Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Raikov

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Gong Yue had already gone through demonification, so who knows whether he would come back to try to destroy the seal. The seal on the giant blood-coloured door was old to begin with, and had been damaged by Gong Yue earlier. If he kept at it, he may really be able to break it. For that reason, Yang Kai wanted to stay here as a precaution.

Yang Kai had to be the one to do this too, as only he had such ability.

After some simple discussion, everyone quickly began adjusting their breathing to recuperate.

Even though Hua Yu Lu and the others were not injured, the blood sacrifice they were forced into by the Six Points One Centre Array drained a lot of their energy. They had to recover for a short while before leaving for Heavenly River Valley. Everyone here was an Emperor Realm Master though, so they had brought some precious Spirit Pills for emergencies. Now wasn't the time to be stingy either, so they all took out their pills and swallowed them without hesitation.

Half a day later, Hua Yu Lu and the others were barely able to restore sixty percent of their strength, but they did not dare to delay further. After bidding farewell to Yang Kai, they all went back the way they came, preparing to leave this Ancient Cave Mansion together.

In just a moment, Yang Kai was the only one left inside the rock cave. The cave was so quiet that even the sound of his breathing was audible. The only other sound present was that of water dripping from the stalactites. This trip to the Ancient Cave Mansion was not as risky as it seemed, but thinking back to the dangerous parts still made Yang Kai's heart palpitate.

Seven people came, but only four were left alive. Wu Kuang Yi had been used as a blood sacrifice by Yang Tai, the latter sacrificed his own life, and Gong Yue's mind was invaded by a Demon Spirit. Meanwhile, the remaining four people were exhausted and could even be described as battered.

Now, there was finally a chance to recover, so Yang Kai naturally made use of every last breath of it.

With that, a day passed before he opened his eyes again to check on his current state. Only after verifying his condition did he take out his Jade Elder Token.

This was the token that Wen Zi Shan gave him at the Grand Canonization Ceremony and it not only represented his identity as an Azure Sun Temple Elder, but also had many other useful functions.

Pushing his Emperor Qi, the jade token hovered in the air in front of Yang Kai, and after weaving a few hand seals, the jade token responded with a faint hum. One by one, hidden messages were transmitted through the jade token towards Azure Sun Temple.

This wasn't a perfect method of communication, since nothing too complicated could be transmitted this way. Moreover, it was limited by distance and could only be used within the same territory; however, it was the only method of long-distance communication available in the Star Boundary now. All big Sects used similar methods to stay in contact.

After finishing this, Yang Kai put away the jade token. He believed that the Azure Sun Temple should have gotten the message, and it wouldn't be long before someone was sent over to investigate.

He then continued to meditate to recover his energy.

More than ten days passed and everything went by smoothly. Yang Kai's injuries also gradually improved, and the injury he sustained to his Soul was also slowly recovering. With a bit more time, he felt that he should be able to recover to his peak shape.

But he didn't let his guard down for a moment. He constantly kept a part of his awareness on the giant blood-coloured door, and even the slightest breeze would not escape his senses.

On that day, a wonderful feeling suddenly welled up within Yang Kai while he was meditating, as if he was gaining some insight into the Martial Dao. He was immediately delighted as this feeling had come inexplicably and without any warning, but was a rare opportunity for any cultivator. So, Yang Kai immediately immersed his mind into it, trying to chase after that deeper insight.

That unexplainable feeling grew clearer and clearer, just like a delicious dish placed right in front of him that was almost within reach, but was separated from him by an invisible barrier, only permitting him to smell the fragrance but not taste it.

However, Yang Kai was in no hurry and simply took things step by step, slowly breaking through the obstacle in front of him.

He had the feeling that if he really managed to comprehend this insight, then he would definitely be able to advance to the Second-Order Emperor Realm.

He had broken through to the Emperor Realm in the Shattered Star Sea, and even though that hadn't been that long ago, and it would normally be impossible for him to break through again so quickly, with the rich experiences he had gone through these past few days as well as his two years inside the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld, he had long gathered enough capital in order to reach the Second-Order Realm. All he needed was an opportunity.

Right now, the opportunity was right in front of his eyes, so he naturally needed to seize it properly.

Time passed slowly and Yang Kai soon became deluded, unaware of how long he had been in this state. It seemed like only a moment had passed, but at the same time like years had gone by. Finally, at a certain moment, when he felt the obstruction clear up, a whole new world appeared before his eyes.

All kinds of wonderful sensations flooded into his mind from places he'd never known about, giving him an illusion of omnipotence. Yang Kai couldn't help but want to immerse himself deeper into this feeling, to swim in it, and to peek into the mystery of the Martial Dao's peak.

At that moment, Yang Kai felt as if he had stepped into a strange new world, like he was standing in the Starry Sky with brilliant points of luminescence shining all around him. Each star was an elusive domain, filled with the Martial Dao's mysteries. They were his stepping stones towards the ultimate Martial Dao, and it was right within his reach. As long as he harvested these stars, he would be able to achieve greatness that shocked history and amazed the present.

Yang Kai slowly reached out towards the stars.

All of a sudden, a fire broke out within the Starry Sky, drawing a frown from Yang Kai.

But as soon as he laid his eyes on this flame, an extremely hot feeling took over him as if he was being cooked right on top of those fires. The burning feeling became more and more intense, so violent that Yang Kai was almost unable to bear it.

It was at that moment that he felt a sense of coolness as if a pot of cold water had doused his head. It woke Yang Kai up and it made him feel extremely comfortable.

These great fluctuations inside his mind alerted him and he immediately collected his senses and broke out of his deep trance.

A thought flashed through his mind at that moment, and he instantly understood what had just happened to him. That wasn't an epiphany, it was a trap, a trap from the Demon Spirits behind that giant blood-coloured door! Everything he saw before was merely an illusion!

Not daring to hesitate, he quickly let out a fierce roar.

The stars before him shook violently, all of them glowing in unison before gathering towards a certain spot. In an instant, they came together to form a set of large radiant characters! Those characters were very different from the characters used in today's Star Boundary and were extremely complicated, but also seemed to contain great mysteries.

"Demon Characters!" Yang Kai was shocked. He didn't think he would be caught despite being so careful. He looked away, but as if they had their own sentience, the characters emitted an even more piercing light that constantly tried to drill into Yang Kai's mind, attempting to burn their essence and meaning into his Soul.

At this critical moment, Yang Kai's mind calmed down like never before and a layer of seven coloured light burst out from his body, enveloping him like a seven coloured robe.

The light from the Demon Characters was blocked off by the seven coloured robe.

Yang Kai sneered and slowly withdrew from the illusion, returning his consciousness to his physical body.

It went surprisingly smoothly and he didn't meet any obstructions. Or perhaps, the Demon Spirit had no ability to hinder him.

When he opened his eyes, Yang Kai saw a new light in the dark cave. Glancing over, Yang Kai discovered that the giant blood-coloured door was now glowing. However, after he returned to his senses, the light gradually dimmed again before disappearing without a trace.

Yang Kai felt a chill run down his back.

His right eye felt like it was burning, but his mind felt as cool as a bucket of ice water. It was this alternating hot and cold sensation that woke him up and freed him from the grasp of those Demon Characters.

Yang Kai had no idea whether those Demon Characters were the ones that Yang Tai had been exposed to because he hadn't seen them clearly, and the protection of the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus had blocked off their true meaning, not allowing them to invade his mind at all.

Obviously, the reason why Yang Tai was able to learn the true meaning of those Ancient Demon Characters and possess Demon Essence inside his body was due to the fact that he wasn't as fortunate as Yang Kai. Yang Tai may have encountered something similar when he first came here, but without a Supreme Treasure like the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus to protect him. So, when Yang Tai learned the true meaning of the Demon Characters, he thought that he had caught onto an opportunity to grasp the Martial Dao's mysteries, having no idea it was all just a clever bait to lure him into a trap that set in motion a chain of events that ended in a series of tragedies.

To be honest, this encounter was an eye-opener for Yang Kai. In the two years he spent fighting the Demon Race in the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld, he had never encountered a Demon Race with such a strange ability to silently infiltrate his mind and slowly corrupt his Soul. This was simply the first time he had encountered such a tactic.

This was not an attack, but rather a kind of subversion. The victim would think they had chanced upon a Heaven-sent opportunity, but the more they tried to grasp it, the more they would be corrupted, eventually reaching a point where they could no longer turn back.

After this episode, Yang Kai confirmed that the seal on the giant blood-coloured door was indeed damaged and had to be repaired and reinforced. Otherwise, if someone were to find this place again, they might break the seal and let out the Demon Spirits behind the door.

Yang Kai was even more cautious in the following days. No matter what he did, he would always divert a part of his attention to watch the giant blood-coloured door's changes while at the same time preventing the Demon Spirits from setting any traps for him.

But after one failed attempt, the Demon Spirits behind the door seemed to have realized how difficult Yang Kai was to influence, and nothing unusual happened after that.

Yang Kai's injuries improved day by day until he finally recovered fully.

After one full month, the Masters of the Southern Territory's top Sects finally arrived.

After he received a response from the Jade Elder Token, Yang Kai quickly left the cave mansion and went to the stone forest on the surface to meet with them.

At this time, the large island was surrounded by poison mist and was blocked on all sides. It wasn't time for the Monster Beasts who could merge together to feed yet; however, after receiving Yang Kai's message, the Masters of the top Sects decided to break through by force to meet up with him as soon as possible.

Yang Kai had no idea how they were planning to accomplish this, but as he stood outside the stone forest, he could hear distinct rumblings from beyond the poison mist. Then, a profound light shot out from the colourful fog. As if it were riding on winds of fire, it broke through the toxic barrier and landed on the large island.

One by one, powerful auras spread out, and when the light dispersed, the figures of more than twenty people were revealed.

Yang Kai looked around and found a few old acquaintances.

With Star Soul Palace's Elder, Xiao Yu Yang, standing at the forefront, Azure Sun Temple's Gao Xue Ting, Heavenly Martial Holy Land's Chen Wen Hao, and Orthodoxy Temple's Feng Ming were gathered here. Out of them, other than Xiao Yu Yang who was in the Third-Order Emperor Realm, the other three were Second-Order Emperors.