Yang Kai was on his last legs, so he wouldn’t dare to be negligent when he was facing a Territory Lord.
Although Hei Yuan didn’t intend to kill him as he wanted to capture him alive, Yang Kai certainly wouldn’t grant his wish. If he was really captured by Hei Yuan and sent to the Royal City, he would become a servant for the Black Ink Clan for the rest of his life.
Before Hei Yuan could get close to him, Yang Kai drew on whatever power was left in his Small Universe.
Strike first to gain the advantage!
As the Golden Crow cawed, a Great Sun leapt from behind him, burning with a brilliant radiance.
At the same time, a Full Moon rose as well, casting its frigid cold glow.
As the Sun and Moon appeared simultaneously, Space Principles madly fluctuated. The Sun and Moon started spinning around in tandem, transforming into a kaleidoscope where Space Principles and Time Principles intertwined and formed into Space-Time Strength before spiralling towards Hei Yuan.
Sun and Moon Divine Wheel!
Faced with a formidable enemy like Hei Yuan, Yang Kai wouldn’t dare to hold back any of his strength and directly used his most powerful method.
Hei Yuan stopped in his tracks and instinctively felt a horrifying power coming from this Secret Technique. This caused his expression to turn solemn. Covered in the mysterious force, he even felt that his mind and body had been affected.
Thick Black Ink Strength erupted from his body and formed into a shield around him.
Right after he did that, he was stunned to realise that the Secret Technique, which had looked far away just now, was already about to strike him.
A violent force swept across the void and caused the local space to tremble. Hei Yuan was forced backwards several steps while the Black Ink Clansmen who were surrounding Yang Kai were instantly vaporized despite only being hit by the attack’s fallout.
A moment later, the terrifying force settled. Hei Yuan stood there stiffly, a strange and mysterious force wandering around his figure like arcs of lightning.
The surviving Black Ink Clansmen stared at Hei Yuan in shock, as they were worried he had been killed just like that; after all, they had witnessed how terrifying Yang Kai’s Secret Technique was. They had no idea what would happen to their Territory Lord after being struck head-on by such an attack.
Fortunately for them, even though Hei Yuan seemed affected by the Secret Technique, he wasn’t at risk of losing his life. Just a moment later, his figure shook and the lingering arcs of lightning around him were shattered. After he sprayed out a mouthful of black blood, his aura weakened slightly.
He then turned to look in a different direction and gritted his teeth. The next instant, he transformed into a dark light and shot forward.
It wasn’t until this moment that the surviving Black Ink Clansmen realised that Yang Kai was gone. Apparently, Yang Kai ran away right after he cast his Secret Technique. However, they were not powerful enough to resist the influence of the Secret Technique on their senses, so they were not aware that Yang Kai had fled.
Hei Yuan was far stronger though, so he definitely wouldn’t let the wretched Human off.
Just then, Yang Kai reappeared from the Void. He staggered and almost couldn’t support his own weight, his face as pale as a sheet of paper.
Presently, he was like a lamp that was running out of oil.
There was no doubt that the heritage of his Small Universe was indeed far richer than those of the other Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters; however, since he started fleeing from the Sealed World near the Royal City, he had been constantly manipulating Space Principles and pushing himself to his limits. It also took him quite a bit of effort to kill Liu Zi An and Gui Liao earlier. Furthermore, he almost used up all his energy to cast his most powerful Secret Technique at Hei Yuan.
Fortunately, he had the World Tree clone with him; otherwise, his Small Universe would have been affected given the state he was in. That would have been a huge problem.
Yang Kai wouldn’t dare to remain and quickly fished out a handful of Open Heaven Pills from his Space Ring and stuffed them into his mouth. Although Open Heaven Pills couldn’t help restore his power quickly, it was better than nothing. Moreover, the living creatures in his Small Universe would continuously produce World Force for him, which helped restore his strength over time.
The moment he took a step forward though, Yang Kai realised that an aura had locked onto him from afar.
There was no doubt that it was Hei Yuan.
As a Black Ink Territory Lord, he could easily ascertain Yang Kai’s whereabouts as long as the latter wasn’t too far away.
Yang Kai cursed. He didn’t expect his Sun and Moon Divine Wheel to kill Hei Yuan; after all, there was a huge gap between their powers as Hei Yuan was in a higher relative Realm. Despite that, he still hoped that the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel could wound Hei Yuan and tie him down for a moment. As long as he could escape Hei Yuan’s perception range, he could shake him off and gain some safety.
However, Yang Kai hadn’t expected that Hei Yuan would recover so quickly. Now that he had been targeted by Hei Yuan’s aura, it wouldn’t be easy to get rid of him, unless Yang Kai could continuously use Instantaneous Movement to open a large gap between them.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai was unable to do so at this moment. He couldn’t even activate Instantaneous Movement once, let alone repeatedly.
Left with no choice, he could only try to restore his energy while doing his best to flee.
An enraged Hei Yuan moved across the void swiftly, shortening the distance between them.
To add insult to injury, Yang Kai would come across some Black Ink Clansmen who got in his way from time to time. There was no doubt that they were all residents of Hei Yuan’s territory. Upon receiving Hei Yuan’s order, they started forming into different teams to cover a wide range. There were only a small number of people in every team, ranging from 10 to 30, their leader usually a single Feudal Lord.
Although these Black Ink Clansmen couldn’t harm Yang Kai, they could slow him down. Yang Kai either had to avoid clashing with them or force his way through them. Regardless of what option he took, he would have to consume both strength and time.
Barely one hour later, Yang Kai broke through his third blockade; however, Hei Yuan was also getting closer to him.
Seeing that it would reach a critical point where Hei Yuan would be able to make a move against him, Yang Kai hesitated no more and pushed his Space Principles. By using Instantaneous Movement, he disappeared from the spot in an instant.
He used up what little energy he had recovered with that one move.
Over the next day or so, such incidents would happen roughly every hour. The gap between Yang Kai and Hei Yuan would shorten and widen in a seemingly endless cycle.
Yang Kai felt extremely bitter as he was unable to get rid of Hei Yuan, who was just like maggots on rotting bones.
On several occasions, he almost couldn’t widen the gap between them at the most critical moments, allowing Hei Yuan’s attacks to graze him from afar, which exacerbated the horrible situation he was already in.
By straining himself for a long period of time, Yang Kai realised that his vision had turned blurry. The pounding of his heart against his chest could clearly be heard, as though it couldn’t endure the immense strain and would explode at any moment.
While he was trying his hardest to escape, Hei Yuan wasn’t exactly feeling any better. Pursuing such a fast and tricky enemy had left him exhausted as well; however, in order to make up for his mistake, he would never let Yang Kai go. Only by capturing Yang Kai and bringing him to the Royal City would he be able to appease the Royal Lord; otherwise, he would be doomed.
The Warship plan was critical to the future of the entire Black Ink Clan, yet it was ruined because of his negligence. It was expected that the Royal Lord wouldn’t easily let him off.
With one escaping and the other pursuing, the pair crossed billions of kilometres in the void.
Initially, Yang Kai thought that things would get better after he left Hei Yuan’s territory; after all, all the Black Ink Clansmen he came across all along were Hei Yuan’s subordinates.
However, he realised he was mistaken upon fleeing from Hei Yuan’s domain.
Instead of getting better, things actually got worse.
The Black Ink Clansmen he bumped into in Hei Yuan’s territory only came in small teams; therefore, he was able to force his way out despite being besieged.
However, right after he left Hei Yuan’s territory, Yang Kai came across an entire Black Ink Clan army!
It was an army consisting of several tens of thousands of troops.
Among all those Black Ink Clansmen, Yang Kai clearly detected a powerful aura coming from another Territory Lord. Moreover, the direction they were travelling suggested that they were heading towards Yin-Yang Pass.
If Yang Kai rashly charged forward, he wouldn’t stand a chance to escape. The Territory Lord in charge of the Army just had to cooperate with Hei Yuan, who was chasing him from behind, and they would easily capture him.
Soon, Yang Kai came to realise something.
The Black Ink army wasn’t there to intercept him. Instead, they were heading to the main battlefield.
In order to facilitate the Old Ancestor’s plan and save Yang Kai, the Humans had emptied out Yin-Yang Pass. Certainly, the Black Ink Clan had to meet the Humans in battle. The Territory Lords and Feudal Lords called the roll in the shortest time possible and set out towards Yin-Yang Pass from all different directions.
The army before Yang Kai’s eyes was just one of many.
At that instant, Yang Kai fell into a dilemma.
If he continued heading in Yin-Yang Pass’ direction, he would only come across even more Black Ink Clan armies. Even if he was in peak condition, he still could never hope to break through all of their blockades, unless the Masters from Yin-Yang Pass could work with him to open a safe passageway.
However, Yang Kai was in a terrible state, and he hadn’t managed to restore a lot of his strength, so this idea was not feasible. Once he blindly used Instantaneous Movement, he might land right in the middle of a large Black Ink Clan army. When that happened, it would be akin to stepping right into the enemies’ trap.
It was impossible for him to avoid running into these Black Ink Clan armies and return to Yin-Yang Pass. Worse, every enemy army had a Territory Lord overseeing it as they were practically the Territory Lord’s own subordinates. Hei Yuan alone was able to leave Yang Kai battered and exhausted. If he had to contend with other Territory Lords as well, he would fall into an even more horrible state.
Nonetheless, where could he go if he couldn’t return to Yin-Yang Pass?
While he was hesitating, the Territory Lord from the army up ahead scanned his surroundings with his Divine Sense and seemed to detect Yang Kai’s presence.
After gritting his teeth, Yang Kai turned around and transformed into a ray of light.
Soon, the Territory Lord’s Divine Sense detected a trace of aura left behind by Yang Kai. After giving it a thought, he soon figured out what was happening. However, he was tasked with dealing with the Humans’ Army, so he wouldn’t dare to be distracted. A moment later, he decided to ignore it and retracted his Divine Sense.
The moment Yang Kai turned in a different direction, Hei Yuan followed, a hint of surprise flashing across his face.
He was surprised to realise that Yang Kai didn’t head straight towards Yin-Yang Pass, but after pondering on it for a moment, he soon figured out what Yang Kai was worried about. He snorted and thought, [Where else can you go if you can’t go back to Yin-Yang Pass?]
Hei Yuan had somewhat figured out the condition that Yang Kai was in, so he firmly believed that as long as he persevered, he would capture Yang Kai sooner or later. Now, he just had to wait for Yang Kai to lose all of his strength.
While he was in his thoughts though, he suddenly lost track of Yang Kai.
The realisation astounded him.
Mid-pursuit, Hei Yuan suddenly stopped in his tracks and spread out his powerful Divine Sense to scan the surroundings; however, regardless of how hard he tried, he couldn’t find Yang Kai’s whereabouts.
This caused his expression to darken.
[I can’t believe I lost him! How is that even possible!?]
Yang Kai was on his last legs with little energy left. How did he escape Hei Yuan’s range of perception in such a state?
Hei Yuan didn’t think Yang Kai was powerful enough to cut off the thread of aura he had locked onto him as there was a huge gap between their powers. If Yang Kai was capable of doing that, he would’ve done it earlier instead of waiting until now. Moreover, Hei Yuan didn’t feel that his aura was forcefully cut off; rather, it felt like Yang Kai just vanished somehow.
The only logical explanation was that Yang Kai had massively widened the gap between them in an instant. As a result, Hei Yuan’s aura wasn’t able to locate him.
However, Yang Kai didn’t have much strength left. Even though he could use a special technique that would help him move across several tens of thousands of kilometres in an instant, he couldn’t possibly have done such a thing repeatedly in his current state.
How could he have regained so much energy in such a short period of time?
With a gloomy expression, Hei Yuan stood still in the same spot, not knowing what to do.
The void was expansive, so now that he had lost track of Yang Kai, how was he supposed to look for him? But soon, he pulled himself together. The Black Ink Clan’s armies were heading in Yin-Yang Pass’ direction, so Yang Kai couldn’t possibly go that way. That was the reason he turned around and continued fleeing. In other words, regardless of where he was, he was still within the Black Ink Clan’s territory.
As long as Yang Kai was still in their territory, his whereabouts would be exposed sooner or later.
At the thought of this, Hei Yuan started taking action by heading to the Fief of a Feudal Lord nearest to this place.
The Feudal Lord of the Fief had led his tenants towards the battlefield, so although there were still a lot of Black Ink Clansmen who stayed behind, none of them was particularly powerful.
Since Hei Yuan had shown up, these weak Black Ink Clansmen would naturally obey his orders without question. Soon, with the Black Ink Nest in this place as the centre, word was spread across all of Mu Guang Royal Lord’s domain. Within moments, Black Ink Clansmen from all over could be seen searching for Yang Kai.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai was hiding in a Black Ink Cloud and recuperating.
Just like Hei Yuan had speculated, Yang Kai had relied on Instantaneous Movements to shake off his tracking aura. The reason he had enough energy to use Instantaneous Movement repeatedly was that he had consumed a Low-Rank World Fruit.
When he left the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary back then, Yang Kai brought 16 World Fruits with him. The 3 Mid-Rank World Fruits had been put to good use while the remaining 13 Low-Rank World Fruits were somewhat useless.
He had given one Low-Rank World Fruit to Guo Zi Yan, which allowed him to ascend from the Second-Order to the Third-Order Open Heaven Realm. As for the remaining Low-Rank World fruits, he basically had no use for them. Although they came from the World Tree, they were not valuable to him at all.
Most had stayed in his Small Universe for such a long time that Yang Kai had almost forgotten about them.
It wasn’t until his Small Universe was thoroughly exhausted this time that he recalled them. Although they were not valuable, they were the best Spirit Fruits to replenish one’s World Force.
After consuming a Low-Rank World Fruit, Yang Kai regained enough strength in his Small Universe in a short time to use Instantaneous Movement several times in a row.
It was thanks to the Low-Rank World Fruit that he shook off Hei Yuan and hid inside this Black Ink Cloud.
Even though he was safe for the time being, he knew that he would not be safe for long as he was still deep inside the Black Ink Clan’s territory. There was no way Hei Yuan would let him off.
At least he finally had a chance to take a breather. It felt terrible to have so little energy left in his Small Universe. If he had enough energy, he could fight or flee despite being no match for his opponents.
Upon making sure that Hei Yuan hadn’t found him, Yang Kai quickly tried to restore his energy.
He didn’t consume another Low-Rank World Fruit. With this experience, he naturally wouldn’t waste something that could quickly restore a large amount of his strength. Instead, he stuffed a lot of Open Heaven Pills into his mouth before fishing out a set of Seventh-Order materials to refine in order to replenish his spent World Force.
Unfortunately, this moment of rest didn’t last long. Barely half a day later, Yang Kai felt several auras barge into the Black Ink Cloud he was hiding in.
Those auras were not powerful, only High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen.
With a frown, Yang Kai tried his best to conceal his aura.
There were countless Black Ink Clouds of different sizes in the Black Ink Clan’s territory and usually, the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t pay them any mind. However, the fact that these High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen carefully searched this Black Ink Cloud showed that they were looking for Yang Kai.
Initially, Yang Kai hoped that they would be negligent so that he could continue recuperating; unfortunately, one of the High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen directly flew towards his hiding place.
A moment later, the High-Rank Black Ink Clan stood right in front of him. Lifting his gaze, he saw a vague figure hiding somewhere inside the Black Ink Cloud, but before he could get a closer look, he saw a fist flying out and striking him.
As the violent force exploded, the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman turned into a blood mist without even a chance to scream.
“Over there!” One of the Black Ink Clansmen exclaimed upon detecting the movement. As soon as he finished speaking, he was struck by an immense force and sent to the afterlife.
Two breaths of time later, Yang Kai dashed out of the Black Ink Cloud. The High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen who had barged into the Black Ink Cloud had all lost their lives.
“That Human is here!”
“We found him!”
“Quickly inform Sir Hei Yuan!”
The moment the surrounding Black Ink Clansmen saw Yang Kai, they became startled for a moment before coming to their senses and shouting.
Yang Kai looked around and realised that the Black Ink Clansmen were scattered everywhere. They were thoroughly searching through the void in order to ascertain his whereabouts. Although they were weak, there were too many of them to avoid.
Hei Yuan didn’t think these weaklings could harm Yang Kai, he just wanted to make sure that Yang Kai had nowhere to hide.
Amidst the chaos, the Black Ink Clansman closest to Yang Kai cast a Secret Technique at him.
Yang Kai secretly cursed. Although he knew that Hei Yuan wouldn’t let him off, he hadn’t expected the other party to move so swiftly. Judging from the way these Black Ink Clansmen searched for him, it seemed that he would have nowhere to hide no matter where he went.
After dodging the attack, Yang Kai summoned his Azure Dragon Spear and displayed his Supreme Limitless Spear Art to the enemy. Despite being besieged by so many Black Ink Clansmen, he managed to force his way out.
Those Black Ink Clansmen hadn’t expected Yang Kai to be so ferocious, but after suffering a setback, they had learned their lesson. Wherever Yang Kai went, they would keep their distance and not directly engage him.
Yang Kai continued charging forward until there were no longer a lot of Black Ink Clansmen around him. It was then he manipulated Space Principles and left this area using Instantaneous Movement.
A moment later, Hei Yuan arrived, but after asking around, he could only snarl through clenched teeth, “Keep searching for him! When you find him, do your best to delay him! Anyone who dares not to fight will die by my hand!”
Upon receiving the order, these Black Ink Clansmen wouldn’t dare to disobey Hei Yuan despite feeling bitter.
Soon, Yang Kai realised that he was like a rat that these Black Ink Clansmen were determined to corner. Wherever he went, the Black Ink Clansmen would soon find him. Furthermore, he realised that the way these Black Ink Clansmen dealt with him had changed. Initially, he just had to kill a few of them and the rest would flee, allowing him to escape with little effort.
Now, however, these Black Ink Clansmen refused to back down regardless of how ferocious he was. It was as though they were determined to drag him down even if they had to die.
However, without a Territory Lord around, how were they supposed to stop Yang Kai from escaping? Their reckless charge only caused even more casualties.
Presently, Yang Kai was glad that the Yin-Yang Pass Armies had tied down the main Black Ink Clan force; otherwise, he couldn’t have kept moving around the Black Ink Clan’s territory.
At the very least, the only Territory Lord he had to deal with so far was Hei Yuan. Mu Guang Royal Lord was locked in battle with the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass while most of the Territory Lords had probably left this place to intercept the Humans from Yin-Yang Pass.
Perhaps there were still some Territory Lords who stayed back in Mu Guang’s territory, but there wouldn’t be a lot of them. Yang Kai reckoned that he would be fine as long as he was cautious enough.
The only problem he had to face was how he could get rid of Hei Yuan and circumvent the Black Ink Clan’s army to rejoin the people from Yin-Yang Pass. That was indeed a difficult task.
With that said, he was already in a better situation than before. At the very least, he had restored some of his strength, so unlike some time ago he was no longer running on empty.
Most of the Territory Lords must have headed to the battlefield, so there wouldn’t be a lot of them who stayed back.
At the thought of this, Yang Kai racked his brain and came up with a bold plan.
The more he thought about it, the more he was inclined to believe that this plan was feasible. If this plan was successfully carried out, it would deal a heavy blow to the Black Ink Clan.
He became excited in an instant. Hei Yuan would never have thought that Yang Kai would be so reckless.
Since he had made a decision, Yang Kai did not hesitate to carry out his plan. After killing for a bit, he stopped dealing with the Black Ink Clansmen around him and manipulated Space Principles to flee.
Hei Yuan had been in a terrible mood recently, but despite feeling vexed, he had no way to vent his anger.
Just like he had expected, Yang Kai didn’t have a chance to leave the Black Ink Clan’s domain after escaping from him and was instead now wandering around the Black Ink Clan’s territory.
With the help of the Black Ink Nests, Hei Yuan could easily get feedback from different places and accurately locate Yang Kai.
However, this method couldn’t help him capture Yang Kai. Every time he received the news and rushed to the place where Yang Kai appeared, he would only find the corpses of Black Ink Clansmen while Yang Kai was nowhere to be seen.
Although he was stronger than Yang Kai, he didn’t have a chance to make a move against him, leaving him feeling frustrated and helpless.
In his fury, Hei Yuan even killed 100 or so Black Ink Clansmen who had retreated in fear when they confronted Yang Kai.
Based on what Hei Yuan learned from the surviving Black Ink Clansmen who had fought with Yang Kai, he confirmed that this annoying Human was recovering. Yang Kai seemed to be doing his best to restore his energy, and after such a long period of time, he should have almost fully recovered by now.
Nevertheless, Hei Yuan didn’t understand what Yang Kai was up to.
Since Yang Kai had almost restored all of his strength, he should be trying to leave the Black Ink Clan’s territory. However, from the looks of it, he didn’t seem to have any intention of doing so. Instead, he seemed to be enjoying the game of hide-and-seek with the Black Ink Clansmen. During this period of time, several thousand Black Ink Clansmen were killed by his spear, and although only several of them were Feudal Lords, as most were High-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen, it was still humiliating for Hei Yuan.
Hei Yuan was moving across the void at the speed of lightning as he headed straight to a particular battlefield. When he finally arrived at his destination, what came into his sight were corpses and broken limbs scattered all around. They were the Black Ink Clansmen who were killed.
Many of the horribly injured Black Ink Clansmen groaned in pain. The battlefield was like a living Hell. After sweeping a glance over the place, Hei Yuan estimated that more than 100 Black Ink Clansmen were dead.
He sported a grim expression. Since he started chasing after Yang Kai, he had encountered the same sight many times. Whenever he received the news and rushed over, he would see the same sight. On the other hand, Yang Kai would always run away before he arrived, leaving no chance for him to act.
He had never come across a Human who was as skilled as Yang Kai when it came to fleeing. Despite his burning fury, he had no way to vent it out.
The surviving Black Ink Clansmen wouldn’t dare to go near Hei Yuan upon his arrival. Recently, Hei Yuan had killed many of their companions. If Hei Yuan blamed them for not doing their best and decided to kill them, they would be wronged.
In fact, they had tried their hardest to stop Yang Kai earlier; however, how were they supposed to make him stay behind when they were no match for him? They could only watch as Yang Kai went on a killing spree and then left.
Since no Black Ink Clansman took the initiative to tell him what happened, Hei Yuan asked grimly, “Where did he go?”
A High-Rank Black Ink Clansman closest to him pointed in a particular direction with caution.
Hei Yuan turned to look in that direction and frowned.
That was because his territory was in that direction. Although a large area of the void could be considered his territory, his foundation was where his Black Ink Nest was located. That was his direct territory.
Upon that realisation, Hei Yuan felt his chest tightening. As he recalled the route Yang Kai had been moving around, he suddenly had a bad premonition. It seemed that Yang Kai wasn’t aimlessly wandering around anymore, he was heading towards a particular goal.
Just then, a Feudal Lord rushed over from afar. Upon reaching Hei Yuan, he said anxiously, “Sir Territory Lord, something terrible has happened!”
“What makes you so nervous?” Hei Yuan turned to look at him, the ominous feeling in his chest strengthening.
This couldn’t be helped, as this Feudal Lord was in charge of the Fief that was closest to his Black Ink Nest. This Feudal Lord was also responsible for monitoring the perimeter. He must have received some shocking news, so he rushed over and informed Hei Yuan about it.
As expected, the Feudal Lord replied, “We’ve received word that Yang Kai is invading your territory, Sir.”
Hei Yuan’s head started buzzing as though it had been struck by a hammer. While feeling dizzy, he also instantly figured out Yang Kai’s plan and roared, “How dare he!”
He had never expected that Yang Kai, who was all on his own, didn’t have the intention of fleeing at all. Instead, he wanted to raise hell when most of the Black Ink Clan had left for war.
It had to be said that Yang Kai was truly audacious and his move caught Hei Yuan off guard.
Many of the Territory Lords who worked for Mu Guang had left their domains to deal with the Human Army from Yin-Yang Pass; therefore, there was a serious lack of soldiers in their home territories right now. That was also the reason Hei Yuan was unable to capture Yang Kai after such a long time.
Now, Yang Kai was heading straight to his territory. Although there were a lot of Feudal Lords left behind, Hei Yuan wasn’t confident that they could repel Yang Kai; after all, he had witnessed the latter’s capabilities during this pursuit.
On the other hand, it was apparent that Yang Kai was aiming for his Black Ink Nest.
The foundation of a Feudal Lord or Territory Lord’s territory was their Black Ink Nest. Without a Black Ink Nest, they couldn’t be considered a real Feudal Lord or Territory Lord.
This was what Zha Gu taught Yang Kai back then.
A massive amount of resources had to be consumed to grow a Black Ink Nest. For a Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest to hatch and fully mature, it required a colossal amount of resources, not to mention a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest. In comparison, the resources needed to grow a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest were many times more than what would be required to nurture a Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
If his Black Ink Nest was destroyed, Hei Yuan’s foundation would be gone for good. That would be an unbearable blow to him. Although he could still get a new sub-nest from the Royal Lord and hatch it, it would be a heavy burden on the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest. Furthermore, it would also cost the Royal Lord a lot of time and energy to do this.
Also, after such a catastrophic failure, it wasn’t even certain whether the Royal Lord would still give him a new sub-nest.
Throughout the war against the Humans, it wasn’t rare for Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests to be destroyed. However, only a tiny number of Black Ink Nests belonging to Territory Lords were ever destroyed. It was a great humiliation to the Black Ink Clan for a Territory Lord Black Ink Nest to be destroyed, and the only way to wash this shame away was by killing many more Humans.
With a great roar, Hei Yuan flew straight towards his home territory. At the same time, he prayed that the Feudal Lords who stayed behind could stop Yang Kai. He also hoped that Yang Kai didn’t really intend to destroy his Black Ink Nest.
However, it was apparent what Yang Kai’s plan was by him heading straight to his territory. It was likely that he had his eyes on the Black Ink Nest; after all, he had pretended to be a Black Ink Disciple and lived in this place for years, so he might have heard of the Black Ink Nests’ secrets from somewhere.
While feeling worried, Hei Yuan was moving forward at full speed.
Given that he was a Territory Lord, it would usually take him half a day to return to his territory from the previous location, but in his haste, he managed to arrive in just four hours.
When he finally arrived at the universe fragment where his direct territory was located, what came into his sight made him feel cold all over.
That was because the universe fragment had been shattered and traces of the battle could be seen everywhere. The originally flourishing city was nothing but a disaster zone now. Every part of the place had been turned into ruins, and innumerable Black Ink Clansmen had lost their lives.
All of that was inconsequential though compared to what happened to the Black Ink Nest, which was originally in the centre of the city. The Black Ink Nest, which had always looked like a giant flower bud, was starting to wither. Black Ink Strength was leaking out of the Black Ink Nest like fresh blood, and its roots had clearly been cut off by a violent force.
What Hei Yuan dreaded had become a reality, and he could not accept it.
The Black Ink Nest was withering, and it couldn’t be saved. In other words, his foundation had been destroyed. In order to rebuild his foundation, he would need a new Black Ink Nest.
Even if the Royal Lord was magnanimous enough to give him another sub-nest from her Black Ink Nest, it would take Hei Yuan at least 100 years to nurture it and cost him an enormous amount of money and manpower.
To make matters worse, the Feudal Lords working for him would all experience the same problem.
In other words, he and his subordinates had to rebuild everything from scratch, which would take a very long time.
“Sir!” A blood-soaked Feudal Lord detected Hei Yuan’s aura, so he quickly shot into the sky.
“Where is Yang Kai?” Hei Yuan growled through clenched teeth.
He couldn’t detect Yang Kai’s aura, so he could only hope that the Feudal Lords had killed him. With that said, he knew that it was unlikely to be the case.
“We did not see that Human named Yang Kai!” The Feudal Lord replied.
Hei Yuan snapped, “You didn’t see him? Then what happened to my territory!? What happened to the Black Ink Nest!? Did you all destroy it!?”
The Feudal Lord shuddered and quickly replied, “Sir Hei Yuan, we really didn’t see Yang Kai. Everything was destroyed by a Grand Dragon.”
He then hurriedly gave an account of what had happened.
According to this Feudal Lord, a Grand Dragon which was far more than 20,000 metres long had appeared out of nowhere. It was overbearing, and its entire figure radiated a golden glow. As soon as the Grand Dragon appeared, a lot of Black Ink Clansmen were killed by its opening Dragon Breath. Strangely, the Grand Dragon was holding a huge spear in its claws. With this weapon, it smashed the universe fragment to pieces and destroyed the Black Ink Nest, leaving the entire city in ruins.
What was even more outrageous to the Black Ink Clansmen was that the Grand Dragon had even robbed their shops and snatched up their resources.
Although the Feudal Lords tried their best to resist, they couldn’t possibly defeat the Grand Dragon. After kicking up a storm, the Grand Dragon nonchalantly departed, leaving this mess behind.
The Black Ink Clansmen knew nothing about Grand Dragons as they had never seen such creatures before. Fortunately for them, the Black Ink Disciples had some ideas.
“Grand Dragon? How could there be a Grand Dragon here?” Hei Yuan appeared puzzled.
The Feudal Lord replied cautiously, “According to the Black Ink Disciples, Yang Kai is probably not a Human, but rather a member of the Dragon Clan. That Grand Dragon was his true form.”
Hei Yuan roared, “I don’t care whether he’s a Human or a member of the Dragon Clan! Find him! I must rip him to pieces!” Only by doing so could he vent his fury. He was so enraged that he had even forgotten about the Royal Lord’s order, which stated that Yang Kai had to be captured alive.
“But Sir…” The Feudal Lord spoke in a shaking voice, “Since the Black Ink Nest is destroyed, we can’t send any messages.”
Hei Yuan grabbed him by the collar and yanked him towards himself, his eyes practically spitting fire as he snarled, “Since the Black Ink Nest is gone, go out and inform everyone yourself! Mobilise all the clansmen in the territory! Leave him nowhere to hide! If you can’t do that, all of you must die!”
“Yes!” The Feudal Lord replied anxiously.
After the Feudal Lord flew off, Hei Yuan turned to look in a different direction.
There seemed to be a mysterious force that was dissipating in the void. The energy fluctuations were consistent with what Yang Kai would leave behind each time he used Instantaneous Movement; therefore, Hei Yuan speculated that Yang Kai had fled in that direction.
Previously, he already didn’t have a way to capture Yang Kai, and now that his Black Ink Nest was gone, he knew it would be even harder to locate him. Nevertheless, he had to get his revenge after his foundation was destroyed.
Despite his slim chances, he had to hunt Yang Kai down. Regardless of the cost, he had to capture that damn Human and bring him to the Royal Lord to make up for his mistakes.
At this moment, in a place that was far away from the universe fragment, Yang Kai was hiding inside a Black Ink Cloud and recuperating.
After assuming his Grand Dragon Form and making a scene in Hei Yuan’s territory, not only did he shatter the universe fragment, but he also destroyed Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest. It was expected that he would be pleased with himself.
However, he had paid a hefty price to achieve this victory.
There were indeed a lot of Feudal Lords who had stayed behind, and there were also innumerable High-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen around. Although he could easily kill more people when he was in his Grand Dragon Form, it also made him a huge target. While Yang Kai destroyed the Black Ink Nest, he also inevitably got struck by the Black Ink Clansmen’s attacks.
To the Black Ink Clansmen, he had made a scene and left the place in a nonchalant manner; however, only Yang Kai knew that he wasn’t as nonchalant as he appeared to be when he left. In truth, he just didn’t dare to remain; otherwise, he would most likely be captured.
Presently, his entire figure was covered in wounds. Every time he moved, he would grimace in pain. Three wounds on his back were so deep that one could even see his bones.
Fortunately, these injuries didn’t injure his foundation, and given his intrepid physique and astonishing restorative powers, he would recover in no time.
Yang Kai’s trip of turning into a Grand Dragon and making a fuss in Hei Yuan’s territory was rewarding. Not only had he killed a lot of Black Ink Clansmen, but he had also destroyed Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest and snatched a massive amount of cultivation resources. The price he paid was worth it.
When Yang Kai pretended to be a Black Ink Disciple back then, he already realised that the city where Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest was located was flourishing. There were ample supplies, which included all sorts of materials of different Orders. The Black Ink Clan couldn’t directly use these resources, so they were basically thrown into the Black Ink Nests to help produce Black Ink Strength. Nevertheless, these were precious cultivation resources for the Humans.
Since Yang Kai decided to make a move, he certainly had to take those resources away.
Furthermore, there was one discovery that surprised him.
He realised that his Grand Dragon form had lengthened.
When he was in the Divine Spirits’ Ancestral Land in the Shattered Heaven back then, he made use of the Dragon Palace and Ancestral Strength to become a Grand Dragon. At that time, his Grand Dragon Form was 10,000 metres long.
Then, with the help of Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan in the Chaotic Dead Territory, his Dragon Vein was significantly enhanced, which allowed him to turn into a 20,000-metre Grand Dragon.
At that time, Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan respectively left a mysterious power in his body that could stimulate the power of his Dragon Vein. Even after Yang Kai reached 20,000 metres in his Grand Dragon Form, he had a feeling that the mysterious power hadn’t been used up and most of it still remained hidden in his Dragon Bead.
Then, he got into a fight with Zhu Feng. At the critical moment, he spat out his Dragon Bead and dealt a lethal blow to Zhu Feng, which caused his Dragon Bead to be damaged.
Over the years, the damaged Dragon Bead had slowly healed with the nourishing of his Dragon Vein. Now, it seemed his Dragon Vein had also been strengthened. When he transformed into a Grand Dragon in Hei Yuan’s territory, he was nearly 30,000 metres long.
Apparently, the damage to his Dragon Bead had stimulated the mysterious power left behind in his body by Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan. During this period of time, not only had his Dragon Bead gradually healed, but his Dragon Vein had also been strengthened.
This came as a pleasant surprise.
The strength of a Grand Dragon was manifested in their length.
Usually, only a 10,000 metre Dragon could be regarded as a Grand Dragon, which was equivalent to a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Now that Yang Kai’s Dragon Form was 30,000 metres long, his power was equivalent to that of a peak Seventh-Order Master.
However, there were pros and cons to fighting as a Grand Dragon. Since his Grand Dragon form was so massive, he could cause serious damage over a wide area, especially when doing things like destroying Hei Yuan’s territory and the Black Ink Nest some time ago. There was no doubt that it was easier for him to achieve his goal by turning into a Grand Dragon. Nevertheless, his large size also meant that he wasn’t as agile or manoeuvrable. He might suffer a setback if he faced certain opponents in such a state.
Fortunately, there were no powerful beings in Hei Yuan’s territory at that time. Although the Feudal Lords had gone all out, they couldn’t really kill him, only inflict some injuries on him at most.
Presently, Yang Kai was recuperating in a Black Ink Cloud with peace of mind; however, he knew that he couldn’t stay here for long. According to past experiences, these omnipresent Black Ink Clansmen would soon find him, and more Black Ink Clansmen would quickly arrive to hunt him down.
As expected, barely one hour later, some Black Ink Clansmen barged into the Black Ink Cloud and found his whereabouts.
Yang Kai charged forward and easily killed these Black Ink Clansmen, and soon, he arrived at a different place and snuck into a new Black Ink Cloud.
When the nearby Black Ink Clansmen rushed over upon receiving the news, Yang Kai was already nowhere in sight.
Over the following days, Yang Kai kept changing his locations as he seized every chance to recuperate.
Soon though, he realised something was off.
The Black Ink Clansmen were reacting much slower than before.
Previously, regardless of where he went, as long as his whereabouts were exposed, a large number of Black Ink Clansmen would promptly swarm in from all directions and besiege him. Now, it seemed that they couldn’t mobilize as quickly.
This was a situation he had already expected though.
Yang Kai had learned some secrets behind the Black Ink Nests. With Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest as the centre, all the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests formed a huge information network, which was used to spread information quickly.
Now that he had destroyed Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest though, the central node was gone for good, disabling the information network between the Black Ink Clansmen.
That was the reason he decided to head straight to Hei Yuan’s direct territory. Only by disabling their information network would he be able to move around easily. Now, it seemed that he had made a wise decision.
Although he was still on his own, Yang Kai had already greatly improved his situation.
Nevertheless, destroying Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest was just the first step of his plan. Since the Black Ink Nests were the foundation of the Black Ink Clan, he naturally wouldn’t want to leave so soon as this chance was rare. Even though the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest was gone, there were still a lot of Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests remaining. For every Black Ink Nest that was destroyed, it would cause a huge loss to the Black Ink Clan.
It only took Yang Kai a few days to fully recover, and after fishing out a Universe Chart to ascertain his own location, he looked for the nearest Feudal Lord’s Fief.
Soon, he found a target.
However, the situation he came upon surprised him a bit.
After killing some Black Ink Clansmen who were searching for him along the way, he soon reached his destination, but the huge Black Ink Nest was already withered and collapsed on the ground, as though it was dying. Countless Black Ink Clansmen knelt around the Black Ink Nest with solemn expressions. It seemed that they were holding a kind of sacred ceremony.
The Feudal Lord at the front crossed his arms and chanted something.
However, regardless of how hard they tried, they couldn’t save the Black Ink Nest from dying. Its Black Ink Strength was leaking out like fresh blood, and for every bit of Black Ink Strength that was lost, the aura of the Black Ink Nest would weaken a little. It seemed that this Black Ink Nest would wither and die within half a day.
Yang Kai flew forward as though no one else was around while the Black Ink Clansmen, who were completely focused on the ceremony, didn’t detect his presence.
Standing in front of the Black Ink Nest, Yang Kai swept his gaze around and frowned, a perplexed expression on his face.
The Feudal Lord at the front finally detected Yang Kai’s aura and turned his head. When he made out Yang Kai’s face, he snapped, “It’s you!”
It wasn’t until this moment that these Black Ink Clansmen came to their senses and stood up. In the blink of an eye, Yang Kai was surrounded by all these Black Ink Clansmen.
Yang Kai turned to look at the Feudal Lord and nodded gently, “Brother Zha Gu.”
The Feudal Lord was none other than Zha Gu, who was the owner of this Fief. Yang Kai had been here once and witnessed everything when Zha Gu planted the Black Ink Nest and hatched it. It was also through Zha Gu that he learned a lot of the secrets about Black Ink Nests that the Humans were previously unaware of.
The way Yang Kai addressed Zha Gu startled him. With a doubtful look, he glanced at Yang Kai and asked, “You… Is the rumour about you real? Have you betrayed Sir Territory Lord?”
Yang Kai replied impassively, “I’m a Human, and I’ve never pledged to be loyal to him. How could you say that I’ve betrayed him? As for the rumour… I have no idea what you’ve heard, but it’s most likely to be true.”
Zha Gu snapped, “Did you destroy Sir Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest?”
Yang Kai nodded, “En.” Then, he pointed to the front with a perplexed expression, “What happened to your Black Ink Nest?”
The reason he came all the way here was to destroy this Black Ink Nest. Besides the one here, he had decided to destroy all of the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests under Hei Yuan.
Only by doing so could he deal the heaviest blow to Hei Yuan. After all the Black Ink Nests were shattered, Hei Yuan and his subordinates would lose all of their foundation. This was a bigger contribution than killing several tens of thousands of Black Ink Clansmen on the battlefield.
“My Black Ink Nest…” Zha Gu appeared furious, “My Black Ink Nest is a sub-nest of Sir Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest! Since you’ve destroyed the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest, do you think the sub-nest wouldn’t be affected!?”
In fact, Yang Kai already had a speculation the moment he saw this Black Ink Nest; however, when his speculation was verified by Zha Gu, he was still surprised.
Prior to this, he wasn’t aware that the death of a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest would affect the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests it spawned as well.
After giving it a thought though, he realised that it wasn’t so surprising. Zha Gu’s Black Ink Nest was a sub-nest of Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest, so there was a close connection between them. Since Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest was destroyed, it was expected that Zha Gu’s Black Ink Nest would be implicated.
Following a moment of deliberation, Yang Kai asked, “Is your Black Ink Nest the only one that’s been affected? Or have all the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests been implicated as well?”
Zha Gu said through gritted teeth, “Do you think I’ll tell you?”
Yang Kai nodded, “Don’t bother, I think I’ve figured it out.”
Judging from the situation Zha Gu was in, it wasn’t hard to speculate that the other Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests had been affected as well. They were probably all withering at this very moment.
Initially, Yang Kai planned on destroying all the Black Ink Nests in Hei Yuan’s territory one by one. Now, it seemed that it wasn’t necessary for him to do so.
As a thought flashed through his mind, Yang Kai asked, “Brother Zha Gu, what if the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest is destroyed?”
“Don’t even dream about destroying any Black Ink Nest ever again!” Zha Gu roared. Apparently, he no longer wanted to listen to any of Yang Kai’s nonsense. He extended his hand and summoned a giant halberd. At the same time, a dark fog swirled around his figure and soon, he was clad in an Artifact Armour that covered the upper half of his body.
The giant halberd and Artifact Armour were the artifacts that Yang Kai previously refined for him.
With the giant halberd in hand and the Artifact Armour on his body, Zha Gu appeared quite imposing. He directly thrust out his halberd at Yang Kai.
Presently, Yang Kai was holding his Azure Dragon Spear, and faced with the attack, he didn’t intend to dodge. His spear thrust forward like a Dragon and skirted past the giant halberd before jabbing towards Zha Gu’s chest.
A hint of ferocity flashed through Zha Gu’s eyes as he also didn’t intend to dodge the attack. He exerted even more force with the giant halberd as he was determined to wound the other party despite knowing that he would be injured as well.
He was aware that Yang Kai was extraordinarily powerful; after all, he had witnessed Yang Kai going on a killing spree back then. Those Feudal Lords were as frail as paper tigers when they were dealing with Yang Kai and Zha Gu didn’t think he was more powerful than them. Even though he had two artifacts in his possession now, he didn’t think he could defeat Yang Kai in a one-on-one fight.
In order to survive, he had to take risks despite knowing he would get hurt as well.
In fact, it was a good idea, but when the Azure Dragon Spear easily stabbed into his chest and its explosive force shattered all the organs in his body, he still appeared bewildered.
With a dispassionate expression, Yang Kai looked at him and said, “I’m the one who made that Artifact Armour. It’s ridiculous that you think you can use it to defend against me!”
Zha Gu came to his senses and asked, “Are there weaknesses in all the things you’ve made?”
Yang Kai roared, “The things I’ve made will not be used to go against my people. None of them will shed a drop of blood because of those artifacts!”
“I was… the one who helped you back then,” the ferocity on Zha Gu’s face faded. Faced with imminent death, he pleaded with the other man.
Yang Kai looked around and nodded, “I can’t deny the fact that you’d helped me before, but how did your Black Ink Nest come about? How did you gather enough resources to hatch this Black Ink Nest? Do you really think I have no idea? All you have now is because of me, and it’s only apt that I am compensated for my work.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he channelled more World Force into the Azure Dragon Spear and Zha Gu exploded, leaving no traces behind.
There was no denying that they had gotten along pretty well, and Yang Kai had earned a lot of Black Ink Coin with his help and made himself known as an expert in Artifact Refining; however, he was pretending to be a Black Ink Disciple at that time, and Zha Gu was just making use of him. They were fundamentally on different sides, so Yang Kai had no qualms about killing him.
A Feudal Lord was still a pretty significant force on the battlefield, so if Yang Kai let him off on this day, some Humans might be killed by him in the future.
Zha Gu was still in the early stage of building his Fief, so he was the only Feudal Lord here and the rest of them were insignificant. There weren’t even that many High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen.
As Zha Gu was dead, these Black Ink Clansmen couldn’t possibly ward off Yang Kai. Despite their resistance, they were all killed within a cup of tea’s worth of time.
By the time Yang Kai was gone, no one was alive in the Fief.
Yang Kai initially wanted to destroy all the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests under Hei Yuan’s wings, but what he saw in Zha Gu’s Fief made him realise that it wasn’t necessary to do so.
In fact, after a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest was destroyed, all the sub-nests it spawned would be affected.
That explained why, after he destroyed Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest, the Black Ink Clan became slower in their response. After Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest was destroyed, not only was the information network in Hei Yuan’s territory disabled, but all the sub-nests had also withered. The Feudal Lords who had their own Fiefs must be flustered now, so they wouldn’t be in the mood to search for Yang Kai despite Hei Yuan’s order.
To play it safe, Yang Kai decided to head to another Feudal Lord’s Fief to see it for himself.
Just like what happened in Zha Gu’s Fief, the Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest was withering, and its Black Ink Strength was leaking out. It would die in no time.
Finally, Yang Kai could set his mind at ease.
It never crossed his mind that destroying Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest would bring about such a pleasant surprise. It seemed that there were pros and cons when it came to the special connection between the Black Ink Nests.
Inferring from this, if the Black Ink Nest in the Royal City was destroyed, all the Territory Lords’ Black Ink Nests would wither, which would lead to the decline and eventual fall of all the Black Ink Nests in Mu Guang’s territory.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but have the urge to head back to the Royal City and shatter the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
Nevertheless, he soon gave up on the idea. This couldn’t be helped as, given his current strength, he could only make a scene in a Territory Lord’s territory as most of the Black Ink Clansmen had gone to the battlefield. However, if he barged into the Royal City, it would be akin to stepping right into the enemies’ trap; he would be doomed; after all, there was more than one Territory Lord guarding the Royal City.
At the thought of the Royal City, Yang Kai couldn’t help but recall the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass. With the help of the ancient coin, a Void Corridor was formed and the Old Ancestor arrived and saved him before getting into a fight with Mu Guang. A few days had passed, so he wondered if there was any outcome now.
Although the Old Ancestor was powerful, the battle took place near the Royal City, after all, so she might not gain the upper hand since she was on her own. Nevertheless, he wasn’t in any position to worry about her. Given his current power, he was unable to intervene in the fight between the Royal Lord and the Old Ancestor. Perhaps Eighth-Order Masters could assist the Old Ancestor in this situation, but a Seventh-Order Master like him was still too weak.
Yin-Yang Pass’ Army and the Black Ink Clan’s main force must be clashing at the frontline as well. Yang Kai had no idea what was going on over there, but judging from the collective powers between the two Races, the Human Army would have to return to the Inner Sanctum soon. That was because there was a huge gap between the numbers on both sides. Furthermore, the Black Ink Clan did not care about casualties. On the other hand, the life of every Human soldier was valuable. The Humans were in a disadvantageous position by fighting against the Black Ink Clan in the void. They could significantly reduce casualties by staying near Yin-Yang Pass.
The reason the Army had left Yin-Yang Pass this time was that they had to facilitate Yang Kai’s return; however, he was unable to circumvent the Black Ink Clan and join up with those from Yin-Yang Pass back then as he was in a horrible state. It was destined that the soldiers from Yin-Yang Pass wouldn’t achieve their goal.
Therefore, Yang Kai speculated that the soldiers from Yin-Yang Pass should have retreated by now. Presently, Yin-Yang Pass must be surrounded by the Black Ink Clan. The two Races had gotten into a battle where one side would defend while the other side would attack. It was the pattern of battle they were most familiar with.
Over the years, this kind of battle had taken place at every Great Pass numerous times. Be it the Humans or the Black Ink Clan, they were already familiar with how this would go.
If that was indeed the case, the situation would be in Yang Kai’s favour.
Since the Black Ink Clan’s Army had gathered outside of Yin-Yang Pass, there wouldn’t be any blockades in front of him. He could stealthily head to the battlefield and wait for a chance to return to the Inner Sanctum during the fighting.
He had done the same thing when he and Feng Ying saved several hundred Black Ink Disciples and brought them back to Blue Sky Pass previously.
However, Yang Kai didn’t intend to do that.
He had a taste of successfully destroying Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest, which resulted in the fall of all its sub-nests. As this was a rare opportunity, Yang Kai naturally didn’t want to miss it as he reckoned that it wouldn’t come again.
Therefore, he left Hei Yuan’s territory several days later and headed towards another Territory Lord’s territory.
He had no idea whose territory it was, nor did he know where that Territory Lord’s home territory was. Regardless, it didn’t matter to him. He directly headed to the Feudal Lord’s Fief nearest to him and went on a killing spree.
In just half a day, most of the Black Ink Clansmen in this Fief were either dead or dying. Some of the Black Ink Clansmen seized the chance to flee from the place, but Yang Kai didn’t have the intention of pursuing them.
To him, destroying the Black Ink Clan’s foundation was the most important objective, while killing stray Black Ink Clansmen came second. Moreover, the most powerful Black Ink Clansmen in this Fief had followed their Feudal Lord and left for the battlefield, so the ones who stayed back were undoubtedly weak.
Yang Kai then directly barged into the Black Ink Nest in this place.
This was a Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest, and with the prior experience of visiting Zha Gu’s Black Ink Nest, Yang Kai soon realised that the inner structures of all Black Ink Nests were more or less the same.
There were still some Black Ink Clansmen inside the Black Ink Nest, but they appeared oblivious to what had happened outside. The moment they saw a Human entering this place, they were puzzled.
They were all killed by Yang Kai before they realized what was happening.
A moment later, Yang Kai stood inside an empty chamber and opened the portal of his Small Universe. His Word Force was instantly drawn by a powerful force and absorbed by the Black Ink Nest.
With his World Force serving as a bridge, he was soon connected to the consciousness of this Black Ink Nest.
He had done the same thing in Zha Gu’s Black Ink Nest back then, so he was familiar with the process.
The next instant, Yang Kai found himself in a special space where a lot of consciousnesses wandered around.
This was the secret behind the information network that the Black Ink Clan had built using the Black Ink Nests.
These Black Ink Clansmen had entered this place through the consciousnesses of the Feudal Lords’ Black Ink Nests. They could then exchange all sorts of information here and find out what was going on in the other Feudal Lords’ Fiefs.
The arrival of a new consciousness like Yang Kai’s didn’t catch the attention of the Black Ink Clansmen; after all, there would be unfamiliar consciousnesses entering the place from time to time, so they were used to it.
After listening to them for a while, Yang Kai realised that he couldn’t gather any useful information. He wanted to find out what was going on at the front lines through the conversations between these consciousnesses, but the latest information from the battlefield was apparently not available to these Black Ink Clansmen who stayed behind.
Just when he was ready to carry out his plan, a message was sent from a consciousness. The message wasn’t encrypted in any way, so the other consciousnesses could easily read it.
Yang Kai soon found out what the message was about.
“The Royal Lord is still in a fight with that Human. I wonder if she can kill her.”
Another consciousness replied, “That Human is the Old Ancestor of Yin-Yang Pass. Although the Royal Lord is powerful, it’s not easy for her to kill that Human. However, I heard that several Territory Lords have gone over to help. With their assistance, I believe that Human will be defeated.”
“No. From the looks of it, the Royal Lord is in a disadvantageous situation. Although she has the help of several Territory Lords, both parties are only equally matched now.”
The moment the message was sent, the other consciousnesses were evidently shocked. One of the consciousnesses asked, “How could it be that the Royal Lord is at a disadvantage? They’ve fought with each other countless times in the past, and they’ve always been equally matched. Neither side could defeat the other. What happened this time?”
The consciousness from earlier replied, “I have no idea, but for some reason, they arrived somewhere near our Fief and continued fighting. My Feudal Lord was the one who saw it. Fortunately, they soon left; otherwise, our Fief would’ve been destroyed. We wouldn’t be able to defend against the fallout from their battle.”
“Could it be that the Royal Lord hasn’t recovered?”
“That’s possible.”
“However, the Royal Lord has the help of some Territory Lords now, so the Human Old Ancestor certainly won’t get the upper hand.”
…..
The consciousnesses continued chatting and soon changed the topic.
Although Yang Kai hadn’t gathered a lot of information, he had at least found out that the Old Ancestor was fine. On the other hand, he was surprised at the fact that the Royal Lord had fallen into a disadvantageous position. It never crossed his mind that the seemingly unreliable Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass would be so powerful, able to battle against the Royal Lord and several Territory Lords on her own.
He wondered what the outcome of the battle would be.
Nevertheless, he didn’t have the right to interfere in this matter, and he had bigger fish to fry.
He then focused on sensing his surroundings.
According to Zha Gu, this special space was actually a platform linked to the consciousness of the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest. The consciousnesses of the sub-nests could easily connect to it, which allowed the Feudal Lords to communicate with one another.
In that case, Yang Kai reckoned that he could make use of it and find out the whereabouts of the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
Following the faint traces, Yang Kai’s consciousness tracked the signs back to the source and soon found what he was looking for.
Although he wasn’t certain about the exact location of the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest, he was confident that he got the direction right. As long as he moved in that direction, he would find the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
Since he had achieved his goal, he retracted his Divine Sense and left the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nest before shooting into the sky.
He didn’t waste any of his energy to destroy this Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest since all the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests were linked to the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest. As long as he destroyed the source, all the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests would wither as well.
The moment Yang Kai’s consciousness left this special space, a certain consciousness temporarily fell into a dazed state in another similar but even more magnificent space.
The consciousnesses of the Feudal Lords’ Black Ink Nests would gather together in the special space transformed from the consciousness of the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest. Similarly, the consciousnesses of the Territory Lords’ Black Ink Nests would assemble in the special space transformed from the consciousness of the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
This even bigger space was where the consciousness of the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest was located. The consciousnesses that had gathered together in this place came from the Territory Lords’ Black Ink Nests. Hence, the consciousnesses in this place represented the Territory Lords.
Upon detecting the anomaly, the other consciousnesses quickly inquired about it.
The consciousness from earlier fell silent for a moment and said hesitantly, “Just now, someone seemed to be searching for my location.”
“Someone was searching for your location?” Another consciousness asked curiously.
The third consciousness was equally inquisitive, “What’s the point of ascertaining your location? Are you mistaken?”
The first consciousness replied, “Maybe. I’m not sure about it.”
Since he had said so, the other consciousnesses stopped asking about it. This matter ended here, and they went on to talk about another topic.
“What’s going on with that Human named Yang Kai? Has Sir Hei Yuan captured him?”
“There’s no news about him yet, but it seems that Human has destroyed Sir Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest.”
“What? Sir Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest was destroyed? When did that happen?” Another consciousness exclaimed. It was apparent that he had not heard about this news yet.
“It happened not long ago. The person guarding the Black Ink Nest sent me a message at the last moment. Apparently, the Human named Yang Kai directly invaded Sir Hei Yuan’s home territory. Now, we can’t contact anyone from Sir Hei Yuan’s side. Our connection with them has been cut off.”
The other consciousnesses fell into silence.
Something must have gone wrong as they were unable to contact anyone from Hei Yuan’s side. The only possibility was that Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest had been destroyed; otherwise, this shouldn’t have happened.
All of these consciousnesses felt their hearts sinking at the revelation that a Human had destroyed a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest. At the same time, they felt furious and humiliated.
The only thing they knew was that Hei Yuan was chasing after the Human, but they had no idea whether he would succeed.
The consciousnesses felt that the topic was too depressing, so they quickly moved on to another. They started discussing the war between the two Races and tried to speculate on the outcome.
While they were engrossed in the discussion, a certain consciousness suddenly exclaimed.
As the conversation was cut off, the other consciousnesses looked at him in puzzlement.
The consciousness explained, “Some Feudal Lords reported to me that the Human named Yang Kai came to our territory.”
“He’s in your territory? What is he doing there?”
“Regardless of what he is up to, quickly inform Sir Hei Yuan about it so that he can come over to help. Also, mobilise the Black Ink Clansmen in your territory and restrain the Human until Sir Hei Yuan arrives. We must not let him flee!”
“Got it.” The moment the consciousness finished speaking, he passed on an order through the Black Ink Nest network and the Black Ink Clansmen in his territory started taking action.
The other consciousnesses waited with concern as they asked about what was going on from time to time. Certainly, the consciousness wouldn’t hide anything from them.
Half a day later, a consciousness suddenly said in a puzzled manner, “The Human doesn’t seem to be running away from Sir Hei Yuan. Instead…”
“Go on.”
“It seems that he has targeted my Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest.”
Upon hearing that, the other consciousnesses paled, especially the one who represented the area of the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest where Yang Kai was located.
Just then, another consciousness said, “Earlier, you said that someone was trying to figure out your location, right?”
The consciousness that represented the area of the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest where Yang Kai was located replied, “Yes, that’s what I felt. Wait, you mean…”
“That’s right. The Human named Yang Kai didn’t know the exact location of your Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest, so he made use of a Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest to find it. He then headed straight to your place after that. His target is the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest!”
“What?” the consciousness exclaimed, “What should I do?”
“What about Sir Hei Yuan? Have you reached him?”
“Sir Hei Yuan is on his way, but he’s still far away from the Human. It seems that he can’t arrive in time to stop him.”
“Assemble the Feudal Lords to stall him! We must not let that Human destroy another Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest. Otherwise, it will be a humiliation we can never wipe away! When Sir Hei Yuan reaches there, he’ll easily capture that Human!”
“It’s too late…” The consciousness sounded despondent.
“Why?”
“It seems that Yang Kai has arrived. I can feel the fluctuations of battle outside.”
“How is it possible that he has arrived so soon?” The other consciousnesses were astounded, “Are you sure that Human is there?”
“It’s not a Human. It’s…”
“What are you talking about? What do you see?”
“It’s a monster that’s several tens of thousands of metres long with a humongous spear in its claws. The Feudal Lords can’t block him… it’s heading straight for the Black Ink… Argh!”
The shriek sent a shockwave across the other consciousnesses. Although they were not the ones experiencing the disaster, they could feel how heart-wrenching it must have been for their companion the moment they heard the shriek. Feelings of panic and fear overwhelmed these consciousnesses, causing them to tremble.
The Black Ink Nest’s consciousness was a medium through which one could connect with the other consciousnesses via Divine Sense. Although one could communicate with others swiftly and easily, he had to promptly cut off the connection when he fell into danger; otherwise, his Soul would die following the destruction of the Black Ink Nest. This was an unbearable pain for any living creature.
“This won’t end here!” The consciousness wailed. The message made the entire space descend into despair. The next moment, the consciousness vanished into thin air, as though he had never existed before.
The other consciousness fell into silence in this special space.
Another consciousness tried to contact him, but regardless of how hard he tried, he couldn’t reach the other side.
In the meantime, in a particular Territory Lord’s home territory, a colossal Black Ink Nest was cut down by the Azure Dragon Spear. A violent force caused the entire Black Ink Nest to collapse and countless Black Ink Clansmen lost their lives while the expansive territory shattered.
Those Black Ink Clansmen tried their hardest to repel the enemy, and many attacks of varying power were sent out at the 30,000-metre-long Dragon. Although most of the attacks were weak, they came in massive numbers.
The Golden Dragon Scales on the Dragon trembled upon impact and as its gigantic figure flew across the void, Dragon Blood fell to the ground.
Yang Kai didn’t intend to keep fighting with them. After destroying the Black Ink Nest and killing those who got in his way, he went on to snatch up as many resources as he could before turning around and escaping. A while later, he withdrew his Dragon Form and returned to his Human Form. Following that, he manipulated Space Principles and disappeared from the place with a flicker.
The Black Ink Clansmen dashed out of the broken territory and fearlessly pursued their hated enemy; however, they soon lost track of Yang Kai and could only aimlessly search for him. The Territory Lord’s territory behind them was now in a giant mess.
After a long time of silence, the consciousnesses that had gathered together in the grand space formed from the consciousness of the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest finally started reacting.
One of the consciousnesses said, “Another Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest has been destroyed.”
“We haven’t received any definitive news yet, so it’s too early to say that.”
“The truth is right before our eyes, why else wouldn’t we be able to contact them? You might want to deny it, but you can’t change the fact that a calamity has happened.”
“It was a several tens of thousands of metres long monster with a huge spear in its claws that destroyed the Black Ink Nest? What was it?”
“It’s a Grand Dragon! According to the Black Ink Disciples, a Grand Dragon is a powerful being. Sir Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest was destroyed by that same Grand Dragon. Furthermore, from what I’ve gathered, Yang Kai is not a Human. The Grand Dragon is his true form.”
“I don’t care whether he’s a Human or Grand Dragon, he’s destroyed two Territory Lord Black Ink Nests so far, and I don’t have to remind all of you that before our comrade passed away earlier, he said that ‘it won’t end here’. I’m sure you all know what that means.”
A consciousness asked in horror, “Does that mean that Yang Kai is going to destroy even more Territory Lord Black Ink Nests?”
“In order to repel the Human Army, the Territory Lords have left for the battlefield with their respective Armies. Apart from a few Territory Lords who have remained in the Royal Lord’s territory to guard the Royal City and coordinate other matters, there are no powerful Masters left. Moreover, some of those Territory Lords had to join up with the Royal Lord to fight against the Human Old Ancestor. It’s not surprising that Yang Kai would seize this chance to raise chaos. Although Sir Hei Yuan has been hunting him down, he hasn’t managed to achieve his goal so far. The Human’s next target could be me, or any one of you.”
Upon hearing that, those consciousnesses became apprehensive.
“We can’t pin all our hopes on Sir Hei Yuan. To put it bluntly, if he was able to capture the Human, the second Black Ink Nest wouldn’t have been destroyed. We have to save ourselves.”
“How are you going to do that? That Human is too powerful. We can’t fend him off even if we have a lot of subordinates with us.”
“Regardless of how powerful he is, he is on his own; moreover, he must be injured after destroying two Territory Lord Black Ink Nest. I believe he’ll have to recuperate for some time before acting again, so all of you don’t have to worry. However, once he recovers, he’ll probably make a move again.”
“Do you have a suggestion? Tell us about it.”
The consciousness then told everyone about his plan, and the rest of them nodded in agreement.
Life hadn’t been peaceful in Mu Guang’s Royal Domain recently. First of all, the Royal Lord’s plan that was hundreds of years in the making was derailed by a Human just before its imminent success, flushing all her efforts down the drain. Then, the Old Ancestor of Yin-Yang Pass suddenly appeared in her territory and started a huge fight against her and several Territory Lords. Space shattered and many Black Ink Clan Fiefs were devastated while countless Black Ink Clansmen were killed from the fallout of their battle.
The Human Army from Yin-Yang Pass had also gone all out. The Territory Lords in the Royal Domain had no choice but to lead their own armies to deal with the Humans.
The Black Ink Clansmen who stayed behind had no idea what was going on at the frontline. Usually, they just had to wait patiently; after all, even though the Humans were powerful, they could never break through the Black Ink Clan’s blockade and storm the Royal Domain.
However, there was now a lone Human who was raising all kinds of havoc in the Royal Domain when most of the powerful Black Ink Clansmen were not around. He was the very Human who derailed the Royal Lord’s plan.
This Human wasn’t particularly powerful. According to the classification of the Humans, he was just a Seventh-Order Master, equivalent to a Feudal Lord.
Nevertheless, it was this Seventh-Order Human who threw Mu Guang’s Royal Domain into absolute chaos.
In just half a month, he managed to destroy two Territory Lord Black Ink Nests and killed several tens of thousands of Black Ink Clansmen. Although Hei Yuan was personally hunting him down, he hadn’t achieved his goal so far.
From what they had gathered, this Human could transform into a several tens of thousands of metres long Grand Dragon and wield a gigantic spear in his claws. Once he got close, he could destroy a Territory Lord Black Ink Nest with one strike and shatter the universe fragment it sat on.
The reason he was able to evade Hei Yuan’s pursuit for so long was that he was a Master in the Dao of Space.
With the help of Space Secret Techniques, this Human could move with shocking speed. Even if Hei Yuan was stronger than he was, he couldn’t capture the Human intruder without being able to restrict his movements first.
After destroying two Territory Lord Black Ink Nests, the Human went missing; however, the consciousnesses staying in the Territory Lord Black Ink Nests believed that he was recuperating somewhere. When he fully recovered, he would make a move on another Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
This made the consciousnesses staying in the Territory Lord Black Ink Nests feel anxious as they were worried that one of them would be Yang Kai’s next target.
Black Ink Clansmen were seen thoroughly searching for Yang Kai across the void, leaving no stone unturned.
Nevertheless, they couldn’t find the Human after several days, as though he had vanished into thin air. This made many Black Ink Clansmen suspect that Yang Kai might have left Mu Guang’s Royal Domain.
One day, a team of 2o or so were examining a cluster of thick Black Ink Clouds. From what they had gathered, this Human liked hiding in places like this; therefore, the Black Ink Clouds of different sizes that scattered across the void would be thoroughly inspected. After all, no one knew if he was hiding in a certain Black Ink Cloud, just waiting to catch the nearby Black Ink Clansmen off guard.
After they inspected all of the Black Ink Clouds here though, they still couldn’t find the Human.
Just when the team of Black Ink Clansmen were preparing to leave, the leading High-Rank Clansman detected something and turned to look in a particular direction.
What came into his sight astounded him, for a series of ripples had suddenly appeared in the void. As the ripples expanded, a portal glowing with a faint light abruptly formed.
This High-Rank Black Ink Clansman was a quick-witted person, instantly realised something, and hurriedly ordered, “Hide!”
After he finished speaking, he led his team to charge into the nearest Black Ink Cloud. They concealed themselves and withdrew their auras as best they could as quickly as possible.
As they lifted their gazes, they saw that a portal had fully taken shape. While the ripples continued to expand, a figure appeared all of a sudden.
He was the Human that the Black Ink Clan had been looking for!
The High-Rank Clansman narrowed his eyes and soon realised something. It was no wonder that so many Black Ink Clansmen were unable to find a trace of this Human even after several days of searching, it turned out he had been hiding inside a Sealed World! The portal that suddenly opened up was obviously a portal that led to that Sealed World. Despite the distance between them, the High-Rank Clansman could clearly feel the aura coming from the portal. It was the aura of the World Force that the Black Ink Clan loved the most.
[So, that’s how it is!] Upon figuring out everything, the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman couldn’t help but think that Yang Kai was blessed with luck to have found a Sealed World and hidden inside it.
It seemed that the news they had received was true. Yang Kai had been badly injured when destroying the previous Territory Lord Black Ink Nest and was hiding and recuperating recently.
Although there were over 20 members in the group he led, this High-Rank Black Ink Clansman didn’t dare to make a rash move upon sighting Yang Kai. He knew that this Human was too powerful for them and he and his team were no match for him. Exposing themselves at this point would be no different from committing suicide.
Despite acting swiftly though, Yang Kai, who had just stepped out of the Sealed World, still sensed something and quickly looked in their direction. Apparently, he had realised they were there. As their eyes met, the High-Rank Clansman felt a chill shoot up his spine.
Before he could react, Yang Kai pushed out his palm as his Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm’s World Force burst forth. Without having a chance to resist, the Black Ink Clansmen hiding in the Black Ink Cloud were all instantly killed.
The High-Rank Black Ink Clansman thought that Yang Kai was simply lucky enough to have found a Sealed World to recuperate in, but the truth was that luck only played a part in it. As a Master of the Dao of Space, Yang Kai could easily find Sealed Worlds that the Black Ink Clan hadn’t discovered.
Not only had he been recuperating during this period of time, but he had also picked clean all of the resources in this particular Sealed World.
Although he had already obtained an astonishing harvest from robbing the home territories of two Territory Lords, Yang Kai didn’t mind collecting even more resources.
He was already pleased that he could snatch so much from the Black Ink Clan, and it was even more satisfying that he had also destroyed two Territory Lord Black Ink Nests.
Just like the Black Ink Clan expected, Yang Kai’s next target was still a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
Nevertheless, even though he had killed this search party, another nearby group of Black Ink Clansmen soon noticed what happened. Realising that Yang Kai might have appeared, they quickly spread the word.
By the time everyone found out that Yang Kai had reappeared, he had arrived at a Feudal Lord’s Fief.
With the previous experiences, Yang Kai was already familiar with how to look for the local Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
The Black Ink Clansmen in this Feudal Lord’s Fief were weak, so it only took Yang Kai a little effort to kill them all. He then headed straight to the Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
The moment he entered the central chamber, he opened his Small Universe and let the Black Ink Nest absorb his World Force. With that serving as a bridge, he connected himself with the Black Ink Nest’s consciousness.
Just a moment later, his Divine Sense entered the special space with the Black Ink Nest’s consciousness as the medium.
As usual, there were a lot of consciousnesses in this special space. These consciousnesses represented the Feudal Lords who had their own Fiefs and Black Ink Nests. Many of the Feudal Lords had left for the battlefield to fight against the Humans. Despite that, other Black Ink Clansmen could stay back and guard their Black Ink Nests.
Hence, Yang Kai wasn’t surprised one bit.
However, he soon realised that something was off.
Previously, when he entered this space with his consciousness, the other consciousnesses didn’t pay much attention to him; however, on this day, all the consciousnesses around him appeared hostile to him.
Yang Kai could clearly feel that these consciousnesses were paying close attention to him. Hostility and formidable powers exuded from these consciousnesses.
[Was I exposed?] A thought flashed through Yang Kai’s mind, but he soon realised something. In fact, it wasn’t surprising. He had done the same thing before, so it was expected that the Black Ink Clan had put their guard up.
Nevertheless, since he had the audacity to make a move, he had the confidence to keep himself safe.
The consciousnesses didn’t intend to say anything to Yang Kai. The moment Yang Kai understood all this, however, the special space froze as a restrictive power spread across it, like a Heaven sealing Earth locking array.
Yang Kai instantly appeared surprised, for he had never expected that such a turn of events would happen in this space. With that said, this space was transformed from the consciousness of a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest, so it wasn’t surprising that there were secrets that he wasn’t aware of.
He tried cutting off his connection with the Black Ink Nest, but he realised that it wasn’t possible to do so. The space had been completely sealed up, so unless he could shatter this place’s barriers, he couldn’t possibly withdraw his Divine Sense. If he forcefully tried, his Soul might be damaged.
It seemed that his consciousness had been locked inside this space.
“I’ve been waiting for you!” The moment the space was sealed off, a voice reached him, one that sounded furious and vexed.
Yang Kai could sense that this consciousness gave off a familiar aura. Moreover, this consciousness was unlike the others, it was far more powerful. It was like a crane standing among the chickens.
A doubtful Yang Kai asked, “Hei Yuan?”
The consciousness roared, “I’m glad that you recognise me!”
Yang Kai was astounded, “It’s really you! So, you were waiting for me?”
Hei Yuan replied, “En. I knew that you wouldn’t stop trying to destroy the other Territory Lords’ Black Ink Nests, so I chose one and waited for you. It surprises me that you really came to Kong Chan’s territory. It seems that I’m in luck.”
Yang Kai had no idea who Kong Chan was, but he reckoned that he was the owner of this territory, and a Territory Lord.
The reason Hei Yuan decided to wait here was that Kong Chan’s territory was the closest to the Territory Lord’s territory where the Black Ink Nest was previously destroyed by Yang Kai. He reckoned that Yang Kai would most likely come to this area.
Now, it seemed that his wait was worth it, for Yang Kai had really come to this place. At that instant, Hei Yuan felt slightly less aggrieved.
As a Territory Lord, he was equivalent to an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master; however, he had been trying to hunt Yang Kai down recently, but he couldn’t even find out the latter’s whereabouts. It was expected that he was frustrated.
Having fought with Yang Kai several times, Hei Yuan was now aware that the other man was proficient in the Dao of Space, which could be utilised to swiftly escape from his enemies. That was the reason Yang Kai could always shake off his pursuit.
Presently though, Yang Kai’s consciousness was sealed off in this space. Since he was unable to use his biggest strength, he was basically trapped.
“Keep him alive. Don’t kill him!” Hei Yuan ordered. He still remembered Mu Guang’s order that Yang Kai had to be captured alive so that he could replace Nie An to preside over the construction of Warships. If he killed Yang Kai here, he wouldn’t be able to explain himself to the Royal Lord.
Following his command, the surrounding consciousnesses exuded powerful forces which then blasted at Yang Kai.
Every Territory Lord had a few dozen Feudal Lords who had their own Fiefs, and Kong Chan was no exception. He had about 30 Feudal Lords who had their own Fiefs; therefore, roughly the same amount of consciousnesses belonging to Feudal Lords were here.
If these Feudal Lords came across Yang Kai in their physical bodies, they wouldn’t dare to provoke him; after all, a large number of Feudal Lords were killed by Yang Kai recently. Despite being a Seventh-Order Human, he was more powerful than any Seventh-Order Master they had dealt with before.
However, this space was transformed from the Black Ink Nests’ consciousnesses, so the Feudal Lords didn’t have to directly face Yang Kai. They could achieve their goal simply by confronting Yang Kai’s consciousness.
That was the solution that they came up with after Yang Kai went missing previously. It was a trap targeted specifically at Yang Kai.
This wasn’t the only trap though as similar traps had been set up in every Territory Lord’s territory. In other words, whichever Territory Lord’s territory that Yang Kai headed to, he would fall into the same trap if he dared to make use of the Black Ink Nests.
The only difference was that only Kong Chan’s territory had Hei Yuan assuming command. The other Territory Lord’s territories only had Feudal Lords who were patiently waiting for Yang Kai to show up.
With that said, regardless of whether there was a Territory Lord around or not, as long as Yang Kai stepped into such a trap, he would never be able to run away. He could only escape by defeating all the consciousnesses here, but that was practically impossible.
These consciousnesses exuded powerful forces as a tide of violent energy soon formed in this special space and shot towards Yang Kai like a tsunami.
This became a battle between Souls.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but turn solemn. He had never expected that the Black Ink Clan would deal with him using such a trick, nor was he aware that the space transformed from the Black Ink Nests’ consciousnesses could trap a person’s consciousness inside. Nevertheless, since he had fallen into the trap, he had no choice but to act accordingly.
Fortunately, he was no ordinary Open Heaven Realm Master.
Faced with the tide of powerful attacks, Yang Kai’s consciousness appeared small in comparison. It seemed that he would directly perish the moment the waves struck him.
Hei Yuan, who was watching on the side, couldn’t help but be worried. What if Yang Kai couldn’t withstand this bombardment and was killed directly? It had to be noted that if a consciousness passed away in this space, its body back in the Black Ink Nest would become a Soulless husk. It was just a matter of time before such a person would die.
While Hei Yuan was watching with concern, Yang Kai’s consciousness was drowned in the tide. All of a sudden, an explosive power burst out from Yang Kai’s consciousness and warded off the strike. He was as unshakable as a rock.
An astounded Hei Yuan exclaimed, “Impossible!”
If he were in Yang Kai’s place, he wouldn’t have been able to fend off the joint assault of 30 Feudal Lords. According to his estimation, the best outcome would be that Yang Kai’s consciousness was instantly injured. Once that happened, he would lose the ability to fight. Presently, following Hei Yuan’s order, a large number of Black Ink Clansmen were rushing towards Yang Kai’s real body. As Yang Kai would be unable to flee, they could easily capture him.
However, the sight before Hei Yuan’s eyes was simply unbelievable, for Yang Kai had flawlessly defended himself against all the attacks from the Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses.
How was that even possible? Why was a Seventh-Order Human’s Soul so powerful? Although the Feudal Lords didn’t use their full powers following Hei Yuan’s order, the sight before the latter’s eyes was still inconceivable.
Besides Hei Yuan, these Feudal Lords couldn’t believe their eyes either and they promptly exerted more force with their attacks.
The tide rose again and became even more violent.
Yang Kai’s consciousness was finally affected. Faced with the bombardment of the Black Ink Clansmen, he felt his Spiritual Energy being drained rapidly. He couldn’t endure attacks of such intensity for long.
Fortunately, Yang Kai had obtained the Soul Warming Lotus when he was just a budding cultivator. Over the years, his Soul became much stronger than other cultivators in the same Realm because he had continuous nourishment coming from the Soul Warming Lotus. Furthermore, his Spiritual Energy had increased significantly after he obtained Yu Ru Meng’s Primordial Yin. It had to be noted that Charm Demons were the best when it came to utilising Spiritual Energy, not to mention that Yu Ru Meng was a Demon Saint at the time.
Although he was just a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master now, Yang Kai’s Soul was on par with an Eighth-Order Human Master’s. That was the reason he could ward off the tide of the Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses on his own.
In this space, a consciousness was the manifestation of one’s Soul, so the stronger a person’s Soul was, the stronger they were in this place.
On top of that, most of the Black Ink Clansmen were not experts in using their Souls. However, Yang Kai reckoned that the Royal Lord Secret Technique that was exclusive to the Royal Lords must be a form of Soul Technique.
These Feudal Lords were basically trying to show off meagre skills before an expert by trying to fight Yang Kai with their consciousnesses alone.
With that said, even though he could temporarily defend himself from the bombardment, he couldn’t persevere for long; after all, he couldn’t endure the barrage of attacks forever, regardless of how impenetrable his defence was.
Furthermore, his consciousness was trapped in this special space, so he had no idea what was going on in the outside world. If the Black Ink Clan seized the chance to harm his physical body, he wouldn’t even be able to defend himself.
Therefore, after tentatively defending himself for a moment, he decided to act ruthlessly.
The Black Ink Clansmen, who were ready to channel more of their powers to suppress Yang Kai, suddenly felt chills running down their spines. Before they could figure out what was going on, Yang Kai’s aura flared up.
His powerful consciousness slowly solidified in this special space and turned into a Soul Avatar. What astonished these Feudal Lords was that this Soul Avatar was holding a sabre!
The Feudal Lords were befuddled while Hei Yuan was flabbergasted.
Over the years, they had never seen a consciousness that could take on his true form in this place. The communication between consciousnesses had always been accomplished in a kind of intangible form. How powerful must a person’s Soul be in order to actually take on a visible, almost solid form?
What made them feel despondent was that they had no idea why there was a sabre here. How did Yang Kai bring an artifact to this space where only consciousnesses were supposed to exist? Was this a special skill unique to the Humans?
They had never interacted with the Humans’ consciousnesses before; however, the Black Ink Nests belonged to the Black Ink Clan, so why was a Human in a favourable position in this place?
The Feudal Lords thought that the sabre was an artifact Yang Kai brought to this place, and in fact, they weren’t wrong; however, this weapon was no ordinary artifact.
It was a Soul-type artifact.
It was the Emperor Artifact, Soul Splitting Saber!
This was an artifact that Yang Kai had obtained all the way back when he was still in the Heng Luo Star Field. He was still weak at that time, so this Emperor Artifact was of great help to him when it came to killing his enemies. However, as his strength increased, this Emperor Artifact was no longer useful to him. He simply kept Soul Splitting Saber in his Soul and had not used it for years.
It never crossed his mind that he would use this Emperor Artifact again one day.
Although this Emperor Artifact was too weak compared to his current Realm, it was better than fighting against the Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses with only his raw Spiritual Energy; after all, he was on his own while the Black Ink Clansmen came at him in large numbers.
With the Soul Splitting Saber in hand, Yang Kai felt his murderous intent surging and grinned, “Don’t worry. I’ll make this quick!”
The moment he finished speaking, he brandished his sabre as a cold light slashed across this special space. Yang Kai’s powerful Spiritual Energy allowed the light of the Soul Splitting Saber to fill the entire space.
Following the attack, the consciousnesses of 4 Feudal Lords died in silence.
At the same time, the Feudal Lords, who were respectively in charge of 4 Black Ink Nests in Kong Chan’s territory, collapsed to the ground. Although they were still technically alive, they were now completely immobile.
The destruction of their consciousnesses meant that they wouldn’t survive for long.
The power of the sabre astonished the Feudal Lords. The barrage of attacks, which was the agglomeration of the Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses, instantly weakened. With most of the pressure lifted off, Yang Kai slashed with his sabre again.
This time, the Feudal Lords promptly dodged the attack so only 2 were killed; still, they were shaken to the core after witnessing the power of the sabre twice.
They initially thought that they could easily capture Yang Kai with this trap, but they had never expected that this Human was actually so ferocious. Even though he was in a trap set up by the Black Ink Clan, he was still the one slaughtering them.
Faced with the threat of death, the Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses tried to flee from this place in a hurry; after all, none of them wanted to be killed, especially when Yang Kai was chasing after them with his strange sabre.
To their dismay though, they soon realised that they were unable to leave this place.
The moment Yang Kai’s consciousness barged into this special space, it was completely sealed off. Only Hei Yuan, who was in charge of this place, could open it again.
Apparently, Hei Yuan didn’t have the intention of opening this space. The turn of events not only startled the Feudal Lords, but also Hei Yuan. He had never expected that instead of harming Yang Kai, the trap they had set up in advance became a battlefield where they were the ones being slaughtered.
Nevertheless, he soon came to his senses. Seeing that the Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses were trying to run away from Yang Kai, he roared, “Stand and fight! We must not let him flee this time!”
This chance was hard to come by, and if they let Yang Kai escape, Hei Yuan didn’t have the confidence to trap him again. Regardless of the price he had to pay, he had to defeat and capture Yang Kai today.
The next instant, Hei Yuan took the initiative to charge towards Yang Kai. His consciousness, which was even more powerful than the rest, clashed with Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s consciousness, which had basically replicated his true form, was caught off guard and staggered backwards upon impact while the light around him also dimmed.
The instant Yang Kai was attacked, he responded with his sabre. Hei Yuan’s consciousness promptly backed off, but he couldn’t be as quick as the sabre light.
Struck by the sabre light, Hei Yuan groaned in pain like an injured beast. His powerful consciousness weakened in an instant and it was obvious that he was wounded.
As horror overwhelmed him, thinking that he was doomed, Hei Yuan heard something crack. As his consciousness refocused, he realised that the sabre in the hands of Yang Kai’s Avatar had shattered upon impact.
An elated Hei Yuan roared at the Feudal Lords who were running away, “His weapon has been destroyed! Do not fear!”
Upon hearing that, the Feudal Lords turned around and realised that, just like what Hei Yuan had said, the sabre in Yang Kai’s hands had fallen apart for some reason. In an instant, they become energised.
The consciousnesses were all essentially naked, so the Feudal Lords were stunned when they saw Yang Kai summoning a sabre.
After Hei Yuan was done barking, he madly activated his power and charged towards Yang Kai. Seeing that, the Feudal Lords promptly assisted him.
At that moment, Yang Kai was immensely pressured.
In the end, the Soul Splitting Saber was just an Emperor Artifact. Although it had been nurtured in his Soul over the years, its original quality couldn’t be changed. It couldn’t bear the power of Yang Kai’s Spiritual Energy, so three strikes had been its limit. Therefore, before Yang Kai could kill all of his enemies, the sabre broke apart.
Presently, with Hei Yuan leading the charge, the attacks from the Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses came right at Yang Kai in a continuous manner from all directions. Regardless of how powerful Yang Kai’s Soul was, he couldn’t possibly bear such a bombardment.
Seeing that Yang Kai’s consciousness became immobile, as though it had been suppressed, the Feudal Lords struck their opponent harder, determined to take him down.
Yang Kai was aware that he was in an unfavourable position. It had to be said that the Black Ink Clan had come up with a brilliant method to deal with him. In such a place, Space Principles were practically useless. This was purely a contest of the strength of their Spiritual Energy.
He had to quickly come up with a solution; otherwise, he would be doomed.
At the most critical moment, Yang Kai realised that since he could summon the Soul Splitting Saber to this place, what about the Soul Warming Lotus? The Soul Warming Lotus was a Supreme Treasure, so if he could summon it, there wouldn’t be any suspense regarding the outcome of this battle.
However, he had never summoned the Soul Warming Lotus to fight his enemies before. Usually, he would only counterattack when others attempted to invade his Knowledge Sea, so the idea of summoning it hadn’t crossed his mind.
As he thought about this, a seven-coloured light burst from his figure.
When the Feudal Lords, who were bombarding Yang Kai with their attacks, saw the light, they were bewildered. Hei Yuan had no idea what was going on either, but through his battles with Yang Kai, he came to realise that this Human had all sorts of tricks up his sleeve; therefore, the moment the seven-coloured light appeared, he felt that something was off and promptly shouted, “Take him down, now!”
As soon as he finished speaking, he focused all of his power and charged towards Yang Kai. At this moment, he had no choice but to ignore the Royal Lord’s order that Yang Kai had to be captured alive. Whether Yang Kai could survive this strike would depend on his luck.
Following Hei Yuan’s order, the Feudal Lords wouldn’t dare to hold back any of their strength and madly attacked.
Invisible attacks came right at Yang Kai from all directions and drowned him; however, the seven-coloured light only became brighter and soon filled the space.
The Feudal Lords watched apprehensively while Hei Yuan turned solemn.
A moment later, the storm subsided as the originally noisy space fell silent. A lotus that radiated a light of seven colours abruptly appeared in the place where Yang Kai previously stood. The lotus spun gently, exuding an aura that the Black Ink Clansmen coveted.
“What is that?” One of the puzzled Feudal Lords asked. Although he had no idea what this seven-coloured lotus was, he could clearly feel that it was hugely beneficial to any Black Ink Clansman who could possess it.
“Where is he?” There was another Feudal Lord who was concerned about Yang Kai’s whereabouts. Other than the seven-coloured lotus sitting in the place where Yang Kai previously stood, the Human himself was nowhere in sight.
“I suppose he’s dead. Although he is strong, he couldn’t possibly survive that bombardment.”
“Well done! That Human was too arrogant as he had no regard for us. He deserved his death!”
…..
Besides these Feudal Lords, Hei Yuan also believed that Yang Kai had perished. Yang Kai had indeed showcased powerful Spiritual Energy, but regardless of how formidable he was, he couldn’t possibly stave off the joint attack of all the Feudal Lords and Hei Yuan.
However, if Yang Kai was really killed, how was Hei Yuan going to explain himself to the Royal Lord?
This was giving Hei Yuan a headache. Also, what was this seven-coloured lotus that Yang Kai had left behind?
While he was puzzled, the flower petals of the spinning seven-coloured lotus started to unfurl, and as that happened, a figure revealed itself. Seated among the stamens, this person radiated a vague glow.
Upon making out the person’s face, Hei Yuan was shocked.
That was because not only wasn’t Yang Kai dead, he wasn’t even wounded!
[How can this be?]
He might have been lucky enough to have survived the bombardment of attacks, but how was it possible that he wasn’t injured at all? Could the strange lotus have blocked all their attacks?
Before Hei Yuan could figure it out, Yang Kai’s Soul power burst forth. The power of this Soul was as magnificent as the ocean and as profound as the abyss. As the mass of Spiritual Energy increased in intensity, the special space started trembling.
“It wouldn’t be polite if I didn’t offer a gift in return! Please accept this!”
The moment the clear voice reverberated across the space, clearly discernible Spirit Energy turned into visible sabre lights that pointed in all directions as they hovered above Yang Kai’s head.
Faced with the sabre lights, the Feudal Lords felt chills running down their spines.
As soon as Yang Kai finished speaking, the Spiritual Energy sabre lights shot out in all directions and mercilessly rained down on them.
The Feudal Lords were horrified as they all scrambled to escape or defend themselves.
Nevertheless, their efforts were futile. As the sabre lights swept across the space, half of the Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses were destroyed. Even Hei Yuan was struck by two sabre lights and roared in pain. The surviving Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses all trembled in fear.
Hei Yuan knew that if they let Yang Kai attack again, all of the Black Ink Clansmen here would be killed. Yang Kai’s Soul was unimaginably powerful. Besides that, he had a lot of special offensive skills when it came to the Soul, something that the Black Ink Clan were not aware of previously.
Ignoring his own injuries, Hei Yuan launched another attack in an attempt to turn the tide. Seeing that, some of the Feudal Lords joined in and made a move; however, the incident that took place the next moment sent Hei Yuan into a state of despair.
The attacks of Hei Yuan and the Feudal Lords were all blocked by the seven-coloured lotus. As a result, Yang Kai wasn’t harmed one bit.
Now, Hei Yuan could confirm that the reason Yang Kai was safe earlier was that the latter had this strange seven-coloured lotus. He wondered what kind of treasure it was that could defend against so many Spiritual Energy attacks. Even a Territory Lord like him was unable to hurt Yang Kai despite having personally made a move.
The defensive strength of the seven-coloured lotus was simply impenetrable.
With the protection of the seven-coloured Soul Warming Lotus, Yang Kai had no more worries. As his Spiritual Energy condensed into another attack, he slashed out at the surviving Black Ink Clansmen.
More and more of the Feudal Lords’ were eliminated, and inside the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests in Kong Chan’s territory, numerous bodies passed out and collapsed to the ground. These Feudal Lords no longer reacted regardless of how loud the other Black Ink Clansmen called out to them.
Within moments, fewer than 5 of the original 30 Feudal Lord remained. These consciousnesses were running about madly as Yang Kai relentlessly chased after them, completely powerless to counterattack. Hei Yuan’s aura was also weakening by the breath.
It was not possible to use any kind of technique in a pure clash of Spiritual Energy, so in such a place, it was hard for Hei Yuan to use his formidable strength.
Finally, one of the Feudal Lords shouted, “Sir Hei Yuan, we can’t persevere any longer. Please open this space; otherwise, all of us will die!”
Hei Yuan was unperturbed though, for he firmly believed that the seven-coloured lotus wasn’t as impenetrable as it seemed. He thought that by exerting more force with his attacks, he could shatter the lotus’ defence. However, his goal was still not achieved after so many of the Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses perished.
Regardless, their defeat in this place didn’t mean that the Black Ink Clan had lost. They still had a chance to turn things around.
That was because the moment Yang Kai entered this space through the Black Ink Nest’s power, Hei Yuan managed to ascertain his whereabouts.
This could be achieved easily, for Yang Kai made use of a Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest to come into this space. Just by finding out which Black Ink Nest it was, Hei Yuan could effortlessly discover where Yang Kai was.
After all, the Fiefs and Black Ink Nests of the Feudal Lords were fixed.
Therefore, the moment Yang Kai’s consciousness entered this space, Hei Yuan ordered more than 10 Feudal Lords to rush over to Yang Kai’s location.
Hei Yuan’s initial plan was to damage Yang Kai’s consciousness so that this team could easily capture him in a weakened state.
However, things were not going to plan. Not only was Yang Kai not injured, but he had also made use of a seven-coloured lotus to commit a massacre. They were not in a favourable position in this special space, so it was inevitable that so many Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses were wiped out.
Nevertheless, as long as Yang Kai’s consciousness was trapped here, he couldn’t return to his body, and the team that Hei Yuan had sent would soon capture Yang Kai.
That was the reason Hei Yuan refused to open this space despite the fact that so many Feudal Lords were injured or dead.
There was still a ray of hope for them to turn things around.
With that said, regardless of how swift the team of Feudal Lords were, it would take them at least four hours to arrive at the Black Ink Nest where Yang Kai was located.
Could Hei Yuan persevere for another four hours?
He had no idea, but he knew that there were not a lot of Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses left. Once they were all dead, he would have to face Yang Kai alone.
Despite the fact that a lot of Feudal Lords were killed, Hei Yuan continuously channelled his power to attack the seven-coloured lotus in the hope that he could shatter its defence.
There was no doubt that the outcome was disappointing for him, as the Seven-Coloured Soul Warming Lotus was so impregnable that even a Territory Lord like him couldn’t hope to destroy it.
Shrieks were heard reverberating across this special space, each one representing the demise of a Feudal Lord’s consciousness.
Hei Yuan felt his heart sinking.
When the last Feudal Lord’s consciousness died, Yang Kai slowly turned around. While standing on the Seven-Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, he stared dispassionately at Hei Yuan’s consciousness.
The tide of Spiritual Energy swirled around Yang Kai like a violent storm.
“You’re the only one left, Hei Yuan. Are you ready to die?” Yang Kai stepped towards his enemy, the Seven-Coloured Soul Warming Lotus following closely.
Hei Yuan roared, “You’ll pay for underestimating me!”
Despite the ferocity in his tone, it was apparent that he was just acting tough. Just now, he had joined forces with more than 30 Feudal Lords, but they still couldn’t hurt Yang Kai at all. Instead, they were the ones that were wiped out. More than 30 Feudal Lords had died, and he was the only one left now, so how was he supposed to be a match for Yang Kai?
The only thing he could do was to stall for time so that the team he had sent could capture Yang Kai.
After a sneer, Yang Kai said, “Let’s see how you’re going to make me pay then!”
Upon finishing his words, he drove the Soul Warming Lotus to charge towards Hei Yuan.
A flustered Hei Yuan promptly ran away.
While relentlessly chasing after him, Yang Kai mocked him by saying, “Didn’t you say you’ll make me pay the price? Is this how you do it? It’s an eye-opener for me, Sir Hei Yuan!”
Hei Yuan was thoroughly ashamed and had the urge to stop in his tracks and fight it out with Yang Kai, but he didn’t have the courage to do so. His consciousness was already wounded after the exchanges of moves with Yang Kai. If his injuries were exacerbated, he would have to get into a Black Ink Nest and recuperate for a long time.
Therefore, he did his best to avoid fighting with Yang Kai so that he wouldn’t get hurt.
Yang Kai wasn’t a fool, so he soon realised what the other man was trying to achieve, “Are you stalling for time?”
Certainly, Hei Yuan wouldn’t respond to him, but his silence only confirmed Yang Kai’s speculations. After giving it a thought, he figured out the other man’s plan, “If I’m not mistaken, there should be some Black Ink Clansmen coming to capture me. Am I right?”
Hei Yuan finally responded, saying, “You can’t flee. Surrender without a fight now.”
Yang Kai sneered, “We’ll talk if you can survive.”
Upon figuring out Hei Yuan’s plan, Yang Kai certainly wouldn’t waste any time on him. He was worried that his physical body would be harmed by the Black Ink Clansmen coming to attack him, so he exerted even more force with his attacks. Although Hei Yuan was trying to dodge, it was hard for him to do so.
Left with no choice, he had to exchange moves with Yang Kai several times, which resulted in his aura weakening even further. On the other hand, with the protection of the Soul Warming Lotus, Yang Kai became increasingly ferocious, abandoning all semblance of defence and only attacking.
Barely an incense stick later, Hei Yuan realised that he could no longer persevere.
His consciousness was badly wounded. It would take him several hundred years to heal this kind of injury. If he clashed with Yang Kai again, his consciousness would be destroyed, just like what happened to the Feudal Lords.
Despite his unwillingness, there was nothing else he could do. He had paid a huge price, losing more than 30 Feudal Lords and suffering horrible injuries himself; however, he still hadn’t managed to capture one Seventh-Order Human like Yang Kai.
This was the biggest humiliation in his life.
Nevertheless, things had come to such a point where he could no longer turn things around. If Hei Yuan still didn’t give up, he would be killed by Yang Kai before the team of Feudal Lords he sent could capture him.
Therefore, at the last moment, he promptly decided to escape.
Just as Yang Kai dashed forward with his violent tide of Spiritual Energy, he realised that Hei Yuan was nowhere in sight. At the same time, this special space, which had been locked since his arrival, was reopened.
[He ran away!] Yang Kai ground his teeth, thinking that it was such a shame. If he could keep fighting with Hei Yuan, he had the confidence to kill the latter’s consciousness. Unfortunately, Hei Yuan was the one who could decide whether he would open up the space, and he didn’t give Yang Kai a chance to kill him.
Killing a Territory Lord would be a huge contribution. By doing so, not only could it significantly weaken the Black Ink Clan’s power, but it could also reduce the possible casualties of the Human soldiers on the battlefield.
Although Yang Kai had killed a Territory Lord before, he had joined forces with Bai Yi at that time to do so, and Zhu Feng, the Territory Lord in question, was already badly injured. Despite that, it had still been a perilous situation. In the end, Yang Kai managed to deal a lethal blow to Zhu Feng only by resorting to his Dragon Bead.
The chance to fight with Hei Yuan this time was rare, and it was impossible to have such a chance again.
However, even though Hei Yuan had fled, it wasn’t like Yang Kai had achieved nothing.
When he was dealing with Hei Yuan just now, he managed to ascertain his whereabouts. If he raced after him now, he might be able to kill him.
Therefore, the instant Yang Kai realised that Hei Yuan had fled, he quickly retracted his consciousness and dashed out of the Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
It was silent all around him with no Black Ink Clansmen in sight, so he turned to look in a particular direction and shot into the sky.
As Space Principles undulated, Yang Kai charged forward swiftly.
About an hour later, he saw a group of Black Ink Clansmen rushing over in his direction. What surprised him was that this team was entirely composed of Feudal Lords, about a dozen in total.
This was obviously unusual.
The strongest Black Ink Clansmen had left to deal with the Human Army from Yin-Yang Pass, and although there were still a lot who stayed back, and Yang Kai had come across many of them recently, it was the first time he saw a group that consisted of only Feudal Lords.
This powerful team was obviously tasked with capturing Yang Kai.
Was this the arrangement Hei Yuan had made? When Yang Kai was dealing with Hei Yuan earlier, these Feudal Lords must have been heading in his direction. Unfortunately, they came too late as the battle in the special space had ended long ago. They were still on their way when Yang Kai happened to run into them.
It seemed that Hei Yuan was really located in that direction.
While Yang Kai had discovered the team of Feudal Lords, the other party had certainly seen him as well. These Feudal Lords, who were moving at full speed, were flabbergasted as they stopped in their tracks and got ready to fight.
Recently, Yang Kai had sent a shockwave across the Black Ink Clan. All the teams that had come across Yang Kai were destroyed. Although they were all Feudal Lords, they still didn’t have the confidence to defeat Yang Kai here.
However, this Human’s consciousness was supposed to be trapped inside the Black Ink Nest’s network, and they just had to go over and capture his body. So, why was he here? Had Hei Yuan failed in his attempt to injure this Human in that special space?
Before these Feudal Lords could figure it out, Yang Kai was seen turning into a ray of light and charging towards them.
Before he even arrived, his spear turned into countless shadows.
The instant both parties clashed, the Feudal Lords exclaimed and grunted, feeling that the violent force had torn their defences apart. In an instant, they were all blown backwards.
Yang Kai directly moved past them and left this place without turning his head, soon disappearing from sight.
The place was in a mess as black blood and Black Ink Strength scattered everywhere. The Feudal Lords looked around with horrified expressions. Three of them were killed by Yang Kai in the blink of an eye, and the rest were injured.
It seemed that this Human was even more powerful than they had heard.
The surviving Feudal Lords were glad that Yang Kai didn’t intend to kill them. They had no idea why he was in a hurry as he only attacked them once and left; otherwise, all of them would’ve lost their lives.
One of the Feudal Lords suddenly realised something, “Is he after Sir Hei Yuan?”
When the Feudal Lords heard that, a myriad of expressions came over them. Even if that was true, there was nothing they could do. Now, they could only hope that Hei Yuan could capture that Human; otherwise, all the Black Ink Clansmen in Mu Guang’s Royal Domain would be humiliated.
It only took Yang Kai another hour to rush over to a certain Feudal Lord’s Fief.
The Feudal Lords guarding this Fief were startled upon seeing Yang Kai, and before they could figure out what was going on, they were easily killed.
When the only two Feudal Lords were dead, the other Black Ink Clansmen in the Fief certainly wouldn’t be able to counterattack.
Yang Kai directly barged into the Black Ink Nest and searched around, but Hei Yuan was nowhere in sight. However, some of Hei Yuan’s aura was left in the chamber inside the Black Ink Nest, which suggested that he had been here not long ago.
After dashing out of the Black Ink Nest, Yang Kai caught a horrified High-Rank Black Ink Clansman by the throat and asked in a grim voice, “Where’s Hei Yuan?”
The High-Rank Black Ink Clansman breathed out a puff of Black Ink Strength in an attempt to corrupt Yang Kai, but an unperturbed Yang Kai simply exerted more force with his hand and broke the other party’s neck. He then caught another Black Ink Clansman and asked, “Where’s Hei Yuan?”
Having witnessed what happened just now, the Black Ink Clansman replied in horror, “I have no idea where Sir Hei Yuan went! He left in a hurry just now!”
“In what direction did he head?”
The Black Ink Clansman quickly pointed in a particular direction.
Yang Kai tossed him away, and by the time the Black Ink Clansman landed, he had lost his life.
In the meantime, Yang Kai shot into the sky and raced after Hei Yuan.
Since Hei Yuan had fled, it suggested that he was badly injured, and he had speculated that Yang Kai would come for him; otherwise, he wouldn’t have immediately run away after leaving the special space. Although Yang Kai had promptly pursued, he was still too late.
Even if Yang Kai chased after Hei Yuan now, he might not be able to find him as the void was too vast. He also wouldn’t have any solution if Hei Yuan was determined to hide.
However, he wouldn’t want to miss this rare chance. It would be best if he could kill Hei Yuan, but there was nothing he could do if he couldn’t find him.
One day later, Yang Kai stopped in his tracks somewhere in the void.
Although he had searched around a large area for the entire day, he still hadn’t discovered Hei Yuan’s whereabouts. He felt that it was such a shame.
With that said, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for him.
Most of the Black Ink Clansmen had left Mu Guang’s Royal Domain to fight with the Humans from Yin-Yang Pass, so there were not a lot of them left in this place. The Territory Lords who stayed back had to assist Mu Guang to deal with the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass, so they wouldn’t have time to hunt Yang Kai down.
Previously, he had to put his guard up as Hei Yuan was relentlessly pursuing him. Now that Hei Yuan had gone into hiding though, no one else in Mu Guang’s Royal Domain could restrain him.
In other words, Yang Kai could basically go anywhere in this Royal Domain. Given his mastery of the Dao of Space, he wouldn’t fall into danger as long as he was cautious enough.
At the thought of this, he turned to look in a particular direction and grinned.