Martial Peak
chapter-2487

Chapter 2487, Old Swindler

Yang Kai’s eyes filled with excitement at Mo Xiao Qi’s statement, even though he knew that they should not stay any longer, he could not help but hesitate.

The benefits he gained from the Shattered Star Sea were more than enough, but when he heard that this skeleton might belong to the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor, greed couldn’t help filling his mind.

If even Yang Kai was so interested, the other cultivators certainly could not help themselves.

The Space Ring worn on the skeleton’s finger had attracted everyone’s attention.

“Wastes, scram!” A deep voice thundered, followed by a long spear appearing in the sky, penetrating the void, and soaring towards the most crowded place.

A piercing power enveloped a vast area and as all the cultivators present sensed the spear’s power, their faces changed drastically and they hurried to retreat.

*Hong Hong Hong… *

The spear flew an erratic path, clearing a wide area on one side of the black hole.

Most cultivators ran away as soon as they saw how dangerous it was, but some who had slower reactions were struck by the spear and burst into a mist of blood without even time to let out a scream.

Yang Kai’s face slightly darkened as he looked around and saw a man standing majestically and sternly with a spear in his hand. This man had a burly figure and there was an extremely clear wave of Emperor Pressure lingering around his body.

[So, it’s him!]

Yang Kai recognized the man at once; it was the brawny young man with a spear that he met in the depths of the Source Sea last time.

“Liang Qiu, are you out of your mind!?”

“Damn you!”

“How dare you kill my Junior Brother? I’ll kill you!”

Those retreating cultivators reprimanded the brawny youth. Someone who knew him had already called out his name, while another person clamoured that he would take revenge for their Junior Brother, but all of them were just yelling and no one really dared to step forward.

The brawny young man was showing his Emperor Realm cultivation here, so it would be equivalent to courting death to challenge him.

Liang Qiu snorted coldly and rested his spear on his shoulder as he responded arrogantly, “What’s wrong? Are you upset? For those who are upset, you may roll over here and I’ll beat you until you are happy!”

He swept across the cultivators with his ferocious gaze, and those who met his eyes could not help but avert theirs. Liang Qiu then spat disdainfully, “A bunch of trash, how dare you covet the treasure of a Great Emperor!? Ridiculous! If you don’t want to die, quickly leave now.”

“Liang Qiu, don’t act too crazy! Although your Hundred Barbarian Mountain dominates in the Western Territory, it doesn’t mean that you can be so disrespectful in the Shattered Star Sea. Do you really think the whole world is afraid of you!?”

A berating voice came out from the crowd, echoing from place to place indistinctly, no one able to pinpoint its source. This person was obviously afraid of Liang Qiu and the Hundred Barbarian Mountain behind him, as such, he did not dare to openly rebuke him.

Liang Qiu sneered, “There are many heroes in the Shattered Star Sea, so naturally I cannot oppose all of them with just my Hundred Barbarian Mountain alone, but…” He snorted with his brows raised, “What if I’m with them?”

When his voice fell, eight people stood out from all directions and came together to Liang Qiu’s side.

Sii…

Everyone involuntarily gasped and took a few steps back in shock.

These eight people were all Emperor Realm Masters, and each was releasing a profound aura that was not to be trifled with.

Yang Kai frowned slightly as he swept his eyes across this group as he found that he recognized most of these eight Emperor Realm Masters.

Those who he had met in the Source Sea previously were all here, namely Chi Gui, Yao Si, Wu Chang, and the fat man he did not know the name of. Although Yang Kai did not know the rest, they were undoubtedly elite disciples of various top Sects of the Star Boundary who had obtained the opportunity in this Shattered Star Sea to break through to the Emperor Realm.

These people gathered in one place, even though they were not many in number, gave off a firm deterrent power as Emperors!

“You, all of you… such bullying!” Someone shouted angrily.

“Yes, treasures belong to those fated to obtain them! Who do you think you are to drive us away!?”

“We won’t leave, kill all of us if you dare!”

“Don’t be afraid of them, there are only a few of them while there are thousands of us!”

“The cultivators of our generation will sail against the wind and never back down!”

Shouts rose one after another as clearly many cultivators were unwilling to retreat just like this, even though they were facing nine Emperor Realm Masters here, they still insisted on staying, hoping for a chance to snatch the Space Ring from the skeleton.

If they were lucky enough to obtain that Space Ring, it was likely that they could turn over their situation and climb to the peak of success. Such an opportunity was rare and definitely worth some risks.

“Since you won’t retreat, then die!” Yao Si replied faintly. With his hand opened, streams of black Qi lashed out like living creatures from his body.

As soon as these wisps of black Qi left his body, they transformed into hideous, evil spirit-like creatures. They snapped their jaws and flashed their claws, charging towards the surrounding cultivators menacingly.

None of the cultivators here was weak, though, as they would need to have at least First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation to be able to enter the Shattered Star Sea and everyone had made further improvements after nearly three years of experience and training here.

So, seeing Yao Si make a move, they naturally would not just sit still and immediately rose to resist.

The lights of artifacts and Secret Technique shone brightly at once.

But it was strange that most of the attacks were ineffective against these evil spirits, and only a few of them with amazing cultivations and solid foundations could block the black Qi, while the rest of them were being possessed by the black Qi as soon as it reached their faces, turning them mad in the blink of an eye, drawing horrified screams from their lips as if they were witnessing something truly terrifying.

Not long after, the cultivators who were screaming slumped over, bleeding from all the seven orifices, their auras completely dispersed.

Yao Si instantly took about a hundred lives in just one move. From his appearance, it seemed that it was just a casual demonstration of his abilities and he still had ample strength to continue.

Everyone was dumbstruck.

If it was someone else, they would reprimand him and urge everyone to fight back; however, Yao Si was the son of the Serene Soul Great Emperor. Cursing him was equivalent to cursing the Serene Soul Great Emperor, and no one dared to do so, not to mention fighting back.

Everyone immediately took a few steps back in horror.

On the other side, Liang Qiu snorted coldly, “We already gave you a chance to leave, but you chose to suffer. Such fools!”

The faces of the cultivators turned ugly after being humiliated by Liang Qiu and anger boiled in their hearts, but they did not have the guts to talk back.

Yao Si’s action had forced everyone to step back several dozen meters, leaving only a few people around the black hole.

Chi Gui, who had long, fiery and unruly red hair, grinned, “Are there any more wise men who want to leave now? Don’t wait until the last moment!”

Liang Qiu snorted, “Only those confident in their own strength would dare to remain. Since that’s the case, they have no one to blame but themselves when they get killed.”

As he spoke, he swept his eyes around like a hawk, examining the surroundings with an unkind look, as if searching for someone to make an example of.

After a moment though, he was slightly annoyed and muttered under his breath, “Damn, they are indeed capable.”

He was depressed to find that the cultivators who remained were basically all Emperor Realm Masters, or had someone in that realm protecting them. Although he was strong, he was still unwilling to start a conflict easily with all the remaining Emperor Realm Masters; after all, his cultivation had yet to be consolidated and it might fall if he suffered too much damage.

Yang Kai took this opportunity to glance around too, and soon his eyes lit up when he looked in one direction.

Because he saw Xia Sheng from Azure Sun Temple over there.

More than a month ago, he was informed that Xia Sheng was attempting to break through to the Emperor Realm when he ran into Xiao Bai Yi and Murong Xiao Xiao in the Source Sea, but they did not know where he had gone to do so.

Yang Kai was surprised to see Xia Sheng right now. A dense aura covered his body and proved he had successfully reached the Emperor Realm.

Xiao Bai Yi and Murong Xiao Xiao were standing beside Xia Sheng.

Yang Kai did not notice them earlier as there were a lot of people before, but now that most had retreated, Xia Sheng and the other two were extremely conspicuous.

Xia Sheng and the other two seemed to have sensed Yang Kai’s gaze and turned to him. When their eyes met, Xia Sheng grinned, revealing a mouthful of pristine, gleaming teeth.

Murong Xiao Xiao and Xiao Bai Yi also nodded slightly towards Yang Kai. Given the situation now, it was not convenient for them to give proper greetings.

Also from the Southern Territory’s side, besides the three Azure Sun Temple disciples, Xiao Chen and Princess Lan Xun were among the remaining cultivators.

Xiao Chen was also an Emperor Realm Master now, and Princess Lan Xun had an extraordinary identity, so both of them were not afraid of Yao Si and his group.

But Yang Kai did not see Zhuang Bu Fan of Orthodoxy Temple or Luo Yuan of Eight Paths Sect.

Both of these two were among the top elites of the Southern Territory and had exceptional performances in the Four Seasons Realm, so Yang Kai did not understand their absence from the Source Sea. However, with their aptitudes, their future achievements would not be low, even if they did not come to the Source Sea, especially Luo Yuan. Eight Paths Sect was just a mid-sized Sect in the Southern Territory, even inferior to Thousand Leaves Sect, but Luo Yuan was born with a Heaven-defying aptitude in this small place and that allowed him to equally match Wu Chang in the Four Seasons Realm back then.

Since Wu Chang was in the Emperor Realm now, Luo Yuan certainly would not fall behind.

There were not many other people remaining, just about a dozen or so. Some of them were alone, while some were in groups of two or three. Other than those from the Southern Territory, Yang Kai did not know the rest as he did not see Zi Yu of the Northern Territory’s Ice Heart Valley or Lan He of the Eastern Territory’s Heavenly Wolf Valley either.

“Big Brother Yang, Big Brother Yang!” Mo Xiao Qi suddenly pulled Yang Kai’s sleeve as he was investigating their surroundings and whispered, “Look, look, it’s that old swindler!”

“What?” Yang Kai was shocked and looked towards the direction she was pointing. The next moment, his eyes widened suddenly as he stared at a certain person in a daze, showing an unbelievable expression, “This… Am I seeing it right?”

He rubbed his eyes strenuously as he spoke.

“Big Brother Yang, don’t you remember this old swindler?” Mo Xiao Qi asked Yang Kai in a low voice after seeing his weird reaction.

“Of course I remember!” Yang Kai hurriedly nodded, and questioned in befuddlement, “But… how could he be here?”