Martial Peak

Chapter 2221, Fighting an Emperor

Yang Kai’s heart instantly felt icy when he heard this.

“Then Senior, your subordinates…” Yang Kai inquired again.

“They’ll be here soon!” Ban Qing frowned impatiently, “This King prefers to act alone…” He then looked Yang Kai over with suspicion, “Why are you asking these things?”

“It’s nothing,” Yang Kai took a deep breath and slowly stated, “Junior only wishes… for your understanding!”

As he spoke, he transformed into a beam of light that charged directly at Ban Qing.

Yang Kai had thought things through quite well. Since the Heavenly Monster Mountains were already sealed, and there were three other Emperor Realm Masters apart from Ban Qing searching elsewhere, and Ban Qing’s subordinates had yet to arrive, now was the best opportunity to fight.

Running wasn’t realistic. Ban Qing was skilled at concealment and assassination to begin with, so it was likely that he had exquisite Movement Skills which would prevent Yang Kai from escaping. Even if Yang Kai managed to escape, where would he run to in these gigantic Heavenly Monster Mountains that he wasn’t familiar with? He might be unlucky enough to run into someone else, and there would be no hope at all anymore if he was caught in a pincer attack.

As such, Yang Kai figured it would be best to fight it out with Ban Qing while the latter was still alone. He could still try to run if he couldn’t win, and if he could win… then there would be no need to escape.

“Hmm?” Ban Qing arched his eyebrows, not having expected that Yang Kai would be so daring. But, it also didn’t seem to be pure recklessness as this boy even had the power to move freely under Ban Qing’s pressure.

Previously, Ban Qing hadn’t thought anything of Yang Kai because there was a natural gap in their strength. Under the suppression of an Emperor, no Dao Source Realm cultivator should be able to move.

The middle-aged man collapsed on the ground right now was the best evidence of that.

In Ban Qing’s eyes, Yang Kai’s cultivation level was similar to the middle-aged man, Third-Order Dao Source Realm, although Yang Kai’s Soul was slightly stronger and bordered on the Emperor Realm.

However, this still didn’t have too much meaning, since as long as Yang Kai didn’t cross the threshold of Emperor Realm, there would still forever be a difference like Heaven and Earth.

Ban Qing thought that Yang Kai couldn’t move a finger under his pressure.

However, when Yang Kai actually moved, he was as fast as the wind, as if he was completely unaffected by Ban Qing’s aura.

Ban Qing was surprised by this discovery, and then he became somewhat angry out of shame.

Coldly snorting, he stood where he was without moving. Rather than move, he released his pressure at full force so that it enveloped Yang Kai.

“Agh…” Yang Kai moaned while he was midair and his body suddenly froze for an instant, as if the air around him had become solid and his movements were greatly restrained!

“You’re quite brave, but… utterly foolish!” Ban Qing coldly glanced at Yang Kai with eyes filled with disdain.

“Senior… aren’t you looking down on others too much?” Yang Kai roared as his Spiritual Energy exploded and engulfed his figure in flames.

The powerful flames burned and jumped, making Yang Kai appear like he was on fire, and the temperature in the area also seemed to increase significantly as green trees instantly withered and the ground baked.

“Conflagrated Aura!” Ban Qing’s eyes dilated as he exclaimed in astonishment.

Mutated Knowledge Seas were incredibly rare, but couldn’t be denied that they had great power, especially a Fire Attribute Knowledge Sea which was renowned for being domineering and having great destructive force.

*Kacha…*

Dense crackling sounds began to sound in midair. Of course, this was the sound of Ban Qing’s Emperor Realm pressure being shattered.

When Yang Kai used his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, this greatly decreased the pressure on him as he transformed into a flame that leapt in front of Ban Qing. Clenching his fist, Yang Kai sent a vicious flame-covered punch out.

“No wonder you were so arrogant, it seems you do have some skill.” Ban Qing didn’t panic at all when faced with this terrifying attack and instead calmly assessed Yang Kai before tapping his foot and leaping backwards.

As he withdrew, he seemed to cross over space and when he appeared again, he was already a hundred metres away from Yang Kai.

Yang Kai’s vicious punch hit nothing but air.

“If it is someone in the same realm, it’s likely that there are extremely few in the world who can defeat you, but…” Ban Qing chuckled coldly, “This King is an Emperor, you know? Have you not woken up yet? Hmm?”

He roared the final word, causing the originally heavy pressure to become even heavier.

The flames on Yang Kai’s body kept flickering unsteadily and he seemed like he was being crushed under a large mountain as his body sank.

Yang Kai roared against the tremendous pressure causing great pain all over his body. Stamping his feet hard, Yang Kai once again charged in front of Ban Qing despite the restraining pressure.

“Little brat, do you have a death wish?” Ban Qing appeared serious for the first time as he spoke in a low voice.

This was because Yang Kai was forcing himself to break through Ban Qing’s pressure without any regard for his body. This would actually be highly damaging to one’s own body, and it was even possible to destroy one’s Soul by doing this.

However, it seemed as if Yang Kai didn’t even care or worry about such a consequence. He acted like he wanted to trade his life for Ban Qing’s life!

Ban Qing had never met such a person before. The most suitable word to describe such a person was ‘madman’!

“Since you can’t see reality for yourself, then this King will help you!” Ban Qing became angry as he pushed out his hand. A powerful force erupted from his palm and whipped up an energy wave that enveloped Yang Kai.

*Deng deng deng…*

Yang Kai explosively flew backwards as he kept coughed out in pain, the fires surrounding his figure dimming significantly.

Yang Kai had obviously been injured by this blow!

Even a casual blow from an Emperor Realm Master was not to be underestimated.

However, Yang Kai didn’t worry too much because of his Soul Warming Lotus’ protection. Anyone else who suffered such an injury likely would have started wanting to retreat already and focus on healing themselves.

Yet, Yang Kai didn’t need to, because as long as his Soul wasn’t shattered or destroyed, the Soul Warming Lotus would fix everything like it was new if given enough time.

Yang Kai had the ability to act like a madman.

Yang Kai stumbled and his expression went dark. Ban Qing then suddenly disappeared from where he stood before Yang Kai recovered his balance.

Right after that, he spoke from beside Yang Kai in a calm yet distant tone, “Now… I think you should understand?”

It had to be said that Ban Qing was indeed highly skilled at concealment and assassination. His actions weren’t hinted at whatsoever, making them difficult to defend against. There was also no time lag at all between when he disappeared and reappeared to attack.

His hand still held onto the Spiritual Energy dagger from before, and his attack aimed directly for the centre of Yang Kai’s heart.

He used the exact same technique as he had against the middle-aged man.

But at this moment, Yang Kai’s mouth arched upwards in a slightly strange and subtle angle.

The next instant, a purple light flashed as a layer of light mysteriously appeared on Yang Kai’s body and formed a barrier around him.

*Ding…*

A crisp sound echoed.

Ban Qing’s attack hit the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield. The defensive Soul-type artifact of Dao Source Grade Low-Rank was actually unable to block this terrifying attack with its light barrier, so it shattered in the next instant.

Ban Qing’s one casual attack managed to break the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield’s defence!

The Soul-type artifact also suffered heavy damage to its spirituality, so Yang Kai would need a lot of time and Spiritual Energy to continuously nourish it in order to use it again.

But, this was already sufficient…

“What the hell was that?” Ban Qing had a look of astonishment.

Although he was one of the four Vice Generals of the Divine Ascension Country, he had never seen a Soul-type artifact in his life before. That was why his first reaction was that something was off when he destroyed Yang Kai’s Purple Profound Light Shield.

Before he could figure out what had happened, a buzzing sound suddenly filled his ears.

Ban Qing mysteriously felt like his Soul was trembling as the buzzing became louder, and an instinctive chill filled his body, as if he was facing incredible danger.

Ban Qing couldn’t help but widen his eyes as he looked towards Yang Kai’s hand.

He discovered that a sword had actually appeared at some unknown time.

This sword appeared quite ordinary and didn’t have any flashy or exaggerated features. It seemed like a common sword that could be found anywhere; however, Ban Qing felt an instinctual fear towards it. The sword made a buzzing sound that seemed to draw in his Soul and make Ban Qing feel extreme fear after hearing it. The light swirling on the weapon also seemed capable of devouring his soul and making him fall into the abyss forever.

Ban Qing instantly felt that things were bad as he hurriedly tried to retreat.

However, he was already too late.

The space around him suddenly solidified.

It was the power of Space Principles!

Yang Kai was only here with his Soul Avatar, not his physical body, so he was unable to use normal artifacts and Secret Techniques. However, he could still use his understanding and control over Principles.

Unfortunately, he would be unable to use Secret Techniques like Moon Blade and Exile because using these Secret Techniques required the support of both Source Qi and Spiritual Energy. Lacking one would render the technique unable to be used.

Yang Kai had already experimented with this when he was previously fighting against Monster Beasts.

His Secret Techniques needed his physical body as the foundation and source of strength in addition to his ability to manipulate Principles.

Even an Emperor Realm master like Ban Qing could be temporarily frozen through the use of Space Principles though.

At this instant, Yang Kai was already smiling viciously as he chopped down with his sword.

“I wonder if you’ve noticed, Senior. You have a habit of attacking from your opponent’s right side and targeting their heart… is this a habit, or does Senior like to show off just how strong you are?”

Yang Kai’s words were filled with a teasing tone as they echoed in Ban Qing’s ears.

Of course, Ban Qing was in no mood to care about that right now. When the sword sliced down on him, he actually felt like death itself was approaching.

“Profound Dragon Seal!” Ban Qing shouted loudly as the Spiritual Energy in his body suddenly activated. The next instant, a thick light barrier appeared before him.

This was quite a powerful Soul Secret Technique.

Since Divine Ascension Mirror World cultivators didn’t have artifacts or physical bodies, they could only strengthen their own Souls and cultivate Soul Secret Techniques in order to raise their strength.

It was also because of this that the cultivators of this world were outstanding in their understanding of Soul Secret Techniques. Cultivators from the Star Boundary couldn’t even compare.