Martial Peak

Chapter 3642: Lurking

Although Yang Kai’s outfit was rather dubious, he believed that there wouldn’t be any problem as long as he could handle it appropriately. After some days of observation, he realised that many of those from Demon Heavenly Dao had also put on disguises and some of them were even fully covered just like him. Apparently, even though these people were ordered to gather here, they wouldn’t want to expose their own background and identity, so his outfit didn’t look too out of place.

Finished with preparations, they headed straight to the entrance of the Four Seasons Realm in the mountain valley.

After flying for a bit, Yang Kai said with a gentle smile, “Brother Zhou, we’re trying to infiltrate the core of Demon Heavenly Dao, not kill all of them. Please curb your murderous intent.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Quan took a series of deep breaths to calm himself down. After his murderous intent lightened, he said, “This Zhou can’t help getting furious whenever he thinks about what has happened to his fellow Sect members. Please forgive me, Palace Master Yang.”

Yang Kai replied, “I understand, and you’ll certainly get your revenge, just not today.”

Following that, they continued moving forward. After getting a reminder from Yang Kai, Zhou Quan managed to compose himself. When they reached the valley near the Four Seasons Realm entrance, they felt someone’s Divine Sense probing them.

Yang Kai could clearly feel that the Divine Sense was coming from a place where the Array Master was located. Before the big fish revealed himself, all the matters in this place were handled by the Array Master.

Zhou Quan turned to look in that direction while receiving Yang Kai’s message in his mind. Without hesitation, he led Yang Kai to head inside.

Soon, they reached a cave where there was a pale-faced, beardless and sturdy man standing at the entrance. He looked like a blade that had been unsheathed as his Sword Intent swirled around him, giving him a very dangerous vibe. He was also fairly powerful as he was in the Third-Order Emperor Realm. This man was the one who had been following the Array Master around to ensure his safety.

According to Yang Kai’s observation over the past few days, this man always remained in close proximity to the Array Master.

Seeing Zhou Quan and Yang Kai approaching, the pale-faced man was unfazed as just stared coldly at them.

When they arrived at the entrance, Zhou Quan remained silent and fished out a black token before tossing it over. The pale-faced man took the token and made sure that there was nothing wrong with it before passing it back to Zhou Quan. However, he didn’t seem to have the intention of stepping aside as he made a ‘next’ gesture with his hand.

Zhou Quan turned to look at Yang Kai, who got his hint and pushed his Demon Qi. At that instant, a thick layer of Demon Qi could be seen engulfing him.

Instead of exposing his High-Rank Demon King’s cultivation, Yang Kai only showed the aura of a Low-Rank Demon King. He wasn’t worried that anyone would see through him. Unless a person’s Soul cultivation was stronger than his, no one could see through his disguise.

As a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, the pale-faced man was unable to do that.

Seeing that Yang Kai was able to reveal his Demon Qi, the pale-faced man set his mind at ease. All those from Demon Heavenly Dao possessed Demon Qi. Even if they didn’t know each other, they would know that they were from the same organisation by showing their Demon Qi. The token Zhou Quan had just fished out was just proof of his identity.

After Yang Kai revealed his Demon Qi, Zhou Quan said, “I was injured because I was ambushed on the way here, so it’s difficult for me to use any Secret Techniques right now.”

The Demon Blood in his body had been drawn out by Bai Zhuo, so there was no way he was able to reveal any Demon Qi; however, he indeed appeared severely injured, so there was nothing wrong with his statement.

In any case, Yang Kai had revealed his ‘identity’. Presently, no one in the Star Boundary was willing to side with anyone from Demon Heavenly Dao.

As expected, the pale-faced man didn’t doubt him as he frowned, “Who were the ones that ambushed you? Did you leave behind any traces?”

Zhou Quan lowered his head a little, “Rest assured, all of them are dead. However, the people who came with me were all killed. Now, only my Junior Brother and I remain.”

The pale-faced man gently nodded, “It’s fine. The two of you are enough. Come in and meet Grandmaster Sun before discussing anything else.”

After that, he turned around and led Zhou Quan and Yang Kai to move further into the cave.

The path in the cave became wider as they moved forward. Several dozen people had gathered inside the cave as they were busy arranging the Spirit Array alongside the Array Master, the ‘Grandmaster Sun’ that the pale-faced man had mentioned.

Presently, Grandmaster Sun had sat down cross-legged as he was adjusting his breathing. The pale-faced man brought Yang Kai and Zhou Quan to meet him and then spoke up. Following that, Grandmaster Sun nodded gently and said, “This King has asked all of you to come here to help me arrange this Grand Spirit Array. Now that the array is almost complete, just stay here to recuperate. In three days, I will require your assistance.”

“En, we will obey Grandmaster Sun’s command.” Zhou Quan replied, then he wanted to leave with Yang Kai.

When he was about to turn around, Grandmaster Sun suddenly stared at Yang Kai and asked, “Why has your Junior Brother covered himself up? What is he hiding?”

Zhou Quan cupped his fists, “My Junior Brother’s face was damaged in a fire when he was a young kid, so he isn’t willing to show his face.” He didn’t hesitate when he replied to him. Apparently, he had thought about this question before coming here.

Grandmaster Sun took one more look at Yang Kai, but he didn’t have the intention to harp on this issue. He didn’t have a problem with it since Yang Kai and Zhou Quan had passed the pale-faced man’s test. Earlier, he had just randomly asked a question.

On the other hand, the pale-faced man activated his Divine Sense in an attempt to find out whether what Zhou Quan had said was true, but there was no way he could see anything. Realising that Yang Kai’s face was blurred, he frowned and thought that the latter was wearing some kind of artifact. Since Grandmaster Sun didn’t pursue this matter though, he wasn’t willing to cause any trouble either.

Although there was a hiccup, they had passed the test. It seemed like a simple test, but if Yang Kai couldn’t show any Demon Qi, he wouldn’t have been able to come to this place. Those from Demon Heavenly Dao would never have expected that an oddity like Yang Kai existed.

However, this could only be used right now. When the fact that Yang Kai had returned to the Star Boundary was exposed, those from Demon Heavenly Dao would be alerted, and this trick would no longer work.

They found a quiet corner in the cave and sat down with their legs crossed. Zhou Quan’s wounds hadn’t healed yet, so he indeed needed to recuperate. On the other hand, Yang Kai was secretly observing the cultivation of the people around the cave.

In fact, he had figured everything out before coming here, but he knew that he had to be extra careful, and it wouldn’t cost a thing to have one more look.

Just now, Grandmaster Sun had said that they would be needed in three days. Yang Kai speculated that the array would be completed in three days, but he wasn’t sure what they would have to do when the array started operating.

Nanmen Da Jun said that this was a Summoning Array which might be used to call upon some kind of ferocious beast; however, was there such a beast in the Four Seasons Realm? Moreover, if they did this, they would have to pay a sufficient price. The Spirit Array was just a base, so what would the sacrifice be?

Could it be that those from Demon Heavenly Dao had to sacrifice themselves for this to work? It was unlikely but currently, it was the only possibility Yang Kai could think of.

Whatever the case, the truth would be revealed in three days, so Yang Kai could only wait patiently.

Over the following days, those from Demon Heavenly Dao lurked in their respective hiding places during the day, and would go out to finish the Spirit Array at night. However, Grandmaster Sun didn’t seem to have the intention of assigning any task to Yang Kai and Zhou Quan. First of all, they had expressed that they were injured, secondly, the array was about to be completed, so it didn’t matter if they participated or not. They just had to expend some energy when the array started running.

Hence, they managed to spend a few quiet days in the cave.

When the moon rose in the sky on the third night, Grandmaster Sun suddenly got to his feet. Yang Kai, who had been secretly observing him, realised that the latter had become evidently agitated. Grandmaster Sun took a deep breath and said loudly, “All of you, come with me.”

After he finished speaking, he shuffled out of the cave, followed swiftly by several dozen people.

Upon leaving the cave, Yang Kai realised that those from Demon Heavenly Dao, who had been hiding elsewhere in the valley, had all shown up.

In just a short moment, several hundred people had gathered together.

Grandmaster Sun swept a glance over them and said with a smile, “All Emperor Realm Masters, step forward!”

After he finished speaking, over twenty people stepped forward. Yang Kai and Zhou Quan were among them.

Seeing this, Grandmaster Sun nodded and lifted his hand as over twenty jade slips shot towards the corresponding Emperor Realm Masters. At the same time, he said, “These jade slips contain information on how to run the array and your respective positions in it. Memorise them.”

Yang Kai took the jade slip and infused his Divine Sense into it. Just like what Grandmaster Sun had said, the jade slip contained information on how to run the array and the position Yang Kai would have to take later.

All of them were supposedly going to use the same method to power the array, but the positions they had to take were different. Over twenty Emperor Realm Masters were required to run this array.

Regardless of the array’s use, this kind of setup was indeed incredible. It was no wonder that they had spent so much time and energy simply arranging the array.

Yang Kai took a look at Zhou Quan and sent him a message through his Divine Sense.

Zhou Quan imperceptibly nodded his head.

It wasn’t difficult to understand the method that had been branded in the jade slip. Those who could reach the Emperor Realm were not fools, so they memorised the instructions quickly.

Just then, Grandmaster Sun leapt into the air and landed on a spot before saying loudly, “We will definitely achieve our goal today. After that, I will reward all of you handsomely. Please assemble now!”

Upon hearing this, over twenty Emperor Realm Masters flew over and landed on their assigned spots.

Yang Kai and Zhou Quan were a few kilometres apart as they were standing in different directions. In that case, Yang Kai would be unable to protect the other should anything happen. However, he had used his Divine Sense to tell Zhou Quan to flee on his own should they fall into danger.

The array was about to be activated and all the Emperor Realm Masters were ready; however, Yang Kai was puzzled.

According to Nanmen Da Jun, a key was missing from this array. Over the past few days, he hadn’t seen Grandmaster Sun make any special preparations, so could the old man have placed the missing item down when Yang Kai wasn’t paying attention?

It was difficult to ask Nanmen Da Jun about it at this point, so Yang Kai could only see how things went. Furthermore, the big fish still hadn’t shown up, so he wondered whether his speculation was wrong, or the time hadn’t come yet.

The former outcome wouldn’t matter as he could easily kill all the people here despite their large number. If it was the latter, he would have to keep observing for now.

Things had come to such a point that Yang Kai didn’t find it necessary to be rushed. He wanted to find out what this array’s true purpose was.