Martial Peak

It wasn’t surprising that Liang Yong was panicked. Yang Kai managed to withstand the concentrated bombardment of so many people on his own, so now that he had a Spirit Array to support him, wouldn’t he be even more difficult to handle?

Moreover, Liang Yong was unable to find where Yang Kai was even when using his Divine Sense. In this weird place, it seemed that there were only his companions and himself, no one else.

Liang Yong naturally didn’t believe that this Spirit Array was just meant to trap them; Yang Kai would definitely have an additional hand to play.

“Everyone, gather together, don’t disperse.” Liang Yong suddenly yelled. He couldn’t find any trace of Yang Kai, but that didn’t matter. As long as he and his dozen or so companions stuck together and watched each other’s backs, they should be able to hold out until their allies outside broke this Spirit Array. If they spread out and allowed Yang Kai to defeat them one by one though, it was very likely they would be completely wiped out.

Yang Kai’s profound methods had left a deep impression on him.

Hearing Liang Yong’s call, everyone recovered their senses and quickly moved closer to where he was.

But at that moment, the change occurred.

The pure white, flawless clouds which were originally floating high up in the sky began dropping down at a frightening speed.

Although no one understood what was special about these white clouds, none of them dared allow them to approach unchallenged, instantly using their Movement Skills to avoid them while summoning their artifacts to attack.

However, the white clouds seemed to be completely intangible, so even if they were attacked, they only became slightly scattered and would soon reform.

“What the hell are those!” A middle-aged man shouted impatiently as he poured his Saint Qi into a long dagger-like artifact he was holding and slashed out fiercely, wanting to split apart the white clouds which were descending upon him.

This middle-aged man had a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation and possessed great strength. The dagger he was wielding was an Origin Grade Mid-Rank artifact he had obtained accidentally in a mysterious cave many years ago and now regarded it as his most precious treasure. This dagger had helped him kill powerful enemies many times and was the artifact he most relied upon.

A shocking wave burst forth from the dagger and smoothly bisected the white cloud in front of the middle-aged man, allowing him to sneer and leap forward to pass through the opening he had made with a flicker.

But just as his figure was about to emerge from this split white cloud, the cloud which had been split in half quickly converged and immediately wrapped around him.

A startled shout rang out.

Immediately, the white clouds within a twenty-metre radius actually began to gather together and transform into a majestic lion.

This lion was more than seven metres tall, its entire body yellowish-brown in colour. Lifting its head up high, the lion let out a deafening roar as shocking energy fluctuations burst from its body.

At the same time, the abdomen of this giant lion visibly bulged, as if something was struggling inside of it, wanting to burst out.

Obviously, it was the middle-aged man who had been engulfed by the white clouds just now.

However, there was nothing he could do. The lion’s stomach swelled and shrank repeatedly as a shocking burst of energy pulsed from it, but soon, a crunching sound rang out, almost as if something was being crushed and ground down.

The movement inside the lion’s abdomen also stopped abruptly while the life aura of the middle-aged man was quickly dispersing.

“A Great Desert Lion?” Liang Yong exclaimed with a shocked expression on his face.

He was able to recognize what kind of Monster Beast this lion was at a glance, but it was a little different from a real Monster Beast. It didn’t emit any Monster Qi, but its form was definitely that of a Great Desert Lion. What’s more, the aura radiating from it was comparable to a fully matured Great Desert Lion!

A mature Great Desert Lion was a peak Ninth-Order Monster Beast, and in terms of combat capabilities, it was completely capable of overwhelming a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm human cultivator and could even win against ordinary Third-Orders.

As soon as Liang Yong’s words rang out, all the other surrounding white clouds began transforming and soon, massive and varied Monster Beasts began appearing all around the dozen or so remaining masters.

Giant Horn Rhinoceros, Deep Sea Flood Dragon, Profound Black Tiger, Roaring Moon Wolf, Ironback Centipede, Golden Poison Toad…

There were many different Monster Beasts here, each one belonging to an extremely fierce species.

Regardless of what type of Monster Beast it was, the weakest was Eighth-Order and there was no lack of those at the Ninth-Order; however, all of them were slightly different from orthodox Monster Beasts. Not only were they massive in size, but they also pulsed with astonishing energy.

As soon as these Monster Beasts took shape, they searched for the nearest target and began madly attacking the Origin Returning Realm masters.

There were so many Monster Beasts that everyone was instantly separated and forced to fight against at least three or four enemies.

The dozen or so Origin Realm masters from Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect quickly began letting out panic-filled screams. Although their cultivations weren’t low and their strength wasn’t weak, caught inside this strange Spirit Array and besieged by so many powerful Monster Beasts, they instantly found themselves at a massive disadvantage.

Yet what truly made them desperate was that these Monster Beasts seemed to be immortal. Even if they are cut to pieces, they would soon reform, making them incredibly difficult to deal with.

The first casualty appeared less than a half cup of tea’s worth of time after the battle began. No one was able to tell if the first to die was from Thunder Typhoon Sect or Heaven Battling Union, but in a moment of distraction, this man was struck by a giant horned lizard and tossed up into the air.

Before this man could land, a dark green dragon several dozen metres in length flew over from his side, opened its mouth, bared its giant fangs, and viciously bit down onto him.

The man’s protective layer of Saint Qi flashed violently but was ultimately unable to resist the force of the Deep Sea Flood Dragon’s bite.

*Ka…*

With a loud cracking sound, the layer of protective Saint Qi shattered and the man’s body was directly bitten in half. Blood splashed out all over the battlefield as the man died a truly miserable death.

The terrified scream this man released just before his death sent chills up his remaining companion’s spines. They were all struggling desperately, barely able to protect themselves and now their morale had taken a hit, causing their situations to instantly worsen

“Yang Kai, is hiding in the dark all you’re capable of? Get out here and fight this old master head-on!” Liang Yong angrily shouted.

Yang Kai’s hearty laughter rang out immediately, “Elder Liang, don’t try to irritate me, I’ll come out when the time is right, but in the meantime… Heh heh, you should all have a taste of this Spectral Cloud Array’s power. En, I’m looking forward to how many of you I can send to your graves!”

The voice was vague and seemed to be coming from close by but also from far away, making it impossible for Liang Yong to locate Yang Kai’s position. For a time, his face was ashen and desperate to the extreme.

But from Yang Kai’s words, he finally knew what this damned Spirit Array was.

Spectral Cloud Array! Liang Yong was not proficient in Spirit Arrays, and he didn’t know about the mysteries of this particular one, some others in his group couldn’t help exclaiming, “Spectral Cloud Array, it’s actually the Spectral Cloud Array, impossible! This Spirit Array was lost long ago and is impossible for anyone to arrange today!”

“Oh, this friend seems to be a bit more knowledgeable and has dabbled in Spirit Arrays. En, at the current level of Shadowed Star, no one can arrange a Spectral Cloud Array, but mine was not arranged by any living cultivator.”

“Does that mean…” The man’s expression changed drastically as he quickly understood.

No one currently being able to arrange it did not mean that no one from ancient times couldn’t.

The difficulty of arranging the Spectral Cloud Array lay with the white clouds which were in fact real clouds. A cultivator who wished to arrange a Spectral Cloud Array needed the incredible Divine Ability to reach the sky, refine the clouds, and seal the Soul Core and Essence of powerful Monster Beasts into them.

Currently, the strongest cultivators on Shadowed Star were only Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters. Who among them had the ability to refine the clouds in the sky?

Only an Origin King could possibly accomplish such a feat.

After this refinement was finished, these clouds could transform into Cloud Beasts which were capable of displaying the strength of the Monster Beast Soul which was sealed into them. Because they were simply condensed from clouds though, they were extremely difficult to destroy as they could quickly coalesce and re-form even if they were scattered to pieces.

The Array Plate of the Spectral Cloud Array was a treasure Yang Kai obtained when he entered the depths of the Emperor Garden the first time.

After refining and warming it in his body for so long, Yang Kai had only used it once, when he dove into the Emperor Garden for the second time and hunted the Seven Coloured Elk Variant.

That Seven Coloured Elk Variant’s speed was simply too great, and Yang Kai had no other way to constrain it than using this Spirit Array.

Apart from then, he had not used this Array Plate again.

However, being besieged by so many people this time was an excellent opportunity to display the power of the Array Plate.

Previously, when he, Fei Zhi Tu, and the others had fallen into the Spectral Cloud Array, they had barely been able to protect themselves, which showed just how powerful this Spirit Array was. Moreover, at that time, the Spectral Cloud Array was not being controlled by anyone and was simply attacking them autonomously, only able to display about twenty to thirty percent of its might.

Now that this Spirit Array was being controlled by Yang Kai, although he didn’t dare say he could exert one hundred percent of its power, seventy to eighty percent was entirely possible.

With his extremely powerful Divine Sense, it wasn’t difficult for Yang Kai to control the powerful Cloud Beasts. If his Divine Sense had been strong enough, he could have controlled more Cloud Beasts and killed those trapped within even more easily.

Hidden from view, Yang Kai Divine Sense flickered about, controlling each Cloud Beasts to attack the enemy, showing no mercy.

Now that he had torn face with Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect, Yang Kai certainly wouldn’t have any scruples when dealing with them.

He didn’t want to stir up trouble, but he was forced to do so. Since the other party wanted to deal with him, they should be prepared for the consequences.

More than a dozen Origin Returning Realm Masters were by no means a weak force, but they were now divided by all the Cloud Beasts, unable to group up to mount a proper defence.

As long as there was enough time, these Cloud Beasts killing all of these masters was inevitable.

However, Yang Kai suddenly frowned and turned to look at a certain position.

As the owner of the Spectral Cloud Array’s Array Plate, he could naturally perceive that the people outside were attacking that place fiercely at this moment, and they were not sparing any effort. It was likely that it wouldn’t be long before this Spirit Array was broken.

This wasn’t a result Yang Kai was willing to see.

After grumbling for a moment, Yang Kai waved his hand slightly and the Firebird Artifact Spirit flew out again, stretching its wings as a monstrous heat wave burst from its body.

“Go!” Yang Kai gave a light command, sending the Firebird out with orders to find opportunities to kill the enemy.

Yang Kai wasn’t finished though and quickly stretched out his hand again, this time summoning a green long sword into it. This long sword had no blade edge and looked extremely strange, especially the longan sized bead which was embedded in its hilt that seemed to have a tiny snake swimming about inside of it.

Verdant Dragon Bone Sword.

Saint Qi madly poured into it and the Dragon Bone Sword began releasing a terrifying majesty. In the next moment, a giant dark-green dragon appeared in front of Yang Kai, opening its mouth and letting out a loud dragon roar. Without even needing Yang Kai’s careful manipulation, it shook its head and waved its tail before rushing towards the nearest enemy.