Martial Peak

After asking Xia Ning Chang carefully about the issue, Yang Kai realized that it was a coincidence that she managed to obtain that grey Qi.

It was just after Yang Kai had left Tong Xuan Realm, and Xia Ning Chang was feeling incredibly lonely. In order to pass the time, she could only sit in Nine Heavens Holy Land and refine pills every day.

She possessed the Sacred Spirit Medicine Body, so performing Alchemy was the same as cultivation to her.

While a large number of pills were refined, Xia Ning Chang’s own cultivation increased at a terrifying speed, without any kind of bottleneck at all.

After only a few years of hard work, she had become a Saint, catching up to Yang Kai’s cultivation when he had left.

Then one day, bored, she secretly ran out to travel alone and encountered this grey Qi in a hidden underground cave.

Since she collected that grey Qi, her cultivation pace became even more astonishing. Within just ten years, she broke through from the Saint Realm to the Saint King Realm, and another ten years later reached the Second-Order Saint King Realm.

Yang Kai was dumbfounded.

Such a terrifying cultivation speed was something that ordinary disciples of great forces on Shadowed Star may not be able to achieve it.

But in this barren Tong Xuan Realm, Little Senior Sister had accomplished such a feat.

The reason Xia Ning Chang had her current achievements was inseparable from that mass of grey Qi.

“After you obtained it, did you feel any discomfort?” Yang Kai asked seriously.

“There wasn’t any kind of discomfort per se,” Xia Ning Chang thought carefully, “It’s just that sometimes I would suddenly feel tired and become lethargic, not even wanting to think. Hehe, it was almost as if I suddenly became old.”

Yang Kai gently nodded.

“Junior Brother, is there some kind of issue with that thing?” Xia Ning Chang asked.

“I can’t say for certain whether it is a blessing or a curse,” Yang Kai shook his head slowly, a little worried.

“Then what is it?”

“I’m not certain, but I have a guess. If this guess is correct… Then, this is an astonishing opportunity for Little Senior Sister!” Yang Kai looked at Xia Ning Chang with scorching eyes and an excited expression.

This vague guess was enough to make his blood boil!

“Right, where did you obtain it, do you remember?”

“En,” Xia Ning Chang nodded.

“Take me there!” Yang Kai said, reaching out to embrace Xia Ning Chang’s slender waist, summoning his Star Shuttle, and shooting out like a bolt of lightning from Nine Heavens Holy Land.

Following the route Little Senior Sister laid out, Yang Kai flew through the air with her at great speed.

Only a day later, the pair arrived in the sky above a certain mountain range tens of thousands of kilometres long.

Xia Ning Chang’s memory was excellent, so even after more than twenty years, she still clearly remembered the exact spot she found the grey Qi that day.

Soon, the two landed in a secluded mountain valley and Yang Kai put away his Star Shuttle. Xia Ning Chang then led the way forward on foot.

Not long after, a deep and dark cave appeared before the pair, Xia Ning Chang pointed to it, and said, “Junior Brother, I was exploring this cave and found that thing at the deepest level.”

“Then let’s go in and take a look,” Yang Kai smiled. Emboldened by his strength, he took Xia Ning Chang’s hand and dove into the cave.

It was extremely dark inside, and the air was still, but not damp.

As soon as he entered the cave, Yang Kai’s brow rose slightly.

He felt the World Energy aura was incredibly rich in this cave!

Of course, it was only rich compared to other places on Tong Xuan Realm and could not be compared to other famous Cultivation Stars like Shadowed Star in the Star Field.

Nevertheless, this was still quite a rare find.

Moreover, the deeper they dove, the richer the aura became.

Yang Kai’s expression grew brighter as he became more and more certain his guess was correct. Otherwise, there would be no other explanation for the increasingly dense World Energy aura here.

This really was a Heaven-sent opportunity for Little Senior Sister! If that grey Qi was handled well enough, it would bring Xia Ning Chang unimaginable benefits, akin to allowing her to emerge from a cocoon and transform into a butterfly.

The two held hands as they descended step by step.

Suddenly, Yang Kai seemed to feel something and quickly paused.

At the same time, Little Senior Sister cheered happily, “It’s here, I can feel it!”

A mass of mysterious energy was approaching from the front at an extremely rapid speed. Yang Kai Divine Sense swept out and confirmed that the approaching energy was the same one he had extracted from Little Senior Sister a few days ago.

The grey Qi had sunk into the ground that day and returned to where it was originally located, but now that it felt Xia Ning Chang’s aura, it had come out on its own to meet her.

A moment later, the grey Qi arrived in front of them.

However, it did not dare leap out towards Xia Ning Chang directly and instead stopped about ten metres away from Yang Kai.

It felt threatened by Yang Kai!

“Junior Brother…” Xia Ning Chang looked at him and asked for his opinion.

“Let it come. I didn’t want to startle it that day, I just wanted to see what it was,” Yang Kai backed off and gave way.

Xia Ning Chang called out immediately, and as if it sensed her beckoning, the grey Qi flew past Yang Kai and sank directly into Xia Ning Chang’s chest, disappearing in the next instant.

Xia Ning Chang’s tender body shivered slightly as she let out a slight gasp.

A flash of golden light suddenly burst from Yang Kai’s left eye as a narrow and majestic golden pupil appeared, staring towards Xia Ning Chang.

Demon Eye of Annihilation!

Under his penetrating gaze, Yang Kai saw Little Senior Sister receive the mass of grey Qi into her body, after which a grey aura that was invisible to the naked eye emerged around her.

This kind of aura was generally only possessed by extremely long-lived elders, and once it appeared it would signify that its owner did not have long to live.

Little Senior Sister was still at the height of her youth, so the only reason she would possess such an aura was because of the grey Qi!

Yang Kai was not surprised by this, however, seemingly having expected it all along, so he didn’t become anxious and instead just beckoned to Little Senior Sister and said, “Come with me!”

Xia Ning Chang gently nodded and followed behind Yang Kai step by step.

The two continued deeper for quite some time and distance. Along the way, Yang Kai felt the surrounding World Energy aura grow denser and denser, but despite the aura being so rich, it didn’t give Yang Kai any sense of comfort; on the contrary, it gave him a slightly depressed feeling.

When the surrounding World Energy density reached nearly the same level as Shadowed Star’s average, Yang Kai and Xia Ning Chang came to a huge underground cave.

A faint source of light seemed to be shining from the ground up ahead and seemed to be sending out some kind of inaudible message, beckoning the two of them to come forward.

Receiving this call, Xia Ning Chang’s beautiful eyes became dazed and her body began to step forward unconsciously, like a moth to the flame.

Yang Kai’s face sank, and he let out a low grunt while sending a pulse of his Divine Sense straight into Xia Ning Chang’s Knowledge Sea.

Little Senior Sister’s tender body shuddered, and her face turned pale as the blankness in her eyes disappeared. After recovering her senses, a look of fear filled her face.

“Junior Brother, I…” Xia Ning Chang was a little at a loss. She did not know what was wrong just now, but it felt as if some external force had overridden her will and was forcing her to act without her consent.

“En, look over there!” Yang Kai pointed in a certain direction.

Xia Ning Chang looked in the direction he pointed and her beautiful eyes trembled.

There was a large pile of corpses, all of them extremely dried up, some of which had changed completely into ashes, but from the traces that could be seen on some of the bleached bones, it was clear that these people had all of their strength and vitality rapidly drained away, leading to their deaths.

“Who are these people, why did they all die here?” Xia Ning Chang leaned against Yang Kai, seemingly trying to find some sense of security.

“If my guess is correct, they all had similar experiences to yours.”

“The same as me?” Xia Ning Chang frowned in confusion for a moment, but she was both beautiful and intelligent so after some quick contemplation she understood, “You mean, they all obtained that grey Qi before?”

“Probably,” Yang Kai nodded.

“But why…” Xia Ning Chang only felt cold all over as the scene from just now appeared in her mind again. If not for Yang Kai promptly waking her up, her fate would likely have been the same as these unfortunate souls.

“Because the main body of that grey Qi wanted to supplement its strength. It chose you and nurtured you to make you stronger because the stronger you became, the more benefits it could obtain.”

“Why would it want to do this?” Xia Ning Chang looked puzzled.

“Because it’s about to die!” Yang Kai replied with a shrug of his shoulders, “These are all my guesses, but we should be able to tell if they’re correct soon enough.”

Saying so, Yang Kai held Xia Ning Chang’s hand and walked forward.

As the pair stepped through the sea of bones, a horrifying crackling sound occasionally rang out, sending shivers up their spines.

Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed as he observed the faint light up ahead.

Not long after, the pair arrived at the source of this light.

A deep underground chasm appeared in front of the pair, one that was so deep that it was impossible to see the bottom, but if one looked down, they could see a faint grey light deep into the abyss, like a massive burning lamp.

This light was extremely dim, and its colour was exactly the same as the grey Qi obtained by Xia Ning Chang.

“As expected!” Yang Kai took a deep breath. After seeing the huge, gloomy lamp-like light, he immediately affirmed his previous guesses.

“Junior Brother, what is this?” Xia Ning Chang looked at the grey fire suspiciously, faintly feeling that the grey Qi in her body was closely related to it, as if the two were one existence.

“The Star Source!” Yang Kai muttered as his expression suddenly filled with excitement.

“Star Source?” Xia Ning Chang was confused.

“Any Cultivation Star will have a source of power, akin to the star’s life made manifest. This source is the key to the survival of this star, like a heart!” Yang Kai calmly explained. “Because there is a Star Source, a star will have vitality. Without it, the star will become a Dead Star. There are countless such stars in the Star Field, perhaps all of them at one point supported life, but over time, and the weakening and eventual death of their Star Sources, this vitality also ceased to exist. Humans fade out just like lamps, but so do stars. Once the Star Source in front of you disappears, Tong Xuan Realm will also die and become a Dead Star.”