Martial Peak

Chapter 1758, Unexpected

As soon as the huge black shadow took shape, it extended two long arms from below like massive whips that flew fiercely through the air like bolts of black lightning.

Feeling the terrifying power contained in these two attacks, Luo Lan’s beautiful face paled, and without hesitation, she bit the tip of her tongue and spat out a mouthful of her Blood Essence towards her dagger before throwing it out in a powerful strike.

A silent collision occurred as the two black arms were temporarily stopped while Luo Lan’s dagger was sent flying.

The attacks that the black shadow could send out after its fusion were countless times stronger than those of its smaller, individual forms!

Soul type artifacts were driven by a cultivator’s Divine Sense, and although their power was immense, if they took damage, it would also damage the user’s Soul. Therefore, when her dagger was knocked through the air, Luo Lan’s pretty face went white and she could not help coughing up a mouthful of blood.

Even with her strong First-Order Origin King cultivation, it only took a single exchange for her to be injured.

At this moment, everyone clearly realized the power of these strange shadows.

Fortunately, the group of four had already managed to rush to the top of the ravine and flew high up into the sky. Not daring to remain, they continued to escape higher.

From the depths of the ravine, a terrifying roar sounded at that moment and two massive pitch black arms shot out and transformed into giant claws that grabbed towards the fleeing four.

However, it seemed that their reach wasn’t long enough, and the two giant claws only managed to catch the air a couple of dozen metres below Luo Lan, who was the closest to the ground.

The next moment, the two giant palms slowly retracted and the howling which had filled everyone’s ears until now gradually subsided, the entire world becoming peaceful again.

Ni Guang, who was leading the way, slowed down and finally came to a halt while staring down thoughtfully.

“These things… don’t seem to be capable of chasing after us,” Yang Kai also noticed the situation.

“It would seem so,” Ni Guang nodded, agreeing with Yang Kai’s assessment, “But it’s better not to make assumptions, we’d best leave here first.”

The other three nodded quickly and followed after Ni Guang.

A quarter of an hour later, the group of four settled down in a safe place again, and although their surroundings were still a deserted plain, at least there were no crisscrossing ravines. After confirming that there was no danger around them, the four stopped to rest and recover.

The crisis seemed to be resolved, but even now, everyone felt some lingering fear.

The attack they encountered this time was simply too unpredictable. Before entering the underground ravine, everyone had surveyed the surrounding area and even with two Origin Kings present they still had not been able to avoid being attacked, a truly shocking reality.

“Elder Luo, how are your injuries?” Ni Guang looked at the pale Luo Lan and asked.

“It’s fine, it only slightly damaged my Soul,” Luo Lan frowned and replied.

“That’s good,” Ni Guang felt relieved. He thought that with his cultivation at the Second-Order Origin King Realm, even if it would not be smooth sailing in this Severed World, it was impossible he would face a fatal threat, but after this experience, he didn’t dare think so anymore.

If it were not Yang Kai helping him break free, he didn’t know how long he would have been trapped in that illusion. Perhaps he wouldn’t have ever awoken, and his body would slowly have rotted away, leading to his death.

“Uncle Ni, what were those things?” Xue Yue asked with some lingering fear. The various things she experienced in the illusion before had felt completely real, and even after being awakened by Yang Kai, she still failed to adapt to the real world for some time.

“I don’t know, I’ve never heard of anything like them existing in the Severed World. Does Elder Luo know anything?” Ni Guang shook his head and turned to Luo Lan to ask.

“This Mistress doesn’t know much about the Severed World, but she is certain she has never heard of such strange creatures.”

“It seems that everyone who encountered these things died, so no information about them ever became known,” Ni Guang pondered thoughtfully, “But that’s not a surprise. Judging from the previous situation, those things are extremely proficient at concealing themselves; even this old master was unable to detect their existence. Fortunately, it seems they can only survive in that dark underground environment. As long as we don’t go underground, we should not encounter them again, and… we don’t seem to have been delayed by much. Inside that illusion, this old master felt like he lived many years, but judging from the condition of our bodies, I’d say only an hour or two has passed. The method those creatures possess is truly terrifying!”

Hearing what he said, the other three nodded slightly.

“Elder Luo, you should heal your injuries first, once you’ve recovered, we’ll set out again,” Ni Guang turned and said to Luo Lan.

“Then I shall be troubling you. This Mistress will try to be as fast as possible,” Luo Lan said gratefully.

She did not have any kind of friendship with Ni Guang, so, Ni Guang expressing his willingness to wait for her to recover at this time made her feel grateful. This also verified Ni Guang’s character and confirmed he was a good candidate to cooperate with.

Ni Guang was stronger than her, so cooperating with him was naturally in Luo Lan’s interest.

However, this may also have been related to her being willing to cover their retreat just now. Ni Guang’s attitude towards her had obviously become more amicable than it had been when they first set out.

Luo Lan’s luck was quite good. She had brought Yang Kai here to the Severed World because she wanted to rely on his achievements in the Dao of Space to make exploring this place safer, but as a result, she was also able to obtain cooperation from Ni Guang. If not for Yang Kai, Ni Guang wouldn’t have ever invited her to act together.

Taking out some healing pills, Luo Lan sat down and began to tend to the wound on her Soul.

As for Yang Kai, he was currently gazing towards a spot not far away.

He felt that somewhere in the sky over there, was a faint Space Force fluctuation. He could even infer from these energy fluctuations that there was a hidden Void Crack at that location!

It seemed that Luo Lan was right, this Severed World was filled with hidden danger with many Void Cracks floating about that were invisible to the naked eye.

If someone were to rush through rashly, there was a good chance they would be split in half by these The Void Cracks.

“What are you looking at?” Xue Yue suddenly leaned over and asked softly.

He did not know if he was imagining things, but Yang Kai felt that Xue Yue’s attitude towards him had changed slightly since earlier. Before, Xue Yue had only paid attention to him because of their strange entanglement, causing her attitude to be somewhat bitter and sweet at the same time.

But now, her gaze contained a gentleness that had not been there before. Even when they were escaping just now, Xue Yue held onto Yang Kai’s arm tightly and looked completely at ease.

“Nothing,” Yang Kai shook his head, “What happened to you? What did you experience in that illusion just now? With your mental fortitude, it should not have affected you so deeply, right?”

Yang Kai had only asked casually, but to his surprise, Xue Yue turned bright red, as if she was remembering something embarrassing, and snorted loudly, “None of your business!”

Yang Kai nearly choked seeing this and could not help sneering, “Forget it, just pretend I never asked. It definitely must have been nothing good.”

Xue Yue grit her teeth and glared at him, causing Yang Kai to immediately become uncomfortable and quickly look around for something to divert his attention.

It was then that he noticed that Ni Guang had taken out an animal skin map and was frowning as he stared at it. As if looking for something, he would release his Divine Sense from time to time while comparing his observations of the surrounding terrain with the map.

There did not seem to be any clear markings on the map, mostly just a series of intersecting lines as well as some specific locations marked with different symbols.

“Your chamber of commerce possesses a map of this place?” Yang Kai looked surprised.

Xue Yue grinned and said, “What’s so strange about that? It is not the first time that people from our chamber of commerce have come to this place, so having a map or two is nothing to fuss about. However, the Severed World is too big and it’s impossible to grasp its complete layout. Uncle Ni only has a map detailing a small portion of this place.”

“So that’s how it is,” Yang Kai nodded, “In that case, do you have a clear destination for this trip?”

“En, we planned to go to a medicine valley where there are spirit medicines and herbs that aren’t present in the Star Field. Legend has it that there are even herbs which are beyond the Origin King Grade and can bring back the dead, rejuvenate and prolong a person’s life, and some that can even increase the strength of a person directly…”

Listening to her talk, Yang Kai could not help staring at Xue Yue strangely.

“What?” Xue Yue asked suspiciously.

“You really don’t have any guard up against me at all. It’s not like you,” Yang Kai smiled. Although they were in a cooperative relationship right now, what Xue Yue revealed was undoubtedly extremely important information that should be kept confidential.

She was not the type of woman with a big chest but no brains, otherwise, she would never have been able to become the Young Master of Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce.

Her revealing so much to him for no apparent reason really surprised Yang Kai.

Hearing what he said, Xue Yue gawked for a moment before seeming to realize something and immediately turning her gaze aside and sneering, “What’s wrong with telling you? With Uncle Ni here, can you even snatch anything from us?”

The tone of her voice clearly indicated she wanted to move past this, so Yang Kai did not ask anymore.

However, upon thinking about it, Yang Kai realized that Luo Lan’s actions this time were a bit too rash. Ni Guang dared to enter this place because he had confidence in his tyrannical strength and because he had prepared thoroughly while Luo Lan, on the other hand, seemed to have simply come on a whim together with Yang Kai and didn’t understand much about the Severed World.

…..

In the underground ravine where Yang Kai and the others had just been, an hour after they left, a figure fell from the sky and landed nearby.

His whole body was wrapped in a black Qi, exuding an evil and violent aura. It was none other than the Origin King who had been paying attention to Yang Kai outside before.

After this person landed, he glanced around and, after taking a deep breath, began to cackle wickedly, “Very good, he had been here recently. Yang Boy, this is truly unexpected. Who could have imagined you’d grow to this level after not seeing you for only a few dozen years.”

If Yang Kai heard this, he would definitely be shocked since this unknown Origin King actually seemed to know him, and know him quite well at that.