Martial Peak

Ten days passed by, and after experiencing the initial excitement and novelty of this place, Dragon Cave Mountain’s survivors gradually adapted to life in the Supreme Profound Sect ruins, which had now become High Heaven Sect.

Here, the World Energy aura was rich, the mountains were beautiful, the water was pure, and the air was fresh. It was simply the best cultivation paradise in the world, only a single step below the floating continent Yang Kai had first encountered after entering the Star Field.

The only flaw was that the entire Flowing Flame Sand Field was still wrapped up by the two rings of the Three Blazing Flame Rings, making it a completely isolated space from the rest of the world. Not only did this make it difficult to communicate with others on the outside, but when one looked up they were unable to see the sun, moon, stars, and sky. All that was there was a fiery red light curtain.

Of course, there were advantages and disadvantages to every situation. The current High Heaven Sect seemed to be isolated from the rest of the world, but it was also shielded from any kind of outside disturbances. If this wasn’t the case, the trivial few dozen people here would never have been able to occupy such a wondrous cultivation paradise.

Everything was proceeding smoothly.

The Ten Thousand Year Incense Yang Kai brought back from the Flowing Flame Sand Field sixth layer was placed in one of the Front Court’s main palaces by Yang Yan where it was guarded behind a powerful Spirit Array so that, in the future, if a disciple needed to break through, they could apply to Wu Yi to enter this palace and take advantage of the wonderful effects of the Ten Thousand Year Incense to assist them.

The Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree was also placed in this palace.

These two extraordinary treasures both helped cultivators comprehend the mysteries of the Martial Dao and Heavenly Way as well as help them maintain mental tranquillity and purge heart demons, so they were the perfect auxiliaries to have when a cultivator wanted to break through.

Whether it was the Ten Thousand Year Incense or the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree, they had originally been placed inside Yang Kai’s cave mansion on Dragon Cave Mountain, but more than the month ago, Yang Yan had taken advantage of the time while Yang Kai was attracting everyone’s attention when strong enemies had invaded to sneak into his cave mountain and transfer these precious treasures.

Yang Yan had also retrieved the Red Candle Stalk and the small piece of Red Candle Fruit at that time and had now moved them to the Front Court’s Medicine Garden. Although neither of these things would grow anymore, their medicinal efficacies could be perfectly preserved here.

Even the progenitor Blood Sword Grass had been collected and brought here by Yang Yan, along with the huge Blood Essence Stone and the Illusion Stone. These things were all treasures that could be used as Array Cores for powerful Spirit Array, so how could Yang Yan just abandon them?

It could be said that although Dragon Cave Mountain had been razed to the ground, High Heaven Sect had not suffered the slightest loss at all. Instead, it was able to use that battle to make a name for itself!

At least a dozen great forces and over a hundred Origin Realm masters had joined forces to attack them, but in the end, the invaders had suffered heavy casualties and fled in distress. With the possible exception of Star Emperor Mountain, no other Sect on Shadowed Star was capable of accomplishing such a feat.

After that battle, no one dared disdain Dragon Cave Mountain, and the name of Yang Kai, the owner of Dragon Cave Mountain, was widely circulated. Achieving such an incredible victory with just a trivial Third-Order Saint King cultivation made Yang Kai the topic of discussion in every city and tavern across Shadowed Star.

High Heaven Sect, on the other hand, was established in an extremely low-key manner, and without Yang Kai knowing anything, Wu Yi and the others had acknowledged him as Sect Master.

Yang Yan became Vice Sect Master, and Ye Xi Yun was installed as Great Elder with Chang Qi, Hao An, Ning Xiang Chen, and Ge Qi becoming Elders.

A small Sect with only a few dozen members began taking shape, and although there were so few of them occupying such a massive site, no one here was eager to open their doors and recruit others to join them. If they were, simply by releasing word that they were recruiting, it likely wouldn’t be long before countless cultivators swarmed here to join them.

However, their foundation was unstable, so now was not the time to try to expand; everyone understood this truth.

Yang Kai also let out the Divine Tree again during this time. In the battle more than a month ago, the performance of the Divine Tree had stunned Yang Kai. After receiving such a big pleasant surprise, Yang Kai naturally wasn’t stingy with it and he immediately fed the Divine Tree two drops of Golden Blood after letting it out.

The Stone Puppet’s performance had also been remarkable, so Yang Kai rewarded it with a rich spread of rare metals and ores! The Stone Puppet could enhance its strength by absorbing the essence of these ores after all.

The Front Court of High Heaven Pavilion gradually calmed down, with everyone settling into a set routine, so Yang Kai decided it was time to enter retreat.

Only Yang Yan was still running around frantically, with Wu Yi and Qian Yue in tow; after all, this place would be their Sect from now on so Yang Yan naturally wanted to arrange new Spirit Arrays and barriers. Fortunately, the majority of the barriers and Spirit Arrays from when the Supreme Profound Sect was active were still intact and only required some slight repairs or recharging with Saint Crystals to activate.

To Yang Yan, this wasn’t difficult, and even somewhat enjoyable.

Ye Xi Yun also accompanied her all day long, remaining a single step behind her, behaving exactly like a loyal subordinate.

Yang Kai occasionally noticed that there was a look of fanaticism and even worship in her eyes when this woman looked at Yang Yan. It seemed that she would execute any order given to her by Yang Yan without hesitation.

Yang Kai sat cross-legged inside his palace, now deemed First Heavenly Palace while holding a blue-green artifact that looked somewhat similar to a long sword.

Although this artifact looked like a sword, it did not have a blade edge but was dull instead. At its hilt was also a distinctive longan sized round bead inside of which there was a green, snake-like creature swimming about happily.

This long sword artifact was naturally the product of the refined and fused Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead. This Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead apparently belonged to an aggressive Poison Dragon, an Ancient Divine Spirit whose true strength was simply beyond comprehension.

So even though all that remained of this Poison Dragon was a piece of Dragon Bone that had been roughly refined into an artifact along with its Dragon Bead, this long sword artifact was still able to display incredible might.

During the battle on Dragon Cave Mountain, Yang Kai fully realized how powerful this artifact was, but unfortunately, the Remnant Dragon Soul retained its arrogance from when it was alive and was unwilling to be controlled by him, nearly causing him to embarrass himself when he first summoned it. At that time, Yang Kai had been forced to suppress it forcefully by using his Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique.

Although he had succeeded in bringing this unruly Dragon Soul to heel at the time, this was only a stopgap measure, not a long-term strategy.

Yang Kai taking it out now was naturally because he intended to permanently solve this problem, otherwise, he would be forced to suppress it every time he used it. Not only would this reduce the power this artifact could display, but it might even lead to Yang Kai to suffer backlash.

This was no small matter. It actually was not uncommon for cultivators to suffer backlash from their own artifacts, normally occurring when a cultivator tried to use an artifact that was powerful beyond their control. As such, when choosing an artifact, a cultivator would rarely choose one that had a grade far exceeding their own cultivation. Possessing a powerful artifact one couldn’t control completely wasn’t necessarily better than having a weaker one they could completely control.

Moreover, this Dragon Bone Sword in Yang Kai’s hand could only be regarded as the prototype of an artifact and had yet to be completely refined, barely in a usable condition.

This was only natural though; after all, how could it be easy to refine the materials of an Ancient Divine Spirit?

However, what made Yang Kai happy was that this Dragon Bone Sword seemed to be capable of growing and evolving. During the battle on Dragon Cave Mountain, this sword had transformed into a giant dark-green dragon, and after it swallowed the vital essence of an Origin Returning Realm master cultivator, its aura had clearly been enhanced slightly.

After discovering this, Yang Kai didn’t dare allow it to swallow up other Origin Real masters at will. It was already difficult for him to completely suppress it, so how could he do something akin to lifting a stone only to smash his own foot?

Only when this hidden danger was completely resolved could Yang Kai allow this Dragon Bone Sword to grow unscrupulously.

“Your whole body is an alluring emerald-green, so I’ll call you Verdant from on,” Yang Kai’s eyes flashed as he muttered to himself.

Saying these words, Yang Kai gripped the sword’s hilt and began pouring his Saint Qi into it without reservation, causing a resounding dragon roar to fill First Heavenly Palace. In the next instant, dazzling green light and a powerful wind burst from the palace.

As a violent pressure descended, a giant dark-green dragon suddenly appeared in front of Yang Kai.

When the Verdant Dragon Bone Sword transformed, its appearance became extremely lifelike, just like a real dragon hovering in front of Yang Kai, its two large eyes blinking lightly as it stared down at the human in front of it with clear disdain.

Although it was only a Remnant Soul and didn’t even possess any sentience, the pride of being an Ancient Divine Spirit had been indelibly ingrained into it.

Compared to the power of an Ancient Divine Spirit, Yang Kai’s strength was as small as an ant’s.

Dragon pressure filled the air, causing Yang Kai’s bones to crack as he felt as if he was carrying a giant mountain on his back and an indescribable sense of powerlessness emerged from his heart.

However, Yang Kai did not retreat, nor did he show the slightest timidity, instead glaring back at the giant dragon head coldly.

The Demon Eye of Annihilation appeared in his left eye, its golden pupil seemingly emitting an endless sense of majesty while another ethereal glow surrounded it.

Naturally, this glow was the Coloured Glass Divine Light.

Together with the Demon Eye of Annihilation, the two complimented one another, making the power they could display more than the sum of their individual strengths.

This time, Yang Kai did not use his Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique; after all, if he wanted to conquer this prideful Dragon Soul, relying entirely on this Secret Technique was clearly not an option. Yang Kai had to let this Dragon Soul willingly recognize him as its master, otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to control it in the future without worrying about suffering backlash.

One big and one small, two pairs of eyes stared at each other, one contemptuous, one majestic, and neither willing to back down or show any kind of weakness.

Even if the Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead had been refined with Yang Kai’s Saint Qi for several years, and had long been dyed with his aura, it was still not a simple task to make it completely submit.

As this invisible contest between Yang Kai and the giant dark-green dragon unfolded, an invisible shockwave of Spiritual Energy spread out. Fortunately, the barriers protecting the First Heavenly Palace were quite powerful, otherwise, this palace might have been destroyed in the initial moments of this competition.

Although Yang Kai’s cultivation had only reached the Third-Order Saint King Realm, his Soul was no less powerful than a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master, and with the assistance of his Demon Eye of Annihilation, he could even cause serious losses to a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master that was caught off guard. But even so, it was extremely difficult for Yang Kai to deal with this Remnant Dragon Soul.

Regardless of how Yang Kai urged his Divine Sense to exert pressure on it, the other party remained unmoved, not showing the slightest fear, panic, or intention to surrender.

As time passed slowly, Yang Kai’s complexion gradually grew pale as he was using his Spiritual Energy uninterruptedly and without restraint, making it difficult for even him to endure.

A faint trace of blood began to leak from Yang Kai’s Demon Eye of Annihilation, and his whole left eye went slightly red as the golden pupil continued to exert an invisible suction force, wanting to shake this Dragon Soul. Unfortunately, it was like waves crashing upon a reef, although there were some signs of a splash, the reef remained unmoved.