Martial Peak - chapter 2685

Chapter 2684

Translator: Silavin & Danny

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

After the three loud gongs, the auction officially began.

A woman in a long dress walked out slowly from the back to a round stage, her beauty unmistakably lighting up the eyes of many men as she swept her charming eyes over the crowd.

Usually, the people who presided over the auction were men, mostly the elderly, while women rarely appeared on such occasions. Nevertheless, this beautiful young woman was very eye-catching, which excited the crowd greatly.

“Sister Hua?”

In a private room on the top level, Yang Kai muttered in surprise, walking out of his room to stare at the beautiful woman with his eyes widened.

“Senior Hua…” Ye Hen and the others looked complicated.

They recognized Hua Qing Si because she had stayed with them in the Thousand Leaves Sect for a period of time, and it was after Wu Ming came to find Hua Qing Si that the Thousand Leaves Sect suffered the disaster of extermination. Before, Ye Hen and the others had speculated that their misfortune might be related to Hua Qing Si.

At this moment, they could not help having complicated thoughts seeing Hua Qing Si suddenly reappearing in their vision as the host of the auction.

With a woosh, an extra figure appeared on the auction stage, drawing everyone’s attention. Of course, it was Yang Kai.

“Sister Hua!” Yang Kai stood in front of her and greeted with a smile.

“Yang Kai…” Hua Qing Si was stunned for a moment, then her eyes overflowed with pleasant surprise. Although she learned long ago that Yang Kai was here, she could not help feeling astonished to see him appear in front of her.

“Long time no see. How are you?” Yang Kai smiled from ear to ear.

Hua Qing Si smiled wryly, then her face turned solemn, “You shouldn’t have come.”

Yang Kai replied, “If I didn’t come, how could I bring you all back?”

“But you can’t leave even if you’ve come.” Hua Qing Si stated.

“Is this really aimed at me?” Yang Kai’s face darkened.

Hua Qing Si sighed, “Do you still remember the Dragon Island Token?”

Yang Kai furrowed his brow as he thought back, soon remembering, “En, of course.”

In fact, he had long forgotten about it and if it were not for Hua Qing Si’s reminder, he probably wouldn’t have even recalled that such a thing was inside his Space Ring.

Hua Qing Si smiled wryly, “Back then, when I left Star Soul Palace, I was ordered by my Honoured Master to find the whereabouts of that Dragon Island Token in Maplewood City. You know that a Dragon Island Token is a very big deal. It allows one to go to Dragon Island and make a request from the Dragon Clan.”

Yang Kai nodded lightly, his distant memories gradually resurfacing.

He obtained the Dragon Island Token by finding it in the Space Ring of a guy he killed by the name of Han Leng.

Apparently, Han Leng was an exiled disciple of Star Soul Palace, and could be considered a Senior Brother to Hua Qing Si. No one knew where Han Leng stole the Dragon Island Token from or how he escaped from Star Soul Palace, but after he died at Yang Kai’s hands, the Dragon Island Token naturally fell into Yang Kai’s hands too.

Later on, Hua Qing Si tracked down the Dragon Island Token and found Yang Kai, but she was herself captured in the end.

The use of the Dragon Island Token was explained to him by Hua Qing around that time.

“That Dragon Island Token belonged to my Honoured Master. One year ago, my Senior Brother Wu Ming found me and brought me back to Star Soul Palace. Although I didn’t want to reveal anything, some kind of Secret Technique was used by my Honoured Master on me and I could not stop myself from talking. You should know what happened next. I have no idea what I disclosed to my Honoured Master at that time, but he definitely knows that the Dragon Island Token is with you now. Therefore, he attacked the Thousand Leaves Sect and captured Chi Yue and the others to force you to show yourself.”

Yang Kai frowned, “So, your Honoured Master also knows my other secrets?”

Hua Qing Si’s face turned gloomy, “I’m sorry.”

Yang Kai smiled faintly, “It’s alright if you didn’t do it on purpose.”

Although he never doubted Hua Qing Si, if she really betrayed him, Yang Kai would not be able to forgive her. Therefore, he felt quite relieved after listening to her explanation at the moment.

“Are my friends safe?” Yang Kai whispered.

Hua Qing Si answered, “Honoured Master didn’t hurt them; after all, you are his only target. Before taking you down, those people are his only chess pieces.”

Saying so, Hua Qing Si couldn’t help thinking to herself, [Am I not the same? Our relationship of Master and Disciple for so many years wasn’t worth a second thought in front of absolute benefits.]

Yang Kai looked up and scanned the place where Hua Qing Si came out of before muttering “If it’s across a Space Array…”

“Don’t be impulsive. They have all been implanted with Heart-Strangling Insects. Even if you were to find them, you wouldn’t be able to save them.” Hua Qing Si shook her head slowly, “Honoured Master only needs a single thought to take their lives.”

“Heart-Strangling Insect!” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes. He definitely knew what the Heart-Strangling Insects were as he had seen them listed on the Exotic Insect Record. Although not as formidable as the Soul Devouring Insects, they still had their uses and were also quite deadly.

As they were talking, Hua Qing Si suddenly let out a grunt. A dreadfully pained look appeared on her face, as if something was surfacing and crawling under her skin.

“Sister Hua, you were also…” Yang Kai’s face changed slightly.

Hua Qing Si endured the pain and continued, “Leave now. Honoured Master is always extremely cautious. He wouldn’t confront you without perfect assurance.”

Yang Kai swept his cold eyes towards a certain direction and saw Wu Ming over there sneering at him while performing a hand seal.

It seemed that he triggered the Heart-Strangling Insect inside Hua Qing Si that caused her to be in pain.

“Sister Hua, I will save you.” Yang Kai promised firmly before turning to Wu Ming and drawing his finger across his own neck threateningly, then vanishing.

If he stayed any longer, he was afraid that Hua Qing Si would suffer more torture. As such, it was the best choice to retreat for now.

The close conversation between the two on the stage had been seen by many cultivators, so they were all wondering what kind of relationship Yang Kai and Hua Qing Si had.

After the departure of Yang Kai, Wu Ming stopped torturing Hua Qing Si; after all, she was still needed to preside over the auction. It would not look good if he tormented her too much.

The Heart-Strangling Insect inside Hua Qing Si gradually settled and the unbearable pain slowly reduced. However, Hua Qing Si was already drenched in cold sweat. Pulling herself together, she lifted her head and announced like nothing happened, “The auction will begin now. The first item, Thousand Leaves Sect’s Heaven Grade Puppet, Howling Moon Heavenly Wolf! The reserve price is one million High-Rank Source Crystals!”

As soon as the declaration was made, everyone went into an uproar.

Although they knew that many Heaven Grade Puppets would appear in this auction, they still could not believe that one was used as the opening item.

This was unusual as generally, the sequence of the auction items would proceed from the lowest value to the highest value treasure in order to rile up the audience’s competitive spirit, making them lose themselves in the atmosphere and unconsciously bid higher.

The Heaven Grade Puppets were worthy to be auctioned off as finale items, so it did not make sense to take one out at the very beginning.

However, when they remembered that there was more than one Heaven Grade Puppet from the Thousand Leaves Sect and this might just be an ice-breaking tactic, they started to calm down.

One million High-Rank Source Crystals was a big sum, equivalent to one hundred million Mid-Rank Source Crystals or ten billion Low-Rank Source Crystals. As such, ordinary cultivators would not have the capability to win this prize.

However, considering that a Heaven Grade Puppet was as strong as an Emperor Realm Master, one million High-Rank Source Crystasl was a bargain price. Buying it was equivalent to buying an Emperor Realm Master, one that could be controlled at will.

A large number of Emperor Realm Masters attended this auction, so they naturally came well-prepared.

At this moment, when they heard the reserve price, they rapidly prepared themselves for battle.

“I want this for one million. I hope everyone will give me face!”

A loud shout came just after Hua Qing Si finished speaking.

Everyone grimaced when they heard the voice, feeling disdainful in their hearts.

[Who did this person think he was? Did he really think that he could take away a Heaven Grade Puppet at the reserve price with just a few words? If he had big face, why did we even need to have an auction here?]

When they looked towards the source of the voice, many of them had their faces changed though.

Because they found that the person who spoke was no one other than the arrogant and aggressive young man, Yang Kai.

Those who initially wanted to compete immediately swallowed back their words.

When Yang Kai first came to Flowing Shadow City, he led his group to kill many Flowing Shadow Sword Sect disciples; however, even until now, Li Qing Yun, the Sect Master of Flowing Shadow Sword Sect did not mean to take revenge on them, instead even taking the initiative to deliver the captured Sect Master of Thousand Leaves Sect back to them.

Furthermore, Yang Kai had just taught Wu Ming a lesson outside the auction house. His boldness alone was enough to terrify everyone, not to mention the fact that he was accompanied by a Monster King.

It seemed like… they really had no choice but to give him face.

The entire auction venue fell into a strange silence.

Those cultivators who knew of Yang Kai’s savageness did not dare to make enemies with him, while those who did not know Yang Kai also noticed the strangeness of the atmosphere and vaguely speculated something too. Therefore, they dared not to stand out against him.

As a result, no one offered again after Yang Kai’s shout.

Hua Qing Si looked around and declared decisively, “In that case, the first Heaven Grade Puppet will belong to the friend in Room One.”

The crowd was stunned when they heard the declaration. They thought that the auctioneer was also quite strange, for she did not act according to any kind of convention. An auctioneer’s job was to raise the price an item sold for, so they would constantly ask whether there was anyone willing to bid again. Adding some colourful and exaggerated descriptions with a tone of incitement was commonplace. Even if they did not act so, they still had to at least declare a winner after a three count, but when it came to this young woman, she did not even bother to ask anything and declared the goods sold right away.

However, when they recalled the close conversation between Yang Kai and her before, they secretly believed that she was cooperating with him behind the scenes.

[What is this?]

[Was this still an auction?]

It was not the first time for these Emperor Realm Masters to participate in an auction, but this kind of auction was definitely a first for them.

It took only five breaths of time from the moment Hua Qing Si announced the reserve price until the first item was sold. At this moment, a maidservant emerged from behind with a tray in her hand, but before she could even show the Heaven Grade Puppet to the public, it was sold.

The maidservant seemed to have been completely taken by surprise, but she still walked straight to Room One with the tray.

When she arrived in front of the room, the door opened on its own, and the maidservant stood in front of the door, stating, “Honoured Guest, this is your auction item, please provide the one million High-Rank Source Crystal price.”