Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain

Hearing the four of them quarrelling, Yang Kai soon realized that the so-called Thunder Luan was an exceptionally rare Tenth-Order Monster Beast, and after it died, the vitality and energy of its body and Monster Core would breed a Bird Wood.

Bird Woods only sprouted in the places where powerful bird type Monster Beasts died, and the chances of one appearing were very small. Out of every ten thousand high-order bird type Monster Beasts that fell, perhaps only one Bird Wood would appear.

The characteristics of each Bird Wood were different and depended entirely upon the attributes of the Monster Beast which bred it.

The Thunder Luan was a Thunder Attribute Beast, so naturally the Bird Wood its corpse had given rise to also had a strong Thunder Attribute to it.

Although Ji Peng concealing the existence of this Thunder Luan had caused his partners some dissatisfaction, with Gui Che even swearing to settle accounts with him afterwards, the immense value of this Bird Wood still made all of their eyes red with greed.

After entering this place, besides Yang Kai, who only obtained a few herbs and some minor benefits, each of them had reaped a huge harvest, but with this Thunder Attribute Bird Wood bred from a Tenth-Order Monster Beast standing in front of them, all of them found it difficult to conceal their excitement and they temporarily put aside Ji Peng’s deception.

The group of four started to dig up the surrounding area.

A cold light flashed across the depths of Ji Peng’s eyes which only Yang Kai, who happened to be observing him, noticed, but he feigned ignorance while helping with the excavation.

After a while, a huge pit appeared inside of which lay a huge skeleton over three hundred meters in length. From the appearance of the skeleton, it was clear it belonged to a bird type Monster Beast but all its flesh and blood had long ago disappeared and its Monster Core was nowhere to be seen. Even its bones had become withered and frail.

All the vital energy of this Tenth-Order Monster Beast Thunder Luan had been transferred to the small Bird Wood.

Gui Che pushed his Saint Qi to protect his entire body before carefully pulling up the entire Bird Wood, not daring to damage even the smallest of its roots.

Seeing that he was going to put such an incredibly precious treasure into his Space Ring again, the other three immediately wore frowns.

Gui Che ignored them though and proceeded to stuff the Bird Wood into his Space Ring. Although he vowed to fairly distribute the profits from this treasure’s sale after they left, anyone could see that he simply wanted to take sole possession of this Bird Wood.

All of a sudden, the celebratory mood became somewhat subtle. Yang Kai stayed out of these matters as he was secretly guessing that if more benefits appeared before them, the other three wouldn’t hesitate to act against Gui Che.

However, with their destination not far away, the three others could only suppress their anger and wait until they achieve their objective before making their next move.

The atmosphere of this team became tense and Yang Kai followed behind them without a word, trying to be inconspicuous.

The further the group of five travelled, the more desolate the landscape became.

It seemed like starting from the area where the Scarlet Tailed Purple Armoured Scorpion lived, the land became barren and the once lush environment transformed into a wasteland where even the World Energy was thin.

After flying forward for some time, everyone suddenly felt a strange energy fluctuation coming from up ahead. At the same time, the blood in each of their bodies became somewhat agitated, dying their skin red. Their surging pulses and rising temperatures caused each of them to feel excited and agitated, their eyes gradually becoming bloodshot as their breathing became heavy.

“We’ve found it!” Ji Peng shouted and without hesitation flew his Star Shuttle towards the source of the energy fluctuations with the others chasing after him closely.

The strange waves of energy became more and more intense, stimulating everyone’s blood flow; Yang Kai could even hear his own heart violently throbbing inside his chest.

This situation was very abnormal, and Yang Kai immediately became vigilant.

A moment later, the group of five rushed to a spot above a great pit filled with bright red liquid which looked as thick as blood. This liquid reflected the bright sunlight which beamed down on it, giving it a strange yet beautiful appearance.

“Is this the Body Tempering Divine Pond?” Gui Che turned to Ji Peng.

Ji Peng nodded heavily, his eyes full of joy.

“How do we use it?” Gan Ji hurriedly asked. They had paid a huge price and suffered many losses just to find this pool, so now that it was so near, he couldn’t wait to temper his body with it and enhance his physique.

The root of any cultivators was their body, and minor benefits obtained along the road could never be compared to a fundamental improvement of one’s aptitude.

“There’s no special method to use this thing,” Ji Peng laughed before plunging into the blood-red pool with a great splash. Ji Peng’s head soon re-emerged and he let out a groan, seemingly suffering from some pain.

But soon, the pain disappeared and was replaced by endless joy, his face showing a look of ecstasy as if he was receiving massive benefits, his Second Order Saint King aura involuntarily bursting out.

Anyone could detect that his vitality was rapidly improving.

Gui Che, Gan Ji, and Luo Yao had all been acting vigilantly up until now, for fear that Ji Peng was still hiding something from them, but after seeing him so easily jump into the blood-red pond, none of them hesitated any longer and jumped into the Body Tempering Divine Pond, lest the benefits be snatched up by Ji Peng alone.

The pond was not too big, only about a hundred meters in diameter, and it was impossible to tell how it came to be, but regardless of all this, when the three of them entered it, they all showed happy expressions.

Yang Kai stood still without moving. Ji Peng opened his eyes and gave him a glance while yelling, “Kid, just sit at the edge, you won’t be able to withstand the impact from the middle section.”

“I can come in too?” Yang Kai looked surprised.

Ji Peng laughed, “We told you when we first met, didn’t we? As long as you cooperated with us honestly, there will naturally be benefits for you. That time has come.”

Yang Kai frowned and didn’t wish to rush in rashly, but know he could not avoid this situation, he walked to the edge of the pond and sat down as Ji Peng told him to.

The moment he entered the pond, Yang Kai’s face changed.

From all directions, fierce pressure bombarded him, causing him a great deal of pain, as if his five viscera and six organs had all suffered a heavy blow, causing his face to suddenly go pale.

But in the next moment, the pain disappeared and was replaced with indescribable comfort.

An inexplicable force filled the pond and immediately began penetrating into Yang Kai’s body. Under the impact of this force, Yang Kai clearly felt that his blood was undergoing some subtle changes.

Just like Ji Peng earlier, Yang Kai’s vitality began surging and his life aura became stronger.

Yang Kai quickly used his Divine Sense to examine himself.

Saint Qi flowed quickly through his meridians while his golden blood surged through his vessels, absorbing the strange power from the pond which was pouring into his body.

Fantastical changes began happening. Yang Kai noticed that among his golden blood, a faint point of brilliant golden radiance appeared. This needle-tip sized drop of radiant golden blood seemed to contain unimaginable energy.

Yang Kai was shocked.

This newly formed blood was somewhat almost identical to the blood of Great Demon God.

Because of the Unyielding Golden Skeleton, Yang Kai’s blood had gradually changed to a golden colour over his years of cultivation. In the beginning, this change wasn’t obvious, and his blood would only contain faint hints of golden light.

But with the improvement of his cultivation, these faint wisps of gold began replacing the original red in his vessels.

A few years ago, the blood in Yang Kai’s body had lost all red pigmentation and only a shimmering golden colour remained.

However, Yang Kai knew better than anyone that although his golden blood possessed strong restorative abilities, it was still several grades worse than Great Demon God’s Demon God Golden Blood.

Yang Kai didn’t know how to transform his Golden Blood into a more purified and powerful form and could only continue to cultivate and increase his strength in the hopes that as he did so, his Golden Blood would become purer.

This time, following Ji Peng and the others to this so-called Body Tempering Divine Pond, Yang Kai had reaped an unexpected gain.

Yang Kai instantly realized that this Body Tempering Divine Pond was not designed to quench one’s flesh, but rather to enhance their blood; increasing one’s vitality this way would subsequently make one’s body stronger. Ji Peng may have misunderstood the true role of this place.

This quenching was actually better and more thorough than a simple quenching of the flesh.

At this point, Yang Kai no longer hesitated and began actively trying to draw in the strange power which flooded the pond, his consciousness constantly observing the newly born Golden Blood in his veins, watching as it grew in size from a large needle tip to a grain of rice, then a large bean.

When a single drop of Golden Blood was finally formed, and Yang Kai was able to fully appreciate its splendour, Yang Kai grew very excited.

The power contained in this drop of Golden Blood was incomparable to his previous Golden Blood, it was true Demon God Golden Blood.

Another drop of Golden Blood slowly began forming, repeating the previous sequences of events.

After an hour, Yang Kai had managed to form three new drops of Golden Blood in his body. He didn’t know how much the others had gained, but he was certain they had benefited just as much as he had.

Just as Yang Kai was immersed in his enjoyment, he heard Gan Ji suddenly call out in shock, “Where is Ji Peng?”

This shout awakened all the people who were immersed in the joy of their blood’s enhancement and after they all took a glance around, they confirmed that Ji Peng was indeed missing.

Yang Kai’s face sank and he quickly released his Divine Sense to search the area, soon noticing Ji Peng’s life aura near the bottom of the pond.

“I knew you were up to something!” Gui Che roared as he swiftly dove down into the pond to see what Ji Peng was doing.

His body had just disappeared though when Ji Peng suddenly leapt out of the blood-red pond and stood mid-air overlooking the group beneath him in a calm and composed manner.

On his face was a smug look of satisfaction.

Yang Kai didn’t even think about it and immediately tried to leap out from the pond, but before he could act, an irresistible suction appeared from the bottom of the water, as if two giant invisible hands had grasped his ankles and refused to let him move.

At the same time, an endless stream of bubbles began breaking through the surface of the blood-red pond, bursting with resounding pops. The strange omnipresent pressure in the water suddenly became a thousand times more intense than before and began flooding into the bodies of everyone still inside it.

The drop of Demon God Golden Blood that had just started to form in Yang Kai’s body grew at an incredible rate and was soon completed.