Martial Peak

Chapter 2177, Golden Cicada Shell Shedding

These four people were obviously nearby and were attracted by the phenomena of the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus' birth.

One of them has a burly figure with a cold, indifferent expression and a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation. The other lone man had short hair and thief-like eyes, like he was constantly scheming something. This man's cultivation was neither high nor low, just Second-Order Dao Source Realm. The last two, a young man and woman, seemed to be companions. The woman was petite and delicate looking while the man appeared suave. At first glance, it was clear that this Senior Brother and Junior Sister had a close relationship. Both of them had Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivations.

At this moment, all four of them showed looks of surprise as they stared towards the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, greed quickly welling up in their eyes.

Seeing this situation, Yang Kai couldn't help but sigh.

Although he had been mentally prepared for this to happen as he knew the Heavenly Manifestation triggered by the maturation of the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus would definitely attract many cultivators, he hadn't expected someone to appear so soon.

And four of them at once…

It seemed that there was a small number of cultivators active nearby, otherwise, they wouldn't have arrived here so quickly.

"Senior Brother He… what kind of herb is that?" After observing for a moment, the young woman asked the man next to her, because she didn't recognize this strange spirit flower in front of her, only that it must be rare and precious.

Senior Brother He heard her question but slowly shook his head and replied, "I don't know either."

As he spoke, he unconsciously licked his dry lips with an expression that seemed like he was ready to pounce, but he remained where he was, likely out of fear of the burly man. This was only natural as the burly man had the highest cultivation here and was the biggest obstacle to snatching this spirit flower.

"Brother Cheng Tai, do you recognize what this spirit flower is?" At that moment, the shifty-eyed young man suddenly asked the burly man. Apparently, the two were familiar with one another.

"I don't know," The man called Cheng Tai replied curtly, glancing over at the thief-like young man and asking, "Does Brother Bao not recognize it?"

Bao Peng smiled and replied, "How could this Bao recognize something that even Brother Cheng Tai doesn't recognize? You think too highly of me."

"Hmph," Cheng Tai snorted coldly before turning to the other man and woman and asking aloud. "You two from Flowing Shadow Sword Sect, do you recognize this thing?"

Senior Brother He frowned hearing this question and shook his head slowly, as did the young woman.

Cheng Tai turned his gaze to Yang Kai last and yelled, "Boy, you seem to have gotten here first, what is this spirit flower? Speak."

"I… I don't know," Yang Kai spoke haltingly, putting on a bewildered look as he explained, "I was just attracted by this vision…"

"Wastes!" Cheng Tai couldn't help cursing before Yang Kai even finished speaking, "You don't even recognize what this is but you still ran over here?!"

With this sentence, he scolded everyone present.

Senior Brother He of Flowing Shadow Sword Sect and the young woman beside him heard this and frowned unhappily, while Bao Peng, who seemed familiar with Cheng Tai's temper, didn't seem to care.

Next, Cheng Tai shouted, "No matter what this spirit flower is, this Cheng wants it. If you want to live, scram quickly, otherwise, don't blame this Cheng for being ruthless?"

Bao Peng heard this and his brow twitched, but he still managed to say with a smile, "Brother Cheng, this… is this appropriate?"

"Do you have an objection?" Cheng Tai looked at Bao Peng with a grim expression and coldly snorted, "If you have an objection, say it boldly at your own risk!"

The latter quickly raised his hands and after taking a few steps back, he followed up, "Brother Cheng Tai misunderstands, if you want this thing, how could this Bao have any objections? It's just that these two from Flowing Shadow Sword Sect may not be so agreeable, yes? When a rare spirit flower appears, in the end, the one who seizes it is the one who owns it…"

Hearing what he said, Senior Brother He nodded and said, "Yes, treasures belong to those who can keep them, if Friend wants it, he needs to use his own ability to snatch it!"

Although Cheng Tai was a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, Senior Brother He was together with his Junior Sister, so he wasn't afraid of the other party. What's more, with a rare treasure appearing right before his eyes, how could he just give up on it without trying?

"You two want to oppose me?" Cheng Tai heard this and grinned maliciously, "I've heard that Flowing Shadow Sword Sect's Flowing Shadow Sword Art is exquisite and unpredictable, I wonder if that's true… Good, since there is an opportunity today, this Cheng will have to ask you two for a demonstration."

Saying so, Cheng Tai's Source Qi surged and his already burly figure seemed to bulk up further, causing a sense of coercion to suddenly spread.

Having prepared himself, he shouted, "You two, don't disappoint this Cheng!"

Stamping the ground, Cheng Tai shot off and crashed towards the pair from Flowing Shadow Sword Sect like a falling meteor.

He actually attacked directly!

"Be careful!" Senior Brother He shouted as his figure flickered and he retreated backwards together with his Junior Sister several dozen meters.

*Ceng ceng…*

Two slicing sounds rang out as two cold lights flashed.

When the swords were drawn, a piercing murderous intent filled the air.

Senior Brother He and his Junior Sister both held their swords in one hand while they formed a series of seals with their other one, assuming a strange stance as their Sword Qi began surging outwards.

"There should be a limit to looking down on others!" Senior Brother He shouted. Chang Tai suddenly attacking had caused Senior Brother He to be quite angered and his eyes quickly filled with murderous intent as he shouted to the young woman beside him, "Junior Sister, begin. don't show any mercy!"

"Rest assured, Junior Sister will let him feel the power of our Flowing Shadow Sword Art!" The young woman shouted in response as she swung her sword, releasing a dazzling sword light that slashed towards Cheng Tai.

At the same time, Senior Brother He used a similar skill to coordinate with his Junior Sister.

Cheng Tai was a Third-Order Dao Source Realm master, so facing this coordinated assault, he did not back down. Sending out a series of palms, he caused the surrounding World Energy to turn chaotic as he fought two against one without losing any ground.

In an instant, three people had become locked in a melee, fighting atop this mountain as Sword Qi and palm prints kicked up rock and sand on the turbulent battlefield.

Meanwhile, the initiator of all this, Bao Peng, stood quietly and watched, without any intention of intervening, from time to time showing a thoughtful look as if he was gaining some enlightenment from observing this battle.

"Ha…" Suddenly, Yang Kai sighed as he turned to look in a certain direction before saying, "This spirit flower doesn't seem to be mature yet, so collecting it right now… is probably a bad idea as it may ruin it…"

The place he was looking towards oddly didn't have anyone standing there.

The three people who were fighting heard Yang Kai and were all shocked, quickly withdrawing from their fight as they turned to stare at him suspiciously.

Cheng Tai also glanced over at Bao Peng who was standing not far away and frowned.

"I've just said it cannot be picked rashly… Does this friend not understand simple words?" Yang Kai shouted forcefully this time as he punched out.

As Yang Kai's fist pressure flew out, a figure suddenly appeared where before there was none, showing a shocked look on his face. At this moment, he was only ten steps away from the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus and from his posture, it was clear he was attempting to steal it while everyone else was distracted.

"Bao Peng!" After seeing this person's face, Cheng Tai couldn't help snapping.

At that moment, the other Bao Peng, who had been standing in place watching the battle, suddenly turned into a speck of light and disappeared!

It was actually just a very lifelike afterimage…

The real Bao Peng had clearly used some kind of Secret Technique to secretly approach the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus.

"You…" Bao Peng was exposed by Yang Kai's punch, ruining his good deed, so he was furious and viciously shouted, "Boy, you court death!"

In his opinion, if not for Yang Kai interfering, he would have snatched this strange spirit flower and escaped.

Annoyed, he flew into a rage!

"Sorry…" Yang Kai scratched his head helplessly, "If possible, I didn't want to expose you, but your behaviour… it was simply too despicable!"

He spurned.

The others present might have taken this comment as an insult, but Yang Kai really had no other meaning, he was simply exasperated that this Bao Peng was about to ruin the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus.

The Extraordinary Treasure Lotus was still not mature, so how could Yang Kai allow it to be picked rashly? He had pretended to be ignorant and weak, hoping to buy some more time, but now it seemed that this plan would not work.

"Indeed!" Cheng Tai yelled loudly, "I haven't seen you for a few years, Bao Peng, but it seems you're as shameless as ever! Even though this Cheng had been paying attention all this time, he was still almost cheated by you!"

Although he had been fighting with the pair from Flowing Shadow Sword Sect before, Cheng Tai had not gone all out and had intentionally split his attention to monitor Bao Peng. However, from Cheng Tia's perspective, Bao Peng had simply been standing there watching, so he was able to focus more on his fight.

Cheng Tai never thought that the Bao Peng standing there was just a mirage!

The faces of the two Flowing Shadow Sword Sect disciples were also quite ugly at the moment, but they also felt quite curious because of everyone present, no one had seen through Bao Peng's trick except for the Yang Kai…

If they hadn't clearly sensed that Yang Kai's cultivation was only First-Order Dao Source Realm, all of them would have thought he was hiding something.

"Brother Cheng, calm down…" Bao Peng also cast a flattering look towards Cheng Tai at this time and said, "It's not like I managed to succeed…"

"That's only because your luck was bad!" Cheng Tai coldly snorted, "If your luck had been good enough, wouldn't you have run off with this spirit flower already?"

"It's not a question of luck…" Bao Peng stared at Yang Kai with deep gaze before saying coldly, "What this Bao just displayed is his Five Aggregate Sects' Golden Cicada Shell Shedding, a masterpiece which should have no flaws in it. It is an excellent Secret Technique for preserving one's life and escaping undetected…"

"So it was the Golden Cicada Shell Shedding Secret Technique!" Cheng Tai muttered, apparently familiar with this Secret Technique, his eyes narrowing slightly as he commented, "Unexpectedly, Sect Master Qin was willing to teach you this Secret Technique!"

"That's not important right now," Bao Peng stared straight at Yang Kai as he spoke coldly. "This Bao is more concerned about how a trivial First-Order Dao Source Realm trash was able to see through it…"