The Black Ink Cloud was destroyed, revealing Di Wu’s figure, before the Sun and Moon Divine Seal slammed into Di Wu’s face and silently entered his body.
Di Wu instantly felt like he had been struck by lightning, and his body visibly shook.
When the profound Space-Time Strength exploded, it was like a million tiny millstones began grinding inside him, causing his Pseudo-Royal Lord aura to weaken at breakneck speed.
At the same time, Di Wu could feel his vitality rapidly draining away. The strange strength inside him felt like innumerable sharp daggers slicing into his five viscera and six organs.
[What is this Divine Ability!?]
Di Wu was absolutely terrified.
The newly formed Sun and Moon Divine Seal wasn’t as imposing or overbearing as the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel, but it was far more deadly. After all, the Seal was the result of Yang Kai’s comprehension after balancing the Dao of Time and Dao of Space, so it was impossible for it not to have improved.
The power of this new Divine Ability didn’t disappoint Yang Kai. Di Wu’s aura constantly weakening was the best evidence of its efficacy.
At first, the Ancestral Land already had a trace of suppression on Di Wu’s strength, and after being bathed in rich Purifying Light, Di Wu lost a huge amount of his strength, affecting his foundation. He was not a real Royal Lord, but a Pseudo-Royal Lord that was created through the Source Fusion Technique.
Previously, at the No-Return Pass, the Royal Lord had been struck by a similar blast of Purifying Light, and although he was injured seriously and had 10% of his heritage wiped away, his foundation remained stable. It was a different case for Di Wu because once his Pseudo-Royal Lord foundation, which was already unstable, was affected, there was a huge possibility that he would fall back into the Innate Territory Lord Realm.
He couldn’t accept that, and the Royal Lord wouldn’t forgive him if that happened.
The Black Ink Clan had paid an enormous price to create a Pseudo-Royal Lord, which was why Di Wu chose to escape in the end. Unfortunately, Yang Kai had blocked his escape. Now that he was struck with the Sun and Moon Divine Seal, Di Wu’s already weakened Pseudo-Royal Lord foundation finally reached the point of rupturing.
At that moment, dense and viscous Black Ink Strength began pouring out of his body, but it wasn’t by his own doing; instead, it was a sign of his inability to control his own strength.
Di Wu’s expression became extremely pained. He was using all his strength to suppress the rioting strength inside his body, but the Sun and Moon Divine Seal was still wantonly destroying him from the inside, so how could Di Wu succeed?
When Yang Kai noticed Di Wu’s state, he was puzzled but didn’t think too much of it.
He summoned the Azure Dragon Spear again and stared coldly at Di Wu, “Sir Royal Lord, your end has come, suffer death!”
Those words Di Wu had spoken before were returned to him. Who would have thought that their situations would make a complete turnaround after just a few days?
Once those words were spoken, Yang Kai thrust his spear at Di Wu. When the light from the spear bloomed, a myriad of Dao Strengths wove together, giving the spear an unstoppable momentum.
Di Wu roared madly as he counter-attacked, and the two figures instantly became entangled with each other.
Even with the suppression from the Ancestral Land, and after being weakened by Purifying Light and the Sun and Moon Divine Seal, Di Wu still had the strength to fight. However, his strength was constantly slipping away, and as time passed, he would only become feebler. Once his Pseudo-Royal Lord foundation fully cracked, he would return to his original Territory Lord state.
Although Yang Kai didn’t know much about the Royal Lord before him, he noticed the madly decreasing Black Ink Strength and thought that this newly advanced Royal Lord did not seem to have a stable foundation; otherwise, such a situation wouldn’t have happened.
When Yang Kai first met this Royal Lord, he didn’t have any intention of fighting him because he knew he wasn’t a Royal Lord’s opponent. Fighting such a strong enemy would only make things difficult for him with minimal chances of success.
However, a series of accidents changed the battle and caused it to escalate to this point. On the other hand, Di Wu was not an unbeatable Royal Lord anymore. He was now an enemy that could be killed!
While the two of them were fighting, several powerful auras approached from all directions.
They were the Innate Territory Lords managing the Four Gates Eight Palaces Great Pagoda Array. They noticed the situation had grown dire and came to help.
If Di Wu died here, they wouldn’t be able to explain themselves to the Royal Lord after returning; therefore, they couldn’t stand by and watch as Di Wu was killed.
Moreover, there were 12 of them, so if they worked together with Di Wu, they wouldn’t need to be afraid of Yang Kai.
There was only one problem with their plan.
Without them powering the Four Gates Eight Palaces Great Pagoda Array, the Heaven Sealing Earth Locking effect would disappear, so no one would be able to stop Yang Kai if he decided to escape.
In other words, the moment they decided to stop operating this Grand Array, their mission to surround and kill Yang Kai had basically failed.
But at this moment, they couldn’t care too much about it because if Di Wu died, it would be meaningless to keep the Grand Array running. After all, Yang Kai could easily break through it. This Grand Array was sealing an extremely vast region, so it wasn’t very sturdy.
The aura from the many Territory Lords approaching was very obvious, so Di Wu and Yang Kai could sense them coming. Di Wu’s flustered expression calmed down slightly, probably because he thought he had a chance to survive, but at the same time, he felt a little humiliated.
He was a Pseudo-Royal Lord, and he led so many Innate Territory Lords here to kill Yang Kai, but still failed. Not only did he lose a million soldiers and eight Innate Territory Lords, but he was also heavily injured to the point of his foundation almost rupturing.
In the end, he still had to rely on the other Territory Lords to come to his rescue. Now, he didn’t even know how he would explain himself to the Royal Lord after returning to the No-Return Pass.
It seemed like he didn’t need to explain anything…
Just as his expression calmed down, it changed again because a Small Universe portal suddenly appeared behind Yang Kai and a large number of 1,000-metre-tall figures leapt out one after another.
Small Stone Race Masters!
In an instant, nearly 300 of these 1,000-metre-tall Small Stone Race Masters appeared, each of them radiating extremely imposing auras that made it obvious they had the strength of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Of course, since they didn’t have much sentience and acted entirely out of instinct, their combat capabilities were far lower than Eighth-Order Masters.
Moreover, ordinary Eighth-Order Masters were weaker than Innate Territory Lords.
However, none of that mattered with this kind of advantage in numbers.
300 Small Stone Race Masters was an enormous lineup.
All the remaining Black Ink Clansmen were thoroughly shocked because. From what they knew, the Small Stone Soldiers were a very special Race that was difficult to nurture. After some 3,000 years of war, the Small Stone Race had basically been wiped out. Even if there were still some, there wouldn’t be many.
Yang Kai summoning the 3 million Small Stone Race Soldiers was already very shocking for the Black Ink Clan.
Back then, Di Wu even specially observed the Small Stone Race, trying to see whether there were any of these more powerful Masters among their ranks, but he never spotted any.
Since Yang Kai could summon so many Small Stone Race, how could it be possible that he didn’t hide any Small Stone Race Masters? It was just that Yang Kai didn’t want to bring them out.
When they witnessed so many Small Stone Race Masters appearing before them, the Black Ink Clan realized their mission to surround and kill Yang Kai had failed before it even began. However, Yang Kai kept this advantage hidden and continuously used his discomfited state to give the Black Ink Clan false hope. He even exposed a number of his tricks and trump cards just to grind away at the Black Ink Clan’s strength.
At this moment, he finally showed his final hidden hand, as if to spell out for them how hopeless and pitiful all their plotting truly was.
Eight Territory Lords were dead, and a Black Ink Clan Army of 1 million soldiers was wiped out. Also, the Pseudo-Royal Lord, Di Wu, was seriously injured and the existence of the Four Gates Eight Palaces Great Pagoda Array was exposed.
These were the losses the Black Ink Clan had suffered in this battle, but what about Yang Kai? Some serious injuries? 3 million dead Small Stone Race Soldiers? Did any of that even matter?
Di Wu felt both aggrieved and angry at the same time, [What a scheming bastard!]
The instability of his state of mind caused his Pseudo-Royal Lord foundation to falter even more. Adding on to Yang Kai’s constant attacks, he knew he couldn’t hold on much longer.
After getting summoned, those 300 Small Stone Race Masters dispersed in all directions, roaring as they charged at the approaching 12 Innate Territory Lords.
The Territory Lords were stunned at the same time and didn’t know whether to continue forward or retreat.
If they continued trying to save Di Wu, they would inevitably be besieged by these Small Stone Race Masters, with each of them having to face at least 20 on their own. Even if these Small Stone Race Masters didn’t have much sentience, their incredible strength wasn’t easily dealt with. Once the Territory Lords were surrounded by these Small Stone Race Masters, death was basically guaranteed.
But it wouldn’t be appropriate for them to retreat either.
At that instant, the Territory Lords were caught in a dilemma.
“Run!” Di Wu roared through gritted teeth, “Head back and report to Sir Royal Lord that Di Wu has failed his trust and deserved his death!”
Hearing what Di Wu said, the Territory Lords all turned around and ran. If they had decided to run themselves, they wouldn’t have been able to explain it to the Royal Lord, but now that Di Wu had ordered them to do so, they no longer had a reason to hesitate.
Meanwhile, the Small Stone Race Masters were chasing after them.
Back on the battlefield, Di Wu seemed to have come to a decision after shouting his order.
At first, he thought that though he was in a critical situation, he still stood a chance to escape, but after the appearance of those Small Stone Race Masters, that last hope was thoroughly destroyed.
When even the possibility of survival disappeared, he actually felt a sense of relief.
The surging Black Ink Strength inside his body that he was trying hard to suppress was now free of restraints as he roared, “Yang Kai, so what if you win against me today? This Universe belongs to the Black Ink Clan!”
At that instant, black filled the sky as the dense and fierce Black Ink Strength turned into a huge tornado that was madly spinning with Di Wu in the centre.
Yang Kai suddenly felt pressured.
He had fought against many Black Ink Clansmen, killed Territory Lords, and even won against a Royal Lord, but never had he seen such a fierce and dense Black Ink Strength coming from a single Black Ink Clansman before.
[This isn’t normal,] at a glance, Yang Kai could see that Di Wu was about to suffer a fatal backlash from his own strength.
The best choice now would be for him to escape the battlefield because it was impossible for Di Wu to maintain this state for long; however, Di Wu seemed to have noticed Yang Kai’s plan. Since Di Wu had decided to use his death to show his loyalty and resolve, how could he let Yang Kai escape that easily?
Since he had to die here, he would at least bring Yang Kai with him!
“Enough nonsense! Today, either you die, or I perish!” Yang Kai roared while madly gathering the strength in his Small Universe before channelling it to his spear. Space-Time Strength hovered around him while the Ancestral Land thrummed. What was left of the Ancestral Strength flowed in from all directions and turned into a bright barrier around his body.
As the Matriarch, this was the last protection the Ancestral Land could give her favoured son.
The next moment, Yang Kai boldly charged at Di Wu.
When the bright and dark lights smashed together, the entire World shook as Space ruptured. Both lights exploded, enveloping 100,000 kilometres in a blinding brilliance.
At that moment, it seemed like time itself had ceased to flow.
In an instant, that seemed to last millions of years, the two lights suddenly disappeared, and the violent energy calmed down, signalling the end of the epic battle.
Yang Kai coughed up a large mouthful of blood as his consciousness blurred. Thanks to the Azure Dragon Spear, he barely remained standing. Despite doing his best to seal the gaping hole in his chest by tightening his muscles, the wound was reopened and blood was now pouring out.
Not far before him, Di Wu was standing with his head held high, but his body was completely battered and full of wounds. Black Ink Strength would occasionally spurt from his wounds, but even that had lost the powerful momentum it used to have and seemed quite weak.
His Royal Lord aura had already weakened long ago, and his vitality was almost gone.
Completely unshackling his rupturing Pseudo-Royal Lord foundation had caused a lethal backlash, so how could he possibly survive?
However, he wasn’t dead yet. Creakingly turning his head, he stared at Yang Kai with blurry eyes filled with mixed emotions before gathering the last of his strength to chant, “Black Ink Eternal!”
Then, his body fell with a thud, kicking up the dust around him. Just like that, his aura completely disappeared.
Of course, Yang Kai wasn’t sure Di Wu was dead, so he forced himself to remain conscious as he stumbled over to Di Wu. After giving the corpse a few hard stabs with the Azure Dragon Spear and confirming that Di Wu was gone, Yang Kai spat out another mouthful of blood and cursed.
[Black Ink Eternal, my ass.] He had heard that saying for thousands of years, but never saw the Black Ink Clan dominating the Universe.
The Human Race was not dead yet, so the Black Ink Clan could forget about being eternal as long as Yang Kai remained alive.
While supporting himself with the Azure Dragon Spear, Yang Kai slowly sat down on the ground, regulating his obviously disordered power and activating the power of his Dragon Vein to heal his injuries.
His gaze was still slightly unfocused. Having been locked in a very intense battle for several days and having been constantly thinking of ways to deceive and lure out the Black Ink Clan, he had exhausted both his mental and physical strength.
The injury to his Soul was still there, and it would require a long recovery time before it could be fully restored.
He also suffered a lot of injuries to his body during this battle.
At that instant, he seemed to have forgotten why he came to the Ancestral Land in the first place.
After thinking about it for a while, he remembered he had come here to seek out clues about the Primordial Light.
Fortunately, his journey had been fruitful.
Even though there were still some mysteries surrounding the Primordial Light, Yang Kai had learned its history.
Then, he continued to cultivate in the Ancestral Land for 300 years, during which time his Dragon Vein was greatly refined. Then, he proceeded to kill eight Innate Territory Lords and a Royal Lord.
No matter which angle he looked at it from, this trip to the Ancestral Land was a very rewarding one.
The only thing that would have made it even better was if he wasn’t in such a terrible state.
Yang Kai didn’t rest for long though because the 300 Small Stone Race Masters were still chasing after those escaping Innate Territory Lords. Although it was probably impossible for the Small Stone Race to catch up to those Territory Lords, Yang Kai still needed to oversee their situation.
300 Small Stone Race Masters were a huge war asset, and if Yang Kai didn’t go retrieve them, given the Small Stone Race’s nature, they would most likely get lost or even destroy each other.
So, no matter what, he had to get those Small Stone Race Masters back.
Yang Kai only slightly adjusted his breathing before getting up and dragging his extremely tired body to manipulate Space Principles and shoot away.
Just as he expected, the Small Stone Race Masters didn’t manage to catch up with the Innate Territory Lords. Innate Territory Lords were already very powerful, and if they were determined to escape, the Small Stone Race wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.
While Yang Kai moved throughout the void, picking up batch after batch of scattered Small Stone Race Masters, he chanced upon a surprise.
Since the 12 Innate Territory Lords powering the Grand Array had already escaped, the Small Stone Race weren’t able to catch them. Yang Kai didn’t intend to chase them either because those Territory Lords couldn’t hide forever. There was bound to come a day when Yang Kai would settle accounts with them.
On the other hand, the few Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples that came with the Black Ink Clan weren’t able to escape as quickly because their strength was far lower; therefore, they were still being chased by the Small Stone Race Masters.
When Yang Kai arrived at the scene, those Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples were badly beaten up. If Yang Kai had come any later, the Small Stone Race would have killed them.
The moment those Black Ink Disciples saw Yang Kai, they began calling for help as if they saw their saviour.
To the Black Ink Clan, Black Ink Disciples would forever be slaves, but there were also times when the Black Ink Clan needed these Black Ink Disciples to do something for them that they weren’t capable of. Therefore, they wouldn’t kill Black Ink Disciples at will.
To the Humans, if they encountered Black Ink Disciples, those capable of taking them on would do their best to capture them alive rather than kill them. That was because the Humans now had a method to save these Black Ink Disciples.
In other words, Black Ink Disciples could survive among both Races.
The Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples could not escape from the Small Stone Race Masters’ pursuit, but there was little they could do other than go all out as their loyalty was currently to the Black Ink Clan.
Yang Kai naturally didn’t make things difficult for them and summoned the Great Sun and Moon Marks to retrieve the Small Stone Race Masters. After that, he used Purifying Light to dispel the Black Ink Strength from within those Black Ink Disciples.
Without Black Ink Strength affecting their minds, the Black Ink Disciples regained their true nature and hung their heads in shame.
The leader among the Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples, the old man, cupped his fist at Yang Kai while sweating, “This old man and his companions have committed a great crime. Please punish us, Sir!”
Every Black Ink Disciple who was freed from the influence of Black Ink Strength would have such thoughts. When they recalled their actions while being Black Ink Disciples, it all seemed like a nightmare that they couldn’t understand or accept.
With a wave of his hand, Yang Kai assured them, “You didn’t act willingly, so you don’t have to blame yourselves. If you still feel ashamed, return to the battlefield and kill more enemies.”
The several Seventh-Order Open Heaven Masters nodded and agreed.
“Wait for me at the border of the Ancestral Land. I have some questions I want to ask you,” Yang Kai ordered.
The old man replied, “Yes, Sir.”
After saying that, the Seventh-Order Masters shot towards the Ancestral Land while Yang Kai continued searching for the Small Stone Race Masters.
Yang Kai spent more than 10 days scouring the entire Shattered Heaven but still couldn’t find all the Small Stone Race Masters he summoned, but in the end, he did a count and found that about 10 were missing.
He had no idea whether the Innate Territory Lords killed them or if they had simply gotten lost.
That was a regretful discovery because each Small Stone Race Master was equivalent to an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. It was a pity to lose 10 of them.
But Yang Kai could do nothing about it because that was how the Small Stone Race was. They had simple sentience and acted according to their instincts. Yang Kai didn’t have any other choice but to summon those Small Stone Race Masters before he could tame or refine them because he needed them to block the incoming Innate Territory Lords.
In conclusion, if he hadn’t gone to visit Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan and gotten so many Small Stone Race Soldiers before coming here, he would have been in a dangerous situation.
When Yang Kai returned to the Ancestral Land, his face still looked pale and the throbbing pain in his Soul was still evident.
The several Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were waiting for him and came over as soon as they sensed his return.
Raising his hand, Yang Kai skipped the formalities with them and got straight to the point, “Have you all been staying at the No-Return Pass?”
The eldest Seventh-Order Master, the old man, nodded, “Yes. We all had some talent in the Dao of Spirit Arrays, so we were specially sent to the No-Return Pass after being corrupted. The Black Ink Clan there seemed to be particularly interested in Humans like us.”
After a short pause, the old man elaborated shamefully, “The Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Four Gates Eight Palaces Great Pagoda Array was also created by us. After Sir made a name for yourself on the Profound Nether Territory Battlefield back then, the Royal Lord ordered us to come up with a Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Grand Array that could be used to deal with you. Previously, there were some Black Ink Clansmen who reported to the Royal Lord that you were in the Ancestral Land and seemed to be immersed in cultivation. Therefore, the Royal Lord thought it was a good opportunity and ordered several Innate Territory Lords to bring us here to set up the Grand Array.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly.
Even though he didn’t get a chance to carefully investigate the so-called Four Gates Eight Palaces Great Pagoda Array, he could sense that it had many rough patches. If it wasn’t for Di Wu pestering him, Yang Kai was confident he could have broken the Grand Array and eliminated its Heaven Sealing Earth Locking effects in short order.
More importantly, 12 Innate Territory Lords were needed to power this Grand Array, which was another sign that this wasn’t a high-end Grand Array.
If that was the case, these Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had limited attainments in the Dao of Spirit Arrays and might even have lower attainments than Yang Kai himself.
Although Yang Kai never formally studied the Dao of Spirit Arrays, he had refined several Array Dao Rivers in the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon, so his Small Universe had quite a lot of Array Dao Essence in it, which meant he wasn’t without any foundation in this Grand Dao.
“How many Royal Lords are there in the Black Ink Clan?” Yang Kai asked.
He wanted these Seventh-Order Masters to stay behind because he wanted to ask about this matter.
An unfamiliar Royal Lord had suddenly appeared in the Black Ink Clan. Though Yang Kai had killed that Royal Lord using all sorts of means, it was still a very difficult battle. After this fight, Yang Kai would have to recuperate for at least 100 or 200 years to fully restore himself.
[Who knows whether the Black Ink Clan still has more Royal Lords or not.]
The previously Black Ink Disciples looked at each other before the old man replied with a frown, “I know what Sir is worried about, but according to our knowledge, the Black Ink Clan has only ever had one Royal Lord.”
“Only one?” Yang Kai was confused, but the Seventh-Order old man nodded and said firmly, “Only one.”
Yang Kai frowned as he thought these Seventh-Order Open Heaven Masters had spent many years at the No-Return Pass, so they should know some of the Black Ink Clan’s details. But now, it seemed like they weren’t able to get their hands on the core secrets. However, even if the Black Ink Clan had hidden a Royal Lord, the Black Ink Disciples should have heard about it.
On the other hand, the Black Ink Clan also knew that once the Black Ink Disciples got caught by the Humans, the Black Ink Strength inside them would be expelled. Then, those Humans would regain their consciousness, so if they knew any confidential information about the Black Ink Clan, that information would probably get exposed, so perhaps they were keeping better control over vital information than Yang Kai first thought.
“Actually, we’re confused as well.” While the old man spoke, he looked at Di Wu’s corpse on the far end, “This Di Wu, he used to be an Innate Territory Lord, but he somehow became a Royal Lord…”
“Wait,” Yang Kai interrupted him, “You said this guy was an Innate Territory Lord?”
Nodding, the old man explained, “Yes. He was an Innate Territory Lord, and one of the Royal Lord’s confidants.”
The other Seventh-Order Masters nodded in agreement and confirmed Di Wu’s identity as an Innate Territory Lord.
“How is that possible?” Yang Kai’s eyes widened as he couldn’t believe his ears.
All Innate Territory Lords were born from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and were directly created by Mo. It was also common knowledge that Innate Territory Lords could never advance to become Royal Lords.
Although Yang Kai didn’t know much about the mysteries of the Creation Force, he did know that each Innate Territory Lord was born with more powerful strength than an ordinary Territory Lord. Mo must have used some kind of strange means to stimulate their full potential, completely exhausting it, causing them to be unable to gain more strength afterwards.
No one knew where the news came from, but the Humans believed it. In fact, it had been more than 3,000 years since the battle outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, yet even with so many Innate Territory Lords, there was never any news about one of them becoming a Royal Lord.
But the matter they thought was impossible had happened now.
Yang Kai felt his heart sink. It wouldn’t be too concerning if this was a special case, but if the Black Ink Clan did have some sort of way to make Innate Territory Lords into Royal Lords, the situation between the two Races would change drastically, with the Humans being at a huge disadvantage.
Also, he didn’t believe the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters standing in front of him were lying because, as fellow Humans, there was no need to joke about such things.
Just as he was thinking about this matter, the Seventh-Order old man added, “Sir, you don’t have to worry too much about this. According to this old man’s observations, while the Black Ink Clan has a way of making Innate Territory Lords into Royal Lords, it must not be easy to accomplish. There must be a huge price to pay.”
“Why would you say that?” Yang Kai was taken aback.
The old man thought back on his memories before explaining, “About 300 years ago, I recall something strange happening at the No-Return Pass, but we weren’t allowed to roam freely, so I couldn’t go and investigate. Over about a month or so, a large number of Innate Territory Lords entered one specific High-Rank Black Ink Nest, but never came back out. It was like they vanished from existence. Di Wu was the last one to enter that Black Ink Nest. After that, we were ordered to come here together with 20 Territory Lords and arrange the Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Array. However, two years later, Di Wu appeared here as a Royal Lord.”
Although these Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters didn’t know about the Black Ink Clan’s Source Fusion Technique, there was quite a commotion when the Innate Territory Lords were performing this technique, so they naturally sensed something was happening. However, as Black Ink Disciples, they had no right to pry; otherwise, they would have known a lot more.
When Yang Kai heard what the old man said, he frowned. It seemed like there was a sudden change in the Black Ink Clan that the Humans didn’t know about; or in other words, the Black Ink Clan possessed some kind of technique unknown to the Humans that they had never used before.
In addition, this technique allowed an Innate Territory Lord to become a Royal Lord! That was enough to make alarm bells ring in Yang Kai’s head. There was only Di Wu this time, but if there had been another Royal Lord, Yang Kai might not have been able to win despite all his powerful trump cards.
“How many Innate Territory Lords entered that High-Rank Black Ink Nest back then?” Yang Kai asked.
The old man replied, “At least a dozen.”
Another Seventh-Order Master interrupted them, “If I’m not mistaken, before Di Wu, there should have been 13. If we include Di Wu, it would make 14.”
Frowning, Yang Kai exclaimed, “14!”
Calming down, Yang Kai began thinking about the situation more carefully. After a long time, he spoke up, “If what you said is true, could the Black Ink Clan have some sort of technique that is similar to a sacrificial ceremony, using the High-Rank Black Ink Nest to gather the strength from many Innate Territory Lords to create a Royal Lord?”
Even though Yang Kai’s estimations weren’t entirely correct, he wasn’t far from the truth. Technically speaking, the Source Fusion Technique and sacrificial ceremonies were still different. It was just that the more Innate Territory Lords performing the Source Fusion Technique inside a High-Rank Black Ink Nest, the greater the chances of success.
The Seventh-Order old man nodded, “That is what this old man thinks too.”
Then, Yang Kai suddenly realised something, “No wonder.”
Before, he kept having the feeling that Di Wu’s performance as a Royal Lord was underwhelming. Di Wu clearly had the raw power of a Royal Lord, but he wasn’t able to utilize it smoothly, resulting in him only being able to display about 70% to 80% of his full strength.
In the last moments of the battle, Di Wu even suffered backlash from his own strength, which should have been impossible unless he used some kind of forbidden technique.
Yang Kai originally thought that Di Wu’s condition was because he was a new Royal Lord and wasn’t familiar with controlling his new strength, but what if the truth was like what he had just guessed?
Di Wu didn’t become a Royal Lord through his own cultivation, but through some strange technique.
He had suddenly gained a massive increase in strength, but that strength didn’t belong to him, which was why he had difficulty using it.
If that were true, the situation might not be as bad as Yang Kai feared.
Though it wasn’t clear whether sacrificing 14 Territory Lords to create a Royal Lord like Di Wu was a loss or gain for the Black Ink Clan, it did give hope to the Black Ink Clan in killing him while he was cultivating in the Ancestral Land. That was why the Royal Lord decided to use this hidden technique.
If the Black Ink Clan could kill Yang Kai, that sacrifice would be worth it.
Sending out one Royal Lord, 20 Territory Lords, a few Black Ink Disciples, and a million soldier Black Ink Clan Army clearly showed how determined the Black Ink Clan was, but how could they have expected that Yang Kai alone could force the Black Ink Clan to abandon everything and flee. Also, even the new Royal Lord, Di Wu, had also lost his life in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land.
The Black Ink Clan had a lot of Innate Territory Lords at the start of the war, but there wouldn’t be many of them left now. Innate Territory Lords were very powerful, and ordinary Eighth-Order Masters couldn’t easily deal with them; therefore, the utility of a dozen or so Innate Territory Lords on the battlefield was definitely higher than one defective Royal Lord.
While thinking so, Yang Kai felt more relieved. Even if the Black Ink Clan used that technique to make another Royal Lord, it wouldn’t affect the overall situation too much.
At the very least, it wouldn’t reach the point of suppressing the Humans.
Then, Yang Kai suddenly thought of something and said, “This matter is quite important, so I need you all to head over to the Supreme Headquarters and provide them with a full report.”
Even though this matter didn’t change the overall situation much, the Humans still had to take precautions. What if a few Royal Lords suddenly appeared on one of the battlefields? If that happened, the Humans would definitely suffer a huge loss; therefore, it was necessary to report this matter to the Supreme Headquarters as soon as possible.
“We would be glad to do so!” The Seventh-Order old man cupped his fist and moved to leave.
“Wait, there’s no hurry to leave.” Yang Kai stopped them, “It’s a long journey there, and there will be dangers along the way. Although the two Races are still abiding by the peace agreement, there’s no telling whether the Black Ink Clan will make a move after this incident. If they do decide to break the treaty, there would be nothing restricting them. I’ll give you all a Small Stone Race Master each so that you can refine them and use them for protection.”
While saying so, he waved his hand and summoned a few Small Stone Race Masters. Since the Great Sun and Moon Marks were inhibiting them, the few Small Stone Race Masters remained docile for the moment.
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were ecstatic and thanked Yang Kai. Then, they each found one Small Stone Race Master and began taming them. With these Small Stone Race Masters protecting them, they wouldn’t be vulnerable even if they encountered a couple of Territory Lords.
Actually, Yang Kai could personally make the trip to the Supreme Headquarters and bring the Seventh-Order Masters with him, but his injuries hadn’t recovered yet; therefore, he had to treat them immediately. Moreover, he suffered a huge loss after being ambushed by the Black Ink Clan, so how could he be willing to let this matter slide?
Even though the Black Ink Clan suffered a huge loss in the end, that was because Yang Kai had many trump cards. If Yang Kai was unlucky this time, he might already be dead.
Since the Black Ink Clan dared to offend him, they should be ready for his retaliation!
While the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters tamed the Small Stone Race Masters, Yang Kai adjusted his breathing and began healing his injuries. After the battle, the Ancestral Land had returned to its former peaceful state.
However, Yang Kai could sense that the heritage accumulated by the Ancestral Land over many millennia was almost depleted because of him.
First, it was because he had been cultivating here for 300 years, constantly absorbing massive amounts of Ancestral Strength, which helped his Dragon Form grow to 99,999 metres long. After that, he engaged in a massive battle with the Black Ink Clan and borrowed strength from the Ancestral Land, further exhausting the Ancestral Strength.
To the Ancestral Land, who resembled a kind and gentle Matriarch, Yang Kai was like a black sheep son who spent almost all her wealth in a short time.
But Yang Kai also knew that this was inevitable because, during that life-or-death situation, the Ancestral Land’s full support allowed him to use the Ancestral Strength as constant protection to block off the bulk of the powerful attacks he faced. Without the protection from the Ancestral Strength, he wouldn’t have been able to withstand such a protracted battle against such powerful enemies.
Fortunately, this situation didn’t greatly affect the Ancestral Land.
The birth of the Ancestral Land was because the Primordial Light had landed here. When that happened, the originally ordinary continent became the source of all Divine Spirits.
Therefore, this land would be forever indestructible.
With enough time, the Ancestral Land could restore its heritage. It might need thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions of years for that to happen, but it would eventually happen.
There would be a time when the Ancestral Land would be restored to its former glory, but all of that hinged on the Human Race defeating the Black Ink Clan.
If the Humans failed, the Ancestral Land would no longer exist.
Two months later, the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters finished refining their Small Stone Race companions. Their cultivation was much lower than those of Small Stone Race Masters’, so it took them quite a while to tame them.
However, despite having tamed them, it was difficult for the Seventh-Order Masters to fully control those Small Stone Race Masters and could only order them with basic commands. Once these Small Stone Race Masters moved too far away from them, the Seventh-Order Masters would lose control of them.
They all gathered before Yang Kai, who opened his eyes and retrieved several dozen World Beads.
These World Beads were made by Yang Kai sacrificing small parts of his Small Universe to refine. Although it affected him somewhat, the damage wasn’t too substantial. Moreover, with the World Tree clone assisting him, the damage would gradually be repaired.
After giving those World Beads to the Seventh-Order Masters, he exhorted, “Every bead contains a Sealed World with four 1,000-metre-tall Small Stone Race Masters and 500,000 Small Stone Race Soldiers.”
The Seventh-Order Masters drew in a sharp breath after hearing this.
It didn’t matter if it was one or two beads containing such an Army as they had already witnessed Yang Kai summoning some 300 Small Stone Race Masters earlier while operating the Grand Array, the point was that every bead also included 500,000 Small Stone Race Soldiers!
That number was terrifying because Yang Kai had given them about 50 World Beads.
Wouldn’t that mean there were 25 million Small Stone Race Soldiers?
That was a huge force, and if they introduced all of them to the various Great Territory Battlefields, it could shift the balance between the Humans and Black Ink Clan.
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters solemnly received and carefully put away the several dozen World Beads.
Then, Yang Kai told them, “If you encounter a Black Ink Clan Army, just use the Small Stone Race Soldiers to kill them. There’s no need to worry about preserving them if it’s going to cost you your lives.”
Even though the Small Stone Race Soldiers in the World Beads weren’t tamed, they still retained their basic instincts, so they would try to kill any Black Ink Clansmen they encountered. With the protection from so many Small Stone Race Soldiers and Masters, these Seventh-Order Masters could safely return to Human territory.
After thanking Yang Kai again, the Seventh-Order Masters left.
Yang Kai watched until the Seventh-Order Masters disappeared from his sight before withdrawing his attention and diving deep into the Ancestral Land to focus on healing his injuries.
At the same time, in the No-Return Pass’ Main Hall, the Royal Lord was sitting on his throne of bones with a gloomy expression. Below him were 12 guilty-looking Innate Territory Lords with their heads bowed.
The atmosphere inside the Grand Hall was silent and depressing, and the many Innate Territory Lords on both sides of the hall wore differing expressions. The only similarity was the look of disbelief on all their faces.
When they heard that the mission to kill Yang Kai had failed, the Black Ink Clan Masters were all shocked.
A Pseudo-Royal Lord had led 20 Innate Territory Lords and had help from a Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Grand Array, all just to kill a single Eighth-Order Master. How could they have failed?
This mission was supposed to be an easy success, and the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t have even attempted it if they weren’t fully confident.
But they had failed!
Not only did they fail, but the Black Ink Clan suffered enormous losses. The deaths of eight Innate Territory Lords weren’t too heartbreaking considering the Human killing star had killed far more than eight Innate Territory Lords already.
But Di Wu was dead as well?
That was the first Pseudo-Royal Lord the Black Ink Clan had ever created through the Source Fusion Technique!
When the many Innate Territory Lords heard this news, they were all terrified. Had Yang Kai grown that much stronger?
At that moment, the Territory Lords were worried as they wondered if even a Pseudo-Royal Lord wasn’t enough to deal with Yang Kai anymore. If that was true, did it mean that the Royal Lord would have to take action personally for there to even be a chance at success?
The depressing atmosphere was like an approaching storm, causing the Territory Lords to feel suffocated. Meanwhile, the silent glare from the Royal Lord on his throne made the few Territory Lords below feel like they were sitting on pins and needles.
“Wastes! All of you!” The Royal Lord roared, “Di Wu, that stupid piece of shit! I trusted him so much, yet he went and got himself killed by an Eighth-Order Human?! How could he be so useless!”
In the meantime, the Territory Lords maintained their silence because they didn’t dare to interrupt while the Royal Lord was raging.
Above them, the Royal Lord had risen to his feet and continuously cursed and reprimanded the 12 Territory Lords that had just returned and the dead Di Wu. His aggressive aura was like a huge mountain pressing down on the Territory Lords to the point that they couldn’t breathe.
Only after a long tirade did the Royal Lord calm down and through gritted teeth snarl, “Report every detail of what had happened to me!”
Even though it pained him to suffer such a huge loss, and he hated Di Wu for being useless, this incident had already happened. At the very least, he should know what went wrong during this plan and how Yang Kai, a mere Eighth-Order Master, was able to kill a Pseudo-Royal Lord.
Immediately, the 12 Territory Lords began talking one after another as they told the Royal Lord what happened after Di Wu arrived at the Ancestral Land. Of course, they skipped over the 300 years they were waiting for Yang Kai to come out because nothing worth mentioning happened during that time.
When the Territory Lords on both sides of the Grand Hall heard that Yang Kai could now use his mysterious Soul Secret Technique to hit five targets, and even kill four Territory Lords in rapid succession while being trapped inside the Grand Array, their expressions immediately changed.
[It seems like the killing star’s strength has indeed grown. He wasn’t capable of this 2,000 years ago.]
Meanwhile, the Royal Lord could roughly guess the rest of the story after hearing that Yang Kai summoned a massive batch of Small Stone Race Soldiers.
Back when Yang Kai came to the No-Return Pass, he had also summoned a large Small Stone Race Army to deal with him. Di Wu should also have known about this, but this was the first time the Black Ink Clan learned that even after those Small Stone Race Soldiers died, they could still be used by Yang Kai.
As a result, all the surviving Black Ink Clansmen, including Di Wu, were enveloped in an intense burst of Purifying Light that dramatically diminished their strength.
The Black Ink Clan fell into an irreversible disadvantage in the battle after that.
After listening to the full story, the Royal Lord’s expression was dark as a storm cloud, while the uninvolved Territory Lords felt slightly relieved.
The Territory Lords thought that Yang Kai was now strong enough to kill a Pseudo-Royal Lord, but now it seemed like the main reason Di Wu failed was that Yang Kai had many coincidental advantages on his side, especially when it came to the battlefield.
The Divine Spirit Ancestral Land could suppress the Black Ink Clan’s strength and even offered its strength and protection to Yang Kai. Such a situation greatly reduced the difference in strength between the two sides.
In addition, Yang Kai was a scheming fellow who used Purifying Light to weaken the Black Ink Clan Masters and deal a crippling blow to Di Wu.
Now it seemed like, though Yang Kai was strong, he still had obvious limits.
For some unknown reason, this realisation made the Territory Lords feel relieved.
After the 12 Territory Lords finished reporting, they stood silently in their spot, not daring to speak.
The Royal Lord sat back on his throne and swept his gaze across them before looking to the side, “Mo Na Ye, what do you think?”
One Territory Lord stepped forward, and it just so happened to be someone Yang Kai knew. It was the Innate Territory Lord who led the operation against Yang Kai back in the Acacia Territory. Later, Yang Kai faced off against this same Territory Lord in Profound Nether Territory.
Mo Na Ye was undoubtedly the most strategic and insightful of all the Territory Lords, which was why the Royal Lord decided to still use him after the humiliating incident in Acacia Territory.
After Di Wu became a Pseudo-Royal Lord 300 years ago, the Royal Lord recalled Mo Na Ye from the frontlines to serve as his right hand.
First, Mo Na Ye bowed to the Royal Lord before speaking, “Sir Royal Lord, I think that what we must do now is prepare for Yang Kai’s retaliation.”
The Royal Lord frowned, “You think that fellow would come to the No-Return Pass and try to raise chaos?”
Mo Na Ye nodded heavily, “He definitely will! Although I haven’t encountered him many times, everything I have observed and learned of him indicates that he is not one to simply suffer a loss. The Black Ink Clan planned to deal with him in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land while the agreement between our two Races was still in effect, so he definitely won’t let this matter slide. The Human Race needs to maintain this current situation, so he wouldn’t openly break the agreement. On top of that, he knows that we will not just let him go around killing Territory Lords. In such a situation, his only real option to gain revenge is to attack the No-Return Pass.”
Slightly angered, the Royal Lord bellowed, “He dares!?”
He was personally overseeing the No-Return Pass. Even though it happened before, if Yang Kai caused a scene here again, it would mean that Yang Kai had disregarded him, a Royal Lord, completely.
Mo Na Ye added, “He has always been a reckless risk-taker.”
The Royal Lord was silent because he had to agree that what Mo Na Ye said was justifiable. No matter what the Black Ink Clan had done in the Ancestral Land, both Races still needed to maintain the so-called agreement to ensure the overall situation. Since they needed to maintain the agreement, it was unlikely that Yang Kai would go off and kill Territory Lords on the various Battlefields lest he force the Black Ink Clan to launch an all-out retaliatory war. That was the last thing the Humans wanted right now.
On the other hand, the Black Ink Clan also didn’t want to break the agreement because if they did, many more Innate Territory Lords would die in the coming days.
Therefore, coming to the No-Return Pass to make a scene was Yang Kai’s only option.
“When do you think he will come?” the Royal Lord asked.
Mo Na Ye replied, “Within 200 years!”
“On what basis?”
“Back in Profound Nether Territory, Yang Kai would make a move every two years to kill Territory Lords. I’m guessing that the reason he took that long in between attacks was he needed time to deal with the huge backlash of using his Soul injuring technique. Every time he used it, he would need a long period to recuperate. However, this time, in the Ancestral Land, Yang Kai not only overused his Soul technique, he also suffered numerous severe physical wounds. Although Humans have an advantage when it comes to healing rate compared to our Black Ink Clan, he must need at least 100 to 200 years to recuperate.”
After listening to the explanation, the Royal Lord nodded as his gloomy eyes showed appreciation. If all the Innate Territory Lords had the same intelligence as Mo Na Ye, he wouldn’t be so troubled.
Unfortunately, most of the Territory Lords didn’t have sharp minds, while the Humans seemed to have plenty of cunning people.
“Sir Royal Lord, please take the necessary precautions early. The Humans… might already have a new Ninth-Order Master,” Mo Na Ye added.
Hearing that, the Royal Lord turned solemn, “Is this news reliable?”
Mo Na Ye shook his head, “The Humans have established extremely strict control over any such news, and only a few higher-ups would know whether a new Ninth-Order Master has been born. The low-level Black Ink Disciples we have converted have no way of knowing about these things. However, according to the reports I have received from the front lines, a few prominent Eighth-Order Masters have completely disappeared from the Battlefields. Without mentioning anyone else, Xiang Shan has been missing for nearly 1,000 years now. No one knows where he is, but if he has not shown up in so long, it must be because he’s trying to break through to the Ninth Order. In the worst case, he may have already succeeded and is simply remaining hidden because it is still not the time for Ninth-Order Masters to appear.”
The Royal Lord’s expression became far gloomier when he heard this.
Even though the Black Ink Clan had always prided themselves as the mightiest army with the finest arms, never having suffered a true defeat on any of the Great Territory Battlefields, they were constantly wary of some Eighth-Order Masters breaking through to become Ninth-Order as even one such Master could alter the course of the war.
Among those Humans, the one they were most wary of was Xiang Shan. Even their worries about Yang Kai were dwarfed in comparison.
After all, Yang Kai’s limit was the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Yang Kai was destined to come to the No-Return Pass and cause a ruckus, and Mo Na Ye just happened to mention a possible new Ninth-Order Master. All of that made the Royal Lord think about a lot of things.
Many years ago, Yang Kai had come to the No-Return Pass alone, and though the Black Ink Clan injured and repelled him, he still managed to kill a number of Territory Lords and destroy several High-Rank Black Ink Nests, which made the Royal Lord fly into a rage. In fact, the Royal Lord was still secretly frustrated about this incident even after so many years.
2,000 years later, Yang Kai had definitely become much stronger than before, and even managed to kill a Pseudo-Royal Lord while borrowing some external aids.
Yang Kai alone would be tricky to deal with, but if a new Ninth-Order Master came along with him, how could the No-Return Pass stop them?
If the Black Ink Clan lost a few more Black Ink Nests, they would quickly find themselves at a huge disadvantage.
The Royal Lord soon realized that he alone was not enough. He needed a helping hand.
Di Wu was a good adjutant, one who was loyal and listened to orders, but unfortunately… a dead helper was worthless.
The Royal Lord slowly turned to look at Mo Na Ye before gazing at the 12 Territory Lords that returned from the Ancestral Lord before making up his mind.
“All of you, go and perform the Source Fusion!”
The 12 Territory Lords all showed shocked expressions. They didn’t escape all the way back to be Source Fusioned into a Black Ink Nest.
Meanwhile, Mo Na Ye lowered his head as his lips undetectably curled into a slight smile.
[All according to plan!]
Once bitten, twice shy. Yang Kai had already caused a huge scene in the No-Return Pass once; thus, the Royal Lord would definitely be worried about Yang Kai coming back.
He would not be able to protect the numerous Black Ink Nests in the No-Return Pass on his own.
This was not a solo life-and-death battle. Considering the strength of a Royal Lord, he was naturally not afraid of an Eighth-Order Master, even if that Eighth-Order Master had killed a Pseudo-Royal Lord.
However, if Yang Kai really appeared at the No-Return Pass, then his purpose would not be to fight with the Royal Lord nor the Territory Lords, but to destroy High-Rank Black Ink Nests.
High-Rank Nests were the root of the Black Ink Clan right now. The Black Ink Clan Army was created through the various Black Ink Nests, and all Mid and Low-Rank Nests shared an intrinsic link to the High-Rank Black Ink Nest which spawned them. The Source Fusion Technique also required a High-Rank Black Ink Nest to be sacrificed. Once the High-Rank Black Ink Nests were all gone, the Black Ink Clan would not be able to replenish their numbers and would not be able to grow stronger. Eventually, they would die out.
Thus, even if the Royal Lord was strong, if Yang Kai avoided fighting him and instead targeted the Black Ink Nests, it would be impossible to stop him on his own.
It wasn’t just that though; there was also a possible new Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master the Royal Lord needed to be wary of!
Therefore, he needed assistance.
He could not count on the Innate Territory Lords and could only hope for help from a Pseudo-Royal Lord.
However, in all these years, the Black Ink Clan had only ever created a single Pseudo-Royal Lord, Di Wu.
Which Innate Territory Lord did not aspire to become a Pseudo-Royal Lord? In the anticipated final confrontation, the role Innate Territory Lords could play would diminish significantly. Perhaps, they would one day encounter a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and be killed by them.
Mo Na Ye also wanted to become a Pseudo-Royal Lord, but he was not one of the Royal Lord’s favourites. How could he receive such benefits for no rhyme or reason? If he had such an opportunity, then it would have been him and not Di Wu who was selected in the first place.
Now, he had an opportunity. The other Territory Lords were still shocked by Yang Kai’s terrifying powers, which highlighted Di Wu’s incompetence. They were all intimidated by the Royal Lord’s anger; however, through this crisis, Mo Na Ye was able to spot a light.
The 12 Territory Lords who had escaped were how he could potentially make a breakthrough!
These 12 Territory Lords were now considered to be guilty of serious crimes. If nothing was done, they would probably be sent to the six Great Territory Battlefields by the Royal Lord to fight against the Eighth-Order Humans for an extended time as punishment for their crimes.
However, this was not what Mo Na Ye wanted to see. With just a few words, he was able to influence the Royal Lord’s decision on the fate of these 12 Territory Lords. Throughout everything he had said, at no point did he mention any of his own ambitions. This spoke volumes of his intelligence.
In contrast to Mo Na Ye’s exuberance, the 12 Territory Lords were extremely frightened.
They did not flee from the Ancestral Land just to be sent to perform the Source Fusion Technique. While they could become a Pseudo-Royal Lord if they succeeded, their hopes of success depended on the number of sacrifices before them.
No one could guarantee that they would be successful. Just as Di Wu never guaranteed his success.
Di Wu simply had better luck, and the accumulation from the Source Fusion Technique was sufficient by the time it was his turn.
However, the Royal Lord had already given the order, so they could not refuse.
“Don’t say this King isn’t giving you a chance. All of you enter the Black Ink Nest together. Who succeeds or fails will depend on your own abilities,” the Royal Lord said indifferently.
The 12 Territory Lords all replied bitterly, “Yes!”
The last time the Source Fusion Technique was performed, there 13 Territory Lords were sacrificed in a row before Di Wu succeeded. This time when all 12 of them entered the Black Ink Nest together, if one Territory Lord had enough luck, he might be able to succeed. At least, this was better than having no hope at all.
The 12 Territory Lords left the Grand Hall together and found a High-Rank Black Ink Nest and entered it. Soon, many auras merged and a lot of commotion came from within the Black Ink Nest.
Half a day later, the auras began to disappear one by one until finally, 22 days later, the last one faded away. Many Territory Lords in the Grand Hall now appeared excited.
If the 12 Territory Lords were all sacrificed, then the chances of success for the next one who entered would increase significantly; however, the Territory Lords knew that this opportunity would not be given to them.
Many pairs of eyes looked towards Mo Na Ye, who had gained the Royal Lord’s favour. It was most likely that the Royal Lord would choose him.
As expected, the Royal Lord turned his head towards him and said, “Mo Na Ye.”
Mo Na Ye stepped forward as he suppressed the excitement within him and replied calmly, “Sir.”
“If you were to perform the Source Fusion Technique next, what do you think are your chances of success?”
Mo Na Ye pretended to ponder for a moment and then replied, “70%!”
The Royal Lord frowned slightly. Although 70% was fairly good, there were still some risks. Such a wise and resourceful Territory Lord like Mo Na Ye was incredibly rare, it would be a pity if he died trying to execute the Source Fusion Technique. As such, the Royal Lord called out, “Who is willing to perform the Source Fusion Technique?”
As soon as he said that, a group of Territory Lords became excited and all of their eyes lit up and were about to answer, but Mo Na Ye did not give them a chance as he quickly cupped his fist and said, “Sir Royal Lord, please allow me to try.”
The Royal Lord frowned and said, “But there is still some risk. If you die from the Source Fusion Technique…”
Mo Na Ye interrupted the Royal Lord and quickly said, “If I am too afraid to try when I have a 70% chance, then what use could I possibly be to Sir Royal Lord in the future? Even if I were to fail, I can still lay the foundation for my other comrades to succeed, so I will die with no regrets! Sir, please give me a chance!”
This was a tactful statement. Originally, the other Territory Lord’s were upset with Mo Na Ye for not letting them speak out; however, after hearing this and seeing Mo Na Ye’s sincerity, their resentment quickly dissipated. They now felt that Mo Na Ye’s dedication to the Black Ink Clan’s great cause was both respectable and admirable.
“Please allow me, Sir!” Mo Na Ye pleaded again.
He would not give up this opportunity to the other Territory Lords no matter what happened; after all, he had meticulously planned for this moment. Although there was a risk of failure, the chance of success was decent. If the other Territory Lords managed to grab this opportunity, then it would be a case of desperate to cry but unable to shed any tears.
The Royal Lord seemed to hesitate in deciding, but Mo Na Ye had already expressed his willingness to risk his life. If the Royal Lord still refused now, then he would seem very biased against Mo Na Ye.
He had no choice but to nod and agree, “In that case, go ahead!”
Mo Na Ye’s eyes lit up with joy, “Many thanks, Sir!”
He turned around immediately, walked out of the Grand Hall and entered the High-Rank Black Ink Nest. His aura began to fluctuate.
…..
The Divine Spirit Ancestral Land remained undisturbed for nearly 100 years before a figure finally emerged from its depths. It was Yang Kai.
After 100 years of recuperating, his wounds had now completely healed.
With the Soul Warming Lotus, even the most serious injuries to his Soul could be restored, though this time it had taken quite a bit longer as the damage resulting from using five Soul Rending Thorns at once had been quite serious.
Yang Kai was not only healing during the past 100 years though. He had also been reviewing his new comprehension of the Grand Daos of Time and Space, which he benefited a lot from.
If he performed the Sun and Moon Divine Seal again right now, it would be much more powerful than his previous attempt.
Although he was here for more than 100 years, Yang Kai quickly realized that the Ancestral Land’s situation had not changed much and its Ancestral Strength was still very weak. In such an environment, even if a Divine Spirit was cultivating in the Ancestral Land, they would not benefit much.
It would take a long time for this World to fully recover.
Yang Kai bowed and gave a respectful salute to this World. If the Ancestral Land really had a Will, then it must be able to feel his heartfelt gratitude.
He then straightened up and took off into the sky.
Yan Kai left the Ancestral Land, travelled across the Divine Ability Sea, passed through the Shattered Heaven, entered a Territory Gate, and arrived at the Barren Territory.
He did not come here to enter the No-Return Pass from the Barren Territory though. Although this route was the fastest, it was also the most dangerous.
The No-Return Pass was now in the hands of the Black Ink Clan, and not only was there a Royal Lord stationed there, there was also a large number of Territory Lords. Yang Kai did not know the situation at the Territory Gate either, so if he just barged in, and there was some kind of ambush, he would have sacrificed himself for nothing.
After all, he had done this before, so the Black Ink Clan must have taken appropriate precautions by now.
The reason why Yang Kai came to the Barren Territory was because he wanted to check out the situation of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God here.
Thousands of years had passed since the battle in the Barren Territory. During these thousands of years, the two Ninth-Orders Old Ancestors were unable to move at all. Likewise, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was also unable to extricate itself. Although they were separated by the boundary wall of the Great Territories, they were literally chained to each other.
At least, that was the case initially, because at that time, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was seriously injured!
It was pursued from the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land into the Barren Territory. Then, as it passed through the battlefield, it was bombarded by the Human Race Army and numerous Masters. Thereafter, it was attacked by numerous Ninth-Order Old Ancestors and was severely wounded. Old Ancestors Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing found the opportunity to secure its arm through the Territory Wall between the Barren Territory and Wind Mist Territory, but they were forced to remain in Wind Mist Territory as a result.
However, Yang Kai now wondered if the Black Ink Giant Spirit God had restored itself after all these years. If it was restored, the two Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters couldn’t restrict its movement by themselves.
If this Black Ink Giant Spirit God broke free, it would undoubtedly deal a devastating blow to the Human Race.
The Human Race was currently incapable of resisting a Black Ink Giant Spirit God!
Yang Kai was amazed by how quiet the Barren Territory was when he entered.
The last time Yang Kai came over, Giant Spirit God Ah Er and the other, unshackled Black Ink Giant Spirit God, were locked in a brutal battle that shook the entire Great Territory, so it was odd that everything was so calm right now.
Yang Kai used his Divine Sense and very soon, didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
He saw that in a vast void, these two Giant Spirit Gods, who had been fighting for thousands of years, were now entangled in a physical stalemate, one of them body-locking the other, while the other head-locked the first.
There was no telling when they ended up in this grappling hold, but it was clear that both had fought viciously as there were wounds all over their bodies. There were even big chunks of their flesh drifting about, looking like asteroids in the void.
This battle had been going on for thousands of years, its two combatants evenly matched.
The only one who could stand up to a Black Ink Giant Spirit God was a true Giant Spirit God. From what Yang Kai saw, these two Giant Spirit Gods, who had been fighting for many years, would simply fight on for the rest of eternity if no external factors were introduced.
Yang Kai watched them silently for a while, but did not bother them. Then, he turned his attention to the other Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
This Black Ink Giant Spirit God was seated and slightly hunched over. Its lofty figure obscured the large void with one of its arms poking through the boundary wall. This arm was being locked down on the Wind Mist Territory side by the two Ninth-Orders Masters, rendering it immobile.
Originally, it had many wounds caused by the Human Masters and the Dragon and Phoenix Clan Leaders during the Barren Territory Battle. Black Ink Strength oozed like thick mucus from those wounds; however, after all these years, the wounds on its body had been healed significantly and were no longer such a gory sight.
[Its injuries were slowly recovering!]
Yang Kai was astonished. All Black Ink Clansmen, even Royal Lords, had to enter a Black Ink Nest to recover from serious injuries, but it seemed the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods were exceptions to this rule.
Although the speed of healing looked slow, it was indeed healing.
Supreme Masters clearly could not be judged using common knowledge. When this Black Ink Giant Spirit God was being suppressed and sealed in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land, its aura had been completely wiped away by the omnipresent Ancestral Strength. A few years after it resurrected, when Yang Kai saw it next after he sent off Wu Kuang, this Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s aura had clearly decreased again after suffering the final attacks of the top Human and Divine Spirit Masters. Now, however, there were no longer any severe injuries on its body and its aura was stronger. It was clear that this strange creation could heal itself.
Seemingly sensing Yang Kai’s prying eyes, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, who had its eyes shut to recuperate, suddenly opened them and turned its head to look at him.
Invisible oppression instantly weighed down heavily on Yang Kai’s shoulders causing him to feel dwarfed by the giant.
The cultivation of an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was a far cry from that of a Giant Spirit God!
This was not the first time Yang Kai found himself in such a situation. When this Black Ink Giant Spirit God was revived in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land, Yang Kai had tried to outmanoeuvre it. He even tried to sink it into the Void, but ultimately, he was powerless to do anything to it.
Yang Kai steeled himself before he started organizing something in his Small Universe.
In the distant void, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God seemed to snicker lightly before it stopped paying attention to him.
To it, this insect was no more dangerous than a common fly, there was no need to pay any attention to it. What was an Eight-Order Master? It did not even bat an eyelid about Ninth-Order Old Ancestors and could only be restrained by 20 such Masters.
Yang Kai slowly closed his eyes. Moments later, they opened again and he shouted loudly, “Greetings Old Ancestors!”
His voice reached Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing, who were sitting in Wind Mist Territory, the arm of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God trapped between them like a wall.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao quickly called out, “Yang Kai, you’re in the Barren Territory?”
“Yes!” Yang Kai replied as he opened his Small Universe portal and began to summon a Small Stone Race Army.
When he was in the Ancestral Land, he had given several former Black Ink Disciples some 25 million Small Stone Race Soldiers, but he still had a few million left within him.
However, those Small Stone Race Soldiers that he had retained did not include any of the 1,000-metre Masters. They were all ordinary Small Stone Race soldiers who could not play too big a role in a battle against top Masters. However, for him, they were still the best assistants available.
“What are you doing over there?” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao asked curiously, “What is the situation of the Human Race right now?”
Yang Kai continued to summon more Small Stone Race Soldiers and was soon surrounded by a vast Army, all while communicating, “The situation is quite stable, Old Ancestors do not need to worry about anything. I’m here… to collect some interest from the Black Ink Clan.”
“Collect interest?” Wu Qing asked curiously.
Yang Kai bellowed, “Two Old Ancestors, please be careful!”
“What are you going to do?” In Wind Mist Territory, Wu Qing suddenly had a bad premonition. He glanced at Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao, and both of them became alert and raised their guard.
In the Barren Territory, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God also frowned and watched Yang Kai’s movements closely.
Yang Kai raised his arm, before swinging it down. Afterwards, a 2 million strong Small Stone Race Army swarmed towards the Black Ink Giant Spirit God like locusts. They did not fear death even in the face of such an overwhelming enemy like the Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
Their sentience was low, and their nature was to grow by devouring materials; thus, they did not fear death. Death was just another part of life to them.
The advantage was that they were unmoving in the face of fear, but the disadvantage was they were not flexible. Once a Small Stone Race member died in battle however, their remains would be left behind where they fell.
This kind of swarm attack was most suitable against the Black Ink Giant Spirit God who was immobile.
The 2 million Small Stone Race Army reached the Black Ink Giant Spirit God in a matter of breaths. Even two million such soldiers, however, were insignificant compared to the giant.
It was like a swarm of mosquitoes buzzing around an elephant, annoying, but not of any real threat.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s vast Black Ink Strength emerged from its body at that moment. Even Royal Lords and Pseudo-Royal Lords were incomparable to it.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God did not know what Yang Kai was up to, but it would not let him just sit there and let him do whatever he pleased.
The rich Black Ink Strength enveloped the Small Stone Race Army like a tidal wave, and in the blink of an eye, receded again to reveal all 2 million Small Stone Race Soldiers had perished without a single injury.
Even Yang Kai did not know how the Black Ink Giant Spirit God killed them.
“That’s it?” Black Ink Giant Spirit God finally asked smugly.
The two marks on the back of Yang Kai’s hand began to heat up and he said fiercely, “No, this is!”
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s smile instantly froze.
The marks glowed yellow and blue, filled the void and then mingled with each other.
The Black Ink tide, which had just receded, surged outwards again, this time in a much more aggressive manner.
In the blink of an eye, a pure white light began to bloom into a huge white Sun.
This mass of pure white light was 10 times more intense than the one Yang Kai tossed out in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land. The light not only enveloped the Void, but it also enveloped the huge body of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
The sacrifice of a mere 2 million Small Stone Race Soldiers naturally could not achieve such results. When Yang Kai was in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land, he sacrificed 3 million, but the result was less than 10% of the current power.
The reason for this huge difference was that Yang Kai had made preparations this time. He distributed a massive amount of Yellow and Blue Crystals to the Small Stone Race members before summoning them.
This time, the sacrifice was not only the residual power of the fallen 2 million Small Stone Race Soldiers, but also a literal mountain of Yellow and Blue Crystals.
In one move, Yang Kai had consumed 40% of the supplies Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan had prepared for him this time.
With such a huge amount of materials invested, the results were remarkable.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God was soon engulfed and the Purifying Light began seeping into its body. Black Ink Strength was quickly dispersed and vaporized both inside and outside of it.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God roared in a rage and struggled violently.
In Wind Mist Territory, Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing finally understood why Yang Kai warned them to be careful.
The two of them had been stuck here for around 3,000 years and had been working together to pin down one of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s arms with a joint Secret Technique. Normally, the two of them would not be strong enough to do this; however, when the arm of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God had broken through the boundary wall, that meant that they were fighting with Black Ink Giant Spirit God across Great Territories. The Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s power was greatly weakened by its circumstances, so the two Old Ancestors were able to remain safe and stable.
However, at this moment, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God began to struggle madly as it was suffering in agony due to the Purifying Light. The first thing it wanted to do was to pull its arm back to wipe away the light and crush Yang Kai, who was the orchestrator of its misery.
The chains clattered on the huge mountain-like arm, and boundless Black Ink Strength began to surge wildly, as it tried to break free from the chains.
Wu Qing and Xiao Xiao’s expressions changed dramatically as they spared no effort to enhance their Secret Techniques to keep it restrained.
Over these years, the two Old Ancestors had constantly been reinforcing their Secret Technique; otherwise, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God could have broken out of it long ago.
Even so, the two were under a lot of pressure to ensure that the Black Ink Giant Spirit God did not escape, so they were now surprised and relieved by what Yang Kai was doing.
They were surprised at how Yang Kai was able to cause the Black Ink Giant Spirit God so much agony, while they were relieved that the new generation of Humans was so talented that an Eighth-Order Junior had the means to hurt a Black Ink Giant Spirit God to such an extent.
The pure white star exploded after a dozen breaths of time before it slowly dissipated.
To Old Ancestors Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing, it seemed like they had spent thousands of years engaged in a brutal battle…
When everything calmed down, the two looked at each other and each saw the sweat and fear on the other’s forehead when they realized part of the chains had broken into countless pieces. They panicked and quickly rushed to repair them.
Of course, they knew that if Black Ink Giant Spirit God really wanted to get out of this trap, it could do so at any moment by sacrificing its arm. Fortunately, it did not seem things had come to that point yet.
Losing an arm would not affect a Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s life in the long run, but its strength would diminish significantly. The Black Ink Giant Spirit God would not accept such humiliation unless absolutely necessary.
In the Barren Territory, Yang Kai’s face was calm as he quietly looked at the huge figure that was still shrouded in a white afterglow.
The tremors and thunderous commotions within the Barren Territory calmed down as soon as the Black Ink Giant Spirit God stopped struggling. It sat in the void, with the arm that penetrated the boundary wall secured from the other side as it stared at Yang Kai with intense rage.
Technically speaking, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was both Mo’s Creation and Mo’s Soul Clone. It meant that there was no big difference between Mo and it. Apart from the vast difference in strength, it inherited all the thought processes and experiences of Mo.
It was not easy to anger such an ancient Supreme Being, which has survived for millions of years, to such an extent.
During the battle in the Barren Territory, it was attacked repeatedly by Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Even the Dragon and Phoenix Clan Leaders had joined in on the assault. The wounds they caused were far more severe than what it was suffering just now. Later on, it was shackled in place by the two surviving Ninth-Order Old Ancestors, but even then, it was not as angry with them as it was now.
To it, all the resistance of the Human Race was just an appetizer before Mo’s unification of everything was complete. Not only would it not be angry, it felt that it could have some fun along the way.
However, what Yang Kai did today really upset it.
Not only did the pure and flawless white light reopen its wounds that took thousands of years to heal, but it also wiped away a large portion of its power!
In a mere dozen breaths, Yang Kai ruined thousands of years of cultivation.
The pure white light had caused its heart to be filled with rage.
“You worm! You have truly enraged this Supreme One!” Bellowed the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, causing the entire Barren Territory to reverberate.
Yang Kai taunted in response, “Come and kill me then!”
In Wind Mist Territory, Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing were immediately put on edge. There was nothing they could do if the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was willing to sacrifice its arm in order to get out of their restriction.
Of course, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s powers would be severely impacted if it lost an arm; however, even if the Black Ink Giant Spirit only had one arm, two Ninth-Order Masters were still no match for it.
They were secretly praying that this damn brat would not provoke this monster again, because if it really got upset, the situation would only get worse.
Though the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was furious, it had no intention of sacrificing its arm to get out of this trap. The two Ninth-Order Masters were relieved when it did not move its locked arm.
Yang Kai, however, did not stop provoking it. When he saw that Black Ink Giant Spirit God was not moving, he increased his taunts, “It looks like you are all talk! If you don’t kill me today, I will kill you in the future! Not only will I kill you, but I will also go to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to destroy your lair and slaughter your true body!”
The two Old Ancestors who had just heaved a sigh of relief were now anxious again. They wanted to yell at Yang Kai to shut the hell up!
Worse, Yang Kai’s threats were the most shameless of boasting! Instead of getting more upset though, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God calmed down considerably and, after sizing up Yang Kai, said, “I’ll look forward to the day when you can say that in front of my true body!”
It was as if he had heard something very interesting and wanted to witness it with his own eyes.
Yang Kai nodded his head very seriously and replied, “Hope you meant what you’ve said!”
After saying that, he bowed at the boundary wall that the arm pierced and said, “Many thanks for your efforts, Old Ancestors, this Junior will take his leave now!”
Turning around, he shot away towards the Territory Gate.
He had achieved the purpose of this trip.
He said that he was here to collect some interest, but that was only part of the reason. Yang Kai was aware of the possible consequences of attacking the Black Ink Giant Spirit God with Purifying Light. If he was just here to collect some interest, then how was it possible for him to do something so risky?
His real purpose here was to weaken the Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
He already had this idea when he last came to the Barren Territory; however, he had not done so because at that time, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was still badly injured, so there was no need to aggravate it.
Now, after thousands of years of recuperation, if Yang Kai did not weaken it, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God might become strong enough to free itself.
For this reason, Yang Kai was willing to utilize 2 million Small Stone Race Soldiers, and a mountain of Yellow and Blue Crystals!
However, this tactic could only be used once. The Black Ink Giant Spirit God would never give him another chance to weaken it like this again.
Although it could not move from where it was, it was still able to destroy a Small Stone Race Army far away from where it sat.
While the Barren Territory was in turmoil, a figure rushed through the Territory Gate between the Barren Territory and the No-Return Pass and arrived at the other side.
A short while later, the Royal Lord gathered the Territory Lords in the Grand Hall.
On the bone throne, the Royal Lord looked over at the figure sitting on his left side and nodded approvingly, “Your analysis is impeccable, Mo Na Ye. Yang Kai is really coming to take revenge!”
Mo Na Ye stood up and bowed, “Many thanks for your compliment, Sir. I’ve studied Yang Kai closely; after all, he is currently the biggest threat to the Black Ink Clan.”
Mo Na Ye was able to become a Pseudo-Royal Lord after the sacrifice of 12 Territory Lords. He had been cultivating in retreat for the past 100 years or so and had now adapted to his new strength.
However, his situation was essentially the same as that of Di Wu who was killed by Yang Kai. Although he had the power and might of a Royal Lord, he could not control or restrain it very well.
This was a drawback that was difficult to solve for Pseudo-Royal Lords as the power they obtained was gained through the Source Fusion Technique and not from their own cultivation. Thus, it was naturally difficult to attain true Mastery over it.
Of course, even if Mo Na Ye was never able to overcome this problem, he was already extremely satisfied.
He was an Innate Territory Lord before, and would never have arrived at his current position without careful planning. When the tide of the new Black Ink Clansmen rose, the number of new Ninth-Order Humans and Black Ink Clan Royal Lords would definitely be significant. While Innate Territory Lords could be considered the backbone of the Black Ink Clan Army, a lone Territory Lord could not decide the future situation of the two Races.
Even if a Pseudo-Royal Lord was slightly inferior to a real Royal Lord, Mo Na Ye had already slogged for so many years for this position. It did not matter if he was slightly inferior as he was happy with making any progress at all. Furthermore, he had always been wiser and more resourceful than the rest of the Black Ink Clan, so he was confident that he would not be worse off than any other Royal Lords in the future.
The most important factor was with this new strength, if ever he encountered a Ninth-Order Master, even if he couldn’t defeat them in battle, he could always escape. If he was still an Innate Territory Lord, any Ninth-Order Human would be able to squash him.
After becoming a Pseudo-Royal Lord, Mo Na Ye even had his own seat during these gatherings. He no longer had to stand with the rest of the Territory Lords, which was a clear display of status.
His seat was to the left of the Royal Lord, which was an indication of his importance.
It could be said that today’s Mo Na Ye was third only to Mo and the Royal Lord. It was a huge honour to stand above billions of Black Ink Clansmen. This honour originally belonged to Di Wu, but unfortunately for him, he had messed up and gotten himself killed.
“From what Sir said, that Yang Kai has already arrived?” Mo Na Ye asked.
The Royal Lord nodded, “According to the news from the Barren Territory, Yang Kai is over there now.”
Mo Na Ye exclaimed in surprise, “So fast? He arrived much earlier than expected.”
He had thought that Yang Kai would have to cultivate for about 200 years this time to fully recover given the severity of his wounds. After his defeat in Acacia Territory, Mo Na Ye gathered all the information he could find about Yang Kai and now had a fairly good understanding of his character and behaviour.
From that point on, he paid close attention to Yang Kai’s movements.
In fact, his speculations weren’t entirely wrong as Yang Kai had yet to fully heal, it was just that the latter had decided to take action now rather than wait.
The Royal Lord continued, “The Arrays that have been set up around the Territory Gate and are ready to be activated. If Yang Kai dares to show up, he will walk right into our trap. Mo Na Ye, this time, I will leave the task of capturing this nuisance to you. I hope that you will not let me down, “
Mo Na Ye rose again and bowed, “Rest assured, Sir. If Yang Kai dares to show up this time, he will not be able to go back.”
The Royal Lord nodded with satisfaction, “I will remain here and only enter the battlefield if Yang Kai enters our net.”
Mo Na Ye was relieved to hear what the Royal Lord said. He was not eager to repeat Di Wu’s mistakes, where he fell in the Ancestral Land along with eight Territory Lords.
Although the results were unexpected, it was obvious that the Black Ink Clan had severely underestimated Yang Kai’s means.
This time was different. The No-Return Pass was the base of the Black Ink Clan with a true Royal Lord, a Pseudo-Royal Lord, and 100 Territory Lords that could be mobilized.
If Yang Kai rushed in through the Territory Gate and fell into their pre-arranged Array, he would have no hope of escape unless he was a Ninth-Order Master.
Mo Na Ye rolled up his sleeves and suddenly understood Di Wu’s urgency back then. This was his first battle after becoming a Pseudo-Royal Lord, and he was dealing with a pillar of the Human Race at the heart of Black Ink Clan. If he managed to capture Yang Kai, then his achievements would be unquestionable and his position in the Royal Lord’s heart would be firmly established.
At his command, 50 Territory Lords were deployed and lay in wait around the Black Ink Nests near the Territory Gate. They waited for Yang Kai to show up and then they would activate the Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Array.
Mo Na Ye would not be hiding nearby, but further away, inside a High-Rank Black Ink Nest so he could use the undulating aura of the Black Ink Nest to conceal his presence.
A Pseudo-Royal Lord could not fully utilize their power or control their aura; thus, Mo Na Ye could only do this to avoid Yang Kai noticing him.
The trap was set and now, they lay in wait for him to show up.
They waited and waited, but there were no signs of Yang Kai. All was quiet at the Territory Gate. Even the Black Ink Clan squads that were supposed to deliver supplies from the No-Return Pass to the 3,000 Worlds were temporarily halted.
Mo Na Ye waited patiently, but as time wore on, he grew more and more anxious.
[What is Yang Kai doing? With his speed, he should be able to arrive at the No-Return Pass within hours after entering the Barren Territory.]
After waiting for another month, Mo Na Ye could not stand it anymore. Thus, he sent a Territory Lord to the Barren Territory to find out what was happening.
He was surprised to hear that Yang Kai was no longer in the Barren Territory! He struck and wounded a Black Ink Giant Spirit God, and then left.
Mo Na Ye was stunned for a long while when it was reported that Yang Kai was nowhere to be found. If Yang Kai had not entered the No-Return Pass and was not in the Barren Territory, then where could he be? Could he have been wrong and Yang Kai had no intentions to come to the No-Return Pass to retaliate?
Inside the Grand Hall, Mo Na Ye could feel a scrutinizing gaze coming from the bone throne, one which carried a slight hint of dissatisfaction.
The dissatisfaction was not because Mo Na Ye’s speculation was wrong, but because his speculation had caused the Royal Lord to be determined to create another Pseudo-Royal Lord.
13 Territory Lords were sacrificed to create the first Pseudo-Royal Lord, only to have Di Wu die shortly after. 12 Territory Lords were sacrificed for the second Pseudo-Royal Lord, Mo Na Ye. On top of these, the creation of each Pseudo-Royal Lord resulted in the loss of a High-Rank Black Ink Nest.
This kind of consumption had a significant impact on the very foundation of the Black Ink Clan.
The Black Ink Clan had new Acquired Territory Lords being born frequently on the various battlefields, so even if all the Innate Territory Lords died, the Royal Lord would not feel too distressed. In fact, Acquired Territory Lords were even more valuable now because they had a chance to become Royal Lords in the future.
However, the High-Rank Black Ink Nests couldn’t regenerate. The number of High-Rank Nests they brought out from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction was the maximum number they would ever have. The loss of a High-Rank Black Ink Nest was permanent.
Mo Na Ye knew that he had to remedy the situation to soothe the Royal Lord Sir’s dissatisfaction with him. He quickly searched through his mind for clues and information about Yang Kai and soon said, “Sir, if Yang Kai has already left the Barren Territory, then perhaps his objective is not the No-Return Pass. He could be going after the other Territory Lords on the Great Territory Battlefields, especially the six where our two Races’ Masters are fighting!”
Royal Lord looked sternly at Mo Na Ye and his dissatisfaction grew. This was the exact opposite of what Mo Na Ye said 100 years ago. At that time, he said with conviction that Yang Kai would not risk breaking the peace treaty between the two Races by showing up on the primary battlefields. Thus, he would come to the No-Return Pass to retaliate.
Now, 100 years later, he sang a different tune.
“Sir, please send an order to warn all parties and instruct the Territory Lords to be careful in the coming days,” Mo Na Ye said urgently. If Yang Kai really recklessly attacked the Territory Lords outside, there would be huge losses to the Black Ink Clan.
Mo Na Ye’s head ached as he thought of the consequences.
Yang Kai was too frightening and unpredictable. It reminded him once again of the incident at the Acacia Territory. Until now, they still could not figure out how Yang Kai escaped with over 10,000 Human refugees without even creating a sound!
As Mo Na Ye considered that particular incident, however, he suddenly froze as if he just thought of something. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a layer of fog blocking his thoughts.
Immediately, he sank into contemplation as his thoughts spun rapidly. At the same time, the Royal Lord had begun to pass down orders to instruct all Territory Lords of the Great Territories to be on alert for Yang Kai.
Of course, the Royal Lord still felt some dissatisfaction towards Mo Na Ye, but this Pseudo-Royal Lord had already been created and was destined to become his right-hand man in the future; thus, the Royal Lord could not be too harsh on him.
In fact, Mo Na Ye had objectively done a very good job. If not, he would not have called Mo Na Ye back to the No-Return Pass to hear his opinion before he sent out his orders.
The orders were sent down and soon were disseminated through the High-Rank Black Ink Nests to all parties.
Down below, Mo Na Ye’s eyes suddenly lit up as he looked up and said, “Sir, when Yang Kai was harassing the No-Return Pass years ago, I heard that he attacked from the direction of the Black Ink Battlefield.”
Although Mo Na Ye did not experience it personally as he was in charge of some affairs in another Great Territory during Yang Kai’s assault, he had heard some information about the incident from the other Territory Lords. However, most Territory Lords were secretive about that incident and were unwilling to mention too much about it.
After all, it was a disgrace to the Royal Lord; thus, who dared to keep talking about it?
Over the years, the Royal Lord also never mentioned this matter and seemed to actively want to forget those unpleasant experiences.
The Territory Lords in the Grand Hall instantly felt the ominous atmosphere and they all quickly lowered their heads even more.
From above, the Royal Lord’s gaze was much colder than before as he said indifferently, “That’s right.”
As if unaware of the sensitivity of the situation, Mo Na Ye continued to ask, “Before that attack, did he ever pass through the Territory Gate to enter the Barren Territory from the No-Return Pass?”
“Are you questioning me?” As the Royal Lord leaned forward slightly, it felt as if a huge mountain had leaned down on those in the hall with boundless pressure.
Mo Na Ye was startled and bowed, “How could I dare question you? Sir, please don’t be angry, I just want to clarify certain details which are… are very important!”
The Royal Lord stared sternly at Mo Na Ye’s eyes. He did not sense any trickery; instead, he saw the enthusiasm and sincerity which appeased the Royal Lord’s heart. If Mo Na Ye thought that he could disrespect him after he became a Pseudo-Royal Lord, then the Royal Lord did not mind putting him in his place. However, it really seemed that Mo Na Ye was trying to figure something out.
Thus, even though he was ashamed of that incident and was unwilling to revisit it, he swallowed his pride and answered, “No.”
Mo Na Ye’s expression changed slightly and then said, “If he did not pass through the Territory Gate, and attacked from the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield, but before that he had appeared in various other Great Territories…”
“Furthermore, during the war in the Barren Territory, he led a group of remnants of the Human Race Army to storm the No-Return Pass and managed to break through. However, he returned alone to rescue that Dragon Clansman before escaping into the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield. Some years later, he reappeared in the 3,000 Worlds…”
In one sentence, Mo Na Ye seemed to be explaining and also muttering to himself.
The layer of fog in Mo Na Ye’s mind quickly dissipated as he looked up and said eagerly, “Sir! Yang Kai must have discovered a passage from somewhere within the 3,000 Worlds to the Black Ink Battlefield other than the one here at the No-Return Pass!”
The Royal Lord raised his eyebrows and asked curiously, “How are you so certain?”
Most of the Territory Lords were also confused, with only a few of them actively trying to figure it out for themselves.
Mo Na Ye was flabbergasted. He had already made it so clear, so why was everyone here unable to figure it out? He suddenly began to worry about their intelligence.
However, this was the sad reality of creations like the Black Ink Clan, which were not regular living beings and had instead been spawned by Black Ink Strength.
Black Ink Strength was unparalleled when it came to the ability to corrupt things and the Black Ink Clan could reproduce at speeds unmatched by other Races. However, nothing was perfect. Perhaps creation through means not deemed natural by the Heavenly Way caused their intelligence to suffer.
Mo Na Ye seemed to be a unique case in the whole Black Ink Clan.
At this moment, Mo Na Ye could only explain patiently, “Sir, Yang Kai did not pass through the Territory Gate connected to the Barren Territory back when he attacked the No-Return Pass, yet he launched that attack from the direction of Black Ink Battlefield when he should be completely isolated from the 3,000 Worlds. Doesn’t that explain everything?”
The Royal Lord pondered for a moment, and then responded, “You’re right!”
[You didn’t notice this until now!?] Mo Na Ye sighed in his heart. If he had known this information earlier, he would have deduced what Yang Kai was planning by now.
“Where is this passage then?” The Royal Lord asked, then remembered something, “Could it be in the Acacia Territory?”
The last time Yang Kai disappeared was in Acacia Territory. It would make sense if the second passage was in the Acacia Territory.
For a moment, the Royal Lord praised himself for his wisdom before frowning and rejecting this idea.
If the passage was in Acacia Territory, he could have entered the Black Ink Battlefield from Acacia Territory, but how could he return without being spotted? According to the information reported by the Black Ink Disciple, after he disappeared from the Acacia Territory, he went straight back to High Heaven Territory.
At this time, a Territory Lord boldly interjected, “This Human is proficient in the Dao of Space, and not only do we have no understanding of the Dao of Space, but the vast majority of Human Masters are also ignorant of it. Perhaps his mastery over the Dao of Space has reached a height where he discovered some means that allow him to travel freely through the boundary walls?”
Mo Na Ye gave an approving look to that Territory Lord and replied, “It is possible.”
Both the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan were able to speculate and imagine, like how Yang Kai managed to deduce the process of creating Pseudo-Royal Lords. Although he did not know all the details, by analyzing the available facts, he could arrive at a hypothesis that was quite close to the truth.
Likewise, the Black Ink Clan might not be the most intelligent, but they weren’t fools and could come up with reasonable theories once pushed hard enough.
In truth, Yang Kai’s mastery over the Dao of Space, no matter how profound, was still far from allowing him to freely traverse through all of space under the Heavens. He could only do what he did because he had the help of the World Tree which was connected to all Universe Worlds with intact Grand Daos.
Each such Universe World was represented by a World Fruit on the World Tree.
Yang Kai was able to establish a very close relationship with the World Tree, and he was able to use it and his mastery of the Dao of Space to arrive at the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary from anywhere in the 3,000 Worlds, then from their head to any living Universe World.
If it was a dead Universe World, then Yang Kai was helpless as when a Universe World died, its World Fruit would wither and die. Hence, he could not use dead Universe Worlds to move around.
“If that’s the case, then it’s not just the Territory Lords of the Great Territory Battlefields who need to guard against Yang Kai, but also the No-Return Pass…” Mo Na Ye slowly murmured. Before he finished his sentence, he turned his head and looked in a direction where a powerful aura was approaching at an extremely terrifying speed.
“Yang Kai!” The Royal Lord stood up from his bone throne. With a flicker of his figure, he rushed out of the Grand Hall and headed straight towards the approaching aura.
Mo Na Ye hurriedly did his best to control his aura while heading to the nearest High-Rank Black Ink Nest, so as not to reveal his existence. Yang Kai, should not know that there was another Pseudo-Royal Lord here at the No-Return Pass, so he could use this to his advantage and may have an opportunity to trap Yang Kai completely.
A few moments ago, Yang Kai lurked in the void at a place 1 million kilometres outside of the No-Return Pass, staring at it as a sense of unease in his heart grew stronger.
The No-Return Pass was now in the hands of the Black Ink Clan, so how could he just barge through the Territory Gate?
It was different now compared to previous years. During the battle between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan in the Barren Territory, the corpse of the Old Ancestor of Azure Void Pass was distracting the Royal Lord’s attention. The Black Ink Clan never expected that Yang Kai would return from the Barren Territory to rescue the captured Ji Lao San.
The situation between the two races appeared stable, and the Black Ink Clan’s control over the No-Return Pass was far stronger than before. If there was an ambush against a Human Race Master at the Territory Gate, then he would be walking right into it.
Therefore, after he left the Barren Territory, he hid his tracks and passed through one Great Territory after another to reach the Black Territory. Thereafter, he entered Black Ink Battlefield silently from the Black Territory.
This was the only known other passageway connecting the 3,000 Worlds and the Black Ink Battlefield, and only Yang Kai could pass through it. Every time he passed through it, he would block the way back and seal it up. Thus, the Black Ink Clan should never be able to find out about the existence of this passageway. Even if the Black Ink Clan investigated, after how much his mastery over the Dao of Space had improved, they would never be able to discover the existence of this secret passageway.
This passageway had helped Yang Kai several times.
He was currently somewhere within the Blue Sky theatre. Naturally, Yang Kai could no longer see Blue Sky Pass, a structure that had stood for countless years.
On the way, he encountered some Black Ink Clan mining teams, but Yang Kai did not pay any attention to them, and it only took him two to three months to reach the periphery of the No-Return Pass.
Such speed was only possible because he was well-versed in the Dao of Space.
However, when he entered the Black Ink Battlefield and started to head toward the No-Return Pass, Yang Kai suddenly had an ominous feeling as if something bad was about to happen.
The closer he got to No-Return Pass, the stronger the feeling became. When he arrived outside the No-Return Pass, the uneasiness had reached its peak. Now, looking at the huge great pass, it was like a beast that was ready to devour anyone foolish enough to approach.
It was a warning!
Perhaps because his Dao of Time had improved again, which enabled his perception of the potential future crisis to become sharper.
Since there were great dangers ahead, the wisest thing to do was listen to his gut and retreat immediately. Even if he wanted to seek revenge on the Black Ink Clan, the No-Return Pass was not the best choice.
There were many Territory Lords in the Great Territory battlefields. The Ancestral Land battle was the first one in which Black Ink Clan broke the agreement without warning. If Yang Kai really wanted to kill some Territory Lords to ease his anger, the Black Ink Clan would just endure the losses and not engage in a battle with him.
However, he had to come.
The Black Ink Clan’s ability to turn an Innate Territory Lord into a Royal Lord had to be investigated no matter what. He would not worry about it if it was an exception. However, if it became a possibility, then the Human Race had to be careful in the future.
So, without further delay, Yang Kai rushed boldly toward the No-Return Pass.
He considered hiding his aura, but since a Royal Lord was present here, there was no way he could effectively do that. Thus, instead of sneaking around and hiding his power, it was better to come openly and blatantly.
Yang Kai’s speed is extremely fast. The moment his aura was exposed, he used Instantaneous Movement and dashed to the top of a High-Rank Black Ink Nest. He then fiercely smacked down on it.
The huge Black Ink Nest rumbled and disintegrated from top to bottom like a mountain of jade pillars.
Although the Black Ink Nest was the foundation of the Black Ink Clan and could spawn countless Black Ink Clan members, it was not strong enough to withstand an attack by a top Eighth-Order Master like Yang Kai. Even a random Third or Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master could destroy a Black Ink Nest with a single blow.
Yang Kai had done this previously. At that time, he destroyed six High-Rank Black Ink Nests.
It seemed that the Black Ink Clan had learned from their mistakes. After he destroyed one, there were no more signs of High-Rank Black Ink Nests nearby. The High-Rank Black Ink Nests were now positioned far away from each other. Thus, even if Yang Kai could destroy one of them, he would need time to destroy the second one.
The moment the High-Rank Black Ink Nest was destroyed, a figure emerged from the ruins, but it was a Territory Lord.
After feeling Yang Kai’s murderous intent, he turned his head and exclaimed, “Yang Kai!”
Yang Kai’s reputation was evident when he was immediately recognized by a random Territory Lord.
The Territory Lord was terrified and had no intention of fighting with Yang Kai. He turned around to run away but the Void suddenly froze and his vision dimmed.
When he looked up, he saw a huge palm descending from the sky to slap his head down.
The Territory Lord was using Black Ink Strength like mad, but it was difficult for him to resist the terrifying power of this palm, and was directly slapped.
Yang Kai withdrew his hand, he was slightly stunned that this Territory Lord was far too weak.
It soon dawned upon him that this was not an Innate Territory Lord, but an Acquired Territory Lord. He had been hiding in the Black Ink Nest to cultivate but had suffered an untimely death.
Killing the Innate Territory Lord or the Acquired Territory Lord did not make much difference to Yang Kai. But if he had to choose, he would rather kill the Acquired Territory Lord.
This was not because the Acquired Territory Lords were weaker and easier to kill, but because Acquired Territory Lords had the potential to become Royal Lords. By killing more Acquired Territory Lords, he could prevent them from ever becoming Royal Lords.
Exterminating the Black Ink Nests and killing the Territory Lords seemed to be tedious, but in fact, it was extremely fast.
However, at that moment, he sensed a powerful aura.
[The Royal Lord is here!]
Yang Kai was not surprised. The Royal Lord was always here at No-Return Pass. Since he came to cause trouble, it was natural that he came out.
The moment he manipulated Space Principles, his Qi fluctuated violently, and in a flash, the Void was like a lake that had a boulder thrown into it.
The Void rippled and Yang Kai’s body swayed.
Although the Instantaneous Movement was successful, his position was vastly different from where he was supposed to be.
It was too late to reposition himself. The Royal Lord came from the depths of the No-Return Pass with a terrifying power and appeared close to him in the blink of an eye. His voice thundered. “Die!”
He raised his hand and brought his palm down at Yang Kai. The power of this palm turned Heaven and Earth upside down. Although Di Wu had the strength of a Royal Lord when he was at the Ancestral Land, the difference was immense.
Yang Kai hastily took up the Azure Dragon Spear. With the subtle Space-Time Strength lingering on the long spear, it managed to stab the Royal Lord a dozen times.
Each time Yang Kai and the Royal Lord moved, they would leave a vivid residual image in place, as if they were portraits painted by the most skilled artists.
The figures of the Royal Lord and Yang Kai could be seen everywhere throughout the Void, filling up the huge Void in the blink of an eye.
A group of Territory Lords that had rushed out from the depths of the No-Return Pass were dumbfounded. They could not tell which of those figures was real and which were just residual images.
However, they did not worry about those. Dozens of Territory Lords ran toward the battlefield. More than ten Territory Lords tried to set up a formation to block Heaven and Earth. Those Seventh-Order Black ink Disciples who were good at Dao of Spirit Arrays had developed the Four Gates Eight Palaces Great Pagoda Array. Though they were saved by Yang Kai, and had now returned to the Human Race’s side with a large number of Small Stone Race soldiers, they had still left behind Arrays and Formations that they made or shared with the Black Ink Clan. Thus, although they were no longer present, the Black Ink Clan could still set up the Four Gates Eight Palaces Great Pagoda Array.
The remaining Territory Lords formed the Four Gates or Five Elements Formation and were ready to go to the battlefield for support.
When they arrived at the battlefield a figure fell out of the sky. Its face was pale and a long spear lay next to its body. His chest was sunken making him look quite miserable.
It was Yang Kai!
Yang Kai was satisfied with his face-to-face encounter with a Royal Lord, even though he was knocked away in just three breaths.
Back then, when he was messing around at No-Return Pass, he did not dare to fight with this Royal Lord because he would most likely fall and not be able to perform a Space Secret Technique with his strength at that time.
That would be playing with his life. Thus, when he faced the Royal Lord, he immediately ran.
After three thousand years, he met the Royal Lord again. Although he was still far from being a match for his enemy, they at least fought, which was much better than the last time.
This was considered a positive development. It was difficult for a Royal Lord’s strength to improve, but it was different for Yang Kai. He had been an Eighth-Order Master for around three thousand years. Now, he was at the peak of the Eight-Order Open Heaven Realm and might have a chance to break through and become a Ninth-Order Master.
When he reached the Ninth Order, he was confident that he would be able to kill such a Royal Lord with ease!
Even so, there was still a long way to go.
Behind Yang Kai, Black Ink Strength was like a tidal wave. The Royal Lord’s murderous intent was revealed and he was in hot pursuit.
Yang Kai manipulated Space Principles and was about to leave with the Instantaneous Movement.
However, since the last encounter with Yang Kai, the Royal Lord seemed to have found a way to deal with Yang Kai. Just like the Royal Lord who chased him out of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. The way to deal with Yang Kai was to use his own aura to destabilize the Void around Yang Kai while he was performing the Instantaneous Movement technique.
In this way, although it could not interrupt him, it could cause the location of the teleportation to deviate.
This was proven in the Royal Lord’s previous attempt.
As expected, when Yang Kai used Instantaneous Movement again, the Royal Lord used his aura to destabilize the Void and the Instantaneous Movement did not meet Yang Kai’s expectations. Not only was the distance much shorter, but the position was not even close to a thousand kilometres.
However, Yang Kai was still more than satisfied with this.
He still remembered the time when he escaped from Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. When the sheep-headed Royal Lord chased him, every aura blast would hurt him. Now, it was just his Instantaneous Movement that was affected. It was much better than getting hurt.
One chased while one fled, quickly moving away from the No-Return Pass.
It was a similar scene to the past, and this alarmed Yang Kai.
Previously, he managed to lure the Royal Lord out of the No-Return Pass and then used his Space Beacons to quickly wheel around and destroy several High-Rank Black Ink Nests.
After suffering such a loss, could the Royal Lord really still be so gullible? He was either overwhelmed by rage or the Black Ink Clan had a backup plan.
As the supposed only Royal Lord of the Black Ink Clan, guarding the No-Return Pass was his biggest responsibility at the moment. How was it possible that he could let his rage control him to the point he forgot the bigger picture?
The only logical conclusion was that the Black Ink Clan had some way to guarantee the No-Return Pass’s safety! The Royal Lord was confident that even if he was not here, the Black Ink Clan would be able to deal with Yang Kai’s attack.
That meant that there was at least one more Royal Lord hiding there, possibly more than one…
Even though he had already guessed this, Yang Kai had to follow his original plan. He had planned to draw out the hidden Royal Lord no matter the price he needed to pay.
Yang Kai kept using Instantaneous Movement. However, each time he was interfered with by the Royal Lord’s aura, causing small wounds to gradually build up.
Although his strength was far superior to last time, Yang Kai could not keep this up forever.
The two gradually moved further away from the No-Return Pass.
The Territory Lords behind wanted to chase after them, but Mo Na Ye sent an order in time to stop them.
Mo Na Ye sighed slightly as he looked in the direction the Royal Lord disappeared. He chastised himself for not understanding the situation sooner, so that he could discuss with the Royal Lord about countering Yang Kai before he appeared.
This situation was not what he had expected.
If he had any say, Mo Na Ye would not have let the Royal Lord chase after Yang Kai. If he could not kill Yang Kai, then what good would it be to chase him away?
As long as the No-Return Pass was properly set up, the Black Ink Clan’s numerous Territory Lords and two Royal Lords had a good chance of trapping Yang Kai as soon as he showed up.
As long as the Territory Lords were able to get into position in time and seal Yang Kai off, then the two Royal Lords could join forces and slaughter him.
Unfortunately, the Royal Lord did not give Mo Na Ye a chance to make proper arrangements and just rushed out as soon as he noticed Yang Kai’s aura.
Now, it was difficult to ambush Yang Kai since he was alerted to the situation.
Now, Mo Na Ye could only do his best to respond accordingly. He gave his orders for the Territory Lords to set up the area. As for himself, he did all he could to restrain his aura.
In the void, the Royal Lord chased Yang Kai a billion kilometres from the No-Return Pass. Soon, Yang Kai felt he had led the Royal Lord far enough and activated the Great Sun and Great Moon Marks on the backs of his hands. A pure white light enveloped his figure.
The Royal Lord, who was behind him, was stunned. In that instant, the aura he had locked onto Yang Kai was cut off…
The Purifying Light has such a mysterious effect.
As soon as the Royal Lord’s aura was severed, Yang Kai’s mind connected to a Space Beacon he had placed near the No-Return Pass, and he vanished as soon as his Space Principles surged.
The Royal Lord chased Yang Kai to the place where he disappeared. He then coldly snorted and turned his head to look back at the No-Return Pass, secretly praying that Mo Na Ye would not let him down.
[Yang Kai must have thought that there is no strong Master at the No-Return Pass now. With his skills and past battle records, he would definitely not take the Territory Lords seriously. If he is complacent enough, he might be trapped by the Array. When that time comes, Mo Na Ye can engage him and when I return, we can easily kill this menace off.]
With such thoughts in mind, the Royal Lord hurriedly dashed back towards the No-Return Pass.
At the same time, Yang Kai appeared inside a Black Ink Cloud some 10 million kilometres away from the No-Return Pass.
Without stopping and without hesitation, even though he knew that the No-Return Pass was a lion’s den, he rushed out to attack.
With his own aura surging openly, the Territory Lords guarding the No-Return Pass went on high alert as they awaited their greatest enemy.
As his figure flickered forward, Yang Kai pushed his Time Principles madly, trying to intuit where the future crisis might come from.
He did not think that there would be much risk even if there was one or two Royal Lords hidden at the No-Return Pass. He could still run away if he was no match for them. The greatest danger was undoubtedly the Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Four Gates Eight Palaces Great Pagoda Array.
If he was trapped in such an Array, the Royal Lord would pose a fatal threat to him.
Thus, Yang Kai had to look out for the locations where this Array might appear. The Array needed a certain number of Territory Lords in order to be activated so in fact, he only needed to take note of the location of those Territory Lords.
It was a pity that there were too many Black Ink Nests around. Not only were there around 100 High-Rank Black Ink Nests, there also were thousands of Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests. The aura of each of the Black Ink Nest was so strong that Yang Kai could not detect any Territory Lord hiding inside.
The only thing he could use was the faint sense of crisis he felt, but unfortunately, he could not do anything about it. Thus, he could only use Time Principles to try to peer into his future.
Soon, Yang Kai closed in on the No-Return Pass, but instead of attacking, he began circling the perimeter.
He could clearly sense the Divine Senses of numerous Black Ink Clansmen probing him from the Black Ink Nests below, which allowed him to determine which ones were occupied.
Mo Na Ye did not intend to engage Yang Kai as he hid in one of the High-Rank Black Ink Nests. He just sat like a rock while reigning in his aura. With the information transmitted through the Black Ink Nests, he was able to monitor Yang Kai’s movements without actively searching for him.
Naturally, he became alarmed by Yang Kai’s movements.
Since Yang Kai had already lured the Royal Lord away, this should have been his best opportunity to go on a rampage and create a huge mess. If Yang Kai wanted to, with his current strength, destroying several High-Rank Black Ink Nests was entirely possible.
If he did that though, the Black Ink Clan would have a chance to trap him during the chaos.
However, Yang Kai did not do that. Instead, he kept circling the No-Return Pass.
[What keen instincts!]
Mo Na Ye definitely did not reveal his presence; however, Yang Kai’s experience in the Ancestral Land must have made this killing star wary of the Black Ink Clan. Perhaps, he could guess that there was still another Royal Lord lurking at the No-Return Pass.
Mo Na Ye was both excited and worried.
He was excited because it was more to his liking to fight such an enemy; he felt such clashes were far more interesting than simple head-to-head battles. However, he was worried about this enemy being so difficult to handle. Even with all his arrangements, they might not be sufficient.
Outside the No-Return Pass, Yang Kai’s eyes suddenly narrowed before retreating immediately.
Before he arrived at the No-Return Pass, he already had a very strong ominous feeling. Now that he was here, that feeling spiked tremendously.
This undoubtedly meant that he was in extreme danger. If he attacked the No-Return Pass from this direction, he might fall into the Black Ink Clan’s ambush.
[Is it a Royal Lord? Or is it the Four Gates Eight Palaces Great Pagoda Array?]
Yang Kai could not be certain.
After silently calculating the time, Yang Kai continued to circle the No-Return Pass without slowing down before coming to certain conclusions.
Three locations caused him to feel especially uneasy, indicating they were particularly dangerous. There were some aura fluctuations in those locations, but the differences were not that great.
It now appeared that his mastery over the Dao of Time was quite useful in detecting future threats. He had just thought of trying this out and planned to practice it more frequently from now on.
Time was running out as the Royal Lord whom he lured away should be back soon if he came back at full speed.
After a brief hesitation, Yang Kai decided on a direction and swooped down, summoning the Azure Dragon Spear as a Golden Crow cawed. A Great Sun manifested at the tip of his spear before flying straight down towards a certain Black Ink Nest.
Inside this particular Black Ink Nest, an Innate Territory Lord was scared to death when he saw this. He had never met Yang Kai head-on so this was the first time he was feeling such a terrifying presence. Although he had heard of the horrifying reputation of this killing star, it was only today that he realised just how powerful he was.
He swore and cursed at Yang Kai, thinking there were more than 100 High-Rank Black Ink Nests at the No-Return Pass distributed over a vast area, yet this killing star just had to target the one he was hiding in. It was a better than 100 to 1 chance, yet he was that unlucky 1.
In the face of Yang Kai’s attack though, he could not even escape. He had to do whatever he could to protect the High-Rank Black Ink Nest. If he dared to run now, then he would definitely be the first one to perform the Source Fusion Technique the next time.
With a roar, the Territory Lord rushed out of the Black Ink Nest and headed straight for the Great Sun with a defiant look on his face.
In the face of death, this Territory Lord managed to summon his courage.
At the moment the aura of one of the hidden Territory Lords was revealed, many nearby Territory Lords linked their auras to form a Battle Formation and shot towards Yang Kai.
In the Black Ink Nest where Mo Na Ye was hiding, he could not help but sigh and had no choice but to lunge out.
Yang Kai knew that danger was waiting for him at the No-Return Pass and yet he still came. Even though Mo Na Ye knew he would not be able to trap Yang Kai if he showed himself right now, the moment the enemy attacked, he could not hide any longer. It would be difficult for the Territory Lords to stop Yang Kai from destroying the Black Ink Nests, so if Mo Na Ye did not move, the damage would surely be catastrophic.
Sometimes, even a powerful Master like a Royal Lord was helpless.
Mo Na Ye surged his Royal Lord might towards Yang Kai, hoping to frighten him off.
Unfortunately, rather than looking frightened, Yang Kai actually appeared relieved when he perceived the aura of a Royal Lord. One of his primary objectives for this trip had now been achieved.