Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Following a loud bang, the Demon exploded. Although there were no bones nor body left after the explosion, flesh and blood did not splatter all over the place. More importantly though, a cloud of pitch-black Demon Qi was released and wrapped around Yang Kai with a whooshing sound.

*Hong hong hong…*

Explosion after explosion rang out as the Demons self-destructed, one after another. Yang Kai's heart sank upon hearing those explosions.

Clouds of Demon Qi that were as dense as blood appeared following the self-destruction. Across the sky above Orthodoxy Temple, the cultivators who were clashing against the Demons were instantly engulfed. It was as if a field of black mushrooms had suddenly sprouted, covering a vast area in the blink of an eye and forming an enormous black cloud that spread over more than a dozen kilometre radius.

The dozen or so Emperor Realm Masters following closely behind Yang Kai were caught off guard and, as a result, they were caught in the black cloud. Even Yang Kai was not spared.

The expressions of those people, who had been talking and laughing just now, changed drastically in an instant. The seemingly flimsy Demon Qi that they had been looking down on suddenly became thousands of times denser than before and its corruptive power increased accordingly.

Sizzling sounds could be heard everywhere. It was the sound of the Demon Qi eroding the protective layer of Emperor Qi surrounding their bodies. Despite the strength of the Emperor Realm Masters here, they could all feel their Emperor Qi was beginning to crumble under the erosion. Holes began appearing in their defences in a very short span of time, causing many to cry out in panic.

There was no need for anybody to say anything. The dozen or so people moved without any hesitation, desperately escaping outward. When they emerged from within the black cloud and looked back, their expressions were filled with lingering fear. They never expected the Demons to self-destruct, nor for their self-destruction to be so terrifying.

Meanwhile, Yang Kai's expression was incredibly sombre. There had been thousands of Demons rushing at them just now; however, he and the others couldn't have knocked out more than three hundred or four hundred in total. That meant that at least five to six hundred people had self-destructed in that moment just now. In other words, the Southern Territory had lost as many as six hundred elite disciples just in their direction. Similar situations no doubt must have occurred in all the other directions. The Southern Territory's losses could only be described as heavy!

"Brother Chen, you…" A horrified voice sounded suddenly.

Yang Kai turned to look in that direction, and his eyes narrowed at the sight. A middle-aged man was standing there with a look of helplessness. The protective layer of Emperor Qi surrounding his body had collapsed, and his body was wrapped in traces of pitch-black Demon Qi. The Demon Qi was like a pack of snakes, entering his body through his pores and his seven orifices. It changed his aura in a very short period of time, and his eyes were showing signs of being covered in the black Qi.

Yang Kai had no idea who this person was; nevertheless, this man was one of the reinforcements that he recruited from the Northern Territory.

When the others standing next to this man noticed his situation, they looked extremely shocked and hurriedly put some distance between themselves, all staring at him vigilantly, for fear that he might start violently attacking them.

This man seemed a little dazed himself and lifted his hands out in front of him, staring at them blankly. Then, he lifted his head to look at Yang Kai and begged, "Palace Master Yang, save me!"

If he was completely taken over by the Demon Qi and lost his reasoning, then he would be no different from the Demons that had self-destructed just now. In that situation, his life and death would be out of his control. He wouldn't even know if he suddenly self-destructed.

The moment those words left that man's mouth, Yang Kai had already appeared in front of him. The aura around Yang Kai suddenly underwent a huge change and a strange chant left his lips. A moment later, a ray of light burst from Yang Kai's hand and enveloped this man.

*Chi chi chi…*

It was as though the traces of black Qi had met their nemesis. When the light wrapped around that man, the black Qi flowed out of his pores and dissipated into nothingness. His chaotic consciousness also stabilized. He had the sense that he had just escaped the clutches of death; thus, he gratefully said, "Many thanks, Palace Master Yang."

Although he did not know what strange method Yang Kai had used just now, he could clearly sense that the Demon Qi invading his body had been driven out.

"All of you, be more careful." Yang Kai swept a cold gaze over these people. [He is an Emperor Realm Master, yet he nearly succumbed to the demonification just like that. What a fool.]

Yang Kai knew that it was not actually that difficult to guard against this kind of loose Demon Qi, this situation was the result of these people never having encountered Demons before. While the sudden self-destruct had played some role, it was mainly facing seemingly weaker opponents just now that had made these Masters lower their guard. Under normal circumstances, they would only need to maintain a strong protective layer of Emperor Qi around themselves at all times and such a situation would not have happened.

If this wasn't the case, how could Yang Kai have survived for so long under that monstrously powerful Demon Qi outside Maplewood City during the Demon Eye incident when he had only been a First-Order Dao Source Realm at the time? The Demon Qi might be very corrosive, but it was nothing as long as they protected themselves well and did not give the Demon Qi any opportunities to invade.

"Shamanic Spell!" A lurking black shadow hiding in the canopy of a large tree some distance away couldn't help narrowing its eyes at this sight. The people around Yang Kai might not know what method he used to get rid of the Demon Qi, but this person was very familiar with it. That was a Shamanic Spell! Back in ancient times, the Demon Race had suffered great losses because of those Shamans. It was precisely because this figure was very familiar with that history that it was so shocked.

[Why are there people who know how to use Shamanic Spells in this era!? Moreover, he seems extremely proficient in Shamanic Spells from the way he cast that one just now. If not, he could not have casted the Demon Exorcism Technique so easily. But, how can this be!? People are the product of their time! Each era has its own distinctive Principles, and with the current Principles of this world, how can anybody successfully cultivate Shamanic Spells?]

Before this shadowy figure could finish that train of thought though, its vision blurred for a moment and a figure appeared out of nowhere and stood in front of it. It was so shocked that it immediately backed away without even thinking about it.

"Solidify!" A cold voice sounded in its ears, making it feel as though it had fallen into an ice chamber. It looked up and saw that Yang Kai, who had been several kilometres away just now, was standing directly in front of it. It didn't even know when Yang Kai approached it. Following the word that Yang Kai uttered, the surrounding space became viscous and turned into an invisible cage that trapped it inside.

The figure struggled desperately, using all the strength it had to try to break free of these shackles. However, it felt as though it was trapped in a mire and the more it struggled, the more entangled it became.

"A Demon Spirit!" Yang Kai stared at the man's pitch-black eyes and coldly snorted.

This person was obviously different from the Demons who had rushed at them just now. Although those Demons infected by Demon Qi had also been demonified, they lost their rationality and thinking abilities. In contrast, the man in front of Yang Kai was able to act autonomously. He had undoubtedly been possessed by a Demon Spirit, just like Lei Gu, and judging by the way he was dressed; he was probably one of the Elders of Orthodoxy Temple, signifying he was an Emperor Realm Master.

"Damn you!" He shouted through gritted teeth and his body abruptly began to swell. He was going to self-destruct without any warning! It was clear that he knew he was no match for Yang Kai, so he chose this path rather than being captured alive.

"You think you could self-destruct in front of me? Look into my eyes!" Yang Kai roared as his right eye suddenly turned into a golden shaft of light that pulsed with intense Spiritual Energy.

The Demon Spirit who was about to self-destruct suddenly froze. At the same time, his swollen body involuntarily shrank back to normal and before he could react, Yang Kai grabbed him by the neck and shoved him into the Small Sealed World to be suppressed in a certain corner of the world. Yang Kai did not kill because he still had many unanswered questions. He might be able to obtain some useful information if he left somebody alive to be questioned later. In addition, he wanted to see if he could rescue this person from a Demon Spirit's possession just like how he saved those people who had been corrupted by Demon Qi.

Achieving his aim in one move, Yang Kai turned and looked back with a frown. The enormous black cloud in the sky was swirling non-stop. A moment later, hundreds of whirlpools materialized in the black cloud. The dense black Qi poured into those whirlpools and quickly disappeared.

Very quickly, the black cloud vanished without a trace and hundreds of figures with powerful Demon Qi reappeared. It was clear that they were part of those thousand or so Demons from before.

Among the Demons, five hundred to six hundred had self-destructed while three to four hundred had been knocked out by Yang Kai and the others while the remaining hundred or so had hidden inside the black cloud. It wasn't until now that they revealed themselves. After devouring the Demon Qi formed from their companions who had self-destructed, each of these surviving Demons had grown far stronger than before. The aura they were emitting currently was not inferior to that of an Emperor Realm Master.

"What is this!?" An Elder of Full Sky Sect stared so hard that his eyeballs trembled in their sockets. His expression was filled with shock and horror. It wasn't until this moment that he realized how ridiculous he had been to underestimate his enemies just now. The Emperor Realm Masters had looked down on the horde of around a thousand Demons earlier, but who could have imagined that those Demons could converge into a force that could rival them in strength? Fortunately, they soon realized that something was strange. Those hundred or so Demons might have grown exponentially in strength, but they simply stood there motionlessly like wooden pillars in the sky.

"Quickly knock them out!" Yang Kai shouted as he had a vague insight into the situation. It seemed that these Demons infected by Demon Qi did not have any ability to act independently. In that case, the reason they attacked just now was that they were being controlled by somebody, and the most likely candidate was the Elder of Orthodoxy Temple who had been possessed by a Demon Spirit. Since Yang Kai had captured the person controlling them though, those hundred or so Demons immediately became something akin to wooden puppets with cut strings.

When the dozen or so Emperor Realm Masters heard Yang Kai's shout, they cautiously rushed towards the demonified people. Upon launching their attacks, they soon realized that these Demons showed no signs of resistance and were quite simple to take out.

Observing the situation, Yang Kai became more and more affirmed in his conjecture. The Demons that had been infected by Demon Qi had no sentience. It was just that he had no idea if this would always be the case or if it was because they had not been demonified for long enough.

Whatever the case may be, Yang Kai had no time to think about it right now. He flew straight up into the air and looked around. Orthodoxy Temple had been divided into more than twenty battlefields, and every one of them was caught up in a fierce battle.

The situation on his side was noticeably better as he had rescued that Emperor Realm Master of the Northern Territory from being corrupted by Demon Qi and prevented the Demon Transformation from taking place. Moreover, he had successfully captured the Elder of Orthodoxy Temple and caused the Demons here to lose their ability to move.

Unfortunately, the other battlefields were not doing as well. Yang Kai could clearly see that several Emperor Realm Masters from the Northern Territory had become demonified and turned their weapons on their companions. Those Emperor Realm Masters were currently fighting against their former friends and companions. Their companions were terrified but could only do their best to resist and deal with the situation. They couldn't very well kill their former companions, so they were greatly restrained in terms of strength and tactics.

At the same time, the Demons that had been boosted in strength after devouring a large amount of Demon Qi suddenly rushed in fiercely without fear of death and fought brutally against the reinforcements in both the Northern and Eastern Territories.

Yang Kai's gaze flashed as he looked down at a certain area and pushed his Divine Sense to send a transmission to the Stone Spirit Elder. Elder and the eight Stone Spirits had been pushing their way forward, leaving a bunch of defeated Demons in a terrible state in their wake. With their special constitution, they were completely unafraid of the Demon Qi. Since they had no need to worry about the dangers of demonification, and possessed incredible strength along with near invulnerability, ordinary Emperor Realm Masters were nothing in their eyes, much less mindless Demons. If not for the fact that they were afraid of using too much strength and did not dare to attack randomly, they would have killed the Demons and obtained a crushing victory by now.