C.4493

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

The City Lord of Heavenly Martial City was getting old and frail and would not live for much longer; therefore, the reason for Gao Xin Peng’s visit was to refine some Life Extension Pills for him to extend his lifespan.

Yang Kai had many pill recipes for longevity, and their effects were extraordinary. If he could refine just one of them, he could guarantee that Heavenly Martial City’s City Lord would regain his vitality in an instant and his lifespan would increase significantly as a result.

The problem was that his pill recipes required extremely rare and valuable herbs. Leaving aside whether he could find them in the Divine Armament World, the chances of finding them in a small Heavenly Martial City were slim to none.

Besides, Yang Kai did not know anything about the Life Extension Pills that Gao Xin Peng planned to refine or what kind of effects they had.

But, if he could gain the trust of Heavenly Martial City’s City Lord, then he could enter the City Lord’s Mansion in advance. Under those circumstances, he was bound to run into Gao Xin Peng once the latter arrived.

That was why Yang Kai planned to prepare some pills that would strengthen and regulate one’s vitality. These pills were relatively easy to refine and more importantly, the required herbs were not that rare. He should be able to find them in Heavenly Martial City.

If Heavenly Martial City’s City Lord consumed the pills that Yang Kai refined over the long term, living for a few additional years would not be an issue.

The night passed peacefully and when dawn broke the next day, Du Yu Yu returned with a large bundle of herbs.

“Good work.” Yang Kai nodded.

She smiled, “It’s an honour for this Mistress to share your worries, Sir. Do you need anything else?”

“No, you can leave.”

“Yes!”

Du Yu Yu retreated respectfully. Only then did Yang Kai take out a rudimentary and simple-looking Alchemy Furnace and several fiery-red stones. This Alchemy Furnace was something he found in Void Spirit Sword Sect’s storehouse. He did not know how many years it had been left there but it was probably a relic left behind by one of the Alchemists in the Sect from several generations ago.

There were quite a few of these Alchemy Furnaces in Void Spirit Sword Sect’s storehouse in fact. Wan Ying Ying and the two other disciples learning Alchemy had also obtained one each.

The fiery-red stones were the Radiant Flame Stones. Yang Kai had no Alchemy Flame of his own, and there was no Earth Fire to borrow here either; hence, he could only use the Radiant Flame Stones for Alchemy.

The Vitality Pill that he planned to refine was not complicated. He would have easily succeeded in refining these pills in the outside world, but unfortunately, it would take some effort for him to refine them in this place.

Two days later, Yang Kai finished refining a bottle of Vitality Pills. These dark-red pills were around the size of soybeans, and one small bottle contained 100 pills in total.

Yang Kai summoned Shi Ming Hui and sent the latter to offer up two of the Vitality Pills to the City Lord’s Mansion. As long as the City Lord’s Mansion could verify the efficacy of the Vitality Pills, they would surely invite him over for a discussion. At that time, he could openly stay within the City Lord’s Mansion and wait for Gao Xin Peng to arrive.

Contrary to his expectations however, Shi Ming Hui vanished without a trace. Despite waiting for an entire day, Shi Ming Hui did not return, and no one appeared from the City Lord’s Mansion. Thus, Yang Kai faintly realised that something had gone wrong and instructed Du Yu Yu to ask around for information.

The outcome left him stunned.

It would seem that women were indeed much easier to talk to, more so if the woman was as beautiful and well-endowed as Du Yu Yu. She easily managed to obtain some clues even though the information from the City Lord’s Mansion was tightly guarded.

According to what she learned, Shi Ming Hui had indeed offered up the Vitality Pills to the City Lord’s Mansion, but apparently a problem arose during the testing of the pills. One of the Earth Grade Alchemists in the City Lord’s Mansion declared that the Vitality Pills Shi Ming Hui brought with him were poison and accused Shi Ming Hui of trying to assassinate the City Lord. Therefore, Shi Ming Hui was captured on the spot and thrown into Heavenly Martial City’s dungeons. It was currently unknown whether he was dead or alive.

Yang Kai was so furious that he burst out laughing!

[An Emperor Grade Alchemist like myself deigned to take the time and effort to refine those Vitality Pills! How dare they claim that they are poisonous!?]

Yang Kai immediately felt the urge to storm straight into the City Lord’s Mansion with his sword drawn.

Shi Ming Hui might have been subdued using rather unscrupulous means by him, but he had been a good subordinate for Yang Kai during this time.

Yang Kai could not ignore the situation now that something had gone wrong; moreover, seeing as nobody from the City Lord’s Mansion came searching for him, it was obvious that Shi Ming Hui had not revealed any information about them. Otherwise, the people from the City Lord’s Mansion would have come for him a long time ago.

However, Yang Kai quickly suppressed the impulse to act. He had the nagging feeling that this matter was more complicated than it seemed on the surface. He seemed to have gotten involved in some sort of power struggle, which meant that Heavenly Martial City’s City Lord was likely not just on the verge of dying from old age.

Hence, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling doubtful about the current situation.

With his current abilities, charging straight into the City Lord’s Mansion was actually not difficult. The difficult part would be rescuing Shi Ming Hui. Yang Kai was confident that he could move about undetected if he infiltrated the City Lord’s Mansion, but it was different if Shi Ming Hui was added into the equation.

There were many Heaven Realm Masters in Heavenly Martial City after all. Not to mention, Heavenly Martial City’s City Lord himself was at the peak of the Heaven Realm. He also had the backing of Gao Xin Peng of Profound Pill Sect.

It would not be beneficial for Yang Kai or Void Spirit Sword Sect if things got out of hand here.

After pondering for some time, Yang Kai asked Du Yu Yu to find a way to inquire about Shi Ming Hui’s current condition. His main concern was to determine whether Shi Ming Hui was alive or dead; meanwhile, he decided to wait until nightfall to infiltrate the City Lord’s Mansion.

Du Yu Yu accepted the orders and left.

On the other hand, Yang Kai began making meticulous preparations. It was not until night fell that he changed into a set of black clothes, snuck out of his room, and headed straight for the City Lord’s Mansion.

As he ran forward, Yang Kai felt exasperated in his heart. A noble Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like him was acting like a thief in the Divine Armament World. It was nothing less than a disgrace!

The perimeter of the City Lord’s Mansion was heavily guarded, to the point that even Heaven Realm Masters could only dream of sneaking into the building without anybody knowing. Nevertheless, these defences were useless against Yang Kai.

He concealed his aura and infiltrated the City Lord’s Mansion under the cover of the night, and it didn’t take long for him to slip through outer perimeter and reach the inner courtyard.

The surroundings were quiet. From time to time, Yang Kai would pass by some patrolling cultivators or come across people talking in hushed voices. Unfortunately, their conversations held nothing of value.

At first, he wandered around aimlessly. As he did not know where Heavenly Martial City’s City Lord was located, he could only search slowly.

A short while later, Yang Kai quickly hid in the shadows of a rockery as he heard the pitter-pattering of light footsteps came from not far away. He snuck a glance in that direction and saw a luxuriously dressed woman walking along the corridor with several maidservants in tow.

The woman had a gorgeous appearance, an ample bosom, and a slim figure; however, she had a cold and indifferent temperament. She walked straight into one of the palaces. Meanwhile, the maidservants accompanying her stopped outside and quietly stood there waiting.

Yang Kai did not know the identity of the woman, but judging from the scene in front of him, her status in the City Lord’s Mansion was not low.

Just as he was preparing to leave, he suddenly heard another set of heavy footsteps accompanied by an extremely ferocious aura.

[A Heaven Realm Master!] Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed. Even though there was no Spirit Qi fluctuation around the other party, he could clearly sense that this person was in the Heaven Realm!

This was his first time meeting a Heaven Realm Master since entering the Divine Armament World; thus, he couldn’t help glancing in that direction curiously.

The approaching person was a strong and burly man. He was short and stocky, and his muscles were quite bulky.

Although Yang Kai was confident in the Secret Technique he was using to conceal his aura, he did not dare to act recklessly at such close distance. The other party had a much higher cultivation than him, so he only glanced briefly in that direction before he withdrew his gaze, lest the other party noticed him.

The burly man walked straight to the door of the palace that the woman had entered earlier. The two maidservants by the door bowed elegantly in greeting. On the other hand, he simply pushed the door open and entered the room without saying a word.

A short while later, some strange sounds came from within the room. It was a mixture of grunts and muffled moans...

Yang Kai’s expression turned black, and he took this opportunity to leave.

An incense stick later, Yang Kai hid in the shadows and studied the majestic palace in front of him. There were guards stationed outside the palace and pained groans sounded faintly from within, giving off a sense of breathlessness similar to when a lamp was running out of oil.

[If my guess is correct, then this place is the residence of Heavenly Martial City’s City Lord!]

After searching for so long, he finally came across the right place. Before coming here, Yang Kai had been thinking about how to approach Heavenly Martial City’s City Lord and explain his intentions, as well as how to convince the City Lord about the efficacy of the Vitality Pills he refined.

However, when he heard the sounds coming from within the palace, he realised that Heavenly Martial City’s City Lord was dying. The situation seemed to be more serious than what he had heard as he could even detect a weak Death Qi coming from within!

All the plans Yang Kai made earlier were now useless. He did not know when Heavenly Martial City’s City Lord would die, so he could not afford to hesitate any longer.

Yang Kai found an opportunity and tossed a stone to distract the guards outside the door. With that, he successfully infiltrated the palace from a skylight on the roof.

Inside a private room with a spacious area, Yang Kai unexpectedly found not a single person standing guard. There was only one person lying on top of a large bed, covered by a blanket. Moreover, this man was breathing weakly and would cough with great difficulty from time to time.

The dim candlelight inside the room only illuminated a small portion of the room. Yang Kai looked down from above and saw that the man lying on the bed did not look very old.

That man had the appearance of someone in his early forties, but his sickly complexion made him seem deathly pale. Be that as it may, it could be seen that this man had good facial features and could be considered quite handsome.

As Yang Kai was observing the situation, the man on the bed suddenly opened his eyes and stared straight at where he was hiding on the roof beam. The gaze might be a little turbid, but a piercing light flashed through those eyes at this moment.

Yang Kai was shocked as he did not expect to be discovered so quickly when he had taken such pains to hide himself.

Soon though, Yang Kai figured it was related to how he had been staring at the other party for such a long time. At the same time, it also went to show just how powerful the man on the bed was.

It was rumoured that Heavenly Martial City’s City Lord was at the peak of the Heaven Realm, only one step away from advancing into the Spirit Realm. It could be seen that he really lived up to his reputation! Even though his physical condition had deteriorated so badly, his perception was still extremely sharp.

“Who are you?” The man on the bed spoke calmly, showing no intention of calling for help and simply asking this question quietly.

Since Yang Kai had already been discovered, he couldn’t be bothered to hide any longer. He landed lightly on the ground without making the slightest noise and walked over to the bed. Then, he tentatively asked, “City Lord Miao?”

Heavenly Martial City’s City Lord had the surname Miao and the given name Hong. It was only natural that Yang Kai knew about such information.

“It is this Miao. Who are you, Little Brother?” Miao Hong glanced at Yang Kai calmly, “Why did you come to visit the City Lord’s Mansion so late at night?”

After confirming that this person was Miao Hong, Yang Kai cupped his fist, “Void Spirit Sword Sect, Yang Kai!”

“Void Spirit Sword Sect...” Miao Hong frowned, as though recalling the information he received about Void Spirit Sword Sect. Void Spirit Sword Sect was just one of the small great forces nearby, so he never really paid much attention to such things. For that reason, he could not recall much information at such short notice; thus, he frowned and asked, “Void Spirit Sword Sect is far from Heavenly Martial City. Why did you come here? Are you here to kill me?”