Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Glancing at the closed gates of the treasure vault, Miao Hong smacked his lips and asked Hua Rong, “What is Alchemist Yang’s current cultivation?”

Hua Rong glanced sideways at him, “Why are you asking so many questions?”

The aggressive reply left him unable to catch his breath. Unfortunately, she was a Spirit Realm Master, so while he might be a City Lord, Miao Hong did not dare to make a fool of himself in front of Hua Rong. He could only smile flatteringly in response.

Wan Ying Ying probably couldn’t bear to continue watching. Her Eldest Senior Brother was borrowing the other party’s land and Red Jades after all, which was why she spoke up softly from the side, “Eldest Senior Brother is currently in the Ninth-Step Heaven Realm!”

Even though he had guessed as much, Miao Hong couldn’t help gasping at those words.

When they first met, Yang Kai had only been in the Ninth-Step Earth Realm at the time. Only four years or so had passed since then, but Yang Kai was already in the Ninth-Step Heaven Realm! That was the same as Miao Hong himself! Even if Heaven Grade Alchemists did not lack for pills to aid in their cultivation, the speed at which Yang Kai grew was terrifying.

Miao Hong had never heard of anybody who could advance from the Ninth-Step Earth Realm to the Ninth-Step Heaven Realm in such a short time. Seeing as Yang Kai not only came here to borrow Red Jades, but also to enter retreat, it was obvious that he was planning to break through into the Spirit Realm!

[The Spirit Realm... I’ve been yearning for that Realm for so many years!] Miao Hong had been stuck in the Ninth-Step Heaven Realm for a long time. His accumulation had reached its peak, so all he lacked was a Hundred Revolutions Clear Heart Pill!

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, his eyes immediately brightened. He had helped Yang Kai to advance into the Spirit Realm. If everything went smoothly, Yang Kai would surely become a Spirit Realm Alchemist. Therefore, it would not be too difficult to ask Yang Kai to refine a Hundred Revolutions Clear Heart Pill for him when the time came!

[The key for me to advance into the Spirit Realm might just lie with him!]

…..

Inside Heavenly Martial City’s treasure vault, Yang Kai sat down cross-legged with the small mountain of Red Jades piled up beside him and focused his mind. A long while passed before he took out a small jade box.

As soon as he opened the jade box, a longan-sized pill entered his view. This tiny pill had cost him 10,000 contribution points. More importantly, it was the key to advancing into the Spirit Realm! It was a Hundred Revolutions Clear Heart Pill!

Half a year ago, Yang Kai purchased a Hundred Revolutions Clear Heart Pill for Hua Rong when she was needed to advance into the Spirit Realm. Considering that he would definitely need one in the future, he had also prepared one for himself.

In any case, he did not lack for contribution points in Profound Pill Sect. Having contributed various pill recipes and other Alchemy-related knowledge over the past few years. By now, he had accumulated more than 100,000 contribution points in the Contribution Hall.

It would seem that his actions at the time had been a wise choice; otherwise, he would be stuck trying to figure out a way to refine the Hundred Revolutions Clear Heart Pill at this moment.

Gathering his thoughts, Yang Kai opened his mouth and swallowed the pill. He simultaneously activated the Heaven Devouring Battle Law and his entire body immediately transformed into a black hole that devoured everything around him. The Spirit Qi contained within the Red Jades piled up inside the vault was pulled by an irresistible force and gathered inside his body.

His flesh squirmed, his meridians swelled, and the Spirit Qi accumulated inside his body became larger and larger as a result. At the same time, crackling sounds rang out incessantly as the Red Jades quickly ran out of energy and turned into dust.

Half an hour later, Yang Kai’s entire body had swelled up massively as his clothes and his black hair flapped wildly around him. In the short span of half an hour, he had already consumed as many as 100,000 pieces of Red Jade. Moreover, this was just the beginning!

More and more pieces of Red Jades were drained clean with the passing of time. The meridians below his flesh squirmed like earthworms, looking extremely terrifying.

It felt as though there were invisible shackles in his body, but under the continuous impact of the massive amounts of Spirit Qi, these shackles were constantly showing signs of loosening. A faint blood mist permeated the air, lingering around the sides of his body.

At this time, Yang Kai was very glad that he had spent an extra year strengthening his Dragon Vein after reaching the Ninth-Step Heaven Realm. If he had advanced directly into the Spirit Realm without any forethought back then, his body might not have been able to withstand such violent force.

The power of the Heaven Devouring Battle Law was terrifying beyond imagination. Not to mention, this power would increase with the improvement of one’s cultivation. Without a strong enough body as support, it would be impossible to support the influx of so much power all at once. Even at this moment, Yang Kai could feel various aches and pains all over his body, and there was no need to even look to know how many injuries he had sustained during this breakthrough.

Ignoring everything, Yang Kai continued to circulate the Heaven Devouring Battle Law and devoured the energy within the surrounding Red Jades without pause. Following the consumption of many Red Jades, he felt himself coming closer and closer to the barrier.

At a certain moment, a shout came from outside the door. It was followed by several loud crashes mixed with low groans. Immediately after that, the gates of the treasure vault shattered apart and an old man slowly walked inside the treasure vault amidst the flying rubble, his hands behind his back. Snorting, he shouted, “Don’t be so presumptuous!”

When he lifted his gaze and looked forward, his eyes immediately contracted and his expression filled with horror! Even with his experience and knowledge, he had never seen such a bizarre sight before.

Yang Kai was sitting down cross-legged inside the treasure vault with a thick blood mist lingering around his body. Nobody knew what kind of strange Secret Art he was cultivating, but more importantly, there was a frenzy of energy gathered around his body. The energy turmoil was absolutely terrifying, almost as if the oceans themselves were all boiling!

Another person followed closely behind the old man and walked into the room. Similarly, he soon froze in shock.

These two were Old Man Qi and Wu Zheng Qi. Yang Kai had disappeared from right in front of them yesterday. A search of their surroundings might have been to no avail, but they did not give up so easily; after all, they had received orders to bring Yang Kai back alive. There was no reasonable explanation for their empty-handed return if they gave up just like that.

After a brief discussion, they sent the other Spirit Realm Master back to report to Profound Pill Sect while the two of them, Old Man Qi and Wu Zheng Qi, continued to search for Yang Kai’s whereabouts.

While passing through the vicinity of Heavenly Martial City, the two of them sensed an unusual Spirit Qi fluctuation and immediately came over to investigate the situation only to encounter Hua Rong and the others who were standing guard outside the treasure vault.

Never had they expected to be so lucky as to find Yang Kai’s whereabouts so easily. Even though Hua Rong and the others had tried to stop them, what could a newly-advanced Spirit Realm Master and a Ninth-Step Heaven Realm Master do against Old Man Qi? They were easily knocked aside by the old man with a few casual moves.

When Old Man Qi entered the treasure vault, he was greeted by the scene in front of him.

Wu Zheng Qi was taken aback for a moment, “Old Qi, Alchemist Yang seems to be advancing into the Spirit Realm...”

Old Man Qi nodded almost imperceptibly and said lightly, “Let’s wait.”

Old Man Qi did not attack immediately. The order Baili Yun Sang gave him was to bring Yang Kai back alive, and if he attacked now, Yang Kai’s breakthrough would inevitably be disturbed. Yang Kai would die on the spot if he were distracted at such a critical moment, which was why Old Man Qi did not dare to take such risks.

As Baili Yun Sang’s personal Blood Warrior, Old Man Qi was well aware that Yang Kai’s existence was very important to Profound Pill Sect; furthermore, Yang Kai would only be useful alive. A dead man had no value.

Fortunately, they did not need to wait long. In less than an hour’s time, a powerful aura erupted from within Yang Kai’s body and a shockwave that was visible to the naked eye spread out in all directions. Everything in the treasure vault was thrown into disarray as a result.

Both the expressions of Old Man Qi and Wu Zheng Qi sank slightly. They had never seen such a violent and imposing breakthrough before.

The blood mist suddenly dispersed, and Yang Kai abruptly jerked his eyes open. His eyes were scarlet and contained a deep-seated evil, as if they could penetrate space to look into the essence of everything in the world.

“Just what kind of Evil Art did you cultivate!?” Old Man Qi shouted the question with a frown. At this moment, Yang Kai gave him a completely different feeling from usual.

A malevolent aura lingered around Yang Kai, making him seem like a Wild Beast that had finally obtained freedom after being trapped for many years and was hungry to devour its prey. He seemed like a completely different person compared to his usual demeanour.

Yang Kai ignored Old Man Qi, looked down at his hands, and clenched his fists lightly. It felt as though the entire world was in the palm of his hands when he slowly closed his fist.

Wu Zheng Qi stepped forward and shouted, “Alchemist Yang, stop going down the wrong path. Please follow us back to the Sect.”

Yang Kai looked up at Wu Zheng Qi. The corner of his lips lifted slightly, revealing a sinister smile, “The one going down the wrong path is you!”

Wu Zheng Qi frowned, “Alchemist Yang, are you suffering from cultivation dissonance?”

Yang Kai’s current state felt very wrong to him.

“No! I’m perfectly fine! I’ve never been better!” While speaking, Yang Kai slowly stood up and took a deep breath. An enraptured expression appeared on his face, “Power is truly delightful!”

Old Man Qi’s expression darkened, “He is probably suffering from cultivation dissonance. Don’t waste time talking to him! Capture him!”

Wu Zheng Qi nodded lightly and shouted, “Alchemist Yang, please forgive me!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, his body shot towards Yang Kai like an arrow, unsheathing his blade and slashing down as he approached!

The blade in his hand was a Spirit Armament. As the Vice Hall Master of Profound Pill Sect’s the Divine Flame Hall and a Fifth-Step Spirit Realm Master, it was only natural that he qualified to wield a Spirit Armament.

The blade light was blinding as Wu Zheng Qi poured his lifelong cultivation into this slash. Regardless of whether it was the angle of the blade or the timing of his attack, both were impeccable. He was confident he could split a mountain with this single stroke.

At that moment, Old Man Qi’s shout suddenly entered his ears, “Watch out!”

Before Wu Zheng Qi could figure out what was happening, his vision blurred all of a sudden. Yang Kai appeared in front of him without any warning. Immediately after that, an overwhelming and terrifying force came from the front. His figure halted for a moment in mid-air, then he was violently thrown backward.

*Hong...*

A loud rumbling crash rang out as Wu Zheng Qi did not know how many walls he smashed through before he stopped skidding backward. A path of destroyed buildings was left in his wake.

Using his blade to push against the ground, he managed to climb to a half kneeling position with some difficulty. A mouthful of blood surged up from the back of his throat. Opening his mouth, he vomited blood. The Spirit Qi in his body was extremely agitated and the hand with which he held his sword was bloody and trembling uncontrollably. Even the muscles along his arm had burst open.

An inexplicable sense of terror flooded his heart, and his eyes widened as far as they could. It was not until this moment that he realised Yang Kai had seriously injured him in a single move!

That terrifying force that struck him and the unstoppable invasion of Spirit Qi nearly made Wu Zheng Qi think that he was facing a Ninth-Step Spirit Realm Master rather than a newly-advanced one!

*Hong hong hong...*

A series of explosions sounded, and every single one was accompanied by a violent eruption of Sword Qi. Wu Zheng Qi looked up and saw a scene that he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Old Man Qi was a Ninth-Step Spirit Realm Master, but he was clearly being suppressed by Yang Kai in the sky! Every time sword light flashed, fresh blood was drawn!