Martial Peak

Chapter 2238 , Tian Yan

Translator: Silavin & Raikov

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

"You need not worry about his safety, this old master will not hurt him. I simply wish to borrow his power," The old man patiently explained to Gao Xue Ting. After that, he looked towards the palace and continued, "Your disciples are still inside. Though their Souls are not too damaged, they have still suffered from some shock. It would be best to bring them out of here as soon as possible so they may recuperate."

"Many thanks to Senior for the reminder!" Gao Xue Ting hurriedly said.

"En," The old man nodded lightly. Then, he turned his gaze to Yang Kai and said in a kind voice, "Little Friend, come with me!"

Then, with a wave of his hand, Yang Kai immediately felt a soft power wrapping around him and he flew involuntarily to the old man's side before he quickly sped off with him in one direction.

Gao Xue Ting opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but there were already no traces of Yang Kai and the old man. They had already disappeared in a breath's time.

Gazing at the direction in which they disappeared, Gao Xue Ting faintly wrinkled her brow.

She knew that the old man had no need to lie to her with his exceptional cultivation and strength, and if he really did have any hostile intentions, he could have crushed her to dust with just a finger. However, he had taken away Yang Kai so inexplicably that Gao Xue Ting still couldn't help but worry. She had no idea what sort of power Yang Kai had that this old man needed to borrow, or what he wanted to accomplish by doing so.

After thinking about it for a while, she knew she was powerless to solve the matter, and she didn't even have any way to track down the old man's whereabouts, so she could only head to the palace first and save Xia Sheng and the others, deciding to send Wen Zi Shan a message with a Secret Technique and have him find a way to retrieve their Soul Avatars from the outside.

…..

Travelling along at lightning speeds, the wind from the outside blew past as the ground seemed to recede at a blinding pace.

Yang Kai looked astonished.

This old man beside him was indeed a Great Emperor level Master! Before now, Yang Kai had only heard of the existence of Great Emperors but had never seen one himself.

[Of course… Yang Yan might be a Great Emperor, maybe…]

But even if Yang Yan was a Great Emperor, her strength was not very high during the time they spent together. It was only after she returned to the Star Boundary that her cultivation would gradually restore itself.

He had never really seen a Great Emperor's true strength before.

But today, his long-awaited wish was fulfilled.

Grandma You's Third-Order Emperor Realm desperation attack was little more than a gentle breeze before this old man. Simply not worth mentioning.

And at this moment, while bringing Yang Kai along with him, they were actually moving several dozen times faster than Yang Kai could, even when using Space Principles…

Yang Kai could not even see the scenery where they passed.

He was deeply shocked to realize just how high above the understanding of ordinary cultivators a Great Emperor's power was.

On the way, Yang Kai kept silent and did not ask the old man what he planned to do. That was because it was meaningless even if he asked him that now. He would naturally know when the time came

As the other party was not hostile, he had no need to think about running away, instead just silently trying to feel the Emperor Intent and Emperor Pressure permeating from the body of the old man so as to quench his own will.

He did not speak, and it seemed the old man did not take the initiative to do so either, only busying himself with hurrying along, even revealing a somewhat relaxed expression as he flew.

After a long day, the old man brought Yang Kai to a certain mountain valley.

It was only after arriving here that the old man finally slowed down.

Yang Kai looked around and found that this mountain valley was covered by a fog so dense that you would not be able to see your fingers in front of you. And, this fog was clearly no ordinary fog as it felt as if he was tossing a stone into an ocean when he released his Divine Sense into it.

A few moments later, the two landed on a flat piece of land in the middle of the mountain valley.

The soft power that had been wrapped around Yang Kai slowly dissipated.

After Yang Kai regained his freedom, he began looking around himself.

Soon, he realized that this was seemingly the only place in the mountain valley not covered by the thick fog. The area wasn't very large, and the only thing he could see was a simple wooden house with around thirty or so burial mounds in front of it, a wooden headstone erected on each one of them with a name inscribed onto it.

Yang Kai was stunned.

Even though he knew that there must be no corpses buried beneath these mounds, he still had the inexplicable feeling that many powerful Masters were lying here.

He swept his eyes over each of the names one by one, but he didn't recognize a single one of them.

The names were written in characters that resembled flying dragons and soaring phoenixes, each stroke containing a kind of power that he couldn't help but feel moved at the sight of.

"Little Friend, what should I call you?" The old man suddenly spoke while gazing amiably at Yang Kai.

Yang Kai quickly cupped his fists and introduced himself.

"So, it is Little Friend Yang! A pleasure meeting you," The old man nodded lightly.

Yang Kai said solemnly, "May I ask for this Senior's name?"

The old man was silent for a moment before he said, "This 0ld master is called Tian Yan!"

Yang Kai saluted him once more.

After Tian Yan answered him, he pointed to the graves in front of him and said, "Little Friend Yang, do you know who these people are?"

Yang Kai said with a solemn expression, "Even though Junior does not recognize any of their names, Junior knows that these Seniors must have history shaking achievements that bring glory to the present, Masters with amazing cultivation and skills."

"Heh…" Tian Yan smiled. "You are not wrong, but do you know… how they died?"

Yang Kai shook his head blankly.

In fact, he was also wondering about that. Tian Yan was such an amazing Master and he seemed to be guarding this place. That simple wooden house was quite clearly the place where Tian Yan rested and meditated.

To have a Great Emperor level existence like Tian Yan guarding their graves, these departed Masters must be legendary figures.

But… If that was the case, then who was it that managed to kill them? Could it be that Tian Yan did it himself? Yang Kai did not think the old man looked like a bloodthirsty person.

Tian Yan said, "Long ago, this world's Martial Dao was far more prosperous than it is today. Third-Order Emperors were constantly emerging and many prosperous Sects contended with one another…"

Tian Yan did not answer the question from before and instead suddenly recalled the past.

Yang Kai did not dare to interrupt him either and instead quickly put on a focused mood and listened attentively.

"During that time, this old master was also just a Third-Order Emperor, the same as the woman you met today," Tian You went on. Yang Kai knew that he was referring to Grandma You.

"This world is very different from the outside world, but since it exists, it will also have its own Principles. Many Masters sought ways to become even stronger by controlling these Principles. Some sought common ground while others fought for different ideals. Those were joyous days…" A look of reminiscence emerged in Tian Yan's eyes.

When he heard this, Yang Kai suddenly had a bad feeling, as if there was going to be a big twist or something.

As he had expected, Tian Yan went on, "But when it suddenly appeared, the world changed immensely!"

"What was it?" Yang Kai asked in surprise. He couldn't imagine what on earth could cause this entire world to change and result in the deaths of the Masters who were buried here.

In other words, whatever had appeared had the power to destroy a world!

Tian Yan shot him a thoughtful glance and said, "A swarm of insects!"

Yang Kai's face changed and he suddenly recalled what Yi Quan told him previously, asking solemnly, "Soul Devouring Insects?"

Back when he was still in Heavenly Monster Mountain, Yi Quan told Yang Kai that the Divine Ascension Mirror's world was once nearly destroyed by Soul Devouring Insects, and warned him that should he have the chance to enter the Divine Ascension World again, he should under no circumstances bring his Soul Devouring Insects with him unless he could fully control them. He couldn't leave them behind when he left, either.

Yang Kai clearly remembered Yi Quan's serious expression and solemn tone when he said those words.

Combined with Yi Quan's words, Yang Kai realized what the old man was talking about.

"Indeed!" Tian Yan nodded. "No one knows where those insects came from, but they were so weak in the beginning that nobody paid them any mind; however, due to their special characteristics which greatly restrained those of this world, they continued to kill and devour while rapidly growing stronger. Wherever they passed, life was extinguished and wails of despair could be heard throughout the land. All living beings were mere prey to them, and none could resist…"

"Families were destroyed one by one, cities swallowed up, and in less than a dozen years, they had grown to an almost unmanageable degree." When Tian Yan spoke of this past, a haziness filled his eyes. "By the time the Masters of this world realized how dangerous the situation had become, that swarm of insects had already grown to a level that no one could suppress!"

Yang Kai's face changed slightly.

As the owner of the Soul Devouring Insects, he had such a special group of insects with him. Yang Kai understood better than anyone else how these Soul Devouring Insects could harm this world.

He himself once envisioned that if the Soul Devouring Insects were given a certain amount of time, then they could definitely grow to dominate everything in this world.

But… that was just a prediction. Yang Kai had no idea if it would really work. However, from what Tian Yan told him just now, Yang Kai learned that this did in fact happen in the past.

Even without experiencing that scene, Yang Kai could almost imagine what a tragedy it was. The only thing left behind where the Soul Devouring Insects passed would be silence and death.

"They were too powerful, and their ability to suppress those of this world was too obvious. They continuously devoured the souls of Masters to grow stronger and stronger." Tian Yan took a deep breath and continued. "So, in a last-ditch effort, all of the world's Masters banded together to launch a decisive battle against the Soul Devouring Insects, both for themselves and for this world!"

Yang Kai could feel the blood in his body race. Even though Tian Yan did not describe the scene of that battle, it almost felt as if he could see dozens of Emperor Realm Masters bravely attacking the clouds of Soul Devouring Insects with their divine abilities.

That battle must have caused the colour to fade from Heaven and Earth.

That battle must have dimmed the Sun and the Moon.

That battle must have been… destined to be forgotten by the world.

Because after that battle… the Masters who fought it all died, leaving only their names recorded on their graves!