Martial Peak

He stood there like an unsheathed sword, swirling flashes of light enveloped a radius of a dozen meters around him.  His Sword Qi screeched as it tore through the air like it was trying to slice apart the world itself, and the ground around him was slowly ripped apart.

Yang Kai grinned fearlessly and  also pushed his True Qi to its limit. A violent power gushed from his body as a strong feeling of oppression spread out around him.

His momentum continued to rise, like an explosion bursting forth, and rapidly rose towards some unknown peak.

Wu Cheng Yi displayed an aura of invincibility while Yang Kai’s aura displayed an all consuming madness. Even before they fought, they were already competing with their momentum, shaking the ground and whipping the winds around them. The two of them stood in the eye of this storm and stared down one another.

“Come!”  Wu Cheng Yi roared. His face showed a ferocious expression that also held a trace of madness, as he slashed with his sword, sending out two razor sharp sword waves.

A cross shaped space in front of him seemed to be split apart as Wu Cheng Yi roared viciously. The cross shaped Sword Qi wave suddenly flew towards Yang Kai like an unstoppable meteor.

Yang Kai acted simultaneously and stomped down so hard the world around him trembled.

A terrifying force burst from the soles of his feet as the ground beneath him was split open. A series of cracks, like a giant spider web, spread out tens of meters with Yang Kai at its centre.

Like a bolt of lightning, he charged toward Wu Cheng Yi.

Instantly closing half the distance between them, Yang Kai sent out a devastating punch straight into the centre of the cross shaped Sword Qi.

In a flash, the cross shaped Sword Qi was crushed as Yang Kai continued forward unimpeded; his momentum was not diminished in the slightest.

Upon seeing this, Wu Cheng Yi’s pupils immediately shrank, and he was no longer willing or able to hold back the full extent of his sword techniques. He fiercely slashed out with his sword in rapid succession in an attempt to hack Yang Kai apart.

But Yang Kai agilely dodged most of these sword waves, while those he could not avoid, he directly broke with his fists.

Within three breaths of time, Yang Kai made his way in front of Wu Cheng Yi.

With his breath growing ragged from the overwhelming pressure bearing down on him, Wu Cheng Yi soon found himself completely suppressed. Unable to display the full extent of his strength, he swiftly made the decision to fall back!

“Where are you trying to run!?”  Yang Kai grinned viciously and quickly chased after him.  Wrapping his iron like fists in his True Qi, Yang Kai kept raining down punches onto his opponent’s body as Wu Cheng Yi responded with his ethereal swordsmanship to nimbly parry away all but a few of his blows.

Dazzling flashes of light appeared as sword skills clashed against heavy punches as waves of destruction spread outwards from their conflict towards the surroundings.

From the beginning, neither Yang Kai nor Wu Cheng Yi were moving slowly, but as time progressed the figures of the two became increasingly blurry and soon after completely blending together.

Loud bursts of noise constantly erupted wherever this blur appeared.

In just half a cup of tea worth of time, the pair had already exchanged an astronomical number of blows!

*Boom!*

With a loud explosion, the two entangled figures at last separated. Both of them flew back tens of meters before crashing to the ground, and each one of them opened up a huge pit upon impact.

*Xiu Xiu ..*.

Simultaneously jumping back up, both Yang Kai and Wu Cheng Yi who had just been knocked apart instantly raced forward and continued their battle.

A short distance away, Zi Mo continued to watch, not blinking an eye. Her beautiful face clearly showed an expression of shock.

She had never doubted whether Yang Kai would be able to preserve his life. She was simply marvelling at just how much his combat strength had grown.

“This smelly brat has already become this strong!”  Zi Mo cursed under her breath. Her heart filled with complex emotions and a strange smile adorned her face.

When they had last separated, Yang Kai had been facing off against her Senior Brother Chi Xue and was clearly not his opponent. It was only after he finally managed to use his strange Martial Skill to gain control of the Sixth-Order Monstrous Beast that he was able to turn the tables.

However, upon meeting again, he could now fight on even terms with this Wu Cheng Yi.

If she were to compare their individual combat strength, Zi Mo believed that Wu Cheng Yi Chi was probably a bit stronger than Chi Xue.

The speed at which Yang Kai’s strength grew was something that caused deep feelings of admiration and jealousy within her.

Lost in thought for a moment, Zi Mo quickly noticed that Yang Kai and Wu Cheng Yi had already moved a few thousand meters away.  Kicking off the ground, Zi Mo also hurried to keep up, as she extremely reluctant to miss a single moment of this intense battle.

Especially considering that these two were nearly the same age as her and were cultivators who were members of the same generation.

Finding some blood along the way, Zi Mo did not know whether it belonged to Yang Kai or Wu Cheng Yi.  In any case, the two of them were both going all out, and it was clear that this battle would only end when one of them fell.

When Zi Mo finally caught up with them again, she saw the two standing some thirty meters apart glaring at each other.

Wu Cheng Yi’s face was livid. His original calm arrogance had long since been replaced by endless rage as his eyes trembled lightly, and he stared at Yang Kai in disbelief.

His face was slightly pale as a line of blood leaked from the side of his mouth. Apparently, he had received some minor injuries.

On the other side, Yang Kai’s body also had a number of sword wounds. His clothes were stained here and there with blood. Especially tragic were his two fists, which were full of small sword scars!

Wu Cheng Yi’s Sword Body provided both offence and defence. If Yang Kai wanted to hurt him, he had to first hurt himself.

But regardless, he was still laughing like some kind of blood crazed demon.

Seeing him facing the sunset bathed in blood, black hair blowing in the wind, with his handsome face showing a fearless gin, Zi Mo couldn’t help blushing a deep shade of red.

“I started cultivating from the age of eight …”  Wu Cheng Yi suddenly spoke. His voice was slightly hoarse and unsteady, “It has been fourteen years since then and from small to large, among my peers I have always been invincible.  No one has been my opponent; no one has ever defeated me!  Even those Heaven favoured sons from the Eight Great Families could not stand against me.  With my sword in hand, none dare challenge me.”

Taking a deep breath, Wu Cheng Yi’s face suddenly became serious, “You are very powerful!  To think a True Element Boundary First Stage cultivator could actually fight on par with me, I, Wu Cheng Yi today have been awakened, it is not that this world did not have other geniuses, it was simply that I was too ignorant!”

“Realizing the truth before you die, you should take comfort in that.”  Yang Kai grinned.

Wu Cheng Yi only shook his head before coldly stating, “You really think you can defeat me?  I’ve still not shown you my full strength!”

“Neither have I!”  Yang Kai’s eyes stared coldly, and he immediately shot back. An inexplicable smile surfaced on his face.

Hearing this, Wu Cheng Yi’s eyes narrowed once more.

“Good!  Then show me, let us see if it you who dies, or if it is I!”  Wu Cheng Yi yelled, completely unhinged.

From small to large, Wu Cheng Yi had only ever been looked up to by his peers, only ever received praise from his elders. He was the Nine Star Sword Sect’s most treasured disciple. The one they had placed all their hopes upon.  They had asserted that if Wu Cheng Yi could really grow up, the Nine Star Sword Sect would finally have the qualifications to enter the ranks of the worlds Ruling Sects.

Such a proud person had today suffered injuries from an opponent many realms lower than him, so how could Wu Cheng Yi accept such a fact?

It was Yang Kai who had first come here aiming at his life.

But now, even if Yang Kai wanted to stop, Wu Cheng Yi would never agree.

Between the two of them, a decisive outcome was the only option. One of would live, and the other must die!  If Wu Cheng Yi did not fall, then Yang Kai would!  Only the one who survived would be the real genius!

There could be no first or second place!  In Wu Cheng Yi’s mind, only he was qualified to be the ultimate leader of the younger generation!  Anyone who tried to encroach on his position would be his life and death enemy.

Finished his speech, Wu Cheng Yi’s crazed expression calmed down as an oppressive sword aura suddenly spread around him.

Zi Mo’s pretty face suddenly went stiff, and she hastily retreated. Only after moving back several hundreds of meters did she finally come to a halt.

Meanwhile, Yang Kai’s expression also took on a new seriousness.

“I only have one move left, if you can resist it then it is your win, but if you cannot… then you will die!”  Wu Cheng Yi roared, his True Qi suddenly condensed into sharp blades and leaked out from all over his body, and even the Sword Qi which composed his Sword Body also suddenly collapsed.

He had given up on any form of defense and transformed all of his True Qi into a single attack.

In an instant, Wu Cheng Yi was surrounded by hundreds of Sword Qi blades.

All of these Sword Qi blades were composed of his True Qi. Each one on their own possessed a great hidden lethality and destructive power. With hundreds of such blades, regardless of who it was, their only option would be to desperately avoid them.

But Wu Cheng Yi was not finished; waving his sword once again, another hundred Sword Qi blades appeared…

Then another hundred appeared more…

Soon, the entire sky was covered with Sword Qi floating around Wu Cheng Yi, like the entire world had been transformed into swords.

Yang Kai took a deep breath and no longer dared to hold back. Reaching out, the Asura Sect’s Hallowed Treasure, the Asura Sword appeared in the hands.

The True Qi in his meridians retreated into his dantian and was instantly replaced by the energy from the Unyielding Golden Skeleton.

A Black gas filled with a thick murderous aura, that caused anyone who saw it to tremble involuntarily, gushed out from Yang Kai’s body.

The energy inside the Unyielding Golden Skeleton was a kind of evil energy. The exact opposite of Yang Kai’s usual True Yang Yuan Qi.

This energy was filled with an atmosphere of murder and destruction. It was very similar to the aura contained with the Asura Sword.  Yang Kai had only intended to use these similar energies to maximize the power of his artifact, but to his surprise, when he held the Asura Sword and began drawing energy from his Unyielding Golden Skeleton, the Asura Sect’s Hallowed Treasure actually began madly devouring all the energy his Unyielding Golden Skeleton poured into it.

In an instant, the Asura Sword began radiating a mixture of red and black light!

This light was like a black hole as it burst forth, and it seemed to swallow up all the surrounding light and quickly drained the whole world of all its colour.

In the distance, Zi Mo actually felt like she had fallen into a dark abyss.

Even the radiance emitting from Wu Cheng Yi’s Sword Qi also suddenly became faint.

*Zheng…*

The Asura Sword suddenly let out a piercing cry and sent ripples of sound and energy towards Wu Cheng Yi’s Sword Qi, which caused those countless ethereal blades to resonate in response.

Trembling violently, these Sword Qi blades seemed like they were desperately trying to free themselves of Wu Cheng Yi’s control.

Wu Cheng Yi complexion changed, and he hastily stabilized his mind, as he tried to maintain control of his Sword Qi blades and not let the Asura Sword disrupt them.

Yang Kai on the other hand was equally stunned by all of this, but soon his eyes began flashing an excited light, as he continued to pour energy into Asura Sword.  At this moment, he had gained an insight into this Heaven Grade Artifact and formed a vague connection between himself and the sword.

Now, the Asura Sword no longer felt like a weapon but more like a part of the body, an extension of his own flesh and blood.

The two opposing geniuses struggled to accumulate power for this final clash. Separated by dozens of meters, each of them stared towards the other; their faces filled with merciless determination.

On his side, Wu Cheng Yi summoned more than two thousand Sword Qi blades before finally stopping.

When the last few Sword Qi blades emerged from his body, all the blood from this Nine Star Sword Sect’s Heaven favoured son drained, and his face instantly became pale, as his aura drained rapidly.  It was like in that moment he had become an ordinary person, one that lacked strength to even kill a chicken.

“This is my Nine Star Sword Sect’s Ultimate Martial Skill, Strike of Ten Thousand Swords!”  Wu Cheng Yi coldly shouted. His face suddenly showed a touch of regret, “Unfortunately, with my current strength, I am only able to summon a little over two thousand Sword Qi blades!  This attack contains every last drop of my remaining True Qi!”

As if responding to his words, Yang Kai tightly gripped his blood red sword and wore a fearless smile, “I do not know what this Martial Skill’s name, but I am certain its strength is not weak, prepare yourself!”