Martial Peak

Chapter 1073, Heavenly Force

Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain

Inside the Pill Room, the only sound that could be heard was the subtle tumbling of the medicinal liquids.

Zong Ao hid himself completely to avoid disturbing Yang Kai, even suppressing his breathing and heartbeat, as if he was a dead man.

All of Zong Ao’s attention was focused on the pill furnace and the young figure sitting in front of it.

When the refinement reached the halfway mark, the various medicinal liquids began blending with one another under the influence of Yang Kai’s Conflagrated Knowledge Sea and the numerous Spirit Arrays, undergoing fundamentals and wondrous changes.

Zong Ao had a premonition.

This time, Yang Kai would at least be able to produce Pill Veins.

This kind of strange intuition had never appeared before. Zong Ao had been observing and emulating Yang Kai’s Alchemy process for half a year now, and although the probability of him refining pills that formed Pill Veins was quite high, there was a higher chance Yang Kai would fail and only be able to obtain an ordinary Burning Flame Pill.

Yet all this time, there had never been an occasion where Zong Ao was certain Yang Kai would be able to produce Pill Veins!

How could this be though? Zong Ao was thoroughly shocked and began observing Yang Kai’s movements even more cautiously, not willing to miss a single detail.

However, as far as he could tell, Yang Kai’s actions were the same as before, without a single change. Even the Spirit Arrays that he portrayed over a thousand times until now were the same. Zong Ao could close his eyes and still know exactly what step Yang Kai would take next and what Spirit Array he would portray.

The only difference Zong Ao could find this time was Yang Kai’s aura which was filled with confidence.

It was this unparalleled momentum that affected Zong Ao’s judgment, making him certain that the pill currently being refined would be able to form Pill Veins.

Could Pill Clouds be created though? There was only one chance for success now, so Zong Ao couldn’t wait to know the final answer.

Zong Ao couldn’t help admiring Yang Kai, because if he were in his place, he would definitely be feeling stressed and anxious, and once that happened, he wouldn’t be able to wholeheartedly concentre on Alchemy, inevitably leading to failure.

Yet Yang Kai didn’t show any such signs, remaining completely indifferent, as if he was refining an ordinary, insignificant pill, his movements calm and meticulous, utilizing his skills to their utmost limit.

As time passed, Zong Ao grew more and more anxious.

A faint pill scent gradually began floating about the Pill Room, which was a sign that the pill would soon be formed.

Yang Kai’s expression seemed to have become more solemn. Every time a pill was about to be formed, he would become extraordinarily cautious.

The Spiritual Energy flowing from his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea would be strong at times, then weak at others, exquisitely portraying the different Spirit Arrays inside the pill furnace.

Yang Kai’s mind and heart were perfectly clear, without the slightest hint of distraction, even forgetting about the pill furnace in front of him and the pill that would soon be formed.

He suddenly thought back to the pill he found which had formed Pill Clouds!

That pill was the one he had found together with the Holy Land Saintess An Ling’er in the underwater Ancient Ruins. Although Yang Kai had eventually swallowed that pill, its huge medicinal efficacy allowing the Five Coloured Soul Warming Lotus to transform into its Six Coloured variant. Before then, he had spent a fair amount of time studying it, trying to gain some inspiration from the Pill Clouds.

At this moment, all kinds of memories flashed across Yang Kai’s mind and he vaguely managed to grasp the key point.

The clouds which obscured his view suddenly parted and his eyes widened, a brilliantly light flashing across them.

When the final composite Spirit Array was portrayed and sent into the pill furnace, Yang Kai’s Conflagrated Knowledge Sea’s full strength burst out, engraving this set of Spirit Arrays into the pill which had yet to fully form.

Suddenly, as if the floodgates in his body had opened wide, Yang Kai’s Saint Qi and Spiritual Energy all flowed out at once, his meridians and dantian emptying out repeatedly as his Knowledge Sea dried out in an instant.

Yang Kai’s vision dimmed and he felt like he was on the verge of passing out.

At that instant, Yang Kai felt as if his life force was being drawn out and that he would die in the next moment.

A thick pill fragrance burst from the pill furnace, one that dwarfed any which was released from the eighteen hundred Burning Flame Pills Yang Kai had previously refined.

A crisp, delightful sound came out from the pill furnace.

Yang Kai smiled widely as he stiffly sat in place.

Zong Ao’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest. How could he not see the extraordinariness of the pill which would momentarily take shape inside Yang Kai’s pill furnace?

He thought Yang Kai had succeeded.

Waiting for a while though, Yang Kai didn’t move.

Zong Ao whispered a few words but received no response. After a few attempts to raise his attention, Zong Ao stepped forward cautiously and quietly released his Divine Sense, a startled expression soon filling his face.

Yang Kai’s face had lost all colour, as if he had just fought against a powerful enemy. His aura was erratic, and his vitality was weak to the extreme…

He had closed his eyes and passed out, but at the very least, he was not dead. As long as Yang Kai had a few days of rest, he could recover.

Ignoring Yang Kai, Zong Ao’s trembling hand patted the pill furnace in front of him, causing a pill to fly out and land in a prepared jade bottle.

Taking a deep breath, Zong Ao peered into the jade bottle.

But after a glance, Zong Ao couldn’t help showing a look of disappointment.

The surface of the Burning Flame Pill in the jade bottle was clear and smooth. Forget about Pill Clouds, there wasn’t even any Pill Veins.

[He failed?] Zong Ao’s expression was complicated. The momentum Yang Kai displayed just now while he was performing Alchemy made Zong Ao certain this boy would succeed, never had he expected the actual final result would be so bleak.

When Yang Kai woke up and found that the last Burning Flame Pill he refined with such painstaking effort was just an ordinary pill, he would likely faint again.

Zong Ao sighed with pain.

He had lived for many years and knew that sometimes there was a huge gap between expectations and results, he too had felt the ruthlessness of having his dreams torn asunder by the thorns of reality.

Yang Kai was still just a young man, so it wasn’t surprising for him to have to face such experiences again and again, but after failing to refine Pill Clouds, and refusing to travel to Water Moon Star for help, it seemed his death would soon be upon him.

Zong Ao can’t help but feeling somewhat depressed. During this past year, Zong Ao had clearly realized Yang Kai’s talent in the field of Alchemy and truly did not wish for him to die so young. Zong Ao even began to think of ways to comfort and advise Yang Kai after he woke up.

At such a time, what this young boy would need most was comfort and encouragement.

While thinking about this though, Zong Ao’s expression suddenly changed again.

He noticed that the flow of the surrounding World Energy had become somewhat strange.

Releasing his Divine Sense, Zong Ao soon let out a panic-stricken shout.

Zong Ao didn’t know how or why, but a massive amount of World Energy was currently gathering towards this place. This movement was even more extreme than when Yang Kai had been crazily cultivating before, almost as if a great dragon was forming in the skies above his head.

A huge attraction suddenly came out of the jade bottle in Zong Ao’s hand, and the Burning Flame Pill which had just come out from the furnace seemed to come alive, thrashing against the sides of the jade bottle as if trying to escape.

The World Energy dragon soaring through the sky dived down and smashed into the palace where Zong Ao had lived for the past hundred years.

A loud bang rang out and half the palace instantly collapsed, with several dozen of its rooms exploding outwards. Various bits of debris smashed into and bounced off of Zong Ao’s Saint Qi guard.

The waterfall of World Energy, which was visible to the naked eye, all poured into the jade bottle, causing it burst into dust.

Zong Ao’s eyes widened as he clearly saw the small Burning Flame Pill suck in and devour this torrent of World Energy like a bottomless abyss, causing its energy aura to rapidly inflate.

The howling winds and storm of dust obscured Zong Ao’s hearing and vision. Through the occasional gaps in this storm, Zong Ao was able to see his thousands of acres of Medicine Gardens and many rare herbs ripped to shreds and scattered about.

His face twitched and his heart bled.

These herbs were cultivated by him personally, and each strain was infused with his own sweat and blood, yet now, as this World Energy storm swept over his precious Medicine Gardens, many herbs were directly uprooted while the rest were severely damaged.

“Fuck!” Zong Ao’s old face distorted with rage and he couldn’t stop himself from howling, hurriedly waving his hands at the whipping winds but finding himself incapable of stopping this disaster.

After half an hour, calm returned.

Among the broken walls, Yang Kai was still sitting cross-legged, the dozens of pill furnaces in front of him also intact, even remaining in their original positions, but Zong Ao’s palace had now completely collapsed and the comatose Xue Yue had been buried in the rubble.

Zong Ao didn’t give a thought to the little sleeping girl as he tightly gripped a new jade bottle in his hand and stared out across his vast Medicine Gardens in despair, his face twitching uncontrollably.

The thousands of acres of Medicine Gardens had all suffered catastrophic damage, with next to nothing remaining intact.

Ninety percent of the once-thriving herbs had been destroyed, while the remaining ten percent had been severely damaged, their vitality flickering like candles in the wind.

The leaves of his dozens of Heavenly Yang Fruit Trees had been stripped clear, leaving only bare branches. These Heavenly Yang Fruit Trees wouldn’t recover for at least ten years.

His half-acre of Sparrow Lotus Flowers had disappeared without a trance, and the heavenly power storm had even dug into the land, scraping off nearly a meter worth of precious soil.

[Where are this old master’s Thousand Petal Flowers go?] Zong Ao turned his eyes about weakly, but when he looked towards where the Thousand Petal Flowers, which he regarded to be as precious as his own life, were supposed to be, he only saw some half shredded root hairs.

Zong Ao’s eyes rolled back and he nearly fainted.

Without even mentioning the loss of his Medicine Garden’s precious herbs, Zong Ao was shocked to discover that the massive Spirit Array he had spent countless years perfecting inside this mountain valley had also been destroyed and can no longer play any role.

Within a thousand kilometre radius, the World Energy aura had been completely hollowed out!

The sound of clothes swishing came from afar as Ha Li Ka, Lin Mu Feng, and the middle-aged woman led various the masters from the Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce branch over.

When the shocking Heavenly Force had appeared here, they were naturally startled, and not knowing what happened, they quickly came to investigate.

After they got a look at the now unrecognizable scene, all of them were stunned, unable to believe their eyes for quite a while.

Silavin: Strange. Zong Ao has formed pill clouds before so is this such a surprise? Maybe this one is just that unique. Or, maybe it just slipped his mind? What do you think?