Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

It was as though somebody had sprinkled a pinch of salt into a frying pan. When that light dissipated, an incredible scene appeared. The bodies of those ten thousand Demons were glowing bright red as though they had been pumped full of vitality. Their auras concurrently increased with great momentum.

The expressions on Wen Zi Shan, Ma Qing, and Xiao Yu Yang's faces changed drastically all at once to reveal extremely horrified expressions. Ma Qing even blurted out, "What Secret Technique is that!?"

This Secret Technique was simply unheard of and never seen before. When that red light flared brightly, the auras of those ten thousand Demons increased significantly, increasing their overall strength to a whole new level in an instant. A Secret Technique like this was simply a miracle. Just imagine; if two groups of people were evenly matched in battle and one side suddenly received the support of this Secret Technique, the outcome of the battle would become a foregone conclusion. Not to mention, Yang Kai's Secret Technique could cover ten thousand people at once.

Neither Ma Qing, Xiao Yu Yang, nor Wen Zi Shan had ever seen anything like it before; thus, all three of them were dumbfounded.

On the other hand, the Three Divine Spirits, who had followed along, glanced at each other in surprise with Cang Gou frowning as he muttered, "Why does that seem like…"

The words that came after that were too soft to hear despite Ma Qing, Xiao Yu Yang, and Wen Zi Shan listening intently.

Fan Wu nodded in agreement, "It does look like it."

Luan Feng furrowed her delicate brow deeply as she commented, "It can't be. How could he possibly cast that technique?"

Although the three of them had never seen this Secret Technique before, they had seen something similar in the memories passed down to them through the inheritance of their Divine Spirit Source, making them uncertain.

Their conversation went back and forth, leaving Ma Qing and the others dying of curiosity. They were almost at the point where they wanted to scratch their cheeks in frustration. [If you have something to say, say it clearly! Why do you have to act so mysterious about it!?]

Nevertheless, they did not dare to act so presumptuously in front of the three Divine Spirits.

At this moment, the chanting coming from Yang Kai's mouth suddenly changed. He pointed downward again and a clean and pure light at the tip of his fingers flared out brightly. The tens of thousands of Demons all groaned in pain when the milky white light swept over them. Following that, traces of Demon Qi began to leak out of their bodies and dissipate into nothingness.

Ma Qing stared wide-eyed, "He actually did it!"

It wasn't that they had not tried to force out the Demon Qi from the bodies of these demonified cultivators before, it was just that nothing they tried had succeeded. The strange Demon Qi was very hard to deal with, and even if they managed to expel some of it, they couldn't purge it completely, much less extract it with ease like Yang Kai had just done. They could only perform painstaking cleansings one by one, but Yang Kai had covered ten thousand people all at once with his strange Secret Technique. The gap between these two methods were incomparable.

"An Ancient Shamanic Spell!" Fan Wu exclaimed softly, looking shaken. It had only been a suspicion before, but he was certain now. It was no Secret Technique that Yang Kai was casting, but a genuine Ancient Shamanic Spell!

"An Ancient Shamanic Spell?" Ma Qing widened his eyes and looked at Fan Wu curiously before he humbly asked, "Brother Fan, do you mean to say that this Secret Technique is an inheritance from ancient times?"

Fan Wu glanced sidelong at Ma Qing before promptly ignoring the latter. He was a Divine Spirit; moreover, each and every one of the Monster Kings under his command could rival a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master in power. Ma Qing himself was nothing but a mere Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. In the Ancient Wild Lands, Ma Qing's status would at best be equal to Fan Wu's subordinate, so how dare he act so friendly! It would be strange if Fan Wu did not ignore Ma Qing.

Seeing the disdain in Fan Wu's eyes, Ma Qing's face flushed red in response; unfortunately, he was helpless since he knew the other party's strength. As such, he didn't dare to act out here, making him feel incredibly embarrassed.

Wen Zi Shan secretly laughed in his heart but spoke calmly on the surface, "That little boy is extremely blessed. To think he even got his hands on some Ancient Secret Techniques. This will be a great help to us."

Fan Wu replied indifferently, "This has nothing to do with obtaining Ancient Secret Techniques."

"What do you mean?" Wen Zi Shan looked at Fan Wu curiously.

Perhaps it was because of his relationship with Yang Kai, but Fan Wu's attitude towards him wasn't as aloof. As such, Fan Wu pondered for a moment before explaining, "It's not like there are no Ancient Secret Techniques inherited from the ancient times in the Star Boundary, but have you ever seen anybody use them before?"

Wen Zi Shan frowned, "No, I have not. Perhaps those who had inherited them treasure them so greatly that they hide those techniques away?"

Luan Feng laughed lightly, "No, in fact, it's simply not possible to cultivate them."

Wen Zi Shan was taken aback by those words and couldn't help asking, "Why?"

Luan Feng explained, "Every era has its own unique World Principles. Accordingly, the corresponding Secret Techniques of those eras correspond to those specific World Principles. A Shamanic Spell is something from ancient times and can only be cultivated in an environment with World Principles akin to those ancient times. The World Principles in the Star Boundary of today simply cannot meet the requirements for the cultivation of those Secret Techniques."

Ma Qing and Wen Zi Shan looked at each other, "There's something like that?"

Although their cultivations were quite high and they were rather knowledgeable, they had never heard of such a theory before. Only beings like Divine Spirits, who were peculiar existences that had inherited memories of their ancestors through their Sources would grasp such concepts.

Xiao Yu Yang nodded lightly, "I have heard the Great Emperor mentioning something similar before. The Great Emperor once said that there was no way for the many Secret Techniques of our current era to bloom if we were to enter a new era."

Fan Wu nodded, "Exactly."

Ma Qing uttered in astonishment, "But… That means Elder Yang managed to successfully cultivate and cast a technique impossible to cultivate or cast… How did he do it?"

[That's right. How was this possible?] Ma Qing wasn't the only one who couldn't figure it out. Even the three Divine Spirits did not understand. They even suspected that Yang Kai had encountered other opportunities when he was roaming the Ancient Wild Lands. Perhaps, these Ancient Shamanic Spell were something he successfully cultivated there.

The reason why the Ancient Wild Lands received its name was that it was a place that inherited the aura of the Ancient Star Boundary. It remained unchanged over the aeons, so the World Principles in the Ancient Wild Lands were slightly different from those of the rest of the Star Boundary.

Ordinary cultivators were suppressed to a certain extent upon entering the Ancient Wild Lands because of this variance in World Principles. If there was any place in this world where Yang Kai could cultivate an Ancient Shamanic Spell, it would be the Ancient Wild Lands.

However, Fan Wu and the others had never heard of any inheritance related to Shamanic Spells in the Ancient Wild Lands. Furthermore, the time Yang Kai spent in the Ancient Wild Lands was not that long, so the question remained, just where did he cultivate these Ancient Shamanic Spells?

"Since the three of you know that these are Ancient Shamanic Spells, do you know which specific Spells he is using?" Ma Qing asked again.

Fan Wu replied, "If my guess is correct, then the first one he casted is called the Bloodlust Spell."

"Bloodlust Spell?" Ma Qing raised an eyebrow in response.

Fan Wu continued, "It stimulates the Blood Essence in a target's body and can greatly increase that person's physical strength for a certain period of time. I believe you can use similar Secret Techniques yourselves."

Ma Qing was taken aback. After feeling so envious of that Secret Technique for such a long time, it turned out to be a Secret Technique like that. It was only natural that they knew similar Secret Techniques. In fact, most cultivators could master such Secret Techniques, let alone the few of them. It was only a matter of how useful such a technique was. Be that as it may, stimulating one's Blood Essence might increase one's strength for a short period of time, but they would be weakened after using it and forced to recuperate for varying lengths of time as a result.

"This is one of the fundamental Shamanic Spells that the Ancient Barbarian Race used in order to survive," Luan Feng continued, "The Ancient Barbarian Race did not cultivate the Martial Dao we currently thrive on. Only a few of them had the aptitude to cultivate Shamanic Spells while the rest focused on Body Tempering. It was also said that some of them could achieve Sanctification purely through Body Tempering. Such Masters had power no less than those of the Great Emperors of today. It is precisely because of the strong bodies of the Ancient Barbarian Race that they could withstand the Bloodlust Spell time and time again and survive in the harsh environments of that era. With the current physical prowess of most cultivators in the Star Boundary today, I'm afraid they won't be able to bear the effects of the Bloodlust Spell more than a handful of times before permanent damage is done to their foundations."

"I can't believe that such a technique used to exist." Ma Qing sighed. Upon learning the truth behind the Bloodlust Spell, there was no need to covet it anymore as it could only be used if one had a strong enough body to support it.

"The three of you are really well-informed." Despite knowing that the three Divine Spirits only learned about this through their Source Inheritances, it didn't hurt to maintain good relations with them. Besides, it was not as if flattery cost anything.

Although Fan Wu and the others did not bother to explain the second Spell, everyone understood that it was probably similar to a heart purifying technique; however, it seemed to be more effective than that and could almost be said to be the nemesis of Demon Qi.

Yang Kai patiently performed the Demon Exorcism Spell over and over again. Low roars and howls of pain rang out endlessly from the mountain valley while at the same time, traces of Demon Qi escaped from the bodies of the ten thousand cultivators and melted quickly like snowflakes under the scorching sun.

Half a day later, the situation of the ten thousand in the mountain valley was much better than before. Some of them were gradually regaining their senses; thus, they sat down cross-legged and coordinated with Yang Kai's Spell to speed up their recovery.

After an entire day, Yang Kai had no choice but to stop and rest for a while. The continuous use of the Demon Exorcism Spell nearly exhausted his entire reserve of Emperor Qi. He consumed several Emperor Spirit Pills and took out some Source Crystals to recuperate before continuing with his efforts an hour later.

It took three whole days for all the Demon Qi within the bodies of those ten thousand cultivators in the mountain valley to be completely purified. Unfortunately, not all of them could be saved. At least a thousand of them had been completely corrupted by Demon Qi and even Yang Kai's Demon Exorcism Spell could not save them. Performing this spell now only caused harm to them without any healing effect.

For a time, the mountain valley was filled with a miserable aura. The cultivators that had recovered were taken away by their Elders or comrades to rest in a different area. Meanwhile, Xiao Yu Yang and the others had long concluded what had to be done regarding the remaining thousand Demons. Since they could not be rescued, then they could only give them a painless death.

Xiao Yu Yang personally took action, flattening the entire mountain valley in a single move, burying the one thousand Demons together in an instant. Then, the scene became even more tragic than before, and soft sobbing sounds could be heard everywhere. All the major Sects that came to participate in the Southern Territory Martial Gathering this time, regardless of whether they were strong or weak, all had suffered serious losses. Some of the worst-hit Sects were nearly wiped out, leaving only a few survivors left alive.

Azure Sun Temple also suffered some losses. One Emperor Realm Elder died, and among the disciples who came to participate in the Martial Gathering, nearly half of those in the Origin King Realm and Origin Returning Realm had perished while slightly fewer Dao Source Realm disciples had died. If Wen Zi Shan had not noticed that something was wrong and immediately taken measures to protect the disciples, the results would have been much worse.

Many lamented how this event had destroyed the foundations of the Sect or clan.

"Elder Yang, we still need your assistance with these people."

While Yang Kai was resting, Ma Qing, Wen Zi Shan, and Xiao Yu Yang came to meet him together. There was a group of Emperor Realm Masters escorting two groups of people behind them. There were not many people in these two groups. One group had eight people in it, while the other had a dozen.

On the surface, nothing peculiar stood out about these people. It was just that their cultivations had been sealed. The group of eight on the left had gloomy expressions and looked like dead men walking. On the other hand, the dozen people on the right were yelling about injustice. Most of these people were in the Emperor Realm but some were weaker as well.