Martial Peak
chapter-657

During his time in Bold Independent Union, Yang Kai learned a lot about the mysteries of Crystal Stone so naturally, he had heard of Saint Crystal.

A piece of Saint Crystal contained more than a hundred times the energy of an equivalent sized Crystal Stone.

And that was just a comparison of pure energy.

In terms of true value, a single piece of Saint Crystal was simply incomparable to a hundred pies of Crystal Stone, because Crystal Stones could be found everywhere, but Saint Crystals rarely appeared.

Anything that was rare, was precious!

“There’s actually Saint Crystal here?” Han Fei couldn’t sit still any longer. It was torture watching Yang Kai mine Crystal Stone because she had nowhere to store more herself, but now he had actually obtained a piece of Saint Crystal!

This kind of rare treasure could provide tremendous assistance to Saint Realm masters in their cultivation. By absorbing the energy inside a piece of Saint Crystal, she could quickly improve her strength.

Yang Kai obtaining this kind of treasure caused Han Fei’s jealousy to soar.

Whether she had the ability to store more or not no longer mattered to Han Fei as she rushed forward and began violently striking the wall again.

Yang Kai also refused to fall behind, drastically increasing his mining efforts, no longer showing the calm and relaxed demeanor he had before.

Chunks of rock flew everywhere along with big and small pieces of Crystal Stones. Han Fei exerted the full strength of her Divine Sense to observe this storm of debris but whether it was ordinary rock or Crystal Stone, she completely ignored it and let it fall to the ground.

Yang Kai pushed his True Qi furiously while carefully controlling it with his Divine Sense to collect all the Crystal Stones that Han Fei ignored, stuffing them into his Black Book space.

*Ding-dong…*

A clear sound rang out and Han Fei’s eyes locked onto a target, her hand shooting out faster than Yang Kai could see, stanching up a different looking gem. Grasping it in the palm of her hand, Han Fei smiled brilliantly.

She had also obtained a piece of Saint Crystal.

But in the next moment, she grit her teeth again because Yang Kai also harvested another piece and was casually showing it off to her.

“Just you wait!” Han Fei muttered under her breath, increasing the pace of her attacks again.

For a time, Yang Kai and Han Fei acted like they were possessed, going all out to attack the rock walls and harvest Crystal Stones and Saint Crystals.

The number of Saint Crystals was still quite small, only one or two occasionally popping up, but as time passed, Yang Kai managed to collect more than a dozen pieces while Han Fei gained a few times more. Her cultivation was significantly greater than his so obviously the pace of her mining was faster and taking advantage of her stronger Divine Sense, she would often discover the loose Saint Crystals first.

However, she had no way to store the ordinary Crystal Stones that came loose as she was mining so they ended up being taken for free by Yang Kai.

As such, in terms of gains, the two were basically equal.

*Hong…*

A loud rumbling soundly rang out, and the wall in front of the pair suddenly collapsed, revealing a great chasm, but from the dark chasm a terrifying pulse of energy could be felt.

It seemed that because the two people had broke open this passage, the energy flowing within the mine had become unstable.

*Kacha…*

A burst of cracking sound came from all directions.

Yang Kai and Han Fei’s faces both went stiff at exactly the same moment, stopping all their movements as they stood in place silently, not even daring to breathe.

*Kachacha…*

The cracking sounds around them grew louder and louder as the entire cave began to tremble violently while piece of stone began to fall from the ceiling.

Yang Kai’s brow twitched, his expression sinking as he whispered, “This… might be bad…”

“I think… we should probably leave…” Han Fei gently nodded.

“Mmhmm… Run!” Yang Kai shouted out panic, throwing all other thoughts to the back of his mind as he shot off like lightning towards the cave’s exit.

Han Fei also didn’t hesitate and followed close behind.

The earth trembled and the surrounding World Energy churned violently, chunks of rock and clouds of dust constantly falling all around the pair as the cracks in the wall spread rapidly.

Yang Kai did his best to observe the surrounding environment as he rushed forward.

He knew that they were currently in the bowels of an active, unstable volcano. Now it seems that his and Han Fei’s reckless activities over the past few days had disrupted some kind of delicate balance here and the chain reaction they had started would likely cause the volcano to thoroughly erupt.

When that happened, this cave beneath the volcano would no longer be safe.

Facing this life or death crisis, the pair held nothing back, using their fastest speed to escape, reaching the huge cavern where they had first stopped over in the blink of an eye before shooting up the tunnel they had entered through and arriving in front of the flowing magma chamber.

“Come here!” Yang Kai snorted and grabbed hold of Han Fei’s waist, spreading his Flaming Yang Wings and wrapping both of them up before diving straight into the magma, rushing upwards towards the surface.

Driven by the fierce momentum of the volcanic eruption, the speed at which the two ascended was several times faster compared to when they had dove down.

*Hong Hong Hong…*

The deafening explosions around them and the massive flow of destructive energy caused both Yang Kai and Han Fei’s faces to become extremely dignified.

At the same time, above the mouth of the volcano, a number of figures floated midair, each of them a powerful master that gave off a formidable aura.

These people were divided into two groups, facing each other, n dangerous air lingering between them.

On one side was the radical, militant Demon Race group headed by Chu Jian, while on the other were the moderate clansmen led by Li Rong and Hua Mo.

As Yang Kai had expected, Li Rong had been paying attention to Chu Jian’s movements and when she learned about him suddenly leaving his territory with so many masters in tow, Li Rong immediately realized what he was planning to do.

Quickly summoning Hua Mo, Li Rong led her subordinates from Demon God Citadel and rushed to the rescue, but she was still a step late.

When she and Hua Mo arrived here, Yang Kai and Han Fei had already been forced into the depths of the volcano by Chu Jian and it was uncertain whether they were alive or dead.

Li Rong, who had always shown great tolerance and benevolence, was right now, for the first time, feeling a great urge to kill Chu Jian!

But before confirming the whereabouts and status of Yang Kai and Han Fei, Li Rong endured and ordered Chu Jian and his people to help her search for them.

These days, the masters of the Ancient Demon Clan had repeatedly dove into the volcano to search for traces of Yang Kai and Han Fei. Li Rong even went down personally but in the end still found nothing.

By now, most of the Ancient Demon Race were convinced that the human boy and Great Commander Han Fei had lost their lives inside the volcano.

Chu Jian’s expression remained unchanged. Not only did he not show the slightest hint of guilt, there was even a flash of excitement in the depths of his eyes as she stared at Li Rong from a distance, wondering what she would do next.

Now that things had gotten to this point, Chu Jian no longer bothered putting up a front. In recent years, he had been testing Li Rong’s bottom line while gathering his strength, by now he had a fair understanding of Li Rong’s capabilities.

If a fight really broke out here, Chu Jian wasn’t the least bit afraid, even somewhat eager to try.

After so many years of imprisonment, most of the Ancient Demon Clan’s fangs had been dulled. Now was the time to awaken the true nature of their clansmen and baptise them in fresh blood.

“Senior Li…” Hua Mo’s face was ugly as he let out a sigh and said, “Great Commander Han Fei has probably already fallen.”

Li Rong’s eyes were shut tight as she continued releasing her tyrannical Divine Sense, ignoring the burning pain the surrounding Yang Yuan Qi brought to her as she desperately searched the volcano, but unfortunately her efforts remained fruitless.

When she heard Hua Mo, Li Rong suddenly opened her eyes, the temperate expression on her beautiful face suddenly becoming gloomy as she ground her teeth, her tender body trembling as she glared angrily and coldly shouted, “Chu Jian, do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

Chu Jian sneered and nodded, “I naturally know what I’ve done, there’s no need Senior Li to remind me.”

Li Rong’s expression became even colder as she slowly shook her head, calling out a low voice, “You have no idea. If that human boy turns out to be safe, I can still spare your life, but if anything has happened to him, I’ll bury you here along with him!”

As Li Rong shouted, a surging momentum pulsed from her body, causing Chu Jian’s expression to finally change as he quickly retreated a few steps and swung his arm forward to block these invisible ripples, his sleeve disintegrating upon contact and scattering into the wind.

Chu Jian’s eyes couldn’t help widening slightly, only no realizing that this woman who always acted tolerant and benevolent unexpectedly had strength that far surpassed his own!

However, he too was now a Second Order Saint, so he quickly stabilized himself and a cruel expression slowly spread across his face as he shot back, “Senior Li, instead of caring whether Han Fei is dead or alive, your first concern is about that human brat, why is that?”

Beside Li Rong, Hua Mo also couldn’t help frowning, a look of suspicion appearing on his face.

Li Rong’s words really drew everyone’s attention. She didn’t mention anything about Han Fei but was apparently only concerned about Yang Kai, causing even Hua Mo to wonder why.

“You don’t need to know why!” Li Rong showed no intention of explaining herself, simply taking a deep breath as she stared up into the chaotic sky, her eyes blurring slightly as she solemnly declared, “All you need to know is that I can tolerate any mistakes you have make, I can even tolerate you quarreling with me and seeking to usurp me! But I will never allow you to get away with killing that human boy… If he dies, you die!”

Chu Jian breath caught in his throat, Li Rong speaking such forceful words meant she was by no means issuing an idle threat… It seemed like he had really inadvertently violated some kind of taboo!

Chu Jian secretly shook his head, wondering if Li Rong had gone crazy. In front of so many of their clansmen, she had actually said this, wasn’t she afraid her reputation would be permanently damaged?

Even Hua Mo showed a look of confusion at the moment, let alone their other clansmen.

“I’ll give you three days, after three days, if he’s alive, I want to see him in person, if he’s dead, I want to see his corpse. If you can’t achieve even this, I’ll kill you myself!” Li Rong glared towards Chu Jian and issued her ultimatum.

Chu Jian didn’t show any signs of panic, but instead a look of anticipation, licking his lips as his fighting intent began to rise.

He had no intention of obeying Li Rong’s command, things had already progressed to this point so a fight was now inevitable.

But before he could do or say anything, a fierce rumbling sound came from the volcano below and the surrounding World Energy suddenly became turbulent as a dangerous aura began welling up.

Everyone’s face changed as they all looked down and saw the magma inside the volcano’s caldera begin to surge upwards.

*Xiu…*

A burst of magma violently shot a thousand meters into the air before spreading out raining down on the surrounding area.

*Xiu xiu xiu…*

Soon, more streams of magma burst from the volcano like arrows, each pillar of molten rock carrying with it an incredibly destructive force.

“Senior Li, fall back!” Hua Mo went pale and quickly shouted out, hurriedly pushing his strength as he tried to escape from the volcano’s fury.