Martial Peak

Chapter 2039, Encountering the Wood Spirit Again

Translator: Silavin & Ashish

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Han Leng’s defensive Source Qi couldn’t stop the spike at all and it swiftly pierced right through him, leaving a small puncture wound on his forehead. The fact that the spike pierced through his entire head proved how powerful this blow was.

Han Leng was quite strong though, so he didn’t die immediately even after suffering this fatal injury. Turning around to see who had attacked him though, he couldn’t help calling out in alarm, “How is this possible? That’s impossible!”

He believed that it was Liu Yi Zhi, who had sneak attacked him from the back; after all, Liu Yi Zhi had disappeared after the final blow and judging from that, Liu Yi Zhi was vaporized, or had seized the opportunity to hide.

After Han Leng was sneak attacked, he thought that Liu Yi Zhi had simply been hiding because of this.

But when he saw one who performed the sneak attack, only then did he realize that he couldn’t have been more wrong.

The sneak attacker standing behind him and looking at him with a sly smile wasn’t Liu Yi Zi, but Ning Yuan Cheng, the one he had killed with his own hands!

He found this scene completely unbelievable. Ning Yuan Cheng was only a Third-Order Origin King, and after stabbing him with his sword, Han Leng had searched Ning Yuan Cheng’s corpse, so Han Leng was certain the other party was dead.

How could the dead rise?

But when Han Leng noticed certain changes in Ning Yuan Cheng’s appearance, he was struck with realization and muttered to himself, “So it’s like that...”

After having spoken these words, his head slumped to one side as he stopped breathing.

At the same time, the nearby Yang Kai’s felt his skin crawl and his fists clenched as he called out in alarm, “Wood Spirit!”

From where he stood, he could almost clearly see what just happened.

While he was talking to Han Leng, Ning Yuan Cheng, who was supposedly dead, strangely and silently stood up, opened his mouth, and shot a green wooden thorn from it which then pierced through Han Leng’s head.

The reason why Han Leng was so easily killed was partly due to his exhausted state and partly because of Yang Kai’s warning.

Han Leng mistakenly thought that Yang Kai was setting a trap for him, so he never thought that there was really fatal danger lurking behind him, and by the time he did notice, it was already too late.

How could a dead cultivator spit out a green wooden thorn? Yang Kai had seen something similar inside the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda, as well as in Maplewood City, so he recognized it at a glance.

Surprisingly, it was the ancient Wood Spirit that had caused chaos in Maplewood City before!

On the day, when the Wood Spirit disaster struck Maplewood City, six Emperor Realm masters had personally taken action and because of this, thousands of cultivators had lost their lives in Maplewood City. After the turmoil, the City Lord’s Mansion had issued a statement saying the Wood Spirit disaster had been dealt with, making everyone feel at ease.

But now it seemed that this was just a method the City Lord’s Mansion had used to calm the public, while the Wood Spirit was not completely wiped out and had instead found a way to infect some cultivators.

It was just that this Wood Spirit had concealed itself extremely well, not only escaping the notice of those six Emperors, but even Ning Yuan Cheng and Liu Yi Zhi, who had been guarding him closely.

If it weren’t for Ning Yuan Cheng’s sudden death this time, the Wood Spirit Seed definitely would not have been exposed. If the host died, the Wood Spirit Seed would naturally not have any place to hide.

Everything was just a coincidence!

Yang Kai had already figured everything out in a blink of the eye, but his heart couldn’t help sinking as he did.

During those few days in Maplewood City, he had also participated in the hunt for Wood Spirit Clones and deeply understood how difficult it was to deal with these things. Moreover, at that time, he had teamed up with a dozen or even several dozen cultivators, but many had still been wounded during those fights. Now, he had to deal with one all alone.

While various thoughts were running through Yang Kai’s mind, a weird gurgling noise could be heard coming from Ning Yuan Cheng, and along with this noise, Han Leng’s body quickly started shrivelling up.

This was one of the Wood Spirit’s innate abilities, draining the vitality of cultivators to strengthen itself.

Originally, Ning Yuan Cheng was emitting the aura of a Third-Order Origin King, but as he continued to swallow Han Leng’s essence, his aura rapidly climbed and soon reached the peak of the Third-Order Origin King Realm, touching upon the Dao Source Realm!

Yang Kai’s pupils couldn’t help but shrink as he knew it would be too late if he didn’t take action now, shouting furiously, “Don’t even think about it!”

As he spoke, a flame sword suddenly appeared in his hand as he channelled his Fire Sword Qi from his Five Elements Indestructible Sword Qi.

His figure distorted as he used the Space Force and appeared before Ning Yuan Cheng, immediately swinging down his sword hard!

With a deafening explosion, the air grew extremely hot!

The Wood Spirit was a Wood Attribute creature so Fire Attribute energy was its nemesis. This was what Mo Xiao Qi had told Yang Kai once and Yang Kai had confirmed this multiple times while hunting down Wood Spirit Clones in Maplewood City.

Against Wood Spirit Clones, Fire Attribute energy was more effective than Space Force.

This attack went straight at Ning Yuan Chen’s head, and if it hit its target, it would definitely split Ning Yuan Cheng in two.

But how could the Wood Spirit Clone let Yang Kai succeed so easily? Ning Yuan Cheng’s mouth was still wide open as he constantly devoured the vitality via the green spike pierced through Han Leng’s head, but as the flame sword descended upon him, his eyes flashed a bright gleam and he swung his arms out. The two arms distorted and crackled as they transformed into two thick and long vines, one sweeping towards Yang Kai’s waist while the other defended against the flame sword.

*Huchichi...*

The Fire Sword Qi could only leave a deep cut on one of the vines, unable to slice through it completely, but this still drew a cry of pain from Ning Yuan Cheng.

Simultaneously, the other vine was already upon Yang Kai.

Yang Kai’s pupils shrank as he didn’t dare to remain in place, immediately retreating.

The vine only struck air!

The cut left by Yang Kai’s flame sword on the other vine burned brightly for a moment, but soon a burst of green light erupted and the flames were extinguished, restoring the vine to its original state instantly!

“How is that possible?” Yang Kai called out in shock as he stabilized his footing.

He had killed quite a few Wood Spirit Clones in Maplewood City, and although the vitality of these Wood Spirit Clones was extremely tenacious and they were quite difficult to kill, Yang Kai had never encountered one with such astonishing restorative ability.

Yang Kai hadn’t held back any of his strength in his last attack, so from his previous experiences, he was certain the wound he inflicted would have been serious and difficult to repair.

But to his shock and dismay, the Wood Spirit Clone was practically uninjured.

Yang Kai couldn’t help but become vigilant seeing this and vaguely felt that the Wood Spirit Clone in front of him was somehow different.

Right when Yang Kai’s attack ended in vain, Han Leng’s corpse was sucked dry and Ning Yuan Cheng finally withdrew the wooden spike back into his mouth, a look of contentment appearing on his twisted face.

“First-Order Dao Source Realm!” Yang Kai’s expression turned cold as he sensed the aura emanating from Ning Yuan Cheng.

On the opposite side, Ning Yuan Cheng glared at Yang Kai with hatred, as if blaming Yang Kai for ruining his good deed. Ning Yuan Cheng’s figure shook as the clothes on his body were ripped into pieces and green vines suddenly exploded from his figure, the tips of these vines seemingly as sharp as swords.

In an instant, Ning Yuan Cheng’s entire figure had changed greatly.

He couldn’t even be described as humanoid anymore! Now, he was just a Wood Spirit Clone, nothing more. Only on the upper part of the trunk did some traces of Ning Yuan Cheng’s facial features remain while the rest of his figure was simply countless dancing vines.

Some of the vines stabbed toward Yang Kai like whips falling from the Heavens while other vines swept towards the dead bodies of the Flying Saint Palace disciples, piercing them and devouring their physical essence, a terrifying and imposing sight to behold.

Immediately, slurping noises could be heard coming from all around as the corpses of the many fallen cultivators started withering at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“In your dreams!” Yang Kai’s face turned fierce at the sight of this as he hurriedly gathered Fire Sword Qi into his hands and slashed outwards.

*Chi chi chi chi...*

Scorching hot Fire Sword Qi blades flew through the air and pierced the corpses of the Flying Saint Palace disciples, the flame burning their corpses into ashes in a flash.

A Dao Source Realm Wood Spirit Clone was already difficult enough to deal with, so how could Yang Kai possibly give it an opportunity to strengthen itself further?

When the Wood Spirit Clone saw this, it turned around and faced Yang Kai. On its trunk, Ning Yuan Cheng’s face twisted letting out a piercing scream as if it was extremely angry. Immediately, its body shook as countless roots shot into the ground and dug in.

Immediately after, the Wood Spirit Clone shook as countless vines madly started attacking Yang Kai, like arrows raining down from the sky.

Yang Kai grit his teeth as he used his Space Force to dodge this attack and released his Monster Insect Queen and Blue Flame Thunder Wolf with a wave of his hand.

“Kill!” Yang Kai fiercely ordered as he appeared before the Wood Spirit in a flash and swung his flame sword again, bringing a billowing wave of heat down upon the Wood Spirit.

At the same time, the Monster Insect Queen swung its blue and purple twin swords in a cross shape while spreading out an icy cold domain filled with gently falling snowflakes.

Clear Sky Snowfall!

The snowflakes danced through the air as they slowly fell, but each one of them was incomparably sharp. As these tiny flakes fell on the vines of the Wood Spirit, small wounds started to appear on its vines, drawing green blood from it while their frigid Ice Attribute energy seeped into the wounds, greatly hindering the vines’ healing ability.

The Monster Insect Queen took this opportunity approach while brandishing its swords to unleash a storm of slashes towards the Wood Spirit, coordinating its assault with Yang Kai’s movements.

The Blue Flame Thunder Wolf on the other hand gained some distance and opened its jaws to fire a barrage of blue flame balls at the Wood Spirit, setting off a series of loud explosions everywhere.

In a flash, Yang Kai and the two Blood Beast had suppressed the Wood Spirit Clone to the point that it couldn’t mount any counterattack and was only able to passively defend itself.