Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

There were three ancient characters on this black stick, ones that Yang Kai could not understand, but now that Yang Yan had called it the ‘Heaven Shaking Pillar’, he immediately made the association.

Yang Yan glanced over at him and snorted lightly, “What’s wrong with me understanding these characters? In any case, that Array Plate you refined before, was it also from the Emperor Garden?”

“En,” Yang Kai nodded as he continued staring towards Yang Yan.

Realizing Yang Kai’s gaze was somewhat different from before, Yang Yan chuckled, “What’s wrong, you think I’ve changed?”

“That’s not it. Although I know you know a great many things, I didn’t think that would include this star’s ancient characters.”

“These aren’t ancient characters, they were still in use a couple dozen thousand years ago, it’s just that Shadowed Star experienced a great change during that time so these words became lost. This Heaven Shaking Pillar is a treasure, it’s actually composed entirely of Heavenly Crystal Profound Iron.”

“Heavenly Crystal Profound Iron?” Yang Kai raised his brow, his expression filling with shock.

Although he did not know much about Artifact Refining, Yang Kai was still somewhat knowledgeable about precious Artifact Refining materials, and Heavenly Crystal Profound Iron was one of the most valuable. It was a top-class Origin King Grade material and was rumoured to weigh an astonishing amount. A palm-sized piece could weigh ten thousand kilograms. Moreover, it was exceptionally hard, nearly impossible to destroy.

Adding a little of this material when refining an artifact could dramatically increase that artifact’s strength, giving one a powerful advantage in combat.

Yang Yan said that this Heaven Shaking Pillar was actually entirely refined from Heavenly Crystal Profound Iron though! This was nothing short of astonishing.

However, if this was really the case, it would explain this stick’s incredible weight.

“Was it very dangerous acquiring this?” Yang Yan asked with concern.

Yang Kai chuckled before briefly explaining about the battle with the giant humanoid puppet. After listening, Yang Yan nodded, “You made the right choice. Although that puppet is quite precious, its value is still far below this Heaven Shaking Pillar. You profited greatly. On top of that, only such a puppet can wield this kind of artifact.”

“Only a puppet can wield it? Alright then, I’ll just give it to you, if you melt it down you should be able to refine many artifacts with it,” Yang Kai’s brow twitched. Originally, he had chosen this giant jet black stick because he fancied the material it was refined from.

“Melt it down?” Yang Yan spat disdainfully, “Why should I melt it? I cannot refine this kind of artifact now, and there are many amazing Spirit Arrays portrayed inside it. Melting it is too much of a waste of Heaven’s precious gift. If we can just find the right person to use it, then…”

“Who can use it?” Yang Kai laughed, “Unless you can also refine a puppet like the one that originally wielded this thing that is.”

“Someone can use it though!” Yang Yan smiled mysteriously.

“Who?” Yang Kai’s brow rose. He did not believe that on Shadowed Star someone had the strength to freely wave this Heaven Shaking Pillar around. This thing was simply not designed to be used by human cultivators. Even a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master wouldn’t be able to use this artifact for long before their Saint Qi and strength would be completely exhausted.

“It!” Yang Yan pointed to a certain spot nearby. Yang Kai looked over in the direction she pointed and suddenly noticed the Stone Puppet looking towards him fixedly.

Seeing both Yang Kai and Yang Yan staring at it together, the Stone Puppet no longer concealed itself and using its hands and feet, like a little stone ape, it raced over to Yang Kai, it’s two eyes staring up at him fixedly.

“The Stone Puppet?” Yang Kai frowned.

“Just let it try and you’ll understand,” Yang Yan smiled before pointing her hand towards the Heaven Shaking Pillar and shouting lightly, “Xiao Xiao!”

Hearing this shout, the Stone Puppet looked at Yang Yan then over Yang Kai. After getting Yang Kai’s permission, the stone puppet walked over to the metre-long Heaven Shaking Pillar.

After a short moment, the Stone Puppet’s eyes flashed a joyful light as its hunched back straightened up and its hands pounded its chest a few times before it grabbed the Heaven Shaking Pillar.

Yang Kai’s eyes shrank as he watched without blinking.

He clearly saw the Heaven Shaking Pillar, which he was unable to lift through normal means, being picked up by the Stone Puppet as if it weighed nothing at all. The Stone Puppet acted like a small child which had been given a new toy, its face filling with smiles as it held the Heaven Shaking Pillar appreciatively in front of it before swinging it around.

*Hu hu…*

A strong roar of wind rang out as the air within the cave mansion was greatly disturbed and a kind of tornado began forming with the Stone Puppet at its centre. The next moment, Spirit Arrays began flashing all around, creating barriers to block the fallout of this event.

At the same time, Yang Kai felt invisible blades of wind cut at his body, even going so far as to create scraping noises.

[This…]

Yang Kai was dumbfounded!

Back in the Emperor Garden, when the humanoid puppet waved this giant stick, its movements were not nearly as smooth as the Stone Puppet’s just now. This tiny Stone Puppet’s body contained such immense power that it was hard to believe.

Yang Kai realized that this Stone Puppet was not as simple as he originally thought. It seemed that other than quenching and refining Artifact Refining ores, it had other untapped potential!

Last time, in the Corpse Cave, the Stone Puppet had suddenly grown larger and swallowed the Sun True Essence before keeping it inside its body for several days. Without it, Yang Kai would not have been able to take away the Sun’s True Essence.

This little guy was truly full of surprises.

“Good, good!” Yang Yan’s eyes filled with brilliant light as she waved at the Stone Puppet, “Go play outside, if you keep waving it around in here all the Spirit Arrays will get destroyed and I’ll have to fix them. It’s too troublesome.”

Receiving this command, the Stone Puppet stopped its movements immediately and the whirlwind which had formed quickly dissipated. Immediately, the Stone Puppet opened its big mouth wide and swallowed the Heaven Shaking Pillar into its belly before diving into the earth and disappearing.

When Yang Kai sensed it again, it had already moved a dozen kilometres away.

Realizing the potential of the Stone Puppet once more, Yang Kai was excited. The reason was simple, inside his Black Book Space, there was another Stone Puppet egg. Unfortunately, he had not found another Blood Essence Stone, otherwise, it would have been born as well.

Over the years, this Stone Puppet embryo had maintained its strong sense of vitality, showing no signs of dying.

“Here’s your shield. You need to be more careful next time. Although I can repair it once or twice, if it’s damaged so badly repeatedly, I’m afraid it will reach a point where it can no longer be fixed,” Yang Yan said while handing Yang Kai his Purple Shield.

Yang Yan didn’t actually care about the shield but seeing this Origin Grade High-Rank defensive artifact so badly damaged, it was conceivable how much danger Yang Kai had been in, so this was her way of indirectly caring about him.

Yang Kai understood this and did not say a word, simply nodding vigorously before accepting the shield. Examining it silently, he found that it was as good as new, without the slightest defect, and happily put it away.

“Show me that Array Plate again,” Yang Yan held out her hand to Yang Kai.

Yang Kai did not hesitate to take out the Array Plate and give it to her.

Yang Yan stared at the Array Plate for a while, probing and examining it seriously before tossing it back to Yang Kai, “This Spectral Cloud Array Plate is very powerful. I’ll teach you how to manipulate it properly so that you can maximize its power in the future.”

Yang Kai’s expression brightened slightly upon hearing this. Yang Yan deserved her reputation as a Spirit Array Grandmaster, a single glance and she was able to recognize the Spectral Cloud Array inside this Array Plate. If it were some other Array Master, such a feat would have been impossible.

Even if she boasted like she was first under the Heavens, Yang Kai would not doubt her at all.

Yang Yan stretched out a finger, condensing a white ball of light at its tip before pointing it towards Yang Kai’s forehead.

Yang Kai did not move, allowing her to do whatever she wanted. A moment later, Yang Kai felt a slight jolt as a stream of information flowed into his mind. After a brief investigation, he found that this Divine Sense package contained a variety of subtle yet profound descriptions about the Spectral Cloud Array, causing him to be overjoyed. Originally, he was going to ask Yang Yan about this Spirit Array, but now she had taken the initiative to teach him about it, saving him the effort.

However, after using this method, Yang Yan’s face became slightly pale, seemingly suffering from some overdraft.

“Alright, you can study it yourself. There is a lot of chaos outside right now with countless cultivators coming and going. There is also no shortage of powerful masters. Dragon Cave Mountain has been completely sealed up according to your instructions. We can use this time to deal with our own matters. En, right, I’ll need to bring you some things over the next few days that I need your help with refining.”

“Got it,” Yang Kai nodded gently, but as he saw her turn around, about to leave, after hesitating for a moment, he called out, “Yang Yan!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Is there nothing you can tell me?” Yang Kai looked at her with a faint smile.

“Not now, I will tell you when the time is right!” Yang Yan narrowed her eyes slightly, a complicated expression filling her face before she turned back, opened the barriers, and left.

Staring in the direction she left, Yang Kai smiled slightly. No matter what happened to Yang Yan, she did not have any malicious intentions and was still his friend just as before, which was all Yang Kai wanted. As for whatever secrets she was still holding onto, Yang Kai would not ask.

Shaking his head, Yang Kai set these matters aside and began comprehending the mysteries of the Spectral Cloud Array.

Two hours later, Yang Kai had mastered the operation of this Spirit Array. All that was left was to test it out in battle, but even now he could not help feeling slightly awed.

This Spectral Cloud Array was worthy of being a lost ancient Spirit Array. Arranging it alone was extremely difficult and required the ability to refine the clouds in the sky. Such methods were incredibly shocking, and Yang Kai was clearly unable to understand or use this Spirit Array’s full power.

Back in the Emperor Garden, no one was operating this Array Plate so it was only able to display a small portion of its might, allowing Yang Kai and the others to break through it and resulting in him picking up a bargain.

Now, with Yang Kai’s strength and understanding of the Spirit Array, he would be able to bring out about thirty to forty percent of this Spectral Cloud Array’s might, but that was enough for now. With this Array Plate, Yang Kai’s combat strength has risen dramatically, and as long as it was not a master on Qian Tong or Fei Zhi Tu’s level, Yang Kai estimated he would have no trouble dealing with them. Of course, if he wanted to kill such a powerful enemy, it would mainly depend on what kind of strength and means the other party had.

Under normal situations, Yang Kai was confident he could now kill a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master in one-on-one combat.