Martial Peak

Chapter 795, Cracking

Xu Hui and the others soon brought Yang Kai to the base of one of the nine peaks.

Yang Kai looked around curiously for a moment but the only thing of note he could see was a flat stone embedded in the mountainside with two magnificent words carved into its slightly mossy surface.

Holy Tomb!

This was obviously the entrance to the Holy Tomb.

Yang Ka’s brow rose. Although he couldn’t see anything with his eyes, he noticed a faint energy fluctuation coming from this stone slab in front of him.

Xu Hui stepped forward and formed a few mysterious hand seals before patting his hand on the stone, causing ripples across its surface, as if a stone had been thrown into a calm lake. A moment later, a hole appeared in the center of the stone.

Upon seeing this hole, Yang Kai couldn’t help calling out in shock, “A Void Corridor!”

Xu Hui gently nodded, “Good. Beyond this lies the Holy Tomb, the final resting place of all previous Holy Masters. Naturally, the inside of the Holy Tomb is a Mysterious Small World. Every perspective Holy Master has to pass this test before officially succeeding the position. Little brother, you must be careful inside. If nothing else, you must bring out the Holy Master’s Spirit Ring which should be with the old Holy Master, it is the key to many important places in the Holy Land.”

“En, you must surely come back alive!” Yu Ying said seriously.

“The Holy Land’s future rests in your hands,” Cheng Yue Tong whispered solemnly.

Everyone else also wore looks of anticipation and concern as they stared at Yang Kai.

On the other hand, Yang Kai just glanced around at them and chuckled, “I think you should instead pray I never come out.”

“Why is that?” Xu Hui asked curiously.

Yang Kai’s eyes flashed a cold light as he glared at them, “If I come out, I’ll make sure you pay for this!”

Everyone was startled by these words and only now realized just how angered Yang Kai was at being forced to enter the Holy Tomb, but before any of them could say anything, Yang Kai plunged into the Void Corridor and disappeared.

“This future Holy Master is clearly one to hold a grudge… It can’t be he really plans to seek compensation from us after exiting, right?” Shi Kun frowned.

Xu Hui’s expression also fluctuated, letting out a deep sigh a moment later, “It seems his disposition… isn’t very mature.”

“Well, in any case, all of this was Great Elders proposal, we just went along with it. If the future Holy Master really does intend to blame us, Great Elder will be here to shoulder the responsibility!” Meng Tian Fei said, clearly taking some pleasure in Xu Hui’s misfortune.

All the other Saints immediately cast contemptuous looks towards him.

…

Once Yang Kai entered the Holy Tomb, the Void Corridor closed. All around him, fluorescent green wisps floated about, like tiny spirit. A cold breeze gently permeated this space, carrying with it indistinct cries and howls, causing one to shudder.

The ambient light was not bright, leading to limited visibility, but the density of World Energy was quite astonishing, so thick it had almost condensed into a white fog that filled this space.

This Mysterious Small World had richer World Energy than any place Yang Kai had ever seen with the exception of an Earth Vein. It was obvious why each Nine Heavens Holy Land’s Holy Master would choose to enter retreat here.

With this kind of ambient World Energy, one wouldn’t even need to use any pills or Crystal Stones to cultivate; all they’d need to do is breathe.

This was indeed a cultivation paradise, the only drawback being its gloomy atmosphere.

As he observed his surroundings vigilantly, Yang Kai couldn’t help going slightly pale.

In his perception, several powerful energy auras had suddenly appeared and were rapidly moving towards him.

These auras were extremely strange. They seemed to have always been here but only when Yang Kai appeared did they become active.

Before Yang Kai had time to react, these energy auras had already engulfed him.

Yang Kai hurriedly condensed his True Qi into a protective barrier but soon he found that things weren’t what he had expected.

These strange energy auras that had gathered around him weren’t causing him any harm.

Wrinkling his brow, Yang Kai carefully examined these auras and a moment later a look of shock appeared on his face.

He found that there were a total of nine distinct energy auras, each of them containing a profound and abstruse sentiment, similar to a remnant Soul yet seemingly naturally produced.

Three of these energy auras also contained something which felt familiar to Yang Kai.

Carefully probing one of these auras with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai immediately recognized traces of one of the Nine Heavens Divine Skills.

The Profound Heavenly Sword!

Yang Kai’s expression changed and a certain suspicion appeared in his heart. Quickly probing the other two energy auras he felt a sense of familiarity towards, he soon recognized them as insights of the Imprisoning Heaven Chain and Great Heavenly Attraction.

These three Divine Skills were exactly the three moves Yang Kai had learned from An Ling’er, yet now they had appeared in this place.

[So, these nine auras in front of me are the nine, Nine Heavens Divine Skills?] Yang Kai frowned slightly, almost certain of his guess.

That old fart Xu Hui had said that in order to enter the Holy Tomb, one must learn the Nine Heavens Divine Skills, because only if one comprehended the Nine Heavens Divine Skills could they enter safely.

The nine energy auras in front of him should be obstacles meant to test him. Without breaking through them, he couldn’t penetrate further into the Holy Tomb.

Yang Kai instantly understood the mystery of this Holy Tomb. After thinking about it, he sat down cross legged in front of the energy aura that represented the Profound Heavenly Sword.

The Nine Heavens Divine Skills were all quite unusual, they could be displayed as Martial Skill with True Qi or as Soul Skills with Spiritual Energy, something Yang Kai had never encountered before.

If he wanted to break through this barrier, Yang Kai’s only choice was to comprehend and displays all of the Nine Heavens Divine Skills.

Yang Kai’s Divine Sense burst forth and his invisible Spiritual energy quickly transformed into a giant sword that cut towards the energy aura in front.

Nothing happened though!

Yang Kai’s powerful Divine Sense attack had vanished into the energy aura, like a drop of water sinking into a vast sea.

Yang Kai’s brow furrowed, using his Profound Heavenly Sword a few more times to attack the energy aura yet each time he failed to achieve any noticeable results.

Yang Kai suddenly felt that this test might not be as simple as he originally thought.

After carefully recalling what Xu Hui and the other Saints had said and reviewing everything he had learned about Nine Heavens Holy Land, Yang Kai suddenly thought up a possibility.

Could it be that he was not skilled enough at displaying the Nine Heavens Divine Skills causing him to fail to break through the blockade of this energy aura in front of him?

Yang Kai had learned his Nine Heavens Divine Skills from An Ling’er, so his comprehension of them was only as good as hers. An Ling’er was still young so her understanding of the Divine Skills was still somewhat immature. As such, it was reasonable that Yang Kai couldn’t display the full profoundness of the Divine Skills.

Yang Kai had witnessed Saintess Nan using the Profound Heavenly Sword, it was on a completely different level than his own. Obviously Saintess Nan’s comprehension of the Divine Skills had reached an extremely high level.

Moreover, each prospective Nine Heavens Holy Land Holy Master had to enter the Holy Tomb before he could qualify to inherit the position. What was most important though was that those who came before Yang Kai didn’t necessarily have higher strength yet they had passed through the Holy Tomb, so the conditions to clear this test had nothing to do with strength, it only depended on one’s comprehension of the Nine Heavens Divine Skills!

Considering all this, Yang Kai didn’t rush to show his poor Nine Heavens Divine Skills but instead immersed his consciousness in the Profound Heavenly Sword energy aura in front of him, carefully perceiving its mysteries.

As time passed, Yang Kai gained much, repeatedly comprehending the insights contained within the Profound Heavenly Sword energy aura, his understanding of its mysteries constantly deepening, soon becoming so familiar with it; it was as if it had been branded into the depths of his soul.

When Yang Kai opened his eyes again, he discovered he could perceive the various traces within the energy aura in front of him and all of its mysteries and hidden rules had become clear.

Spiritual Energy bursting forth once more, Yang Kai again displayed the Profound Heavenly Sword.

This time, Yang Kai used the purest form of this Nine Heavens Divine Skills, its profoundness several times greater than the one he learned from An Ling’er.

With a great cracking sound, the energy aura in front which was bombarded by Yang Kai’s Profound Heavenly Sword shattered.

A long winding road suddenly appeared in front of Yang Kai, leading straight into the depths of the Holy Tomb.

Yang Kai smiled slightly and instantly understood the mysteries behind this Holy Tomb.

For those who entered here that hadn’t practiced the Nine Heavens Divine Skills, they would likely be torn to dust by these nine energy auras, but those who had were different. As long as one could crack any of these energy auras, they could then find their way out.

On top of that, the more of these energy auras one solved, the clearer their path and the safer they would be!

What Xu Hui said was right, the Nine Heavens Divine Skills were indeed the key to entering the Holy Tomb.

Yang Kai didn’t immediately rush forward but instead turned his attention to the other energy auras.

In any case, he had been forced into the Holy Tomb by Xu Hui and the others. If he didn’t fish enough benefits from here before going out, wouldn’t that be too much of a waste?

Each of the Nine Heavens Divine Skills was incredibly powerful and profound. After seeing Saintess Nan display them multiple times, Yang Kai had already had ideas about learning them. Now that such a good opportunity had appeared in front of him, how could he simply pass it up?

Not to mention that by solving more of these energy auras, Yang Kai would be safer in this place.

Making up his mind, Yang Kai immediately began to spy on the mysteries of the other two Nine Heavens Divine Skills he was familiar with.

Four days later, he cracked the Imprisoning Heaven Chain energy aura, then three days after that the Great Heavenly Attraction energy aura was solved…

After that point, Yang Kai’s pace slowed noticeably. The first three Divine Skills he had already learned a fair deal about from An Ling’er so his starting proficiency was quite high. The remaining six though, were Divine Skills he had never studied before, naturally this meant Yang Kai had to start from scratch. It was fortunate that these energy auras contained all the mysteries of the Divine Skills within them, so all he had to do was study and comprehend.

Cultivation knew no years. This saying was not false, as Yang Kai immersed himself in the Nine Heavens Divine Skills inside the Holy Tomb, he quickly lost track of time. On the other hand, the Elders and Protectors outside the Holy Tomb quickly began to worry.

For the first few days after Yang Kai entered, all of them held great expectations, hoping he would suddenly emerge from the Holy Tomb, bring with him the Holy Master’s Spirit Ring, and inherit the position of Holy Master.

Ten days later, everyone became slightly anxious, although none of them said anything out loud; all of them began wondering if Yang Kai had encountered some kind of difficulties inside.

A month later, everyone’s expression had become dignified.

Two months later, despair appeared on their faces and forlorn sighs could be heard frequently.

Three months, four months…

As time passed, fewer and fewer Elders and Protectors remained here, all of them now believing it was impossible for Yang Kai to appear before them again.