Martial Peak

The blue robed old man dragged Yang Kai along as the four Immortal Ascension masters quickly raced towards the interior of the Evil Cavern.

The green robed old man however couldn’t help but glance backwards, and then he grinned evilly, while his eyes flashed with a wicked green light, akin to a snake which had found its prey.

The two Hu Sisters’ delicate bodies that were reflected in the green robed man’s eyes trembled and suddenly began to give off a faint green glow.

Immediately, the two sisters discovered this change and hurriedly examined themselves, but soon found that they had not suffered any injuries, nor was their True Qi circulation obstructed in any way.

Leng Shan’s expression however became extremely ugly as she involuntarily muttered, “Shadow Marking!”

In fact, everyone from Ghost King Valley couldn’t help glancing sympathetically towards the Hu Sisters.

“Shadow Marking? What is this?” Hu Jiao Er asked nervously.

Leng Shan face was filled with a mix of worry and helplessness, and she hesitated for a while before finally explaining, “Of those Four Monsters And Demons, the one wearing green robes is extremely lascivious, and unfortunately, it looks like you two have caught his interest. This Shadow Marking is his unique technique, once he’s hit you with it, he’ll be able to sense your position and use it to influence your thoughts and emotions. If you’re close enough he’ll even be able to exert a certain amount of control over you directly.”

Listening to this, the two Hu Sisters’ beautiful faces suddenly lost all colour.

“What’s worse, the faint green aura your bodies are radiating right now signify that you’ve been marked by that old man’s technique. As long as you go outside, anybody who sees this colour will know that you’ve been hit by that bastard’s Shadow Marking,” Leng Shan suddenly continued, “Right now, he’s occupied with figuring out what happened inside the Evil Cavern, but since he’s left his Shadow Marking on you now, once they’re done he’ll definitely seek you out.”

“Even if he doesn’t come find you in person, some people will no doubt capture you and bring you to him in order to gain his favour. In short, you’re situation right now is quite grim!” Chen Yi followed up, his expression extremely dignified.

“Is there any way to break this technique,” Hu Jiao Er asked, her expression visibly distressed.

“Masters at the Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stage aren’t necessarily able to remove it. You only have two options, kill him or find someone of even higher strength!” Leng Shan bit her lip and replied.

Hearing Leng Shan’s conclusion, both the Hu Sisters’ hearts instantly sunk.

The Hu Sisters’ exact situation wasn’t known to Yang Kai, but the obscene light which had flickered past the green robed man’s eyes was clearly seen by him.

Immediately, Yang Kai’s expression became both sharper and colder.

The green robed old man pulling this little trick was apparently something commonplace, so it hadn’t even drawn the attention of the other three Monsters and Demons.

All of them had treated it simply like the passing breeze.

With the extremely fast speed of Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, it wasn’t long before the Four Monsters and Demons and Yang Kai had flown from the Evil Cavern’s entrance back to the room with the high pillars.

When they arrived nearby the two high platforms, the Four Monsters And Demons all narrowed their eyes and looked forward with a dignified expression.

At this moment, the Evil Spirit Spring has completely receded, and in its place was an exceptionally dark cocoon.

Atop this chrysalis were numerous blood red lines, like human veins, that pulsed with a kind of inexplicable energy.

However, this cocoon like object was incomparably massive and stood some fifteen to twenty meters tall, radiating a profound icy aura that seemed to even freeze one’s soul. Swirling about outside of it were tentacle like filaments composed of rich Demonic Qi.

*Dong dong...*

The sound of a heart beating inside the cocoon pounded one’s ears and produced shockwaves that caused the Souls and Divine Senses of the four Monsters And Demons and Yang Kai to tremble.

The blue robed old man, who was still gripping Yang Kai, furrowed his brow and waved his hands a few times before himself to block these residual waves.

“What is this?” The yellow robed old man muttered, as his expression switched between being confused and concerned.

All four of them had lived long lives and possessed vast experience and keen insight, but although they could feel just how enormous the pressure radiating from the cocoon in front of them was, and that it was definitely not something to be provoked lightly, none of them actually knew what it was.

The Evil Qi it gave off was so potent it was actually visible to the naked eye.

The four of them had only ever witnessed a similar phenomenon once before.

When they had met the new Demon Lord!

A few months ago, when the four of them were accompanying the Profound Yin Ghost King, they had the privilege of witnessing the new Demon Lord.

The Demon Lord’s Evil Qi had similarly reached this kind of height. The Profound Yin Ghost King had even told them that he was an actual Demon, a real Devil!

All of their so called Devil Path cultivators were only cheap imitations before him.

“Little brat, I’ll ask you once more, what exactly transpired here? If you dare say you don’t know again, this old master will cripple you and leave you here to die. Only if you tell me everything you know will this old master let you leave.” The blue robed old man spoke in a cold tone as he looked down at Yang Kai.

Yang Kai’s expression was ugly when he heard the old man’s threat, but eventually chose to answer, “This thing appeared from inside the Evil Spirit Spring.”

“The Evil Spirit Spring?” The Four Monsters And Demons’ expressions all changed, and even the blue robed old man’s voice suddenly became more animated.

The words Evil Spirit Spring were undoubtedly quite attractive to them.

“Yes.” Yang Kai nodded, as he simply described what had happened earlier while omitting a few key details.

The more the four old men listened, the more excited they became, and their originally unfriendly and ugly expressions were slowly replaced with looks of greed as they gazed towards the cocoon radiantly.

When Yang Kai had finished, these four old men no longer bothered to keep up appearances, and clear looks of avarice were plastered all over their faces.

“What do we do?” The other three looked nervously and expectantly at the blue robed old man while waiting for him to make a decision.

The blue robed old man was obviously also very excited. The Evil Spirit Spring rarely appeared, but every time it did it would bring forth many wondrous treasures. Things that even high level Immortal Ascension Boundary masters like themselves would be desperate to snatch.

However, this time the Evil Spirit Spring had actually bred such an unusual thing, something completely beyond their knowledge and understanding.

Given this unknown situation, the blue robed old man hesitated to make a hasty decision that might implicate his life.

“All of us aren’t far from breaking through the Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stage, but until now we have yet to find a suitable source of energy to assist us. If we miss this opportunity, who knows when we’ll have to wait till.” The purple robed old man obviously wanted to take the risk, eagerly trying to convince his comrades.

“Agreed.” The green robed old man and the yellow robed old man both nodded as well.

With all three of them clearly expressing their intentions, the blue robed old man couldn’t flatly reject them. What’s more, he himself also felt that the potential reward outweighed the risks and was only holding back because his intuition was faintly warning him things weren’t as simple as they seemed.

After silently hesitating for a moment, the blue robed old man’s eyes flashed and his expression became firm, and he nodded firmly, “Good!”

Having made his decision, the old man casually threw Yang Kai away, tossing him some thirty meters or so.

Before he had even landed though, Yang Kai felt an overwhelming force surge through his body. This force was filled with malicious intent so strong that even his True Yang Yuan Qi couldn’t fully offset it.

With a loud thud, Yang Kai smashed onto the ground and vomited a mouthful of blood. Several of his bones were. clearly broken, and his face was completely pale.

Seeing this, the blue robed old man simply sneered, “Hey, this old master kept his words, you’re free to go!”

Yang Kai glared back silently, and his eyes were filled with undisguised hatred.

How was this letting him leave? If not for his True Yang Yuan Qi being unusually dense and pure, simply that malicious Qi, which was injected into his meridians, would have been enough to crush Yang Kai’s dantian, completely wasting his cultivation and transforming him into a cripple.

If he was left here with the strength of an ordinary mortal, the only end he would have was death!

Fortunately, having been tossed this far and with the blue robed old man not paying him any mind, he didn’t discover that Yang Kai hadn’t actually been crippled. If the old man were to know, considering his wicked nature, it was more than likely he would come finish what he started.

Not daring to waste a single moment, Yang Kai hurriedly struggled up into a meditative position and adjusted his breathing while quietly extracting a drop of Myriad Drug Liquid and swallowed it.

A moment later, that sounds of a fierce battle erupted.

Each of the Four Monsters And Demons was powerful on their own, and when the four of them worked together, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say they were invincible in the Immortal Ascension Boundary, and right now they were engaged in combat with the odd dark cocoon.

A loud roar came from inside the cocoon and then the sound of something breaking rang out.

Immediately, the blue robed old man cried out in a shocked and excited voice, “Sure enough! It’s a real devil, a real devil!”

After this shout, the battle became fiercer. Obviously whatever was inside that giant dark cocoon had been forcibly awoken by these four old men and was now fighting back.

Soon after the entire cavern was seething with Demonic Qi, and the faint traces of light were blotted out, like they had been drowned in darkness.

Yang Kai did his best to ignore all of this though and concentrated on recovering.

However, Yang Kai noticed that there was something in his body that was pulsing incessantly, even causing his True Qi circulation to become somewhat turbulent.

Surprised, Yang Kai hurriedly investigated his body and soon discovered that something within him was reacting in response to something.

Stunned for a moment, Yang Kai quickly decided to split some of his attention to observe the outside situation.

The battle scene was fierce. Although Yang Kai couldn’t see exactly what was happening, just the sounds that reverberated from the Four Monsters And Demons’ attacks was enough to tell that even if the creature that had emerged from the dark cocoon hadn’t fully matured, it was still not a foe that could be easily killed.

This devil was obviously much stronger than they had anticipated.

Even if the Four Monsters And Demons now understood that they had underestimated their opponent, it was too late for them to withdraw, and their only option was to grit their teeth and fight it out.

As time passed, Yang Kai’s injuries were quickly restored.

Suddenly, a loud roar rang out from the other side. It seemed like that devil had suffered a big loss, but at the same time, the Four Monsters And Demons also cried out; however, two of their voices were abruptly silenced.

Died!

Yang Kai’s eyes flashed as a chill gripped his heart.

“Retreat!” The blue robed old man shouted in a panic-stricken voice, and sounds of exhaustion were apparent in his tone.

Immediately afterwards, two streaks of light flashed by, obviously the two remaining old men had decided to flee.

However, the devil didn’t pursue and instead just let out an unwilling roar as it remained nearby.

Yang Kai tensed up, and a myriad of thoughts flashed through his head as his heart pounded.

That unknown something in his body was still pulsing, almost like it was urging him forward.

After hesitating for a while, Yang Kai steeled his will, stepped out, and quickly walked in the direction of the devil.