Martial Peak

Chapter 2544 - Wrinkly-faced Man

Qi He Feng said solemnly, “Many thanks, Sir.”

Although Yang Kai’s hand had been forced, it didn’t change the fact that he would become everyone’s life-saving benefactor if he managed to beat back all of these Yin Souls; therefore, it was natural for Qi He Feng to thank him.

“You guys should move to the rear,” Yang Kai said as his body flickered and appeared before the group defending the entrance.

Without saying a word, the four cultivators immediately stepped back and retreated behind him.

As soon as they retreated, countless Yin Souls roared and rushed forward madly. Each one looked so ferocious that it made the other cultivators sweat for Yang Kai, worried if he would be able to stop them alone.

An Emperor Realm Master was indeed strong, but he had been fighting and consuming energy for a day and a half already just like the rest of them.

Now that he had become their only hope, it was only natural that no one wanted to see him have an accident.

However, in front of everyone’s eyes, Yang Kai was as steady as a mountain and didn’t move until the Yin Souls were almost upon him. At the last moment, his Spiritual Energy suddenly burst out like a tsunami.

*Hong...*

It seemed like an invisible wall in front of Yang Kai suddenly formed, deflecting all of the Yin Souls and preventing them from getting closer. Moreover, under some invisible pressure, the Yin Souls disintegrated at an astonishing speed, and several shrill cries rang out.

It was like watching snowflakes under the scorching sun. Wherever the sun passed, the snowflakes melted away.

This was not the end. The Myriads Sword in Yang Kai’s hand swept out, the fierce attack rising and spreading all around like the light of the moon and stars.

A large number of Yin Souls was wiped out yet again.

Although this kind of attack was not as effective as one using Divine Sense, Yang Kai was an Emperor Realm Master, and his Myriads Sword was also an Emperor Artifact, so it was impossible for the results to be ordinary.

The lowest level of Yin Souls and even the Ghost Generals were reduced to dust as soon as they came into contact with his sword wave. Some of the more powerful Ghost Lords were barely able to hang on to their lives, but they were still pushed to the edge.

Seeing this scene, the morale of the cultivators inside the cave rose greatly and the despair in their eyes vanished, replaced by incomparable excitement.

“You don’t look very well, my friend,” Qi He Feng suddenly turned his head and asked a wrinkly-faced man beside him, his face full of concern, “Are your injuries severe?”

When he heard this, a look of panic flashed in the wrinkly-faced man’s eyes. However, he soon covered it up and said, “Many thanks for your concern, Brother Qi. My injuries are not severe. Simply getting some rest will do.”

“That’s good. With this Sir’s help, we will be able to escape this crisis safely. He is no doubt our saviour.”

The man didn’t know what Qi He Feng was getting at and felt uneasy, but even so, he could only smile and nod, “Indeed.”

“Which Sect are you from, friend?” Qi He Feng continued to ask.

“I don’t belong to a Sect. I’m a lone wanderer,” the wrinkly-faced man replied.

Qi He Feng raised his brow, “You must be quite talented, to be able to cultivate to the Third-Order Dao Source Realm with only your own effort. Are you interested in joining the Qi Family Fort?”

“I am honoured by Brother Qi’s offer, but I’m used to being free. I don’t wish to join any great forces yet.”

“Very well.” After that, Qi He Feng stopped talking and turned his head to watch Yang Kai.

The wrinkly-faced man frowned slightly and shot Qi He Feng a furtive glance. His expression had been normal, and it seemed that he had just been making casual conversation, so the wrinkly-faced man sighed in relief.

At the entrance, Yang Kai was like an impassable mountain, and with each swing of his sword, the Yin Souls were pushed back.

Occasionally, a few would slip through and be killed by the cultivators in the back. The Yin Souls had no way to break into the cave.

At this moment, everyone relaxed and was no longer anxious.

The crisis would pass as long as Yang Kai held on. The strength of an Emperor Realm Master was formidable as expected and truly awe-inspiring; however, they were afraid Yang Kai would run out of energy before everything ended. After all, one’s strength was always limited.

Alas, half a day later, their worries came true.

By then, it became obvious that Yang Kai’s attacks were no longer as powerful as before. The force behind both his sword waves and Soul attacks were greatly reduced, and most noticeably, the number of Yin Souls slipping through his defence had increased.

However, this wasn’t surprising. The fact that Yang Kai was able to hold on for half a day on his own was a testament to his great strength; after all, the four-person groups before could only hold on for a stick of incense’s worth of time.

After another half-day, Yang Kai’s hand trembled slightly, and his face turned pale. It was apparent he was nearing his limit.

Qi He Feng stood up, “Sir, please go back and rest for a while. You can leave the rest to us.”

“Yes, Sir. If you collapse, we will all suffer too. You should take a rest,” the other cultivators quickly agreed and urged.

Their concern wasn’t truly genuine, but Yang Kai was now their main pillar of strength. Without him, their chances of surviving would be too low.

Upon hearing this, Yang Kai pondered for a moment and nodded, “Alright.”

He had been defending for an entire day, while the rest of the cultivators were almost completely covered. They should have no problem taking the vanguard position for a period of time.

At that moment, all of a sudden, the wind howling outside the cave weakened drastically.

Everyone was stunned and carefully stared out in the direction of the entrance.

After a moment, someone said in a trembling voice, “The Astral Wind is ending.”

“Hahaha, it’s ending! It’s ending!”

“It’s really over! We’re saved! We’re saved!”

Upon realizing that the Astral Wind was about to end, everyone began to shout and yell excitedly, as though they had picked up an amazing treasure and wanted to share the news with the entire world.

What made them even happier was that when the sounds of howling wind began to abate, the Yin Souls seemed to have received some kind of signal and retreated back into the strange fog. In just the blink of an eye, the crisis that plagued them for two days was over.

Everyone was overjoyed and one by one, they crowded at the entrance of the cave and peered out.

They saw that only a weak wind remained, and there was not a single Yin Soul in sight.

The disaster was really over.

“Watch out, Sir!” Qi He Feng suddenly cried out loudly.

Just then, a turbid light burst out from a certain part of the cave and rushed straight towards Yang Kai’s head. Yang Kai’s body suddenly flickered, as if he might fall at any time.

The next moment, a figure rushed behind Yang Kai and aimed at his forehead with a fierce palm.

“You dare!” Qi He Feng roared and prepared to give chase, but the attack had happened too suddenly and he could only watch as the blow landed on the unprepared Yang Kai.

The others, too, began to panic and hastily spread out and put up their guards despite not knowing what had happened.

*Hong...*

A muffled sound rang out, and as soon as his palm landed on Yang Kai’s forehead, the perpetrator revealed a vicious smile.

After the successful blow, he immediately ran out of the cave at the fastest speed, because he knew that if he stayed, he would be besieged by the other cultivators; after all, Yang Kai had saved the lives of all the people here and was regarded as their benefactor.

When their benefactor was attacked, they would have to pursue the perpetrator whether they were willing to or not.

Before the man left, he turned his head and looked at Zhang Ruo Xi, his face filled with pride and triumph.

However, he saw that Zhang Ruo Xi wasn’t panicking at all. Instead, she was looking at him coldly and made no move to stop him.

This situation made the man’s heart jump, and a wave of unease washed over him.

“Do you want to run after hitting me?” A voice sounded from behind him, making his hair stand on end.

The man’s gaze snapped in Yang Kai’s direction, only to see the young man looking back at him mockingly. His pale face was now rosy as could be, and gone was the weak aura around his body.

There was no sign of exhaustion or weakness.

[How is this possible?]

Even though Yang Kai was an Emperor Realm Master, he had been defending the cave entrance for an entire day. How could he not be exhausted?

The only possible explanation was that… he had been hiding his true strength from the start!

Upon realizing this, the man broke out in cold sweat.

Yang Kai stretched out his hand and easily grasped the man’s ankle, exerting just a small amount of force, causing bones to crack loudly.

“Ahh!” The man screamed miserably. He wanted to use his strength to resist, but was shocked to find that under Yang Kai’s grasp, his cultivation was suppressed, rendering him completely helpless.

Yang Kai threw the man back into the cave, slamming it against a wall and causing blood to spurt from his lips.

“What’s going on?”

“What’s the situation?”

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

It was only then that other cultivators reacted; however, they were confused by the scene before them and couldn’t tell why Yang Kai had attacked the other cultivator.

Qi He Feng answered their questions with a cold expression on his face, “This man had ulterior motives. He took advantage of Sir’s exhaustion to launch a sneak attack. Unforgivable!”

Everyone was shocked and looked at the cultivator who had fallen to the ground.

It was the wrinkly-faced man Qi He Feng had been talking to before.

The unbearable pain in his ankle caused his wrinkled face to appear even more wrinkled, and his forehead was dripping with beads of sweat.

“How despicable! If it wasn’t for Sir, we would be dead right now! You not only didn’t repay gratitude but also tried to sneak attack Sir?! Do you have any conscience?”

“Such a despicable person deserves to be punished with the pain of Soul extraction and refinement! This one only knows a little about Soul refinement, if you wish for it, Sir, just say the word and this one will make him regret being born into this world!”

“Heh, heh, I also know a bit about Soul refinement. If Sir wishes for it, I can also help and guarantee that he lives a life worse than death for ten days to half a month.”

As soon as the wrinkled-face man heard this, his face turned pale as snow, and his whole body trembled.