Martial Peak

Chapter 2048, Investigating

Translator: Silavin & Ashish

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

The sabre technique displayed by the red-haired Raging Fire Temple disciple clashed with Kang Si Ran's artifact with a deafening clap, bursting forth with a dazzling flash. Immediately after, extremely terrifying fluctuations spread into the surrounding.

At the same time, Yang Kai and the obese cultivators clashed as well. Yang Kai might have launched a sneak attack but the obese cultivator wasn't any run-of-the-mill cultivator. Since he could participate in this operation and was even left behind by Zong Qing and Lian Yu Ming to guard the entrance, he was naturally an elite of the Raging Fire Temple whose combat skills were definitely higher.

After the obese cultivator took a deep breath and his body become fatter, Yang Kai was almost left with no room to escape when he suddenly breathed the Fire Dragon.

After a dazzling fiery red flash, Yang Kai's figure seemed to have been melted away as he slowly disappeared.

The obese cultivator couldn't help furrowing his brow. He instinctively felt that Yang Kai shouldn't have been killed that easily. But as he looked around, he couldn't find Yang Kai at all. This gave him a bad feeling.

Right then, a peculiar power suddenly appeared behind him. As soon as that power appeared, it enveloped him like a cage. In an instant, he felt that the space around him had suddenly become extremely murky. He felt as if he had fallen into a swamp. Furthermore, not only was this power affecting his mobility but was also affecting the circulation of his energy.

"Domain! How is this possible!?" the obese cultivator cried in shock.

He too was a Third-Order Origin King level cultivator. His own Domain had reached the grand accomplishment stage. Naturally, when he was confronting Yang Kai, he had spread his around his entire body, guarding himself against surprises.

But when the enemy's Domain was cast, he suddenly felt his own Domain completely suppressed!

[How can the enemy's Domain be so strong when he is in the same Third-Order Origin King Realm? Compared with him, my Domain is just simply a joke.]

[Furthermore… in his domain, there seems to be an extremely weird power, a power that can affect space.]

He was greatly shocked. He promptly bit the tip of his tongue and spewed a mouthful of blood essence. At the same time, he let out a crazed cry as he mobilized all the Source Qi in his body, trying to get free of the shackles and suppression of the Domain.

Suddenly, a cracking sound resounded in the narrow space. It was the sound of the obese cultivators' bones grinding against each other. These sounds were particularly harsh.

Behind him, Yang Kai's eyes grew colder seeing this. A long sword suddenly appeared in his hand. As he then poured his Source Qi in it, it let out a clear hum. Yang Kai was surrounded by a sword aura which suddenly turned in a whirlwind as the tip of sword shone, cutting straight toward the obese cultivator's neck.

Suddenly, before the glow from the sword could even reach him, an inexplicable force enveloped the obese cultivator.

The obese cultivator couldn't help but tremble. His squinted small eyes suddenly bulged wide and round as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight. There was a look of incredulity on his face.

With a flash of light, Yang Kai reappeared before the fat cultivator, holding the sword in one hand. As he gently flicked the sword, a drop of blood trickled down the blade.

The obese cultivator was rooted on the spot, staring at Yang Kai in a daze. His throat made a little noise as if he wanted to say something. However, in the end, he could only utter one word, "Principle…"

Just as he said this, the obese cultivator's body quickly deflated like a punctured balloon. At the same time, a bloody-red line appeared on his neck as a fountain of blood spurted out like a fountain before his head flew into the air.

The headless corpse of the obese cultivator fell back with a thump.

"You… you dare to kill my Senior Brother!?" the red-haired cultivator couldn't help but cry in shock at the sight of this.

Compared to the death of his Senior Brother, he couldn't believe the fact that Yang Kai killed him in such a short time. He was pretty clear about how strong his Senior Brother was. He was the elite of the elites of Raging Fire Temple. How could he be beheaded by a guy who was similarly a Third-Order Origin King in one or three moves?

As he shouted, he couldn't help but gasp in shock as a chill ran down his spine.

Yang Kai raised his head and coldly said, "So what if I killed him? It's your turn next!"

"Ah!?" The red-haired cultivator was startled and retreat in horror, again and again.

Yang Kai fiercely shouted, "Brother Kang, don't show any mercy."

Just as he said this, Yang Kai's figure was already shrouded in a sword aura as he cut toward the red-haired cultivator. At the sight of this, Kang Si Ran also grit his teeth and attacked the red-haired cultivator with that artifact at full strength.

The red-haired cultivator might not be any weaker than the obese Senior Brother, but Yang Kai and Kang Si Ran weren't that easy to deal with. And under their joint attacks, the red-haired cultivator was at their mercy. He was powerless to fight back. And because of the terrain, the red-haired cultivator couldn't even escape.

After half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the red-haired cultivator too fell back on the ground, bleeding.

At this moment, Kang Si Ran saw Yang Kai in a new light. He sized him up and down with a gaze full of surprise.

Shopkeeper Kang might have been acquainted with Yang Kai for quite some time but it was the first he teamed up with Yang Kai in a real sense to fight against an enemy. Before today, Kang Si Ran had no idea that Yang Kai was so strong.

"Brother Yang, is the sword in your hand a Dao Source Grade artifact?" Kang Si Ran thoughtfully gazed at the weapon in Yang Kai's hand.

Yang Kai pursed his lips into a smile and said, nodding, "That's right."

This long sword was exactly the one used by Han Leng before. After Han Leng's death, it became Yang Kai's trophy. Although Yang Kai himself hadn't reached the Dao Source Realm, he had absorbed and refined many shattered Principle Fragments in the Fiver Colored Treasure Pagoda. So, he could make slight use of the power of some Principles. And coupled with this long sword and the Space Secret Technique, it was naturally a piece of cake to kill cultivators of the same realm.

"Brother Yang can actually use the Principles. It seems you are not far away from advancing to the next level. This Kang is envious," Kang Si Ran sighed, again and again.

He was much older than Yang Kai. He had reached the Third-Order Origin King Realm far earlier than Yang Kai yet he had not touched the threshold of Principles. He had been stuck before the Dao Source Realm. So, when he compared himself with Yang Kai, he was in admiration, as well as frustration.

"Brother Kang, don't be anxious. As long as you find the Dao Source Pill here, you won't need to worry about it." Yang Kai casually comforted.

Kang Si Ran's eyes immediately lit up. He nodded and agreed, "You are right."

Afterwards, the two picked up the Space Rings of the dead Raging Fire Temple cultivators, each of them taking one, before they continued venturing deeper.

What was Gong Sun Mu's cave mansion like? Yang Kai and Kang Si Ran didn't have time to investigate. After all, the obese cultivator and the red-haired cultivator had stopped them as soon as they came in.

At this moment, they finally got to check it out. There was a narrow corridor in front of them. The walls of the corridor were dotted with some strange rocks that were emitting light. So, the corridor wasn't dim at all.

As the two were investigating carefully, they moved forward slowly. They didn't encounter any danger nor did they run into anyone from the Raging Fire Temple.

They found tracks of Raging Fire Temple cultivators along the way, but they were nowhere to be found. Heaven knows where they had gone.

After about the time it takes an incense to burn, the two suddenly walked into a spacious stone room.

They immediately looked left and right just after stepping inside. But the next moment, Yang Kai couldn't help but look shocked. Because they had run into a dead end. The situation inside the stone room was also quite clear at a glance. Apart from many stone furnaces carved from rocks, there was nothing else here.

There were a lot of stone furnaces, roughly about 30 at least.

What Yang Kai found weirder was that the Raging Fire Temple disciples weren't here either.

"Brother Yang, what's going on?" Kang Si Ran looked astonished.

Yang Kai shook his head as he carefully probed the stone room with his Divine Sense but didn't find any signs of danger. He then said, "We didn't find a fork in the road. The Raging Fire Temple disciples should be here. But they aren't… is there a Transmission Array here!?"

Kang Si Ran found it reasonable as well. He then suggested, "Why don't we look around?"

Yang Kai nodded in agreement and said, "Brother Kang, I will check this stone room, while you check the map to see if you can find a way out."

"Okay," Kang Si Ran replied. He then took out an old beast skin and started studying it, furrowing his brow.

Yang Kai then started carefully investigating every nook and cranny of the stone room.

The stone room wasn't that big. After a while, he returned to the point where he started. He then scanned the stone furnaces, back and forth.

If there was anything suspicious in this stone room, that was these stone furnaces.

However, he had also used his Divine Sense to carefully check them out just now. There was nothing strange about these stone furnaces, and they weren't made from some Artifact Refining material. It was just ordinary stone.

He then turned his head and glanced at Kang Si Ran. Seeing that he was still checking the beast skin parchment and still hadn't found any clues, Yang Kai didn't bother him. He just walked to a stone furnace and touched it.

The moment Yang Kai's hand came in contact with the stone furnace, he heard a strange clicking sound before a hole suddenly appeared where Yang Kai was standing.

His body immediately started sinking. He was on the verge of falling down.

Yang Kai was slightly taken aback, but he didn't panic. He immediately circulated his Source Qi, wanting to rise into the air.

But the next thing that happened gave Yang Kai a shock. Just when he was circulating his energy, a powerful suction came from underneath his feet. Before he could rise up, he was sucked into a black hole on the ground.

The next moment, Yang Kai's expression changed for the worse. He only had the time to let out a cry before his entire figure fell straight down.

And the black hole that had just opened up closed itself right after, plunging him into the darkness.

"Brother Yang!" the nearby Kang Sir Ran was greatly shocked upon hearing the commotion. He hurriedly stood up and rushed toward Yang Kai. But he was too late. When he arrived at Yang Kai's previous position, Yang Kai had long disappeared.

Staring at the place where Yang Kai disappeared, Kang Si Ran's expression changed several times. Finally, he grit his teeth and reached out to touch the stone furnace Yang Kai had just touched.

But nothing happened! The ground didn't crack open as he had expected. Kang Si Ran tried several times before he decided that continuing anymore would be fruitless.

As a last resort, he could only turn to one of the other stone furnaces. He started testing them one by one. Only when he touched the seventh furnace did the ground underneath his feet crack open, causing him to plummet like Yang Kai.