Martial Peak

Several thousand kilometers away from Blue Water City, inside a remote mountain valley.

Yang Kai set down the Flying Heavens Shuttle and allowed the rescued middle-aged man and Shui Ling to disembark, all three of them remaining silent with heavy looks upon their faces for a time.

Shui Ling was still a little weak. She had been hit by a Bone Race master’s Divine Sense attack which had caused her some minor wounds. The middle-aged man hurriedly took out some pills from his Universe Bag and let Shui Ling take them.

Seeing her enter a state of meditative recovery, the middle-aged man gradually calmed down and turned to Yang Kai, sincerely cupping his fists and bowing, “Many thanks for little brother’s timely rescue, this humble one is extremely grateful!”

“No need to be so polite,” Yang Kai gently nodded, “It was just a slight effort.”

“Is little brother acquainted with Ling’er?” The middle-aged man looked at Yang Kai curiously.

Yang Kai smiled and asked back, “Are you the Temple Master of Water Spirit Temple, Shui Yun?”

“Indeed!” Shui Yun nodded, “How may I address little brother?”

“Father, he is the one I told you about, Yang Kai!” Shui Ling called out from the side.

Shui Yun’s shoulders trembled as he stared at Yang Kai in amazement, calling out in alarm in the next instant, “So it is Holy Master Yang of Nine Heavens Holy Land! This Shui’s vision was lacking, please forgive my lack of respect!”

After learning Yang Kai’s identity, Shui Yun’s speech immediately became more polite.

In today’s Tong Xuan Realm, no one dared disrespect the master of Nine Heavens Holy Land!

Yang Kai was able to recognize Shui Yun’s identity so easily because Water Spirit Temple only had a single Saint Realm master, the Temple Master Shui Yun. Coupled with the care he showed towards Shui Ling, his identity was obvious.

“Yang Kai, why are you here?” Shui Ling asked Yang Kai while she steadied her breathing.

“I was just passing through,” Yang Kai frowned, his tone lowering as he asked, “Where did those Bone Race masters in Blue Water City come from?”

“Bone Race?” Shui Yun.

“Those walking skeletons that absorb vital essence to mould their physiques!”

“Is Holy Master Yang familiar with them?” Shui Yun expression changed as he asked urgently.

Yang Kai shook his head, “I don’t understand much about them, but I have seen them before, once quite recently. Does Senior Shui know where they came from?”

Shui Yun’s look sank as he sighed, “We don’t know where they came from. A year ago, an iceberg that was about to melt drifted into the vicinity of Water Spirit Temple. Inside it, a disciple found a frozen skeleton. Curious, I retrieved it but after a thorough investigation failed to find anything of value so I casually buried it and that was the end of the matter, or so I thought until a few months ago when that skeleton inexplicably came to life…”

As Shui Yun narrated his story, Yang Kai listened quietly.

In summary, after that Bone Race master revived, it had gone on a killing spree inside Water Spirit Temple. As it killed and absorbed vital essence, its strength was quickly restored. When Shui Yun noticed this disturbance, he joined together with all the masters of Water Spirit Temple and after more than a dozen sacrifices, they somehow managed to imprison it.

However, no matter what they tried, they were unable to kill this Bone Race master and in the end, they could only burn him down.

This method ultimately proved correct and finally managed to put him down for good.

It took a few months after that incident for things to settle down, but a few days ago, before everything could return to normal, Water Spirit Temple was invaded by many similar living skeletons from all directions, instantly resulting in the Sect’s collapse.

“Those skeletons… En, Bone Race masters were all extremely powerful. There were many Saints among them while even the weakest had reached the Transcendent Realm. There were no Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivators at all. On top of that, after they killed someone, they would absorb their flesh and blood to restore themselves and to mould their own physique. My Water Spirit Temple’s two thousand disciples were completely slaughtered in less than a day and all our islands were seized… Water Spirit Temple has been completely destroyed!” Shui Yun said with a distraught look, “Not many managed to escape. This Shui was too incompetent and could only manage to protect Ling’er while escaping to Blue Water City, but I hadn’t expected that those Bone Race bastards had already made their way there and carried out another slaughter!”

“Father, this is not your fault!” Shui Ling comforted.

“But it is the truth that Water Spirit Temple fell under my watch,” Shui Yun shook his head sorrowfully.

“They may have come from the glacial expanse,” Yang Kai’s expression darkened.

“Glacial expanse?” Shui Yun stared at him in confusion.

“From Ice Sect’s territory!” Yang Kai tensed up, “These past few months, have you had any contact with Ice Sect? Do you have any idea what their situation is?”

“Our most recent transaction with them was a few months ago, a few days before that first skeleton came to life…” Shui Yun replied.

“You stay here and restore yourselves, I’m going to take a look,” Yang Kai said before summoning the Flying Heavens Shuttle and preparing to leave.

“Yang Kai, don’t go!” Shui Ling called out in alarm, “Those creatures are too strong, going along is too dangerous.”

“En, although there aren’t many of them, there are still a number of Saint Realm masters. Moreover, they can restore their strength after killing people; facing them along is far too risky, Holy Master Yang.”

“It’s alright, I’m just going to scout out the situation. If you notice danger approaching, leave here quickly, I’ll find a way to find you after,” Yang Kai urged them before vanishing.

Shui Yun and Shui Ling both wanted to stop him but were helpless to do so.

“I hope he can remain safe,” Shui Yun sighed heavily. In front of those horrible living skeletons, even he, the Master of Water Spirit Temple, was powerless to resist. This time, if he hadn’t decisively escaped, both he and Shui Ling would have definitely perished.

Thinking back on this experience, Shui Yun still felt some lingering fear.

Surrounding by an azure light, Yang Kai rapidly sped towards Water Spirit Temple.

The Bone Race appearing in Water Spirit Temple one such a large scale, occupying Water Spirit Temple’s islands and slaughtering all of Water Spirit Temple’s disciples, was no mere coincidence.

If Yang Kai wasn’t mistaken, these Bone Race cultivators should have come from Ice Sect.

Ice Sect had been guarding that glacial world for centuries to prevent the revival of the Bone Race. Yang Kai hadn’t thought about it much before but now he realized that Ice Sect must have known the Bone Race had not died out but were instead hiding deep within the ice, so they remained there all this time.

However, they probably didn’t know where the Bone Race was hiding. Before the Bone Race restored themselves, they appeared no different from ordinary skeletons, so it was extremely difficult to detect them.

But now, with so many Bone Race members appearing in Water Spirit Temple, Ice Sect’s situation was really worrying.

Su Yan was still in Ice Sect, so how could Yang Kai not worry?

A short while later, Yang Kai returned to Blue Water City.

At this moment, the city was filled with a rich air of death, with no trace of anything living, even the Bone Race masters had disappeared, but not before they had cleaned out all the corpses from the city.

All that remained inside Blue Water City were broken buildings and faint bloodstains on the ground.

Crossing Blue Water City, Yang Kai quickly arrived in the skies above Water Spirit Temple.

A tyrannical aura that caused one’s heart to clench spread from down below.

Yang Kai’s blood ran cold as he quietly released his Divine Sense to probe the situation, his face paling in the next moment.

In the range of his sensation, there were at the very least a dozen Saint Realm masters and a hundred Transcendents. Many of these Saints were Second or Third Order as well. Such a huge force could crush any Sect in this world. It could be said that if they wanted to dominate Tong Xuan Realm, it would be an easily achievable goal.

‘Great change is approaching!’

The words Chu Ling Xiao had said to him a few days ago now resounded in his ears again, their fulfillment appearing right before his eyes.

Yang Kai’s speed was incredibly fast and as he flew past, he had not been locked onto by any of these Bone Race masters.

When this blue streak flew by, the highest strength Bone Race masters all looked up and then in the direction Yang Kai disappeared.

“A Star Shuttle!” A middle-aged man with a pair of green eyes stood up and shouted, a look of pleasant surprise appearing on his face.

This Bone Race master was completely different from those Yang Kai had seen before, he already had a complete body that looks no different from ordinary humans. His face was ruddy and his body radiated a powerful vitality, only his eyes were different, an eerie and terrifying green in colour.

“Sir, that’s the Star Shuttle we saw a moment ago in that little city. Should we go seize it?”

The middle-aged man shook his head, “A Star Shuttle’s speed it too fast for us to catch up. Find out what the origins of that person are.”

“Yes!”

“From the direction he was headed, it looks like he is headed towards those glaciers… What reason would he have to go there? Does he have some kind of relationship with those people?” The middle-aged man frowned pensively.

After half an hour, Yang Kai successfully arrived in the vast world of glaciers.

As soon as he arrived, Yang Kai sensed an unusual energy fluctuation from up ahead.

Void Energy!

Looking up, he discovered that a few dozen kilometres away, several hundred meters off the ground, there was a Void Corridor entrance. The rich Void Energy was leaking from this Void Corridor.

Yang Kai was slightly startled.

Ignoring where this Void Corridor lead for the moment, Yang Kai quickly released his Divine Sense to explore the glacial expanse.

The results were disappointing. The whole glacier world was devoid of vitality. The original location where Ice Sect’s disciples lived was empty and the various ice peaks had also collapsed. From the various traces left behind, it was clear that a great battle had taken place here.

The white world of ice and snow was stained red in many places.

Yang Kai’s heart sank in a deep abyss!

He and Su Yan had already achieved a union of heart and soul, so as long as they weren’t too far apart, they could clearly sense the other’s existence, but now he was unable to feel Su Yan’s aura…

One possibility was that she had died while the other was that she had gone far away from here.

Yang Kai’s breath became ragged and his aura fluctuated rapidly as he hurriedly tried to control his raging emotions.

After a long time, he inhaled a deep breath.

He felt that the latter possibility was the more likely one.

Ice Sect’s Sect Master, Qing Ya, was a Third Order Saint Realm master and the other Elders were also powerful Saints, even if the Bone Race recovered here and launched an attack on them, it was impossible for them to have exterminated Ice Sect.

Qing Ya should have opened a path of escape with them.

Looking up, Yang Kai’s eyes landed on the Void Corridor.

Although he had no clues indicating so, Yang Kai could conclude that Qing Ya and the others should have entered this Void Corridor, because if he was Qing Ya, in a situation where resistance was futile, he would make this choice.

Without hesitation, Yang Kai immediately rushed into the entrance of the Void Corridor.

In a flash, a terrifying pressure descended upon him, seemingly trying to simultaneously crush and tear apart his body, yet there was nothing under his feet and his surroundings were filled with stars.

The Starry Sky!

Yang Kai’s expression sank, he hadn’t expected that this Void Corridor was the same as the one in Shattering Mystical Palace, a gateway to the vast Starry Sky. The heartstrings he had just managed to relax instantly became tense again.