Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Atop the Ice Cliff, the tranquillity that had lasted for thousands of years was finally restored as the snow-white light disappeared. Yang Kai paled slightly as he gasped for breath and took a few steps forward, picking up the bracelet artifact that had been thrown out before. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief from having survived.

This time, he was able to overcome extreme danger and cause the Monster Insect Queen to suffer a severe backlash from its own Secret Technique, thus killing it, all thanks to the power of this bracelet artifact.

The Emperor Artifact, Insect Enslavement Bracelet!

This was the Insect Emperor’s artifact, and was capable of restraining all species of Exotic Insects.

The Insect Emperor had been killed by Yang Kai after much difficulty on Shadowed Star, and his two Emperor Artifacts now belonged to Yang Kai. In addition to this Insect Enslavement Bracelet, which was the Insect Emperor’s most recognized artifact, there was also the Soul Splitting Saber.

However, the grades of these two Emperor Artifacts were too high and could not be properly utilized or even refined by Yang Kai currently.

These two Emperor Artifacts had always been hidden inside Yang Kai’s Sealed World Bead, while the Soul Splitting Saber had never even been used. As for the Insect Enslavement Bracelet, this was only the second time Yang Kai had taken it out since obtaining it.

The previous time was in the Severed World when Yang Kai and Xue Yue were being chased down by countless Illusory Butterflies. At that time, Yang Kai had used the magical effects of the Insect Enslavement Bracelet to easily suppress those butterflies which could even cause difficulty to powerful Origin Kings.

From that experience, Yang Kai realized this Insect Enslavement Bracelet still had its uses even if he had yet to refine it.

It was also just a flash of inspiration when he suddenly remembered this special artifact a moment ago, and with nothing else to lose took it out to try, the effects far surpassing his expectations.

Looking at the Insect Enslavement Bracelet for a moment, Yang Kai felt a bit suspicious, because even if the Insect Enslavement Bracelet was an artifact that the Insect Emperor once possessed, and it had a natural suppressive effect on Exotic Insects, the Monster Insect Queen was not weak after all, How could it suppress it to the point where it died of a simple backlash?

Yang Kai could not figure it out.

Sometime later, he put away the Insect Enslavement Bracelet and his figure flickered, disappearing from where he stood to enter the Small Sealed World of the Sealed World Bead.

After releasing his Divine Sense, Yang Kai quickly found where the snow-white light which appeared from the Monster Insect Queen was.

Disappearing again, Yang Kai instantly arrived at a different place in the Small Sealed World.

Here, the mountains and rivers were serene and peaceful, with only the white light flying around aimlessly in its long sword shape.

Yang Kai decided to first conceal himself and observe to see what would happen.

Now that he had collected this thing into the Sealed World Bead, Yang Kai had full control over it. Even if it had the strength of an Emperor, Yang Kai did not need to fear it.

The more he observed this thing, the more Yang Kai felt it was shaped similar to Su Yan’s Profound Frost, which also bolstered Yang Kai’s previous speculations about Ice Heart Valley’s Ancestral Founder Bing Yun.

“Is it the Soul of that Monster Insect Queen?” Yang Kai thought secretly but soon dismissed the idea. This sword-shaped snow-white light was indeed somewhat similar to a Soul, composed entirely of energy with a trace of chaotic consciousness, but it was definitely not the Soul of the Monster Insect Queen. On the other hand, Yang Kai felt an incredibly profound Sword Intent radiating from it.

[Just what the hell is this?]

After some time, Yang Kai determined that it could not pose any threat to him after this thing had left the body of the Monster Insect Queen, so he decided to appear before it.

Just as Yang Kai appeared, the sword-shaped snow-white light suddenly pulsed, releasing rich Ice Principles and Sword Intent as it pointed its tip towards him.

“Don’t get presumptuous!” Yang Kai slowly shook his head as he stretched out his hand with a flick of his wrist controlled the surrounding Principles to shatter the Ice Principles and Sword Intent coming from the light.

Inside the Sealed World Bead, just like back on Shadowed Star, Yang Kai was the supreme master and could change anything he wanted to at will with just a single thought.

An opponent trying to fight with him here was the height of foolishness.

The strange snow-white light obviously did not realize this though and was not discouraged by Yang Kai dispelling its ultimate move so easily. Without pause, it tried again to display its Clear Sky Snowfall technique.

“Stop causing trouble!” Yang Kai spat disdainfully before reaching out and condensing a rope of pure energy that tightly bound the light.

Waving his hand once more, the shackled snow-white light immediately flew to his hand.

Yang Kai closed his eyes and began carefully probing it.

He was very curious about what this thing really was.

As time passed, Yang Kai’s calm and tranquil look gradually changed, becoming astonished, surprised, shocked… and eventually joyous.

After a long time, he opened his eyes and a look of utter disbelief covered his face as he stared down at the snow-white light that was still struggling to escape its restraints.

“A Sentient Sword Intent? Can such a thing really exist in this world?” Yang Kai was astonished.

This snow-white sword-shaped light was not the Soul of the Monster Insect Queen, nor was it the Soul of any living creature. Instead, it was formed from the residual Clear Sky Snowfall Sword Dao Secret Technique’s Sword Intent that had somehow achieved a level of independent consciousness.

In this world, not all creatures required a flesh and blood body to be considered alive and sentient.

Some trees, stones, and even Spirit Pills that absorbed enough World Energy over a long enough period of time would be able to obtain sentience. Examples of such things were the variety of World Spirit Treasures and Pill Spirits…

The world was incredibly vast, so such wonders existed.

However, Yang Kai had never imagined that the Sword Intent of a Secret Technique could also give birth to a conscious will.

This snow-white sword-shaped light was surprisingly the Sword Intent of the Clear Sky Snowfall Secret Technique which, after countless years of tempering under the rich Emperor Pressure and Ice Principles of the Ice Cliff, had obtained sentience.

To put it bluntly, this was a living Sword Intent!

Just how profound a comprehension of the Sword Dao did the master who unleashed this Secret Technique possess to allow the mere Sword Intent of it to produce such a bizarre evolution?

However, this also explained in a certain sense why it couldn’t bring out the real power of an Emperor.

The Monster Insect Queen had died long ago, likely killed by that very Emperor in a single move, and only because of the special environment and its strong body did it manage to maintain its original form. Afterwards, the Sword Intent that lingered in its fatal wound had given birth to a chaotic will and instinctively attached itself to the Monster Insect Queen.

This was not like seizing control of a body by consuming and replacing its Soul, but rather like controlling the body of the Monster Insect Queen as a puppet, making it impossible to draw out its full power.

This also explained why it could only use Clear Sky Snowfall, and all its techniques seemed to be variations of this Secret Technique.

Fundamentally this Sentient Sword Intent was the essence of Clear Sky Snowfall, so aside from Clear Sky Snowfall, it naturally did not know anything else.

What’s more, it obviously had not completely integrated with the Monster Insect Queen, so under the suppression of the Insect Enslavement Bracelet, it was directly driven out of its body. Suddenly being separated from this Sentient Sword Intent, the Monster Insect Queen’s body lost all ability to control the attack it was condensing at that moment, so experiencing a total backlash was understandable.

Many of the incomprehensible events from earlier became clear after Yang Kai learned about the true nature of this snow-white sword-shaped light.

Looking down at the struggling Sword Intent in his hand, Yang Kai knit his brow.

Undeniably, this was a very precious treasure.

After all, it was a Sentient Sword Intent, so if it could be refined and consumed, it would be the equivalent of comprehending an Emperor Realm master’s full understanding of this Secret Technique.

Even Yang Kai was a little moved.

Although he currently had many Secret Techniques, having one more would boost his options when facing enemies in combat.

However… if he wanted to use such a Secret Technique, he needed to first cultivate an Ice Attribute Secret Art or be able to manipulate Ice Principles. Yang Kai did not have the slightest experience controlling Ice Attribute Energy, so even if he were to refine this Sentient Sword Intent, he would be unable to use Clear Sky Snowfall to any reasonable degree.

[It would be wonderful if Su Yan was here!] Yang Kai sighed.

He could not refine it, but he couldn’t let it remain in the Small Sealed World either; after all, his medicine garden was inside this Small Sealed World with all the herbs and spirit medicines he had accumulated. If this unruly fellow were to find the medicine garden and freeze everything inside it, Yang Kai would have nowhere to cry.

[How troublesome!]

Yang Kai frowned as he was unable to refine this thing, unable to let it stay, and unwilling to simply throw it away. Scratching his head for a while, he could not come up with a good solution to the problem at hand.

Just when he was feeling at his wit’s end, an idea suddenly popped into his head.

Yang Kai immediately smiled and carefully began to consider the possible gains and losses.

A moment later, he made up his mind and felt that this was indeed a good idea. Not only would it not waste this Sentient Sword Intent, but it could also boost his strength dramatically in the short run.

Considering all this, he no longer hesitated and exited the Sealed World Bead.

Looking left and right, Yang Kai quickly found the carcass of the Monster Insect Queen which was riddled with the backlash from the Clear Sky Snowfall Secret Technique. Rushing over, he quickly tossed the Monster Insect Queen’s body into the Sealed World Bead before following after it.

Standing in a large clearing, the bound Sword Intent suspended nearby and the huge snow-white Monster Insect Queen in front of him, Yang Kai grinned and stretched out his hand.

Although this Sword Intent had its own consciousness, it was still in a chaotic state and was unable to communicate meaningfully. As such, it only possessed the basic instincts to fight and kill, so Yang Kai did not bother trying to reason with it and directly bound it with his Divine Sense.

Yang Kai wanted to leave his Soul Imprint on this Sword Intent.

By doing so, he would be able to command it and make it obey his instructions.

This was no different from controlling a cultivator by marking their Soul, it was just that his target this time was a chaotic consciousness, which would not actively cooperate. However, it was precisely because this Sword Intent’s sentience was so limited that Yang Kai could control it completely.

Spiritual Energy pouring out, Yang Kai tried his best to burn his will into the Sentient Sword Intent.

During the process, he encountered a lot of resistance, and Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was damaged quite a bit, but one side in this contest was acting on instinct while the other was acting purposefully. In the end, the Sentient Sword Intent was defeated by Yang Kai’s methods and successfully engraved with Yang Kai’s Soul Imprint.