Martial Peak

Chapter 813, Favour

As he stood beside the Beast Transformation Pond, Great Senior stared deeply towards Yang Kai, his expression only lightened after a long silence, “You should restore yourself first. We’ll talk about this later.”

Yang Kai smiled and nodded before sitting down cross-legged and closing his eyes.

Even with the Great Senior still watching, Yang Kai didn’t hesitate to continue submerging his Divine Sense into the Beast Transformation Pond, seemingly studying something.

Of course, this did not escape the Great Senior’s notice, but he made no attempt to stop Yang Kai, instead just waving to his fellow clansmen to disperse.

Looking at the closed eyed Yang Kai, the Great Senior’s lips curled slightly, feeling that after this time he might uncover some of the secrets he had been trying to figure out since long ago.

And all of this was actually thanks to a human boy.

Even if the Great Senior was somewhat unwilling in his heart, he was helpless to change the situation now.

[This little brat…] Great Senior shook his head and smiled wryly, it seemed he had somewhat looked down upon Yang Kai’s abilities. Just the fact that the latter had a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea was enough to classify him as out of the ordinary.

Yang Kai sat for a whole day and night, exploring the mysteries hidden below the Beast Transformation Pond while slowly recovering his strength.

The Great Senior naturally didn’t stay behind to watch him and had returned to Thunder Tree Palace long ago.

When Yang Kai opened his eyes once again, only Cai Die remained nearby the Beast Transformation Pond. This Monster Race beauty with her seven coloured wings was currently staring at Yang Kai curiously.

Their four eyes suddenly met and Cai Die’s expression became a bit unnatural, quickly averting her gaze.

“Senior Cai Die…” Yang Kai hurriedly stood up and greeted her.

“Finished?” Cai Die asked lightly.

Yang Kai nodded, not sure if he was imagining it but thinking this woman’s hostility towards him had decreased a lot.

“Since you’ve finished restoring yourself, come with me, Great Senior is waiting for you!” Cai Die said, flapping her wings and leading the way.

Yang Kai hurried to keep up.

On the way back to Thunder Tree Palace, the Monster Beasts and the Monster Race masters who appeared all showed kind eyes towards Yang Kai, their previous revulsion and rejection completely disappearing.

It seemed like because Yang Kai saved the White Jade Deer, he had won their collective goodwill.

The Monster Race was truly united! Yang Kai silently praised.

Such a scene would be impossible to see in any human force; at most, this act would have won the favour of a few people related to the one he saved, very much unlike the current situation Yang Kai found himself in with the Monster Race clan here. Now, no one despised Yang Kai or looked down on him, most of them even regarding him as a distinguished guest.

Arriving at the top of Thunder Tree Palace, in front of the Great Senior’s house, Cai Die stopped and motioned to Yang Kai, “Go in.”

“Many thanks!” Yang Kai smiled and walked towards the house.

“Ah…” Cai Die suddenly called out.

“Hm?” Yang Kai turned to her and quickly noticed an awkward look upon her face. Her pink lips quivered a few times before she quietly shouted, “Thank you!”

After squeezing out these words, her body flickered and quickly flew down, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Yang Kai smiled dumbly at this sight for a moment before turning back around and walking into the Great Senior’s house while shaking his head.

Inside the house, the Great Senior stared at Yang Kai with a smile for a moment before kindly motioning to him, “Sit down.”

As he said so, he glanced towards the door and seemingly unintentionally mentioned, “You’re the first human to obtain Cai Die’s approval; even though your Holy Land’s old Holy Master came here many times, she never gave him any face.”

“Oh? I suppose I should feel honored then,” Yang Kai raised an eyebrow.

The Great Senior smiled and shook his head, “Don’t blame her for being prejudiced against you, she has her reasons.”

Saying so, the Great Senior handed over a bottle of fine wine and continued, “Let’s drink while we talk. This wine was also brought by your old Holy Master. The Monster Race doesn’t excel at creating such good things.”

Yang Kai accepted, took a sip, and frowned slightly, “It’s alright, I have something better, do you want to try it?”

“Please!” Great Senior said unceremoniously.

Yang Kai laughed and brought out a bottle of wine from his Black Book space and filled Great Senior’s cup.

Seeing this, the Great Senior frowned slightly before grinning, “Boy, I thought you were somewhat pleasing to the eye before, but now it looks like you’re a stingy one. Every time your old Holy Master visited, he would bring several hundred bottles of wine. This King can drink several bottles of that wine at a time yet now you only offer me this small cup?”

Yang Kai’s face immediately went black, “This wine is incredibly precious, I only have this bottle left, how could I allow it to be drunk so carelessly?”

The Great Senior snorted lightly and with a somewhat dissatisfied look upon his face he reluctantly picked up the cup in front of him and drank it down.

The moment the Great Senior drank this wine though, his expression changed greatly, as if his very soul had been shaken. On his face, all signs of dissatisfaction completely disappeared as he seemed to be immersed in a wondrous mood, grinning a moment later as he liberally praised, “Good wine! This is far superior to any of the wines your old Holy Master ever brought. Come, come, another!”

Saying so, he thrust his cup in front of Yang Kai and continually urged.

Yang Kai generously filled his glass again and watch as the Great Senior drank it down again. Only after drinking his third cup did the Great Senior sit back and relax.

“Was this wine brewed by you?” The Great Senior asked.

Yang Kai shook his head, “It was brewed by my alcohol-obsessed Martial Aunt. Great Senior shouldn’t expect too much and must savour the taste well; after all, it took her fifty years to brew this.”

“Fifty years…” Great Senior was dumbstruck for a moment, soon shaking his head, “Your Martial Aunt is really interesting, actually taking a whole fifty years to brew this bottle of wine? On the other hand, it was not time wasted, this wine is not simple.”

Yang Kai showed a faint smile and lightly sipped his own glass. His cultivation and strength were not nearly as high as this Great Senior’s so he couldn’t drink it freely.

The amount of energy contained in the Thousand Safflower Wine brewed by his Martial Aunt Fei Yu couldn’t be underestimated. If he were to drink too much all at once, he would really become drunk and pass out.

“Great Senior just mentioned something about Senior Cai Die having a reason for her prejudice towards humans, what exactly happened to her?” Yang Kai asked curiously.

“Oh, she…” The Great Senior took a moment to organize his thoughts before saying, “Before she achieved human form, she was caught by a Human Race cultivator because her true form is the Seven Coloured Illusory Butterfly which was known for its rarity and beauty. Although the human who caught her and raised her didn’t abuse her per-say, while she was in captivity she witnessed a great many disturbing things… En, suffice it to say, the man who caught here wasn’t a good thing, so she developed a deep disgust and distrust towards humans.”

“So it’s like that,” Yang Kai now understand why Cai Die always seemed to feel repugnance for him.

“Well, it’s a tale from long ago,” Great Senior smiled, “When this King was out traveling many years ago, I happened to come across her and saved her.”

“Good, let’s not mention this anymore.”

Great Senior nodded lightly, setting the topic aside.

The room suddenly fell silent as the Monster Race’s Great Senior stared deeply towards Yang Kai, a while later asking, “Are you prepared to explain to me what the previous matter was all about?”

“What does Great Senior want to know?”

“What do you know?” Great Senior answered with a question of his own.

Yang Kai wrinkled his brow slightly and responded, “I know just about everything.”

“How do you know all that? Even I haven’t comprehended the mysteries hidden beneath the Beast Transformation Pond!” Great Senior’s expression suddenly became incredibly solemn.

“That’s because what is beneath the Beast Transformation Pond is a giant Natural Spirit Array. Great Senior isn’t proficient in Spirit Arrays, right?” Yang Kai smiled, “I think Great Senior already knows that there is a powerful Earth Vein running below the nearby mountain range, yes? The Beast Transformation Pond is a manifestation of the overflowing energy from the Earth Vein; however, the Beast Transformation Pond also seems to contain some other mysterious energy. What that mysterious energy is, I have yet to figure out, all I know is that it is that energy which helps your Monster Race achieve human form.”

“Explain carefully!” The Great Senior quickly urged.

“I’ll be honest with Great Senior, in fact, I am an Alchemist. The Natural Spirit Array below the Beast Transformation Pond is similar to the Spirit Arrays I use in Alchemy, but that Spirit Array is actually a collection of countless smaller Spirit Arrays and is extremely complicated and complex. The process your Monster Race undergoes to achieve human form is essentially equivalent to an Alchemist performing Alchemy.”

“What is the relationship between the two?” The Great Senior asked somewhat confused.

“The Beast Transformation Pond is the furnace, the Earth Veins are the Spirit Arrays, the pond’s water is the medicinal liquid, and the Monster Beast is the pill!”

“You’re saying my Monster Race is the same as a medicinal pill?”

“En. When one performs Alchemy, they blend all kinds of different herbs together in one place to produce various profound and subtle changes to their medicinal properties and eventually condense them into a single pill. The same is true for how your Monster Race achieves human form. Upon clearing certain conditions and with enough of the mysterious energy contained within the pond, your physique undergoes various changes which allow you to take human form.”

The Great Senior wrinkled his brow deeply as he muttered to himself, seemingly carefully digesting what Yang Kai had just told him.

Despite his exquisite strength and deep cultivation, he still had difficulty understanding this abstract Alchemy knowledge.

After a long time, the Great Senior sighed helplessly, “I only understand about half of what you said…”

“It’s not that easy to explain. If Great Senior is willing to study Alchemy, in less than ten years or so, you should be able to completely understand what I am saying,” Yang Kai smiled and shook his head, “Unfortunately, Great Senior’s Monster Qi is not suitable for Alchemy.”

“I don’t need to comprehend Alchemy; I just need to understand how that Spirit Array beneath the Beast Transformation Pond functions. If my guess is right, my clansmen often having accidents during their initial transformation is because that Natural Spirit Array is damaged, correct?”

“En, I was able to patch it, allowing me to save that White Jade Deer,” Yang Kai nodded, sinking into silence for a moment before continuing, “Good, after the crisis my Nine Heavens Holy Land has been dealt with, how about I teach Great Senior how to maintain and repair that Spirit Array?”

“What are your conditions?” Great Senior narrowed his eyes slightly as he stared at Yang Kai warily.

“Heh heh… For any Alchemist or Artifact Refiner, the Spirit Arrays they use are part of their core secrets, something they won’t easily divulge to outsiders, doing so will be a big loss to me. How does Great Senior plan to compensate me?”

The Great Senior glared at Yang Kai indignantly for a while before cursing through his teeth, “Hateful! As long as you can teach me about that Spirit Array, my Monster Race will owe you a favour, if you have any needs in the future, just come to me and I will assist you!”

“Great Senior’s attitude is really refreshing! It looks like we’ll be good friends in the future,” Yang Kai smiled innocently.

“You’re more difficult to deal with than your old Holy Master,” Great Senior grumbled, soon laughing though as he raised his glass and drained it, “Forget it, your Human Race can always produce one or two outstanding talents, this King is also looking forward to seeing if you can rise to my level in twenty or thirty years. As for owing you a favour, it’s not a big deal either way. You can even use this favour now to let me help you resolve your Nine Heavens Holy Land’s current crisis.”

“No, regarding the Holy Land’s crisis, let’s stick with the agreement we negotiated before. I’ll save this favour for later.”

“Do as you please!” The Great Senior pursed his lips slightly and said no more.