Martial Peak

Chapter 3706: Demon Stronghold

Yang Kai had not considered that possibility before. He had lived in the Demon Realm for several years after all, so he had never seen the Demon Race practising such preferences during his time there; however, it seemed possible now that he heard Fu Ling mentioning it.

It made sense that he had never seen this kind of activity in the Demon Realm before because only Demons lived in the Demon Realm. It was a completely different scenario now that they have invaded the Star Boundary. It would not be surprising if any unusual preferences were exposed under these circumstances.

“Let’s go!” He spun around and let out a loud whistle. A moment later, a figure fell from the sky. It was Ying Fei who cupped his fists in greeting, “Sir!”

Yang Kai nodded. Space Principles surged and enveloped the two of them. Then, they instantly disappeared from the spot.

At this moment, Yang Kai had divided the Sixty-First Army into two groups. Bai Zhuo led one of the groups, heading from the south to the north while the Embodiment headed the other group, travelling from the east to the west.

Bai Ya was still recuperating inside the Small Sealed World and it would take quite a while before he could recover, so he was unable to bring out his strength at the moment.

It wasn’t that Yang Kai wanted to divide his troops. The Sixty-First Army might be powerful, but the Demon Race was no easy prey either; moreover, all the Half-Saints had been dispatched in this venture. It was just that the entire Northern Territory was aflame with battles. There were too many places that required assistance so the efficiency would be higher if the troops were divided. It was simply a necessary move.

The army split in two and headed towards the various areas in the Northern Territory while Yang Kai and Ying Fei went ahead to scout the way and gather information on the enemy. Fu Ling stubbornly insisted on following them, claiming that, as the Standard-Bearer of the Sixty-First Army, she could not stray too far away from the Army Commander. Yang Kai couldn’t be bothered to argue with her, so he simply agreed to bring her along. They had only just arrived at the first city to search for information when they came across such a tragedy.

“The blood in the city has yet to dry. The Demon Race army probably left not too long ago. Sir, please head this way!”

Ying Fei was an expert when it came to tracking, to the point where Yang Kai couldn’t hope to compete at all; thus, he simply followed in the direction Ying Fei pointed. Space Principles fluctuated continuously as his figure flashed and hurried off into the distance.

Yang Kai soon saw a huge black spot in the sky from a great distance away. It was as dark as ink, and Demon Qi loomed from within. Moreover, the aura of another world seeped out from within the black spot.

Ying Fei suddenly exclaimed in realization, “It looks like they are trying to return to the Demon Stronghold!”

Yang Kai snorted, “Let’s go pay them a visit then!”

Ever since returning from the Western Territory, Yang Kai had led his army on a frantic campaign to various parts of the Northern Territory as though he was putting out fires everywhere; therefore, he had not had the time to investigate the Demon Land under those black spots.

Although he had seen a similar situation in the Western Territory before, he had sealed the black spot in the Western Territory almost as soon as it opened. The Demons that crossed over into this world there had either died or fled. It was just that the erosion of the black spot had not disappeared even though the passage between the two worlds had been sealed. For that reason, Yang Kai was very curious to know how these black spots in the Northern Territory were different from the other side.

Since he had chased his enemies this far, he might as well investigate a little while he was at it. There was no need for Ying Fei to continue giving directions as there were traces of the Demon Race army’s path along the way and their destination pointed towards the Demon Stronghold.

It was a distance of thousands of kilometres, but Yang Kai’s figure only flickered a few times before he arrived at his destination. He stood in the sky and looked out into the distance; then, he frowned. Everywhere he looked was Demon Land. The trees were withered and the plants were dead inside the Demon Land. It gave him an extremely uncomfortable feeling, almost as though he was actually standing in the Demon Realm.

Having received Bright Moon’s legacy, Yang Kai was recognized by the Will of the Star Boundary; therefore, he had an unmatched perception anywhere in the Star Boundary. However, he couldn’t perceive any of the Star Boundary’s aura in the Demon Land in front of him! In other words, the area where the Demon Land expanded could no longer be considered as part of the Star Boundary but rather belonged to the Demon Realm!

That wasn’t all. Invisible to the naked eye, the World Principles in the Demon Land throbbed ever so slightly. In addition, the Demon Land quietly expanded a little more with every pulse. Yang Kai was the only one who could perceive what was happening here. Even a Pseudo-Great Emperor would not have noticed anything standing in this spot. The Demon Land was expanding at an extremely slow rate, but it was definitely expanding and constantly eroding away at the Star Boundary’s territory.

This place should have been the foundation of a Sect in the past. There were great mountains everywhere, and among the mountains and forests were many pavilions and terraces. It had clearly been a place with beautiful mountains and clear waters. Unfortunately, the black spot just happened to appear in the sky above that Sect. The entire Sect’s territory, along with the area spanning a radius of ten thousand kilometres around it, had long since been turned into a Demon Land.

All of a sudden, Yang Kai heard a vague mournful cry coming from one of the mountain peaks. He was stunned, thinking that he was experiencing an auditory hallucination. Nevertheless, after listening carefully, he realized there really was a sound coming from that direction.

[I don’t believe it! There are survivors!] Yang Kai had always believed that the Demon Race killed all the living creatures in the Star Boundary ruthlessly wherever they went. Even if they didn’t kill them, they would let their Demon Qi corrupt Humans, turning them into Demons. Contrary to his expectations though, there seemed to be survivors here. It was just that he did not know what they were experiencing at the moment for them to cry out so miserably.

Yang Kai cocked his ears to the side and listened closely to determine the location of the sound. A moment later, his body shifted, and he vanished from the spot. When he reappeared again, he was standing in a mountain valley. The mountain valley was very lively as there were many Demons gathered in this one place, all of them seemingly extremely busy at the moment.

Many big pots had been set up within the mountain valley. Most of these pots contained boiling water, but some contained boiling oil instead. Some of the Demons carried numerous cleaned and gutted Human corpses and threw them into either the boiling water or boiling oil. There were loud crackling sounds of frying coming from the pots and the entire mountain valley was filled with a strange and disgusting smell.

On the other hand, hundreds of Humans were bound tightly on the other side of the mountain valley. These people were closely guarded by a single Demon. From time to time, another Demon, holding a sharp weapon, would go over, grab one from among the crowd, kill that person on the spot, and drag that person aside to be cleaned.

The surviving people looked extremely pale after watching their clansmen being killed in front of them and their bodies being thrown into the pots. They had long since been scared out of their wits. The miserable cries Yang Kai heard just now came from this place. They were cries of terror and despair, mixed with begging and cursing.

When Yang Kai arrived in this place, he swept his gaze around and instantly felt his scalp going numb. Fu Ling had asked whether the Demon Race ate Humans back in the ruined city. He had been unsure how to answer at the time, but how could he not know that the Demon Race truly ate Humans after seeing this sight before him?

Three unfamiliar figures had suddenly appeared in the mountain valley, so how could the busy members of the Demon Race fail to notice them? One of them immediately shouted, “Who’s there!?”

Yang Kai glanced at that Demon coldly before he ordered, “Kill them all!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he arrived in front of the Demon who shouted, reached out, and grabbed the other party by the neck. His Demon Qi surged, pouring into the Demon’s body, destroying the latter’s meridians in an instant. Then, Yang Kai raised his hand and tossed the body aside.

His meridians had been destroyed, his entire body was in pain, and his Demon Qi was leaking; however, this Demon was not dead yet. He simply couldn’t move at all. When he was tossed aside by Yang Kai, he fell straight into one of the pots filled with oil. Splashing sounds rang out as he writhed about in the boiling oil, screaming miserably but failing to die for quite some time. Afterwards, muffled thuds rang out as countless Demons fell into the pots in succession. For a time, their cries and howls reverberated through the world.

When Yang Kai made his move, Ying Fei and Fu Ling took action too. One went left and the other went right. Ying Fei’s figure moved so fast that he was practically a bolt of lightning. He only moved a few times, but a large number of Demons collapsed to the ground as a result. He did not act in the same way as Yang Kai, choosing to simply slaughter as swiftly as possible.

The same held true for Fu Ling. Her petite body contained enormous strength. Although not as elegant as Ying Fei, she left a mess of broken bodies in the wake of her tender fists.

There were no Masters among the Demons in the mountain valley, not even a single Demon King, so how could they resist the slaughter of these three? It only took ten breaths for the hundreds of Demons in the mountain valley to be slaughtered.

The people who had been bound by the side had originally been in a state of panic, thinking that they would not escape tragedy today. Who could have known that three saviours would appear out of nowhere? They were overjoyed and many cried even louder from their undulating emotions.

The Demons that Yang Kai had thrown into the pots of boiling water and oil were still screaming. Nonetheless, their voices were getting softer and softer until they were barely audible.

Under normal circumstances, boiling water and oil would not have killed these Demons. Since they were capable enough to invade the Star Boundary, it was only natural that their cultivation was not low. Boiling water and oil might be dangerous for ordinary people, but it would not have done anything to them. They only needed to push their Demon Qi to prevent themselves from getting burned; however, Yang Kai had crippled their cultivations when he subdued them, so they were unable to use any of their strength as a result. Their bodies might be tough, but even a blunt knife could cut through flesh given enough time. There would eventually come a moment when they died from this torture.

“Go and rescue them,” Yang Kai instructed. His gaze was fixed on the mountain peak to his left. There was a loud ruckus coming from that direction.

“Sir, shouldn’t you wait for the army to arrive and join up with them?” Ying Fei quickly asked. Yang Kai might be powerful, but he was only an Emperor in the end. He would be helpless if he encountered a Half-Saint. What’s more, this place was the Demon Stronghold. Who knew how many enemies were gathered here?

“No need!” Yang Kai shook his head and took a step forward.

Ying Fei looked like he was going to speak again, but Yang Kai had already vanished. Fu Ling advised, “It’s not like you don’t know how capable Brother-in-Law is. It’s not a problem for him to escape even if he encounters a Half-Saint.”

Ying Fei pondered for a moment and realized it was true. Unless the enemy had a way to counter Yang Kai’s Space Secret Techniques, the only ones in this world who could actually threaten his life were the Demon Saints and Great Emperors. Feeling relieved, he and Fu Ling headed toward the group of captive people.

The group of hundreds had long since been frightened out of their minds. Some had even lost consciousness. Ying Fei flicked his fingers and released the people in the front rows from their bindings; then, he asked them to save the rest of their comrades. These people naturally obeyed the orders of their two saviours. After thanking the two profusely, they tremblingly got to work.

There was a middle-aged man among the crowd who was pale-faced but was faring much better than the others, still fairly calm in comparison. At this moment, he walked forward and cupped his fists, “Water Cloud Sect’s Yuan Wen Long greets the two Benefactors. May I know your honourable names?”

Ying Fei frowned and looked around, “Is this Water Cloud Sect?”

Although he had known that this place used to be the foundation of a Sect, he had not known which Sect it belonged to. The realization only dawned on him after listening to Yuan Wen Long’s self-introduction.

Yuan Wen Long replied respectfully, “Indeed.”

Ying Fei looked Yuan Wen Long up and down with a meaningful grin, “You bear the surname ‘Yuan’. What is your relationship with Yuan Mao?”

Yuan Wen Long suppressed his grief and said, “Benefactor, do you know my father?”

Ying Fei pursed his lips, “I don’t know him. I’ve only heard of him before.”

In the Northern Territory, the Water Cloud Sect could only be considered a second-class Sect, in no way comparable to High Heaven Palace. However, it did have one Emperor Realm Master, its Sect Master Yuan Mao.