Martial Peak

Chapter 2276, Spirit Lake

Translator: Silavin & Danny

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

An hour later, Yang Kai opened his eyes. He seemed as mighty as a dragon and fierce as a tiger, his face flushed red and his eyes bright, no longer looking weak and dispirited.

He circulated his Secret Art and disappeared in a flash, reappearing in front of the Embodiment.

The huge Embodiment opened his eyes and looked at Yang Kai when he sensed his presence.

Looking at each other, Yang Kai spoke, “The Artifact Spirit does not seem to have been completely obliterated. There is still a trace of its Soul hiding in the War Hammer, so be careful.”

The Embodiment grinned, spreading all five of his fingers, “You mean this?”

Yang Kai fixed his eyes and saw a mass of condensed Black Qi in the palm of the Embodiment, squirming about as if it had some spirituality, trying to escape from its confinement. However, this place was the Small Sealed World inside the Sealed World Bead, and the Embodiment and Yang Kai shared the same Soul, so with one thought, the World Principles here could be commanded by either of them. Under such a situation, how could this mass of Black Qi escape? Although it was merely held in the palm of the Embodiment, it was suppressed by the Small Sealed World itself, like a beast trapped in a cage.

“Did you force it out?” Yang Kai asked quizzically.

The Embodiment shook his head, “It appeared by itself.”

“Why?” Yang Kai’s eyes widened.

The Embodiment chuckled, “It probably sensed danger.”

Yang Kai asked in amazement, “What did you do?”

“Nothing much…” The Embodiment patted his stomach and replied grimly, “I just tried eating it.”

The corners of Yang Kai’s mouth twitched when he heard that as he grumbled, “Will that be a problem? That was an Ancient Demon Artifact on par with a peak grade Emperor Artifact, possibly even higher. What would happen to you if you just swallow it like this…?”

“According to the Heaven Devouring Battle Law, there is nothing that cannot be devoured, so what does a trivial Demonic Weapon count for?” The Embodiment smiled proudly, “You haven’t cultivated this Secret Art personally, so it’s only natural that you don’t know how profound it is, but don’t worry, I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t have complete confidence. If I was stronger, not just the spirit of a Demonic Weapon, I could also devour that Demon Spirit sealed in your body!”

Yang Kai stiffened and asked in shock, “Is that possible? Isn’t that Secret Art invincible then?”

The Embodiment laughed, “I’m probably the only one who can do it. Even if you cultivate it, it would be impossible to achieve similar results. Although your physical body is strong enough, you wouldn’t be able to withstand the contamination of that pure Demon Qi. If you cultivate the Heaven Devouring Battle Law, I’m afraid it won’t be long before you lose your sanity and devolve into a beast driven by the instinct to slaughter.”

“Understood,” Yang Kai nodded. “That old dog Wu Meng Shan was really up to no good. I don’t know why he wanted to pass me this Secret Art in the first place. What was his purpose?”

“I’m afraid he never imagined you would be able to resist the temptation to cultivate this Secret Art and give it to me instead,” the Embodiment answered.

Yang Kai went silent for a while before he replied, “If it weren’t for you, perhaps I really would have tried to cultivate it; after all… the name ‘Heaven Devouring Battle Law’ is too glorious, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have been able to resist this temptation alone.”

At this point, Yang Kai waved dismissively, “Fine, you can refine and devour it. If you can really refine its Soul, it should be of great benefit to you.”

Yang Kai left the Small Sealed World as soon as he finished speaking and appeared above Clear Jade Mountain.

Looking around, he found Hua Qing Si sitting cross-legged on the ground, leaning against a big tree, studying the Sealed World Bead in her hand enthusiastically.

Yang Kai glanced at her, but seeing that she did not seem to be aware of his presence, he simply stretched out his hand and took back the Sealed World Bead before scanning his surroundings again and asking, “Where’s Liu Yan?”

He did not see Liu Yan, and even the Luan Feng’s black flames which originally covered the whole region had disappeared.

“She went back,” Hua Qing Si stood up and replied.

Yang Kai was surprised by this response but quickly used his Divine Sense to check, and sure enough, he found Liu Yan inside the Sealed World Bead, working hard to refine the black flames surrounding her.

Yang Kai was not aware of when she had returned to the Sealed World Bead, so he assumed it was his Embodiment’s handiwork.

What surprised Yang Kai was that it took Liu Yan only a short time to absorb all of the Luan Feng’s World Extinguishing Black Flames. However, from the looks of it, it would take some time for her to refine them all.

“You have to go back too, I still have work to do!” With that said, he sent Hua Qing Si back into the Sealed World Bead before he took out a communication artifact. He sent a message to Qin Zhao Yang, requesting him to take care of Zhang Ruo Xi while he rushed back.

According to Hua Qing Si, Zhang Ruo Xi was now with the woman named Ye Jing Han. Although Yang Kai believed Ye Jing Han was a good person, it was better to entrust Zhang Ruo Xi to someone he was better acquainted with.

After receiving Qin Zhao Yang’s reply, Yang Kai put away the communication artifact and teleported away with a flicker of the local Space Principles.

Yang Kai returned to the site of the eighteen Spirit Spring Eyes a short while later.

The terrain of this place had undergone earth-shaking changes due to the previous battle. The most obvious change was a giant Spirit Lake with a radius of roughly ten kilometres.

The Demonic Artifact Spirit had smashed the ground here with its War Hammer, causing a massive underground collapse, resulting in a huge pit. The Liquid Spirit Qi from the eighteen Spirit Springs flowed up into this pit and gradually condensed into a lake.

This was a real Spirit Lake, comprised of sparkling liquefied World Energy.

The lake was already filled to the brim in just a few hours and was now overflowing into its surroundings, filling the space with pure and rich World Energy.

Countless cultivators gathered around the Spirit Lake excitedly.

These people were obviously from Maplewood City.

When Yang Kai arrived here, the lake was already full of cultivators.

Every cultivator occupied a place and did not waste any time in circulating their Secret Art, trying to absorb as much of the pure World Energy here as possible. The closer to the centre of the lake, the stronger the cultivation of the cultivators.

It was basically all Dao Source Realm Masters occupying the centre of the lake.

Gathered around the outskirts were numerous Origin Returning Realm and Origin King Realm cultivators.

From time to time, people would fight over better spots.

Looking at the scene here, Yang Kai knew in his heart that this place would be widely known as a cultivation paradise in the Southern Territory and even the Star Boundary, and sooner or later it would fall under the control of the top Sects.

By then, it would be impossible for an ordinary cultivator to enter it at will; at the very least, they would need to pay some kind of price to do so.

Yang Kai was not the only one who seemed to realize this; almost all Dao Source Realm Masters knew this was inevitable so they did not waste this once-in-a-million-year opportunity to hurriedly cultivate here, even if it was just for a while.

By now, the news of the Spirit Lake appearing near Maplewood City would have spread to the big Sects. In three days at most, Emperor Realm Masters would arrive and take control here.

Yang Kai saw the Dao Source Realm cultivators from before, and also Qin Zhao Yang, Zhang Ruo Xi, Ye Jing Han and others together, all of them having occupied a good spot in the middle of the Spirit Lake.

Yang Kai did not greet them immediately and instead quietly found a spot to dive into the lake.

There were also many cultivators below the lake’s surface, all of them focused on cultivating.

Yang Kai used his Nihility Secret Technique to conceal his presence. Unless one was intentionally searching for him with their naked eyes, it would now be impossible for Yang Kai to be detected by anyone in such a rich World Energy environment.

Yang Kai dived all the way down to where the eighteen Spirit Springs were previously.

It was deserted here now as no one dared to go too near to the bottom, probably due to the fear caused by the appearance of the Demonic War Hammer in human form.

Yang Kai released his Divine Sense delightedly and found the centre of the eighteen Spirit Springs, then he took out the Sealed World Bead and opened a rift in it, allowing the liquid Spirit Qi to flow into it while he sat cross-legged to consolidate his Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation.

Because of the imperfect World Principles of the Sealed World Bead, it could not produce its own World Energy. Only external supplements would be able to maintain the cultivating environment inside the Small Sealed World.

Right here and now was the best time to stock up on World Energy.

Yang Kai did not have much time before the arrival of the Emperor Realm Masters. By then, he would not be able to collect World Energy in this way.

Gradually, Yang Kai settled down and cleared his mind of any extraneous thoughts.

At the same time, the cultivators around the Spirit Lake discovered a strange phenomenon.

“This lake… why has it stopped spreading?”

“Huh? You’re right, not only did it stop spreading, it even seems to be shrinking a bit.”

“Could it be that this Spirit Lake was just a flash in the pan, and it will disappear in a few days?”

“Shut your mouth! Maplewood City finally has such a cultivation paradise, how could it disappear so easily? The reduction of the lake is just a natural phenomenon, it should stabilize after a while.”

Although many cultivators noticed the anomaly, they did not know the reason. Even those Dao Source Realm Masters were clueless.

However, it was not the right time to investigate the matter. Refusing to let go of such a glorious opportunity, the commotion on the lake soon settled down again.

Thousands of people had gathered here, most sitting at the periphery of the lake, and many more who had received the news were flying over from Maplewood City, making for an extremely magnificent scene.

Normally, there would not be sufficient World Energy to supply such a large group of cultivators; however, when the World Energy was rich enough to turn into a lake, even if there were hundreds or even thousands of people cultivating here, it was impossible for them to completely absorb all of the World Energy.

Time passed slowly, and every now and then, a cultivator would break through. Whenever this happened, the nearby affected cultivators would grunt with dissatisfaction and curse.

Soon, it became customary for a cultivator who sensed they were on the verge of a breakthrough to consciously leave and look for a suitable spot in the outermost area to welcome their World Energy Baptism.

The entire Spirit Lake, and even the entire Maplewood City area, was experiencing a slew of breakthroughs, and a jubilant atmosphere enveloped the entire region.

Time passed slowly, and after three full days, Yang Kai, who had been meditating at the bottom of the lake, suddenly sensed something. Opening his eyes and looking up, he sighed slightly and muttered to himself begrudgingly, “Why did they have to come so soon?”

While speaking, he put away the Sealed World Bead and teleported himself to the surface of the Spirit Lake.