Martial Peak

With the old man’s Shi broken, Yang Kai was immediately freed from its suppressive effects. Pouring his Saint Qi into the Purple Shield, Yang Kai tossed it forward and activated its special ability, instantly creating a yellow sandstorm that filled the air and swiftly enveloped the one-handed hatchet that had transformed into a jet black python.

From inside the sandstorm, the indistinct screams of the python rang as its giant figure thrashed about; however, it naturally wasn’t a simple matter for it to escape as the Purple Shield was a higher grade artifact than the one-handed hatchet and its sandstorm ability was focused on defence, allowing it to trap the python inside it.

Artifacts didn’t fight on their own of course, so this entanglement between the Purple Shield and the one-handed hatchet was actually a confrontation between Yang Kai and the old man’s Divine Senses, which was being played out through their artifacts.

Soon, the look on the old man’s face changed dramatically because during this battle he discovered that, in terms of foundation, Yang Kai Divine Sense wasn’t any weaker than his own, possibly even stronger and far exceeding what should be possible for a mere Saint King Realm cultivator.

“Who the hell are you!?” The old man exclaimed in alarm. He did not believe that a little brat without a powerful Sect behind him could possibly have such strength. Forget about the elite Saint King Realm disciples of his Myriad Beast Mountain, even Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect could not possibly cultivate such a monstrous talent.

On Shadowed Star, there was only one place where this kind of cultivator might be found: Star Emperor Mountain!

Could this little brat have come out from Star Emperor Mountain for life experience? Recalling all the information he knew about Yang Kai; the old man felt his heart clench tight.

If this was not the case, how could this young man continuously reveal methods which were able to restrain him at every step?

“You spout too much nonsense!” Yang Kai showed no intention of answering. Just now, he had remained on the defensive not because he was not confident in his strength, but because it was his first time dealing with this level of cultivator. Even if he had favourable conditions and an advantageous position, he did not immediately use them as he wanted to try his opponent’s strength first. Now that he had a fair idea of this old man’s abilities, Yang Kai naturally planned to go on the offensive.

Having tested the waters enough, Yang Kai condensed a massive amount of Saint Qi into a giant Demonic Flame sword that seemed to suck in all the light around him before holding it up high and cleaving forward fiercely.

A several-dozen-metre long black sword wave tore through the sky towards the old man.

Feeling the lethality contained in this sword wave, the old man let out a shout and hurriedly dodged to the side, but before he could stand firm, another sword wave swept towards him, as if the young man in front of him didn’t care how much Saint Qi he wasted.

The old man’s complexion went pale as he realized that he could not evade this blow. Gritting his teeth, he summoned out a small square shield from his Space Ring and spat a mouthful of blood onto it. This square shield lit up and began to rotate rapidly, creating a golden light curtain filled with flowing ruins in front of him.

Every cultivator had at least one defensive artifact, and this old man was naturally no exception; after all, there were always times when one would be unable to dodge and deflect an attack in battle.

Although this square shield was just an Origin Grade Low-Rank defensive artifact, it was still a masterpiece refined by Myriad Beast Mountain’s Origin Grade Artifact Refiner. Ordinarily, this old man was reluctant to use it as he considered it one of his most precious possessions.

But now, he had no choice but to take it out.

*Hong…*

With a loud bang, the giant black sword wave smashed onto the centre of the golden light curtain, causing the runes on its surface to tremble but ultimately failing to cause any damage.

The old man trembled as he was forced back several steps, but his face was still filled with joy because he had managed to completely resist this sword wave, filling him with satisfaction about his defensive artifact.

But in the next moment, his joyful smile on his face went stiff as his eyes bulged in shock.

Coming straight at him were dozens of sword waves, each one as powerful as the first. Each of them dozens of metres long, these black flame sword waves seemed to cover half the sky as they closed in on him.

The old man’s heart clenched.

Was this little brat insane? How could a cultivator burn through so much Saint Qi in the middle of a fight? Wasn’t he afraid he would run out and fall into a state of weakness?

No matter what realm a cultivator had achieved, everyone would carefully preserve their strength during battle; after all, no one could guarantee whether they would end up in a protracted battle. If one exhausted all their Saint Qi, wouldn’t they be easily slaughtered by their enemy?

This kind of reckless attack by Yang Kai was something this old man had seen multiple times, but only when an enemy had become cornered and felt they had no way out and no hope of survival. It was a kind of deadly, last-ditch attempt to drag their enemy down with them and, fortunately for the old man, no one had succeeded in dragging him down with them so far.

This little brat suddenly fighting as if he wanted to kill him at the cost of his own life, had he gone mad?

All kinds of stray thoughts flashed across the old man’s mind in that moment. Having just taken one of these blows head-on, the old man had yet to regain his stance before the next wave of attacks approached. He had no other choice but to desperately pour his Saint Qi into his small square shield and pray that it would be able to withstand the incoming barrage.

The glow of the golden light curtain suddenly increased greatly.

In the next moment, a rumbling collision sound echoed, and the old man was continuously forced backwards. Each black sword wave crashed upon the golden light curtain and was dispersed, but it was instantly followed by another.

*Kacha…*

Hearing a clear, crisp, cracking sound, the old man went pale as he looked forward and discovered that the golden light curtain protecting him had begun to break. At first, it was just a small crack, but it had spread out across the entire golden surface like a spider’s web in the blink of an eye.

No matter how solid a defence was, it could not withstand an endless bombardment. Even Dragon Cave Mountain’s extraordinary Mountain Defending Array was no exception to this rule, so what did a trivial Origin Grade Low-Rank defensive artifact count for?

[Not good!] The old man exclaimed in his heart as he quickly threw the small square shield forward while simultaneously darting to the side.

In this critical moment, he could only choose to abandon the small square shield he so greatly treasured; after all, this small shield did not have a special power like Yang Kai’s Purple Shield.

Without the old man’s continuous infusion of Saint Qi, the small shield instantly became a dead item, so even if its grade was high, it was quickly swept up in Yang Kai’s sword wave bombardment and shattered. The scattered fragments of this shield were instantly incinerated by the Demonic Flames and turned to ashes, but by blocking a couple of sword waves, it had bought the old man enough time to withdraw to three hundred metres to relative safety.

Coldly staring towards the position, the old man had retreated, Yang Kai’s empty left hand grabbed towards the air as he condensed a black spear from his Saint Qi.

“Go!” Yang Kai shouted as he tossed this spear, making it race forward at phenomenal speed. The spear disappeared for a moment and, by the time it reappeared, it was already right in front of the old man’s face.

The Heaven Punishing Spear from the Nine Heavens Divine Skills was an attack Yang Kai had reached an incredible level of proficiency with, so the power it could display was now quite extraordinary.

Before the old man had time to recover from the exchange just now, he once again found himself in imminent danger. His heart filled with rage, he let out a great roar as he lifted both his hands and condensed a massive amount of Saint Qi into a light curtain in front of his head and managed to block the Heaven Punishing Spear’s fatal blow.

But this assault had not ended yet. The sky above the old man’s head suddenly distorted as a giant palm appeared and proceeded to slam down towards him, causing the old man’s eyes to bulge.

This palm seemed to obstruct the entire sky, sealing off all escape routes while imposing a sense of despair as it fell.

Heaven Covering Hand, one hand covers the Heavens!

With a loud bang, the palm ruthlessly struck, and the ground trembled violently. A several-dozen-metre-wide pit was opened up and, if one looked down from above, they would be able to clearly make out the shape of a palm.

However, Yang Kai just frowned and turned his eyes to a nearby spot.

At some point, the old man had somehow managed to move to this position, his face pale as he coughed lightly, seemingly quite unsteady.

Yang Kai could not help showing a look of surprise.

He did not know what Secret Technique his opponent had used but it had allowed this old man to escape from his blow just now. It seemed that no Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator could be underestimated.

“Boy, do you really want to force this old master to perish together with you?” The old man glared at Yang Kai with both anger and fear as he coldly asked.

Having arrived at this moment, he no longer dared to underestimate Yang Kai. Even without the suppression of the Spirit Arrays here, he estimated he could not kill Yang Kai and may only be an even match for him.

But now, with the suppression of these strange Spirit Arrays and unable to display even seventy percent of his full strength, this old man realized that he was completely not Yang Kai’s opponent. Besides the first few attacks he managed to land, the rest of the time he had been on the defensive, leading to his current distraught condition.

The exchange just now was especially frightening, causing the old man to sweat just remembering it. If he had not taken the initiative to escape using a Secret Technique that damaged his vitality in order to dramatically increase his speed, he likely would have suffered a severe injury.

If he suffered a grievous wound in this forsaken place, the old man could easily guess what kind of fate would befall him.

However, that Secret Technique was not one he could use casually, and after this battle, whether he emerged victoriously or defeated, he would need to spend a few years recuperating to return to his peak.

The old man was already determined to withdraw from this battle. While the allure of precious treasures was great, one needed to have their life to enjoy them. As for how to placate Elder Feng, that was not a matter he had the luxury of considering right now.

“Perish together with you?” After hearing his words, Yang Kai showed a look of naked contempt and spat, “Depending on you?”

The sarcasm and ridicule in his tone couldn’t be more obvious, and if it were any other time, this old man would certainly not let such an insult slide; after all, he had never been so ridiculed by a Saint King Realm cultivator before, but at this moment…

“You think this old master is already a fish on the chopping block? Boy, this old master admits that you are extraordinary, but the price you pay if you want to kill this old master will not be small! Why not let this matter end here. As long as you let this old master leave, this old master can swear to never disturb your Dragon Cave Mountain again, what say you?”

“You think you’re still qualified to discuss conditions with me?” Yang Kai grinned and said coldly, “If I want to treat you like a fish on the chopping block, what can you do?”