Martial Peak
chapter-1196

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain

Among the three in this group, an elderly man, who was apparently their leader, had listened to this Second Order Saint King complain the entire way and finally couldn’t help but persuade him, “Forget it, the force behind him is too powerful, not something our Flowing Cloud Valley can afford to provoke. That’s just how life is. You also know that Heaven Battling Union is like this, so why keep complaining about it?”

“I just can’t stand it,” The man was still unsettled. “Who cares about Heaven Battling Union? Qu Chang Feng thinks too highly of himself, if it weren’t for Heaven Battling Union behind him, would he be able to act so arrogantly? I say he’s not worthy of his reputation, he definitely wouldn’t be either of two Senior Brothers’ opponent if there was a fight.”

The elderly man’s expression sank as he reprimanded, “You must not speak so irresponsibly! Although Qu Chang Feng is an arrogant playboy, there’s no question about his true strength. If it weren’t, relying solely on Heaven Battling Union’s authority, how could his name be known across all of Shadowed Star? You’ve heard of Fang Tian Zhong from Thunder Typhoon Sect, haven’t you? I heard that he and Qu Chang Feng have fought no less than ten times, but each time their battle would end in a tie. Since he can fight Fang Tian Zhong to a draw, your Senior Brother and I are definitely not his opponents. You must never despise those who have great reputations. Since they can become famous, they definitely have corresponding strength.”

“Even Fang Tian Zhong can’t beat him?” The Junior Brother was startled as he realized he had been greatly underestimating Qu Chang Feng’s ability.

“Indeed, that’s why each time the two of them meet, they are always at each other’s throats. Your Senior Brother Lu Ye knows this clearly.” When the elderly man spoke, he glanced over at the third person.

“Why would Senior Brother Lu Ye know about such matters?”

The elderly man explained, “Because once, while he was out wandering, your Senior Brother Lu Ye came across the two of them fighting. Junior Brother Lu Ye, tell him about the situation at that time so he knows not to belittle the world’s heroes in the future and lose his life without realizing why.”

At that moment, the Second Order Saint King turned a curious look towards the Senior Brother named Lu Ye.

However, Lu Ye’s brow was currently deeply wrinkled and seemed to be thinking deeply about something, his expression cloudy, as if he hadn’t heard the words of the elderly man.

“Junior Brother Lu, what’s on your mind?” The elderly man asked suspiciously. Since coming out of the stone cavern, Lu Ye seemed as if he had been lost in thought, unaware of the outside world, and even until now he had not recovered.

“Heh heh…” Lu Ye suddenly laughed lowly. They didn’t know why, but when this laughter reached their ears, the elderly man and the Second Order Saint King cultivator couldn’t help shivering as goosebumps formed on their skin.

The elderly man looked startled and thought that something had happened to Lu Ye in the Soul Cleansing Divine Water, hurriedly asking, “Junior Brother Lu, are you all right?”

“Me? Of course I’m fine, I’m very good, hahaha! I’m better than ever before!” As he spoke these words, Lu Ye’s eyes suddenly flashed an eerie green light. Lu Ye’s originally gentle face also distorted and became extremely fierce at that moment and in the next instant, his Saint Qi surged as he stuck out his hand and plunged it directly into the chest of that Second Order Saint King cultivator.

How could that cultivator think that his Senior Brother Lu Ye, who was usually kind and courteous, would suddenly try to kill him? Only after he felt the pain in his chest and looked down did he see and realize that Lu Ye’s hand had been inserted into his heart.

After spasming slightly, this man saw Lu Ye withdraw his hand from his chest, blood dripping from his fingers as his still-beating heart rested in his palm.

[Is that my heart?] Such a thought flickered across this cultivator’s mind with a trace of doubt before he fell backwards, the large hole in his chest spurting out a lot of blood.

“Lu Ye, what are you doing!?” The elderly man’s complexion changed greatly. His fellow Sect Brother had killed one of their juniors right before his eyes, never had he imagined he would witness such a scene.

As he angrily shouted, the elderly man condensed his Saint Qi and prepared to attack this murderer.

But how could he have guessed that a spike of Spiritual Energy would suddenly burst into his mind and instantly break through his Knowledge Sea’s defences, causing his consciousness to shake?

The elderly man groaned as his Knowledge Sea received serious damage in that instant, the Saint Qi he had just gathered dissipating without a trace.

Immediately, this old man saw Lu Ye maliciously grin towards him, the green fluorescence in his eyes becoming both brighter and stranger.

“You’re not…” The elderly man opened his mouth to exclaim, but before he could finish his sentence, his head was severed from his body by Lu Ye’s hand. Blood splashed out from the headless corpse and soon covered the surrounding several meter radius.

Lu Ye stood firm, flicking the blood from his hand before coldly snorting and declaring, “Of course I’m not!”

Even if he seemingly easily killed two Saint King Realm cultivators, Lu Ye still showed a look of dissatisfaction at this moment. This body’s aptitude was good, and quite suitable to cultivate his Secret Art, but his realm was simply too weak; compared to his peak, he was currently as vulnerable as an ant.

However, Lu Ye was still satisfied because he had finally managed to escape from that damned place. How many years had it been? Five thousand? Ten thousand? Twenty thousand?

He no longer remembered as it had been far too long. If no one had found that stone cavern for another thousand years, his Soul may really have disappeared from this world.

In order to break through some of the barriers surrounding that cavern so that someone could discover it, he had even shaved off portions of his Soul’s essence; if he hadn’t done so though, that stone cavern may have remained hidden forever. Fortunately, all his efforts had been worth it. Someone had really discovered that place, fulfilling the wish he had for so many aeons.

Lu Ye’s complexion turned pale for a moment, but he quickly suppressed that. Using such a powerful Soul Attack with this body had put a heavy load on him; worse, he had not yet completely adapted to this body he had recently seized.

It seemed he wouldn’t be able to use any other powerful techniques for a while.

Looking up and seeing the red hue of the Flame Area blotting out the sky, Lu Ye sneered, “The Three Suns Flame Rings! How much area does this take up?”

After saying such inexplicable words, he searched the Space Ring of the elderly man and the Second Order Saint King before burning their bodies, turning around, and running back towards the stalactite cave.

It didn’t take him long to return.

The stone cavern was now empty, and the pool of water had been scraped dry. Even the skeleton which was sitting nearby had been attacked by someone before they left, scattering its bones across the ground.

Seeing this scene, Lu Ye’s eyes flashed in annoyance before walking over to the scattered bones, bending down, and carefully arranging them, picking them up, and depositing them into his Space Ring.

While he did this, he wore a complicated expression filled with both sadness and reminiscence.

After collecting the bones, he walked into the empty pool and stood there for a while to think before tracing an irregular path at a specific pace. Every time he took a step, he would pour a certain amount of Saint Qi into the ground from his feet. Lu Ye’s expression was extremely serious, as if he was completing some extremely important task.

After walking for about a cup of tea worth of time, a light of anticipation gradually appeared in Lu Ye’s eyes.

Soon, he took one final step while pouring out just the right amount of Saint Qi.

*Kacha…*

At the center of the bottom of the pool, a gap suddenly split open revealing a hidden compartment.

Seeing this, Lu Ye smiled happily and quickly stepped forward, picked up a Space Ring which was hidden in this compartment, placed it on his hand, then breathed a sigh of relief.

With this ring, he could easily make a comeback.

The only thing that made him a bit annoyed was that his most important treasure had been taken away by that First-Order Saint King. The power flowing through that boy’s body, those black flames, was too strange. When he had previously entered that kid’s body to try to seize it, those black flames had nearly incinerated his Soul!

He had never seen a black flame like that before, one that seemed to blend both extreme heat and cold, good and evil. Its existence was an extreme contradiction in and of itself.

Lu Ye panicked at that time, and if he had remained inside that body for just three more breaths, he didn’t doubt his Soul would have been completely burnt into slag.

It was such a good body too. Being unable to seize that body inevitably made Lu Ye somewhat regretful.

“How could I allow you to also carry off my property?” Lu Ye sneered before releasing his Divine Sense. He firmly believed that even if Yang Kai took that thing and hid it in his Space Ring, he would easily be able to sense it.

Because that thing was his.

However, a moment later, Lu Ye couldn’t help feeling shocked because, no matter how he tried, he couldn’t sense that thing’s aura, as if it had disappeared into thin air.

“Impossible!” Lu Ye roared, his face twisted hysterically. He simply couldn’t believe it. Since that thing’s aura had disappeared, the only possibility was that kid had managed to refine it.

But that kid was just a trivial First-Order Saint King; even if he possessed incredible talent and skill, trying to fuse with that thing would only result in his immediate violent death!

That treasure was the most important thing for Lu Ye. As long as he had that, he could set off a new reign of terror throughout the entire Star Field, so now that it had disappeared, how could he not be infuriated? Without it, if Lu Ye wanted to restore his Soul cultivation, it would take him at least two or three thousand years.

At this point, Yang Kai was fifty kilometres away from the stalactite cave.

When he noticed Qu Chang Feng’s murderous intent, he had immediately left there, but now, without any specific goal in mind, he was just moving about at will.

When the Flowing Flame Sand Field first opened, his plan was to plunder the Treasure Area, but now that he had arrived, he felt deeply disappointed by the spirit grasses and spirit medicines produced here.

Besides the dozen or so stalks of Emerald Silk Grass, Yang Kai didn’t have any other harvests worth mentioning. Everything else he picked up was available in the outside world, and although they weren’t cheap, he was not short of money right now, so there was no need for him to waste time collecting them.

His biggest gain was naturally the benefits he obtained in the stalactite cave.

As his Soul was already far stronger than other cultivators in his realm, Yang Kai hadn’t personally benefitted much from the efficacies of the Soul Cleansing Divine Water, his Spiritual Energy only showing some slight improvements. However, the nourishment his Soul Warming Lotus had obtained was difficult to describe and more than made up for it.