Martial Peak
chapter-1014

Inside the familiar cave, the World Energy condensed into a pure liquid that dripped down from the stalactites above and crisply splattered on the ground.

The entire cave was covered in a thin fog, the World Energy aura so thick it was almost inexhaustible.

Yang Kai sat cross-legged, his hundreds of millions of pores all fully opened, madly swallowing this rich aura, enhancing his strength at a rate that was nearly visible to the naked eye.

Before leaving to travel the Starry Sky, Yang Kai had just broken through to the Saint Realm.

Wandering the Star Field for many days, he had failed to find a place to settle down and cultivate in peace.

Then, he had been captured by the Purple Star cultivators and taken aboard their Starship, once again affording him no time to cultivate.

Before he could make his escape, he and all the Purple Star cultivators had been stranded on this Floating Continent where his cultivation had been sealed for two months.

Now that he had finally regained his freedom, Yang Kai intended to take full advantage of this situation.

Only by becoming strong could he open up more possibilities. Even in the most desperate of circumstances, Yang Kai had never considered giving up.

Yang Kai had altered the terrain of this cave slightly to allow the rich World Energy aura to flow more quickly towards him, maximizing his ability to absorb and utilize it.

His cultivation thus steadily began to grow.

When he noticed his rate of cultivation progress slowing down, Yang Kai would take a break and refine several pills to adjust his mood or go out and explore the beauty of this continent while searching the jungles of the mountains for precious herbs.

What Shen Tu said was absolutely right. The material wealth in this place was beyond rich, almost everywhere Yang Kai went he would find spirit grasses and spirit medicines, each of them fully mature and containing potent medical efficacies.

Any Alchemist that arrived here would likely have their heart stop from over excitement.

The pills Yang Kai refined were also used to enhance his cultivation, each Saint Pill that entered his belly increasing rate at which he could enhance his strength to the very limit.

However, cultivation for Yang Kai now was not just a matter of gathering power.

At Yang Kai’s current realm, every additional break through required both an accumulation of strength as well as a certain amount of comprehension and enlightenment.

Strength included both his flesh body and Soul strength, while comprehension and enlightenment regarding the Martial Dao and Heavenly Way were also essential. If any of these factors were lacking, it would impede Yang Kai’s ability to continue improving himself.

But for Yang Kai, thanks to his solid foundation, these things weren’t much of an issue and his cultivation experienced no bottlenecks at all.

Day by day, in this wondrous environment, Yang Kai’s strength grew rapidly, and he even faintly felt he was approaching the Second Order Saint Realm.

He estimated that from the time he and Shen Tu separated, almost a year had passed.

Yang Kai hadn’t met other people in a long time and did not communicate with anyone, but he was still aware that the atmosphere in the continent had undergone some changes.

The Purple Star and Sword Union cultivators seemed to be disappearing one by one, their life auras vanishing from the continent periodically, their fate naturally clear to Yang Kai.

Obviously, they had been thrown into Gui Zu’s Space Array and never returned.

At first, Yang Kai was able to perceive the activity of some nearby cultivators through his Divine Sense, but for the last six months, no one had actually entered his sensory range.

It was as if he was the only one left in the entire continent!

On a certain day, Yang Kai was in meditation when suddenly his face changed, his eyes shot open, and he stared off in a certain direction.

From that direction, a gloomy aura spread like a great tidal wave, sweeping over most of the continent. Even from ten thousand kilometres away, Yang Kai could clearly feel this frightening aura, causing him to tremble unconsciously and forcing him to circulate his True Yang Yuan Qi to resist its erosion.

At the same time, Yang Kai was keenly aware that the plants outside the cave where he had been staying were rapidly withering and was being stained with rich Death Qi, as if the world itself was dying.

Gui Zu’s roar suddenly rang through the Heavens, “Why?! Why is it not successful? This old master worked painstakingly for a thousand years, yet why can’t I leave this damned place!”

His voice was hysterical.

And his raw anger was literally affecting the entire whole around him.

Yang Kai suddenly realized that Gui Zu seemed to have made little or no progress on his Space Array during this past year and was now becoming desperate.

Yang Kai held his breath and remained motionless.

“Little brat, come to this old master now!” The voice of Gui Zu suddenly sounded in Yang Kai’s ear.

Yang Kai’s expression turned incredibly bitter and knew not whether this was a blessing or a curse, but if it was a curse, it couldn’t be avoided, so he stood up and walked out of his cave, summoning his Star Shuttle then shooting off towards the mountain where Gui Zu lived.

After an hour, he arrived halfway up the mountainside and leapt down.

Sweeping his eyes around, Yang Kai sighed heavily, discovering that of the nearly one hundred cultivators who had arrived here with him, only about ten remained, the others were nowhere to be seen.

Of these ten though, Yang Kai actually knew more than half.

Sword Union’s beautiful woman Yue Xi, and the He Zao, He Miao sisters.

Lu Gui Chen and Bi Ya of Purple Star.

Shen Tu was also present.

That Liu Shan he had encountered once before had disappeared, his end obviously quite pitiful.

When Yang Kai appeared, everyone turned a gloomy look towards him, a dreary atmosphere surrounding all of them, none of them seeming to have any spirit left.

This reunion of misfortunate people was completely different from last time. Although everyone was worried and anxious last time, at least they had some hope they could one day leave this place and escape from the despotic control of Gui Zu, but now, none of them had such hope anymore, their eyes dim, without a single trace of light.

They were like a group of prisoners waiting to be executed.

Shen Tu turned to Yang Kai and nodded lightly, not even saying hello, apparently not in the mood to say anything.

“It seems your days have been quite pleasant little brat,” Gui Zu stood in the middle of the Space Array and stared at Yang Kai with a sneer.

“Senior, I have been very honest during this time. I have lived in seclusion, never provoking any kind of trouble,” Yang Kai’s mouth twitched, not understanding why he was suddenly being stared at by this old demon.

“This Old master knows! All your whereabouts cannot escape this old master’s perception. This old master naturally knows you’ve been very honest!” Gui Zu smirked, “But it is exactly because of this that this old master is very unhappy! Why does it seem like you’re not even worried about whether you can leave this damned place or not?”

Yang Kai suddenly understood what the problem was.

It was because he had been too quiet and obedient that he was being targeted. Everyone else was spending their days filled with anxiety, yet Yang Kai appeared as if he had no worries at all, obviously something with him was different.

“Junior is naturally worried about this issue, but aside from leaving this matter to Senior, what else am I supposed to do? Junior’s strength is low and his knowledge is shallow, I really can’t think of any good way to escape from here.”

“Enough flattery!” Gui Zu spat angrily, “Usually if you say a few good words, this old master may be pleased, but now… heh, this old master couldn’t care less!”

Yang Kai shut his mouth promptly.

Yue Xi, Lu Gui Chen and all the others wore panicked expressions as they listened to the conversation between Yang Kai and Gui Zu with trepidation, secretly praying Yang Kai didn’t do anything to further enrage Gui Zu.

Gui Zu figure stumbled, as if he was lacking strength, his pair of eyes drawing back in their sockets and filling with darkness.

There was a weird look on his face, as if he was talking to himself but simultaneously speaking to everyone, “When this old master was young, he had some fortuitous encounters, and managed to cultivate an evil strength, allowing me to slowly but steadily grow to the Saint King Realm. At that time, this old master was only one hundred years old, a strong young man who enjoyed freedom and dreamed of one day allowing his name to spread far and wide across the Star Field. But all of that was destroyed one night when my enemies broke into my home and murdered my wife and family. This old man didn’t die there though, and while seriously injured, fled all the way to the Chaotic Abyss where I lost my way. Soon after, the chaotic energies exploded, producing a domain eruption and dragging this old master into this continent. Here, the materials were abundant, and the World Energy aura was rich beyond imagination. This old master thought it was the Heavens granting me an opportunity to become strong, then go out and seek revenge on my enemies!”

Arriving at this point, his face suddenly became fierce, “I never imagined that even after reaching the Origin King Realm, this old master would still be caged in this damned place like a prisoner! If this old master cannot ever escape from here, even if I possess unfathomable strength, what good is it?”

“This old master must seek his revenge, must slaughter that man to comfort the souls of my dead wife and children!” He snarled at the crowd.

“Senior, two thousand years have passed, your enemies may have died long ago,” Yang Kai frowned.

“Then I will kill his sons and grandchildren, wipe clean his blood from the world! I’ll kill anyone who was ever related to him, I’ll slaughter the entire star he comes from, turning it into a Dead Star!” Gui Zu screamed wildly, like a crazed vengeful spirit.

“This old master’s obsession, do you now understand?” Turning around, he glared menacingly towards the crowd.

Everyone nodded, no one daring to show any disobedience.

“Good, you understand,” Gui Zu grinned evilly, before shouting, “Then help this old master one last time. After today… this old master won’t look for you again.”

Everyone’s heart filled with unease.

Ignoring what everyone else thought, Gui Zu quickly busied himself adjusting the Space Array while saying, “Thanks to your arrival, this old master managed to run multiple trials. The mysteries of space elude this old master still, so this Void Corridor has always been unstable and I cannot tell where it will send someone. This time, each of you must strive hard to succeed, whether you live or die is up to your own luck.”

As he said so, Gui Zu finished rearranging the giant array and activated it, a Void Corridor once again opening in the small door covered in a thin layer of Space Spirit Crystal. Turning to Yang Kai, the old man waved, “Little brat, you first!”

“Why me?” Yang Kai asked angrily.

The last time Gui Zu called everyone together, he was the first one to be chosen, and this time, the situation was exactly the same. Yang Kai really didn’t know where he had annoyed Gui Zu so badly to deserve such treatment.

“Enough nonsense!” Gui Zu ignored his complaints directly and stretched out his bony hand towards Yang Kai, directly dragging him over.

“Senior, isn’t this a bit unfair to him? Last time we gathered, you chose him, shouldn’t you find someone else this time?” A voice suddenly called out.

Just as he was preparing to throw Yang Kai into the Void Corridor, Gui Zu paused and turned a gloomy look towards He Zao’s pretty, pale face.

Yang Kai expression also changed, not having expected that at this last moment, she would actually try to speak up for him.

“Yes, Senior, why purposefully target Brother Yang?” Shen Tu snorted, emboldened by He Zao’s words.

He Miao’s beautiful eyes also flashed as she anxiously nodded, silently expression her agreement.