Martial Peak

Chapter 1226, A Day Felt Like a Year

This mass of Spiritual Energy was concealed so well that even with Yang Kai’s incredibly powerful Divine Sense, he wasn’t able to notice its approach. If not for the unexpected appearance of the Form Revealing Bead, this attack would surely have succeeded.

The moment he sensed this Spiritual Energy attack, Yang Kai countered.

What surprised him though was that the other party’s Divine Sense was no weaker than his own. After the invisible collision between their two Divine Senses, Yang Kai had actually suffered a slight loss.

After this incident, Lu Ye immediately took back his Divine Sense and pretended he hadn’t done anything while Yang Kai’s cough had actually attracted everyone’s attention.

After Qu Chang Feng began expelling people though, Lu Ye’s expression became gloomy. With many other cultivators being driven away, he also chose to leave; after all, he was the only one from Flowing Cloud Valley to arrive, and since he was alone, Qu Chang Feng would surely not tolerate his presence. If he didn’t leave, it would only cause problems for himself.

[Something is up with that guy!]

Yang Kai knew that if not for him fortunately obtaining the Soul Warming Lotus many years ago, he wouldn’t have such a powerful Soul. But how many Soul Warming Lotuses could there be in this world? Even if there was another Soul Warming Lotus, it was impossible for it to be in the hands of a cultivator like Lu Ye.

Yet this Lu Ye’s Soul cultivation was truly no weaker than his own, a very strange phenomenon.

Flowing Cloud Valley wasn’t a very powerful force, only second class by Shadowed Star’s standards. It was impossible for such a Sect to have a Secret Art which could temper one’s Soul so profoundly, so how was Lu Ye able to cultivate his Spiritual Energy to such a degree?

Previously, in the stalactite cave, Yang Kai hadn’t noticed anything special about this Lu Ye. He was just an ordinary Third-Order Saint King cultivator. Later, when everyone was soaking in the Soul Cleansing Divine Water, Lu Ye had entered too, but he definitely did not obtain enough benefits to explain such a dramatic change.

Acquiring such a powerful enemy for no apparent reason made Yang Kai feel extremely depressed, but no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t understand how he had offended the other party.

Yang Kai swore to find a chance to kill Lu Ye as quickly as possible. Regardless of whether the other person was misunderstanding something or simply bore a grudge against him, having such an enemy always staring at him made Yang Kai unable to relax.

After mulling over these thoughts in his mind, Yang Kai quickly made his decision. Exhaling softly, he no longer thought about Lu Ye and once again closed his eyes to continue meditating. After the second red sun rose, the fruit aroma in the air had become more intense and its efficacy had also become much stronger. All the remaining cultivators refused to waste this rare opportunity and all focused on silently meditating.

Yang Kai continued immersing himself in his understanding of Saint Qi control. He knew that the Red Candle Fruit’s fragrance would not linger for long, only until it fully matured, so he didn’t intend on using this short time to study the esoteric Dao of Space. As long as he could comprehend how to fully control his Saint Qi in the next two or three days, this little trip would definitely be worthwhile.

Yang Kai didn’t know what other people chose to comprehend, but he felt his choice was for the best.

When the second red sun rose to the mid-day position and no longer moved, the mountain valley filled with another layer of red energy. The cultivators who had witnessed this situation twice already did not panic, but that didn’t mean they weren’t excited, most of them barely able to maintain straight faces.

The emergence of this dark red energy meant that the third red sun was about to rise, and the Three Suns Grand Risings Phenomenon would be completed. This also meant that the Red Candle Fruit was fully mature!

Many cultivators became anxious and this excitement prevented them from continuing to meditate and peacefully comprehend the various profound concepts they were studying. Instead, they opened their eyes and began paying even closer attention to everything in the mountain valley.

The dark red energy began to converge, and the earth trembled lightly. Soon, a great burst of energy erupted. At the same time, the fruity aroma in the air became even richer.

The third red sun then appeared in front of everyone’s eyes and slowly began rising up into the sky.

Rustling sounds echoed all around and Saint Qi fluctuations began appearing as some people seemed eager to rush into the valley.

Li You Nan of Medicine Pill Sect saw this and rubbed his forehead in frustration. Unable to care about keeping up appearances, he shouted loudly, “You must not act rashly! The Three Suns Grand Risings is not finished, and the Red Candle Fruit has yet to surface. No one may fight yet! Once anything interferes with the maturing of the Red Candle Fruit, dying ten thousand times won’t be enough of an apologize!”

He was the most knowledgeable about the Red Candle Fruit’s maturation process, so naturally, he had the responsibility to remind everyone.

At the same time, Li You Nan was cursing in his heart. If he wasn’t worried about these people being unable to hold back and really starting a fight, disturbing the maturing of the Red Candle Fruit, he wouldn’t have said anything. In fact, it would have been best if these people had killed each other off completely. After they all died, his Medicine Pill Sect would be able to monopolize this Heavenly spirit fruit.

After listening to Li You Nan’s words, many people gave him a cold glare; however, they maintained their heightened vigilance and continued to secretly condense their Saint Qi.

Atop Shadow Moon Hall’s hill, Wei Gu Chang observed the situation for a moment and concluded that there was still some time left before closing his eyes again and continuing his meditation, not displaying any outwards signs of anxiety.

With the passage of time, the atmosphere around the small mountain valley became tenser and tenser. By the time the third red sun had risen halfway up into the sky, many cultivators who were still meditating were finally unable to hold back and got up to pay closer attention to the movements of this red sun. Not only ordinary cultivators, but even the famous rising stars like Wei Gu Chang, Qu Chang Feng, Fang Tian Zhong, Yin Su Die, Tang Yong, and Qu Ming Hai were the same…

No one could continue to maintain the same indifference as before, all of them carefully tracking the height of the red sun while whispering quietly to the people around them, solemn and serious expressions upon their faces.

“Junior Brother Yang is still immersed in his comprehension!” Dai Yuan eyes flashed with a look of astonishment as she glanced over at Yang Kai’s still sitting figure and noticed that his Saint Qi was fluctuating fiercely.

Yang Kai appearing like this clearly indicated that he had arrived at a critical juncture in his comprehension and couldn’t even be bothered to pay attention to the maturing of the Red Candle Fruit.

“It seems Brother Yang’s harvest this time hasn’t been small,” Wei Gu Chang smiled bitterly as he felt some envy towards Yang Kai. He had also been immersed in meditation for the past day or two, but because he had been keeping track of the Red Candle Fruit’s situation from time to time, he hadn’t been able to comprehend anything of significance and only managed to obtain some minor insights. Although he still obtained some benefits, it was far from what Yang Kai grasped.

“That person is also still meditating!” Dong Xuan’er cast his eyes onto another mountain top. On the other end of her gaze was the stern-faced man from Star Emperor Sect who, just like Yang Kai, was sitting cross-legged, his look as tranquil as an ancient well with only his Saint Qi tumbling violently.

“Perhaps this is the gap between us and them,” Wei Gu Chang muttered to himself. He had long been acknowledged as a great genius, Shadow Moon Hall’s most dazzling star, on par with Fang Tian Zhong, Qu Chang Feng and the other leaders of the younger generation, so he had never felt he was inferior to any others.

However, after witnessing the various methods Yang Kai had displayed, he became acutely aware of his shortcomings. Now, in addition to Yang Kai, a disciple from Star Emperor Sect had emerged. Wei Gu Chang inexplicably felt a sense of crisis wash over him.

He knew that if he didn’t work hard, the future Shadowed Star might not have a place for him!

All around the mountain valley, dozens of cultivators were standing atop their own hills, paying attention to the third red sun, so the actions of Yang Kai and the Star Emperor Sect disciple were very eye-catching.

None cared much about Yang Kai. No one knew his origins, but a mere First-Order Saint King couldn’t enter these elite’s eyes.

But the stern-faced man from Star Emperor Sect continuing his meditation actually allowed everyone to secretly breathe a sigh of relief, all of them hoping he would continue his comprehension until the ownership of the Red Candle Fruit had been settled.

Everyone here now truly understood the meaning of the saying ‘a day felt like a year’.

Since the third red sun appeared, it seemed to be moving slower than a crawling turtle as it rose into the sky, making everyone wish they could rush forward and help push it up.

This situation continued for a whole day until finally, the third red sun rose to the mid-day position and joined the other two red suns, completing the Three Suns Grand Risings Phenomenon. These three red suns seemed to form some kind of resonance with each other, causing a brilliant red light to burst forth and illuminate the entire third layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field. This bright flash blinded all the cultivators who remained in the third layer for a moment and forced them to close their eyes.

A great pulse of energy was released high up in the sky in the next moment, and when the brilliant red light finally dimmed and everyone opened their eyes again, they were shocked by what they saw!

Because the three red suns had actually merged together to form a single giant red sun. This red sun was rapidly rotating and each time it did, it was drawing in an unprecedented amount of energy.

The surrounding World Energy aura became incomparably rich and turbulent all of a sudden.

All of this World Energy gathered together here and was madly pouring into the red sun as if it were a bottomless pit.

Atop Medicine Pill Sect’s mountain, Li You Nan trembled, his eyes going wide as he stared at the scene in front of himself, unable to control his excitement!

It was exactly the same as was recorded in the ancient records, with no differences whatsoever; it truly was a maturing Red Candle Fruit!

After an incense stick worth of time, the World Energy in the entire third layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field had been consumed, making the surrounding several hundred kilometres a dead zone!

The giant red sun also seemed to have become more solid, hanging in the sky like a real little sun.

Suddenly, it stopped rotating, going from an extremely fast motion to complete stillness.

“Not good!” Li You Nan saw this and immediately began leaking cold sweat. Li You Nan hurriedly summoned out a shield-type artefact which he transformed into a protective barrier around the mountain occupied by Medicine Pill Sect, covering them in a solid defensive shield.