Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & frozenfire

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

These guards were stationed here all year round, and also weren't allowed to go within a thousand metres of the Sacred Tree. Therefore, other than members of the Imperial Family, they had never seen anyone else come here at all.

However, there were two other people today. Furthermore, they were brought here personally by the Human Sovereign. This shocking oddity obviously caught everyone's attention.

The dense fog ahead of them seemed able to obstruct any surveillance from Divine Sense, and also limited vision, leaving one unclear of the situation within.

The Human Sovereign came to a halt and pointed in front of him, "The Sacred Tree lies ahead. If you want to see it, you have to enter there, guest."

Looking at the swirling haze, Yang Kai smiled faintly, before turning his head towards Zhu Qing, "Wait for me a while. I'll be right back."

"Be careful!" Zhu Qing shouted back in a serious tone; after all, this was someone else's territory. Although Yang Kai was no slouch, compared to a head-on fight, it was harder to defend against an ambush. Therefore, there wasn't any harm to be more careful and vigilant.

"I will!" Yang Kai smiled faintly and strode in. Right after taking two steps forward, his figure suddenly disappeared within the fog, leaving no trace of him visible anymore.

A slight frown appeared on Zhu Qing's face, and despite knowing that this was the effect of the Spirit Array, she could not help but to feel a sliver of anxiety.

"Are you, esteemed one, from the Divine Spirit Dragon Clan?" The Human Sovereign suddenly asked.

Zhu Qing's beautiful eyes remained locked in the haze in front of her, appearing as though she hadn't heard him speak at all.

Not minding her reaction, the Human Sovereign continued to smile faintly, "There aren't any Divine Spirits present in this Revolving World; however, there are many records of them in the ancient books. It is rumoured that the Dragon Clan are the leaders of the myriad spirits, and are exceedingly aloof and arrogant. Why would you, esteemed one, mix with an ordinary person and throw your Dragon Clan's face away for no reason? Furthermore, this Sovereign can tell that your relationship with that man… seems to be somewhat different from normal."

"If this was the outside world, a person like you wouldn't even have the qualifications to speak to me," Zhu Qing turned her head abruptly around and looked right at the Human Sovereign.

A gloomy glint flashed across the Human Sovereign's eyes, while looks of fury appeared on the faces of the Imperial Princes and Princesses. There had never been anyone who dared to speak like that to the Human Sovereign! She had basically treated him with no regard at all!

"Therefore, you better be careful with the words you use. Since you know I'm from the Dragon Clan, then you should be aware of the Dragon Clan's temper." After saying those words, Zhu Qing turned back and stared into the depths of the fog.

The Human Sovereign remained silent for a good while, before chuckling, "The arrogance of the Dragon Clan truly lives up to its name."

All of a sudden, he waved his hands lightly, and a ray of dark-green light shot out from the fog in front of them, transforming into ropes that immediately bound Zhu Qing up.

"Although the Dragon Clan are strong, they are still somewhat lacking in this Sovereign's eyes."

Zhu Qing's expression turned exceedingly cold. Lowering her head to look at the restraints that were binding her, she looked up and replied, "I hope you know what you're doing."

The Human Sovereign sneered in response, "This Sovereign obviously knows what he is doing. Human Imperial City has stood for tens of thousands of years, and our Imperial Family has been protecting the Human Race's way of life all this time, allowing the Human Race to have a foothold in this world. This Sovereign will not allow any accidents to happen. That friend of yours… is the greatest accident possible. Since he is an accident, he must be eliminated."

"Therefore you had lured us here to give yourself an advantage before taking action?"

The Human Sovereign sighed, "This method is indeed somewhat despicable. However, this Sovereign has no choice but to do so for the sake of the Human Race. I hope that you, esteemed one, can understand. Our Imperial Family can only unleash our full strength here; however, there's no need for you to worry. You will have that person to accompany you on the road to the Yellow Springs, so you won't be too lonely."

Zhu Qing did not give any reply. Instead, with a shocking dragon roar, her body twisted about, before suddenly transforming into a three-hundred-metre-long Red Dragon, with Dragon Pressure surging out from her, shaking her surroundings.

Apparently, the jade green restraints that bound her were exceedingly flexible though and could change in length at will, so they did not break apart. Despite assuming her true form, Zhu Qing still found herself restrained, the jade green glow from the bindings appearing exceedingly conspicuous against her bright red body.

The faces of the Imperial Princes and Princesses turned pale as they proceeded to send their Sacred Techniques towards the Great Dragon, causing sparks to fly out as they smashed into her hard scales.

Both sets of guards, those in the light and those hiding in the dark, also proceeded to take action. A total of sixteen Emperor Realm Masters, with the lead two being Third-Order, unleashed their overwhelming might as soon as they took action.

With so many against her, despite Zhu Qing's incredible strength, she was instantly swamped by attacks, causing her to let off an earth-shattering roar.

Of the Imperial Princes and Princesses present here, the Second Princess' actions were especially ruthless, as she appeared to be trying to pay back the humiliation she had suffered at the hands of Yang Kai earlier.

Giving no regard to its life, the little black dog rushed forwards, taking the opportunity when Fu Yu wasn't prepared to bite down on her leg. Ignoring the pain, it shook its head in an attempt to tear a chunk of her leg.

"Get off!" Brimming with anger, Fu Yu sent out a vicious palm strike, her powerful Second-Order Emperor cultivation coupled with the blessing of the Sacred Tree culminating into an exceedingly terrifying attack.

Nevertheless, with exceeding deftness, the little black dog actually managed to shift its body to evade the incoming attack, before biting down on Fu Yu's skirt, revealing a large patch of snow-white skin.

Now, with her nose crooked with anger, Fu Yu could not be bothered to care about Zhu Qing, with her entire mind focussing on killing the little black dog.

The Human Sovereign continued standing there with a cold expression on his face, having not taken any action after his first move. From what he could see, although this Dragon was powerful, with the combined strength of all of the Imperial Family members and guards present, it was more than sufficient to kill her.

Now, what he needed to do was to deal with the fellow that was able to unleash the Sacred Techniques. Turning his head around, the gaze of the Human Sovereign turned bone-chillingly cold.

He had never once considered to actually allow Yang Kai to observe the Sacred Tree. He had lured the latter here just for the sake of dealing with him with greater ease, as the nearer he was to the Sacred Tree, the greater the strength he could borrow from it.

Within the haze, Yang Kai was not able to get his bearings.

Nevertheless, Yang Kai was able to follow along the faint sensation he was getting within here.

He could feel where the Sacred Tree was located, and this feeling was intimate and not one bit foreign to him, as though he had experienced it before.

The closer he got, the more obvious this feeling became.

Finally, after stepping across layer after layer of restrictions, Yang Kai arrived before a large tree that towered the Heavens. At this place, the dense fog had abruptly dissipated away, revealing everything before him.

This was an exceedingly large ancient tree. Raising his head to look at it, Yang Kai noticed that its branches extended across the entire sky, its gigantic crown appearing just like an incomparably wide shield that was able to provide powerful protection, as well as a shelter against any wind or storm.

Yang Kai's eyes suddenly narrowed violently as he gawked at the towering ancient tree. Thoughts began to fly in his head, while the sounds of combat rang in his ears as he appeared in what seemed like an out of body experience.

Pursing his lips gently, he extended his hand and made contact with the body of the tree.

Yang Kai could not stifle his laughter, "How can it be you? Senior Qing…"

A flash of realization made him feel as though he had returned to that ancient world, back to the scenery of green he had seen upon arriving at Frost and Snow City for the very first time. The shock surging through his heart was the same as what he had felt then, so vividly present in his mind.

In that world, Frost and Snow City was the capital of the Frost and Snow Clan, while the Evergreen Divine Tree stood tall within it, protecting the entire city for all calamities and disasters.

In the final battle between the Ancient Barbarian and Demon Races, Senior Qing had even supported the last hope of mankind with his life.

This familiar aura, as well as the innumerable tree caves present on its trunk and branches, were exactly the same as the Evergreen Divine Tree of that ancient world, with not a thing out of place.

This was definitely the Evergreen Divine Tree! Yang Kai believed that he would not mistake it for something else.

There might be other trees in this world that could grow to such vastness and gargantuan size; however, this familiar aura could not be fake, as after all, he had stayed in one of its tree caves for a very long period of time.

Yang Kai had never expected that the so-called Sacred Tree of this Human Imperial City would actually be Senior Qing!

Shouldn't Senior Qing have already died though? For the sake of sealing the Two Worlds Passage, Senior Qing had sacrificed his life, consuming all his vitality to achieve this final victory. Senior Qing's sacrifice had ended the Demon Race's invasion of the Star Boundary, thus saving this world.

During that battle, millions of warriors engaged in a life or death showdown, giving themselves up for the survival of their race. Countless Masters fell, leaving behind mountains of corpses. That battle was sufficient to enter the history books and leave its mark for eternity.

As Tiea had said, everything that happened within the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld, while illusionary, was grounded in reality.

Therefore, the two years Yang Kai had spent within the Thousand Illusions Dream World was based entirely on real historical events from ancient antiquity. In other words, such an earth-shattering battle had indeed taken place. It was just that no Yang Kai had actually been present for it. Yet, there were countless warriors similar to Yang Kai that finally allowed the Barbarian Race to ultimately triumph.

Without a doubt, Senior Qing had existed, and was the greatest contributor behind the Barbarian Race's victory, the shield and sword which shifted the winds of the battle. This was a fact that could not be changed.

The history from hundreds of thousands of years ago had intersected with the present in such a shocking place, which left Yang Kai dumbstruck.

Nevertheless, he quickly discovered that something wasn't quite right, as there was only a somewhat disordered Will present within this Sacred Tree. It appeared as though it was just a newborn baby, incapable of independent thought.

When he had made contact with the Sacred Tree, this Will had clearly sensed Yang Kai's existence and proceeded to admit him without any reservations at all.

Instantly, Yang Kai developed an indescribable resonance with the Sacred Tree, making him feel as though he was connected with it.

An expression of slight shock appeared on Yang Kai's face, as he was able to sense the enormous energy, which was as boundless as an ocean, within the Sacred Tree. The gargantuan amount of energy was sufficient to rival any Great Emperor, and might even exceed that of one.

It was precisely through the usage of this power that the Imperial Family of Human Imperial City was able to display their Sacred Techniques and unleash moves far surpassing their cultivation realms.

At this moment, if Yang Kai wanted, he would be able to pull all of this gargantuan power out, with the Sacred Tree not putting up any resistance at all. On the contrary, it had become intimately connected with Yang Kai's existence.

"Hm?" A frown suddenly appeared on Yang Kai's face, as he had unexpectedly sensed another element that seemed aloof, or even hostile towards him within the body of the Sacred Tree. This element gave him the feeling akin to a pustule on one's skin, making people feel exceedingly uncomfortable.

"Get out!" With a loud shout, Yang Kai extended his hand into the Sacred Tree and made a fierce pull.

With another exertion of force, a human figure was forcefully pulled out from within the Sacred Tree.

Unexpectedly, this person was the Human Sovereign, whom he had just separated from not long ago. Utter shock had covered this old man's face, as he could not imagine that he would end up in such a state, leaving him dumbstruck. Only after seeing Yang Kai's chilling gaze did he snap back to his senses. Raising his hands to form a seal, an incantation rang out from his mouth before he pointed towards Yang Kai.