Martial Peak

After Yang Kai stared at this figure for a while longer, he suddenly sucked in a cold breath and cried out, “I know who this man is!”

“Who?”

“This must be the Demon Lord who was beheaded by my Sect’s Ancestral Founder several hundreds of years ago!”

Old Demon was not entirely clear about the history of High Heaven Pavilion so Yang Kai brief recanted it for him.

Hearing that the Coiling Dragon Stream was formed when this Demon Lord was struck down by a single Earth shattering sword strike, Old Demon was suddenly greatly excited and said in a slightly agitated tone, “Even after hundreds of years, this Demon Lord’s flesh has not decayed! When he was alive, his strength must have been similar to this old master’s at his peak.”

Yang Kai was secretly unnerved.

This man had been dead for hundreds of years, and although his body has almost completely dried out, his physique was yet to be destroyed and had even given rise to such an extensive and potent Demonic Qi, enough to fill the entire Coiling Dragon Stream and beyond. Just how powerful was he when he was alive?

How powerful was his High Heaven Pavilion’s Ancestral Founder to have triumphed over him?

This level of strength was something Yang Kai couldn’t hope to match, at least not within a short period of time.

Carefully scanning his surroundings again, Yang Kai found a deeply worn impression, and after squatting down to examine it, he couldn’t help but grin slightly.

This place should be where his Sect Master’s Second Disciple had sat in cultivation for the past ten years. By perennially meditating here he must have left these traces behind.

In other words, his Sect Master’s Second Disciple should have grasped some profound insight or obtained some kind of powerful inheritance from this dead Demon Lord that enabled him to restore his strength and then a decade later escape his imprisonment.

The Sect Master banishing him to the Coiling Dragon Stream had simultaneously created this opportunity for him.

All things were truly impermanent; no one clearly could say what was truly a blessing or a curse.

“Young Master ...” Old Demon suddenly shouted. His voice contained a trace of excitement and anticipation, “Can you remove and collect the chain artifact from this Demon Lord’s neck?”

“Of course!” Yang Kai had long seen just how extraordinary this collar was. It emitted an aura akin to the blazing sun, and there was no doubt it was a Yang attribute artifact designed specifically to restrain Demonic Qi. Yang Kai’s cultivation of the True Yang Secret Art had an innate fit with this artifact, so how could he simply let it go?

This artifact should be something High Heaven Pavilion’s Ancestral Founder had left behind to suppress this Demon Lord’s Demonic Qi, but after so many centuries the Sect Master’s Second Disciple must have done something to it to cause it to lose its abilities, so letting it remain here would serve no purpose.

“But even if I don’t accept it, what does that have to do with you?” Yang Kai asked suspiciously, wondering what Old Demon was up to.

“Heh heh...” Old Demon cackled happily, “If Young Master can remove this artifact, this Old Servant can try to possess this Demon Lord’s body.”

“You want to rob his body?” Yang Kai expression slightly changed.

“No no no...” Old Demon quickly denied, “This man’s Soul has long since been destroyed, leaving behind only a physique body, my Soul taking possession of it can’t be considered robbing.”

“How certain are you that you can succeed?”

“En, well somewhat. When he was alive he was also a Demon Lord, so his aura is similar to Old Servant’s, which should make it easier for Old Servant to operate his body.” Old Demon grinned, “However, whether it is supplanting someone’s consciousness or taking over someone else’s body, it is not as simple as Young Master believes. Each person’s body is like a container which has certain traits that, in principle, can only accommodate a particular Soul, so it is difficult for a different Soul to survive in such a container.”

“So why was it that time you first saw me you immediately tried to seize my body?” Yang Kai’s mouth curved into a strange smile as he remembered this event.

Old Demon simply laughed though, “That was out of necessity; I had been sealed there for many years. I had just woken up and not long after had met Young Master, but even if you had not resisted, there was a good chance I would have failed anyways.”

“What would the consequences have been?”

“If your Soul had been devoured by me, and I had gained control of your body, at best, Old Servant would have been able to survive half a month to a month before Young Master’s body would have rotted. At that time, Old Servant would have become a loose soul, wandering between the Heavens and the Earth.” Old Demon casually explained what would have happened if he had failed in his attempt to seize Yang Kai’s body, which sent a chill up his spine.

Thankfully, his Unyielding Golden Skeleton had played a role, or else he really would have died in vain.

“Even regardless of whether the possession was successful or not, Old Servant’s own Spiritual Energy would have been greatly consumed, so even those with strong Souls will not arbitrarily try to take over another’s body. Only when they find themselves in a desperate situation will they attempt it.” Old Demon explained patiently.

“Does this person’s body meet your requirements?”

“En! Old Servant should be able to take control of the person’s body, and once successful, Old Servant will be much stronger and more capable of helping Young Master than right now.” Old Demon said, secretly ashamed of himself; after spending two years together with Yang Kai, this thousand year old demon hadn’t actually played much of a role. Now seeing this tailor made body in front of him, naturally he was quite tempted.

“Good, I’m looking forward to it!” Yang Kai grinned and agreed to Old Demon’s request.

Walking up to this Demon Lord’s body, Yang Kai reached out and grabbed the collar and chain and poured his True Qi into it.

After less than half a day, the chain suddenly transformed into a golden light which disappeared into Yang Kai’s body.

Witnessing all this, Yang Kai was slightly stunned.

Originally he had thought it would be very time consuming to refine such a powerful artifact, and he was even ready to stay here for a month or two, but little did he suspect that the process would be so easy.

Once the chain had disappeared, it was like the black gas billowing around the Demon Lord’s body had suddenly been set free, and it ferociously burst forth, continuously shooting up the canyon. Not only that, the Demon Lord’s body also continued to pour out more Demonic Qi, seemingly in an endless stream, which created a truly terrifying scene.

The stunned Yang Kai quickly put on a serious expression and summoned out the Soul Breaker Awl.

Old Demon’s Soul quickly poured into this artifact, then drilled into the Demon Lord’s body, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

The rolling evil aura all of a sudden calmed greatly, probably the result of Old Demon assuming control of this new body.

Yang Kai called out a few times but did not receive a response; however, from the way Demonic Qi overflowing from this Demon Lord’s body had just behaved, Old Demon should have already begun the process of assimilating it. It was just a question of how long this would take.

This was Old Demon’s battle to fight; there was nothing Yang Kai could do to help.

With no other choice, he could only sit down cross-legged and wait patiently.

With the evil aura so thick in this place, Yang Kai couldn’t even cultivate his Soul Palace skill. As soon as his Divine Sense left the confines of his mind, it would immediately be shredded. If he couldn’t use his Divine Sense, naturally there was no way to capture the surrounding hostility to forge building blocks.

Bored, Yang Kai took out the chain artifact which he had just managed to refine.

This artefact’s quality was superb and was cast from some unknown material, but since it was something left behind by High Heaven Pavilion’s Ancestral Founder to suppress this Demon Lord, its grade was certainly not low.

The chain itself was only about half a meter long and the collar itself was just big enough to fit around a human’s neck.

Inspecting it closer, Yang Kai discovered a small line of characters on the inside of the collar and muttered softly, “Devil Sealing Chain!”

Against an average cultivator, this artifact was likely useless, so it was probably only able to serve as an anti-devil artifact.

Examining this Devil Sealing Chain for a while, Yang Kai couldn’t help being stunned.

The Sect Master’s Second Disciple had obviously obtained something from this Demon Lord’s corpse which had allowed him to restore his strength, so Yang Kai was certain he knew about the existence of this Devil Sealing Chain, but he had still not removed or taken away this artifact. It was easy to imagine just how much this Devil Sealing Chain was able to restrain him.

If he could find an opportunity to slip this collar back onto his neck... whether he was a Devil King or a Demon Lord, it was almost certain his True Qi would be completely sealed.

This was an excellent tool to deal with him!

Thinking about this Martial Uncle of his who had become the new Demon Lord, Yang Kai made his decision.

This man had obstructed Ling Tai Xu martial path for ten years, and Yang Siye had been injured so severely by him that until now he had still not completely recovered.

It could even be said that Yang Kai being born with a congenital defect was also his fault.

Therefore, even if the two had never met before, there was no doubt he was an enemy.

Yang Kai would never allow his enemies to live good lives.

Wearing a cold expression, Yang Kai stowed the Devil Sealing Chain into his body again and would use his own True Qi to refine and repair it, so that one day it could display its full power again.

For several days, Old Demon had silently inhabited the Demon Lord’s body and did not respond no matter how Yang Kai called out.

Until the fifth day, when Old Demon’s weak voice suddenly sounded, “Young Master...”

“How is it?” Yang Kai hurriedly asked.

“I’m almost there.” Old Demon panted, his Spiritual Energy was obviously significantly depleted, but fortunately the entire region was filled with Demonic Qi, so he could always supplement himself, “However, Old Servant first needs to absorb all the Demonic Qi from this area or else this body will not be able to display any significant power.”

“How long will that take?”

“The process will be quite slow, at least a few months.”

“That’s too long... I can’t afford to wait for you here...” Yang Kai said as he stood up.

“Good, Young Master should attend to your own tasks and when Old Servant finishes here, he will find you once more.”

Before the conversation had even finished, Old Demon had already begun to devour the Demonic Qi floating within the Coiling Dragon Stream and somehow attracted it from his surroundings and pulled it straight into the Demon Lord’s body.

The Demon Lord’s body however was like a bottomless pit, and no matter how much Demonic Qi swept towards him, it effortlessly received it all.

After watching for a moment, Yang Kai nodded slightly before spreading his Flaming Yang Wings and soared up out of the Coiling Dragon Stream.

High Heaven Pavilion was in a depression.

The originally several thousand disciples had long ago dwindled. Many of them chose to leave out of fear of being implicated when the world learned that the new Demon Lord had come from the Coiling Dragon Stream, and still others obeyed Ling Tai Xu’s command to immediately disperse.

Throughout the whole High Heaven Pavilion, there was now only a hundred or so people left. These hundred people were High Heaven Pavilion’s most important core members and the Sect’s most loyal disciples.

No matter how Ling Tai Xu tried to persuade them, these people refused to abandon the Sect and vowed that they would live and die together with High Heaven Pavilion!

In the face of such determination, Ling Tai Xu was helpless and could only acquiesce.

Su Yan was, of course, one of these members, and over the course of the last two months had successfully promoted to the True Element Boundary Ninth Stage and began to prepare for her breakthrough to the Immortal Ascension Boundary.

Sitting face-to-face while engaged in their dual-cultivation, Yang Kai listened to Su Yan explain about the changes which had occurred over the past two months.

A bitter feeling crept into his heart.

This once proud Sect was now facing a crisis and was on the verge of dissolving. A result that many here could simply not accept, but even Ling Tai Xu was helpless to do anything to stop it. News that the Demon Lord had hailed from High Heaven Pavilion would sooner or later be discovered, and since he did not wish for those ordinary disciples to be unjustly involved, he could only first order them to disperse.

Silavin: Big thank you to our generous donator Alexander