All this while, whether it be Yang Kai or other Human Race Masters, they had always been borrowing from some sort of special method to present their Dao Strengths.
For example, when Yang Kai used the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel back then, the Sun and Moon would shine together to give rise to the time Dao Strength, which was then complemented by Space Dao Strength, intertwining with it to form the profound Space-Time Strength.
The power of the Grand Dao was, for anyone, an ethereal existence, yet one that firmly existed. It was the foundation and direction for every Open Heaven Realm Master’s cultivation.
Nobody had ever actually seen directly what the Dao looked like…
It was both a limitation of one’s mind and stereotyped thinking.
However, what Yang Kai saw in the Universe Furnace gave rise to an epiphany. The Dao was not invisible nor shapeless. These mountains, the Infinite Rivers, and even the jellyfish Chaos Entities that he kept in his Small Universe, were all condensations of Shattered Dao Essence, so which one of them was not a manifestation of Dao Strength?
If the Shattered Dao Essence could assume a form, then why not the Grand Daos cultivated by cultivators?
Yang Kai suddenly felt as if he had pushed open the door to a new world, and many new insights were being born in his mind…
After calming himself, Yang Kai began circulating the Space and Time Dao Strengths with all his might to spur on their subtleties.
Even though he had cultivated many Grand Daos, the ones with the highest attainments were the Dao of Time and the Dao of Space. At this moment, he had completely abandoned the Dao Strengths of the other Grand Daos and only used the Dao Strengths of Time and Space in order to protect this place.
Under his careful control, Yang Kai wrapped the Dao Strengths around Ou Yang Lie to block the Chaos Entities who were rushing at him, brushing them away without affecting Ou Yang Lie in the slightest.
One had to have a high level of mastery and control over one’s Grand Dao to achieve such a thing, or else the slightest mistake could mean pulling Ou Yang Lie into it as well.
More and more Chaos Entities were gathering, emerging not just from the mountains, but also from the void. Some were even born out of thin air.
This mountain range itself could technically be considered a Chaos Entity as well, and an extremely massive one at that. Only, it was unlike the other Chaos Entities in that it was completely fixed in form, incapable of thought, and also immobile.
However, the Shattered Dao Essence that was stripped off of it could come together again to give rise to new Chaos Entities.
The pill fragrance and aura emanated from the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill was so strong that a large number of Chaos Entities were spurred into birth within the mountain range that was so full of Shattered Dao Essence.
After being damaged by Dao Strength, the Chaos Entities that came lunging over often dissipated into nothing before they could even get close to Ou Yang Lie. Nonetheless, their numbers were truly too great. Yang Kai could certainly hold down his own end, but if the others were to deplete their strength, then the defensive line would collapse.
Zhan Tian He and the others were getting anxious…
Ou Yang Lie did not have full confidence to be able to refine the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill to begin with, so if he were to be disturbed by the Chaos entities now, it would make things far worse. There may really even be a chance of failing.
However, they had already done everything they could. They were constantly unleashing Dao Strengths, but in desperation, they could only put their hopes in Yang Kai.
He was the pillar of the Human Race who had performed countless miracles, often achieving feats impossible for all others. They only hoped that he had a solution to the situation at hand; otherwise, if even he came up empty in the face of their predicament, there was truly no other hope.
It was at this point that Zhan Tian He and the others saw where the problem lay.
They should not have had Ou Yang Lie refine the Open Heaven Pill here. Any other place in the void would not have been as bad as this place. Without the mass of Chaos Entities being born from the mountains, any one of them could have dealt with this situation easily; in fact, it may not have mattered if there was no one standing guard for Ou Yang Lie then.
This whole situation could only be attributed to poor information on their side, but there was nothing they could do about it as most of the information about the Universe Furnace came from the one witness, Blood Crow. However, to be fair, he was only in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm when he entered the Universe Furnace back then, and he was not from the Cave Heavens or Paradises either. As a rogue character, how could he have known of such confidential information?
Throwing a quick glance over at Yang Kai, they saw him circulating his Dao Strengths and brandishing them freely. His face did not look too panicked, which calmed their anxiety some.
Soon, something unusual caught their attention.
Surprisingly, a mist began forming around Ou Yang Lie…
They had no idea where the hazy mist had come from, but it formed a barrier of protection around him that enveloped Ou Yang Lie into it. Some of the Chaos Entities that failed to be blocked and rushed into the mist would quickly melt away like snowflakes under the blazing Sun, turning into nothing before they could reach Ou Yang Lie.
Zhan Tian He and the rest were shocked!
It was not mist. Clearly, it was a mysterious condensation of Dao Strength.
Instantly, they felt amazed…
[So, Dao Strength can be manifested in such a way?] In all their years of cultivation, nobody had ever told them about that.
And, after tracing the source, Yang Kai turned out to be the cause of the mist!
Though they had no idea what Yang Kai had done to manifest his Dao Strength in such a way, the tense situation from before finally eased up. With the mist of pure Dao Strength as a barrier, the Chaos Entities were simply unable to break through their defence.
The pressure on Zhan Tian he and the others was relieved in an instant, and they were all thoroughly impressed. As expected of this man, he truly was great at creating miracles that nobody else could perform.
As long as Senior Brother Ou Yang Lie did not make any mistakes in refining the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, then there should be no issues.
As they were thinking that, Zhan Tian He and the others were surprised to find that the mist barrier manifested by Dao Strength was still constantly evolving. The Dao Strength around Yang Kai had become increasingly intense, as if the mist barrier was not his ultimate goal.
Sure enough, following Yang Kai’s continuous efforts, the faint particles of the mist as fine as dust began to gather together…
From mist, turning into water…
*Hualala…*
The faint sound seemed to emerge from the depths of their souls, and the moment it did, all of them were taken aback. It seemed like even their own Dao Strengths could not help but resonate in response.
When they looked up, they were immediately met with a shocking sight.
It was not known when a trickle of water had appeared in the mist. It did not seem different from any ordinary stream of water; in fact, this stream of water had come about as a manifestation of the purest Dao Strength.
Water continued to flow, absorbing the surrounding mist and gradually growing in size…
In just a few moments, the stream surrounding Ou Yang Lie disappeared without a trace, replaced by a brook coiling up and constantly spinning around.
It was as if there was a flow of water surrounding Ou Yang Lie and enveloping him into it.
The stream rapidly grew in size, turning into a small river. The river water flowed in a coiling circle, going round and round. There were even some splashes in the river, shooting out instantaneous explosions of Dao Strength. Anytime any Chaos Entity was swept up into the Grand Dao River, they would disappear in an instant as if the water had some kind of devouring effect.
Zhan Tian He and the others slowly stopped what they were doing and just watched the scene in amazement.
They thought that since they had already reached the peak of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm in their cultivation, then even if there were some differences between them and a legendary figure like Yang Kai, he should still not be too far behind them.
It was only at this moment that they realized that Yang Kai belonged in a different league among peak Eighth Orders…
As expected of a living legend!
The Grand Dao River coiled around, protecting Ou Yang Lie. Countless Chaos Entities rushed into it, only to draw up a splash before disappearing into nothingness, unable to disturb Ou Yang Lie inside of it at all.
Yang Kai kept on circulating the Dao Strengths within his own body to keep the Grand Dao River flowing and expressing the profundities of his Dao Strengths, growing the river in volume.
However, it was not long before he reached his limit and could do no more.
Looking over now, the Grand Dao River was now 10 times larger than when it first took shape, and it was coiling around Ou Yang Lie’s body like an awe-inspiring Water Dragon.
Yang Kai had an expression as tranquil as an ancient well, but he was in quite a good mood inside.
This was no surprise as he would have one more trump card up his sleeve from now on besides the Sun and Moon Divine Seal.
[Since it is an expression of the Daos of Time and Space, then let’s call it the Space-Time River…]
The reason he came about with such an idea was because of the Infinite River that he had encountered in the Universe Furnace World.
If the Infinite River could be formed from rich Shattered Dao Essence, then why couldn’t he form a river with his own Dao Strength?
It was from this thought that the Space-Time River was born.
However, there was still an enormous difference between his Space-Time River and the Universe Furnace World’s Infinite River, which was said to run through the entire Universe Furnace World. On the other hand, Yang Kai’s Space-Time River could only exist in a limited area.
At the very root of it was his own attainments in his Grand Daos. If that could be improved, then the volume of the Space-Time River would definitely increase in turn.
This was not something that could be rushed. Regarding the Dao of Time and Dao of Space, Yang Kai was currently only at the eighth level of mastery. If he could one day reach the ninth level, then there would definitely be quantitative and qualitative changes to his Space-Time River.
Of course, the limitations could also be attributed to the fact that Yang Kai had only just been enlightened to such a method. If more time was given to him to study it, familiarize himself with it, and to gain experience using it, then its might and volume would also improve.
The greatest advantage of the Space-Time River over the Sun and Moon Divine Seal was its sustainability. Currently, Yang Kai was using it to protect Ou Yang Lie, but he could naturally use it to trap enemies as well.
If he had this trump card when they were dealing with Meng Que, then they might have been able to kill him rather than just forcing him to retreat.
If there came a day when the Space-Time River’s volume increased to the point where it was on par with the Universe Furnace World’s Infinite River, then Yang Kai would probably become invincible. Whether it was a Royal Lord or a Black Ink Giant Spirit God, as long as he summoned the Space-Time River and dragged his enemies into it, then they would only be able to reflect on their mistakes for the next several hundred thousand years.
After all, the Space-Time River was created purely by manifestations of the Dao Strengths of Space and Time, thus Time and Space in its waters were infinitely variable.
The creation of the Space-Time River fully displayed Yang Kai’s deep understanding towards Dao Strength, and for Zhan Tian He and the others, was this not an opportunity for them to observe and emulate a true Master?
Yang Kai had opened the door to a new world, and at the same time, brought a surprise that gave them great insight.
Of course, whether they were able to manifest their Dao Strength as Yang Kai did would depend on their own enlightenment and their attainments in their own respective Grand Daos.
This was not a simple matter. Yang Kai’s ability to achieve it was naturally through constant enlightenment and polishing of his own Grand Daos, and the countless years of accumulated experience was what led to his current achievement.
But in any case, the Eighth-Order Masters here had now seen another way that Dao Strength could be used.
The Space-Time River that emerged was still nascent, but it was just like a coiled Dragon protecting Ou Yang Lie, silently eliminating all the endless Chaos Entities that were charging in from all directions.
Zhan Tian He and the others were all freed from their task as Yang Kai alone could completely protect Ou Yang Lie through the use of his Space-Time River.
It wasn’t until Zhan Tian He and the others recovered that they were surprised to realize that Thunder Shadow had disappeared at some point in time, and they had no idea where he went.
Time kept on passing and the strong pill aura of the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill kept on bursting out from the barrier of the Space-Time River. Ou Yang Lie’s aura was also flaring madly, though it had reached a kind of limit long ago.
The medicinal efficacies of the Spirit Pill were currently dissolving the barriers of his Small Universe and breaking his shackles; however, there were many problems with Ou Yang Lie’s Small Universe to begin with. If he wanted to make a successful breakthrough, then it would take more than just removing that barrier to succeed. He had to find the perfect moment through breaking the barriers of his Small Universe and achieving equilibrium of his Powers; otherwise, he would risk losing everything.
There was nobody who could help him through this point. He could only rely on himself.
After an unknown period had passed, Yang Kai, who was fully committed to keeping the Space-Time River running, suddenly had a chance of expression.
Ou Yang Lie’s aura, which had long reached its limit, was fluctuating, signalling that he had reached the most critical point of his breakthrough. Whether or not he could advance to the Ninth Order would depend on the final push.
As a veteran Eighth-Order Master who spent countless years fighting the Black Ink Clan, Ou Yang Lie had never been short of determination or drive.
While Yang Kai was still worrying about whether his breakthrough was still proceeding normally, Ou Yang Lie had already circulated his own aura like mad with a determination to succeed or die.
Yang Kai felt deep respect for this old warrior.
The aura at the peak of the Eighth Order floated and sank hundreds of times in an instant, then the limits were smashed through and Ou Yang Lie’s aura rose wildly. The fallout was so unbridled that even the Space-Time River, which Yang Kai kept at a constant coverage, bulged somewhat unstably.
Sensing the movement, Zhan Tian He and the others, who had been tense and apprehensive the whole time, revealed looks of joy.
All of a sudden, they noticed that the number of Chaos Entities swarming over greatly reduced. Some of them even seemed lost and confused having suddenly lost their target.
This was undoubtedly because the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill had been completely refined by Ou Yang Lie and had lost its pill fragrance which had been attracting them.
The Space-Time River was still guarding Ou Yang Lie, and though Zhan Tian He and the others were eager to see what the situation was like inside, they did not dare to intrude and could only look at Yang Kai with enquiring gazes.
Yang Kai simply nodded lightly.
Success!
The clenched hearts of Zhan Tian He and the rest of the group could finally be let go, and if not for the worry of disturbing Ou Yang Lie, they would have not been able to endure the urge to break out in joyous laughter.
Even though they were not the ones who made the breakthrough into the Ninth Order, they were still overwhelmed with the joy of seeing another Old Ancestor join the Human Race, and one who had been born in this Universe Furnace World at that.
There was no Ninth-Order Master among those who entered the Universe Furnace this time, whereas there were many Pseudo-Royal Lords from the Black Ink Clan here. The enemy had superior numbers and strength to begin with, but with the new addition of a Ninth-Order Master, it would definitely have a huge impact on the Human Race’s situation.
After a few moments, the Space-Time River gradually disappeared. It was Yang Kai who had dispersed the energy, allowing a blazing red figure that looked like he was on fire to exit from there, his powerful aura completely unrestrained. Though he was not targeting them deliberately, Zhan Tian He and the others still felt slightly pressured by it.
Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm!
Ou Yang Lie, who had successfully broken through his limits and advanced to the Ninth-Order, was undoubtedly more radiant than before. Even his appearance seemed much haler and youthful.
It was not that he was unwilling to restrain his aura, but rather that he could not as he had just broken through to the Ninth-Order and his cultivation was somewhat unstable.
“Haha, hahahaha!” Ou Yang Lie couldn’t help but laugh as he strode forward, causing Yang Kai to not know whether to laugh or cry at. Ou Yang Lie’s smug attitude always gave off the impression that he was an irreverent brute.
However, he could understand how Ou Yang Lie was feeling. Anyone would be ecstatic if they were able to break through to the Ninth Order.
There was basically no one else alive who had witnessed a Ninth-Order Master’s breakthrough, so this was an event worth celebrating.
“I can’t believe this day would come for me! Hahahaha!” Ou Yang Lie stood akimbo, continuing to laugh boisterously with his head facing the Heavens.
He really never imagined that he would one day, in this lifetime, be able to advance to the Ninth Order.
After countless years of battling with the Black Ink Clan and accumulating countless hidden injuries, the situation in Ou Yang Lie’s Small Universe had become a mess. He had also reached his peak in the Eighth Order and had been stagnating there for some 10,000 years.
He had only one wish in this life, and it was to one day die in battle, but not without dragging along several Masters from the Black Ink Clan to be buried with him to make his death worthwhile.
So, when Mi Jing Lun secretly arranged to have Yang Kai bring him to the Black Ink Battlefield to guard those who were going to collect resources, Ou Yang Lie was more than a little unwilling.
Though collecting resources was still of utmost importance for their Race, Ou Yang Lie had spent his entire life directly fighting against the Black Ink Clan, brushing shoulders with death countless times. It was not his wish to hide around with those who had gone to mine resources.
Fortunately, the escape of the Innate Territory Lords from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction had forced Yang Kai to send him back from the Black Ink Battlefield to make a report, which gave Ou Yang Lie another opportunity to continue fighting.
When the Universe Furnace projection appeared in Azure Sun Territory, filled with bloodthirst for war, Ou Yang Lie had only one plan, and that was to charge into the Universe Furnace, or more likely, die in Azure Sun Territory, paving the way for the rest of his people in blood. Since he was going to be dying in battle anyway, his life would not have been considered a waste.
Many Territory Lords had already died at his hands, so he had already played his part as an Eighth-Order Master.
Ou Yang Lie was lucky to get the chance to enter the Universe Furnace and was originally planning to search for a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill for Yang Kai, but in the end, it was Yang Kai who gave him the opportunity to make a breakthrough. This twist of fate was simply hard to put into words.
But no matter what, the current Ou Yang Lie was a true Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master of the Human Race!
Yang Kai saluted him with a smile, “Congratulations to Senior Brother for advancing to the Ninth Order. Now, we have another Ninth-Order Master among our ranks!”
Zhan Tian He and the others also saluted him, “Congratulations, Senior Brother!”
Ou Yang Lie quickly withdrew his laughter and returned the salute solemnly, “Many thanks, Junior Brothers and Junior Sister, for standing guard for me.”
They all exchanged glances, then there was another burst of laughter.
After laughing, Yang Kai said, “Senior Brother has just advanced. Why not cultivate for a while to stabilize your cultivation?”
The current Ou Yang Lie was just like the Pseudo-Royal Lords. He couldn’t withdraw his own aura. The reason for that was because the Pseudo-Royal Lords were unable to completely control their strength, which was currently also the case for Ou Yang Lie.
However, the difference for the Pseudo-Royal Lords was that that was how it would always be for them, but the same was not true for Ou Yang Lie. As he continued to improve his control over his strength and stabilize his foundation, the situation would improve with time.
Ou Yang Lie waved his hand, “That won’t be necessary. I have been fighting my entire life against the Black Ink Clan. As for stabilizing my cultivation… Just killing a few of them will work. The more I kill, the more my cultivation will stabilize.”
There was nothing wrong with what he said, so Yang Kai smiled, “In that case, Senior Brother, why don’t you look over there?”
Saying so, he pointed in a certain direction.
Ou Yang Lie looked in the direction Yang Kai was pointing and soon raised his brows, “So, there are those who come knocking by themselves to court death?”
As he said so, he had already turned into a red glow, charging over to the other side.
At the same time, a powerful force suddenly erupted over there, seemingly from Masters engaging in a fight.
It was only then that it dawned on Zhan Tian He and the others, “Were there Territory Lords who were lured in too?”
There were several auras currently erupting from the battle in that direction, one of which was Thunder Shadow who had disappeared earlier.
Zhan Tian He and the others could not figure out when Thunder Shadow had disappeared as their attention had been drawn to Yang Kai’s Space-Time River at the time, much less where he had gone.
Only now did they realize that Territory Lords had long been attracted by the commotion, but they just didn’t dare to rush forward and just waited in the shadows, watching.
Naturally, the enemy’s actions had long been noticed by Thunder Shadow and Yang Kai.
It was most likely Yang Kai who noticed them and arranged for Thunder Shadow to sneak over; otherwise, Yang Kai couldn’t pinpoint their location so accurately.
Ou Yang Lie’s advancement to the Ninth Order was undoubtedly noticed by those from the Black Ink Clan, which made them even more afraid to do anything rash.
It was only when Yang Kai revealed their whereabouts that Ou Yang Lie began to move, forcing the enemy to reveal themselves while Thunder Shadow, who had been lurking in ambush, began attacking to tie down the stronger enemies.
As soon as Zhan Tian He finished his exclamation, the commotion grew even greater. Clearly, Ou Yang Lie had entered the battlefield and was fighting with the Territory Lords.
“Let’s go take a look,” Yang Kai said to them before making his way there, unhurried.
Zhan Tian He and the others followed closely behind.
By the time Yang Kai led them over to the battlefield, the fight was mostly over.
The three Territory Lords who had been drawn to the commotion were fighting against Ou Yang Lie with a Three Fortunes Formation, but these Acquired Territory Lords were still limited in strength.
Ou Yang Lie had just broken through so his cultivation was yet to fully stabilize. If it had been three Innate Territory Lords fighting in Formation, then the battle might take a while, but three Acquired Territory Lords were far too weak to fight him.
One by one, their lives were extinguished. When Yang Kai and the others arrived, they just so happened to see Ou Yang Lie killing the last Acquired Territory Lord with one punch.
Thunder Shadow was staying on the sidelines, showing no intention of helping. He seemed to have been slightly injured, likely from when he was pestering the three Territory Lords earlier, making sure to delay the enemy for a moment. However, the other side had naturally fought back and injured him.
Thunder Shadow’s injuries weren’t serious, he had only been distracting the three Territory Lords for a moment before Ou Yang Lie rushed over.
Ou Yang Lie felt so relieved and happy that he had to yell for joy after breaking through his limit and defeating three strong enemies.
If he were still at the peak of the Eighth Order, then he might not have been able to take on the three Territory Lords, who had formed a Battle Formation, on his own, but now that he was in the Ninth Order, it was no effort killing them at all.
After reaching the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm, even going up by a single Order was truly like reaching another layer of the Heavens.
Otherwise, it would not have been possible that the Humans would only have seen so few Ninth-Order Masters among them. Many of the veteran Masters failed to progress once they reached the peak of the Eighth Order due to their own limitations.
Even those like Yang Kai, who could surpass his peers in the same Order, would still be overwhelmed when facing Royal Lords. Apart from escaping through the use of Space Secret Techniques, it was difficult for him to fight such Masters head-on, much less for the other Eighth-Order Masters.
When he saw Yang Kai and the others coming over, Ou Yang Lie suggested, “Junior Brothers and Junior Sister, I will go off searching for more foes. Do you want to come with me?”
Ou Yang Lie was at the height of enthusiasm after just breaking through into the next Order, and he was eager to make his mark in the Universe Furnace World. There were quite a lot of Masters from the Black Ink Clan who came in this time and he was worried about bumping into those Pseudo-Royal Lords previously; but now, Ou Yang Lie was itching to find one of them so that he could practice on them and to stabilize his cultivation through combat.
Yang Kai answered with some amusement, “No need. With Senior Brother’s current strength, I think it will be best for you to move alone. I will bring the Juniors along.”
Ou Yang Lie nodded lightly, “Fair enough.”
Indeed, as Yang Kai said, he was now in the Ninth Order and was experiencing explosive growth in his strength, so it was more suitable for Ou Yang Lie to move separately. As for Zhan Tian He and his group, it would undoubtedly be better for them to go with Yang Kai. They were four Eighth-Order Masters and Thunder Shadow. Even if they did encounter a Pseudo-Royal Lord, they could smoothly use the Five Elements Formation to deal with them. With Yang Kai acting as the Core, they should not be in any danger.
There was no need for them to worry in terms of safety.
Turning his head to look into the depths of the void, Ou Yang Lie smiled, “Big Head Xiang came in as well. I wonder if he has found his own opportunity… I’ll look for him on the way, and if the opportunity arises, I’ll try and obtain a pill for him.”
He had thought about finding a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill for Yang Kai, but it turned out that the latter couldn’t use it. Instead, he became indebted to Yang Kai. Right now, the one amongst the Humans who most urgently needed a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill was undoubtedly Xiang Shan. After building up a comradery through long years of fighting alongside each other, Ou Yang Lie had a firm friendship with him.
If Xiang Shan could obtain an opportunity to advance to the Ninth-Order, then the amount of help he could provide to the Human Race would be much greater than Ou Yang Lie.
Yang Kai cupped his fist, “Then, let me wish Senior Brother great success ahead!”
Ou Yang Lie patted him on the shoulder, “Take care.”
Yang Kai nodded.
Ou Yang Lie had one last laugh before turning into a long stream, instantly moving far away. From a distance, his voice was transmitted to them, saying, “Here I come!”
It was a voice that carried great confidence and freedom.
After seeing him off, Yang Kai called out to the group, “Let’s go.”
Zhan Tian He and the rest nodded and naturally followed Yang Kai’s lead. They were much more relaxed with him compared to when they first entered the Universe Furnace.
When the three of them just entered this place, they were all extremely cautious. Though they were not scared of the ordinary Territory Lords or regular Black Ink Clansmen, they had to worry about meeting a Pseudo-Royal Lord.
Unfortunately, what they feared just had to come true as they really did bump into a Pseudo-Royal Lord in the end. If it weren’t for the lone Ou Yang Lie, who had felt the fallout of their battle and rushed over to provide aid, their situation would have been disastrous.
Now, with the inclusion of Yang Kai and Thunder Shadow, the five Masters could form the Five Elements Formation at any time, which would give them full capability to fight against a Pseudo-Royal Lord if they were to encounter another, so there was no need to act as cautiously as before.
The concept of Time and Space in this Universe Furnace World was extremely strange due to the chaotic Shattered Dao Essence that filled the void. Even after several evolutions, there seemed to be no substantive change. Perhaps more evolutions were required in order to lift the invisible fog of the Universe Furnace World, and then the concept of Time and Space would become clear.
They did not have any clear goal in mind either; in fact, whether it be the Human Race or the Black Ink Clan, they had no specific plan for when they entered the Universe Furnace World.
Their greatest target was undoubtedly the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills, but nobody knew where they were. They could only wander around to see if they could get lucky.
Thanks to his previous efforts, Yang Kai was able to use the power of the Great Sun and Moon Marks to locate the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills, but there were still some limitations. If there was no pill relatively nearby, then there was nothing Yang Kai could do about it.
So, Yang Kai was currently just leading Zhan Tian He and the group around, going wherever they could go with Thunder Shadow perched on his shoulder, faintly circulating his Innate Divine Ability to conceal their movements.
With such cover, even if a Master from the Black Ink Clan were to search around, they would not necessarily find them as long as they weren’t paying too much attention.
Occasionally, they would come across chaotic areas where the Chaos Entities gathered, then they would explore deeper into those places. Though they did not find any Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills, they did find some Ordinary Grade ones.
In contrast to the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills, there were quite a lot of Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills that were produced by the Universe Furnace. As long as one had the will to search for them, they would eventually find a few.
Though these Ordinary Grade pills were unable to help a cultivator break through their innate shackles, they were still very useful. With the help of these pills, Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who had yet to accumulate enough heritage could use them to cut down the time needed for them to stay in retreat, allowing them to break through their bottlenecks sooner and advance to the next Order.
This time, many Seventh-Order Masters had entered the Universe. Yang Kai had even met a few such cultivators previously.
It was predictable that many new Eighth-Order Masters would be created after this trip into the Universe Furnace.
As they were travelling, Yang Kai suddenly felt something and changed directions, rushing off into the distance while sending a Divine Sense transmission to Zhan Tian He and the others, “Get ready!”
Zhan Tian He and the others understood instantly that an enemy had been spotted, so they all prepared themselves for combat.
A short while later, two powerful auras entered the range of their senses. From the aura alone, they could deduce that these were undoubtedly two Territory Lords who had entered the Universe Furnace World together.
It was five against two, and with Yang Kai here, it should not be a difficult fight.
Moreover, with the blessing of Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability, the two Territory Lords did not even notice them until they had gotten quite close.
Zhan Tian He and the others could not help but be amazed by this. The Innate Divine Ability of this Monster Race Great Emperor that came from the Myriad Monsters World was truly a nightmare to guard against. Even with foreknowledge now, if Thunder Shadow wanted to sneak up on them, they might still not be able to detect him.
Most importantly, this Innate Divine Ability could not only be used on himself, but also used to conceal others.
They were glad that a Master of this calibre was on their side. If he were an enemy, then he would really be a headache to deal with.
The two Territory Lords who were travelling together did not notice them until Yang Kai struck out to attack them. They had only just circulated their Black Ink Strength and had yet to make a single move when they suddenly heard a gushing sound.
This puzzled the two Territory Lords greatly. How could there be sounds similar to flowing water in this empty void?
When they turned their heads, they saw a huge river sweeping towards them like a torrent. The two Territory Lords were shocked and instinctually sent out an attack at the river.
However, their efforts were futile. Their attacks filled with condensed Black Ink Strength were like stones sinking into the Great River, rousing no reaction whatsoever. Unimpeded, the river washed over the two Territory Lords, swallowing them up without a trace in an instant.
To the side, Zhan Tian He and the others, who had assumed a combat stance all froze and glanced at each other, feeling a little at a loss as their enemy had literally vanished right in front of them.
In a five-on-two battle, there was already no suspense to the outcome, but a lion still fought rabbits with all its strength. Zhan Tian He and the others had been prepared to launch their attacks together to achieve a quick victory.
How could they have known that Yang Kai would not even allow them to act as he summoned his Grand Dao River directly, sweeping the two Territory Lords into it?
Turning their heads to look at Yang Kai, they saw his brow furrow as Dao Strength surged around his body. Then, it dawned on them that he must be trying to test out his new ability on these two Territory Lords.
The Space-Time River had only just been created by Yang Kai. It had previously shone in battle when used to protect Ou Yang Lie, but that was because of the natural restraint Dao Strength had against Chaos Entities.
Whether or not such techniques could truly be used against all enemies, Yang Kai himself was not sure, so he naturally had to run some experiments with it.
The two Territory Lords did not die immediately and were now flailing about inside the Space-Time River, trying to find a way out.
However, the Space-Time River surged turbulently and was rich with Dao Strength. The interplay of Space and Time greatly impaired the senses of anyone who fell into it other than Yang Kai. Unless a Master was far stronger than Yang Kai, or had extremely high attainments in the Grand Daos of Time and Space, finding their way out was basically impossible.
The two Territory Lords were trapped inside like headless flies. In fact, despite being quite close to each other, they could not even sense each other’s presence at all. They were separated by the ever-changing space.
The Space inside of the Space-Time River was somewhat similar to the Space projected by the Universe Furnace when it first appeared. Things that may seem close were in fact very far away.
Yang Kai observed them for a while and could feel the strengths of the Territory Lord struggling inside of the Space-Time River, which made his brow raise.
He did not use the power of the Space-Time River to its fullest, so the two Territory Lords were simply trapped and not suffering any real crisis.
The result that he could see now was that this new technique had far exceeded his expectations in its ability to contain enemies. He had easily trapped two Territory Lords, so Yang Kai felt that there should be no pressure on him even if he were to swallow up eight to 10 more of them.
Even if it was a Pseudo-Royal Lord, Yang Kai felt that he could trap them; and if he could trap them, he had the chance to kill them. After all, Yang Kai was able to enter the Space-Time River himself and attack the enemies inside.
With that idea in mind, Yang Kai dashed into the Space-Time River.
In just a few moments, there was a splash and Yang Kai leapt out, carrying the body of a Territory Lord devoid of life.
It had only been two breaths from start to finish…
Zhan Tian He and the others were dumbfounded. That was a Territory Lord, so how was Yang Kai able to kill him so easily? It was as if he had casually dove into the water, caught a helpless fish, and come back to roast it.
In fact, with Yang Kai’s current strength, it would not be difficult even if he were to face a couple of Acquired Territory Lords head-on; however, with his new tactics, he could move with even more secrecy. Till death, those Territory Lords wouldn’t even be able to see who killed them.
While Zhan Tian He and the rest watched on in shock, Yang Kai casually tossed the Territory Lord’s corpse aside before circulating his Dao Strengths again, causing a current to surge through the Space-Time River, sending waves splashing in all directions.
A faint glimpse of dense Black Ink Strength could be seen escaping from several places, as well as the figure of the Territory Lord trapped inside.
Clearly, another Territory Lord was struggling to escape from the Space-Time River.
After a few moments, when the Dao Strengths receded, the Space-Time River disappeared, and the Territory Lord trapped inside was revealed. Only, it did not take long before the Territory Lord’s vitality was burned out as well. Looking at him, his body seemed to not have a single piece of healthy skin, as if he had been cut a billion times with a sharp blade. Even more bizarre was the fact that the Territory Lord gave off a very, very old feeling, as if he had lived for hundreds of thousands of years before he died…
Zhan Tian He and the others watched in awe at the river formed out of the Dao Strengths of Space and Time, which was truly too bizarre.
After trying it out on the two Territory Lords, Yang Kai was able to make a general assessment of his new technique. The Space-Time River was certainly more useful in terms of trapping and containing opponents, while the Sun and Moon Divine Seal had greater explosive killing power.
In terms of lethality, the two were more or less the same, but the consumption was rather for the Space-Time River; after all, Yang Kai had to constantly circulate his Dao Strengths in order to keep it flowing.
However, it was still within a tolerable range and would not be a great problem as long as the battles did not drag on.
The party then continued on their way.
As time passed, they would occasionally gain a harvest, and if they encountered any Black Ink Clansmen, they naturally wouldn’t have a good ending. If they encountered any cultivators, alone or those in small groups, Yang Kai would take them in temporarily until they gathered enough with the ability to protect themselves before leaving them to form their own groups.
After all, it was not a good idea to gather too many people in one place. While it would ensure their safety, the harvests would also lessen.
In this way, Yang Kai’s group never exceeded 12 in total.
Zhan Tian He and the others never thought that fighting with the Black Ink Clan could be so simple and easy. They had also fought with Masters of the Black Ink Clan, like Territory Lords, on each of the Great Territory Battlefields, and though it was not difficult for them to defeat an Acquired Territory Lord with their strength, killing one was never easy.
However, no Territory Lord so far had been able to escape alive with Yang Kai around. Every last one of them were cleanly killed off.
There was only once that they encountered a Pseudo-Royal Lord moving along with several Territory Lords where both sides charged at each other with full momentum. However, after just one exchange of blows, the Pseudo-Royal Lord was taken aback. After only fighting for a few breaths, the Pseudo-Royal Lord fled in a hurry, but Yang Kai would not relent. He chased down their target with a group of Masters in tow until finally injuring the Pseudo-Royal Lord at some cost to themselves before giving up the chase.
Zhan Tian He and the others naturally understood what Yang Kai was trying to do. Pseudo-Royal Lords were the greatest threats to the Humans in the Universe Furnace World, so even if they were unable to kill them in battle, they had to make sure to injure them to cut down the combat strength of their opponent, lest the Pseudo-Royal Lord cause trouble for the other Human Race Masters.
Those from the Black Ink Clan had difficulty recuperating in this place, so getting injured inside of the Universe Furnace was extremely undesirable for them.
If not for the fact that there were still several Territory Lords with the Pseudo-Royal Lord, Zhan Tian He and the others had to wonder whether Yang Kai could keep him trapped here as well.
The Pseudo-Royal Lord escaped, but the Territory Lords with him were all killed, so it wasn’t a total loss.
This trip had been very fruitful both in battle successes and material harvest.
Those from the Black Ink Clan had also collected some Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills, so after they were cut down, these naturally went into Yang Kai and the others’ pockets.
The only unfortunate part for Yang Kai was that he neither encountered his Human Self nor sensed the existence of another Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill.
For him, his only goal during this trip into the Universe Furnace was to reunite with his other Selves and find Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills, of which he had already obtained one, leading to Ou Yang Lie’s breakthrough to the Ninth Order. However, his Human Self was nowhere to be found. Yang Kai had also checked with the other Masters for any news about Fang Tian Ci, but it was to no avail.
They travelled around in the Universe Furnace, experiencing 2 more of the Grand Dao evolutions, and as that number continued to rise, so did the frequency of their encounters with both the enemy and their own people.
This was undoubtedly proof that the space inside this world was gradually becoming clear and not seemingly boundless as it felt before. Perhaps, just as Blood Crow’s information stated, after the Universe Furnace Grand Dao evolved nine times, this Universe Furnace World would reveal its true self.
Several torn-up bodies floated around in the deep and boundless void, alongside some broken artifacts scattered around next to them. One of the corpses had its eyes wide open. Though the body was lifeless, he still stood upright, glaring angrily ahead of him as if he was fighting with all his might even after death.
Besides that, there were even fragments of Small Universes floating around the void with Black Ink Strength lingering around them. Most likely, these fragments were from these people willingly sacrificing them.
Yang Kai and the rest stared at the scene in front of them with heavy hearts.
During this time, they had constantly been taking in other Human Race Masters before they broke up into smaller groups. Now, other than Thunder Shadow, they had five members.
Zhan Tian He and the original two were still with him, while the newcomers were Lin Wu, a recently-joined straggler, and a veteran Eighth-Order Master from Xi He Paradise, Tian Xiu Zhu, an old acquaintance of Yang Kai.
Lin Wu was pretty lucky. He had entered at the peak of the Seventh Order and obtained several Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills in this Universe Furnace World, then found a place to refine and advance to the Eighth Order. It was the reverberations from his advancement that were picked up by Yang Kai and his group, who just happened to be passing by. When they went over to investigate the situation, they had also taken him into their group.
Otherwise, with Masters from the two sides moving around in groups now, Lin Wu would not be in a good position if he ever encountered any enemies moving alone.
The reason he was able to safely refine the Spirit Pill and advance by himself without the interruption of any enemies was undoubtedly because he was extremely lucky; however, at this moment, the face of the newly advanced Eighth-Order Master did not look the slightest bit happy. Instead, he was sad and angry.
There were Eighth-Order Masters who died here, and more than one at that. Judging from the remnants of this battle, there were at least four or five Eighth-Order Masters who died here.
In this Universe Furnace World where Masters from the two sides gathered, every moment was a life-or-death struggle and fights could not be avoided.
Yang Kai and the others had also encountered many battlefields left behind after great fights had broken out, including the bodies of those from the two sides, who had died in battle.
However, it was a first for them to see as many as five Eighth-Order Masters dead in a single fight.
After all, the gathering of that number was enough for a Four Symbols or Five Elements Formation. Even if such a group encountered a Pseudo-Royal Lord, they were not without a fighting chance.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords were more careful in these special conditions, and unless they were not fully confident, they would not fight with such recklessness.
“There had to be at least two Pseudo-Royal Lords, or one accompanied by several Territory Lords,” Zhan Tian He contemplated solemnly, “Some of the Eighth-Order Masters must have just advanced recently, so their cultivation had yet to stabilize, which is why their Small Universes got easily corrupted by Black Ink Strength and they had to sacrifice parts of them in order to avoid being fully corrupted.”
The fragments of Small Universes left behind here had been sacrificed by the Human Race Masters during battle, which also formed the basis of Zhan Tian He’s speculation that they were newly-advanced Eighth-Order Masters.
Even if the Eighth-Order Masters could not best the Pseudo-Royal Lords, their Small Universes would not be so easily corrupted by Black Ink Strength. Moreover, most of them had brought Evil Purging Divine Spears. The Purifying Light sealed within them could be used at critical moments in order to disperse the Black Ink Strength in their Small Universes.
Being forced to sacrifice part of their Small Universe meant that the heritage of their Small Universes as Eighth-Order Masters was still not enough, and even the Purifying Light sealed within the Evil Purging Divine Spears used was not enough.
Otherwise, who would sacrifice a part of their own Small Universe in a battle like this? That would only cause their strength to decrease, and they would die even faster.
Yang Kai was silent.
There was nothing wrong with Zhan Tian He’s assessment, but there could be another possibility! However, it was hard to glimpse any more clues just from looking at the remnants left on this battlefield. The Shattered Dao Essence that filled this void had long washed those clues away.
If it was the other possibility though, then things would be troublesome.
Even Yang Kai’s team could face the danger of losing their lives at any moment.
“We should lay them to rest.” When he saw the Eighth-Order Master who was still glaring furiously even in death, Yang Kai sighed. From his appearance, this must be one of the rising stars that did not die on the Great Territory Battlefields, but died here instead.
Red-eyed, Liu Fei Fei immediately went forward and stored the tattered corpses. She had participated in the war a long time and it was not as if she was new to seeing death. After so many years fighting on the frontline, she had seen countless familiar faces fade away, yet she could not help but feel saddened and pained every time she saw such a scene.
She often wondered why the Black Ink Clan existed, and how great it would be if they had never been.
But the Heavens did not give them what they wished for. They were born in turbulent times, living in the midst of the confrontation between the two Races. In order to rise up and gain control of the Universe, then facing death was inescapable!
Just like with the Eighth-Order Masters who died here. They did not even know who they were killed by, let alone where to seek revenge.
Every cultivator was mentally prepared to face death when they entered the Universe Furnace World, as their Seniors had warned.
Once one entered the battlefield, life or death was up to destiny, and success or failure was up to the Heavens!
After cleaning up the battlefield and collecting the remains of the Eighth-Order Masters who died here, the group continued on their way in silence and with heavy hearts.
This time, many from the two Races had entered the Universe Furnace World, especially the Black Ink Clan. There were 20 Pseudo-Royal Lords alone, possibly more.
While teams like Yang Kai’s were hunting down those from the Black Ink Clan, weren’t the Pseudo-Royal Lords also killing Open Heaven Realm Masters?
The peace agreement that had been maintained for thousands of years had been completely shattered by the arrival of the Universe Furnace. Now it was inevitable for a massive all-out war to break out between the two sides. The real battle that would determine the fate of both Races had already begun, which made the battle in the Universe Furnace World that much more important.
If the Human Race could cull more Masters from the Black Ink Clan here and gain more opportunities, it would be a great help to their situation outside; otherwise, it would give their enemy an even greater advantage.
In the past, whenever the Universe Furnace appeared, the Masters that entered it would fight for not just opportunities, but also the fates of their Race!
Fortunately, this time was a special case. As all of the Black Ink Clansmen which were originally occupying the Black Ink Battlefield had been wiped out, destroying all their previous knowledge and intelligence. As such, the Black Ink Clan was completely clueless about anything relating to the Universe Furnace. In comparison, the Humans had much more information in their possession.
However, this superiority in intelligence was still not enough to determine the final course of this event. The Humans still had to fight hard for victory.
This time, nine Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills were produced in the Universe Furnace, and currently, the only one Yang Kai had found was the one refined by Ou Yang Lie. The remaining eight were still nowhere in sight.
It would be impossible for the Human Race to obtain all nine pills, a fact Yang Kai understood from the beginning.
Without even mentioning the Black Ink Clan, the native Chaos Spirit Clan were the ones with a unique advantage when it came to obtaining the Open Heaven Pills. The Chaos Spirit Clan were spread throughout the entire Universe Furnace World, so chances were high that wherever those Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills drifted off to, the Chaos Spirit Clan would be the first to find them.
Did Yang Kai not also snatch the Spirit Pill he found previously from those jellyfish Chaos Entities?
Now that only eight of the pills were left, it was very possible for any one of them to have already fallen into the possession of the Chaos Spirit Clan. If the Humans or the Black Ink Clan were able to get to them in time, then they might be able to fight for them, but if they were too late, and the pills were refined by the Chaos Spirit Clan, then it was useless even if they found them.
So, even from the start, Yang Kai felt that the Human Race should be able to secure four of the nine Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills, which would still be a great harvest. Naturally, the more the better. If they could get five or six, Yang Kai could not complain.
He still had the Great Sun and Moon Marks, but finding the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills was still not going to be easy; otherwise, he would not have found only a single one until now.
While Yang Kai was thinking about how he could look for the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills with greater efficiency, he suddenly felt something which caused him to turn and look in another direction, his expression brightening.
This truly was wearing out iron shoes while seeking one’s feet! He was just wondering how he was going to find the remaining Open Heaven Pills when the Great Sun and Moon Marks caught onto a hint of one!
Had fortune come so suddenly that he couldn’t even block it?
Thunder Shadow, who was perched on his shoulder, could sense his delight and asked, “What did you find?”
“A Spirit Pill!” Yang Kai gave him a simple answer before sending a Divine Sense message to everyone, “Hide your presence and follow me!”
Saying so, he took off and flew in that direction. Everyone also concealed their auras in a hurry while Thunder Shadow activated his Innate Divine Ability and enveloped everyone in it.
In the silent void, the group of six Humans and one leopard moved silently, like shadows.
After a few moments, the joyful look on Yang Kai’s face gradually faded away and became serious.
He could vaguely sense Masters fighting up ahead, but since it was still far away, he could not probe the situation, which made it hard to ascertain the strength of both sides.
However, despite the distance, the fallout could still be felt, which showed how extraordinary both fighters were.
[Is it a Pseudo-Royal Lord and an Eighth-Order Master? No! There are only two fighters. If it truly was an Eighth-Order Master against a Pseudo-Royal Lord, they would surely be no match for them. It’s simply impossible for such a fight to be so intense.]
As they continued to move, Yang Kai’s face turned increasingly grave.
At this point, Tian Xiu Zhu, the veteran Eighth-Order Master with the greatest heritage among them next to Yang Kai, sensed it too. He could not help but throw a suspicious glance at Yang Kai. He found it a little hard to understand how Yang Kai was able to detect the unusual situation here and rush over from so far away.
As they drew closer, Zhan Tian He and the others noticed it too. All of them were alert, circulating the World Force inside their bodies and waiting for Yang Kai to give the order for them to attack the enemy.
This was how things went thus far. They would go into battle, winning each fight. There were many Territory Lords who had already died by their hands.
However, Yang Kai suddenly stopped and looked gravely at the source of the disturbance. A golden slit appeared in his left eye which looked both bizarre and majestic at the same time.
The scene that entered his eye made his heart heavy beyond measure.
The situation he had feared most had appeared, and it was happening right before his eyes!
Tian Xiu Zhu also noticed that something wasn’t right, but he did not have Eye Techniques like Yang Kai, so he could not see what was going on in the distance. After a moment, he could not resist the urge to ask, “Junior Brother Yang, who are the ones fighting?”
The shockwaves from the battle were too intense. Before they had even got close, the Shattered Dao Essence here had already been thrown into disorder. It gave the impression that it was a Ninth-Order Master fighting a Royal Lord!
Yang Kai sighed, “It’s a Royal Lord fighting a Chaos Spirit King!”
Everyone was shocked, but then they drew in their breaths, looking at Yang Kai in disbelief.
Yang Kai chuckled bitterly, feeling a headache coming on, “I was hoping that I had seen it wrongly, too, but it is not one of our Masters fighting there!”
There was nothing wrong with Blood Crow’s information. There were indeed powerful existences in the Universe Furnace World like the Chaos Spirit Kings, who stood on equal footing with the Ninth-Order Masters and Royal Lords.
It must have been luck that they had not encountered one thus far, which was an indication that such existences were rare to begin with and were hard to find.
Yet, they would never have expected to bump into one here!
Moreover, Yang Kai had also revealed another piece of information that was even more difficult for them to accept than the presence of the Chaos Spirit King.
“The Black Ink Clan… has managed to create a Royal Lord here?” Zhan Tian He’s face looked extremely grim.
Mo Yu was the only Royal Lord left in the Black Ink Clan after the war in the Barren Territory, so no Royal Lords had entered the Universe Furnace this time. The strongest among them were the Pseudo-Royal Lords that they had created as a temporary measure.
However, a Royal Lord had appeared here now, which obviously meant that they had become one in the Universe Furnace World. In other words, this guy had obtained a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill and refined it.
Indeed, the Black Ink Clan was lacking in information about the Universe Furnace, but the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills were amazing treasures. One of them landing into the hands of the Black Ink Clan was one thing, but they may not even have that much of an interest in them as their main goal in coming here was to kill the Humans and to ruin their opportunities to prevent new Ninth-Order Masters from being.
However, since such a pill landed into their hands, they could naturally understand its profundity. Just by refining one, one would have the opportunity of advancing and becoming a Royal Lord.
Many of the Black Ink Clan’s Masters had entered this time, so there were bound to be lucky ones who could gain such opportunities, and this Royal Lord must be one such example.
Yang Kai was drawn here by the reaction of his Great Sun and Moon Marks. In other words, there was a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill here, and in fact, after he used his Demon Eye of Annihilation, he saw not only the two figures exchanging blows, but also the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill.
Multi-coloured light was emanating every so often from within a Chaos Entity without a fixed form. What could that be if not a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill?
The Royal Lord must have spotted the opportunity and come to snatch it, but he did not expect there to be a Chaos Spirit King standing guard over this place. Thus, the two got into a huge fight. Under Yang Kai’s observation, the Chaos Spirit King was much stronger than the Royal Lord, and it was very clear that it had the upper hand in this fight.
That was understandable though.
The Royal Lord had only just broken through, so like Ou Yang Lie, he must not have familiarized himself with his newfound power yet and was unable to bring out his full strength. However, it was different for this Chaos Spirit King who became one, at the earliest, when the Universe Furnace last appeared.
The time they had spent in this realm was vastly different, and so their strengths naturally could not be compared.
Moreover, there was not just a lone Chaos Spirit King here. There were many other Chaos Spirit Clansmen who had taken on defined forms! They took on all sorts of different shapes, some appearing like Humans, while others looked not much different from the Black Ink Clan. Layer by layer they gathered, protecting the Chaos Entity that had swallowed the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, awaiting the birth of a new Chaos Spirit King.
“It’s him!” Liu Fei Fei suddenly exclaimed.
Everyone was confused, but Liu Fei Fei explained, “Our comrades that died back there were most likely victims of this Royal Lord!”
It was then that Zhan Tian He and the others finally realized and Tian Xiu Zhu nodded in agreement, “It’s highly likely.”
Yang Kai was unsurprised. In fact, he had suspected a Royal Lord had appeared among the Black Ink Clan when he saw the traces on that battlefield.
With five Eighth-Order Masters joining hands, unless they were met with a truly formidable enemy, there was no way they would have been wiped out. A single Pseudo-Royal Lord would not have been able to achieve that.
However, if it were a true Royal Lord, then that was a different matter.
There were no useful clues left at the battlefield, so it was hard to be absolutely certain, but now that he saw this Royal Lord, everything became clear.
The Eighth-Order Masters must have encountered this Royal Lord, and even in their Battle Formation, they were no match for him and were cut down. After that, the Royal Lord came to this place and discovered the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill.
Currently, one Royal Lord had been created with the help of the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills, which meant one less Ninth-Order Master for the Human Race. With this, the advantage gained by Ou Yang Lie’s advancement to the Ninth-Order has also been lost.
Right now, they had accounted for three of the nine Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills. One was used by Ou Yang Lie to advance to the Ninth-Order, another was used by this Royal Lord, and the third was currently inside a Chaos Entity, which was in the midst of refining it.
Of the nine Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills, six were still missing, and it was uncertain how many of these six the Humans could seize; therefore, no matter what, this third Open Heaven Pill they had found could not land in the hands of the Black Ink Clan. Otherwise, if another Royal Lord was created, then the situation of the Human Race in the Universe Furnace would become extremely difficult.
However, seizing the pill was an exceptionally difficult thing to do as there was a Chaos Spirit King standing guard here. Furthermore, there were dozens of Chaos Spirit Clansmen also present.
This place was most likely one of the gathering spots of the Chaos Spirit Clan since Yang Kai had never seen so many together like this before.
They were not like the stumbling Chaos Entities without consciousness or even a stable form. During this trip, Yang Kai had encountered many Chaos Spirits with the group he was leading, and if a comparison was to be made, the ordinary Chaos Spirit Clansmen were able to exert strength around the Human Race’s equivalent of the Seventh-Order to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
One or two was nothing to worry about, but several dozen gathered in one place would be difficult to handle.
Looking over from where he stood, Yang Kai realized that the Royal Lord that the Chaos Spirit King was fighting seemed as if he were riding a tiger. He had attained this identity as a Royal Lord through the help of a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill produced in the Universe Furnace World; thus, he knew just how amazing these pills were and was determined to snatch another. Clearly, he could not do much here, but even so, it would be a great shame just to give up, so he continued fighting with the Chaos Spirit King.
Only after reaching a safe place where they could no longer feel the shockwaves of the battle did Yang Kai speak, “Senior Brother Tian, I’ll leave the Junior Brothers and Sisters with you for now. Take them away quickly, as far away as possible.”
Yian Xiu Zhu nodded, “What is Junior Brother planning to do?”
[Could he be thinking of stirring up trouble while the Chaos Spirit King and Royal Lord are fighting?] That was not a sound idea as a battle between two peak Masters was not one that an ordinary person could just step between, not even Yang Kai.
He thought about dissuading him, but Yang Kai added, “There’s a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill there, I have to snatch it!”
Yian Xiu Zhu had to choke back down his words when he heard that while Tian Xiu Zhu was stunned and asked, “There’s a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill there? Did Junior Brother see it?”
Everyone else was also itching with excitement. A Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill was basically a guaranteed ticket to becoming a Ninth-Order Master, how could they not be moved?
Yang Kai nodded, “Currently, the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill is wrapped inside of a Chaos Entity that’s refining it; moreover, there’s at least several dozen Chaos Spirit Clansmen standing guard nearby. The Royal Lord must have come to fight with the Chaos Spirit King because he noticed the Spirit Pill there.”
“Several dozen…” Everyone drew in a cold breath.
They had an idea of what the Chaos Spirit Clan was capable of, so with several dozen of them gathered together, they were going to take a lot of work to deal with.
“No wonder!” Tian Xiu Zhu exclaimed in realization. He was wondering why the Royal Lord would clash with the Chaos Spirit King over there. It turned out it was because of the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, “In that case, we will act together with Junior Brother. At least, we can take care of each other.”
Zhan Tian He and the others nodded in unison.
If they wanted to seize this pill from the hands of several dozen Chaos Spirits, if they were not careful, they would land themselves in grave danger. If they were to move together with Yang Kai though, they could at least use a Battle Formation to split up the pressure, which would be much better than Yang Kai having to fight alone.
Yang Kai shook his head, “No. While we may have a higher chance of success if we all go, it will also make us a bigger target. Even if we did manage to seize the Spirit Pill, we may not be able to leave unscathed. It will be easier for me to move about if I just bring along Thunder Shadow.”
Tian Xiu Zhu pondered on his words before nodding lightly, “That is indeed true.”
Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability concealed his presence perfectly. With the blessing of this Divine Ability, he and Yang Kai could approach the pill unnoticed, and with Yang Kai’s skills, he was very likely to be able to seize the Spirit Pill if he burst out and caused a stir. With his proficiency in the Dao of Space, he could then make a speedy escape.
If Yang Kai brought all of them along with him though, his mobility would be seriously hampered.
After understanding this point, Tian Xiu Zhu wore a serious look, “You must be careful, Junior Brother. Seize the pill if you can, but if it’s too risky, then don’t force it. As long as there are green hills, there is no fear of lack of timber. Junior Brother’s safety is extremely important to the future of the Human Race!”
Yang Kai nodded, “I will keep it in mind.”
Tian Xiu Zhu cupped his fist to Yang Kai, then he turned to Zhan Tian He and the rest, “Let’s go.”
Without delay, Zhan Tian He and the rest cupped their fists in farewell to Yang Kai before leaving.
After watching the five of them depart, Yang Kai turned around again, and with Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability activating, he quietly crept towards the battlefield.
As for the safety of Tian Xiu Zhu and his group, there was little need to worry since they could form the Five Elements Formation at any time. As long as they did not bump into a Royal Lord in the Universe Furnace World, or a large group of enemy Masters, they would naturally be in no danger. Even if they did bump into a Pseudo-Royal Lord, they should be able to put up a fight.
A while later, Yang Kai opened his Demon Eye of Annihilation once more after approaching the edge of the battlefield and looked in from outside.
It had to be said that Thunder Shadow’s stealth Innate Divine Ability truly was exceptional. Even at this distance, Yang Kai would very likely have been noticed by the two fighting Masters if he were alone, but under the cover of Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability, neither the Chaos Spirit King nor the Royal Lord were aware that somebody was spying on them.
Yang Kai watched quietly and did not rush into action.
Soundlessly, Thunder Shadow sent his voice over, “How confident are you?”
He was Yang Kai’s Monster Self after all. Though he grew up in a different environment and had different life experiences, causing his personality to differ slightly, he still inherited some of Yang Kai’s characteristics.
Despite how simply Yang Kai had described the plan to Tian Xiu Zhu and the rest, as if the Spirit Pill would fall into his hands with barely any effort, the chances of succeeding were slim from his perspective.
Sure enough, Yang Kai’s response was “Less than 30%!”
The difficulty of seizing the pill lay not in grabbing the pill itself, but rather dealing with the dozens of Chaos Spirits that were in the way; but Yang Kai did not necessarily have to fight them.
With the help of Thunder Shadow’s Divine Ability, he just had to reach a certain distance, then he should be able to seize the Spirit Pill.
The difficult part of this task was going to be how he was going to escape after seizing the pill.
The Royal Lord was currently engaged in a fierce fight with the Chaos Spirit King, seemingly planning to settle their life and death here, but if an outside force were to dive in and seize the pill, Yang Kai was sure that they would immediately join hands to deal with him.
Yang Kai did not even have the confidence to be able to face one top Master, much less two of them, and even the slightest blunder or delay could cost him his life.
The Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill was indeed important, but to put his life on the line to seize it was still not worth it.
Hearing this, Thunder Shadow felt his head throb. Less than 30% was too risky in his opinion and he couldn’t help but worry, “Then, what should we do?”
“We’ll wait!” Yang Kai gave a succinct answer.
That puzzled Thunder Shadow, “Wait for what?”
Yang Kai shot a glare at him, which caused Thunder Shadow to become annoyed, “I’m your Monster Self, so in a sense, I’m you. Don’t look at me as if I’m an idiot because that’s just calling yourself an idiot.”
Yang Kai choked for a moment because what Thunder Shadow said was true.
He could only explain patiently, “Look at those two who are fighting. Who do you think is stronger?”
Thunder Shadow answered, “Naturally, it’s the Chaos Spirit King. Is there even a need to ask?”
There was no doubt that the Chaos Spirit King occupied the absolute upper hand in this battle. The Royal Lord was basically pinned down and beaten in the fierce exchange of blows as his rich Black Ink Strength splattered out.
“Then, do you think that there’s an opportunity that the Royal Lord can seize the pill?”
“Of course not!” He could not get by the Chaos Spirit King, much the dozens of Chaos Spirits protecting the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill.
If Yang Kai had a 30% chance of sneakily achieving his plan, then the Royal Lord, who had already exposed himself, had a 0% chance at all unless he could overpower the Chaos Spirit King.
“If he doesn’t have a chance, why does he continue pestering his opponent rather than retreat obediently? He’s also taking a huge risk fighting the Chaos Spirit King here, and it would not be a pleasant experience for him to be wounded.”
Thunder Shadow instantly realized something, “You mean…”
Yang Kai grinned, “Since he cannot seize the pill from the Chaos Spirit Clan but continues to fight without retreating, I’m guessing there’s a very high chance that he has already called for help.”
“He’s repairing the bridge on the surface while secretly crossing the river!” Thunder Shadow finally understood, and his amber eyes brightened a little, gleaming as if he recalled one of his previous encounters.
This was exactly the same thing he experienced when he was fighting the Territory Lords for the first Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill. The Territory Lords had called their allies using the miniature Black Ink Nest they brought with them, and if Yang Kai had not bumped into him by chance, he would have had to flee.
“There may already be Masters from the Black Ink Clan hiding nearby, we just haven’t noticed them.” As he said so, Yang Kai scanned the depths of the void with his golden cross left eye, but he did not find anything.
Thunder Shadow, on the other hand, looked extremely smug, “As expected of myself, to be able to see through things so thoroughly.”
Yang Kai was speechless. With his Monster Self’s boasting, it seemed to not have inherited much of his wisdom, but he could understand; after all, he was from the Monster Race…
The battle between the two Masters went on for who knows how long, and it was not known how much longer it would continue for. Yang Kai did not stay idle, however. It was the first time he encountered a Chaos Spirit King in the Universe Furnace World, and there was even a Master on a similar level fighting it. It was a good opportunity for him to observe their fighting styles and assess their strengths and weaknesses.
Soon, Yang Kai noticed something.
Rather than calling this Chaos Spirit King a peculiar living being, one might as well call it an aggregate of Grand Daos. Its body was purely an amalgamation of various Dao Strengths, formed into a humanoid shape with its own consciousness. The way it fought its enemy was also extremely simple, which was to circulate the various Dao Strengths in its body and smash them into its opponent.
It was simple, yet fierce!
Every blow was Heaven-shattering and Earth-shaking, causing various cracks in the void as it thrust the surrounding Dao Essence into disorder. Inwardly, Yang Kai weighed the odds of how things would go if he were to call Ou Yang Lie over, but there was a great chance that the latter would not be a match for this Chaos Spirit King either.
The rich Dao Essence that filled the Universe Furnace World was the source of the Chaos Spirit King’s power, and it seemed that as long as it was in this World, it would never tire.
After observing for a long time, Yang Kai concluded that this Chaos Spirit King was extremely difficult to deal with, and if he wanted to kill it, then he would have to cut off its connection with the World to deprive it of its source of power.
The Royal Lord clearly noticed this too, so he kept trying to pour out his Black Ink Strength so that he could use it as a barrier to isolate his enemy and stop it from recovering its strength; however, it was all for nought. The Chaos Spirit King was stronger than him to begin with, so it was all the Royal Lord could do to keep himself alive under his opponent’s attacks. How would he be able to do anything else?
The two continued to fight fervently with each other.
All of a sudden, the Royal Lord’s body exploded into a giant Black Ink Cloud that scattered in all directions and he escaped just like that.
The Chaos Spirit King’s Dao Essence shuddered for a moment, then it broke up the Black Ink Clouds, but the true body of its enemy was no longer anywhere to be found. However, it did not give chase and just stood there with an expressionless face, guarding its clansmen behind it.
Yang Kai was dumbfounded.
[Was my guess incorrect? How can that be? If the Royal Lord was not waiting for backup, then why would he keep on struggling against the Chaos Spirit King? What’s more, the Black Ink Clan can communicate with each other through the use of their miniature Black Ink Nests, so why would he not gather help?]
However, the Royal Lord had indeed retreated, which put Yang Kai and Thunder Shadow in an awkward position. First of all, with the cover of Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability, one man and one leopard were lurking not too close from the battlefield, but definitely not far either. The reason why they were not caught previously was naturally because the Chaos Spirit King’s attention was being focused on the Royal Lord.
Now that the Royal Lord escaped, the Chaos Spirit King was no longer restrained, and with what happened previously, even the slightest breeze might cause the Chaos Spirit King to go on alert.
This caused the two of them to not even have the courage to move a single muscle, and Thunder Shadow had even pushed his Divine Ability to its limits before looking over with a questioning expression on its face, which clearly asked, ‘what should we do now?’.
At this moment, he did not even dare to use his Divine Sense to transmit his voice.
Yang Kai had a gloomy look on his face. With how things were now, if he were to choose to withdraw here, then he would undoubtedly expose himself, which would not matter as the Chaos Spirit King was unlikely to come after him, but then his plan to snatch the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill would come to naught.
The pill was right in front of his eyes, so how could Yang Kai be willing to retreat here? This was the key that would allow an Eighth-Order Master to advance to the Ninth-Order!
Yang Kai still believed that his assumption had been right, and that the Royal Lord had withdrawn because his backup was not able to arrive swiftly.
Since his backup was late, there was no point in the Royal Lord wasting his strength here. It would not be too late to wait for reinforcements before making a move again.
So, it did not take very long for Yang Kai to make up his mind to continue waiting! If that Royal Lord came back, it would prove that his assumption was correct, and when that time came, he would have more wriggle room to carry out his plans.
Time gradually passed unnoticed.
After a certain amount of time, Thunder Shadow was starting to feel as if he could no longer keep up his Innate Divine Ability. If that failed, then there was a great chance they would be revealed under the senses of the Chaos Spirit King.
Just as Yang Kai was considering whether or not they should retreat for the time being, his expression had a slight change. From the direction the Royal Lord escaped in previously, an undisguised powerful aura was rising, which immediately drew the attention of the Chaos Spirit King who had remained on guard this whole time.
Immediately afterwards, a massive Black Ink Cloud rushed over from that direction, reaching the Chaos Spirit King in the blink of an eye, and a fight broke out once more.
[He’s back!]
Sure enough, the Royal Lord that ran away previously came back. Relieved, Yang Kai shot a glance at Thunder Shadow, who also breathed a sigh of relief and took this opportunity to catch his breath.
With his previous experience fighting the Chaos Spirit King, the Royal Lord was clearly being much more cautious than before. Though he was still no match for the Chaos Spirit King, it wasn’t easy for the Chaos Spirit King to just defeat him either.
As the battle raged on, Yang Kai turned in another direction. There, another powerful aura entered his senses, an aura that was not any weaker compared to the Royal Lord who had shown himself.
This aura was just like a lamp in the dark of night, extremely conspicuous, which reminded Yang Kai of the Pseudo-Royal Lords.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords who did not have full control of their powers found it impossible to contain their auras, so hiding had never been one of their strong suits.
This was, without a doubt, a Pseudo-Royal Lord.
From what Yang Kai could sense, there were even a few Territory Lords gathered around the Pseudo-Royal Lord.
These were undoubtedly the helpers that the Royal Lord called for, which was exactly what Yang Kai had suspected. The Royal Lord was simply trying to distract the Chaos Spirit King in a fight as his other companions took the opportunity to seize the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill.
Without being able to conceal himself, the Pseudo-Royal Lord rushed straight into the gathering of Chaos Spirits with several Territory Lords in tow. When the Chaos Spirit King noticed this, its attacks against the Royal Lord became even more ruthless. It clearly intended to force its opponent to back off quickly. Though the Chaos Spirit King was stronger than the Royal Lord, the difference was not enough to one-sidedly end their fight. Meanwhile, its opponent was putting their all into defending, getting them to back off wouldn’t be easy.
While the Chaos Spirit King raged, the Pseudo-Royal Lord and the Territory Lords stormed into the gathering of Chaos Spirits. A dozen or so Chaos Spirits stayed back to protect their clansman refining the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill while the rest rose to meet the others in battle.
Black Ink Strength spread out and Dao Essence flared. The scene became heated in an instant.
The Royal Lord and Chaos Spirit King aside, the Pseudo-Royal Lords and the Territory Lords were able to overwhelm their enemies despite being fewer in number.
With the Pseudo-Royal Lord acting as the vanguard, and the Territory Lords in Battle Formations, they charged right through, and the many Chaos Spirits could hardly hold them back.
Most of these Chaos Spirits were of varying levels of strength, but the majority were only equivalent to Seventh-Order Masters or Feudal Lords, with less than 30% being on par with Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords. How would they be able to halt the charge of a Pseudo-Royal Lord?
Fortunately, there were not only Chaos Spirits who had gained solid forms here, but also an incalculable number of Chaos Entities. Under the command of the Chaos Spirit Clan, countless Chaos Entities rushed towards the Black Ink Clan from all directions, without fear of pain or death, which allowed them to keep the Black Ink Clan in check.
Yang Kai and the others also had a hard time due to the Chaos Entities when they were standing guard for Ou Yang Lie during his advancement. If it were not for Yang Kai’s enlightenment and development of the Space-Time River, things might have gotten out of hand back then.
At the moment, that was exactly what was happening.
The Black Ink Clan’s side must not have expected that these Chaos Entities that they normally wouldn’t bother with would actually be so difficult to deal with when their numbers swelled. It looked as if they had sunken into a Great Sea of Chaos Entities. Amidst them were also several dozen Chaos Spirits who were eyeing them closely.
The Pseudo-Royal Lord was furious. He had already pushed his strength to its peak and spread out Black Ink Strength as far as he could. Forcibly, he cut a bloody path through the encirclement with the Territory Lords following him and lunged towards the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill.
All they had to do was get their hands on the pill, then they could immediately escape from here, and the Chaos Spirit Clan would have no way of pursuing them in the vast expanse of the Universe Furnace World. Meanwhile, their Royal Lord only needed to keep the Chaos Spirit King busy for a while longer.
At this point, neither side had noticed that a small shadow in the void was approaching the battlefield like a phantom, slowly creeping towards the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill.
Inside the shadow, Thunder Shadow was pushing his Innate Divine Ability to its fullest and was hiding the auras of both Yang Kai and himself as far as possible. Under the blessing of his Divine Ability, they blended in and became one with the shadows.
After waiting for a long time, Yang Kai’s speculation was finally proved correct. The Black Ink Clan had now made their move, so why would Yang Kai stay idle? Whether or not he could seize the pill here would be up to whether Thunder Shadow could bring him close enough or not.
It would not be easy to pass through such a chaotic battlefield. There were constantly Chaos Entities here and there that would inadvertently cross into the shadow, but they were all caught and restrained by Yang Kai.
Fortunately, there were so many Chaos Entities here that neither side noticed the unusual situation going on; otherwise, Yang Kai’s plan would have fallen through.
Yang Kai watched the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill get closer and closer, and just as he was about to reach out to snatch it, a cloud of Black Ink Strength happened to sweep past the shadow where Yang Kai and Thunder Shadow were…
The source was a nearby Territory Lord…
Nobody was too concerned when the Chaos Entities were taken away by Yang Kai, but the feedback the Territory Lord received from the energy it released alerted him instantly. Amid the battle, he raised his head towards the shadow and shouted, “Watch out!”
He thought that it was one of the Chaos Spirits hiding, waiting for an opportunity to strike…
That shout had without a doubt exposed Yang Kai and Thunder Shadow completely. Yang Kai could clearly feel two powerful auras, one from the Royal Lord and the other from the Chaos Spirit King, spreading over from the battlefield. Very clearly, it was the two Masters investigating the situation here.
Yang Kai was so angry that his lungs could burst!
If this could have happened just five breaths later, after Thunder Shadow had brought him close enough, he could have seized the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill and used Space Principles to escape, then there would be a great probability that he could have achieved his goal without a scratch.
However, this plan, which should have been safe, ended up being inadvertently ruined by a Territory Lord.
Life was full of disappointments!
Instantaneously, a great gushing river was summoned and covered a stretch of the void, swallowing up the Chaos Entity that had devoured the Open Heaven Pill and was refining it along with a dozen or so Chaos Spirits protecting it nearby.
This turn of events was so bizarre that both sides that were battling each other were stunned for a moment.
Then, a bellow broke out, “It’s a Human! Stop him!”
It was the Pseudo-Royal Lord who reacted first. He was furious that some Human would actually try to remove the firewood from under the pot while they were taking on huge risks, fighting the Chaos Spirit Clan so that they could get their hands on the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill.
How could that be tolerated?!
The Pseudo-Royal Lord reacted quickly, but there was someone else who was quicker, the Chaos Spirit King who was fighting the Royal Lord nearby.
For the Chaos Spirit Clan, any creature that intruded on this place was an enemy regardless of whether they were from the Human Race or the Black Ink Clan!
So, the moment it sensed an enemy lurking in the shadows, it struck from afar. Though it was being hounded by the Royal Lord and could not withdraw easily, it still opened its mouth in the direction of Yang Kai and Thunder Shadow. In the next instant, it seemed to have shouted, but no sound came from its mouth; however, a formless force travelled through the void, launching an attack towards the shadow where one Human and one leopard were hiding.
Chaos was shattered, and Grand Daos shook.
At that moment, Yang Kai just happened to have summoned the Space-Time River to swallow up the Chaos Entity that had devoured the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, as well as several other Chaos Entities and Chaos Spirits which were protecting it, and he was about to escape using his Space Secret Technique.
When the blast of Dao Essence crashed down on him, Yang Kai felt as if he had been struck by lightning. His chest felt extremely stuffy and it was hard for him to manipulate Space Principles. Even the Space-Time River that he summoned was in turmoil as the water splashed about wildly.
The Space-Time River was greatly destabilized by the attack of the Chaos Spirit King, and with this opportunity, two of the Chaos Spirits who were around the Eighth Order in strength managed to free themselves from its confines.
These two had humanoid forms, and their eyes immediately turned to look at Yang Kai and Thunder Shadow before charging them to attack.
Not only that, the Pseudo-Royal Lord who was nearby also freed a fist out of his fight and punched towards Yang Kai!
In an instant, Yang Kai was attacked from three sides; moreover, the local space was so disturbed at the moment that he could not even hope to escape using Space Principles.
In this life-or-death moment, Thunder Shadow roared and transformed into his original size with thunder markings flashing all over his body. When he charged towards the two Chaos Spirits, Yang Kai also let out a shout as a golden light erupted and a Golden Dragon phantom enveloped him.
As Dao Strength was hard to manipulate at the moment, he had no choice but to maintain it with the help of his Dragon Vein.
However, the Golden Dragon phantom only lasted for a moment before shattering. The fierce power was so overwhelming that Yang Kai’s chest felt like it had caved in. In an instant, who knew how many of his bones had broken. Fresh blood came pouring out, but he managed to keep it down. Gritting his teeth, he shot a cold glare at the Pseudo-Royal Lord and with fierce determination, Spiritual Energy flared madly as he roared, “Die!”
The Pseudo-Royal Lord did not even have the chance to shudder before he felt a strange pain in his Knowledge Sea, as if a long, invisible needle had pierced through the defences of his Soul, causing him to stagger back.
It was a strange technique that targeted one’s Soul! The Pseudo-Royal Lord understood that instantly.
The Black Ink Clan had a lot of information about Yang Kai, and most of them were generally aware of such tricks, but according to what they knew, this was an unpredictable technique that was hard to guard against. Back then, many Innate Territory Lords had been killed by Yang Kai with this very technique, which gained him an infamous reputation.
However, this technique did almost as much damage to its user as its target, and Yang Kai had rarely used it over the last few thousand years.
The Pseudo-Royal Lord never would have expected that Yang Kai would use that very technique against him at this moment, so he was unfortunate to suffer quite a loss from it due to being caught off guard!
Taking an injury to his Soul was a great headache for the Pseudo-Royal Lord, but he quickly steadied himself. He was, after all, a Pseudo-Royal Lord who was not something an Innate Territory Lord could compare to, so he could still resist such attacks.
He was only stalled for a moment, but Yang Kai had already disappeared from sight. Following his aura, he saw Yang Kai not far in the distance, clutching a large river and fleeing alongside the black leopard with lightning flashing all around its body…
Yang Kai knew that a Soul Rending Thorn would not be able to do much to a Pseudo-Royal Lord, and his determined gesture from earlier was just to stall his enemy. After sending out a Soul Rending Thorn, he sent a message to Thunder Shadow and they ran.
Thunder Shadow could not gain any advantage when he fought two Chaos Spirits head-on either. In just a few moments, he was beaten to the point where the lightning around its body had dimmed considerably.
The sudden appearance of a third party not only made those from the Black Ink Clan want to spit blood, but even the Chaos Spirits were distracted. Their main target was supposed to be the enemies from the Black Ink Clan, but now they left them behind to attack Yang Kai and Thunder Shadow!
Yang Kai could even sense that two powerful auras were locked onto him and were swiftly moving towards him.
The Royal Lord and Chaos Spirit King!
The two of them had stopped their fight and were now tacitly chasing after Yang Kai.
For the Chaos Spirit King, anyone with the intention of snatching away the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill was an enemy.
The Royal Lord clearly did not want the pill to fall into the hands of the Humans either, and especially not Yang Kai’s hands. So, when the Chaos Spirit King tried to withdraw, he did not resist and instead joined forces with it.
This time, Yang Kai had stirred up the hornet’s nest.
Yang Kai grumbled audibly. Everything was going smoothly just as he planned; he would have been completely capable of secretly snatching the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill while both sides were fighting each other, then disappear after that.
However, one accident led him to be chased down by the Masters of both sides!
Yang Kai wished he could rip that damn Territory Lord who exposed him into 10,000 pieces…
Yet, he just had to have trouble with using Space Principles at this moment. While dragging along the Space-Time River with several Chaos Spirits inside, all of whom were struggling to break out, he could not use Instantaneous Movement.
It would not take long for Yang Kai to deal with the captured Chaos Spirits, but that little bit of time was enough for both the Chaos Spirit King and the Royal Lord to kill him 100 times over!
There was practically no way out!
Yang Kai sighed in his heart. In the end, he had no choice but to use that. Whether this venture was still worth it or not, he had no idea.
With a thought, he stretched out his hand and made a movement, and in the next instant, a butterfly that was as vivid as if it were alive suddenly appeared in his palm, its body giving off a soft glow. It danced on Yang Kai’s hand before its wings flapped and a beautiful halo of light emerged.
“Go!” Yang Kai whispered and threw the butterfly over his shoulder.
The butterfly fluttered, then its small little body expanded. In the blink of an eye, the shadow of a large butterfly enveloped the Void.
A halo of blue light swept through the chaos, cleansing the world.
All of a sudden, the butterfly burst into a million points of light.
Many from the Black Ink Clan and the Chaos Spirit Clan, who were chasing after Yang Kai, clashed headfirst into the shower of light, and under its glow, their expressions became indiscernible.
The glow of light suddenly gathered towards a certain point, and in the blink of an eye, a gracefully enchanting figure appeared in the void, blocking the many pursuers.
The Chaos Spirits did not have much of an opinion regarding what they saw, but the Pseudo-Royal Lord’s face paled as he stared at it and exclaimed, “Luo Ting He!”
It was quite a coincidence, but this Pseudo-Royal Lord had come from the Great Territory Battlefield that Luo Ting He oversaw. He had also fought her before and was almost cut down in the process. Naturally, seeing this Ninth-Order Master again here made him fearful.
He could not help but think, [Did this woman also come in?]
But when he focused his eyes on her again, he realized that the woman was not living, rather, it was some kind of manifestation or Divine Ability that was shaped in her image.
However, despite it being a mere manifestation, it was still the Divine Ability of a Ninth-Order Master, so it should not be trifled with. The Pseudo-Royal Lord’s expression turned grave in an instant.
At this point, Yang Kai’s heart felt like it was bleeding.
He had used up such a trump card just like that…
The butterfly was given to him by the newly-advanced Ninth-Order Luo Ting He when they met back then. It was something that was condensed from 500 years of Luo Ting He’s cultivation as gratitude to Yang Kai for his help.
This Ninth-Order Master had been trapped in Yin-Yang Cave Heaven’s Samsara Pavilion and was unable to return. It was by chance that Yang Kai had awakened her memories after experiencing nine reincarnations with Qu Hua Shang, which freed her.
After advancing to the Ninth Order, Luo Ting He had been thinking of ways to repay Yang Kai, but she could not come up with anything she could give him. Considering how Yang Kai was constantly on the move and would often encounter many strong enemies though, she spent her own cultivation to create this butterfly for him, which could be used to save his life during a critical moment.
This was arguably one of Yang Kai’s strongest trump cards that he kept hidden away all this while and never used.
Even when he was chased across the Black Ink Battlefield and nearly cornered by Mo Na Ye, Yang Kai never thought about using it. That was because Yang Kai thought it too much of a waste to use such a thing to kill a Pseudo-Royal Lord.
But now, he had no other choice. If he didn’t use it, then he really wouldn’t be able to get away.
30 breaths of time!
He only had 30 breaths of time!
Luo Ting He made it clear to him when she passed him the butterfly that summoning it was equivalent to summoning her to fight, but it could only last for 30 breaths.
This Divine Ability could be seen as something akin to a Soul Clone of Luo Ting He; however, considering Luo Ting He’s strength and that of the enemies Yang Kai was facing now, it may not even be able to last for 30 breaths.
Yang Kai needed to get out of here even sooner than that.
Almost as soon as Luo Ting He appeared, a battle broke out. The Pseudo-Royal Lord did not dare to step forward as he was wary of Luo Ting He’s power, but the Chaos Spirit Clan knew now fear. Soon, the Royal Lord and Chaos Spirit King had also rushed over.
Yang Kai didn’t even have the time to turn around and look. He just felt Dao Strengths fluctuating behind him and the immense aftershocks of their battle blasted out and nearly knocked him over.
At this moment, he was rushing forward while carrying his Space-Time River. No matter whether it was a Chaos Entity or Chaos Spirit blocking his way, the river would flow out and take them all in to be taken care of later.
Yang Kai didn’t dare to waste any time here. The Chaos Entities weren’t difficult to deal with usually, but it was not a good idea to be getting tangled up with them right now.
As a result, the pressure inside of his Space-Time River was growing greater and greater, making it even more difficult for him to escape using Space Principles.
“Yang Kai, you court death!” A furious roar came from behind him, followed by a fierce attack.
The Pseudo-Royal Lord had somehow made it over to give chase. Yang Kai was exasperated. Luo Ting He’s Divine Ability didn’t seem to be as effective as expected; otherwise, how could this Pseudo-Royal Lord have come over? This was making an already bad situation worse.
However, he knew that it was not because the Divine Ability was not powerful, just that even Luo Ting He herself must not have expected him to be able to stir up so much trouble.
Luo Ting He was confident when she told Yang Kai that day that this Divine Ability could be maintained for 30 breaths of time. In her mind, the greatest danger that Yang Kai could face would be to encounter a Pseudo-Royal Lord alone; however, this Soul Clone of hers was now facing the combined forces of a Royal Lord and a Chaos Spirit King, not to mention many more Chaos Spirits…
To have to hold back so many enemies alone, a newly advanced Ninth-Order Master’s Soul Clone would be severely lacking.
If the Pseudo-Royal Lord wanted to get around her, she may not be able to stop him either.
A powerful force hit Yang Kai on the back, sending his Dragon Scales flying and flaying his skin. This Pseudo-Royal Lord had attacked to kill; after all, they had the chance to seize the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, so how could they allow Yang Kai to come out of nowhere and take advantage of the situation?
So, he was unrelenting in his attack, releasing the full extent of his power.
Any other Eighth-Order Master would surely be at death’s door if not buried on the spot by such an attack; fortunately, Yang Kai had thick skin and strong flesh. Even though his five viscera and six organs were shaken after that attack, he endured the dizziness and used the force of that attack to propel himself further, making a speedy escape.
However, the Pseudo-Royal Lord did not give up his chase.
Several others wanted to follow after him as well, but they were held back by the Chaos Spirits and had no choice but to form Battle Formations to fight. However, without the Pseudo-Royal Lord leading the charge, they were soon racking up injuries, leaving them all quite miserable.
They wanted to shout at the Chaos Spirits and tell them that they did not have the pill, so fighting was useless. They might as well go and chase after the culprit who seized the pill instead; however, they knew that the Chaos Spirit Clan would not pay them any mind. To them, it did not matter whether they were from the Black Ink Clan or the Human Race, anyone who stepped into their territory was an enemy.
The Space-Time River opened up before them, rolling in all the Chaos Entities in its path and forging a way forward. The Dao Strengths of Space and Time was extremely dense within the river, and under the erosion of the Dao Strengths, most of the Chaos Entities quickly melted away into nothing, but their numbers were just too great.
Yang Kai could feel his Dao Strengths quickly draining away. Even the volume of his Space-Time River was shrinking rapidly, which was not a good sign. He was able to pull the Chaos Entity with the Supreme Grade Heaven Pill into the river, but if the Chaos Entity could not be scoured away before the Space-Time River broke apart, then it would be difficult to get the pill.
Worse, there were still some relatively powerful Chaos Spirits inside of the river that were taking advantage of his moment of distraction to go on a rampage, stirring up trouble inside the river.
On the other side, Luo Ting He’s Soul Clone had already summoned her Yin-Yang Fish Divine Ability to envelop both the Royal Lord and Chaos Spirit King. The power of Yin and Yang intertwined and transformed mysteriously, turning the area it surrounded into a kind of cage.
Without destroying this Divine Ability, even the Chaos Spirit King and the Royal Lord would find it difficult to break free.
A hint of Luo Ting He’s consciousness was undoubtedly in this Soul Clone, and at that moment, her brow was furrowed. She was trying her best to hold on, but she couldn’t imagine how Yang Kai was able to provoke two top Masters to join hands and chase after him.
The 30 breaths of time she promised him was likely going to take a large dip. It would be amazing if she could even last 20 breaths. Understanding this, she immediately sent her voice to Yang Kai, “Quickly escape!”
Once her Soul Clone failed to hold on, even if Yang Kai had his Space Secret Techniques, the chances of him surviving under the pursuit of two powerful Masters would still be slim to none.
Yang Kai gritted his teeth at her call and pushed his Dao Strengths to the fullest, forging ahead with the help of the Space-Time River.
Five breaths, 10 breaths…
One by one, furious attacks unleashed by the Pseudo-Royal Lord landed on Yang Kai’s back from behind, causing him to stumble each time. In just a short moment, Yang Kai felt as if he had sustained the greatest amount of damage in his life…
All of a sudden, the oppressive force ahead cleared up. When Yang Kai turned his eyes over, he realized that he had finally rushed out of the encirclement of the Chaos Entities and was overjoyed. He immediately circulated his World Force, turning his figure into a stream of light and speeding off into the depths of the void.
“Stop him!” The Royal Lord roared from behind him. He had been paying attention to Yang Kai’s movements even as he was fighting with Luo Ting He’s Soul Clone, so when he saw that Yang Kai was about to break away into freedom, he started to get nervous.
If it were any ordinary Eighth-Order Master, they might be able to escape for a while, but certainly not for long. With a Pseudo-Royal Lord in pursuit of them, there would eventually come a time when they had to bow down and accept death.
However, Yang Kai was different. He was proficient in the Dao of Space and was unparalleled at running away. If they let him escape, then forget a Pseudo-Royal Lord, even a true Royal Lord like himself would not be able to catch him.
With a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill at stake, how could the Royal Lord be willing to let that happen?
Previously, the Black Ink Clan had always believed that the appearance of the Universe Furnace was an opportunity for the Humans, and their many Masters had only entered so as to spoil their chances, killing off any Human Race Masters and weakening their overall forces.
However, when he came upon a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill by chance and advanced to become a Royal Lord, he understood that this was not just an opportunity for the Human Race, but also one for the Black Ink Clan!
The Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills that were born from the Universe Furnace held astonishing power!
After discovering that there was another Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill here, he decided to gather up as much help as he could to seize it. Everything was going well at first, until Yang Kai appeared out of nowhere, throwing the situation into disarray…
This made the Royal Lord extremely frustrated. Why could they seemingly never rid themselves of this killing star? He seemed to be practically everywhere, always spoiling their plans!
At this point, whether it be the Black Ink Clan or the Chaos Spirit Clan, everyone was engaged in a messy fight. Only the Pseudo-Royal Lord was chasing after Yang Kai without letting up.
That was mainly because of how powerful he was, so the average Chaos Spirit would not be able to hold him back.
Seeing Yang Kai break away from the battlefield, the Pseudo-Royal Lord was also feeling anxious and circulated his aura madly to lock onto Yang Kai’s figure in case he was to suddenly disappear. At the same time, Black Ink Strength surged, and a series of killing moves were blasted in Yang Kai’s direction.
The blows battered Yang Kai to the point of dizziness, which was especially troublesome to his current situation where he was trying to run away and had to use Space Principles to do so; however, without dealing with the problem that was the Space-Time River, it was simply impossible for him to perform Instantaneous Movement.
Therefore, most of his energy was spent on circulating his Dao Strength and dealing with the Chaos Spirits and Chaos Entities that were trapped inside his Space-Time River.
As for the attacks of the Pseudo-Royal Lord behind him, he had no choice but to bear them with his body.
Unfortunately, even with his potent Dragon Vein, Yang Kai couldn’t last too long.
Thankfully, he still had Thunder Shadow. As soon as he saw that things were looking bad, he leapt out from his shoulders and in a flash of lightning, revealed his true body. He circulated the power of his lightning to shield Yang Kai’s back while fighting back against the Pseudo-Royal Lord who was chasing them across the Void.
However, he could only endure for five breaths…
After five breaths, the lightning around Thunder Shadow’s body dimmed and his aura dropped noticeably, reducing him to a panting mess.
Even though Thunder Shadow was quite strong, no weaker than any peak Eighth-Order Master, he was still far from being able to fight a Pseudo-Royal Lord all by himself.
At this point, Yang Kai had also taken some time out to open up his Small Universe, releasing the few jellyfish Chaos Entities that he had left from before.
Not only that, he also deployed batch after batch of Small Stone Race clansmen…
Yang Kai always kept an army of Small Stone Race inside of his Small Universe that he prepared in order to deal with some critical situations, but even if they could not delay their enemies for long here, he did not care.
With the help of the jellyfish Chaos Entities and the Small Stone Race Army, Yang Kai was barely able to buy himself a few breaths of time.
The Pseudo-Royal Lord’s cold voice came from behind him, “Yang Kai, hand over the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill or die!”
After receiving information from that newly-advanced Royal Lord, the Pseudo-Royal Lord understood what a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill could do. At the moment, he was already a Pseudo-Royal Lord, but if he could refine that pill, then he could become a true Royal Lord!
This should have been his Spirit Pill, so how could he allow Yang Kai to seize it?
Yang Kai, who was still fleeing up ahead, turned a deaf ear to these threats. All of a sudden, he shook the Space-Time River that he had been holding all this while. As the Dao Strengths shook, several splashes came out of the large river, accompanied by several figures.
It was the Chaos Spirits that he had swept up previously!
Usually, it would not have taken him long to eliminate these Chaos Spirit Clansmen with the power of his Space-Time River as under the scouring of such potent Dao Strength, they would quickly be ground away into dust, but the situation now was urgent, so how could Yang Kai bother wasting time and energy to eliminate these fellows?
Since he could not do so, he simply tossed them out.
With that, only the Chaos Entity that had devoured the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill was left inside the Space-Time River.
As Dao Strength circulated fiercely, the entire river seemed to have been stimulated. The Chaos Entity had not been very strong to begin with, so how could it resist such corrosive power? Its body soon dissolved, and the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill that had been in its body this whole time fell into the river.
With little effort, Yang Kai easily scooped the pill out.
Seeing this, the Pseudo-Royal Lord who was chasing after him shouted urgently, “Hand that pill over to me!”
“Bite me!” Yang Kai spat out the blood in his mouth. Even though his aura seemed extremely drained, he still looked much more relaxed compared to before.
With the trouble in his Space-Time River dealt with and no other external forces holding him back, it was time to go!
It was at that moment that a powerful aura dissipated in the distance. Yang Kai knew that it was a sign that Luo Ting He’s Divine Ability had expired. In other words, her 500 years worth of cultivation had dissipated.
She had not lasted 30 breaths of time, and probably not even 20; however, being able to last as long as she had was already quite a feat in itself, as she was holding back two Masters with power equal or greater than her own.
Without Luo Ting He’s Soul Clone holding back his enemies, the Royal Lord and the Chaos Spirit King were now charging over quickly. From afar, Yang Kai felt two powerful auras stretching over to lock onto him.
How could Yang Kai dare to dally in this situation? He was confident that he could escape if he was only being chased by a Pseudo-Royal Lord, but if he waited for these two to catch up to him, then he really would be just waiting for death.
On the back of his hand, the Great Sun and Moon Marks appeared. Yellow and blue light flowed, gathering and transforming into a dazzling pure white light that enveloped his body, cutting off the aura of the Pseudo-Royal Lord.
Space Principles surged, enveloping Thunder Shadow who had returned to his shoulder and had almost become a dead leopard…
In the next instant, the Void rippled and their forms blurred.
“Don’t you dare!” The Pseudo-Royal Lord howled and a fierce power was unleashed in Yang Kai’s direction. His ruthless attack crashed against his fading illusory phantom, and the aftershock pierced through the barriers of the Void to chase after him.
In the next moment, the Royal Lord and Chaos Spirit King who had finally broken away from Luo Ting He’s entanglement rushed over, but they were too late. From a distance, all they saw was Yang Kai’s fading figure.
The Royal Lord felt his heart drop. He had formulated a plan with the hopes of giving rise to a new Royal Lord, yet he never expected to have prepared a dowry for the Humans instead.
Moreover, the one who seized the Spirit Pill just had to be the infamous Yang Kai. With this loss, the disparity in strength between the two sides was going to become enormous.
Fury was boiling inside of him as the Royal Lord was so angry that he could explode!
*Hong…*
A violent power suddenly blasted over. The Royal Lord stumbled as he was caught off guard and turned around in anger, only to see the Chaos Spirit King coming at him with red eyes.
“What are you coming at me for!?” The Royal Lord was extremely vexed, “The one who stole your Spirit Pill is that Human, so why don’t we stop here and join forces to catch him instead?”
Yang Kai had only just escaped, and he was riddled with injuries, so if they chased after him now, they might just have a chance to catch up. However, this inexplicable being was picking a fight with him instead. How foolish!
That said, he hadn’t been able to figure out just what the hell these Chaos Spirits were. The Humans had Blood Crow to provide them with information, so they had some basic knowledge of and could take precautions against the Chaos Entities and the Chaos Spirit Clan; however, the Black Ink Clan did not have any of that.
This Royal Lord had encountered many Chaos Entities before, but this Chaos Spirit King, who was even more powerful than him, was a first.
He only knew that these strange beings were most likely native to the Universe Furnace World, but he did not know much else other than that.
Based on his previous experiences though, he could tell that the sentience of the natives was not very high.
Trying to explain was pointless. The Chaos Spirit King had just lost a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, which meant that they had lost the opportunity for another Chaos Spirit King to be born amongst them. So, it obviously wanted to vent all of its anger on the Royal Lord.
Helpless, the Royal Lord had no choice but to fight, so how could he still have any energy left to chase after Yang Kai?
Moreover, fighting an opponent who was stronger than himself was not a pleasant experience. What aggravated him even more was the fact that his Black Ink Strength had only a limited use against this powerful enemy…
After a few moments of fighting, the Royal Lord had the intention to run; after all, the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill was already gone, so there was no use getting tangled up with the Chaos Spirit Clan any longer. However, leaving wasn’t going to be easy either. After fighting for a while longer, the Royal Lord finally found an opening to withdraw and quickly shot off into the distance.
The Chaos Spirit King gave chase at once, seemingly intent on killing him ruthlessly. This naturally made the Royal Lord so depressed that he could spit blood.
“Sir Royal Lord, save me!”
A Territory Lord’s wail rose from afar as he and his comrades had been surrounded by several dozen Chaos Spirits and were almost failing to hold on.
Originally, they had a Pseudo-Royal Lord leading them, and with the aid of a Battle Formation, they could still defend themselves, but after the Pseudo-Royal Lord had run off to chase after Yang Kai, leaving them behind, they were struggling to fight off so many Chaos Spirits.
Seeing that their Royal Lord was also about to leave, one of them couldn’t hold themselves back from yelling for help.
But how could the Royal Lord have any strength to care about them? The Chaos Spirit King was right behind him. He would have a hope of escaping if he was alone, but if he had to bring along those Territory Lords with him, he would most likely be caught and then killed.
Even though he heard the pleas of the Territory Lords, this newly-advanced Royal Lord did not have the strength to care about them right now. As his body was wrapped in a Black Ink Cloud, he left in a hurry.
Seeing that their Royal Lord had abandoned them, the Territory Lords knew they could not hold on any longer. One of the Territory Lords suddenly withdrew his aura and broke away from the Battle Formation in an attempt to escape alone…
“Don’t!” Another Territory Lord shouted, but it was too late. After one Territory Lord took the lead, the rest followed suit, scattering in all directions, leaving each of them to fend for themselves.
However, they were all still surrounded by the Chaos Spirit Clan. With the Battle Formation, they could still hold on for a while, but now that they had taken the initiative to disperse, how could they still be any match for the numerous powerful enemies around them?
One by one, their auras were buried. Every last one of the Territory Lords was butchered, their Black Ink Strength and hashed remains all that was left behind…
This was probably the reason why the Black Ink Clan could not truly grasp the essence of the Battle Formations. A true cohesive unit would stick together to either cut open a path to survival, or die in battle with honour. They would never choose to leave the Battle Formation like these Territory Lords.
The Chaos Spirit King went after the Royal Lord while the Territory Lords died miserably at the hands of its Chaos Spirit subordinates. On the other hand, the one Pseudo-Royal Lord had left, chasing after Yang Kai after he escaped using Instantaneous Movement.
Yang Kai was badly injured this time, and so was Thunder Shadow, who was almost blown up in the fight. Both were quite miserable at the moment.
Even though they managed to seize the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, they weren’t out of danger unless they shook off the Pseudo-Royal Lord who was chasing after them.
If Yang Kai was alone, he would have nothing to worry about since he could use Instantaneous Movement freely, but now that he had to bring Thunder Shadow with him and with his body so battered, the pressure on him was high.
A single round of Instantaneous Movement would not be enough to shake off a Pseudo-Royal Lord completely.
Earlier, as soon as Yang Kai reemerged from the Void, a blow was sent out by his opponent followed through the spatial corridor and hit Yang Kai, causing him to stagger.
From behind, the Pseudo-Royal Lord’s Divine Sense washed over, obviously trying to determine Yang Kai’s position.
Yang Kai grit his teeth and used Purifying Light in order to shield himself from his opponent’s probing; then, without stopping at all, he left again using Instantaneous Movement.
Yang Kai repeated this several times before he finally left the Pseudo-Royal Lord’s detection range, but he knew that they were not that far apart, and chasing after him was the Pseudo-Royal Lord’s top priority now, so it was best for him to hide.
However, where could he hide in this vast void? If Thunder Shadow was unharmed, then they could’ve hidden themselves with his Innate Divine Ability, but Thunder Shadow had almost been turned into a dead leopard, so how could he still have the energy to use any sort of Divine Ability or Secret Technique?
Forcing down the blood that threatened to surge up his throat, Yang Kai grit his teeth and gathered his strength as much as he could while bringing Thunder Shadow along in a random direction.
A few moments later, the Pseudo-Royal Lord rushed to the vicinity of where Yang Kai was previously and began searching around with his Divine Sense, but he did not find any traces. His face turned dark and he quickly swept away to continue investigating the nearby area.
This was a matter of whether or not he could advance and become a true Royal Lord, so he was determined to dig Yang Kai out. Even though he was currently a Pseudo-Royal Lord, a gap still existed between him and a true Royal Lord.
After reaching his current height, how could he not want to go further?
Moreover, he had a vague feeling that if he did manage to catch Yang Kai this time, then there was a high probability that he would be able to kill him and end his scourge once and for all!
Yang Kai had caused far too much damage to the Black Ink Clan, and many of their people had lived under his threat in their early years, so how could anyone from the Black Ink Clan not hate him to the bone?
That was why he spared no effort in searching for Yang Kai. Even though he had lost sight of the latter, he had no intention of giving up at all. The Pseudo-Royal Lord even sent messages out in all directions, summoning more from his clan to join the search.
For a time, many from the Black Ink Clan within the Universe Furnace began to gather in one place, to the shock of the Humans. Fortunately, the Humans basically moved in groups to form Battle Formations, and those from the Black Ink Clan had other tasks to focus on, so they did not have time to start random conflicts with the Humans.
However, this unusual gathering still raised the guards of the many Humans as they had no idea what the Black Ink Clan was up to.
In the void, Tian Xiu Zhu, alongside Zhan Tian He and his other three companions, stopped in place and looked back from where they came and all of them wrinkled their brows.
This couldn’t be helped as they had already encountered several groups of Black Ink Clansmen who were converging towards a certain direction. Just like the Humans, there was no longer anyone from the Black Ink Clan moving alone. It had been a while since the Universe Furnace opened up. So, after being inside for so long, the Masters of both sides should be able to find allies by now. As for those who did not, it was highly likely they had already been killed or were hiding somewhere, not daring to reveal themselves.
The Black Ink Clansmen that Tian Xiu Zhu and the others encountered during this period were all groups of several Territory Lords. Even though both sides had sensed each other’s presence, neither had any intention of starting trouble with the other. They just brushed by each other from a distance.
Liu Fei Fei was more sensitive among them, so she had noticed the unusual situation from early on and could not help but ask, “Senior Brother Tian, do you think Senior Brother Yang may be in trouble?”
These Territory Lords had quite clearly received some sort of message to gather; otherwise, there was no reason for all of them to be heading in the same direction. Moreover, they were all heading towards where they came from, and they knew exactly what had happened there and what was going to be happening next as well.
Tian Xiu Zhu had clearly sensed it as well and nodded, “It’s inevitable that he’ll stir up some trouble by trying to snatch chestnuts straight from the fire, but there’s nothing we can do to help!”
If they could have provided any help to him, then they wouldn’t have left so easily. There was a great possibility that Yang Kai might draw the attention of both the Royal Lord and the Chaos Spirit King by attempting to seize the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill from right under their noses. When that happened, he could escape by relying on his Space Secret Techniques, but they did not have that ability, so following Yang Kai would only hinder him.
But from the current situation, it seemed that things were not going too well on Yang Kai’s side; otherwise, the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t be gathering so many Masters.
“Let’s go look for Ou Yang Lie!” Tian Xiu Zhu quickly made a decision.
The Black Ink Clan had their Royal Lord, and the Chaos Spirit Clan had their Chaos Spirit King; however, the Human Race had a Ninth-Order Master in the Universe Furnace as well. Only by seeking Ou Yang Lie’s help would they be able to provide Yang Kai the capital to fight back.
After making up his mind, Tian Xiu Zhu was about to depart with his group when his expression suddenly changed and he shouted, “Link!”
The faces of Zhan Tian He and the others turned serious, but there was no helping it as a powerful aura suddenly intruded into their perception, and the aura was equivalent to those of a Ninth-Order Master or Royal Lord.
Of course, there was also the possibility that it was a Pseudo-Royal Lord, as there was hardly any difference between them and a true Royal Lord in terms of aura alone. This was especially the case if their aura was fully exposed. The only difference was that the Pseudo-Royal Lords could not fully make use of their power and could only effectively bring out around 70% of what a true Royal Lord could.
The aura they perceived was unfamiliar, so it was obviously not a Ninth-Order Master. That could only mean that it was either a Royal Lord or a Pseudo-Royal Lord!