Martial Peak

When the Hu Sisters arrived at the scene of the battle, both of them couldn’t help but gasp. The residual rubble and scars stood as a testament to just how intense this conflict was, and the mangled bodies of the green-robed and yellow-robed old men on the ground nearby only served to emphasise this fact.

As the two beautiful sisters trembled nervously, they suddenly spotted Yang Kai in a place not far away.

He seemed to be holding some kind of chain in his hand and was just standing there completely motionless, as a cold and terrifying energy fluctuated around him.

*Shua Shua Shua...*

Soon after the Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect crowd also arrived, and all of them quickly took note of the strange atmosphere surrounding Yang Kai, which sparked all of their curiosities.

However, the situation at the moment was much better than everyone had expected, at the very least, Yang Kai did seem to have any obvious injuries and his aura was calm and steady. Obviously, he wasn’t anywhere close to dead.

After observing this point, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The arrival of these people hadn’t gone unnoticed by Yang Kai, but he still couldn’t stop pondering the last words the devil had spoken to him before he had disappeared.

Although it was just a few sentences, but the amount of information it contained was incredibly substantial.

Devil General Meng Ge! This was what the devil called himself. From that point alone it wasn’t difficult to infer from this title was something that belonged to a person of great status and origin, definitely not a newly formed entity.

Moreover, this devil had said that he was only something called a Soul Clone.

The Four Monsters and Demons working together had failed to last a stick of incense worth of time against this devil before two of them were killed and two were forced to flee. They had managed to pin him to the ground by driving their spear type artifact through his chest, yet afterwards, this devil had pulled this spear out like it was nothing.

This Soul Clone already possessed such awe-inspiring power, if instead, it had been this devil’s main body, just how terrible would he be?

This devil’s true strength was beyond the limits of Yang Kai’s knowledge, and even far surpassed anything he had ever imagined! This caused no small amount of shock to him.

Fortunately, this entity just happened to be a true devil so his Devil Sealing Chain had been able to play a role, if not, even if Yang Kai was ten times stronger he still would have been utterly unable to resist.

After Devil General Meng Ge finished his final sentence, he seemed to know that his Soul Clone wouldn’t last much longer and resolutely chose to give up all resistance and simply disintegrated.

All that was left behind was something that resembled a massive frigid Evil Spirit Essence.

This essence was precisely the treasure condensed from the Evil Spirit Spring.

Right now this essence had already been sucked into Yang Kai’s meridians.

The Devil Sealing Chain in his hands also seemed to have lost its spirituality in this battle, and now only appeared like a dull iron chain; however, Yang Kai could still feel a hidden trace of vitality within it, so as long as he continued to temper it with True Yang Yuan Qi it would surely be restored again eventually.

After all, this was a treasured artifact left behind by High Heaven Pavilion’s Ancestral Founder, and despite its old age, there was no way it would be so easily damaged.

Letting out a faint sigh of relief, Yang Kai suddenly felt a fire burn in his chest. Today he had seen Devil General Meng Ge’s Soul Clone, a being who possessed the strength that greatly exceeded the boundaries of this world, and it had once again inspired him to seek the peak of martial arts.

Clenching his teeth, Yang Kai’s expression became solemn as his gaze firmed.

“Yang Kai...” Seeing him not respond to them for a long time, the Hu Sisters finally couldn’t help calling out to him worriedly.

“I’m alright.” Yang Kai let out a long breath and stowed the Devil Sealing Chain back into his dantian, turning to the crowd and saying, “I need to find a secluded place to cultivate.”

“I know the perfect place, it’s not far from here!” Cheng Ying hurriedly said.

“Good, lead the way.”

Inside a hidden cave within the Evil Cavern, Yang Kai sat down cross-legged, alone and began to refine the energy in that giant essence.

This hidden cave was inadvertently discovered by Cheng Ying while he had been scouting, it was indeed the perfect place to rest and recuperate within the Evil Cavern as almost no Evil Spirits ever ventured close to it.

Both the Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect disciples knew that Yang Kai had surely obtained some kind of significant harvest, and since they were also in no hurry to leave, all of them sat down and finally got some rest.

During this idle time, everyone also began refining the Evil Spirit Essences Yang Kai had gathered for them.

Both the Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect groups had obtained two full Purifying Spirit Bottles, a total of forty essences each! Therefore, after dividing them up equally amongst themselves, all of them obtained at least five.

The Hu Sisters, on the other hand, obtained a full five bottles.

Both the sisters kindly offered both the other groups a full Purifying Spirit Bottle each but were firmly rejected.

The various youths had already gained significantly more than they could have hoped for, how could they possibly accept even more from the Hu Sisters now? What’s more, those were things Yang Kai had given them.

After facing such strong opposition, Hu Jiao Er and Hu Mei Er no longer tried to force the issue. The two sisters sat down and circulated their Twin Qi Shared Spirit Divine Art to refine these essences. The speed at which they absorbed these Evil Spirit Essences was several times faster than the others, and although it couldn’t be compared to Yang Kai’s freakishly abnormal pace, it was still much quicker than an average cultivator.

As everyone sat and refined these Evil Spirit Essences, Yang Kai was similarly processing the essence he obtained.

However, the giant essence Yang Kai was refining had significant differences from these ordinary Evil Spirit Essences.

Even the essence left behind by the Soul Type Evil Spirit paled in comparison to this Evil Spirit Spring Essence.

During the refining process, the Unyielding Golden Skeleton would shiver and pulse as it relished in the vast amount of energy is absorbed.

His True Yang Yuan Qi completely receded into his dantian, and Yang Kai was currently enveloped in black Demonic Qi, incredibly similar to how Devil General Meng Ge appeared.

However, there was still a distinct difference between the two, Meng Ge could obviously completely control his strength and restrain his Devil Qi, but Yang Kai was unable to do so, so instead he appeared as a human shaped cloud of darkness, and only when he blinked would one be able to notice a red glow radiating from his eyes.

A frigid demonic aura spread out from Yang Kai as bursts of crackling noises echoed throughout the cave. The walls quickly frosted over and became encased in a thick layer of ice.

The people outside quickly noticed something was odd. This intense cold soon seeped out from the cave’s inner reaches and rapidly advanced towards them.

With a series of loud exclamations, all of them hurriedly fled, backing off almost a thousand meters. Looking back, their hearts couldn’t help but clinch as they watched all the moisture in the air condense and freeze as ice rapidly expanded across the cave floor and walls.

It was like they had suddenly been thrown into a frozen primordial world.

Even though they had retreated so far from this strange phenomenon, all of them couldn’t help shivering as the chill seemed to penetrate deep into their souls.

“What’s happening?” Chen Yi muttered in confusion, “Why does this chill feel so similar to what we experienced inside the Evil Spirit Spring?”

Before, when they were stranded atop that high pillar, everyone had acutely felt this frigid sensation, but compared to that time, what was happening before them right now was even more frightening.

“Is Yang Kai going to be okay?” Hu Mei Er whispered to her big sister.

Hu Jiao Er nodded her head calmly, “This situation should be something he caused, as long as it continues like this he shouldn’t have any issues.”

In fact, Jiao Er was also uncertain about Yang Kai’s condition, but she could only speak such words to soothe her little sister.

Leng Shan nodded in agreement, “Good people don’t live long but a scourge lasts a thousand years, how could he possibly die from this.”

“Hmm...” Chen Yi narrowed his eyes as he quipped, “Junior Sister, how come your words sound so bitter?”

“Will you die if you shut up?” Leng Shan glared angrily at him.

“Hey hey...” Chen Yi simply laughed.

Inside the cave, Yang Kai’s expression remained temperate, completely indifferent to the frigid air around him. This icy coldness seemed to perfectly conform to his current condition, not only did it not cause him any discomfort, it instead gave him a pleasant sensation.

When he had used the energy stored inside the Unyielding Golden Skeleton in the past, Yang Kai had always felt it had a distinctly evil aura, now though, it had both an evil and a frigid air to it. These two energies mutually complemented one another and amplified their already tyrannical power.

Inside this cave is hidden from the sun and the moon, an unknown amount of time passed by.

When the last drop of energy from the giant essence was refined, it was like a spark had been lit, which awakened the Unyielding Golden Skeleton from its innumerable years of slumber.

At that moment, the bonds that had imprisoned the Unyielding Golden Skeleton were completely shattered.

A furious Demonic Qi burst forth spreading out across the entire cave, plunging it into darkness. As this Demonic Qi churned and billowed, it was like a soaring dragon had risen, sending out ferocious howls and terrifying roars.

Yang Kai’s eyes jerked open, and the crimson hue within them quickly receded, returning to their original black and white.

At the same time, all kinds of profound mysteries about the Golden Skeleton were thoroughly comprehended by Yang Kai, greatly enlightening him.

Within this roiling Demonic Qi, Yang Kai’s eyes shined.

Slowly lifting his gaze, Yang Kai stretched out a finger and gently drew it across his forehead as he softly chanted.

“Devil Transformation!”

Suddenly, his body became akin to a bottomless pit and madly swallowed the black Demonic Qi surrounding him.

All of this Demonic Qi condensed to the point it could be seen with the naked eye and quickly covered Yang Kai.

In just a breath worth of time, all the Demonic Qi in the air had disappeared and instead a series of black tattoos had appeared on Yang Kai’s skin.

These tattoos were densely arranged in various strange patterns, occupying almost ninety percent of his skin, and only his face was exempted.

Slowly standing up, Yang Kai’s expression and aura remained indifferent. No joy or sadness was apparent on his face, and his eyes exuded a deep ice like chill.

However, he could clearly feel that his current state was very different from just before.

Instead of being wrapped in and surrounded by that thick black Demonic Qi, his form and face were completely unobstructed. Now if Yang Kai didn’t remove his robes, he would simply appear no different from usual.

The biggest difference though was his combat effectiveness had greatly increased compared to his normal state.

Although his cultivation hadn’t changed, his realm had not risen at all, but refining the massive Evil Spirit Essence from the Evil Spirit Spring had seemingly unlocked the hidden potential of his Unyielding Golden Skeleton.

As Yang Kai stood the world seemed to shudder, and ripples spread out through the air around him. All of this gave the illusion that everything around him would collapse.

An unparalleled demonic aura also radiated from him, which clearly alerted everyone who stood watching a thousand meters away. Their eyes widened as they trembled unconsciously in fright.

Gently thrusting his fist out, a crisp bang resounded.

It was like this casual punch contained the power to shatter the Earth.

Standing there, Yang Kai was filled with an intense self-confidence; he felt that if an ordinary Immortal Ascension Boundary master were to stand before him right now, he could send them flying with a single blow.

Flicking his wrist, a bolt of Demonic Qi flew out like a striking snake, drilling a perfectly round hole into the frozen wall in front of him. Using his Divine Sense, Yang Kai followed the bolt as it drilled several dozen meters through solid rock before finally dissipating.

[Such power!] Yang Kai grinned, extremely pleased with this newfound strength.

In addition, Yang Kai felt that his vitality and Blood Force had also reached an unprecedented height! If his estimate were correct, it was at least four or five times stronger than before.

The most potent benefit of a stronger Blood Force was that his restorative and healing powers would correspondingly increase. Physical strength and speed were also inextricably linked with the strength of one’s Blood Force.

After entering this Demon Transformation state, it seems that all the Blood Forces in his body had entered an extremely active state and had even been amplified!