Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Jon

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

The silk ribbon could be seen whipping about as the illusory phantom of a Small Universe flickered behind the agile Madam Lan. As a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, each of her moves was awe-inspiring. Her silk ribbon artifact kept lashing at the Golden Crow, causing it to stagger and shriek in fury. Although it would strike back from time to time, Madam Lan managed to dodge these attacks with ease.

Seeing this, Old Hong and the others were elated. Just like Madam Lan had said, the Golden Crow was indeed a dry oil lamp. If it weren't so, this legendary beast wouldn't have become so weak. Madam Lan alone was able to tie down the beast, and even though she appeared to be at a disadvantage, she wouldn't be defeated soon.

Madam Lan alone was able to achieve this, so what if everyone in the hall made a move at the same time? There was no way the Golden Crow could survive.

At the thought of this, Old Hong shouted, "Madam Lan, allow this Old Master to assist!"

His chubby figure dashed forward as he pushed out his palm at the beast. Following that, Yuan Xiao Man, Zhang Qi, and Ji Tian Xing summoned their own artifacts and attacked.

Since the Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters had already made a move, the Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters stopped hesitating and charged forward. At that instant, the hall descended into chaos again as all of them launched attacks on the beast using their Secret Techniques and artifacts.

In the corner of the hall, Yang Kai was hiding beneath the Shadowless Veil as he suddenly felt sorry for the Golden Crow. The powerful beast was born with the Sun Star and they grew together with a symbiotic relationship, eventually becoming one of the strongest beasts in existence. However, at this moment, it was oppressed by those who were much weaker than itself. The passing of time was not to be underestimated as even the strongest of beings would be laid low by it eventually.

The Golden Crow already had one foot in the grave, and its last explosion of power was mostly contained by Madam Lan's artifact earlier, which was why it was exhausted. With that said, Madam Lan alone was still no match for the beast. However, over thirty Open Heaven Realm Masters had survived in the hall, and four of them were in the Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm. Since all of them had joined forces, the Golden Crow was immediately put at a disadvantage. Judging from the current situation, it was just a matter of time before the beast truly fell.

Yang Kai smacked his lips. It wasn't certain who would reap all the benefits in the end as the value of the Golden Crow's body was incalculable. Even though he had no idea what the carcass could be used for, he reckoned that it was probably superior to even the Sun's True Gold.

[what a shame…] As his power was too weak, he could only watch the show from the side, unable to join in the fun. This helplessness only increased his desire to become stronger.

Although the Golden Crow was at a disadvantage on the battlefield, its True Fire was indeed overwhelming as no one dared to come into contact with it. When the pitch-black True Fire sprayed out, everyone would be forced to step backward, giving the beast another chance to catch its breath.

After a quarter hour though, a shriek was heard. It was a Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master who was struck by the True Fire as he dodged too late. Half of his body evaporated instantly. His companions quickly pulled him out of the battlefield, but he would probably end up dying a horrible death.

As time passed, many wounds were added to the Golden Crow. Blood that looked like magma streamed out of his wounds and dropped onto the floor, opening up holes in the ground.

Of the more than thirty Open Heaven Realm Masters who had originally participated in this battle, five had been killed while the rest of them were panting heavily, exhausted from the effort. Even the Mid-Rank Open Realm Masters were in a terrible state. Despite being more powerful than the others, they also had to endure greater pressure than the Low-Rank Open Realm cultivators. All of them had expended all their strength, and even Madam Lan's face had turned pale.

Of all the people present, she bore the greatest pressure because the Golden Crow seemed to be targeting her specifically for ruining its plan earlier. If it weren't because she was fairly powerful, and she had many artifacts with her, Madam Lan would've died already.

Right then, Old Hong suddenly shouted excitedly, "Hang in there. This beast is running out of energy!"

The Golden Crow's eyes had lost their earlier vigour as they appeared turbid now. Countless wounds had formed on its body, and it no longer appeared imposing. It was indeed in the last moments of its life. Despite the fact that the beast was staggering, it never allowed itself to collapse to the ground. As the beast swept its eyes over the crowd, it still didn't have any regard for them despite the fact it was dying. That was its pride as an ancient beast.

Just then, Madam Lan dashed towards the beast as her silk ribbon whipped out at it.

The Golden Crow seemed to have the intention of dodging the attack, but it had no more energy left to do so. The silk ribbon directly struck its neck, and the cracking sound of bones was immediately heard. Upon impact, the Golden Crow was sent flying towards the corner of the hall.

After the strike, Madam Lan also faltered as she almost fell to the ground.

With a loud boom, the Golden Crow fell to the floor and slid forward for a long time before finally stopping.

Despite that, no one had the guts to go over and check it. That was because the Golden Crow had feigned death once already. Before they could make sure that it was really dead, no one wanted to make the same mistake again. If the beast spat out a jet of Golden Crow's True Fire again, they wouldn't be able to resist the attack.

The sounds of panting were heard reverberating around the hall. At the same time, all of them fished out Spirit Pills from their Space Rings and stuffed them into their mouths, hurriedly refining them to restore their energy.

Right in front of everyone's eyes, the Golden Crow remained unmoving on the ground.

Meanwhile, Yang Kai, who had been hiding the whole time, felt his face twitching as he silently cursed. This couldn't be helped, as the Golden Crow was just one step away from him. He had never expected that Madam Lan would push the beast towards him with her final blow.

Yang Kai found himself in quite the awkward position as it was too late for him to leave and everyone's attention was now focused on that spot as they scanned the beast with their Divine Senses. If he moved now, he would be exposed.

[What should I do? If the Golden Crow is really dead, those guys will come over to check it and snatch it. I'm very close to the beast, so I probably can't hide myself from the Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters once that happens. How should I explain myself if they ask me what I'm doing here?]

While he was in a dilemma, the Golden Crow in front of him suddenly moved. Then, in a slow and firm manner, it got to its three feet.

Yang Kai felt a sense of coldness rising within him as goosebumps rose all over his body. Even though the Golden Crow appeared battered, it could still kill Yang Kai as easily as an insect.

Yang Kai prayed in his heart that the beast wouldn't discover him, but to his dismay, the Golden Crow set its eyes on him instead of Madam Lan and the others as he was closer.

Following that, the Golden Crow lowered its head and stared fixedly at Yang Kai with its golden eyes.

They were only a single step apart, and Yang Kai could even feel the beast's breath on him. As their eyes met, he knew that the beast must have discovered him.

He couldn't hide himself from Madam Lan using the Shadowless Veil, so how was it possible that he could conceal himself from a mature Golden Crow? Therefore, he quickly put on an expression that suggested that he was harmless. With a face filled with sincerity, he forced an ugly smile at the Golden Crow.

Naturally, the Golden Crow parted its beak as a scorching aura exuded from his mouth. A wisp of fire could faintly be seen, and the aura of death soon engulfed Yang Kai.

[Damn it!] Yang Kai was enraged because he had pleaded with the beast in such a pitiful manner to let him off, but the Golden Crow still mercilessly decided to roast him in return.

At the critical moment, Yang Kai realised that he couldn't wait for the beast to spit its Golden Crow's True Fire, so he hurriedly summoned a golden feather and infused his strength into it. As a golden light expanded as another ferocious aura undulated.

From a nearby spot, the expressions of Madam Lan and the others, who were vigilantly watching the Golden Crow get up, changed drastically.

They were wary that the Golden Crow would use the same trick of playing dead, but now, it seemed that even though they hadn't managed to kill him with the last strike, the beast was indeed on the brink of death. However, why had a ferocious aura appeared all of a sudden at this point?

As their eyes trembled, they saw a golden chicken expanding right in front of their eyes. The gigantic chicken radiated a golden glow, and its figure seemed able to cover the entire sky. Its might, which seemed no weaker than that of the Golden Crow, caused everyone to shudder.

"Mie Meng!" Old Hong exclaimed as Zhang Qi and Ji Tian Xing felt their eyes popping out and Yuan Xiao Man and Madam Lan parted their lips in shock.

The minds of all these Open Heaven Realm Masters had turned blank as they couldn't think clearly. They couldn't understand why a Mie Meng had appeared in this place all of a sudden. Where had it been until now? How did it sneak into this place?

However, Madam Lan soon realised that something was off and yelled, "It's not the real thing, it's just a Divine Ability!" Despite the fact that it wasn't the real thing, they were still unable to oppose it.

Mie Meng lowered her head and looked down at the Golden Crow. Following a strange cluck, it landed a peck on the beast with its sharp beak.

With a crack, a big hole was formed in the Golden Crow's head, and after it staggered slightly, it collapsed to the ground as all its vitality left its body. It was really dead this time.

If the Golden Crow came across Mie Meng when it was still at full strength, it could definitely defeat the latter. Nevertheless, the Golden Crow was on its last breath. Earlier, it had used a trick to kill some Open Heaven Realm Masters, who coveted its treasures, causing it to expend much of its remaining energy. Then, it had spent a long time battling against Madam Lan and the others, so it didn't have much strength left.

Therefore, it was totally powerless to resist Mie Meng's attack, so it wasn't surprising that it had been killed.

After killing the Golden Crow, Mie Meng's figure rapidly dissipated and turned into golden wisps of light before disappearing, its imposing might also vanishing with the wind.

"Hmm?" Old Hong widened his eyes and gazed at the spot where the Golden Crow had collapsed in shock. That was because there was a young man, who appeared quite embarrassed, standing beside the corpse. At that moment, Old Hong couldn't help but ask, "Who are you?"

He had never seen this young man before, and was quite surprised to learn that the latter's aura was very weak. It was apparent that the young man wasn't even an Open Heaven Realm Master.

Yang Kai felt his brow twitching fiercely. He had no choice but to use one of the feathers given to him by Mie Meng, which caused the Shadowless Veil to lose its effect, revealing his figure.

He had managed to remain hidden for so long, but in the end he was still exposed, which made him feel quite helpless.

However, it wasn't the time to think about it. Since he had been exposed, he had to immediately flee from this place. At the thought of this, he cupped his fists in a solemn manner and called out respectfully, "Madam Lan."

Old Hong and the others turned to look at Madam Lan, thinking that she was close to the young man. Nevertheless, after successfully diverting their attention, Yang Kai quickly summoned his Six Fated Paths Bag and stuffed the Golden Crow's corpse into it. Without pause, he then disappeared from the scene.