Martial Peak

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

“Little Brat! How dare you kill a disciple of the Xie Family!” Xie Quan raged when he saw Yang Kai kill the brute.

“So what if I did? What can you do?!” Yang Kai’s expression was one of ferocity. The Demonic Flame shrouded his body, making it look like a savage god descended from the heavens, thirsting for blood.

As he spoke, he fired a strand of Saint Qi into the Origin King Grade Artifact Refining Furnace floating in the air, causing it to start spinning. As it spun, bursts of flames emerged one after another, transforming into the shape of Firebirds and shooting out.

Those Firebirds were like miniature versions of the Artifact Spirit, looking very much the same, other than the smaller size and lower power. This was the Fire Attribute World Energy stored within the Origin King Grade Artifact Refining Furnace itself. After spending tens of thousands of years burning within the Earth Lung Fire Pond, it was no ordinary item. Usually, Yang Kai only needed to release the Artifact Spirit in order to deal with his enemies, but against so many Origin Returning Realm masters, he didn’t dare to be careless, opting to invoke the force of the Furnace as well.

The Artifact Spirit Firebird spread both wings, causing countless fireballs to form and swarm towards the enemies like a cloud of locusts.

The combination of the two caused the many Origin Returning Realm masters to scramble in fear.

The already blazing Heavenly Fate City suffered even greater losses from this. All the houses and shops within a thousand-metre radius turned to ashes, leaving a seared, pitch-black wasteland where they once stood. Ten or so cultivators were too slow to avoid the attack and died on the spot.

Several gusts of Shi descended from the heavens, and Xie Quan exclaimed in fury, “Little brat! Now that those two old farts are gone, let’s see how a mere Saint King like you can escape!”

The pressure from more than ten layers of Shi stacked together caused Yang Kai to feel like he was completely unable to move. In response, two strands of Golden Thread shot out, furiously cutting away the formless Shi, causing their strength to decrease drastically. With that, Yang Kai took another step forward, his body suddenly blurring away, causing all of the Origin Returning cultivators to be unable to perceive where he went.

He was invoking the Space Force. Although this was not directly tearing space, it was enough to free him from the usual restrictions of space.

When he next appeared, he was already behind Xie Quan.

“Brother Xie, watch out!” No sooner had Yang Kai appeared than the goateed old man shouted.

Xie Quan similarly realized this, his expression changing to shock. A layer of white mist suddenly emerged from his body, wrapping around him and concealing his figure. Yang Kai snorted in disdain, letting a single strand of Golden Thread fly out and wrap around the white mist.

A small bursting sound rang out, followed by Xie Quan’s scream. The layer of white mist condensed, then spontaneously erupted, causing his figure to appear once again.

When the crowd registered the scene before them, they gasped in shock.

Xie Quan was standing at his original position, his face ashen. He stared blankly at the single strand of Golden Threaded passing right through his chest, shock written all over his expression. His eyes were filled with apprehension, and he did not dare move even a finger.

The other end of the Golden Thread was wrapped around Yang Kai’s finger.

He was so easily subdued by Yang Kai! Not only was it unexpected to the rest, but even Xie Quan himself did not imagine that he would fall so easily. All he knew was that the Golden Thread had mysterious properties and was sharp beyond measure. The Saint Qi protecting his body could not block it at all, or else he would not have been pierced by it so easily.

A sharp shriek came from overhead once again, and the gigantic Artifact Spirit Firebird moved to hover over Yang Kai’s head, its eyes scanning the area around it. Every Origin Returning Realm cultivator who met its gaze turned white in fear. Though their fight with it had not been long, everyone had realised how scary it was. One-on-one, not a single one of them was a match for it, and even if they teamed up, it was impossible to subjugate it. Even if this Artifact Spirit was not as strong as a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, it was close.

“Move and you die.” Yang Kai’s voice sounded to Xie Quan like the cold wind blowing from the ninth pit of hell, sending a shiver down his spine.

Seeing that Xie Quan was obeying his instructions and standing there quietly, a look of satisfaction flashed across Yang Kai’s face. He then turned to the other Origin Returning Realm cultivators, and said, “I told you, I came here for two things. The first is done, now the second.”

“What do you want?” Xie Quan said bitterly.

“Return all of the Saint Crystals that you took from my Dragon Cave Mountain!” Yang Kai said coldly.

“Your Saint Crystals are in my Space Ring. Take it if you want.” Xie Quan said through clenched teeth. He had no choice but to obey Yang Kai right now.

Yang Kai glanced at his finger and sent the other Golden Thread out. It wrapped around Xie Quan’s finger, and in the next moment, both the ring and his finger landed onto Yang Kai’s palm.

Fresh blood spurted out, but Xie Quan could only clench his teeth and bear with the pain, not daring to make a single move.

Yang Kai scanned the contents of the ring with his Divine Sense, a smirk forming on his face, “Isn’t the quantity a little low?”

Not just a little, half of it was gone. The materials that Dragon Cave Mountain had ordered from Shadow Moon Hall this time around were worth twenty million Saint Crystals, yet only ten million could be found within the ring, with the rest nowhere to be found.

Xie Quan remained silent, but he glanced towards the goateed old man Ma Xin Yuan. Immediately, Yang Kai understood that they had already split the Saint Crystals that Yu Feng had brought, and the remaining half was probably on him. He stared coldly towards Ma Xin Yuan.

Ma Xin Yuan’s face was one of hesitation and unwillingness. Obviously, he wasn’t too happy to simply give up the profits he had just obtained. A whole ten million Saint Crystals! If it weren’t for this, why would Shadow Moon Hall assist the Xie Family in fighting against Yang Kai? Especially when the internal strife had gotten so heated that very few people could be sent out to deal with external affairs.

Seeing how he looked like he didn’t want to hand the Saint Crystals over, Yang Kai’s expression hardened, the second Golden Thread flying out once again and wrapping around Xie Quan’s shoulder.

Bathed in blood, Xie Quan’s arm fell to the ground. Everyone paled immediately, looking at Yang Kai in disbelief, not expecting him to be so ruthless as to inflict such a grievous injury without saying a single word.

Xie Quan had the tenacity to stay silent, at least. He didn’t make a single noise when his finger was cut off earlier, and similarly not when this whole arm was chopped off. All he did was to turn towards Ma Xin Yuan in anger, his dry lips cracking as he exclaimed, “Brother Ma! Are you simply going to watch as I get dissected by this little brat?”

At this point, Ma Xin Yuan knew that he could no longer keep the Saint Crystals for himself. The Xie Family still had Xie Li within the Shadow Moon Hall, whose position was even higher than his own. If he really allowed Xie Quan to die at the hands of Yang Kai, Xie Li would definitely come for him.

Clenching his teeth, he took the Space Ring off of his finger, taking out his personal belongings and throwing it over to Yang Kai as he spoke vehemently, “Little brat, the rest of the Saint Crystals are all in there. Now release him, unless you want a fight to the death!”

They initially thought that they had everything in control, only to have the entire plan come undone by the Artifact Spirit. Even this little brat called Yang Kai was extremely strange. Up until now, Ma Xin Yuan still hadn’t figured out how he was able to attack Xie Quan and subdue him.

While cursing Xie Quan’s carelessness, he was also starting to feel a little apprehension towards Yang Kai.

If he was able to subdue Xie Quan just like that, there’s a chance that he might be able to kill him. After all, he wasn’t much stronger than Xie Quan.

[Is he really a Third-Order Saint King?] Ma Xin Yuan had strong suspicions that Yang Kai was hiding his cultivation. Looking at how relaxed he was, it was clear that he still hadn’t played all his cards.

Catching the ring that Ma Xin Yuan threw over, Yang Kai did a quick check to make sure he didn’t lie, before nodding and keeping both rings. He ignored Ma Xin Yuan’s threat entirely, instead saying, “Now that I have the Saint Crystals back for, let’s settle the other grudge!”

“What is there to settle?” Ma Xin Yuan’s expression darkened.

“Don’t play dumb with me,” Yang Kai snickered, “detaining the disciples of Dragon Cave Mountain, even going as far as to whip them. After causing them such injuries, did you think I was going to let this go?”

“Injuries…” Ma Xin Yuan roared in anger, “if that’s the case, what about all these shops you destroyed? The disciples you killed? Should I settle things with you as well?!”

“That’s your own fault. Our Dragon Cave Mountain has been fairly trading with you these past two years, never lagging behind on Saint Crystal payments, and yet you abuse our trust in such a way. Just try getting the word out. No one will side with you.”

“Alright then. State your terms!” Ma Xin Yuan seethed.

“Pay up!” Yang Kai went straight to the point, “If not, let’s see if you are prepared to face the consequences!”

“Are you threatening this old master, you little brat?!” Ma Xin Yuan shouted.

“Yes!” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes at him, “I’ll count to three. Disagree, and negotiations are over. One…”

Seeing how unrelenting Yang Kai was, to the point that he was actually starting to count, all the Origin Returning Realm cultivators’ expressions turned cold, a sense of helplessness arising despite their anger. Originally, they thought that their forces were more than enough to take down Dragon Cave Mountain, but things soon got out of hand.

“Two…”

When this number sounded out, Xie Quan started yelling urgently, “Brother Ma…”

Ma Xin Yuan looked at him from afar, an ambiguous expression flashing across his face as he said, “Brother Xie, it was a disciple of your Xie Family who caught and injured them, right? This doesn’t have much to do with Shadow Moon Hall, don’t you agree?”

Xie Quan looked stunned, then immediately felt a pang of anguish. While Ma Xin Yuan was technically correct in that the main perpetrators who engineered this episode against Dragon Cave Mountain were the Xie Family, the way he was shifting all the blame was still too hurtful. After all, they only proceeded with the plan after receiving orders to take the opportunity to test Qian Tong’s response. Either way, Ma Xin Yuan shouldn’t be trying to distance himself completely from this affair.

“Three!” Yang Kai grinned after reaching the last number, “looks like you’re not willing to pay up. Well then, allow me to collect it myself!”

As he said that, the Golden Thread on his hand trembled slightly, and amidst the golden radiance that seems to fill the skies, Xie Quan turned into a pile of mincemeat.

As the smell of blood wafted out, all the Origin Returning Realm cultivators stared in shock.