Martial Peak

Chapter 2000, Fraud

A bolt of light suddenly lasered towards the man who had just stepped back from the Soaring Dragon Altar.

This man’s complexion changed drastically, and without even hesitating, he flew out at the fastest speed he could muster, a radiant glow bursting from his body as he tried to defend himself.

But no matter how fast he fled, he was not able to escape the Soaring Dragon Altar’s attack, and after just a single breath, the bolt of light pierced straight through his protective Source Qi like paper and opened a hole in his chest.

“Ah…” A partial scream rang out before the man fell to the ground with a thud, just like the cultivators who had been killed by these light beams before, his entire physique mangle to a miserable state.

Everyone around paled in horror.

After all, from the moment Yang Kai took action to when these two died, less than three breaths had passed.

In just three breaths of time, two peak Origin Kings from the lead group had been killed off. Regardless of what artifacts Yang Kai had used just now, this alone was enough to demonstrate his strength and methods.

In an instant, the look in the eyes of the cultivators near Yang Kai shrank as their expression filled with fear and horror. Intentionally or unconsciously, all of them began to distance themselves, clearly indicating they had no intention to be his enemy.

This effect was exactly what Yang Kai had expected, so he simply flicked his wrist, stored away the Soul Splitting Sabre and walked forward lightly, treating all the surrounding cultivators like air, an extremely arrogant display.

*Hou…*

Suddenly, a thunderous roar rang out from amongst the crowd, one that seemed like a cross between a dragon and a beast.

Everyone was surprised hearing this and turned their eyes towards the source of this sound, their expression stiffening the moment they did.

Because at that position, a man wearing what looked like a training outfit and seemed to be about thirty years old had used some kind of powerful Secret Technique that caused his entire body to glow crimson red, like a cooked prawn. What’s more, above this man’s head, there was now a phantom image of a fiery-red Flood Dragon.

This Flood Dragon phantom was almost corporeal in its existence and with its giant teeth and claws were incredibly intimidating. After making an appearance though, this Flood Dragon’s body flickered and dove into the body of the young man below.

The next moment, this man’s aura rose noticeably, and a faint trace of Dragon Pressure even began to radiate from his body.

“Duan Tian Ci! It’s Duan Tian Ci!”

Someone suddenly exclaimed.

“He’s the son of Sir City Lord?”

“I’ve heard that when he was young, he went out on an adventure and through a fortuitous encounter obtained the complete Soul of a Flood Dragon. Now, it seems the rumours were true. With the help of this Flood Dragon Soul, the pressure he’ll have to face will definitely be lowered.”

Many cultivators cried out in unwillingness while others just stared in envy.

Yang Kai also instantly understood the identity of this person.

It turned out to be Duan Tian Ci, the son of City Lord Duan Yuan Shan. The Flood Dragon phantom that had just appeared was obviously a Flood Dragon Soul he had acquired in his early years. Duan Tian Ci had used some kind of method to stimulate it to help him resist the powerful Dragon Pressure here.

Although Flood Dragons were not part of the Dragon Clan, they still had a trace of the authentic Dragons’ bloodline, so the soul of a Flood Dragon was naturally useful in resisting Dragon Pressure.

Duan Tian Ci was clearly a man who understood patience. He had hidden this advantage all along until he got close enough to the Soaring Dragon Altar. Obviously, he had been planning this since the beginning.

However… he was not the only one who had held back their trump card.

Just as Duan Tian Ci inspired his Flood Dragon Soul, another young man nearby let out a shout as a light cover that resembled a bell appeared around him.

The surrounding cultivator’s attacks landed on this bell, but this young man completely ignored them as he strode towards the Soaring Dragon Altar step by step.

None of those attacks were able to penetrate his defenses.

“It’s the Immovable Heavenly King Bell from Raging Fire Temple! He must be Zong Zi Jin from Raging Fire Temple!”

One of the cultivators present recognized the name of this cultivator and the artifact he used.

“The Dao Source Grade Mid-Rank defensive artifact, Immovable Heavenly King Bell?”

“That’s cheating! How are we supposed to fight that?”

Many Origin Kings protested.

Although Zong Zi Jin’s cultivation was not high enough to bring out the full power of the Immovable Heavenly King Bell, it was still a Dao Source Grade Mid-Rank defensive artifact, so no attack from an ordinary Origin King could scratch it. Only if a dozen people joined forces and used their full strength would they pose a threat to Zong Zi Jin.

As he walked forward, Zong Zi Jin turned his head to look at those who attacked him and sneered, “This Zong will remember each of you! When things are settled here, this Zong will definitely return your kindness!”

Hearing these words, many Origin Kings turned pale.

“Young Master Zong, this is a misunderstanding! This one had eyes but failed to recognize Young Master Zong, thus leading him to offend him. Please show mercy, Young Master Zong, if you had reported your name earlier, how could I have possibly attacked you?” An Origin King Realm hurriedly backed down, for fear that Zong Zi Jin would come to settle accounts with him afterwards.

“That’s right, Young Master Zong, as the saying goes, it’s better to make friends than enemies. Why must Young Master Zong be insistant?”

Zong Zi Jin sneered when he heard this groveling and without stopping, said faintly, “Fine, since it is all a misunderstanding, then I shall let this matter go, but… if anyone dares to harass this Young Master again, he will not be so forgiving.”

“We would not dare.”

“Young Master Zong is merciful!”

The cultivators were overjoyed.

Zong Zi Jin obviously knew this was not the time to get tangled up with these people. If he was stubborn and drew them into a fight, it would only benefit others in the end, so he backed down without much hesitation.

The only other person present who could compete with Duan Tian Ci and Zong Zi Jin now was Yang Kai.

Having already reached this point, he naturally circulated his Golden Divine Dragon Source slightly to resist the invisible Dragon Pressure, so in truth, he was the most at ease.

As the three of them moved forward, they exchanged glances and sparks could be seen flying.

Yang Kai secretly felt bitter at this moment, because unlike Duan Tian Ci and Zong Zi Jin, he had no backing and no background, so if he really used his full strength to sweep away the treasures on the Soaring Dragon Altar, he would definitely suffer public outrage.

As such, he was considering whether to let Duan Tian Ci and Zong Zi Jin start first and use them to share the pressure.

But soon, he rejected this idea because, no matter how many or how few treasures he took away, he would still be targeted. If that was the case, he should just go all out…

Just as Yang Kai made up his mind though, Duan Tian Ci suddenly formed a seal with his hands and caused his aura to soar.

He had not hesitated to use some kind of powerful Secret Technique to boost his strength at this last moment.

Immediately, he let out a loud laugh and crossed the last dozen metres or so, arriving at the Soaring Dragon Altar in one fell swoop!

Seeing this situation, Yang Kai’s heart clenched while Zong Zi Jin’s expression also changed, both of them gritting their teeth as they increased their speed.

“It’s all mine!” Duan Tian Ci laughed loudly as he stretched out his hand to grip a sword-like artifact.

This sword was undoubtedly among the best of the dozen or so treasures on the Soaring Dragon Altar, its whole body radiating a powerful glow that marked it as unordinary at a glance.

Duan Tian Ci was still a cautious man, though, so when he seized the sword artifact, he also raised his vigilance while circulating his strength, preparing for anything unexpected.

What surprised him though was that he was able to pick up the sword with great ease.

This result made him freeze for a moment, but it did not diminish his joy.

Just when he was about to stuff his first harvest into his Space Ring though, something unexpected happened.

As soon as the sword left the Soaring Dragon Altar, it actually flickered and transformed into a dead tree branch. Not only did it lose its original appearance, it also lost all its aura…

With a gust of wind, the dead branch broke into two pieces and fell to the ground.

Duan Tian Ci’s smile stiffened.

The expressions of the many cultivators who had been paying attention to him weren’t any better, filled with doubt, surprise, mockery, and incomprehension…

“It’s… it’s a fake?” After a moment, Duan Tian Ci roared unwillingly as he threw away the half of the dead branch in his hand and grabbed a hammer artifact.

The second artifact was taken out by him, and similarly to the first, it turned into an ordinary stone the moment it left the Soaring Dragon Altar.

“An illusion! It’s all an illusion! We’ve been deceived!”

Suddenly, a cry of unwillingness rang out from the crowd.

There was no need for this person’s reminder, though, as almost everyone present had figured out what was happening by now.

After all, Duan Tian Ci had picked up two artifacts in front of everyone’s eyes so there was no chance for him to falsify anything or swap the artifacts for fakes without someone noticing. As such, the only explanation was that the treasures on Soaring Dragon Altar were not real. Everything was an illusion that was powerful enough to deceive everyone present.

For a moment, the cultivators who had been struggling to move forward came to halt, unsure whether they should be laughing or crying.

No one thought that the final outcome would be like this.

The Soaring Dragon Altar, which all of them believed was their chance to leap over the Dragon Gate and soar into the Heavens, turned out to be a giant fraud.

Yang Kai was also stunned stupid.

The moment Duan Tian Ci used his Secret Technique to rush forward, Yang Kai had become quite anxious, but seeing the dramatic scene before him… he was caught quite unprepared.

Swiftly, his expression changed as he closed his eyes briefly before opening them once more.

With everyone’s focus elsewhere, no one noticed that Yang Kai ‘s left eye had turned golden.

The next moment, he rushed forward.

On the other side, Zong Zi Jin also ran up to the Soaring Dragon Altar, and after exchanging a glance with Duan Tian Ci, he began snatching up one ‘treasures’ after another from the Soaring Dragon Altar before tossing each one away.

The seemingly precious treasures and Secret Arts all turned out to be extremely ordinary things, of no use or value whatsoever. Many of these things, after being thrown to the ground, even fell apart and turned to dust the wind then blew away.

Soon, Yang Kai joined them.

Picking up a jade bottle, Yang Kai opened it and looked inside before angrily cursing and tossing it away.

Not long after, under the joint efforts of the trio, it turned out that nothing on the Soaring Dragon Altar was real.

“How could this be?” Duan Tian Ci still seemed unable to accept this ending as he kept muttering disappointedly.

“It seems… we’ve all been played for fools!” Zong Zi Jin laughed wryly at himself.