Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Inside one of the rooms on High Heaven Peak in High Heaven Palace sprawled several bodies on a large bed. Yang Kai extracted himself from the tangle of limbs with some difficulty. Putting on some clothes, he walked over to the window and opened it so that fresh air blew across his face. It had rained last night, so High Heaven Peak was shrouded in fog, making it hard to make out the buildings in the distance.

The sound of footsteps came from behind him; then, a warm and tender body pressed against him. Su Yan wrapped her arms around his waist and asked softly, "How long will you be in retreat this time?"

"It shouldn't take long, but I'm afraid I'll have to leave the day I exit."

Her body trembled slightly at his words.

"Don't worry. I'll definitely come back." He turned around and pulled her into his arms.

"Mmm... We will be waiting." She nodded.

"I really don't want to go…" He kissed her on the forehead. They had many partings throughout their lifetime, but few reunions in comparison. He originally thought that they could finally settle down together without needing to run around again, but who would have thought that the situation would repeat itself once more? Unfortunately, he had no choice but to do so for the Star Boundary's sake.

After returning to High Heaven Palace from Azure Sun Temple, he had asked Zhang Ruo Xi about the World Tree; however, Zhang Ruo Xi had never heard of it before. Although she inherited a lot of her ancestor's memories, they were merely an inheritance and the memories were not comprehensive. Heavens Order might have known about the World Tree, but the memories Zhang Ruo Xi received were fragmented. She did not know anything about the World Tree. Even so, she managed to point him in a direction despite not knowing anything.

There were enormous great forces in the Outer Universe that controlled places known as Star Cities. As long as one had enough resources, one could buy anything in such a place. It might be possible to buy information regarding the World Tree in a Star City.

At this moment, the Star Boundary was nearly broken beyond repair. Although they relocated countless living creatures out from the Lower Star Fields to restore the vitality and nurture the Auspicious Spirit Essence of the Star Boundary, nobody could say for sure whether this method would be effective. Even if it was effective, it might take tens of thousands of years to produce results.

The Giant Spirit God Ah Da was eyeing the Star Boundary hungrily and could turn it into his meal at any time. Yang Kai did not dare to guarantee that the giant would be absolutely obedient, that was why he had to think of another method to restore the Star Boundary's vitality as soon as possible in addition to allowing it to simply self-repair.

The World Tree was the only clue he currently had. Aside from that, he himself also wanted to break free from the shackles of this Universe World and have a look at the outside world. An injured Great Demon God had all but annihilated the entire Star Boundary, so how would the Star Boundary resist if another powerful figure like Great Demon God appeared again? The only way was to become stronger; otherwise, was he supposed to hope that those powerful existences would never come to the Star Boundary? That was unrealistic.

There was an even higher Martial Dao and an even stronger power in the Outer Universe. Regardless of whether it was by his own will or being forced by the circumstances, it was a given to leave the Star Boundary and head towards a wider world.

Since he had made up his mind, then there was no need for hesitation. In any case, he still had to do the things that needed to be done; therefore, his top priority was to enter retreat to digest the benefits he gained during the last battle. Yang Kai's current cultivation had reached the limits of the Emperor Realm. In addition, he received the support of a Universe World like the Star Boundary and became a Great Emperor. It was just that the truth was just as Great Demon God had mentioned. 'Great Emperor' was not the highest cultivation Realm. The Realm above the Emperor Realm was the Open Heaven Realm.

Breaking free of the shackles of the Inner Universe, splitting Heaven and Earth apart and transforming one's own body into an independent world... That was what was required to reach the Open Heaven Realm. Even without carrying a world, those in the Open Heaven Realm could exert far greater power than a Great Emperor. That power belonged to themselves and was not something they needed to borrow from an outside world.

Yang Kai had experienced the feeling of splitting Heaven and Earth apart before. When he consumed the World Source Liquid, there was a sense of chaos spreading out as the world was born. That sort of experience was extremely rare. Unless one had the chance to experience the initial birth of a world, it was impossible for a person to directly sense that feeling for themselves.

The Outer Universe was vast indeed. Even so, the birth of a new world was extremely demanding. World Source Liquid would only appear when a world was first created, not to mention that World Source Liquid that was initially created would gradually disappear as the world matured and aged. The only reason the Star Boundary's World Source Liquid was preserved was all thanks to the Source Sealed World known as the Profound Heavens Temple. If not for this Sealed World preserving the most primitive environment of the world, the World Source Liquid would have ceased to exist.

Nevertheless, experiencing the feeling of Heaven and Earth splitting apart was pointless to Yang Kai at the moment. That experience would only benefit him greatly when he attempted to advance to the Open Heaven Realm. For now, he did not know how far he was from advancing into a higher Realm.

According to Zhang Ruo Xi, it was necessary to gather the power of Yin, Yang and Five Elements to become an Open Heaven Realm Master. That was because all the worlds were derived from Yin, Yang and the Five Elements. Only by gathering more of this power could one hope to split Heaven and Earth apart within one's own body and completely break free from the shackles of the Inner Universe.

Having reached the limits of the Emperor Realm, reaching the Open Heaven Realm was a long process of accumulation. There were no exceptions to this process. Moreover, the more solid and vigorous the process of accumulation, the greater the strength one could wield upon becoming an Open Heaven Realm Master; therefore, there were times when the gap in strength between Open Heaven Realm Masters was extreme. One move might be enough to distinguish who was stronger in a fight between two Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Outer Universe. It was not an uncommon sight.

The gathering and accumulation of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements took one's Dao Seal as a foundation. The Dao Seal's existence was the greatest symbol that distinguished an ordinary Emperor Realm Master from an Emperor Realm Master with the hope of breaking through to become an Open Heaven Realm Master.

The only people that had Dao Seals in the Star Boundary were the Great Emperors. The others, including Li Wu Yi, did not have a Dao Seal that blogged to them. Only by obtaining a Dao Seal would one obtain the qualification to comprehend the Grand Dao and the rights to glimpse into the secrets of the Open Heaven Realm.

The Dao Seal was formed from the essence of a person's cultivation throughout their lifetime; therefore, Yang Kai looked no different from a normal person unless he used his power. In addition, while the Demon Qi in his body would churn violently whenever he activated his power in the past, there were no signs of that anymore. All the Demon Qi in his body and even his Divine Sense were condensed into his Dao Seal, transforming into the purest form of power.

The foundation for the gathering of the Power of Yin, Yang and the Five Elements was the Dao Seal. At first, Yang Kai could not understand this statement, but a single sentence from Zhang Ruo Xi immediately enlightened him.

Leaving aside the other powers in the Five Elements, he at least had already condensed the Wood Element from the Immortal Tree!

Across the 3,000 Worlds, the Immortal Tree was considered a peak Supreme Treasure. Even Great Demon God had nearly gone insane with jealousy upon learning that Yang Kai had refined the Immortal Tree during the final battle. It could be seen just how valuable the Immortal Tree was. According to Zhang Ruo Xi, the Immortal Tree was one of the best choices to condense the Wood Element throughout the entire 3,000 Worlds. There were practically no better choices.

Seeing as Yang Kai had already thoroughly absorbed the Immortal Tree, he could omit the refining process altogether. When he learned about this, he couldn't help feeling ecstatic. He had been forced to refine the Immortal Tree as at the time, his physical body had been completely destroyed by Great Demon God. He had no other options and could only try whatever means he could think of. In the end, he inadvertently succeeded in refining the Immortal Tree. Who could have known that it would also bring him these kinds of benefits?

There were two reasons behind him going into retreat this time. The first reason was to digest the various gains he received during the previous battle. The second reason was to condense the Wood Element into his Dao Seal.

He had experience in refining the Five Elements as he once cultivated a Secret Technique known as the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art during the time he lived on Shadowed Star in Heng Luo Star Field. That Secret Technique had also required refining the power of the Five Elements. At the time, he also had a small baby fist-sized piece of Sun's True Essence. It was just that most of it had been consumed to cultivate the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art.

The power of the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art was certainly impressive. As long as there were enough materials to refine, it would improve one's control over the Five Elements. Hence, the power of this Secret Technique was almost infinite. It was just that Yang Kai later came to the Star Boundary, learned about a higher Martial Dao, and gradually abandoned the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art. Now, it would seem that it was the wrong decision to make.

If he had accumulated enough power of the Five Elements back then, it might have been easier for him to advance into the Open Heaven Realm now. But, thinking about it in another way, all of his strength had been smelted into the Dao Seal when he condensed his Dao Seal, so no matter how much he had accumulated previously, it would not have made a difference.

It was all thanks to Zhang Ruo Xi; otherwise, Yang Kai would still be clueless about his future. At least he now had a clear direction.

There was no specific choice regarding which of the powers of Yin, Yang, Five Elements to start with, but once one was chosen, a specific order needed to be followed afterwards. For example, now that Yang Kai had chosen to start the Wood Element, he would need to refine the Fire Element next. That was because the Five Elements mutually supported and restrained each other. Only wood could ignite fire.

In any case, that was something to be considered in the future as Yang Kai did not have any other materials on hand to refine the Five Elements. Seeing as he knew the secrets to the Open Heaven Realm, he could choose the best possible route to advancement in order to become the strongest Open Heaven Realm Master.

The door closed with a loud rumble and the lock clicked into place. Numerous seals were activated all at once as Yang Kai walked into the secret room and isolated himself from the outside world. He was going into retreat from today onward. For the next few decades or even the next few centuries, this would be his place of retreat.

He had made arrangements for all the affairs in the outside world as all the Great Emperors along with the two Elders of the Dragon Clan were also in retreat. Even Xiao Xiao was in the process of recuperating from his wounds. Even so, it was not as though there were no other powerful figures remaining behind in the Star Boundary.

Zhang Ruo Xi was in a state of half-retreat and could take action at any time.

In the meantime, Yu Ru Meng guarded the Star Boundary. With her around, there would be no problems so long as no other Masters on the level of Great Demon God came to the Star Boundary. The task of appeasing Ah Da had also been handed over to her.

Before Duan Hong Chen went into retreat, he had deliberately left a large number of Dead Stars that had been refined into chess pieces to Yang Kai. Yang Kai then transferred them over to Yu Ru Meng and instructed her to feed Ah Da every so often. He was worried that the giant might get too hungry and forget the promise between them.

After the Heaven-destroying and Earth-shattering war, the entire Star Boundary fell silent. Many of the Masters were pursuing their own path to becoming stronger while countless other living creatures in the Star Boundary settled down with their lives.

Just like that, fifty years passed in the blink of an eye.