Martial Peak

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Fei Zhi Tu chuckled, his attitude softening significantly as he explained, “You not understanding is reasonable. Ancient Divine Spirits like to devour World Spirits of the same attributes because it is extremely beneficial to them. It looks like your Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul is quite weak, so it should urgently want to swallow that World Spirit to restore its strength. Ancient Divine Spirits are natural predators to World Spirits! However, you can rest assured, since that Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul belongs to you, after swallowing that World Spirit, it will naturally return.”

“So that’s how it is!” Yang Kai nodded with a composed look while still feeling anxious inside.

Others did not know the situation, but he was perfectly clear that the Phoenix Empress Inheritance was only using his body as a vessel to reside in for a time and didn’t actually belong to him. If not for him possessing the Dragon Emperor Inheritance, the Phoenix Empress Inheritance would not have come with him and would still be sealed in the Phoenix Nest back on Tong Xuan Realm.

Naturally, Yang Kai wasn’t going to disclose this kind of information and could only swallow down his worries. If the people here learned that the Ice Phoenix did not actually belong to him, it might cause some unnecessary trouble.

However, after this incident, Yang Kai understood that Dragon Phoenix Palace’s Dragon Emperor and Phoenix Empress Inheritances were actually Ancient Divine Spirit Remnant Souls. Knowing this, it was easy to understand why they had such power and why the two tattoos on his back seemed so lifelike, often swimming across the surface of his skin.

The World Spirit of this ice road wanted to devour the vitality of Yang Kai’s group, but now it had met its natural enemy and been forced to flee. As a result, the big stone that was pressing on everyone’s hearts lifted along with the life or death crisis. With the Artifact Spirit and Grand Fire Ward’s two layers of protection, the group didn’t need to worry about being affected by the ambient cold but they still accelerated their pace to rush towards the end of the ice road.

A short time later, Yang Kai realized that the coldness of this place was converging towards a certain place and the dreadful chill in the air was significantly easing.

After a while, this abnormal movement stopped and at a certain point in the distance, a bright glow appeared. A gorgeous and noble figure soon came into view as it rushed over towards Yang Kai’s group.

Yang Kai wore a look of joy as the Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul returned.

Although he had been somewhat worried, he was still certain the other party wouldn’t just leave so easily; after all, the Phoenix Empress Inheritance and his Dragon Emperor Inheritance shared a strong bond that attracted one another.

For these years, the Ice Phoenix had taken his body as its vessel and been in a state of deep sleep, so it suddenly leaving without reason was an unlikely scenario.

With a great flash of light, the huge figure of the Ice Phoenix floated above everyone’s head, its cold and noble eyes staring down at all of them, causing everyone to unconsciously hold their breath.

Seeing this, Yang Kai’s eyes flashed a strange light and quietly whispered, “City Lord Fei, could I trouble you to open a gap in the Grand Fire Ward?”

“En,” Fei Zhi Tu nodded quickly and with a quick thought opened a small hole in the Grand Fire Ward’s protection. At the same time, the Firebird Artifact Spirit also opened a passage through its barrier.

The Ice Phoenix’s figure transformed into a beam of white light that dove into Yang Kai’s body and disappeared.

Although everyone was curious whether the Ice Phoenix had successfully swallowed the World Spirit, no one asked at this time as what was most important right now was to leave this ice road.

Fortunately, it seemed that they were not far from the ice road’s end and after only a few dozen breaths the group stepped off it and into a stone hall. At the same time, the chill which had filled the air finally disappeared.

Fei Zhi Tu turned his head and looked at Yang Kai, but upon seeing him frown as he seemingly investigated himself, he didn’t bother him and just said, “All of you take a rest here for now, I’ll search for the markings left by Old Qian.”

Saying so, he walked off to search the area.

When everyone heard Fei Zhi Tu’s proposal, none of them objected, all of them finding a spot to sit down cross-legged and control their breathing. Although they had not expended much strength when crossing this ice road, the mental strain they experienced was great. If not for the Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul appearing at the last moment, the consequences would have been unimaginable. To resist the ambient cold and the World Spirit’s attack, everyone had consumed some power, so now was a good chance to restore themselves.

Yang Kai sat silently as he continued to inspect the situation in his body.

Although the Phoenix Empress Inheritance did not belong to him, since it was living in his body, he was able to sense some things about it. To his surprise, the Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul did not seem to have obtained much nourishment after it left him, and although it indeed felt stronger than before, it was obviously not because it had swallowed that World Spirit.

[It failed to devour the World Spirit!] Yang Kai immediately made this conclusion. However, after absorbing some of the Ice Attribute Energy from the ice road, it had managed to strengthen itself a bit.

This result did not surprise Yang Kai. For one, the Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul did not have much strength right now. It was just an ancient inheritance and could not play any kind of big role in his hands. Only when he transferred it to Su Yan and the two fused would it be able to display its full might.

Secondly, since the Ice Attribute World Spirit was born on this ice road, it must be extremely familiar with the environment so avoiding the Ice Phoenix should not have been a problem.

[What a pity!] Yang Kai sighed. If the Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul could have swallowed the World Spirit, maybe some unexpected changes would have occurred. If he could give it to Su Yan after that, the benefits she would obtain would be even greater.

Yang Kai was not ready to go back to find trouble with the World Spirit right now though. Although the Ice Phoenix was its natural enemy, Yang Kai could not control the Ice Phoenix at all and even a cornered rabbit would bite back, let alone a powerful World Spirit. From what Yang Kai observed, if that World Spirit was really driven into a dead end, who would die and who would live between it and the Ice Phoenix was uncertain.

While everyone was meditating and resting, they would also shoot glances towards Yang Kai from time to time. Everyone hid deep envy in the depths of their eyes, and even the always indifferent Lian Guang was no exception.

In response, Yang Kai pretended not to notice and simply continued his meditation. What they thought to themselves was not any of his concern, as long as they didn’t try to find trouble with him.

“Good, I found the marks left behind by that old ghost Qian. Follow me!” Fei Zhi Tu’s voice suddenly called out. When everyone heard this, they stood up and walked over towards the source of the sound.

This hall’s area was not very large and, after leaving it, the group soon arrived at the entrance to a labyrinth. There were many passages that split and criss-crossed, leading to who knows where. Just looking at it made everyone feel a headache coming on.

Standing at the entrance of the labyrinth, everyone looked around at one another, unsure of how to proceed.

Fei Zhi Tu stepped forward at that moment, causing everyone to fall in behind him.

As he walked, Fei Zhi Tu explained, “Although some of the things in Old Qian’s message were not clear, he did mention this labyrinth. There are no Spirit Arrays in this maze but there are some other traps!”

“Traps?” Ning Xiang Chen looked surprised.

“Yeah, traps!” Fei Zhi Tu gently nodded, “Don’t underestimate these traps, if you accidentally touch one of them, we may not be able to escape from here with our lives!”

Ning Xiang Chen and the others all paled slightly upon hearing this.

While talking, a fork in the road suddenly appeared in front of the group. Fei Zhi Tu stood at the fork and looked back at Lian Guang, “Lian Boy, you’re up.”

Without a word, Lian Guang waved his hand and suddenly a few puppets resembling mice appeared on the ground. Under Lian Guang’s command, these mice dove into the various forks and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Yang Kai’s eyes lit up as he finally understood why Fei Zhi Tu had brought the Saint King Realm Lian Guang along: it was to use his puppet to explore the way here.

This was indeed an excellent method. In places where it was too dangerous for a cultivator to explore, Lian Guang’s puppets could be used instead. Even if some of these puppets were lost, it wouldn’t result in much harm.

After the few mice-like puppets disappeared, Lian Guang closed his eyes as if he was sensing something. After a while, a squeaking noise came from the left channel and Lian Guang’s face cringed in pain for a moment.

Judging from this, the passage on the left was probably quite dangerous and the puppet which was scouting it had been destroyed.

After a while, another squeak sounded from the front passage and Lian Guang opened his eyes and said, “Right!”

Fei Zhi Tu nodded lightly and headed into the right passage.

With Lian Guang’s pathfinder puppets, it was much more convenient to explore this labyrinth. These mouse puppets did not seem to have any combat power but were instead extremely well suited for scouting. After sacrificing about thirty of these puppets, the group exited the labyrinth without a single scratch.

But Lian Guang’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot and it was obvious that he was feeling quite distressed.

Although it was not too difficult to refine these mice puppets, each of them had consumed a lot of materials. Thirty mouse puppets were equivalent to a few years of Lian Guang’s savings.

It would be strange if his mood was good.

“Rest assured, after we return, you will receive enough benefits to compensate for your loss,” Fei Zhi Tu comforted.

With this promise, Lian Guang’s complexion became much better.

“Brother Fei, you didn’t mention anything about this before. What should we do now?” Ning Xiang Chen frowned as he stared forward.

Hearing this question, Fei Zhi Tu turned his head and looked towards the front, a dumbfounded expression soon covering his face.

Because after passing through the labyrinth, two arched doors appeared in front of the group, one black and one white. These doors were quite strange, the white one seemingly made of warm white jade while the black one gave off a cold and menacing aura. The contrast was quite stark.

Beyond the two arched doors there was only a void. Any Divine Sense that penetrated this void was unable to perceive anything. It was like staring into a bottomless lake.

“A Space Array Gate?” Fei Zhi Tu exclaimed in surprise.

“What, did Elder Qian not tell you which one of these we’re supposed to enter?” Ning Xiang Chen asked in amazement. If there was something in the message sent by Qian Tong, Fei Zhi Tu would not be showing a surprised look right now, so the only explanation was that even Fei Zhi Tu didn’t know about this thing.

“He didn’t mention this gate!” Fei Zhi Tu slowly shook his head.

“How could Elder Qian have neglected to mention something so important?” Ning Xiang Chen called out in alarm.

“That old ghost Qian’s message was clearly sent in a rush, so him not being able to mention some things isn’t unexpected,” Fei Zhi Tu frowned. Saying so, he turned his head to look at Cai He and Du Si Si and asked, “Can you two analyse this gate?”