Martial Peak - Chapter 1042

“Young Master Xue Yue, as far as I know, you should have left Water Moon Star yesterday. How could you suddenly appear here today?”  Next to Starship, Xin Rui asked curiously.

Xue Yue smiled lightly, “There were a few matters that weren’t settled on time yesterday, so I let that Starship depart first.  Uncle Xin Rui is sailing for Emerald Star, so I thought there shouldn’t be a problem if I rode your Starship instead. In any case, you will be passing through Rainfall Star, that’s my destination as well.”

Xin Rui’s brow couldn’t help furrowing slightly.

Xue Yue observed this and continued to laugh, “Is there something inconvenient about my presence, Uncle Xin Rui?  Could it be there’s something aboard this Starship you don’t want me to see?”

Xin Rui’s attitude made him feel somewhat suspicious so Xue Yue couldn’t help probing him slightly.

Xin Rui broke out into laughter hearing this, “Young Master Xue Yue surely jests, aboard my Starship are only the materials ordered by Raging Flame Sect, how could there be anything I don’t want you to see?  Please feel free to step aboard, Young Master Xue Yue!”

Saying so, he opened the way.

“Many thanks, Uncle Xin Rui,” Xue Yue nodded before he and his two followers walked up the ramp to the Starship under the solemn and respectful gazes of all the surrounding cultivators.

“Check if there are any materials aboard this Starship that aren’t supposed to be here!”  Xue Yue never lost his smile as he sent a Divine Sense Message to his two subordinates.

“Does Young Master suspect Xin Rui of smuggling supplies?”  One of them asked back.

“He shouldn’t be, but the way he was acting just now makes me a little curious. An abundance of caution is not unwarranted!”

“Subordinate will verify the situation as quickly as possible!”

The group of three walked through the Starship’s corridors and soon arrived at a luxurious room.  Only the most important of passengers were eligible to live in such quarters.

The rooms where Yang Kai and Xue Tong were staying were just ordinary quarters where the ordinary crewmembers lived.

Outside the Starship, after Xue Yue and his escorts walked inside, Xin Rui looked up and saw two particularly ugly faces staring out a nearby window.

“He really boarded,” Yang Kai expression sank dramatically as he glanced towards Xue Tong.

Xue Tong’s face was also twitching.  Never had he dreamed they would run into Xue Yue at this time, much less watch him board the same Starship as them.

“Young Master Xue Yue seems to be headed for Rainfall Star, it is one of the Cultivation Stars under the jurisdiction of the Chamber of Commerce and is only a two months journey from here.  Young Master Yang should bear with this situation for a while. After Young Master Xue Yue leaves, everything will be alright,” Xue Tong comforted.

“Seems there’s no other choice,” Yang Kai nodded helplessly.

Although he had never really met Xue Yue and at the time could only vaguely see his face, the other party should still remember his approximate appearance.  If Yang Kai were to appear in front of Xue Yue now, it would be no different from turning himself over to him. In order to keep the secret of him privately trading precious commodities, Xue Yue had already killed two thousand innocent people, he certainly wouldn’t mind killing one more.

The two people beside Xue Yue were definitely masters Yang Kai couldn’t beat as he felt tremendous pressure from them.

He knew that Xue Tong’s suggestion was the best course of action to follow.

“Please take this, Young Master Yang.  After pouring your Divine Sense into it, you can immediately contact me if you require anything,” Xue Tong said as he took out a communication type artifact and handed it to Yang Kai.

Yang Kai accepted it and briefly examined it, quickly figuring out how it worked.

Yang Kai had seen these kinds of compass-looking artifacts used for communication many times before.  The cultivators from Purple Star and Sword Union also used these to communicate, but it wasn’t until now that Yang Kai actually got hold of one of them, piquing his curious slightly.

“Good, then I’ll go back first,” Yang Kai said, storing the communicator into his pocket.

He had heard the footsteps of the group of three led by Xue Yue pass by a while ago and knew they must have left by far by now, so for the moment there wasn’t any problem moving about.

“Young Master Yang…” Xue Tong suddenly called out towards his back.

“Is there something else?” Yang Kai looked back at him.

Xue Tong hesitated a moment before declaring, “Young Master Shen Tu sincerely wished to become friends with you. He would not do something to betray your trust!”

Yang Kai stared deeply into his eyes before gently nodding, “I understand.”

He had only suspected that Shen Tu had betrayed him because this situation was too coincidental.  Anyone would have been confused by it.

However, from the conversation between Xue Yue and Xin Rui, Yang Kai had already determined that this was just his own misunderstanding.

When Shen Tu had learned that he had killed three cultivators from the Chamber of Commerce, he showed no intention to pursue it, so it was obvious how much he valued their friendship. Otherwise, he would have at least revealed an unpleasant look at the time.

However, he had not done so. Compared to Yang Kai, Shen Tu didn’t care one bit about the death of three of his Chamber of Commerce’s cultivators!

Returning to his room, Yang Kai closed the door and sat down on the bed to cultivate.

After about an hour, a humming sound echoed throughout the huge Starship and for a moment it seemed to shake.  Soon after though, everything became smooth again and the Starship slowly lifted off and adjusted its heading. After rising a few thousand meters, the Starship rapidly accelerated, turning into a streak of light that rushed off into the Starry Sky.

Yang Kai opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder just in time to see the scenery outside his window rapidly rush past and soon, everything on Water Moon Star’s surface became incredibly small.

After passing through the thick layer of clouds, the Starship arrived in the realm of stars and swiftly headed in the direction of Emerald Star.

Since he knew that Xue Yue was also aboard this Starship, Yang Kai behaved with extreme caution, not even opening his own door.  Even when he was cultivating, he was careful not to expose his own aura so as not to attract the attention of Xue Yue.

From the information obtained by Xue Tong, Yang Kai had learned that Xue Yue was living in a first-class suite on a different level far away from their low-level rooms, but Yang Kai still didn’t relax his vigilance.

After spending so many years outside adventuring, Yang Kai had fully understood that care and caution were the foundation of survival.

This Saint King Grade High-Rank Starship was extremely fast, many times faster than Yang Kai’s Star Shuttle.

When comparing the same rank of Starship and Star Shuttle, a Starship would always have an absolute advantage in terms of speed.  Despite their larger size, the numerous Spirit Arrays engraved on their hulls would provide a much greater boost in propulsive output and use Saint Crystals as their primary source of power instead of a cultivator’s own Saint Qi.

Amidst the Starry Sky, there were countless drifting asteroids.  There was no regularity to these asteroids. Some were big, some were small, some were scattered and remote, while others gathered together to form a large Asteroid Seas.

As the Starship moved through the Starry Sky, it would avoid most of these asteroids with great finesse so as not to cause unnecessary damage to the hull.  If an asteroid couldn’t be avoided, cultivators from the Starship would be dispatched to shift its track or to simply destroy it.

The journey was calm and peaceful; Yang Kai remained inside his own room, mostly cultivating but occasionally observing the fascinating outside scenery to ease his nerves.

One day, he suddenly took out the communication type artifact and poured his Divine Sense into it to contact Xue Tong.

“What command does Young Master Yang have?”  Xue Tong quickly responded.

“What kind of cultivation do the two people around Xue Yue posses?”

“One of them is an Origin Returning Realm master and the other should only be a Third Order Saint King!”

“Origin Returning Realm…”  Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a sense of surprise, now fully understanding just how much President Ai Ou valued Xue Yue.  Even the best guards in Shen Tu’s palace were on the same level as Jia Long, Third Order Saint Kings, but Xue Yue actually had an Origin Returning Realm master serving as a bodyguard.

In President Ai Ou’s mind, Xue Yue’s position must be significantly higher than Shen Tu’s.

“What about Xue Yue himself?” Yang Kai asked.

“Ten years ago he broke through to the Second Order Saint King Realm, but currently I’m not too sure…” Xue Tong’s spoke in a somewhat exasperated tone, “Young Master Xue Yue’s talent is outstanding.  Among President Ai Ou’s many sons, Xue Yue’s cultivation is the highest; Young Master Shen Tu only ranks a distant second.”

“Fierce,” Yang Kai acclaimed with sincere admiration, “Besides the master accompanying Xue Yue, are there no other cultivators on this Starship at the Origin Returning Realm?”

“En, there aren’t. After all, such masters are not very common.  The number of Origin Returning Realm masters on each Cultivation Star is never that high, most of them are scattered throughout the Star Field and each one is a mainstay of each force.  Shipping commodities from place to place is a minor matter that most Origin Returning Realm masters pay no mind to, only if something of extreme value is being shipped will an Origin Returning Realm cultivator be sent to escort it.”

After explaining all this, Xue Tong paused for a moment before asking, “Is Young Master Yang worried about the safety of this Starship?  If so, you may be rest easy. Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce’s influence has spread to every corner of the Star Field and we have connections to every major force in existence. Even those robbers and murderers from Galaxy Ridge and Abandoned Lair won’t get any ideas about our Chamber of Commerce’s Starships because they too need to maintain trade relations with us.”

Galaxy Ridge and Abandoned Lair were Heng Luo Star Field’s two great evil forces.  Yang Kai has previously learned from Shen Tu that these two forces were rampant pirates who pillaged and murdered across the Star Field, robbing Starships and plundering their goods while turning the males into slaves and the women into toys.  They were savage and ruthless to the bone.

Any Starship would steer well clear of these two places.

In the past, the Star Field’s great forces had collaborated many times to encircle and route these two forces out, but their two hideouts were natural fortresses and possessed extremely strong fortifications.  Every time they have encircled these two places, the Star Field’s great forces would suffer heavy losses and although they could temporarily suppress Galaxy Ridge and Abandoned Lair, it wouldn’t be long before they recovered and then wreak terrible revenge upon the Star Field.

After repeating this thankless job several times, the great forces eventually gave up.

“As long as this Starship bears the insignia of the Chamber of Commerce, no one will dare move against it!”  Xue Tong’s said with an obvious note of pride in his voice.

“En, understood!”  Yang Kai nodded, chatting with Xue Tong for a while to alleviate his boredom before ending the conversation with him.

Immersing his consciousness into his Knowledge Sea, Yang Kai materialized his Soul Avatar and began studying the giant Star Chart once again.

A moment ago, during his conversation with Xue Tong, Yang Kai had inquired about Rainfall Star and their end destination Emerald Star.  From Xue Tong, Yang Kai learned that these two stars were Cultivation Stars with rich World Energy auras and that Rainfall Star belonged to Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce while Emerald Star was the home star of Raging Flame Sect.  After learning this general information, Yang Kai became curious and decided to seek out the positions of Emerald Star and Rainfall Star in his Star Chart.