Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

However, they were all now riding a tiger. Five people’s worth of Saint Qi was now condensed at the centre of this Spirit Array, so once they tried to withdraw, the consequences would likely be unbearable.

Especially considering this Spirit Array could reflect attacks. Once such a massive amount of Saint Qi rebounded, all of them were at risk of death.

Jiang Shan immediately began to frown.

“You need not worry, although this Yang’s cultivation is slightly lower, I don’t believe I have less Saint Qi than the rest of you. Just concentrate on yourselves.” Seeing everyone on edge as they observed him, how could Yang Kai not understand what they were thinking? As such, he immediately offered some reassurances.

“Bold words!” Chen Li snorted coldly, but soon grinned, “But I appreciate them!”

“If you say so, then good!” Jiang Shan also relaxed before his eyes flashed a determined light and he grit his teeth, “Since Little Brother Yang has so much confidence in himself, this old man will increase his Saint Qi output again, be sure to keep up!”

Saying so, he snorted and began pouring out a much larger amount of Saint Qi from his hands, obviously intending to finish this task in one fell swoop.

He had incorrectly estimated the sturdiness of this Five Elements Scattering Array before and didn’t expect it would take so long to crack. Now, if he wanted to end this troublesome situation as quickly as possible, he had to increase his output of Saint Qi to saturate the Spirit Array and break it down.

Seeing this, everyone naturally didn’t object and one after another increased their output of Saint Qi as well.

The same was true for Yang Kai.

In an instant, the five elements Saint Qi being poured into Spirit Array increased dramatically, and the rate of convergence at its centre became twice as fast as before.

Seeing that Yang Kai hadn’t exaggerated his strength and was able to keep up with everyone’s pace, the other four couldn’t help putting down their last worries. Jiang Shan was even more appreciative and gave him a slight nod.

However, the pleasant mood didn’t last long. Even with the incredible influx of five elements Saint Qi, the Spirit Array in front of the group still showed no signs of breaking.

Everyone soon became anxious.

After a moment, Jiang Shan suddenly bit the tip of his tongue and sprayed out a mist of blood from his mouth, his pale face suddenly becoming much ruddier.

Clearly, he had used some kind of Secret Technique to enhance his strength.

He Wei, Chen Li, and Yi Lin also used their own methods, either taking precious pills they had been reluctant to use or using powerful Secret Techniques that caused damaging side-effects to maintain the output of their Saint Qi.

Only Yang Kai remained the same. He appeared somewhat pale and unsteady, but the Saint Qi flowing from his body was not weakened as a result.

The other four couldn’t help but look at him with some admiration. None of them could understand how a mere First-Order Origin Returning Realm youth possessed so much Saint Qi.

The nervous and uneasy atmosphere gradually spread as everyone began regretting rushing to this place and trusting Jiang Shan’s words. Now, such regrets were not helpful.

Seeing that even if he exhausted himself, there might not be enough Saint Qi to crack the Spirit Array here, He Wei’s eyes gave off a sharp glint as he suddenly shouted, “Everyone, it seems we cannot crack this Five Elements Scattering Array with our strength. This old man has a family and wife waiting at home, so he will be taking his leave. I wish the rest of you the best of luck!”

Everyone’s face changed drastically!

Jiang Shan even opened his mouth and shouted, “Brother He, what are you thinking?”

“You dare!” Chen Li also shouted sharply.

However, the old man surnamed He turned a deaf ear to their calls and fiercely pushed his Saint Qi as he assumed a retreating posture, clearly intending to escape.

If he continued to remain, only death awaited, so instead of lingering, He Wei decided to escape promptly and hope he could survive.

Of course, he also had to guard against the Spirit Array’s violent rebound after giving up.

However, the first person to flee should have more time to escape, while the others would bear the brunt of the rebound as they would need to protect themselves as well.

In this group of five, besides Chen Li and Yi Lin who were husband and wife, everyone was a stranger who had only temporarily joined forces to break through this Spirit Array. There was no friendship between them at all, so how could they care about other’s lives more than their own?

Even husbands and wives would flee when disaster struck, let alone five strangers who barely knew one another.

This small alliance was broken the moment the old man surnamed He uttered these words!

While the others were shocked, they quickly understood He Wei’s plan and also began making preparations to escape.

But in the next moment, everyone’s expression changed dramatically, including Yang Kai who had up until this point been hiding his strength.

None of them could move! There was some kind of strange force literally holding them in place. Not only that, but the Saint Qi they were pouring out of their bodies into the Spirit Array continued to do so despite their efforts to stop it.

The energy of the five elements continued to intertwine, seemingly generating a huge suction force from its rotation that not only fixed everyone in place but also continuously swallowed the power in their bodies.

Before now, everyone had taken the initiative to output their Saint Qi, so they hadn’t noticed this phenomenon; but now that they were trying to escape, they immediately discovered this frightening reality.

“What’s happening?” He Wei paled in horror as he struggled violently but was still unable to move, his expression paling as an ominous feeling came over him.

“Old Jiang, what’s the meaning of this?” Chen Li’s temper was the hottest, so when he noticed something had gone wrong, he immediately began accusing Jiang Shan, apparently thinking this old man had lured them into some kind of trap.

Not only did Chen Li think so, even Yang Kai also had such thoughts as he narrowed his eyes towards Jiang Shan, only to see that the old man’s face also pale and filled with panic.

Clearly, Jiang Shan was also caught off guard by this sudden accident.

“This old man doesn’t know!” Jiang Shan declared in a wronged tone.

“You don’t know?” Chen Li obviously did not believe him and continued to roar, “You discovered this place, brought all of us here, and provided the method to crack this Spirit Array! Now that we’re in this mess, you dare say you don’t know what’s happening? Didn’t you set up this trap beforehand and wait for us to jump in?”

“Hmph, Brother Chen’s accusations are unfounded! This old man can barely protect himself right now, what good would setting up a trap like this do me?” Although Jiang Shan was mild-tempered, being slandered so by Chen Li forced out a sharp rebuttal from his lips.

“I don’t care what you say! No matter what, this is all your fault! If you don’t find a way out of this for us, even if this Chen dies he won’t let you off!”

“Stop quarrelling!” Yang Kai shouted firmly, “Is there any point in arguing now? I believe Old Jiang didn’t intend for this to happen!”

“You believe him?” Chen Li sneered, “Who knows if you and this old bastard are working together?”

Yang Kai glanced at him coldly but didn’t bother trying to convince him any further. This man was a simple-minded muscle brain, so now that he was trapped and in imminent danger, continuing to quarrel with him would only make the situation worse rather than better.

“Old Jiang, does the Five Elements Scattering Array have this kind of property?” Yang Kai frowned and looked at Jiang Shan.

“No!” Jiang Shan shook his head decisively, “The Five Elements Scattering Array is simply a protective Spirit Array; apart from its ability to reflect all types of attacks, it doesn’t have any independent killing effects, it shouldn’t be able to exhibit this kind of behaviour unless….”

“Unless what?” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes.

“Unless this Spirit Array has been transformed into a different type of Spirit Array!” Jiang Shan secretly guessed and began carefully going over his knowledge of Spirit Arrays.

Since he was able to find the way to crack the Five Elements Scattering Array, obviously he had dabbled in the field of Spirit Arrays, so even if he was far inferior to Yang Yan, Jiang Shan was still far more knowledgeable than the other four present.

After thinking about it for a moment, Jiang Shan’s complexion changed again as he called out in alarm, “Is this the Five Elements Devouring Array?”

“Five Elements Devouring Array?” Yi Lin muttered as she asked curiously, “It’s only one word different from that Five Elements Scattering Array, is there anything to worry about?”

“Haha…” Jiang Shan gave a wry smile, “Although it is only one word different, its power and effects are vastly different. Sister Yi can also see our current situation. Once this Spirit Array has been activated, it will not stop until it drains all of the Saint Qi in our bodies as well as our vitality.”

“What?” Everyone paled greatly as they fell into shocked silence.

“This cave mansion’s master is truly insidious,” Jiang Shan’s expression became gloomy as he spat bitterly, “He actually used a Five Elements Scattering Array to conceal a Five Elements Devouring Array. This old man was too careless.”

“What meaning is there in saying all this now? Father doesn’t want to die here!” Chen Li roared as he desperately pushed his Saint Qi, trying to free himself from the constraints of the Spirit Array in front of him, but no matter how hard he tried, there was no effect. On the contrary, it only caused him to grow more panicked.

“Don’t struggle recklessly. Once one is trapped by the Five Elements Devouring Array, it’s like falling into a quagmire, the more you struggle, the faster your Saint Qi will be drained,” Jiang Shan hurriedly shouted.

“Then what should we do?” Yi Lin’s beautiful face went white as she hurriedly tried to calm her husband’s rampage.

Jiang Shan smiled bitterly but remained speechless.

“Could it be that we can only wait here to die?” He Wei muttered in exasperation.

“This old man is truly sorry,” Jiang Shan wore a look of guilt. He thought he was bringing everyone here to treasure hunt and had even settled on a generous distribution plan for the benefits, but instead, he had put all of them in life-threatening danger. Now, not only could they not escape, they could only sit here waiting to die.

“There’s really… no solution at all? Brother Jiang, you know the most about Spirit Arrays here, please try to think up a way,” The beautiful woman begged.

Jiang Shan didn’t even have the heart to meet her eyes, obviously unable to save the situation with his skills.

While he had dabbled in Spirit Arrays, wanting to crack the double-layered Spirit Arrays in front of him in this situation was something he wasn’t capable of doing.

Only if his knowledge of Spirit Arrays was as profound as someone like Yang Yan could he accomplish this seemingly impossible feat.

Yang Kai also looked depressed. Although the Saint Qi reserves in his body were enormous, as long as this Spirit Array remained, he could only remain stranded here with no hope of escape