Martial Peak

Chapter 6113, Can’t You Help?

Author: Silavin

“What the…” Yang Ji muttered as he finally saw the other end of this tedious process.

After his Divine Sense crossed the barrier, he had to traverse through some distance within this liquid. However, what was strange was that there seemed to be some glimmer after he had crossed over.

The source of this glimmer was above, so naturally, Yang Ji followed it to the source. However, he had not expected to find something quite like this.

The actual Pool of Revitalisation was within a cavern, with the earth seeming to seal up every entrance. Though there might be some opening somewhere, Yang Ji could not actually perceive any around him.

However, he could clearly perceive that there were different sphere-like structures placed within the Pool of Revitalisation, which Yang Ji could only conclude to be the actual space these rooms were taking. These structures were obviously much smaller than their actual space suggests, however, considering that Space had been distorted, such things were to be expected.

Each one was around ten metres wide, with Runes and Arrays covering them. From a rough count, there were a total of twelve of such rooms. That would mean, there should be a total of twelve people using the Pool of Revitalisation. 

All these twelve structures were surrounding what seemed to be the source of this pool. Rather, it seemed like this was the very thing that produced the pool water.

Indeed, it was as Wu Lun had said. This thing had to remain here. After all, it was not an object, rather, it seemed to be some crystalline tree. The glimmer Yang Ji had seen was from this very tree. This tree had not been planted on the ground. Rather, it was inverted. Its roots were stuck to the top of the cavern ceiling, pulsating a tinge of red while its supposed leaves were facing the ground. The tiny glimmer came from the veins of the tree itself, illuminating the complete darkness, which made up this cavern.

Yang Ji used ‘supposed’ to describe the leaves because those leaves did not seem like the leaves Yang Ji was familiar with at all. Those leaves looked more like an engorged fruit rather than leaves. However, there were just too many of them to be labelled as a fruit.

Furthermore, rather than breathe air, those ‘leaves’ seemed to be the source of this pool. It seemed like when one dropped, it would dissolve into the pool water, adding to it.

Staring at this oddity of nature, Yang Ji naturally grew curious. His Divine Sense slowly approached it, seeming to want to get a better look.

However, a voice was quick to snap him out of it. “Are your hands seriously that itchy? Well, though it is your Divine Sense, do you have to touch it? Are you serious?”

“Huh? Wu Lun?” Yang Ji said, naturally using his Divine Sense. A thread of it simply touched upon the ring on his neck as he asked, “Wait, you can actually see this as well?”

“Of course I can. My Divine Sense is much stronger than yours, mind you. Going through this barrier and is easy for me.” Wu Lun said as matter of factly, as though this obstacle, which had taken Yaang Ji so much time to overcome, had really been nothing to him.

“If you could have gone past, you could have help–” Yang Ji’s words were stopped as Wu Lun quickly interjected, “Why should I help you with something pointless like that? Besides, if I actually break it for you, who do you think will get in trouble? We are just here to get stronger, nothing else. Even this false tree is nothing of concern to you.”

“Huh? False tree?” Yang Ji wanted to retort, but no such words could come out. After all, it was the truth. If Wu Lun had broken the barrier just for him, the amount of trouble he would be in was something Yang Ji could not even begin to fathom. Furthermore, the words ‘false tree’ captured far more attention than some nagging.

“Yeah, this tree makes a mockery of Heaven. That’s why it can only remain underground, hidden from the skies. What’s more, it does not take from Heaven and Earth to sustain itself.” Wu Lun said and turned Yang Ji’s attention to something else, instead of this tree. “Though I would like to destroy it, we can’t. So stop paying attention to this when you should actually be trying to focus on your goal.”

“Ah right.” Yang Ji wanted to ask more, however, Wu Lun’s tone was strict this time. It was similar to how he would act whenever he did not want to say more on some topics. 

Since Yang Ji truly could not do much here, seeing how Wu Lun warned against him coming close to the tree, he refocused back on his task, which was to see if he could trace the connection of the Blood Binding Seal.

Once again, he focused back on the Blood Binding Seal, retracing the spot it penetrated through the wall of the room, and checking where in his own structure it exited from.

It was a time-consuming process since it seemed like the warping of space was not completely proportional. Yang Ji did not know why that was the case. After all, the Space Principles here were still too abstruse for him to fully comprehend. He might be able to sense certain fluctuations or oddities in Space, but asking him to comprehend it now was like asking a baby to fly before crawling. 

In fact, he actually wanted to study the Runes and Arrays around the structure, since it would give him better insights into their respective True Daos, but he could only focus on one thing at a time.

So, after catching a wisp of that connection, he quickly followed after it.

As expected, the connection, though faint, led to another one of the sphere-like structures.

[Ah. So, she actually managed to get here, after all.] Yang Ji thought and stretched his Divine Sense to her direction.

Beads of sweat dripped from his forehead as he proceeded forwards. It was not so much the distance that was the issue, but the barrier on his side making moving his Divine Sense far more difficult.

Fortunately, the one she was located in was just the second structure away from his. 

Unfortunately, he did not know where the barrier was. Sure, he knew it would most likely be located at the bottom of the structure, however, he needed to find that specific part! Due to Space not being proportional between the inside and the outside, was this barrier even at the centre?

Naturally, he turned to Wu Lun, “Hey, can you tell me where it is?”

“Heh, what, you asking for help now? No no no, that won’t do. This is something you have to achieve on your own. No babysitting.” He said as though smirking.

“Haaa” Yang Ji rolled his eyes with a sigh, but he half expected this response. So far, Wu Lun might provide him with some information, but not all. Likewise, whenever Wu Lun helped, it tended to be on his own initiative. Still, Yang Ji asked half hoping to be able to skip the tedious process.

In fact, rather than just tedious, this was far harder than he had expected. 

Yang Ji had to use his Divine Sense to cover the bottom of the structure. After all, what he needed to do now was sense for what seemed to be an odd ‘Space Node’. This was unlike basic sight. His Divine Sense had to actually make contact with this barrier first. 

Normally, this would not be an issue. It was just the barrier in his room, which made things far more difficult than they should be.

Each time he extended his Divine Sense further, it would make the blood vessels around his forehead throb. He could even feel his head heating up from all the pressure.

Thankfully, by the grace of Heaven, for some reason, the barrier was truly at the centre of the structure, also at the bottom. 

But now was probably the hardest task Yang Ji had to go through. He had to slip through this barrier as well.

If earlier, Yang Ji already had his blood vessels throbbing, now, his whole face had turned red from the difficulty. Again and again, he tried to squeeze through the tiny hole, repeatedly failing to go through.

[I’m so close! So close!!!] But Yang Ji was not one to give up. Not when he could already imagine Wu Lun mocking him for failing.

Though, honestly, Wu Lun would not sincerely mock him over this. He might tease the boy over this, but that would be just for fun. In fact, Wu Lun was even more impressed that Yang Ji was still making minute progress after repeated tries. 

Once more, millimetre by millimetre, Yang Ji pushed through.

The pain was like red hot metal searing his brains. He could at some point not even feel his own body, only the pain.

It was excruciating. The first time was difficult, but this was ten times more difficult. Each second felt like an hour, and time felt neverending in the face of this pain. 

But with his face completely red, fist and neck clenched, as minutes turned into hours, Yang Ji finally succeeded. He finally did it!

The boy wanted to scream in elation, but at that moment of lapse, he panicked and focused once more. He simply could not bear to lose his progress here. 

Wu Lun, shaking his head inside while smiling, thought, [Well, seems like we can make a change of plans now.]

Wu Lun originally had no plans of letting Yang Ji connect with the Young Mistress. After all, she had her own fate and he had his. He was planning to have Yang Ji quickly leave while still hiding his identity, and then they could deal with the Blood Binding Seal in their next location.

It would be a difficult journey, one fought with peril since they would definitely be chased after, but with his guidance, he was certain Yang Ji would be able to overcome such issues in due time.

Maybe out of joy, or maybe just on a whim, Wu Lun soon guided Yang Ji, “She’s over there, to your left. Maybe you’d appreciate the sight?”

“Appreciate the sight?” Yang Ji questioned, but he received no answer.

Instead, when he looked to the left, he saw her.

She was still quite a distance away. Yet, her aura was unmistakable. This was the same aura tied to the Blood Binding Seal.

There was the Young Mistress, eyes closed. She was like a doll crafted by Heaven itself. Her skin was pale as uncarved jade, smooth and unblemished, as though mortal dust had never dared to settle upon her. Her features were small and finely made: a delicate nose, lips the faint color of a petal just beginning to bloom, and lashes so dark and long they cast faint shadows upon her cheeks. Her black hair fell straight and thick past her shoulders, often slipping forward to frame her face. She was so adorable, if one were to look at her, they would wish to protect her through every disaster in life. Even if she were to outgrow her adolescence, it was certain that she would be a country destroying beauty.

Yet, this precious Young Mistress was seated in a lotus position, completely bare, above the pool, with only her lower body submerged and the rest exposed to the elements. 

The first time they met, Yang Ji had certainly not seen all her features. It was slightly hidden. No, rather, Yang Ji was too focused on the adults rather than the Young Mistress. At the time, he had more pressing matters to deal with than to pay much attention to her appearance. 

Now, with no one else here, her beauty naturally drew his attention.

However, Yang Ji felt nothing. In fact, the words that Wu Lun said were more important to him than this girl’s beauty.

“I’m supposed to appreciate how pretty she looks?” Yang Ji questioned with confusion to which Wu Lun replied as though sighing, “You are pretty much staring at the Little Princess of the Hong Clan, completely exposed. A male, looking at their Little Princess like this… tsk tsk. Let’s just say if others find out, your eyes would be the least of your worries. Also, though she is of the same age as you, and really young, boys your age would start having butterflies in their stomach when they see such a pretty girl, right?”

“But… she isn’t that pretty, you know. And, why would my stomach start producing butterflies when I see pretty girls? That doesn’t even make sense.” Yang Ji replied as though he had just heard something really ridiculous.

“The butterfly thing is just a figure of speech. Don’t take it literally for Heaven’s sake. Also, are you being for real? If she’s not pretty then…”

“You know what, never mind. Your Family is full of destructive beauties that would suck up all the attention around them. I can sort of understand why you would not be impressed by someone of this caliber. But, have you seriously never fallen for anyone before? Like, have your heart beat faster when you get close to a girl.” Wu Lun questioned, quite curious about this point.

“Hmm… that does happen, like when Mother makes a fierce expression. But, isn’t that quite normal, I’m pretty sure Father’s heart also starts racing when he sees Mother like that.” Yang Ji answered with such ease, as though this answer was entirely normal, that Wu Lun pulled out a white flag.

[Is this kid being serious? He has really never fallen for anyone before… well, maybe he is just too young for that…] Wu Lun seemed to feel deflated at this fact. Still, he convinced himself, [Well, if it is a matter of age, then this boy will grow up soon enough. At the very least, I don’t have to worry about honeytraps or the like.]

Yang Ji saw how Wu Lun had kept silent after his latest response, and he could not help wondering if he had said something wrong. But no matter how he reflected on it, he did not believe there was anything wrong with his statement.

Seeing the boy’s wondering face, Wu Lun snapped out of it and addressed him, “*Ahem.* I was just testing you, to see if you would fall for her charm. Seems like I was worried for nothing. For now, you should just focus on getting your Divine Sense to connect to her. Though she might look capable, she still had just broken through to the Initial Element Realm, still far off from the Immortal Ascension Realm, where she can actually open up her Knowledge Sea.”

“Eh? But, isn’t she cultivating? Doing that might actually ruin her, you know?” Yang Ji said with a slight frown. 

When one was cultivating, ruining one’s state of mind might actually disrupt their cultivation process, causing a backlash. In the worse case scenario, the backlash could be severe enough to damage one’s foundation.

“Oh please. Talk to me about it when you can actually reach her. Guess you haven’t noticed, but your Divine Sense has been stuck in the same place while we speak.” Wu Lun smirked and then went silent, as if to declare that he would only continue to speak to Yang Ji once he had accomplished this next task.

“Ugh…” Truly, it was as Wu Lun had said. Yang Ji’s Divine Sense had not been moving forward at all. 

Worse yet, this pool was unlike his, which was less than half-filled due to his actions. This pool was still close to completely filled. Yang Ji could not even tell how much distance he would have to cover to get to her.

No, more accurately, he did not want to think about the distance at this point as it would only make him even more disheartened. 

All he knew was, there was another painful round of slogging…

…

“*Haaa…* you’re finally done.” 

When she was just awakening from her meditative state, before she even had the time to check the changes in her body, an unfamiliar voice was suddenly heard. It did not sound like it came from her left or her right. It seemed like it came directly into her mind.

“Who!?” However, this was not her first experience with such a sensation. If any of her underlings had to communicate to her quickly or secretly, they would all use this method, which was communication through one’s Divine Sense.

But this was supposed to be an isolated space. No one else besides her should be inside. Likewise, outside communications were all cut off, so how exactly had someone managed to contact her despite all of this?

Hong Jun had said that this place was supposed to be safe. However, from the looks of it now, this place was far from it. Some unknown person must have managed to slip in somehow. Else, there was no other logical explanation for this. 

Thoughts churn in that head of hers, as she could not help but challenge while covering herself with her arms, “If you wish to take my life, then do it! Why wait until I’ve finally broken through to the Initial Element Realm? Do you wish to see me drowning in sorrow after finally achieving my long-held wish!? You pervert!”

“Huh? Pervert? I was just waiting for you to leave your meditative state, you know?” Yang Ji felt like he had been somehow wronged. These were all baseless accusations.

However, one must know that from a third person’s perspective, Yang Ji did indeed look like some kind of pervert at this moment. After all, his face was completely red, and his breathing was haggard. Furthermore, blood was slowly trickling down his nose…

If one did not know the context, one might assume the boy had been overstimulated from the sight of this blossoming girl. However, this was the result of the boy stretching and maintaining his Divine Sense, pushing himself to the limit just to make contact with her. There were no impure intentions at all.

Wu Lun, who could perceive all of this, was thus busy silently chuckling at a corner.  Of course, it was not like Yang Ji would come to know of this.