Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

A short while later, Yang Kai returned to Orthodoxy Temple, but the sight that entered his vision when he gazed around made his face twitch in response. The Sect Defending Array of Orthodoxy Temple had been activated, and the translucent curtain of light was like an inverted bowl shielding it without any gap.

Before he arrived, he had heard screams coming from inside and it was clear that many had been killed or were being attacked. Then, he looked at a certain spot inside Orthodoxy Temple where black Demon Qi soared to the sky.

His expression changed drastically. [If I remember correctly, that is where the banquet was being held tonight. Before I left, there were hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters and tens of thousands of elite disciples from the Southern Territory gathered in that place. Don't tell me; have they all been killed or corrupted already!?]

Thinking about it, he realized that it was unlikely. If that was the case, then there would be no need for Orthodoxy Temple to draw him away from this place.

Among the hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters, a number of them were in the Third-Order Emperor Realm, and if all of them had been demonified, he would not have been able to stop them or escape either.

The reason Orthodoxy Temple diverted him away from this place was that they were afraid word of this situation would leak. Hence, they wanted to get rid of him first. His proficiency in the Dao of Space was not a secret, and if they failed in their initial attempts to capture or restrain him, they would not get another.

From the looks of it, the situation was dire but not to the point where it was irreversible. Yang Kai had the feeling that Wen Zi Shan and the others would not be affected by the Demon Qi so easily and might still be fighting back right now.

His figure flickered and, stopping in front of the Sect Defending Array, he glanced up and swept his gaze around. What he saw nearly made his eyes pop out with rage. Many cultivators were fighting for their lives inside Orthodoxy Temple and it was clear that many had realized something was wrong and had tried to flee, further adding to the chaos. However, the Sect Defending Array was blocking their way, so how could anyone escape? All of them had been sealed inside, and as a result, many were killed on the spot by the Demons who were chasing after them. Some had hurriedly run back inside to find another way out when they saw that there was no hope of escape.

Blood-curdling screams, sounds of people begging for mercy, and cries of sorrow rang out from within. People who had still been alive during the day had turned into piles of flesh and pools of blood everywhere. It made Yang Kai's blood boil with anger, but as his eyes swept across the scene, it suddenly froze on a certain spot only several dozen meters away.

A corpse lying on a small slope stood out to him. It was wearing a familiar set of clothes and had a familiar face. There was a large, gaping hole in its chest, and its internal organs were faintly visible from that wound. The blood flowing out from its wound had stained the slope it was lying on. The blood had yet to dry, and its eyes were slightly open. Lying there with its head tilted to the side, it was completely motionless. That pair of eyes that used to be so dazzling had now gone dull and lost their brilliance.

"Yu Zhuo…" Yang Kai's lips parted and he called out softly. Unfortunately, he did not receive any response.

[She died? The person who came looking for me time after time for the past month died just like that?] He could barely believe his eyes. Her sweet and clear voice still echoed in his ears and her figure as she turned around to wave goodbye to him was still incredibly clear in his mind. Yang Kai could still remember her nervous attitude as she held the freshly-washed clothes in her hand when she first came to thank him, as well as the slight expectation in her eyes when they repeatedly met to talk.

Long ago, he had once made the mistake of sleeping with a woman when he was intoxicated and it had led to a series of hurt feelings and unfulfilled dreams. Due to his fear of being ambiguous and mistakenly leading a beautiful woman on again, he did not dare nor want to continue his interactions with Yu Zhuo. For that reason, he had turned her away at the door just hours ago. It could be considered as him breaking things off cleanly with her, but now, that energetic figure was lying on the cold, hard ground. Moreover, she was staring in his direction as though she had received a vague premonition in her last moments. Her eyes remained open in death, looking straight at him, who had returned too late…

The blood in his body suddenly turned cold and bitter as he forced himself to look away from those lifeless eyes that seemed to be boring a hole into his soul. He did not dare to look into her eyes again. Lowering his head, a shadow was cast across his face as he clenched his fists tightly before lifting his gaze once more and roaring into the sky in a fit of rage, "Lei Gu!"

About a hundred kilometres away, Lei Gu was standing in the sky when he heard this shout and turned to look in the direction it came from, coldly snorting as he muttered, "He came."

His eyes flashed, and he rushed over there.

Yang Kai's shout was clearly heard by many cultivators who were fleeing for their lives, and in the next moment, many rushed over from all directions and stopped in front of him. Separated by the Sect Defending Array, they all seemed to scream, "Senior, save us!"

Yang Kai lifted his eyes and his gaze swept over those panicking faces before it shifted and landed on a figure standing behind them.

Lei Gu's burly figure came into view and stood in the sky with his hands behind his back. He had a cold expression on his face, his eyes were completely pitch-black, and his entire body was shrouded in Demon Qi. As soon as he appeared, he casually waved his hand.

Yang Kai's pupils contracted at the sight and he shouted at the cultivators in front of him, "Run!"

But how could they escape? Lei Gu was a Third-Order Emperor, and now that he was possessed by a Demon Spirit, killing was second nature to him. An invisible slash swept out horizontally, cutting dozens of people in two from the waist up. The Sect Defending Array was splattered with a river of blood in an instant, and those people wailed in agony. As they were all cultivators, being cut in two would not kill them instantly. Rather, they experienced an unbridled fear and horror before their death, their screams and wails added an endless gloom to the surrounding world.

"I can't believe you came back!" Lei Gu looked at Yang Kai coldly and sneered.

"As I thought… It was you!" Yang Kai gritted his teeth.

Lei Gu laughed mockingly, "So what? What can you do to me?"

Yang Kai stared at the Sect Defending Array blocking his way, and forcefully suppressing the boundless anger and guilt he was feeling, he calmly asked, "Do you think a mere Sect Defending Array is enough to stop me?"

Lei Gu replied, "You can go ahead and try it."

Yang Kai pointed at Lei Gu, "If I don't trample flat Orthodoxy Temple, I will no longer be surnamed Yang!"

At that moment, a voice shouted from the inside, "Yang Kai! Orthodoxy Temple has become a Demon nest! Hurry up and get reinforcements!"

Yang Kai was stunned as he could tell that the voice belonged to Wen Zi Shan, so he couldn't be bothered about Lei Gu anymore and shouted loudly, "Temple Master, what's the situation on the inside!?"

"We can hold on for a little while more, so quickly alert Star Soul Palace!"

Upon hearing those words, Yang Kai's heart sank. He knew that the situation inside must be pretty bad; otherwise, Wen Zi Shan would not ask him to head for Star Soul Palace, but even if he left for Star Soul Palace now, the trip would take him several days at the very least due to the distance; thus, he replied, "Temple Master, rest assured. I'll take care of this!"

Lei Gu grinned, "Yang Kai, I'm sure it wasn't easy for you to achieve your current cultivation. I don't want to make things difficult for you either. Why not join me instead? With your strength, only great things will await you in the future!"

"Join you? In your dreams!" Yang Kai yelled as his body trembled and he roared, "Dragon Transformation!"

A majestic Dragon's Roar rang out. At the same time, a dazzlingly Golden Dragon phantom appeared above his head briefly before it flashed into his body. Amidst a chorus of crackling sounds, Yang Kai's figure expanded explosively.

50 meters, 100 meters, 150 meters, 200 metres…

Lei Gu's gaze slowly moved upward as the confident expression on his face changed to one of disbelief. Staring at the behemoth before him in a daze, he blurted out, "A Dragonkin?!"

He finally understood why 'that' person failed in the assassination. Yang Kai was a Dragonkin, and although his Dragon Vein seemed a bit unusual, it was obviously not weak if he could utilize it to this degree. The Dragon Clan had incredibly powerful bodies and a natural immunity to most poisons, so it was not strange that that person had failed in the assassination. Nevertheless, Lei Gu never imagined that Yang Kai could perform this kind of transformation. If he had known earlier, he could have made more preparations so that person might have been able to kill Yang Kai in a single strike.

[Mastery over the Dao of Space and a powerful Dragon Vein…] Lei Gu's expression sank. [If we don't get rid of this child, he will surely become a huge disaster in the future.]

Before Lei Gu could recover from his shock, Yang Kai suddenly lifted his hand and summoned his Embodiment. Communicating through their thoughts, the Embodiment immediately understood Yang Kai's intentions. Following that, he let out a loud roar and his body began growing as well.

200 meters, 300 metres, 500 metres…

Lei Gu's face twitched at this sight. Everything he was witnessing here was utterly incredulous. Yang Kai becoming so massive was unexpected but still somewhat acceptable, but where did this giant Stone Man come from!? How was it even bigger than Yang Kai!? It looked like a Shi Huo, but did such a large Shi Huo exist?

"Smash it!" Yang Kai had such a grand figure now that even his voice sounded like a Dragon's roar. The moment his voice rang out, both he and Embodiment raised their arms above their heads, clenched their fists, and brought them down with great force. It was as though two huge mountains were falling from the sky and upon impact, two massive depressions appeared on the curtain of light that made up the Sect Defending Array.

Just recently, the Embodiment had destroyed the Sect Defending Array of Full Sky Sect via brute force, and Full Sky Sect's heritage was not that different from Orthodoxy Temple's. No matter how strong the Sect Defending Array, there was still a limit to what it could withstand; therefore, Yang Kai had no doubt that he and his Embodiment could break through this Spirit Array if they joined forces.

When the depressions appeared, Yang Kai grinned happily, but unfortunately, the craters in the light curtain bounced back before he could react and at the same time, a strong force was transmitted through both their fists.

Yang Kai was caught off guard and was blown away as a result. His 200-metre-tall body flew through the air before it came crashing down like a large mountain, rolling away and flattening a large part of the forest behind him.

A rumbling sound rang out at the same time from nearby, and as he turned his head to look in its direction, Yang Kai saw his Embodiment in a similar situation. Furthermore, his Embodiment's body was larger than his own and consequently created a larger commotion than he did.

*Chi…*

Yang Kai tried his best to adjust his posture and finally managed to stabilize his body while, on the other side, his Embodiment had done the same. Their gazes suddenly met, and they both saw the astonishment in each other's eyes. The Sect Defending Array of Orthodoxy Temple was clearly very different from the one at Full Sky Sect.

Meanwhile, Lei Gu also let out a breath of relief as he secretly rejoiced at his luck. [Thank goodness for the Spirit Array's special characteristics that allow it to reflect brute force. With the power of those two monsters, I'm afraid there isn't another Sect Defending Array in this world that can stop their frenzied attacks.]

"Again!" Yang Kai shouted as he strode forward, looking clumsy and awkward in his Half-Dragon Form. Nevertheless, he arrived in front of the Spirit Array in a flash and threw a punch straight at it.

*Hong…*

The curtain of light sunk in again before bouncing back with a correspondingly violent force. This rebound shook Yang Kai's arm so badly that it went numb and he was forced backwards unsteadily. The same was true for his Embodiment.

Seeing this, Yang Kai's heart sank with the realization that the situation was not looking good for him. The Sect Defending Array of Orthodoxy Temple was capable of reflecting any kind of brute force attack, so no matter how much strength he put into his attack, it would simply be rebounded back at him. It was truly the nemesis of both himself and his Embodiment.

If Full Sky Sect's Sect Defending Array had similar properties, his Embodiment would not have been able to destroy it so easily that day.

"Laughable!" Lei Gu sneered at the sight, "I gave you an opportunity, but you didn't appreciate it. There's nobody but yourself to blame now! Don't regret your decision when my Demon Race's Grand Army arrives and destroys this world!!"

Demon Race Grand Army…

Yang Kai's brow furrowed slightly at those words; however, he couldn't be bothered to pay any attention to the other party's nonsense now. Dragon Language sounded from his giant maw while at the same time, a dazzlingly Golden Dragon phantom manifested above his head and struck out. This attack landed on the Sect Defending Array and created a visible layer of ripples on its surface; however, there was no sign of the force being reflected.

When Yang Kai saw this, he understood the situation immediately. The Sect Defending Array had the ability to reflect physical attacks, but could only disperse Qi-based ones. In other words, it was impossible to break the Spirit Array through brute force, rendering the greatest advantage he and his Embodiment possessed useless.