Martial Peak

When Qi Jian Xing died, as expected, a new Blood Bead condensed. It’s final size was roughly the same as the one formed when the Ghost King Valley’s disciple had died.

The two of them were both young True Element cultivators, and the gap in their strength was obviously not great.

As Yang Kai began to steady his breath, he reached out and seized this Blood Bead before scavenging Qi Jian Xing’s remains. In just a few moments, Yang Kai had found a number of different sized Blood Beads. These were the spoils of Qi Jian Xing’s battles, which he had not yet found time to refine.

In addition, there were some silver coins and a single, dark green colored bottle.

This was his entire harvest.

Storing these items in his Universe Bag, Yang Kai quickly left the scene.

Half a day later, inside a remote mountain, Yang Kai sat cross-legged, swallowed a few healing pills, and replaced his blood stained clothes, doing his best to remove any trace smell of blood.

The mountain-side cave was something he had dug out himself, and now that he knew that the Tian Lang Dynasty’s cultivators were enslaving Monster Beasts to serve as combat potential, Yang Kai had to consider his future actions more carefully. Therefore, when he dug this cave to rest and recover, he also sealed the entrance to further conceal himself and avoid potential problems.

The intense fight with Qi Jian Xing had given him a number of injuries, none were life threatening, but they definitely were not light either. With his current cultivation and his greatly enhanced physical restoration ability, Yang Kai would only need a few days to fully heal, especially with the assistance of his healing pills.

Just three days later, the three bloody wounds on his body had healed significantly. Although they were not fully recovered, they would not cause any impediment to his actions. Over these past days, Yang Kai had been going over his battle with Qi Jian Xing; using his overconfidence against him, his own cautious and careful observations to find his opponents flaws, and constantly reflecting upon his actions and decisions.

He had gained a lot!

Opening his eyes, his body teemed with energy, full of fighting spirit that gave him a comfortable and confident feeling.

The Yang Liquid in his dantian needed a little replenishing, but with the few bottles of Yang attribute pills his Grand Master Ling Tai Xu’s had left in his Universe Bag, Yang Kai was not overly concerned about this.

Swallowing a full bottle of Yang pills, he managed to add more than a dozen drops of Yang Liquid to his reserve.

As his Yuan Qi became more pure, the amount of Yang Qi required to form a drop of Yang Liquid increased proportionally. This was a good thing.

After considering for a moment, Yang Kai upended the other bottle Yang attribute pills and caused the amount of Yang Liquid in his dantian to surge.

Searching through his Universe Bag, Yang Kai took out a green bottle.

This was something he had seized from Qi Jian Xing, but until now he didn’t know what was stored within it.

Opening the bottle, Yang Kai was instantly struck by a wave of heat. This heat gave him a comfortable feeling, which affected both his body and spirit.

He was aware that the energy contained within this bottle was extremely rich, and although it gave off a similar feel to his own Yang Yuan Qi, there were still some differences.

Looking inside, Yang Kai could only see a liquid the colour of crimson flames within the glass bottle.

There was also not much, only four or five drops at most.

Other than this bottle of liquid, Qi Jian Xing kept almost nothing else on him, as if this was an extremely valuable treasure, so obviously its value was not low.

But what exactly was this? Yang Kai carefully observed, smelled, and secretly had his suspicions, while his curiosity bothered him to death.

“Old Demon!” Yang Kai summoned.

“Yes, Old Servant is ready to serve.” Old Demon quickly began to flatter.

“Look at this liquid, do you know what it is?” Asked Yang Kai.

Old Demon coughed lightly a few times, apparently a bit embarrassed.

“Forget it...” Yang Kai instantly understood that Old Demon had no clue.

This old devil’s memory was fragmented, and sometimes he could provide vital information, but sometimes he was useless. Yang Kai had long since become accustomed to this.

If Old Demon really knew what this liquid was, he would certainly try to show off his knowledge to prove his worthy, so how could he have waited until Yang Kai asked?

Examining it for a long while, Yang Kai concluded that this liquid was likely non-toxic, which after his own observation, Old Demon also agreed with.

(Silavin: No idea how looking would tell but ok!)

But in the end, Yang Kai still had some concerns, so he rushed out from his hidden cave, and after a lengthy search, he found a single fourth-order Monster Beast. He instantly struck its head, knocked it unconscious, and proceeded to haul it back to the cave.

On the way back, Yang Kai plucked a long strand of grass, and upon returning, he carefully dipped it into the bottle of liquid before feeding it to the Monster Beast.

Quietly, Yang Kai monitored its reaction.

After just a few breaths of time, the Monster Beast began letting out miserable and tragic howls, as if some terrible poison was causing it extreme pain, as it twitched violently while white foam vomited from its mouth, and its whole body emitting flashes of light.

Yang Kai face went stiff as he thanked the heavens for his abundant caution, or else he would not have even known how he had died.

However, while Yang Kai was thinking this, the energy fluctuations coming from the Fourth-Order Monster Beast suddenly surged, and it instantly broke free of its restraints and attacked Yang Kai. It’s might was as strong as a dragon and fierce as a tiger, transforming this once quiet cave into a raging battlefield with Yang Kai.

Judging by its current state, where were the slightest signs of poisoning?

After a long intense fight, the beast finally fell to Yang Kai’s wrath!

Once again examining its body, Yang Kai was completely confused.

When he brought it back, it was clearly a Fourth-Order Monster Beast, weak enough for him to easily stun it, but how was it that the strength it had just displayed was so much more powerful? It was more comparable to a Fifth-Order Monster Beast.

While he was pondering this, a Blood Bead quietly condensed.

As Yang Kai’s eyes landed on this Blood Bead, he became stunned for a long time. His face twitched violently, and he immediately spit out a hail of curses!

“Young Master, please calm yourself...” Old Demon quickly tried to comfort.

The reason why Yang Kai was so angry was obviously because his previous speculation about the identity of the liquid in the green bottle was right.

He was certain of it when he saw the Blood Bead which had condensed from this Monster Beast after its death!

This Blood Bead was the size of a small thumbnail. Though not as large as a Blood Bead condensed from a Fifth-Order Monster Beast, it was still much larger than one from a Fourth-Order Monster Beast.

Something which could allow a Fourth-order Monster Beast to enhance its strength to a Fifth-Order level in such a short amount of time was clearly a super rare treasure!

Combined with the knowledge he had heard more than half a year ago, and observing the form and colour of the liquid in the bottle, Yang Kai face filled with regret.

Brilliant Flame Liquid!

A Precious Treasure used specifically to refine one’s Yuan Qi, allowing it to increase in richness and purity, subsequently enhancing one’s overall strength and potential.

In this world, Precious Treasures which could refine one’s Yuan Qi were extremely rare, so each one was priceless. Things like the Nine Yin Yuan Condensing Dew were amongst the most high-end of these treasures.

And this Brilliant Flame Liquid was definitely in the same league.

When Yang Kai had heard the Reflecting Moon Sect’s Elder Zhou Wen speak about the Brilliant Flame Liquid back at the Nether Mountain Lake, Yang Kai had not been too tempted because he already had the Nine Yin Yuan Condensing Dew, but now that he had luckily acquired this Brilliant Flame Liquid, the situation was different.

The Nine Yin Yuan Condensing Dew would be used when Yang Kai tried to break through to the True Element Boundary.

Meanwhile, the Brilliant Flame Liquid could be used right now, and using both would obviously lead to an even better result.

Unfortunately, half a drop of such a priceless treasure had been fed to a Monstrous Beast, which greatly distressed Yang Kai, causing his stomach to flip and his lungs to burn. His whole body was filled with grief.

Yet, ultimately, what was done was done. Regret would gain him nothing. He should instead be thankful for the Nine Star Sword School’s good luck, so he calmed himself and sat down cross-legged.

Carefully extracting a drop of Brilliant Flame Liquid from the bottle and placing it in his mouth, Yang Kai quickly shut his eyes, sealed off his senses, and meditated!

Rapidly circulating his True Yang Secret Art, Yang Kai felt like his dantian had been set on fire, and the flames were gradually spreading; for someone who cultivated Yang or flame attribute Secret Arts, encountering such a feeling was extremely rare.

Just this alone showed how intense and scorching the hidden energy within the Brilliant Flame Liquid was.

The burning sensation was not very strong at first, but as time passed, Yang Kai felt like he was being roasted alive inside a blazing oven. Steam poured out of his skin, and his new set of clothes instantly became soaked in sweat.

This violent burning sensation began in his lower abdomen and remained there for a moment, but was soon pulled out by his circulating True Yang Secret Art, and spread out in all directions until it gradually enveloped every part of his body.

The pain was searing his meridians! Yang Kai tightly grit his teeth, not daring to relax in the slightest, and desperately pushed his Secret Art to operate faster.

This heat felt akin to flames that could burn the Heavens, as if molten magma, which could incinerate the earth, had been poured into his meridians, constantly smelting the Yuan Qi inside.

After several circulations, Yang Kai was shocked to find that his Yuan Qi, which he had previously felt had been purified and compressed to the limit, actually began to become even more so.

Stunned for a moment, he quickly regained his focus and began to operate his Secret Art to the limit.

A moment later, the Yuan Qi in his meridians had reached its limit and could be refined no further, so Yang Kai channeled the remaining energy of the Brilliant Flame Liquid into his dantian.

Within his dantian, there were nearly a hundred drops of Yang Liquid to be refined.

Time slowly passed, and a few days later, Yang Kai opened his eyes. A radiant light seemingly overflowed from within them, and he involuntarily let out a long breath. “Amazing!”

With a single drop of Brilliant Flame Liquid, his whole body’s Yuan Qi had been refined again and again, and the one hundred drops of Yang Liquid had been condensed down into a dozen drops. Each one contained a significantly richer and more powerful energy than before.

Not only had his Yuan Qi undergone such refinement, even his meridians and physique had experienced some enhancement.

His meridians expanded and became tougher, while his body became more solid, and every inch of his skin plus every cell in his body was rejuvenated from inside to out. It was like he was reborn.

His cultivation at the Separation and Reunion Boundary Seventh Stage had been largely consolidated and was not far from breaking through to Separation and Reunion Eighth Stage!

This is the effect of refining Yuan Qi, and it sometimes promoted breakthrough, so was not only a way to increase the energy of the body!

“Old Demon, do you think I can directly break through if I refine another drop of Brilliant Flame Liquid?” Yang Kai asked somewhat eagerly.

Although Old Demon was not very reliable sometimes, he still had a wealth of experience, “It is probably useless. Young Master being able to quench his Yuan Qi to this level is the greatest effect of this kind of Precious Treasure, this is not something which taking more leads to better results. If Young Master wants to further refine his Yuan Qi, the only option is to find a stronger and more precious treasure.

“I thought so.” Yang Kai sighed slightly, and carefully placed the green vial back into his Universe Bag.

[I wonder where the Nine Star Sword School disciples found this Brilliant Flame Liquid. Qi Jian Xing had a few drops on him, so as their leader, shouldn’t Wu Cheng Yi also have some? Wouldn’t he also have a larger amount?]

Thinking until here, Yang Kai grinned maliciously.

Wu Cheng Yi had sent Qi Jian Xing to kill him, so how could Yang Kai let this go? They already had a irresolvable grudge between them, and now knowing the other has such a priceless treasure on him, it would be strange for Yang Kai not to desire his death.

But Wu Cheng Yi was currently much stronger than him, and he was also the temporary leader of that group of young cultivators. If Yang Kai really wanted to directly confront him, he was bound to suffer. This matter had to be planned out carefully.

Settling his thoughts, Yang Kai decided it was time to leave.

For the next month, Yang Kai spent his time killing Monster Beasts in different places. During this time he did not encounter a single other person, but even so, the number of Monstrous Beasts around were very few. It seemed that things were really as Chen Xue Shu had explained that day. Tian Lang Dynasty cultivators had enslaved most of the various Monster Beasts.