Martial Peak
chapter-5524

It would not have been as bad for Tao Wu if that was all. The force unleashed by Yang Kai’s spear was brutal and relentless, but it was still not enough to kill him; at most, he would be heavily injured.

Yet, all of a sudden, a mysterious force shrouded Tao Wu, causing over half of his strength to instantly be suppressed.

He was already in agony over his Soul being ripped apart, and now his Divine Spirit Strength was nullified as well, it meant he could not withstand the menacing blow from Yang Kai’s spear.

A muffled sound rang out as the Azure Dragon Spear pierced right through Tao Wu’s skull, his eyes still wide with fear and disbelief.

His strength diffused into the air as his Blood Essence spurted out, filling the void with a heavy scent of metal.

The Human Race Masters gasped in shock while the Divine Spirits showed a similar reaction.

[He really killed him!]

Tao Wu, a Divine Spirit who was as powerful as an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Master, had been executed on the spot!

Before this happened, both the Humans and the Divine Spirits thought it was unlikely that Yang Kai would follow through with his threat. They assumed he simply wanted to intimidate Tao Wu; otherwise, he would not have exposed his murderous intent.

Tao Wu was not weak by any means, and any sane person would have their guard up when they sensed such potent murderous intent being directed at them.

Wei Jun Yang and the others had already prepared what they were going to say. They were going to wait until Yang Kai had finished with his threats before they came in and smoothed things over; that way, Yang Kai would have a valid reason to hold himself back and the Divine Spirits would not feel too offended. Everyone would still be able to work together in the future under such circumstances.

It never crossed their minds that Yang Kai would kill Tao Wu just like that.

However, Wei Jun Yang and the other Humans were even more confused as to why Tao Wu seemed so… weak. It was not the same when Yang Kai killed the Innate Territory Lords. Although Yang Kai had killed those Innate Territory Lords swiftly and decisively, one could consider it a sneak attack of sorts due to the Soul Rending Thorns.

Firstly, Yang Kai was powerful, and he was also willing to sacrifice pieces of his Soul to use the Soul Rending Thorns. Even an Innate Territory Lord would be caught off guard by such an attack, and therefore, it was not surprising that Yang Kai could seize the opening to kill them off.

In return, Yang Kai had to pay a heavy price.

After all, they saw that Yang Kai stopped attacking any other Territory Lords after killing three of them. They knew it was not because he did not want to continue, but because he could not.

If Innate Territory Lords could be killed off that easily, then Yang Kai could have dealt with all of them by himself and the Human Race would not have to be in such a difficult predicament.

But then, what happened to Tao Wu?

Yang Kai kept his Azure Dragon Spear pointed at Tao Wu’s head for several breaths of time, but even so, Tao Wu still died after a single blow. Weren’t Divine Spirits supposed to be as strong, if not stronger than Humans in the same Realm as them? Did that not apply to the Divine Spirits who came from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary?

The Human Race Masters were confused, but they were still quick to react. All of them began condensing their World Force as they warily eyed the Divine Spirits in front of them.

The Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary were a closely-knit bunch who stuck together no matter what. Now that Yang Kai killed Tao Wu, there was no way of guaranteeing that these Divine Spirits would not rebel; however, even after a few breaths, the Divine Spirits showed no signs of acting, still just stuck in their state of shock.

[Tao Wu’s dead!]

[Yang Kai said he would kill Tao Wu, then he did just that!]

In an instant, the Divine Spirits were filled with trepidation after witnessing Yang Kai’s merciless act.

The Human Race Masters saw Yang Kai killing Tao Wu with ease and assumed that Tao Wu was too weak; they did not notice much else, but the Divine Spirits did.

At that very moment when Tao Wu was killed, a strange force emanated from Yang Kai that suppressed all of their Divine Spirit Bloodlines. When that happened, the Divine Spirits felt as if they were being crushed under the weight of an entire Universe World, making it difficult for them to even breathe.

What kind of power was that?

Most of the Divine Spirits had no clue, but a few of the strongest seemed to have sensed something and stared at the back of Yang Kai’s hands in shock.

There seemed to be some kind of mysterious imprints that glowed momentarily, but they disappeared too quickly, so none of them got a clear look at them.

[Was that the source of that suppressing power?] The Divine Spirits were shaken. If Yang Kai had the power to completely suppress their Bloodlines, it was not a shock that Tao Wu died.

Nevertheless, what was it that enabled him to do so? Even a Master as strong as Tao Wu could not resist it.

These Divine Spirits left the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary not too long ago, so they had no clue that Yang Kai possessed the Great Sun and Great Moon Marks. As it was, not many people knew about these two Great Marks, only the Human Race’s highest authority figures did.

They knew that these two Great Marks gave Yang Kai the ability to use Purifying Light. Without them, it was impossible to extract power from the Yellow and Blue Crystals and then merge them to form Purifying Light.

However, only one or two others knew that Purifying Light was not the only thing these two Great Marks were capable of.

After all, these two marks were personally bestowed upon Yang Kai by the Sun’s Burning Light and Moon’s Serene Glimmer and were formed from those two Supreme Being’s Source Strength.

Even though Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan denied being the progenitors of the Divine Spirits, they were still connected to them somehow. On top of that, their Bloodlines surpassed those of all Divine Spirits, so their Source Auras alone were enough to suppress Divine Spirits by force.

It was similar to the Dragon Clan’s Bloodline suppression. Those of the Dragon Clan with purer Dragon Veins had the natural ability to suppress those whose Bloodline wasn’t as pure.

Back then, when Yang Kai headed for the No-Return Pass on Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s orders, Ji Lao San showed up to challenge him.

In just two strikes, Yang Kai easily managed to subdue Ji Lao San. Even when Ji Lao San assumed his Dragon Form, Yang Kai was able to smack him back into his Human Form with just a casual slap.

What Yang Kai relied upon at the time was not his strength or his Dragon Vein as Ji Lao San’s Dragon Vein was not any weaker than his, but rather the Great Sun and Great Moon Marks.

Even Ji Lao San’s Dragon Clan Bloodline was suppressed to the point where he could not fight back, so how could Tao Wu fare any better?

How could Tao Wu possibly survive a sudden attack in the form of a Soul Rending Thorn combined with the suppression from the Source of the two Great Marks?

Yang Kai withdrew his spear and turned to the other Divine Spirits. Earlier, when he attacked Tao Wu, a few Divine Spirits surged their strength, as if they wanted to help the latter, but the two Great Marks nullified everything, and before they could come to their senses, Tao Wu was dead.

Now that Yang Kai was eyeing them coldly, the Divine Spirits turned pale and held their breaths in fear that Yang Kai would attack them next.

Even Tao Wu had died without being able to fight back, so the rest knew they were no match for Yang Kai.

Thus, a strange scene played out in front of everyone. The Humans were grim and alert as they were afraid that Yang Kai’s act of executing Tao Wu would lead to a frenzied response from the Divine Spirits. If that happened, it would undoubtedly lead to a fierce battle, and many more Humans might die.

If that was indeed what was to come, then the irony of the situation could not be missed.

However, the Divine Spirits showed no signs of wanting to avenge Tao Wu; rather, they were cowering in fear and did not even dare to speak up.

[Why do they look so terrified?] Wei Jun Yang and Ou Yang Lie exchanged nonplussed glances.

Were the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary that afraid of Yang Kai? Though it was their first time interacting with these Divine Spirits, they heard a lot about them. These Divine Spirits were a lot haughtier than the ones from the Ancestral Land and the No-Return Pass. During their time in the Star Boundary, they stirred up quite a lot of trouble, and High Heaven Palace had to keep cleaning up the mess they left behind.

Thankfully, they were not completely lawless and never did anything that led directly to the death of others; otherwise, the Human Race would not be cooperating with them now.

In contrast to the Divine Spirits from the Ancestral Land and the No-Return Pass, the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary only had a loose relationship with the Humans.

They aided the Human Race to secure the frontlines of various battlefields, but they did not come under the Human Race’s command structure.

This was the reason why those at the Supreme Headquarters were reluctant to send out these Divine Spirits. There was no way of guaranteeing what they would do.

The Supreme Headquarters would not have sent them over this time if it had not been because there was literally no one else they could send.

However, the Human Race Masters exhaled in relief. They were thankful that a fight did not break out and there was still the chance of peacefully resolving this situation. They now waited to see how Yang Kai wanted to settle the matter.

The atmosphere was fraught with tension as the Divine Spirits stared at Yang Kai with complicated expressions. They were fearful and cautious, but they were also on guard lest Yang Kai attacked again.

“Zhu Jian!” After a long time, Yang Kai finally spoke up again.

A burly, pot-bellied man who was one of the Divine Spirits standing in front mustered up the courage to step forward. He cupped his fist and called out, “Sir!”

“Tell me what all of you swore to me when we were still in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary,” Yang Kai stared at Zhu Jian with a neutral expression.

Zhu Jian was the first Divine Spirit that Yang Kai subdued in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. He came along with this team of reinforcements, and even though he was now in his Human Form, Yang Kai recognised him right away.

Zhu Jian started quaking when he heard Yang Kai’s question as he still remembered that Yang Kai had originally wanted to roast him alive before eating him. He would not still be breathing now if he had not choked down his pride and surrendered back then.

He had already been fearful of Yang Kai before, and now that Tao Wu was killed so easily, he was even less inclined to behave insolently. He respectfully replied, “We swore a Bloodline Oath that pledged our loyalty to Sir for 3,000 years!”

The Human Race Masters were dumbfounded when they heard this.

This was their first time hearing that such a relationship existed between Yang Kai and the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. Pledging loyalty was no joking matter, especially when it involved these haughty Divine Spirits who were all Masters in their own right. No one of such strength and pride would easily serve another, even if only temporarily.

The Humans were filled with curiosity as to how Yang Kai managed to make the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary submit to him as this was not something strength alone could accomplish.

“I thought you’d all forgotten,” Yang Kai sneered.

Zhu Jian lowered his head, “We wouldn’t dare to. No one would dare to desecrate the sanctity of a Bloodline Oath!”

“Good. Now, what were my orders when I sent you all out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary?”

Zhu Jian instantly replied, “To head directly to the Star Boundary, find Hua Qing Si, and obey her commands!” This was the command Yang Kai had given them, so naturally, Zhu Jian still recalled it clearly. In fact, all the Divine Spirits present remembered these exact words.

Yang Kai narrowed his eyes and snorted coldly, “Did you tell her that?”

“Well…” Zhu Jian mumbled awkwardly.

After noting Zhu Jian’s hesitation, Yang Kai knew that he guessed correctly. Hua Qing Si probably had no idea that he had sent these Divine Spirits over to be under her command!

Otherwise, why would the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary be able to act in such an unbridled manner?

“Do you want to die?” Yang Kai’s eyes filled with murderous intent again.

Sweat flowed down Zhu Jian’s forehead as he shouted, “Tao Wu and the others said to Manager Hua that ‘we’ve been sent over to help them’, Sir!”

It was true that Yang Kai had indeed sent the Divine Spirits over to help the Humans, but the Divine Spirits had only relayed this information to Hua Qing Si in a vague manner.