Martial Peak

Martial Peak – Chapter 797, So That’s How It Is

Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain

Every time he broke through one of the Nine Heavens Divine Skill energy auras, the road in front of Yang Kai became clearer and more spacious. After fully comprehending all nine of them and shattering the last energy aura, the entire Mysterious Small World seemed to become brighter, allowing Yang Kai to see the full extent of the Holy Tomb.

Releasing his Divine Sense to explore his surroundings, Yang Kai suddenly showed a surprised expression.

The World Energy was so rich that Yang Kai originally thought that this Mysterious Small World was extremely vast, but from what he could tell, it was actually only about as large as a mid-sized town. This was without a doubt the smallest Mysterious Small World Yang Kai had ever seen.

Yang Kai couldn’t fathom where the near inexhaustible supply of World Energy was coming from in such a tiny space. It was almost as if there was some great source of World Energy which was constantly yet undetectably being poured into this Mysterious Small World.

Throughout the Holy Tomb, Yang Kai sensed all kinds of dangerous Spirit Arrays. These arrays all gave off potent energy fluctuations and radiated a dangerous aura. Once someone accidentally touched one, they would likely suffer a terrifying attack.

Yang Kai could now see through all of this, that was how clear his surroundings had become. It was likely related to the Nine Heavens Divine Skill energy auras he had shattered before, the more of them that were broken, the more traps were revealed.

Yang Kai had shattered all nine energy auras, so naturally he could see all the mysteries hidden inside the Holy Tomb.

Not far away, there were several skeletons scattered about, their flesh already completely gone and their possessions all turned to dust.

These skeletons should have been the Holy Master candidates who had entered the Holy Tomb in the past but had failed to pass the test and died here. From what Yang Kai could tell, these skeletons’ ages varied greatly and were spread out across the entire Holy Tomb, their number not small.

In addition, there were a number of large coffins which placed in different locations around the Holy Tomb.

These coffins were all different shapes and colours, but one thing they shared in common was the grim aura they emitted.

Yang Kai quietly condensed his True Qi to guard against any accidents and walked towards the nearest coffin.

Quickly arriving in front of this coffin, Yang Kai found that it was no covered and inside there was a neatly dressed, handsome, middle-aged male corpse.

Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled as his eyes were attracted to a bronze ring on the corpses’ left hand.

Standing beside the coffin for a long time, Yang Kai eventually determined that there was no hidden dangers and reached out his hand to touch this ring.

If his guess was right, this ring should be the Holy Master’s Spirit Ring that Xu Hui had mentioned.

All previous Holy Masters would enter the Holy Tomb with the Holy Master Spirit Ring when they felt their time of death was approaching, and the next Holy Master’s first and most important task was to retrieve this ring from the Holy Tomb.

This was because this ring was related to the operation of the entire Nine Heavens Holy Land, without it, many important places were inaccessible.

Also, from the condition of this corpse, it was obvious it had died just recently.

It was absolutely the previous generation’s Holy Master!

A Third Order Saint Realm master, only living a short three hundred years before dying of old age, throughout the entire world, such a phenomenon could only be found in Nine Heavens Holy Land.

Observing this man for a moment, Yang Kai couldn’t help frowning slightly, thinking that if he were to become the master of this place, three hundred years later this would be his fate.

A pitiful and lamentable prospect.

After removing the ring from the fingers of the previous generation’s Holy Master, Yang Kai examined it carefully but soon shook his head. He couldn’t recognize what this ring was made of and could only say that it was some kind of special artifact because inside the ring there some vague energy fluctuations which even after thousands of years did not seem likely to dissipate.

These energy fluctuations were odd and seemed to follow some inexplicable law Yang Kai couldn’t quite make sense of.

As he was staring at it, Yang Kai suddenly felt a powerful suction force emerge from the ring. It was as if a big invisible hand had appeared, broke through space, and dove straight into the depths of Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea, causing his Soul to shudder slightly.

“Great Heavenly Attraction!” Yang Kai paled, instantly recognizing the burst of energy from the Spirit Ring as one of the Nine Heavens Divine Skills and quickly trying to resist, but before he could even blink, a dim light flashed and he felt something disappear from his Knowledge Sea.

The next moment, Yang Kai felt a subtle connection between himself and the Holy Master Spirit Ring.

Yang Kai’s face became gloomy as he stood there, staring at the Holy Master Spirit Ring in his hand, wishing he could immediately destroy it.

Great Heavenly Attraction could forcefully remove another’s Soul brand, allowing one to control it. Yang Kai had initially caught An Ling’er off guard and used this trick to obtain her Soul brand. With it, Yang Kai gained control over whether An Ling’er lived or died and could even spy on the changes in her mood.

However, at this moment, this Holy Master Spirit Ring had used the Great Heavenly Attraction to obtain Yang Kai’s Soul brand.

Needless to say, this was something the previous generation’s Holy Master had secretly arranged.

A move made by a Third Order Saint was not something Yang Kai could resist or dispel.

This also meant that if Yang Kai were to throw away this ring, he would also be throwing away his Soul brand. Once it was obtained by an enemy, it would be equivalent to seizing control of Yang Kai’s life.

Yang Kai couldn’t help cursing repeatedly. Originally he planned on taking this Holy Master Spirit Ring and use it as a bargaining chip to obtain his freedom from Xu Hui, but now, this Holy Master Spirit Ring was his and absolutely couldn’t be handed over to someone else.

Yang Kai’s mood suddenly became awful.

Before Yang Kai could compose himself though, from the body of the previous generation Holy Master in the coffin, a huge wave of energy rushed out.

At the same time, from all the coffins inside the Holy Tomb, similar waves of energy burst forth and rushed towards Yang Kai.

It was as if they were being drawn towards Yang Kai somehow.

In an instant, Yang Kai felt his Knowledge Sea’s defenses torn apart and these masses of energy pour into his head, causing his consciousness to become chaotic.

Yang Kai went pale and didn’t dare hesitate, quickly sitting down cross legged and immersing his consciousness into his Knowledge Sea.

In his Soul Avatar form, Yang Kai swiftly examined his Knowledge Sea and found that it was now turbulent and stormy. It seemed that his Knowledge Sea had automatically responded to this invasion by counterattacking.

The sea of flames roared as waves crashed back and forth, battering these invaders which seemed to instinctively fear Yang Kai’s Conflagrated Knowledge Sea and were fleeing in all directions.

While they were rushing about, these invaders were releasing invisible spiritual energy fluctuations towards Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar.

Yang Kai immediately wore a suspicious expression, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the energy masses which had rushed into his Knowledge Sea, his mind gradually stabilizes.

The roaring sea water and flames also calmed down.

From what Yang Kai could see, these energy masses were actually the wills of the old Nine Heavens Holy Land Holy Masters. Strictly speaking, they were remnant Souls.

However, Yang Kai couldn’t sense any conscious thought from these Soul remnants; they seemed to only be autonomously completing some final task their previous owners had set at their time of death.

These energy masses didn’t have any hostile intent and were simply releasing continuous bursts of Spiritual Energy towards Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar, seemingly trying to convey something.

Yang Kai hesitated for a moment before taking the initiative to lower his Soul’s defences and accepting whatever it was that these Soul remnants were trying to instill into him.

After a while, Yang Kai’s expression became strange.

Unlike what he expected, these Soul remnants weren’t trying to teach him some kind of Secret Art or Martial Skill, but rather were trying to apply some kind of brainwashing to him.

In an instant, Yang Kai’s views towards Nine Heavens Holy Land underwent some subtle changes, suddenly feeling like staying here wouldn’t be so bad. By becoming Holy Master he would not only gain great wealth and status, he would be able to command thousands of disciples and arrive at the peak of Martial Dao in the shortest time. It was far better than trying hard on his own.

Such thoughts caused Yang Kai’s will to soften and a sense of laziness to take over. He also felt that the remnant Souls of the past Holy Masters were warm and friendly and that he wanted to hear more of their teachings.

However, a sense of deep repulsion soon emerged from the depth of his soul. His heart clenching from those thoughts and Yang Kai quickly cut off the connection of his Soul Avatar with them. He hastily expelled all these misleading thoughts, turning a cold eye to the Soul remnants floating around him.

“So that’s how it is!” Yang Kai sneered, his eyes flashing a cold light.

Yang Kai had always been curious about why the Holy Masters brought back by the Saintesses would be so willing to join the Holy Land, even if it meant their lives would be greatly shortened. It turns out they were indoctrinated by these Soul remnants inside the Holy Tomb.

If not for his Soul being far stronger than normal, it was likely Yang Kai would have followed in these people’s footsteps and been completely brainwashed within an hour or two.

The Spiritual Energy bursts emanating from the Soul remnants of these previous Holy Masters had a strong enticement to them. Under their influence, anyone would quickly feel a sense of connection and affection towards Nine Heavens Holy Land, regarding it as their own home and a place they needed to protect.

Even the strongest of the previous Holy Master candidates who entered the Holy Tomb and passed its test were merely First Order Transcendents, so their Souls weren’t very strong. But Yang Kai was different, his cultivation was far stronger and his Spiritual Energy was even stronger than that, giving him a certain ability to resist this kind of spiritual attack.

Additionally, he had never wanted to become Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land, allowing him to quickly come to his senses.

Understanding all of this, Yang Kai suddenly became fearless. If it was some other kind of restriction or technique, he might be worried, but the biggest mistake the remnant Souls of these previous Holy Masters was diving into his Knowledge Sea.

In this place, only he was the master!

Trying to communicate with the remnant Souls, Yang Kai didn’t receive any response. These previous Holy Masters had died long ago and these remnant Souls had simply been preserved in this place via some strange method, but none of their consciousness remained, they simply carried out this one task mechanically.

The mental attacks of these Soul remnants continued uninterrupted, using all kinds of appeasement and inducement, trying to shake Yang Kai’s Soul, causing him to gradually grow impatient. After failing to communicate with them, Yang Kai decided to put an end to this once and for all and opened the Demon Eye of Annihilation floating over his Knowledge Sea.

The golden eye stared down at these Soul remnants like a majestic king before shooting out a beam of golden light.

With a great whoosh, all the remnant Souls of these once powerful Third Order Saints were instantly purified.