Martial Peak - Chapter 2024

Chapter 2024, Connection

After listening to Lu Bai Chuan’s explanation, Yang Kai understood the whole story.

According to him, this Space Spirit Jade was the dowry of a woman from the Zhang Family who married into the Lu Family two hundred years ago. The Lu Family Patriarch at that time had also studied this treasure many times, but never discovered anything about it.

At that time, the Lu Family Patriarch even consulted the Zhang Family Patriarch about the purpose of this Space Spirit Jade, but even the Zhang Family Patriarch only thought of it as a rare Artifact Refining material.

The Lu Family Patriarch believed that to be true and took the Space Spirit Jade to a few Artifact Refining Grandmasters, wanting to refine it into something more practical. Unfortunately, those Artifact Refining Grandmasters were unable to melt this rare ‘Artifact Refining material’, let alone forge it into something. None could even tell what its origins were.

Since then, this Space Spirit Jade had been stashed away in the Lu Family’s Vault until Lu Bai Chuan’s generation.

“How did you discover its purpose and realize you could use it to cultivate Space Force?” Yang Kai asked curiously.

“It was all a coincidence.” Lu Bai Chuan gave a wry smile and continued, “Ten years ago, when this Lu was cultivating in this secret room, he accidentally discovered that this Space Spirit Jade was emitting some subtle energy fluctuations. At that time, this Lu was surprised and went to investigate, but did not learn anything useful. Soon after, the fluctuations ceased. At that time, this Lu merely thought he was seeing things and didn’t take it to heart.”

“After half a year, it reacted again. This old master realized when this phenomenon occurred once more that it was no mere illusion. The second incident lasted for much longer, but unfortunately, I was still unable to learn much. It was two more years before the fluctuations resurfaced, and this time they persisted for three whole months, allowing this Lu to finally glean something from it, including the method to begin cultivating Space Force.”

“Something so convoluted actually happened?” Yang Kai looked at Lu Bai Chuan suspiciously.

“This Lu would not dare to lie, this is the entire truth,” Lu Bai Chuan said hastily.

Yang Kai nodded, “Go on. I want to know why this Space Spirit Jade responds only at random intervals.”

Lu Bai Chuan gave a wry smile, “This Lu thought the same as Little Brother at the time, that everything was random. Since this Lu managed to obtain great benefits from this phenomenon, however, he naturally did not want to miss any opportunity. Later, after careful investigation, this Lu realized that only when a certain individual came to my Lu Family did the Space Spirit Jade React.”

“What individual?” Yang Kai’s eyes flashed.

Lu Bai Chuan’s mouth twitched, “It was a little girl from the Zhang Family…”

Yang Kai frowned, but soon seemed to understand something and asked, “Zhang Ruo Xi?”

“Indeed,” Lu Bai Chuan nodded and explained, “Every time this Space Spirit Jade has reacted, that little girl was inside my Lu Family and staying close to this Vault. If the first two times could be written off as coincidence, the third time settled things because, at that time, that little girl stayed in my Lu Family for an entire month, and only after she left did the Space Spirit Jade fall silent again. After this Lu had this speculation, he paid special attention to it and sure enough, every time that little girl from the Zhang Family came to my Lu Family, the Space Spirit Jade would show a reaction. What’s more, as she grew older, the jade’s reaction became stronger and stronger. This Lu has no aptitude in the Dao of Space. The only reason this Lu was able to cultivate his Space Needle was thanks to this jade.”

“That little girl actually has some kind of connection to this thing?” Yang Kai was also a little surprised.

There were only two possible explanations for this situation. One was that Zhang Ruo Xi had some kind of Special Constitution which was able to induce a reaction from the Space Spirit Jade, the second was that she had some kind of bloodline connection to this Space Spirit Jade.

However, Yang Kai examined Zhang Ruo Xi before and had not discovered anything special about her. Though, determining if she had a Special Constitution would require a more careful inspection.

As for the second possibility, the chances were low because if Zhang Ruo Xi was inspiring a reaction due to her bloodline, other members of the Zhang Family should have been able to do so as well. Of course, there could be special circumstances, like Zhang Rou Xi’s bloodline suddenly awakening after generations of slumber, or her bloodline being more concentrated due to a sudden mutation, making her unique compared to the rest of the Zhang Family.

Yang Kai frowned as he sank into contemplation while Lu Bai Chuan didn’t dare to move, only able to observe expression anxiously.

“So, you wanted one of your descendants to marry Zhang Ruo Xi for this Space Spirit Jade?” Yang Kai suddenly asked.

Lu Bai Chuan smiled awkwardly, nodded, “Exactly, as long as that little girl remained inside my Lu Family, this old master would be able to study this Space Spirit Jade longer and it may not have been impossible to delve further into the Dao of Space!”

As he spoke, Lu Bai Chuan’s tone grew more and more frantic.

But soon, depression overtook him. A single mistake had caused him to lose this opportunity, and now, whether he lived or died was up to Yang Kai’s mood, so there was no need to think about future glory.

“Little Brother, I have told you everything I know, all I request is that Little Brother allows me to live,” Lu Bai Chuan looked at Yang Kai anxiously.

Yang Kai nodded and said with a smile, “Not a problem.”

“Many thanks, Little Brother…” Lu Bai Chuan was overjoyed and bowed his head, but as soon as the voice fell, he suddenly let out a painful scream as his body was thrown out like a sack, smashing into the wall and causing his bones to shatter while a mouthful of blood spewed from his lips.

“You…” Lu Bai Chuan looked at Yang Kai incredulously, as if he did not expect that after Yang Kai agreed to let him live, he would still launch such a vicious attack.

“I promise to spare your life, so I won’t kill you, you can be assured of that,” Yang Kai continued to smile. “However, whether the Zhang Family kills you or not is none of my business.”

The smile on Yang Kai’s face looked as terrifying as that of a reaper from the underworld to Lu Bai Chuan. Feeling pain in his body, heart, and soul, he coughed up another mouthful of blood and passed out.

Yang Kai turned around, swept up all the Source Crystals in the Lu Family Vault, removed Lu Bai Chuan’s Space Ring, then hoisted him over his shoulder before he began searching for a way to open the various barriers.

It took Yang Kai a little time, but eventually, he managed to disable the arrays protecting the vault. Even with Lu Bai Chuan’s token in hand, the dozens of barriers weren’t so easy to open.

By the time he left the vault, about half a day had passed.

Sweeping the complex with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai could not help but feel a little astonished, “This Lu Family is really skilled at fleeing, there’s actually no-one left.”

When Lu Bai Chuan asked the Lu Family members to pack up their things and leave as soon as possible, Yang Kai was also hiding nearby and heard it, but he hadn’t expected their efficiency to be so high.

However, that did not matter. Yang Kai had promised the Zhang Family’s old matriarch he would obtain vengeance for them, and now that Lu Bai Chuan was captured by him, and the three Origin Kings who had gone to the Zhang Family had been crippled by him, his task could be basically considered complete.

Yang Kai had never intended to slaughter the Lu Family to the last; after all, there were over three hundred members of the Lu Family, many of them elderly or children, so even if they were right before his eyes, Yang Kai would not have been able to just kill them.

And so, after seeing that the Lu Family had fled, he did not have any intentions of chasing them down and instead flew back the way he came leisurely.

At that moment, in front of the Zhang Family Manor, red blood covering the earth as the broken corpses of the three Lu Family Origin Kings lay on the ground. None of the members of the Lu Family that had come with this bridal procession had been spared, all of them were killed by the Zhang Family’s people.

The old woman was pale, covered in blood, her own and her enemies’, while the middle-aged beauty also had a chaotic aura, her jade white hand trembling as it held her sword. On her delicate face, there was some crimson blood that added a dreadful kind of beauty to her.

The fat and thin cultivators were both lying on the ground, one of them leaking blood from his leg with the other was clasping his stomach which was oozing red.

Although the Lu Family’s bridal procession had been wiped out, countless people from the Zhang Family’s side had also been injured. Fortunately, no one had died, which was a small blessing.

The team of women were cleaning up the battlefield even now, kicking and spitting on the dead bodies of the Lu Family cultivators as they worked.

After taking a short break, the middle-aged beauty said, “Mother, Little Brother Yang has been gone for almost a day now. I would like to go and see what the situation is and if he requires assistance, what do you think?”

“Alright,” The old woman nodded, “but be careful.”

“Yes,” The middle-aged beauty nodded sternly and without even taking the time to restore herself, turned to fly towards the Lu Family.

At that moment, Zhang Ruo Xi suddenly cried out, “Grandma does not need to worry, Sir Yang seems to be back.”

Hearing what she said, the old woman and the middle-aged beauty quickly turned their gazes towards the horizon where they saw a figure quickly flying over.

“You’re right, he’s back.” The middle-aged beauty calmed down.

The old woman also smiled and said, “Little Brother Yang is quite amazing, coming back safely.”

“Oh, he seems to be carrying something… It’s a person…” The middle-aged woman stared attentively, and when Yang Kai approached, her tender body suddenly trembled as she shouted, “It’s Old Dog Lu Bai Chuan! Brother Yang managed to capture and bring back that old dog!”

“Really?” The old woman’s eyes flashed as she hurriedly got up and stared towards the distance. Soon after, she burst into laughter and cheered, “It’s really that Old Dog Bai Chuan! Retribution has come! Gao Xuan, my son, you can rest in peace now!”

As she spoke, two tears rolled down her wrinkled cheeks.

Zhang Ruo Xi supported the old woman as she wept with both sorrow and joy.

Soon, Yang Kai landed before the crowd, threw the half-dead Lu Bai Chuan to the ground, and cupped his fists, “I’ve kept you waiting.”

“Good, good, Little Brother has worked hard. Little Brother, for this great kindness, my Zhang Family is eternally grateful,” The old woman said solemnly.

Yang Kai simply waved his hand and said, “Old madam need not be so polite, I’m simply fulfilling the agreement I made with Brother Zhang.”

Hearing him mention Zhang Gao Xuan, the old woman’s face could not help turning slightly gloomy again.

“Ah… I also brought Lu Bai Chuan back with me. I’ll leave what to do with him up to old madam,” Yang Kai quickly changed the subject.