Martial Peak

Chapter 4565 – Collusion

Translator: Silavin & Raikov

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Flying Smoke Territory was the Great Territory adjacent to Void Territory, so the two could be considered neighbours.

There was a Second Class great force located in Flying Smoke Territory that was not considered too strong, Flying Smoke Temple, and it was from them that Flying Smoke Territory’s name came about. The Temple Master of Flying Smoke Temple was called Yu Xiu Shan, a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.

When Seven Wonder Land occupied Void Territory, they had many conflicts with this Flying Smoke Territory. Such feuds between neighbouring Great Territories were common in the 3,000 Worlds.

Back then, Seven Wonders Land’s foundation was severely damaged when Xu Huang wrestled control of their Grand Array away from them. Even several of their Protector Venerables were killed. Qi Qiao Heavenly Monarch was also severely injured in that event. Naturally, Flying Smoke Temple was unwilling to miss this opportunity to attack. Yu Xiu Shan gathered all his troops to march against Seven Wonders Land before they could recover and slaughtered them.

Yang Kai had just returned from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary at that time and was being hunted down by Scarlet Star’s Head Manager Zhao Bai Chuan and his men. Nearing the end of his rope, Yang Kai remembered Seven Wonders Land, so he used the Array Jade given to him by Xu Huang before the latter’s death to sneak into the shopping district of Seven Wonders Land.

Somehow, Zhao Bai Chuan and his men, who were in pursuit of Yang Kai, ended up conspiring with Yu Xiu Shan to attack Seven Wonders Land, killing all their Open Heaven Realm Masters and seizing control of their land.

Yu Xiu Shan had his foundation in Flying Smoke Territory, so he naturally would not stay in Seven Wonders Territory for long, so he ended up returning with a large amount of loot. Zhao Bai Chuan and the others stayed in Seven Wonders Land, planning to use it as a base to revive Scarlet Star.

Unfortunately for Zhao Bai Chuan, his beautiful dream was cut short when Yang Kai led his men out of the shadows to attack them, catching Scarlet Star’s survivors off guard and unprepared.

After that battle, most of Scarlet Star’s members either died or escaped, leaving only Chen Tian Fei behind who had even offered up the Loyalty List to keep his life.

It was then that Yang Kai took over Seven Wonders Land and became its new ruler, later renaming it Void Land.

Looking back on it now, Flying Smoke Temple and Yu Xiu Shan actually had a lot of merit in Yang Kai’s successful takeover of Void Land. Only, Yu Xiu Shan had no idea what he had done at that time.

Subsequently, Void Land emerged and rapidly grew in prestige. Yu Xiu Shan had also come to Void Land himself in order to meet Yang Kai and try to form connections with him; after all, they were neighbours so it would make everything more convenient to have a good relationship. However, Yang Kai was mostly cultivating in retreat or outside, so Yu Xiu Shan failed to meet him even after visiting twice.

When Heavenly Sword Union led the Hundred Sects Alliance to attack Void Land, Flying Smoke Temple also participated, but during that fight, Yu Xiu Shan was beaten back until he was thoroughly traumatized.

The result was needless to say. Kong Feng died during the battle, and the Hundred Sects Alliance collapsed. Flying Smoke Temple also suffered heavy losses, with Yu Xiu Shan fleeing with heavy injuries.

Flying Smoke Temple was one of the great forces who took the initiative to come to Yang Kai’s door to apologize. They scraped together everything they could afford as an offering, and fortunately for them, Void Land had no intention of settling accounts. Everyone in Flying Smoke Temple lived nervously for several years before they finally began to breathe a bit easier.

Yang Kai led Luan Bai Feng all the way from the Black Territory back to his territory through the Flying Smoke Territory route.

Currently, Yang Kai and Luan Bai Feng were both concealing their auras and figures as they stood several thousands of kilometres away from the Territory Gate, watching over the situation there.

This Territory Gate was the one connecting Flying Smoke Territory and Void Territory. In other words, they need only pass through this Territory Gate to arrive at Void Territory.

However, there were several great ships just outside of the Territory Gate at this moment, but not passing through it.

Yang Kai could clearly see that these great ships were trying to block off the Territory Gate. He saw a ship head over to pass the Territory Gate, but was stopped by the great ships forming the blockade.

Both sides seemed to have gone through a simple discussion, then the ship had no choice but to turn back.

Yang Kai frowned at this sight. He had the vague sense that this had to have something to do with Zuo Quan Hui. He had only left Void Territory for half a year and the situation had seemingly changed again.

As for what exactly that change was, he could not say for now.

A little less than half a year should be enough time for Zuo Quan Hui to recover. He had eaten a big loss last time, and even lost his Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Disciple, Zhou Ti, at Yang Kai’s hands. Now, he would definitely try to take revenge.

“Follow the ship and find out what exactly happened.” Yang Kai could not go himself, so he had no choice but to order Luan Bai Feng to head over.

Luan Bai Feng spat disdainfully, but she still flew out obediently.

Yang Kai waited in place for more than two hours before seeing Luan Bai Feng return.

“What’s the situation?” Yang Kai asked.

Luan Bai Feng said with a strange expression, “Those ships blocking off the Territory Gate are Heavenly Sword Union’s ships. They say that nobody who wishes to enter Void Land is allowed to pass.”

“Heavenly Sword Union?” Yang Kai raised his brow, “Why have those trash jumped out again? What are they blocking off the Territory Gate for?”

He was now burning with rage. When Heavenly Sword Union led the Hundred Sects Alliance to attack Void Land, basically all of the great forces involved had come to apologize with gifts after he razed Boundless Altar and Golden Rainbow Province to the ground. Only Heavenly Sword Union did not make any noise about the matter.

Yang Kai was busy with Yin-Yang Cave Heaven’s Dao Theory Assembly previously, so he had wanted to wait until it ended before dealing with Heavenly Sword Union, only to be delayed by Zuo Quan Hui who came over to give him trouble, ending up in him being caught in his current mess. Naturally, he had no time to care about a trivial Heavenly Sword Union.

However, Yang Kai never expected that the latter would come to his doorstep to flaunt their presence before he could even do anything.

Luan Bai Feng looked at him with a deep gaze, “Do you know who the current Union Master of Heavenly Sword Union is?”

Yang Kai could not help but frown when faced with her strange tone, “Who?”

“Zuo Quan Hui!” Luan Bai Feng muttered.

Yang Kai was taken aback for a moment, but he quickly understood, “The enemy of an enemy is a friend, is it? Zuo Quan Hui ‘rebelled’ from Thousand Cranes Paradise, and with his Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivation, he is more than qualified to become the Union Master of Heavenly Sword Union. Obviously, Heavenly Sword Union could want for nothing than to be under a Master like him. That means those bastards are colluding!”

Luan Bai Feng nodded, “Now that Zuo Quan Hui is the Union Master of Heavenly Sword Union, the people of Heavenly Sword Union will naturally obey his orders. The reason they are blocking off this Territory Gate is so that they can stop any outsiders from entering Void Territory in order to cut off the foundation of your Star City.”

Yang Kai coldly snorted, “That man has wicked ideas, but what use is this? It’s not like this Territory Gate is the only one to my Void Territory! It’s not as if his Heavenly Sword Union has blocked off all the Territory Gates, right?”

Luan Bai Feng shook his head, “There’s no need to block off all of them. They only need to show their stance and spread the news.”

“What do you mean?” Yang Kai frowned. Even though he was stronger than Luan Bai Feng and had forced her to submit using the Loyalty List, Yang Kai could not compare with her in terms of experience and vision in the 3,000 Worlds.

After all, she was a veteran Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master with many centuries of experience. Compared to Yang Kai, a fresh face in the Outer Universe, she would often have the ability to see farther.

Luan Bai Feng explained, “Zuo Quan Hui is one of Thousand Cranes Paradise’s Inner Elders. With his Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivation, his name echoes loudly across the 3,000 Worlds. On the other hand, your Void Land is nothing more than a rising star. Even though you do have some reputation, most of it is only based off of your Star City’s specialty products. Tell me, if the two of you clash, who will the outsiders lean towards?”

Yang Kai frowned, “Naturally it would be Zuo Quan Hui, the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.”

Luan Bai Feng nodded, “En. A High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master can exert more power than just their own personal strength. There is also the terrifying connections and imposingness that they have built up over the years. If it were anyone else, how could Heavenly Sword Union give up the position of Union Master so easily? However, Zuo Quan Hui was able to obtain it at will, which shows the trust that Heavenly Sword Union has in him. Now that he has become the Union Master of Heavenly Sword Union and has come to block the Territory Gate of Void Territory, he’s trying to tell the world at large that he intends to go to war with Void Land. How do you think people will react if they find out? How do you think the merchants in your Star City will react?”

Yang Kai’s expression darkened.

Luan Bai Feng continued, “Zuo Quan Hui is smart. This way, he can isolate your Void Land without sacrificing a single soldier, and your Void Land’s resource supply will be cut off. Perhaps, even your Star City will find it hard to maintain itself over time. You have so many people in Void Land and all of them need to cultivate, do they not? Without resources, how are they going to do that? No matter how many resources Void Land has accumulated, it will eventually run dry.

“Cunning old bastard!” Yang Kai ground his teeth, “He truly has a wicked mind!”

“It’s an open conspiracy!” Luan Bai Feng said bluntly, “Even if you know his intentions, there is nothing you can do to stop it, unless your reputation can overshadow his! That is why he does not need to block off all of Void Territory’s entrances. He just needs to make a show here, and the news will soon spread all throughout the 3,000 Worlds.”

Yang Kai coldly snorted, “My Void Land is no soft persimmon either. If he wants to gnaw on my Void Land, then first let’s see whether he has strong enough teeth for it.”

Luan Bai Feng nodded repeatedly, “I know your Void Land has two great Divine Spirits to watch over it, but that old man Bi Xi is not mobile, so he won’t be able to do much in such a situation. The only one you can count on now is that Heavenly Moon Demon Spider. If she makes a move against Zuo Quan Hui, then your situation will naturally be solved.”

The corners of Yang Kai’s brow twitched. Just thinking about Zhu Jiu Yin filled his stomach with grievances.

With her identity as his Protector now voided, Zhu Jiu Yin had become even more fickle than before. She would rather see him suffer than to care about him at all. If she had been willing to join the fight last time, then how could Zuo Quan Hui have escaped from Void Land?

However, Yang Kai also knew what Zhu Jiu Yin was worried about. It was not a matter as simple as whether she joined the fight or not; after all, Zuo Quan Hui was from Thousand Cranes Paradise. If she were to kill Zuo Quan Hui, then she would definitely have to worry that Thousand Cranes Paradise would come to settle accounts with her in the future.

No matter how strong a Divine Spirit was, they were not invincible. Take the Eighth-Order Masters of the major Cave Heavens and Paradises, which one of them was any weaker compared to a mature Divine Spirit? Zhu Jiu Yin had come from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary and had no foundation to speak of at all in the outside world. If she were truly to catch the eye of Thousand Cranes Paradise, then her days would not be easy.

After a deep thought, Yang Kai asked, “How long has it been since Zuo Quan Hui became Heavenly Sword Union’s Union Master?”

“It should be several months now,” Luan Bai Feng answered.

[Several months…]

That was to say that Zuo Quan Hui left for Heavenly Sword Union to recuperate after being injured by him. It seemed that he had long intended to bring Heavenly Sword Union under him.

It did make sense. Void Land did not possess any Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, but they did have plenty in the Sixth-Order. After Zhou Ti died, there was that Sixth-Order female disciple and the three from the Prison Star among Zuo Quan Hui’s subordinates on that level. Even though they were all strong, they were lacking in numbers, and it was necessary for him to rely on external forces. In which case, Heavenly Sword Union was undoubtedly the best choice…