Martial Peak
chapter-2704

Chapter 2704, Exhausted

Tan Jun Hao’s obsession for the artifact still had not faded, and he immediately charged at Yang Kai again, yelling, “Give it back to me!”

Yang Kai looked at him coldly, took a deep breath to calm the roiling vitality in his chest, and waited for him to get close before sending out a heavy punch.

Half of Tan Jun Hao’s body was smashed to pieces as he was thrown out once again.

But this time, he did not get up.

The Heaven Severing Slash delivered with Yang Kai’s Soul Splitting Saber did tremendous damage to Tan Jun Hao, and with his chaotic Soul, he unconsciously and madly triggered the Golden Armour Heavenly Book to release its power.

Although an artifact like the Golden Armour Heavenly Book possessed formidable power, the consumption required to use each of its abilities was definitely not small. There was a proportional relationship between the two.

Tan Jun Hao activated many of the abilities of the Golden Armour Heavenly Book, and undoubtedly used much of his strength to do so. Even if he was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, the Emperor Qi in his body was nearly exhausted.

With his Soul damaged beyond repair and his Emperor Qi exhausted, Tan Jun Hao had less than ten percent of his strength remaining. Moreover, he was struck by Yang Kai’s Time Flies Seal, so just before he died, Tan Jun Hao was nothing but a dying beast making its last struggle. Even an ordinary First-Order Emperor Realm Master could have easily taken him down, let alone Yang Kai.

“Give it… back… to me!” Tan Jun Hao, whose body was already half gone and whose organs had all spilt out, shouted determinedly while lying on the ground, but his voice was dreadfully weak.

“Just die already,” Yang Kai muttered, his body also on the verge of collapse.

The battle today was extremely dangerous and his injuries were quite serious, especially the huge open wound on his chest. This wound was so deep that his flesh was torn apart and his bones were exposed, a horrifying sight to behold. Furthermore, he had two bloody holes on his lower abdomen.

The wound on his chest was the result of a clash with a gigantic beast that possessed strength on par with a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master. Numerous strange creatures had been summoned from the Golden Armour Heavenly Book, and while they did not have strong defensive power, their offensive strength was ridiculous to the point that even Yang Kai’s body could not guard against it after using his Dragon Transformation.

The bloody holes on his lower abdomen were from when the two golden beams from the Heavenly Book had penetrated him at point-blank range, tearing holes in his organs…

Other than that, he also suffered countless smaller injuries, such as cuts, bruises, and broken bones. ‘Miserable’ would be an understatement to describe his condition.

However, Yang Kai looked exceptionally exhilarated, because this was his first time defeating a peak condition Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. With the experience gained from this battle, he would not be panicked when facing Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters in the future.

The growth of any cultivator was inseparable from life and death battles. The more experience one had in combat, the farther one could progress on the path of the Martial Dao.

“Give…” A soft cry came from up ahead again, but it was not followed up by the rest of the sentence. The final wisp of vitality left in Tan Jun Hao and dissipated at that moment.

“Finally!” Yang Kai felt that his whole body was about to fall apart. His injuries and consumption of energy had thoroughly exhausted him. Seeing that his enemy was finally dead, his nerves at last relaxed. Unprecedented fatigue overwhelmed him at once, and he wanted to pass out now.

At that moment, an intimidating light suddenly appeared and rich murderous intent struck from behind.

“Die!”

Wu Ming appeared while slashing his blade down excitedly with his Second-Order Emperor Realm cultivation released without reservation.

He had been knocked out by Yang Kai previously, but because of that, he also avoided the most dangerous parts of the battle. Then, he was awakened from his coma by an attack when Tan Jun Hao inadvertently triggered the power of the Golden Armour Heavenly Book and wounded him by mistake.

Wu Ming was a cunning one though, so even though he woke up some time ago, he did not get up immediately and instead secretly observed the fight.

Before his eyes, he witnessed the shocking scene of his Honoured Master going crazy while Yang Kai remained alive and well. Wu Ming could not stop fear from growing in his heart, for he had no idea whether his Honoured Master who had gone crazy could still be Yang Kai’s opponent. If his Honoured Master could not win against Yang Kai, it would be disastrous for Wu Ming too.

Facts proved that his Honoured Master was really not a match for Yang Kai. After rampaging about, Tan Jun Hao exhausted his strength and ultimately got half of his body smashed to pieces by Yang Kai, winding up dead after clinging to life a while longer…

His Honoured Master, who was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, actually failed to defeat Yang Kai, and was killed by him instead!

Wu Ming’s heart sank to the bottom of a valley at once, feeling that there was no light in the world anymore.

However, at that moment, he keenly realized that Yang Kai’s body was unsteady and quickly realized that even though Yang Kai won the fight, it must have been a difficult victory for him and the price that he paid was definitely not small.

Without a doubt, this was the best time for him to ambush Yang Kai!

If he could kill Yang Kai, not only he could avenge his Honoured Master, he could also obtain all of the treasures. He had long been fascinated by his Honoured Master’s Golden Armour Heavenly Book, and if he could obtain it, he would have no reservations fighting against Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters in the future, which would allow him to climb the ranks in Star Soul Palace rapidly, possibly becoming an Elder himself.

If he waited and allowed Yang Kai to catch his breath though, the next to die would certainly be him.

Therefore, Wu Ming made a quick decision to kill Yang Kai when he was at his weakest. He wanted to finish off Yang Kai with one single strike.

Yang Kai did not seem to be able to react and Wu Ming’s blade left a slash on his shoulder almost a hand length deep.

Wu Ming was overjoyed, but when he attempted to pull out the sword from Yang Kai’s shoulder, the latter suddenly turned his head around and grinned, “You finally couldn’t hold yourself back.”

Wu Ming was startled and stammered in terror, “You knew… ”

Yang Kai spat a mouthful of blood, and snickered, “What do you think?”

Wu Ming was infuriated, “Impudence! Watch how this King chops you up!”

When the words fell, he surged his Emperor Qi fiercely and his sword hummed with a power that seemed capable of shattering the sun and moon, attempting to split Yang Kai in two.

“If you had stayed there quietly, this Young Master might just have left you alone, but since you decided to jump out, you can die!” Yang Kai shouted, grabbing the blade with his bare hand and stopping it from advancing any further through pure physical strength.

Wu Ming was horrified as he never thought that this young man who seemed to be on the verge of fainting could still exert so much strength.

A fist swung directly at him at that moment, and after witnessing half of his Honoured Master’s body being smashed by a similar punch, how could Wu Ming not understand the power of this blow?

As Wu Ming was still hesitating, wondering whether he should abandon the blade or apply more force to it, Yang Kai’s fist had already hit him in the face.

A strong force impacted Wu Ming’s face, and instantly went dizzy, feeling as if his nose was flattened as he screamed in his heart, [It’s over, I’m dead.]

But when he regained his senses, he found that his head did not explode like he imagined, and he was still alive. He immediately understood that Yang Kai really had reached his limits, otherwise the power of his punch would not have been so weak.

Wu Ming was delighted and angered at the same time. Just when he prepared to pounce at Yang Kai again, he heard a soft slicing sound.

The next moment, Wu Ming felt that his body became lighter, as if he lost something vital.

He looked down instinctively and saw a crescent-shaped hole covering more than half of his chest had unknowingly appeared. Through the hole, he could see his squirming organs, and half of his heart still beating…

Wu Ming slowly widened his eyes as he tried to circulate his Emperor Qi to seal this wound, but unexpectedly, Yang Kai raised his hand again, flicked his fingers, and sent several more Moon Blades at him.

*Pu pu pu…*

The few Moon Blades penetrated through Wu Ming as expected, and one of them even slashed across his neck, directly severing his head. As his vision tumbled, Wu Ming’s eyes bulged as an expression of everlasting regret etched on his lifeless face while his headless body remained standing in the same place.

“I initially planned to torture you, so consider yourself lucky to have a swift death.” Yang Kai looked at Wu Ming’s broken corpse and snorted coldly, his face dreadfully pale.

After that, he reached his hand to hold the long blade that was embedded in his shoulder and pulled it out.

*Puchi… *

Golden Blood splashed all over Yang Kai’s face.

“Tsk tsk…” Yang Kai turned his head to look at his shoulder with some amazement and muttered, “Just like a fountain…”

Before he could finish his sentence, his legs buckled and he collapsed to the ground.

He was truly exhausted.

He took a few full breaths to force himself to remain conscious as he pushed his Emperor Qi to seal his wounds before taking out some more healing Spirit Pills and stuffing them into his mouth. Only after he swallowed did he feel his condition stabilize somewhat.

Yang Kai lay on the ground and did not feel like moving at all. He turned his head to look at the side, then he stretched out and opened his hand, drawing an array flag that had fallen on the ground over there into his palm.

Tan Jun Hao used this flag to deal with him earlier, so if Yang Kai was not mistaken, it should be the Control Flag of the Five Elements Grand Sealing Array.

With this array flag, he should be able to deactivate the Five Elements Grand Sealing Array and allow Ying Fei to find him.

Tan Jun Hao was already dead, so his Soul Imprint on the array flag could easily be erased by Yang Kai. After studying it slowly for a while, Yang Kai had a basic understanding of how it functioned.

Gripping the flag, he waved it in a specific pattern, and the darkness covering the world suddenly dissipated, revealing the true world again.

The place where Yang Kai was was a square covering a vast area that was located behind the branch of Seven Glories Chamber of Commerce.

Yang Kai laid motionless and waited quietly.

A moment later, a swoosh came from the sky and landed beside him.

Yang Kai curled his lips upwards slightly as he called out, “Monster King…”

However, he quickly realized something was wrong because there was a familiar aroma that suddenly wafted to the tip of his nose.

He furrowed his brow and turned his head to look up, and about ten meters away from him, a pair of delicate feet appeared in his field of vision. Moving his gaze up slightly, he saw a young woman dressed in a long pale green dress with a delicate sash tied around her slim, graceful waist. She had voluptuous peaks and her slightly exposed neck was slender while her white face was beautiful enough to feast his eyes on. Her long black hair flowed down her back like a waterfall, finishing her alluring appearance.

“How come it’s you!?” Yang Kai’s eyes widened.

He did not expect that the first person to come to him after deactivating the Five Elements Grand Sealing Array was not Ying Fei, but the Dragon Girl named Zhu Qing.

[Didn’t she leave?] Yang Kai had not seen her for nearly a month since their last meeting in the inn.

He thought she could not stand his unreasonable attitude anymore and decided to forget about him altogether.

[Is this devilish woman here taking advantage of me!?] Yang Kai’s heart jumped in shock. He had molested her in the wilderness before, and although he was bewildered when he did so and was not acting completely of his own free will, that did not change what he had done.

This devilish woman did not seem to be a magnanimous person, so perhaps she had been looking for a chance to take revenge on him all this time.

Now that she had found him in such a weakened state, Yang Kai was afraid that his future was not looking promising.