Martial Peak Chapter 1854 - Slight Effort

Chapter 1854, Slight Effort
Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain &Dhael Ligerkeys
Seeing Yang Kai not give him any face, Jiang Chang Feng glared but didn’t dare try to test him again; after all, he had wanted to use his Divine Sense to probe Yang Kai’s depths but how could he have known this young man would have such strange methods, causing him to suffer a small loss?
Taking a deep breath to calm his roiling vitality, Jiang Chang Feng suppressed his anger and said, “Is this friend my Purple Star’s Third Venerable?”
Yang Kai looked at him lightly and did not even respond, instead walking over to the table, picking up the pot of Distant Mountain Fog Tea, pouring himself a cup, then taking a sip before putting on a look of ecstasy and praising, “Good tea, good tea!”
Jiang Chang Feng’s old face was incredibly cold and gloomy as he knew this young man was doing this deliberately because of what happened just now. His annoyance at not being given any face began irritating him again. Regardless of anything else, he too was an Origin King; when had he ever been so despised? Unable to contain himself any longer, Jiang Chang Feng coldly snorted before proceeding, “This old master is Purple Star’s Eighth Elder, Jiang Chang Feng. Dare I ask if this friend is my Purple Star’s Third Venerable?”
Yang Kai picked his ear indifferently before sitting down and glancing back at Jiang Chang Feng frivolously, “Old Thing, in front of whom are you calling yourself ‘old master’? Who exactly are you calling your friend?”
“You…” Jiang Chang Feng was furious, trembling with anger.
Yang Kai just coldly snorted though, “You know that this King is a Purple Star Venerable, yet you still dare to show such disrespect? Have you lived all these years in vain?”
Since he knew that the one he was dealing with was Jiang Chang Feng, Yang Kai didn’t even make an effort to be civil. If the upper beam was crooked, the lower beam would be too. Yang Kai had just witnessed Jiang Chao’s disgraceful behaviour, so he was certain Jiang Chang Feng was also another waste.
Seeing Xia Jing Wu and others being persecuted by Jiang Chang Feng so ruthlessly without cause, Yang Kai only felt more annoyed.
What everyone from Five Paths Chamber of Commerce experienced was essentially Yang Kai’s fault, so he was going to get some justice for them and did not display a courteous attitude.
Those who held a Purple Star Order were Purple Star Venerables, a position that was not below the top three Elders of Purple Star in terms of rank and privilege. Jiang Chang Feng was only the eighth-ranked Elder, so it stood to reason that when he saw Yang Kai, he should assume the stance of a subordinate. Yang Kai took full advantage of these rules, making Jiang Chang Feng helpless even if he was enraged.
As such, when Yang Kai’s words were uttered, Jiang Chang Feng could only endure.
Taking a deep breath to calm his anger again, Jiang Chang Feng narrowed his eyes slightly and said, “Just because Your Excellency says he is a Venerable, he is? Only those who hold a Venerable Token personally granted by the Sect Master can become one of my Purple Star’s Venerables. So far, Sect Master has only granted such tokens to two people, and as far as this old master knows, Your Excellency is not one of them!”
Yang Kai glanced at him faintly before taking out the Purple Star Order and tossing it over while snapping in an arrogant tone, “See with your own dog eyes if this Venerable Token is real or fake.”
Jiang Chang Feng hurriedly caught the Venerable Token and began carefully inspecting it. After he finished though, a look of confusion appeared on his face as he muttered, “This Venerable Token is real, but… why have my Purple Star’s Elders never been informed about the appearance of a third Venerable? When did Sect Master give Your Excellency this Venerable Token?”
“Is that any of your business?” Yang Kai sneered, “Or what? Does Eighth Elder believe your Sect Master needs to report his actions to you?”
Jiang Chang Feng’s face changed drastically as he said in a flurry, “Naturally not! This Jiang has no right to question how Sect Master acts.”
“Since you have no right to question then keep your mouth shut.”
Jiang Chang Feng’s expression fluctuated several times, but he eventually managed to choke down his anger before holding the Venerable Token in both hands and walking over to Yang Kai, “This Venerable Token is indeed authentic, so it is a certainty that Your Excellency is my Purple Star’s Third Venerable. This Elder had previously offended Third Venerable and asks to be forgiven!”
Yang Kai glanced at him sideways before continuing to drink his tea. A moment later, he clearly enunciated, “Do you think this King wanted to be a Venerable of your Purple Star? If it were not for Zi Long’s persistent pleading, this King would never have accepted this Venerable Token. What a farce!”
Jiang Chang Feng’s jaw dropped wide in astonishment as he stared at Yang Kai in shock. He did not know if these words were mere bluster or the truth; after all, the facts couldn’t be verified by anyone.
However, regardless of the case, holding onto the Venerable Token was inappropriate so seeing Yang Kai make no effort to take it back, Jiang Chang Feng could only respectfully place it onto the table before backing away.
“Eighth Elder appearing here is not just to verify the identity of this King, is it?” Yang Kai spat out a tea leaf as he looked at him indifferently.
Jiang Chang Feng’s heart clenched as he suddenly remembered he had an actual purpose in appearing here and quickly said, “Please understand, Venerable. This Jiang came here on orders from the Great Elder.”
“Great Elder?” Yang Kai’s brow rose.
“Indeed, Great Elder was very pleased to hear that my Purple Star had received another Venerable, so he instructed this Jiang to come here especially to invite Venerable to the Inner City to chat.”
“Not interested!” Yang Kai spat disdainfully.
“Huh?” Jiang Chang Feng looked at Yang Kai in amazement with a stunned expression.
“You can’t understand simple words? I said I am not interested. You can go.”
Jiang Chang Feng suddenly burst out into cold sweat as he hastily said, “Venerable, this Jiang is here to invite you on behalf of the Great Elder!”
“I heard it, so what?”
[So what?] Suddenly Jiang Chang Feng found out all the humiliation he just endured was not unjust. This enigmatic Venerable did not even give face to Purple Star’s Great Elder, so how could he care about a mere Eighth Elder?
Suddenly, Jiang Chang Feng felt less stifled in his heart.
However, having received orders to come here, Jiang Chang Feng could not just go back like this, so he frowned and said to Yang Kai solemnly, “Venerable, Sect Master is not currently here to assume command of Purple Star City, so all of Purple Star’s affairs are being managed by Great Elder. Isn’t Venerable refusing this invitation a bit inappropriate?”
“Inappropriate how?” Yang Kai looked at Jiang Chang Feng with a smile.
“That is…” Jiang Chang Feng could only think that Yang Kai was intentionally acting dense. How could not giving Great Elder face possibly be appropriate?
Yang Kai coldly snorted, “This King is Purple Star’s Venerable, not some Purple Star lackey. Even if Zi Long wants to see me, he has to visit me personally. If he has some request for me, he must first discuss it with this King and receive this King’s agreement. Go back and tell Gong Sun Liang that if he wants to see this King, he can come here himself! This King doesn’t have so much leisure time to listen to his nonsense!”
The Gong Sun Liang Yang Kai mentioned was none other than Purple Star’s Great Elder! A powerful Second-Order Origin King.
Jiang Chang Feng’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he finally realized just how arrogant and domineering this new Venerable was, and while somewhat disturbed in his heart, he also could not help laughing wryly to himself.
“Get out!” Yang Kai saw Jiang Chang Feng still lingering and shouted impatiently. Mixed in with Yang Kai’s shout was the power of his Divine Sense, which caused Jiang Chang Feng to tremble and a look of horror to fill his face. Hastily, he nodded, “Since that is the case, this Jiang will take his leave. Please excuse me, Venerable!”
Saying so, he tried to quickly depart.
“Wait!” Yang Kai suddenly shouted again.
Jiang Chang Feng was shocked, turned around to Yang Kai in confusion, and asked, “What else does Venerable have to say?”
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes and said in a cold tone, “Since today is our first meeting, and this is your first offence, just leave some Saint Crystals as compensation. When you go back, bring a message to Gong Sun Liang: If any blind fool comes here to trouble Five Paths Chamber of Commerce and frighten this Venerable’s friends, the matter won’t be resolved with just some Saint Crystals. This King will go to the Inner City in person and have a good chat with him.”
When he spoke the word ‘chat’, Yang Kai put a heavy emphasis on it while wearing a fierce grin.
Jiang Chang Feng was stunned for a moment before he seemed to understand what Yang Kai meant and a strange expression appeared on his face, “Venerable is asking this Jiang to leave Saint Crystals here to compensate those people?”
“After wounding others in their own home, you want to just leave?” Yang Kai looked at him sarcastically, “It’s fine if you don’t want to leave any Saint Crystals. Where there is grievance, there is revenge. This King will simply make a move, as long as you withstand it, you can go!”
Jiang Chang Feng was taken aback by this. Although he had not been in contact with Yang Kai for long, he understood that the other party was strong enough to back up his arrogant behaviour. With his First-Order Origin King cultivation, he would never be able to compete. Taking a single move from Yang Kai couldn’t kill him but being injured was certain.
After weighing his options in this situation, Jiang Chang Feng did not hesitate to take out some Saint Crystals from his Space Ring before angrily spitting, “As per Venerable’s command, this Jiang would not dare disobey. This Jiang will be certain to convey Venerable’s words to Great Elder precisely!”
“That would be best!” Yang Kai smiled wickedly, as if he didn’t even fear the Heavens.
Jiang Chang Feng snorted coldly before turning around and walking away.
After Jiang Chang Feng left, Yang Kai frowned imperceptibly and began to think.
He suddenly felt that there were some swirling currents under the calm appearance of Purple Star City.
When he went out with Hua You Meng today, he encountered a conflict between the people from Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce and Purple Star, then someone secretly showed favour to him as they were returning back where he then found Jiang Chang Feng waiting for him.
There were indications that Purple Star City was about to undergo some great change and experience a period of unrest.
“Sir…” Hua You Meng walked in, and after seeing Yang Kai sink into deep thought for a while without saying a word, she could not help calling out worriedly.
“What’s the matter?” Yang Kai looked up at her.
“These Saint Crystals…” Hua You Meng pointed at the Saint Crystals which had been scattered all over the floor. Although she did not have an exact count, she was certain there were at least 300,000 piled up, a dazzling sight to behold.
“Oh, these are the compensation given by Jiang Chang Feng to Uncle Xia and the others. Have them share them amongst themselves,” Yang Kai explained with a smile.
“Compensation… compensation?” Hua You Meng’s expression was dazed and surprised.
“Yeah, just now, Elder Jiang’s anger frightened Uncle Xia and the others quite a bit. Elder Jiang felt sorry for his rash actions and left some Saint Crystals to comfort them.”
Hua You Meng showed an expression somewhere between laughing and crying hearing this. With her shrewdness, how could she not know Yang Kai had extorted this compensation for Uncle Xia? As Purple Star’s Eighth Elder, Jiang Chang Feng was aloft and arrogant, not caring at all about the life or death of ordinary cultivators and he certainly wouldn’t take the initiative to compensate one unless someone forced him to do so.
Understanding this, Hua You Meng nodded gratefully to Yang Kai and said, “Many thanks, Sir.”
“By the way, can I trouble you to do something for me, President Hua?”
“Sir only needs to issue an order and Five Paths Chamber of Commerce will do everything in its power to carry it out. Also… Sir does not need to call this Mistress ‘President’ anymore, it’s not a title this Mistress can afford before Sir. Sir should just… address this Mistress by her… name,” As she spoke, Hua You Meng blushed and lowered her head.
Yang Kai lightly coughed and said, “Ah, en, I want you to investigate if there have been any signs of unrest or trouble in Purple Star City recently. Your chamber of commerce has operated in Purple Star City for a few decades now so surely you have some sources of information.”
“Signs of trouble?” Hua You Meng frowned but did not ask too much, immediately replying in a serious tone, “Sir may rest assured, this Mistress will go all out!”