Martial Peak

“Madam?” After waiting for some time, Ye Xi Yun overcame her hesitation and called out anxiously.

*Ka…*

A soft sound came from the White Jade Crystal Coffin, and immediately after, a terrifying pressure centred on it burst forth, spreading like a great wave. At first, this pressure wasn’t too strong, but in the blink of an eye, it reached an intensity that even Ye Xi Yun was unable to bear. She couldn’t help dropping to her knees and falling onto the ground, without even the ability to lift her head.

Emperor Pressure!

At the same time, in the place where Qian Tong had been trapped, the battle between Yang Kai, Shan Qing Luo and the masters from Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce continued.

Strictly speaking, the six Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters from Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce were not weak, and their respective artifacts were also quite powerful. On top of that, they were all familiar with one another and were able to exert even greater combat effectiveness by cooperating.

However, neither Yang Kai nor Shan Qing Luo was ordinary either.

One regarded fighting across realms to be commonplace and had many external helpers on hand while the other had obtained a Heaven-defying opportunity to absorb the Source Strength of a Heavenly Moon Demon Spider, neither could be judged by common sense.

Therefore, even if Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce’s side had an advantage in numbers, they were unable to take Yang Kai and Shan Qing Luo.

In the beginning, they were afraid of hurting Yang Kai and Shan Qing Luo, so each of them had held back their strength somewhat, but after discovering that the situation had far exceeded their estimations they realized if they did not use their full power, they would be the ones defeated.

As such, they quickly went all out, but even so, they were still unable to triumph.

The entire palace was filled with chaos as the light of various Martial Skills and artifacts bloomed while the surrounding World Energy aura violently churned. Even the Stone Monument containing the profound Artifact Refining method was not spared. Although Yang Kai had tried to avoid the area where it was located during the battle, the others present had no idea of its value, so it soon cracked and, at the rate things were going, it would not be long before it broke entirely.

This caused Yang Kai to feel a great deal of regret as he understood that the Artifact Refining method inscribed on this Stone Monument was incredibly profound, a rare treasure.

But with things having gotten to this point, Yang Kai was helpless to change the outcome.

“Yang Kai, it’s not too late for you to pledge allegiance to this Young Master, otherwise, this Young Master will definitely make you regret it for the rest of your life!” Xue Yue saw that the situation had become tricky and couldn’t help calling out.

“In your dreams!” Yang Kai laughed boisterously, refusing to even entertain the idea.

“Then you force my hand,” Xue Yue ground her teeth and steeled herself, forming a series of complicated signs with her hands as she began drawing in the nearby World Energy.

The face of the beautiful woman and the other masters who were fighting Yang Kai and Shan Qing Luo changed greatly, all of them exchanging a look of amazement, as if they knew what Secret Technique Xue Yue was planning on using. Immediately, all of them used feints to open up some distance with the opponents before shooting looks of pity back at Yang Kai and Shan Qing Luo.

Yang Kai’s expression also became serious; although he knew that Xue Yue had become angry out of shame and was probably not thinking logically anymore, whatever method she was about to use was not trivial. Unfortunately, in this place, trying to run was basically impossible, so he could only resist it head-on.

He didn’t believe that Xue Yue could display some kind of Divine Skill capable of killing him in one fell swoop.

What’s more, he sensed no murderous intent coming from this woman, so clearly she just wanted to see him suffer some pain.

As these thoughts flashed across his mind, Yang Kai prepared his defences.

A moment later, Xue Yue let out a low shout and the surrounding World Energy madly poured into her. The next instant, a strange Monster Beast phantom suddenly appeared above her head.

This Monster Beast’s body was covered with thick dark hair, had bright energetic eyes, and a long single horn extending from its forehead.

When Yang Kai saw this creature, his eyes unconsciously narrowed.

For some reason, he actually felt threatened by this Monster Beast illusion, something he had not experienced since entering the Emperor Garden.

Shan Qing Luo, on the other hand, called out in alarm, “Xie Zhi!”

She seemed to recognize what this Monster Beast was, but that wasn’t surprising since the Monster Emperor Star she was transported to was a Cultivation Star whose population was ninety percent Monster Beast and Monster Race. After so many years in such an environment, there were likely few Monster Beasts Shan Qing Luo did not recognize.

“Woman, your eyesight isn’t bad, actually able to recognize this Young Master’s Symbiotic Monster Spirit, but what of it? If you surrender now, this Young Master would be willing to forgive your former slights and will settle for just torturing that bastard. As for you… you can remain by this Young Master’s side as a concubine. En, your beauty isn’t bad so you can barely qualify to serve this Young Master,” Xue Yue still wanted to persuade them to surrender. Obviously, she knew how powerful this Divine Skill of hers was and that she was not fully able to control it, causing her some concern about injuring Yang Kai and Shan Qing Luo badly.

“A Symbiotic Monster Spirit!” Shan Qing Luo’s beautiful eye shrank for a moment before she let out a pleasant giggle again, “It seems I’ve underestimated your Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce, you’re even able to obtain this kind of thing, but so what? You want this Queen to serve as your concubine? You should keep such nonsense to yourself.”

But Yang Kai just frowned. Even he had heard about Symbiotic Monster Spirits. One needed to take the Blood Essence of a powerful Monster Beast and refine it into their body with a profound Secret Technique, then after a long period of accumulation, one would be able to use that Monster Beast’s abilities and even summon a phantom image of it to oppose enemies.

This too was a type of external boost, but ordinary cultivators were generally incapable of using it because even if they had the aptitude to cultivate such a technique, finding a suitable Monster Beast’s Blood Essence was impossible. The might of this Secret Technique depended entirely on the level of the Monster Beast Blood Essence used.

The Xie Zhi was a kind of Variant Ancient Divine Spirit that had exceptional fighting prowess. Of particular note was its longhorn which was no less powerful than an Origin King Grade artifact. Using its Blood Essence to cultivate this Secret Technique was more than appropriate, and from the aura Xue Yue gave off, it was clear she had been cultivating it for many years. With this Symbiotic Monster Spirit assisting her, even if she was just a Second-Order Origin Realm cultivator, she could be considered invincible in the entire Origin Realm, so her confidence was not without reason.

Yang Kai only wondered when she had successfully cultivated this technique though since he had never seen her resort to it when they were together all those years ago.

When Shan Qing Luo’s cynicism reached her ears, Xue Yue’s expression darkened as she muttered, “You really insist on opposing this Young Master?”

“Opposing?” Shan Qing Luo covered her mouth and smiled, winking coquettishly, “Little Young Master seems to take himself far too seriously. It seems Elder Sister will have to teach you a lesson, lest you fail to understand the immensity of Heaven and Earth.”

The tone Shan Qing Luo took, like an Elder scolding a Junior, truly annoyed Xue Yue.

With the two women fighting like this, Yang Kai couldn’t even insert a word and was relegated to standing back and watching helplessly. As for the masters from Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce, they too had strange expressions.

Their Third Young Master was competing with this enchantress over a man. If word of this ever spread out… it would be an astonishing scandal! Many of these masters even considered whether they should commit suicide here and now to avoid future trouble.

“Fine then, please let this Young Master see who of us doesn’t know the immensity of Heaven and Earth and who is the one shamelessly boasting!” Xue Yue was thoroughly angered now and with a wave of her hand sent the nearly corporeal Xie Zhi phantom roaring forward towards Shan Qing Luo.

Yang Kai’s complexion sank and wanted to intervene, but in the next instant, he saw Shan Qing Luo’s tender body flicker and step forward as a massive eight-legged phantom appeared behind her.

Heavenly Moon Demon Spider!

Without gathering the surrounding World Energy, without using any kind of technique, this phantom image had mysteriously appeared before everyone’s eyes, its entire body a flawless silvery-white with a half-moon mark adorning its forehead.

Although it was objectively a terrifying and hideous sight to behold, everyone who saw this spider at this moment was unable to think so, instead feeling like this giant spider was extremely beautiful.

This contradictory feeling caused everyone to feel quite uncomfortable.

Monster Qi soared to the Heavens, causing the surrounding world to tremble and quake.

“This is…” Xue Yue’s complexion changed dramatically as she stared towards this massive white spider in a daze, an uneasy feeling gripping her heart. However, the arrow had left the string now, and with the Xie Zhi phantom already pouncing towards Shan Qing Luo, even if Xue Yue wanted to take it back, she couldn’t.

“Go!” Compared to Xue Yue, Shan Qing Luo was undoubtedly calmer, and with a light wave of her hand, the Heavenly Moon Demon Spider phantom behind her moved its eight legs and quickly met the Xie Zhi phantom head-on.

One was an Ancient Divine Spirit while the other was a Variant Ancient Divine Spirit. Although the difference between the two wasn’t exactly small in terms of grade, they weren’t living creatures, after all, so the strength they could display was more dependent on the abilities of their controller.

Therefore, in terms of momentum, the Xie Zhi and Heavenly Moon Demon Spider phantoms were basically on par.

In the blink of an eye, the two illusory figures collided, one black, one white, neither one able to overwhelm the other. Indistinct roars and whining noises could be heard as the two creatures clashed, releasing shocking energy fluctuations all around. Almost everyone present became unstable on their feet, as if they were riding aboard a small boat in a great storm, only able to drift with the ocean’s flow.

Yang Kai, however, remained perfectly calm and steady.

The aura that his Verdant Dragon Bone Sword was invisibly radiating was able to resist the terrifying coercion coming from this intense battle, allowing Yang Kai to stay unaffected.

At a rate visibly to the naked eye, the black and white phantoms clusters shrank, obviously a result of the amazing consumption they were experiencing during this battle.

After only a dozen breaths or so, the two opposing coloured light halos merged and the figures of the Xie Zhi and Heavenly Moon Demon Spider were no longer visible.

The next moment, a terrifying burst of energy spread out, carrying with it a Heaven-destroying and Earth-shattering force.

Everyone’s complexion changed drastically and they all hurriedly summoned their defensive artifacts to resist the fallout from this blast. Even so, one after another, figures were thrown out and tumbled through the air before crashing to the ground in extremely embarrassing states.

No one had imagined that the battle between the Xie Zhi and Heavenly Moon Demon Spider would be so violent and end with a kind of mutual destruction.

Xue Yue’s face was pale while Shan Qing Luo’s vitality also seemed somewhat unstable.

*Kacha…*

The sound of something shattering suddenly rang out at that moment and the Stone Monument containing the profound Artifact Refining method at the centre of the hall was finally unable to bear the impact of the chaotic energy waves and burst apart.

Amidst its fragmented remains, however, something else was mixed in and flew out towards Yang Kai’s direction.

“Hm?” Yang Kai wrinkled his brow, and with a quick flick of his wrist grabbed the object which was flying over towards him. When he examined this item, he found that it was a palm-sized stone tablet with some complicated ancient text engraved upon it.

At first glance, Yang Kai was unable to recognize what this thing was.