Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Raikov

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

The moment their hands made contact though, both Ning Dao Ran and Qu Hua Shang's faces changed dramatically and they both quickly withdrew, as if they had been shocked.

Looking over, Qu Hua Shang's beautiful face had lost colour, while Ning Dao Ran's brows were locked into a frown.

Because the moment they touched the moon bead, an extremely cold power emerged from it and invaded their bodies. Overtaken by an icy feeling, their hands had frozen over, and the extreme cold was spreading up their arms uncontrollably, numbing their senses wherever it passed.

The fact that this moon bead had an Ice Attribute was beyond their expectations.

They all clearly felt the moon bead giving out the dense aura of the Water Element Power, but when they touched it, they realized that it was not simply a Water Element, but rather an Ice Element!

The Ice Element was a derivative of the Water Element. Water condensed into ice, so it was still considered a branch of the Water Element. It can even be said that the Ice Element was stronger than the Water Element. If one could withstand the impact of this Ice Element on their Dao Seal, then it could still be used to condense their Yin, Yang, and Five Elements before splitting Heaven and Earth apart in one's body to achieve the Open Heaven Realm.

"Why is it an Ice Element!?" Qu Hua Shang looked irritated.

Ning Dao Ran also shook his head slowly and sighed.

They, elite disciples of Cave-Heavens and Paradises, all aspired to reach the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm in their initial breakthrough. Just as Xu Zhen said to Yang Kai before, the Water Element was the gentlest, so its impact on one's Dao Seal would be minimal. Even if their foundation was of the Sixth-Order, it would not matter if they were to refine a Seventh-Order or Eighth-Order Water Element Power. Instead, it could even improve their strength.

But Xu Zhen was only referring to ordinary Water Element treasures. A treasure like this Ice Element one was impossible to refine as the foundation of the Dao Seal they had laid down was simply not sturdy enough to refine this bone-chilling moon bead. Forcibly refining it would only damage their Dao Seal.

That was why Qu Hua Shang was irritated after perceiving the true attribute of this moon bead. If she had known this were the case, would she have wasted all this time and energy?

"The Ice Moon Pearl is an Ice Element treasure to begin with. It was you who had eyes but failed to see!" A mocking voice emerged and a layer of ripples formed, revealing a powerful Fish Monster.

This Fish Monster had a burly figure and stood over ten metres tall. It had a fierce aura and had a fish face, no legs, but rather a tail under his body that was covered in azure scales. This Fish Monster was even holding a hammer-like object in his hand as his fierce pair of eyes coldly scrutinized Qu Hua Shang and Ning Dao Ran.

Another Sea Clan member that was thirty metres tall appeared next, holding a huge anchor in his hand. The blood within his body was rushing through his veins like the gushing sea.

The third to walk out was a big fat fish around fifteen metres in length. It had upturned eyes that made him appear insufferably arrogant. Atop this Monster's head stood a palm-length Sea Clan member with his arms akimbo, laughing loudly, "High Priest is truly wise. He knew these guys would make a declaration from the east and then strike at the west, and told us to lay an ambush in this place!"

Both Qu Hua Shang and Ning Dao Ran frowned at these words. They had unfortunately fallen into a trap. This made it even more obvious why they could approach the Sacred Treasure so easily.

Even with Xu Zhen and Lin Feng causing a commotion outside, the temple's defences seemed a little too weak. It turned out it was because this was all planned out by the Sea Clan beforehand.

"These two must be those so-called Humans, right?" A fourth Sea Monster stepped out. This one looked like nothing special, but his aura was extremely strong. He studied Qu Hua Shang and Ning Dao Ran seriously before shaking his head and commenting, "How ugly they are!"

Qu Hua Shang fumed, "You're the ugly one! You're all ugly!"

She was a woman, and one beautiful enough to bring calamity to a country and its people at that. She had great confidence in her own appearance. When had she ever been called ugly before?

The Fish Monster cackled, "This Human is really interesting. She is not self-conscious at all! Once we capture you, just see how we'll handle you!"

"Enough nonsense! Get them! Don't spoil Old Ancestor's great plan!" Another majestic voice sounded as an ethereal figure appeared on the altar. As it reached the altar, it collected a sceptre, atop which was the Ice Moon Pearl, shining brilliantly.

The Ice Soul Moon Pearl was embedded into the sceptre, and not on the altar they had seen earlier.

"We will obey High Priest's command!" The four powerful Sea Monsters bowed in unison.

Qu Hua Shang and Ning Dao Ran's hearts dropped as they looked frightfully at the High Priest that appeared in the end.

The four Sea Monsters that appeared before them were certainly powerful, but they were not afraid of them given their skills. If they really did get into a fight, then even if they could not defeat them, they could still escape.

But this last Sea Clan High Priest gave them a great feeling of danger. This High Priest's strength was definitely high to the point of being unfathomable. And, the Ice Moon Pearl was also mounted onto the sceptre he was holding, so it was obvious that this High Priest was able to utilize the power of the Ice Moon Pearl to some extent.

How were they supposed to win now? They were outnumbered to begin with, and the Sea Clan even had the help of a Supreme Treasure. They were truly being done in by Lin Feng this time.

Moreover, who was this 'Old Ancestor' that the High Priest spoke of? Could a trivial Sea Clan actually have such terrifying heritage?

"Let's get out and regroup with Brother Lin and Brother Xu." Ning Dao Ran glanced at Qu Hua Shang and silently transmitted a message to her.

Qu Hua Shang nodded imperceptibly as she had the same idea. They would only be able to escape if they were to join hands with the others; otherwise, the two of them alone were simply not enough to compete with the Sea Clan.

As soon as their Divine Sense intersected, they immediately moved.

Ning Dao Ran raised his hand and a willow twig appeared. The willow twig lashed out a thousand shadows that formed countless Sword Waves that shot towards the Fish Monsters.

As soon as a Paradise disciple attacked, his extraordinary heritage was revealed.

At the same time, a pipa appeared in Qu Hua Shang's arms. She gently played it with her fingers and a tinkling sound came out, forming shapeless murderous intent that struck the Souls of the Sea Clan Masters.

The two of them combined their efforts and gained the initiative in a single exchange.

The four Sea Clan Masters were shaken by Qu Hua Shang's Soul Secret Technique before being blasted by countless Sword Qi Waves.

But these Fish Monsters were all covered in hard scales, so even though they were in a miserable state, they were hardly hurt.

"Hou!"

The tiny Fish Monster howled, greatly overpowering the pipa's sounds, allowing the Sea Clan Masters to shake their heads and stabilize their Souls.

The Sea Clan Master holding the hammer flapped his tail and turned into a ray of azure light, instantly appearing in front of Ning Dao Ran and smashing down his weapon. The other inconspicuous Sea Monster opened its mouth and spat out a dense stream of vapour that formed a veil that covered Ning Dao Ran.

Ning Dao Ran did not panic though and the willow twig in his hand transformed into countless shadows as he fought against two Sea Clan Masters with a fierce vigour.

On the other side, the small Monster riding on the head of the big fish lunged at Qu Hua Shang. The big fish opened its mouth like a black hole that could devour everything, and a strange noise was being emitted that was suppressing the sound of the pipa.

The final Sea Monster with the anchor also stepped forward and tried to grab Qu Hua Shang with his big and scary hands. If she were actually caught, Qu Hua Shang would definitely be crushed to death.

But the seductress was unperturbed. Flicking her head, the red band tied to her hair flew out and turned into silk threads that disappeared into the void.

In the next moment, following a pained cry, the Sea Monster withdrew his hands. When it looked down, many wounds had suddenly appeared on his hands that were incomparably thick, but the bleeding would not stop. Roaring in anger, he raised his anchor and smashed it down.

From the void, one by one, silk threads emerged and wrapped around the anchor, stopping him from smashing it down no matter how he tried, which angered the Sea Monster so much that he jumped in anger.

These two Cave-Heaven and Paradise disciples bravely fought the four Sea Clan Masters deep in their territory, and not only were they not at a disadvantage, they even had the upper hand.

In the end, they were disciples of great sects, each having exceptional heritage and deep foundations. Moreover, these Sea Monsters were not too strong. An ordinary cultivator would not be able to compare, but the Sea Monsters were still slightly worse than the two of them. Otherwise, how could Lin Feng have been able to successfully enter and escape this Holy City four times in the past?

If they had enough time, then it was completely possible for Qu Hua Shang and Ning Dao Ran to kill the Sea Clan Masters here; however, their intention was to break out and join hands with Lin Feng and Xu Zhen. Naturally, they could not stay here for long. Not to mention the fact that there was still the Sea Clan High Priest holding a dreaded sceptre right in front of them!

The High Priest stood on top of the altar and showed no intention to step in from start to finish; however, he kept his focus on the fight. He was mainly focused on the two Humans. Rather than feeling angry, he would show them praise from time to time, which was truly puzzling.

"Go!" Ning Dao Ran suddenly shouted. After finding the right opportunity, he waved his willow twig and forced back the two Sea Clan Masters who were pincering him.

At the same time, the sound of Qu Hua Shang's pipa changed. An invisible sound wave shook her opponents and forced them back.

With this opening, the two moved in unison and tried to fly upwards.

"Hmph!" The High Priest, who had been watching coldly from the sidelines, tapped his sceptre on the ground. A moon-like glow flashed from the Ice Soul Moon Pearl and swept over Qu Hua Shang and Ning Dao Ran.

A chill that froze one to the core appeared, and both Qu Hua Shang and Ning Dao Ran felt their auras turn stagnant while their bodies stopped in place.

Stopping for that one moment destroyed their chances of escaping from here as the four Sea Clan Masters reorganized their formation and rushed over to tangle with them again.

Disgruntled, they could only fight.

"Senior Brother, what's happening outside?" Gu Pan wriggled her body uncomfortably in the Fated Paths Bag. She could vaguely feel the power fluctuations outside, but as she was not the owner of the Fated Paths Bag, she had no way of checking on the situation.

"A battle is raging," Yang Kai answered.

Gu Pan was surprised, "Who's fighting who?"

Yang Kai gave her a simple description of what he was seeing.

Gu Pan was anxious, "Then, should we go and help Big Sister Qu and Senior Brother Ning?"

"There's no need to rush!" Yang Kai reassured her, "Your Big Sister Qu and Senior Brother Ning are both strong. They are not in any danger for now. There are strange things about what is happening right now, so let's wait and watch how things play out first."