Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

On the other hand, Feng Ming was not as fortunate. He was imprisoned by the Space Principles and before he could recover from his shock, the Moon Blade sliced through him. A gaping crescent-shaped hole immediately appeared in his chest, and his internal organs could be seen clearly from his wound.

He looked down at the hideous gaping wound in his chest and widened his eyes in shock. He could barely believe what he was seeing. This was the body of a Second-Order Emperor, no different from Yang Kai, but it had been reduced to this state from just from a single attack. Although part of the reason was that he had been caught off guard, the other party's strength was still clearly overwhelming.

If he had really been Feng Ming, this attack would have robbed him of his mobility and left him as good as dead; however, he was a Demon Spirit who possessed a body to live, so even though he received a fatal wound, he did not collapse immediately. Instead, a large amount of Demon Qi emerged from the wound on his chest, wriggling as it tried to patch up the hole.

Meanwhile, Lei Gu gave a loud roar after dodging the Moon Blade. He used all his strength and managed to fully break free from the constraints of the Space Principles and retreated with a look of horror, trying to escape into the darkness. As long as he could avoid Yang Kai's sudden assault, he would be able to conceal himself again. Yang Kai would never find him amidst all this boundless Demon Qi.

How could Yang Kai let Lei Gu do as he wished though? After sending out two Moon Blades, he raised his hand and tossed out a small, pitch-black beast about thirty centimetres long. That small beast looked no different from an ordinary puppy, but a terrifying light that gave off a sense of joy and excitement shone in its eyes the moment it appeared. It was the Abyssal Returner!

After Yang Kai returned from the Frozen Earth, he let Ah Wang roam free in High Heaven Palace. He did not bring it along with him on his trip to Dragon Island as there wasn't much point, but having said that, the enemies he was currently facing were Demons and Demon Spirits. Ah Wang happened to be their nemesis, so how could Yang Kai not bring her along? When he returned to High Heaven Palace previously, he had summoned her and quietly slipped her into the Small Sealed World.

Lei Gu was slightly startled when the Abyssal Returner appeared. He did not understand the reason why Yang Kai had taken out a small, weak beast at this point in time; nevertheless, he couldn't help feeling an innate sense of fear coming from the depths of his heart at this moment, as though he had encountered his natural enemy.

The Myriads Sword shook and transformed into a sword net that enveloped Lei Gu and blocked his escape while Ah Wang rushed to Lei Gu's side in an instant and its mouth split open widely. The small dog's head suddenly became bigger than a house, and inside its maw was an abyss of pure chaos as it moved to swallow Lei Gu.

"Abyssal Returner!" Lei Gu was shocked and paled considerably. He had not recognized the Abyssal Returner just now because things had happened too suddenly, but how could he not realize it when faced with this abnormality? It turned out to be an actual Abyssal Returner!

The Abyssal Returner was a legendary existence in the Demon Realm, and any member of the Demon Race who had lived for long enough would know of its horror. The Abyssal Returner in front of him might not be on the same level as that terrifying existence that threatened to devour the entire world, but it still carried a trace of the Abyssal Returner's bloodline. That trace, however, was enough to make any Demon tremble at the mere mention of it.

That large, pitch-black mouth was emitting an extremely horrifying aura that caused Lei Gu's entire body to go cold with fear just looking at it. Combined with Yang Kai's sword net restraining his movements, he had no means of escape.

When he saw that he was about to be brutally swallowed by the Abyssal Returner, Lei Gu suddenly stretched out his hand. A figure appeared out of nowhere and stopped in front of him. That figure had long, fluttering hair; clothes that whipped about in the wind; an exquisite face accompanied by a cold expression; and eyes that were completely pitch-black.

Gao Xue Ting!

Yang Kai's eyes widened in shock and he frantically dispersed the sword net he erected around Lei Gu. He had guessed that something bad had happened to Gao Xue Ting, and now, it seemed that his guess was right. She and Luo Chen must have been corrupted by Demon Qi and undergone demonization as a result.

Gao Xue Ting stood before Lei Gu motionlessly, with no intention of resisting at all, so how could Yang Kai bring himself to hurt her? When he pulled back, he saw that Ah Wang's mouth was still closing in, seemingly planning to devour both Lei Gu and Gao Xue Ting together!

Yang Kai didn't even stop to consider it as his figure flickered, appearing next to Ah Wang and kicking her away. In response, the Abyssal Returner let out a pitiful whimper as she was sent flying.

Yang Kai's face twitched involuntarily when he turned back to glare at Lei Gu again and curse, "Despicable!"

On the other side, Lei Gu had taken advantage of this gap to press his hand against the top of Gao Xue Ting's head, Demon Qi surging up wildly as he threatened to kill her at any moment.

Lei Gu did not experience the slightest joy of escaping from death though as the muscles on his face were twitching uncontrollably and his gaze fixed on Yang Kai, practically spitting fire from his eyes. He couldn't believe his grand plans had all been foiled by this damn brat!

He had been deceived earlier because Yang Kai's acting had been too real, not even dodging when Feng Ming tried to gouge out his heart! [How was he so sure that Feng Ming was only testing him!?]

At this moment, Lei Gu was more like a beast trapped in a corner, struggling to survive. He had been forced to take Gao Xue Ting hostage to prevent his death. This was not how it was supposed to go. They conspired for so many years and planted so many Demon Seeds. Under normal circumstances, they should have wiped out or corrupted hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters and tens of thousands of elite disciples in the Southern Territory by now, then quietly turned the entire Southern Territory into a Demon Paradise.

Unfortunately, the plan began to fall apart when Yang Kai appeared. As a result, Lei Gu was forced to change his strategy. The worst part was that Yang Kai had managed to summon so many powerful reinforcements within just a single day, causing his plans to lose all hope of success. In the end, Yang Kai even plotted against him and nearly managed to infiltrate their ranks. It was only natural that Lei Gu's mood was as terrible as could be. [He disappeared for more than ten years! Why did he have to show up again at such a critical juncture to ruin my plans?!]

"Release her!" Yang Kai flicked the Myriads Sword and pointed it at Lei Gu.

Lei Gu stared at Yang Kai with an insidious expression.

Yang Kai returned the stare without showing any weakness. Seeing that Lei Gu had no intention of compromising though, he secretly felt troubled. He had previously considered this possibility; however, he could hardly rescue Gao Xue Ting first when he didn't even know where she was.

As he had suspected, Lei Gu had taken her hostage. What frustrated Yang Kai the most, though, was that she was currently being controlled and had no intention of resisting Lei Gu. On the contrary, she was under Lei Gu's complete control.

A soft whimpering sound entered Yang Kai's ears as Ah Wang got up from the side and whined at him, looking extremely aggrieved. When she saw that Yang Kai had no intention of paying any attention to her though, her small round eyes spun around for a bit then landed on Feng Ming.

Feng Ming had been heavily injured but had used his Demon Qi to seal his wound. It didn't seem like his life was in danger, but even so, he couldn't help feeling terrified under Ah Wang's stare as she quietly trotted closer towards him.

Ah Wang crouched low to the ground, her small eyes observing Feng Ming for a moment before she suddenly pounced without any warning.

Feng Ming's expression changed drastically and he moved his feet to dodge aside, but somehow, Ah Wang's mouth was already looming over him from the sky. The stench of blood filled his nose as he screamed, "Save m…!"

The shout was cut off abruptly as only the sound of Ah Wang's audibly gulping could be heard. A bulging lump that was visible to the naked eye travelled down her throat and all the way into her belly. She had swallowed Feng Ming once before when her bloodline had first been stimulated, but unfortunately for her, she had been too weak at the time. Feng Ming managed to escape from her mouth and avoided death by relying on his strong cultivation and assistance from his allies on the outside.

Many years had gone by now though, and Ah Wang had grown significantly since then. Moreover, she devoured a large amount of Demon Qi and many of the Demons back in the Revolving World, all of which had been transformed into her own strength. On the other hand, Feng Ming, who had been possessed by a Demon Spirit and turned into a Demon, was naturally suppressed when facing an awakened Abyssal Returner. Most importantly, Feng Ming had just been severely injured by Yang Kai, so how could he resist? As a result, he was swallowed up in one bite.

A myriad of expressions flashed across Lei Gu's face as he watched the Abyssal Returner warily out of the corner of his eyes, his face twitching slightly.

After devouring Feng Ming, the Abyssal Returner licked her lips with her tongue and turned to stare at Lei Gu eagerly, as if she wanted to swallow him too. She had not eaten anything that was to her palate ever since returning from the Revolving World as it was rare to encounter a Demon, so it was only natural that she wanted to eat her fill today.

She was also annoyed that Yang Kai did not allow her to do so. Nevertheless, she did not dare to act rashly and could only settle for an appetizer. Opening her large mouth again, an extremely strong suction came from within her mouth and the tumultuous Demon Qi in the air began pouring into her mouth, causing the amount of Demon Qi in the surroundings to decrease at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"You can't escape," Yang Kai looked at Lei Gu indifferently. "Surrender and I might be willing to spare your life!"

Lei Gu calmly replied, "Do you take me for a fool?"

Yang Kai coldly snorted, "Your life has no value to me."

Lei Gu said grimly, "That might be the case, but her life is different."

While speaking, he put some strength into his hand gripping the top of Gao Xue Ting's head, causing a pained expression to flash across her face.

Yang Kai gritted his teeth and growled, "What do you want?"

Lei Gu asked, "Why weren't you corrupted?"

This question had been bothering him all this while, and he couldn't help wanting to understand. Yang Kai's various actions up until now clearly indicated that he was being corrupted by the Demon Qi. Even now, his entire body was wrapped in the Demon Qi, so how was he able to maintain his consciousness without succumbing to it?

As long as Lei Gu couldn't figure out the answer to this question, he simply could not be at ease.

"What can this pitiful Demon Qi do to me?" Yang Kai sneered. The Ancient Demon Qi sealed in his dantian was of extremely high density and purity. Comparatively, the Demon Qi in his surroundings was nothing. Even without the Ancient Demon Qi, his Half-Dragon body had a strong immunity to Demon Qi. Saying so, Yang Kai snorted and with a flicker, the Demon Qi invading his body was forced out and he immediately returned to his original state.

"What about the Heart Demon?" Lei Gu's face twitched.

Yang Kai sneered, "What Heart Demon?"

Lei Gu said, "You killed so many people. Moreover, many of them were your friends…"

Yang Kai scoffed, "Did you think you could shake my mind with a paltry illusion?"

"How did you know?" Lei Gu grumbled. The people that Yang Kai killed had truly been nothing but illusions; however, they would seem extremely life-like in this boundless Demon Qi that dulled one's senses. Even if Yang Kai had some doubts, watching his fellow comrades and friends die at his hands should have affected his mind unless he had a heart as cold and hard as steel, or he had some way to distinguish between the truth and the lies.

"Xiao Bai!" Yang Kai showed an enigmatic smile.

"What?" Lei Gu frowned, obviously not understanding Yang Kai's answer.

"If you still don't understand, then stop asking, it only reveals your ignorance." Yang Kai snorted coldly.

In fact, when he first encountered Xiao Bai Yi here, Yang Kai had not been able to distinguish whether what he saw was real or fake either. He had to admit that Lei Gu's trick was amazing. However, Yang Kai knew something was wrong the moment he uttered the name 'Xiao Bai'.

Xiao Bai Yi would never accept being called 'Xiao Bai', no matter the circumstances, and would only have sternly reiterated his full name, as if he would not be able to die happily if he did not.