Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

"There is no need to panic. When the Source Sealed World closes, you will all be transported back safely. As for me, I might need to stay here for a while. I will be leaving everything in the outside world to you." Yang Kai cupped his fists.

Everybody else returned the gesture and Yang Yan said, "Just focus on refining the Heavenly Source Fruit. Don't worry about what's going on outside."

Yang Kai nodded. There was no point in him worrying about what was happening outside. The World had given them a chance of survival, and now that he had gotten hold of it, what he needed to do was to refine the Heavenly Source Fruit with all his strength so as not to let the entire World down.

"This person is Senior Tian Yan. He is one of us. Temple Master Wen of Azure Sun Temple knows his origins." He then pointed at Tian Yan.

Yang Yan turned and smiled at Tian Yan.

Although Tian Yan previously played the role of Demon Heavenly Dao's Fire Lord, his actions at the last moment had proven his stance. Under those circumstances, he could have rushed into the Illusionary Heavens Furnace himself to grab the Heavenly Source Fruit; however, he did not do that and instead launched a sneak attack on Jia Long and the rest of the Demon Race Half-Saints to open a path for Yang Kai, giving the Star Boundary a final shot at victory.

That was why the Pseudo-Great Emperors from the Star Boundary were not being hostile to him. In fact, they were not even very vigilant towards him.

"Senior, I will not forget what you have done for me here today. Please allow me to thank you properly once I come out of retreat." Yang Kai faced Tian Yan and cupped his fists once more as a sign of respect.

Tian Yan simply smiled, "There's no need for that. The Divine Fruit might be amazing, but it is of very little use to me. Being able to give you this opportunity is proof that it was not a waste of time for this Old Master to live incognito for so many years."

Yang Kai was taken aback for a moment, but he quickly realised that Tian Yan had a Great Emperor's heritage in the first place. Other people might covet the Heavenly Source Fruit, but it might truly be of little use to Tian Yan.

He was about to say something when he suddenly furrowed his brow together, "It's time. Goodbye and stay safe. I hope we can share a drink together in the future!"

When the words left his lips, a rumbling noise filled the entire hall. Following that, everybody felt a force of rejection pressing in from all directions. That repulsive force was something none of them could resist and they all vanished at the same time within a short three-breath span.

Afterward, Yang Kai looked at the empty hall and felt his drowsiness growing stronger. Thus, he dropped into a cross-legged sitting position, closed his eyes, and completely immersed himself in his mind.

…..

High above the skies of the Star Boundary was a simple yet majestic palace. Regardless of who it was, all the living creatures in the Star Boundary only needed to raise their heads and look at the sky to see the distinct outline of that palace.

A month had gone by since the start of the Grand Dao battle. During this month, the situation in the Star Boundary had become more and more precarious.

The Demon Race had activated a Heaven Shaking Grand Array, which caused the Demon Lands to expand and spread out into the surroundings with the 108 Demon Strongholds acting as nodes. A large part of the Star Boundary's land was lost as a consequence, devoured by the Demon Essence with every passing moment. Worse yet, this speed only became faster and faster with the passing of time.

The space in which the Human Race could move about freely within the Star Boundary was continuously being reduced. The armies had retreated over and over again, until there was no place left for them to retreat. There was no pure land left in the entire Western Territory; it had completely been devoured. Likewise, the situations in the Eastern, Southern, and Northern Territories were not much better. At this moment, there was less than one tenth of the original land that could be used by the Human Race. The Star Boundary would collapse completely in another 10 days to half a month. At that time, the Star Boundary would no longer exist. There would be nothing else they could do to turn the situation around and the entire Human Race would eventually be reduced to become Demons.

The two Great Elders of the Dragon Clan had attempted to counterattack on numerous occasions, but the effects were negligible. Even if Zhu Yan and Fu Zhun had become much stronger and could now suppress the three Demon Saints if they joined hands, they were unable to stop the expansion of the Demon Lands.

The grey hairs on Li Wu Yi's head had increased significantly. As the Supreme Commander of the Star Boundary army, he was under more pressure than anybody else in the world. Before the Grand Dao battle, he had asked the Pseudo-Great Emperors who were participating in the Grand Dao battle to leave their respective Life Lamps with him. The Life Lamps would remain lit as long as they were alive. On the other hand, if any of them lost their lives, then their respective Life Lamps would be extinguished.

Over the past couple of days, he watched helplessly as, one by one, the 30 Life Lamps in his possession gradually went out and fell silent. It was difficult to imagine how heartbroken, worried, and anxious he felt. At the moment, only 11 Life Lamps in his possession remained lit. In order words, out of all the people who entered the Profound Heavens Temple, only 11 remained alive! He had heard that the Grand Dao battle was extremely cruel and that over the generations, only one third of the people who entered the Profound Heavens Temple would return alive. It would seem now that that statement was true.

The only thing that he rejoiced over was that Yang Kai's Life Lamp remained lit, as did the Life Lamps of Yang Yan and Bing Yun… As long as the three of them were still alive, a small ray of hope would remain.

Spirit Beast Island in the Eastern Territory used to be the home of Martial Beast Great Emperor, but at this moment, it was occupied by numerous Star Boundary armies and the entire island was crowded with Human soldiers.

All the Army Commanders were gathered together in the main hall. Li Wu Yi sat at the head, sweeping his gaze over the people before him and saw that everybody looked extremely solemn. The atmosphere around them was incredibly gloomy.

They were gathered here today to discuss matters regarding their evacuation. The Western Territory had completely fallen. The Eastern Territory, the Southern Territory, and the Northern Territory would soon suffer the same fate. It was only a matter of time. Even so, the Star Boundary had to make a final effort to survive.

Li Wu Yi was silent for some time before finally speaking up, "We won't be able to remain in the Eastern Territory for long. According to the reports from various areas, it won't take more than 10 days before the Eastern Territory follows in the footsteps of the Western Territory. Even Spirit Beast Island will not be spared from that fate. How is the situation in the Southern Territory?"

While speaking, he turned to look at Wen Zi Shan.

Wen Zi Shan stood up, cupped his fists, and responded solemnly, "The situation there is worse than in the Eastern Territory. The time remaining is even shorter. It can only last for another 5 days, at most."

Upon hearing this, Li Wu Yi frowned and glanced at another person, "What about the Northern Territory?"

Pan Geng Nian, the Army Commander of the Nineteenth Army, stood up, "The Northern Territory is in slightly better condition, but it won't last very long either. But…"

"But what?" Li Wu Yi raised an eyebrow.

"Most parts of the Northern Territory are essentially lost, only the area around High Heaven Palace is still in fairly good condition. The expansion of the Demon Land dropped sharply and became very slow when it came within a thousand kilometres of High Heaven Palace. Based on this Old Master's estimation, High Heaven Palace can hold out for at least a month or so!"

"High Heaven Palace!" Li Wu Yi seemed pensive, "The World's last sanctuary…"

There was no reason why High Heaven Palace would be any different from other places, so the only reasonable explanation was that it had something to do with Yang Kai. High Heaven Palace was established by Yang Kai himself and the large Sect was the result of his painstaking efforts. More importantly, Yang Kai retained part of the World's Will in him; hence, it made sense to say that High Heaven Palace was where the World was concentrating the last of its strength.

"In that case, is our only option to evacuate to High Heaven Palace?" Ma Qing stroked his goatee.

"That's just drinking poison to quench one's thirst. What can we do in a month's time? Are we supposed to wait in High Heaven Palace until our deaths come!?" The person who spoke lifted his head to look at Li Wu Yi and asked, "Supreme Commander, how is the situation at Dragon Island? If we evacuate to Dragon Island…"

Dragon Island was a Sealed World; moreover, its lands were vast enough to accommodate a lot of people. Based on the current situation of the Star Boundary army, there was more than enough space even if all of them evacuated to Dragon Island. As for all the other Humans in the world that were not part of the Star Boundary army... They would have to fend for themselves.

Li Wu Yi shook his head slowly, "The expansion of the Demon Lands is caused by the erosion of the Demon Realm's Demon Essence. Dragon Island might be a Sealed World, but it is still attached to the Star Boundary. If the Great World succumbs to the corrosion, the Sealed World will not escape unscathed either. Hiding in Dragon Island is not a wise decision, it will only make things easier for the Demon Race to catch us all in one place. We will only be stuck in an even more passive situation than before."

Li Wu Yi pondered for a moment before steeling his resolve and shouted, "Inform the entire army. In three days, we will evacuate to High Heaven Palace in the Northern Territory. I command…"

All of a sudden, the entire world rumbled and shook, cutting off his speech mid-sentence as a result.

Immediately afterward, a mysterious aura surged and swept across every corner of the Star Boundary. All the Masters who could sense this aura looked pensive for a moment, almost as if they gained something from the aura.

Li Wu Yi was stunned as well before soon realising something. His figure flashed as he hurriedly rushed out of the hall. The others hastily followed after him. When they arrived outside the hall, they saw that Li Wu Yi was looking up into the sky. They followed his gaze and their eyes immediately widened in astonishment.

In the sky, the Profound Heavens Temple that had been silent all this while was becoming distorted and seemed to be changing to something else. It soon transformed into the appearance of an ancient Giant Furnace. The Giant Furnace was shining brightly; moreover, there were many strange and peculiar patterns carved into its surroundings. The patterns seemed to bob up and down on the surface, forming name after name that flashed and disappeared one after another.

From among those names, they saw some familiar and some unfamiliar names. Those names included Yellow Sovereign, Black Sovereign, Golden Cicada, Devouring Ghost, Flowing Time, Heaven Devourer, Soaring Sky, Iron Blood, Bustling World, Azure Sea, Cyan Lotus, Ice Feather, Wondrous Pill, Heavens Revelations, Martial Beast…

"The Grand Dao Record!" Li Wu Yi shouted with a burning gaze.

The titles of the Great Emperors were neither chosen by themselves nor spread by the world, they were given directly by the Heavenly Way. Every Great Emperor would receive a title that coincided with their Grand Dao. Naturally, it was a Grand Dao recognised by the world. Only those who could inscribe their names in the Grand Dao of the world could become Great Emperors admired and respected by all.

Those familiar and unfamiliar names were undoubtedly the titles that belonged to the countless Great Emperors throughout history. The titles of the 10 Great Emperors in the current generation were among those names. There were no omissions; even Can Ye's 'Night Shadow' was clearly indicated.

The font colours of the characters that flashed across the Giant Furnace seemed to vary slightly. They were all written in a golden-yellow shade; however, the further back in the past they existed, the darker the shade of golden-yellow they became. In comparison, the titles of the 10 Great Emperors in the current generation shone the brightest.

"Huh? Is it… over?" Li Wu Yi's lips suddenly felt dry. He stared unblinking at the Giant Furnace, trying to find a new title from amongst the names.

The Profound Heavens Temple had remained unchanged ever since it appeared. Now that it suddenly transformed into a Giant Furnace and even kept displaying the titles of all the past Great Emperors, it could only mean that new progress had been made in the Grand Dao battle. It was also highly likely that it was over.

What was the situation on the Star Boundary's side? Whose hands did the Grand Dao opportunity fall into in the end? These were the questions that concerned Li Wu Yi the most. If the Star Boundary managed to obtain the opportunity, then the current critical situation in the Star Boundary might change for the better. But, if the Demon Race had succeeded instead, then the Star Boundary was truly in great danger.

Silavin: More info on the past Great Emperors

轩辕 - Yellow Sovereign (Xuan Yuan)

真武 - Black Sovereign (Zhen Wu)

罗刹 - Devouring Ghost (Raksasa)

These are actual figures in mythology.

Xuan Yuan is known as the Yellow Emperor

Zhen Wu is known as the Black Emperor. (He wears all black.)

Raksasa is a demon that likes to eat.