Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

"Master!" Liu Yan saw that Yang Kai had finally arrived and couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief. Her huge body flashed as she transformed back into her human form and respectfully stood behind Yang Kai.

Yang Kai glanced over at Zhang Ruo Xi and saw that she was wrapped in a black flame barrier, one that emitted a familiar aura that made even him tremble slightly. He immediately understood that Liu Yan had used her strongest powers to protect Zhang Ruo Xi. If that weren't the case, even if Liu Yan wasn't strong enough to defeat these three, she wouldn't have had so much difficulty.

"Good job, you've worked hard." Yang Kai nodded at her.

"I only did what I should," Liu Yan faintly replied.

Yang Kai turned his head and coldly swept his eyes across the three below.

"Who is Your Excellency?" Hua Gu almost suffered a big loss at Yang Kai's hands just now, so he did nothing to conceal his anger, "Why are you interfering in my business?"

Yang Kai raised the corners of his mouth and asked, "Are you deaf? Didn't you hear what she called me just now?"

Hua Gu frowned and asked, "So, you are the master of this Artifact Spirit?"

"At least you're not a total fool!" Yang Kai sneered.

"Impudence!" Hua Gu yelled as he spat fiercely, "A trivial First-Order Dao Source Realm trash dares possess such an Artifact Spirit? Little brat, this old master advises you to obediently offer this Artifact Spirit to me and this old master may still spare your life, if not…"

"If not?"

"Today, this will be your burial place!" Hua Gu yelled sharply.

"Hahaha!" Yang Kai couldn't help letting out a laugh filled with arrogance, as if he didn't put Hua Gu in his eyes at all. A moment later, he smiled and declared, "Since you dare to say so then I'll have to bury you instead!"

When his words fell, Yang Kai suddenly waved his hand.

Along with his movements, a strange pressure suddenly descended from the sky, and the canyon, which was already gloomy, suddenly became darker, as if something was blocking all light from above.

Hua Gu and the others looked up in amazement, and the next moment, they all exclaimed.

"What the hell is that!"

"This is…"

"Not good, run!"

The three all yelled as they scattered.

*Hong…*

The canyon shook as a behemoth suddenly fell from the air and hit the ground, shattering the surface around it. This behemoth looked like a fifty meter tall beast with jagged edges and rocky features.

Hua Gu and others were dumbfounded.

Even with all of their experiences, none of these three could tell what this thing was. At first glance, it looked a bit similar to the legendary Stone Beast, but after careful observation, they determined it couldn't be.

Because a Stone Beast couldn't grow this big!

"Oh? Finally willing to let me out?" As soon as the Embodiment appeared, he cracked his arms and neck, looking around with great interest, as if he had not seen the outside world in many years.

In fact, this was the truth.

After the Embodiment absorbed the floating continent, besides when Yang Kai brought it out to deal with Purple Star, it had remained inside the Sealed World Bead. Since then, for so many years, the Embodiment had not seen the outside world.

The reason was simple, after fusing with the floating continent, it was simply too big to freely take out.

If Yang Kai wanted to summon his Embodiment from the Small Sealed World, he would have to expend a huge amount of Spiritual Energy. How could Yang Kai spare so much energy to summon his Embodiment in the middle of a battle? As a result, the Embodiment remained inside the Sealed World Bead until now.

As time passed, the innate abilities of the Stone Puppet Clan slowly manifested, allowing the Embodiment to slowly temper its body and eliminate unnecessary impurities, causing its massive body to slowly become smaller.

But that had not been enough to reduce its size to a manageable level.

It was only when Yang Kai obtained the Heaven Devouring Battle Law that a turning point came. This Secret Art could be described as tailor-made for the Embodiment. Since cultivating the Heaven Devouring Battle Law, coupled with the innate abilities of the Stone Puppet clan, the Embodiment had managed to rapidly increase the rate at which it tempered itself.

Even so, the Embodiment was still a huge monster compared to ordinary humans, and Yang Kai felt a third of his Spiritual Energy had been drained just to bring it out a moment ago.

The visual impact of such a huge body was undoubtedly shocking, especially since it seemed to appear out of nowhere. This caught the trio from Evil Moon Valley off guard and left them stunned for a while, as if they were lost in some kind of illusion, unable to believe their eyes.

Bits of gravel continued to fall from the Embodiment as it stretched itself out.

There was no need for Yang Kai to explain anything. As soon as the Embodiment appeared, it immediately understood the situation and recognized Hua Gu and his companions as enemies.

Grinning towards Hua Gu, the Embodiment grinned and spoke in a grating voice, "A Third-Order Dao Source Realm. En, as the first to die by my hand after so many years, it's not a bad choice!"

"Good, I'll leave it to you, I'm interested in seeing just how much ability you have now!" Yang Kai nodded lightly.

"Then you're in for a pleasant surprise!" The Embodiment smiled and lowered its stance before punching at Hua Gu.

The fist didn't seem to carry any trace of energy, like it was only done using pure physical force, but even so, strong pressure and wind blew from this fist as it pounded towards Hua Gu like a falling meteor.

Hua Gu was shocked and exclaimed, "This can't be real!"

He didn't dare to test that notion though and hurriedly leapt up into the air.

Although his cultivation at the Third-Order Dao Source Realm was not weak, how could he dare to take such a blow head-on?

The Embodiment's massive body made turning and moving somewhat awkward; however, seemingly having expected Hua Gu's reaction long ago, the Embodiment shot out a fist towards the spot where Hua Gu tried to flee.

Hua Gu screamed again and hurriedly dodged.

Soon, Hua Gu managed to adjust though.

After avoiding the Embodiment's initial attacks, Hua Gu determined that, although the huge stone man seemed quite powerful and intimidating, its attacks were monotonous and simple, so they were easy to avoid.

Just as this thought passed through his head, the Embodiment suddenly let out a cold snort and snapped, "Jumping around like a flea, if you're a real man, fight me head-on!"

Hua Gu exclaimed, "You think this old master is some kind of idiot? Do you think such childish provocation will work on me?"

"Hey…" the Embodiment grinned, "Whether it works or not, there's no harm trying. Since that's the case, let's try this instead…"

As it spoke, it stretched out its hand and slapped its palms down, causing a strange force to surge out and draw in the earth and ground below. Rock and earth quickly flew up into the Embodiment's palms and in the blink of an eye, a spear-like object had condensed.

This spear was purely composed of gravel and dirt from the canyon floor, but it still looked extremely strong and powerful. Obviously, it was being solidified somehow by the Embodiment.

With this spear in hand, and its massive body, the Embodiment was the very picture of might.

Gripping the spear tightly, it mercilessly hurled it towards Hua Gu.

*Xiu…*

A sharp whistle rang out as the air in the canyon split apart. A huge vortex appeared as space tore from the residual force of this spear which seemed to ignore distance and appeared directly in front of Hua Gu.

Hua Gu's eyes widened in horror as the spear rapidly enlarged in his eyes. With a shout, he summoned a shield-like artifact that turned into a light curtain, protecting his front.

*Hong…*

The rock spear hit the light curtain and instantly shattered it into tiny points of light before continuing on and impacting the canyon floor.

With a loud bang, rubble flew out and a huge circular pit opened up where the spear had landed.

Hua Gu was drenched in cold sweat as he stood to the side, pale, fear gripping his heart tightly.

If he hadn't dodged fast enough just now, this terrifying attack would have been enough to turn him into a blood mist.

The shield he just summoned was a Dao Source Grade Mid-Rank defensive artifact, one that had protected him for countless years already. It was powerful enough to even resist Dao Source Grade High-Rank offensive artifacts without much difficulty.

But today, it was crushed by a strange stone giant in one blow.

A Dao Source Grade Mid-Rank defensive artifact was no different from paper in front of this tyrannical force.

Even scarier though was the fact that the spear was composed entirely of condensed soil and rock, a fact Hua Gu had witnessed personally.

The opponent's attack strength was so ridiculous, how was he even supposed to fight such a monstrosity?

At this moment, Hua Gu couldn't help but think about retreating, and at the same time, he was extremely annoyed.

He should have realized even before Yang Kai appeared that fighting with disciples from the big Sects would not be beneficial at all. Even if these disciples had lower cultivations, they would definitely be bestowed with incredible artifacts and treasures from their Elders. None of these elites could be taken lightly.

Unfortunately, he had been blinded by his own greed and looked down on Yang Kai's First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation, but even if he regretted his actions now, it was too late.

"Why is your face so pale? Where did all the courage you showed just now disappear to?" A voice ladened with ridicule reached Hua Gu's ear, and when he glanced back, his entire body clenched in fear.

Hua Gu saw the Embodiment pressing its hands down again, causing the rock and soil beneath it to swirl upwards and quickly condensing into two spears exactly like the one from before…

At the same time, Liu Yan and Xiong Ning had already concluded their fight.

Liu Yan, who had been besieged earlier by three enemies, had been at a distinct disadvantage and had built up quite a bit of resentment, so when the Embodiment attacked Hua Gu, she quickly found Xiong Ning to seek some redress.

Even if Xiong Ning's cultivation was a little higher than hers, Liu Yan still fought equally with him, and soon even gained the upper hand.

This time, Liu Yan did not reveal her true body and chose to fight solely in her human form!

In this form, Liu Yan could only exert eighty percent of her strength, so it was obvious that if she transformed into her Firebird form, she would easily be able to suppress Xiong Ning.

Liu Yan had swallowed so many strange flames, and as an Artifact Spirit, increasing her strength was extremely difficult, far more so than a human cultivator's breakthroughs. As a result, Liu Yan's strength was far more tempered, allowing her to fight enemies above her own cultivation with ease.

It was only natural that Xiong Ning would not be her opponent.

In the depths of the canyon, two battlefields raged.

As for Yang Kai, he didn't move, and neither did Zhou An.

Yang Kai didn't move because he wanted to see what kind of pleasant surprise his Embodiment would give him while at the same time he had to guard Zhang Ruo Xi. He had to make sure that Embodiment did not cause too much commotion here and interfere with this little girl's cultivation.