Martial Peak

Immediately afterwards, a sound like someone drinking water could be heard. A red colour, like fresh blood, started to seep into the vines while the cultivator that had been impaled and wrapped up went silent.

Not only that, but this man’s body also rapidly began to shrivel up, as if the life was being drained out of him.

“It’s swallowing his vitality!” Yang Kai’s expression changed drastically.

Naturally, he could see what happened to this cultivator. His blood and vitality was being drained away by the vines that had pierced him, leaving him dry and dead within just two breaths.

This man was an Origin King, but facing these strange vines, he was as vulnerable as a three-year-old child!

“Wood Spirit! It’s a Wood Spirit! To think there was a Wood Spirit sealed underground!”

At that moment, Mo Xiao Qi suddenly screamed, terror apparent in her voice. This was the first time Yang Kai had ever seen her in such a panic. Even when she was facing off against the infant Luan Feng on Clear Jade Mountain that day, she had remained completely calm and composed, but after seeing these strange vines, she went completely pale.

“Big Brother Yang, we need to flee, we’re definitely not this thing’s opponent. It can quickly restore itself by absorbing the blood and vitality of any living creature!” After Mo Xiao Qi finished speaking, she waved her hand and a flawless jade-white chariot appeared before her.

Dragging Yang Kai along, the two boarded the chariot at the same time.

Immediately, Mo Xiao Qi poured her strength into a Spirit Array on the chariot and multiple thick and powerful light barriers formed around it with a hum.

Without hesitation, the chariot started to tremble and quickly began to accelerate away.

Before it could get up to speed, however, countless vines shot towards it from the cracks down below, whipping the chariot madly with its thorns.

The light shields around the chariot flashed wildly, but fortunately, this artifact seemed to be extremely high grade, so its barriers were also quite strong. The vines which were able to kill an Origin King in an instant could not break through these shields immediately.

However, under this wanton bombardment, the chariot couldn’t leave this space.

After only a brief delay, the chariot was tightly wrapped up in vines.

Mo Xiao Qi’s face paled even further.

“Moon Blade!” Yang Kai snorted and swung his hand, sending out a giant Moon Blade to cut the vines that were entwining the chariot.

Although his attack had some effect, Yang Kai’s expression remained extremely solemn because he found that he had underestimated the defensive power of these vines. His massive Moon Blade was only able to cut through four vines before it exhausted its strength and dispersed.

As for the vines that were cut apart, in just a blink of the eye, they had re-grown and wrapped around the chariot even tighter than before.

“Big Brother Yang, we need to use Fire Attribute, other attacks are unable to destroy these vines,” Mo Xiao Qi shouted while at the same time she tapped one of the cloth bags on her waist. Out of this cloth bag, a creature that resembled a Fire Qilin appeared. Covered in crimson scales and exuding the aura of a peak Tenth-Order Monster Beast, this Fire Qilin quickly opened its mouth and spit out a fierce jet of flames.

Wherever these flames passed, the vines would shrink back, as if they had suffered a serious blow.

When Yang Kai saw this, he quickly adapted and pushed his Five Elements Indestructible Fire Sword Qi, condensing a long sword of flames in his hand as he slashed towards the surrounding vines.

This time, the vines that were chopped off did not instantly regenerate. It seemed Fire Attribute attacks were extremely effective against this vine.

Mo Xiao Qi was not idle either. After releasing the Qilin-like beast, she summoned a crimson ribbon and poured her Source Qi into it, transforming it into a cloud of burning flames.

The two people and one beast were somehow able to push back the vines from the chariot.

Without waiting for those vines to regroup and surround them again, Mo Xiao Qi stamped her foot hard, sending the chariot shooting out like an arrow from the string.

Behind them, countless vines flailed and whipped as they chased after them, but the chariot soon left them behind.

After ten breaths, the chariot finally escaped from the danger zone and the vines stopped their pursuit.

Only now did Mo Xiao Qi let out a gasp of relief.

Looking back, countless vines were flying around like tentacles within a several-dozen-kilometre range, a disturbing sight to see.

“Xiao Qi, what is a Wood Spirit?” Yang Kai finally had time to ask.

“It’s a type of plant which has gained sentience, possessing its own will and intelligence, and it is an extremely difficult opponent to face. Depending on what type of plant it evolved from, Wood Spirits all possess different innate abilities. It is difficult to say what exactly the ability of this Wood Spirit is, but regardless, all Wood Spirits are extremely difficult to kill because they have extremely strong Wood Attribute Strength, granting them enormous vitality and regenerative capabilities. Even if a Wood Spirit is severely damaged, as long as it is given enough time and nutrients, it can restore itself. Not all Wood Spirits are bad though, some of them even have extremely wondrous uses, but that Wood Spirit is an extremely dangerous existence. I don’t know how long ago it was sealed, but its strength must have fallen significantly, otherwise, it would have been impossible to escape with our current strength.”

“Are Wood Spirits that frightening?” Yang Kai was surprised.

“Of course! Big Brother Yang must not underestimate it. There are plenty of records of even Emperors being killed by Wood Spirits. Right now, this Wood Spirit has just been released, so its priority is to restore its strength. The best way to do that would be to swallow the vitality of cultivators like us… Oh no, the entire second layer may no longer be safe…” Mo Xiao Qi said after suddenly realizing something.

“What? Isn’t that impossible? The second layer is so vast; shouldn’t we be able to find a place to avoid it?”

“And if it happens to find us?” Mo Xiao Qi looked at Yang Kai, worried.

“Then what should we do? Go back to the first layer?” Yang Kai frowned.

“Once inside the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, one can only go up, not down. We can’t return to the first layer…” Mo Xiao Qi frowned before her eyes flashed, “En… let’s go to the third layer.”

Yang Kai was stunned, “How? Aren’t only the first and second layers of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda open now?”

“It’s worth a try. If we really can’t reach the third layer, we’ll just have to make do. Let’s hope our luck is good,” Mo Xiao Qi laughed happily before recalling the Qilin-like beast and releasing her Heaven Escaping Bat again, ordering it to search for the entrance to the third layer.

…

Three days later, the pair stood in front of a Five Coloured Light Pillar.

This Five Coloured Light Pillar was exactly the same as the one that Yang Kai saw before. Obviously, it was the entrance to the third layer, but when Yang Kai tried entering it just now, he got no response. This was vastly different from his previous experience where simply stepping into the light pillar had transferred him to the second layer.

He looked over at Mo Xiao Qi helplessly, but the latter just smiled mysteriously as she took out a long, shuttle-like artifact from her Space Ring.

As soon as this artifact appeared, Yang Kai’s complexion changed.

Because he felt a distinctive aura from this artifact, one that no Origin King Grade or even Dao Source Grade artifact could possess.

[An Emperor Artifact!]

This long shuttle-like artifact was definitely an Emperor Artifact!

Emperor Artifacts were infused with Principle Strength, a fact Yang Kai was familiar with because he possessed several Emperor Artifacts of his own. It was for this reason that Emperor Artifacts could display such enormous power. What Mo Xiao Qi possessed was obviously an Emperor Artifact.

Although Yang Kai was shocked, after thinking about it carefully, he realized this was an expected outcome and did not try to ask anymore.

“This Nine Stars Seal Breaker Shuttle is an artifact that Aunty Feng gave me. It specializes in breaking through all kinds of barriers. Although I cannot exert all its might with my current strength, with Big Brother Yang’s help, we should be able to break open the seal here and enter the third layer,” Mo Xiao Qi took the initiative to explain.

“What do I need to do?” Yang Kai asked.

“Simple,” Mo Xiao Qi briefly explained to Yang Kai.

Yang Kai carefully noted all Mo Xiao Qi’s instructions, and after going over it in his mind a few times, he nodded to her.

Mo Xiao Qi stretched out her hand to tap the Nine Stars Seal Breaker Shuttle. In the next moment, the artifact grew in size and became ten meters long.

After jumping aboard the Nine Stars Seal Breaker Shuttle first, Mo Xiao Qi waved to Yang Kai.

After both of them had entered the shuttle, Mo Xiao Qi closed the Nine Stars Seal Breaker Shuttle’s hatch before turning to Yang Kai and nodding. The two of them then began to form a specific series of seals.

As time passed, the pair continued to pour their strength into the Nine Stars Seal Breaker Shuttle, causing the star-shaped patterns on its surface to flicker.

Suddenly, on the surface of the Nine Stars Seal Breaker Shuttle, a star pattern was lit.

After a while, another star pattern was lit.

Then a third.

By this time, both Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi had reached their limits and their strength was fluctuating chaotically as their expressions became extremely difficult.

In the end, this was still an Emperor Artifact, so even bringing out half its power was impossible for the two of them.

Mo Xiao Qi’s expression turned solemn as she changed her hand seal and shouted, “break!”

The next moment, the Nine Stars Seal Breaker Shuttle shook slightly and shot into the Five Coloured Light Pillar before disappearing.

The pair aboard the shuttle felt a sense of weightlessness at the same time, and both could not help smiling happily. However, neither of them relaxed just yet as they continued to pour their strength into the Nine Stars Seal Breaker Shuttle to maintain its operation.

Soon after, the sense of discomfort they felt disappeared.

The two looked at each other and Mo Xiao Qi opened the Nine Stars Seal Breaker Shuttle expectantly before jumping out first. Her cheers came a moment later, “Big Brother Yang, we made it to the third layer!”

Yang Kai was also incredibly pleased. When he came out, he found that although this place looked similar to the second layer, there were some noticeable differences, the biggest of which was the density of the Shattered Principles floating about.

“That wasn’t so hard,” Mo Xiao Qi smiled proudly.

“It’s important we restore ourselves first. The third layer is supposed to be much more dangerous than the second,” Yang Kai reminded her before releasing his Divine Sense to check their surroundings.

After confirming that there was no danger in the immediate area, he sat down cross-legged and took out a bottle of Spirit Pills from his Space Ring, popped one into his mouth, then began adjusting his breathing.

Mo Xiao Qi did the same, but before she did, she released her Silver Maned Liger, Heaven Escaping Bat, and the Fire Qilin Monster Beasts to have them stand guard.