Although the Blood Sea was giving off an extremely evil aura, it was also extremely restrained.
Just from this, it could be seen that the person controlling it was extremely skilled.
In the entire Dawn Squad, the only one who cultivated Blood Principles was Blood Crow; thus, only he could have cast the Blood Sea.
This was the first time everyone had cooperated with Blood Crow while fighting an enemy ever since he joined Dawn. That’s why, it came as a surprise that he was able to display such a Blood Sea.
Though this technique gave off a skin-crawling aura, it was extremely effective.
At the very least, the Feudal Lord and the dozen or so Black Ink Clansmen who were trapped in the Blood Sea couldn’t make a single sound.
Bai Yi ignored all this and instead fired a few arrows, taking out the High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen who had yet to react.
Just as she took action, Shen Ao and the others also attacked. They all rushed towards the Black Ink Clan without using any Secret Techniques or artifacts to kill as quietly as possible.
Inside the Black Ink Nest, Yang Kai’s figure flickered as he instantly arrived at its core.
He was extremely familiar with the internal structure of Black Ink Nests so he knew where its key positions were.
After looking around and seeing that the core area was empty, with no one guarding it, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
He was really worried that a Feudal Lord would be on guard in this central area. If that was the case, the Feudal Lord would have instantly sounded the alarm about the enemy attacking.
Fortunately, it seemed luck was on their side today.
After giving it another thought, it was not surprising. The main task of the Low-Rank Black Ink Nests set in the periphery of the Royal City was to generate Black Ink Strength and expand the defence perimeter. The Feudal Lords of the Black Ink Nests were surely busy at the Black Ink Pool, so there was no point standing by in the central area; after all, what would they do inside the Black Ink Nest Space, chat with other Feudal Lords?
Without any hesitation, Yang Kai continued deeper, making a beeline straight to the Black Ink Pool’s location.
Finally, he saw a Feudal Lord and a High-Rank Black Ink Clansman.
The High-Rank Black Ink Clansman was standing before the billowing Black Ink Pool, holding a Space Ring and constantly pouring various materials into it for refining.
The Feudal Lord was sitting completely still near the Black Ink Pool, his consciousness apparently linked with the Black Ink Nest.
The Human Race had done a lot of research on the Black Ink Nest they acquired. Furthermore, Yang Kai was stationed in the vicinity of the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest captured by Great Evolution Pass for many years, studying its various functions and characteristics. As such, Yang Kai could tell that this Feudal Lord was controlling the Black Ink Nest to produce Black Ink Strength with just a glance.
Generally, when resources were thrown into the Black Ink Pool, the refined energy could be used in two ways for a Low-Rank Black Ink Nest. First, it could be used to breed more Black Ink Clansmen, and second, it could be used to produce Black Ink Strength.
If no one was present to control the Black Ink Nest, then it would simply perform both functions.
The current task of the Low-Rank Black Ink Nests was to expand the defence line, so the only thing they needed to do was produce Black Ink Strength.
The moment Yang Kai barged in, it was the Feudal Lord who suddenly looked up before the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman could react.
The next moment, Yang Kai’s grim smile entered his sight.
“You…” The Feudal Lord was beside himself in shock, but before he could get up, the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman next to the Black Ink Pool exploded into a blood mist. Immediately after, a strange wave of energy swept over the Feudal Lord, freezing both his body and mind in place.
In a flash, a spear pierced through his head, blowing it apart.
Yang Kai put away the Azure Dragon Spear and breathed a long sigh of relief.
He had taken control of this Black Ink Nest. It might have seemed simple, but any other Seventh-Order Master would never have achieved this.
To make the attack that killed the Feudal Lord, Yang Kai had simultaneously used Time Principles and Space Principles.
Under the Time Principles, the Feudal Lord’s thoughts became sluggish, and under the Space Principles, his body became stiff, rendering him unable to avoid Yang Kai’s fatal attack.
After scanning the Black Ink Nest with his Divine Sense and confirming that there were no more Black Ink Clansmen inside, Yang Kai exited it without any hesitation.
When he arrived outside, he found that all the Black Ink Clansmen outside were dead, all that was left was a billowing Blood Sea.
As Yang Kai focused his gaze, a slight furrow appeared on his brow.
“Help!” Suddenly, Blood Crow’s voice rang in his ear as the Blood Sea parted, creating a passage.
Yang Kai immediately flew along the passage into the Blood Sea. Soon, he saw a Feudal Lord surrounded by the Blood Sea. At this moment, the Feudal Lord was rapidly casting Secret Techniques to attack the surrounding Blood Sea, his body violently surging with Black Ink Strength.
While this Feudal Lord was pretty strong, Blood Crow could easily defeat him given enough time. Unfortunately, the current situation did not allow him to drag things out so he directly sent a transmission to Yang Kai, requesting assistance.
Yang Kai raised his Azure Dragon Spear and thrust it towards the Feudal Lord. The sharp spear broke through the barriers of space and pierced straight through the unsuspecting Feudal Lord.
A fountain of Black Blood immediately gushed out from the Feudal Lord as Yang Kai pulled out his spear.
Immediately, Blood Crow broke into a maniacal laughter.
Yang Kai’s expression instantly changed as he quickly retreated.
Just as he withdrew from the Blood Sea, it strangely converged into a single place, transforming back into Blood Crow. The many Black Ink Clansmen that were previously submerged in Blood Sea were nowhere to be found.
Blood Crow, on the other hand, had a satisfied look on his face, even letting out a loud burp.
A strange look appeared on Bai Yi and the others’ faces at the sight of this.
Yang Kai’s expression became even more serious as he ordered, “Clean everything up and quickly get inside!”
At the same time, Yang Kai reached out and grabbed Blood Crow by the neck, dragging him into the Black Ink Nest.
The Black Ink Nest was pretty big, so Yang Kai quickly found an empty space and let Dawning Light out. Afterwards, he jumped onto the deck, towing Blood Crow by the neck.
Blood Crow tried to struggle his way out but he was unable to break free from Yang Kai’s grasp. His face immediately became ugly as he shouted, “Let me go!”
No matter what, he was still a Senior to Yang Kai, so he found it disgraceful to be hauled around by the neck by a Junior.
“You’re courting death!” Yang Kai shouted, gnashing his teeth, “Do you know what you’re doing?”
Blood Crow gave a lackadaisical smile, “What do you think I’m doing?”
As he spoke, Bai Yi and the others also rushed over and came to the deck in succession, staring at Blood Crow silently.
As if he sensed everyone’s attitude, Blood Crow lightly chuckled, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling disgusted just because I ate a few Black Ink Clansmen?”
Shen Ao corrected, furrowing his brow, “Brother Xue, it’s not like that, but…”
“There’s no need to explain,” Yang Kai glared at Blood Crow, “I know you cultivate the Great Evolution Immortal Blood Light Scripture and can refine the Blood Essence of others to increase your cultivation, but the Black Ink Clan!? You’ve been on the Black Ink Battlefield for so many years, so I don’t think that you need me to explain it to you. If you refine the Black Ink Clan’s Blood Essence, can you stomach it?”
Blood Crow indifferently replied, “If I can’t stomach it, what would I have eaten all these years?”
Yang Kai’s expression changed, “This isn’t the first time?”
Blood Crow lightly chuckled as a sliver of Black Ink Strength surged in between his brows.
The Black Ink Clan had Blood Essence which could be refined, but that was naturally filled with Black Ink Strength. Refining Blood Essence also meant being contaminated by Black Ink Strength. On the battlefield, the slightest mistake would lead to horrendous consequences; he could be corrupted by Black Ink Strength and become a Black Ink Disciple.
Blood Crow indifferently rebuked, “Don’t speak to me about the Grand Dao. This King resurrected for the sake of greater strength; otherwise, this King wouldn’t have died back then. The Great Evolution Immoral Blood Light Scripture is a wondrous Secret Art, and not nearly as simple as you think. It’s not a problem to refine the Blood Essence from the Black Ink Clan, and as for the Black Ink Strength, there is naturally a way to resolve it now.”
The method he was referring to was none other than the Purifying Light. Not to mention that Yang Kai was right next to him. If Yang Kai noticed something was amiss, he would naturally be able to purify the Black Ink Strength in his body.
Even if there was no Yang Kai, the purifying light sealed inside the Black Ink Purifying Battleships would work just fine.
This was not the first time Blood Crow had refined the Black Ink Clan’s Blood Essence; in fact, he had done so many times on the battlefield. Each time, he would find an opportunity to use the Universe Transference Law to return to the Purifying Black Ink Battleship.
Yang Kai asked in a serious voice, “Are you sure there is no problem?”
Although the Purifying Light could purify and expel Black Ink Strength, it was only effective against the Black Ink Disciples who had been corrupted by the Black Ink Strength. As for Blood Crow, he was actively refining it. Yang Kai couldn’t be certain if there was any Black Ink Strength hidden in him.
“There’s no problem, for now,” Blood Crow slowly shook his head in response, “If some problem really does present itself, just kill me.”
Yang Kai stared deeply at him, “I won’t show any mercy.”
If it really reached a point where even the Purifying Light couldn’t save him, Yang Kai would have no choice but to take his life. This was the path that Blood Crow had chosen, so he couldn’t blame others.
Blood Crow went around Yang Kai and headed for the cabin, wearing an indifferent expression on his face.
Currently, apart from Dawning Light, there were only four Purifying Black Ink Battleships that had Purifying Light in the entire Great Evolution Army. If Blood Crow wanted to safely refine the Black Ink Clan’s Blood Essence, he had to do it in an environment filled with Purifying Light.
Watching him leave, Yang Kai secretly heaved a helpless sigh.
He had also mulled over this before. The Great Evolution Immortal Blood Light Scripture that Blood Crow was cultivating after returning from the dead was indeed a wondrous Secret Art, but it was equally evil. The user of this technique could only improve their strength by relying on their own cultivation technique, which was quite a slow and tedious process, or by devouring and refining the Blood Essence of the others, which was by far the best option for the users of Blood Light Scripture.
On the Black Ink Battlefield, whether it was the Black Ink Clansmen or the Black Ink Disciples, both possessed quite a lot of Black Ink Strength in their bodies, so refining their Blood Essence was quite a risky process.
Yang Kai thought that Blood Crow wouldn’t be so bold, but by the looks of it, he had underestimated his determination to pursue greater strength.
But who did not pursue greater strength in this miserable era? Yang Kai was also like that, so were the members of Dawn, and so was the entire Great Evolution Army.
Only with greater strength could one play a greater role in the battle against the Black Ink Clan.
Be that as it may, Blood Crow’s method of increasing his strength was somewhat different from others.
Now that it was already a done deed, Yang Kai couldn’t possibly ask Blood Crow to spit out the Black Ink Clansmen, it simply didn’t work like that.
“Have you tidied up things outside?” Yang Kai asked.
Shen Ao reported with a nod, “It’s all cleaned up, but this way, it’ll be easy for us to expose ourselves.”
There should be Black Ink Clansmen outside the Black Ink Nest, defending it. When Yang Kai used the Demon Eye of Annihilation to observe them, he saw that every Black Ink Nest was guarded by the Black Ink Clan.
Now though, this Black Ink Nest was completely undefended. If a Black Ink Clan patrol were to pass by, they would definitely become suspicious.
“Should we put on a disguise?” Shen Ao asked.
Yang Kai refused, shaking his head, “No need. If the Black Ink Clansmen really come to investigate, putting on a disguise would be pointless. Furthermore, we don’t have to maintain this position for long. Great Evolution Pass will arrive in half a month at most, so we just need to hold out until then.”
It shouldn’t be a problem to hold out for half a month. What they needed to do now was to quickly take down the other two nearby Black Ink Nests.
When Yang Kai observed from the periphery of the Black Ink Clan’s defence line, he noticed that as long as he could take down these three neighbouring Black Ink Nests, an exploitable gap would appear.
As long as Great Evolution Pass disguised itself a little and entered through this gap, they would be able to completely avoid the eyes and ears of the Black Ink Clan and make it to the Royal City, catching the Black Ink Clan off guard.
Since everything had gone smoothly when they launched a surprise attack using the Black Ink Clan’s ship. Yang Kai planned to simply use the same method to capture the other two Black Ink Nests.
There was still about half a month before Great Evolution Pass’ arrival, so Yang Kai wasn’t in a hurry to attack the nearby two Black Ink Nests.
What he was more curious about was whether the Black Ink Clan’s defensive line was really as effective as they had thought.
With this Black Ink Nest under their control, it wouldn’t be difficult for them to verify this.
Without any delay, Yang Kai arrived at the chamber where the Black Ink Pool was and opened a portal to his Small Universe, allowing the Black Ink Nest to absorb his World Force and use it as a bridge to connect their consciousnesses.
At first, he felt nothing out of the ordinary, but when Yang Kai immersed his mind and carefully sensed his surroundings, he felt his consciousness expanding. Not only had the Black Ink Nest become a part of him, but even the surrounding void seemed to be within his reach.
The range of his consciousness was the area filled with the Black Ink Nest’s Black Ink Strength, though the further away it was from the Black Ink Nest, the blurrier his perception became.
Nonetheless, he was able to detect a foreign body if it intruded into the region.
As he had guessed, the defence line formed by the Black Ink Strength did serve as the warning system. This was also the reason why the Black Ink Clan sent a team to investigate them the two times they had approached to within a certain range of the Black Ink Nests so quickly.
Although Great Evolution Pass had seized a Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest and had done a lot of research on it over the years, they had no idea that it had such a function.
It wasn’t that the people studying the Black Ink Nest were careless, but rather that the Humans had invested all their energy into spawning sub-nests. Why would they even think about producing Black Ink Strength? For one, the Black Ink Strength was highly dangerous to the Humans.
Even the Low-Rank Black Ink Nest in Yang Kai’s Small Universe only gave birth to the weakest Black Ink Clansmen and did not produce any Black Ink Strength beyond what he deemed absolutely necessary.
As such, Yang Kai was also oblivious to this function of the Black Ink Nests.
After carefully examining it for a moment and making sure he hadn’t missed anything, Yang Kai finally relaxed somewhat.
By the looks of it, the Black Ink Clan’s defence line had two purposes; firstly, it served as a detection net, so once a Human broke in, the Black Ink Clan would be alerted, and secondly, it would create an advantageous environment for the Black Ink Clan to fight in.
Over the years, the Low-Rank Black Ink Nests had been constantly producing Black Ink Strength, enveloping the region around the Royal City, making it difficult for Human cultivators to enter this place.
This was the Black Ink Clan’s strategy to protect themselves.
Correspondingly, if the Black Ink Nests’ warning was only effective to this extent, then his previous plan would work. If he could capture the nearby Black Ink Nests, then a gap would appear in defence line. At that time, Great Evolution Pass would be able to pass through and charge straight at the Royal City undetected.
The Black Ink Clan probably hadn’t even imagined that the Great Passes could be moved!
The Great Passes had remained in place for countless millennia. Although they were strong and sturdy, they had only been used for defence, never to attack.
Now, they were being mobilized for the first time ever. The Humans would definitely be able to catch the Black Ink Clan off guard with this move. Furthermore, the influence of the Black Ink Strength on the Humans would be greatly diminished with Great Evolution Pass acting as a barrier and shield. If someone was not able to withstand the Black Ink Strength’s invasion, they could simply return to Great Evolution Pass and recuperate.
This was unlike before, where they could only rely on Warships.
Warships were constantly at risk of destruction, but if the Black Ink Clan wanted to destroy Great Evolution Pass, it would be extremely difficult.
Suddenly, hurried footfalls came from outside. Yang Kai returned to his senses and looked towards the entrance.
Shen Ao hurriedly walked in and looked at Yang Kai with a solemn expression, “Squad Leader, Bai Yi said that a Black Ink Clan team is approaching.”
“How many?” Yang Kai asked.
[That’s surprising. We just seized this Black Ink Nest, and now a Black Ink patrol is coming? Did one of the nearby Black Ink Nests notice the disturbance and come to investigate?]
Dawn was extremely fast and had completely suppressed the fallout from their attack, so being noticed was unlikely, especially since even the closest Black Ink Nests were quite some distance away and there was a thick cloud of Black Ink Strength between them. Logically speaking, it should be impossible for them to detect anything.
“I don’t know,” Shen Ao shook his head.
Yang Kai hurriedly went out and soon arrived outside.
The Seventh-Order Masters of Dawn were hiding at the entrance of the Black Ink Nest, concealing their auras.
Seeing Yang Kai arrive, Bai Yi waved at him and pointed in a certain direction.
Yang Kai focused his gaze, using the Demon Eye of Annihilation, and noticed a Black Ink Clansman was indeed flying towards them.
Only one!
In this place, where everyone moved around in teams of no less than a dozen, it was quite strange to see a lone Black Ink Clansman acting like this.
Judging by the approaching aura, it was a Feudal Lord, and they seemed to be heading straight for this particular Black Ink Nest.
[Damn it!]
Originally, Yang Kai wanted to quickly capture the two nearby Black Ink Nests to prepare for Great Evolution Pass’ attack, but he had never expected such an unforeseen event to occur. Be that as it may, since this Black Ink Clansman had come knocking on their door, Yang Kai and his Squad had no choice but to silence him.
The occupied Black Ink Nest had a huge flaw, which was that the Black Ink Clansmen here had been completely wiped out. With not a single Black Ink Clansman guarding this place, if the other party became even a little suspicious, he would very likely realize that something was amiss.
Nevertheless, Dawn could do nothing about it. Yang Kai could not ask Shen Ao and the others to disguise themselves as the difference between Humans and the Black Ink Clan auras was too great. Their physiques also didn’t match.
Many Black Ink Clansmen did have humanoid forms, and although some were Human-sized, most of them were far taller and imposing, with various warped shapes.
Everyone thus held their breaths.
The Feudal Lord quickly approached.
What made everyone heave a sigh of relief was that the other party appeared to be completely oblivious to the capture of the Black Ink Nest. It did not look like it even crossed this individual’s mind that Humans could accomplish this. He simply approached in a seemingly casual manner.
Soon, the newcomer arrived in front of the Black Ink Nest. The Feudal Lord examined it for a moment before curiously calling out, “Lord Bo Gao, why is there no one guarding this place? Where did your subordinates go?”
Yang Kai’s expression changed slightly as he learned for the first time that the Feudal Lord he had killed inside the Black Ink Nest was called Bo Gao.
Furthermore, this guy appeared to know him.
This made Yang Kai curious about the purpose of the other party’s visit.
Yang Kai immediately had an idea as he replied in a hoarse voice, “The defence line has been frequently intruded upon recently, so they have all gone to investigate. Sir Feudal Lord has his hands full with the Black Ink Nest, so he is unable to reply. Sir, please come inside.”
He couldn’t disguise himself as Bo Gao, so he could only pretend to be one of Bo Gao’s subordinates.
Presumably, the other party wouldn’t be able to find any fault.
“En,” as expected, the other party didn’t suspect anything and simply walked towards the Black Ink Nest.
However, after taking just one step, he instantly retreated.
Yang Kai cursed, gnashing his teeth. This Feudal Lord was quite crafty.
[Perhaps he really hadn’t noticed anything before, but my reply gave him the confirmation that something was wrong, or perhaps the absence of the Black Ink Clansmen alerted him, so he pretended to move forward before retreating.]
This time, Yang Kai was caught off guard.
Fortunately, Yang Kai’s reaction was extremely fast. With a single Instantaneous Movement, Yang Kai appeared beside the Feudal Lord and pounced at him.
The next moment, the Feudal Lord who was about to retreat suddenly froze as Yang Kai’s fist landed on his head, releasing a massive amount of World Force. The Feudal Lord immediately felt dizzy.
But this wasn’t the end of it. Yang Kai got a firm hold of his opponent and began bombarding him with punches.
The Feudal Lord felt extremely aggrieved. He was still a Feudal Lord, but he was being beaten to the point where he couldn’t even fight back. Every time he mustered some strength, it would be dispersed by the other party’s violent assault.
A moment later, he spat out a mouthful of blood as all the colour drained from his face.
Yang Kai grabbed hold of this Feudal Lord and returned to the Black Ink Nest in a flash before throwing him to the ground like a dead fish.
Shen Ao and Ning Qi Zhi glanced at each other, speechless.
[The Squad Leader has grown even stronger.]
Ordinary Seventh-Order Masters couldn’t easily kill Feudal Lords since both were in equivalent Realms, let alone capture one alive, but Yang Kai was able to snatch up the other party like a helpless child.
Although they were shocked, their hands did not stop. Seals were sent out one after another, isolating the Black Ink Nest from the outside world.
After a dozen breaths, the half-dead Feudal Lord slowly regained his senses. He shook his head and opened his eyes, only to see several Humans glaring at him.
The Feudal Lord was beside himself in shock.
Yang Kai summoned his Azure Dragon Spear with a wave of his hand and thrust it straight at the other party’s eyes, arrogantly asking, “Do you want to live or die?”
The Feudal Lord didn’t dare to move and kept his mouth shut, sensing the Azure Dragon Spear’s sharpness.
“If you want to live, then answer my questions and perhaps I’ll spare you!”
The Feudal Lord’s expression changed several times before he grit his teeth and snarled, “Forget it, you won’t get anything out of me.”
He also realized that the other party had no intention of sparing his life.
It was obvious they wanted to obtain information from him, but Humans and the Black Ink Clan could never coexist. So what if he gave them the information they wanted to know? After they were done with him, he would undoubtedly die!
He might as well just commit suicide.
Saying so, the Black Ink Strength in his body started surging as he let out a low roar and he charged at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s spear nailed him to the ground as black blood flowed out of his wounds, “Hmph, want to die? Not so easy.”
He turned his head and shouted, “Blood Crow!”
Blood Crow appeared on the deck and condescendingly looked at the Feudal Lord.
“I’ll leave him to you! Get everything out of him.” While speaking, he tossed the Feudal Lord to Blood Crow with a flick of his spear.
Blood Crow’s eyes lit up as his figure suddenly transformed into a billowing mass of blood mist that rushed towards the Feudal Lord.
A look of fear appeared in the eyes of the Feudal Lord, despite being prepared for death.
He wasn’t afraid of dying; otherwise, his attitude wouldn’t have been so unyielding just now.
However, there was a difference in the way one died.
Although he didn’t know what technique this Human named Blood Crow cultivated, the appearance of this Blood Sea gave him an extremely discomforting feeling.
It pulsed with a malevolent aura not inferior to the one given off by Black Ink Strength.
The Blood Sea continued swirling, without making the slightest noise.
Yang Kai put away the Azure Dragon Spear.
Shen Ao leaned over and whispered, “Is it fine, doing this?”
Yang Kai lightly snorted, “What can I do if he insists? Rather than letting him eat on the battlefield, I might as well let him have his fill right now! If there is no other choice… I’ll handle it personally!” As he was speaking, murderous intent flashed across his face.
Yang Kai would not show any mercy if Blood Crow really got corrupted by the Black Ink Strength.
A moment later, the swirling Blood Sea converged and transformed back into Blood Crow’s figure.
The Feudal Lord who was surrounded by the Blood Sea was nowhere to be found.
Blood Crow’s face was aglow as he could hardly suppress the Blood Qi in his body. After devouring over a dozen Black Ink Clansmen’s Blood Essences, two of which were Feudal Lords, he was just barely holding on, somehow.
On the deck, Blood Crow casually tossed two Space Rings to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai caught them and examined them. One Space Ring was quite ordinary. It didn’t have anything particularly eye-catching, containing the normal amount of wealth a Feudal Lord would possess.
The other Space Ring, on the other hand, was quite eye-catching.
[This guy… was loaded!]
The second Space Ring was filled with all kinds of resources, enough to dazzle even Yang Kai. Although Yang Kai had already seen marvelous things and mountains of treasure before, he couldn’t help but be shocked by the wealth of this Feudal Lord.
The Feudal Lords he had met before weren’t nearly this rich.
Blood Crow clarified, “Those don’t belong to him. The first Space Ring was his, and the second one was taken from the Black Ink Nests.”
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai raised his head and asked. He had some guesses, but nothing conclusive.
Blood Crow belched before continuing, “This guy came from the Royal City and was tasked to collect the resources from the Black Ink Nests. Let’s put it this way, the Black Ink Nests in the periphery belong to individual Feudal Lords. These Feudal Lords will send out their subordinates to mine for resources. A part of these resources will be used by themselves to produce Black Ink Strength and expand the defence line, while the rest will be kept aside. The Royal City periodically sends people to collect these remaining resources.”
Yang Kai finally understood the gist of the matter.
Right now, resources were extremely important to the Black Ink Clan. Whether it was for expanding the defensive line, or re-supplying the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests or even the High-Rank Black Ink Nest, they all required massive amounts of resources.
Even though the Black Ink Clan had amassed a tremendous amount of resources over the millennia, since they were trapped in the Royal City, they had to find a way to replenish their reserves.
And that source was the mining done by the Black Ink Clansmen in the outer ring!
[No wonder the Feudal Lord suddenly came here alone. It turns out that he was here to collect resources. Judging by the items in the second Space Ring, he must have gone to many other Black Ink Nests.]
“What else?” Yang Kai asked.
Blood Crow answered, “There are about 20 or 30 people in charge of collecting resources like him, all of them scattered in different directions. As you know, the Black Ink Clan’s defence line is quite wide, and quite a distance out from the Royal City, so they need so many people to carry out this task. The Territory Lords won’t bother to do something as tedious as this, so that leaves the Feudal Lords.”
Yang Kai lightly nodded. It was understandable.
Moreover, this should not be the only reason. The Territory Lords were also afraid of Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and had no idea when she would suddenly appear to attack. They would feel much safer in the Royal City than outside on their own.
If a Territory Lord ran into Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao while away from the Royal City, they would just die in vain.
“Interesting!” A grin appeared on Yang Kai’s face as he suddenly thought that he could make good use of this opportunity.
Originally, he had planned to use the same method as last time to take down the two adjacent Black Ink Nests. But doing so entailed too many uncontrollable variables. Luck played quite a big role in them seizing this Black Ink Nest unnoticed.
If they played the same trick again and again, and for some reason, the Black Ink Clan became vigilant, the risk of being exposed increased dramatically.
But this new information had given Yang Kai a chance to employ another method.
He could just pretend to be a Feudal Lord sent by the Royal City to collect resources.
Yang Kai turned to Shen Ao and ordered, “Send a message to Chai Fang and Ma Gao. Tell them to stop sneaking around outside and come here. Also, try to contact Yao Kang Cheng and have them withdraw as well.”
“Yes!” Shen Ao quickly took out some Space Beacons and sent the messages.
Holding the Space Ring in his hand, Yang Kai started stroking his chin, pondering. When Bai Yi and the others saw his eyes darting around, they immediately understood that he was scheming something, so they didn’t disturb him.
Soon after, Shen Ao raised his head and reported, “Chai Fang and Ma Gao have sent their replies. They will arrive in half a day, but I still can’t get in touch with Yao Kang Cheng.”
Yang Kai furrowed his brow. Yao Kang Cheng’s actions were bordering on recklessness, but since he could not get in touch with him, Yang Kai could only hope that everything was going smoothly for him and his Squad.
“You guys stand guard outside in turns. Meanwhile, I’ll keep on the lookout in the central area,” Yang Kai ordered before entering the Black Ink Nest.
On the deck, Blood Crow patted his stomach before turning around and returning to the cabin as he still needed to properly refine the Blood Essence he consumed. A chill ran down everyone’s spine at the sight of this.
Half a day later, Yang Kai, who was keeping an eye out from inside the Black Ink Nest, vaguely sensed a foreign body intruding the Black Ink Nest’s detection range and immediately sent a message, having the rest of Dawn go on high alert.
But shortly after the first disturbance, Yang Kai felt another body intruding on the defence line.
Yang Kai knew that it was the Old Turtle and Profound Wind Squads.
As he had expected, a team of people stealthily made their way over shortly after.
Their leader was none other than Chai Fang.
Chai Fang was quite smart. He knew that the Warship would be too conspicuous, so just like Dawn, he put away the Warship and took everyone below the Seventh-Order into his Small Universe when they entered the perimeter. He only arrived with a few Seventh-Order Masters.
Bai Yi, who was guarding the entrance, had already noticed them and guided them inside.
When he saw Yang Kai sitting by the Black Ink Pool, Chai Fang couldn’t help but be in awe. He immediately cupped his fist and congratulated, “Brother Yang, this Chai admits defeat!”
Their Squad had also been wandering around the periphery for many days. They too were thinking of taking down a Black Ink Nest and hiding inside the Black Ink Clan’s defence line.
But it was easier said than done. Although the Old Turtle Squad was quite strong, it was still difficult for them to silently capture a Black Ink Nest.
On the other hand, Dawn had accomplished just that. Needless to say, Yang Kai deserved the most credit for succeeding in this difficult task. No one was his opponent in the same Realm, so he could quickly crush a Feudal Lord, which was critical to moving about undetected.
“That’s very kind of you.” Yang Kai continued, “Please wait a moment, the Profound Wind Squad will be arriving soon.”
Chai Fang lightly nodded and led his Squad to Dawning Light. After thinking about it for a moment, he also let out his Squad members from his Small Universe.
Unlike Yang Kai, whose Small Universe had a robust foundation, his Small Universe felt slightly bloated after keeping so many Open Heaven Masters inside. If he were to run into an enemy and be forced to fight, Chai Fang would have some trouble circulating his World Force, which would lead to a sharp drop in his strength. Under such circumstances, he just might lose a fight he should have easily been able to win.
The Profound Wind Squad also arrived in a short while. Everyone had gathered except for the Snow Wolves. After asking around, Chai Fang, and Ma Gao finally learned that Yao Kang Cheng had led his Squad deeper into the Black Ink Clan’s defence line.
This made them feel a bit uneasy. Although there were no Black Ink Nests in the inner ring of the defence line and it might be harder to be detected, there was always a chance. If they ran into a large group of Black Ink Clansmen, things could become quite dangerous for them.
Nonetheless, things were out of their hands as they could not reach them.
Without mulling over it much, Chai Fang went straight to the point, “Brother Yang, why have you summoned us here? What orders do you have?”
Yang Kai answered, smiling, “I don’t dare to give you orders, but I do need your help.”
Ma Gao nodded after hearing this, “Brother Yang, if there’s anything you need, feel free to speak. Since we are all tasked with scouting, we should naturally help each other.”
“Then I’ll cut to the chase. It’s like this, I’ve observed from the outside that, although the Black Ink Clan is completely invested in constructing this defence line using the Black Ink Strength, because they have expanded it too much too quickly, it’s not very tight. As long as we can capture three adjacent Black Ink Nests, we can blind the eyes of the Black Ink Clan and Great Evolution Pass will have a chance to quietly sneak past and head to the Royal City unnoticed.”
While speaking, he tapped the floor, “This is the first one. We will need to take down two more nearby, but Dawn needs to remain here in case anything goes wrong. So, I need your help to capture the other nests.”
Ma Gao and Chai Fang glanced at each other before nodding their compliance. The former added, “Since Brother Yang has summoned us here, surely he must have some kind of plan, right? What do you want us to do?”
Yang Kai started explaining, “I do have a plan. Originally, I was planning to use the same trick I used to capture this nest, but now I have a better idea. Previously, a Feudal Lord came here…”
Next, Yang Kai explained what happened with the recently arrived Feudal Lord.
Ma Gao raised his brow, “Collecting resources…”
Chai Fang was not all brawns and no brains, rather he was quite sharp, so he immediately understood what Yang Kai had in his mind, “Brother Yang wants to disguise himself as a person collecting supplies and openly approach the other two Black Ink Nests?”
Yang Kai nodded, “Rather than sneaking around and possibly raising the opposite party’s guard, it would be better to act boldly.”
“Indeed, I’m sure that it would never occur to the Black Ink Clansmen on guard that the person approaching them so blatantly actually had ill intentions towards them.” Ma Gao agreed, “But Brother Yang, there is still a problem. According to what you said, the one collecting the supplies was a Feudal Lord. If you were to disguise yourself, you can at best disguise yourself as a Black Ink Disciple, which would still be suspicious.”
Yang Kai had disguised himself as a Black Ink Disciple more than once. Apart from him, no one else could do this because they did not possess Black Ink Strength, but Yang Kai was different. His Small Universe even had a Black Ink Nest inside, so it wasn’t difficult for him to withdraw some Black Ink Strength.
Yang Kai explained with a smile, “About 20 to 30 people are collecting supplies, and I don’t think that all of them would be Feudal Lords. If some Black Ink Clansman asks, I have an excuse. So long as I can get a chance to approach the Feudal Lord overseeing the Black Ink Nest, we’ll already be halfway to success!”
For Yang Kai, the only problem was how to approach the Black Ink Nest. As long as he could get close to the Black Ink Nest without raising any alarms, the rest was easy. When he led his Squad here, he had completely disregarded the Black Ink Clansmen in the vicinity and charged straight into the Black Ink Nest as he was afraid that the Feudal Lord in-charge of the nest would sound the alarm.
Fortunately, the other party was a bit lax, probably never having expected a Human to be so courageous as to directly charge into his Black Ink Nest.
But Yang Kai couldn’t place his hopes on the carelessness of others for the next two Black Ink Nests. It was better to have everything under his control.
The Black Ink Clan troops stationed at every Black Ink Nest were quite strong, with more than one Feudal Lord standing guard. Since Yang Kai needed to focus on dealing with the Master of the Black Ink Nest, he needed help to take care of the other Black Ink Clansmen.
Since Dawn had to stay here, he was left with no choice but to ask for the Old Turtle and Profound Wind Squads’ help.
“Since Brother Yang has considered things thoroughly, we will cooperate with you. As for how we should act, I hope Brother Yang has planned everything,” Ma Gao quickly agreed.
“But of course,” Yang Kai had formulated a complete plan and quickly explained it to them.
Ma Gao and Chai Fang kept nodding again and again when they heard the plan. They found it to be quite feasible. It would be a piece of cake to take down the two adjacent Black Ink Nests if all went well. In fact, if they had enough manpower, they could capture as many as they wanted.
But if they captured too many, they might expose some flaws. So, it was not necessarily a good thing to take things that far.
After a brief discussion, Yang Kai got up and stated, “We shouldn’t delay. I’ll leave now, everyone, wait for my signal.”
Ma Gao and Chai Fang nodded before exhorting, “Brother Yang, be careful.”
Yang Kai waved and flew out of the Black Ink Nest, heading straight towards the adjacent region.
Usually, a Black Ink Disciple was no different from an ordinary Human, so Yang Kai didn’t need to openly use the Black Ink Strength in his Small Universe to disguise himself. If he did that, he would be exposing a big flaw.
Nevertheless, there was one thing he needed to pay attention to.
The Black Ink Disciples in Great Evolution Theatre had already been cultivating for 30 millennia, so those who had survived had broken through their innate shackles.
In other words, most of these Black Ink Disciples had grotesque deformities. Yang Kai had seen many of these Black Ink Disciples, and all of them had such characteristics.
If he wanted to disguise himself as a Black Ink Disciple, he needed to pay special attention to this.
Fortunately, this was not difficult for him.
As he silently moved the Black Ink Strength in his Small Universe and gathered it on his neck, causing the flesh there to bulge, giving the impression of a tumour.
At the same time, the Black Ink Strength around him became richer and denser.
Anyone who saw this would never imagine he was a normal Human.
Silently calculating the distance between them, Yang Kai crossed the boundary between the two adjacent Black Ink Nest in just two hours, stepping into the adjacent Black Ink Nest’s territory.
Soon after he crossed the boundary, he saw a team of Black Ink Clansmen approaching him. Obviously, they had noticed his intrusion and came to investigate.
Yang Kai didn’t try to avoid them, rather he made a beeline towards them.
The opposite party became a bit vigilant, but after seeing the distant Yang Kai’s appearance, the expression of the Feudal Lord leading the team relaxed.
When both sides met each other, Yang Kai cupped his fist humbly, “Greetings, Sir.”
Although the strength of a Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciple was similar to that of a Feudal Lord, a Black Ink Disciple’s status was still relatively low in the Black Ink Clan, so Yang Kai felt it was not a problem to call this individual ‘Sir’.
The Feudal Lord slightly nodded before curiously asked, “Are you here to collect supplies?”
“Yes, Sir!” Yang Kai answered.
Yang Kai secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
When he was investigating the previous Feudal Lord’s Space Ring, he knew that the Feudal Lord had already gone to many Black Ink Nests; otherwise, there wouldn’t have been so many materials inside.
Yang Kai was really afraid that the Feudal Lord had already been here. In that case, it would definitely be suspicious if another person came to collect supplies so soon after.
By the looks of it, no one had come here to collect supplies yet.
The Feudal Lord asked, a bit confused, “What about Jiu Ka? Wasn’t he responsible for this region?”
The Feudal Lord who was devoured by Blood Crow was apparently called Jiu Ka! The Black Ink Clan had a very weird naming style, it was very archaic, quite different from the Humans of the current era.
They were probably influenced by the Humans of that era.
Yang Kai put on a forced smile as he gave an excuse, “Sir Jiu Ka said he had other matters to attend to, so he asked me to come here in his place…” He then took a pregnant pause before whispering, “Sir also knows how the Old Ancestor is acting, what if…”
He did not finish the sentence. He just assumed a look that said ‘you understand it, right?’
Hearing this, the Feudal Lord sneered, “That guy really knows how to loaf around. Isn’t he afraid of the higher-ups blaming him?”
To be honest, every Black Ink Clansman in the outer ring was afraid of the sudden arrival of the Old Ancestor, and it wasn’t like it had never happened before. Every time the Old Ancestor came, she would annihilate every Black Ink Clansman in her path.
They were setting up a Black Ink Strength defence line, but the hidden truth was that they were also taking a huge risk. Jiu Ka was terrified of the Old Ancestor and didn’t dare to leave the Royal City. So, it was reasonable for him to order a Black Ink Disciple to help perform his duties.
“Follow me,” the Feudal Lord stated before turning around and flying back.
Yang Kai nodded before flying shoulder to shoulder with the Feudal Lord. Meanwhile, he also kept up with pleasantries, praising and thanking the other party for working hard these days.
He was completely acting like a Black Ink Disciples.
The Feudal Lord was also apparently a talkative fellow. Seeing Yang Kai act so familiar, he also began chatting with him.
But Yang Kai only spouted some useless nonsense and didn’t dare try to obtain any information, lest he expose himself.
After walking for a while, the Feudal Lord casually asked, “Which Territory Lord’s Black Ink Disciple are you?”
Warning bells started ringing in Yang Kai’s heart. He didn’t know if the other party was testing him or just asking casually. The sudden question didn’t give him much time to ponder either, so Yang Kai replied in a casual manner, “I am Sir Che Kong’s subordinate.”
Che Kong Territory Lord’s position was quite high in the Black Ink Clan. During the last war between the Great Evolution East-West Army and the Black Ink Clan at the Royal City, Che Kong was made the Army Commander by the Royal Lord, so it made sense for him to have many Black Ink Disciples under him. It was hard to believe that this Feudal Lord out on the outskirts knew all of them.
Even Yang Kai, who had spent so many years in Blue Sky Pass, did not know all the soldiers of Blue Sky Pass. After all, there were too many of them.
If it was true even for him, the same must be true for the Black Ink Clan.
The other party must have casually asked, so as long as he didn’t reveal too many flaws, it shouldn’t be a problem.
But Yang Kai had no idea if this Feudal Lord was familiar with Che Kong or not.
Hearing Yang Kai’s reply, the Feudal Lord couldn’t help but look at Yang Kai, frowning, “You are Sir Che Kong’s Black Ink Disciple? Why have I never seen you before?”
[Is this guy also Che Kong’s subordinate? I’ll be damned!]
Yang Kai secretly cursed his bad luck. Originally, he had thought of using Che Kong’s name, but now it seems that he had just picked a rock and smashed it on his foot.
If this Feudal Lord really was Che Kong’s subordinate, he would definitely recognize the Black Ink Disciples under Che Kong.
Noticing the suspicion in the other party’s eyes getting stronger and stronger, Yang Kai immediately added with a sigh, “I am Sir Che Kong’s subordinate now, but I used to be Sir Zhe Chong’s subordinate!”
Zhe Chong had died in the battle at Great Evolution Pass a long time ago, so there was no one left to verify his identity.
As one of Zhe Chong’s former subordinates, since his Master died in battle, Yang Kai would definitely have to submit to another Territory Lord.
“So you were at Great Evolution Pass?” The Feudal Lord finally found it logical as to why he had never seen this Black Ink Disciple before.
“Indeed,” Yang Kai nodded his affirmation, now finding this Feudal Lord quite annoying. Had he not worried about giving himself out too early, he would have already stabbed his Azure Dragon Spear straight into the Feudal Lord’s mouth.
Yang Kai’s story might have passed preliminary scrutiny, but he kept his guard up, for there was a flaw in his narrative.
As expected, the other party was not a fool, so a frown appeared on the Feudal Lord’s brow as he asked, “When Sir Hong Di led the Army to retreat from Great Evolution Pass, he had an agreement with the Eighth-Order Human Masters at that time. Not only did he have to leave behind his own Black Ink Nest, but he also had to leave all the Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples behind. How did you make it out of there?”
If Yang Kai had really been at Great Evolution Pass, it would have been impossible for him to appear here.
Yang Kai explained with a sigh, “We tried to break past the Human Army’s blockade to assist the Royal City multiple times, but we never succeeded. During the second battle, I was seriously injured and on the verge of death, so I had no choice but to find a place to conceal myself and stabilize my injuries. It wasn’t until Sir Hong Di retreated from Great Evolution Pass and passed by that I managed to rejoin the Army.”
He was bound to make a slip of the tongue if he kept speaking too much. A single lie would require more lies to cover up. If the Feudal Lord kept questioning Yang Kai, Yang Kai was not sure if he could dispel his doubts.
A look of sadness appeared on his face as he sighed, “We fought many battles at Great Evolution Pass, and lost countless Territory Lords. There, a Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciple like me was just an ant. It’s already a miracle that I survived.”
His words seemed to have touched the other party’s heart, who let out a long, forlorn sigh, “It was the same at the Royal City, even Sir Royal Lord… Forget it, let’s not talk about this anymore. The Humans are still a great threat to my Black Ink Clan, but sooner or later we will wipe them out!”
Yang Kai couldn’t help but nod, “That day will surely come.”
Yank Kai sneered in his heart. Since the Black Ink Clan wanted to exterminate the Humans, why would they let Black Ink Disciples live? The hatred between the two Races was irreconcilable to the point that they had no hope to coexist in this vast universe.
The Feudal Lord remained silent for the rest of the journey.
Yang Kai was more than happy with his situation.
From the other party’s attitude, it was clear that he didn’t doubt Yang Kai. Now, half of his plan had succeeded, the remaining half would depend on whether he could successfully capture the Black Ink Nest.
A moment later, the Black Ink Clan team arrived before the Black Ink Nest.
The Feudal Lord turned around and exhorted Yang Kai, “Wait here, the supplies are with Mao Bo. I’ll go and bring them to you.”
“Many thanks, Sir!” Yang Kai nodded slightly.
Mao Bo seemed to be the name of the Feudal Lord in charge of this Black Ink Nest, the Master of this place.
The leader of the Black Ink Clan team who brought him here was most likely a subordinate of Mao Bo.
After spending some time with the Black Ink Clan, Yang Kai had some understanding of how their hierarchy worked.
There were quite a lot of Feudal Lords under a Territory Lord’s command, ranging from several dozen to 100 or so.
But at most 30 Feudal Lords would have their own Black Ink Nest.
Most of the Feudal Lords did not have their own Black Ink Nest. Under normal circumstances, these Feudal Lords who didn’t have a Black Ink Nest would choose to submit to those who had a Black Ink Nest, which could be regarded as a superior and subordinate relationship, but also a cooperative one.
After all, the Feudal Lords with Black Ink Nest also wanted their territories to become stronger. This way, when they were summoned to fight against the Human Race, not only would they be able to display greater strength, but they would also be able to protect themselves better.
The Master of the first Black Ink Nest occupied by Dawn was called Bo Gao, but there was another Feudal Lord at the Black Ink Nest, who was devoured by Blood Crow.
The situation was very similar to the Black Ink Nest here.
Yang Kai scanned the entire Black Ink Nest with his Divine Sense and found that there were only two Feudal Lords here. One was the one who had brought him back just now, while the other was the one who was in charge of the Black Ink Nest called Mao Bo.
As for the others, they were all High-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen. There were not too many of them either, about 50 in total.
[This will work!]
[It would be even better if Mao Bo came out of the Black Ink Nest.]
While he was pondering, the Black Ink Clan Feudal Lord returned and handed Yang Kai a Space Ring, “These are the supplies.”
Yang Kai took it and pretended to examine it before putting it away.
Presumably, the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t dare to embezzle when it came to this matter.
Cupping his fist, Yang Kai addressed the Feudal Lord, “Many thanks, I’ll head to the next location.”
The Feudal Lord nodded in response.
Yang Kai turned around to leave, but after taking a few steps, he suddenly turned around, slapping his head, “How foolish of me, I forgot to tell you one thing.”
The Feudal Lord asked, “What is it?”
Yang Kai sheepishly looked around before continuing in a low voice, “Sir Territory Lords have found how the Old Ancestor is appearing and disappearing out of thin air. Before coming here, Sir Che Kong ordered me to inform the Feudal Lords about it, so that everyone in the outer ring can carry out a joint investigation to find anything suspicious.”
Hearing this, the Feudal Lord’s eyes lit up after hearing this, “The Territory Lords have already found the reason?”
Over the years, the Black Ink Clan had suffered many losses at the hands of the Old Ancestor, but even now, they still had not figured out how she was able to come and go like a ghost.
This was not only a thorn in Royal Lord and Territory Lords’ hearts, but also a source of extreme fear for the outer ring Feudal Lords.
If they could at least figure this out, they would be much less afraid of the Humans.
The Feudal Lord was overjoyed after hearing Yang Kai say that the Territory Lords had found the how of the Old Ancestor mysteriously appeared and disappeared.
Yang Kai solemnly nodded, “This matter is confidential, so before leaving, Sir Che Kong ordered the outer ring Feudal Lords to use the Black Ink Nest to perform a thorough search.”
“Search for what?” The Feudal Lord asked in a low voice.
“For a certain thing.” While speaking, Yang Kai took out a Space Beacon and handed it to the Feudal Lord, “This.”
“What is this?” The Feudal Lord took it and carefully examined it, but did not find anything special about it.
Yang Kai kindly explained, “I have no idea what this is either, but the Territory Lords should know. What I can confirm is that the Old Ancestor somehow uses this thing to travel to the vicinity of the Royal City.”
“There’s a strange energy lingering around it…” The Feudal Lord muttered.
Yang Kai patiently added, “It should be the energy of Space Principles.”
“Space Principles…” Realization immediately dawned upon the Feudal Lord, “No wonder.”
Obviously, he was not unfamiliar with Space Principles.
“There should be quite a number of these things in the vicinity of the Royal City, so we must carefully search for them. In addition, I would like to ask Sir Mao Bo to step out of the Black Ink Nest so that he can memorize its aura, as Sir Mao Bo is in charge of the Black Ink Nest. It will be easier to investigate with the power of the Black Ink Nest.”
“En,” the Feudal Lord nodded and handed the Space Beacon back to Yang Kai, “Wait a moment, I’ll go and bring Brother Mao Bo.”
“Many thanks!” Yang Kai cupped his fist.
The Feudal Lord entered the Black Ink Nest once more and returned with another Feudal Lord a moment later, who stretched his hand towards Yang Kai after seeing him, “Show me.”
Yang Kai casually tossed as he stated, grinning, “Sir, please look carefully.”
The next moment, 10 Space Beacons flew towards the two Feudal Lords.
The two Black Ink Clan Feudal Lords were taken aback, [So many?]
This was especially true for the Feudal Lord who had communicated with Yang Kai earlier. He had thought that since the Old Ancestor used it to travel, it must be extremely valuable and rare.
But much to their surprise, Yang Kai suddenly threw over 10 of them.
Before they could figure anything out, the Space Beacons suddenly started radiating strange energy fluctuation, and immediately after, figures appeared out of thin air one after another.
Each Space Beacon corresponded to a figure. 10 Space Beacons were equal to 10 people!
Also, the surrounding space instantly solidified, giving the Black Ink Clansmen the feeling of falling into a quagmire.
[What’s going on?] The two Feudal Lords were utterly confused, and so were the High-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen.
“Kill!” Yang Kai shouted as he thrust his spear towards Mao Bo.
He was the Master of the Black Ink Nest, so as long as he was taken down, there was nothing to fear.
The moment Chai Fang and the others appeared, they dispersed in all directions. Chai Fang and two other Seventh-Order Masters charged straight at the other Feudal Lord, casting various restrictive methods.
The other seven Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were like wolves in a flock of sheep, ruthlessly slaughtering the High-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen.
“You… Humans!” Mao Bo shouted in horror. If he still didn’t know he had fallen into the Human’s trap at this point, he would have lived all his life in vain.
What he couldn’t fathom was how someone, who looked so much like a Black Ink Disciple, could be a normal Human. Be that as it may, his movements weren’t slow at all. Instantly, his consciousness communicated with the Black Ink Nest and the next moment, the giant flower bud shaped nest started trembling slightly as a tremendous amount of Black Ink Strength surged towards him.
Just like the Royal Lord could use the power of his Black Ink Nest at the Royal City to increase his strength, the Feudal Lords could also do the same. Of course, the boost in strength they received was not nearly as significant as the Royal Lord’s.
At the critical moment of life and death, Feudal Lord Mao Bo had to go all out.
Unfortunately for him, Yang Kai’s spear was faster. It easily destroyed Mao Bo’s hastily condensed defensive barrier and pierced straight through his forehead.
Mao Bo’s eyes cracked wide in disbelief.
He could not be considered as weak among the Feudal Lords, and had even personally killed a Seventh-Order Human in one-on-one combat in the past. Today though, his opponent was only a Seventh-Order Human, but he was simply unable to block that spear thrust.
A powerful shockwave swept outward as Mao Bo’s head exploded, leaving a headless corpse floating lifelessly in the void.
The vibrating Black Ink Nest instantly calmed down after having lost his control.
Yang Kai short forward, smashing Mao Bo’s headless corpse to pieces before rushing into the Black Ink Nest.
There might be other Black Ink Clansmen inside the Black Ink Nest, so he quickly went inside to take total control of it. He did not need to manage the battle outside.
Chai Fang and the others had the absolute advantage and would take care of it properly.
There were indeed a few High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen inside the Black Ink Nest, but none of them was at the core area.
Mao Bo had been staying inside the Black Ink Nest all the while; as such, the High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen didn’t dare to do anything outside their jurisdiction.
Yang Kai went on a killing spree with his spear. After he had confirmed that all the Black Ink Clansmen in the Black Ink Nest had been annihilated, he exited casually.
The battle outside was over by the time he arrived.
The 10 High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters of the Old Turtle Squad were more than enough to deal with a single Feudal Lord and a group of less than 50 weaker Black Ink Clansmen.
The Feudal Lord who had led Yang Kai here fell at the hands of Chai Fang and the other two Seventh-Order Masters in less than five breaths while the remaining small fry were unable to cause any trouble.
By the time Yang Kai emerged from the Black Ink Nest, not only had all the Black Ink Clansmen been taken out, even the battlefield had been cleaned up by Chai Fang and the others.
“Come inside,” Yang Kai beckoned everyone.
Chai Fang and the others entered the Black Ink Nest in single file.
After entering the Black Ink Nest, Chai Fang released the Old Turtle Squad’s Warship as everyone landed on the deck, looking at each other, grinning.
“Is there any problem?” Chai Fang asked in a low voice.
Yang Kai shook his head, “It should be fine.”
The battle was finished very quickly. In addition, there was quite a bit of distance between them and the other Black Ink Nest, so the fallout of their battle wouldn’t reach them.
“I’ll go bring the others,” Yang Kai stated before activating Space Principles and disappearing into thin air, leaving behind only a Space Beacon.
Yang Kai returned a short while after. He then opened a portal to his Small Universe as 40 people walked out one after another.
They were the members of the Old Turtle Squad.
Previously, all the Old Turtle Squad members below the Seventh Order had been left with Dawn to facilitate a rapid deployment. Now that they had taken over this Black Ink Nest, they needed the full Old Turtle Squad to guard it, which was why the remaining members were brought over.
The Black Ink Strength inside the Black Ink Nest was quite dense and strong, so even a Seventh-Order Master would find it hard to bear for a long time. The Purifying Black Ink Pill might provide some help, but it was not suitable for an extended stay in an area filled with Black Ink Strength.
A Warship, on the other hand, could provide firm protection. As long as the Warship’s Defensive Arrays remained intact and active, there was no risk of being corrupted by Black Ink Strength.
Yang Kai didn’t stop to rest after helping the Old Turtle Squad settle down at the Black Ink Nest and immediately headed towards the third target.
This trip was even easier than the last, thanks to his prior experience.
When he met with the Black Ink Clan team, who had come to investigate the situation, Yang Kai didn’t say he was here to collect supplies; after all, such an excuse was a little risky.
If the Feudal Lord he had killed first had already collected the resources from here, he would have to come up with a new story to slip his way out of it.
Saying that the Royal City had discovered how the Old Ancestor mysteriously appeared and disappeared, and wanted all of the Feudal Lords in charge of the Black Ink Nests in the outer ring to carry out a joint search was a much better excuse.
As expected, the Black Ink Clan did not find it suspicious. Not only did they not become suspicious, they even became quite excited.
To them, if they could unravel the mysteries of how the Old Ancestor was randomly showing up out of thin air, they would have a safer future.
After arriving in front of the third Black Ink Nest, Yang Kai used news of the Space Beacons to easily lure out the Master of the Black Ink Nest, and using the same trick, Yang Kai tossed out a handful of Space Beacons and attacked.
But he was cooperating with Ma Gao’s Squad this time.
All the Special Operations Squads were almost equally strong, except Yang Kai’s Dawn Squad, which was much stronger thanks to the latter.
Under the cooperation of 10 Seventh-Order Masters, the Black Ink Clansmen guarding this Black Ink Nest were swiftly wiped out.
As such, the third Black Ink Nest was successfully occupied.
The three adjacent Black Ink Nests covered quite a wide area of the Black Ink Clan’s defence line. Now that they had been captured, a hole had appeared in the detection net. So long as Great Evolution Pass disguised itself slightly, it would be able to pass through this hole and rush to the rear of the Black Ink Clan’s defence line undetected.
Obviously, Great Evolution Pass must have some kind of Illusion Array installed on it, so disguising itself would be a piece of cake.
They had now occupied three Black Ink Nests. Dawn was stationed at one, the Old Turtles at another, and the Profound Wind Squad at the last one.
Things settled down from the moment, but it would be hard to say after some time had passed. The Black Ink Clan would definitely grow suspicious if three Black Ink Nests fell silent for too long, but delaying things for 10 days or half a month shouldn’t be a problem.
Great Evolution Pass would have arrived in half a month at most.
So long as Great Evolution Pass could pass through the defence line, Dawn and the other Squads would only have to keep up this act for a few more days. Even if the Black Ink Clan noticed after that, it would be too late. It would be difficult for them to respond in time. At the very least, it would be difficult for the Black Ink Clan forces stationed at the perimeter to rush back to help defend the Royal City. As such, the forces of the Royal City would be weakened.
Originally, Yang Kai thought that taking down the three adjacent Black Ink Nest was enough, as this was also the minimum requirement for Great Evolution Pass to quietly sneak through the enemy defence line.
But now that he had such a good strategy, Yang Kai felt like he could take over an additional Black Ink Nest.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to take down even more after that, it was just that he was lacking in manpower. Right now, each of the three Squads was guarding a Black Ink Nest, while he alone could guard the fourth. If he took a fifth, there would be no one left to guard it.
After all, it would be difficult for the others to last long in the Black Ink Nest without the protection of a Warship.
Three Black Ink Nests were the lowest requirement. If there were four, it would naturally be better, as the margin for error would be bigger.
Having made up his mind, Yang Kai gave a word of advice to Dawn before continuing on his way without a moment of delay.
The fourth Black Ink Nest was taken down quite easily, just like the previous two. All Yang Kai had to do was use the Space Beacon as an example. The Black Ink Clansmen out in the defence line were extremely concerned about the Old Ancestor, so when they heard that the Territory Lords had solved the mystery of the Old Ancestor’s mysterious appearance and disappearance, they were overjoyed, which easily lured out the Feudal Lord guarding the Black Ink Nest.
But he didn’t expect to be greeted with Yang Kai’s spear.
This time, Dawn’s Shen Ao and the others worked together with him. After taking down the Black Ink Nest, Dawn’s members didn’t stay and instead used their Universe Transference Law to return to Dawning Light.
Yang Kai remained alone at the Black Ink Nest, monitoring the situation in the outer ring.
Everything remained calm and peaceful for the next few days.
He occasionally contacted the three Squads, but nothing unusual happened in their respective areas.
The Black Ink Clan didn’t seem to have many dealings with each other. But thinking about it, all the Black Ink Clansmen inside these Black Ink Nests were extremely wary of the Old Ancestor. If they could hide in their Black Ink Nests, who would be willing to come out?
Even the Feudal Lords who had gone out to collect supplies were on edge.
When Yang Kai had told the second Black Ink Nest’s Feudal Lord, that Jiu Ka Feudal Lord was afraid of the Old Ancestor and had asked him to go, it might have been a casual excuse, but it was clearly not an unlikely scenario.
Otherwise, the Feudal Lord wouldn’t have shown such an expression.
There were still 10 days until Great Evolution Pass arrived!
Today, while Yang Kai was sitting in the Black Ink Nest, monitoring the movements of his surroundings, a Space Beacon on him suddenly had a subtle reaction.
He had a lot of Space Beacons in his possession, basically in sets of two, which corresponded to each other. When they were not in use, he would usually store them in his Small Universe.
But Yang Kai had kept a few on him. These Space Beacons were the ones used to contact the other Special Operations Squads and Great Evolution Pass. He couldn’t put them in his Small Universe, or else, the World Barrier would isolate from the outside world and the others would not be able to contact him.
After a quick check, Yang Kai immediately noticed that the Space Beacon was linked to the Snow Wolves Squad.
The Snow Wolves Squad had gone deeper into the Black Ink Clan’s defence line, and there had been no messages from them since then. In order to avoid exposing their whereabouts, Yao Kang Cheng had taken the initiative to cut off all contact with the outside world.
But today, Yao Kang Cheng suddenly sent a message. Obviously, they must have found something worth reporting.
Yang Kai promptly took out the Space Beacon as a jade slip appeared in front of him the very next moment.
Yang Kai caught the jade slip and scanned it with his Divine Sense. His expression became solemn the very instant.
“Royal Lord!”
There was just an extremely simple message on the jade slip, nothing else.
[Royal Lord? Why did Yao Kang suddenly mention the Royal Lord? Did he want us to be wary of him?]
Furthermore, it was a very short message, as if Yao Kang Cheng was in a rush; otherwise, he wouldn’t have sent such a short message.
It should be brought to notice that recording a message on a jade slip was only a matter of a single flash of thought. It could be considered lightning fast, so why did Yao Kang Cheng only record the words ‘Royal Lord’ and nothing else?
Yang Kai suddenly had a very bad feeling, but he did not try to contact the other party in a moment of worry.
Yao Kang Cheng might have encountered some kind of danger for him to send a message in such a hurry. If Yang Kai rashly contacted him, it might expose the Snow Wolves location.
[Right now, all I can do is wait for him to contact me.]
Yang Kai became sombre as he gripped the Space Beacon, patiently waiting.
One day, two days, three days…
Nothing happened.
Finally, after three days, Yang Kai let out a long sigh of resignation. Since Yao Kang Cheng had not contacted him in these three days, that either meant he was still in danger, or… he had met with some kind of misfortune.
There might not have been any Black Ink Nests in the inner circle of the Black Ink Clan’s defence line, making it comparatively harder to get caught, but it was actually far more dangerous because, if they made any mistakes, it would be difficult to escape.
Yang Kai knew this, and so did Yao Kang Cheng.
Be that as it may, as the Territory Lords did not leave the Royal City unless the situation forced them to, it should not be impossible for the Snow Wolves to escape given their strength, even if they encountered some kind of danger.
Unless they were surrounded by a very large number of Feudal Lords!
When Yao Kang Cheng had sent a message stating that he would take the Snow Wolves Squad deeper behind the defence line, Yang Kai was also considering taking Dawn deeper into enemy territory. After all, Yang Kai was proficient in the Dao of Space and had quite a bit of experience fleeing from mortal danger. It could be said that he was well-versed in the art of escaping.
Unfortunately, Yao Kang Cheng had cut off contact with him before he could suggest this. Yang Kai was unable to reach the former and was left with no choice but to leave him to his own devices.
Originally, Yang Kai thought that even if Yao Kang Cheng was caught, he would not be in any critical danger, but by the looks of it, he had taken things for granted.
Yang Kai used his Divine Sense to activate the Space Beacon, but as he had expected, he received no response.
There could only be two reasons for this. One was that the Space Beacon had been destroyed, and the other was that Yao Kang Cheng had put it in his Small Universe or Space Ring, so he couldn’t reach him.
It was not a big deal if it was the latter. It meant that Yao Kang Cheng was definitely in hiding with the Snow Wolves Squad, but if it was the former… then things were rather disastrous for the Snow Wolves.
What exactly did he encounter?
What did he mean by ‘Royal Lord’?
Did Yao Kang Cheng run into the Royal Lord? If he really did run into the Royal Lord, it was a given for the Snow Wolves Squad to not be able to escape. No matter how serious the Royal Lord’s injuries were, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. A Royal Lord was not someone that a Seventh-Order Master could challenge.
Even Yang Kai himself might not be able to escape if he really encountered a Royal Lord. There was too big of a gap between them, so the Dao of Space might not necessarily be of any use.
If Yang Kai was in Yao Kang Cheng’s place, facing certain death, or worse, capture, he would have destroyed the Space Beacon, and committed suicide if need be!
Because if he was captured by the Black Ink Clan and turned into a Black Ink Disciple, Great Evolution Pass’ operation would be exposed, and all their plans and preparations would be wasted.
Destroying the Space Beacon would also ensure the safety of the other Squads. Only by embracing death would they be able to prevent the news of Great Evolution Pass’ surprise attack from falling into enemy’s hands.
Every Human soldier was well aware of this and was prepared to lay down their life if necessary.
But how did Yao Kang Cheng encounter the Royal Lord?
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had been harassing the Royal Lord now and then over the past two centuries, especially for the matter of Great Evolution Pass’ Core. She even fought with the Royal Lord several times in recent years, making it impossible for the latter to recover from his injuries and forcing him to hole up in the Royal City to protect himself.
Only by borrowing the power of his Black Ink Nest in the Royal City could the Royal Lord contend with Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao.
The Royal Lord couldn’t stray too far away from the Royal City, for doing so would be akin to courting death.
Logically speaking, no matter how rash the Snow Wolves Squad was, they would never approach the Royal City. So, they could not have run into the Royal Lord.
However, the message Yao Kang Cheng sent contained the words ‘Royal Lord’!
What was going on?
Was the Snow Wolves Squad safe? What did ‘Royal Lord’ mean?
Yang Kai felt a headache coming on, but he couldn’t find any clues.
He had to guard the Black Ink Nest he was occupying and could not travel around to investigate.
After pondering for a moment, Yang Kai informed Chai Fang and Ma Gao about the Snow Wolves Squad’s message and told them to be on guard as there was something strange happening on the Black Ink Clan’s side.
Yang Kai sent another message to Dawn, whereupon Shen Ao arrived at Yang Kai’s side with the help of the Space Beacons.
When they met each other, Yang Kai didn’t waste any time and directly stated, “Brother Shen, I’ll have to trouble you to take care of this place and monitor the situation outside. If there is any movement, please inform me immediately.”
Shen Ao nodded “Alright.”
“Also, when you think you’ve almost reached your limit, get someone else to replace you.”
“Understood.”
One had to be connected to the Black Ink Nest to monitor the surroundings, but doing so allowed Black Ink Strength to slowly seep into one’s body.
As a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, Shen Ao’s cultivation was not weak in any way, so if he took a Purifying Black Ink Pill, he could resist such invasion for a while, but not for long.
He had to ask the other members of the Dawn Squad to replace him when necessary. Only by doing so would they be able to monitor the situation outside at all times, so as to prevent anyone from intruding.
This was something Yang Kai had no choice but to ask. If he wanted to find out more about Yao Kang Cheng’s situation, he had no other choice but to place his hopes on the Black Ink Nest Space and see if he could obtain any useful information.
Once his consciousness was connected to the Black Ink Nest, his consciousness would enter the Black Ink Nest Space. In this situation, he would be unable to perceive anything happening in the outside world.
If some Black Ink Clan team came to check on this place, Yang Kai would not be able to hide things from them, and if they attacked him, he might not even be able to react. So, he needed someone to cover for him before entering the Black Ink Nest Space.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have called Shen Ao over.
After making the necessary arrangements, Yang Kai immediately walked towards the centre of the Black Ink Nest.
After a short while, he sat down cross-legged and sighed before opening his Small Universe and connecting his consciousness to the Black Ink Nest, using his World Force as a bridge.
Yang Kai had done this more than once, so he was just traversing a familiar path.
A few days ago, when he had captured the Black Ink Nest, the thought of using this method to obtain some information about the Black Ink Clan did cross Yang Kai’s mind, but it was a little dangerous. Right now, the four scouting Squads’ main purpose was concealment, so not taking any risk was the better choice. So, Yang Kai had not taken any action for the past few days.
However, since the Snow Wolves Squad seemed to be in some sort of trouble, and Yao Kang Cheng’ had sent such a cryptic message, he had no choice but to take the risk and enter the Black Ink Nest Space to investigate.
Nonetheless, he was not afraid of giving himself away. One’s Soul would basically manifest after entering the Black Ink Nest Space, and as each person’s Soul fluctuations were different, even if one could take another person’s appearance, it was impossible to imitate another person’s aura. So, if two people knew each other well, they would be able to recognize each other at a glance.
But who could recognize him in this damned place?
Perhaps one of the Territory Lords may recognize him; after all, Yang Kai had used many Soul Rending Thorns to seriously injury and even kill a number of Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples in order to seize control of the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest at Great Evolution Pass. Those who were still alive would definitely remember his Soul Avatar.
Be that as it may, if the Territory Lord didn’t come into the picture, basically no one would recognize him.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai still felt that it was best to be extra careful, because his Soul was extremely powerful. Although he was only a Seventh-Order Master, his Soul was comparable to those in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm or the Territory Lords.
The sudden appearance of a Soul of such calibre would certainly stick out among a group of Feudal Lords and their subordinates.
Yang Kai was here to gather information, so he didn’t want any complications.
As such, Yang Kai suppressed his Spiritual Energy as best he could and entered the Black Ink Nest Space.
As usual, this vast space seemed to be extremely large, but also extremely small, without any specific concept of space.
Yang Kai didn’t take any specific form, just moving about as a kind of amorphous mist. After a brief examination, he found that there weren’t many Soul Avatars in the Black Ink Nest Space, only about 30 in total, and many of them had remained in the most basic form just like him.
30 was quite a normal figure, as this was the space of a Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest. Each Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest should have about this many Low-Rank Black Ink Nests hatched from it.
Most of the people who came here were the Souls of the Feudal Lords under the same Territory Lord, but there were also High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen’ Souls.
The High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen were naturally not the Masters of the Black Ink Nests and had only been ordered to remain here to communicate with the other Black Ink Nests.
It could be said that many of the Soul Avatars left here weren’t the Masters of the Black Ink Nests. Most of them had been ordered to remain here to pass on messages at a moment’s notice and gather information.
This was also the reason why Yang Kai dared to enter this place. If everyone knew each other, he would have been caught the moment he entered.
After entering the Black Ink Nest Space, Yang Kai didn’t immediately take any action. He just quietly waited in a corner, observing the situation
As if everyone sensed that someone new had appeared, the surrounding Divine Senses swept over, but they soon ignored him.
Although most of the Soul Avatars entering this space were acquainted with each other, some unfamiliar faces would come in from time to time, so there was nothing strange about this.
Yang Kai secretly let out a sigh of relief. By the looks of it, he had successfully snuck in.
Inside the Black Ink Nest Space, Divine Senses kept surging again and again as naturally, the various Soul Avatars were communicating with each other. Some Soul Avatars did not conceal their thoughts from outsiders, allowing anyone to read their transmissions, but there were also a few who were secretly sending messages between acquaintances. As for what they were discussing, only they knew.
There were also many people like Yang Kai who just idled by the side, not participating in any chat. As such, Yang Kai did not particularly stand out.
After waiting for a while longer, Yang Kai finally began to wander around, reading the messages in the surroundings.
He did not manage to obtain any useful information after wandering about for half a day. The conversation between these Black Ink Clansmen was quite a mix. Some of them were thinking about how they would invade the 3,000 Worlds of the Human Race in the future and gather a large number of Black Ink Disciples to lord over, while others were worried about the situation of the Royal City; after all, the Royal Lord was seriously injured and the Black Ink Clan in Great Evolution Theatre was trapped. So, the Black Ink Clan’s situation was quite a mess.
There were also a few Black Ink Clansmen who seemed to be diligently cultivating.
After another half a day, Yang Kai had successfully infiltrated a few Black Ink Clan groups and chatted with them.
At the end of the day, Yang Kai had lived in the Black Ink Clan for many years, so he was quite familiar with their habits and lifestyle. As such, he did not reveal any flaws.
Had it been anyone else, they definitely wouldn’t have been able to participate in these conversations, thereby failing to obtain any information on the Black Ink Clan once they exposed flaws.
The conversation between the several Black Ink Clansmen shifted again and Yang Kai was finally able to lead them to a comparison of strength.
Yang Kai added, “The Seventh-Order Humans are equivalent to the Feudal Lords on our side, while the Eighth-Order Humans are on par with the Territory Lords, but if we really fought against a Human of equivalent realm, we rarely win.”
Sighing deeply, he wore a look of worry for the future of the Black Ink Clan.
One of the Feudal Lords disagreed, “There’s nothing we can do about that. Human cultivation mainly depends on a lot of accumulation over time, so their foundation is firmer. We, on the other hand, can use the Black Ink Nests to quickly increase our strength, so we’re naturally lacking a bit in comparison. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have any advantages. Human growth is slow, and it’s not easy for Masters to appear. Although it’s not easy for us either, we’re much better than Humans in this regard.”
Another Feudal Lord agreed, “That’s right, our Feudal Lords might not be the match of their Seventh-Order Masters in a one-on-one fight, and even our Territory Lord might not be their Eighth-Order Masters opponent, but we still have the advantage in numbers.”
Yang Kai poured a bucket of cold water on them, “It is said that many Territory Lords at Great Evolution Pass died in battle, and the Royal City similarly suffered massive casualties. Although many Eighth-Order Masters from the Human Race have also died, generally speaking, it is still the Territory Lords who suffered more casualties. Many familiar faces have long since disappeared, and even the Territory Lords have fallen, let alone the Feudal Lords.”
The Black Ink Clansmen who were merrily chatting with each other suddenly felt a chill run down their spines and none of them was able to respond.
Yang Kai thought that the mental fortitude of these people was too poor, how could they just give up after a few words? Seeing this, he decisively continued to rub salt into their wounds, “Sir Royal Lord also… in this situation, what should we do in the future?”
Everyone let out a long sigh as the hearts of the Black Ink Clansmen tightened up.
A Feudal Lord who had been silent all this while coldly snorted, “So what if the Humans are strong now? Sooner or later, they will be our slaves.”
Yang Kai shook his head, refuting, “We can’t be so blind and arrogant. Before the Human Race Army attacked us, we all used to think that the Humans were nothing, but now we’re trapped in the Royal City, and we are doing everything to form a defence line to prevent the Humans from attacking.”
The nearby Feudal Lords all nodded.
Before the arrival of the Great Evolution Army, the Black Ink Clan of Great Evolution Theatre were extremely proud of themselves, because they were the only Theatre that had managed to capture a Human Great Pass. In the entire history of Humans and Black Ink Clan, the Humans had only lost Great Evolution Pass. The Black Ink Clan had never managed to repeat this feat in any other Theatre.
But the Black Ink Clan here was completely routed when the Great Evolution Army arrived. In the end, the Black Ink Clan was forced to leave behind a Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest and all their Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples in order to escape from Great Evolution Pass. In addition, the Royal City suffered massive damage and casualties.
If they could turn back time, they would never underestimate the Humans again.
The Feudal Lord who was opposing Yang Kai let out a cold snort before rebuking, “The defence line is necessary. It’s fine if the Humans don’t attack, but if they dare do, they’ll definitely suffer.”
Yang Kai curiously asked, “Why is this Sir so confident? Have the higher-ups made some special arrangements that we don’t know of?”
Yang Kai assumed a humble look on his face as he asked while the others in the conversation also became curious.
The Feudal Lord hesitated for a moment, but ultimately, he answered in a low voice, “I don’t know whether higher-ups have made any arrangements or not, but the Royal Lord… seems to have recovered.”
Yang Kai’s heart clenched tight, [The Royal Lord has recovered?]
[How did he recover?]
[That’s impossible! The Royal Lord hadn’t been able to enter his Black Ink Nest to heal all these years as Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao hadn’t given him the opportunity to do so. It’s impossible for the Royal Lord to recover without entering his Black Ink Nest.]
Not only did Yang Kai think so, but the other Feudal Lords also thought the same. One of them quickly asked, “Has the Royal Lord really recovered? Is this news accurate? Where did you learn about this?”
The Feudal Lord stuttered, unable to explain.
Yang Kai’s voice turned heavy as he stated, “Sir, this concerns the Royal Lord, you can’t speak irresponsibly. It’s fine as it was just in between us, but if word of this got out, I’m afraid the Territory Lords will condemn you for speaking nonsense!”
Yang Kai didn’t know if the Territory Lords would really do such a thing, but in any case, making a big deal of things was currently to his advantage.
The Feudal Lord hurriedly defended himself, “I’m not speaking nonsense, it’s just…”
“What?”
“It’s just that… a few days ago, we faintly felt the aura of the Royal Lord’s attack. Although it was only for a fraction of a breath, it was definitely the Royal Lord’s attack.”
When the Feudal Lords heard this, all of them became extremely excited and quickly asked whether it was true or not. The Feudal Lord naturally insisted that he was not the only one who had sensed it as the other Feudal Lord in his Black Ink Nest had also sensed it.
Yang Kai’s heart sank as he asked, “How many days ago?”
The Feudal Lord casually replied, “Three days ago.”
[Three days ago…]
[It was right when Yao Kang Chen sent me that message.]
[Did Yao Kang Cheng really encounter the Royal Lord?]
The Feudal Lords all became excited while Yang Kai too pretended to be overjoyed, but he was in no mood to ask any more questions.
The Snow Wolves Squad had encountered the Royal Lord. By the looks of it, their fate had been sealed; after all, they were only a Special Operations Squad; they might have a chance to escape if they encountered a Territory Lord, but if they encountered the Royal Lord… death was the only possible outcome.
[Yao Kang Cheng must have sent me a message at the last moment to inform me of this, but unfortunately, he simply had no time; so, the jade slip only contained the words ‘Royal Lord’!]
[The Snow Wolves Squad… perished!]
[Most likely, they all died together.]
Yang Kai’s heart ached even more.
The reason for this conjecture was that the remaining three Squads had yet not been found out. If the Snow Wolves Squad still had survivors, they would definitely be turned into Black Ink Disciples. Once they became Black Ink Disciples, not only would Dawn and the others be unable to hide themselves, even Great Evolution Pass’ surprise attack would be exposed.
If they weren’t all instantly killed, suicide was the only option to prevent themselves from being turned into Black Ink Disciples!
Since Dawn and the others were still safe and sound, and there were no unusual movements in the Black Ink Clan’s defence line, it meant that no one from the Snow Wolves Squad had fallen into the hands of the Black Ink Clan.
Murderous intent surged in Yang Kai’s heart as he couldn’t wait to exterminate all the Black Ink Clan Soul Avatars in this Black Ink Nest Space.
Nevertheless, he also knew that if he followed this impulse, the losses would far outweigh the gains.
The reason why the Feudal Lord had only suspected that the Royal Lord had recovered was mainly because of the distance.
All the Low-Rank Black Ink Nests were about a month’s journey from the Royal City. If the Royal Lord was at the Royal City, then even if he attacked, they would not have been able to sense it unless he really went all out.
But why would the Royal Lord go all out against the Snow Wolves Squad?
The Royal Lord would have to be much closer to their Black Ink Nest for them to be able to sense his casual attack. At most, the conflict would be a 10-day journey away from their position.
The Royal Lord would not have left the Royal City if he had not recovered; after all, he would be too afraid of running into the Old Ancestor otherwise.
After staying in the Black Ink Nest Space for another hour, Yang Kai finally found an opportunity to leave.
The moment his Soul returned to his body, he made a quick scan with his Divine Sense and noticed that Ren Bing Bai was the one overseeing the Black Ink Nest currently. Shen Ao should not have been able to hold on and left, asking Ren Bing Bai to take over.
Yang Kai walked to the centre and chatted with Ren Bing Bai a little before asking him to return to Dawning Light.
Ren Bing Bai noticed that something was not right and asked, “Squad Leader, is something wrong?”
Yang Kai nodded, “The Snow Wolves Squad… might be no more.”
Ren Bing Bai was beside himself in shock, “What happened?”
Yang Kai replied, “They might have run into the Royal Lord!”
“The Royal Lord!” Ren Bing Bai involuntarily exclaimed in shock, “They went to the Royal City?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “Yao Kang Cheng would not have taken such a risk. He must have run into the Royal Lord outside. When you return, tell everyone to be extra careful.”
“Understood,” Ren Bing Bai solemnly agreed.
After he left, Yang Kai thought about it for a moment before messaging Chai Fang and Ma Gao about the Snow Wolves Squad, telling them to raise their guard to the highest limit.
Nonetheless, if they did encounter the Royal Lord, they would simply be unable to do anything no matter how careful they were. The gap in their strength was too wide. Right now, all Yang Kai could do was pray that they could hold on a few more days until Great Evolution Pass arrived.
Immediately after, Yang Kai also sent a message to Great Evolution Pass to inform them about the Royal Lord’s suspected recovery.
Yang Kai received a reply from Great Evolution Pass soon after.
The Old Ancestor had personally sent him a reply which read, “I’ve got a pretty good idea of the Royal Lord’s injuries. It’s impossible for him to recover in such a short time. Is there a mistake in the information?”
Yang Kai quickly messaged back, informing her of everything he had learned in the Black Ink Nest Space.
This time, it was not the Old Ancestor who messaged but Xiang Shan instead. He asked him to be careful and immediately flee if it came to that, meaning he should escape all alone.
Yang Kai’s Small Universe had a World Tree clone; so, he didn’t need to worry about being turned into a Black Ink Disciple. He was also proficient in the Dao of Space. As such, his chances of escaping with his life were still decent.
But if he tried to escape with the others, that would be really unrealistic and everyone would definitely be wiped out.
Yang Kai didn’t reply and instead a deep furrow appeared on his brow.
[The Old Ancestor clearly said that it’s impossible for the Royal Lord to recover, but then again, the Feudal Lord said that he had sensed the aura of the Royal Lord’s attack three days ago. What’s going on here?]
Yang Kai was completely confused.
Everything remained calm and peaceful over the next few days. No Black Ink Clansman visited the four Black Ink Nests occupied by the three Squads, and they remain safe and sound, unexposed.
Yang Kai had entered and exited the Black Ink Nest Space several times. Now, he could be considered a familiar face there and was able to chat with many of the Feudal Lords freely, but despite his best efforts, he was unable to obtain any useful information.
The Feudal Lord who said that he had felt the Royal Lord’s aura had not entered this Black Ink Nest Space since that day, so Yang Kai was unable to find him to ask about the situation further.
All this while, Yang Kai frequently contacted Great Evolution Pass to track their progress.
According to Great Evolution Pass’ original schedule, they should have arrived at the Black Ink Clan’s defence line a few days ago, but as Yang Kai had taken out Black Ink Clan’s eyes and ears by occupying four Black Ink Nests, Great Evolution Pass could now sneak through without being detected. To do this, however, the Pass had to change course, which delayed them for several days.
Today, Yang Kai was sitting in the Black Ink Nest and closely monitoring the surroundings after getting a message.
After about the time it takes to boil a cup of tea, he suddenly felt something intruding into his Black Ink Nest’s detection range, and it was something massive!
Great Evolution Pass had arrived!
Yang Kai instantly scurried outside and looked towards the location where the defence line was disturbed, but he failed to see anything. Not even his Divine Sense could find anything.
Only when he activated his Demon Eye of Annihilation that he was able to see through all illusions and finally make out a massive distorted shadow rapidly approaching.
They might have captured the four adjacent Black Ink Nests and created a hole in the Black Ink Clan’s defence line, but Great Evolution Pass still needed to disguise itself; otherwise, if a random Black Ink Clansman was passing by, he could easily spot the giant Great Evolution Pass.
By the looks of it now, Great Evolution Pass must have activated a fairly large Illusion Array. With this Illusion Array, Great Evolution Pass was completely hidden from ordinary means of detection.
Great Evolution Pass was extremely fast, so it quickly passed by Yang Kai’s Black Ink Nest and continued straight towards the Royal City.
At the same time, several figures flew out from Great Evolution Pass silently like ghosts one after another.
Yang Kai clearly saw everything and promptly used his Divine Sense to guide them over.
A short while later, a total of 500 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters arrived before Yang Kai. He then beckoned to them before leading them into the Black Ink Nest.
He had no idea what Great Evolution Pass had planned or why they had sent 500 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters to him, but obviously, the higher-ups had something in mind.
Soon, he became aware of the plan.
Xiang Shan personally messaged Yang Kai and informed him that the main mission of these Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and the four Special Operations Squads was to exterminate as many Black Ink Clansmen and Low-Rank Black Ink Nests in the outermost ring!
Right now, Great Evolution Pass had successfully snuck into the Black Ink Clan’s defence line and was heading straight for the Royal City, but no matter how lax the Black Ink Clan’s security might be, Great Evolution Pass couldn’t remain hidden until they reached the Royal City.
Great Evolution Pass would definitely be exposed midway.
Nevertheless, it was more than enough already. So long as the Black Ink Clan didn’t have enough time to prepare, Great Evolution Pass’ surprise attack would have been a success. The rest of the battle would depend on their respective strength.
Once Great Evolution Pass was exposed, the Black Ink Clansmen setting up the defensive perimeter would be recalled to the Royal City. The three Special Operations Squads and the 500 Seventh-Order Masters’ mission was to kill as many Black Ink Clansmen as possible and weaken the Black Ink Clan forces to lay the foundation for the upcoming battle.
These 500 Seventh-Order Masters did not simply represent their own strength, however. All of them were either Squad Leaders or Vice Squad Leaders.
Their respective Squad members and Warships were all stored in their Small Universe.
These 500 people represented more than 200 Squads!
Yang Kai saw many familiar faces among these 500 people, including Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue.
After Xu Ling Gong had advanced to the Eighth Order, Yang Kai hadn’t seen them for over two centuries, but he had never expected for them to also advance to the Seventh Order.
On second thought though, it was not surprising. Whether it was Qing Kui or Su Ying Xue, both had remained in the Sixth Order for a long time and had accompanied their Honoured Master Xu Ling Gong on the Black Ink Battlefield for several centuries, so it was normal for them to make progress in their cultivation.
Now, the two of them had formed a Squad, and as they were quite familiar with each other, they could kill their enemies quite efficiently.
Qing Kui reported, “Brother Yang, before we came here, the Army Commander said that you will be in charge of this operation. Our only mission is to kill as many Black Ink Clansmen as possible.”
Yang Kai nodded his acknowledgement, “In that case, this Yang has been entrusted with a big mission. This battle is very important, so I hope Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters will give their all in the coming days.”
An old Seventh Order assured with a smile, “Don’t worry, this Old Master has been waiting for this day for many years. Even if I die, I will not let the Black Ink Clan have an easy time.”
Yang Kai quickly shook his head, “Don’t think like that. Currently, we hold a huge advantage. If you can survive through this, that would be best. The Black Ink Clan has no roots, so their lives are not as precious as ours. Senior Brother, you might not be young, but if you can break through to the Eighth Order, you may be able to live for many more years. Who knows, when you return to the 3,000 Worlds, you may even be able to marry a few beautiful wives and give birth to a few children and enjoy the joys of family life.”
The men in the crowd burst into laughter while Su Ying Xue and the other female Seventh-Order Masters couldn’t help but glare sharply at Yang Kai.
The old man laughed even louder, “Junior Brother is right, then should this Old Master cherish my life a bit!?”
“But of course!” Yang Kai didn’t waste any more time and mobilized his World Force as he stretched his hand out and created a ball of light before him.
“I don’t know how much everyone knows about the situation, so I’ll give you a brief overview.” He pointed at the light spot and continued, “This is the Royal City!”
As he spoke, he activated his Black Ink Strength as it spread outward from the speck of light, becoming thinner the further it went from the speck of light.
“This is the Black Ink Clan’s current defence line, filled with Black Ink Strength.” As he spoke, several light dots appeared at the outermost perimeter.
“Are these the Black Ink Nests?” Qing Kui looked at the thousands of light dots and thoughtfully asked.
Yang Kai nodded his affirmation, “That’s right, these are all Black Ink Nests. The Black Ink Clan now possesses quite few Territory Lord Black Ink Nests and I estimate that several dozen of them have been relocated to the Royal City. Each Territory Lord Black Ink Nest has a few dozen Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests which were either brought over as well or newly spawned to enhance the defence line, so there are somewhere between 2,000 to 3,000 Black Ink Nests in the periphery of the Royal City.”
Everyone was slightly shaken.
Thousands of Low-Rank Black Ink Nests was quite a huge number.
But it was also normal. If there were fewer, the Black Ink Clan would not have been able to set up such a massive defence line.
“Currently, the outermost Black Ink Nests are about a month’s journey from the Royal City,” Yang Kai reached out and pointed to one of the specks of light, “This is where we are, and the three closest Black Ink Nests are also under our control.”
His explanation was extremely simple and clear. Even though everyone had just arrived here, they instantly understood the general situation.
“The Black Ink Clan’s defence line can be seen as a giant sphere, and the Royal City is located in the centre of this sphere. Since the higher-ups want us to take care of the Black Ink Clansmen in the outer ring to have an edge in the upcoming battle, we have to kill as many of these Feudal Lords as we can. The more Feudal Lords we can kill, the more advantage we can gain in the upcoming war.”
“There are more than 200 Squads here, so starting from these four Black Ink Nests, we will move outward, eliminating all the enemies along the way. As long as we move swiftly, we will be able to eliminate many of the Black Ink Clansmen before they know what hit them.”
“According to our prior investigations, there are basically two or three Feudal Lords guarding each Black Ink Nest. One is responsible for the production of Black Ink Strength to expand the defence line, while the other is responsible for guarding it.”
“So, what I’m proposing is that a team of two Squads is the requirement to swiftly crush a nest and kill the enemies guarding it.”
Each Human Squad had at least two Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, so if two Squads were to form a team, then four Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters would be moving together, which was the bare minimum to guarantee success. Of course, some teams would have more Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and would naturally be stronger.
On top of that, the Humans also had their Warships’ support. As such, it would be a simple matter for two Squads to deal with a single Black Ink Nest.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Yang Kai’s expression then became solemn as he added, “A Feudal Lord can also use their Black Ink Nest to increase their strength when in close proximity, so when you engage the Black Ink Clan here, if possible, start by destroying the Black Ink Nest before targeting the Feudal Lords.”
“In addition… I’m sure all of you have Evil Purging Divine Spears with you. This spear is extremely effective against the Black Ink Clan, but if you aren’t sure that you can take your opponent out, don’t use it so we avoid revealing its existence. The Evil Purging Divine Spear… must be first used on the Territory Lords.”
“We understand,” the old man acknowledged with a nod.
“If you understand, then there’s no problem. Let’s split up.”
Saying so, Yang Kai quickly began to divide the teams. Right now, they had four Black Ink Nests under their control. With over 200 Squads distributed evenly, each of these four Black Ink Nests would temporarily house 50 Squads.
It was naturally impossible for all of them to move together. Once the war broke out, all these Squads would split up and attack the Black Ink Nests in the periphery of the Black Ink Clan’s defence line in pairs.
Of course, the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t be so stupid as to remain in place and wait to be killed. Once the Royal City transmitted the news of the invasion, the Black Ink Clan would definitely return to defend it. At that time, it might turn into a pursue-and-kill situation, or even a chaotic battle.
Xiang Shan didn’t expect Yang Kai and the others to be able to exterminate all the Black Ink Clansmen at the defence line’s periphery, nor did Yang Kai think they would be able to do so; after all, taking out thousands of Black Ink Nests without being noticed within a few days was simply not realistic.
They could only do their best to reduce the Black Ink Clan forces.
This could be seen as the vanguard battle of Great Evolution Pass, while the main battle was at the Royal City!
A short while later, all the Seventh-Order Masters left, leaving only 100 or so people behind on Yang Kai’s side. Qing Kui summoned his Squad’s Warship and told them to rest and recover.
With the Battleship’s protection, no one needed to waste their strength to resist the Black Ink Strength’s invasion.
Yang Kai didn’t remain idle either. He constantly entered and exited the Black Ink Nest Space to scout for information.
Great Evolution Pass had already snuck its way into the defence line, but it would still take it a month to reach the Royal City.
Yang Kai didn’t know how long Great Evolution Pass could remain hidden, but the longer it could, the more advantageous it would be for the Human Race. As long as it could avoid detection for half a month, it would not matter if they were exposed after that.
Three days, five days, ten days…
Yang Kai still had not received any news.
Hundreds of Seventh-Order Masters stood ready inside the four Black Ink Nests.
When half a month later, there was still no news, Yang Kai let out a long sigh. Great Evolution Pass’ surprise attack had succeeded. The Black Ink Clan had failed to notice even to this point, so even if they discovered Great Evolution Pass in the next breath, it would be too late for them to make proper preparations.
Not long after, a Space Beacon on Yang Kai finally vibrated as a jade slip emerged out of thin air. Yang Kai promptly grabbed it and scanned it with his Divine Sense and found only one word, “Attack!”
The message came from Great Evolution Pass, and judging by the Divine Sense fluctuations on it, it was sent by Xiang Shan’s adjutant, Li Xing!
Great Evolution Pass had been discovered.
This was no surprise. Great Evolution Pass was so massive that even if it was hidden by an Illusion Array, it was less than half a month away from the Royal City now. It would definitely run into some Black Ink Clansmen and get discovered.
But the Black Ink Clansmen who had discovered Great Evolution Pass should have already vanished from the face of this world, so the Black Ink Clan still hadn’t sent any notice.
In other words, the Black Ink Clansmen in the periphery Black Ink Nests were still unaware of the situation.
This was the perfect opportunity to act. If they waited any longer, once the Black Ink Clan spread the news, Yang Kai and the others would lose the element of surprise.
Yang Kai, who had been sitting cross-legged for half a month, finally stood up, attracting Qing Kui and the others’ attention.
“Move out!” Yang Kai stated in a low voice before messaging Ma Gao, Chai Fang, Shen Ao, and the others.
The next moment, over 100 figures flew out from the Black Ink Nest in groups of two or three. One after another, Warships were summoned as Squad members stepped out from the Seventh-Order Masters’ Small Universes and boarded. After everyone had taken their positions, Spirit Arrays hummed as dozens of Warships flew off in different directions at breakneck speed.
This was the scene at Yang Kai’s Black Ink Nest, but it was playing out at the other three Black Ink Nests too.
At this moment, more than 200 Human Squads spread out from the four Black Ink Nests along the outer ring of the Black Ink Clan’s defence line.
Although there were many people, they moved in an orderly, precise fashion.
A great war was about to break out!
Yang Kai didn’t leave and instead remained inside the Black Ink Nest. Just as the Warships left, his consciousness entered the Black Ink Nest Space.
Without wasting any time, Yang Kai stepped into the Black Ink Nest Space and immediately shouted through his Divine Sense, “Sir Royal Lord has sent a secret order, move closer to me to receive it!”
Inside the Black Ink Nest Space, the two or three groups of Black Ink Clansmen who were conversing with each other all looked towards him strangely.
Firstly, Yang Kai only displayed the Soul fluctuations of a Feudal Lord, so if the Royal Lord had any orders, why would he ask him to relay them?
Secondly, even if there was a secret order, this ‘Feudal Lord’ could simply transmit it throughout the Black Ink Nest Space. Why would they need to get close?
Although some of the Black Ink Clansmen found the situation odd, they did not give it a deep thought as it was related to the Royal Lord.
Not long after, all the Souls in the Black Ink Nest Space had gathered around Yang Kai.
One of the Black Ink Clan Feudal Lords asked, “What instructions does the Royal Lord have?”
At this moment, Yang Kai had taken the form of a Black Ink Clansman that closely resembled Humans. He looked at everyone with a smile before stating, “Sir Royal Lord has determined that there is a Human spy amongst you, so… all of you must die!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the Spiritual Energy he had been hiding all the while erupted all of a sudden and hurtled out in all directions.
When the Black Ink Clansmen heard the words ‘Human spy’, all of them were taken aback, and by the time Yang Kai reached the word ‘die’, they still had not recovered from the shock and were struck by Yang Kai’s fearsome Soul attack with their guards down.
In an instant, overwhelming Spiritual Energy engulfed all the Black Ink Clansmen in the Black Ink Nest Space like a massive tide.
This time, Yang Kai had pushed his Soul to the limit, throwing all caution to the wind. There were easily 50 or so consciousnesses gathered here, many of them Feudal Lords. It would be difficult to find so many Feudal Lords together outside, unless there was a war raging.
More importantly, it would be a troublesome task for Yang Kai to kill so many Feudal Lords in a real battle.
The Black Ink Nest Space was a good place in this regard. As long as his Spiritual Energy outburst was strong enough, Yang Kai would have a chance to eliminate everyone here in one fell swoop.
The very moment his Spiritual Energy burst forth, the Souls of all the High-Rank Clansmen and the seven or eight Feudal Lords closest to Yang Kai instantly collapsed. Even Yang Kai’s Soul was shaken and his Soul Avatar momentarily distorted.
Although his Spiritual Energy was on par with an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master’s, it was not easy for him to deal with so many enemies like this at once.
The High-Rank Clansmen were helpless in the face of such overwhelming force, but while the Feudal Lords might not have been on guard against Yang Kai, the moment they were attacked, they instinctively fought back. When their Souls clashed with each other, it was too much for Yang Kai to fight so many alone.
Even so, the Souls that had yet to collapse were shaken by this violent outburst and were momentarily stunned.
During the brief interlude that followed, a seven-coloured light suddenly blossomed as a seven coloured lotus flew out from Yang Kai’s body. The next moment, it suddenly expanded into a giant lotus and enveloped all of the Black Ink Clansmen’ Souls.
By the time the Black Ink Clansmen came to their senses, they were already standing on the Soul Warming Lotus.
At the very centre of the Soul Warming Lotus, Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar grimaced in pain, but that didn’t stop him from attacking.
An overwhelming barrage of Spiritual Energy attacks rained down on the Black Ink Clansmen, instantly killing several of them.
All the surviving Black Ink Clansmen turned pale in fright. Up until now, none of them had been able to figure out what just happened, all they knew was that their fellow clansman, who had been spending a lot of time here recently, suddenly erupted with a Territory Lord’s might and went on a killing spree.
Under the intense Spiritual Energy pressure from someone as strong as a Territory Lord, all of them were terrified and restless, as if they were treading on thin ice.
Watching their fellow clansmen around them constantly fall or suffer heavy injuries, the remaining Black Ink Clansmen didn’t dare to remain any longer and immediately tried to leave the Black Ink Nest Space and return to their physical bodies.
But something happened that completely dumbfounded them. Normally, they could leave the Black Ink Nest Space with a single thought, but today, it was as if some kind of force was blocking them, preventing them from withdrawing their consciousnesses, and leaving at the mercy of the other party.
While the Black Ink Clansmen were shaking in fear, Yang Kai was pleasantly surprised.
He never thought that the Soul Warming Lotus could exhibit such an effect. He was just giving it a try, but had not expected this to happen.
This idea came from the time he was previously trapped in the Black Ink Nest Space. In the past, when he tried to wrest complete control of the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest, the Black Ink Clan had trapped him in the Royal Lord Black Ink Nest Space through some unknown method. He was trapped in that space for several years as a result, and if it was not for the Soul Warming Lotus, he would have died.
He did not know how to seal the Black Ink Nest Space, so he took out the Soul Warming Lotus and tried to use it as a kind of barrier to keep everyone enveloped within it from leaving. In the best-case scenario, it would work, and if it did not, he would not have lost anything from trying. Much to his surprise, it indeed worked, and better than he had expected.
At this moment, all of the Black Ink Clansmen had been pulled into the Soul Warming Lotus, so unless they broke through from the Soul Warming Lotus’ restrictions, they would not be able to leave the Black Ink Nest.
[Interesting!]
The Black Ink Clansmen’ wails and curses rang out to no end.
No one could understand why this fellow clansman had become so bloodthirsty.
They were trapped, unable to fight back and unable to escape. Despair soon engulfed all of the Black Ink Clansmen.
Yang Kai didn’t waste any time talking, nor did he use any Soul Secret Techniques, he simply bombarded them with pure Spiritual Energy attacks, relying on his higher cultivation to crush his enemies.
One after another, the Black Ink Clansmen fell.
Yang Kai broke into crazed laughter as he went on a killing spree.
He had spent quite a few years on the Black Ink Battlefield. He had even killed Territory Lords, the backbone of the Black Ink Clan, but there had never been a day when he could kill so many so easily.
It wasn’t just because of a gap in strength though, but also because the Human Race had finally taken the initiative to attack after countless years.
The crusade began with him!
After an incense stick worth of time, Yang Kai turned his gaze to the last survivor. The Soul Avatar of the last Feudal Lord was incomparably dim and as he stared at Yang Kai, he asked in disbelief, “Why? Why are you doing this!?”
Even now, it never occurred to him that Yang Kai might be a Human. When Yang Kai was spending his days here, this Feudal Lord had talked to him many times and Yang Kai had seemed to fit right in, so he really couldn’t understand why Yang Kai had suddenly killed so many of his clansmen.
“Because you’re all wastes. The Royal Lord no longer needs you.” Yang Kai looked at him coldly.
“The Royal Lord doesn’t need us anymore…” The Feudal Lord felt as if he had been struck by lightning and his Soul becoming dimmer. He didn’t want to believe this, but this revelation was quite a huge blow to him.
Yang Kai did not give the opposite party any chance to ask further questions and shot a bolt of Spiritual Energy at him, blowing the opposite party apart.
After just an incense stick worth of time, the once lively Black Ink Nest Space only had one person remaining, Yang Kai. The rest were dead.
Yang Kai might have killed a lot of enemies, but he had to pay a price in the form of damage to his Soul. Nonetheless, he didn’t take these injuries seriously. Thanks to all the times he had used the Soul Rending Thorn, Yang Kai was now accustomed to the pain of having his Soul injured.
As long as his Soul wasn’t instantly destroyed, the Soul Warming Lotus would eventually restore the damage.
Be that as it may, he still regretted a little that he hadn’t cultivated any powerful Soul Secret Techniques. It would have made it a lot easier for him to kill his enemies in this place.
[Should I cultivate some Soul Secret Techniques when I return? Otherwise, I would have no choice but to attack in this clumsy manner the next time I encounter a similar situation.]
But on second thought, there might not ever be a fight against the Black Ink Clan like this again. It would be completely pointless to cultivate such techniques in that case.
Yang Kai ridiculed himself and was about to head out; but suddenly, he noticed something and began carefully inspecting it.
After a while, a strange look filled his face.
Much to his surprise, the Souls of the Black Ink Clansmen he had killed were actually absorbed by the Soul Warming Lotus and refined into pure Spiritual Energy that was now being used to repair the injuries he just incurred.
Yang Kai was ecstatic!
[The Soul Warming Lotus can even do something like this!?]
It had been many years since Yang Kai first acquired the Soul Warming Lotus, but it was only today that he realized that it could actually refine the Spiritual Energy of others for his use.
[Could it be that this is the true way to use the Soul Warming Lotus?]
Thinking back, he realized that he had never dragged an enemy into the Soul Warming Lotus to fight before.
Even during the numerous battles he had fought over the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest, he would only hide inside the Soul Warming Lotus and rely on it to resist the attacks of the Black Ink Clan Territory Lords. When he recovered, he would come out and use the Soul Rending Thorns to kill his enemies before returning to the Soul Warming Lotus to recover.
As such, even though he had killed many Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples, their Spiritual Energy was not absorbed by the Soul Warming Lotus after their deaths.
As far as Yang Kai knew, the greatest use of the Soul Warming Lotus lay in its defensive and restorative capabilities.
Today, he learned something completely different. All the Black Ink Clansmen in this space had died inside the Soul Warming Lotus’ bounds, and when their Souls collapsed, all their dispersed Spiritual Energy was absorbed by the Soul Warming Lotus.
After the Spiritual Energy was purified by the Soul Warming Lotus, it was transferred to Yang Kai, repairing and strengthening his Soul.
This effect reminded Yang Kai of Wu Kuang’s Flawless Purifying Golden Lotus, which also had a similar effect of refining all physical impurities.
If it weren’t for the Flawless Purifying Golden Lotus, Wu Kuang’s energy would have been incomparably impure with his constant use of the Heaven Devouring Battle Law, and he would have never been able to have his current achievements.
The Twin Lotuses were Innate Supreme Treasures.
The Flawless Purifying Golden Lotus allowed Wu Kuang to absorb all kinds of energy without any worries. He could absorb anything, and never worry about any form of sequelae.
And as Yang Kai was now discovering, the Soul Warming Lotus could also remove the impurities from any form of Spiritual Energy, allowing the wielder to easily absorb it and strengthen their Soul.
One benefited the physical body, the other the Soul.
Yang Kai could not help but break into laughter after this unintentional discovery. Had he not destroyed the Souls of so many Black Ink Clansmen here today, he would have been forever oblivious to this ability of the Soul Warming Lotus.
But on second thought, even if he had known this earlier, he might not have used this method to kill his enemies.
His Soul getting stronger was a wonderful experience, but circumstances still mattered.
His cultivation was at the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, while his Soul was comparable to an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master’s. Although his Soul was a realm higher than his cultivation, it did not have much impact on him.
But if his Soul was comparable to a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master while his cultivation remained at the Seventh-Order, there would be an imbalance between his physical body and Soul which would bring about unforeseeable consequences.
More raw power doesn’t always equate to being stronger. Only strength that one could freely control was true strength.
It wasn’t too late to discover the effects of the Soul Warming Lotus though, so Yang Kai didn’t feel that he should be frustrated about this.
Thanks to this pure Spiritual Energy nourishing his Soul, not only did Yang Kai’s Soul quickly recover, but it even grew slightly.
Having finished everything here, Yang Kai withdrew his consciousness and left the Black Ink Nest before shooting off into the void. Immediately afterwards, the Low-Rank Black Ink Nest exploded behind him.
500 Seventh-Order Masters commanding over 200 Squads had already dispersed to attack their targets. It was a perfect opportunity to eliminate as many Black Ink Clan forces as possible before Great Evolution Pass was completely discovered and the enemy reacted.
Yang Kai didn’t return to Dawning Light. Even in his and Feng Ying’s absence, Dawn still had seven Seventh-Order Masters overseeing it. Coupled with a highly customized Warship like Dawning Light, Dawn would not have any problem taking care of a few Low-Rank Black Ink Nests. In fact, even without Dawning Light, Dawn could split up and attack two different Black Ink Nests at once and still have no issues.
Yang Kai used Space Principles to swiftly cover a vast distance in the void.
A moment later, he had already entered the detection range of another Black Ink Nest.
A few breaths after that, the Black Ink Nest was already before him. The Black Ink Nest had just dispatched a team to check who had invaded their territory, and both sides ran into each other just 100,000 kilometres away from the Black Ink Nest. Yang Kai’s aura surged as he thrust the Azure Dragon Spear out, his figure shooting forward as he passed through the Black Ink Clansmen.
The next moment, the Black Ink Clansmen exploded one after another behind him. Even the Feudal Lord leading them was no exception.
The next instant, the Low-Rank Black Ink Nest that was 100,000 kilometres away also suffered a terrible blow. The Black Ink Clan suffered massive casualties and shortly after, a stalwart and grotesque figure flew out of the damaged Black Ink Nest, his eyes filled with anger and confusion.
He was using the Black Ink Strength of his Black Ink Nest to strengthen the defence line, so he was completely focused on his task and was caught completely off guard when the fearsome attack struck his Black Ink Nest. Not only was he injured, but even his Black Ink Nest was almost destroyed.
The Feudal Lord immediately looked towards the source of this attack, only to spot a man holding a spear rapidly approaching him.
The Feudal Lord was beside himself in shock.
[Human!]
[A Human has actually come to attack this place!?]
[I’m not his match!]
Although he didn’t know why a Human was attacking, and alone at that, he could feel just how powerful this person was and instantly knew he was not the other’s opponent.
The Feudal Lord was a little perplexed at the same time. The other party was clearly radiating the aura of a Seventh-Order Master, but he found the momentum of this Human even more threatening than some Eighth-Order Masters he had seen from afar.
After having realized this, the Feudal Lord simply did not dare to remain any longer. But just as he was about to turn around and flee, the space around him froze for a moment.
This one moment was the difference between life and death.
The Azure Dragon Spear lightly brushed past the Feudal Lord’s head, like a light breeze of wind, but that was enough for the Feudal Lord’s head to explode, sending a fountain of black blood spurting from his neck as his headless corpse twitching in place.
Yang Kai’s figure skimmed past the Feudal Lord as he timely picked up his Space Ring while he was at it. The next moment, he was already millions of kilometres away using Instantaneous Movement.
One Black Ink Nest, two Black Ink Nests, three Black Ink Nests…
Wherever Yang Kai passed, all the Low-Rank Black Ink Nests would explode into pieces, and all the Black Ink Clansmen guarding them, whether they were Feudal Lords or High-Rank Clansmen, would die on the spot. All of them were powerless to resist.
The Black Ink Clan’s defence line was massive, so there was quite a huge distance between each Black Ink Nest, but this distance was nothing for Yang Kai thanks to his Mastery of the Dao of Space.
He was able to destroy three or four Black Ink Nests an hour.
No one could match this speed, even an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master could not do this. An Eighth-Order Master might be able to eliminate all these Black Ink Clansmen with one move, but in terms of speed, Yang Kai had the distinct edge.
Moreover, Yang Kai’s tremendous combat strength which made him invincible in the same Realm allowed him to exert power nearly on par with an Eight-Order Masters. Ergo, killing these Black Ink Clansmen was as easy as flipping his hand.
This was his greatest advantage.
The Black Ink Nests in the outermost ring of the Black Ink Clan’s defence line were destroyed one after another and not a single Black Ink Clansman at these nests was spared. Nearly 500 Black Ink Nests disappeared in just a short span of half a day.
Almost 10% of these Black Ink Nests had been destroyed by Yang Kai alone, whereas the remaining 90% were taken out by the 200 Squads.
In other words, Yang Kai had eliminated nearly 50 Black Ink Nests in just half a day, while the 200 Squads only managed to destroy two or three Black Ink Nests each on average.
It wasn’t that these Squads were weak. With two Squads working together, each team basically had four or five Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. The Low-Rank Black Ink Nests and their guards were basically powerless against such a force, but the Human Squads wasted most of their time travelling between targets.
After another half a day, the tally had further increased.
The sudden disappearance of so many Black Ink Nests in just one day had not gone unnoticed by the Black Ink Clan.
Great Evolution Pass had yet to be exposed. Even if some passing Black Ink Clansmen noticed Great Evolution Pass, they were quickly silenced by the Eighth-Order Division Commanders guarding it before they could sound the alarm.
However, the mass culling of Low-Rank Black Ink Nests and the deaths of so many Feudal Lords was more than enough to alert the Black Ink Clan.
The Black Ink Clan wasn’t stupid. There must be some reason for so many Black Ink Nests to suddenly lose contact with the Royal City, with an enemy attack being the most likely case.
The Royal City thus issued a series of orders, dispatching teams led by Feudal Lords to investigate the situation.
In the blink of an eye, the Royal City began preparing for battle as a murderous atmosphere filled the air.
Yang Kai had already lost count of how many Black Ink Nests he had destroyed, but he was having the time of his life; he could slaughter members of the Black Ink Clan to his heart’s content without any worries. Thanks to Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s constant harassment, the Territory Lords were too afraid to leave the Royal City unless absolutely necessary. As such, all the Black Ink Nests only had Feudal Lords overseeing them, which was no different from fish on the chopping block for Yang Kai. No one could resist his Azure Dragon Spear.
Not only was Yang Kai on a killing spree, but even the other Squad was swiftly eliminating all the enemies they could find, especially the three Special Operations Squads who left a trail of corpses and blood everywhere they passed by. No Black Ink Nest’s forces could withstand the rampage of these three elite Squads.
At some point, when Yang Kai was heading to another Black Ink Nest, he suddenly caught sight of something strange; a massive Black Ink Nest rapidly flying towards the Royal City. The Black Ink Nest was tightly guarded by dozens of Black Ink Clansmen, who were vigilantly escorting it.
Yang Kai immediately understood that the existence of Great Evolution Pass must have finally been exposed, and so had the destruction of the Black Ink Nests at the hands of Human attackers.
Otherwise, the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t have acted in such a manner.
The Royal City’s side should have ordered the Black Ink Clansmen in the outermost ring of the defence line to return and defend.
The Feudal Lords could not bear to part with their Black Ink Nests, so even if they were retreating, they tried to bring their Black Ink Nests along, but this inevitably slowed them down.
In the end, this group of Black Ink Clansmen was unable to escape. Yang Kai chased after them and started another slaughter, which lasted no more than a dozen breaths. When he left, everything was destroyed, even the Black Ink Nest.
After coming across this situation, Yang Kai stopped moving around the periphery and instead started advancing towards the inner circle.
From this moment on, the mission of the 200 Human Squads switched from ambush to pursuit!
Three days later, Yang Kai had no idea where his pursuit led him, nor how many Black Ink Clansmen he had killed. Since the start of his assault, his pace had never halted.
But because the Black Ink Clan had started returning to defend the Royal City and were no longer staying in place, his efficiency had greatly decreased.
Yang Kai needed to find traces of the Black Ink Clan in the vast void.
Fortunately, most of the Feudal Lords couldn’t bear to part with their Black Ink Nests, so even if they were returning to the Royal City, they were bringing their Black Ink Nests with them. And this made them an easy target. He could clearly spot them using his Demon Eye of Annihilation, no matter the great distance between him and them as Black Ink Nests were simply too massive to hide.
Another Black Ink Nest was destroyed by Yang Kai, along with dozens of Black Ink Clansmen. The two Feudal Lords were unable to believe that they couldn’t even withstand a single attack from a Seventh-Order Human Master.
The shattered pieces of the Black Ink Nest flew everywhere.
Just as Yang Kai was about to leave, he caught a glimpse of something from the corner of his eyes and focused his gaze towards it.
The next moment, his expression changed as he instantly moved towards it and stopped before a door-sized object which did not seem to be crafted from some kind of sturdy metal.
After staring at it for a moment, Yang Kai reached out and picked it up.
After studying it for a moment, his face turned dark and gloomy.
Although he had expected this, when he saw this object, Yang Kai was certain that the Snow Wolves Squad… was no more!
The object in his hand was a material used by the Humans to refine Warships. Specifically, this was an alloy of ores that was sturdy and a good conductor of World Force, which made it extremely suitable for refining the hull of a Warship.
Since he found it here, it meant that a Human Warship was destroyed in this place. This was a part of its wreckage.
Other than the Snow Wolves Squad’s Warship, no other Human Warship could have arrived at this location before now.
Since he had found the wreckage here, what had happened to the Snow Wolves Squad was quite clear.
Combined with the message Yao Kang Cheng had sent him that day, Yang Kai could not help but be shaken up.
Did they really encounter the Royal Lord?
But Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was certain that the Royal Lord had not recovered yet.
This place was still some 10 days’ journey from the Royal City and could be considered the middle part of the Black Ink Clan’s defence line, so how could the Snow Wolves encounter the Royal Lord here?
If the Royal Lord was heavily injured as Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao said, then he would never appear here.
But if the Snow Wolves hadn’t run into the Royal Lord, how could they have been so powerless that even their Warship was instantly destroyed?
It had to be known that as a Special Operations Squad, the Snow Wolves also had a custom Warship which was vastly superior to ordinary Squad-Grade Warships. The Snow Wolves had spent countless Military Merits on their own Warship, requesting the Artifact Refining Great Grandmasters at the Pass to modify and enhance it. With such a Warship and their own strength, even if the Snow Wolves Squad ran into a lone Territory Lord, they would still have been able to retreat without too much trouble.
However, Yao Kang Cheng only had enough time to hurriedly send a brief message before falling silent.