Martial Peak

Chapter 1216, At The Critical Moment

“Senior Brother, you sent a message to Junior Brother Yang didn’t you? Has he responded?” Dong Xuan’er suddenly looked at Wei Gu Chang and asked.

“No...” Wei Gu Chang smiled bitterly.

“Could Junior Brother Yang have...” Dong Xuan’er said restlessly, a look of worry appearing on her face.

“Do you think he would fall here?” Wei Gu Chang chuckled then shook his head, “He shouldn’t have, with his strength and ability, as long as his luck isn’t as bad as ours and fell into a formation, he would certainly not have fallen.”

“Then why haven’t we heard back from him?” Dong Xuan’er’s beautiful eyes flashed a hint of sadness as she subconsciously thought that Yang Kai had also encountered some kind of misfortune which was why he wasn’t replying to them.

Wei Gu Chang didn’t know how to answer immediately but after hesitating for a moment he sighed and said, “Perhaps Brother Yang hasn’t checked his communication artefact for messages. Before we came in, I felt like he wanted to act alone, so although I sent him a message, if he isn’t checking for messages, how could he know that we’re stuck here and can’t escape? Unfortunately... besides him, there’s no one else we can ask for help from. With his skill, he is certainly in the third layer, so all we can do now is hope our luck hasn’t completely run out.”

“Senior Brother Wei, the lava is about to erupted again!” One of the two male disciples suddenly exclaimed nervously.

Hearing this, the other four all paled and looked out to discover that the lava lake, which had been fairly calm just now, suddenly seemed to be boiling up, with many more bubbles rising to the surface, releasing black plumes of fire poison, the burning, corrosive heat quickly spreading towards their group of five.

Wei Gu Chang coldly snorted and waved his arm in a wide arc, releasing a burst of scarlet light that blocked the fire poison and corrosive heat from reaching them.

However, by just slightly moving, Wei Gu Chang’s body began to shudder slightly. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t fear this fire poison and corrosive heat, but now he was an arrow at the end of its flight so any means he used would put a huge load on him.

“It’s here!” The same male disciple trembled and shouted as he saw the dark red lava surge up from the lake in great pillars before crashing towards them from all directions.

Such a scene had occurred countless times this past month and each time it did, their group of five would work together to keep off these eruptions, but this time things seemed a little different.

“Why are there so many?” The tall woman saw the number of pillars erupting and her beautiful face changed color, almost freezing up completely.

The number of attacks the lava lake was putting out this time seemed far greater than before. Up until now, they had been able to reluctantly cope with these periodic eruptions, but with Wei Gu Chang having suffered multiple injuries and everyone else far from their peak condition, how were they supposed to resist this wave of attacks?

[It is the end!] The tall female disciple and the other two male disciple faces went ashen as they stared blankly at the lava columns shooting towards them, all of them giving up resisting as they stared out helplessly.

“Don’t panic!” Wei Gu Chang roared as he and Dong Xuan’er poured all their remaining strength into the tortoiseshell to activate its protective effects.

From the crimson baked tortoiseshell, the layer of blue light suddenly appeared. This light curtain contained a potent Water Attribute aura which enveloped the group of five.

*Chi chi chi...*

The lava columns flew over and all impacted on the light curtain. The blue halo of light trembled greatly and after the first wave of attacks was already teetering on the edge of destruction.

When the second wave of attacks struck the barrier, it shattered completely.

Wei Gu Chang’s blood ran cold, knowing that this time, they were truly doomed. If his three Junior Brothers and Junior Sister hadn’t resigned themselves to death and were supporting them, they would have been able to hold out for a few more breaths, but with just him and Xuan’er, they were unable to maintain the protective halo of this tortoise shell.

So be it! Dying inside this strange ancient Spirit Array was not something to be ashamed of, it was just...

Wei Gu Chang turned his head to look at Dong Xuan’er, their four eyes meeting suddenly, both of them smiling lightly, with no need for any words.

*Shua shua shua...*

A series of strange sounds sudden echoed, as if from a great distance away, bursts of energy were being shot out. Immediately after, around the tortoise shell, many shields condensed from black flames appeared side by side, covering the group of five completely.

The lava pillars continued crashing towards them but all of them were blocked by these shields. Many shields ruptured by this assault but would be replaced as quickly as they were destroyed, forming a firm protective layer around the tortoise shell.

Immediately after, from the direction the original sound came from, a giant black sword cleaved through the air, sweeping across the many lava columns and cutting them in half.

Having survived certain death, all five people on the tortoise shell couldn’t help calling out in surprise and turning their heads towards the location where the black sword had appeared.

“Brother Yang!” Wei Gu Chang saw the person who had rescued them at the critical moment was actually Yang Kai and burst into laughter. At this moment, Yang Kai was standing on the shore of the lava lake, holding a jet black sword as if he was some ancient demon god, constantly slashing and chopping the lava columns in front of him.

“Catch!” While reducing the pressure for Wei Gu Chang and the others, Yang Kai took out his purple shield and tossed it over to them with all his strength.

This shield was his artefact, and only he could display its full power, but even by itself, it was extremely solid as it was refined from the carapace of a Ninth-Order Monster Beast renounced for its defense ability. Wei Gu Chang could use it temporarily to protect himself and the others around him.

The purple shield turned into a purple stream of light and flew towards Wei Gu Chang.

Catching the shield, Wei Gu Chang immediately held it towards the densest grouping of lava columns while yelling out to Yang Kai, “Brother Yang, simple thanks are not enough for this kindness, I will find a way to express my gratitude after passing this tribulation.”

“Good, take this as well!” Yang Kai nodded before tossing over a jade bottle.

This time, Dong Xuan’er was the one to catch it. Opening the bottle and looking inside, she called out happily, “Snow and Ice Pills!”

Her Junior Brothers and Junior Sister from Shadow Moon Hall were also overjoyed and quickly said, “Senior Sister Dong, quickly give us one too!”

Their group’s pills had already been consumed clean a while ago, so the arrival of these Snow and Ice Pills could only be described as sending charcoal in the snowy weather. Taking one of these pills would greatly reduce the pressure they felt.

Dong Xuan’er nodded strongly while pouring out the Snow and Ice Pills giving them one by one to her three Juniors, stuffing one into Wei Gu Chang’s mouth, then finally taking one for herself.

As the Snow and Ice Pills entered their stomachs, a cold chill suddenly burst out inside their bodies, dissipating the unbearable heat and fire poison while simultaneously lifting their weary spirits. Having seen hope once more, the three forlorn Shadow Moon Hall disciples were no longer willing to give up on life, each of them displaying their own means to block the lava pillars which were still battering the Grand Heavenly Shields.

On the shore of lava lake, Yang Kai used his Profound Heavenly Sword to help reduce the pressure Wei Gu Chang’s group had to face while also using his Saint Qi to condense new Grand Heavenly Shields to protect them.

The ugly woman who had been following him also arrived at the shore of the lava lake and began gasping for breath.

Yang Kai didn’t know what kind of profound technique she had used, but the entire way here, she had not been breathing and didn’t begin again until they arrived at their destination.

Seeing that the situation was critical, she silently threw out a cloth-like artefact that instantly transformed into a pink coloured cloud and began flying around Wei Gu Chang and the others. Any lava pillar that was covered by this pink cloud was quickly scattered.

“En, isn’t this?” Dong Xuan’er recognized this artefact at a glance and thoughtfully glanced over to the shore. After seeing the figure of the ugly woman, she was pleasantly surprised, “How did Elder Sister Dai Yuan end up together with Senior Brother Yang.”

As far as Dong Xuan’er knew, Dai Yuan always wandered about alone because of her appearance, even unwilling to travel together with those from her Sect. Yang Kai also seemed to be a person who preferred acting independently, so it was weird the two of them had come here together.

“Perhaps they met each other on the road,” Wei Gu Chang laughed and said in high spirits, “No matter the reason, we shouldn’t have a problem overcoming this disaster now; Brother Yang will be able to find a way to get us out of here.”

“En, Elder Sister Dai Yuan’s Snow Silk should be able to resist the lava here,” Dong Xuan’er’s mood was also quite good, and when the three other Shadow Moon Hall disciples heard their Senior Sister and Senior Brother speak so, they too smiled happily, sweeping away their previous gloom and despair.

The lethality of the lava lake’s eruptions wasn’t actually that great, but the force keeping them trapped in its centre was rendering Wei Gu Chang and the others helpless. However, with the help of Yang Kai and the woman named Dai Yuan, Wei Gu Chang and his group of five didn’t need to worry about this anymore and could simply focus on protecting themselves.

After the lava lake calmed down once more, everyone secretly exhaled. The feeling of escaping from death was not something one could experience often.

Wei Gu Chang and the others sat down on the tortoiseshell for a moment to stabilize their breathing. A short time later, Wei Gu Chang stood up and yelled over to Yang Kai, “Brother Yang, don’t rush into this lava lake, even my Origin Grade artefact wasn’t able to resist it and was quickly melted down.”

“How do we get you out then?” Yang Kai had already examined this lava lake while Wei Gu Chang’s group was restoring themselves and realized how extraordinary it was. Even with his strength, he didn’t dare to easily enter it. It was as he was wondering what to do that Wei Gu Chang called out to him.

“Just ask Junior Sister Dai Yuan to help,” Wei Gu Chang smiled at the woman beside Yang Kai.

[So her name is Dai Yuan!] Yang Kai actually didn’t know this woman’s name until now.

Hearing this, Dai Yuan bit her red lip lightly before saying to Wei Gu Chang, “I don’t know if my Snow Silk can resist this lava. If it gets destroyed, I’ll have to think up another solution.”

“I know, if your Snow Silk is ruined, I promise I will compensate Junior Sister Dai Yuan,” Wei Gu Chang nodded.

“Who cares about your compensation? I just want to rescue Sister Xuan’er,” Dai Yuan snorted, making no effort to hide her dislike of Wei Gu Chang, causing the other side to smile awkwardly.

That being said, she still quickly took out the white silk thread that Yang Kai had previously seen.

Before, when Yang Kai had seen Dai Yuan fighting that Heaven Battling Union disciple, she was using this thing. At that time, Yang Kai hadn’t been able to figure out what it was but now he understood that it was actually the Snow Silk!