Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

When Yang Kai attacked, the middle-aged woman immediately had a bad omen.

The black arrow shooting towards her was comparable to the full-powered strike of a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator!

[That’s not possible!] Even with the help of an artifact, a cultivator couldn’t produce an attack far beyond their own cultivation. The short black arrow had far exceeded the understanding of the middle-aged woman.

Could it be an Origin King Grade artifact? With such a thought, the middle-aged woman’s beautiful face changed colour, and she could not help letting out a panicked scream.

“Be careful!”

“Junior Sister Zhou, quickly dodge!”

Shouts came from all directions, clearly indicating that this woman from Heaven Battling Union, Zhou Ya, was quite popular. Seeing her in a life-threatening crisis at this moment, many called out towards her.

Some were even racing over towards Zhou Ya, wanting to help her.

How was Zhou Ya supposed to hide though? After sensing the immense power of this black arrow, she realised her situation was grave, but the speed of the black arrow was incredible, giving her no chance to avoid it.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the pitch-black arrow arrived at the first blue light curtain Zhou Ya had erected using her blue gauze artifact.

Silently, this protective artifact she had often relied on in the past was instantly pierced, not playing any role at all. The black arrow was like a hot knife piercing butter, crushing dry weeds, and smashing rotten wood as it flew forward, easily piercing the second Saint Qi defence Zhou Ya had around her body.

*Xiu…*

A black streak of light shot out behind the middle-aged woman and disappeared in the next instant.

The masters who had rushed over to try to rescue Zhou Ya came to a halt as they stared towards her chest in utter shock and horror.

Zhou Ya also seemed to realise something was wrong and following her companions’ gazes looked down, her face going ashen in the next instant.

She saw a hole as big as a rice bowl that ran straight through her chest. At the top of the hole, her still-beating heart was even vaguely seen.

Strangely though, there was no blood flowing out of the wound.

“Union Master… Save me!” Zhou Ya’s expression collapsed as she stretched out her hand towards where Qu Zheng was standing, seemingly trying to grab hold of her own life.

However, her struggles were in vain.

The moment her words fell, black Demonic Flames flared up from her wound, followed by a short, terrified scream, then silence as Zhou Ya was quickly reduced to ash!

Gasps rang out from all around.

Yang Kai killing Qu Chang Feng in an instant just now was largely because he had launched a clever sneak attack, but Zhou Ya’s instant death was something he accomplished in a frontal clash. What’s more, he had even given his Zhou Ya a warning and allowed her to ready her defences before he struck.

Even so, it was an instant kill!

No one dared to despise Yang Kai any longer, their expressions all becoming solemn as fear flashed across their eyes.

With a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation, being able to kill a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master in a breath was a situation too difficult to believe. Perhaps their Union Master could accomplish this if he used his full strength, but did that mean this boy’s strength was already comparable to Qu Zheng’s?

On top of that, what was that short arrow-like artifact? Why was it so powerful?

Outside the palace, there was no sound as almost everyone was fully immersed in their shock.

Yang Kai nodded in satisfaction. Although he knew that the Feather Spirit Arrow was incredibly powerful, he had not expected it to be this strong. It was just a pity that its usage came with such significant restrictions, needing to be charged up first and even then it could only be used twice in combat.

“Why are you all just standing there gawking? Do you want to let him pick us off one by one? He’s just one person, what are you so afraid of? He’s just relying on the power of his artifact!” Fang Peng suddenly shouted out before sneering, “If this old master isn’t mistaken, the methods he used just now can only be used a few times in quick succession. Is just this enough to destroy your courage? Surround him, this old master wants to see if he really has three heads and six arms!”

Old ginger was truly spicier than young ginger, in the end. As Thunder Typhoon Sect’s Sect Master, Fang Peng’s vision and insight were far sharper than an ordinary cultivator’s. Although he knew little about Yang Kai’s Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique and his Feather Spirit Arrow, Fang Peng was still able to see through their respective weaknesses.

Needless to say, the Feather Spirit Arrow could only be used twice in battle.

As for the Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique, even with Yang Kai’s vast Spiritual Energy, using it was very taxing.

Even at his peak, after using the Blossoming Lotus three or four times, Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea would dry up.

The biggest reason Yang Kai used such powerful methods right from the start to kill two enemies was to deter others! There were too many enemies here for him to face, and although he was not afraid of them, if he couldn’t at least dampen their momentum, he would find himself in a troublesome spot.

The quick deaths of Qu Chang Feng and the middle-aged woman could put a great deal of psychological pressure on his opponents. In a duel between masters, aside from cultivation and methods, mindset also played a big factor in deciding who the victor was.

If one’s mental state was unstable, they would not be able to display their full strength.

Yang Kai’s plan had been half-successful, but it fell short at the last moment as Fang Peng exposed him to everyone.

These few words shook everyone out of their daze.

Hearing Fang Peng’s shout, everyone quickly came to their senses and carefully thought about what they just witnessed. No matter how strong a person was, they always had limits, let alone Yang Kai, who was just a First-Order Origin Returning Realm boy.

If he really had invincible strength, why choose to kill Qu Chang Feng and Zhou Ya? One of these two was a First-Order Origin Realm cultivator while the other was just a Second-Order.

If his strength was truly Heaven-defying, why not kill Qu Zheng and Fang Peng directly?

By only picking the soft persimmons, Yang Kai had exposed that he was just putting up a front.

Realising this, the crowd’s scattered momentum once again condensed and their fear disappeared, all using their artifacts and Secret Techniques one after another to bombard Yang Kai.

In an instant, colourful rays of light shot towards the spot where Yang Kai stood, causing the surrounding atmosphere to become extremely chaotic.

Facing attacks from more than twenty Origin Returning Realm masters, Yang Kai’s expression turned ugly as he hurriedly summoned his Purple Shield and activated its sandstorm ability to protect himself.

At the same time, the Firebird Artifact Spirit flew with a loud cry, opened its mouth wide, and sprayed out several washbasin-sized fireballs towards the attackers.

Not finished yet, Yang Kai summoned several dozen Golden Blood Threads and, under the guidance of his powerful Divine Sense, each one clashed with an incoming attack.

The battle instantly became heated instantly.

Yang Kai was at a severe disadvantage, and it was not long before his several dozen flailing Golden Blood Threads began to dim. Although the Artifact Spirit Firebird possessed great power two fists couldn’t block four strikes, and its body was quickly struck, scattered, then forced to re-condense, the cycle repeating over and over again.

The sandstorm guarding Yang Kai was scattered at an alarming rate, almost unable to maintain its shape and soon exposed his figure to the outside world.

Yang Kai grit his teeth and desperately tried to hold on in this extremely unfavourable situation.

Fang Peng stood aside, not in a hurry to make a move, just looking at Yang Kai’s awkward posture while laughing loudly, “Boy, it’s too late to regret now. This old master can spare your life, but some suffering is inevitable now. Who asked you to kill Young Master Qu?”

These words were laced with great meaning, as Fang Peng was taking pleasure in his partner’s misfortune. Qu Chang Feng had died tragically at Yang Kai’s hands, something Fang Peng was happy to see. Although he was temporarily cooperating with Heaven Battling Union, there were still a lot of grudges between the two forces. With Qu Chang Feng dying, Heaven Battling Union lost one of its most powerful youths, which was bound to be detrimental to its future development.

If things went well, when the next generation fully matured, no one would be able to compete with his son, Fang Tian Zhong.

*Boom boom boom!*

The spot where Yang Kai stood was impacted by several artifacts and Secret Techniques, causing a wide gap to form in the sandstorm created by the Purple Shield, exposing his figure.

At that moment, Heaven Battling Union’s Great Elder Mo Xiao Sheng’s figure appeared strangely in that spot with impeccable timing.

Like Yang Kai, he too had cultivated Space Force, so his actions were both quick and silent.

Pushing out his palm lightly, Mo Xiang Sheng’s hand passed through the gap in the sandstorm towards Yang Kai, potent Saint Qi surging from it.

With a cold snort, Yang Kai pushed out his own palm towards this attack, and when the two palms met, a burst of Saint Qi erupted.

A muffled bang rang out as Mo Xiao Sheng was sent several tens of metres backwards while Yang Kai’s figure also shook violently, exposing more flaws in his defence.

Facing a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, the Great Elder of Heaven Battling Union no less, Yang Kai was able to pull off a draw, a reality that thoroughly shocked Mo Xiao Sheng.

However, although his sneak attack did not hurt Yang Kai, his goal had been achieved. Yang Kai had been thrown off balance and exposed many openings.

Everyone present was an Origin Returning Realm master, and their eyesight was naturally first-class, so none of them had missed the opportunity created by Mo Xiao Sheng, immediately pushing their Saint Qi even harder as they attacked Yang Kai.

*Hualala…*

The sandstorm completely dispersed, and the Purple Shield re-appeared, its glow severely diminished, indicating its spirituality had been greatly damaged. Yang Kai’s body was then completely submerged in countless attacks.

Although the Purple Shield was an Origin Grade High-Rank artifact and had strong defensive strength, it could not withstand the attacks of so many masters. Since Yang Kai summoned it until now, it had only managed to last ten breaths of time.

Fang Peng frowned though and quickly released his Divine Sense to investigate the situation.

He did not want Yang Kai to die like this. If Yang Kai died, High Heaven Sect would never compromise, and there would be no way to force them to hand over the Origin King Grade Starship.

However, his worries were unnecessary. Even after such an attack, Yang Kai’s life had not been extinguished and only his aura had become somewhat chaotic.

This was only to be expected though. If Yang Kai was capable of taking such an attack head-on and still remain unharmed, Fang Peng would need to consider whether he should be withdrawing.

When the light and dust dispersed, Yang Kai’s embarrassing appearance was revealed, and everyone’s spirits rose!

How mighty and domineering Yang Kai was just now? He had not placed anyone in his eyes and even killed two Origin Returning Realm masters in a flash, but now it seemed that was all he was worth…

The crowd flashed happy expressions as they assumed Yang Kai had exhausted his bag of tricks.

*Dida dida…*

A soft sound reached everyone’s ears as blood dripped from Yang Kai’s body, but strangely, his blood was golden in colour and exuded an amazing amount of vitality.