Martial Peak

The Nine Peaks Barrier and Spirit Array were the culmination of all the previous Holy Masters of Nine Heavens Holy Land’s effort. Each of these previous Holy Masters were all Peak Third Order Saint Realm masters; naturally the Spirit Array they collectively arranged and improved wouldn’t be weak.

In addition to the special methods utilized by a few of the Saint Realm masters such as Zhang Ao and Cao Guan, very few of the attacks from a moment ago had even managed to pierce the Nine Peaks Barrier.

Without first breaking this barrier, there was no way for these invaders to fight with the people of Nine Heavens Holy Land.

Realizing this, a deep sense of unwillingness spread across Cao Guan’s face.

Upon hearing Cao Guan’s insult, Yang Kai simply let out a burst of laughter and snapped his fingers, his demeanor calm and carefree.

No one knew what this action meant.

However, in the next instant, Cao Guan heard screams all around him and dozens of his War Spirit Temple’s elites, including two or three Transcendent Realm masters, fell from the sky, writhed in pain for a moment, and then died.

A huge panic instantly spread and everyone couldn’t help putting some distance between Cao Guan and themselves.

Even Cao Guan himself couldn’t help himself from shivering.

No one knew what method Yang Kai had just used to silently kill several dozen War Spirit Temple cultivators, making it all the more frightening.

None of them saw Yang Kai use any kind of Martial Skill, artifact, or Soul Skill; he only seemed to snap his fingers and suddenly dozens of people had died.

This unfathomable occurrence brought about a huge panic, everyone fearing they would be the next one to suffer this invisible attack.

“Whether or not I have the qualification to stand here is not for you to judge,” Yang Kai coldly snorted.

Yang Kai didn’t want to use his Soul Devouring Insects on the mass here, but he felt that continuing his previous offensive was also somewhat difficult.

Although his own True Qi was abundant, with his connection to the Nine Peaks Spirit Array, Yang Kai understood that the energy required to maintain this level of combat was far too great.

As for his Soul Devouring Insects, they were capable of killing anyone below the Saint Realm, so killing several dozen people was a cinch.

However, Yang Kai didn’t dare release too many of them. These ancient exotic insects were not very obedient and the cultivators gathered outside weren’t all sworn enemies of Nine Heavens Holy Land, if he really slaughtered all of them, it would only create bigger problems for him and the Holy Land.

Not to mention he also saw Yun Xuan and Ruan Xin Yu here.

If either of them were to accidentally becoming involved, it would be bad.

Fear and panic were still spreading outside the barrier though; after several dozen elites from War Spirit Temple died, no one dared to make any rash moves, all of them just staring towards Yang Kai nervously, their eyes flashing a complicated light.

The strength and methods Yang Kai showed had shocked everyone and let them all realize that even if they managed to defeat Nine Heavens Holy Land this time, they would have to pay a heavy price.

“Wu Jie, why didn’t you make a move just now?” Zhang Ao suddenly turned his head and shouted. In the direction he was staring, Wu Jie of Netherworld Sect stood quietly, having not taken action from beginning to end, the green aura around his body still causing everyone to avoid him by far.

Wu Jie laughed lowly as he replied, “I’m just looking for the right opportunity.”

“Have you found one yet?” Zhang Ao asked in a low voice.

Wu Jie slowly shook his head.

“I’ll settle this account with you later!” Zhang Ao coldly snorted, a look of dissatisfaction filling his face. From the beginning, Shattering Mystical Palace and War Spirit Temple had been fighting full force against Yang Kai, and although there were some hot-headed masters who had joined in, most people had actually been standing back and watching the whole time.

Moreover, Yang Kai’s attack had also been completely focused on his and Cao Guan’s forces, never one involving anyone else.

This made Zhang Ao keenly realize that today, there was no chance of them breaking through Nine Heavens Holy Land’s defences. What’s more, if he continued to linger here with such dismal morale, perhaps Nine Heavens Holy Land would instead launch a counterattack!

That old dog Xu Hui was no pushover, after dealing with him for so many years, Zhang Ao knew this point quite well.

“We’ll withdraw for now and let you live a few more days, but mark this old master’s words, we’ll be back soon enough, I hope next time your luck is also so good,” Zhang Ao spat coldly before waving his hand and leading the remaining Shattering Mystical Palace cultivators away.

“Whoever dares come next time, we will show no mercy,” Yang Kai declared coldly.

“So wild…” Ji Yan, who had been observing the battle from a distance, couldn’t help muttering, “Young and impulsive!”

Yun Cheng, the Union Master of Bold Independent Union, chuckled wryly in response, “Let’s go, there’s nothing for us to do here today, we’ll withdraw first and see what comes next.”

“En,” Ji Yan nodded, quickly keeping up with Yun Cheng’s pace.

Standing at the edge of the barrier, Yang Kai quietly released his Divine Sense and scanned the crowd for a certain individual, sending them a message a moment later.

The young man who was following the crowd to retreat received this message and couldn’t help trembling slightly; however, he quickly composed himself before stealthily sneaking away.

A moment later, everyone had scattered and withdrawn, leaving behind only a pile of bloody corpses.

Seeing this, Yang Kai finally breathed a sigh of relief and felt a trace of exhaustion.

On the other hand, the Holy Land’s Elders and Protectors were in high spirits, as if they had just won a great victory, each of them staring towards Yang Kai with looks of respect and even some traces of worship.

“Holy Master… May I call you so from now on?” Xu Hui asked, carefully observing Yang Kai’s reaction. After discovering that Yang Kai didn’t make any objections, Xu Hui’s last shred of tension relaxed and he smiled broadly, “Sure enough, the new Holy Master is not an average person. In just a few days, actually being able to connect your own Soul to the Nine Peaks Spirit Array, this Xu cannot even begin to express his admiration.”

“En, en…” Yu Ying nodded repeatedly, her beautiful eyes now filled with spirited light, “I had thought that today the Holy Land would have to mount a desperate escape. Never had I expected we could actually push these invaders back so easily.”

“Don’t celebrate yet,” Yang Kai knit his brow, “Today, they greatly underestimated the strength the Holy Land still possessed, causing them to suffer such a big loss, next time things won’t be so easy.”

Listening to Yang Kai’s words, everyone fell silent, Xu Hui eventually saying, “With Holy Master here, and with the assistance of the Nine Peaks Spirit Array, can we not…”

“What kind of ability do you think I possess?” Yang Kai slowly shook his head, “You may not be able to tell, but the power stored in the nine spirit peaks is not inexhaustible. After connecting with it directly today, I am certain of this point.”

“Ah? What does Holy Master mean to say?” Xu Hui and the others asked worriedly.

“What I mean to say is at most, I can only use the same power I used today one more time before the mysterious energy contained within the nine peaks is completely drained. When that time comes, I won’t be able to enhance the power of my attacks. Simultaneously, the Nine Peak Spirit Array will shut down and the barrier around the Holy Land will collapse,” Yang Kai explained.

Everyone present suddenly realized the seriousness of the problem.

Today, they could force Zhang Ao to retreat only because of the Nine Peaks Spirit Array and Barrier; without it though, Yang Kai was still just a Second Order Transcendent.

Even with their six Saint Realm masters, how could they possible resist such a large number of enemies?

“However, after this battle, I think at least half of the forces which were gathered by the three Sects will leave; after all, no one wants to become enemies with a powerful force that has the possibility to rise once more,” Yang Kai analyzed.

“If it is half, then it’s half, the rest who still dare to come will really be enemies of my Holy Land.”

“En, next time we won’t hold back,” Yang Kai sneered. For this battle, he had purposefully only attacked the cultivators from War Spirit Temple and Shattering Mystical Palace. As for the cultivators from Netherworld Sect, since none of them had taken the initiative to attack, Yang Kai had ignored them as well.

Yang Kai acted so to send a clear message, those who didn’t treat the Holy Land as an enemy would not be attacked.

After knowing this fact, anyone who still chose to invade the nine peaks could only be judged as a true enemy of the Holy Land.

“How is the arrangement of the disciples?” Yang Kai asked.

“Everything has been arranged!” Xu Hui nodded firmly, but soon became somewhat uneasy as he asked, “Holy Master, even if it is only temporarily, must we really abandon the nine peaks?”

“En,” Yang Kai nodded firmly, “I have already reached an agreement with the Monster Race Great Senior, it’s impossible for us to renege on that agreement now… The Holy Land must first draw back. We will let the Monster Race and those invaders take on one another, that way, anyone who dies can only blame the Monster Race. Otherwise, the Holy Land will have too many enemies.”

“Very well,” Xu Hui nodded low-spiritedly.

No matter what it did this time, the Holy Land would not feel any better. If they stood and fought, winning would only lead to the Holy Land forging a great number of enemies. In a time where the Holy Land had both internal and external troubles, it would be very difficult to recover. On the other hand, if they lost, not only would the Holy Land suffer a great number of casualties, they would also lose their home and foundation.

Moreover, given their enemy’s strength and number, the Holy Land losing was far more likely than them winning.

Since that was the case, the best option was to temporarily evacuate, keep a low profile, and leave this mess to the Monster Race to clean up.

The hatred between the races had existed since ancient times, so it didn’t really matter how many people the Monster Race killed, nothing would change.

“Holy Master, I still want to ask, where is this place that can house thousands of the Holy Land’s disciples?” Xu Hui narrowed his eyes as he asked Yang Kai.

“When the time comes, I’ll naturally inform you…” Yang Kai smiled, “Good, you should first inform the disciples to prepare to evacuate. I’ll be going out for a moment.”

“Go out, at a time like this?” Xu Hui heard this and couldn’t help wondering what Yang Kai was thinking, quickly proposing, “If Holy Master wishes to go out, at least allow Elder Yu Ying to accompany you.”

“No, the enemy has withdrawn temporarily and won’t be back for some time. I’m only going out to see someone quickly, there won’t be any danger,” Saying so, Yang Kai’s figure flickered and disappeared from everyone’s sight. Even when the various Elders tried to use their Divine Senses to find him, they couldn’t.

Flickering Heavenly Shadow! The only movement skill among the Nine Heavens Divine Skills.

Xu Hui and the other Elders all exchanged stunned looks before shaking their heads wryly, wondering just who Yang Kai was going out to see at this critical time.

A dozen or so kilometers away, the many forces and cultivators who had come to crusade against Nine Heavens Holy Land had gathered together, many of them wearing gloomy and worried expressions.

Many people were currently debating whether or not they should continue trying to fish in these turbid waters.

In order to face Nine Heavens Holy Land, this once colossal monster, they had to gather so many forces together in order to barely stand a chance. However, if they were to fail in this endeavour and allow Nine Heavens Holy Land to survive, what would be waiting for them would definitely be ruthless retaliation.

How could any of these individual forces withstand this kind of revenge? The most likely result would be them collapsing at the first blow.

Zhang Ao and Cao Guan were particularly unhappy.

Inside a large tent, the two of them, along with Wu Jie, sat around a table. Currently, Zhang Ao and Cao Guan were berating Wu Jie for his actions, or rather lack thereof, today. Wu Jie just standing by and watching the show had caused the two of them to lose a great deal of face.

Wu Jie however didn’t pay them much mind, simply sitting there smirking, further fueling Zhang Ao and Cao Guan’s anger.