“Stop spouting so much rubbish,” Ding Yao glared at him and rebuked, “This person is a newcomer to the Black Ink Battlefield. While it’s true they are an Eighth-Order Master, they aren’t well-versed in fighting. Since this person is someone who is still not used to the Black Ink Battlefield yet, I’ve tasked you to be this person’s escort.”
“Someone new!” Yang Kai’s heart started to race, “From the 3,000 Worlds?”
Ding Yao nodded, “That’s right.”
He then added meaningfully, “Perhaps there’ll be someone you know. So, would you like to go?”
“Yes, of course,” Yang Kai responded decisively. If it was just picking up someone, it wasn’t a difficult task. Though, it was still somewhat pointless for him to escort such a person all the way here, it would still be interesting to meet this newcomer.
Since Ding Yao said that it might be someone he knew, Yang Kai was eager to meet them. Even if it wasn’t an old acquaintance, more than 100 years had passed since he came to this Black Ink Battlefield, so this was a chance to see if there were any new changes in the Star Boundary and Void Land after he left.
Similarly, Yang Kai understood that the dispatch of an Eighth-Order Division Commander for this kind of small matter was wasteful; after all, there were only a handful of people in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm and each of them had their own important tasks which kept them perpetually busy. Thus, such matters were best left to those in the Seventh Order.
Even among those in the Seventh Order, Yang Kai’s strength was obvious to all. He was also the one who set up the new Universe Arrays; thus, it was certainly much more convenient to have him personally lead the way, which was probably the biggest reason why Ding Yao tasked him to do so.
“In that case, I’ll leave this to you. Take note of the time. The newcomers should arrive in a few days. For now, get back to the Pass,” Ding Yao waved his hand.
Yang Kai cupped his fist and turned to leave.
First, he went back to the place where Dawn was stationed and told Feng Ying about his mission. He also informed her that he should be back in time for the next hunting mission. If not, she should just take the Squad out without him, which Feng Ying agreed to.
Since he had nothing to prepare before the trip to the pass, Yang Kai immediately activated the Universe Transference Law. He focused on the Universe Array of Blue Sky Pass, and it was not long before light engulfed him starting from his feet.
Usually, those in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm would find it impossible to directly teleport from the forward base to Blue Sky Pass as the distance was too great. The stress of transiting that far through the Void would more than likely crush an ordinary Seventh-Order Master, hence the two Universe Arrays arranged between them to serve as waypoints.
Since Yang Kai was proficient in the Dao of Space, however, he could mitigate such effects.
Space Principles fluctuated, and Yang Kai reappeared inside Blue Sky Pass. With the mission in mind, he directly headed to the Western Army’s Headquarters to greet Zhong Liang.
“Sir, Sir Ding asked me to come back to welcome a newcomer, are they here yet?”
Zhang Liang shook his head and replied, “Not yet, but news has already arrived a few days ago. Well, as you know, it’s not easy for those from the 3,000 Worlds to come here, so just wait for the time being.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Can you tell me who this is?”
“People coming from the 3,000 Worlds are all arranged by the Cave Heavens and Paradises, we are only responsible for receiving them. We don’t know exactly how many people are coming, or which Sects they are from. Just that they will be sent over from the No-Return Pass.”
Yang Kai gritted his teeth. He couldn’t help but hold some anticipation.
It seemed there was more than one person arriving, so he couldn’t help wondering if there were any newcomers from the Star Boundary or Void Land among them. There were also a lot of Open Heaven Realm Masters on the Star Boundary and Void Land; thus, it would be normal if some were assigned to the Black Ink Battlefield. However, neither the Star Boundary nor Void Land were part of the Cave Heavens and Paradises; thus, according to long-standing practice, they were not eligible to set foot onto the Black Ink Battlefield.
Although he had been in the Black Ink Battlefield for over 100 years, and had also fought in two different Theatres, even infiltrating the Black Ink Clan’s territory twice, Yang Kai still didn’t know much about a variety of things. One such thing was how the 3,000 Worlds assigned reinforcements to the Black Ink Battlefield.
Since there was nothing for him to do, Yang Kai decided to ask Zhong Liang.
Zhong Liang explained, “Basically every 100 years, the Cave Heavens and Paradises will dispatch some people to reinforce the Great Passes. The number of people sent varies, as a lot can happen in 100 years. Even so, as you know, every time we fight against the Black Ink Clan, it will always result in casualties. Though not many, they accumulate over time. Eventually, if there are too many casualties, and few left to defend our lines, wouldn’t the Great Passes fall? So, regular reinforcements from the Cave Heavens and Paradises are a necessity.”
This was also the reason why Yang Kai used to think that Cave Heavens and Paradises were not worthy of their reputations, as the forces they showcased in the 3,000 Worlds did not seem as imposing as they should have been. One would expect the Cave Heavens and Paradises, with their extremely long histories and deep foundations, coupled with the long lifespans of cultivators in the Open Heaven Realm, to slowly amass an enormous number of Open Heaven Realm Masters. However, when Yang Kai visited a few of them in the past, the number of Open Heaven Realm Masters he saw in the Cave Heavens and Paradises was not as numerous as he had anticipated.
Now, everything made sense; after all, these top forces had been sending the vast majority of their strongest Masters to the Black Ink Battlefield over the years.
“The reinforcements will first be gathered at the No-Return Pass, then they will be dispatched from there to the various Great Passes. This is done to ensure the integrity of each Great Pass. The number of people dispatched to each Pass will depend on the loss and demand of the Great Pass itself. Take this time as an example. Our Blue Sky Pass’ losses during the recent crusade were not small; so, there should be more reinforcements who’ll be assigned to us. Furthermore, because of the forward base, there will be a need for many people with a variety of skill sets. This was the requirement of Blue Sky Pass, which we put forward to 3,000 Worlds to meet. Well, I think news of what we have accomplished so far would make them feel gratified.”
Yang Kai nodded in understanding, thought for a while, and then asked, “There should still be many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in each Cave Heaven and Paradise’s headquarters. Since the 3,000 Worlds are essentially stable, why not transfer more of them to the Black Ink Battlefield? That way, we’ll be able to overwhelm the Territory Lords with superior numbers. It should not be that difficult to do, right?”
Zhong Liang answered with a smile, “It’s not difficult, of course. The Cave Heavens and Paradises have strong foundations and heritages, so it certainly won’t be a problem to get a few more Eighth-Order Masters assigned here, but have you thought through what that would mean? Would there be any decisive change if we really did as you said? There is currently no way to completely eradicate the Black Ink Clan, so what is the use of this small advantage? Before you brought us the Purifying Light, the Human Race was basically powerless to resist the corrosion of Black Ink Strength. Many had to sacrifice pieces of their Small Universes to protect themselves. We have fought against the Black Ink Clan for so long, so what we want is not a small advantage to give us a more favourable position, but rather a way to completely eradicate the Black Ink Clan. Before we find a way to do that, maintaining the current balance is the best option.”
Yang Kai pondered over what he said before nodding in agreement.
Zhong Liang exhaled lightly, “Our crusade this time was not only an experiment, but also a campaign to provide hope. If what we are doing works out well, in the next 100 to 1,000 years, we Humans will be able to continue to reduce whatever available territory the Black Ink Clan has. Eventually, we will be able to find a way to completely wipe them out. This is definitely a long-term goal, and it might even take several generations to accomplish. Even so, we will do it.”
Zhong Liang would have never said these things to other Seventh-Order Masters, but with Yang Kai, it was different. His arrival changed the whole landscape of Black Ink Battlefield and his contributions alone made him qualified to understand the plans of the higher-ups.
“When the day comes, all the top Masters from the Cave Heavens and Paradises will be sent to the No-Return Pass. At that time, what do you think will happen to the Black Ink Clan?”
Yang Kai imagined the scene, where the hidden Masters of the Cave Heavens and Paradises all came out in force. The thought drew his imagination as he said, “They’ll be in for an unpleasant surprise.”
…
Inside the Grand Hall, where the Hyper Space Array was located, Yang Kai sat cross-legged as his heart started pounding.
His conversation with Zhong Liang made him understand one thing: Since he was not in that high of a position, he failed to see the grand scheme of things. What he was thinking about was how to win the battles in front of him. Meanwhile, what those at the top were thinking about was how to win the War and completely annihilate the Black Ink Clan. It was a distinct difference of perspective.
It’s not that he was short-sighted; after all, he was in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm. He was the leader of a Squad, and had been in the Black Ink Battlefield for more than 100 years so he could not be called inexperienced. Even so, how could he possibly be compared to people like Zhong Liang and the others who had been fighting this war for thousands of years?
Thus, now, it was made clear. It was not that the Cave Heavens and Paradises could not send more Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters to gain an advantage over the Black Ink Clan. They were just accumulating strength, preparing to give Black Ink Clan a fatal blow when the time came.
Blue Sky Pass’ Expeditionary Force had taken a crucial step in that direction. The crusade was a bold attempt to change the course of the war, and if all went well, one day in the near future, all the Great Passes would be able to form large-scale Expeditionary Forces and send them out to crusade. They would finally be able to suppress the Black Ink Clan, until it was uprooted entirely.
“There are signs of activity,” one of the people guarding the Grand Array suddenly shouted.
Yang Kai raised his eyes and looked ahead. He saw that the Grand Array, which had been silent for several days, suddenly lit up. It hummed gently, and there were obvious Space Principle fluctuations coming out of it.
That was a clear sign that the Grand Array had been activated, which was what Yang Kai had been waiting for.
The No-Return Pass was the only gateway to the 3,000 Worlds, and it was also the transit point for those in the 3,000 Worlds to enter the Black Ink Battlefield. As such, a Hyper Space Array was arranged there which could connect to all the Great Passes. These were all set up by ancient Great Experts who were simply incomparable to today’s cultivators.
With the Hyper Space Arrays set up by such experts, ultra-long-distance teleportation could be done without worrying about one’s life. However, the consumption of materials would be extremely large; thus, between the Great Passes, they tried not to unnecessarily send people over. In most cases, they would teleport some jade slips as a means to communicate with the other Great Passes.
Under the gaze of the many cultivators guarding the Grand Array, a dazzling light suddenly filled their eyes. From it, a faint figure appeared.
Yang Kai immediately felt an aura of someone in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, but to his surprise, this aura was faintly familiar to him.
As the light faded, Yang Kai discovered that there were already at least 100 people standing on the Grand Array, many of them appearing dizzy and disoriented as they had obviously not recovered from the ultra-long-distance teleportation. Although the arrangements of the ancient Great Experts were enough to allow them to teleport here safely, there were still some drawbacks to doing so.
Immediately, Blue Sky Pass’ men, who had been prepared ahead of time, stepped forward and all kinds of Secret Techniques were activated to help alleviate the sequelae of these 100 or so people.
It took just a moment for the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master to shake his head and focus his eyes. In the end, he was an Eighth-Order Master whose strength was incomparable to the rest who still needed some time to recover from the dizziness.
Yang Kai suppressed his excitement, stepped forward, and saluted, “Grand Master’s noble bearing is still the same as ever, even after so many years.”
Ding Yao’s words had been prophetic, as Yang Kai really knew someone who came here this time.
He was a remnant of Great Evolution Paradise, Grandmaster Ma Fan.
Yang Kai had dealt with him plenty of times. The first time was when he went to ask about refining Array Artifacts for Void Land’s Grand Array. At that time, the Proprietress took him to Grandmaster Ma Fan. Later, Ma Fan helped him improve the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors. He even passed the Great Evolution Paradise’s Good Fortune Divine Furnace to Yang Kai. Afterwards, many of the remnants from Great Evolution Paradise, led by Grandmaster Ma Fan, went to the Star Boundary to open a Dao Temple. They did this in an attempt to revive the former glory.
Thus, they were old acquaintances.
Ma Fan, who had recently broken through to the Eighth Order, was clearly a Great Grandmaster in Artifact Refining now. It should be said that those who were Great Grandmasters were all Eighth-Order Masters, equivalent to Dong Guo An Ping from Divine Cauldron Cave Heaven whom Yang Kai was acquainted with.
“Yang Boy!” Grandmaster Ma Fan looked surprised, clearly never having anticipated he would meet Yang Kai here of all places.
More than 100 years ago, Yang Kai dove into a Void Corridor and never came back. Without any news, whether he was even alive or dead was unknown. Nonetheless, his disappearance and sacrifice were no secret in the 3,000 Worlds; after all, many were present when he went to seal the Void Corridor.
Furthermore, although the Black Ink Battlefield could pass some news back to 3,000 Worlds, matters related to Yang Kai were still only known to a few top officials within the Cave Heavens and Paradises. Thus, Grandmaster Ma Fan was not aware that he was here. When he came to the Black Ink Battlefield, he never expected to see Yang Kai.
It was natural that upon seeing an old friend, they were both overjoyed.
Suddenly, Grandmaster Ma Fan’s face cramped up as he said, “Yang Boy, find me an open space, this old man can’t hold them in any longer.”
Yang Kai wondered, “Hold them in? Hold who in?”
Grandmaster Ma Fan snickered, “You don’t think it’s just us, right? There are more in my Small Universe.”
Yang Kai instantly understood what he meant. For those that were transported here, except for one Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like Grandmaster Ma Fan, the rest were all in the Seventh-Order.
Since teleporting from the No-Return Pass to any of the Great Passes required a massive amount of resources, the High-Rank Masters would all store those in the Mid-Rank inside their Small Universes in order to save on consumption.
The No-Return Pass had always done it like this. Since Yang Kai came to the Black Ink Battlefield through an unconventional method, he had no experience in this; thus, in his moment of elation, he forgot how people normally travelled through Hyper Space Arrays.
After realising his mistake, he quickly led the way.
Not long after, they arrived at the square where Yang Kai had first stepped into when he initially arrived at Blue Sky Pass. This was also where the first Purifying Black Ink Battleship had been built.
The square was huge. During the non-war period, the soldiers liked to exchange pointers here; thus, this place was often full of people, but now, it was empty. After all, most of the soldiers of Blue Sky Pass had been moved to the forward base, leaving only a small contingent behind.
In the meantime, everyone dispersed and kept a distance from the newcomers. Then their Small Universes opened, and from the various portals, numerous figures walked out, one after another.
They were all in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm!
Yang Kai initially thought that there would not be too many newcomers arriving at Blue Sky Pass, a few hundred at most. However, when the hundreds of portals were opened, with Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters continuously pouring out, he realised that his initial assumption was wrong.
Grandmaster Ma Fan’s Small Universe alone could accommodate more than 40 people, while others in the Seventh Order, whose Small Universes were not as large as his, could only hold a dozen or so people.
After everyone came out, Yang Kai was surprised to find that there were over 1,000 newcomers this time!
That was a huge number. Furthermore, everyone here was in the Sixth Order and above. In other words, the Cave Heavens and Paradises had sent at least 10 cultivators at or above the Sixth Order each, and that was not even counting the reinforcements sent to the other Great Passes!
Which Sect in the 3,000 Worlds could do this? Which force had such an immeasurable heritage? Even in Void Land and the Star Boundary, how many Sixth-Order or Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were there now? In fact, even if the whole Void Land and the Star Boundary were hollowed out, they would not be able to provide such a force.
This just went to show how powerful and deep the heritages of the Cave Heavens and Paradises were.
A stream of light suddenly shot over from somewhere in Blue Sky Pass before coming to a hover above the square. It was none other than Zhong Liang.
Everyone looked up, and Zhong Liang nodded lightly before saying out loud, “You have come from afar. This is Blue Sky Pass, and this Zhong is the Western Army Commander.”
Everyone saluted in unison, and Zhong Liang returned the salute and continued, “You are from different Cave Heavens and Paradises, and all of you were elites in your respective Sects, but the Black Ink Battlefield is different from 3,000 Worlds! You need to remember that no matter which Cave Heaven or Paradise you came from, after you set foot into Blue Sky Pass, none of that matters anymore. You are all Blue Sky Pass soldiers here, and we have only one enemy, the Black Ink Clan. All those who are here now, and the ancestors who came before us, have sacrificed our blood, sweat, and even lives in this empty place to prevent the Black Ink Clan from invading the 3,000 Worlds. Countless have fallen on this battlefield for countless years, and the next one may be me, or it may be one of you, but as long as the Cave Heavens and Paradises stand, the Black Ink Clan will never step into 3,000 Worlds, “
“You are all from Cave Heavens and Paradises, so before you left, the Elders of your respective Sects must have warned you about all of this. Blue Sky Pass and the Black Ink Battlefield have many things you will gradually need to become familiar with. This Zhong will give you one piece of advice now, and I hope you will remember it in your hearts, ‘Survive. No matter what, do not give up.’ I say this from the bottom of my heart, and truly hope you will keep it in mind at all times.”
“Now, this Zhong still has responsibilities to attend to, so it is not convenient for me to remain here. Yang Kai, take them to register themselves and make preparations.”
“Yes!” Yang Kai bowed.
Zhong Liang turned and left.
It was not troublesome to register in Blue Sky Pass, but it took some time for over 1,000 people to go through this process. As the only Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master among the newcomers, Grandmaster Ma Fan was naturally the first to register.
After receiving his Identity Token, he went to Yang Kai and handed him a jade slip, “This is what your Wives had asked me to pass to you.”
Yang Kai reached out and took it solemnly, “Many thanks.”
Grandmaster Ma Fan snorted, “It’s understandable for someone young to be rather unscrupulous, but brat, you really have gone a little too far.”
Yang Kai smiled awkwardly, without defending himself as he took the jade slip. He scanned it using his Divine Sense and his expression gradually softened.
There was nothing really special in the jade slip, just a few words from his loved ones. The first one was written by Yu Ru Meng, the Charm Demon Saint, then it was Xia Ning Chang, Xue Yue, Ji Yao, Qu Hua Shang, and Tao Ling Wan’s turn. They each only wrote a sentence or two at most.
Yu Ru Meng was as hot-tempered as ever as she snapped, “If you dare to die outside, I will take my Sisters and have them all remarry!”
Little Senior Sister was much gentler, “Junior Brother, you must take care of yourself when you are outside. The most important thing is to make sure you protect yourself.”
The seductress from Yin-Yang Cave Heaven was bold as usual, “If you are lonely outside, you can find a Senior Sister from Yin-Yang Heaven to discuss the Dao of ‘Yin and Yang’. Make sure you don’t look for someone else from some other place, okay?”
All this made Yang Kai smile and warm his heart.
There were no messages from Su Yan, Zhu Qing and Shan Qing Luo in the jade slip. Obviously, they are still in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land, and did not know much about what was happening in the outside world.
After reading the jade slip over and over again, Yang Kai held it tightly to his chest and asked, “Great Master, how is the situation over in the 3,000 Worlds?”
Grandmaster Ma Fan casually remarked, “Things are as usual. Those who are unaware remain the same, calm and stagnant, but those in the know are all aware that there is currently a huge undercurrent surging under the seemingly calm surface. I don’t really need to say much about other things, just the influence of your Star Boundary alone is huge. It is truly deserving of its reputation as an Open Heaven Realm Cradle. Countless geniuses have emerged from the Star Boundary over the years, and every Cave Heaven and Paradise has gained a lot. In the eyes of those great forces not in the know, the top great forces are just expanding their influence and getting stronger; however, only those of us aware of the truth understand that everything is done in preparation for the war against the Black Ink Clan. So, we need to cultivate more people with greater strength. Still, the one that gained the most is not the Cave Heavens and Paradises, but your High Heaven Palace.”
Yang Kai suddenly became interested, “How so?”
Grandmaster Ma Fan explained, “High Heaven Palace is the greatest native Sect of the Star Boundary, and with how the Great Emperors there have turned the tide and saved the whole world not once, but twice, all natives of the Star Boundary recognise it. Many remain unaware, or simply cannot comprehend how great the Cave Heavens and Paradises are, so in the end, High Heaven Palace is still the best place in their eyes, and many of them still choose to worship under its banner. With so many genius disciples having been taught by strong Elders since birth, if this trend continues, after a few thousand years, your High Heaven Palace will be able to stand on equal footing with the Cave Heavens and Paradises, “
Yang Kai smiled and said, “That’s still a long way from now. Who can clearly say what will happen over such a great span of time.”
Grandmaster Ma Fan nodded and said, “It is said that fate is full of uncertainties, and no one can say what will be until it is. If it was in the past, High Heaven Palace would definitely not be allowed to exist by the Cave Heavens and Paradises. It’s not that they are intolerant and greedy, but rather that so many excellent disciples could not be taken away by one Sect. Each of them wants to cultivate more elite disciples to fight against the Black Ink Clan. Even so, they will not move against your Sect. After all, your Wives are now Direct Disciples of various different powerful Ancestors. Each of them has someone powerful standing behind them, giving them close relationships with several Cave Heavens and Paradises. What’s more, now that you, High Heaven Palace’s Palace Master, have entered the Black Ink Battlefield, and the higher-ups of High Heaven Palace are themselves aware of the real situation, no one wants to hinder its development, which has paved a smooth road for its growth.”
Yang Kai nodded happily. Before he set off from Black Territory to the Black Ink Battlefield, several of his Wives were indeed taken in as Direct Disciples of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Masters. Among them, Xue Yue became a Disciple of Golden Antelope Paradise’s Liu Mu. Yu Ru Meng became a Disciple of Myriad Demons Heaven’s Mo Sha. Xia Ning Chang became a Disciple of Divine Medicine Heaven’s Zi Yu. Ji Yao became a Disciple of Great Battle Heaven’s Pi Li. Meanwhile, Qu Hua Shang and Tao Ling Wan, needless to say, were part of Yin-Yang Cave Heaven and held strong positions within their Sect.
The reason why these Eighth-Order Masters took them as Disciples was not just due to their aptitude; after all, there were countless geniuses in their own Cave Heavens or Paradises. Their aptitudes might be the same or even better than his Wives, so the main reason why they took them on was because Yang Kai was going to sacrifice himself for the peace and stability of the 3,000 Worlds. Thus, they wanted to give Yang Kai some form of reassurance. It was to indicate that even if something were to happen once he entered that Void Corridor back then, his Wives would be taken care of, and by extension, High Heaven Palace and Void Land would be protected. In short, ‘we old fogies will ensure your Widows and Sect are taken care of, so that may rest assured and go all out’.
This was also a kind of compensation from the Cave Heavens and Paradises. Of course, his Wives were all talented enough to become Direct Disciples of these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters; after all, each of them had directly ascended to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm and could thus be expected to reach the Eighth-Order in the future.
Fortunately, Yang Kai’s personal strength and accomplishments in the Dao of Space were exceptional; on top of that, he possessed various unique methods which helped him survive. Since he came to the Black Ink Battlefield from Black Territory, he had overcome plenty of difficulties and managed to live till now.
Now that his Wives in the Star Boundary had the backing of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, coupled with Yang Kai’s previous efforts to, seal up the Void Corridor alone, High Heaven Palace had the opportunity to grow and develop without interference. If not, with the Cave Heavens and Paradises needing excellent disciples to send to the Black Ink Battlefield, how could they possibly sit back and watch a small Sect take up so many talents? It had nothing to do with avarice or envy, they simply had no choice as they held the responsibility of protecting the Human Race!
In the face of such a noble goal, anyone or anything that stood in their way would be crushed to dust without the slightest hesitation.
Now, knowing that everything in the Star Boundary was alright, Yang Kai could finally rest easy.
Since the Star Boundary was well and good, and High Heaven Palace was thriving with strong momentum, what else could possibly worry Yang Kai? On the other hand, disciples of the Cave Heavens and Paradises willingly shed their blood in the Black Ink Battlefield as they waged war against the Black Ink Clan for no other reason than a strong sense of responsibility to protect the 3,000 Worlds.
The situation of the Star Boundary and High Heaven Palace was enough to allow Yang Kai to rest easy.
“Actually, I didn’t expect to meet you so soon,” Grandmaster Ma Fan sighed, “I wanted to settle down in the Black Ink Battlefield first, and then find out where you were. I didn’t think that you would be here. Say, Yang Boy, you are something like a half-disciple of Yin-Yang Cave Heaven, so why didn’t you go to Yin-Yang Pass?”
Yang Kai shook his head and said, “I didn’t come here through the normal route, so Blue Sky Pass was the first Great Pass that I encountered. As a result, I settled here. Overall, against the Black Ink Clan, it’ll be the same no matter which Great Pass I go to.”
Grandmaster Ma Fan gave him a fixed look, then nodded, “Fair enough.”
Yang Kai suddenly remembered something and curiously asked, “Why did you come to the Black Ink Battlefield, Grandmaster? You are a remnant of Great Evolution Paradise, so even if you’ve made it to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, logically speaking, you didn’t need to come here.”
Grandmaster Ma Fan snorted, “I don’t need to be part of the Cave Heavens and Paradises to fight against the Black Ink Clan, right? As long as I have the heart it is more than enough. Brat, what qualifications do you have to tell an Old Master like me that I need to be part of the Cave Heavens and Paradises to come here?”
Yang Kai scratched his head and could only laugh bitterly, “Grandmaster, please calm yourself!”
Being asked to calm down only sent Grandmaster Ma Fan into a rage, “Just because I was no longer part of the Cave Heavens and Paradises this Old Master needed to ask their permission to come here! Great Evolution Paradise used to be one of them, and ever since I advanced to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm I had repeatedly requested to be assigned to the Black Ink Battlefield, but every single time they rejected me! Bastards! The Black Ink Battlefield is not their backyard, so why not just let me come!?”
Yang Kai didn’t know how to answer; he wouldn’t have known about it if Grandmaster Ma Fan hadn’t mentioned it himself. However, he guessed that it was probably because of this very fact that Grandmaster Ma Fan always seemed unhappy with the Cave Heavens and Paradises.
But from another standpoint, were the Cave Heavens and Paradises not trying to protect Grandmaster Ma Fan? After all, Great Evolution Paradise had fallen, and only this old man was still around, struggling to support it by himself. If he was sent to the Black Ink Battlefield, then the whole legacy of Great Evolution Paradise would probably end with him.
Even Grandmaster Ma Fan must have known how the Cave Heavens and Paradises felt about this situation. However, anger does not listen to rational explanations.
“If you weren’t allowed to come before, why did they let you come this time?” Yang Kai asked.
Grandmaster Ma Fan explained, “Isn’t Blue Sky Pass in dire need of Artifact Refiners? This Old Master may be sloppy, but Artifact Refining is my speciality. So, this time, a few of those old ghosts actually came to me and asked me to come and support this Pass. Of course, I refused. Those bastards refused Father here so many times in the past, yet they had the gall to ask me, their Father, to come out here on a whim now? Who do they think I am, huh? How dare they!”
Yang Kai nodded like he was a chicken pecking rice and flattered, “Yes, yes, that’s how it should be, Grandmaster. It was right for you to refuse. But, Grandmaster… why did you change your mind? “
Grandmaster Ma Fan snorted and said, “This Father has a firm will, but I’m still no match for those old bastards when it comes to cunning. They kept using soft and hard tactics to get me to agree and eventually, after thinking it through, I realised that Great Evolution Paradise now has no lack of worthy successors. So, I decided I should come over to join in on the fun.”
Yang Kai expressed his understanding, but was laughing secretly in his heart, [This old man is certainly prideful. He wanted to come all along but refused out of pure stubbornness.]
However, now, it seemed that it is not a coincidence that Grandmaster Ma Fan was assigned to Blue Sky Pass. Due to Blue Sky Pass’ crusade, they had an urgent need for a large number of Artifact Refiners. Furthermore, Ma Fan was extremely proficient in the Dao of Artifact refining; thus, it was only natural that he was assigned here.
Grandmaster Ma Fan added, “Half of the 1,500 reinforcements who had came to support Blue Sky Pass this time are proficient in Spirit Arrays, Alchemy, or Artifact Refining. Those who are proficient in Artifact Refining actually account for 80% of those numbers. I have to ask, what happened in Blue Sky Pass. Did all its Artifact Refiners die or something? Why do you need so many to come and support you? “
Yang Kai laughed and said, “Spirit Arrays, Alchemy, Artifact Refining are all specialized professions. No matter which Great Pass, talents proficient in them are heavily protected and will not easily enter the battlefield. In fact, unless a Great Pass is destroyed, these Masters won’t die. No Artifact Refiners from Blue Sky Pass have died. The reason why we needed your help, is because Blue Sky Pass launched a crusade recently, and we have now established a forward base deep within the territory of the Black Ink Clan. Of course, it’s still a distance away from a Royal City, with three Territory Lord territories between them. Over there, soldiers have been engaging in skirmishes with the Black Ink Clan on a daily basis, so Warships are constantly being damaged. The original number of Artifact Refiners wasn’t sufficient to keep up.”
“A crusade?” Grandmaster Ma Fan’s eyes lit up. Not only him, but the other Open Heaven Realm Masters, who had already been registered, were interestedly listening in. They were not specifically trying to eavesdrop, but Yang Kai and Grandmaster Ma Fan’s conversation was quite open, so it was natural for those nearby to overhear. After all, everyone here was at least in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Before they arrived, the Elders of their Sects had mentioned the situation of the Black Ink Battlefield to them; thus, they had a general understanding of the status quo.
But, as far as they knew, the armies of the Great Passes on the Black Ink Battlefield were extremely passive and defensive. Every 100 years or so, the Great Passes would fall under siege. On the other hand, it was extremely difficult for them to go on the offensive.
Thus, when they just arrived at Blue Sky Pass, and heard a crusade had been made, it made them excited. After all, one would always get more passionate when on the attack than when passively defending.
“Senior Brother, can you share more about this crusade? I’m new here, so although I know a little bit about it, it’s just from word of mouth. I haven’t seen it, nor participated in it. So, I’m really curious.” A young man asked.
Yang Kai turned his head to look at the source of the voice. It was from a handsome youth who looked like he came from a wealthy background and had a face as smooth as jade. He had a dignified appearance and wore a spotless white robe. Even amongst all those in the Open Heaven Realm, he stuck out. He seemed so perfect that those around him, be it consciously or unconsciously, seemed to distance themselves, as if afraid of being compared to him if they stood too close.
However, this man obviously did not let this bother him. There was even a hint of arrogance in his indifferent expression.
Yang Kai was now in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm and he had cultivated for many years so his vision was quite sharp. Thus, as soon as he saw this young man, he understood that he didn’t just look young, but was young. He was unlike most cultivators in the Open Heaven Realm, who, because of their long lifespans, it was difficult to judge their age based on their appearance alone.
Based on Yang Kai’s estimation, this youth before him was only two or three hundred years old!
Yang Kai’s face remained as usual, but his heart was slightly shaken, [Seventh-Order at two or three hundred years old? It’s not an exaggeration to say this person is a favoured Son of Heaven. For someone at his age to reach the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, the only possible way is to directly ascend to the Seventh-Order! It’s impossible for him to directly enter the Sixth Order and then cultivate to the Seventh Order in such a short time.]
It had to be noted that those who directly entered the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm were basically precious seedlings who had the opportunity to become Old Ancestors in the future.
Yang Kai had only met one such person so far, Luo Ting. He met her in Yin-Yang Cave Heaven’s Samsara Pavilion; however, at that time, Luo Ting He had already been in the Seventh Order for thousands of years and she had broken through to the Eight Order shortly after, so her temperament was naturally very different from this man.
At such a young age, to achieve such a cultivation, he certainly had every right to be arrogant; after all, he had the capital to back up his haughtiness.
“This Junior Brother is…” Yang Kai looked at him with a smile.
The young man cupped his fist and saluted, “Asura Cave Heaven, Zhang Zhou!”
Yang Kai was a little stunned, “Junior Brother is from Asura Cave Heaven?”
He had also come into contact with those from Asura Cave Heaven, and all of them were fierce and vicious, completely different from Zhang Zhou’s gentle and dignified demeanour. In fact, if Zhang Zhou had not said where he was from, Yang Kai would never have guessed that he was actually from Asura Cave Heaven. That was just how different he was from the usual militant cultivators from Asura Cave Heaven.
Looking at the 3,000 Worlds, out of all the Cave Heavens and Paradises, there were two that stood out when it came to militant behaviour. One was Asura Cave Heaven and the other was Great Battle Heaven. The latter obviously developed this personality in order to fight against the Black Ink Clan on the Black Ink Battlefield. Meanwhile, the former cultivated based on the Dao of Battle and Slaughter. Thus, Asura Cave Heaven disciples all fought endlessly to cultivate. If they wanted to get stronger, they just had to risk their lives in life-or-death battles.
Still, in the 3,000 Worlds, Asura Cave Heaven was still one of the 36 Cave Heavens, so it was impossible for their disciples to go around wantonly killing innocents just for the sake of their cultivation. Doing so would damage their prestige too heavily for them to remain stable.
Even so, they still needed some way to continue to cultivate; thus, when their disciples wanted to practice, they just needed to go to the Asura Arenas. In the Arena, they could battle it out and even kill their opponents.
Furthermore, the Asura Arenas were extremely popular and existed in every major Star City. Even the Void Star City and High Heaven Star City had Asura Arenas.
These Arenas also brought in a hefty profit for Asura Cave Heaven; thus, it served two purposes at once. It could be said that the Asura Arenas were the foundation of Asura Cave Heaven.
In the Asura Arena, life and death battles were to be honoured; thus, even if an Asura Heaven disciple died inside, the Sect would not take revenge! This wasn’t just rhetoric, but an established truth as many Asura Cave Heaven disciples had died in the various Asura Arenas over the years, yet the Sect never pursued the matter.
Yang Kai had also fought people in the Asura Arena, so he was familiar with their rules.
Zhang Zhou directly broke through to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, so if he had come from any other Cave Heaven or Paradise, he would definitely be guarded carefully. He would be allowed to completely immerse himself in cultivation, and strive to become an Old Ancestor in the future. But since he was from Asura Cave Heaven, such a thing was not allowed.
There were no Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Asura Arena who would engage in life-or-death fights; after all, the better use for such Masters was being sent to the Black Ink Battlefield. Thus, Zhang Zhou came here.
Yang Kai had been on the Black Ink Battlefield for more than 100 years, and although he was usually dealing with the Black Ink Clan or cultivating, he had heard a lot of things unrelated to the war itself as well. This included things about Asura Cave Heaven.
All the Cave Heavens and Paradises would only sparingly send reinforcements to the Black Ink Battlefield every 100 years, deploying only the personnel that were really needed. However, Asura Cave Heaven was the sole exception to that trend. They could not wait to send all their Open Heaven Realm Masters here. In fact, they wished they really could send in all their Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
If someone calculated which Sect had the largest proportion of disciples sent to the Black Ink Battlefield, Asura Cave Heaven would definitely take first place. In fact, Yang Kai could not think of any other Sect that had sent as many or more than Asura Cave Heaven.
However, due to how they cultivated, requiring them to engage in killing, it was not uncommon for them to die in the process of growing up. Thus, the number of disciples who would advance to the Open Heaven Realm was much less than other Cave Heavens and Paradises.
Even so, in terms of combat capability, Asura Cave Heaven would definitely rank among the top three of all Cave Heavens and Paradises. Whenever those from Asura Cave Heaven fought, they would do so as though they held no regard for their own lives, and this gave rise to a nickname, Asura Lunatics. They were so notorious for this that it had become widespread throughout the Black Ink Battlefield.
Dawn also had a disciple from Asura Cave Heaven, he was just in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm though. So, when fighting against the Black Ink Clan Army, he could only remain inside Dawning Light and control the various Arrays to kill the enemy. He had no chance to leave the Warship, which caused him to complain to Yang Kai many times.
It was only when the forward base started ‘hunting’ that he finally got the chance to directly fight against those scattered Black Ink Clansmen. It was the only time when someone like him, who was in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, could finally come out and fight.
In fact, it was when Dawn was out hunting that he was the happiest. He would not hesitate to put himself in danger just to be able to kill off his enemies. In fact, after each hunt, he would always be covered in blood and leak out an incomparable murderous intent. It was not a stretch to say that he was a madman when it came to combat.
Even so, Yang Kai was relieved that his subordinate was a brave fighter. It was just that, this brave fighter was also somewhat prickly.
Yang Kai still liked those from Asura Cave Heaven though. He did not mind youngsters being arrogant, as long as they had the ability to back it up.
Grandmaster Ma Fan whispered, “This kid is the most outstanding genius in his generation from Asura Cave Heaven. He advanced to the Emperor Realm while he was around 100 years old. He then managed to advance to the Seventh Order after less than 20 years. Right now, he should be somewhere around 200. His future is many times better than yours. He’s also the first person from the Star Boundary to advance directly to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm and is known as one of the Star Boundary’s Two Rising Stars. The other is your Disciple, Zhao Ya. On the day he advanced to the Open Heaven Realm, the top Masters of the various Cave Heavens and Paradises stationed in the Star Boundary all rejoiced and celebrated; after all, his successful breakthrough proved once and for all that the Star Boundary was worthy of its status as the Open Heaven Realm Cradle.”
Yang Kai nodded silently and did some quick calculations. When Zhang Zhou was practising in the Star Boundary, he had already come to Black Ink Battlefield. So, it was not strange for him to have never heard of such an outstanding person before.
“What would Junior Brother like to know?” Yang Kai asked with a smile.
Zhang Zhou said, “As long as it’s about the crusade, anything is fine.”
Looking around, Yang Kai could see many curious eyes. Although some of the Sixth-Order and Seventh-Order Masters standing here were older than him, on the Black Ink Battlefield, age did not matter. He was a well-regarded Senior to them.
Yang Kai then began talking about the battle that nearly wiped out the Black Ink Clan Army, and many things about the crusade. As they listened, the newcomers could feel their blood boiling. They could not wait to enter the battlefield and kill tens of millions of Black Ink Clansmen, to make it feel like all the time they spent cultivating had been worthwhile.
Yang Kai looked at them with interest. He didn’t want to throw cold water on them as it was normal for new recruits to be eager to kill the enemy and accomplish meritorious deeds. It was only after one had actually dealt with Black Ink Clan a few times that they could appreciate the hardships involved in each battle.
There were 1,500 people in this group of reinforcements, so it took almost two hours to register everyone. Once they were all registered, Yang Kai led them to the Universe Array of Blue Sky Pass and asked them to leave their Imprints on it. This was essential; after all, they might have to use the Universe Array here to escape in the future.
Then, someone from the Pill Hall came and took away several of the Alchemists.
For Alchemists, they did not need to be posted at the forward base, considering Spirit Pills could be refined in Blue Sky Pass and then sent to the front lines, which would ensure the safety of the Alchemists.
Currently, the main task of the Pill Hall was to refine more Purifying Black Ink Pills. The consumption of this pill was extraordinarily high; after all, when each Squad went out on a mission, they needed to have at least one such pill on hand to prevent accidents. Previously, the Expeditionary Force could not go deeper into enemy territory because of two reasons. One, the resistance encountered was too strong, and two, the logistics could not keep up with the consumption. Especially the consumption of the Purifying Black Ink Pill, which was particularly serious.
It could be said that 80% of what the Pill Hall was currently doing now was refining Purifying Black Ink Pills.
After this whole experience with the Expeditionary Force, it was believed that the Pill Halls in every Great Pass, would also shift their focus to refining more Purifying Black Ink Pills in the future. It was necessary to build up a reserve for any potential Expeditionary Force and to simply have the capital to push back against the Black Ink Clan.
After a few days in Blue Sky Pass, the newcomers were all set.
In order to successfully send these 1,500 people to the forward base, Zhong Liang specially asked the War Materials Hall to bring out a massive ship.
This ship had 10 floors and was over 100 metres tall while stretching more than 500 metres in length. It was an imposing sight to behold.
The only downside was its combat capabilities. It had not yet reached the level of a Mobile Palace Artifact nor a Warship and was basically useless in a fight against the Black Ink Clan. It was only useful as a large-scale transport.
Before leaving, Zhong Liang and Shen Tu Mo, who stayed behind at Blue Sky Pass, showed up together and explained a few things to the newcomers.
All the new recruits were at least in the Sixth Order; thus, they moved like the wind, and soon, all of them had boarded the large ship.
Zhong Liang turned to look at Yang Kai, “It’s all up to you now.”
“Sir, rest assured, they will all be sent to the forward base without a single one missing.”
In terms of safety, Yang Kai need not worry about that. Although there might still be some scattered Black Ink Clansmen along the way, these newcomers were not weak and all of them were extremely eager to fight, as though they could not wait to encounter the Black Ink Clan. They also wanted to see if the so-called Black Ink Clansmen had three heads and six arms.
Even if they did not meet a Black Ink Clansman along the way though, it would still be fine. In fact, if they did meet one, it just meant that the Black Ink Clansman’s luck had run out.
With how much combat power was concentrated in this one ship, there was no way a Territory Lord would have sat back in their domain and let them pass by; however, all Territory Lords were currently huddled around the Royal City to protect it. Furthermore, with the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters watching them, how could they possibly show up so deep within enemy territory?
Even so, Yang Kai still reminded the newcomers to be cautious and that they must remain vigilant.
The large ship set sail, and Yang Kai arranged for the newcomers to take turns in managing the Grand Array to deliver power to the large ship. They would do so while he personally concentrated on controlling the direction the ship was headed.
The deck was full of people, all of them were looking around curiously, with their Divine Senses scanning the surroundings, presumably looking for any hidden enemies nearby.
However, to their disappointment, they did not see any Black Ink Clansmen even a month after they left Blue Sky Pass.
A little over a month later, they arrived at the first transit Universe Array.
There was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and a Battalion stationed here, guarding the Universe Array all year round. Naturally, there were also many Spirit Arrays around the Universe Array, some for protection, while others were to conceal its presence. In fact, if one did not know its location in advance, they probably would never have been able to find the Universe Array here, even if they were standing right next to it.
After verifying their identities and the intention for their visit, the large ship was allowed to pass through the various barriers. Soon, the newcomers went to the Universe Array and one by one left their Imprints behind before the ship set off again.
This location was originally occupied by the Black Ink Clan. In the past, it would have been impossible for the soldiers of Blue Sky Pass to dive this deep into enemy territory; however, after the crusade, the Black Ink Clan’s domain was greatly diminished and this region now fell under the control of Blue Sky Pass.
Currently, this far out from Blue Sky Pass, it was entirely possible to encounter scattered Black Ink Clansmen. The Expeditionary Force had moved in a straight line, without clearing out all the enemies to the sides of the bridgehead. Although many Squads were currently out hunting these remnants with the goal of cleaning up all Black Ink Clansmen in the area, there would always be some fish that slipped through the net.
Half a month after they passed by the first transit Universe Array, the newcomers finally encountered some Black Ink Clansmen.
It was just a group of a few dozen enemies without even a Feudal Lord around.
With Yang Kai’s consent, hundreds of newcomers rushed out and slaughtered the dozens of Black Ink Clansmen.
The battle ended as quickly as it broke out. Even the weakest of the newcomers was in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, and there was no shortage of those in the Seventh-Order; thus, how could such a small and weak team of Black Ink Clansmen possibly be their opponent? After a dozen breaths of time, they were all slaughtered. It was so quick that most newcomers only had the time to take a look at what those Black Ink Clansmen looked like, without the opportunity to make any moves at all.
It was Zhang Zhou who killed the most. He killed three Black Ink Clansmen by himself, but he was left very dissatisfied. These Black Ink Clansmen were too weak. They were at most equivalent to cultivators in the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm. With him being in the Seventh Order, he was basically playing with toddlers.
Yang Kai had no intention of extending time on the road; after all, the newcomers would be quickly assigned to various Squads when they reached the forward base, and they would soon get used to fighting against the Black Ink Clan.
Although he did not intend to dally, the Black Ink Clan did take notice of the huge ship they were on; after all, it was too conspicuous to miss. Thus, after passing the first Universe Array, they would often encounter some scattered Black Ink Clan groups. The largest groups had hundreds of enemies, but without at least one Feudal Lord, these Black Ink Clan groups were just like the passing wind. Now, the newcomers were all standing on the deck, looking forward to seeing more, to have an opportunity to kill more Black Ink Clansmen.
As he approached the second Universe Array, Yang Kai suddenly frowned and looked in a particular direction.
At that location, there seemed to be a lot of Black Ink Clansmen gathering. Yang Kai even detected a Feudal Lord among them.
They were very close to the Universe Array, and although there was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and a Battalion assigned to protect this location, due to the importance of this place, they were only responsible for protecting the Spirit Array. They were not tasked to clean up the surrounding Black Ink Clansmen.
If the large ship of newcomers were to approach the Universe Array, the Black Ink Clan might discover its location.
With that in mind, Yang Kai changed their heading slightly, sailing straight for where the Black Ink Clansmen were gathering.
Half an hour later, a battle broke out, and the newcomers, as always, rushed out with their blood boiling.
There were a lot of Black Ink Clansmen gathered, but still fewer than the newcomers themselves. In that chaotic battle, many Black Ink Clansmen were wounded, if not killed, and even the Feudal Lord was killed by Zhang Zhou.
Zhang Zhou had advanced to the Seventh Order not long ago and still needed to consolidate his cultivation. Even so, the Feudal Lord was still not his opponent, which went to show how powerful the cultivators from Asura Cave Heaven were.
Yang Kai had found out that this guy’s polite appearance was just a disguise. He was no different from any other Asura Cave Heaven disciple he met in battle, bloodthirsty and vicious.
Zhang Zhou was the last to return, covered in fresh black blood with his murderous aura as strong as ever. The others on board looked at him in awe.
Yang Kai checked on him, and a strange light flashed in his eyes, “Junior Brother, are you injured?”
Zhang Zhou slowly shook his head, “Senior Brother, it’s just a small scratch. It’s no big deal.”
Yang Kai nodded and earnestly explained, “Battles against the Black Ink Clan must not be taken lightly. Perhaps they are not as powerful as you, but they have their unique abilities.”
Zhang Zhou nodded and said, “I understand.”
Yang Kai smiled and said, “In that case, rest.”
Zhang Zhou silently sat cross-legged.
After making sure there were no other Black Ink Clansmen around, Yang Kai sailed the large ship towards the Universe Array.
Having experienced this once before, this time, without Yang Kai needing to give any orders, everyone already knew what to do and moved to leave their Imprints the Universe Array before setting off again.
There were only two transit Universe Arrays between Blue Sky Pass and the forward base, so after passing the second, it would only take a month for the reinforcements to reach their final destination. For Yang Kai, that would mean that he had basically completed the task assigned to him. The rest would be handled by Ding Yao and Liang Yu Long, who would be assigning the newcomers to their respective Squads and roles.
After several small skirmishes, the morale of the newcomers was at an all-time high, and some overly excited ones were even encouraging Yang Kai to look around to see if they could find more Black Ink Clansmen.
Yang Kai naturally wouldn’t agree to their request; thus, many of the excited newcomers soon grew bored.
On the deck, Grandmaster Ma Fan suddenly whispered, “Is there something wrong?”
Yang Kai turned to look at him, “Grandmaster, why would you suddenly ask such a question?”
Grandmaster Ma Fan frowned and shook his head, “I can’t say for certain, but it feels as though you’re concealing something.”
Yang Kai smiled, “What could I possibly be concealing? Everyone here is still new to the Black Ink Battlefield, but they will all one day experience what it’s like to suffer a loss here. Through that pain, they’ll be able to wise up. Of course, if everything remains so smooth, it won’t be good either. They’ll start to get too prideful and arrogant. The Black Ink Clansmen we’ve encountered so far were all not strong and they were few in number, so they were easy to deal with. But, if we come across a large Army, like those during the siege, it will be different.”
Grandmaster Ma Fan looked at him, still suspicious, even though he knew that Yang Kai’s words were right.
At that moment, Yang Kai gently clapped his hands, attracting the attention of all the newcomers, “You’re all new here, but now that you’ve seen Black Ink Clansmen, and even killed some of them, I need to warn you. Don’t think that they will always be as weak as this. If you dare to think in this manner, you probably won’t be far from your graves. The Black Ink Clan is an extremely difficult race to deal with. Their numbers are inexhaustible, and they will stop at nothing till they kill us all. What’s more, they have all kinds of strange and insidious abilities. For countless years, the Human Race has fought against them on this Black Ink Battlefield and guarded the tranquility of the 3,000 Worlds with only one principle, be cautious and careful. I hope that after you arrive at the forward base and join your respective Squads, you can also learn from our predecessors. Only by surviving can you kill more Black Ink Clansmen. Carelessness will only lead to annihilation.”
Many newcomers listened openly and nodded lightly, but some did not move and remained silent; after all, they were all in the Sixth Order and above. None of them could be considered children. They had been cultivating for so many years, so they knew the truth and felt they did not need to be lectured like this.
Yang Kai took a look around of the crowd for a moment, smiling lightly before he turned to look at a particular individual and asked, “Junior Brother Zhang Zhou, do you have anything to add?”
Zhang Zhou was startled and slowly shook his head, “No.”
Yang Kai seemed to be anticipating something as he smiled warmly, “Is there really nothing you’d like to say?”
Zhang Zhou frowned slightly but didn’t say a word.
Just when the newcomers were wondering why Yang Kai suddenly called out Zhang Zhou, the latter suddenly pushed his aura. His World Force rumbled, and he slammed a palm to the side.
When this sudden change happened, no one managed to react, not even Grandmaster Ma Fan who was standing nearby.
Standing beside Zhang Zhou were a few Sixth-Order Masters. They were caught completely unprepared while Zhang Zhou was merciless with his strike. With the power of this palm, these Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters would be gravely injured even if they did not die.
However, his palm was abruptly stopped.
Almost immediately after he made his move, Yang Kai had rushed towards Zhang Zhou. When the two palms collided, World Force rampaged. The fallout of an exchange between two Masters in the Seventh Order was extremely violent, and the shockwave was so strong it split the boat in half.
Only then did the newcomers realize that something was wrong and they all spread out.
When they looked back, Yang Kai was already fighting with Zhang Zhou. Both of them were extremely fast, and neither had any intention of defending at all. They simply continued to attack each other recklessly.
Cultivators from Asura Cave Heaven were like this. No matter how gentle and elegant they appeared in normal times, once they fought they would change into complete madmen. Even so, the newcomers didn’t expect that the genial Senior Brother, who came to welcome their batch of newcomers, would be even stronger and more ferocious than Zhang Zhou.
No one could understand what was happening, except for Grandmaster Ma Fan, who frowned thoughtfully.
As the battle continued, many people still could not comprehend what had happened. Nonetheless, they grew more curious about Yang Kai’s identity.
After all, all cultivators from Asura Cave Heaven were crazy when in battle. Even if they were in the same Realm, cultivators from the other Cave Heavens and Paradises were not willing to easily clash with those from Asura Cave Heaven. Mainly because they really went for the kill when they fought.
Even Zhang Zhou, who was just a newcomer and who had just advanced to the Seventh Order, was not weaker than most veterans in the Seventh Order who had advanced more than 100 years ago.
Even in the face of the most senior Seventh-Order Masters, Zhang Zhou could still put up a fight.
Therefore, many newcomers were surprised when they saw that Yang Kai had suppressed Zhang Zhou within just a few breaths of time.
Just next to Grandmaster Ma Fan, a Seventh-Order Master frowned and asked, “Grandmaster, which Cave Heaven or Paradise does this Senior Brother come from?”
Although they had been together for so many days, and Yang Kai was the person responsible for welcoming and guiding them, he had never once introduced himself. Meanwhile, the newcomers had only been thinking about fighting the Black Ink Clan so no one had asked about his origins. As a result, until now, no one knew much about Yang Kai, only that he was in the Seventh-Order Masters from some Cave Heaven or Paradise.
Grandmaster Ma Fan slowly sighed, “He’s not from any of the Cave Heavens or Paradises, he is the Lord of the Star Boundary.”
The person who asked the question was surprised, “The Lord of the Star Boundary?”
Someone suddenly remembered something, raised his brow and said, “The one who left Black Territory to seal up a Void Corridor?”
Black Territory and the Royal Lord there was a major event in the 3,000 Worlds. During that time, there was a lot of noise inside every Cave Heaven and Paradise and many had participated in the battle to kill the Royal Lord. All those who were sent to fight were in the Seventh Order or above. As for those who did not participate, many had still heard about Yang Kai before as his name was just that famous. However, there were only a handful of people who had met him in person, so it was only natural that they could not recognise him.
“En, him!” Grandmaster Ma Fan nodded.
“So that’s why. No wonder Senior Brother Yang can easily suppress Zhang Zhou,” Someone sighed with emotion.
Yang Kai’s deeds were practically legendary in the 3,000 Worlds. When he was still in the Emperor Realm, he stirred up the entire 3,000 Worlds because he wanted to directly ascend to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm. As a result, it attracted the joint suppression of several Cave Heavens and Paradises. When he was just a Sixth-Order Master, he fought with and killed a Master in the Seventh-Order from Thousand Cranes Paradise. Even so, the event that really made him famous was the war in Black Territory.
After fighting in that great battle, he alone dove into a Void Corridor, using his mastery over the Dao of Space to seal it. He had not returned, and there was no news of him since then.
Such a legend had actually been standing amongst them, yet none of them knew. However, if they thought about it carefully, he was indeed one of the few people who could possibly set foot in the Black Ink Battlefield without having any Cave Heaven or Paradise behind him.
“Grandmaster, why did Senior Brother Zhang Zhou suddenly try to kill me?” Someone asked.
Grandmaster Ma Fan sighed, “Before you came here, you must have been given some information by your Elders, right? They must have at least warned you about the dangers of the Black Ink Battlefield. Zhang Zhou is someone from Asura Cave Heaven, so there would obviously be no reason for him to suddenly attack his allies if he was still sane. Since he did so, there must be a reason for it, and you all must have your own guesses. So, why bother to ask this Old Master?”
Someone immediately exclaimed, “Senior Brother Zhang Zhou was corrupted by Black Ink Strength!”
Grandmaster Ma Fan nodded, “Besides that, there is no other explanation. Zhang Zhou is now a Black Ink Disciple.”
“But, when did he get corrupted by Black Ink Strength? I’ve been around him this whole time and didn’t notice anything strange.”
Grandmaster Ma Fan thought carefully, “Didn’t Zhang Zhou dive into a Black Ink Cloud to pursue that Feudal Lord some time ago? It is most likely when that happened. He must have been invaded by Black Ink Strength at that time.”
Everyone was busy killing the enemy except for Grandmaster Ma Fan, who did not make a move at the time; thus, he noticed some finer details that others had missed.
It was now obvious that when Zhang Zhou returned, Yang Kai had already noticed and that was the reason he asked Zhang Zhou if something was wrong. Otherwise, there was no way to explain what happened next, let alone explain why Zhang Zhou suddenly attacked and Yang Kai could stop him in time.
Yang Kai had clearly been waiting for this to happen.
At this thought, Grandmaster Ma Fan snickered and shook his head. Yang Kai was aware of this and was confident he could deal with it; thus, there was no need to worry about anything else.
[That brat most likely didn’t immediately resolve the issue because he wanted to take this opportunity to teach these newcomers a lesson. It didn’t have to be Zhang Zhou who got corrupted, it just happened to be him, so Yang Boy just made use of it.]
It was just as Yang Kai had said: People grew from experiences, especially painful ones. On the Black Ink Battlefield, being arrogant and prideful would never end well, even more so for someone like Zhang Zhou who advanced directly into the Seventh Order and was raised by Asura Cave Heaven. He was the best of the best, so it was only natural for him to grow arrogant.
Even when Zhang Zhou noticed himself being invaded by Black Ink Strength, his first instinct was to solve the issue himself, so he was unwilling to ask others for help. Unfortunately, he overestimated his own ability and underestimated the horror of Black Ink Strength. Now, after being fully corrupted, he had degenerated into a Black Ink disciple.
“Grandmaster, do we need to help?” Someone asked.
Since this was the legendary Yang Kai, who was able to kill someone in the Seventh Order when he was only in Sixth Order, now that he was in the Seventh Order, he naturally would not face any issues dealing with Zhang Zhou; however, different situations had their own difficulties. With the strength Yang Kai had shown, it was clear he would easily be able to defeat Zhang Zhou, but it might prove difficult to capture him alive.
However, if the Grandmaster took action, there would certainly not be any problems.
Still, Grandmaster Ma Fan shook his head and said, “No need. The outcome has already been decided.”
Everyone turned their heads back and saw Zhang Zhou’s figure becoming more and more sluggish. It was as if he was slowly sinking into a swamp. Every time he moved, Space Principles would bind him down more intensely.
Soon, pitch-black Black Ink Strength poured out from Zhang Zhou’s body, and even his eyes turned black, making him look extremely ominous.
However, no matter how hard he struggled, he could not extricate himself from his situation.
His movements were getting smaller and smaller, as if he was chained by invisible forces, and after a while, he was completely unable to move despite the surging Black Ink Strength inside and outside of him.
Yang Kai then stretched out his hand and dragged Zhang Zhou back to the crowd of newcomers.
The newcomers swiftly distanced themselves. They did not want to be contaminated by Black Ink Strength, after all. However, at this moment, they were thoroughly shocked. No one expected that two people, who were both in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, would have such a decisive winner, and that one of them would be easily captured alive.
To be able to do this meant that Yang Kai had completely eclipsed Zhang Zhou in terms of strength…
When Yang Kai left Black Territory, he was only in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. He only recently, a little more than 100 years ago, managed to advance to the Seventh Order on the Black Ink Battlefield. Thus, technically, he was still a newly promoted Seventh-Order Master.
Thus, he should be on par with Zhang Zhou in terms of them both being new to the Seventh Order.
Even so, the difference in their strength was so astonishing it left all the newcomers in shock.
Zhang Zhou was still struggling, but under the shackles of Space Principles, he seemed to have been exiled to another time and space. No matter how hard he struggled, it did not help.
Yang Kai did not immediately disperse the Black Ink Strength in his body; rather, he continued his lesson, “Black Ink Disciples are rare nowadays, but even so, you need to be aware of this truth. Everyone here should already know that if a Black Ink Disciple does not stimulate the Black Ink Strength inside of them, their outer appearance will be no different to that of a normal cultivator, making it difficult to identify them. In the past, if a cultivator was invaded by Black Ink Strength, it was impossible to resolve unless they sacrificed a piece of their Small Universe.”
“That was the only method our ancestors had to deal with the corruption of Black Ink Strength. The moment Black Ink Strength invaded their Small Universe, they would immediately cut off that part of their Small Universe. That was the only way to protect themselves. This is why you will see some in the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm in Blue Sky Pass. When they came to the Black Ink Battlefield, they were the same as you. They were in the lowest Order acceptable here, the Sixth Order, but after continuously sacrificing parts of their Small Universe, their Order regressed. Naturally, sacrificing one’s Small Universe comes with risks and side effects. Their future Martial Dao was cut off, and their situation became more dangerous. With their more unstable foundation, it became harder to resist Black Ink Strength. So, they either ended up dead or could no longer resist the corruption of Black Ink Strength and eventually degenerated into Black Ink Disciples, “
“For our ancestors, being reduced to becoming Black Ink Disciples was a fate far worse than death; after all, once they became Black Ink Disciples, they would become slaves of the Black Ink Clan and would be enemies of the Human Race. So, most would choose to die rather than become Black Ink Disciples. However, life is full of uncertainties, and after each war, there would be an indefinite number of Humans who were corroded by Black Ink Strength and reduced to Black Ink Disciples.”
“Fortunately, we Humans now have means to fight back against the invasion of Black Ink Strength.” While speaking, Yang Kai took out a Spirit Pill, “Blue Sky Pass was fortunate enough to obtain an incomplete ancient pill recipe while exploring a Sealed World. Under the leadership of two Great Grandmaster Alchemists, the Pill Hall was able to deduce the pill recipe for the Purifying Black Ink Pill. This pill in my hand is one such pill. Once taken, you will be able to resist Black Ink Strength for a certain period of time. It can also disperse a certain amount of Black Ink Strength inside one’s Small Universe; however, this pill has its own limitations. If you have already become a Black Ink Disciple, taking it will have no effect, so you cannot be too over-reliant on it when fighting against the Black Ink Clan and always need to remain cautious.”
Someone then asked, “Senior Brother Yang, according to you, it is useless for Senior Brother Zhang Zhou to take a Purifying Black Ink Pill in this situation, so what should we do?”
Yang Kai smiled and explained, “In this situation, we have to use other means to deal with it.”
Saying so, his left and right hands suddenly lit up with yellow and blue light. He clasped his palms together, and a pure white light illuminated the void. The white light enveloped Zhang Zhou, and in an instant, a sound which reassembled sizzling oil could be heard.
Zhang Zhou struggled in pain, but as the sound died down, the Black Ink Strength in his body was dispersed and purified, allowing him to calm down within a few breaths.
“That was Purifying Light. It can be used to dispel and purify Black Ink Strength and is arguably the greatest nemesis of Black Ink Strength!”
The newcomers whispered to each other for a while. Many obviously held great interest in the Purifying Light; after all, if they could learn this Secret Technique, they would no longer need to fear the Black Ink Strength’s corruption when they fought on the Black Ink Battlefield.
Yang Kai didn’t tell them that only he could perform this Secret Technique; after all, they would stay on the Black Ink Battlefield for a long time and would naturally learn more about it when the time was right.
Even he had to learn how it could be used in the Black Territory. At that time, he had little understanding of Purifying Light’s properties, but eventually, he learned and managed to restore most of the Black Ink Disciples to their original states.
He then turned his head to look at Zhang Zhou, “You should have asked for help as soon as possible. Before the appearance of Purifying Light and Purifying Black Ink Pills, the corruption of Black Ink Strength was an unsolvable problem for the Human Race. Even those in the Eighth Order were helpless against it and would need to sacrifice part of their Small Universes just to maintain their sense of self, not to mention someone like you who has just entered the Seventh Order.”
Zhang Zhou was drenched in a cold sweat as he fearfully said, “This Junior Brother was careless. What Senior Brother has taught me will forever be engraved in my mind.”
Yang Kai nodded and said, “Let’s go.”
The group continued on their way, but because the large ship was destroyed in the conflict between Yang Kai and Zhang Zhou, everyone could only fly the rest of the way to the forward base. Fortunately, this place was not far from their destination; thus, they only needed to avoid some large Black Ink Cloud on the way.
Yang Kai had no intention of making Zhang Zhou understand he was being too arrogant, it was just that as the person tasked to be their escort, he had the obligation and responsibility to teach these newcomers about the dangers of Black Ink Strength. Furthermore, letting them witness these dangers with their own eyes was far more convincing than mere verbal warnings.
He believed that after the incident with Zhang Zhou, no one would dare to underestimate the Black Ink Clan ever again.
Grandmaster Ma Fan flew over to Yang Kai and used his Divine Sense to send him a message, “Brat, who developed the Purifying Light Secret Technique? Is it difficult to learn?”
Yang Kai was a little speechless as he didn’t expect that Grandmaster Ma Fan would be so interested in Purifying Light.
“If I could teach you, I would, but this Secret Technique is unable to be used by anyone besides me. So, I have to apologize.”
Grandmaster Ma Fan then wondered, “If that’s the case, why are you able to use it?”
Yang Kai replied, “Because of a gift from the Sun’s Burning Light and Moon’s Serene Glimmer…”
After some explanation, Grandmaster Ma Fan showed a regretful look, “So that’s how it is. This Secret Technique can only be performed by you alone, and others cannot do it.”
“Exactly.”
Although the number of people in this group was large, all of them were above the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm; thus, their pace was pretty quick.
After another month, the forward base came into view. Along the way, the newcomers’ enthusiasm for killing the Black Ink Clan was still high, but their initial careless attitude had been thoroughly ground down and they were now much more wary of the enemy.
The arrival of the newcomers did not cause any waves. After all, there were not that many people idle in the forward base. Most of those who were stationed here were either resting or out on hunting missions.
Yang Kai went straight to Ding Yao, which marked the completion of his task. He then bid farewell to Grandmaster Ma Fan and returned to where Dawn was stationed.
The Squad members were all recuperating, and Yang Kai did not want to bother them, so he just went back to his residence to cultivate.
There was still a little time left before the next mission, so he took advantage of this time to restore his energy.
Two months later, Dawn was ready to go. Yang Kai picked up the repaired Dawning Light from the Refining Hall and set sail once again.
The plan of fortifying the forward base and clearing the area around it had been going smoothly. Now, all conflicts in the Blue Sky Theatre would basically only break out around the forward base. As such, for the Human Race, it was necessary to eliminate the Black Ink Clan wandering around, and further reduce whatever territory the Black Ink Clan controlled.
Meanwhile, for the Black Ink Clan, their priority was to recapture occupied territories; thus, both sides engaged in a continuous campaign around the forward base.
However, major conflicts were rare, as it was even rarer for the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Masters to get involved.
The Territory Lords had suffered huge losses in the previous war, and it would be difficult for them to restore their numbers in a short time. Thus, none wanted to venture out too far from the Royal City. On top of that, unless circumstances were special, if they wanted to withdraw from a fight, the Eighth-Order Humans could do nothing about it. As such, the top Masters from both sides preferred to spend their time recuperating.
After the newcomers joined the forward base, its strength increased greatly. The arrival of hundreds of Artifact Refiners alone was enough to ensure the continuous combat capability of each Squad.
Some years later, the small-scale skirmishes between the two sides only became fiercer. It was especially obvious to the Squads who were out hunting. The biggest change was that when they were out of the forward base, they would encounter larger groups of Black Ink Clansmen. Enemy groups were sometimes so large that they numbered in the tens of thousands. Thus, the initial plan to clear the surrounding region and build up a solid defensive position got more difficult as time passed. Furthermore, they did not know why the Black Ink Clan’s resistance suddenly became so strong once again.
There were more Humans casualties, and even more in the Black Ink Clan. Even the Territory Lords and the Eighth-Order Masters fought more frequently than before.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that this was basically the Black Ink Clan’s final stand; after all, as long as they could survive this period, the overall situation would stabilize. If the Human Race continued to push forward, and more territory was taken from them though, the Royal City would be in peril. Not to mention, the flanks between the forward base and Blue Sky Pass would eventually also fall under the control of the Human Race.
If this came to pass, Blue Sky Pass would completely change the landscape of the battlefield and hold a significant advantage.
…..
Inside the forward base, in a sealed space, deep underground, a pillar was rooted to the ground. The floor was covered with Spirit Arrays, and there was a Black Ink Clansman bound by the Arrays to the pillar. No matter how the Black Ink Clansman struggled, he could not break free from his shackles.
Judging from the power emanating from this Black Ink Clansman, he was obviously a Feudal Lord. In fact, even among the Feudal Lords, this one was quite strong.
It was unfortunate that even he did not know who had captured him and imprisoned him here.
Right in front of that Feudal Lord, two figures stood side by side.
One was Yang Kai, and the other was Grandmaster Ma Fan.
After showcasing the power of Purifying Light in front of Grandmaster Ma Fan, the old man became extremely interested in it. Although Yang Kai repeatedly reiterated that only he could cast it, he still continued to pester Yang Kai with questions, obviously wanting to study it more.
However, his research was built on the foundation of torturing Black Ink Clansmen.
For decades, in his spare time, Ma Fan had been researching and refining an artifact that could exert the power of the Purifying Light.
He was, after all, an Artifact Refining Great Grandmaster, someone capable of even refining Mobile Palace Artifacts and Warships. Furthermore, Yang Kai was not staying somewhere far away; thus, he would go up to him and get him to help in his research whenever possible.
Naturally, Ma Fan was swamped with work most of the time; after all, he was an Artifact Refiner and needed to repair the damaged Warships and fortify the forward base, so his research was somewhat intermittent.
Nonetheless, a decade ago, he had a breakthrough in his research.
He had developed a spear artifact, which was no more than three metres long. He named it the Evil Purging Divine Spear, an extremely rustic name. In fact, Yang Kai had expressed his disdain for the name more than once, but the old man ignored him and continued to name it as he pleased.
Yang Kai also did not know who had captured the Feudal Lord, who was bound here. Nonetheless, it was easy to tell that the one who captured this Feudal Lord must have been an Eighth-Order Master.
Moreover, since the old man’s research involved Purifying Light, which would be of great benefit to the Human Race if it was successful, he was definitely being supported by Zhong Liang and the other Army Commanders.
Yang Kai was also looking forward to it; after all, if Grandmaster Ma Fan’s research was successful, the Human Race would gain a powerful weapon against the Black Ink Clan. It might even be able to disrupt the current stalemate!
The war on the Black Ink Battlefield had raged on for countless years, with neither side having a decisive advantage.
The Human Race relied on their Great Passes and Warships to resist the attacks of the Black Ink Clan, making it difficult for them to break through and invade the 3,000 Worlds.
Meanwhile, although the Black Ink Clan always suffered heavy losses after each major war, the Humans could not completely weed them out since as long as they had enough Black Ink Nests and resources, they could quickly restore their numbers and find a chance to make a comeback.
This was how the Black Ink Battlefield had maintained its balance for countless years.
Yang Kai’s arrival broke this pattern to a certain extent. He brought Purifying Light, Universe Arrays, and Purifying Black Ink Pills. These had allowed Blue Sky Pass enough leeway to launch a crusade and achieve something that countless ancestors could only dream of.
Even so, currently, the crusade was at an impasse. They had reached another deadlock. Under the increasingly tough resistance of the Black Ink Clan, they could no longer move forward.
The arrival of Grandmaster Ma Fan might be able to break the pattern again; of course, his research was still only in its early stages.
Technically, there were a lot of Artifact Refining Great Grandmasters in the Human Race; in fact, every Great Pass had at least two to three of them. Furthermore, in terms of Artifact Refining skills, Grandmaster Ma Fan was only on par with them, with no one being better than the other.
The key difference was in their way of thinking and overall perspective. He was given a problem and had a different way of seeing it from the other Artifact Refining Great Grandmasters, especially since he had just arrived at the Black Ink Battlefield.
In the old man’s own words, the Artifact Refining Great Grandmasters stuck in the Black Ink Battlefield have lived far too long following the same pattern, so all they thought about was defence. Thus, they were extremely focused on methods to make the Mobile Palace Artifacts and Warships more durable and how to reduce the losses of human soldiers.
He was different though. Although he was definitely old, he could be said to be a rookie here; thus, he had the vigour and determination of a newcomer. From his perspective, the best defence was a good offence! After all, no matter how strong or tough the walls were, there was no point if they could not eradicate the Black Ink Clan.
It was precisely this unique perspective that gave birth to the idea of developing the Evil Purging Divine Spear.
Of course, it also had something to do with Yang Kai showing him Purifying Light while guiding and teaching the newcomers upon their initial arrival. At that time, Yang Kai had said something which he may not have realised had become deeply ingrained in Grandmaster Ma Fan’s heart.
‘Purifying Light is the greatest nemesis of Black Ink Strength!’
If it was the nemesis of Black Ink Strength, why not find ways to further utilise it? Since Purifying Light could only be cast by Yang Kai, Ma Fan wanted to further strengthen it by using an artifact. This would allow it to be used offensively.
With this in mind, the Evil Purging Divine Spear came into being.
This was also strongly supported by Zhong Liang and the others; in fact, the Feudal Lord imprisoned here was captured by Zhong Liang himself. Furthermore, this was not the first Feudal Lord that had been captured. Before this, there were plenty of other Feudal Lords, but they had eventually been killed as the old man continued his research.
“Come, come. The same old thing. This version of the Evil Purging Divine Spear has been improved by this Old Master after much careful consideration. Seal some Purifying Light inside.” Grandmaster Ma Fan said, handing the long artifact in his hand to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai took a look at it and nodded, “En. I hope it won’t be like last time. It exploded before I could even use it.”
The Evil Purging Divine Spear was meant to be used against the Black Ink Clan, so it needed him to seal Purifying Light in it just like how he originally sealed Purifying Light in the Purifying Black Ink Battleships.
However, the Purifying Black Ink Battleships were huge, and they had many Spirit Arrays, which were all properly arranged for different purposes. Thus, it was not that difficult to seal Purifying Light inside of them.
The Evil Purging Divine Spear was very different. This artifact was only three meters long, but it not only had to seal Purifying Light inside, it also had to increase its lethality. This required great Artifact Refining skills and was something only an Artifact Refining Great Grandmaster like Ma Fan could do. The difficulty of accomplishing this was further proven when he, even after so long, had not succeeded.
Every time during the experiment, there would always be some kind of problem, which would lead to the result being unsatisfactory. Last time was the most ridiculous. Yang Kai had just sealed Purifying Light inside the spear, when it exploded. At that time, all kinds of burnt materials splattered across Yang Kai’s face, making it black like coal, while all his hair had been sticking up after being blown away. Even the old man could not stop himself from laughing at the comical scene.
This time, Yang Kai brought up that incident again, and Grandmaster Ma Fan immediately glared at him, “It’ll be fine! Why would it not? Brat, you’re so long-winded. Look. You already know that if this succeeds, we will be famous. Our names will go down in history and will last forever. At that time, we can basically take half the credit for eradicating the Black Ink Clan.”
They had been getting along with each other for many years and knew each of their backgrounds and personalities. So, they hardly had any scruples when speaking with each other.
Yang Kai naturally knew the importance of the Evil Purging Divine Spear, so he stopped talking about it and began casting Purifying Light while holding the Evil Purging Divine Spear.
Under normal circumstances, once Purifying Light had been cast, unless Yang Kai deliberately suppressed it, it would slowly dissipate; after all, strictly speaking, Purifying Light was just a form of energy that appeared as white light.
Under Yang Kai’s control though, the dazzling white light slowly poured into the Evil Purging Divine Spear. The spear contained a small storage space, which Grandmaster Ma Fan improved upon after carefully studying the various Spirit Arrays in the Purifying Black Ink Battleship.
The Feudal Lord, who was bound not too far away, suddenly became restless. His eyes were round as he stared at the deadly white light, madly struggling to escape. It was evident that his eyes were filled with horror.
Purifying Light was the nemesis of Black Ink Strength, so although this Feudal Lord didn’t know what the white light was, he instinctively felt threatened by it.
Both Yang Kai and Grandmaster Ma Fan were not surprised by this situation as every Feudal Lord who had been captured before reacted the same way when they saw Purifying Light.
But, their minds were completely focused on the Evil Purging Divine Spear at the moment.
Under the close attention of two pairs of eyes, the Purifying Light slowly disappeared without a trace, completely pouring into the Evil Purging Divine Spear. When the light disappeared entirely, Grandmaster Ma Fan heaved a sigh of relief.
[Success! It did not explode this time! The improvements I’ve taken so long to make have finally paid off. Now, it’s time to test the efficacy of the Evil Purging Divine Spear!]
It was not easy to refine this spear, and even though it is only three metres long, it consumed a lot of precious materials. It also took Grandmaster Ma Fan a lot of effort to produce. All kinds of problems encountered during its development were solved by him alone, as he had never asked for help from others.
He couldn’t get help either; after all, the other Artifact Refiners had their own tasks and no one had the time or energy to help him.
Grandmaster Ma Fan looked up at Yang Kai, “Will you be the one that does it, or me?”
Yang Kai checked the Evil Purging Divine Spear and said, “I’ll do it.”
Grandmaster Ma Fan gave a nod and his hand seals changed. The Spirit Array in the secret room flickered, and the binding power suddenly disappeared.
The Feudal Lord, who had been bound to the pillar, had been struggling the whole time. Naturally, it was futile with the restraint of the Spirit Arrays, but immediately after Grandmaster Ma Fan released the restraints, the Feudal Lord took action.
There was no way out of this secret room, so the Feudal Lord only had one choice, which was to pounce on Yang Kai and Grandmaster Ma Fan.
The Black Ink Strength madly surged and turned into a mass of black mist that enveloped him. He then moved as swiftly as the wind.
With a faint boom, the Feudal Lord let out a pained scream as a figure rushed at him and struck him with a powerful force.
The Feudal Lord noticed there was a sharp pain in his abdomen, and when he looked down to check, his pupils suddenly shrank
He did not know when, but there was now a spear lodged into his abdomen, the same one the two Humans were mulling over before.
For Feudal Lords, such an injury was not considered light, but it was not considered fatal either; thus, as long as they had enough time, they could restore themselves.
But the terror in the Feudal Lord’s eyes at this moment was thick and overflowing. He sensed that from the spear, a mysterious energy was suddenly spreading out. It poured into his body, and quickly dissolved the foundation of his power.
The Feudal Lord was horrified. He thought back to what he had seen before and knew that it must have been that dazzling white light which had made him feel uneasy.
Reaching out his hand, he ruthlessly pulled the spear out of his body, causing black blood to freely splatter around.
He wanted to urge his Black Ink Strength to stop the flow of blood spilling and seal his wound; however, he could not stimulate it to heal his wound at all! The mysterious energy lingered in the wound, like maggots on rotting bones, dispersing any Black Ink Strength he tried to condense there. Worse, it was also eating away at his strength. Looking down, he could even see a dazzling white light blooming from inside the wound.
“Kill me and you can go free!” Yang Kai shouted and rushed forward to punch the Feudal Lord.
The Feudal Lord gritted his teeth and fought back, exchanging blows with Yang Kai.
He didn’t know if what this Human said was true, but regardless, he could not sit still and wait to die. After all, he was a proud Black Ink Clansman who had become a Feudal Lord. He was resilient and would not give up hope so easily.
However, his own situation was worse than he had thought. Under the erosion of the mysterious energy, his strength had plummeted, and no matter how hard he tried, it was difficult for him to exert much of his strength.
After half an hour, the Feudal Lord fell to the ground panting. His face was strangely pale, and the huge gap in strength between him and his enemy made him no longer want to resist. Even so, he was unwilling to die here in total ignorance; thus, he looked at Yang Kai and indignantly asked, “What kind of power is that?”
Yang Kai looked down at him, his expression unfazed, “Us Humans have been fighting against your Black Ink Clan for countless years, and the situation has not changed much in all that time. Neither side holds a clear advantage, so it is obvious that you are not stronger than us. Instead, all you rely on is your Black Ink Strength. Tell me. Without it, what are you? Simple, you are nothing.”
Black Ink Strength possessed an overwhelming corruptive property, especially to the Small Universes of Open Heaven Realm Masters. Once Black Ink Strength invaded one’s Small Universe, there was basically no solution.
Before Yang Kai arrived on the Black Ink Battlefield, the Human Race had fought against the Black Ink Clan under these harsh conditions. This was why the Human Race heavily relied on a large number of Warships to provide favourable platforms for cultivators below the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm to fight.
The Seventh-Order Masters, on the other hand, often had to fight the Black Ink Clan in close combat. Not only did they have to resist the attacks of those from the Black Ink Clan, but they also had to constantly resist the corruption of Black Ink Strength. This made it difficult for them to display their full strength.
Just now, the strength of this Feudal Lord had been suppressed by the Purifying Light that was invading his body.
The Black Ink Clan finally had a taste of the same suffering that the Human Race had experienced over the course of countless millennia. The Black Ink Clan had been relying on the Black Ink Strength, but now, the Human Race could rely on Purifying Light.
Instead of killing the Feudal Lord, Yang Kai simply imprisoned him once more. His injuries weren’t serious, so he would be back on his feet with some rest after the remaining Purifying Light had dissipated, allowing Grandmaster Ma Fan to continue experimenting on him.
“The suppression effect is about 30%,” Yang Kai stated his conclusion outside the secret room.
The so-called 30% was how much the Evil Purging Divine Spear’s Purifying Light could suppress the Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Strength.
It was quite a terrifying number. If an ordinary Master were to suddenly lose 30% of their strength in a battle against an evenly-matched opponent, they would almost certainly be doomed. Not to mention that in the same Realm, a Seventh-Order Human was generally stronger than a Feudal Lord to begin with.
It could be foreseen that if the Evil Purging Divine Spear was introduced into the battlefield, the Seventh-Order Masters would be able to slaughter Feudal Lords as easily as slaughtering chickens and dogs.
Nonetheless, the old man was still dissatisfied with these results and slowly shook his head, “There’s still room for improvement. After this thing hits the enemy, the release of the Purifying Light is a bit slow. If a Feudal Lord reacts quickly and pulls it out before the Purifying Light fully erupts, it may not be very effective. Do you have any good suggestions?”
Yang Kai couldn’t help but burst into laughter, “That’s your field of expertise, I’m just assisting you, what advice can possibly I give?”
Grandmaster Ma Fan knew he would say this and was just asking for the sake of asking, “Alright, this Old Master will come up with something.”
Saying so, he turned around and left.
Yang Kai called out from behind, “Grandmaster, two hands are better than one. Why don’t you have a chat with Grandmaster Dong Guo and the others?”
The old man didn’t say anything, so it was hard to tell whether he was listening or not.
In any case, after this experiment, Yang Kai knew that the Evil Purging Divine Spear had basically been successfully completed! It was just that it was far from meeting the criteria for general use on the battlefield.
In the great war between the two races, the people responsible for changing the course of the war were always the small number of top Masters, such as those in the Eighth-Order Masters or Territory Lords, the Old Ancestors and Royal Lords!
Grandmaster Ma Fan refined the Evil Purging Divine Spear not just to deal with Feudal Lords, but also to deal with the Territory Lords!
The Royal Lords were just too strong, so even if the Purifying Light did work on them, no one could guarantee its effect.
There were also far too many Feudal Lords, so it would not be practical to use the Evil Purging Divine Spears on them. Firstly, most Artifact Refiners could not refine them, and secondly, Yang Kai did not have the time, energy, or resources to seal Purifying Light into so many Evil Purging Divine Spears.
As such, the optimal targets were the Territory Lords.
The best steel should be used to make the sharpest blade.
Currently, the Evil Purging Divine Spear was able to suppress 30% of a Feudal Lord’s strength, but that didn’t mean it could do the same against a Territory Lord. However, even if it was only 10% effective, it would be enough to drastically tilt the outcome of a battle.
It was difficult to replicate Blue Sky Pass’s 100-year plan. Several decades ago, the Black Ink Clan had suffered a huge loss outside Blue Sky Pass, with over 30 Territory Lords being killed and a huge chunk of their territory being occupied. Be that as it may, this plan could not be implemented twice. Furthermore, most of the Universe Cave Heavens outside Blue Sky Pass were either damaged or completely destroyed in the battle between the Territory Lords and the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, meaning they could no longer be used.
The Human Race urgently needed a new tactic or weapon that could provide them with an edge over the Black Ink Clan, one that was useful not just to Blue Sky Pass, but to all Great Passes. That was the future that the Evil Purging Divine Spear was designed to bring.
If the Purifying Light brought by Yang Kai gave the Human Race the possibility of going on the offence, then the birth of the Evil Purging Divine Spear would turn this possibility into reality. Of course, the prerequisite was that Grandmaster Ma Fan could further improve the spear.
After separating from the old man, Yang Kai returned to Dawn’s station. The last time they had returned from a hunting mission was only two months ago, so there was still a lot of time before they deployed again. Naturally, Yang Kai couldn’t afford to waste any time. He had never slacked off in his cultivation, but the time required to rise from the beginning of the Seventh Order to the Eighth Order was measured in millennia, so there was no time to waste.
Time quickly passed by and several months went by in a flash.
Dawn’s hunting rotation had arrived, so its members exited their retreat and quickly convened. Yang Kai then personally went to the Army Headquarters to report in.
This was a necessary process before executing any mission. The forward base could only coordinate everyone’s efforts if they were in control of the movements of every Squad, so one could not simply leave at will.
Entering Zhong Liang’s office in the Army Headquarters, Yang Kai cupped his fist, “Sir, Dawn requests permission to deploy for a hunting mission.”
Zhong Liang, who was neck-deep in paperwork behind the desk, tossed a jade slip straight to Yang Kai without even raising his head.
Catching the jade slip and reading it, Yang Kai was pretty taken aback and asked, “Sir, isn’t this place a bit too far?”
Recorded in the jade slip was the area that Dawn would be responsible for this time. Every time a Squad came to accept a mission, the Army Headquarters would assign a region of the void to the Squad Leader. After all, every action executed outside the base needed to have a certain order; otherwise, if a bunch of Squads were acting in one area, no one would be responsible for the other areas.
The region Zhong Liang had assigned to the Dawn this time was quite deep into enemy territory, a place Dawn had never been before and one that was quite close to the Black Ink Clan’s territory.
Such a position meant more Military Merits, but it also carried corresponding risks.
Zhong Liang looked up at him and asked, “What’s wrong? Are you afraid?”
Yang Kai immediately became stubborn, “Afraid? My Dawn has earned the greatest amount of Military Merits in the past few decades. We didn’t back down even when we were up against tens of thousands of Black Ink Clansmen, and even returned in triumph. When have we ever been afraid?”
Zhong Liang snorted, “Since you’re not afraid, why are you being so long-winded?”
Yang Kai stated, smiling, “This Junior just wants to know if there is any deeper meaning behind the Army Headquarters’ deployment; after all, no one has ever been sent to this place before.”
Zhong Liang snickered, “What kind of deeper meaning could there be? What nonsense have you been thinking all day? Just because no one has been to this place before doesn’t mean no one will ever go there. In fact, several Squads are carrying out missions there right now. If your Dawn is late, I’m afraid you won’t even get a sip of soup.”
“Which Squads are so reckless?” Yang Kai asked in surprise.
Zhong Liang impatiently rebuked, “What does that have to do with you? Are you going or not? If not, I’ll send another Squad.”
“Alright, we’ll go!” Quickly putting away the jade slip, Yang Kai bowed to Zhong Liang and left.
“This brat is as sharp as ever, did he notice something? Other Squad Leaders didn’t even ask any questions.” Someone suddenly walked out from the shadows and muttered; it was none other than the Southern Army Commander, Liang Yu Long.
Zhong Liang didn’t even bat an eye, “What can he notice? It’s nothing more than curiosity.”
Liang Yu Long asked, “Are you really not going to explain the deployment to them?”
Zhong Liang replied, shaking his head, “No need! To deceive your enemies, you must first deceive your allies. There is no need to tell them the truth, it’ll be fine.”
Liang Yu Long couldn’t help but worry, “That might be the case, the ones deployed there are all elite Squads, but if something does happen to them, wouldn’t your overall force suffer as a result?”
Zhong Liang leaned back in his chair and indifferently stated, “What’s the point of mourning for them? Life and death are perfectly normal in this damned place. If you can’t accept it, this place is not suitable for you. Moreover, it’s precisely because they’re all elites that we deployed them; otherwise, how could they possibly succeed?”
Liang Yu Long lightly sighed.
Zhong Liang stood up and continued, “The bait has been cast, it all depends on whether the Black Ink Clan takes it or not. I’m afraid a big battle will break out very soon, and only by winning it will the forward base become completely stable. This is a matter of great importance, so we should make all the preparations we can!”
In the void, Dawning Light sailed forward towards the hunting region.
After half a year of rest, the Squad members were all in high spirits and quite enthusiastic for their next mission.
Dawning Light was extremely fast, but as the region they were deployed to was quite far, it still took them 10 days to arrive after leaving the forward base.
There was no fixed requirement for the mission this time, so the Squads assigned here would just search around and kill any Black Ink Clansmen they ran into. As a result, most of the time, there was nothing much to do.
After several dozen years of ‘hunting’, the Black Ink Clan had suffered a great loss of manpower and no longer dared to easily show their faces. Although they were recently showing signs of rising from the ashes, anyone with a discerning eye could tell that this was going to be the last counterattack the Black Ink Clan made.
The area where Dawn was deployed for the mission was a place they had never been to before, so there were many enemies here. In fact, they had run into several groups of Black Ink Clansmen in the span of a few days, though their numbers weren’t high. These scattered enemies were completely powerless before Dawn.
Today, while Dawn was searching for more prey, Yang Kai, who was standing on the deck, suddenly turned his head, looking in a certain direction. He carefully sensed for a moment before making a gesture towards that direction.
The Squad member responsible for steering immediately adjusted Dawning Light’s course.
The Squad members also gathered around, performing their respective duties.
Feng Ying stood beside Yang Kai and gazed ahead, “Squad Leader, is something wrong?”
Both might be Seventh-Order Masters and Feng Ying may be just on the verge of breaking through to the Eighth-Order, but when it came to the Divine Senses, she was still lacking compared to Yang Kai. So, while Yang Kai might have discovered something, she might not have been able to detect it.
Yang Kai replied with a slight nod, “Some people should be fighting there.”
Feng Ying understood, “Other Squads?”
“It should be.”
Feng Ying’s expression became somewhat unusual, “Squad Leader, it’s not polite to steal other people’s kills.”
Yang Kai broke into laughter as he gave an excuse, “We’re just going there to watch, we won’t be snatching anything. But, if there’s an opponent they can’t handle, as fellow soldiers of Blue Sky Pass, we should help them, shouldn’t we?”
Feng Ying couldn’t help but sigh.
Not long after, they spotted swirling Black Ink Clouds ahead. A large number of Black Ink Clansmen happened to be fleeing towards them from these Black Ink Clouds in panic, like stray dogs. They looked as if they were being chased by a tide of ferocious beasts. More importantly, several among them were Feudal Lords as well.
Standing on the deck, Shen Ao broke into joyous laughter when he focused his gaze ahead, “Great, there are hundreds of them!”
There were several hundred Black Ink Clansmen, including a few Feudal Lords. It was a force to reckon with and an ordinary Squad might not be able to take them down, making fleeing their only option. But at this moment, this fearsome enemy force was being chased and forced to flee.
It was obvious that the group pursuing them was quite strong. Yang Kai did not need to use his brain to tell that it was one of the Special Operations Squads.
There was more than one Special Operations Squad like Dawn in Blue Sky Pass, in fact, there were a few of them. Of course, based on the time they were established, all these Squads were veterans.
There weren’t many such Squads like this, but each one was capable of carrying out important tasks that other Squads couldn’t.
Before the appearance of the Dawn, these Special Operations Squads were always competing with each other, but in just a few short decades, Dawn’s presence became like a mountain pressing down on their heads, making it hard for them to breathe.
It was not surprising either as Dawn had obtained far more Military Merits than any of their Squads in the two wars fought in the past 100 years.
All of them felt suffocated because of this. During the hunting missions assigned at the forward base, every Squad went all out in order to win this round, so that a newcomer, Dawn, would know that the honour of their Seniors could not be shaken.
“Are we going to steal or not?” Although Ning Qi Zhi was asking Yang Kai, the expression on his face obviously said that he was itching to have a go.
Yang Kai was well aware of the secret rivalry between the Special Operations Squads and Dawn, but he never cared about it. Strictly speaking, Dawn and the other Squads’ Military Merits gained from killing enemies on the battlefield were almost the same. Be that as it may, Dawn had acquired enormous Military Merits from other sources, such as the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors Yang Kai had introduced, and Zhu Feng Territory Lord, whom he and Bai Yi killed together. There were also those kills obtained when Yang Kai took Dawn into the various Universe Cave Heavens and Paradises during the 100-year plan not long ago. These Military Merits still belonged to Dawn, so it appeared that their Military Merits far surpassed the other Special Operations Squads’ after each great battle, allowing them to firmly occupy first place in the Merit Hall.
The Military Merits gained during the current hunting mission weren’t much, basically on par with other Squads, so the rankings in the Merit Hall were constantly fluctuating for the recent period.
The higher-ups were also aware of this rivalry, but they had no intention of stopping them. This kind of contest was not a big deal; in fact, it motivated the soldiers to kill even more enemies.
Stealing other’s prey was a common occurrence in hunting missions, but it was basically always Dawn doing the stealing. The Black Ink Clansmen targeted by Dawn were simply unable to escape from Yang Kai’s Space Principles, giving them a distinct edge.
That was why Ning Qi Zhi asked this question.
Yang Kai immediately replied, “What stealing? My Dawn’s reputation has been ruined by you. Do you know what those other Squads called us? They call us Gadflies, insects that specialise in sucking blood, even the blood of our fellow comrades. How disgraceful!”
Shen Ao silently circulated his strength, reminding, “Squad Leader, although Dawning Light has a Concealment Array around it, it has a distance limit. Any closer and this group of Black Ink Clansmen will likely discover us. Furthermore, you should have already noticed that these Black Ink Clansmen are fleeing in a panic. The Squad behind them wouldn’t be able to catch them even if they wanted to. What’s more, it’s highly likely that it’s the Old Turtles. If we ignore them, these Black Ink Clansmen may very well escape.”
Hearing this, Yang Kai agreed with a nod, “You make a good point. Since that’s the case, we can only take action.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he pointed forward and shouted, “Kill them!”
The Squad members were already prepared, so as soon as Yang Kai gave the order, the Warship began to hum as a series of Spirit Arrays were activated one after another, energizing the ship’s artifacts. The next moment, beams of light shot straight towards the fleeing Black Ink Clansmen, one after another.
Many of the Black Ink Clansmen turned pale with fright. They had never imagined that there would be another Human Warship blocking their way and, in a flash, they suffered heavy casualties.
The salvo of attacks instantly destroyed the Black Ink Clan formation. After launching the initial attacks, Dawning Light charged straight into the centre of the enemy forces like a bolt of lightning before the Seventh-Order Masters leapt out of the ship and unleashed their Divine Abilities.
The Black Ink Clansmen numbered in hundreds, but in front of the Dawn, they were still not enough. Forget Dawn, Yang Kai alone could take care of this many enemies without an issue.
In just a few dozen breaths, all of the Black Ink Clansmen had breathed their last breath, with not a single one escaping.
It was only at this moment that a Warship finally flew over from the direction the Black Ink Clan had fled.
This Warship’s style was quite different from Dawning Light’s. Dawning Light had undergone several major modifications, although most of them were at the expense of Yang Kai’s Military Merits as they were still being managed by Feng Ying. As a woman, she had her own sense of aesthetics, so Dawning Light’s overall appearance was quite sleek and refined while having various performance upgrades.
The Warship that had just arrived was quite different. At first glance, it looked rough and crude. Rather than a Warship, it looked more like a mobile fortress. There were over a dozen miscellaneous artifacts on the deck, all of which were offensive artifacts.
On top of that, there was a thick and solid shielding that looked like a turtle shell on the top of the Warship.
Just as Feng Ying had her own sense of style, the other Special Operations Squads modified their Warships according to their unique tastes. Unlike Dawning Light’s performance upgrades, this Warship focused more on overwhelming offence and defence. The dozen or so artifacts installed on the deck were quite terrifying, and the protective barrier over it provided quite a strong defence.
A Warship like this was much stronger than the Dawning Light in both offence and defence, but due to focusing on these aspects, its speed suffered greatly.
Of all the Special Operations Squads, this one’s Warship was by far the slowest, earning them the moniker ‘Old Turtles’.
Just like how Dawn had gained the moniker ‘Gadflies’, there was also the Breeze Squad, whose Warship’s features were the complete opposite of the Old Turtles’. They had greatly enhanced their speed while sacrificing their offence and defence capabilities. The other Squads often ridiculed them for killing their enemies just like a breeze blowing on one’s face. Basically, the Black Ink Clan simply treated them as nothing more than tickles.
Apart from them, there were also the Wild Boar Squad, who would charge straight like wild boars, without any sense of strategy. They would plunge straight in wherever there were more people, often throwing their own allies into disorder while pushing their enemies to their wits ends.
Finally, there was the Water Snake Squad, which was basically a balanced force, but since everyone else had aliases, they could be no exception. Since their Warship had the character ‘Dragon (龙)’ engraved on it, they were called the Water Snakes by the other Squads.
In the entire Blue Sky Pass, there were only five Special Operations Squads, and they constantly fought each other over Military Merits, openly and secretly. Their sight had even gained quite a bit of notoriety.
The Old Turtles arrived late, with Chai Fang, their Squad Leader, standing on the deck. His heart ached when he saw the Black Ink Clan corpses littered across the void and snapped, “It really is you Gadflies! Look at what you’ve done.”
Yang Kai chuckled, “Senior Brother Chai, you sure came quickly! This group of Black Ink Clansmen were running away, and this Junior Brother was afraid that you wouldn’t be able to catch up, so I had to intervene and take care of them on your behalf. No need to thank me!”
Chai Fang gnashed his teeth and glared at him, “Thank you my ass! Why did you come here? Weren’t you still resting?”
Since the Black Ink Clansmen were already dead, there was nothing they could say that could change the situation. What he couldn’t figure out was why the Gadflies had been sent here.
“We’ve finished resting.” Yang Kai stretched out his hand and stroked the side of the ship, his body leaning slightly, “As for why we’re here, it’s naturally at the orders of the Army Commander. Why? Is Senior Brother Chai afraid that my Dawn will wipe out all the Black Ink Clansmen here, and you won’t get any kills? How about we work together then? Dawn will eat the meat, and you can drink the soup.”
Chai Fang immediately spat in disdain, “Forget it, I’m afraid we won’t even be able to get a single sip if I work with you Gadflies.” He cupped his fist and bid goodbye, “Farewell! I hope we never meet again!”
Just as he was about to turn around and leave, he suddenly thought of something and turned to Yang Kai, “Where are you going?”
A mischievous smile bloomed on Yang Kai’s lips, “We have no fixed direction, we are just roaming around here and there.”
Chai Fang’s jaw clenched as he pointed in a certain direction, “We’re going this way, fuck off as far as you can from us!”
A short while later, the Old Turtles’ Warship flew in the direction Chai Fang had pointed and soon disappeared.
“I heard that one of their members just advanced to the Seventh Order a few years back, I guess the rumours are true. They have 8 Seventh-Order Masters now,” Feng Ying suddenly stated.
Dawn’s roster was quite distinguished compared to ordinary Squads, with a total of 37 members, 6 of whom were Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. In fact, there were only 5 of them at first, but later, when Yang Kai brought Bai Yi back, Zhong Liang assigned her to Dawn, increasing the count to 6.
Since even a new Special Operations Squad like Dawn had such a distinguished roster, the other elite Squads would naturally be better; after all, they were established many centuries back. The number of members the other 4 Special Operations Squads had was basically 50. Furthermore, the members of these Squads would often advance, which was why they had so many Seventh-Order Masters.
8 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters wasn’t even the largest number among the Special Operations Squads. The Water Snakes had 10!
At first, there were more than 10, but even for a Special Operations Squad, having 10 Seventh-Order Masters was already a bit too much. So, whenever another member of their advanced to the Seventh Order, he or she would be assigned to another Squad.
In terms of the number of Seventh-Order Masters, Dawn had the least among the five Special Operations Squads; even so, their Military Merits from hunting missions were not inferior to others. With a combat power like Yang Kai’s added to the mix, which couldn’t be calculated according to normal standards, their kills were naturally no less than other Squads’.
Not to mention Yang Kai, Feng Ying and Bai Yi were both among the top elites of the Seventh-Order Masters. In fact, among all the Seventh-Order Masters in Blue-Sky Pass, aside from Yang Kai, Feng Ying could be said to be the strongest. As for Bai Yi, her proficiency in the Dao of Archery made her unmatched in long-range combat.
Yang Kai smiled and stated, “We should focus on ourselves, our Dawn does not need to compete with others in terms of the number of Seventh-Order Masters. On that note, Senior Sister Feng, you should advance when you are ready. You don’t need to worry about anything. In this damned place, an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master is much more valuable than a Seventh-Order one.”
Feng Ying had reached the absolute peak of the Seventh Order a long time ago, so her next step would be to break through to the Eighth Order. However, no one could help her in this matter; she could only rely on herself.
Hearing this, she replied with a nod, “I don’t have any worries. Although there is competition between the various Squads, that’s a good thing. As for me, I still need some time to prepare.”
In the matters of cultivation, one’s own state of mind was the most important. Since Feng Ying was so meticulous, Yang Kai naturally wouldn’t add anything.
Following this small event, Dawn continued with its hunting mission in their designated area. According to the past rules, such missions would be carried out for half a year.
Two months later, Dawning Light was flying across the void.
Yang Kai was standing on the deck, using his Divine Sense to search for the enemy, when Feng Ying suddenly approached him and reported, “Squad Leader, there’s something wrong.”
“You also felt so?” Yang Kai looked at her.
Feng Ying added, “Obviously, this region has never been explored before and the Black Ink Clan is quite active here. If it was our Dawn as the vanguard, it would be reasonable as we have a higher degree of strength and thus a better chance of surviving, but apart from Dawn, the Old Turtles, Breeze, and Wild Boars are all here. Of the five Special Operations Squads, only the Water Snakes aren’t accounted for. Although we haven’t run into them, it’s very likely that they’re also here. Why would the Army Commander deploy all the Special Operations Squads here?”
Over the past two months, Dawn had been hunting here and there, so they naturally had a few run-ins with the other Squads that were carrying out missions in this region. As Feng Ying had stated, of the five Special Operations Squads of Blue Sky Pass, except for the Water Snakes, they had met all the others.
This was obviously strange.
It wasn’t just Dawn who had noticed this, but the other Squads also had similar doubts.
Yang Kai slightly furrowed his brow. He pondered on it for a moment before replying, “Since the Army Commander made such arrangements, there must be a deeper meaning behind it. Perhaps he could not say why, but it’s also possible that we’re overthinking things. It’s entirely possible that because we’ve never explored this place before, we need Special Operations Squads to act as scouts. Ordinary Squads may not be able to protect themselves here.”
“Even so, it’s still quite strange,” Feng Ying slowly shook her head.
Yang Kai dismissed her worries with a smile, “In any case, the most important thing we have to do is keep carrying out our mission. As for the rest, we’ll cross that bridge when we reach it.”
While they were speaking, a faint aura fluctuation suddenly appeared from the depths of the void. These fluctuations were extremely strange in that they were quite noticeable even though they were so faint.
Yang Kai and Feng Ying immediately looked in the direction of their source.
But these fluctuations disappeared as quickly as they had appeared, vanishing without a trace before the two of them could perceive anything.
Yang Kai and Feng Ying looked at each other and could clearly see the surprise in each other’s eyes. But even after waiting for a long time, nothing eventful happened.
Just as the two settled down, the strange aura fluctuations appeared once more, this time even more obvious than before.
Yang Kai’s expression changed, “Someone is breaking through?”
Feng Ying solemnly nodded her agreement, “It seems so.”
Yang Kai immediately started cursing, “Who is so eager to die? They actually dared to break through here? Don’t they know it’s better to return to the forward base and break through there?”
He might have said so, but he was also aware that if a cultivator really reached the point of breaking through, they might not have the time to find a suitable place to do so. For years, there had been many who had broken through directly on the battlefield. This was not intentional, but rather that it was easier to break through one’s shackles and reach an epiphany when wandering the boundaries between life and death in battle with the Black Ink Clan.
Although one could use the Universe Transference Law to instantly return to the forward base, if they did so, it was highly likely that they would disrupt or even interrupt their moment of enlightenment, which would be detrimental to their breakthrough.
However, advancing in this region was simply too reckless. This place was too deep behind enemy lines and the Black Ink Clan was frequently active in this region. If they were disturbed while they were advancing, the consequences would be deadly.
At the very least, if it was Yang Kai, he would definitely not have chosen to advance here and would have returned to the forward base.
Be that as it may, there were always exceptions to everything. Although he was annoyed, Yang Kai had no choice but to turn Dawning Light around and rush towards the source of the aura.
If they could sense the aura, so could the Black Ink Clan, who were quite active in this region. In other words, this aura was as bright as the lighthouse in the dark night. The Black Ink Clan would definitely not miss this great opportunity which dropped onto their doorstep.
Along the way, the aura fluctuations became more frequent and more obvious; obviously, it had reached a point where it could no longer be suppressed.
Dawn Squad members could also sense the situation more clearly.
On the deck, Yang Kai’s face sank.
Shen Ao was bewildered as he voiced his thoughts, “Judging by the intensity, it doesn’t seem like someone is breaking through to the Seventh Order, but rather…”
He didn’t dare to say the rest, mainly because it was too outrageous. Everyone knew that advancing to the Seventh Order would not produce such strong energy fluctuations, which meant this disturbance had to be caused by someone advancing from the Seventh Order to the Eighth Order!
“Who is it?” Yang Kai looked at Feng Ying.
In Dawn, Feng Ying had the highest cultivation and most experience. Furthermore, Yang Kai had only been in Blue Sky Pass for a little over 100 years while the rest of the Seventh-Order Masters were rescued from the Black Ink Clan’s territory by Yang Kai. Only Feng Ying had constantly lived in Blue Sky Pass and thus had a deep understanding of its residents.
Although there were many Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, and there were many who were qualified to advance to the Eighth-Order, there were only a few who were truly hovering at the threshold, so Feng Ying should be acquainted with them; after all, she too was counted among their ranks. She should be interacting with these others often.
“This seems to be Martial Uncle Xiang Shan’s aura!” Feng Ying slightly furrowed her brow.
“Xiang Shan?” Yang Kai seemed to have heard his name, “The one who fell from the Eighth Order to the Seventh Order because he sacrificed a large part of his Small Universe?”
Feng Ying nodded, “That’s him.”
“How could it be him!?” Yang Kai was confused.
Yang Kai had heard of him from Feng Ying’s mouth during a casual conversation, but that was it.
Before Yang Kai’s arrival at Blue Sky Pass, the corruption of Black Ink Strength was extremely harmful to the Human Race, and this kind of harm was not limited to Sixth-Order and Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Even Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could be affected, though this happening was quite rare.
Be that as it may, accidents were bound to happen during the lengthy war against the Black Ink Clan on the Black Ink Battlefield. Thus, even Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could be corrupted by Black Ink Strength.
Xiang Shan was one of the few unfortunate ones. He was originally an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, but when he was fighting against a Territory Lord, he was ambushed by another nearby Territory Lord and suffered heavy injuries. Although he had relied on his great strength to survive and escape, his Small Universe had been invaded by Black Ink Strength already.
In that intense battle, he had to cut off parts of his Small Universe five times, causing his Order to drop from the Eighth Order to the Seventh Order.
In fact, cutting off a part of one’s Small Universe didn’t necessarily mean that one’s Order would fall. Yang Kai had cut off a portion of his Small Universe because of the World Spring, and doing so had caused his strength to fall, but his Order did not regress.
Most people would find themselves in similar situations when only one or two pieces of their Small Universe were cut off, but if they continued to do so, a drop in Order was inevitable.
Regression in Order was very troublesome as even after repairing one’s Small Universe and rebuilding their foundation using a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit, the drop in Order could not be reversed. One would need to cultivate again and find a chance to break through.
Although there was no exact data on this process, according to the soldiers’ performance in the past, it was far more difficult for a cultivator to break through to the next Order after they had been forced to cut off pieces of their Small Universe. Only two or three out of ten people could successfully advance once again. If not for this, there wouldn’t have been so many Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Pass, even with a much more abundant supply of Profound Yin Spirit Fruits now than in the past. If those fruits could restore their Order, all of them would have returned to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Xiang Shan’s fall in the Order was nearly 3,000 years ago. Although he had used a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit to repair his damaged Small Universe afterwards, he was still stuck in the Seventh Order.
Three millennia ago, Feng Ying had just arrived on the Black Ink Battlefield. Although she had some understanding of Xiang Shan’s situation, she wasn’t very clear about it, and those in the Pass refrained from speaking about it. So, no one knew exactly what happened back then.
Nevertheless, Xiang Shan was an extremely special existence in Blue Sky Pass because he did not belong to any Squad. Even when he fought against the Black Ink Clan Army, he fought alone.
Although he was currently only in the Seventh-Order, he had the foundation of an Eighth-Order Master, so he was often able to display strength far beyond the Seventh-Order. To a certain extent, he was almost on par with Yang Kai.
“Are you sure it’s him?” Yang Kai asked.
Feng Ying nodded in confirmation, “Martial Uncle Xiang Shan is also from my Blue Sky Paradise. When I first came to the Black Ink Battlefield, I received some guidance from Martial Uncle. Although I have rarely interacted with him over these past few years, I will never forget his aura.”
It wasn’t that Feng Ying didn’t want to interact with him, but rather that Xiang Shan preferred to keep to himself like a lone wolf. He had a strange temperament and always fought alone before going into a secluded retreat. So, it was difficult to meet him, even for Feng Ying.
“In fact, when I came to Blue Sky Pass, the Western Army Commander was Martial Uncle Xiang Shan. After his cultivation fell, Martial Uncle Zhong Liang took over the position,” Feng Ying added.
At this moment, the matter of the Western Army Commander was not on Yang Kai’s mind. He had thought that some Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was advancing to the Seventh-Order, but by the looks of it, it was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master advancing to the Eighth-Order.
[What should we do now?]
No matter what reason Xiang Shan had for staying in this region to advance, this fierce aura could not be concealed and would definitely attract the attention of countless Black Ink Clansmen.
Just like how the Territory Lords were the main force of the Black Ink Clan, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were the backbone of the Human Race. Now that the balance between the number of Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords in the Blue Sky Theatre had already been destroyed, how could the Black Ink Clan just watch another Eighth-Order Human appear?
Even if Yang Kai thought with his feet, he knew that a large number of Black Ink Clansmen would soon be rushing over to interfere. Perhaps even some Territory Lords would make an appearance.
Pondering for a moment, Yang Kai turned around and ordered, “Senior Brother Qi, I’ll have to trouble you to return to the forward base and report this matter to the Army Commanders. Ask them to quickly send reinforcements.”
Qi Tai Chu also understood the gravity of the situation and immediately nodded in response, “Yes!”
In a flash, he appeared outside Dawning Light as he used the Universe Transference Law to return to the forward base.
Yang Kai then turned to the other members and suggested, “A fierce battle is upon us, so all of you should quickly try to recover your strength. You may not have a chance to rest later.”
Everyone readily agreed.
Dawning Light continued to fly forward, but Yang Kai still felt uneasy.
Although he had asked Qi Tai Chu to return to the forward base to report and ask for reinforcements, only Qi Tai Chu could use Dawning Light’s Universe Array to immediately return. Other soldiers could not do the same; thus, even if an Eighth-Order Master was deployed, it would take at least 10 days for them to arrive.