Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

As Shadow Moon Hall’s Great Elder, Qian Tong had a resounding reputation within Shadow Moon Hall for many years, and with the old Hall Master in retreat all year round, striving to comprehend the mysteries of the Origin King Realm, Qian Tong was all but in charge of Shadow Moon Hall.

Coupled with Qian Tong’s extremely high cultivation, Xie Chen had always been afraid of him.

Now that Qian Tong appeared before him suddenly, Xie Chen instinctively took a few steps back while looking a little panicked.

But soon, he stopped in place and his expression turned fierce.

Indeed, he would not have been Qian Tong’s opponent ten years ago; after all, his cultivation was a Minor Realm lower, but now…

As the deep-seated fear of Qian Tong in his heart abated, it was replaced with an eagerness to compete.

“Oh, we’re home?” Qian Tong walked out of the vortex, saw Heavenly Fate City nearby, and couldn’t help letting out a laugh, “We’re really home! This old master was getting quite bored staying in that isolated place.”

Although the Sealed World Bead was peaceful and rich in aura, it seemed to lack a certain something which made Qian Tong feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Now returning to his homeland and even arriving at Heavenly Fate City again, Qian Tong was naturally in a good mood.

“Good good good, Chang’er, Xuan’er, I haven’t seen you for many years but it seems your cultivations have not stopped improving. En, you will both likely break through to the Second-Order Origin Returning Rea… hm? Why are you injured?” Qian Tong’s face suddenly sank, and cold anger began filling it, “Who hurt you?”

He was not clear about the current situation.

Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er looked at Qian Tong in a daze, unable to return to their senses for a long time, but after a prolonged silence, the two of them dropped to their knees.

“Elder Qian, Disciple has failed in the task you entrusted him with. To protect Shadow Moon Hall, please deliver punishment, Elder Qian!” Wei Gu Chang pressed his forehead to the ground and shouted.

“Master, please also punish me!” Dong Xuan’er also kowtowed as she sobbed softly.

Even in the face of enemies several times more powerful than themselves, even in the face of death, the Senior Brother and Junior Sister had not shown the slightest weakness, but now that Qian Tong had appeared, the firm will supporting this pair finally collapsed like they were aggrieved children who had finally seen their parents again.

Qian Tong quickly realized that something was very wrong and swept his eyes around coldly, eventually focusing on Xie Chen and vaguely guessing something, but not immediately pursuing it. Reaching out, Qian Tong waved his hand and lifted Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er up, quickly saying, “Get up first and explain, what has happened to Shadow Moon Hall?”

Qian Tong’s face was calm, but like before an approaching storm, there was a heaviness to the atmosphere around him.

“Shadow Moon Hall… has fallen,” Wei Gu Chang replied sadly.

“Fallen?” Qian Tong’s face sank, “Who did it? Speak carefully.”

“Understood!” Wei Gu Chang nodded respectfully before explaining everything which had happened to Shadow Moon Hall.

Two years ago, Shadowed Star experienced a great upheaval. A new and powerful great force suddenly surfaced and rapidly began suppressing various Sects and families on Shadowed Star. Any who failed to submit were ruthlessly slaughtered. Shadowed Star experienced a reign of terror, with countless cities turning into ruins overnight and hundreds of millions perishing, leaving behind mountains of corpses and rivers of blood.

Soon, the claws of this mysterious great force stretched out towards Shadow Moon Hall. In the face of this seemingly unstoppable foe, the leaders of Shadow Moon Hall were at a loss about how to respond.

Shadow Moon Hall was originally divided into two factions, a truth which dated back to before Qian Tong had left Shadowed Star, and in the face of this crisis, this division only became more serious.

In the end, the faction led by Xie Chen won out.

Xie Chen and his supporters launched a sneak attack on the old Hall Master as well as some of the Sect’s core Elders, causing the Shadow Moon Hall to suffer heavy casualties and collapse.

Overnight, ownership of Shadow Moon Hall changed, with Xie Chen becoming the new Hall Master and surrendering to the new mysterious great force.

The senior cultivators who used to support and stand on Qian Tong’s side were almost all killed ruthlessly, while Fei Zhi Tu, who oversaw Heavenly Fate City, was also imprisoned.

Only a few elites from Shadow Moon Hall managed to escape. Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er were summoned by the old Hall Master, who realized what was about to occur just before it did, and entrusted them with the Heavenly Moon Silver Mirror before ordering them to escape from Shadow Moon Hall.

For the past two years, the two of them had hidden, running around while living under extremely difficult circumstances.

The reason why they had appeared so close to Heavenly Fate City today was to try to rescue Fei Zhi Tu.

Xie Chen had announced that Fei Zhi Tu, who had refused to submit to him, was to be beheaded in Heavenly Fate City today to serve as a warning, forcing Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er out of hiding.

Even if they knew it was a trap, the two had jumped into it without hesitation.

“Old Hall Master is dead? Old Fei was imprisoned?” Qian Tong’s face was covered in haze like a black cloud, and it was clear to anyone that his anger was soaring.

“What about High Heaven Sect?” Yang Kai asked in a deep voice, “With Shadow Moon Hall suffering such a disaster, did High Heaven Sect not send help?”

If High Heaven Sect had really stood by and done nothing, Yang Kai would be greatly disappointed.

When Yang Kai was in trouble, Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu had always offered their help. The reason why Fei Zhi Tu’s cultivation had fallen was also related to Yang Kai.

However, thinking about it carefully, with Ye Xi Yun in command of High Heaven Sect, it was impossible that she had not acted.

“High Heaven Sect sent aid. Many of the disciples who escaped from Shadow Moon Hall were sheltered by High Heaven Sect. Moreover, Great Elder Ye deployed several Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters to assist, but…”

“But what?”

“They were ultimately outmatched and they had no choice but to withdraw after a few died,” Wei Gu Chang reported sadly.

“What?” Yang Kai was thoroughly shocked.

Even Qian Tong wore a look of disbelief.

The Origin Realm masters dispatched by High Heaven Sect must have been masters from Star Emperor Mountain, so how could they be outmatched to the point where some of them even died?

Shadow Moon Hall couldn’t possess such powerful strength!

“The masters of the Corpse Spirit Religion are as numerous as clouds. It is even rumoured that they have four Origin Kings leading them. The masters from High Heaven Sect who died were killed by one of those Origin Kings,” Wei Gu Chang explained.

Corpse Spirit Religion was the title of the newly emerged great force.

“Impossible!” Qian Tong denied vehemently.

Yang Kai was also astonished.

An Origin King Realm master had risen on Shadowed Star? And four of them at once?

How was that possible?

There was a mysterious suppression from the World Principles on Shadowed Star which prevented an Origin King from rising for the past ten thousand years. If that wasn’t the case, Qian Tong and the others would not have so eagerly followed Yang Kai on his long-distance voyage.

But now, Wei Gu Chang was telling them that four Origin Kings had appeared on Shadowed Star; naturally, they found this fact difficult to accept.

“Disciple has only heard rumours, so he cannot say for sure whether they are true or not,” Wei Gu Chang added before suddenly thinking of something and saying. “Right, Great Elder Ye should know the truth.”

“Why do you say so?” Yang Kai brow rose.

“It was said that Great Elder Ye encountered two of those four Origin Kings and was seriously wounded, forcing her to return to High Heaven Sect to recover.”

Ye Xi Yun was seriously injured!

This was extremely bad news.

But Yang Kai and Qian Tong also exchanged a glance as this piece of news gave them some important information.

The rumours about there being four Origin Kings were likely false. If they were true, it would have been impossible for Ye Xi Yun to retreat when facing two of them. As long as one Origin King took action, they should have easily been able to kill Ye Xi Yun.

However, Ye Xi Yun was only seriously injured and managed to flee.

Unfortunately, this still meant the strength of the enemy could not be underestimated. Ye Xi Yun’s cultivation had reached the absolute limit of the Origin Returning Realm, and if not for her unwillingness to leave Shadowed Star, it was likely she would already be an Origin King. The enemy only needing two masters to seriously wound Ye Xi Yun indicated that they were at least on par with her, possibly even stronger.

The expressions of Yang Kai and Qian Tong were constantly changing as they quietly digested the information Wei Gu Chang gave them.

Unexpectedly, Shadowed Star had experienced a great change over the past seven or eight years. What exactly was this Corpse Spirit Religion? Why had they waited until now to reveal themselves?

“Brother Yang doesn’t have to worry about High Heaven Sect. Today’s High Heaven Sect can be regarded as the last piece of pure land on Shadowed Star. Although the periphery is heavily surrounded, no one can attack it,” Wei Gu Chang saw Yang Kai’s ugly expression and quickly comforted.

“I understand that,” Yang Kai nodded.

Yang Kai was not worried about the safety of High Heaven Sect. Outside High Heaven Sect were the Three Blazing Flame Rings, an Emperor Artifact that even an Origin King would be helpless before.

“Many people who didn’t want to submit escaped to High Heaven Sect, but…” Wei Gu Chang sighed.

He and Dong Xuan’er also wanted to enter High Heaven Sect at the beginning, but there were too many enemies between them so there was no chance to seek refuge there and they were instead forced to live in hiding outside.

“Are you finished with your little chat?” Suddenly, a cold voice called out from the side.

Xie Chen!

He had been watching indifferently the entire time, neither attacking nor preventing Wei Gu Chang from revealing anything, only now deciding to speak up.

Qian Tong turned his head and looked at him, his gaze as cold as a knife.

Xie Chen’s heart jumped, being stared at like this, but he quickly regained his calm and sneered, “Great Elder Qian, it’s been too long!”

“Xie Chen!” Qian Tong took a deep breath, “It seems this old master was indeed too kind back then. I thought that since we all belonged to Shadow Moon Hall, if I killed all of you, it would only result in damaging Shadow Moon Hall, which was why this old master let you go when the Xie Family rebelled in the past. Who would have ever thought that showing compassion in the past would result in such a tragedy today? Even if this Qian were hacked to death by a thousand blades, it would be impossible for him to atone!”

“Hahaha!” Xie Chen laughed madly, “Qian Tong, death has come for you, yet you still bother speaking such nonsense! What do you think you are? True, this old master feared you and you could kill me in the past, but since you failed to do so back then, you will no longer have such a chance! This old master has now reached the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm as well and is the Hall Master of Shadow Moon Hall. You are no longer my opponent! Qian Tong, out of consideration for your past contributions to Shadow Moon Hall, this Hall Master can give you a chance to survive. As long as you pledge allegiance to the Corpse Spirit Religion, this Hall Master will restore you to your position as Great Elder!”

Qian Tong simply stared at Xie Chen indifferently, as if he was looking at a pitiful ant, a thick meaning of sarcasm and contempt flashing across his eyes.

Yang Kai was also quite amused by Xie Chen’s pompous rhetoric.

Xie Chen only broke through to the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm a few years ago, yet he dared to challenge the current Qian Tong today. It seemed he really did not know how to spell the word ‘death’.