Martial Peak

Chapter 3646: One Step at a Time

The sound came from Flowing Time Great Emperor’s rib bone in the Wind Lord’s hands. The palm-length rib bone suddenly shattered in half. The first half turned into fine dust and scattered away.

At the same time, Yang Kai sensed that the Wind Lord was suddenly tens of thousands of kilometres away from him even though he had clearly been within arm’s reach…

Both his full-powered attack and the Embodiment’s Demonic War Hammer smashed into nothing but empty space. Yang Kai lifted his gaze and saw that the Wind Lord’s body had blended into the outline of the Flowing Time Temple. It was as though the Wind Lord had entered another world and was staring back at him through the transparent layer of the World Barrier that separated them.

Standing under the plaque of the Flowing Time Temple situated in front of the magnificent gate, the Wind Lord gritted his teeth with a terrifying expression and shouted, “Yang Kai, how dare you ruin this King’s plans!? This King swears to obliterate High Heaven Palace once he emerges from retreat!”

Yang Kai narrowed his eyes at those words. How could he not know that the Wind Lord had entered the Four Seasons Realm? It was not easy to open the Four Seasons Realm before the predetermined time. Be that as it may, Qiong Qi had managed to enter that place, which would mean that the Sealed World had not been completely isolated. There were other ways to enter, and Wind Lord had mastered one of those methods.

The outline of the Flowing Time Temple that was gradually being revealed had frozen mid-motion when the Spirit Array was interrupted just now; however, the Flowing Time Temple became indistinct and vanished from sight again when Wind Lord used Flowing Time Great Emperor’s remains in his hands as a medium to send himself into the Four Seasons Realm.

Wind Lord had set up a Spirit Array before coming here with that rib bone. His original plan was to summon the Flowing Time Temple from the Four Seasons Realm and refine it into his own palace. Unfortunately, that plan had been ruined by Yang Kai and the Demon Race Half-Saints he brought with him. The original plan was no longer viable as a result. Hence, Wind Lord had no choice but to settle for second best and entered the Flowing Time Temple himself instead. That was why he resented Yang Kai so deeply and left behind such hateful words.

Looking at the situation, the Sealed World of the Four Seasons Realm would be completely isolated from the Star Boundary the moment the outline of the Flowing Time Temple disappeared completely.

Meanwhile, the Flowing Time Temple faded away quickly. The outline had almost completely disappeared in the time the Wind Lord took to finish his last threat.

Yang Kai stepped forward, Space Principles surging around his body as his Divine Sense spread outward like the flowing tide. At the same time, he shouted, “Stay here!”

Those words were directed at the Embodiment. The reason Yang Kai couldn’t enter the Four Seasons Realm previously was that he could not find any weaknesses in the World Barrier around it. However, a small connection currently remained between the Four Seasons Realm and the Star Boundary thanks to the power of Wind Lord and the rib bone. With his mastery over the Dao of Space, this slight and practically undetectable connection was enough for Yang Kai to break through the World Barrier of the Sealed World, enter the Four Seasons Realm, and pursue his enemy.

Regardless of what Wind Lord was plotting, he was still one of the Four Great Lords of the Demon Heavenly Dao. Yang Kai could not turn a blind eye to the situation now that he had encountered him. Not to mention, those that he was looking for were still inside the Four Seasons Realm.

He could give chase, but the Embodiment could not go with him. Bai Zhuo and Bai Ya had been hit by the Great Emperor’s Divine Ability which had turned them into motionless statues. Somebody needed to stay and look after them. Although he could place Bai Zhuo and Bai Ya into the Small Sealed World, the Emperor Realm Masters of Demon Heavenly Dao were not all dead yet, so the Embodiment had to stay back and deal with the clean-up.

Upon hearing those words, the Embodiment understood that the situation did not allow him to follow Yang Kai; thus, he immediately nodded, “Be careful.”

Nobody knew better than him just what his main body was capable of; therefore, he was not too worried even though Wind Lord was a Pseudo-Great Emperor. Not to mention, Wind Lord had activated the Divine Ability hidden within that rib bone of Flowing Time Great Emperor twice. This would have exhausted a lot of his energy, so how much strength he could exert right now remained questionable.

Furthermore, the two children, Yang Xue and Yang Xiao, were not the only ones inside the Four Seasons Realm. Masters such as Liu Yan and Qiong Qi were there too. Wind Lord might be unaware, but how could the Embodiment not know? Wind Lord had assumed that he would be safe if he could just escape into the Four Seasons Realm, but the reality was that he had barged right into the lion’s den. [I wonder how Wind Lord will react when he meets them inside the Four Seasons Realm? He will obviously be… rather pleasantly surprised, I guess.]

The best thing about communicating with the Embodiment was that Yang Kai did not need to use many words to get his point across. All they needed was a single thought to understand each other’s thoughts.

Nevertheless, the outline of the Flowing Time Temple had completely disappeared in the time it took for Yang Kai to speak that sentence. Wind Lord’s figure had also disappeared along with it. The connection between the Four Seasons Realm and the Star Boundary was about to be severed.

Space Principles fluctuated wildly as Yang Kai took three steps forward. He remained in place for the first two steps, looking as though he had not taken a single step forward. It was an extremely strange sight to behold. On the third step though, he somehow vanished without warning.

The Embodiment lost his mental connection with Yang Kai at the same time, so he understood that Yang Kai had entered the Four Seasons Realm.

The battle between a Pseudo-Great Emperor and the Half-Saints began abruptly and ended just as hastily. It wasn’t until this moment that Grandmaster Sun, who had been watching from the sidelines all this while, suddenly turn paled and tried to flee.

A figure was already blocking his way though. Zhou Quan’s expression was icy, and he held two enormous copper hammers in his hands. His posture gave off the impression that he could hold back an army of thousands all by himself as he questioned, “Grandmaster Sun, where do you think you are going?”

When the Spirit Array had been activated, Zhou Quan had circulated his Emperor Qi the reverse and forced himself to cough up a mouthful of blood. He had managed to escape from the Spirit Array with that method thanks to a suggestion Yang Kai had given him. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for him to leave once the Spirit Array was fully operational.

Looking at the fate of all the other Emperor Realm Masters lying on the ground at the moment, it was easy to tell that if somebody with as low a cultivation as himself had been caught in the Spirit Array, they would either be dead or gravely injured by now. Escaping early had allowed him to remain alive. As such, he was in the best condition among all the other Emperor Realm Masters present, except for Grandmaster Sun.

Although Grandmaster Sun was also a First-Order Emperor Realm Master with profound knowledge in Spirit Arrays, his combat power was quite poor. A Demon Race Half-Saint had been glaring at him from the side in the first place, and now his escape route was blocked by Zhou Quan, so he immediately looked panicked. Putting on a strong act though, he threatened, “Make way, or this King won’t spare you.”

Zhou Quan shook his head slowly, “It’s best if Grandmaster Sun remains here until Palace Master Yang returns.”

He did not immediately move to kill, as his own experience was the best example. As long as they could remove the Blood Demon’s Blood Essence from the body, those of Demon Heavenly Dao would be able to recover their original selves and stop serving the Demon Race. Unless those people had sincerely and voluntarily joined the Demon Race’s side, most who had their dispositions modified by the Evil Secret Technique would greatly regret their actions and repent. Zhou Quan did not know about the others, but he had heard people saying that Grandmaster Sun had been captured by the Demon Race and subjected to the Evil Secret Technique.

Seeing that words were useless, Grandmaster Sun made a decisive move. He tossed a Jade Token into the air and aimed it at Zhou Quan. The method commonly used by Array Masters in a fight was to summon Array Plates. The Spirit Array sealed in the Array Plate was quick and convenient to activate after all.

Zhou Quan waited attentively. Before the Array Plate flew in front of him, a figure appeared out of nowhere and grabbed it. He looked over and saw that it was one of the helpers Yang Kai had summoned previously.

Squeezing slightly, the Array Plate exploded in a cloud of dust. A violent burst of energy spilled out from the Embodiment’s hands, but it did not harm him one bit.

Grandmaster Sun’s expression changed drastically at the sight, and he took out a few more Array Plates.

The Embodiment couldn’t be bothered to fight with Grandmaster Sun, so with a quick rush, he threw a punch and smashed Grandmaster Sun into an unconscious heap on the ground.

Zhou Quan watched by the side, cold sweat dripping down his back… When one was strong enough, fighting seemed so simple and violent at the same time.

……

Yang Kai appeared leisurely inside the Sealed World that was isolated from the outside world but saw neither hide nor hair of the Flowing Time Temple or Wind Lord. Although he had immediately chased after Wind Lord, a difference of a single step was equivalent to several thousand kilometres when moving through the Void; therefore, the current situation was not surprising. He came to the Four Seasons Realm once before when his cultivation was still very low. In contrast, he was a Third-Order Emperor now when he came back.

The Four Seasons Realm originally did not allow cultivators above the Dao Source Realm to enter. The Sealed World had its own Principles that all should be subjected to unless a person was able to surpass the limits of these Principles.

However, Qiong Qi had opened one of the back doors to this place previously and brought Liu Yan into this place. And now, Wind Lord had barged into this space with the remains of the Great Emperor who created this place, in his hands. As a result, the Principles governing the cultivation restriction had been broken. If not for that, Yang Kai would not have been able to enter this place safely.

Nevertheless, this place was indeed the Four Seasons Realm. Glancing around, he had the vague feeling that the surrounding scenery seemed very familiar. He probably came here before in the past. Mulling over it some more, it suddenly dawned on him.

[This was the Two Seasons Mountain Range!]

The Four Seasons Realm was divided into four major domains, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. The Two Seasons Mountain Range ran through the entire Four Seasons Realm, dividing the world into four domains. For that reason, the left side and the right side of the Two Seasons Mountain Range experienced two different seasons. It was very mysterious.

Upon recognizing his current position, Yang Kai concentrated on recalling where The Flowing Time Temple was located. Then, he flew off after determining the correct direction. He had only taken a single step forward when he suddenly froze mid-motion with a look of shock on his face. That was because the environment around him had changed drastically with that one step he took.

When he first entered this place, it had been scorching hot, as though in the middle of summer. To his surprise, the scorching heat instantly disappeared after he took that step. It was immediately replaced by a cold wind whistling in his ears and a blanket of white snow covering everything in his vision. He seemed to have walked right into the middle of winter. The biting cold of winter seeped into his body through his pores. An ordinary person would have frozen to death if they experienced this for more than a few breaths.

He had not encountered changes like this when he last came here, so Yang Kai couldn’t help frowning in response. Even though the seasons had changed abruptly across boundaries in this Sealed World, there had been no sense of abruptness. The scenery he saw before him was completely in line with the season he was experiencing. It was almost as though the step he took had taken him into a whole other world.

Pondering in silence for a moment, he took another step. The moment his foot landed on the ground, the biting cold vanished and was replaced by a bleak autumn wind. The snow around him vanished, the leaves withered, and the trees in the jungle became laden with fruits…

After summer and winter, it was now autumn!

He lifted his foot again. This time around, he did not step forward but took a step back instead. Logically speaking, he should have been brought back to the winter sight that greeted him just now. Contrary to Yang Kai’s expectations, however, his step backwards brought him not to the winter scenery he expected to see but spring, where everything was coming back to life!

He did not hesitate and walked forward again. Step after step, the scenery around him changed like flipping the pages of a book. It no longer felt as though it was just his vision. Rather, it was the entire Sealed World that was experiencing one season with every step he took. Moreover, there was no fixed pattern to it. The four seasons seemed to change at random.

At this point, Yang Kai was scowling more deeply than ever. Although he did not know what had happened within the Four Seasons Realm, it would seem that some great change had occurred. What worried him was whether the change had been caused by Wind Lord or if it had existed prior to this incident. If it was the former, then it was not a big deal. He only needed to find and get rid of Wind Lord to solve the issue. If it was the latter… That would mean that Qiong Qi and the others might have encountered some sort of trouble. Why else would such a change occur in the Four Seasons Realm for no reason?

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