Martial Peak
chapter-301

Deep inside a thick forest, Qiu Yi Meng and her group fled with all their might. Behind her, Luo Xiao Man and Bai Yun Feng both had dishevelled looks, and both of them had multiple wounds. In addition, the original dozen True Element Boundary cultivators had now been reduced by two or three.

As she ran, Luo Xiao Man’s proud chest bounced about wildly, like two white rabbits were trying to escape from her dress.

If it was a normal time, Bai Yun Feng and the other hot blooded men would certainly not turn a blind eye to such a wondrous scene, but now these men were in no mood to do so; not knowing if they could survive the next day, how could they have the spare capacity to care indulge in such distractions?

Behind them a group of people were pursuing them, which caused all of them to panic and flee. In this unfamiliar land, they soon lost their way, only able to unconsciously follow Qiu Yi Meng.

Running with such speed, their True Qi was quickly being depleted. Spotting a small hill not far off, the exhausted Qiu Yi Meng quickly ordered, “We’ll take a break once we reach that hill up ahead, our pursuers shouldn’t be able to catch up to us so fast, once we’ve recovered for a while we’ll continue on.”

Hearing her, the group she was leading were slightly relieved. They had continuously been on the run for many days, and none of them could afford such massive consumption.

A short while later, when the group arrived at the secluded hill, each of them found a place to sit down and quickly took out their own Qi recovery pills.

Next to a clear brook which flowed down from the mountain top, Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man quickly moistened their dry throats and washed their faces, refreshing themselves greatly.

That day when they had encountered that flirtatious red-clothed woman was only the beginning of this group’s bad luck.

The only three Immortal Ascension Boundary masters who had been sent with them to this place had been instantly killed by that woman. After that, the remaining dozen or so True Element Boundary cultivators under Qiu Yi Meng’s leadership, began exploring their surroundings, but before they could get a grasp on their situation, they were attacked by a group of Devil Path cultivators. Fighting back, they eventually managed to break through this siege but in doing so they had also alerted more nearby enemies.

The strength of this group was by no means weak. It was just that there were too many enemies for them to face, these days the number of pursuers had steadily increased, causing Qiu Yi Meng to feel a sense of helplessness. Her only choice was to bring everyone deeper into the jungle and try to use the terrain in order to find an opportunity to escape.

The two women sat down, thoroughly exhausted.

“Elder Sister Qiu, where is this place?” Luo Xiao Man asked, her big round eyes full of fear.

Hearing Luo Xiao Man’s sudden question, Qiu Yi Meng hesitated for a moment before giving a hesitant reply, “If I’m not wrong, this is the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land!”

“What! The Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land?” Luo Xiao Man exclaimed, her already frightened eyes filled with horror.

The others around them also looked up in shock. Bai Yun Feng wrinkled his brow and somewhat unsteadily asked, “Young Lady Qiu, why do you think this place is the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land?”

Qiu Yi Meng glanced at him and leisurely retorted, “Besides the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land, where else would there be so many cultivators who have fallen to the Devil’s path? Didn’t you notice their fighting style and demeanor?”

“That doesn’t mean this place is definitely the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land…” Bai Yun Feng still couldn’t bring himself to accept it, “Maybe… this is the site of some evil Sect.”

However, Qiu Yi Meng only chuckled lightly and replied in a confident tone, “I am certain that this is the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land!”

“Then… what should we do?” Luo Xiao Man asked forlornly. Unlike Qiu Yi Meng, who managed to maintain a look of composure as the group’s leader, she couldn’t help her beautiful face from becoming somewhat pale.

“I don’t know!” Qiu Yi Meng shook her head slowly. This time she had only expected to lead a punitive force to High Heaven Pavilion and not suddenly be thrown ten thousand kilometers away into the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land.

The difference between what she had come to do and what had happened was simply too great.

Within the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land, there were countless masters. Devil Path cultivators were everywhere, and this group of hers’ had no masters guarding them. It was fundamentally impossible for them to break through and escape this place safely.

To make matters worse, right now, the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land and the outside world were essentially at war. Once their group fell into the hands of the enemy, the consequences would be disastrous.

This was particularly so for both Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man, each of whom were great beauties. If they were to be captured alive by these sinister cultivators, what was waiting for them would be a fate worse than death.

“Focus on restoring yourselves for now, thankfully the group chasing us does not have many masters or else we would have already been caught!” Qiu Yi Meng deeply sighed.

“En!” Luo Xiao Man nodded and obediently closed her eyes.

The group had spent less than half an hour recovering when Qiu Yi Meng suddenly opened her eyes and quickly said, “Time’s up, someone is coming!”

Hearing this, everyone quickly awakened from their meditation and silently followed her away.

During this past month, Qiu Yi Meng had many times in advance detected the enemy’s approach which had allowed the group to avoid falling into many dangerous situations. Although they did not understand how she was able to do so with just her True Element Boundary Ninth Stage cultivation, but those gathered around her had long ago shown great admiration for her and had no issues following her orders.

…

Yang Kai and Shan Qing Luo walked calmly through the jungle.

After interacting with her for the past month, Yang Kai found that this bewitching woman was actually quite likeable. She appeared fair and delicate as well as incredibly charming. She appeared to be around twenty-seven years old, but with her divine beauty she seems no different from a girl in her late teens. The only difference being a unique temperament that could only be achieved by a mature woman.

This temperament made her particularly appealing to men; coupled with her seductive charms, there was no doubt that Shan Qing Luo was simply the nemesis of all men in this world, able to ensnare both young and old.

Yang Kai performance during this time was also quite composed, no longer shouting Elder Sister this or Elder Sister that as he did before, which caused Shan Qing Luo to develop some admiration for him.

A seventeen-year-old boy with such a steady mentality was quite rare.

Although the two of them had gotten to know each other fairly quickly, the two of them actually shared very few conversations. Shan Qing Luo didn’t speak much nor did Yang Kai bring up superfluous topics. Mostly he simply followed behind her. The rest of his time was spent in meditative cultivation, not wasting a single moment.

Traveling together with such a beauty was enough to make him feel satisfied; at least he was not lonely along the way.

According to Shan Qing Luo, she had come out this time looking for something. This thing held great significance to her. Her mother had once sought it out, and before her, her grandmother had too. Now it was her turn.

But these plans had been greatly complicated by recent developments. Before she had set out, her strength was transcendent and with it she naturally wouldn’t experience any hardship, but now that she was experiencing the backlash from her Secret Art failing to break through. Her strength had dropped significantly, until now only being able to restore herself to the level of a True Element Boundary Third Stage cultivator, so the place she was seeking out was now too dangerous to reach.

Without her pervious overwhelming strength, going there would be akin to seeking death.

However, the two of them had wandered around the jungle for more than ten days now without arriving anywhere in particular.

As they walked, Yang Kai frowned as he looked suspiciously at her before pausing to ask, “Beauty, I have a question for you.”

“Hmm?” Shan Qing Luo also stopped, glancing back at Yang Kai.

“You… are you lost?” Yang Kai hesitantly asked.

Trembling slightly, Shan Qing Luo’s face showed an unnatural look as she averted her eyes.

“Ah…” Yang Kai was stunned. “You’re not really lost, are you?”

Shan Qing Luo blushed embarrassedly before coldly snorting, “So what if I’m lost? What’s so strange about that?”

Yang Kai wryly smiled, “If you were lost you should have just said so. I thought you had some clear goal, so I’ve just been quietly following you.”

These past few days she had shown neither panic nor urgency, and always maintained a composed aloof manner, so he had never questioned her, but upon seeing some scenery that looked familiar, Yang Kai couldn’t help asking.

But whatever the circumstances, she was also a supreme master, so how could she have gotten lost? Yang Kai felt that the whole situation was somewhat odd.

“You know nothing.” Shan Qing Luo grumbled loudly and wrinkled her nose slightly, “The inside of this forest has a kind of natural spirit array which causes disorientation that encompasses a radius of several hundred kilometers, if I still had my full strength it would be simple to find the way out but now we can only rely on luck!”

Saying this, she glared towards Yang Kai bitterly and complained, “In the end, all of this is your fault!”

“My fault my ass!” Yang Kai angrily retorted.

“Who was the one who stole my energy during my crucial breakthrough? Who caused me to suffer such harsh backlash from my Secret Art, who caused my strength to plummet so far?” Shan Qing Luo rapidly pressed Yang Kai with accusation.

When she brought Yang Kai to this forest, she hadn’t expected to suffer this backlash from her Secret Art, sending the situation completely out of her control.

“Good, good, good! It’s all my fault okay?” Yang Kai still had some guilt over this issue and was also too lazy to argue with her, knowing he’d never win anyways so instead he simply released his Divine Sense but immediately found that the range he could explore had been reduced to less than a kilometer around him.

Shan Qing Luo looked at him with an interested grin, letting out a light sigh, “I’ve thought so before, but you’re a strange one aren’t you? A small True Element Boundary Fourth Stage cultivator actually being able to utilise his Divine Sense, but without reaching the Immortal Ascension Boundary, it is simply impossible to find your way out of here, save your strength.”

“Beauty, we have a problem!” Yang Kai turned his gaze towards her, his expression slightly changing.

“Hmm?”

But he had hardly finished speaking when not far in front of them a wave of whooshing sounds arose as six or seven figures suddenly fell from the air, landing close by.

Shan Qing Luo’s expression also sank, and her eyes narrowed as she examined these newcomers.

Seeing the appearance of these people, her temperament suddenly changed, immediately becoming exalted and domineering.

Yang Kai witnessed this astonishing change and couldn’t help admiring. She was indeed worthy of being one of the six Great Evil Kings. This perennial superior attitude and aura was not something most people could imitate, at the same time though he secretly raised his own alert.

“Huh…” These six or seven individuals had come here after discovering traces of Yang Kai and Shan Qing Luo. They were actually members of the group that were pursuing Qiu Yi Meng and her compatriots, but upon seeing Shan Qing Luo’s face and red clothes, all of their faces instantly changed, and they hurriedly took a few steps back.

Shan Qing Luo just pleasantly smiled and casually glanced towards them. Her aura of superiority became even more overwhelming.

Receiving her gaze, those few people’s faces became more depressed. All of them raised their guards as they helplessly waited.

“I wondered who it was that dared block my path, it turns out to be a few of Beast King’s insolent henchmen!” Shan Qing Luo gently grunted while leisurely and calmly speaking. Her demeanor revealed utter disdain with a hint of coldness.

The six or seven newcomers all shivered. Their faces instantly drained of all colour. One of the masters at the Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage quickly stepped forward, respectfully cupped his fists, and trembled as he spoke, “Servant Guo Yuan Ming greets Mistress Demon Queen. We did not know that mistress Demon Queen was here, if we have offended, please forgive us!”

As he spoke, his eyes drooped, staring straight at his toes, not daring to meet Shan Qing Luo’s eyes.

“Greetings Mistress Demon Queen!” The other several people also hurriedly bowed, a clear sense of fear apparent in their demeanor.

Everyone raised their cupped fists as they shivered where they stood, apparently extremely terrified.

*Hmph!* Shan Qing Luo snorted, further terrifying these few, “You all have some guts… you dare to stalk after me?”

Speaking so, her expression slowly changed, and her infinitely charming face suddenly flashed a murderous intent.