Martial Peak
chapter-4454

Chapter 44

Chapter 4454 – Come Out and Face Me

Recalling their encounter just now, Lu Jing commented, “Those two were probably in the Third-Order Open Heaven Realm. Moreover, you and I shared the achievements equally. Only 10% of this star was stained black. In other words, we have to kill 10 Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters on our own in order to get one star’s worth of achievements! What if it were Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters or Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters...”

“We just need to test it out on somebody to know,” Yang Kai replied casually.

“That’s true!” Lu Jing nodded. Following behind a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like Yang Kai gave him a great sense of security. Even if they really were to encounter a powerful foe, he had nothing to worry about. He only needed to protect himself well and leave everything else for Yang Kai to solve.

Thus, he secretly decided that he would keep some distance the next time Yang Kai killed somebody. It would be bad if he stole more of Yang Kai’s achievements; after all, he only wished to return home safely from this trip. As for his final placing, Lu Jing wasn’t too bothered either way.

“But, before that, we have to figure out where we are located on the Prison Star.” Yang Kai rose into the sky while speaking.

He initially wanted to observe his surroundings from above, but to his surprise, he had only just taken flight when he suddenly felt the pressure on his head increasing sharply. Furthermore, the pressure became more and more horrifying the further up he went. When he reached a height of 1,000 metres, he became completely powerless to ascend further.

Yang Kai was speechless. The Prison Star’s Grand Array was truly amazing. It was able to make a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like him unable to resist. Thinking about it again though, it made sense. This place was where Yin-Yang Cave Heaven locked up all the most heinous criminals, many of which were in the Sixth-Order. If it were so easy to break free of the Grand Array’s suppression, then all the criminals within would have escaped a long time ago.

With his current strength, Yang Kai was only able to fly 1,000 metres up into the air. Any other Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would probably fare worse in his shoes. In this way, escaping from the Prison Star was nothing more than a dream.

Standing 1,000 metres above ground, Yang Kai studied his surrounding environment whilst comparing the topography with the information contained within the jade slip in his hand.

This jade slip was something Qu Hua Shang had handed to him at the last moment. Recorded within the jade slip was various information related to the Prison Star, including a complete map and details on the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm prisoners.

Yin-Yang Cave Heaven had been managing the Prison Star for countless years, so they knew everything about it and its inhabitants. It would not have been difficult for Qu Hua Shang to obtain this information. Nevertheless, her actions could be construed as favouritism if they were known she only did this because she was worried that accidents might happen if Yang Kai ran into an enemy that was too strong for him.

Unfortunately, the information he obtained from his current investigation was too little for Yang Kai to confirm their current location; therefore, he could only continue to proceed forward.

Lu Jing followed behind Yang Kai with a relaxed expression.

Both of them experienced a sharp decrease in travel speed thanks to the suppression of the Prison Star’s Grand Array. Yang Kai originally thought that the one-year period of the Dao Theory Assembly was far too long; after all, the cultivators participating in the event were all in the Fourth-Order and above. The Prison Star might be large, but it could not withstand the damage caused by hundreds of Open Heaven Masters battling each other. It would not take more than ten to fifteen days for the entire Prison Star to be turned upside down.

Now, however, it would seem that their travel speed and strength had dropped significantly due to the various suppression effects of the Prison Star’s Grand Array. One year might not even be enough time for a person to tour the entire Prison Star.

Yang Kai would stop and study the topography of his surroundings from time to time, and after half a day, he finally confirmed his location. He carefully went through the information recorded in the jade slip once more before he turned to look in a certain direction.

[You’re first!]

While leading Lu Jing forward, the pair occasionally came across wandering criminals, some alone, some in small groups.

Xu Ling Gong had spoken the truth. All the criminals locked up on the Prison Star had been informed in advance about a large number of cultivators participating in the Dao Theory Assembly who would pour into the Prison Star. If they killed enough of the participants and obtained the necessary achievements, Yin-Yang Cave Heaven agreed to set them free.

Tempted by this offer, the criminals on the Prison Star were actively searching around. Many of them had been imprisoned in this place for hundreds or even thousands of years. Some might even have been here for longer than that. As long as Yin-Yang Cave Heaven did not agree, they had no way of escaping this place. This opportunity was so difficult to come by, so they had to make good use of this opportunity.

If they were lucky enough, they might even receive a new chance at life!

Although there were many criminals imprisoned on the Prison Star, most of them were not particularly strong. Along the way, Yang Kai and Lu Jing only encountered those who were in the Third-Order and below. Yang Kai had not bothered to attack, but Lu Jing enthusiastically killed them all.

After multiple attempts and experimentation, the two of them finally gained some understanding of how things worked. As long as the distance between them exceeded 300 metres, then the credit for the kill would not be shared. On the other hand, the black light escaping from the wrists of the criminals would split into two as long as they were within 300 metres of each other.

Yin-Yang Cave Heaven probably designed this system in this manner after taking into account that some people might travel together. This profit-sharing method would make dividing their achievements more convenient. Naturally, there was an issue regarding who contributed more and who contributed less; however, that could be solved through negotiation among those travelling together.

Three days later, the two of them entered a dense jungle. The dense jungle was covered in a thick fog that reduced their visibility to just ten metres at most. The surrounding area also had a faint suppressive force that dampened the perception of their Divine Senses. It was obvious that some sort of Spirit Array had been arranged here.

The presence of a Spirit Array could only mean that there were people living here, and judging by the traces and strength of the Spirit Array, the person living here was not weak.

Lu Jing nervously followed closely behind Yang Kai, peering into his surroundings from time to time. He did not know why Yang Kai wanted to come here, but Yang Kai seemed to have had a very clear goal throughout their travels.

*Kacha…*

A soft sound rang out, causing all the hairs on Lu Jing’s body to stand in fear, but looking down he saw that he had simply stepped on a dried branch. Laughing in relief, he felt that he might have been a little too nervous.

The thought had only just crossed his mind when a black shadow suddenly loomed over him. Immediately following that, Lu Jing felt an extremely sticky feeling wrapping around him while his nostrils were filled with a nasty and pungent stench. It felt as though he had accidentally fallen into a smelly swamp. Shocked, he hurriedly activated his Small Universe. World Force surged and spilled forth as he punched forward ferociously.

Lu Jing’s vision abruptly returned to him while his entire body felt wet and sticky; he was covered from head to toe in a turbid yellow liquid. Turning to look behind him in shock and terror, Lu Jing saw a huge flower with a gaping hole that had been blasted open by something. The flower was oozing with a liquid that was identical to the liquid covering his entire body.

Lu Jing’s expression darkened. Only then did he realise that he had been swallowed by this strange flower just now. He had seen many of these enormous flowers along the way, but he never imagined that they were capable of eating people.

“Oh?” Yang Kai looked at the flower with interest.

*Ci ci ci…*

An odd swaying sound rang out around them as a dozen or so of these gigantic flowers in their surroundings suddenly burst open to reveal rows and rows of jagged fangs. The tendrils of the flowering plants stretched out like poisonous snakes towards them. Then, these flowering plants bit down on the two of them.

“How dare mere Monsters act so brazenly!?” Lu Jing yelled with a stomach full of grievances. With a flick of his hand, he summoned his longsword. Sword light flashed out, slashing at the attackers and tearing them to pieces one after another. These flowers might be strange, but it was not strong enough to actually harm a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like him.

*Shua shua shua…*

The sound of something slicing through the air rang out. The branches of the ancient trees in their surroundings seemed to come alive and began whipping towards them. Moreover, each attack contained an extremely heavy force behind it.

Before Lu Jing could recover from his shock, the branches lashed all over his body. He was so badly beaten that he became flustered and quickly shouted for help, “Brother Yang!”

“What an impressive Spirit Array!” Yang Kai commented casually before pitch-black Golden Crow’s True Fire suddenly erupted from his body and spread outward, instantly burning the branches that stretched out towards them to a crisp.

Terrified faces appeared on the ancient trees in the surroundings. There was a series of rustling sounds as many of the ancient trees pulled their roots out from the ground and fled as though they had encountered their natural enemy!

The surroundings around Lu Jing and Yang Kai suddenly became empty.

“Let’s go and meet the Master of this place!” Yang Kai grinned.

Lu Jing was covered in wet and sticky goo, but he could only dejectedly follow behind Yang Kai as he murmured, “Brother Yang, I don’t feel so good.”

“You’ll be fine. We’ll borrow the bath from the Master of this place to wash up later.”

Lu Jing sighed, “I guess that’s all we can do.”

The slime all over his body contained some corrosive properties, but his cultivation as a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master allowed Lu Jing to withstand them. Doing so would only consume some of his World Force, so it wasn’t too difficult. What was annoying was the foul stench that made him want to vomit.

The pair moved forward smoothly. After what happened just now, the flowers and strange gigantic trees had vanished out of sight, but the Array in this place also seemed to have bewildering abilities. Yang Kai and Lu Jing wandered around for a while but could not leave, much less discover where the Master of this place was located.

Yang Kai impatiently stopped in his tracks and shouted loudly, “Are you here, Grey Bones Heavenly Monarch!? Come out and face me!”

According to the information given by Qu Hua Shang, the person who lived here was a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master by the name Hui Gu.

...

When Hui Gu arrived at one of the Universe Worlds under the jurisdiction of Yin-Yang Cave Heaven, he brought catastrophe to it and caused all life to be annihilated. His actions provoked the anger of Yin-Yang Cave Heaven and he was eventually captured by one of Yin-Yang Cave Heaven’s Elders who was in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm. Hui Gu was then thrown into the Prison Star where he had been imprisoned for more than 800 years.

This dense forest was basically an existence akin to a Restricted Area for all the Yin-Yang Cave Heaven disciples who entered the Prison Star for training. After all, the Yin-Yang Cave Heaven disciples who came for training would not be too strong. Who among them could survive a direct confrontation against an established Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like the Grey Bones Heavenly Monarch?

Only people on the level of Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue would be an opponent for Hui Gu. It was just that their identity and status did not allow them to enter the Prison Star without sufficient reason. The only exception being that they received a special mission from the Sect. When they were promoted to become Outer Elders, they were each sent into the Prison Star to kill a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master as a kind of test.

“Where did this thing with no eyes come from!? How dare you run wild in this Monarch’s territory!? Hurry up and scram if you don’t want to die; otherwise, don’t blame this Monarch for being ruthless!” A sharp voice rang out, and listening to this ear-piercing voice felt very uncomfortable. Furthermore, the voice seemed to come from all directions. It was difficult for anybody to pinpoint where it was coming from.

“Are you sure you want to speak to me in such a manner?” Yang Kai glanced sideways in a certain direction.

A strange cackling laughter rang out, “Brat, you sure are arrogant! This Monarch is in a good mood today, so I will overlook your transgression. Hurry up and scram before I reconsider!”

Yang Kai gently nodded, “I hope your bones are as hard as your mouth is stubborn!”

When those words left his mouth, the pitch-black Golden Crow’s True Fire burst out and filled the surroundings, turning everything around Yang Kai into a sea of flames!