Martial Peak
chapter-4287

Chapter 4287

Chapter 4287 – Soul Extraction and Refinement

This person seemed to have encountered something extremely terrifying and his expression was filled with fear. Having finally come across another person, Yang Kai could not let this man leave so easily even though he knew that the other party was seemingly in trouble. He moved forward and stopped in front of that person with his hand raised up in the air, “Excuse me, Friend!”

Unexpectedly, that person ran straight at Yang Kai as though he didn’t see him at all.

Yang Kai’s scowl grew deeper. He exerted some strength and stretched his hand forward to stop that person by force, but to his surprise, his arm passed through that person’s body. This scene shocked him greatly but before he could recover from his shock, that person had already passed through his body and ran off.

Yang Kai abruptly turned back to look. There was nobody there at all. It was almost as though everything that happened just now was just an illusion. A disquieting feeling rose in his heart and he felt a chill running down his back.

This damned place was full of mysteries. It was not a place one should stay for long. Unfortunately, he was completely clueless about this place and had no idea how to get out of here at the moment.

After walking for a while, Yang Kai suddenly saw a round platform ahead with something seemingly placed on it. He couldn’t help rubbing his eyes and looking vigilant. That was because he was certain that there had been nothing in this direction when he looked earlier, and yet, this round platform suddenly appeared when he looked in this direction once more.

Holding his breath and focusing his mind, Yang Kai stared forward, frowning. Even so, he could not see what was placed on top of the round platform. He hesitated for a long time before he steadily walked in that direction.

It didn’t take long for him to arrive in front of the round platform. He walked up the short flight of stairs and looked up. What he saw made his expression change drastically. That was because there was a severed head sitting on top of the round platform. Furthermore, the owner of that severed head was Qu Hua Shang!

[How did Qu Hua Shang die here? And, who placed her head here?] He suddenly felt as though his eyes were going to explode from the sight. A ball of rage burned in his chest like a volcano that was about to erupt. He wanted to burn everything in the world.

He had travelled with this Senior Sister from Yin-Yang Cave Heaven, mutually supporting each other all the way. If she had not carried him on her back while fleeing desperately, he would have been killed by Yin Xin Zhao in his unconscious state; thus, he had a good grasp of her character by now. It could be said that he already considered her as one of his friends. Be that as it may, she had died in this place! Yang Kai’s heart felt like it had been sliced to pieces by a knife!

At this moment, Qu Hua Shang’s severed head jerked its eyes open and cried out to him miserably, “Save me! It hurts!”

Yang Kai lurched back and retreated slightly, staring in the direction of the head in shock and disbelief. She repeatedly pleaded for help, but his expression slowly became cold and calm instead.

[This is definitely not Qu Hua Shang’s head! It’s impossible for a dead person to speak.] He was almost certain that he had fallen into some sort of Illusion Array. What he was seeing at the moment was nothing more than some kind of hallucination. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he quickly slipped into the Small Sealed World without delay!

He originally wanted to use this method to break free from the illusion in front of him. To his surprise, he discovered that there was something wrong with him when he entered the Small Sealed World. At some point in time, his body had been surrounded by faint traces of energy. This energy emitted a hint of malevolence that lingered and wrapped around his body. If he had not entered the Small Sealed World, he would not have noticed this phenomenon. This bizarre energy constantly twisted and distorted upon itself, creating all sorts of peculiar sights. The illusion he saw just now was definitely caused by this energy.

His expression darkened and he immediately activated the Golden Crow’s True Fire around his body. There was a crackling sound as the traces of evil energy entangled around his body were instantly burned to a crisp. After confirming that he no longer had that bizarre energy around him, Yang Kai finally slipped out of the Small Sealed World and returned to the outside world again. However, he remained cautious this time around. He did not withdraw the Golden Crow’s True Fire and instead coated his body in a protective layer of it.

As soon as he appeared in the outside world, Yang Kai heard sizzling sounds coming from his surroundings. Black smoke rose into the air as though something was being burned by him. It was similar to the scene where he burned off the evil energy inside the Small Sealed World; therefore, he immediately understood something. This weird place was filled with that strange energy and anybody who entered this place would begin to hallucinate as a result.

The Order of this evil energy was not low and was most likely one of the means set up by Blood Monster Divine Monarch to guard this palace. Fortunately, Yang Kai’s Golden Crow’s True Fire was of extremely high Order and was able to fully restrain it. If it were any other cultivator in this place, they would not be able to deal with this scenario.

Yang Kai couldn’t help becoming worried. Be it Gu Pan, Zhang Ruo Xi, Qu Hua Shang, Ning Dao Ran, Accountant, or Lang Qing Shan, none of them had a heritage as great as his. At this moment, they were probably being tortured by those illusions. It was almost certain that all the cultivators who rushed into the Blood Monster Divine Palace had encountered the same situation. Just because he could break free of those hallucinations did not mean that those people had the ability to do so!

Yang Kai looked back at the round platform and naturally Qu Hua Shang’s head was nowhere to be seen. Even the round platform was gone. Thus, he breathed out a sigh of relief. It would seem that what he saw previously was really just an illusion. Qu Hua Shang had not been beheaded after all!

Constant crackling sounds came from around him as the strange energy was steadily burned away. He took a step forward and compared to earlier, he now felt much more clear-headed. A long while passed when he suddenly heard a weak but extremely miserable cry. It sounded like somebody was going through unimaginable torture.

Yang Kai frowned slightly. He did not know whether the voice was an illusion or whether there really was somebody screaming. Just in case, he entered the Small Sealed World once more to check on his body. He confirmed that he was not affected by the evil energy before he returned to the outside world. The miserable cry sounded again, so this time around, Yang Kai could be sure that it really was somebody screaming.

After listening for a while, he followed the source of the sound and headed in that direction. He walked for a while and came to a stop in front of a ball of fire. Then, he stared at the flames solemnly. He did not know what kind of flames these were but even if they were incomparable to his Golden Crow’s True Fire, they were still quite strong. However, what shocked him was not this ball of fire but rather what was inside this ball of fire.

There was a humanoid figure inside the ball of fire. Under the burning of those flames, that figure screamed out again and again. He constantly writhed in pain. Once in a while, he would collide with the flames in an attempt to break free. However, every time he tried to do that, he would be restrained by an inexplicable force that immobilised him.

Yang Kai felt his scalp going numb with horror. The humanoid figure inside the flames was emitting the aura of a Soul Avatar! It was somebody’s Soul!

Ever since he started cultivating, Yang Kai had offended many people, and many of them had also threatened him with all sorts of things. For example, they would threaten to torture him or subject him to Soul Extraction and Refinement! Even so, those people were normally just making threats.

At this moment, he was actually witnessing a person’s Soul being continuously burned by flames but unable to die. This was the process of Soul Extraction and Refinement! The Soul was truly experiencing a fate worse than death!

Yang Kai wanted to see the identity of the Soul within the flames, but could not get a clear glimpse. That person was far too distorted. Moreover... he had the vague feeling that this Soul did not belong to any of the cultivators who came in before him. That was because the person gave off a feeling that he was once very powerful, even though he was incredibly weak now.

Just as Yang Kai was suspiciously eyeing this scene, that Soul suddenly stopped screaming or struggling. A twisted transformation revealed a face staring straight at him through the flames. It was an unfamiliar face that he had never seen before so Yang Kai subconsciously circulated his strength and raised his guard.

“Who is it!? Who is standing there!?” The person shouted through gritted teeth. It was not out of fury. It was simply because he was suffering immense pain from the flames burning his Soul at all times.

Yang Kai frowned and looked into the Soul Avatar’s eyes. Unexpectedly, he discovered that those eyes were unfocused even though the other party was looking in his general direction. In other words, that person probably could not see Yang Kai and simply sensed his presence.

[This person must have been a powerful Master in the past! Otherwise, it’s impossible for a Soul to persist for so many years!] Yang Kai couldn’t help thinking about Black Crow Divine Monarch. [Could it be that Black Crow Divine Monarch is not the only one imprisoned inside the Blood Monster Cave Heaven? Are there other High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters?]

“Who is standing there!? Speak!” That person yelled impatiently, like a wounded beast.

Yang Kai frowned, “And, who are you? Why are you being imprisoned inside those flames?”

“Me?” The Soul Avatar seemed taken aback, “I’ve forgotten who I am... Wait. You can see me?”

How could Yang Kai know that he was being imprisoned in a ball of flames unless Yang Kai could see him?

“I can see you.” Yang Kai nodded affirmatively.

“That’s impossible. What Order within the Open Heaven Realm are you? How can you see me? This place is the Nothingness Array set up by that old dog Xue Yao. It’s difficult for anybody to see through the mysteries in this place unless they are a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master. Don’t tell me... You are in the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm?”

Yang Kai replied, “I’m only in the Half-Step Open Heaven Realm...” Pausing for a moment, he firmly added, “But, I’ll become a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master one day.”

“A Half-Step Open Heaven Realm Junior...” That person seemed stunned for a moment but quickly reacted, “Did you condense High-Rank Elements?”

“Indeed!”

The figure immediately understood, “No wonder you can see me. Were you also captured and brought here by that old dog?”

Yang Kai fell silent for a moment. [Based on what he said, it is likely that Blood Monster Divine Monarch captured him, extracted his Soul, and left him to suffer the pain of being burned by these flames. How long has he suffered here? How did a Soul survive for so long without being extinguished? And, what did he do to offend Blood Monster Divine Monarch...]

After thinking about it, Yang Kai explained truthfully, “Blood Monster Divine Monarch died a long time ago and the Blood Monster Cave Heaven has turned into a Sealed World. I came here for training.”

“That old dog is dead!?” That person’s expression became rather complicated, muttering to himself for a bit before he burst out laughing, “Hahahaha! Xue Yao! So what if your strength was greater and your fist bigger!? I still lived longer than you!”

Yang Kai lightly coughed into his fist, not knowing what to say. [It’s better to die than to be stuck in this living Hell, neither dead nor alive.]

That person continued to laugh, then he suddenly burst out crying, “If that old dog is dead... then there’s no more reason for me to persevere!”

He couldn’t even remember his own name, but he never forgot Blood Monster Divine Monarch. It could be seen that there was a deep grudge between the two of them. It was also precisely because of that hatred that he had persevered until today and his Soul remained indestructible.

Soon, he composed his emotions once more. Enduring the pain from the burning flames, he said in a surprisingly calm voice, “Junior, please do me a favour.”