Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Yang Kai could not compare to Lei Gu based on speed of flight alone as there was still a difference in cultivation of a Minor Realm between them; however, Yang Kai had his Space Techniques and could literally leap across space with them. Despite how Lei Gu desperately tried to put some distance between them, Yang Kai would always catch up in an instant. There was no way he could get away from Yang Kai; thus, he stopped his worthless efforts after trying several times.

Even so, Lei Gu was cautious enough to keep changing directions during his flight, and he even deliberately circled a few times around certain areas to make sure nobody was tracking them from behind.

On the other hand, Yang Kai left Lei Gu to do as he pleased and did not say anything, he simply followed Lei Gu at a distance not too far away.

Unfortunately for Lei Gu, he probably never imagined that Yang Kai had something like his Embodiment. Yang Kai didn't even need to leave behind any clues as the connection between Soul and the Embodiment was the best guide that could ever exist. The Embodiment could sense his presence and vice versa from across vast distances, more than far enough for outsiders to never notice.

Lei Gu finally confirmed that there were no pursuers following behind them after two days. Then, he went all out and flew in a certain direction at full speed. He flew for another two more days before a wide swamp appeared in front of them. It was so vast that one could not see where the swamp ended.

[To think we ended up at the Southern Swamp.] Yang Kai did not know whether Lei Gu came here by accident or on purpose, but the Southern Swamp was where the first Demon Cave had appeared. Since Lei Gu came here, it was clearly not without reason. He either had other helpers hiding here and wanted to borrow their strength to deal with Yang Kai, or he wanted to use the topography here to conceal himself completely and escape. In either case, Yang Kai could not allow Lei Gu to proceed any further into the Southern Swamp; therefore, he moved to block Lei Gu's path before he truly entered.

Lei Gu's figure stopped abruptly, his large hand still pressed against the top of Gao Xue Ting's head as he coldly snorted, "What are you trying to do?"

Yang Kai sighed lightly, "I've allowed you to travel tens of thousands of kilometres already, it's time we put an end to this. I've fulfilled my end of our deal, now it's your turn."

Lei Gu calmly replied, "This is not enough!"

Yang Kai curled his lips, "You have been running for days and confirmed there are no pursuers other than me. Release Senior Sister Gao, and we can go our separate ways!"

Lei Gu scoffed, "I'll be the one to decide when I release her. It's not up to you to decide."

Yang Kai became impatient, "Are you saying I have to keep following you around so long as you refuse to release her? Lei Gu, don't go too far; otherwise, I might just doubt your sincerity. My patience is at its limit, if you refuse, then I can only make my move here and now."

Lei Gu frowned. Turning his head, he looked around and muttered, "Well, we're already here anyways, so I don't think anybody will be chasing after me anymore."

"Good, now return Senior Sister Gao to me." Yang Kai stretched out his hand.

Lei Gu grinned, "I can give her back to you, but can you receive her? I don't know where you get your confidence from, but it's two against one right now. Aren't you afraid this King might work together with your precious Senior Sister Gao to kill you?"

Yang Kai looked undisturbed, "You can go ahead and try!"

Lei Gu threw his head back and laughed at the sky, "Little brat, talent makes a person conceited. En, this King admires you very much. Why don't you join the Demon Race instead? With your talent and ability, you will surely have a bright future. Becoming a Great Emperor won't just be a faraway dream."

Yang Kai wore a look of frustration, "Stop wasting my time. Hurry up and release her! Don't force my hand!"

Lei Gu's smile disappeared as he coldly snorted, "Since you insist… Here! Take her!" Saying so, he reached out and gently pushed Gao Xue Ting on the back. Following that, she flew towards Yang Kai.

Gao Xue Ting arrived in front of Yang Kai in an instant; however, the Demon Qi on the surface of her body suddenly swelled like mad before he could catch her. An incredibly dangerous aura spread out from all over her body and she even spread her arms wide as if she was going to embrace him.

"Shameless!" Yang Kai yelled angrily. He knew Lei Gu would never release Gao Xue Ting so easily. Just as Lei Gu mentioned before, he could control her and use her to fight Yang Kai. Even so, Yang Kai never imagined that Lei Gu would command Gao Xue Ting to self-destruct. If he allowed her to self-destruct, then everything he did until now would have been for nothing. Moreover, it was impossible for him to come out unscathed at such a close distance. The power behind the self-destruction of a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master was absolutely terrifying. Following that, Lei Gu would be able to take the opportunity to kill.

Fortunately, Yang Kai had not come unprepared. At a fleeting moment of anger, Yang Kai's left eye transformed into a golden shaft of light. His Spiritual Energy surged outward like a tidal wave and enveloped Gao Xue Ting completely within it. At the same time, he spread his palms and summoned the Sealed World Bead which he gripped tightly. Controlling the Sealed World Bead, he opened an entrance and a huge vortex appeared in front of his palm.

Gao Xue Ting, whose body was churning with Demon Qi and who had fallen into a state of danger, plunged headfirst into the vortex as though she was swallowed up by an invisible beast and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, Yang Kai sent his consciousness into the Sealed World Bead without pausing and urged the power of the Small Sealed World to suppress Gao Xue Ting, only feeling relieved when he saw the Demon Qi on the surface of her body showing signs of stabilizing.

A huge force struck Yang Kai's chest and abdomen with a loud bang at that moment and he felt an intense pain spreading across his body, causing his consciousness to abruptly return to the outside. Coughing up a mouthful of Golden Blood, Yang Kai's face paled and looked rather weak. Nevertheless, he took advantage of the impact to withdraw a few thousand metres, opening up some distance from his attacker.

A few thousand metres away, Lei Gu looked at Yang Kai in amazement. He was holding a ball hammer in his hands, and his eyes were filled with surprise. Gao Xue Ting had disappeared right under his nose, making him doubt his own eyes.

Using Gao Xue Ting's self-destruction to cause some damage to Yang Kai, then seizing the opportunity to take Yang Kai's life could be said to have been a foolproof plan unless Yang Kai kept his distance from her without regard for her life; however, Lei Gu saw that Yang Kai showed no signs of avoiding her. Instead, Gao Xue Ting abruptly disappeared just before self-destructing, causing Lei Gu's plans to go awry. Be that as it may, he reacted quickly and swiftly continued with the second part of the plan even though an unexpected accident had occurred. Taking advantage of the moment when Yang Kai was distracted, he struck him with his ball hammer.

Needless to say, Lei Gu had not held back with his attack, and it should have been absolutely impossible for a Second-Order Emperor Realm to survive such a blow. Yang Kai would definitely be smashed into pieces. Unfortunately, something even more unexpected occurred. Yang Kai didn't die. The sound of bones breaking rang out loudly, a large indentation appeared in his chest, and his aura weakened considerably. Nevertheless, he survived.

It was at this moment that Lei Gu realized he had underestimated the toughness of Yang Kai's physique. He had once seen Yang Kai in his Half-Dragon Form, so he immediately understood that he had underestimated the heritage of a Half-Dragon's Body. However, now that things had come to this, Lei Gu had no intention of backing down either. [How long can he last with such a heavily wounded body even if he has his Space Techniques? The reason the plan for the Southern Territory failed is all because of him! How can I let him go free? He must be killed, here and now!]

Their gazes met. Lei Gu's eyes were cold and stern, but also burned with murderous intent. On the other hand, Yang Kai's aura was weak and his complexion was pale. Even so, he was smirking. When he grinned though, he accidentally moved in a way that aggravated his wounds; thus, he spewed out another mouthful of Golden Blood.

Lei Gu lifted his ball hammer and pointed at Yang Kai, "Little brat, you ruined this King's plans! For that reason, today will be the day you die!" As soon as the words left his mouth, the ball hammer turned into a stream of light and appeared above Yang Kai's head. Wrapped in a Heaven-destroying and Earth-shattering power, the hammer smashed down, shattering the surrounding space before it even landed.

Yang Kai took a deep breath and lifted his hand, summoning out the Mountains and Rivers Bell to block the ball hammer.

A loud clang rang out, followed by a shock wave visible to the naked eye that spread wildly, seemingly splitting the world into two like an invisible blade. The Mountains and Rivers Bell flashed wildly and was sent flying, but the ball hammer's attack was successfully blocked.

Unfortunately, Yang Kai couldn't withstand this impact in his injured state and his body began to fall, causing him to plunge into the muddy swamp waters. He was a complete mess, but he did not dare to remain in one place for long. Thus, he hurriedly rushed into the sky. Whilst collecting and stowing away the Mountains and Rivers Bell, he turned and fled in the direction he came from.

Even a tiger could be bullied by a dog if it leaves the mountains, and a Dragon may be teased by a shrimp if it finds itself in shallow waters. When the strong become weak, even the weak can take advantage and gain from it. At this moment, Yang Kai's heart was full of grief and anger.

If he had been at his peak, he would not have been afraid of Lei Gu even if the latter was a Third-Order Emperor. If he was lucky, he might even be able to kill Lei Gu; however, he was distracted for a moment when he had to suppress Gao Xue Ting and prevent her from self-destructing. During that moment, he was hit in the chest by Lei Gu's Emperor Artifact. His internal organs had all been shifted, and if not for his Half-Dragon Body being able to withstand the force of that blow, he would have been smashed to pieces already. Still, the injuries he sustained were rather serious. How could it be so easy to take the full-powered blow of an Emperor Artifact wielded by a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master? The flow of Emperor Qi in his body was unstable, and it was inconvenient for him to use his strength at the moment. Even if he used the Mountains and Rivers Bell to block his opponent's attack, it was only dragging out his final moments.

If he did not escape immediately, he would lose his chance to escape as soon as Lei Gu caught up to him. Yang Kai was feeling quite depressed at the moment, [If I had known this would happen earlier, I would have hidden Liu Yan in the Small Sealed World. Lei Gu would be a dead man walking with Liu Yan, that little killer, around. Now, I can only buy time until my reinforcements arrive. That will mark the end of Lei Gu. It's too bad I didn't have the chance to kill him myself, but for now, I can only keep him occupied.]

While flying, Yang Kai suddenly heard a loud noise coming from behind and felt a terrifying pressure descending from the sky. He looked up and had a sudden impulse to curse. Dense hammer shadows were falling down from above. It was clear that Lei Gu was truly incensed and had no plans of letting Yang Kai leave this place alive.

Yang Kai took a deep breath, enduring the pain all over his body and pushed his Space Principles. As the hammer shadows rained down from the sky, they smashed huge holes in the ground one after another. Simultaneously, Yang Kai was smashed to pieces. However, Lei Gu suddenly turned his gaze to the side and looked in a different direction.

Not too far away, Yang Kai's figure appeared out of nowhere. It was obvious he had used his teleportation Divine Ability to avoid receiving that fatal attack.

Lei Gu was so furious that he roared. He had long heard that those who were proficient in the Dao of Space were unparalleled when it came to escaping. At this moment, he realized that this reputation was well deserved. At the same time, he also inferred from the distance of the teleportation that Yang Kai was an arrow at the end of its flight. Yang Kai was incapable of using similar means of escape for more than a few more times; therefore, he immediately soared into the sky and chased Yang Kai like maggots on rotting bones, refusing to let Yang Kai escape. He Roared, "Little brat, where are you trying to run!?"

Rather than becoming angry, Yang Kai was happy when he heard those words. He had been a little worried that Lei Gu would not come after him. If that had happened instead, he would have needed to turn back to keep Lei Gu's attention on him. That would have been far too dangerous in his current state since he could not fight with his full strength.