Martial Peak
chapter-1345

Chapter 1345, World Spirit

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

After a few careful examinations by the Saint King Realm Juniors, all of them showing amazed looks because the robes on these ice sculptures were clearly similar to the Sect uniforms of Shadowed Star’s current great Sects.

For example, there was one person with a small thunder pattern embroidered on their chest, which was the emblem of the Thunder Typhoon Sect.

Another person had the character for ‘War’ emblazoned on his sleeve cuff, identifying him as a disciple of Heaven Battling Union.

There were others who wore uniforms from Coloured Glass Sect, Grand Fire Temple, Myriad Beast Mountain, etc as well. Fei Zhi Tu even found a Senior who once belonged to Shadow Moon Hall.

The cultivators frozen here were all great masters, and since they were able to reach this place, their luck was also quite good. Each of them had profound strength and means, but they all still fell here.

“Is this the time to be casually observing these people?” Yang Kai frowned, seeing Fei Zhi Tu and the others all glancing towards the Space Ring worn by these dead Seniors, urging them lightly, “Perhaps these people being frozen here means there is some great danger here, shouldn’t we hurry and leave?”

When Yang Kai said this, the looks on Fei Zhi Tu and the others sank.

When they discovered these ice sculptures just now, everyone naturally was attracted to their Space Ring. Since these people were all famous masters during their lifetimes, there were definitely many good things in their Space Rings.

Everyone had some degree of greed in them but while they were distracted by thoughts of these Space Rings, all of them had failed to wonder why these people would all be frozen in this place until Yang Kai spoke out.

Fei Zhi Tu instantly felt some cold sweat drip down his back and nodded quickly, “Exactly! Let’s hurry!”

Ning Xiang Chen and the others also withdrew their unwilling gazes and immediately fell in behind Fei Zhi Tu and Yang Kai.

But after walking just a thousand metres, Yang Kai suddenly snorted, “Who!”

At the same time, a Golden Thread shot out from his hand and pierced towards the air. There was a flash of white light and a faint flicker of a shadow before whatever it was disappeared from everyone’s sight without a trace. However, at that moment, a burst of frigid Ice Attribute Energy descended, crashing towards the group and colliding with the protective curtain formed by the Artifact Spirit, causing it to creak audibly.

In the blink of an eye, the Firebird’s layer of protection was punctured and a terrifying wave of Ice Attribute Energy rushed in through the hole that had been opened. Fortunately, the Grand Fire Ward played its role and blocked this rush of cold energy.

Even so, Fei Zhi Tu’s complexion paled because the residual Ice Attribute Energy which penetrated the Firebird’s defensive cover still nearly caused the Grand Fire Ward to collapse.

“What was that?” Ning Xiang Chen’s face changed greatly as his eyes began darting around.

Everyone else was equally frightened. Without even mentioning how strong the protective heat curtain formed by the Artifact Spirit was, the Grand Fire Ward was originally a special artifact owned by Shadow Moon Hall’s Sect Master that specialized in restraining cold energy, but simply being touched by whatever it was that attacked them had nearly caused it to break. It could be imagined just how powerful this blast of Ice Attribute energy was.

If not for these two layers of protection, whatever happened a moment ago might have caused everyone here to join their nearby frozen Seniors.

There really was great danger in this place!

Yang Kai’s face was particularly ugly, because in that brief exchange a moment ago, he discovered that his Firebird Artifact Spirit was not this attacker’s opponent, a fact which greatly shocked him.

The Artifact Spirit had been formed under tens of thousands of years of accumulated Fire Attribute Energy from the Earth Lung Fire Pond, yet it still couldn’t compete with this creature. What exactly was it they were facing then?

Fortunately, the flashing white light did not attempt to hide itself for long. After failing in its initial attack, it re-appeared in its original form a short distance away.

Glancing over at this creature, everyone could not help feeling stunned.

Because their attacker turned out to be a white rabbit, but this white rabbit was quite large, at least three times the size of a normal rabbit. It was covered in snow white hair without the slightest blemish, like it was a sculpture carved from the finest white jade. Only its pair of eyes was different, crimson red in colour and exuding a violent and cruel light.

“World Energy Manifestation!”

“World Spirit!”

Fei Zhi Tu and the other Origin Returning Realm masters exclaimed.

With their knowledge and vision, they were naturally able to see that this white rabbit didn’t possess a true physical form but was instead an existence similar to the Firebird Artifact Spirit which was completely composed of World Energy and possessed its own sentience.

This kind of existence was known as a World Spirit!

Artifact Spirits could barely be classified as World Spirits; they differed greatly from the genuine article because they were born from Artifacts. For instance, Yang Kai’s Firebird was his Artifact Refining Furnace’s Artifact Spirit and the Artifact Refining Furnace was the foundation of its existence. Once the Artifact Refining Furnace was damaged, the Artifact Spirit would possibly be destroyed.

But this white rabbit with red eyes in front of them was a true World Spirit. It did not have a container from which it was born, instead it was purely a manifestation of the intense Ice Attribute Energy in this place that had gained self-awareness and sapience over many millennia.

World Spirits were extremely scarce, and their value was immeasurable.

Once a cultivator with the same attribute obtained a World Spirit, if they could refine or even absorb it, their strength would increase dramatically without any negative side-effects, saving them many years of cultivation.

However, World Spirits were also incredibly powerful, so even if someone managed to find one they were compatible with, they may have the tables turned on them and be killed by it before they could capture it.

Although everyone had long speculated that some good things would be born in this ice road under such severe conditions and after years of accumulation, no one had expected that a World Spirit would appear.

For a moment, everyone’s expression was filled with a strange mix of emotions including, fear, excitement, panic, and so on.

Why all these Seniors had been frozen into ice sculptures was apparent now, it was clearly the handiwork of this World Spirit. It had hidden itself among the flows of Ice Attribute Energy and suddenly launched a sneak attack, catching even Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters by surprise. With its strength and means, once a cultivator was hit, they would not have a good end.

If Yang Kai had not received a warning from his Artifact Spirit just now, he definitely would not have noticed this World Spirit’s approach. It was also only because the Firebird and this white rabbit World Spirit’s attributes were polar opposites that the former realized an incoming attack a moment ago.

It was no wonder Yang Kai felt his Artifact Spirit was not this thing’s opponent, it turned out to be a genuine World Spirit!

At this moment, the World Spirit in the form of a white rabbit was staring at Yang Kai’s group with clear, malicious intent, making none of them dare act rashly.

Fei Zhi Tu’s face twitched as he asked, “This is quite a problem. Does anyone have a way to scare it off?”

He did not expect anyone here to be able to defeat this World Spirit or even capture it. Driving it off so that they could cross this ice road was the best he could hope for. In front of such a powerful World Spirit, in this environment, even if the eight of them joined hands they might not necessarily be its opponent. The reason why the other party had not attacked again was only that the layers of protection formed by the Firebird and the Grand Fire Ward restrained it.

But this place was flooded with Ice Attribute Energy, so as long as it could stall for time, the power of the Artifact Spirit and Grand Fire Ward would be exhausted at some point and this white rabbit wouldn’t even need to act as none of Yang Kai’s group would be able to survive.

Hearing Fei Zhi Tu’s question, everyone wore an ugly expression and shook their heads.

Ning Xiang Chen’s complexion paled as he whispered, “I’ve heard that World Spirits like to devour the vitality of living creatures to strengthen themselves. It seems the reason all our Seniors here were killed was because of this reason.”

“Swallow vitality?” The several Saint King Realm Juniors paled, apparently hearing this secret for the first time.

Yang Kai, however, revealed a weird look, secretly thinking that if this white rabbit really wanted to devour their vitality, he may have a way to lead it away.

After all, the amount of vitality in his Golden Blood was astonishing, so as long as he put out a drop, it should be enough to lead this white rabbit away. However, this white rabbit was far too fast, and there was no way to tell how long this ice road was, so if it managed to swallow the drop of Golden Blood Yang Kai put out before their group left this place, it would definitely return to pursue them. At that point, Yang Kai would be forced to put out a second or third drop, possibly even more.

It was not cost-effective! Yang Kai shook his head secretly, deciding to use this method as a last resort. Only if there was no other feasible way for them to escape would he use his Golden Blood to attract its attention.

“If we can’t lead it away, we can only try to break through!” Fei Zhi Tu smiled bitterly, “Continuing to delay will only make the situation worse. Everyone, stay alert. Let’s go.”

“Yes!” Everyone nodded their heads before summoning their defensive artifacts to protect themselves.

Lian Guang said nothing before suddenly throwing out a python puppet. After pouring his Saint Qi into the puppet, it transformed from a tiny figure into one that was over ten metres in length. With its thick scales and imposing aura, it was clearly not weaker than a Third-Order Saint King cultivator.

“Go!” Lian Guang snorted, sending his python puppet out to clear the way ahead. Apparently, he intended to use this puppet to attract the attention of the white rabbit.

Generally speaking, rabbits had an instinctual fear of snakes, so although no one knew if this would be the case with this World Spirit, Lian Guang felt it was worth a try.

Seeing this, a trace of satisfaction flashed across Fei Zhi Tu’s face as he led everyone to closely follow behind the giant python.

The group’s actions weren’t too hurried, and their pace wasn’t very fast as they didn’t want to stimulate the white rabbit unnecessarily.

The giant python puppet, on the other hand, lifted its head high and displayed a mighty stance, surprising Yang Kai greatly.

The Lian Family’s techniques for refining and controlling puppets were impressive. This python would be indistinguishable from a real one if not for the fact that it did not radiate any vitality.

Nearby, the white rabbit’s crimson eyes flashed a strange light. Obviously, its sentience wasn’t low and, after staring at the giant python for a moment, its body began to distort and it soon transformed into a giant eagle.

A loud eagle cry rang out and in the next moment, the transformed World Spirit swooped down at the python’s head while spewing a white mist from its beak.

Seeing this, everyone paled as none of them had thought this World Spirit would actually know how to freely manipulate its form.

Lian Guang was even more surprised and quickly formed a seal with his hand, causing the python puppet to stand upright, open its mouth, and spew out an imposing red beam of light.

However, when this red beam of light touched the white mist, it was instantly overwhelmed and frozen. Not only that, but when the white mist reached the python itself, its body began to freeze over at a speed visible to the naked eye, making an eerie crackling sound as it happened.