Martial Peak

Chapter 2077, No Way Out

As for Spirit Pill Plaza’s waiters and Alchemists, it was hard to say.

Yang Kai didn’t have much friendship with them. If the secret of Sealed World Bead was exposed by them, it would draw countless coveting masters.

The Sealed World Bead was an Emperor Artifact and was a portable Self-Contained World. In the entire Star Boundary, there were few to no other such artifacts.

There were still some Self-Contained World-type Artifacts in the Star Boundary, such as the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda that Yang Kai had gone in last time. Naturally, it was the founding artifact of Star Soul Palace.

However, the biggest difference between the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda and the Sealed World Bead was that the former could not be carried wherever the user pleased. It could only be placed inside the Star Soul Palace.

The Sealed World Bead was extremely important to Yang Kai. He didn’t dare to expose it unless absolutely necessary.

“It seems, it’s impossible to charge through!” Yang Kai muttered to himself. But suddenly his expression changed as he asked, “There should be a Space Array in Maplewood City, right?”

In his home Star Field, most of the major cities had Space Arrays. Not to mention, he was now in the vast Star Boundary. Although Maplewood City wasn’t that big, it still should have a Space Array.

“Yeah! But it’s inside the City Lord’s Mansion!” Kang Si Ran replied with a nod.

“Alright, let’s go to the City Lord’s Mansion!” Yang Kai proposed and immediately controlled the ship to fly toward the City Lord’s Mansion.

Looking down, the entire Maplewood City was in chaos. When the word about pure Demon Qi of Ancient Great Demon surrounding the city got out, many cultivators living in the city naturally panicked. They were afraid that the defensive Array of the city would break and they would end up dead.

And the first route to escape that crossed everyone’s mind was naturally to teleport through the Space Array!

So at this moment, the cultivators were rushing toward the City Lord’s Mansion. No one could tell how many of them were there.

After realizing this, Yang Kai’s face turned ashen. He pushed the ship to fly faster.

After a while, the ship arrived above the City Lord’s Mansion.

But before he could make the ship land, he suddenly sensed energy fluctuations belonging to a Dao Source Realm master from a certain palace. Immediately after, a deafening crash resounded as that palace instantly collapsed, creating a cloud of dust. All of a sudden, there was nothing left of the beautiful palace.

Many cultivators flew from inside the rubble, cursing again and again. All of them looked pretty angry.

Seeing this, Yang Kai’s pupil shrank at once. He was having a bad feeling. He immediately turned to Kang Si Ran and asked, “Brother Kang, that… that wouldn’t be the place where the Transmission Array was, right?”

Kang Si Ran nodded with a frustrated look on his face.

Yang Kai’s corners of mouth started twitching as he focused his gaze at an unkempt figure floating in the air.

This figure had a short stature and was wearing ragged clothes. Its hair was a horrible mess. The figure looked no different than a beggar. But this figure exuded a powerful aura that only Dao Source Realm master could possess. And more importantly, a big green bottle gourd was hanging on his waist.

Obviously, it was none other than Drunkard himself!

At this moment, he was the only Dao Source Realm master here. Apparently, what just happened was his handiwork.

On the ground, countless cultivators were glaring at Drunkard in anger. They looked as if they couldn’t wait to wipe him off the face of this world!

“Sir Vice City Lord, why did you destroy the Transmission Array? I always used to admire you, but who would have thought that you would be so vicious at this critical point!”

“Yeah! Drunkard, why did you destroy my escape route!”

“The Space Array is destroyed. It’s over… We can’t escape anymore…”

“Drunkard, if you don’t give us an explanation, you can forget leaving this place alive!”

“Drunkard, only one of us can remain in this world!”

Angry shouts and questions flew straight toward the hovering Drunkard like the sharpest knife. Some of the agitated cultivators had already started attacking. They summoned their artifacts and cast their Martial Skills as they launched their attacks straight at Drunkard.

Meanwhile, Drunkard just stood right in his place. No matter how he was condemned by the public, he remained absolutely still. Even in the face of those oncoming attacks, he didn’t bat an eye. He just mobilized his Source Qi to defend himself. He had no intention of retaliating.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” Drunkard looked around as his eyes flickered with a cold gleam. His voice was low but it was loud and clear, “This Old Man understands what’s going in everyone’s mind and knows what everyone is thinking! But today, our Maplewood City is surrounded by Demon Qi. A disaster is imminent and it might strike at any moment!”

“You freaking old fart, since you know it, why did you destroy the Space Array? You really must have some kind of sinister intent! Just how evil are you?!” A furious roar suddenly came from the crowd.

Drunkard immediately focused his gaze there as his expression turned apologetic. Then, he continued, “This old man had no choice but to do this! Our Maplewood City has a few hundred thousand cultivators. If we can work together, we might be able to survive this disaster. But if everyone left through the Space Array, the city would be destroyed. By then, everyone in the city will be eradicated. The entire city will be wailing. It would be turned into hell!”

“This Old Man has spent his entire life in Maplewood City. All this Old Man’s relatives and friends are here, and so are your friends and relatives! This Old Man doesn’t want to see them infected and lose their sanity. Would you like to see this? If you want to escape with your lives, who will guard your friends and relatives?”

As he said this, Drunkard’s eyes flickered with a majestic aura as he looked about at everyone.

The angry voices coming from the crowd slowly grew weaker and weaker. Many heads were hung in shame as they started ruminating.

“Our Maplewood City is just a drop in the ocean in the Star Boundary! It’s not even well-known in the Southern Territory! Hardly anyone knows it! But I am proud of my Maplewood City’s sons and daughters! This Old Man has lived most of his life here, witnessed the prosperity of Maplewood City for hundreds of years. This Old Man loves this city and doesn’t want to see the city destroyed!”

“Everyone, don’t worry. We have already sent some messengers to the other cities through the Transmission Array. They will pass the news to Star Soul Palace and other prominent Sects. I believe that masters will come to our rescue and save our Maplewood City soon!”

“But before that, this Old Man begs everyone to join me in protecting the city! Let’s fend off the foreign enemies together! This Old Man assures you that I will do my best to protect the city and safeguard everyone’s safety. Even if my blood is spilled, I will have no complaints!”

“Ladies and gentlemen, please help me!”

Having said this, Drunkard looked at everyone with an earnest and sincere look in his eyes.

The entire crowd was completely quiet. They were no longer clamouring like before.

“Count this City Lord in too! This City Lord swears on his heart demon: If the city exists, everyone exists, if it’s destroyed, everyone dies!” Duan Yuan Shan’s voice came from the distance. After a while, he appeared beside Drunkard in a flash.

Drunkard was startled, smiling at Duan Yuan Shan.

“Old Drunk, nicely done.” Duan Yuan Shan whispered quietly. He looked extremely thankful.

Drunkard shook his head.

At this moment, someone among the crowd suddenly shouted aloud, “Let’s follow Sir City Lord and Sir Vice City Lord, follow their orders. If the city exists, everyone exists, if it’s destroyed, everyone dies!”

“If the city exists, everyone exists, if it’s destroyed, everyone dies!”

“If the city exists, everyone exists, if it’s destroyed, everyone dies!”

More and more cultivators joined the shouting. Gradually, their shouts shook the entire city. Their voices resounded throughout the city, reaching Heaven!

Everyone’s heart was united!

Everyone’s will was united like a fortress!

Drunkard looked down at the crowd in relief and deeply bowed to everyone!

Whether everyone was supporting him sincerely or because they were forced to help, as long as they were willing to do their part in defending Maplewood City, they deserved his gratitude.

“Thank you, everyone. We have no way out. If we want to survive, we have to resist the Demon Qi. I invite everyone to go to the city wall and support the fellow cultivators in the city!” Drunkard’s voice was heard loud and clear across the city.

Just as he said this, everyone below started moving. They immediately cast various movement techniques or summoned flight-type artifacts as they dispersed in every direction.

“Old Drunk, I’ll leave the things here to you. I’ll have to meet someone,” having finished speaking, Duan Yuan Shan turned his gaze at a nearby ship. He then arrived before the ship with a flicker, cupped his fist, and asked, “Brother Yang, can we meet?”

“City Lord Yuan, please come in,” Yang Kai’s voice came from inside the ship.

Hearing this, Duan Yuan Shan smiled lightly before he stepped on the ship.

Heading inside the cabin, Duan Yuan Shan met Yang Kai who had an indifferent look on his face.

“Brother Yang!” Duan Yuan Shan cupped his fists again before a grim look took over his face as he stated the purpose of his visit, “Please forgive this Duan for coming uninvited, but this Duan wants to ask Brother Yang about the Ancient Demon Qi!”

“I know.” Yang Kai nodded. He didn’t mean to hide anything. He briefly narrated everything that happened in the mine.

Having heard everything, Duan Yuan Shan tightly furrowed his brow before he asked again, “So, according to Brother Yang, all of this is because of the Jiang Family?”

“Yeah!” Yang Kai nodded.

“No wonder I didn’t see that oldie, Jiang Tai Sheng!” Duan Yuan Shan looked furious. He immediately asked again, “Since Brother Yang has come in contact with Ancient Demon Qi, do you know how to resist it?”

Yang Kai shook his head. “I don’t have a clue. All I know is that after that Ancient Demon Qi invades someone’s body, it will cause the victim’s temperament to change. And… anyone who has recently died would come back to life after being invaded by it!”

“How is this possible?” Duan Yuan Shan’s expression changed.

“I don’t know. Perhaps there is something mystical about the Ancient Demon Qi.”

While the two were talking, Mo Xiao Qi suddenly interjected, “Actually, there is no special way to deal with the Ancient Demon Qi. It can only be dispersed with strength. If it was just an ordinary Demon Qi, there are things to restrain it, but the pure Demon Qi from an Ancient Great Demon is very hard to suppress. However…”

“However, what!?” Duan Yuan Shan immediately turned to Mo Xiao Qi. His face was filled with questions.

“In the mine, since Pure Heart Jade was used as a sealing medium, then Pure Heart Jade should be able to resist the invasion of the Demon Qi. If the cultivators of the city wore some Pure Heart Jade, it might have some restraining effect.”

“Pure Heart Jade!?” Duan Yuan Shan raised his brows. This was giving him a headache. “Pure Heart Jade is very rare. There are some in the City Lord’s Mansion’s storehouse, but there are very few of them!”

A smile immediately bloomed on Mo Xiao Qi’s face. She took out a few rings and handed them to Duan Yuan Shan. “Sir City Lord, take a look at these.”

Duan Yuan Shan took them suspiciously. But as he scanned them with his Divine Sense, he immediately cried with a pleasant surprise, “So much Pure Heart Jade!?”