Fang Tian Ci had worked together with Yang Xiao and Yang Xue all these years. He was proficient in the Dao of Space and originated from Yang Kai’s Small Universe, which was why the Supreme Headquarters paid attention to him.
Mi Jing Lun had also heard of this person. When Yang Xiao’s Squad was sent to the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress, he did not expect Fang Tian Ci to take the initiative to ask him to send a message to Yang Kai.
With Yang Kai’s confirmation, he was relieved that Fang Tian Ci’s deployment was something arranged by Yang Kai himself. Mi Jing Lun secretly sighed as he looked at the 6,000 soldiers and 60 or so Divine Spirits below. There were great uncertainties ahead. It was fine if everything went well but if the situation went south, then there was no telling how many of them would survive.
Yang Kai was also deep in thought.
[Fang Tian Ci took the initiative to speak to Mi Jing Lun about not being able to be transferred. Was this the result of my memories sealed in his body slowly awakening? Or was it just an instinctive feeling that he could not leave the 3,000 Worlds?]
In the future, Yang Kai would have to perform the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art to try to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm. If Fang Tian Ci was to be appointed there, he would be unable to perform the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art. Thus, both Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow Great Emperor would have to stay in the 3,000 Worlds in case of an emergency.
When Yang Kai looked up, he was glad to see that Thunder Shadow had not been transferred over.
Gathering all eyes on himself, Yang Kai began to speak, “Thousands of years ago, the Great Passes joined forces on a crusade to the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield. 3 million troops rallied under the banner of over 100 Ninth-Order Old Ancestors. They marched towards the Black Ink Clan’s Mother Nest to eliminate the evil we now know as Mo. It was an ambitious and gallant effort by a mighty army with the finest of arms.”
“However, in the war outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God launched a surprise attack from our Human Army’s rear, causing the collapse of our forces and resulting in heavy losses. The Army was defeated and forced to flee from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Great Passes were destroyed and Ninth-Order Old Ancestors died in that battle, with we Humans suffering massive casualties along the way.”
“The remnants retreated to the No-Return Pass to establish a new defensive position with the assistance of the Divine Spirits; however, the sheer disparity in strength allowed the Black Ink Clan to drive straight in and capture the No-Return Pass. The reconstituted forces were hit hard again with the No-Return Pass being abandoned and many Divine Spirits being killed or injured.”
“Fortunately, with the help of the Giant Spirit God, Ah Er, the Human Race finally managed to stabilize its position in the Barren Territory. However, Mo’s desire to wipe out our kind never waned. After much scheming and plotting, the Black Ink Clan finally opened a passageway from the Barren Territory to Wind Mist Territory. That day, the Human Race lost many powerful elites. All but two of the surviving Ninth-Order Old Ancestors, and both the Dragon and Phoenix Clan Leaders sacrificed themselves in the final moments of that battle, taking with them all but one Royal Lord and severely injuring the Black Ink Giant Spirit God. Their sacrifice allowed the rest of the Army to retreat to safety.”
“Afterwards, the Black Ink Clan invaded our 3,000 Worlds and the Human Race retreated to the current Great Territory Battlefields. So far, we have been guarding High Heaven Territory as the last pure land for more than 3,000 years. Since the Late Ancient Era, our people have always been the Heavenly Way’s favoured, but now, we have been forced by Black Ink Clan into such a desperate state. We have failed to live up to the favour shown us by the Heavenly Way!”
Most of the 6,000 soldiers present had never experienced these great battles, but as they listened to Yang Kai’s words, the tragic scenes from the past seemed to flash in their minds, and their hearts swelled with rage.
“It is undeniable that the Black Ink Clan is strong and our Human Race is weak. In those battles, the Black Ink Clan managed to break our hands and feet, but they could not break our backbone! The Human Race will never compromise with the Black Ink Clan and will never surrender!”
Yang Xiao fumed as his Dragon Blood boiled. He could not help but yell with a high-pitched Dragon Roar, “THE HUMAN RACE WILL NEVER SURRENDER!”
Several dozen Divine Spirits who stood beside him looked at him strangely. They all felt a bit strange that a pure-blood Dragon Clansman would shout such words…
Although they were willing to fight alongside the Human Race to drive away the Black Ink Clan, so that they could find a place to live in the future, they never shouted such words as it was inconsistent with their identity.
However, the eager fighting spirit of the 6,000 soldiers was completely ignited by Yang Xiao’s roar. A loud thunderous roar shook the entire world.
“THE HUMAN RACE WILL NEVER SURRENDER!”
The battle spirit was raging and every soldier thirsted for revenge. Their ferocious auras shot to the sky and seemed to penetrate the Heavens, shaking the world itself.
Thousands of years ago, when the Old Ancestors died in the last battle on the Barren Territory, the same earth-shattering cries could be heard.
Yang Kai nodded lightly, waited for the chants to die down before continuing, “All of you must be curious why you were transferred here. You are all heroes with great merits who have killed countless enemies in the past. All of you can be regarded as the elites of the Army. Since you are all elites though, the duties entrusted to you will also be beyond normal.”
“What you are standing on is the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress, which is an artifact that has taken 1,000 years and countless resources to construct. It is designed specifically to defend against the Black Ink Clan, and you have all been transferred here to operate it and resist the coming crisis.”
“Thousands of years ago, the Human Race Army was defeated outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. The true body of Mo fell into a deep sleep and there is no telling when it will awaken. Although some arrangements have already been prepared and are in place, nothing is certain. We need you all to head to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to guard the place!”
The Humans roared while even the Divine Spirits were moved.
Although they all knew that Yang Kai might want them to do something big, they never expected that the reason why they were deployed to the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress was for them to guard the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction!
That was where the Mother Nest was located. In other words, that was where the true body of Mo was. It was the source of all the current chaos. Those survivors of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction War looked grave as they could not help but recall the tragedy that occurred there.
It could be said that the battlefield over there marked the first defeat of the Human Race which precipitated all the tragedies that followed. It was a traumatic experience for all those who lived through it.
Thousands of years ago, they carried this great humiliation when they escaped from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Now, after thousands of years, they finally got a chance to go back and seek revenge! The fighting spirits in their hearts had never been higher!
They would never retreat again!
Yang Kai continued, “That place is cut off from the world, so you will not be able to receive any assistance from this side. You can only rely on yourselves and the compatriots standing beside you. You may encounter far more dangers than anywhere else in the Great Territories. This mission may very well be your last, so if any here are unwilling to go, leave now and no one will blame you!”
Yang Kai raised his eyes and glanced around, but no one moved. After waiting for more than 10 breaths, all 6,000 soldiers still stood straight, none of them wavering in the slightest.
Yang Kai was greatly relieved and nodded, “Good! With such determination, there is no longer any need to worry about Mo! Today, I, Yang Kai and Mi Jing Lun are here to form the Suppressing Black Ink Army on behalf of the Supreme Headquarters of the Human Race. I wish you all a speedy and triumphant return!”
When the Great Evolution Army was first established, Yang Kai was just a Seventh-Order Squad Leader, like these 6,000 soldiers in front of him. Now, he stood there looking at them with the majesty of an Eighth-Order Army Commander. He could not help but feel proud. Now, times had changed, and the younger generation had also begun to carry the banner of the Human Race, shouldering their share of responsibilities.
Mi Jing Lun stepped forward, took out a jade book, and shouted, “Where is Su Yan?”
In the crowd, Su Yan, who looked solemn and graceful, cupped her fist and shouted, “Su Yan, reporting for orders!”
Mi Jing Lun looked at her and punched out the jade book, “Today you are appointed as the Division Commander of Suppressing Black Ink Army’s First Division. You will be the Commander of 600 soldiers! In this jade book, you will find the names of the soldiers appointed as your subordinates. As for the Squads and their Squad Leaders, you will be the one who decides later!”
Su Yan was immediately baffled. Although she had killed many enemies on various battlefields over the years, and her merits were numerous, she had not done much to be deserving of becoming a Commander.
When their group of women gathered together, it was always Yu Ru Meng who led them. It was not that Yu Ru Meng was stronger than her; in fact, the strongest of all Yang Kai’s Wives was currently Su Yan; after all, she possessed a Phoenix Clan Bloodline and was now in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm. She was naturally more powerful than the average Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
However, Yu Ru Meng was a former Demon Saint from the Demon Realm, a leader of billions who held a high status and loft position for 10,000 years. In short, she was used to ordering people around and was naturally better at it. So, Su Yan and the others became accustomed to following her directions.
Su Yan was at a loss when she was suddenly given the heavy responsibility of having 600 soldiers under her.
She glanced towards Yang Kai and saw him looking back at her with confidence. Steeling herself, she nodded lightly and firmly declared, “Su Yan has received the order!”
After receiving the jade book, she used her Divine Sense and was relieved to find out that her personnel included Yu Ru Meng. Mi Jing Lun also knew about the inner workings of their group and had naturally made some arrangements. With Yu Ru Meng with her, she would not have any problems being a Division Commander.
Mi Jing Lun shouted again, “Where is Yang Xiao?”
Yang Xiao instantly shouted with great vigor, cupped his fist with enthusiasm, and shouted, “Yang Xiao, reporting for orders!”
With what just happened to Su Yan, he naturally expected that he was going to be named a Division Commander. He was so happy that he smiled from ear to ear, even winking at Yang Kai, as if to say that he had not disgraced him.
Of course, Yang Kai knew what he was thinking and couldn’t help rolling his eyes to himself, [This Brat, he still hasn’t grown up after all these years.]
Yang Kai did not expect that Mi Jing Lun would appoint Su Yan and Yang Xiao to be Division Commanders. The appointment of a Division Commander of the Suppressing Black Ink Army was a decision made by the Supreme Headquarters itself, so Yang Kai was not involved in the slightest.
However, it wasn’t a big deal. Both Su Yan and Yang Xiao were qualified to be Division Commanders by virtue of having Dragon and Phoenix backgrounds and strengths. No one would accuse Yang Kai of nepotism because of this.
Besides, it was not easy to be a Division Commander. Things were so unpredictable and dangerous at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction that perhaps the Division Commanders would become the first to lead soldiers into battle, meaning they had to shoulder the greatest amount of risk.
Since 600 men formed one Division, 6,000 soldiers would have to be divided into 10 Divisions. Mi Jing Lun quickly called out the names of the 10 and each of them received their orders!
Among these 10 Divisions, only 5,000 were combatants with the remaining 1,000 taking care of logistics such as maintaining the Suppressing Black Ink Army’s Spirit Arrays, artifacts, and even medical treatment.
These soldiers were no less important and those who fought on the frontlines, but were also at least in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Even though these support personnel were not good at fighting, in a critical moment, they were also able to contribute to the battle. It was just that they were less powerful than those who spent their time on the battlefield.
After appointing the 10 Division Commanders, Mi Jing Lun took a step backwards, turned to Yang Kai, and left the rest to him.
Yang Kai nodded, looked down, and asked, “Does anyone have any questions? If not, we will proceed.”
Everyone fell silent, except Yang Xiao, who raised his hand high.
“Go ahead!” Yang Kai glanced at this brat.
Yang Xiao cupped his fist and asked, “Sir, may I ask which Senior is the Army Commander of the Suppressing Black Ink Army? Surely there would be an Army Commander, right?”
His question immediately piqued everyone’s curiosity. They were equally curious as commanding such a big and powerful Army was a heavy responsibility; however, Mi Jing Lun only appointed 10 Division Commanders, but did not even mention anything about an Army Commander.
The Suppressing Black Ink Army must also have an Army Commander who was very strong and highly respected, otherwise the soldiers would not be able to fight effectively in the coming brutal war.
The makeup of the Suppressing Black Ink Army was exceptionally strong, with many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, not to mention the dozens of Divine Spirits who appeared like they were going along with the Army. Thus, the Army Commander could not be a regular person.
Among the current Humans, there were only two or three people who were qualified to serve as the Army Commander of the Suppressing Black Ink Army. Xiang Shan was one, Yang Kai was the other… while other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were nowhere near their capabilities.
Yang Kai grinned and said to the curious soldiers, “There is naturally an Army Commander, but that Senior is already standing by at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Be patient, you will soon know who he is.”
His reply immediately sparked speculations. With Yang Kai’s status, there were very few who deserved to be addressed as ‘Senior’ by him. Thus, although it was just a simple reply, many quickly guessed the identity of the Army Commander of the Suppressing Black Ink Army.
If it was who they thought it was… his suitability was truly indisputable.
“Any more questions?” Yang Kai asked one more time.
No one asked.
Yang Kai nodded his head and ordered, “Division Commanders, perform roll-call and then assemble your Squads. You have one stick of incense to deal with this!”
“Yes, Sir!” The 10 Division Commanders shouted in unison.
Soon, the area became rowdy and chaotic as Commanders called out to their troops and organized them into Squads. Everyone knew what was happening and started to move to their respective Divisions as their names were called.
Moments later, the 6,000 soldiers were orderly divided into 10 Divisions. Each Division Commander started to assign members to Squads according to the information provided to them in their jade books.
The Suppressing Black Ink Army did not have Battalions, instead choosing to form the Division of Squads from the start. Each Division had 600 troops, and each Squad had a standard 15 members, that meant that there were 40 squads in each Division. The Squad Leaders were all Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
In other words, although the Suppressing Black Ink Army only had 6,000 men, there were 400 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters among them!
When the Great Evolution Army was formed, it had a grand total of 120 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters; however, how many ordinary soldiers did the Great Evolution Army have back then? A full 60,000, 10 times more than the Suppressing Black Ink Army!”
Although the Human Race was now facing an existential crisis, its heritage was actually several times stronger than back then, especially in terms of the number of Mid and High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters.
All this was naturally due to the Star Boundary, the Myriad Monsters World, and Yang Kai Small Universe. Setting the Star Boundary and the Myriad Monsters World aside, just Yang Kai’s Small Universe alone had brought out almost 10,000 people over the years, all of them directly advanced to the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Orders.
And this was with Yang Kai being extremely selective of who was brought out of his Small Universe. The situation was entirely different for the Star Boundary and the Myriad Monsters World which had population bases hundreds of times larger. Together with the influence of the World Tree Clones which could nurture one’s talent and guide them in the Martial Dao, as long as one wasn’t completely hopeless in cultivation, anyone from the Star Boundary could break through to the Fourth Order. There was now no one who directly advanced to the Third Order at all.
Anyone who directly advanced to the Fourth Order had a chance to reach the Sixth Order in the future as long as they had sufficient resources. It could be said that, in time, there would no longer be any Low-Rank Open Heaven Masters in the 3,000 Worlds.
The Suppressing Black Ink Army was the elite of the elites, brought together from every battlefield by the Supreme Headquarters with great care and effort.
The Suppressing Black Ink Fortress, manned by the Suppressing Black Ink Army of 6,000, was much more powerful than the original Great Evolution Army from back then.
Under Su Yan’s command, Yu Ru Meng and the others were assigned as Squad Leaders, while Yang Xiao assigned Zhao Ye Bai and the others as Squad Leaders.
While the Suppressing Black Ink Army was organizing itself, Yang Kai had already connected with the World Tree and communicated with it.
He planned to use the power of the World Tree to travel through the Void and directly reach the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, which would not only be incredibly convenient but also save a massive amount of time.
3,000 years ago, when he sent Wu Kuang to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, Yang Kai deliberately left a sealed Universe World nearby so that he could go to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction at any time and from anywhere.
However, after communicating with the Old Tree, Yang Kai realized that its current state was not optimistic…
The World Tree was greatly affected by the destruction of the Universe Worlds of the 3,000 Worlds, so the vast majority of its World Fruits had withered and fallen, making the entire tree look old and sickly.
To move outsiders from the 3,000 Worlds to the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary required the Old Tree to expend its energy. It was not a big problem for just Yang Kai and maybe one or two others to do this as the expenditure was minor; however, trying to move 400 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters was simply not feasible for the current World Tree and would quite likely be harmful.
Upon realizing this, Yang Kai felt disappointed with himself for not thinking about this before.
The Old Tree had once helped Yang Kai move 10,000 refugees from Acacia Territory and in the process suffered some damage. It was only now that Yang Kai recalled that event and realized how naïve he had just been.
There was no way for Yang Kai to borrow the Old Tree’s strength for this endeavour, so Yang Kai could only adjust his plan. It was a good thing that there were other means of getting to the Black Ink Battlefield.
There were two other ways to get to the Black Ink Battlefield.
First, head to the Shattered Heaven, enter the Barren Territory, and then step into the Black Ink Battlefield.
This path unfortunately led to needing to pass through the No-Return Pass, which would attract retaliation from the Royal Lord.
If they did not go via this main route, then they would have to take the secret passageway in Black Territory.
However, there were also problems with this second plan as the secret passage was a highly dangerous Void Corridor. It was harmless for Yang Kai to go through this Void Corridor alone, and even taking several people with him should be alright; however, 400 Eighth-Order Masters all at once…
Yang Kai would have to monitor and control all 400 at once; after all, in order for him to avoid the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters getting lost in the Void, he would also need to use Space Principles to keep them together. Even for Zhao Ye Bai and the others who practised the Dao of Space, their safety was not guaranteed.
Thinking it over, it seemed they could only travel via the No-Return Pass…
The Black Ink Clan at the No-Return Pass had just suffered quite a big loss at Yang Kai’s hands recently and would not dare to make things difficult for him again; furthermore, they were just passing through.
Yang Kai thus made up his mind.
The Suppressing Black Ink Army had already finished their organization and had lined up quietly to await his next orders.
Yang Kai scanned the troops and was satisfied. They were worthy of being the elites drawn from the major battlefields.
He then shouted, “All Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, open your Small Universes and take in the soldiers of your respective Squads.”
All the Eighth Orders received the order, and the aura of World Force instantly surged as portals to their Small Universes were opened. Those in the Seventh Order and below soon poured inside.
An Eighth-Order Master’s Small Universe was large enough to accommodate a Squad of 15 people; however, it would undoubtedly affect the utilization of their strength.
In an instant, there were only around 400 Eighth-Order Masters left out of the original 6,000 soldiers.
If possible, Yang Kai would rather take these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters into his Small Universe; however, he was only an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, and although his Small Universe was different from normal, it was difficult to break the shackles and take in other Eighth-Order Masters.
Regardless, he needed to reach the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm as soon as possible; otherwise, travelling around would be extremely troublesome.
He could ask Luo Ting He, who was not too far away, for help. However, she had just reached the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm and could not accommodate so many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Furthermore, she was one of the hidden trump cards of the Human Race and it was not the time to reveal her existence.
Next, Mi Jing Lun presided over the dispersion of the unrelated people. There were a number of those who were involved in building the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress. The Artifact Refiners and Array Masters numbered quite a lot. Only a small number of them went with the Army while the rest returned to the major Armies on the various battlefields.
After they left, the 400 Eighth-Orders, as well as the various Divine Spirits, all rose into the air, and Yang Kai was the only one left on the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress.
Even Mi Jing Lun was nervous as numerous pairs of eyes watched curiously.
The Suppressing Black Ink Army was a mighty army with the finest of arms and a lot of elite soldiers, so naturally the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress, which took 1,000 years and countless materials to build, must also be taken with them. This was the foundation of the Suppressing Black Ink Army, and the weapon they would rely on to fight the Black Ink Clan.
Without the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress, these 6,000 soldiers alone would not be able to do much at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
However, the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress was not that easy to take away. To take it away, it had to be put into someone’s Small Universe.
Normally, an Open Heaven Realm Master could open up their Small Universe to accommodate many things. This was not a big deal, as long as the portal opened was not too big.
However, if the portal opened was too large, their heritage could easily leak out from the portal, or worse, crack under the strain, which would result in a disaster.
Mi Jing Lun knew his own limits. With his abilities, there was no way he could open such a large portal and take the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress into his Small Universe.
The reason why the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors gave up on those Great Passes outside of the No-Return Pass was not because their Small Universes couldn’t bear the volume of a Great Pass; rather, they could not open a large enough and stable enough portal to receive something so massive. Trying to force such a heavy object into their Small Universe would be very damaging even to an Old Ancestor. At that time, the Human Race was in a critical situation, and every bit of an Old Ancestor’s strength was precious; thus, although the Great Passes were precious, they had to abandon them at the No-Return Pass, benefiting the Black Ink Clan.
Although the Great Passes were abandoned, each of their Cores was removed. The Core used to build the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress was one of the Cores brought back from the No-Return Pass.
Mi Jing Lun was now curious as to what Yang Kai would do to bring the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress away.
Not only was he curious, but all the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters of the Suppressing Black Ink Army were exchanging puzzled looks. They knew that Yang Kai was powerful and the heritage of his Small Universe was much deeper than the average Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master; however, no one knew how much more powerful he was exactly. This time may be an opportunity for them to gain some new insight.
Of course, Yang Kai had no intention of opening his Small Universe portal as he had other ideas about how to bring the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress away, rather than shoving it into his Small Universe.
Even for Yang Kai, there would be great risk trying to force such a heavy object into his Small Universe. Even if he could open a portal big enough to fit the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress through, the strain produced when actually trying to do so might crack his Small Universe, significantly damaging his heritage.
As such, the next moment, Yang Kai surged his Space Principles. The world thrummed as space rippled.
The Suppressing Black Ink Fortress was at the centre of these ripples and soon began to blur and distort, like a disturbed reflection in the surface of the water.
It became increasingly blurred with time until even the Eighth-Order Masters could not make out the original appearance of the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress. It felt as though the layers of the Void were warping around it, obscuring their vision.
Among those present, cultivators such as Zhao Ye Bai, who also cultivated the Dao of Space, showed looks of both surprise and admiration. It was obvious that they could tell what was happening.
This was clearly a clever method of using Space Principles. It was difficult for those who had not cultivated the Dao of Space to clearly tell what was happening.
“Rise!” Yang Kai suddenly shouted and pointed his hand at the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress.
In an instant, the Void where the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress was located, including the land, floated up, as if there was a giant, invisible spade that had dug it out.
Mi Jing Lun was dumbfounded and could not believe his eyes.
Only cultivators who had cultivated the Dao of Space could do this and it was difficult for anyone else to emulate it.
It seemed Yang Kai had no intention to put the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress into his Small Universe; instead, he planned on cutting this whole space away and…
By now, Mi Jing Lun had an idea of what Yang Kai was going to do.
As expected, Space Principles continued to undulate. The large piece of Space that had been cut away continued to tremble, and with each tremor, the Space seemed to shrink down.
After a full hour of constantly trembling and shrinking, the entire isolated space was now about the size of a table. It looked like a pure and flawless glass sphere which had the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress sitting inside of it.
Such a glass could be called a Universe Fragment, but it was not formed naturally. It was refined by Yang Kai directly.
Yang Kai had successfully refined entire Universe Worlds into World Beads, so cutting off a piece of Space and refining it into such an orb was not a big deal to him.
If he continued, he could shrink it even further, but this was enough for now.
The round table-sized glass was casually thrown into his Small Universe; thereafter, he took out a Purifying Black Ink Battleship, and shouted, “Board!”
Everyone embarked on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship and went about operating it without Yang Kai having to give any instructions.
Yang Kai stood on the deck, cupped his fist to Mi Jing Lun, and called out, “Senior Brother Mi, I’ll give them a ride. I’ll trouble Senior Brothers to handle the rest over here.”
Mi Jing Lun returned the salute and said, “May you all have a safe journey ahead and a swift return!”
“Let’s go!” Yang Kai waved forward and the Purifying Black Ink Battleship buzzed and immediately turned into a stream of light, heading straight for the Territory Gate.
Mi Jing Lun stared in the direction of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship’s departure until the huge Warship disappeared from view, a certain sense of solemnity covering his face.
There was no telling how many, if any of these 6,000 soldiers could come back alive.
Turning back, the space that had been cut was filled with Void Turbulence and would likely take many years to fully heal itself.
Mi Jing Lun again turned his head to look in a certain direction, bowed and saluted respectfully as he said, “It’s done. While there is no need to remain here, the time is still not ripe yet. Old Ancestor, please continue to wait.”
“Sure!” A response sounded in his ear, though he could not tell how the Old Ancestor did this.
Nonetheless, Mi Jing Lun did not stay long and soon departed. For the first time in 1,000 years, this whole place fell silent.
After passing through the Territory Gate, the Purifying Black Ink Battleship crossed the battlefield and attracted the attention of the Black Ink Clan Armies, all of them wondering what the Humans were up to with this single Warship sailing forward.
Naturally, Black Ink Clansmen were shocked when they took a look inside the ship.
There were hundreds of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters gathered openly on this ship…
Even in the current situation, hundreds of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters gathered in one place was enough to cause a lot of damage to the Black Ink Clan. Soon, news of this discovery would be transmitted in all directions via the Black Ink Nests and the constant fighting on the original battlefield calmed down for a while.
Naturally, the Black Ink Clansmen quickly went into hiding until the Purifying Black Ink Battleship left the current Great Territory Battlefield.
Yang Kai had already informed everyone of the goal of their trip; thus, the Eighth-Order Masters were excited that they would be crossing the No-Return Pass this time.
Among the 400 Eighth-Order Masters, only a few had seen the majesty of the No-Return Pass, while rising stars like Su Yan and Yang Xiao had never been to the No-Return Pass, let alone the Black Ink Battlefield.
They had long heard about the final line of defence of the Human Race, the Black Ink Battlefield, and how the Grand Army was defeated there.
Yang Xiao, who was eager for a fight, was thinking about whether the Black Ink Clan would try to stop them at the No-Return Pass. If they did, the 400 Eighth-Order Masters and his Adoptive Father could defeat them and retake the Great Pass from the Black Ink Clan, which would be a great achievement!
It was a pity that Old Fang was not with them; otherwise, he could experience the excitement of this journey!
The Purifying Black Ink Battleship crossed one Great Territory after another, with the Black Ink Clan keeping a watchful eye on it from afar as Yang Kai and the others could not hide their movements from the Black Ink Clan.
Meanwhile, the No-Return Pass went on high alert, because the route of this Purifying Black Ink Battleship seemed to be heading straight for them.
It was not the hundreds of Eighth-Order Masters who they were worried about though. They were most concerned with the presence of the killing star on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, Yang Kai. Both the Royal Lord and Mo Na Ye were particularly concerned by his presence.
The Royal Lord was still fuming about what happened when Yang Kai was here previously. Although the loss of a large amount of supplies and 1,200 Black Ink Disciples were nothing to the Black Ink Clan, the loss of face was difficult for him to stomach.
Now, Yang Kai was leading so many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in the direction of the No-Return Pass. [Does that bastard have no regard for me at all!?]
In the Main Conference Hall, Mo Na Ye remained silent as he listened to the Royal Lord’s rantings.
After finally calming down a bit, the Royal Lord asked, “Mo Na Ye, what do you think Yang Kai is up to?”
Mo Na Ye deliberated for a moment before saying, “Judging from the route of that Purifying Black Ink Battleship, it is indeed heading towards the No-Return Pass. From the reports of our scouts, they have already reached the Shattered Heaven and will soon enter the Barren Territory.”
The Royal Lord snarled furiously, “Yang Kai is really asking for it now! If he dares to come, he will not leave this place alive!”
Previously, the Royal Lord ordered his men to set up the Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Array at the Territory Gate. However, Yang Kai did not come through the Territory Gate and instead showed up from the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield. Hence, the arrangements proved useless.
Now, since Yang Kai was coming through the Territory Gate, the previous setup would work!
Mo Na Ye quickly said, “Sir, please calm your anger. Although Yang Kai is despicable, we just settled the incident of the Ancestral Land. We should not provoke him and give him an excuse to act out against us. If he was alone, there might be a chance to trap him in the Grand Array at the No-Return Pass; however, with hundreds of Eighth-Order Masters accompanying him. Even if we can trap him with the Grand Arrays, he would immediately be able to break out with so many strong helpers.”
The Royal Lord was filled with anger, but he had to admit that Mo Na Ye had a point. Even he could not take lightly the presence of hundreds of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, and there was certainly no way the Grand Array could not trap so many powerhouses.
“Then, what should we do?” The Royal Lord asked.
Mo Na Ye asked, “Sir, do you think that Yang Kai is trying to renege on our deal after extracting so much compensation from us? Do you believe he is coming to go on another rampage at the No-Return Pass?”
“Isn’t he?”
“I can’t deny such a possibility, but I believe that Yang Kai’s objective is not the No-Return Pass this time.”
“Why do you think so?”
Mo Na Ye said, “From what I know about him, although he puts on the face of a reckless madman, he is an extremely cautious person. He is a master of the Dao of Space and can come and go as he pleases, so bringing so many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters with him is more a burden than a benefit.”
The Royal Lord pondered about the previous times Yang Kai came to the No-Return Pass, and just as Mo Na Ye said, Yang Kai always came alone whenever possible and never acted in conjunction with anyone.
Thus, it seemed that he might not be coming to the No-Return Pass to cause trouble this time.
“Then, where is he heading?” The Royal Lord frowned.
“Sir, do you remember the White Divine Dragon from 1,000 years ago?” Mo Na Ye mentioned.
The Royal Lord pondered for a while and then it suddenly dawned on him, “You mean…”
Mo Na Ye said, “If I’m not mistaken, their destination should be the Source Domain!”
“How dare he!” The Royal Lord was furious and slapped the armrest of the bone throne, his Black Ink Strength radiating through the hall like a tsunami.
1,000 years ago, a White Divine Dragon passed through the Territory Gate, through the No-Return Pass, then flew into the Black Ink Battlefield, and had not been heard from since. At that time, the Royal Lord felt the intense Dragon Pressure and was reluctant to start any conflict with the Divine Dragon; thus, he helplessly watched as it soared through the No-Return Pass and strutted away.
It was a good thing that the Divine Dragon was not interested in the Black Ink Clan and was just passing by.
At that time, he didn’t know what the White Divine Dragon was going to do, but later, he realized that the only thing in Black Ink Battlefield that a Divine Dragon would care about was the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
The Divine Dragon was probably rushing to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to monitor the situation there.
In this regard, the Black Ink Clan could not do anything.
Now, after more than 1,000 years, Yang Kai led hundreds of Eighth-Order Masters aboard a Purifying Black Ink Battleship towards the No-Return Pass. The Royal Lord thought that Yang Kai was going to create trouble at the No-Return Pass, but Mo Na Ye saw his real objective with a glance.
Thus Human force was most likely heading to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
The Mother Nest was the root of the Black Ink Clan, and it was also the place that the Human Race feared the most. How could they not pay more attention to it?
If a Divine Dragon wanted to go to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, no one in the current Black Ink Clan could stop it, but if Yang Kai and these Eighth-Order Masters wanted to follow, how could the Royal Lord allow them to do so? If they had any ill intentions towards the Mother Nest, it would have a great impact on the entire Black Ink Clan.
Thinking this, he shouted immediately, “Mo Na Ye, quickly recall the Territory Lords who can fight! Those Humans must not leave here alive!”
Mo Na Ye, however, shook his head, “Sir, it’s too late to recall the Territory Lords.”
The Purifying Black Ink Battleship should have reached the Barren Territory by now, and would soon arrive at the No-Return Pass. There was no time to recall the other Territory Lords.
The Royal Lord got up and paced back and forth several steps, before declaring with determination, “If that’s the case, then let’s gather all our strength and fight.”
Mo Na Ye exclaimed, “No!”
The Royal Lord turned and glared at Mo Na Ye angrily, as he was displeased that he had opposed his order. He suppressed Mo Na Ye so forcefully with his pressure that the latter quickly bowed and explained, “Sir, if a war breaks out at the No-Return Pass, countless Black Ink Nests will be destroyed regardless of who wins.”
There were hundreds of Territory Lords stationed here, many of them healing in the Black Ink Nests at the No-Return Pass. Together with a true Royal Lord, a Pseudo-Royal Lord, advantageous terrain, and a huge Black Ink Clan Army, they could certainly put up a good fight with the incoming Humans; however, as Mo Na Ye said, once the fighting started, the Black Ink Clan would incur enormous losses. Furthermore, many Black Ink Nests would be lost.
The Black Ink Nests were critical to the Black Ink Clan as without them, they could sustain themselves.
What Mo Na Ye said immediately dampened the Royal Lord’s anger. He took a deep breath, sighed and frowned for several moments, before sitting back down on the bone throne. He then said with some resignation, “Yes, there is a need to guard the Black Ink Nests. Mo Na Ye, you are right!
Mo Na Ye understood the Royal Lord’s near depression well. In some sense, it was torture for a powerful being like the Royal Lord to be sitting here at the No-Return Pass for thousands of years, unable to do anything.
The Black Ink Nests were the foundation of the Black Ink Clan, but they were also an invisible shackle that bound the only Royal Lord here.
In the battle at the Barren Territory, almost all of the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were killed, including the Dragon and Phoenix Clan Leaders. That final battle was a huge victory for the Humans as they killed almost all the Royal Lords and even managed to seriously hurt the Black Ink Giant Spirit God…
The battle that took place over 3,000 years ago and had a profound impact on both sides to this day. In fact, the impact of that battle would continue on for many years into the future.
Perhaps only when the number of Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and Royal Lords recovered would a new era begin.
After a moment of deliberation, Mo Na Ye asked, “Sir, is there any news from the Mother Nest?”
The Royal Lord slowly shook his head and replied, “There has been no news since the Supreme One fell into deep sleep. Obviously, it is not time for the Supreme One to awaken.”
Mo Na Ye nodded and said, “Sir, there is no need to worry too much about the Mother Nest and the Supreme One’s situation. Since it has been the same for so many years, obviously there would be no changes in the short term regardless of what the Humans attempt. What can a mere Divine Dragon do to the Supreme One other than monitor it?”
The Royal Lord suddenly snorted coldly, “A lone Divine Dragon? If it dares to penetrate the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, then I have to thank it for contributing to the war effort!”
Though they could not do anything to a Divine Dragon, the Supreme One was different. If the Supreme One was awakened, even a Divine Dragon could be corrupted by Black Ink Strength. If that Dragon dared to go deeper into the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, he would definitely make a fool of himself.
“That’s right!” Mo Na Ye agreed, “If that is the case for the Divine Dragon, then it would be the same for Yang Kai and the others!”
The Royal Lord suddenly understood what Mo Na Ye meant, looked at him, and asked, “You suggest we just let them go?”
Mo Na Ye calmed down and was secretly relieved that the Royal Lord was convinced by him. At least his efforts were not in vain. As such, he nodded and said, “If they are just passing through the No-Return Pass, then we should let them go. This can also take some pressure off the battlefield.”
The intel mentioned that the number of Eighth-Order Masters with Yang Kai numbered in the hundreds. If so many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters went to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, that would mean that the Great Territory Battlefields would have less of them and the pressure on the Black Ink Clan would be reduced significantly.
“But we can’t let our guard down!” Mo Na Ye added, “We should still make some preparations in case Yang Kai decides to attack the No-Return Pass. If that happens, we will need Sir to deal with him personally!”
The Royal Lord nodded and said, “If that is the case, he will not be spared.”
“Sir is the only Royal Lord left and represents the face of the Black Ink Clan…”
Before Mo Na Ye could finish his sentence, the Royal Lord responded, “I know, I will enter a Black Ink Nest later to heal my old wounds.”
Mo Na Ye shouted, “Sir is wise!”
…..
The Purifying Black Ink Battleship swiftly flew across the Barren Territory. Powerful Divine Senses spread out from inside the ship. They could see two Giant Spirit Gods from afar, continuing their 3,000-year-long battle. In another direction of the void, another Black Ink Giant Spirit God was sitting cross-legged with one of his arms stuck through the boundary wall…
The rising stars who saw the Giant Spirit Gods for the first time were awed by their sheer size.
Even those who had encountered the Giant Spirit Gods before were just as unsettled as when they first saw them.
No one could help but wonder how there could be such huge beings in this Universe. If such a huge being was to sneeze in their direction, the ship full of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters would be smashed and many would undoubtedly die.
Their forefathers and the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors who died in the Barren Territory thousands of years ago had faced such frightening figures. To think that they had launched such a brave attack on such a powerful foe and managed to seriously wound it!
If the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was so powerful, then what about Mo, the being who created them? Was this an enemy that could be defeated?
There was an ominous feeling all around. Yang Kai remained silent and had no intention of encouraging the ship full of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. After so many years of cultivating, if they gave up their will to fight just after a glance at the enemy, then the Human Race was doomed no matter what he said.
Naturally, those who had reached the Eighth Order had strong wills.
In fact, if Yang Kai wanted to, he could have activated the Purifying Black Ink Battleship’s Defensive Arrays to prevent them from looking outside so that they would not be intimidated by the Black Ink Giant Spirit God; however, he did not do so.
He wanted them to realize how powerful the enemy really was and to let them know that the road ahead was long and arduous! Their Eighth-Order cultivation was far from enough. If the Human Race wanted to defeat the Black Ink Clan and eliminate Mo, the only way was to get stronger! Much, much stronger!
They silently travelled through the vast Barren Territory, and soon arrived at the Territory Gate.
Yang Kai had planned to go to the No-Return Pass first to check if the Black Ink Clan had set up an ambush on the other side. He thought that if the Black Ink Clan had any intelligence, they would not do something so stupid; after all, it would not do the Black Ink Clan any good to fight at the No-Return Pass. However, he had to take some precautions.
Before the Purifying Black Ink Battleship could reach the Territory Gate though, a voice shouted from afar, “Is that Sir Yang Kai?”
Yang Kai looked up and saw a sturdy figure waiting in the distance and felt the aura of an Innate Territory Lord…
[Interesting, did the Black Ink Clan arrange for someone to welcome us?]
Aboard the Warship, the group of Eighth-Order Master had a change in expression. Most of them had already fought against Territory Lords on the battlefields, but they hardly spoke with one another and instead just fought to the death.
It was also the first time they heard a Human addressed as ‘Sir’ by a Territory Lord.
Yang Xiao whispered to Yang Xue, “Little Aunt, Adoptive Father is so powerful! Even before we arrived, a Territory Lord came from afar to welcome him. His fame from all his killing rampages must be truly remarkable!”
Yang Xue lightly pursed her lips and smiled, “There is no need to envy him. The Dragon Clan is not bad, either.”
Yang Xiao sighed and said, “It’s not the same. I’m afraid I can only look up to my Adoptive Father in my entire life. However, Old Fang… still has some hope.”
Old Fang had also made a name for himself amongst the Black Ink Clan over the years and was widely known as Little Yang Kai. Not only was he proficient in the Dao of Space, but he was also extremely powerful and had a deep heritage. He was much stronger than average Eighth-Order Masters, but although that was the case, he remained calm and honest.
Yang Xiao felt sorry for Old Fang as he knew that the latter had always regarded his Adoptive Father as his role model. If Old Fang was here and saw this scene, he would surely have been proud of Yang Kai.
He had complained about Mi Jing Lun’s decision that the entire Squad was transferred to the Suppressing Black Ink Army, but Old Fang was left behind.
While Yang Xiao was sulking, Yang Kai shouted a response from the front of the deck, “It is this Yang!”
In fact, there was no need to respond. The Territory Lord had already seen his figure from afar. To all the Black Ink Clansmen, they need not remember any Human except for Yang Kai. His image and features had been sent across the entire Black Ink Clan, for all of them to study him closely.
Everyone in the Black Ink Clan was very familiar with this face…
The Purifying Black Ink Battleship stopped not far from the front of the Territory Gate. The Territory Lord who shouted the greeting was clearly tense, his Black Ink Strength involuntarily undulating. He never expected to be placed in such a position before, staring down a Warship with Yang Kai at the front. He suddenly felt that the world was dark and there was no hope or future for him…
This Territory Lord could barely resist the anxiety in his heart, which compelled him to charge towards Yang Kai in a desperate bid to attack!
However, he managed to calm down, because he knew that if he tried to strike Yang Kai, he would die! Yang Kai had already proven his ability and skill with countless of his dead comrades.
He cursed Mo Na Ye in his heart. Just because he had some verbal disputes with Mo Na Ye when they were both Innate Territory Lords, he was sent here by the latter in a kind of personal vendetta. If he was killed by Yang Kai, Mo Na Ye would not be bothered by it. There need not be any mention of avenging his death or even a report to the Royal Lord.
With fear and trepidation, the Territory Lord mustered a smile on his face and cupped his fist towards the Human and said, “By order of Sir Mo Na Ye, I am here to receive Sir Yang. Sir Mo Na Ye has instructed me to ask Your Excellency one question. What is the purpose of Sir Yang Kai’s visit today?”
Although he was smiling, he seemed to be whimpering as his voice trembled.
Aboard the Warship, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters watched on coldly while they marvelled at how much guts it took for this lone Territory Lord to face Yang Kai and hundreds of Eighth-Order Masters.
This ship did not just contain ordinary Eighth-Order Masters, but the elite amongst the elite of the Human Race. Of course, the Black Ink Clan only feared and respected Yang Kai while they scorned the rest and did not even bother to remember their names.
“Mo Na Ye…” Yang Kai murmured. [This guy is as perceptive as ever. Though I did not hide our movements, stationing a Territory Lord here means that he must have figured out what we are up to.]
“What if I say that I’m just passing through?” Yang Kai responded indifferently.
The Territory Lord’s tense heart immediately relaxed and his smile became much more sincere as he side-stepped and made a welcoming gesture, “Sir Mo Na Ye said that if the Humans are only passing through, then go ahead. Please! “
[Interesting…] Yang Kai grinned and did not want to waste any time on this Territory Lord, so he ordered, “Defensive positions!”
Although Yang Kai believed the Black Ink Clan would not risk starting a fight here, they still had to be on guard. Once he gave the order, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters immediately took up a defensive stance.
Yang Kai waved his hand forward and the Purifying Black Ink Battleship sailed into the Territory Gate and disappeared.
After the Purifying Black Ink Battleship entered the Territory Gate, the Territory Lord heaved a long sigh of relief, feeling as if he had returned from the gates of death.
At the No-Return Pass, the Purifying Black Ink Battleship emerged from the Territory Gate. Yang Kai stood alone at the front of the deck, straight as a post, and saw a gathering of powerful foes ahead.
Territory Lords gathered in large numbers, led by Mo Na Ye.
Fortunately, all the Territory Lords had revealed their whereabouts and there was no sign of any Grand Array being activated; otherwise, Yang Kai would have suspected that the Black Ink Clan were here to ambush them.
On the Warship, the Eighth-Order Masters surged their World Force as they met the Territory Lords in front of them with a tinge of anxiety. Both sides exchanged solemn looks as the atmosphere grew extremely tense.
The two Races had long fought ruthlessly for innumerable years, and a vicious blood feud now existed between the two sides. Peace was impossible between them.
The only reason why they did not fight immediately was because they had other priorities right now.
Just after the Purifying Black Ink Battleship crossed the Territory Gate, Mo Na Ye cupped his fist and said with a smile, “Sir Yang, we meet again!
Though he was outwardly smiling, he was actually cursing Yang Kai in his heart. It had only been a year or two since Yang Kai’s last rampage at the No-Return Pass…
“Sir Mo Na Ye!” Yang Kai also returned the salute with a smile, “Sorry to impose on you again!”
Many of the Eighth-Order Masters looked dumbfounded. If for a moment they pretended that there was not a blood feud between the two Races, just seeing how Yang Kai and Mo Na Ye greeted one another, they would think that it was a reunion of old friends.
However, this seemingly warm reunion was accompanied by many secret Divine Sense probes between the two sides, which would be extremely strange.
“No worries, you’re always welcome!” Mo Na Ye smiled eagerly and continued, “This was once a place for the Humans, there’s no imposition at all.”
Yang Kai’s eyes slightly narrowed as he heard the double speak in his words… But Yang Kai was no pushover and simply laughed as he said, “Indeed, one day, we will have to play hosts to you here.”
Mo Na Ye smiled and replied, “I hope that I’ll be around to see that day.”
Yang Kai nodded and said firmly, “You will be!”
Mo Na Ye’s smile froze as he was slightly off-put by this subtle threat; still, he quickly composed himself and asked, “Sir Yang Kai’s purpose for coming here is…”
“Rest assured, I’m not here to stir up trouble with the Black Ink Clan. I just want to take a trip to the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield.”
“So that’s how it is!” Mo Na Ye appeared as if his suppositions were correct, “The two sides seemed to be constantly fighting recently. Since Sir Yang Kai is leading so many Human Masters, obviously it must be something important. In that case, I won’t delay you any longer!”
Extending his hand, he gestured, “Please!”
“Many thanks!” Yang Kai replied courteously and took a step out of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship. The next moment, Mo Na Ye realized that Yang Kai was standing side by side with him.
Mo Na Ye was surprised by this move, and could not resist as he turned to look at Yang Kai for a moment.
He would not have thought of anything if Yang Kai had stayed aboard the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, but now that he suddenly came so close to him, things were different. Was Yang Kai not afraid of being attacked?
With his strength as a Pseudo-Royal Lord, if Mo Na Ye struck, Yang Kai might not be able to retreat even with his Space Secret Techniques. If the Royal Lord came out from the Black Ink Nests, they might very well have the chance to trap Yang Kai!
[No, it is impossible for him to be that foolish. If he was, then he would have died many times over. But what does he want to do? What the hell is he up to?] Mo Na Ye nervously thought.
Yang Kai grinned at him and casually asked, “Where is Sir Royal Lord? Why haven’t I seen him?”
If it was before, he really would have kept his distance from Mo Na Ye. A Pseudo-Royal Lord was also a Royal Lord and not someone he should take lightly, but now that he had a life-saving trump card, he was not afraid of Mo Na Ye.
Acting in a way that seemingly disadvantaged oneself was a good way to confuse one’s opponents. When dealing with a smart guy like Mo Na Ye, Yang Kai could not just force his way through things. He should act with a certain degree of eccentricity to keep the other side off-balance.
The fact that Yang Kai asked him about the Royal Lord made Mo Na Ye even more wary. It was one thing standing so close to him, but Yang Kai was now even casually inquiring about the Royal Lord…
[What the Hell is this bastard up to?]
Many thoughts flashed through Mo Na Ye’s mind, before in the end he still casually answered, “Sir Royal Lord has minor injuries to deal with and is now resting in the Black Ink Nest.”
“Sir Royal Lord’s injuries… were caused by me years ago, weren’t they?”
Mo Na Ye was dumbfounded by this question.
A rather odd scene was now playing out at the No-Return Pass. Yang Kai and Mo Na Ye were chatting casually as they walked side by side, the Purifying Black Ink Battleship following closely behind, and a mass of Territory Lords lining up on either side. The atmosphere was tense but peaceful.
The two sides continued to walk further and further away.
Only after sending them a million kilometres away from the No-Return Pass, did Mo Na Ye stop and say, “I believe this is far enough, Sir Yang!”
Yang Kai said with a smile, “Good, I will return to the No-Return Pass to enjoy a drink with you soon, when I have time. The fine wine of the Human Race cannot be missed.”
Mo Na Ye immediately declared, “I never drink wine!”
“All the more reason to try it!” Yang Kai laughed and said, “It has been decided.”
After saying that, he did not care how Mo Na Ye reacted and just dashed back to the Purifying Black Ink Battleship before giving the order. The Purifying Black Ink Battleship immediately turned into a stream of light and shot off into the Black Ink Battlefield.
Looking at the direction where the light disappeared, Mo Na Ye felt a headache setting in…
Yang Kai was leading so many Eighth-Order Masters to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and certainly would not be back soon; nonetheless, he would soon return to the frontlines of the battlefield. As for how long ‘soon’ was, that could not be determined.
In other words, Yang Kai had hit the final nail with that one statement. The No-Return Pass currently had Mo Na Ye and the Royal Lord jointly stationed here so that they could keep the Black Ink Nests safe. If Mo Na Ye left and the Royal Lord was alone, he might not be able to stop Yang Kai from causing trouble. While Mo Na Ye could freely roam the battlefields, Yang Kai could then freely destroy the Black Ink Nests at the No-Return Pass.
[He sure is a tough nut to crack!]
After leading the Territory Lords back to the No-Return Pass, Mo Na Ye thought about it, but eventually decided not to leave unless another Pseudo-Royal Lord was created by the Black Ink Clan.
Unfortunately, the cost of creating a Pseudo-Royal Lord was immense and the Black Ink Clan could not afford it.
Aboard the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, the group of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters fell silent. It was not because they had transited the No-Return Pass peacefully, but rather because they felt a strong sense of shame.
This could not be helped. When passing through the No-Return Pass, they saw the Great Passes that had been abandoned by the Human Race. Within the Great Passes, were a large number of Black Ink Nests which were buzzing with activity.
Those were the Human Race’s greatest weapons of war against the Black Ink Clan on the Black Ink Battlefield, inherited from their Ancestors dating back to the Late Ancient Era. Countless soldiers had shed blood to defend those Great Passes, and recorded on the Monument of Heroes within each one were the names of all those heroes who sacrificed their lives to defend the 3,000 Worlds.
But now, they had become trophies of the Black Ink Clan!
After leaving the No-Return Pass, a tense silence fell on everyone on the Warship. Even Yang Xiao, who was normally the most boisterous, had become solemn and filled with trepidation.
However, there seemed to be a fire burning in the eyes of every Eighth-Order Master, the flame of hatred and humiliation. One day, this fire would burn so intensely that it would sweep across the Universe and burn away all their enemies.
It was not until several days later that the oppressive atmosphere gradually dissipated.
Aboard the Warship, the Eighth-Order Masters were chatting among themselves in various groups.
Among the 400 Eighth-Order Masters, most of them were rising stars like Yang Xiao, but some veterans of the Human Race Army had successfully retreated from the Black Ink Battlefield.
These veterans had spent a lot of time on the Black Ink Battlefield, with many of them having made the breakthrough to the Eighth Order in the various Great Passes. Unfortunately, the Human Race Crusade was defeated, lost the Black Ink Battlefield, and had to retreat with its remnants to the 3,000 Worlds.
After thousands of years, they finally returned to this place.
Those rising stars who had never set foot onto the Black Ink Battlefield were naturally eager to ask these veterans for some advice about this place. All of them wanted to hear stories about the Human Race Army of the past and the majestic Great Passes.
The Great Passes were all either broken or abandoned now. Many were around the No-Return Pass while the rest were scattered about. It was hard to imagine what it was like in the past.
Yang Kai was standing at the front of the deck, keeping watch, and at the same time guiding the Purifying Black Ink Battleship forward. The journey to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction would take at least 10 years at the Warship’s cruising speed, so if there was even a slight deviation from the proper course, they would be thrown off by millions of kilometres and delayed for a significant amount of time. Yang Kai did not dare to be careless.
Zhu Jian, encouraged by a group of Divine Spirits, came to Yang Kai at one point and said with a smile, “Sir.”
Yang Kai asked, “What is it?”
On the Warship, the Divine Spirits and the Eighth-Order Masters rarely interacted. It was not that the Eighth-Order Masters did not want to socialize with them, but rather that these Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary still held onto their aloof arrogance that made it hard to interact with them. If not for their abrasive personalities, Yang Kai would not have thought of bringing them to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
These Divine Spirits could only be subdued by two people, so until Yang Kai could pass that responsibility onto the other individual, keeping an eye on them personally was really the only choice he had.
Zhu Jian scratched his head and said, “Sir, that chap, Fei Yi, asked me to ask you about the situation in the Ancestral Land.”
On hearing this, Fei Yi could not help but roll his eyes and cursed this bastard for tossing the responsibility onto his head.
The Divine Spirits were naturally concerned about the Ancestral Land, which was their birthplace. When a Divine Spirit reached adulthood, they would feel a Bloodline Calling and be able to sense the existence of the Ancestral Land.
They also knew that living in the Ancestral Land would be extremely beneficial to their cultivation. Nowadays, most of these Divine Spirits had reached the equivalent of the Eighth Order. If they wanted to improve and refine their Bloodline further, the Ancestral Land was their only hope.
It was a pity that although they came out from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary 3,000 years ago, they had not been to the Ancestral Land as they had been busy fighting this whole time.
The Black Ink Clan had spread everywhere, and the Ancestral Land had been abandoned by the Divine Spirits who originally lived there, so no one knew how things were over there now.
Perhaps only Yang Kai knew! He was the only one who had been running around over these years, so he had the most comprehensive understanding of the outside world.
On hearing Zhu Jian’s question, Yang Kai more or less knew what was on their minds. He knew that he had to assure them if he wanted their continued support for this venture, so he casually explained, “Don’t worry, the Ancestral Land is fine. I just returned from there a year ago; however, I’m afraid it will take some time for it to restore its Ancestral Strength.”
Zhu Jian ignored the second half of the sentence and said excitedly, “Just as I thought! The Ancestral Land is a Holy Land. How could it possibly suffer anything untoward? That fool Fei Yi even said that the Black Ink Clan had irreparably ravaged the Ancestral Land.”
Yang Kai chuckled and said, “Rest assured that the Ancestral Land is very special. Even if the whole Universe falls apart and crumbles, the Ancestral Land will not be broken!”
Yang Kai witnessed the birth of the Ancestral Land when he watched its history in reverse; thus, he was more qualified than anyone else to come to this conclusion. The battle between him and Di Wu in the Ancestral Land was fierce enough to destroy countless Universe Worlds, but the Ancestral Land remained unscathed.
A long time ago, the battle between the Dragon Emperor, Phoenix Empress, and the Black Ink Giant Spirit God raged across the entire Ancestral Land, but even that was not enough to break it…
The Ancestral Land would have been destroyed long ago if it had been as fragile as an ordinary Universe World.
“If the Black Ink Clan problem is eliminated, you and the others can return to Ancestral Land to cultivate,” Yang Kai said, reassuring them.
Zhu Jian’s eyes lit up and nodded firmly, “I’m certain that day will come.”
In the past, these Divine Spirits who came out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary were bound by their Bloodline Oath and participated in the war between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan. Now, the time of the Great Oath was coming to an end, so it was important to provide them with some hope so that they would still give their best efforts.
The Ancestral Land was where their hope lay.
Yang Kai asked them about the Divine Spirit’s dealings with other Divine Spirits.
The Divine Spirits who were on the side of the Human Race were not only the ones who came out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. There were three groups of Divine Spirits in fact.
One of the other groups was the Dragon and Phoenix Clans, originally from the No-Return Pass, while the other was from the Ancestral Land.
These two groups of Divine Spirits were fundamentally from the same source and got along fairly well.
However, they did not like Zhu Jian and the others.
This could not be helped as the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary were all basically imprisoned there for their Ancestors’ crimes. Their initial performance on the battlefield was unreliable as well; thus, the different groups of Divine Spirits did not interact much with each other.
Zhu Jian was also rather helpless when it came to this matter.
If he ever returned to the Ancestral Land in the future, he would have some problems trying to get along with those Divine Spirits.
At that moment, another person walked over, drawing Yang Kai’s attention, “Junior Sister Gu!”
“Senior Brother Yang,” Gu Pan replied with a smile. She was a Core Disciple of Lang Ya Paradise from Yang Kai’s generation that he had met in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. After thousands of years of cultivation, she had also reached the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm and became one of the pillars of the Human Race.
Zhu Jian also knew Gu Pan and nodded to her.
It was not surprising that they knew each other, as Gu Pan was chosen as a Bearer by Kui Niu in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary and had gained some benefits from the latter. Gu Pan had naturally met Zhu Jian back then.
Seeing how his business was finished, Zhu Jian said, “Sir, please excuse me, I’ll take my leave now.”
On saying so, he turned around and left.
When he passed by Gu Pan, she opened the portal of her Small Universe and a figure came out.
Zhu Jian instantly froze as he seemed to sense something. He turned his head and looked towards the figure that had just appeared. Before him was a Human woman whose cultivation was only at the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm.
This made him frown slightly. After a brief look at her, he did not notice anything worthy of his attention, so he just shook his head and left.
When he returned to the Divine Spirits, they saw his serious expression and a Divine Spirit asked, “What happened?”
Zhu Jian scratched his head, looked back, and said, “Nothing, perhaps I was mistaken.”
The moment he brushed past that female Seventh-Order Human who appeared from Gu Pan’s Small Universe, he suddenly had an ominous feeling, as if he had met some kind of nemesis…
He would naturally not mention this to Fei Yi and the rest, lest they laugh at his cowardice; however, that feeling did not seem to be an illusion…
Something was odd about that Seventh-Order woman.
The woman who appeared from Gu Pan’s Small Universe was none other than Zhang Ruo Xi. Over these years, she and Gu Pan were essentially inseparable. With a Core Disciple like Gu Pan and Yang Kai having close relationships with her, Zhang Ruo Xi’s life in the Lang Ya Paradise was quite comfortable.
It was a pity that she only advanced directly to the Fifth-Order; otherwise, she would have been more valued by Lang Ya Paradise.
Earlier, Yang Kai asked the Eighth-Order Masters to take in the other Suppressing Black Ink Army Soldiers; thus, Zhang Ruo Xi was taken into Gu Pan’s Small Universe.
“Sir!” Zhang Ruo Xi bowed elegantly.
Yang Kai reached out and helped her up, smiling happily as he said, “Ruo Xi is now in the Seventh Order too!”
Back at the Star Boundary, many Great Emperors joined hands to fight Great Demon God Mo Sheng. He and Zhang Ruo Xi also participated in that great battle, after which they left the Star Boundary together. Unfortunately, halfway through their trip, they were separated. Yang Kai was stranded in the Seven Wonders Land while Zhang Ruo Xi went through some difficulties, but eventually managed to reach Lang Ya Paradise. She then became a disciple of Lang Ya Paradise through the relationship it shared with her Ancestor.
Over the years, although they had met each other, their interactions had been quite limited.
The last time Yang Kai saw her, Ruo Xi had just broken through to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm, yet now, she was already in the Seventh-Order.
There was nothing better in life than to see a familiar face in the crowd after thousands of years of war.
Lang Ya Paradise had also contributed some manpower to the Suppressing Black Ink Army, among which, Gu Pan, a rising star, was their leader. Since Gu Pan came, Zhang Ruo Xi naturally came along with her.
Thinking of Zhu Jian’s look of uncertainty, Yang Kai laughed again and said, “It looks like your Bloodline has also become much purer.”
Zhang Ruo Xi possessed the Heaven’s Order Bloodline. Yang Kai did not know what exactly was the name of this Bloodline, he only knew that in the Star Boundary, Heavens Order was the nemesis of all Divine Spirits.
There was a place in the Star Boundary known as the Ancient Wild Lands, which was a paradise for the Monster Race. Over there stood the Blood Gate, behind which were many Divine Spirit Sources. If a Monster Beast could obtain the appropriate Source, they would have a chance to inherit the power of a Divine Spirit.
The Blood Gate was created by Zhang Ruo Xi’s Ancestor, the original owner of the Heavens Order Bloodline. Legend has it that when the Star Boundary was overrun by Divine Spirits, Heaven’s Order took pity on the World and killed many Divine Spirits who were causing trouble, extracting their Sources and sealing them behind the Blood Gate as punishment!
The Blood Gate was forged by Heaven’s Order with her Blood Essence. It was the Restricted Area of the Ancient Wild Lands that even the most powerful of Monster Race dared not approach carelessly.
Only the successor of the Heavens Order Bloodline was qualified to open the Blood Gate!
Unfortunately, after the death of Heaven’s Order, her Bloodline fell into obscurity. Her descendants were unable to revive their ancestral glory and gradually fell into decline and risked disappearing entirely.
Later, Zhang Ruo Xi’s Bloodline was awakened and she entered the Blood Gate, taking Xiao Xiao with her. Xiao Xiao’s current strength was inherited from the Source of the Divine Spirit, Tai Yue.
Many Monster Race Masters from the Star Boundary had benefited from the Divine Spirit Sources inheritance from the Blood Gate, and some were still active in the Great Territory Battlefields today. This included Luan Feng and Fan Wu. While they only had a trace of Divine Spirit Bloodline in them originally, which was far from pure, when they obtained the appropriate Source, they could be called true Divine Spirits. Afterwards, many of them even journeyed to the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land to cultivate, further purifying their Bloodlines.
Yang Kai suddenly looked a bit confused when he thought about this.
If the Divine Spirits had their Bloodline, then what was the Heaven’s Order Bloodline Zhang Ruo Xi had? This kind of Bloodline had a natural restraint on all Divine Spirits, which could be seen only from Zhu Jian’s reaction just now.
Just by walking by each other, a Master on Zhu Jian’s level felt uneasy around Zhang Ruo Xi, a mere Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
In fact, when Zhang Ruo Xi stood in front of Yang Kai, even he could not help but feel an innate sense of unease coming from his Dragon Vein!
However, due to their familiarity with each other, and knowing that Zhang Ruo Xi couldn’t harm him, this uneasiness was easily ignored.
If it had been someone else, that feeling would be enough to trigger Yang Kai to be more cautious.
Oddly, he had never felt this way in the past. Either Zhang Ruo Xi’s Heavens Order Bloodline had grown tremendously, or Yang Kai’s Dragon Vein had grown so pure that it was now able to sense Ruo Xi’s Bloodline more strongly.
“Sir, you are very knowledgeable, so Ruo Xi has a question for you.” Zhang Ruo Xi spoke softly.
Gu Pan had already waved her hand and created a barrier that surrounded the three of them, separating them from the outside.
Yang Kai immediately understood that what Ruo Xi wanted to say must be extremely personal to her; otherwise, Gu Pan would not have been so cautious. He immediately nodded and said, “Go ahead.”
Zhang Ruo Xi said, “Sir, you know that after Ruo Xi condensed her Dao Seal, refined appropriate materials, and became a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, the final realm I could reach was the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, right?”
Yang Kai nodded. He naturally knew about this matter, because he had once asked Zhang Ruo Xi if she wanted to start over and refine Sixth-Order materials. After all, there was still a gap between the Fifth-Order and Sixth-Order. Back then, he still had some Tai Yi Soul Cleansing Water on hand. As long as Ruo Xi was willing to try, then she could wash away the Powers accumulated in her Dao Seal and begin from scratch.
However, doing so involved a great deal of risk, as the Dao Seal was at stake and any slight carelessness could be fatal. Ruo Xi also felt that refining Sixth-Order materials was a bit too much for her aptitude, which was why Yang Kai did not insist on it.
“Now that Ruo Xi is a Seventh-Order Master and has reached the peak of her cultivation…” Zhang Ruo Xi then continued to explain.
She followed Gu Pan around the battlefield over the years to kill countless enemies and had accumulated countless Military Merits, so she was never short of cultivation resources. The current environment for the Human Race soldiers had a multitude of dangers as well as opportunities. As long as they dared to dedicate themselves to the war, they could use their Military Merits to exchange for anything they wanted. It was unlike before when all the good stuff was hoarded by the Cave Heavens and Paradises, out of reach of ordinary cultivators.
Zhang Ruo Xi was very hardworking and exchanged her Military Merits for lots of resources; thus, she was always cultivating, which was why it was not surprising that she could reach the peak of the Seventh Order.
“But Sir…” Ruo Xi appeared bewildered as she looked up at Yang Kai, “Ruo Xi still feels that her cultivation has not reached its limits, like there are no shackles on my Small Universe.”
Yang Kai was listening attentively, and now his expression was even more intense as he asked, “Is that true?”
What Zhang Ruo Xi said was not that alarming initially, but her final words sent shockwaves through Yang Kai’s heart.
[Why can she not feel the shackles on her Small Universe? It’s too strange]
The moment Yang Kai broke through the Eighth Order, he could already feel the shackles on his Small Universe, and they only became more noticeable the more he cultivated.
The Human Open Heaven Realm Method had a major flaw which limited one’s ultimate potential, a fact that Yang Kai only recognized recently.
Cang and his nine compatriots went to the World Tree to gain enlightenment regarding the Open Heaven Realm method, so that the originally weak Human Race could rise up. It could be said that these Martial Ancestors had contributed immensely to the Human Race.
Without the Open Heaven Realm method, the Human Race would not be what it is today.
It was because of these 10 Martial Ancestors that the future generations of the Human Race were able to achieve their current success and Yang Kai was full of respect for them.
However, it was undeniable that the Open Heaven Realm method was imperfect. If it was perfect, then it would not put unbreakable limits on one’s future achievements. A truly perfect method would allow one to continue treading their Martial Dao as long as they were willing to put in the necessary effort.
In a sense, the Open Heaven Realm method was a dead end.
Anyone who initially broke through to the Fifth Order would have a hard limit of the Seventh Order in the future. The Sixth-Order would end at the Eighth-Order.
A World Fruit from the World Tree could extend that limit by a single Order, allowing a person to climb a little higher on their Martial Dao, but it was still limited.
Yang Kai achieved the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm, then took a Mid-Rank World Fruit. He was now at the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, and although he was not quite at the peak, he was nearly there.
When he was still cultivating in the Star Boundary’s World Tree Clone, he felt the invisible shackle on his Small Universe growing tighter with time. The shackle was like a lock that pinned down his Martial Dao to prevent any possibility of it moving forward. It also locked his Small Universe from further expansion. This became more obvious as Yang Kai’s own heritage increased.
Every Master who had reached the end of their own Martial Dao could clearly feel this invisible shackle on their Small Universe.
The shackle existed with the birth of one’s Small Universe when advancing to the Open Heaven Realm; however, Zhang Ruo Xi said that she could not feel this shackle, which was rather unbelievable.
If Ruo Xi’s cultivation was at the peak of Seventh Order, she should have clearly felt this restriction long ago.
It was no wonder Gu Pan blocked this area. This was a big deal and would spread like wildfire if it got out.
“Who else knows about this?” Yang Kai asked solemnly.
Ruo Xi turned her head, looked at Gu Pan, and said, “Besides you, only Senior Sister Gu knows about this.”
She wanted to ask Yang Kai for advice as soon as she realized her situation; unfortunately, Yang Kai was now in a high position and his whereabouts were highly unpredictable. Strong in will but weak in strength, Zhang Ruo Xi could only keep this secret to herself for the time being. Luckily, she was able to see Yang Kai during the formation of the Suppressing Black Ink Army; otherwise, she really did not know what she should do.
In Lang Ya Paradise, although some Elders cared for her, she could not totally trust them. Furthermore, she believed only Yang Kai could handle this.
Yang Kai was the only person in the world who could make her feel totally unreserved.
Yang Kai nodded slightly as Ruo Xi’s caution was appropriate.
The limits of one’s Small Universe was the eternal bane of all Human Masters. If they could find a way to break this shackle, the Human Race would certainly have many more Masters.
Most old Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had reached the end of their Martial Dao long ago, so even if it was only a faint hint of a chance to break through to the Ninth-Order, they would not hesitate to risk everything to seize it.
If Zhang Ruo Xi’s situation was leaked, the Supreme Headquarters would undoubtedly try to investigate, regardless of the possible drawbacks or consequences.
When that happened, Zhang Ruo Xi would lose all freedom and become a test subject.
“Can I see your Small Universe?” Yang Kai asked.
Ruo Xi agreed immediately and opened her Small Universe.
Yang Kai’s Divine Sense entered it and immediately felt the aura of her World Force, which was extremely pure and strong.
This Small Universe itself was nothing special, other than its territory being larger than a normal Seventh-Order Master’s. Indeed, as Ruo Xi said, she was already at the peak of the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm.
However, Yang Kai soon chuckled and asked, “Why are you hoarding so many Small Stone Race members?”
Ruo Xi’s Small Universe had fully materialized as she was in the Seventh Order, and it seemed she had purposely transplanted many flowers and plants into it, making it both beautiful and vibrant.
However, in a corner of her Small Universe, there were some 200 Small Stone Race members of both the Yang and Yin variety. They were both equally distributed, and most were very strong. There were even some 1,000-metre-tall Eighth-Order Small Stone Race Masters among them.
Yang Kai naturally knew the origin of these Small Stone Race members. Previously, in the Ancestral Land, he handed the Small Stone Race Soldiers he ‘borrowed’ from Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan and passed them to those Seventh-Order Array Masters, tasking them with bringing them back to the Supreme Headquarters.
The Supreme Headquarters naturally distributed these Small Stone Race members to strengthen the Human Race soldiers.
Naturally, the cost for a Small Stone Race Soldier would correspond to its Order, so the powerful ones were not cheap. Human Soldiers would obtain these Small Stone Race members from the various bases in the Great Territory Battlefields and then refine them to use against the enemy.
Generally speaking, a single person could only refine a handful of Small Stone Race Soldiers as their sentience was too low. They were very rebellious and even when refined, it was very difficult to command them when there were too many.
Yang Kai was well aware of this; thus, nowadays, when the Human Race soldiers were fighting with the Black Ink Clan on the various battlefields, most of them had a few Small Stone Race members with them. Quite often the Human Race soldiers relied on the bravery of these Small Stone Race soldiers to get out of tricky situations or to kill strong enemies.
In this way, they were of great help to the Humans.
Yang Kai was a bit puzzled about why Ruo Xi hoarded so many though; after all, these things were exchanged for Military Merits and their cost was not cheap, especially for those in the Eighth Order. After all, having something equivalent to an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would give her a significant boost in fighting strength.
These 200 Small Stone Race members alone represented a massive amount of Military Merits.
What made Yang Kai feel even stranger was that he did not feel any traces of refinement from these Small Stone Race members.
It was as if Zhang Ruo Xi was just hoarding them and had no intention of using them.
Ruo Xi’s voice echoed within the Small Universe, “Ruo Xi can tell you more about this later. Actually, this is also something Ruo Xi wants to consult Sir about.”
Yang Kai was slightly surprised. Could there be any special purpose for Ruo Xi to hoard these Small Stone Race members? However, since Ruo Xi already mentioned this, he could only set aside his concerns and continue to investigate her Small Universe.
His Divine Sense soon reached the edge of her Small Universe.
The Small Universe of an Open Heaven Realm Master was not fundamentally different from a real Universe World. The edge of it could be called the World Boundary, which was both a natural protection to ensure that the World Force of the Small Universe would not leak out, and also a shackle to limit the cultivator’s growth and strength.
When an Open Heaven Realm Master cultivated using materials and pills, their heritage would grow, which would result in the expansion of their Small Universe.
For example, although a new Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and a veteran Fifth-Order Open Heaven Master were technically in the same Order, there was a huge difference in the density of their World Force and even the size of their Small Universe.
The size of their Small Universe, and the richness of their World Force directly affected the strength of an Open Heaven Realm Master.
Therefore, on the Black Ink Battlefield, cultivators who were invaded by Black Ink Strength and had to give up a portion of their Small Universe to save themselves would see a drastic drop in their strength. If one sacrificed too much of their Small Universe, they might even see their Order regress. In the worst-case scenario, an Open Heaven Realm Master’s Small Universe would completely destabilize after large portions of it were sacrificed, resulting in death.
Moreover, once a Master gave a large part of their Small Universe, it would become incomplete and have a great impact on any attempts at a breakthrough in the future.
In this Universe, only a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit could repair one’s Small Universe.
Xiang Shan once gave up too much of his Small Universe and regressed to the Seventh Order. Now, he had repaired his Small Universe and cultivated back to his peak; however, because of his actions back then, there were still some flaws in his foundation, making it extremely difficult for him to advance to the Ninth Order despite having the capital and aptitude to do so.
The Four Universe Pillars and the World Tree clones could stabilize and insulate one’s Small Universe from outside influence, making it both impervious and flawless. It was precisely because the mysterious power of these treasures affected the World Boundary of a person’s Small Universe, making it resistant to external invasion. On top of that, even if Black Ink Strength somehow made its way into the Small Universe of a person with one of these treasures, it could be easily suppressed and sealed.
A cultivator would reach a bottleneck when the expansion of their Small Universe reached its limit. If they broke through this limit, the Master would advance to the next Order and their Small Universe would expand greatly. Naturally, the strength of that cultivation would dramatically change as well.
Ruo Xi was now at the peak of the Seventh Order, and her Small Universe should have hit its limit, one that should be insurmountable in her life. It was reasonable to say that her World Boundary couldn’t expand any further.
Knowing this, Yang Kai conducted a small test to push the limit.
In an instant, a mountain shook in the Ruo Xi’s Small Universe and the World Boundary rippled.
Yang Kai was surprised and immediately withdrew his energy.
After all, a cultivator would feel uncomfortable when their Small Universe was disturbed from the inside. Luckily, Yang Kai was able to quickly retract his energy and did not cause any harm to Ruo Xi.
Gu Pan asked from the side, “How is it?”
“It’s really strange…” Yang Kai frowned and continued, “Ruo Xi does have the potential to continue improving her cultivation.”
Through this test, Yang Kai was able to determine that Zhang Ruo Xi’s cultivation had reached a bottleneck, but not the end of her Martial Dao.
With a little more effort, she could break through this bottleneck and advance to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm!
This was shocking!
Yang Kai had travelled all over the Universe for many years and had come into contact with all kinds of cultivators, including many High-Ranking Open Heaven Masters, but none of them could overcome their innate shackles like Ruo Xi could.
Even he himself was now restricted by the invisible shackle of his Small Universe.
Gu Pan was both happy and relieved to hear Yang Kai’s assessment. She had looked into Zhang Ruo Xi’s situation before and came to the same conclusion; however, she was not confident in her own judgment.
Now that Yang Kai had come to the same conclusion, it was basically a certainty.
This was good for Zhang Ruo Xi. Previously, her peak was the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm; however, now she might be able to become an Eighth-Order or even a Ninth-Order Master!
Yang Kai thought for a moment and asked, “Has Ruo Xi ever eaten a World Fruit?”
Zhang Ruo Xi shook her head and said, “No, I haven’t.”
Yang Kai nodded at the expected answer. World Fruits were so precious that ordinary people could not get a hold of one. If Ruo Xi had eaten a World Fruit, then she would not be as doubtful of her situation.
“Sir, can you figure out what’s going on with Ruo Xi?” Zhang Ruo Xi asked.
Yang Kai shook his head, “I’ve never heard of a situation like this before, but I can see that the foundation of your Small Universe is solid and your heritage is strong. So, there’s nothing wrong with it, and it should be beneficial to you, rather than harmful. As for why this is the case… I have a speculation.”
“Please enlighten me, Sir!” Zhang Ruo Xi looked at him eagerly.
Yang Kai said, “It concerns your Bloodline! The Heavens Order Bloodline you awakened should have some peculiarities. It should be this peculiarity that allows you to overcome the innate shackles of the Open Heaven Realm.”
“What Sir means is…”
“Let’s put it this way,” Yang Kai explained, “Your Bloodline is different from that of the Human Race. If you look at the vast Universe, only the Divine Spirits have true Bloodline Inheritances. The Divine Spirits do not have limits on their cultivation; they just need to constantly refine their own Bloodline and awaken their ancient inheritance to advance. In other words, they can continue to get stronger as long as they put in enough effort and have enough resources. Humans on the other hand, who cultivate using the Open Heaven Realm method, have innate limits. Divine Spirits clearly have incomparable advantages. Your Heaven’s Order Bloodline may also be related to a Divine Spirit Bloodline, so the growth of your strength is somewhat similar to that of a Divine Spirit…”
At this point, Yang Kai suddenly realized a problem with his theory.
If the Heavens Order Bloodline was really a Divine Spirit Bloodline, then Zhang Ruo Xi should also have innate shackles because she relied on the Open Heaven Realm method of the Human Race to cultivate.
Take Yang Kai himself, he could be considered a pure-blood Dragon Clan member now, but because he used the Open Heaven Realm to cultivate, no matter how pure his Dragon Vein was, he was still limited by his innate shackles to the peak of the Eighth-Order. Even his powerful Dragon Vein was restricted. It seemed he could not take that last one-metre step to become a Divine Dragon even when he cultivated in the Ancestral Land.
Only when he reached the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm would his Dragon Vein naturally be able to advance to the next stage.
Although Su Yan had a Phoenix Clan Bloodline, as long as she relied on the Open Heaven Realm method, she would suffer from this shortcoming as well.
The Open Heaven Realm method was inherited from the 10 Martial Ancestors, which was in line with the Heavenly Way. It was certainly not perfect, but it had helped with the cultivation of the Human Race for countless aeons.
If the Masters wanted to be free from the restrictions, then they should not cultivate using the Open Heaven Realm method; however, as soon as they used it to cultivate, they would definitely be limited by it in the future.
Divine Spirits did not need to cultivate using the Open Heaven Realm method. They were the first to be blessed by the Heavenly Way and ruled all under the Heavens long before the 10 Martial Ancestors gained enlightenment about the Open Heaven Realm method. They have been using their Bloodline as their main way to cultivate since ancient times. The purer their Bloodline, the more powerful they were.
Zhang Ruo Xi also used the Open Heaven Realm method to advance to the Open Heaven Realm though, so even if the Heavens Order Bloodline was really a kind of Divine Spirit Bloodline, it should be limited by the restrictions of the Open Heaven Realm method, but she was not.
Unless…
The Heaven’s Order Bloodline was more powerful than any Divine Spirit Bloodline! Such power would be sufficient to overcome the innate shackles of the Open Heaven Realm method.
Considering all these, Yang Kai could not help but feel bothered.
[Was the Heavens Order Bloodline much more powerful than the Divine Spirit Bloodlines?] He really had not thought about it before.
However, after careful consideration, it seemed that… it was possible!
Back in the Star Boundary, Heaven’s Order was the nemesis of all Divine Spirits. All the Divine Spirits that plagued the world were captured by Heaven’s Order and stripped of their Sources, which she then sealed in the Blood Gate for countless years.
Even when Zhang Ruo Xi was only in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, an Eighth-Order Divine Spirit like Zhu Jian could feel a sense of suppression just being near her. Even Yang Kai felt so when she was close to him!
All signs indicated that Zhang Ruo Xi’s Heavens Order Bloodline was much more powerful than any Divine Spirit Bloodline!
[What exactly is the Heavens Order Bloodline?] Yang Kai was now considered to be very knowledgeable and had seen many things; however, he had never heard of the Heavens Order Bloodline anywhere else except in Zhang Ruo Xi!
Yang Kai had a hunch about the truth, but he was unsure about it…
“Sir?” Zhang Ruo Xi whispered when she saw that he was lost in his thoughts.
“Hmm?” Yang Kai came back to his senses.
“As Sir said, my current situation is similar to the Divine Spirits, so can I become an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master?” She asked excitedly.
The Human Race was now at war for its very survival, and although a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master wasn’t weak, any random Territory Lord could easily kill them, especially the Innate Territory Lords who were far more powerful than the Acquired ones.
Zhang Ruo Xi had been able to stay safe and sound all these years mainly because she had been following Gu Pan around. Due to her relationship with Yang Kai, Lang Ya Paradise had taken great care of her. If she was just an ordinary Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, it would be much riskier for her on the battlefield.
However, if she could become an Eighth-Order Master, then she would be much safer in the future and more lethal to the enemies on the battlefield.
Yang Kai nodded and said, “Advancing to the Eighth Order is not a problem. I saw your Small Universe and you are at the limit of the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm. Once things have settled down, you should enter retreat and cultivate hard. I will personally stand guard for you until you break through to the Eighth Order!”
“Many thanks, Sir!” Zhang Ruo Xi said with a beautiful smile.
There was no doubt that Zhang Ruo Xi would advance to the Eighth Order; nevertheless, Yang Kai could not be absolutely sure if what he thought was correct.
If it was as he thought, it would still be astonishing that the Heavens Order Bloodline could circumvent the drawbacks of the Open Heaven Realm method, which was something that even a Divine Spirit Bloodline could not achieve.
Yang Kai was still thinking about the Heaven’s Order Bloodline when Ruo Xi said, “Sir, I have one more thing to ask advice about, and it concerns my Bloodline.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai was intrigued and said, “Go ahead.”
Zhang Ruo Xi glanced around and then said, “It’s not convenient to talk about it here; however, I can show it to you, Sir. Can you please come to the void with me?”
“En!” Yang Kai nodded and sent a message to let the Purifying Black Ink Battleship continue to follow its current course before leaving a Space Beacon on the deck to facilitate his return. He then manipulated Space Principles, wrapped Zhang Ruo Xi in them, and darted away.
After a few Instantaneous Movements, Yang Kai and Ruo Xi were out of sight range of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship.
They came to a stop and Yang Kai said, “This should be good enough.”
The void was so vast and endless that Zhang Ruo Xi would not be limited in whatever she wanted to demonstrate.
Zhang Ruo Xi nodded, opened her Small Universe portal, and a member of the Small Stone Race stepped out.
Those of the Small Stone Race usually look simple and unassuming. However, those who were familiar with their racial characteristics would know that their peaceful look was just an illusion as they were truly war-like.
After the Small Stone Race member appeared, it immediately made a move that made Yang Kai’s jaw drop. It came to Yang Kai, cupped its fist and bowed to him!
Yang Kai swore that this was the most polite Small Stone Race member he had ever met in his life!
Under normal circumstances, when Humans summoned one, a Small Stone Race Soldier would definitely immediately rush towards the nearest source of Black Ink Strength in a fit of rage. Human soldiers would have to refine them in advance to command them; otherwise, they would definitely run off and soon become lost.
When Yang Kai handed out the first batch of the Small Stone Race Soldiers, the Humans had not figured out an appropriate method to control them and ended up wasting a lot of them.
However, he could also see that this Small Stone Race member was so courteous and mindful of etiquette because Zhang Ruo Xi had exquisite control over it.
Yet, this Small Stone Race member had no trace of being refined at all.
The Small Stone Race member was not finished after saluting Yang Kai. He started to display his fighting skills to Yang Kai and demonstrated with vigour and power. Finally, it finished its show by cupping its fist once more.
Yang Kai was more than a little dumbfounded and alternated his gaze between the Small Stone Race member and Zhang Ruo Xi’s smiling face.
“How did you do this?” Yang Kai asked in amazement.
In fact, Yang Kai could have done this too if he had been the one controlling this Small Stone Race Soldier, but that was because he had the Great Sun and Great Moon Marks given to him by Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan.
This Small Stone Race member was brought out from the Chaotic Dead Territory, where the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer had spent the last millennium nurturing it. These Small Stone Race members could be regarded as pieces of living Yellow and Blue Crystals; thus, the Great Sun and Great Moon Marks condensed from the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer’s Source held absolute authority over them.
Yang Kai could even use the power contained within them to generate Purifying Light!
On the other hand, Zhang Ruo Xi did not have the Marks, which Yang Kai had brought out of the Chaotic Dead Territory and distributed to the Divine Spirits.
Zhang Ruo Xi said, “Sir, please continue to watch.”
She did not answer Yang Kai’s question immediately because there was more to show him.
As she spoke, two more Soldiers came out of her Small Universe, joined together with the previous one, linking their auras. Their bodies vibrated and then in the blink of an eye, they formed… a Three Fortunes Formation!
This Three Fortunes Formation was far more solid than a Battle Formation formed by ordinary Human Soldiers. Their auras were completely connected, without any form of roughness or instability.
Next, a continuous stream of Small Stone Race members emerged from Zhang Ruo Xi’s Small Universe and joined the Battle Formation.
The Three Fortunes became a Four Symbols, then a Five Elements, a Six Paths, and finally a Nine Palaces Formation…
But that was not the end as more and more Small Stone Race Soldiers rushed out and formed more Nine Palaces Formations.
With the Nine Palaces Formation as the base, the formation grew again. 27 Small Stone Race members, forming what could only be called a Great Three Fortunes Formation, 36 Small Stone Race members formed the Great Four Symbols Formation, and finally, the 81 Small Stone Race members formed a massive Great Nine Palaces Formation…
Yang Kai was in absolute awe as he watched this scene in utter bewilderment.
He finally understood why Zhang Ruo Xi had accumulated so many Small Stone Race members in her Small Universe.
He thought that she was keeping them as backup for some kind of emergency; after all, they were easily killed on the battlefield, so it was prudent of her to keep more in reserve if she planned to take on powerful Masters like a Territory Lord.
However, now it seemed that this was not the case. Zhang Ruo Xi was really capable of commanding and controlling this many Small Stone Race members!
Yang Kai could as well. Not to mention 81 Small Stone Race members, he could even control an Army of millions of Small Stone Race Soldiers; however, he needed to use the Marks to command them in a general manner, while the scene before him was completely different.
He could only give simple orders to such a Small Stone Race Army; however, it was essentially up to the individual Soldiers to figure out how to carry out his commands.
The 81 Small Stone Race members controlled by Zhang Ruo Xi on the other hand were like extensions of herself, akin to her hands and feet, completely within her ability to control.
The massive Nine Palaces Formation before Yang Kai should only have existed in theory and was supposedly impossible for cultivators to actually achieve.
This was because each base point of this Great Nine Palaces Formation was a First-Order Nine Palaces Formation. Nine cultivators were needed to form the initial Battle Formation, and these nine people had to adjust their auras to link with each other without clashing. Essentially, they needed to become one in both heart and mind.
On a real battlefield, forming a Nine Palaces Formation was already the absolute limit, so trying to form this kind of Great Nine Palaces Formation was nothing but a fantasy.
Considering the Small Stone Race members’ low sentience, it was unbelievable that Zhang Ruo Xi was able to control them to such a fine degree.
Yang Kai had already sensed the crux of how this happened though and remarked, “Bloodline Power?”
When the number of Small Stone Race members was small, Yang Kai did not sense anything; however, with Zhang Ruo Xi using 81 Small Stone Race Soldiers, he did notice that there was a faint fluctuation of Bloodline Power from her body. So, it was obvious she was controlling the Small Stone Race members with her Bloodline.
“En,” Zhang Ruo Xi nodded. This was exactly the Bloodline mystery that she wanted to seek Yang Kai’s advice on.
It was only recently that she had discovered this ability.
There were only two times that Yang Kai had provided the Human Race with Small Stone Race Soldiers. Once was 3,000 years ago when he was travelling around the Great Territories to refine Universe Worlds. When he met many Great Forces of the Human Race who were evacuating, he gave them large numbers of Small Stone Race Soldiers as escorts.
However, almost all of those Small Stone Race Soldiers he sent out at that time had their own owners, and Zhang Ruo Xi was not able to attain any.
Recently though, Yang Kai tasked some Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land to bring back several million members of the Small Stone Race. Thereafter, the Supreme Headquarters distributed them to the Armies in the Great Territory Battlefields. They were placed in the individual Army’s War Materials departments for the soldiers to exchange for Military Merits.
Out of curiosity, Ruo Xi acquired a few of them and found that she could very easily control them. Thus, she began to exchange her Military Merits for more.
If the Army’s resource department did not stop her, her Small Universe would have many more Small Stone Race members inside, at least far more than a mere 200.
Yang Kai did not know about any of this, but looking at the Nine Palaces Formation in front of him, he was amazed that such a Battle Formation formed by 81 Small Stone Race Soldiers could be this powerful. The strength of the Small Stone Race that made up this Formation was not high, generally only equivalent to Second or Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. However, after they assumed this Formation, the aura they radiated reached the intensity of the Seventh Order!
If these Small Stone Race Soldiers were stronger to begin with, then the power of the Formation would grow even further.
“Can you control more?” Yang Kai asked.
Ruo Xi nodded and replied, “En, but I don’t have enough to form another complete Battle Formation layer.”
The corners of Yang Kai’s face twitched. He just asked Zhang Ruo Xi if she could control more, but this little girl was even more ambitious. She actually wanted to use this Great Nine Palaces Formation as the base to form an even higher Order Formation!
Having 81 Small Stone Race members as a base to form the simplest Three Fortunes Formation would require 243 Small Stone Race Soldiers, so Zhang Ruo Xi really did not have enough.
But Yang Kai had them…
Although he gave the Human Race several million Small Stone Race Soldiers, he kept a few million for his own use.
With the wave of a hand, an army of Small Stone Race Soldiers flew out of his Small Universe, appearing both grand and majestic.
“Go all out. Let me see what your limit is.”
Zhang Ruo Xi agreed readily as she also wanted to know her limits. She immediately surged her Bloodline Power to draw many from the Army released by Yang Kai.
Soon, a new Nine Palaces Formation was formed using Great Nine Palaces Formations as nodes. The number of Small Stone Race Soldiers involved had now reached 729! Their combined power had surpassed the Seventh Order and almost reached the Eighth Order!
Yang Kai was dumbfounded by the Formation in front of him.
The Great Nine Palaces Formation existed in theory and was basically impossible to be formed by Humans, but what about this Nine Palaces Formation formed from Great Nine Palaces Formation as its base be called?
A Third-Order Nine Palaces Formation?
If a normal Nine Palaces Formation was the First-Order and a Great Nine Palaces Formation was the Second-Order, then there should not be any problem calling this one Third-Order.
The Bloodline Power coming from Zhang Ruo Xi’s body became more and more intense, and Yang Kai began to feel a slight pressure that caused his Dragon Vein to roil and riot.
This kind of pressure was somewhat similar to a Dragon Clan bloodline suppression…
So, it seemed like his suspicions were true. This Heaven’s Order Bloodline was more powerful than any Divine Spirit Bloodline. All of a sudden, his thoughts became clear and he understood what was happening with Zhang Ruo Xi and her Bloodline!
After a few moments, the Third-Order Nine Palaces Formation had turned into the Fourth-Order Nine Palaces Formation.
The number of Small Stone Race Soldiers who made up the Formation now reached an astonishing 6,561!
It was unbelievable that one person could perfectly control more than 6,000 Small Stone Race.
Although the individual strength of the Small Stone Race participating in the Formation was generally not high, the aura of the Battle Formation at this moment made even Yang Kai feel a lot of pressure.
In other words, if he were to fight against them and did not find a way to break the Battle Formation, he might lose!
It was an astonishing feat!
With this ability alone, Zhang Ruo Xi was as valuable as any Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master!
Yang Kai also saw the manifestation of the Heaven’s Order Bloodline Power once again.
Perhaps the Bloodline Power became too intense so Zhang Ruo Xi was now surrounded by a blood-coloured haze. Suddenly, at some critical point, a huge figure of a woman emerged behind her. The figure looked extremely imposing as she looked down on the world, a greatsword at the ready. As she stood quietly behind Zhang Ruo Xi, the Void trembled and an awe-inspiring pressure pervaded the surrounding space.
Yang Kai was stunned!
This figure and the memory of another extremely vague figure quickly overlapped. Although there was a difference in size, the image was too similar to ignore.
Yang Kai was so happy that he had stumbled upon this great fortune. He never expected that he would stumble across such a grand discovery during this meeting with Ruo Xi.
He was suddenly enlightened and many uncertainties in his mind became clear.
[So, that’s how it is! If that is really the case, then everything makes sense!]
The Heaven’s Order Bloodline was basically a Divine Spirit Bloodline, but it was not a Divine Spirit Bloodline in the ordinary sense.
In terms of ranking, the Heaven’s Order Bloodline was higher than all other Divine Spirit Bloodlines; thus, it was not accurate to call it the Divine Spirit’s nemesis. The Heaven’s Order Bloodline was not born to restrain Divine Spirits, it was actually from the same vein as the Divine Spirit Bloodlines, only higher up the hierarchy, which was why it could suppress all other Divine Spirit Bloodlines!
The Dragon Clan itself also had the concept of bloodline suppression, but the Dragon Clan’s bloodline suppression only affected those within the Clan or those from Monster Race too weak to resist. A Dragon Clansman with a purer Bloodline had a natural restraint on any other Dragon Clansman with a less pure Bloodline! In a fight, the strength of a Dragon Clansman with the purer Bloodline could suppress the strength of the other.
A Dragon Clan’s Bloodline may have some deterrent effect on other Divine Spirits, but it was far less obvious.
A Dragon Clan Bloodline’s ranking may be higher than that of other Divine Spirit Bloodlines, but not by much.
In this World, there were two other Divine Spirit Bloodlines that stood above the Dragon Clan.
The Burning Light and Serene Glimmer!
Technically speaking, these two were also Divine Spirits! The ancient legends stated that they were the ancestors of the Divine Spirits; however, Yang Kai knew that that was a misrepresentation after he found out the truth about the Primordial Light.
If all the Divine Spirits were considered to be in one big family, then the higher the ranking, the higher their position would be within the Divine Spirit family.
Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan could also be considered the Big Brother and Big Sister of all Divine Spirits!
This was also the reason why when Yang Kai first went to the Dragon Pool, his Great Sun and Great Moon Marks allowed him to draw in the power of the Dragon Pool and help Fu Guang break through his shackles and become a Divine Dragon.
The powers of the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer and the Dragon Clan were fundamentally related. The Primordial Light first stripped its Yin and Yang Elements in the Chaotic Dead Territory, then moved to the Ancestral Land. It then transformed into thousands of lights and evolved into the first Divine Spirits.
The first time Yang Kai went to the No-Return Pass, he used the Great Sun and Great Moon Marks to completely suppress Ji Lao San, who was a Grand Dragon. He did this while he was still only in the Seventh-Order and a Grand Dragon himself. In fact, the difference in strength between them at the time was not big; however, when he used the two marks, Ji Lao San was captured by Yang Kai almost effortlessly.
Yang Kai also used the power of the Great Sun and Great Moon Marks to suppress Tao Wu when he killed the latter in Profound Nether Territory. Otherwise, Tao Wu’s Eighth-Order Divine Spirit’s strength could easily handle a Soul Rending Thorn head-on and he would not have been so easily killed!
This was basically akin to the Big Brother and Big Sister exerting their power over the Little Brother of the Divine Spirit Family!
When they learned about this, Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan would surely be overjoyed. They had been bickering for countless aeons about who was the Elder Sibling between them, so if they knew they had so many Younger Brothers and Sisters, they might not quarrel anymore and instead ‘play’ with their little siblings instead.
In such a sense, it was completely appropriate for Yang Kai as a Dragon Clan member to address them as Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan.
The Burning Light and Serene Glimmer were the Big Brother and Big Sister of the Divine Spirits Family; however, in this family, there seemed to be another high-ranking existence!
The Heaven’s Order Bloodline!
The Small Stone Race could be seen as an extension of the power of Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan so even Yang Kai had to use the two Marks to control them. This was natural because the ranking of the Dragon Clan was lower than that of the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer.
On the other hand, Zhang Ruo Xi only relied on her Bloodline to precisely control thousands of Small Stone Race Soldiers to form a massively complicated Nine Palaces Formation.
When Yang Kai understood this, he immediately recalled the strange scene that he had witnessed in the rewinding time.
When the Primordial Light was stripped of its Yin and Yang in the Chaotic Dead Territory, the latter evolved into the Sun’s Burning Light and Moon’s Serene Glimmer. After a long journey, what was left of the Primordial Light collided with an ancient Universe World, showering it with thousands of multi-coloured lights. From those lights, all Divine Spirits were born. The Divine Spirits thus rose and the Universe World came to be known as the Ancestral Land. With this evolution, the Ancestral Land became the home of all Divine Spirits and was virtually indestructible.
At that time, Yang Kai saw a vague image of a human figure through the blinding light…
He did not have time to look closely that day as he was distracted by Di Wu’s relentless attacks and was shaken out of his state of enlightenment.
However, he remained haunted by the figure in the haze, which left him puzzled. It had become the last piece of the mystery behind the Primordial Light.
Today, all the mysteries seemed to be solved.
The hazy figure, although its face could not be seen, had an outline incredibly similar to the Heaven’s Order figure that stood behind Zhang Ruo Xi.
That figure must be the original source of the Heaven’s Order Bloodline!
When Yang Kai first saw Zhang Ruo Xi at the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress, he had a strange hunch, but he could not figure out what it was about.
When Zhang Ruo Xi asked about her cultivation limits, or rather lack thereof, and Yang Kai looked into her Small Universe, he felt that hunch again but he still could not understand it.
Yang Kai finally understood after seeing Zhang Ruo Xi control the Small Stone Race Army.
The Bloodline of an ordinary Divine Spirit was insufficient to break through the shackles created by the Open Heaven Realm method. Even a pure Dragon Clan Bloodline was insufficient; otherwise, Yang Kai could continue to refine his Bloodline and advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm by first becoming a Divine Dragon. At that time, he would even be stronger than an ordinary Ninth-Order Master.
However, there were always exceptions to everything. Though a Divine Spirit Bloodline could not accomplish this, that did not mean that the Heaven’s Order Bloodline could not break through these innate shackles.
In the Divine Spirit Family, the Heaven’s Order Bloodline was most likely the highest in ranking. In fact, the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer might be inferior to it.
Instead of saying that the Heaven’s Order Bloodline was the Big Sister of all Divine Spirits, it might be more appropriate to call it the Matriarch of this entire Family!
Yang Kai wore a look of composure as he observed the massive Fourth-Order Nine Palaces Formations that was formed by over 6,000 Small Stone Race Soldiers, but inside he was in a state of complete and utter shock.
A few moments later, Zhang Ruo Xi exhaled a long breath and all the Small Stone Race Soldiers within the Formation orderly dispersed, gathering quietly behind her, waiting for further orders.
In the end, the number of Small Stone Race she could control precisely was less than 10,000, so she could not form a Fifth-Order Nine Palaces Formation.
This was not because her Bloodline was not strong enough, but rather because of her low cultivation. With her concentration being spread out over so many Small Stone Race Soldiers, she eventually hit a limit. In other words, her Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivation was the bottleneck.
However, this was already an eye-popping feat.
“Sir, this is the most I can do,” Although she was exhausted, Zhang Ruo Xi’s eyes were gleaming. She always wanted to know what her limits were; however, she could not test them with a mere 200 Small Stone Race Soldiers.
With Yang Kai’s help, she was able to get an answer today!
This way, she would be able to play a much bigger role on the battlefield than using her own Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm strength.
Moreover, as long as she could advance to the Eighth Order, she had the confidence to form a Fifth-Order Nine Palaces Formations.
Who knows, maybe she might even be able to break through and become a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master one day!
“Well done.” Yang Kai nodded his head in admiration and began to collect his Small Stone Race Army before saying, “After this, I will bring you to a certain place.”
Zhang Ruo Xi did not ask anything and just nodded obediently, “Yes, Sir.”
“Let’s go back. You must be exhausted. When we return, get a good rest. The journey ahead is long and there is no need for you to rush to advance to the Eighth Order.”
Zhang Ruo Xi nodded with a smile.
He manipulated Space Principles and the two figures instantly disappeared.
With the help of the Space Beacon, Yang Kai easily returned to the Purifying Black Ink Battleship with Zhang Ruo Xi. She then went back to her cabin to rest while Yang Kai continued to stand at the helm. He could not help but wonder what interesting things would happen if he took Ruo Xi to that place.
The journey continued through the Black Ink Clan’s territory, and then past the breached Royal Cities before heading into the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield.
Several years later, many strange Celestial Phenomena appeared, bewildering and dazzling the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
The 3,000 Worlds had once been filled with these huge Celestial Phenomena, but almost all of them had been exhausted after millions of years of Human activities. However, in the rear of the Black Ink Battlefield, far away from any activity at all, these Celestial Phenomena had been preserved.
These Celestial Phenomena were all left behind from the beginning of time, when Heaven and Earth first split apart. The large ones were the size of whole Great Territories, while the small ones were even smaller than Universe Worlds, but each Celestial Phenomenon contained its own mysterious power and was extremely dangerous.