Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Raikov

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Sure enough, this Divine Dao Water was a treasure. Yang Kai put it away happily and asked Zhu Jiu Yin how to refine it before returning to his room and continuing his retreat.

Inside the room, Yang Kai sat cross-legged and turned on the Isolation Array to avoid any disturbances. Only then did he carefully take out the jade bottle containing the Divine Dao Water and opened the cap.

Not much Divine Dao Water was left in the jade bottle, less than half in fact. There were only about several dozen drops inside. Zhu Jiu Yin's previous Bearer must have used a lot of it.

But even a single drop of Divine Dao Water was a precious resource, so several dozen was definitely enough to fulfil Yang Kai's needs.

Calming his breathing and focusing his mind, Yang Kai's Divine Sense surged and entered the jade bottle, retrieving a drop of Divine Dao Water.

The Divine Water placed inside the jade bottle did not look like anything special, but it gave off a wonderful fragrance as soon as it emerged into the world. As he sniffed it, Yang Kai's eyes could not help but go lax as he muttered, "It smells so good. It must be delicious, too..."

Saying so, he took up a drop of Divine Dao Water with his Divine Sense and sent it to his mouth.

But the next moment, Yang Kai was shaken. He quickly came back to his senses and shut his mouth, pressing the drop he almost placed in his mouth between his brow instead.

This Divine Water was not supposed to be consumed via the mouth, but to be refined using one's Dao Seal, just like how one would condense their Yin, Yang and Five Elements. If he consumed it rashly, then it would not have any effect.

Zhu Jiu Yin told him earlier that he would encounter some disturbances while he was refining the Divine Dao Water, but he did not take it to heart. It wasn't until now that he realized how careless he was.

Fortunately, he reacted in time; otherwise, he might have wasted a drop.

Strangely enough, the Divine Dao Water was clearly a tangible thing, but when it touched the middle of his forehead, it suddenly disappeared without a trace. In the next instant, Yang Kai felt a slight chill in his Dao Seal, as if something had entered it.

Yang Kai quickly immersed his consciousness inside to investigate.

What he saw was a watery glow surrounding his Dao Seal. The Divine Dao Water was constantly seeping into his Dao Seal as a strange power spread out and was being absorbed. As time passed, Yang Kai did in fact feel his Dao Seal becoming firmer.

The Dao Seal was the manifestation of each cultivator's Grand Dao. As a cultivator condensed their Dao Seal, all their cultivation was consolidated into it, and a cultivator's foundation was directly related to the Dao Seal that one condenses. With a good foundation, one's Dao Seal would be stronger, while the opposite was also true.

Even though no one has ever categorized Dao Seals into Orders, in fact, a cultivator's Dao Seal can also be divided into different rankings.

Yang Kai's Dao was the Grand Dao of Space, which he had deep attainments in. If not, he would not have been able to escape the pursuit of all the Low-Rank Open Heaven and Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters after snatching away the Golden Crow carcass.

The Dao of Space was one of the 3,000 Grand Daos, and was a very profound one at that. Naturally, the Dao Seal that Yang Kai condensed using the Dao of Space was not something that regular cultivators could compare with. His foundation allowed him to condense Elements of the Seventh Order and above.

His other foundation was the Wood Element Power that he condensed from the essence of the Immortal Tree, which was a surprise opportunity for him.

But despite this, his Dao Seal still had huge room for improvement. Fortunately, he had not yet reached the Open Heaven Realm. If he had already entered the Open Heaven Realm, then his foundation would be completely set. Then, there would be nothing that the Divine Dao Water could do.

At first, when the mysterious Divine Dao Water seeped into his Dao Seal, Yang Kai felt a slight chill, but following that, a warm and comforting feeling spread out around his Dao Seal. Not daring to dally, Yang Kai concentrated on refining it.

But in fact, refining the Divine Dao Water was a truly difficult process. A single drop of Divine Water took Yang Kai an entire month to completely refine.

After sensing the difference in his Dao Seal from before the process, Yang Kai frowned. It did not feel like the Divine Dao Water actually did much, only providing a 10% improvement at most.

However, on second thought, his Dao Seal was beyond ordinary to begin with. With such a high starting point, it was only natural that the Divine Dao Water would not be able to improve his Dao Seal by much. If it were anyone else, then it might have been a different story.

If a single drop of Divine Water could improve his Dao Seal's strength by 10%, then would ten drops not be 100%?

Without pause, Yang Kai released his Divine Sense and took out another drop of Divine Water before continuing to refine it. There were at least several dozen drops inside the jade bottle, and this was a rare opportunity, so Yang Kai naturally wanted to raise his Dao Seal's strength to the maximum extent possible.

Drop after drop of Divine Water was refined, and Yang Kai's Dao Seal became firmer and firmer; however, as time passed, the benefits of refining the Divine Water gradually diminished.

Another year passed, and when Yang Kai opened his eyes again, he let out a long breath.

He had consumed more than a dozen drops of Divine Dao Water in this one year and improved his Dao Seal to the greatest extent he could. Further refinement of the Divine Water would be useless, and nothing more than a waste.

After putting away the jade bottle, Yang Kai inspected his own body, feeling very satisfied.

Now, even if a Ninth-Order material was placed in front of him, he was confident that he would be able to refine it easily and not have to worry about his Dao Seal not being able to withstand it.

This retreat brought him many benefits. His Dao Seal was now in a much more solid state, allowing him to condense Higher-Order Elements with greater speed and ease. Additionally, he did not have to worry too much even if he were to encounter any type of Divine Ability that targeted his Dao Seal in the future.

He left the room again to go see Zhu Jiu Yin.

There, he was surprised to find Zhu Jiu Yin talking to his two exotic beasts, the Scarlet Flood Dragon and the Earth Dragon, in the courtyard. Yang Kai had no idea what language she was speaking, but it sounded like a pearl dropping onto a jade plate, containing profound Principles and resonating with the Heavenly Dao. The Scarlet Flood Dragon and the Earth Dragon did not notice his arrival in the slightest as they were both listening attentively to her.

It was only after a while that Zhu Jiu Yin smiled, "Alright, that's all for today. You should go back and cultivate."

The Scarlet Flood Dragon and the Earth Dragon both nodded to express their gratitude; then, when they turned around and saw Yang Kai, the Scarlet Flood Dragon immediately crawled its way over, roaming by Yang Kai's legs. The Earth Dragon was much more direct. It opened its mouth and wriggled its body, flinging its saliva everywhere, which landed on the floor in a patter.

Yang Kai was speechless. He tossed out two Dragon Blood Pills to them to get rid of them.

With a rumble, the two big fellows went back down the tunnel they came in from and left after receiving the Dragon Blood Pills.

Yang Kai asked curiously, "How come Senior is in such a good mood as to guide them today?"

He listened for a while earlier, and though he had no idea what Zhu Jiu Yin was actually saying to the Scarlet Flood Dragon and the Earth Dragon, he had a vague feeling that she was helping them enhance their sentience. The reason why the Earth Dragon and the Scarlet Flood Dragon were unable to assume human form was not that they were not strong enough, but because they had not become sentient yet. With Zhu Jiu Yin to guide them, the time it would take them to assume human form would be greatly decreased.

Zhu Jiu Yin smiled, "I had nothing to do, so I just looked for something to occupy myself. But I was also wondering why their bloodlines were so pure. It turns out it was because of you."

She clearly saw the Dragon Blood Pills earlier. Whether it be the Scarlet Flood Dragon or the Earth Dragon, both of them had a trace of the Dragon Clan bloodline in them; only, it was extremely faint at first. After repeated consumption of Dragon Blood Pills over the past few years though, their Dragon Clan bloodline has also been greatly strengthened, even exceeding the limits of their respective races.

"What do you need me for?" Zhu Jiu Yin asked.

Yang Kai said, "I wished to ask about the Metal Element treasure."

"I haven't found anything," Zhu Jiu Yin shook her head. Her million-strong army had all been mobilized and were scraping through every square metre of the Grand Ancient Ruins, but they still could not find any news of any Metal Element treasures above the Seventh Order. Not only Metal Element, but they also could not find Seventh-Order materials of any of the other Elements either.

As Zhu Jiu Yin said before, the Grand Ancient Ruins had many visitors in the past. Batch after batch of cultivators were swallowed in, which naturally included some brilliant ones. So, many of the precious treasures in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary had already been picked clean. Even if those Divine Spirits had collected some before, they had also given them to their respective Bearers over the years to help increase their strength to improve their chances of seizing the opportunity for them to leave this place.

Yang Kai was slightly disappointed. If even Zhu Jiu Yin was unable to find treasures of the Metal Element at or above the Seventh Order, then he would have little hope of doing so himself.

"Only two places might have what you need now," Zhu Jiu Yin said softly.

"Where?"

"One is in Golden Eagle Palace, which is naturally the territory of Jin Wu."

Yang Kai's face darkened, "Then forget it." Zhu Jiu Yin had also mentioned Jin Wu a year ago. If he could kill him and take away his Monster Core, then Yang Kai's requirements would be met, but Jin Wu was a genuine Divine Spirit after all, and Zhu Jiu Yin herself might not be able to defeat him.

"The other place is the Primordial Land. Many treasures are still left in that place."

"Where is the Primordial Land?" Yang Kai's eyes lit up. The Primordial Land was where the Moon Essence came from supposedly. Zhu Jiu Yin also told him that the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary used to have a Sun and a Moon, but over time, the Sun burned out, and the Moon broke apart. One piece of its Moon Essence fell into the Primordial Land, which someone had then taken out, eventually landing in Kun Sha's hands.

"The Primordial Land is where the Spirit Seizing War takes place. It has not opened yet." Zhu Jiu Yin slowly shook her head.

[If it isn't open, why bring it up?] Yang Kai was disgruntled, but since the Primordial Land was where the Spirit Seizing War would take place, did that not mean that he would only be able to go in and search for a suitable Metal Element material after it began?

Zhu Jiu Yin had asked him to improve his strength for the Spirit Seizing War, so he simply did not have enough time.

"Can't you just settle for a Sixth-Order Metal Element treasure?" Zhu Jiu Yin asked with a frown.

Yang Kai replied sternly, "This matter is related to my Grand Dao. It is a lifelong pursuit. How can I settle for less?"

Zhu Jiu Yin simply smiled, thinking to herself that it would not be up to him to make the choices when the time came and changed the subject, "So, how is the cultivation of that technique going?"

"Almost there," Yang Kai nodded lightly. The Defying Yin-Yang Five Elements Profound Universe Heart Scripture was truly esoteric. Fortunately, he had been studying it for a long time and gained some insights into it. Now that his Dao Seal has been reinforced to its limits, there should be no danger for him to condense his Water Element Power.

"Then go ahead and condense the Water Element Power first. I will stand guard for you."

Yang Kai was about to refuse her, but Zhu Jiu Yin said, "Your life or death affects this Queen's future, so you have no say in this matter. I might as well tell you that those old guys have all found their own Bearers and are putting their greatest effort into nurturing them. The Spirit Seizing War is sure to be a life or death struggle."

"In that case... Very well." An arm cannot be thicker than a thigh, so Yang Kai could only nod in agreement.

After agreeing to enter retreat to condense the Water Element Power three days later, Yang Kai came to Yue He to ask if anything happened while he was in seclusion, but apparently, nothing big occurred. With a Divine Spirit like the Heavenly Moon Demon Spider watching over this Star City, none of them had to worry about others daring to attack.