Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Jon

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Inside the secret room, Yang Kai fished out a box from his Space Ring and carefully opened it, whereupon a translucent spirit fruit the size of a fist came into his sight. It was the last Mid-Rank World Fruit he had.

Lights were seen swirling around the fruit surface, giving it a rather entrancing look.

After taking out the spirit fruit, Yang Kai took a bite without hesitation. As the fruit peel broke apart, the fragrant juice flowed into his mouth. He arched his brow as he hadn’t expected the taste to be so pleasant.

Then, he wolfed down the World Fruit, including the fruit pit, and licked his lips with a joyful expression. The next moment, Yang Kai’s face turned solemn as he quickly focused on his Small Universe.

The World Fruit’s medicinal efficacies dissolved in his stomach and turned into the purest World Force imaginable that streamed into all his organs. The force wasn’t intense, so it was still bearable for Yang Kai, what was special was that there didn’t seem to be an end to this stream of World Force.

Yang Kai’s Small Universe opened wide and accepted this World Force. He didn’t even need to spend any effort to refine it as the World Force quickly assimilated into the Small Universe, adding to his heritage and foundation without any obstruction.

Yang Kai was stunned. It was no wonder that the World Fruits were extremely precious and were called Heaven-defying.

When an Open Heaven Realm Master consumed Open Heaven Pills and cultivation resources, there was a refinement process. However, the World Force streaming out of the World Fruit didn’t require any effort to assimilate, they just had to open their Small Universe and accept it.

This fact alone made World Fruits a unique treasure.

As time passed, Yang Kai could clearly feel that the heritage of his Small Universe was increasing in a rapid and steady manner as it marched towards the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm.

Outside the secret room, the Proprietress had to leave the cave from time to time while Chef and Accountant stayed there to stand guard for Yang Kai so that he wouldn’t be disturbed.

The reason the Proprietress went out was that she had to look for a way to leave this damned place. She had been doing that since before Yang Kai’s arrival. Unfortunately, she hadn’t gotten any clues so far.

The Shadowless Cave Heaven was neither big nor small, so over the years, the three great forces had gained a footing and searched everywhere they could. If there was really an exit, they would’ve discovered it by now.

It had only been one year since the Proprietress and the others arrived here, so their efforts weren’t comparable to the thousands of years the three great forces had invested.

One day, while keeping guard in the cave, Chef and Accountant realised that the barrier had been triggered. Looking up, they saw the Proprietress returning from outside as the magma roiled behind her. She used her power to open up a passageway and plunged into the caldera.

After looking around, she stared at Yang Kai’s secret room and frowned, “Hasn’t he come out yet?”

Chef shook his head, “Not yet. It’s been a month, but it seems that his injuries are pretty serious, which is why it’s taking him such a long time to recuperate. Do we need to check on him, Proprietress?”

She rejected his idea by shaking her head, “There’s no need for that. It’d be terrible if we happen to disturb him during a critical moment.”

Accountant spoke worriedly, “The Astral Wind is due to blow again in a few days. Although this place can fend it off somewhat, we can’t totally avoid its influence. By then, Yang Kai will be disturbed.”

That was indeed a serious problem. The place they resided could ward off some of the Astral Wind’s effects, but it wasn’t as good as the Headquarters of the three great forces. If it weren’t for this place, they couldn’t have made it to this day as all their cultivations would’ve been ground down by the eerie wind.

Despite that, they had suffered quite some losses to their Small Universes after a year. The Proprietress was in a better state as she was able to persevere given her strong and solid cultivation; however, it had only been a short time since Chef and Accountant ascended to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm, so their heritages were not solid to begin with. The brutality of the wind had repeatedly destabilised their Small Universes.

After the Astral Wind struck each time, they would have to use up a lot of resources to simply stabilize their cultivations, and even more to try to make up for the losses.

Upon pondering on it for a moment, the Proprietress said, “We’ll play it by ear. Don’t disturb him for now; however, we have to be wary of those from Profound Yang Mountain. I took a stroll around that place some time ago and realised that they’re gathering quite a few people together. It seems that they’re preparing to make a move on us.”

Chef was shocked when he heard that, “Does it mean that we have to escape somewhere else?”

Those from Profound Yang Mountain had a lot of people on their side, including many powerful Masters. If the two parties fought, the Proprietress would definitely not be a match for them. The reason they had been safe for such a long time was that the Proprietress, a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, was intimidating enough.

The people from Profound Yang Mountain reckoned that even if they could take down the three of them in the end, they would have to pay a hefty price. That was the reason they backed down and allowed the three of them to hide in this place.

However, after such a long time, the Proprietress’ strength must have decreased under the influence of the Astral Wind. Although Chef and Accountant were in the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm, they were unable to affect the overall situation.

Previously, Yang Kai had made a scene in Profound Yang Mountain, which must have infuriated them, so it was expected that they wanted to retaliate against them.

The Proprietress shook her head, “Where else can we go? The Shadowless Cave Heaven is only so big. The only options left for us are Unrivalled Guild and Twin Spirit Island.” She paused for a moment, “Which do you think we should join?”

In the past, she had never considered joining one of the three great forces. That was because all of these great forces had established themselves in the Shadowless Cave Heaven, so they would be restricted in many ways if they joined one of them, not to mention that they had to hand over a large part of their resources.

Nevertheless, things were different now and it was time they made a choice. If they remained stubborn, they wouldn’t possibly be able to survive in the Shadowless Cave Heaven.

After exchanging glances, Chef and Accountant said in unison, “Twin Spirit Island.”

The Proprietress nodded in agreement, “I share the same sentiment.” Among the three great forces in the Shadowless Cave Heaven, Twin Spirit Island was the weakest because they only had two Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Unrivalled Guild had three while Profound Yang Mountain had four. What’s more, the Head Mountain Lord was just one step away from the Seventh-Order.

As a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, if the Proprietress joined Twin Spirit Island, it would allow them to be on par with Unrivalled Guild, which was a chance for Twin Spirit Island to strengthen its position.

Furthermore, the Proprietress had headed to Twin Spirit Island some time ago and was greeted hospitably by the two Island Masters. They had a joyous chat during the encounter, and the Island Masters were obviously trying to persuade her to join them. There was no doubt that they were more polite than those from Profound Yang Mountain.

After a moment of silence, the Proprietress spoke up, “Let’s talk about it after the Astral Wind is gone.”

Without any objections, Chef and Accountant nodded. Then, they started setting up some arrays in the cave. The Astral Wind was able to penetrate everything, including the Small Universes of Open Heaven Realm Masters. Although their arrays were not highly effective, it was better than nothing at all.

The Proprietress didn’t leave again, and three days later, the Astral Wind struck just as expected. Initially, it was just a light breeze, but it soon turned into a gale and caused a sandstorm outside of the cave.

Despite the fact that they were hiding inside the lava cave below the volcano, the Astral Wind was still able to sneak into the place and grind away the World Force in their Small Universes.

Obviously, it wasn’t the first time the Proprietress and the others faced such a predicament, and after so many experiences, they had developed some methods to resist. The strange wind in this damned place would strike once a month for one to two hours with a margin of error of three days. In the entire Shadowless Cave Heaven, besides safe places like the Headquarters of the three great forces, only a few places like the area around this caldera were able to weaken the strange wind.

They had been looking for the reason behind it but to no avail. Even the three great forces couldn’t figure it out as they speculated that it had something to do with the deceased Shadowless Divine Monarch; after all, it was a Universe Cave Heaven left behind by him after his death, so any strange events could be traced back to him.

Fortunately, the three of them had prepared a lot of cultivation resources. Since the Proprietress’ return to the cave, she had been refining them non-stop. Presently, she was working harder to replenish the loss of her strength.

Suddenly, an extremely pure Wood Element Power exploded from the depths of the cave. The Proprietress and the others were stunned as they opened their eyes and fell into a dazed state.

An emerald green ancient tree had abruptly appeared before their eyes, one with a gigantic crown that covered the entire cave. A soft green light descended from the tree, containing an astonishing vitality that cast a green glow on their figures and made them feel completely at ease.

“What is this?” Chef was astounded.

“Is it a Divine Manifestation?” Accountant exclaimed.

The Proprietress nodded her head, “It should be so.”

She had sharp vision and vast experience, so she could tell that it was a Divine Manifestation the moment she saw it. Following that, she turned to look at Yang Kai’s secret room and realised that it was where the roots of the tree were located. Apparently, the Wood Element Divine Manifestation was Yang Kai’s doing.

The Proprietress couldn’t help but wonder about the Order of Wood Element Power Yang Kai had condense, which allowed him to use such an incredible Divine Manifestation.

The moment she found out that Yang Kai had condensed the Golden Crow’s True Fire, she knew that he must have condensed a High-Rank Wood Element Power as well; otherwise, he couldn’t have suppressed the burning power of the Golden Crow’s True Fire.

However, High-Rank Wood Element treasures could still be classified into different Orders. The Proprietress had never probed Yang Kai about his background, but now it seemed that the Wood Element treasure he had refined was truly extraordinary. Otherwise, such a Wood Element Divine Manifestation couldn’t have been derived from it.

Resting under the gigantic tree, they not only felt warm and comfortable, but also clear-headed, like their thoughts had been accelerated. They had also discovered that they were able to restore their strength at a quicker pace.

All of a sudden, Chef exclaimed, “This Divine Manifestation seems able to ward off the wind, Proprietress.”

Certainly, the Proprietress was aware of that as well. The moment the Divine Manifestation exploded out, the Astral Wind in the cave disappeared, kept off entirely by the green aura around them.

Silavin: Not sure why the author kept saying this is a Secret Technique when it was introduced as a Divine Manifestation at the start. It’s from something that is of Higher Order than the Golden Crow’s True Fire, so it is logical for it to be a Divine Manifestation as well.