Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

“Move!” Lin Feng shoved the sluggish young man blocking his way aside and rushed over to Zhao Xing. He helped Zhao Xing up and reached out to examine his aura quickly before his expression changed drastically.

Ning Dao Ran also came over hurriedly and asked nervously, “How is he?”

Lin Feng’s expression was grim as he swiftly took out a bottle of Spirit Pills. He opened the bottle, pried Zhao Xing’s mouth open before pouring the entire bottle into his mouth. Be that as it may, blood continued to gush out of Zhao Xing’s mouth. He couldn’t even swallow the Spirit Pills. Lin Feng tried multiple times, but his attempts were all unsuccessful.

All of a sudden, Zhao Xing’s turbid eyes shone with a horrifying light. He grabbed Lin Feng by the arm and sputtered, “Avenge... me!”

After saying that, something seemed to escape his body rapidly. His body might not have changed much, but the scene resembled a balloon that had been popped.

A dense World Force swept throughout their surroundings! All the rest of the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters from the Cave Heavens and Paradises turned pale at the sight.

“His Small Universe collapsed...” Not far away, Huang An Yi murmured in a daze.

They might not have witnessed something like this before, but that did not stop them from recognising the phenomenon. The Small Universe in Zhao Xing’s body had collapsed. That was the only reason for this phenomenon where the World Force had dissipated so violently to occur. Since the root of an Open Heaven Realm Master lay in their Small Universe, the only ending following its collapse... was death!

The escaping World Force slowly calmed down. When they looked over again, Zhao Xing was completely devoid of life. His two eyes were glaring forward furiously. Embers of hatred remained burning in his pale orbs, seemingly not yet extinguished.

Zhao Xing had died! A Core Disciple of Thousand Cranes Paradise, Zhao Xing, was dead! In a direct clash with Yang Kai, it had taken less than a dozen breaths for him to be beaten so badly that his Small Universe collapsed and he died!

Lin Feng and Ning Dao Ran looked at each other and saw the deep worry in each other’s eyes.

Even Yang Kai was stunned. He never imagined that the other party would be so weak as to succumb to a few punches. It was not like he had planned to kill anybody, but it seemed he used a little too much strength...

In reality, since his advancement into the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm until now, Yang Kai had fought many Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, but all of them had been veterans like Mao Zhe and Ju Xian, so their Small Universes were far more robust. They might be no match for him, but they could still exchange a few hundred blows with him at least.

[Are all newly-advanced Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters... so weak?] Upon further consideration, Yang Kai realised that the Small Universes in the bodies of these newly-advanced Open Heaven Realm Master weren’t even stable yet, so it was certainly easy for them to collapse under a violent bombardment.

This was all a big accident, but now that things had reached this point... Yang Kai’s gaze turned solemn as he shot a look at Hui Gu.

Hui Gu immediately felt his heart clench at the sight as he understood Yang Kai’s intentions. He wanted to silence all the witnesses!

Lin Feng immediately noticed the spike in Yang Kai’s murderous intent. Seeing the look on Yang Kai’s, his expression changed drastically and he shouted to the crowd, “Why are you still standing there!?”

Ning Dao Ran also quickly reacted. Still in a state of shock, he stood in front of Yang Kai and blocked his sight while shouting, “Brother Yang, please calm yourself!”

“Move!” Yang Kai glared at Ning Dao Ran aggressively.

A faint sheen of sweat oozed out of Ning Dao Ran’s forehead, but he did not budge as he earnestly said, “Brother Yang, don’t be impulsive. If you really do this, then everything will be over!”

The newly-advanced Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters around them were still in a state of shock after witnessing Zhao Xing’s death. None of them could recover so quickly.

Lin Feng was both furious and anxious as he yelled, “Do you all want to die!? Why are you still standing there!?” While speaking, he tossed Zhao Xing’s Corpse at Huang An Yi and urged them desperately, “Scram!”

Huang An Yi hurriedly caught Zhao Xing’s corpse and finally returned to his senses as he felt Yang Kai’s murderous intent locked firmly onto him. It was difficult not to notice; hence, his expression changed immediately. Carrying Zhao Xing’s corpse in his arms, he hurriedly escaped.

Only then did the rest of the newly-advanced Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters snap back to the present, each of them transforming into a stream of light that swiftly escaped.

Lin Feng stood up and walked over to Yang Kai. Stopping next to Ning Dao Ran, he stared straight into Yang Kai’s eyes and declared, “Brother Yang, if you really wish to silence the witnesses, then please start with Brother Ning and I. Rest assured, we will not resist. Since we left the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, we have both owed you our lives. We will just be repaying our life debt to you.”

Yang Kai glared at Lin Feng coldly as the latter returned his stare without revealing any weaknesses.

After a while, Yang Kai closed his eyes and took a deep breath. By the time he opened his eyes again, the sharp light in them had faded and only a sea of warmth remained. Smiling, he shook his head and spoke, “What nonsense are you two thinking?”

Lin Feng breathed out a sigh of relief, “I’m glad you reconsidered.”

While Lin Feng looked calm, he could still feel cold sweat dripping down his back. Judging from the way Yang Kai killed Zhao Xing just now, both he and Ning Dao Ran would definitely not be able to stop Yang Kai even if they worked together.

Lin Feng sighed once more before speaking earnestly, “Please don’t blame us. We were only acting in your best interests. Killing Zhao Xing might not be a trivial matter, but there could still be room for manoeuvre if he is the only one. On the other hand, there will be no going back if you actually slaughtered the rest.”

“I know.” Yang Kai nodded lightly. Xu Ling Gong had announced that deaths would not be questioned during the Dao Theory Assembly and that there was to be no resentment no matter who died on the Prison Star. Be that as it may, those words were mere words. If any of the Cave Heavens and Paradises Core Disciples were to die, the great forces behind them would never let the matter go.

Zhao Xing was a Core Disciple of Thousand Cranes Paradise and a genius who advanced directly to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Given enough time, he could have become one of the pillars of Thousand Cranes Paradise; however, he died at Yang Kai’s hands. The grudge that formed between them was bound to run deep.

This was an accident as Yang Kai never intended to kill Zhao Xing, but what was done was done.

Yang Kai looked down at his wrist and saw nearly 80 stars. He originally had close to 70 stars while Zhao Xing had approximately 30. Following Zhao Xing’s death, his achievements had been transferred to the others who were close by. Yang Kai was not the only person standing next to Zhao Xing earlier, so both Lin Feng and Ning Dao Ran gained an equal share.

Such great achievements would basically guarantee Yang Kai the top spot in the Dao Theory Assembly; hence, there was nothing else he needed to do now. All that was left was to sit back and wait.

“Let’s go.” Yang Kai composed his emotions and gathered the others.

Killing Zhao Xing might have been an accident, but he was destined to have a feud with Thousand Cranes Paradise now. He could not imagine how powerful the heritage of a Paradise would be; however, it was a little crazy to think that he could stop them with his current cultivation as a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.

[Strength! I need even greater strength!] Unfortunately, what Yang Kai needed at his level of cultivation in order to get stronger was time. Refining Open Heaven Pills and resources of various Orders all required great amounts of time. It was impossible for him to accomplish much overnight.

The hidden place Gu Pan mentioned was located in the middle of a mountain range. There was a hidden cave at the foot of a certain mountain, one that was almost impossible to notice unless one was searching carefully.

After entering the cave and walking for several kilometres, they arrived at a kind of utopia. The scenery in this place was extremely beautiful and peaceful; therefore, they settled in and quietly waited for the Dao Theory Assembly to end.

As time passed, Yang Kai and the others would occasionally gather together to drink tea or discuss the Dao or exchange various Secret Techniques. Regardless of the changes in the outside world, they lived in peace.

They were all newly-advanced Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, so it was only natural that they had many common topics to discuss. Besides, exchanging their respective cultivation experiences allowed everybody to gain something from each other.

Hui Gu was a veteran Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and the amount of time he spent in this Realm was several times longer than the rest of them combined, so he naturally had far more say when it came to matters of cultivation in this Realm. His occasional guidance would also give Yang Kai and the others flashes of inspiration.

Although Yang Kai was much stronger than Lin Feng and the others, they came from various Cave Heavens and Paradises; hence, they had come into contact with many things that he had never heard of before. Yang Kai learned many interesting things over the months of their interaction.

On a certain day, the people chatting away happily suddenly stiffened in surprise and looked down at their golden wristbands. A distinct wave of Spiritual Energy was now pulsing from these wristbands.

They lowered their heads to perceive the phenomenon and immediately realized they had received a Divine Sense message.

“The Dao Theory Assembly is finally ending.” Lin Feng slowly got to his feet, “There’s another half a month’s time before the exit opens, but we should start making preparations.”

Needless to say, nobody had any objections. As there was nothing to pack, they simply prepared to set off on their journey a short while later.

Hui Gu sent them off as he had no way to follow them on this trip since he was still considered a Prison Star criminal. Nevertheless, he had written his name down on the Loyalty List so he believed that Yang Kai would not ignore him.

“Wait here for a while. I will talk to the people of Yin-Yang Cave Heaven later to negotiate your freedom,” Yang Kai instructed.

“I will obey your orders, Sir!” Hui Gu responded with a bow.

Lin Feng, Ning Dao Ran, and Gu Pan watched quietly from the side. If they had not witnessed Yang Kai’s strength for themselves, it would have been difficult for them to understand why a veteran Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would be so obedient towards him.

At first, they believed that Hui Gu had struck up a deal with Yang Kai to cooperate with each other in exchange for something. It was not until later that they realised the truth. These two had a Master-Servant relationship between them.

“Let’s go.” Yang Kai called out. Wrapping his energy around Lu Jing before he rose into the sky.

Su Ying Xue mentioned that the Prison Star Grand Array’s exit would open once more when the one-year period was up. Moreover, the location of the exit was specified in the Divine Sense Message from earlier. For that reason, what they needed to do was to rush to the location and arrive within the time limit.

They set off half a month in advance, so there was no urgency in terms of time. As they soared across the sky, the small group saw some of the cultivators participating in the Dao Theory Assembly flying out from their hiding places to follow behind them.

These participating cultivators had remained in hiding all this while, probably to avoid Prison League’s hunt. It was only natural for them to quickly follow along when they noticed several Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters leading the way forward. Joining this powerful group would give them a sense of security; otherwise, they basically had no power to resist if they encountered the Prison League along the way.

Yang Kai and the others ignored these people since they were only following at a distance and did not dare to approach too closely.

More than ten days later, Yang Kai’s group finally arrived at the specified location. There was a large rock that had been cut smooth to form something similar to a platform there and it seemed the exit would appear above it.

It was just that there was not a single person around at a glance. However, it was revealed that many people were hiding nearby when they scanned the area. It was obvious that many people had arrived in advance, but they did not dare to reveal themselves easily, choosing to remain in hiding.

Silavin: Original title - Zhao Xing’s Death