Martial Peak

Everyone at the scene, regardless of their strength, could feel just how profound and unfathomable the Demonic Flames were.  None of them had ever encountered such a strange power. The contradictory nature of the Demonic Flames along made many feel uncomfortable, as they were already being attacked by it.  No one could tell what would happen if they were to actually be struck with it.

For a moment, expressions of dread and horror filled the faces of the crowd.

Ba Qing Yan’s sent a signal with his eyes to the other Hai Ke Family cultivators, silently ordering them to withdraw. He had finally noticed that there was something a bit off with Yang Kai; after all, how could a trivial Third-Order Saint stand so arrogantly in front of Xu Zhi Shen if he didn’t have something to rely on?

However, no matter what this youth had to rely on, Ba Qing Yan was disinclined to interfere in this chaos.  The dispute between the Xu Family and Yang Kai had nothing to do with him so he was happy to simply stand aside and watch the good show.  His only concern now was how he should handle Wu Yi’s treachery!

Daring to leave the family without authorization, no matter who it was, their end would not be good!

Yang Yan had already witnessed Yang Kai’s fight before, but she didn’t know if he could perfectly handle Xu Zhi Shen, so she quickly brought Wu Yi and Yu Feng to her side lest they get caught up in this conflict.

After seeing everyone else withdraw, the other cultivators from the Xu Family also pulled back.

In the blink of an eye, only Yang Kai and Xu Zhi Shen remained facing each other.

“Old dog, my principle has always been if others don’t provoke me, I won’t provoke them.  Since you’ve come though, don’t even think about leaving!” Yang Kai wasn’t one to negotiate, not to mention this old dog calling him a little beast had angered him.  Yang Kai had decided to teach this old dog a harsh lesson today.

Neither the Hai Ke Family nor the Xu Family could be placed in Yang Kai’s eyes.  These two families didn’t even have a single Origin Returning Realm master, so Yang Kai was confident they had no way to restrain him.  Even if an Origin Returning Realm master really came, Yang Kai could still escape.

As such, he had no scruples.

“Rampant Brat!”  Xu Zhi Shen shouted indignantly, his old face somewhat pale as his Soul had suffered some slight damage just now.  He had constantly been searching for the powerful Soul type artefact Yang Kai was wearing, but even until now he couldn’t find one.  This alone was enough to shock Xu Zhi Shen and he quickly shelved his contempt. After a shout, he raised his hand and a nearly invisible black line shot towards Yang Kai.

He had hidden this weapon with his own Saint Qi a moment ago to easily kill the cultivator called Chou Yuan.  Besides Ba Qing Yan, who knew about this strange weapon, no one else on the scene had noticed, all of them simply thinking it was Xu Zhi Shen’s condensed Saint Qi.  However, Yang Kai Divine Sense was incredibly powerful, and he had long ago been on guard against this strange artefact, swiftly intercepting it with his sword.

The dark Demonic Flames were capable of burning everything in existence and was the foundation of Yang Kai’s strength, so he believed that even if this thin thread was an Origin Grade artifact, it could still be incinerated by his Demonic Flame.

A sharp sound rang out as sparks flew from Yang Kai’s Demonic Flame sword when it collided with the thin thread.  At the same time, a wave of cold energy suddenly burst from the thin line, sweeping towards Yang Kai from all directions.

Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed, and his powerful Divine Sense locked onto the thin black thread.  He found that this thing was a little different from what he had expected, and that his Demonic Flames didn’t have much effect on them. Although he managed to deflect it, it wasn’t burnt in the slightest.

The corners of Xu Zhi Shen’s mouth rose slightly and a confident look filled his face as he shouted, “Surrender your life!”

As soon as his voice fell, the tiny black thread suddenly split into a giant woven net and threatened to engulf Yang Kai.

Yang Kai quickly evaded while at the same time sending out a huge Heaven Covering Hand, one grand enough to seemingly shroud the entire world.  Everyone who was watching the battle couldn’t help feeling like the sky had become dark.

Violent energy fluctuations burst out and the giant net woven from black threads instantly disintegrated.  Xu Zhi Shen’s body shook a bit as he turned a look of disbelief towards Yang Kai, never having expected his secret killing blow would be broken so easily.

It was because he feared Yang Kai’s ability to damage his Soul that Xu Zhi Shen had exerted his full strength right from the start. He wanted to kill Yang Kai as fast as possible to save face for the Xu Family, but his efforts have fallen short.

This Third Order Saint Realm youth’s eyesight was incredibly sharp and had apparently long ago seen through Xu Zhi Shen’s hidden artefact.  On top of that, this young man’s Saint Qi carried a destructive force comparable to his own; if that weren’t the case, he would never have been able to deflect his Nether Shadow Soul Silk!

The method to repel the Nether Shadow Soul Silk was quite simple actually, but one needed incredible power to accomplish it.

If it was a cultivator in the same realm as him, such as Ba Qing Yan, Xu Zhi Shen could accept such a result, but this kid was clearly just a Saint Realm cultivator.

Did this boy actually have the ability to fight him on even terms?  Xu Zhi Shen almost screamed out in surprise. Xu Zhi Shen was suspicious that the injury to his Soul just now was the result of Yang Kai relying on some powerful artifact, but now he didn’t dare think so.

It seemed this young man wasn’t any weaker than himself!

There was something very wrong with this young man!  No wonder he had dared to utter such arrogant provocations, it turned out he was playing the pig to eat a tiger.  No wonder Chou Yuan had been seriously injured when he returned to the family and no matter how he was asked he refused to explain.  No wonder Chou Yuan had turned around and ran the moment Xu Zhi Shen tried to send him forward. It seems that his injuries were caused by this young man, but Chou Yuan hadn’t dared to explain for fear he would be further punished.

Being able to seriously injure a Second-Order Saint King and even inflicting a serious trauma on his heart, such ability was nothing short of terrifying.

At this point, Xu Zhi Shen no longer looked down on Yang Kai and his expression instead became dignified.  The thin black thread which had been blocked by the Heaven Covering Hand was taken back by him and a pill was stuffed into his mouth.

After witnessing this exchange, the onlookers couldn’t help gawking.

Whether it was the Hai Ke Family or Xu Family members, all of them had their jaws dropped.

All of them had thought that with Xu Zhi Shen taking action personally, Yang Kai would immediately be captured or killed and that all his shameless boasting would be thoroughly wiped away!  This youth daring to utter so many insults had all the cultivators of the Xu Family very much looking forward to how he would be crippled then forced to beg for mercy.

How could they have anticipated that after a single exchange, Yang Kai’s face would remain calm and indifferent with not a scratch on him while their Elder, Xu Zhi Shen was the one wearing a solemn look and being forced to swallow a pill?

As long as one wasn’t blind, they would know that things were quite different from what they had imagined.

“Elder Ba… what… what does this mean?”  Wu Yi’s cousin named Wu Ke asked Ba Qing Yan haltingly as he honestly couldn’t understand.

Upon hearing his question, everyone turned their attention to Ba Qing Yan, hoping he could answer it.

“What does this mean?”  Ba Qing Yan coldly snorted, “It means the Xu Family has kicked an iron plate this time!”

“Ah!”  Even if his brain couldn’t keep up with the rapidly changing situation, Wu Ke could still understand the meaning of Ba Qing Yan’s words, his expression becoming complex as he stared towards Yang Kai and asked, “Elder Ba, he only looks like a Third Order Saint. Even if he can resist for a bit, Senior Xu will soon take him down; after all, the gap in their cultivations is enormous.”

Wu Ke’s words, however, were more to comfort himself than anything else.  Wu Yi had left the family because of this young man, so as long as this young man died, Wu Yi’s end would be miserable and, at the time, Wu Ke wouldn’t fail to add insult to injury.  Naturally, he didn’t want to see even the possibility of Wu Yi rising up again.

“Who knows,” Ba Qing Yan muttered as a profound light flickered across their depths.  He was no longer paying any attention to Xu Zhi Shen and was instead focusing entirely on Yang Kai.  When they first arrived, Ba Qing Yan had not cared at all about this youth, but now how could he afford to not care about him?

Just where did Wu Yi find this little brat?  He was too extraordinary.

With the cultivators from both families unable to believe their eyes, obviously Wu Yi and Yu Feng couldn’t as well.

They were clearer than anyone else present about Yang Kai’s origins.  It was Yu Feng who had brought back Yang Kai who at the time had been trapped inside a blood-red crystal, to their Starship.  Although all of them had gotten along well enough, they had only regarded Yang Kai as a young cultivator who had drifted here by accident.  Wu Yi giving Dragon Cave Mountain to Yang Kai was because he was familiar with the outside world’s situation and she felt he might be helpful to her later on.

Neither of them had imagined Yang Kai’s strength would be so astonishing.

Yang Yan wore a look of pride as she declared, “Don’t worry, Yang Kai won’t lose. Last time, he killed three First Order Saint King with ease and forced that guy named Chou Yuan to flee.  Although that old man seems stronger than Chou Yuan, it shouldn’t be by much.”

“Ah!”  Wu Yi couldn’t help covering her mouth, “Did you just say… he killed several Saint Kings?  Is that really true?”

Yang Yan smiled helplessly, “He killed them right in front of me.  It was so scary that I fell unconscious for three days before waking up.”

Yang Yan proceeded to colourfully describe the events of that time, and she did with a zeal that made it difficult to believe she had been so scared at the time.  Wu Yi and Yu Feng listened intently as shock filled their hearts.

“Junior, this old master admits he greatly underestimated you, but what of it?  Today, I, Xu Zhi Shen, will kill you. Don’t even dream of living to see the sun tomorrow!”  Xu Zhi Shen swallowed a pill and finally the ache in his Soul eased; although he couldn’t repair it right now, with his injury temporarily suppressed, he could finally exert his full strength.

“Is that fine thread not an artefact?” After Yang Kai repelled this killing blow, he did not immediately counter-attack but instead stared towards the old man.  Yang Kai faintly felt that the thin black threat wasn’t an artefact, otherwise, his Demonic Flame would have had some effect on it. From the brief confrontation, Yang Kai felt the dark thread was similar to a manifestation of Spiritual Energy, like a physical Divine Sense attack!

Suddenly, he became interested, “A good treasure, en, I want it.”

“Hmph, more shameless boasting. Before you worry about seizing my treasure, you should first worry about keeping your life!”  Xu Zhi Shen coldly snorted, a strong aura erupting from his body as the ground beneath his feet suddenly caved in. Xu Zhi Shen’s clothes blew in the wind as his face filled with malicious intent and cold energy began swirling around him, giving everyone nearby the illusion they had been thrown into a winter storm.

Countless Nether Shadow Soul Silks shot out from Xu Zhi Shen’s body like a thick mess of hair.  Those Nether Shadow Soul Silk threads were like living creatures and all rushed out towards Yang Kai in the next instant.  Halfway to their target, these fine threads merged together to form a great rotating spear before continuing to stab towards Yang Kai’s heart.