Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Despite being Demon Saints, they still had their respective strengths and weaknesses. It wasn't just the case for the Demon Saints of the Demon Realm. The same went for the Great Emperors of the Star Boundary. For example, Heavens Revelations Great Emperor and Wondrous Pill Great Emperor would certainly be no match for the other Great Emperors if it came down to a fight. Those two had never been known for their combat abilities. Among the Ten Great Emperors, the one with the highest combat capabilities was probably Iron Blood Great Emperor, which was apparent just from the title of 'Iron Blood' that he held.

The dispute between Xue Li and Huo Bo dated back to ten thousand years ago. Although the exact situation was unclear, it was easy to figure out from their conversation that this Demon Saint by the name of 'Huo Bo' had suffered a great humiliation at the hands of Xue Li ten thousand years ago. Otherwise, why would the two of them still remember the incident so clearly even though so many years had passed?

"Arghhh…" That simple exchange between them instantly made Huo Bo jump with rage. He flipped out on top of that blood-coloured pillar, gritting his teeth and shouting, "Xue Li! I'm going to kill you!"

Xue Li coldly snorted, "You're just a trivial Soul Manifestation in this place. Do you think I don't dare to destroy you?"

Huo Bo fell into a fuming silence. The feud between him and Xue Li was a known fact. He had wanted to take advantage of this incident to ridicule the other party, but the other Demon Saints would not stand up for him even if his Soul Manifestation was destroyed in this place. Furthermore, he could not avoid taking some damage if his Soul Manifestation was damaged. Be that as it may, he felt extremely upset to remain quiet after being threatened by Xue Li.

Fortunately, somebody stepped up at this moment to smooth things over for all of them, "That's enough. Stop quarrelling. You can settle your grievances with each other in private. What's important right now is Bright Moon."

The Demon who spoke had a pair of wings behind her back. She seemed to be from the same Clan as Bo Ya and was most likely a Demon Saint from the Feather Demon Clan. Turning her head, she looked around while enunciating each word clearly and coldly, "Do we kill? Or not?"

It wasn't as though the Demon Saints were incapable of killing Bright Moon here and now. They had the perfect opportunity to kill him when he was heavily injured previously; however, their plan at the time had been to let the Demon Realm consume Bright Moon. Not only would that allow the Demon Realm to gain a new spot for a Demon Saint, it would also forever reduce the number of Great Emperors the Star Boundary could produce. That was the reason why they had set up this Grand Spirit Array and offered up billions of living beings as blood sacrifices. Unfortunately, their plans had backfired on them. Now that Bright Moon had the strength to break free of their cage, their original plans were no longer feasible. They had no choice but to come up with another course of action.

Nobody could provide an answer to the question raised by the Demon Saint of the Feather Demon Clan. If they killed Bright Moon, then all their previous efforts would be in vain. All the Demons of Eternal Sky Continent would have died for nothing. On the other hand, only the Heavens knew how much damage the struggles of a Great Emperor forced into a corner would cause if they did not kill him quickly. It was a huge dilemma even for the Demon Saints.

Silence fell over them. The only sound among them was the endless sizzling that was created as the pure white light purified the blood waters without pause. A short while later, many of them cast their gazes at a tall figure. It was as though this Demon Saint held great prestige among them all and his words could convince everybody. Under their gazes, that Demon Saint spoke, "Let's try one more time. If it still doesn't work, we'll have to go with our backup plan!"

The Demon Saint of the Shadow Demon Clan replied, "There is certainly a chance of success with the backup plan, but as we discussed before, our Demon Race's clansmen might not receive the recognition of the World this way. It's not just that they will die if we fail to receive approval from the World, but the most important thing is that… if we actually go with this plan, many of the Half-Saints under our command will suffer and possibly even die. It's impossible to expect them to kill a Great Emperor without paying a heavy price for it."

The Demon Saint of the Sand Demon Clan added, "This is a rare opportunity. We should fight for it. Whether our subordinates can obtain the recognition of the World or not will depend on their luck. As for whether they survive or not… I'm sure they are more than willing to put their lives on the line for the sake of their futures; after all, if we were in their place, we would have made the same choice."

Many of the Demon Saints nodded firmly. Even Xue Li and Huo Bo, who disliked each other, agreed on this point. Faced with this situation, the tall Demon Saint who spoke up earlier declared, "Since there are no objections, then it is settled! Begin!"

After completing their discussion, the Twelve Demon Saints began activating Secret Techniques in unison. The twelve blood-coloured pillars instantly shone with a blood-red light that flooded the entire world. At the same time, a horrifying aura suddenly burst out from the Blood Vortex, which had been constantly shrinking, suddenly became reinvigorated with the blessing of the Twelve Pinnacles Grand Demon Array.

In response, the clean white light was continuously compressed and weakened. In the end, the light disappeared out of sight. The entire process didn't take more than an hour. Even Bright Moon's aura could no longer be detected anymore.

Many of the Demon Saints couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief at the sight. They previously thought that Bright Moon had somehow recovered completely, but now, it would seem that it was nothing but a false alarm.

Bright Moon had probably used some sort of sacrificial Secret Technique to stabilize his injuries and put up a last struggle. It was a pity that he had underestimated the power of the Twelve Pinnacles Grand Demon Array. If it really had been just Xue Li alone here, then he might have succeeded. Unfortunately, he was unaware that the Spirit Array could summon the Soul Manifestations of the other Demon Saints at any time to provide a power boost. It could only be said that his attempt to escape had ended in failure and he was destined to die in the Demon Realm.

At this rate, they could fall back on the original plan again. Bright Moon would gradually weaken and be absorbed by the Demon Realm, but as many of them relaxed their guard, Xue Li's expression abruptly changed and he roared, "Watch out!"

Unlike all the rest of the Demon Saints who were only here as Soul Manifestations, he was actually present. Therefore, his perception and senses were naturally sharper than the others. Combined with his identity as a Blood Demon, he had the greatest insight on the changes occurring inside the Blood Vortex and could detect even the slightest changes it underwent.

At that moment, Bright Moon's aura, which had been extinguished previously, suddenly erupted back to life. Moreover, his aura expanded at a speed that even caught Xue Li off guard. The weakness Bright Moon displayed before had been nothing more than a ruse to make his enemies lower their defences.

At that moment, Xue Li's mind was clearer than ever before. A look of realisation flashed in his eyes, [So this is what he was planning! No wonder he stayed quiet even though he clearly had the strength to escape! He was putting pressure on me on purpose! He wanted me to summon the others! He intends to wipe them all out in one fell swoop!]

Strong as the Demon Saints might be, they would still suffer quite a bit if their Soul Manifestations were destroyed. It would take them many years before they could recover from the effects, and that period when they were recuperating would be the best time for Bright Moon to escape. When that happened, the only one with enough strength to stop him would be Xue Li. The rest of the Demon Saints would inevitably be restrained by the injuries to their Souls.

Although they were enemies standing on opposite sides, Xue Li couldn't help feeling a sense of respect for Bright Moon at this moment. The actual physical bodies of the other Demon Saints were already on the way here, and it wouldn't take more than a few days for them to gather at Eternal Sky Continent. If everything went according to plan, Bright Moon would not have been able to even dream of escaping the Demon Realm even if he had overwhelming power that surpassed the Heavens. However, with what he was about to do, the other Demon Saints might not have the strength to stop him even if they rushed here in time!

Inside the crimson Blood Vortex, a small light suddenly lit up like a lamp in the night. That brightness increased at an alarming speed and in a short time, it appeared as though the sun itself was sealed within the Blood Vortex. The Blood Vortex shone brightly with a strange white incandescence. As the light grew increasingly stronger, a terrifying force poured out of the Blood Vortex.

Aside from Xue Li, the faces of the other eleven Demon Saints were filled with shock and fury.

The dazzling incandescence broke through the seals of the Blood Vortex and spread outward in all directions. Everywhere that the white light passed, the blood waters evaporated away and the enormous Blood Vortex only held out for three breaths before it dissipated into nothingness. The clean white light contained a Heaven-destroying and Earth-shattering murderous intent as its remaining power swept towards the place where the Demon Saints stood without diminishing in the slightest.

The speed of the light was unimaginably fast, so fast that even the Soul Manifestations of the Demon Saints failed to notice it until it was right in front of them. The first Soul Manifestation to be shrouded by that white light only had time to let out a shrill scream before exploding and disappearing. At the same time, a figure in a certain continent somewhere that was rushing towards Eternal Sky Continent groaned and fell out of the sky. Fortunately, the Half-Saints around him reacted quickly and supported him with their Demon Qi; otherwise, he would definitely become the butt of all jokes…

Immediately following that, a second scream rang out…

Then, a third…

"In your dreams!" Xue Li roared. He had already come up with a countermeasure in that short interval. As he shouted, he bit the tip of his tongue and sprayed out a mist of blood to his left. The blood mist spread out swiftly, came to the nearest blood-coloured pillar in the blink of an eye, and enveloped the Soul Manifestation standing there. Immediately following that, the white light struck. Fortunately, the white light was offset by the blood mist that enveloped that Soul Manifestation, allowing it to escape unscathed.

As the white light gradually faded, its terrifying power slowly subsided. The figure of a young man was eventually revealed to be standing in the spot where the enormous Blood Vortex was originally located. That person's complexion was jade-like, brave, and heroic. He was dressed in white clothes that were spotlessly clean. Stepping out of his prison, he looked at Xue Li quietly with a calm smile on his face.

Xue Li's gaze landed on Bright Moon's abdomen for a moment before his pupils abruptly shrank… [The wound is gone! He's fully recovered!]

After that, he turned to look to the side and saw Huo Bo, the only remaining survivor and his facial muscles twitched in response. When Bright Moon attacked just now, Xue Li could only protect one other person. It was impossible for him to stop Bright Moon from escaping with his strength alone and he didn't think about anything else at that moment. Only now did Xue Li realize that the person he protected was none other than Huo Bo… [Just looking at that oafs' expression makes me want to spit up blood!]

Nevertheless, now was not the time to care about such details, [The Blood Sacrifice Technique has been broken and the Twelve Pinnacles Grand Demon Array has become a hollow joke due to a moment of carelessness. Right now, the only ones that can stop Bright Moon are Huo Bo and I!]

"Get here quickly!" Xue Li growled at Huo Bo. Then, he turned his head and focused all his attention on Bright Moon, who was slowly approaching. He might not be afraid of a Great Emperor, even one in peak condition, but he could not delay Bright Moon for long either if the latter was intent on escaping. It had taken several Demon Saints working together at that time just to injure and trap Bright Moon here. If Huo Bo took too long to arrive, everything would be over!

Needless to say, Huo Bo understood this too. He turned and glared at Bright Moon hatefully before his figure dissolved into a pool of blood that vanished into the blood-coloured pillar. Meanwhile, somewhere in the distance, the actual Huo Bo was rushing toward Eternal Sky Continent with all his might…