Martial Peak

Zhan Tian He spoke so earnestly that Ou Yang Lie had to sigh upon hearing his words.

At this point, if he kept insisting to have Zhan Tian He refine the SuprGrade Open Heaven Pill, he would just be troubling him. All of a sudden, Ou Yang Lie felt strange inside. With such a great opportunity in his hands, everyone should be fighting him for it, yet why did it suddenly becsomething to trouble others with?

Liu Fei Fei advised him from the side, “Senior Brother Ou Yang, you should refine the pill yourself.”

Ou Yang Lie grabbed the wooden box and turned to look at Yang Kai, making a gentle suggestion, “Why don’t… we leave it for Big Head Xiang? Big Head Xiang cin as well…”

“Senior Brother Ou Yang!” Yang Kai interrupted him without letting him finish, looking serious, “You are a Senior of our Human Race and have fought for so many years against the Black Ink Clan, killing countless enemies, never backing down in the face of death. You were separated from the Human Race Army back at the No-Return Pass yet you did not give up. Now, you are just refining a Spirit Pill, why are you being so sentimental about it? Please bring out sof your guts as a Senior. Don’t make us, your Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters, look down on you.”

Liu Fei Fei could not help but glance at Yang Kai. She was a woman after all, so she was slightly more sensitive. She could not help but feel worried that Yang Kai had overstepped.

Ou Yang Lie stared down at the wooden box, face serious but not speaking.

Yang Kai went on, “Senior Brother, both the Black Ink Clan and the Human Race Masters have gathered in this Universe Furnace World, and we also have the native Chaos Spirit Clan to be wary of. We cannot see what happens in the future, we can only strive for the best that we can do now. One more Ninth-Order Master in our ranks would mean a lot to the Human Race!”

Ou Yang Lie heaved a long sigh, “You think I don’t understand that? Forget it. Since you insist on pushing me, then there’s no need to say anything more or that would makelook stingy.”

Suddenly, he grabbed the wooden box and calmed his breathing, shouting, “Junior Brothers and Sisters, Senior Brother will refine this pill today and advance to the Ninth Order. I will trouble you all to stand guard for my sake!”

Yang Kai beamed, “Good!”

Zhan Tian He and the others cupped their fists with dignity, “Please refine the pill with ease, Senior Brother Ou Yang.”

After making up his mind, Ou Yang Lie no longer delayed the situation and immediately opened the wooden box, taking out the Spirit Pill that was glowing with a multi-coloured light from within, opening the portal of his Small Universe, and casting it inside.

The moment the portal opened, what Yang Kai was able to glimpse inside left him in disbelief.

A veteran Eighth-Order Master like Ou Yang Lie had been fighting against the Black Ink Clan for many years and had survived who knows how many bouts with death. Though he survived, the injuries continued to pile on in places unseen, something which Yang Kai had already known.

The Eighth-Order Masters who guarded those collecting resources in the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield were all such senior Eighth-Order Masters.

The hidden injuries in their bodies did not matter too much, but what troubled these veteran Masters were the problems appearing in their Small Universes.

For example, in the split moment that Ou Yang Lie’s portal was opened, Yang Kai could clearly see the abnormal situation within his Small Universe.

It was not that there were any defects to his Small Universe or its foundation was unstable, it was just different from a normal Small Universe. The energy that was coming out from inside of it was also not too stable.

It was not just a pretence when Ou Yang Lie said that he was not fully confident; otherwise, how would he think about having Zhan Tian He refine the Spirit Pill instead?

They watched him cast the pill into his Small Universe, but whether he could successfully break through his limit and advance to the Ninth Order was yet to be known.

However, since Ou Yang Lie had the determination and the qualifications to strive for it, it was worth it to take the gamble.

All Yang Kai and the others had to do was to stand guard for him.

However, standing guard in a place like this was not exactly easy either. Advancing to the Ninth Order should surely cause quite the commotion and might draw in sstrong enemies, especially Meng Que, who escaped previously. He would surely spread the word about his encounter, and there were likely already Masters from the Black Ink Clan searching everywhere for them.

If possible, Yang Kai wanted to just seal off this area to stop the commotion Ou Yang Lie would be causing from spreading out, but that was an unrealistic thought. Despite his proficiency in the Dao of Space, it was still impossible for him to seal off too large of an area in this place filled with chaotic Shattered Dao Essence.

After a brief discussion between the four Humans and one Monster, they spread out, each guarding a separate position.

The simplest plan was no plan.

Many forefathers of the Human Race had reached the Ninth Order in the Universe Furnace, so if their Ancestors could do it, then they, the younger generation, could too.

Ou Yang Lie did not cause too much of a commotion at first; but soon, Yang Kai, who was stationed nearby, sensed a mysterious movement from the former’s direction. Obviously, this was a direct result of him refining the Spirit Pill. The burgeoning aura was so profound that even Yang Kai, who had cultivated the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art Secret Technique, could sense the mysteries within it, accompanied by an urge to focus his mind and enlighten himself through its mysteries.

If even he was reacting this way to it, then it should be true even more so for Zhan Tian He and the others. Fortunately, they were tactfully aware of the severity of the situation and fought back the urge to sit down and cultivate, keeping their Divine Senses focused on their surroundings instead.

It did not take long for trouble to arrive, but it was within Yang Kai’s expectations.

Though, while he expected the enemies to cwhile Ou Yang Lie was making a breakthrough to the Ninth Order here, he never would have thought that the first ones to react would actually be the Chaos Entities that lacked intelligence!

The place that they were hiding in was a mountain range formed by condensed Shattered Dao Essence and was no different from the real mountains in the outside world, but intrinsically, they were completely different.

Chaos Entities existed in this place, which Yang Kai had noticed previously. Only, based on what Liao Zheng told him, the Chaos Entities should not react much as long as they did not take the initiative to provoke them. This was unless they were part of the Chaos Spirit Clan that had defined physical bodies and were strongly hostile against all outsiders. In that case, anyone who entered their territory would have to face their retaliation.

The Chaos Entities had not been on their minds before; thus, they never expected that countless Chaos Entities would be attracted by the disturbance and would swarm towards Ou Yang Lie from all directions.

Yang Kai reacted immediately to the situation and realised that the Chaos Entities must have been attracted by the fluctuations coming from the SuprGrade Open Heaven Pill.

The Chaos Entities had an instinctive yearning towards the Open Heaven Pills that were formed in the Universe Furnace. By refining an Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pill, one of them could form their own physical body and turn into a member of the Chaos Spirit Clan. Now that Ou Yang Lie was refining a SuprGrade Open Heaven Pill, the fluctuations were so pervasive that there was no way the Chaos Entities could sit still.

It was just like a pack of wolves who had been starving for years had suddenly caught onto the scent of meat.

Yang Kai and the others acted immediately, circulating their Dao Strengths to stop and eliminate the Chaos Entities that were drawn over.

Dao Strengths dealt a great deal of damage to the Chaos Entities and many of them could not even withstand a single blow before they disintegrated back into disorderly Shattered Dao Essence.

However, there were far too many of them, and they were piling in from all directions. They had no idea where these Chaos Entities cfrom, but there seemed to be no end to them.

Yang Kai felt that he had made a mistake. He should not have asked Ou Yang Lie to make his breakthrough in a place like this; however, Liao Zheng never mentioned any of this in his report, so Yang Kai could not have expected this to happen. The reason they stopped here to begin with was because they were trying to hide themselves in the terrain so that they could recover from their injuries.

Ou Yang Lie refining the Open Heaven Pill here was just a logical progression.

Who knew that such a thing would happen when that decision was made?

Similar to what Yang Kai was encountering, in the desert where Yang Xiao and Yang Xue were, the two of them had obtained a SuprGrade Open Heaven Pill, which Yang Xue had taken into her Small Universe and was in the midst of refining. It did not take long before an endless stream of Chaos Entities popped out from the sea of sand, lunging in for the kill.

Fortunately, the two of them were staying in the Flowing TTemple all the while. At the moment, Yang Xiao was standing right in front of the Flowing TTemple and was working its protective powers by channelling all his might into it. At the stime, he used his own TDao Strength to kill the approaching Chaos Entities. He slaughtered with reckless abandon, his Dragon Vein throbbing intensely. His Little Aunt was about to advance to the Ninth Order, so how could he allow these mindless Chaos Entities to spoil her efforts?

On Yang Kai’s side, the four Humans and one Monster were originally scattered in all directions with Ou Yang Lie at the centre, but in just a few moments, they had all gathered closer around Ou Yang Lie, each guarding a different direction and stopping all the incoming Chaos Entities. Things were going better on Yang Kai’s side since his attainments in his Grand Daos were exceptionally high, so it was no problem for him to deal with his share of the Chaos Entities.

Thunder Shadow’s side was slightly sloppy, but he was still managing to hold his position.

In contrast, Zhan Tian He and the others paled in comparison, especially Liu Fei Fei. She was not considered weak by any means, but one could clearly tell that her command over her Grand Dao was lacking compared to Zhan Tian He and Xiong Ji. She did not last for long before becoming overwhelmed and almost let a few Chaos Entities slip past her guard.

It was thanks to Yang Kai’s timely help that they were able to avoid a disaster

Of course, this was also related to the fact that they were unable to use their full power. Ou Yang Lie was refining the Open Heaven Pill just behind them, so that he could break through into the Ninth Order. If they were to use their full power here, they might end up disturbing him…

“Big Brother, the Chaos Entities outside have been drawn over as well!”

Thunder Shadow suddenly warned amid the heated battle.

Yang Kai almost choked when he heard himself being called ‘Big Brother’; still, he spared a glance and sure enough, the Chaos Entities wandering the void had also been drawn in, which instantly made their less-than-optimal situation all the more dire.

He had to think of a plan!

If this went on, then Ou Yang Lie’s breakthrough attempt would fail prematurely. If he failed here, it would be a huge loss for the entire Human Race.

If he could turn the power of his Dao Strengths into a protective barrier and envelop the entire area around Ou Yang Lie with it, they should be able to solve this situation, but Dao Strength was formless, so how could Yang Kai achieve something like that?

[Wait…]

While in the midst of battle, Yang Kai suddenly realised something.

[Shapeless power? If Dao Strength is formless, then how were these mountains formed? How could the Infinite River exist? And these Chaos Entities, too, as well as the Chaos Spirit Clan, how could they be explained?]

In an instant, ideas poured into Yang Kai’s head and made him think. While pushing down the emotion of having a sudden epiphany, Yang Kai had the feeling that he had vaguely touched upon something.

[The Grand Dao is not formless, it is perceptible!]