi lifted her head again, giggled, and said, “This thing is definitely not fake!”

Saying so, she carefully took out a pale, oval stone and placed it on the table.

Seeing the look of confidence on her face, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a bit interested and released his Divine Sense to inspect this stone, but try as he might, he couldn’t perceive even the slightest fluctuations from it, like it was a real stone.

However, while this thing looked like a stone, and Yang Kai couldn’t sense anything inside of it, he did notice an inexplicable force on its surface which was blocking the probing of his Divine Sense.

“What is this?” Yang Kai frowned and asked.

Mo Xiao Qi smiled mysteriously and said, “A beast egg!”