Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & frozenfire

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

A piercing green glow transformed into a spear-like construct and rumbled right towards Yang Kai's chest.

Standing in his original location, Yang Kai stared coldly at the Human Sovereign as a jade green glow abruptly surfaced on the outside of his body, transforming into a powerful barrier.

As the green spear smashed against the barrier, both of them dissipated away.

"How's that possible!?" The Human Sovereign gasped in shock. He naturally knew that Yang Kai could display the Sacred Techniques and borrow the strength of the Sacred Tree; after all, the latter was also a Shaman, and being a Shaman, was naturally able to commune with the Sacred Tree.

However, without even a baptism, why would the Sacred Tree automatically protect him? The reason why the Imperial Princes and Princesses could obtain the Sacred Tree's protection and remain safe even in times of danger was due to them undergoing an exceedingly complicated baptism ritual.

At this instant, the feeling the Sacred Tree gave off was exceedingly strange. On one hand, it did not reject the commands from the Human Sovereign, while on the other it was obstructing his killing move, appearing just like a naughty child that was following its whims, doing whatever it wished.

"It seems you want to kill me," Yang Kai sneered, obviously having expected this to happen.

The Human Sovereign did not reply, though his expression grew a few shades more solemn. Chanting an incantation, the Human Sovereign raised his hand and sent a bolt of lightning at Yang Kai. This bolt of lightning was filled with astonishing might, moving about like an angry flood dragon as it appeared right before Yang Kai in the blink of an eye. Blossoming with dazzling brilliance, it completely engulfed Yang Kai.

The Human Sovereign's face changed once again.

As the light dimmed down, he saw Yang Kai standing right where he originally was without the slightest injury. In fact, there wasn't even any trace of damage to his clothing.

"Why!?" The Human Sovereign roared out in anger, but rather than Yang Kai, he had turned to face the Sacred Tree, appearing just like a stern father scolding a naughty child and letting his anger blow his head off.

Twice! The Sacred Tree had spoiled his plans twice, something that was hard for him to endure.

Yang Kai spoke out with a cold and indifferent voice, "Do you want to know why?"

The Human Sovereign growled back, "What the hell did you do!"

Yang Kai snorted, "Aren't you clear whether I've done anything or not? There's no need to deceive yourself!"

The Human Sovereign roared in reply, "I am the Human Sovereign! How dare you go against me!" No one knew whether he was talking to Yang Kai or the Sacred Tree.

After that loud roar, he proceeded to chant an incantation again.

As he was doing so, the Sacred Tree suddenly shook, before undergoing what seemed like a strange transformation. In the next instant, massive amounts of green energy started to gush out from within the Sacred Tree, flowing right into the body of the Human Sovereign. This caused his aura to surge in power, while his average stature suddenly turned imposing.

"Killing the chicken to get to the eggs! Your impudence is beyond forgiveness!" Yang Kai's anger exploded before he similarly proceeded to chant an incantation. However, compared to the Human Sovereign, his incantation sounded more ancient and profound, containing a mystery that was nigh impossible to understand.

Although he did not know what Shamanic Spell the Human Sovereign was trying to unleash, he was able to sense from the Sacred Tree some things that could not be seen through the naked eye. At this moment, the Human Sovereign was damaging the core of the Sacred Tree, which was tantamount to draining its life force.

From the looks of it, he was willing to make whatever sacrifice was necessary just for the sake of dealing with Yang Kai.

If the foundation of the Sacred Tree was damaged, Human Imperial City might collapse as a result.

The green energy flowing towards the Human Sovereign appeared to meet some kind of obstruction at that moment and its rate of flow began to slow.

The anger the Human Sovereign felt soared to the Heavens upon seeing this, causing him to voice his incantation out more loudly in an attempt to contend with Yang Kai for the Sacred Tree's power.

Yang Kai glared coldly at him, but the tone of his voice remained staunch and steady.

Just like that, the two stood face to face, with neither blade nor sword silhouettes, no scenes of carnage. Instead, they were fighting a battle using an exceedingly special method of combat, with the winner taking everything, and the loser being trampled underfoot.

The critical point that everything was hinged on was their resonance with the Sacred Tree. The deeper the resonance, the greater the strength they could draw from it.

Both Yang Kai and the Human Sovereign understood this point; therefore, they did not take any physical action and focused wholeheartedly on communicating with the Sacred Tree. The Sacred Tree didn't have a clear, independent consciousness, existing only as a remnant clump of Will that strictly adhered to the protection of Shamans. Regardless of who the Shaman was, it would provide its power to whoever requested its strength.

The green glow radiating from the Human Sovereign flickered between bright and weak, with him obtaining an advantage when it was bright, and losing out when it was weak.

All of a sudden, he felt that Yang Kai was an extremely difficult opponent to deal with, one that far surpassed his earlier estimations.

This outsider's resonance with the Sacred Tree was unexpectedly not one bit weaker than his own, despite him having spent thousands of years by the Sacred Tree's side. If not for this fact, he would have finished dealing with Yang Kai a long time ago, and not been drawn into this tug of war.

The Sacred Tree seemed to have an exceedingly intimate connection with this outsider, shunning the Human Sovereign in every way in favour of him, allowing this competition to drag on.

The Human Sovereign suddenly realized that he had made a mistake by allowing Yang Kai to come here and be in such close proximity to the Sacred Tree. If he had just made a move to end things back in the Human Imperial Palace, he might not have had to deal with this much trouble.

[I am the Human Sovereign, ruler of the Human Race!] The Human Sovereign roared angrily in his heart, hoping that his will would be transmitted to the Sacred Tree, yet he did not know that it would have the opposite result to what he had hoped for, as he could clearly sense that the Sacred Tree was actually rejecting him, appearing just like a rebellious child after it was scolded by its father.

This caused his expression to contort.

Although Yang Kai was hard to deal with, the Human Sovereign still had his methods to deal with him; however, if he were to lose the support of the Sacred Tree, he would become just an old, dying Second-Order Emperor, with many others in Human Imperial City far stronger than him.

Not daring to dwell in those messy thoughts, the Human Sovereign knew that he had no choice but to deal with Yang Kai here and now.

While chanting more and more fiercely, he suddenly communicated using his Divine Sense, "Rather than fighting with this Sovereign here, shouldn't you be more worried about your woman? If this Sovereign is not mistaken, she should be on the brink of death now!"

So what if she was from the Dragon Clan? So what if she stood at the apex of all living beings? There was no shortage of Masters in Human Imperial City, so even a Dragon would not be able to gain any advantage here.

Remaining unmoved, Yang Kai replied strongly, "My woman doesn't need my concern. You, on the other hand, should take a look at yourself! Tsk tsk. You, Sir, aren't young anymore. From the looks of it, you won't live much longer no matter what you do, so why not step down now? From what I can see, several of the Imperial Princes are quite good, especially that Third Imperial Prince. His cultivation is outstanding, and he has a firm and resolute mentality, a suitable successor as the next Human Sovereign. The only negative is that he's a bit sinister, though no one's perfect. The Second Princess is also not a bad choice. I don't know if there's any case of an Empress ruling Human Imperial City in the past, but if there is a precedent, you can pass your crown on to the Second Princess. I can see that Princess has big ambitions…"

"Shut up!" The Human Sovereign roared in anger.

Yang Kai chuckled lightly, "So those two don't meet your standards? Looks like you are intending to pass it on to the First Imperial Prince? The First Imperial Prince is addicted to wine and women, and truthfully isn't a good choice for a successor. Human Imperial City won't have a good end if he's in charge. When that happens, brothers will quarrel and internal strife will run rampant, to the point that you will not be able to rest even in your grave. No, no, the First Imperial Prince clearly is a piece of trash that cannot be propped up at all, yet he just happens to have a high eight leaf status. From the looks of it, you are really biased towards the First Imperial Prince. Could it be that the First Imperial Prince's mother is the one you love the most, causing you to love anything that is connected to her?"

The Human Sovereign's expression flinched, and despite it being minute, how could it be hidden from Yang Kai's eyes?

Yang Kai continued to fan the flames, "Looks like I've struck a nerve. Furthermore, from the looks of it, that one true love of yours has already passed away, right? I couldn't tell from our first meeting, but it seems you're a man of great sentimentality. I guess that when you were young, you had spent the prime of your life with that beauty, though the dead cannot be brought back to life, so please restrain your grief, Sir. Memories are also a kind of beauty. Reminiscing of the past from time to time and crying your heart out is also quite a good experience to have."

The Human Sovereign's face twitched violently, as though he had been prodded in a sore spot. Unable to control himself anymore, he started to madly draw upon the power of the Sacred Tree.

Yang Kai snorted coldly, "You lose!"

As his words rang out, the Human Sovereign let out a muffled grunt and retreated a few steps while the faint green glow surrounding his body suddenly dissipated into nothingness.

His resonance with the Sacred Tree had actually been severed, just like that! Even though he wanted to reconnect with the Sacred Tree, there was utterly no response from it! The Sacred Tree was actually not responding to him anymore! He knew that the tumultuous emotions present in his heart were too overwhelming, causing him to react impatiently, which led him to lose everything in this one on one struggle.

"So what if I don't have the protection from the Sacred Tree!? This Sovereign's cultivation is still higher than yours!" Not willing to accept his defeat, the Human Sovereign's aged body abruptly straightened up, while his Second-Order Emperor Realm cultivation erupted in full force. Raising his hand, he palmed towards Yang Kai, creating frenzied winds as the print smashed down with incomparable might.

With a sneer, Yang Kai sent out a single fist covered in Emperor Qi, unleashing a torrent of explosive power.

As the fist and palm collided, the Human Sovereign spurted blood from his mouth as he suffered a severe blow and was thrown back like a kite with torn strings before landing heavily on the ground, not moving even after a long while.

The sound of footsteps sounded lightly as Yang Kai slowly walked over before lowering his head to look down at him.

The Human Sovereign coughed up the blood pooling in his throat and staggered to stand up, growling manically, "I am the Human Sovereign, the king of the Human Race! How can you treat me like this?"

"Do you know why you lost?" Yang Kai replied in an emotionless tone.

The Human Sovereign was stunned by the former's words. He really wanted to know the answer, but his self-esteem prevented him from doing so. Only after a long struggle did he reply stiffly, "Why?"

"Those who follow the Dao help others, those who lose their way help none! You all treat the Sacred Tree as an energy source that can be accessed and used as you pleased, a tool to lord over the masses with, that is your greatest folly."

The Human Sovereign shouted, "The Sacred Tree is exactly that kind of existence!"

Yang Kai snorted coldly, "How stubborn! It's pardonable if you committed a wrongdoing when you knew nothing; however, your death isn't worth pitying after you commit a wrong you know is one. The blessing of the Sacred Tree isn't just for your Imperial Family, and isn't just for Shamans, but for the entire Human Race, yet you all treat it as your personal property! What utter foolishness!"

The Human Sovereign replied, "Nonsense!"

Yang Kai sneered coldly, "I'm talking nonsense? The Spirit Array barrier surrounding the entire Human Imperial City draws its power from the Sacred Tree. It shelters all of Human Imperial City from any outside danger, so how am I talking nonsense? I see that you've become blind from old age."

After resonating with the Sacred Tree, Yang Kai could clearly feel its energy covering the entirety of Human Imperial City. It was precisely due to it that Human Imperial City was able to stand within this Revolving World, unchanged throughout eternity.

The Human Sovereign turned depressed, "What's the point of saying all of this? This Sovereign has already lost. Kill or extort me as you please."

Yang Kai cast a sidelong gaze at him, "When did I say I wanted to kill or exhort you?"

The Human Sovereign gawked in surprise, "Are you willing to let me go?"

"That will depend on your performance."

The Human Sovereign hesitated for a moment, before replying, "I don't know… what orders you have, Esteemed One?"

In this situation, the Human Sovereign was powerless to resist if this man before him wanted to steal his throne away. Ever since the beginning, Human Imperial City had been ruled like that. The one who controlled the Sacred Tree would become the Human Sovereign, and at this moment, the one who controlled it was this outsider.