Martial Peak

Star Emperor Mountain’s Star Ascendance Peak was covered in white clouds from the halfway point up, giving it a calm and serene atmosphere. One day, however, an unusual energy fluctuation suddenly appeared at its summit. The ambient World Energy rapidly converged towards a certain point before a vortex was gradually formed.

Initially, this vortex was very small, but as more and more World Energy poured into it, it steadily grew larger until it was several dozen metres in diameter.

A figure leisurely stepped out of this vortex, as if passing through the Void, and stood proudly mid-air.

Turning his head and looking around, Yang Kai found no trace of anyone nearby, only a lone altar which stood not far away, protected from the elements by a small temple.

Yang Kai’s expression remained calm as he was not surprised by this scene.

Although he didn’t know how long he had been trapped inside that Small Sealed World, it had definitely not been a month or two; at least several years must have passed.

After such a long period, Ye Xi Yun must have determined that it was pointless just waiting for him here and returned to High Heaven Sect.

Trying to sense his Dragon Bone Sword and Firebird Artifact Spirit, Yang Kai was unable to find any trace of them and assumed they were brought back to the Sect by Ye Xi Yun.

Qi Tian Che and Fang Peng were now dead. On Shadowed Star, the three behemoths who had reigned supreme above all other great forces had fallen, so there was now no one who could stop the advancement of High Heaven Sect. With Ye Xi Yun assuming command of the Sect, Yang Kai had nothing to worry about.

After sweeping it with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai found that there were no traces of anyone anywhere on Star Emperor Mountain.

It seemed that all the cultivators from Star Emperor Mountain had left, but whether they had chosen to follow Yang Xiu Zhu and the others back to High Heaven Sect or dispersed separately was unknown.

However, in Yang Kai’s opinion, the former was more likely.

Since there was no one here, Yang Kai naturally didn’t plan to linger any longer.

Turning around, he stretched out his hand towards the vortex behind him, after which it began to shrink and in the blink of an eye disappeared, being replaced by an unremarkable bead.

One of the two Emperor Artifact beads, the Sealed World Bead!

This was an incredible treasure that contained its own sealed world. With it, one of the problems which had been plaguing Yang Kai’s heart for many years had been solved.

Moreover, Yang Kai felt that if he could completely refine this Sealed World Bead and complete its World Principles, he could even allow Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators to break through inside of it to the Origin King Realm!

The cultivators of Shadowed Star were unable to break through to the Origin King Realm because of the suppression of this star’s World Principles.

But the Sealed World Bead contained an independent world of its own, with its own World Principles, which were un-tethered to those of Shadowed Star.

This was definitely a feasible method, but it was far too early to think about this. Although as Yang Kai’s comprehension of the Dao of Space grew, he was able to expand the Small Sealed World inside the Sealed World Bead to a hundred kilometres in radius, he was still a long way from completing it.

After pondering for a moment, Yang Kai took the Sealed World Bead back into his body before stepping out casually.

One moment, he was standing at the peak of Star Ascendance Peak, but the next moment, he was half-way down its slope.

With another step, Yang Kai reached the base of the mountain…

This kind of speed was simply unimaginable.

The Dao of Space was incredibly mysterious, and during his time trapped inside of the Sealed World Bead, Yang Kai’s mastery of it had grown considerably. The rapid movement he was displaying now was almost akin to teleporting without leaving any trace behind, as if he could break through the constraints of space to appear a great distance away in an instant.

Compared to his original method of tearing space, this was actually a much more advanced technique.

There was a certain process required to tear space, one which could easily be disturbed by strong external stimuli like the attack of a powerful master, but now Yang Kai’s movements were as smooth and simple as taking a step, no longer suffering from this kind of restraint like before.

As for shortcomings of this technique, there was indeed one.

Yang Kai couldn’t travel as far in a single step as he did when tearing space.

With Yang Kai’s current strength, tearing space would allow him to instantly traverse two or three thousand kilometres, but this new teleportation method only allowed him to move about a dozen kilometres or so at once.

Between the two methods, each had its own advantages and disadvantages, and it was impossible to say which was superior. However, a common factor they both shared was that they consumed a great deal of Saint Qi.

Yang Kai spent the next while familiarising himself with his new comprehensions regarding the Dao of Space, but after traversing ten thousand kilometres or so, he summoned his Star Shuttle and continued on his way.

Continuously using his Space Force to travel put a heavy load on him, so it was far more economical to use his Star Shuttle to travel long distances.

…..

Inside a lush forest, the roars of a beast continued to ring out loudly. A group of five cultivators, consisting of both young and old, male and female, were working together to besiege a huge, hideous, Monster Beast.

This Monster Beast had a tiger head, elephant legs, and a leopard tail, giving it an imposing image.

The tiger’s head was a reddish copper colour and seemed extremely strong while many strange patterns on its body gave it a mysterious look.

It was a Cracked Copper Head Tiger, an Eighth-Order Monster Beast with thick skin and tough flesh, making it particularly resilient.

As for the group of cultivators present, the leader seemed to be an old man at the Second-Order Saint King realm while the rest were only Saint Realm Juniors. From how these cultivators addressed one another, it was apparent that they all belonged to the same small family and had come to this forest to hunt Monster Beasts to earn Saint Crystals.

An Eighth-Order Monster Beast was equivalent to a Saint King Realm cultivator.

However, this Cracked Copper Head Tiger was at the peak of the Eighth-Order, so even if it was currently besieged, its fierceness did not decrease and it continued to spit balls of extremely powerful energy from its mouth while roaring, making it difficult for these small family cultivators to get close.

But the old man was clearly an experienced veteran, so even though this was a dangerous fight, his Juniors did not seem to be in immediate danger.

With enough time, this group of five seemed to have a good chance to kill this Cracked Copper Head Tiger.

Suddenly, an energy fluctuation appeared at the edge of their perception, causing a young girl in a green dress to look up and shouted, “Second Uncle, someone is coming.”

Hearing this shout, the old man looked up and his eyes narrowed.

As someone with much worldly experience, this old man could tell at a glance that the strength of this newcomer was definitely not low, otherwise, they would never have this kind of speed. As he was considering whether this person was an enemy or a friend, however, his attention wandered and the Cracked Copper Head Tiger managed to break free from his suppression.

The tiger let out a fierce roar. After being besieged for so long, this Eighth-Order Monster Beast was clearly enraged, so once it managed to free itself, it directly rushed towards the young girl in green, opened its bloodstained maw, and bit towards her neck.

The little girl was so scared that her beautiful face went pure white, and in a fluster she tried to summon her defensive artifact, but wasn’t in time to stop the tiger from pouncing towards her.

Seeing the giant fangs rapidly closing in on her, a trace of despair flashed across the girl’s eyes.

Shouts were coming from all of her companions and the girl even saw her Second Uncle desperately race towards her, trying to save her from the tiger’s maw.

But it was obvious he wouldn’t make it in time.

She saw death beckoning to her.

At that moment though, a breeze seemed to pass by her and a figure suddenly appeared right before her eyes.

This figure seemed like a ten thousand-metre high mountain, shielding her from the violent storm, making her inexplicably feel at ease.

*Guangdang!*

A loud noise rang out, accompanied by the whimpers of a Monster Beast. The girl clearly saw the person in front of her simply throw a single punch and the Cracked Copper Head Tiger, which their group of five had been unable to kill even after fighting for so long, was sent flying like a sack.

Its head seemed to be deformed from the blow as well.

Falling to the ground, the tiger only convulsed a few times before no longer moving.

A breeze blew through the trees and the scene fell silent as five pairs of eyes stared straight towards Yang Kai, unable to compose themselves for quite some time, a look of shock covering their faces.

Although this Cracked Copper Head Tiger was only an Eighth-Order Monster Beast, its head was notoriously hard, so even an Origin Returning Realm master shouldn’t be able to deform it with just a punch.

Looking at the sturdy back of this figure, she didn’t know why, but the young girl’s heart beat violently and she couldn’t help drawing in a deep breath.

A pleasant scent wafted from this person, which made her feel extremely comfortable.

Stealing a glance at this person, the young girl quickly realized that the other party didn’t seem very old; in fact, he seemed to be a young man, a discovery which inexplicably made her feel excited.

“Ah, sorry, it seems I’ve ruined your prize,” Yang Kai scratched his cheek, feeling slightly embarrassed.

He also recognized that this Monster Beast was a Cracked Copper Head Tiger. The two most valuable parts of this Monster Beast’s body were its Monster Core and its head, the former was prized by Alchemists while the latter was sought after by Artifact Refiners.

His punch deforming the Monster Beast’s head would clearly decrease its value.

Hearing these words, the old man suddenly came to his senses and his expression turned solemn as he cupped his fists and said, “This old master greets Little Brother. Little Brother is far too modest, if not for little brother’s timely intervention, Fei’er would have died. This old master has only thanks for Little Brother’s assistance.”

“Old Sir is too polite, it was my sudden arrival that disturbed your concentration in the first place,” Yang Kai chuckled, “If we really must assign blame, then it should be me at fault.”

Seeing this young man act so friendly, the old man relaxed greatly; after all, this was the wilderness, and the other party’s strength was clearly very high, so their small group wouldn’t be able to resist if he had any malicious intentions.

Fortunately, the other party didn’t seem to be a wicked person; in fact, he seemed quite compatible and open-minded.

The old man couldn’t help having a good impression of Yang Kai.

“Actually, I simply wanted to ask where this place is,” Yang Kai turned to look at the old man.

“This is Blue Wave Forest,” The old man replied.

“Blue Wave Forest!” Yang Kai frowned; he had never heard of this place so obviously he had no clue where on Shadowed Star he was now.

After leaving Star Emperor Mountain, Yang Kai had been familiarizing himself with his new comprehension in the Dao of Space, but in the process, he had accidentally lost his way…

“Where’s the closest city to this place?” Yang Kai asked again.

“The nearest city to here is Blue Wave City which is fifty thousand kilometres to the west.”

“Is there a Space Array?”

“As far as I know, there is, but the Space Array doesn’t seem to be accessible to outsiders and is for internal use only. If Little Brother wishes to use a Space Array, he might as well start from Blue Wave City and go two hundred thousand kilometres north to Heaven Battling City, where there is a Space Array which is open to the public.”

“Oh? Heaven Battling City?” Yang Kai raised his brow, showing a look of surprise.

He hadn’t expected he would actually be in the vicinity of Heaven Battling City.

“Alright, strictly speaking, Blue Wave City can be regarded as an affiliate of Heaven Battling City and there is some connection between the two,” The old man, as a cultivator from a small local family, naturally knew such basic information very well.