Martial Peak

Shui Ling had previously disclosed a lot of information to Yang Kai including how different Sects were classified here and had even frankly admitted Water Spirit Temple was just barely a first-class force because they had a single Saint Realm master protecting their Sect.

Her modesty had made Yang Kai think Water Spirit Temple wasn’t very strong.

But now, seeing the big dramatic transformation in attitude of these Bold Independent Union disciples, Yang Kai realized that the force Shui Ling belonged to wasn’t weak.

At the very least, when the young woman leader heard the name Water Spirit Temple, her expression became dignified and she restrained much of her initial hostility while even a hint of dread flashed across her eyes.

Staring at Shui Ling hesitantly for a moment, the young woman and her group took a few steps back and began whispering to each other.

Yang Kai had no intention or interest in spying on what they were discussing so he just stood in place and waited quietly.

Shui Ling’s expression also completely relaxed. Before figuring out where they were, she hadn’t dared to reveal her identity, but now knowing they were in Bold Independent Union’s territory, she had no more scruples.

Water Spirit Temple was not too far from Bold Independent Union, only about half a month’s journey, so the two forces would occasionally engage in trade and had some small friendship.

The group from Bold Independent Union whispered back and forth while occasionally glancing over at Yang Kai and Shui Ling, seemingly trying to determine the validity of Shui Lin’s statement.

After a brief discussion, the young woman let out a sigh and called towards Shui Ling, “Miss, since you say you’re a disciple of Water Spirit Temple, would you mind showing us some identification?”

“Sure,” Shui Ling smiled and took out a blue Jade Token and casually threw it to the young woman.

The young woman caught it and after a quick examination, wore an even more solemn expression, nodding her head as she said, “This Jade Token does contain a trace of Water Qi and should have been carved by a master who cultivates the Water Attribute, but I’m sorry, I’ve never seen this kind of Jade Token before, so I cannot definitively determine you are a Water Spirit Temple disciple.”

Saying so, she threw the Jade Token back and the last trace of hostility on her face disappeared, only leaving behind a look of helplessness.

After a moment of hesitation, the young woman continued, “So, if it is convenient, can the two of you come to my Bold Independent Union for a while? If we can confirm that you are indeed a disciples of Water Spirit Temple, we will no longer investigate what happened here today, but if you’re not... You understand.”

The young women’s words were neither angry nor depressed, neither arrogant nor servile, fully demonstrating her adaptability and ability as a leader.

“Good,” Shui Ling smiled, not trying to refuse.

In any case, her identity was real, as long as Bold Independent Union inquired slightly, they would soon be able to confirm this.

“Yang Kai, what do you think?” Shui Ling also consulted Yang Kai; after all, she knew Yang Kai was someone who only ate soft food but refused hard food. These people clearly wanted to detain them, if that angered him and he was unwilling to cooperate, then their only option would be to fight.

But Yang Kai this time just shrugged his shoulders, “It doesn’t matter, I don’t know where to go from here anyway.”

Shui Ling couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The young woman nodded and waved, “Then it’s settled!”

Saying so, she turned around and led the way, Yang Kai and Shui Ling following close behind, and the other seven Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivators bringing up the rear.

Their formation clearly showed they were still wary of Yang Kai and Shui Ling’s identities and motives.

As they walked through the marsh, the young woman also intentionally or unintentionally asked Shui Ling some questions, all of which Shui Ling care-freely responded to, making no attempt to hide anything.

And the more the two talked, the more the young women felt Shui Ling wasn’t lying.

“Right, you mentioned a Scarlet Blood Orchid, right? What’s all that about?” Shui Ling asked casually.

The young woman wore a forced smile but did not avoid the topic, briefly explaining what had just happened.

As she listened to their story, Shui Ling turned to Yang Kai stuck out her tongue playfully.

Yang Kai wore an innocent expression; he too didn’t know what importance the Scarlet Blood Orchid had to these people.

“After fleeing this time, it will be at least half a year before it shows itself again and it is quite likely it will leave this area of the swamp altogether. Finding it again will be quite difficult,” The young woman sighed.

“Why is that Scarlet Blood Orchid so important to you?”

“The orchid isn’t something our Bold Independent Union has great need of, but it is essential for the Young Master of Langya Sacred Ground. We promised to hand over that Scarlet Blood Orchid to Langya Sacred Ground half a month from now, but since we’ve lost our only opportunity to obtain it, I don’t know how we’re going to explain ourselves to them.”

“Langya Sacred Ground’s Young Master? Mu Hui? Was he injured?” Shui Ling was surprised.

“Does Young Miss know Young Master Mu?”

“En, we’ve met before,” Shui Ling nodded.

The young woman’s eyes flashed as she let out a laugh, her attitude becoming noticeably warmer, “It looks like young miss really is a disciple from Water Spirit Temple.”

“Naturally, our Water Spirit Temple and Langya Sacred Ground are close friends. Seeing how Mu Hui is the one who needs that Scarlet Blood Orchid, maybe I can help you.”

“Hm?” The young woman paused, directing a puzzled look towards Shui Ling.

“You said the Scarlet Blood Orchid dove into the depths of the swamp, yes?”

“That’s right.”

“Take me to where it disappeared and I’ll see if I can find it again.”

The group of people from Bold Independent Union stared blankly at Shui Ling. After a moment silence, the young woman smiled and shook her head, “Your offer is quite kind, but the swamp there is very muddy and over a thousand meters deep, even if you are a Water Attribute cultivator, it is impossible to find that orchid in such an environment. I know that everyone from Water Spirit Temple majors in Water Attribute Secret Arts and Martial Skills, but...”

“I’m not just skilled in Water Attribute techniques,” Shui Ling smiled confidently.

Shui Ling possessed the Water Spirit Body, a genuine special constitution, so in a place like this with lots of water, all of her abilities would be enhanced ten or twenty percent.

The young woman thought about it for a while before finally agreeing, turning in a different direction and waving, “This way.”

At this point, she decided to let Shui Ling give it a try. It didn’t matter if she was unsuccessful, but if she somehow managed to succeed, Bold Independent Union would be able to fulfill its commitment to Langya Sacred Ground.

A short time later, the group of people arrived at the place where the Scarlet Blood Orchid had disappeared. Around the area, Yang Kai detected several barriers and traps and confirmed that these people had not been lying. They had indeed been waiting here to capture the Scarlet Blood Orchid, but at the last minute had fallen short.

“There,” The young woman pointed to the swamp in front of them.

Yang Kai quietly released his Divine Sense and attempted to prove the depths below, but he was unable to discover anything.

“I’ll go down and have a look,” Shui Ling said, diving into the murky water and disappearing.

The young woman and the others from Bold Independent Union glanced over at Yang Kai once before no longer paying any attention to him, instead just anxiously waiting.

After the time it would take for a stick of incense to burn, bubbles began forming on the swamp’s surface, raising everyone’s tension even further.

*Hua...*

Shui Ling jumped out of the swamp. Her clothes weren’t the slightest bit wet, but her face somewhat pale and her lips were purple, trembling as if she had just experienced a deep chill.

The group from Bold Independent Union looked to her with anticipation.

Unfortunately, Shui Ling shook her head.

Seeing this, all of them revealed a look of disappointment.

“What happened down there?” Yang Kai asked in concern. Shui Ling currently looked like she had just emerged from a thousand year old glacier and was obviously chilled to the bone, traces of Cold Qi and frost wafting from her body.

“I’ll explain later,” Shui Ling quickly circulated her Secret Art to dispel the Cold Qi in her body.

A little while later, after Shui Ling had recovered somewhat, she let out a long breath and said, “Although I couldn’t bring it back, I did find where it was hiding.”

“You found it?” The young woman’s eyes lit up as she called out in surprise.

“En, but by myself, I have no way of obtaining it.”

“Why?” The young woman asked urgently.

“Because it’s hiding beneath a layer of Ice Flame Star Sand.”

“Ice Flame Star Sand?” Everyone from Bold Independent Union exclaimed, a greedy light flashing across their eyes.

“What’s that?” Yang Kai asked; seeing everyone’s reaction he immediately knew this Ice Flame Star Sand was some kind of precious treasure.

“A Spirit Grade Top-Rank Artifact Refining material. It has an extremely low natural temperature and is a greatly sought after by many Transcendent Realm masters, even some Saints use it when refining their artifacts,” Shui Ling explained lightly.

The expression of the Bold Independent Union group lifted greatly.

“So it’s hiding beneath a piece of Ice Flame Star Sand,” The young woman nodded repeatedly, “Although I know the places where World Spirit Treasures are born normally have some precious materials nearby, I didn’t expect it to be this.”

“It’s more likely that the Ice Flame Star Sand contributed to the birth of Scarlet Blood Orchid,” Shui Ling smiled, “But regardless, the ice that’s formed down below is very thick, I can’t break it.”

“I’ll help you!” A chubby man from Bold Independent Union immediately came stepped towards Shui Ling and summoned a ball of flame onto his palm, proudly declaring, “I cultivated a Fire Attribute Secret Art, perfect for melting through ice.”

But in response, Shui Ling shook her head, “No, your strength is too low.”

“I’m an Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage cultivator!” The chubby man said, clearly a little dissatisfied.

But Shui Ling still just shook her head, “I have a helper in mind already, there’s no need for you to come up. Yang Kai, come with me, of the people here, I’m afraid only you can break open that layer of ice!”

The chubby man squinted towards Yang Kai and suddenly became angry, “You say I’m not good enough, but instead want to take this Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh Stage kid instead?”

“Since I’ve said he can help, naturally he is capable. Or do you not want that Scarlet Blood Orchid? Right now I’m helping you for free you know.”

The man suddenly closed his mouth.

The young woman quickly laughed and said, “There’s no need to quarrel, we’ll leave it up to you.”

Although the Ice Flame Star Sand was valuable, Bold Independent Union’s current priority was the Scarlet Blood Orchid so the young women naturally didn’t want to make Shui Ling unhappy.

Shui Ling nodded and before even asking for his approval, pulled Yang Kai into the swamp.

After they disappeared, Ji Hong, the bearded man in the Bold Independent Union party, suddenly realized something and cursed, “Shit, Young Lady, you don’t think those two would take this opportunity to escape do you?”

Hearing this, the young woman’s beautiful face suddenly went pale, thinking such a scenario was possible.

In truth, there was no reason for this pair of strangers to help them, and facing the temptation of a World Spirit Treasure and a Spirit Grade Top-Rank material, it wasn’t impossible for them to simply rob them and disappear.

“They shouldn’t,” They young women replied somewhat faintly.

“Then why did she insist on bringing that youth with her even though he’s so weak? Clearly she wanted to create an opportunity for the two of them to snatch those treasures and then escape.”

Thinking this was a reasonable hypothesis, the entire Bold Independent Union group was filled with indignation and anger.

The young woman’s face became uglier and uglier and she felt an impulse to dive after them in order to confirm their suspicions, but no one among her group had cultivated a Water Attribute Secret Art so it was impossible for them to dive to the bottom of this swamp.

Sending out her Divine Sense, she also was unable to detect either of the pair’s auras.

At this moment, the young woman suddenly felt a bit depressed.

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