Martial Peak
chapter-2972

Translator: Silavin & Ashish

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Yang Kai and Zhu Qing’s arrival surprised the Demons, and after seeing the fates of the Blood Demon and the Charm Demon who were attacking from the shadows, fear started to take root. Whether it was the Blood Demon, who was screaming in anguish, or the Charm Demon that made flowers pale in comparison, they were both Demon Kings.

Even though the two Demon Kings attacked stealthily, the newcomers deflected their attacks and even managed to retaliate and injure one of them, it was simply inconceivable.

While they were shocked, they suddenly heard the sound of a dog barking. Following after, a black puppy charged over, its four tiny legs blurring as it dashed towards a Demon General. It looked as if it was in heat and had seen a beautiful female dog inviting it, making for a funny scene.

That Demon General should be a Strength Demon. He was tall, burly, and held an axe in his hand. The blade of the axe was bright and sharp, exuding a dense black Qi, clearly identifying it as a Demon Artifact.

Seeing the black puppy charging towards him, the Demon General’s expression became ferocious. He shook his head, lifted his axe, and swung it down on the black puppy.

His movements were relaxed as he could feel that the black puppy wasn’t strong, and that he could easily kill such a beast.

The other Demons’ attention was all on Yang Kai and Zhu Qing right now, so other than the few Demons who glanced at the black puppy, no one else paid it any attention.

The axe swung down, but the small dog dodged it nimbly with shocking prowess, leaving the Demon General shocked and humiliated when his attack only hit air. Without giving him a chance to make another move though, the black puppy launched in his direction.

The puppy’s head, which originally wasn’t big, suddenly inflated to the size of a door panel and swallowed the Demon General in one bite.

Everyone was stunned.

The Demons all turned their heads towards the black puppy, staring so hard their eyes nearly popped out.

Zhu Qing and her brother were evidently shocked as well. Who could’ve imagined that this little puppy could be so powerful, able to swallow a Demon General in one gulp! Although that Demon General wasn’t particularly strong, he was still comparable to a human cultivator in the Origin King Realm. Furthermore, he was a Strength Demon, so even some Dao Source Realm cultivators may not have been his opponent.

Zhu Qing was especially surprised, as although she realized the black puppy was somewhat peculiar during her interaction with it, she never imagined it would possess such a powerful Divine Ability.

Only Yang Kai was unsurprised while he rubbed his chin as if in thought.

According to Gong Yue, the black puppy had the bloodline of the Abyssal Returner, one of the Demon Realm’s unique ancient beasts. The power of this bloodline was deeply hidden but was drawn out by Gong Yue using a Demon Race Secret Technique back at Azure Sun Temple. At that time, the black puppy became as strong as an entire army, allowing Gong Yue to use its Divine Ability to hold out against ten Emperor Realms Masters.

This puppy was even able to swallow a Second-Order Emperor like Feng Ming in one bite, so nothing needed to be said about a trivial Demon General.

However, the black puppy’s abilities weren’t stable due to its low strength, so other than swallowing Liao Guan Shi, it didn’t use this devouring Divine Ability again. When it fought Fu Yu in the Imperial Palace the other day, it didn’t swallow her despite fighting with her for quite a long time.

But now, the black puppy was acting as if it had been injected with chicken blood, shocking everyone.

Yang Kai estimated it was because it was consuming Demons; after all, the Abyssal Returner was a unique beast from the Demon Realm, so the aura of the Demons must’ve delighted it. Perhaps Demons were a delicacy to it.

As Yang Kai was pondering these thoughts, the Demon General captured in the black puppy’s mouth fought hard. Visible to the naked eyes, the black puppy’s large mouth would bugle from time to time, its large head disproportionate to its small body swaying about from the Demon General’s struggle.

Abruptly, it raised its head and made a swallowing motion.

In front of everyone’s eyes, a small bulge arrived at its throat then disappeared into its stomach.

As its door-sized mouth returned to its original size, its stomach showed no signs of change at all. It was a mystery where the Demon General had gone, along with the Demon General’s Demon Axe Artifact, which had also vanished.

There were sounds of sharp inhales and the Demons felt their blood run cold.

The black puppy merely licked its mouth with a hungry look. Its bright eyes looked at where the Demons were gathered, and every Demon its gaze fell on, regardless of their cultivation, erupted in goosebumps, their heart trembling in fear as if they had met their natural nemesis.

There was no need for any prompt, as the moment danger approached, the Demons all released their Secret Techniques. Pitch-black energy condensed into attacks one after another and launched intimidatingly at the black puppy.

Yang Kai’s expression changed, but he intended to observe first before acting.

The black puppy howled, not out of fear, but rather excitement. It jumped a metre into the air and opened its mouth again.

Its mouth became even larger than before, and inside its maw seemed to be a corridor that led to an unknown world, exuding a strong suction force.

The attacks directed at it were swallowed up without exception, and it was not the slightest bit affected. The black puppy became bolder, and under the attacks from the Demons, its mouth expanded until it was the size of a house before biting down.

The space where it chomped shattered, showing bits of the Void. The ten Demons standing within range of this bite also disappeared in an instant while the rest ran off in a flurry, quickly putting distance between themselves and the black puppy.

*Gudong*

The black puppy swallowed again, but it still wasn’t satisfied as it turned its gaze to the other Demons.

“World Destroying Beast… Abyssal Returner!?” A voice sounded from among the Demons, it was someone dressed in pure black, crying out in horror.

He realized the origins of the black puppy and his voice was full of terror.

This Demon was also a Demon King and the aura around him was considerably stronger than the rest, around the Second-Order Emperor Realm. Added to the fact that he was a Shadow Demon, if he harnessed the element of surprise, he could even assassinate a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master with ease.

He was the strongest among this group of Demons and he should also be its leader.

But even a powerful figure like him screamed after realizing the origins of the black puppy before he turned into smoke and escaped in nine different directions.

The Abyssal Returned was famously known in the Demon Realm as the World Destroying Beast. Although it was born in the Demon Realm, it could be considered a natural enemy to all Demons. It lived to devour anything that contained Demon Qi.

Rumour had it that in the original Demon Realm, there used to be an Abyssal Returner that wreaked havoc in all directions, even outmatching Demon Saints. In an age without a Great Demon God, the Abyssal Returner was practically the overlord of the Demon Realm. The Demons it devoured and the Demon cities it destroyed were beyond number.

The Abyssal Returner represented obliteration, it left ruins in its wake, so came its name ‘Abyssal Returner’.

Finally, a powerful Demon Saint led all the Demon Race Masters into a decisive battle against the Abyssal Returner. The battle lasted for a dozen years, and the Demon Race suffered innumerable casualties, nearly halving the entire population while simultaneously shattering the Demon Realm itself.

In the end, the Demon Race triumphed over the Abyssal Returner and obtained victory. The Demon Saint also had a breakthrough, and after becoming a Great Demon God, became the ruler of the Demon Realm. However, the war made much of the Demon Realm uninhabitable, leaving the Masters of the Demon Realm with no choice but to search for new land, for a more hospitable Great World.

Every Demon was familiar with this history, even the Demons of the Revolving World.

Therefore, when the black puppy showed its devouring ability, this Demon King immediately thought of the World Destroying Beast.

Although there was no way to confirm if it actually was an Abyssal Returner, this sense of crisis before death couldn’t be faked. Being devoured by the Abyssal Returner meant certain doom.

This Demon King was frightened out of his mind and even went so far as to use his life-saving Divine Ability to escape.

Out of the nine wisps of smoke, only one hid his true body, the other eight were merely diversions. With a Divine Ability of this calibre, even an enemy one Minor Realm above him wouldn’t necessarily be able to stop him.

Shadow Demons specialized in stealth and speed, and this was a perfect example.

However, the Shadow Demon Demon King had miscalculated this time. The scattered wisps of smoke had barely gotten a thousand metres away before they hit upon an invisible barrier. Eight of the wisps of smoke dispersed while one revealed the body of the Shadow Demon, his face ashen as he raised his head and looked at the human flying up in the sky.

Yang Kai smiled down at him as the Space Principles around him surged with him as their centre. The space within a thousand-metre radius of Yang Kai had transformed into a cage, one filled with a viscous feel that made it difficult to move about freely.

Zhu Qing and Zhu Lie both felt slight discomfort even though Yang Kai wasn’t deliberately targeting them; however, the strength of the two Dragon Clan members wasn’t weak, so they were much better off than the Demons.

Li Jiao groaned, seemingly having regained his consciousness, but his injuries were not light after Zhu Qing’s struck his stomach. He could only continue lying on the floor, using his Emperor Qi to recover while resisting the Demon Qi’s corrosion.

“Ah Wang, what are you waiting for?” Yang Kai said lightly.

The black puppy sprang forth towards the Blood Demon who had used his Secret Technique to attack Zhu Lie. Evidently, it seemed to think that this Demon was more delicious than the others.

The Blood Demon’s sneak attack failed as Yang Kai used his Moon Blade to intercept it, resulting in his Divine Sense being injured and his strength plummeting. Now, seeing the black puppy charging towards him, this Blood Demon’s expression sank as he turned and transformed into a bloody light that charged towards the black puppy.

He had naturally heard of the Abyssal Returner before, but even if this black puppy was a descendant of that calamity, it was still merely a puppy. As a Demon King, he had the confidence to contend against it.

The bloody light spread out in mid-air until it became bigger than a house, resembling a blood-coloured net that enveloped the black puppy.

The black puppy tilted its head, puzzled how that guy became even bigger than its mouth.

It struggled to widen its mouth, but it was unable to outgrow the blood-coloured net, making it angry and inhale sharply.

Out came an incredibly strong suction force and a shriek came from the blood-coloured net as it was sucked and folded like a pancake before disappearing into the black puppy’s mouth.